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loreholdlesbian · 22 days ago

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Aetherdrift Play Booster Challenge

I always like to make a custom booster pack of cards to accompany a set release. (Once we start getting more UniBey sets this might change; I didn't do one for LotR cause I'm not overly familiar with it and that's gonna be happening more and more.) This is styled after a contest from GDS3 and in that vein, I try to make cards that not only would feel appropriate as part of the set, but also that are pushing in new directions.

Art Links

Caravan Leader's art by Stephan S. Gibson

Naktamun's Reconstruction's art by majrat

Thoptergraft's art by Sébastien Levieux

Reluctant Racer's art by Jose Ferrer

Spin Your Wheels's art by kwee85

Ranger's Foreunner's art by Cranash64

Vizier of Bindings's art by Sephiroth-Art

Guidelight Compassbot's art by Elliott Chatham

Ride Again's art by azazel1944

Goblin Gizmonaut's art by Scorbutman

Accumulated Swarm's art by anastasia

Cloudspire Elite's art by Javier Alcalde

All-Terrain Bike's art by Ash Pierce

Rares

Card transcription

Caravan Leader 2WW Creature- Llama Mount Vigilance Other Mounts and Vehicles you control have vigilance. Whenever this creature attacks while saddled for the first time each turn, take an additional combat step after this one. Saddle 4 4/4

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I wanted a good reward for Mounts and Vehicles and I thought an extra combat felt like one that would play well. Normally that would be red, but a strong reward like this would definitely rather be in GW in this set, and white can get extra combats so this felt like a good opportunity to explore it. I did vigilance granting to make it feel more white, not just something red can do.

Card transcription

Naktamun's Reconstruction 3WW Enchantment Start your engines! (If you have no speed, it starts at 1. It increases once on each of your turns when an opponent loses life. Max speed is 4.) You may cast artifact and creature spells from your graveyard if their mana value is less than or equal to your speed. If you cast a spell this way, that permanent enters with a finality counter on it.

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This was the last card I made for the set and it was largely a "free slot". I'd covered most things I wanted to in the booster- I had a good spread of colors, I'd hit the major mechanics, I even had a representative of each team. The only real constraint is that I didn't want the design to be a creature or make tokens, cause the pack is pretty creature-slot heavy. I considered making a Muraganda-themed card, but I was having trouble coming up with a good Muraganda-themed noncreature design, especially when none of the mechanics really fit- Start your engines didn't really make sense, and I had a good deal of cycling and exhaust cards in the pack already. So I just came up with a general design I like.

Uncommons

Card transcription

Thoptergraft 3U Enchantment- Aura Enchant artifact or creature When this Aura enters, draw a card. Enchanted permanent is an artifact creature, gets +2/+2, and has flying.

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This is a weird little modal card that I think does a good job of tying together set themes. I wanted to do an artifact animation card that worked well with Vehicles, since the whole set has a vehicles theme and blue in specific had an artifact theme. I considered more direct wording that animated, and also set a power and toughness unless the card was a vehicle, but I didn't like it as much. This version was more fitting in giving a better reward to Vehicles, and also more novel. I also settled on letting it enchant normal creatures as well to make it less of a narrow card, partially because I already had cycling on a good few cards that needed it more, but also I just thought it would play well. The ability to turn your normal creatures into artifact creatures isn't nothing in this set though; it's a bump for all your artifacts-matter cards in blue.

Card transcription

Reluctant Racer 1B Creature- Human Survivor Survival - At the beginning of your second main phase, if this creature is tapped, create a tapped 1/1 colorless Toy artifact creature token. 2/2 "We all do what we must to make it to tomorrow"

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I'm honestly really disappointed that we didn't get a new survival card in the set. With a duskmourn team, having a mechanic from duskmourn worm its way into the set feels flavorful and survival is the obvious choice with its crew/saddle synergy. That basic concept was in the pack from the start, I just needed to figure out what it should do. Since the duskmourn team was in UB and had an artifact theme, it made sense to tie the card into that somehow. But just making it an artifact creature didn't really make sense; there's not a good flavor for an artifact survivor. So I settled on making artifact tokens instead, and Toy or Scarecrow was the most flavorful option. Toy felt better for the 1/1 token I wanted, so I went with that.

