Card of the Day - Patron of Renewal

A little love for my favorite guild. (Sorry Simic, you're second place.) This could be a mono-green card, but I think it fits in nicely with the flavor of the guild. Don't you?

Card of the Day - Artoan Crasher

Today's Elf is quite a bit different from yesterday's. He is still a 2/2, but he has the Boost keyword.  Boost has a number after it, and that's how much this creature's power and toughness increase when it attacks.  If you can figure out a way to attack more than once per turn, the boosts stack. Yowza.

Card of the Day - Argothian Apologist

I designed this card with Commander in mind.  There are a lot of incidental Sol Rings and signets that this fella can use to his advantage.  Worst case, he's a 2/2 for 2.

Card of the Day - Sands of Uncertainty

Everyone loves modal spells!  This card is usable at any mana cost.  For 3, you can just kill a creature that's been bugging you, and for 8, you get 5 1/1s. 

Card of the Day - Stoic Krumar

Sometimes a vanilla creature with reasonable stats does good work. Abzan players would not scoff at this guy.

Card of the Day - Wailing Arynx

Simple uncommon.  Good for blocking, good for attacking.

Card of the Day - Calculated Tragedy

I really like the idea of this. It might be better as a 4color card, but I think Abzan colors fit it well.

Card of the Day - Terrus Fen, the Anointed

Welcome to Abzan week. This week I will be featuring cards from my favorite wedge. Today's card is a two mana legendary creature.

The nice thing about creatures with off-color activation costs is that you can cast them and use them as a regular creature even if you don't have the mana to use the off-color ability.  Sure, the card gets better if you have it, but it's not necessary.

The Future of Mad Olaf's Magic Cards

Hello all,

If you've seen my blog before, you know that I usually just post a picture of a card that I designed and maybe a small explanation of it.

Not today.

When I first started this blog, sometime in 2012 (has it really been 5 years?), I promised to post a new card every day.  I did that faithfully for the first two and a half years, but I've been slacking. Since I've moved to Seattle, I'm that much closer to actually achieving my dream of working for Wizards of the Coast and I think it's time to review the vision for the blog.

Originally, I posted a card every day at midnight, central time.  To reach a bigger audience, I will be posting each weekday at 6am, pacific time.  You can expect a post every day, Monday through Friday.

That is all for now, and if you haven't been keeping an eye on my blog, now might be a good time to catch up.

Thank you all,

Adam

Card of the Day - Alcazar, Dread Captain

 I've been thinking about the Commander 2017 set, which has decks based around creature types. The Dragon deck has been partially spoiled, but I think what we really need is a Grixis colored Pirate deck.  A good captain knows that his crew is what keeps the ship moving.

Card of the Day - Slime Spawner/Expelling Jelly/Gelatinous Cube

I was inspired to make these cards after playing someone's mono-green Ooze deck. Although the deck was super fun, it could really use a couple of cards like this.

Card of the Day - Turn into Newt

I noticed today that blue and green share the ability to change power and toughness on creatures.  This is a mix of Lignify and Illusory Wrappings. I think it's okay. 

Card of the Day - Gix, Yawgmoth Praetor

If you're not familiar with Gix, he was one of the original Phyrexian baddies. You can learn a bit more about him here.

Card of the Day - Tull, Desert City

If you don't know by now, I'm very excited for the Dark Tower movie to show up at my local theater in July.  Tull is the first inhabited place visited by the Gunslinger in the first book of the Dark Tower series.

Card of the Day - Exchange Favors

So Hollee said to me tonight, "Are there any bargain cards? Like a card that can let you trade a card in your hand with a card in an opponent's hand?" 

I thought for a minute and couldn't think of one, so I made it.

I had to rejigger the wording to make it mutual exile instead of just trading cards in hands, but if it makes you feel better, you can put that card in your hand if you like.  I give you my permission.

Card of the Day - Strength of Solidarity

This is a play on all those white team pump enchantments.  White really wants to have a bunch of dudes to swing with, and Strength of Solidarity plays into that.

This card has a lot of knobs to turn to make it correct, developmentally speaking. The mana cost, the number of creatures required, the size of the buff, and any keyword abilities can all be changed to make this card correct for the format it belongs in.

I plugged it in the uncommon slot because it has a tiny bit of build-aroundness attached.  Not every white deck will want it, but most will. It gives incentive to get smaller white creatures, of which most sets have many.

In retrospect, I think +1/+2 and vigilance is too big of a boost for uncommon, especially for all creatures at once, but I made the card that way, and I'm sticking to it.

Card of the Day - Shipwreck Coast

I don't often make cards from the art I see, but this one popped up /r/imaginarylandscapes and I was blown away.  The card itself is pretty strong, especially in a Pirate deck.  Or a Human deck, for that matter. Or a blue deck. Just any blue deck, probably.

Card of the Day - Jagged Prism

Okay so I missed a few days.  I've been really into this new format I've been developing. I call it SmashCube.

