Wednesday, October 10, 2012

CCDD 101112—Mutant Cloudray & Wings of the Cloudray

Cool Card Design of the Day
10/11/2012 -This isn't so much a proposal for the Simic keyword (as there is no keyword), but it is a card inspired by Bradley's Lurk mechanic mentioned in this line of comments.




I wasn't originally thinking of this as a flip card. My only intention was to turn the Lurk text upside down to keep it clear the card is attached to its host as an aura, and not a creature that happens to be under it. But when I went to illustrate my point, the flip card template was sitting there mocking me, "Aren't I close enough, Jay?" Yes, yes you are sadly-underappreciated, deeply flawed frame/mechanic.

6 comments:

  1. I like this better as a DFC that's only castable as an aura.

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    1. Yes. R&D has stated many times that flip cards were a mistake, and this adds even more confusion to the card (you can cast it as *either* half?)

      Isn't Griffin Guide (http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=249372) practically the same thing, and much easier to understand?

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    2. I would fully support this as a DFC that can only be cast from one side, and then transforms to the other side when it would die. In retrospect, going from creature->aura makes more sense than the reverse, though it is unfortunate how Golgari that then feels.

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  2. MSE always seemed odd for offering "Curse of the Fire Penguin" as an option, but maybe one day it'll cone in handy!

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  3. Yeah, I don't love the way most modal cards are implemented, but this is arguably a better use of flip cards than the original, since you can use "is it attached to a creature" to see if the creature is flipped. (Admittedly, the original only "ascended" once, so it was usually easy to remember, but still confusing.)

    There's a rules decision to be made. This could work like a split card, where you can eg "search for a creature" or "search for an enchantment" and either work. That would probably be too confusing if both halves were a creature (it has two different powers, and its power is both greater than, and less than 2?), but if it's a creature/enchantment it would be a good opportunity for it. On the other hand, it would probably confuse many people, and the flip/DFC system of letting one side be "primary" and only counting that one until it officially flips is probably simpler.

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    1. Yeah, I think if both ends of a flip card are castable, it has to work exactly the same way split cards do. Which is to say, really confusing with effects that care about CMCs and the like.

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