Land//Spell cycle

[Polynomial P]

I thought about making a cycle of cards, one for each color, that can be played as either a spell or a land. The cards would be split cards, like the Apocalypse spells. To avoid confusion i think that the spell half should be limited to instants or sorceries, so that if the card is in play it is obviously a land, which would eliminate some confusion.

These cards would have to be limited in some way: the land half would have to have some drawback and the spell half would have to be no better than any spell printed. I think the drawback for the land should be either CIPT or function as a pain land.

Here are my initial creations:

Red Land name // Red Spell name
Add  to your mana pool and ~this~ deals one damage to you. // 1 Sorcery: ~This~ deals 2 damage divided as you choose among any number of target creatures and/or players

Black Land name // Black Spell name
Add  to your mana pool and ~this~ deals one damage to you. // 2 Instant: Destroy target nonartifact, nonblack creature.

White Land name // White Spell name
Add  to your mana pool and ~this~ deals one damage to you. // 2 Instant: Remove target attacking creature from the game.

Blue Land name // Blue Spell name
Add  to your mana pool and ~this~ deals one damage to you. // Instant: Return target non-land permanent to its owners hand.

Green Land name // Green Spell name
Add  to your mana pool and ~this~ deals one damage to you. // 1{G}{G} Sorcery: Put a 3/3 green Elephant token into play.

None of the effects are overpowering and thats how I want it. Compare to Fire, Terror, Devouring Light, Boomerang, and Pulse of the Tangle. All of these spells are slightly worse than their predecessor, but have the ability to be a land if you are mana starved.

Current Wording:

Red Land name // Red Spell name
Add  to your mana pool and ~this~ deals one damage to you. // 1 Sorcery: ~This~ deals 2 damage divided as you choose among any number of target creatures and/or players

Black Land name // Black Spell name
Add  to your mana pool and ~this~ deals one damage to you. // 2 Instant: Destroy target nonartifact, nonblack creature.

White Land name // White Spell name
Add  to your mana pool and ~this~ deals one damage to you. // 2 Instant: Remove target attacking creature from the game.

Blue Land name // Blue Spell name
Add  to your mana pool and ~this~ deals one damage to you. // Instant: Return target non-land permanent to its owners hand.

Green Land name // Green Spell name
Add  to your mana pool and ~this~ deals one damage to you. // 1{G}{G} Sorcery: Put a 3/3 green Elephant token into play.

[Jacob Orlove]

The threshold lands (barbarian ring, etc) provide similar utility, but without insane rules issues.

Note that zero split cards to date have been permanents. It's seriously way too confusing.

[asmoranomardicodais]

Note that zero split cards to date have been permanents. It's seriously way too confusing.

Erayo, Curse of the Fire Penguin, Nighteyes, Enlightened Bushi?


Seriously though, why not template these as flip cards instead, since Orlove is probably right about rules issues. What I'm saying, is have the lands trigger to flip, become the spell, and then hit the graveyard. Its not the original idea, but then the drawback of the land would simply be the fact that the opponent can trigger it to get rid of your lands. What I'm thinking is this:

Ancestral Island
Land

T: Add U to your mana pool
When an opponent draws more than one card during his or her turn, flip ~this~

//

Teferi's Recall
Instant

Draw three cards


Or, to make it a simpler mechanic:

Swamp of Terror
Land

T: add B to your mana pool
When a creature comes into play, flip ~this~

//

Yawgmoth's Verdict
Instant

Destroy target non-artifact, non-black creature


See, Those kinda keep some of the same idea, without the memory issues. Does anyone like these?

[Ephraim]

They don't even need to flip in that case, asmoranomardicodais.  You template them this way: When [conditon], sacrifice this.  If you do, [effect].

[Jacob Orlove]

Note that zero split cards to date have been permanents. It's seriously way too confusing.

Erayo, Curse of the Fire Penguin, Nighteyes, Enlightened Bushi?