The rules are as follows:

Each player gets four (4) premade "packs", which they shuffle together and play a regular game of magic.  The packs can be picked in various ways, but I find that drafting is the most fun way to choose.

The packs have 15 cards, all of which are from the same set. Example:

I have 22 of these packs completed, and another 100 or so in various stages of completion.

One thing I've noticed when playing a deck that can be anywhere for 1 to 5 colors is that mana fixing is necessary. When I first started the format, I made a rule that anyone can spend two generic mana to get one mana of any color.  This idea expanded into making an emblem with that ability on it.

After playing a few games with that emblem, I found that it was rarely used. I did, however, like having the option of using it.  The idea expanded into making several different emblems with various abilities.

Now when I play, before we pick our packs, we get a random emblem or two from the pile of emblems that we put into our command zones before the beginning of the game. This is a totally arbitrary rule, but I think it's fun to make up some emblems and play with them.

The ones I've made so far would cost about a mana and be very tiny effects that will usually be minorly helpful. I made a few that were too strong, and I've changed them since.
 

Let me know what you think.  I'm also accepting pitches for emblems.  If I like your emblem, I will credit you on the card.  Thanks!

Card of the Day - Grinning Pest

Annoying flier. I'm into it.

Card of the Day - Stand Ready

A simple effect.  There are a few cards that are similar, but more complicated.

Card of the Day - Razorbrim Shaman

I'm not sure if I should use life loss or damage for spite, but I should probably stick to one.  Life loss is better, I think.

Card of the Day - Spy Fly

IF you're not familiar with espionage, check out the tag.  I've made quite a few cards with this ability.

Card of the Day - Verdant Seashore

I was challenged to make more common cards.  Each card I make this week will be common.

Today's card is trying to solve the problem of fixing 3 color mana bases. The Ravnica block bouncelands do a very similar thing, as do the lairs from Planeshift.  I like to think of these as a more elegant version of the lairs.

Card of the Day - Mulch Spawn

I like the idea that this can possibly make 4 1/1s for two mana, but will most often make 1 or 2. Design was inspired by both Crawling Sensation and Mulch.

Card of the Day - Marek's Keystone

This is the relic that King Micah is sending with Otto to the Gargut Glacier.  I hope nothing bad happens...

Card of the Day - Replace

Simple counterspell. Simple wording. Simple title.

I'm into it.

Card of the Day - Common Knowledge

I was thinking about the card Telepathy today, and I was wondering why it didn't see more play. It's a powerful effect, especially against other blue mages.

I tweaked it to draw a card and reveal everyone's hands, but it didn't feel blue that way.

I thought about what other colors reveal hands, and couldn't come up with anything.

I thought about what color would want this the most, and came up with green. Green has an innate sense of the world that could be attributed to wisdom.

I made the card as it is and showed it to my wife.  She asked if there was any precedent for this sort of ability, and as I only remembered Telepathy, I decided to check Gatherer to see if any existed.

It took me a while, but I finally a found a card from a long time ago with the same cost and effect, minus the card draw. (Don't click the link until you guess!)

I smiled.

PS. Hollee is upset that this card is an Uncommon even though it's called Common Knowledge. Let me know what you think on the Facebook page, or tweet at me @madolaf.

Card of the Day - Vaporsprout

I thought of this one in the shower while pondering the nature of card draw and creatures.  Hystrodon and Thieving Magpie came to mind, and I thought "Why not make it hybrid?" Flash is a blue and green mechanic and lets the Vaporsprout replace itself right away, if necessary.

Card of the Day - Pinpoint Powderkeg

Just a riff on Ratchet Bomb, Engineered Explosives, etc.

Card of the Day - City of Dreams

A land that taps for any color of mana needs to have a drawback.

Card of the Day - Guardian Spirits

There were a few iterations on this theme. I wanted a card that made Spirits, but could potentially be more powerful than other token creators.  This spell will also definitely stop board stalls in limited. It's important to note that this card feels awful if you have no creatures, but the upside is very good. I suppose I could change it a bit to make it feel less bad with no other creatures.

With this version, you get at least one creature, but it's much more powerful.  Should it cost 3WW, maybe?

Let me know what you think either on the comments here, or on the Facebook page here.

Card of the Day - Summoned to the Throne Room

In the second Story Spotlight of Frostmere, King Micah summons his most powerful friends to the throne room.

The Planeswalker Otto and the city's champion Karos arrive at the castle...

Continued from last Saturday.

When Otto arrives at the palace, Barlo Stanvik is waiting for him.

"I'm glad you could you come on such short notice," he says. "His Majesty will be so glad to see you after all this time."

"It's no problem, Barlo.  I'm glad to be here.  It's been way too long since we could catch up."

"I'm afraid there won't be much time for that.  I assume you know what's going on in Tersh. It's..."

"Yeah, yeah.  It's terrible.  On the other hand, it could be a lot worse. At least the deadies aren't attacking people, though."

