Aeromancy

[Ephraim]

One of the recent threads asked what would have to be done to Index to make it a good card. Well, I'm a big fan of bad cards myself and while Index had slipped under my radar, one of my favourite older cards was Visions, if only for the killer artwork.

Now, these two cards have a similar enough effect that they could readily be spliced into a somewhat better card.

Aeromancy

Instant

Look at the top four cards of your library, then put them back in any order. You may then shuffle your library. If you do, draw a card.

It has a certain elegant balance to it. You may either know what is coming, but have to wait for it or not know what is coming, but get it now. I probably could have costed it at , except it sort of does what both Index and Visions do, at instant speed. I didn't feel right making it as cheap as them, even if they are bad cards.

[Ephraim]

Current Wording:

Aeromancy

Instant

Look at the top four cards of your library, then put them back in any order. You may then shuffle your library. If you do, draw a card.

I hear the wind among the trees
Playing the celestial symphonies;
I see the branches downward bent,
Like keys of some great instrument.
--Henry Wadsworth Longfellow,
"A Day of Sunshine"

[Matt]

I knew when I saw the name that I'd like this, and I was right. However, I expected something completely different, and so this was a welcome surprise. Flavor text invoking the capriciousness of the wind would be in order.

[mouth]

Very elegant, I wish I'd made it.

[Bram]

However, I expected something completely different,

Me too. I thought it would involve giving creatures flying or something. I too really like this card. Many's the time I wished I had a way to shuffle away that horrible two-turn Brainstorm lock with no fetchland in sight. Elegant is the word, yes.

Flavor suggestions (in the line of what Matt said):

'Where hast thou wandered gentle gale to find / the perfumes thou dost bring?' -William Cullen Bryant

or

'As winds come whispering lightly from the West / Kissing, not ruffling, the blue deep's serene.' - Lord Byron

or

'A little wind kindles; much puts out the fire.' -George Herbert

[Ephraim]

I selected a different poem altogether in light of what the card does and in the spirit of aeromancy. Technically, any magic ending in 'mancy' involves invoking magic to see the future in some aspect of reality. Aeromancy peers into the motion of air, a pyromancer would gaze into a flame. Necromancy has gained a reputation as being the magic of raising the dead because before one can question the dead, one must raise them. In particular, for those of you familiar with The Sandman, Thessaly/Larissa is probably far closer to a necromancer than Lim-Dul was.

The Longfellow poem seems to highlight observing the wind's behaviour in its motion through the trees, which would be something an aeromancer might do.

[Matt]

Sandman rules.

[Jacob Orlove]

Sandman rules. :D

Totally. So does this card.

[twinky]

I love this card and its flavour text.

It would be really cool to proxy the TMD set and play with it, actually.

[Jacob Orlove]

I love this card and its flavour text.

It would be really cool to proxy the TMD set and play with it, actually.

We're working on that.

Now, it seems like this is ready to go straight to the 24 hour clock.

[Ephraim]

I'll give it its three days. Somebody might want me to change the casting cost or make it five cards. If I initiate the 24-hour clock now, I'll miss a valuable opportunity to explain why this card is just peachy the way it is.

[Ephraim]

24 Hour Clock

[Necrologia]

That looks like an awful lot of flavor text. Will that even fit on a card?

[Ephraim]

I looked at Scathe Zombies, which has roughly the same amount of flavour text and looks like it could still fit a line or two of ability text.

[Matt]

Closed and added.[/color]