World's first enchantment artifact

[Matt]

It's not often we get a card here that starts with the flavor and not the mechanics, but I got one for ya.

Numinous Narthex
<cost>
Enchantment Artifact
<ability>
The arch stood alone in a clearing, the dense forest surrounding it pushed back to the horizon. Both real and unreal, an object and a presence, it drew us to it like moths to the flame.

I got the idea of making an Enchantment Artifact from the other thread where Machinus mentioned the monolith from 2001. I figured it would make a neat card, but it needs a badass ability, not some protection/lifeline thing we've seen before.

As for the name, I pieced together some great lesser-known words:

nar·thex
   1. A portico or lobby of an early Christian or Byzantine church or basilica, originally separated from the nave by a railing or screen.
   2. An entrance hall leading to the nave of a church.

nu·mi·nous
   1. Of or relating to a numen; supernatural.
   2. Filled with or characterized by a sense of a supernatural presence: a numinous place.

nu·men
   1. A presiding divinity or spirit of a place.
   2. A spirit believed by animists to inhabit certain natural phenomena or objects.
   3. Creative energy; genius.

The idea is that the narrator has been hacking their way through a great, dense forest for days, only to stumble out into a wide, perfectly circular clearing. It's so big that at the center, the trees are at the horizon. And in the center is this large, weirdly glowing stone portal. Like a cross between 2001's monolith and Star Trek's Guardian of Forever.

[Matt]

Current wording:

Numinous Narthex

Artifact Enchantment
Spend only colorless mana to play Numinous Narthex.
<abilities>
The arch stood alone in a clearing, the dense forest surrounding it pushed back to the horizon. Both real and unreal, an object and a presence, it drew us to it like moths to the flame.

[Machinus]

Very cool idea. Artifact + Land is a more distant connection than this, and that has already been done, so this is cool. I will see if there is a way for my card to interact better with this new type.

[Matt]

Well it's not like you couldn't have an artifact enchantment already. Opalescence and Ashnod's Transmogrant can see to that! Plus that Opal guy and Still Life.

[Liam-K]

I'm trying to think of the way this card should work to match the flavor of a magical field that is also a physical object.

The best I can come up with is giving it a passive effect while untapped and an activated ability that taps it.

[Ephraim]

I don't think I like this idea. The entire idea why Disenchant works on artifacts in the first place is that an artifact is essentially an enchanted object.

[Machinus]

I don't think I like this idea. The entire idea why Disenchant works on artifacts in the first place is that an artifact is essentially an enchanted object.

If the black monolith from 2001 isn't "enchanted," what is it? It is like an artifact, but its power is supernatural and it enchants the beings around it. It is basically a global enchantment with artifact properties.

[Jacob Orlove]

I don't think I like this idea. The entire idea why Disenchant works on artifacts in the first place is that an artifact is essentially an enchanted object.

I think there are ways we could work this out. For example, what about an enchantment effect that you could somehow decompose into separate parts (a la pentavus)? That's something that only artifacts can do.

Edit: doesn't fit much with the current flavor, though.

[Matt]

The best I can come up with is giving it a passive effect while untapped and an activated ability that taps it.

I like this idea a lot.

[49 Cents]

I'm not feeling this. 'Echantment Artifact' just doesn't sound good..

[BlueJay]

Me either.
Most tapless artifacts already have the same effect as enchantments. What's the point? Just for the sake of it?

[Matt]

For flavor reasons, of course. Also I am thinking about making an "enchantment block" though doing it right this time (Saga was supposed to be an enchantment block).

[rvs]

So, wouldn't this be an Aura Artifact? As per the current template.

[Machinus]

No, its not an "Enchant Artifact," its an "Enchantment Artifact," meaning it has both card types, and acts as a global enchantment or continuous/tapless artifact.

[Liam-K]

The best I can come up with is giving it a passive effect while untapped and an activated ability that taps it.

I like this idea a lot.

