Tome of Secrets

[LennoxLewis86]

This is very weird card but who doesn't like weird cards?

Examining the Tome of Secrets

4W

Sorcery

Choose one - Search your library for a basic land card and put it into play tapped, Tome of Secrets deals 2 damage to target creature or player, return target creature with converted mana cost 3 or less from your graveyard to play or look at the top three cards of your library and put them in any order, then draw a card.

''This book contains the techniques being used by mages with different histories. Judgment will be brought upon them when we fight fire with fire.''
- Elspeth Tirel, Knight Errant

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It's expensive but it's an Unearth, Shock, Ponder or Rampant Growth. Whatever you want to be doing at that particular moment. It's kind of awesome because white has been getting weaker and weaker over time. Especially when they printed Damnation, Wrath of God lost it's shine and value. There is little white has to offer what other colors can't do except gaining life (which green does as well, only better).

So this card means payback time, getting shocked by a white card is pretty funny and seeing that it costs 5 mana I'd say it's pretty fair. Also, this HAS to be a rare. Rares are either very strong cards or at least cards that do something special.

I'm not sure if this card is playable. I can only see this being played in a mono white control deck that wants to be able to do something special without having to resort to splashing colors.

[Anusien]

The answer to White sucking is not to give it all of the other colors' cool abilities at 5 times the cost.

[LennoxLewis86]

It's not the answer to white sucking, calling it ''payback time'' was supposed to be a joke, or did you think I was trying to break formats with this? It's more of a symbolic card where a white planeswalker creates a book to lash out at the other colors in the same manner white has lost it's power throughout the years. It's supposed to be a cool card, not a good card... But if you ask me, I'd love playing this in a casual but competitive mono white deck. Shocking a creature or Unearthing one seems pretty funny to me with a mono white deck.

How about making it ? If someone wants to play this he can ONLY do so in a mono white deck, that's the idea of the entire card. White lashes out at the other colors and doesn't want to allign. And having a converted mana cost of 3 actually makes it pretty good.

[Anusien]

If your intent was to create a card that is weird and massively out of flavor, then congratulations I guess.

[LennoxLewis86]

If you read more carefully it's not that much out of flavor. That's what I was trying to explain in my original post. I am trying to make a symbolic card and I outlined the reason for doing so. Feel free to dislike the idea, but your responses could be more constructive as I'm only trying this for the first time and it's reactions like this that discourage me from trying again. Your last comment is dripping with sarcasm. I'm not really sure why you can't give normal constructive advice.

[Anusien]

You intentionally made a card that is White bleeding four out of White abilities into White for some reason that's made up and isn't quite clear.  The whole point of the White color is that it isn't going to house arcane tomes to do this sort of thing, nor is Elspeth (a White-aligned Planeswalker) going to create an artifact like this anyway.

It's not the answer to white sucking, calling it ''payback time'' was supposed to be a joke, or did you think I was trying to break formats with this? It's more of a symbolic card where a white planeswalker creates a book to lash out at the other colors in the same manner white has lost it's power throughout the years.

This is a pretty flimsy answer.  I don't think you're supposed to look at the color pie in game terms as some shifting thing.  It just is what it is.

Like yes, you've created a fine, flexible white card.  However, you've intentionally created a spell that is everything but white, and put it into white.  This is the kind of card where we can't print, but Wizards can.  They get to break the rules; we don't.

[Matt]

Why not have it be, like, White Cryptic?

CARDNAME

Sorcery Instant
Choose one two - Search your library for a basic land plains card and put it into play tapped; ~this~ deals 2 damage to target attacking or blocking creature or player; return target creature with converted mana cost 3 or less from your graveyard to play; or look at the top three cards of your library and put them in any order, then draw a card shuffle target enchantment into its owner's library, then that player draws a card.

I left the unearth thing because white can do that (Order of Whiteclay) and I white-ified the others (some creative liberties were taken). Also made it an instant and changed the cost. Now it's both in-pie AND much, much better! I would be excited to play this rewrite of the card in ways that a 5cc Rampant Growth could never make me.

[Anusien]

You might be able to straight-up destroy an attacking or blocking creature for half of 1WWW.

I think you could Oblation artifacts too, in addition to Enchantments.

[LennoxLewis86]

Yes, making it a Cryptic Command kind of card is a good idea. Then we can forget about the whole Tome thing/flavourtext because Anusien raises a good point: Elspeth wouldn't create an artifact book to bash other colors with unfamiliair magic tricks.

seems pretty fair for what the card is capable of. When I'm looking at Cryptic Command an an example most of the available options the card provide cost (Counterspell and Boomerang). Drawing a card costs one (or rather 1/2 of when looking at cards like Ponder, Serum Visions and Sleight of Hand). Finally, tapping down all creatures should cost about I guess.

With that in mind I think it's fair to raise the powerlevel a little bit. I think shooting 3 damage to an attacking or blocking creature is fair as many white cards can even remove attacking or blocking creatures from the game for 1 mana (straight up destroying is an option too but I'd prefer the ''red'' in this ability). The Rampant Growth searching up Plains is a great idea. Unearth is fine. I think the last ability could be more ''blue'' so let's give it the Burst of Energy ability. Tap or untap target permanent. It's very Twiddly but white has proven it can do those tricks as well.

Finally I'd like to add that the initial idea of making it so expenise is that I wanted to make sure it's caster would pay extra mana as some kind of fine (in lack of better words) seeing that being able to shock a player with a white card is fun but completely unfair. Other than that, I didn't want to make the mistake of creating a card that is out of flavour as well as powerful. That would make it a little over the top, or just lame.

That being said, I completely agree with the new ideas. The card is not only much better, but also more fun.

I picture the art being the same as the Command cycle, where magic escapes a jar and flows into four different directions. The colors blue, black, green and red should be a little visible in the different streams so that the idea behind the card is visible in it's artwork.

EDIT: Burst of Energy doesn't tap, so maybe that's no a very good idea. I'm not sure if white is supposed to tap doen lands and stuff.

[Darkenslight]

What about the combat ability being, "target player sacrifices an attacking or blocking creature"?