Those aren't split cards. These are all the split cards that currently exist:
Assault // Battery
Fire // Ice
Illusion // Reality
Life // Death
Night // Day
Order // Chaos
Pain // Suffering
Spite // Malice
Stand // Deliver
Wax // Wane
Who/What/When/Where/Why

Flip cards are definitely a good way to go if you want to have a permanent that turns into another permanent. They're totally unneccessary for land/spells, as Ephraim points out.

Again, I have to ask why we can't just use the threshold lands as the basic template for these?

[Polynomial P]

Again, I have to ask why we can't just use the threshold lands as the basic template for these?

Because not every new card has to fit into previous templating, as the game would become boring. Magic has always been about increasing the complexity of cards and pushing their limits.

That being said, the original ideas may be poor in design. Ephraim's and amoran...'s ideas are interesting. Maybe these should be reworked and templated as triggered events. I have a few ideas on how to rework them.

Add to your mana pool and ~this~ deals one damage to you. When your opponent is dealt damage sacrifice ~this~ and do 2 damage to target creature or player.

Add to your mana pool and ~this~ deals one damage to you. When your opponent draws more than one card in a turn sacrifice ~this~ and draw 2 cards.

Add to your mana pool and ~this~ deals one damage to you. When a creature goes to the graveyard from play, sacrifice ~this~ and destroy target creature your opponent controls.

Add to your mana pool and ~this~ deals one damage to you. When your opponent plays a creature, sacrifice ~this~ and put a 3/3 green elephant token into play.

Add to your mana pool and ~this~ deals one damage to you. When you are the target of a spell or ability, sacrifice ~this~ and gain 5 life.


These lands have an added complexity to them since your opponent can trigger their destruction. Thoughts?

[Godder]

They don't even need to flip in that case, asmoranomardicodais. You template them this way: When [conditon], sacrifice this. If you do, [effect].

What he said, or, if you don't want it to be compulsory, you can put "you may sacrifice this". Alternatively, you can just put the abilities on the cards, with a condition along these lines:

[Cost]: [Effect]. Play this ability only if [condition]. For example:

Land

T: Add B to your mana pool.
Tap, Sacrifice ~this~: Destroy target non-black, non-artifact creature. You may play this ability only if any opponent has put a creature into play this turn.

Another option is cycling or channel if you want an effect that can be played from hand, with the "play this ability only if" condition if desired.

[Ephraim]

Again, I have to ask why we can't just use the threshold lands as the basic template for these?

Because not every new card has to fit into previous templating, as the game would become boring. Magic has always been about increasing the complexity of cards and pushing their limits.

I think there are some serious flaws in this train of logic.  Althiough Magic has persistently broken new ground, it doesn't mean that you should use a new template solely for the purpose of doing so.  If a card fits into an existing template, you use that template.  It is only when you're doing something entirely new that is not covered by the present state of the rules that you create a new template to handle what you're doing.

Furthermore, I think it is false to suggest that Magic is about increasing complexity and pushing limits.  Yes, the design philosophy always expands into new territory, but that territory is often within the boundaries of what the game allows.  Replicate, for example, is basically within the realm of Kicker (isn't everything?) Haunt, on the other hand, is similar in some regards to Imprint, but is otherwise totally new.  Using Replicate and Haunt as examples again, Replicate is not complicated.  Aside from some misconceptions regarding how many spells you've played when you replicate something, it's a very intuitive keyword mechanic.  Haunt is somewhat more difficult to understand mechanically, but it follows perfectly from the flavour of haunting, especially as ghosts are depicted on the plane of Ravnica.  Magic is not about increasing in complexity, but about increasing in diversity.  The game is better when diversity is achieved with a minimal increase in complexity. (Don't follow that argument too far.  I understand that complex interactions are fundamentally more skill-testing than simple ones, which can also benefit the game.)

(By the way -- Channel would also be an applicable keyword for these cards.)

[Jacob Orlove]

Channel is a good one to use.

I didn't mean that these had to work only when you had threshold, just that they could be lands with an extra ability that you can't just use immediately (because if you have unrestricted use of the alternate ability, the land will probably have to just tap for colorless).