Card transcription

Spin Your Wheels 1R Enchantment When this enchantment enters, draw a card. Each card in your hand has cycling 1. (1, Discard that card: Draw a card.) At the beginning of the end step, sacrifice this enchantment.

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I'm really, really proud of this name. There's the most obvious level, that "spin your wheels" is associated with cars so it's a reasonable name for a card in this set. On top of that, there's the fact that "discard your hand then draw that many cards" effects are called "wheels" in mtg slang, and this card is a play on that. But then finally, this style of gameplay, where you're drawing a bunch of cards and doing a lot of things but not necessarily adding anything to the board, is often called "spinning your wheels" in mtg slang because you're doing a lot but not necessarily going anywhere. It just all game together well. As for the actual card, I think it'd be a hell of a lot of fun to play. It helps you sculpt your hand, but has a very frantic, impulsive feel to it with only being around for a single turn that feels very red. It also plays really really great with the discard payoffs in this set; cycling through several cards while you have Maurading Mako out is gonna feel good. Giving everything cycling 1 is definitely a very powerful effect, but I think the one-turn limit does a lot to keep it in check.

Card transcription

Ranger's Forerunner 2G Creature- Elf Ranger Whenever a creature you control attacks, if you've activated an exhaust ability of that creature, put a +1/+1 counter on it. Exhaust- 3G: Put a +1/+1 counter on this creature. (Activate each exhaust ability only once.) 3/3 "Sometimes all that's holding you back is not knowing it was possible."

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Exhaust is a cool new tool in the toolbox and I wanted to play around with it. One neat thing is that, since exhaust is already asking you to remember whether you've exhausted it, it's not really asking any more of you to make cards that key off of whether a card's been exhausted. Putting +1/+1 counters on them feels like an appropriate reward, since many exhaust cards are using a +1/+1 counter as a memory tool to help you remember whether you activated the ability. And just like how it's not really asking anything extra of you to check if you've activated an exhaust ability of a creature, you can start putting counters on creatures willy nilly once they're already exhausted since you don't have to worry about memory issues. I also just think that this card in a vacuum plays neat; you have to pay the mana to get the exhaust going, but once you do it continues growing from there.

Commons

Card transcription

Vizier of Bindings 2W Creature- Zombie Cat Cleric Whenever this creature becomes tapped during your turn, you may put a stun counter on it. When you do, tap target artifact or creature an opponent controls and put a stun counter on it. (If a permanent with a stun counter on it would become untapped, remove a stun counter from it instead.) 3/1

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I wanted to make a fun stun counter card to play around with the tapping shenanigans that happens in the Vehicles and Mounts set, and it came out exactly like I hoped. It can attack, but its low toughness makes that a risky prospect, so you really want to play this with vehicles and mounts. And it's just using stun counters in I think an interesting way, as an optional cost for an effect. I made it amonkhet flavored because it feels so similar to the exert mechanic.

Card transcription

Guidelight Compassbot 3U Artifact Creature- Robot Scout When this creature enters, search your library for a card named Guidelight Compassbot, reveal it, put it into your hand, then shuffle. Cycling 2 (2, Discard this card: Draw a card.) 3/3

End transcription

While the specifics of the card changed- the cmc, the color, the power/toughness, etc- I'd had the idea for a creature that tutors up another version of itself on ETB and has cycling for a while before Aetherdrift even came out. So as soon as I found out cycling was in the set, I put a version of this card in the booster. I just think it's a very fun combination of abilities that makes cycling not just tacked on but integrated into the design. Every time you tutor up a version of the card, you're presented with the cycling choice again.

Card transcription

Ride Again 1B Instant Choose one or both- * Return target creature card from your graveyard to your hand. * Return target Mount or Vehicle card from your graveyard to your hand.

