Card of the Day - Mutating Serum

This is the third four color rare I've made so far on my blog, and the second with these four colors.  This card started out as a red/white/blue uncommon sorcery that gave the creature first strike and bounced it after it was dealt combat damage, but then I changed it to an aura to prevent memory issues.

After making it into an aura, I didn't like that the aura went away after the creature was returned to its owner's hand.  I briefly toyed with the idea to return the enchantment as well, but thought better of it.  I just scrapped the bounce and started fiddling with the mana cost.  As I write this, I realize this card is not a four color card after all, but a pure Simic card.  Here's my final version, which I just created.

Let me know what you think about this design in the comments section below, on Twitter, or on Facebook!  I look forward to hearing from you.

Card of the Day - Soulshift Veil

This is the type of thing I'd like to see in Dragon's Maze.  It's a 3 color card that can be Orzhov, Golgari, Selesnya, or mono-black.

Card of the Day - Tershan Sublimancer

I thought I'd make a new snow card today.  The inspiration is from Fathom Mage.

Card of the Day - Might of the Soil

This could be a powerful first pick in any draft.  Make sure to grab some creatures with reach if you open this guy.

Card of the Day - Cover In Magma

Lately, I've been asking Hollee for a color, mana cost, and rarity, and then I design a card based on those criteria. Today, she chose four red mana, which is a tough cost to work around.  With such a restrictive cost, a big spell is bound to happen.  I know that generally red doesn't do -1/-1 counters, but the flavor of this card was asking for it.

Card of the Day - Homeland Expedition

Used the same art from yesterday.  I made the card first, and then I decided that the art fit it rather well, so I went ahead and used it.  I asked Hollee and her sister for input on mana cost, card type, and rarity. 

Card of the Day - Journey to the Horizon

I made this card for the Goblin Artisan's challenge last week. The stipulations were:

1: green
2: uncommon
3: works better in multiplayer, and
4: made for Johnnies

I think this fits the criteria.

Card of the Day - Stoic Sentry

Just a filler white common creature.  Useful for slower decks that need a good blocker.

Card of the Day - Redo

Just imagine...  You make an attack which should win you the game, but your opponent has a combat trick you weren't expecting.  Just Redo. 

Imagine...  you cast an X damage spell on your opponent's biggest threat and he pumps up it one point above killing.  Just Redo.

You have a game ending spell in hand and need to wait to see if you can bait a counterspell.  Just cast the big one!  If he counters it, Redo.

Your biggest threat dies in combat?  Redo.

He disrupts something important?  Redo. 

This.  Card.  Is.  Nuts.

That is all.

(Please let me know if this card will break the game.)
Thanks!

Card of the Day - Sainted Brawler

Nothing real fancy, but it's powerful Green/White removal.  I can see this guy ripping up a lot of fast Red strategies.

Card of the Day - Domination Plans

As you may know, I am a big fan of alternate win conditions.  The flavor of Domination Plans is an evil wizard gloating about his plans and heroes rallying to thwart them.  Hope you like it.

EDIT:  Here's a less exploitable version.

Edit (again):
OK, OK, I try one more time.

Card of the Day - Brainwreck

I think I need some help here, guys.  I made this an uncommon so it wouldn't show up as much more than two in draft and sealed, but I think it might be overpowered for constructed.   I like that you can target the same creature twice if you really want it gone, or you can target a bunch of guys and make the opponent choose which ones to keep.  As a general rule, punisher cards are bad, and I hope the fact that you can cast a few copies of this at once makes it a better card.

Let me know what you think.

Card of the Day - Idea Burst

Here's the Maximize card draw spell.  Four mana for four cards seems like a lot, but it's a spell you can only cast once per game.  That's part of why Maximize is so cool;  you can get all the copies of a particular card, but you won't be able to cast that spell again this game barring extenuating circumstances.

Card of the Day - Wandering Corpse

The maximize cost on Wandering Corpse is really high!  If you look at the type line, you'll see why.

Card of the Day - Feral Packwolf

Here's an example of maximize on a creature card.  This, to me, is the simplest form of maximize on a creature.  I have a few more creatures with maximize to show you, but we'll start with the basics.

Bonus! Holiday Card - Heart Devourer

Thought I'd do a Valentine's Day card.  Not very love-y, but it deals with hearts, so it's probably fine.

Card of the Day - Jagged Bolt

Maximize is a mechanic that definitely need to be tested to find the right cost.  I started this at 4RR, but deemed it too powerful constructed at that cost.  If anyone has a playgroup that wants to try out these cards, let me know! 


Oh.  Happy Valentimes!

Card of the Day - Unexpected Blessing

I think Maximize might work best in limited formats where certain cards are likely to be picked lower.  If there's ever a small set drafted by itself, i.e. Coldsnap, there could be a place for Maximize in it.  Maximize might even make life gain good.  What's Maximize, you ask? oh, it's this:

You could easily get 4 to 5 copies of this card in a draft. At first glance, it seems similar to Overload, but don't be fooled; Maximize is a powerful tool to thin out unwanted cards and get you closer to your bombs, as well as potentially having a huge impact on the game.

If you happen to have 5 Unexpected Blessings in your draft deck, you will almost always find one in your opening hand. Pulling 5 unwanted cards out of your library while gaining 15 life can be backbreaking.  If you get more than 2 of these, you're looking at a pretty good bargain. 