Alright, working backwards from the flavour then.

"Numinous" comes across as vaguely blue.  The flavour text mentions a large forest, tying it to green.  Intelligence and growth on an awe-inspiring level.  Since tihs is a flavour card the activated and passive abilites should be somehow connected, though not neccecarily in a linear way.  In addition, everything we have so far suggests to me the object in question is rather powerful in it's own right, so I think the activated ability's cost should be minimal as you'd be more turning it on than channeling your own energy through it.  You also describe it as an archway and define it as an entranceway of sorts, so I'm thinking it should be associated with passage in some way.

What comes to mind for me at this point is evasion.  "Unblockable" is something blue and green share, and it deals with the passage aspect.  I think that as an activated ability this is a touch lame, so I suggest some form of unblockable-bestowing effect for your creatures as the passive.  If we do that, we need to address the inherent problem of using it twice in one turn by tapping it after your attack phase.  The simple solution that occurs to me is make it an upkeep effect.

My creativity is about used up for now, maybe I've given you something to work with though.

[wardo]

Definitions of "Enchantments" and "Artifacts" just contradict themselves as R&D sees them. Of course, there sometimes are stuff that twist the flavors (Mycosynth Lattice, Opalescence), but I'm fine with it as long as it's multiple cards (there are also Birds that grab SoFIs, etc.). I hope an Enchantment-Artifact never gets printed though.

[Anusien]

The issue I see is you're also going to have a colored artifact, and those are nasty.  The whole mechanic of an artifact is it's generic, and available to all colors.  This sets costing at an interesting level.  Enchantments are by the very definition colored.

By the way, I don't like it.  I think these are two very distinct spheres and should remain that way.  You're putting a magical field (an enchantment) and emobdying it in a physical object: that's the very definition of an artifact.

[Matt]

I think most of you aren't understanding the flavor I'm getting at. This is not an animated piece of rock or metal at all. It's not some clockwork contraption powered by magic; parts of it are MADE of solidified magic (and some parts are not, being made of more mundane materials). It's supposed to be a projection into this reality of an extraplanar object which exists in multiple (perhaps infinite?) dimensions. Don't get me wrong - it's no hologram or ghost; you can touch this thing, it's just that it has subtle, weird facets not easily percieved by any but the highest planeswalkers.

The other defining characteristic of artifacts is that they are "real", solid things, things you can pick up and touch and store in a vault and smash with a hammer. I think this is sufficiently removed from that concept of "artifact" to justify the peculiar card type.

So, wouldn't this be an Aura Artifact? As per the current template.

Because this obviously causes some confusion with the new Aura template, I'm making it "Artifact Enchantment" instead of "Enchantment Artifact."

[waSP]

Numinous is a very green spirited word.  It's not something that is acquired through study (at least not blue's studying).  Look at the definitions.  The word numinous looks blue.  It's meaning is green.

[dandan]

For flavour reasons this should be indestructible except to things that can destroy an Artifact and an Enchantment i.e. Disenchant/Naturalise. I like the idea of a continous effect plus an activate ability. Depending on the ability it might also 'switch' the continous ability.

For example

CE : March of the Machines
AE Tap: All lands are creatures until EOT
CE : Titania's Song (toggles when AE is used)

This would basically give you the option of making anything live. Pretty savage with Wrath but would kill itself too.

[Ephraim]

If it exists across all dimensions and you have themed it as an arch (just one of many synonyms for door or portal,) may I suggest the following ability:

, , Sacrifice Numinous Narthex: Search your library for a World Enchantment card and put that card into play.

[Matt]

Eph: I like that ability, but I think it should have a second, continuous ability too, something to do with the eerie glow it gives off.

Here's a boondoggle of a question: should the mana cost include colored mana or not? I'm preferring yes, because otherwise you lose a lot of the enchantment distinction, but I can see an argument for no.

[silvernail]

so lets get this straight its an artifact that has been made from magic, not an object that magic has effected.

