Production Scheduling

[Ephraim]

Production Scheduling

Enchantment

Remove an artifact card in your hand from the game face up.
: Put a manufacturing counter on the last card removed from the game by Production Scheduling.
Remove X counters from a card removed from the game by Production Scheduling, where X is that card's converted mana cost: Put that card into play. Play this ability only any time you could play a sorcery.

***

[card]Crumbling Sanctuary[/card] was initially called "Battletech World" because it simulated the way in which Battletech deals with damage. This card is another inspiration from Battletech -- this time simulating the manner in which cards are paid for. Instead of having to pay for one's artifacts all at once, one can use this card to pay for one's artifacts in installments. Note that I have intentionally set it up that if you remove more than one card at a time, without first paying for the first artifact in full, it will be forever lost.

[Ephraim]

Current Wording:

Assembly Line
{2}{U}
Enchantment

Imprint -- {1}: Remove a nonland artifact card in your hand from the game face up.
{1}: Put a charge counter on the last imprinted card.
Remove X charge counters from an imprinted card, where X is that card's converted mana cost: Put that card into play. Play this ability only any time you could play a sorcery.

[Jacob Orlove]

What is that first line supposed to do?

[Ephraim]

Oops. How'd that slip by me? It's supposed to be : Remove an artifact card in your hand from the game face up. That is, of course, unless there's a more appropriate way to word it.

[Marco]

Well, it's new and different, so therefore I like it! The name has got to go, however.

Shouldn't it be "Remove X maufacturing counters..."?

[Ephraim]

Well, it's new and different, so therefore I like it! The name has got to go, however.

Shouldn't it be "Remove X maufacturing counters..."?

You are correct. Boy, was I ever sloppy when I wrote up this card. :\
It's fixed now.

[Nefarias]

I can't really think of any way to do it, but if the artifact could be in play while you were paying for it, that'd be great.

Also, I don't think this needs to use a goofy counter name. Charge counters seem just fine for this.

[Ephraim]

I can't use charge counters because the counters actually go on the card. Imagine using this with Darksteel Reactor. Obviously it isn't the the world's best victory condition, but you could remove the Reactor from the game, pay twenty four mana over the course of any number of turns to give it twenty four charge counters, then bring it into play by removing four of them. You'd immediately win. Likewise, you could charge up Pentad Prisms to provide you with really good colour fixing, you could charge up Magistrate's Scepter for several additional turns -- and all of those extra charge counters would cost each. I definitely think that it's better to stick with the manufacturing counters (unless people really think that what I just described is more of a feature than a bug.)

[corncob]

Sounds like a feature to me.  Turning Darksteel Reactor into a viable win condition isn't necessarily a bad thing, plus it also has a extra option to separate it from Ice cauldron.  Heck, you only have to put 13 counters on it; you can Dismantle it after your next upkeep.

Also, from looking at the wording, I'd change it to an Imprint template and change the last ability to an upkeep trigger.

[Ephraim]

Thank you for suggesting the Imprint mechanic. That actually cleans up the wording of this card nicely. Nobody else really commented on the feature/bug problem, but after thinking about it, I decided that it was interesting, but definitely not overpowered. I'm keeping the wording on the ability that lets the cards be put into play. I definitely don't want it to be playable only once a turn and I want the player to have a bit of discretion concerning when during his turn the card comes into play.

[Matt]

This card is 100% great, I love it.

[Marco]

Sweet. Now we just need to work on the name.

[corncob]

Assembly Line?

[Laurie Cheers]

I think it's a bit weird to put the counters on the imprinted card. What about:

Imprint - 0: Remove an artifact card in your hand from the game face up, then remove all charge counters from Production Scheduling.

1: Put a charge counter on Production Scheduling.

Remove X charge counters from Production Scheduling: Put the last imprinted card into play. X is the converted mana cost of that card.


Incidentally, the most similar existing card is probably Iceberg...

[Matt]

Assembly Line is a wonderful name.

[Ephraim]

Laurie, if we do that, we lose the cool synergy we just developed with cards that actually use charge counters. Furthermore, it prevents somebody from building up a lot of completed artifacts out of play and dropping them into play all at once (one of the things I wanted this card to be able to do). I think I'm going to leave it just as it is (aside from renaming it Assembly Line)

[Ephraim]

24 Hour Clock

[corncob]

What about artifact lands?

[Ephraim]

Ugh...You're right. It behaves like fastbond-plus for artifact lands. Oh well, easily enough fixed -- I'll make it work for "nonland artifacts" only.

Also, do you suppose I ought to make the first ability (the one that removes the card from the game) cost or ? As it stands, even if you've got the mana to play an artifact, you're better off using this, since it makes your artifacts uncounterable. That's not really the intended purpose of this card, so I'd like to discourage people from using this to play every artifact that comes through their hands.

[GMontag]

Would the charge counters put on the RFG'd card actually carry through to the permanent when it comes into play? I thought when permanents came into play they forgot about their previous existences in other zones.

[Nibble]

Also, do you suppose I ought to make the first ability (the one that removes the card from the game) cost or ? As it stands, even if you've got the mana to play an artifact, you're better off using this, since it makes your artifacts uncounterable. That's not really the intended purpose of this card, so I'd like to discourage people from using this to play every artifact that comes through their hands.

Could also be done with a rewording:

Remove X charge counters from an imprinted card, where X is that card's converted mana cost: You may play that card without paying its mana cost.

Not sure, but it might need to have an 'until end of turn', because with this you can do weird stuff like use this ability for one card but not play it yet, then imprint another and dump them both, and you have to remember which ones you did and didn't pay for... it just might get messy.

Unfortunately, I think trying to use this wording would make the transfer of charge counters completely impossible. Maybe just a for imprinting would be easier. And you could explain it flavor-wise to be the overhead associated with manufacturing the product.

[Ephraim]

24 Hour Clock

[Matt]

Closed and added.[/color]