Don't expect the rest of the Maximize cards to be as dismissed offhandedly as this one.  You'll be lucky to get two of a direct damage Maximizer (see tomorrow's card, Jagged Bolt.)  After all, who's going to draft life gain?

Card of the Day - Below Zero

This card reminds me of Honden of Infinite Rage.  It would be nice if there were a cycle of these.

Card of the Day - Argom the Vile

Let's make up some infinite combos!

Card of the Day - Ancient Doorway

This card was made based on the artwork.  I thought the picture was cool, so I made a card around it.

Card of the Day - Zorfelex

I like the idea of having a super-powerful legendary artifact as a plot point in a set.  Mirari did this previously.  Here's another one.

Side note:  I made two versions of this.  Let me which one you like better.

Card of the Day - Alert Sentinel

Thought this looked like it could be a nice filler uncommon for white.

Card of the Day - Contagious Ogre

I made this card sometime last year, but I love how it plays with unleash.  If you give a creature a -1/-1 counter after unleashing it, it can block! I think it's a powerful option for any Rakdos players out there.

Card of the Day - Mirrored Quadropod

This is a card that I am really proud of.  It just seems like it would be really fun to play.

Card of the Day - Giant Centipede

I've been wanting to fix Affinity for a while now.  I think this guy is a fair example of affinity for creatures.  At best, he's a 3/2 for G.  Not broken, but quite good.  The only problem is that by the time you have 4 other creatures out, you might not want to cast him. 

Card of the Day - Ersatz Shade

I think it might be possible to make a symbol for mana that can only be spent as colorless.  Maybe we can use a C to show it?  With the reminder text (You may only use colorless mana to pay for C.)  Here's the same card with the new format.

Any thoughts?

Card of the Day - Gather Parts

Unaligned draw spell.  Let me know what you think.

Card of the Day - Flames of Annorath

Fire!

Card of the Day - Jetstream Elemental

This guy is a Levitation on legs.  Definite first pick in any draft you play.

Card of the Day - Digestor Muck

I've always loved oozes.   This one started at 2B, but I realized it could easily be hybrid and changed the mana cost.  The art looks better in a hybrid frame anyway.

Card of the Day - Eureka Moment

I like the idea of forcing an opponent to choose a card from your library. This is a pure Johnny card and I'd like to make a deck that forces the opponent to make a bad choice every time. Any good ideas?

Card of the Day - Silent Seer

Blue utility guy.  I started him out as a 2/2 for 1UU with an activation cost of 1, but I changed them all to 2's to keep it symmetrical. Also bumped it down from rare to uncommon because of the increased activation cost.

Card of the Day - Extraplanar Tutor

I want to playtest this card.  It seems like it could be very useful in the right situation.  The drawback of letting your opponent see your entire deck is pretty steep, but I think this could be a lot of fun.

Card of the Day - Evil Doll

AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

Reworking my Magic - Marduk's Malice/Vaporize

This is just a flavorful reworking of Marduk's Malice.  I asked you guys to help me find a better way to show Marduk's affinity with technology.  Paul Irving suggested that I "lean a little scifi with Marduk's stuff," so that's what I'm intending.  I just renamed this card and put a picture in (both Paul's suggestions, btw).  So, without further ado, I give you Vaporize:

Card of the Day - Grog Festival

I made two versions of this card.  The premise is that the creatures get rowdy when they are attacking, and lethargic when they are resting.  Let me know which version you like better.

Card of the Day - Meteor Strike

This card makes squishy bits out of either a potentially large chunk of guys or one or two really mean baddies on the battlefield.  If someone has a better flavor for this effect, let me know in the comments.

Card of the Day - Embue Venom/Venomous Assault

Today's card is an evolution of an idea.  It started as a black instant and evolved into a multicolored sorcery. 

Let's see how it happened.

At first I wanted a black combat trick to punish blockers.  I came up with this:

As you can see, it is quite powerful, and can rip though an unsuspecting opponent's defenses like a spark plug through window glass.   The first thing I changed was the name.  Embue Venom sounds more like an Aura than an Instant, and it doesn't feel like a whole team kind of thing.  The new name is Venomous Assault.

Once the name was changed, the card felt less black than it had previously.  Assault to me is a very red/white feeling word.  Also, I didn't like this card as an Instant. It felt too swingy. I reworked it and came up with this.

In this iteration, it forces the opponent to make a tough choice.  The little boost is nice, too. 

I like the dual hybrid cost.  It's such a strange thing, but it totally works on this card.  You can play it as Selesnya, Orzhov, Gruul, or Rakdos.  I really hope this is something WOTC explores in the future. 

For more on 4 color cards and Dragon's Maze, check out Bradley Rose's article about them, here.

Card of the Day - Inspiring Denial

So... Cancel costs 1UU, Dismiss costs 2UU, This costs 3UU.  Seems right.

Card of the Day - Aven Anachronist

I wanted to have a sub-theme in this set where the citizens are (obviously) fighting back.  The mobilizing army calls itself "The Anachronists."  Here is one of the avens that belong to that army.  I was going to make a 1/1 for 1W with the protection from colorless ability, but I wanted to give it a bit more flavor, so I made him a bird.

Card of the Day - Marduk the Merciless

This guy is nuts.  Srsly.  I don't know how well his card will be received, but DANG!  What a loon!  Probably the only 0 cost Planeswalker ever.  Probably.

Edit:  here's the suggestion in card form.  I'm not sure if -X is ok for 0 mana, but he's pretty fragile, so it's probably fine.