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This one's pretty simple, a disentomb that plays into the set theme. I originally just had it be "return target creature or vehicle", but I decided it would be cool to allow you to do one of each, so I threw Mount in as an option with vehicle as well. So mounts get the bonus where you can potentially get two back. I intend this card to be endrider flavored, but the art I found looks a bit more duskmourn admittedly.

Card transcription

Goblin Gizmonaut R Creature- Goblin Artificer Start your engines! (If you have no speed, it starts at 1. It increases once on each of your turns when an opponent loses life. Max speed is 4.) Exhaust — 4R: Put a number of +1/+1 counters on this creature equal to your speed. (Activate each exhaust ability only once.)

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This card uses exhaust in a fun way- it presents you with the option to get counters now, or to wait and get even more counters later. That potential for more makes you really feel the "only once" restriction. And of course, it's a good enabler for the speed mechanic as well. This is the card I'm most torn about rarity wise; while I don't think it's doing anything a common necessarily couldn't, it still has a pretty uncommon feel to it overall.

Card transcription

Accumulated Swarm 2G Sorcery Create a 1/1 green Insect creature token. Put X +1/+1 counters on it, where X is 1 plus the number of cards named Accumulated Swarm in your graveyard. Cycling G (G, Discard this card: Draw a card.)

End transcription

I intend this card as part of a cycle of spells that all have an effect scaling based on the number of them in your graveyard and that have cycling. This cycle, like compassbot, had versions that existed well before Aetherdrift, though the individual card effects got tailored a bit more to the set. I just think the interplay between cycling and wanting these cards in your graveyard uses cycling in a really interesting way. It's costed to be rather weak without any in your graveyard, so that you're more likely to cycle the first one or two.

Card transcription

Cloudspire Elite 2R/W Creature- Human Pilot When this creature enters, choose one— * Create a 1/1 colorless Pilot creature token with “This creature saddles Mounts and crews Vehicles as though its power were 2 greater.” * Create a 3/2 colorless Vehicle artifact token with crew 1. (Tap any number of creatures you control with total power 1 or greater: That Vehicle becomes an artifact creature until end of turn.) 1/2

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Just in general, I think a lot of sets could benefit from a hybrid cycle at common. It's a useful tool for increasing the as-fan of a given color, and on top of that plays a similar role to the signpost uncommon in telling you what you can expect from that color pair in this set but in a way appropriate for common. Like this one tells you pretty clearly that RW is into vehicles without actually needing to be in a vehicles deck. You could happily play this in just about any red or white deck in the format, though some want this more than others. As for the specific card rather than the cycle, I just think a card that lets you choose between a pilot and a vehicle makes for a great card in a vehicle focused set. It lets you get a Vehicle if you're only drawing your payoffs but not any Vehicles, but if you're drawing too many Vehicles and not enough creatures to crew them, it can give you two. I also think the Vehicle token in the set was underutilized so this is an attempt to rectify that.

Card transcription

All-Terrain Bike 2 Artifact- Vehicle Crew 2 (Tap any number of creatures you control with total power 2 or greater: This Vehicle becomes an artifact creature until end of turn.) Cycling 2 (2, Discard this card: Draw a card.) When you cycle this card, you may search your library for a basic land card. If you do, reveal it, shuffle, and put that card on top. (Do this before you draw.) 3/4

End transcription

I thought a cycler that let you choose between normal cycling and basic land cycling would be interesting, and from there the card kind of built itself. I knew I wanted it to be colorless, and probably a noncreature cause I had a lot of creatures in the set, but despite them being a major theme I didn't have a ton in the way of vehicles, so making it one felt like an obvious choice. Especially since vehicles do well with having cycling, so if you draw a vehicle without a good pilot for it, you can cycle it away.

#original post #mtg #custom magic card #booster challenge #aetherdrift

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loreholdlesbian · 6 months ago

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Duskmourn Play Booster Challenge

I always like to make a booster pack of custom cards to accompany each set, giving me a chance to play around with the mechanics and a bite-sized attempt at designing for a larger set rather than in a vacuum. (You may notice that I didn't do one for bloomburrow. Uh, moving on,). This is done in the style of a contest from GDS3, and in that vein I try to make cards that not only are reasonable additions to the set but also, whenever possible, are doing something novel with the themes and mechanics, not just rehashing the same old things. I also try to cover wide amounts of ground, in terms of color and themes, not focusing too hard on any one thing.