Well this to me would suggest that it gets abliities based on what magic you make it with or is somehow otherwise effected by color, however is still colorless.

perhaps something like this:

Anthropromorphic Medallion
X
Aura Artifact
This card counts as an Aura and as an Artifact. (possible template idea)
Sunburst(This card comes into play with a charge counter on it for each color of mana used to cast this card)
1, Remove a charge counter:Choose a color. Until end of turn Anthropromorphic Medallion becomes that color and all spells of that color cost 1 less to play.
Sacrifice an Aura or an Artifact: Add a charge counter to Anthropromorphic Medallion.

using sunburst allows the magic that makes it some how effect it, and you can also repair it by sacrificing more magic or artifacts.

[Jacob Orlove]

I don't think you understand what Auras are. Cards that are enchantments are STILL enchantments. They have enchantment printed on the type line. "Aura" is a subtype, much like "equipment". On their type lines, Auras say "Enchantment - Aura".

This card is NOT an Aura, because it is not enchanting a permanent. It is a regular enchantment. How is that confusing?

[Ephraim]

Eph: I like that ability, but I think it should have a second, continuous ability too, something to do with the eerie glow it gives off.

Here's a boondoggle of a question: should the mana cost include colored mana or not? I'm preferring yes, because otherwise you lose a lot of the enchantment distinction, but I can see an argument for no.

It should not cost coloured mana. It has been said before that artifacts are, essentially, colourless enchantments. Since colourlessness is part of what defines artifacts, I think this must remain colourless. As far as the ability that goes with it, would you mind something else pertaining to world enchantments, such as, "World enchantments can't be the target of spells or abilities."

[Matt]

No, I'd really like for it to either do something in decks not entirely built around it, or be a REAL GOOD enabler, such that you wouldn't imagine building a World Enchantment deck without it (think Wild Mongrel).

[dandan]

I think this has to require coloured mana or else it wouldn't be an Enchantment. Artifacts don't care what mana you use which is different from requiring only colourless mana (actually THAT is not a bad idea)

I like the Sunburst udea (but not the Helm ability on crack) as any deck could use this card.

So having said that, the idea that came into my head as I was writing does seem to be a viable alternative too. Enchantments require you to spend mana of a specific colour. What if you could only pay for this with colourless? That would tie in with Enchantments requiring specific mana but also with it being an Artifact, not one nor the other but both, strangely different to all that has come before it.

We have come to a crossroads. Matt, where are we heading with this?

[Matt]

Dandan, I really like that idea. That is very clever - it's "colored" and yet not. Any deck can use it...if they themselves are running painlands and...uh, cards from the [card]Tainted Wood[/card] cycle. And Ancient Tomb-style cards. And Wastelands.

I think that's pretty much all the most common colorless sources.

I will sleep on this and decide where to go with it tomorrow. We've had a bunch of good ideas.

[silvernail]

ah auras are a subtype -  didn't know, its recent and i haven't looked up its actual wording so meh.

As for the helm ability on crack, it was just to show how using color could effect one of these cards, not nessicarliy a good card in and of itself.And on second though the medallion should have an additional ability that reads: artifacts cost 1 less to play as long as this card is colorless. This fits in with it working as an enchantment with a continuous ability.

[Ephraim]

I suppose this might be a little bit complicated, but since you wanted it to be like the monolith in 2001: A Space Odyssey and you wanted it to have Sunburst, I came up with an idea that sort of incorporates both. You'd probably have to totally scrap the bit about world enchantments, though, becasue it has absolutely nothing to do with what I'm about to suggest.

Sunburst
, : Remove target creature you control from the game.
, Sacrifice a creature, : Choose a card removed from the game with Numinous Narthex. Put that card into play with +1/+1 counters on it equal to the number of charge counters on Numinous Narthex.

It's a powerful set of abilities -- certainly worthy of a cost of or more, which would allow you to maximize the benefit from Sunburst.