Ravnica 2.0 (Szadek's Guile)

[asi]

Yes, I know it's early to revise Ravnica (like, 7 yeaes early), but I liked the set, so I created a cycle around its guils. I will post one card of the cycle per day, starting with this one:

Boros Guildhall

Enchantment- Guildhall
Creatures you control have haste, first strike and vigilance.
Creatures with multiple instances of first strike, haste or vigilance gain +1/+1.

My problems with every card of the cycle are:
-the names are placeholders. I'd like to have something that resembles the guild's philosophy, but could still be a guildhall (difficult for Rakdos and Gruul)
- I have no idea about the power level; I want them to be very good, but not broken. And they should be quite equally good
-Some have strange wordings (this one, for example) that might have to be fixed
and finally
- Are the abilities balanced (meaning equally red/white, in this case)? Does it matter if some of the cards use guild keywords (like dredge) and some do not?



Szadek's Guile

Enchantment- [Subtype]
At the beginning of your upkeep, look at the top 2 cards of target player's library. You may put any number of those into its owners graveyard.

[Anusien]

You realize the guildhalls have cards right?  They're the taps for colorless land for each one (Prahv, Sunhome, etc).

Also, why would a place be represented by an enchantment?

[Darkenslight]

I like the concept, but the execution seems flawed.  The guildhalls have been done already.  However, item from the guildhalls have not.

An example card could be:

Altar of Orzhova 
Legendary Enchantment

At the beginning of each player's upkeep, each player may discard a card.  If they don't, that player loses 2 life.

When the people pray, the merchants tax.  The money goes to the Old Families.

[asi]

You are both right- I simply ignored the uncommon guildlands (because they sucked so hard, probably). I will change it accordingly to something else (items would be an idea, but they feel too artifact-ish).


For now, here is the second card of the cycle:


Szadek's Guile

Enchantment- [Subtype]
At the beginning of your upkeep, look at the top 3 cards of target player's library. You may put any number of those into its owners graveyard.

Might be too good as it is now, but Dimir was really bad in Ravnica. Not broken, only fair, I think. And I REALLY need a subtype, but can't think of any.

@ Darkensight: I will post my Orzhov card later, but where's the white part on that card? I like the idea of an altar, but since Altars are artifacts, I'd like something more enchantment-ish.

[parallax]

First off, new cards probably should go in a new thread. Nobody is going to want to skim three pages worth of thread to locate the latest wording for ten different cards.

Second, Szadek's Guile is ridiculously broke. You can basically stop your opponent from drawing land/non-land cards for the rest of the game. This is like Zur's Weirding on crack.

[asi]

Second, Szadek's Guile is ridiculously broken. You can basically stop your opponent from drawing land/non-land cards for the rest of the game. This is like Zur's Weirding on crack.

Your opponent will draw his next card (before your first upkeep trigger), and sometimes there will be three land/non-land cards on top, but you are right, it is really too good (though not as much as you might think, I would say). Is making it two cards instead of three fair enough? It makes it a much better Millstone, but I'm okay with that.


You are right about the new threads, I just didn't want to have the forum filled with my threads. Will change it (I think the boros card will get a new thread, as the Dimir one is starting to be discussed)

[parallax]

I think maybe one card might be fair. Compare this card to Thoughtpicker Witch, which requires a creature and a mana in order to activate.

[asi]

Ok, I will compare it to Thoughtpicker Witch:

Witch:

1/1
Can be used to attack and be equipped (it's a creature)
can be used multiple times per turn
can be used the turn it comes into play
is a sacrifice outlet (I'm a Highlander-player. It is very important in Highlander to survive a Control Magic/ Treachery)

This one

will work only with a one-turn delay
only one use per turn
is not a creature
multicoloured
does not remove cards

but:
more difficult to remove
better effect on your own library
does not need any creatures



and: Thoughtpicker Witch is a horrible card.
Also, with two cards, the chance to reveal two lands or two non-lands in a 24 lands/36 non-lands deck is about 60 %, if I'm not mistaken. If you choose both cards, this really only mills for two, so it's hard to deny your opponent ressources.

[parallax]

If your plan is to stop your opponent from drawing lands only, the opponent needs to have three lands in a row in order to ever get another land. The only time they will draw a card off their deck that you haven't seen will be if you reveal two lands, and put them both in the graveyard. Then, the top card of their library must be a land for them to draw it. Also, in order for two lands to be on top of their deck, one of the previous two cards must have been a land, otherwise you would have revealed two non-land cards and put them both on top. The probability of this arrangement is 4.1% per draw step. (As opposed to 40% per draw step.) This is dramatically unfair.

If your plan is stop your opponent from drawing nonlands, their probability increases to 18.1% per draw step.