Art links

Wicker Dancer

Not Done Yet

Lost Prison // Crack in the Walls

Final Ghoul

Zealot of Terrors

Ominous Calm

Regal Simulacrum

Haunting Knowledge

Fear of Loss

Grasping Ghost

Torturous Blaze

Rotrue Remnant

Sinister Passage

Rare

Card transcription

Wicker Dancer 1GG Artifact Creature- Scarecrow At the beginning of your upkeep, choose artifact, enchantment, creature, or land at random. Until end of turn, you may play cards of the chosen type from your graveyard. Each card you play this way enters with a finality counter on it. 3/3

End transcription

This was the last card I made for the pack, and was basically made to fill constraints. I knew I wanted an artifact in the pack, to have a diverse spread of types for delirium, and I knew I wanted it to be green since there was only one other green card in the pack. A green artifact, in this set, definitely wanted to tie into the delirium theme, but I didn't want to just do delirium straight up cause it was already on a few cards in the pack. After a few iterations, I settled on this design which encourages the same kinds of things as delirium does but comes at it from another angle. It's a very Johnny-y card; it can have a lot of power to it, but you need to be able to build around it to consistently use it. Normally I don't like to use randomness as a power limitation, but I think it works well here; being able to choose the type would encourage you to just put it in a deck that wants that one type. Doing it like this means you want to work around the randomness in a way I think will be fun.

Uncommons

Card transcription

Not Done Yet 3WW Sorcery Return target permanent card from your graveyard to the battlefield. If you return a Room this way, unlock one of its locked doors. Survivors never celebrate a victory for long.

End transcription

This is a pretty simple card for the white-black reanimator theme. I wanted it to be able to hit both creatures and enchantments to tie into the enchantment theme, and I thought it was best to just let it hit any permanent. Reanimating rooms doesn't really, work all that well though, and since they're a key part of the set I wanted to make sure this card did work with them, so i gave it an unlock clause. It's not really meant to be Room reward, so much as reanimation card that also happens to work with Rooms, and I think i struck that balance well.

Card transcription

Lost Prison 2U Enchantment- Room At the beginning of your upkeep, you may lock an unlocked door of a Room you control. // Crack in the Walls 3U Enchantment- Room When you unlock this door, target creature you control gets +2/+2 and can't be blocked until end of turn.

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Now this one *is* meant to be a heavy Room reward. Putting it on a room itself let's me get away with a much more niche effect than I might otherwise, cause at minimum you can just use it as a way to use the second half over and over, but if you have other rooms you can use it with those instead and don't have to spend 4 mana every turn to make use of it.

Card transcription

Final Ghoul 1B Creature- Zombie Final Ghoul can't block. 1B: Return Final Ghoul from your graveyard to the battlefield with a finality counter on it. Activate only as a sorcery, and only if you control no creatures. (If a creature with a finality counter on it would die, exile it instead.) 3/3

End transcription

From before the set even came out, I wanted a card named "final ghoul" and since we didn't get one I had to make it myself. Ties into the graveyard themes of the set.

Card transcription

Zealot of Terrors 1B Creature- Human Cleric Artifact creatures and enchantment creatures you control get +1/+1. Delirium — 3BB, T: Create a 2/2 black Horror enchantment creature. Activate only if there are four or more card types among cards in your graveyard 2/2

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I came up with the first line of text as an off-beat way to encourage similar deckbuilding to delirium, but this card felt like it worked better if it just also had a straight up delirium ability to make it more obvious. I had the delirium ability make you enchantment creatures, in order to synergize with first ability. This also works well in an Eerie deck, and I like that flexibility.

Commons

Card transcription

Ominous Calm 2W Instant Manifest dread. That creature enters with a lifelink counter on it. (Look at the top two cards of your library. Put one onto the battlefield face down as a 2/2 creature and the other into your graveyard. Turn it face up any time for its mana cost if it’s a creature card.)