Barlo frowned. "Please don't use the term 'deadies,' Otto.  It's uncouth."

"ppft." The planeswalker waves away the suggestion, "Where's Micah?"

"In the throne room. Karos is already here."

"Karos, huh?  I wonder why Micah would need us both."

"You can find out presently, sir.  Follow me."

------

In the throne room, King Micah sits deep in thought.  He is staring at a small piece of parchment in his hands.

"My Lord, Otto is here." said Barlo from the doorway.

Micah looks up, frowning.  "Thank you for coming, dear friend. I assume you know Karos?"

A man with short black hair and a long scar on the right side of his face nods to Otto. "We've met."

"Good.  I need you two to do something for me." He holds up the parchment. "I've received... interesting news. A man claims that he can help us relieve the curse that has befallen us, but he insists that we come to him." He frowns.

"Well, why aren't we on the road already?" Otto folds his arms.

"It's not that simple. This man, Tibalt, says he needs an item from our treasury to complete the spell. A very special item. Not one that I would give to just anyone."

"Ah, I see." Karos speaks up. "That's why we are here. You need your best to guard the item on its journey."

"Precisely. Marek's Keystone could be very dangerous in the wrong hands. It's up to you to make sure it is kept safe. Your destination is the Gargut Glacier. You leave at first light."

"How do we know this guy isn't up to something nefarious?" Otto raised an eyebrow.

"If he is, you will stop him. Our kingdom won't last if the dead keep on coming back. We have no other choice."

Card of the Day - Burst

Card of the Day - Flayer Demon

Card of the Day - Coldmire Dead

Skeleman.

Card of the Day - Elven Architecture

Card of the Day - Tersh, Crown City

Making duals legendary is a reasonable drawback.  This one has the added bonus of being snow, making it a pseudo-triland.

Card of the Day - Obliteration Blast

Are these effects in the right order?  Does the spite ability need to be first?

Card of the Day - Eternal Unrest

It's been a while since I did any real work on Frostmere, but now that Saturdays are full of flavor, I thought I would show off the Story Spotlight cards from that set.  Here is the beginning of the story of Frostmere:

In the secluded, frozen, peaceful plane of Frostmere, something has gone wrong. Those who have passed on just won't stay dead. Two days ago, the shambling forms of the previously living started coming home. They aren't bloodthirsty, but they are confused and easily angered. The dead who no longer have bodies wander through the streets of Tersh, the Crown City. Their wails are heard throughout the night, longing for the rest of their tortured souls.

King Micah looks out from his balcony, frowning. A day full of planning has left him weary. Half of the kingdom's soldiers needed to be deployed to Artoa, helping the people of the borderlands defend against the attacks of the wildlife. In such a small kingdom, half of the soldiers is only twenty men.

Suddenly, the King's advisor, Barlo speaks. He is standing in the doorway, hands folded.

"My Lord," he says, "a pigeon has arrived." 

Card of the Day - Druid's Respite

I was thinking about Espionage.  I was thinking about what green could do to protect itself against the mechanic in draft. This card is not very powerful, in general, but if you are about to lose from drawing a card, it can really save your bacon. I wanted the cards to be randomly ordered so you can't set up draws for three turns. It might change in playtesting, if it ever gets playtested.

Card of the Day - Disrupting Cube

I started with this being a Blue/Red enchantment, but I realized that both of these effects are available at colorless.  I switched it colorless, but felt that a colorless enchantment is just weird, so I made it an artifact.

As I am writing this, I realize that this takes the best part of Mightstone and Weakstone and mixes them together elegantly.

Card of the Day - Rebel Provisionist

This card really goes in line with what red and white soldiers might want to do.

Card of the Day - Obelisk of Solidarity

Tuesday Relic!  I will post an artifact or the like every Tuesday.  This one is inspired by the art of Amonkhet.

Birbhed - For Funsies

They showed some art from Amonkhet today on the Mothership, and here is my guess on the birdhead god.  I am hoping they make the five of them shard colors, but I have no reason to believe that they will. 

Here is my baseless speculation:

Bird is Esper
Cat is Bant
Croc is Jund
Jackal is Grixis
Snake is Naya

Card of the Day - Eldritch Whispers

I'm going to be doing a few things differently on the blog.  I will be publishing one card per day, every day, for the rest of the year.  Each day of the week will have a theme. You can see the theme in the keywords.  Today's is Monday Mana.  Every Monday, I will make a card that produces mana.  I will be posting the blog at precisely 7pm Pacific time (yesterday was a fluke.)

You can follow my twitter to get the notification everyday, or you can chat on Facebook here. 

Today's card is a colorless enabler.  I was toying with making it a 1G that gives CC, but I thought it enabled storm a bit too much in that iteration.

Card of the Day - Grand Entrance

It's been a while since I've been posting cards, and for that I apologize.  Here is my re-entry into the world of custom card design.  Let's see where this goes.

-O