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This is part of a cycle of cards that are all instants/sorceries that manifest dread and put a keyword counter on the card. I just think it's a fun mechanic to combine with manifesting, cause it makes it more than just a vanilla 2/2 when face down and it sticks around when it turns face up and that can be interesting in useful ways. Like if you manage to manifest a big creature, getting lifelink on it is certainly fun.

Card transcription

Regal Simulacrum 3W Enchantment Creature- Horror When this permanent enters, draw a card. Impending 3—1W (If you cast this spell for its impending cost, it enters with three time counters and isn’t a creature until the last is removed. At the beginning of your end step, remove a time counter from it.) 3/3 It spoke only in gibbers, but its manner evoked the forgotten royalty it mocked.

End transcription

Impending was only on a cycle of mythics but it's my favorite mechanic from the set and I was really hoping to see it more than that, and this is my booster so I can. You can't stop me.

Card transcription

Haunting Knowledge 2U Sorcery Draw two cards. Eerie — Whenever an enchantment you control enters or you fully unlock a Room, Haunting Knowledge gains flashback 2U until end of turn. (You may cast this card from your graveyard for its flashback cost. Then exile it.)

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Here's a simple Eerie reward that uses it in a fun way I feel like we don't see this kind of mechanic get used a lot. Conditional flashback is just a fun way to do things.

Card transcription

Fear of Loss 2B Enchantment Creature- Nightmare When this creature enters, choose enchantment or creature. Each player sacrifices a permanent of the chosen type. 3/1 It bears the faces of everyone you grieve most dearly.

End transcription

This is a design I've had sitting around for a while, and Duskmourn felt like a great place to deploy it. It's a twist on the typical Fleshbag Marauder effect we've seen a lot of utilizing black's ability to remove enchantments.

Card transcription

Grasping Ghost R Creature- Spirit When this creature enters, exile the top card of your library face down. You may look at that card for as long as it remains exiled this way. T, Sacrifice this creature: You may play the exiled card until end of turn. 1/2 It clings to what it knew in life, no longer remembering why.

End transcription

Here's a twist on red's impulse draw effects, that ties it into the graveyard theme by making you sacrifice a creature to get it.

Card transcription

Torturous Blaze 1R Instant Torturous Blaze deals 3 damage to target creature or planeswalker. Delirium — If there are four or more card types among cards in your graveyard, instead Torturous Blaze deals damage to that permanent equal to the number of those card types. Razorkin delight in tormenting the uninitiated.

End transcription

I think it's fun to make delirium scale up, so that if you go all-in on diversity of card types in your graveyard you can get extra rewards for it, but that's difficult to do at common. I think this card makes it work though, since it has the baseline mode of dealing 3 damage; it has a very safe floor, it's only the ceiling that's raised, so it's not too demanding of your deckbuilding which feels safe at common.

Card transcription

Rotrue Remnant G Creature- Elf Druid Survivor Survival — At the beginning of your second main phase, if this creature is tapped, add G. 1/1 Some elves live in the Hauntwoods despite the dangers, in memory of the forests of their ancestors.

End transcription

I'm kinda surprised we didn't get a survival mana dork, since it triggers at the perfect time during main phase so you don't need to add any clunky "you don't lose this mana" clause. I went with the powerful llanowar elves version, but to be safer you definitely could make this like, a 2 mana 1/3 or something. But I like to live dangerously.

Card transcription

Sinister Passage Land T: Add C. T: Add one mana of any color. Spend this mana only to turn a permanent face up. 4, T, Sacrifice Sinister Passage: Manifest dread. Activate only as a sorcery. (Look at the top two cards of your library. Put one onto the battlefield face down as a 2/2 creature and the other into your graveyard. Turn it face up any time for its mana cost if it’s a creature card.)

End transcription

A land that can sac itself is great for delirium, and one that can turn itself into a creature later in the game makes for a good use-case for that. So this card kinda built itself. I added the "add any mana" clause just cause it felt right, and made it a bit better in a manifest deck.

#original post #mtg #custom magic card #duskmourn #booster challenge

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