At long last, I can finally sleep now: I have discovered the true meaning of the word "rhystic."
Does anyone remember a very seldom-played card from Ice Age called Mystic Remora? For those who don’t remember the card text, it read:
Mystic Remora
U
Enchantment
Cumulative Upkeep: 1
Whenever target opponent successfully casts a non-creature spell, you may draw a card. That player may pay 4 to counter this effect.
Hmm. This mechanic seems awfully familiar. Where have I seen it before…oh yeah, in Prophecy! This is the "rhystic" effect.
Slam "mystic" and "remora" together and you get a spoonerism, "rystic" (or "memora," but that’s not quite as catchy). Add the "h" to make it sexier and boom, instant new mechanic.
Thanks to "dbuel" on the Star City forums for that one.
So, from one card, Prophecy’s designers create a whole new mechanic.
Now, I’ve had similar ideas, building new expansions in such a way.
And I actually have experience designing cards. Years and years ago, InQuest magazine had such a contest to design a card, right down to the flavor text.
Being the innovative sort that I am, I of course entered, although I must confess I fudged my entry a bit: I can’t draw anything beyond a stick figure to save my life. Fortunately, I was able to convince an artist working in my company, who, as coincidence would have it, was beginning to play Magic, to provide me with a compelling piece of artwork. Everything else – copying fonts from WotC’s website, coloring, whatnot, I did.
I didn’t win, but I got an honorable mention (and a T-shirt and InQuest dice) for my entry and a picture of my card in the magazine:
Treason
3RR
Enchant Creature
Gain control of target creature under opponent’s control. Creature may attack or use special abilities as soon as it comes over to your side. Controller of target creature may counter Treason by paying X life, where X is the toughness of target creature; that creature is then buried. Effects that reduce or redirect damage cannot prevent this loss of life. Bury target creature if Treason leaves play.
"Suspicion all our lives shall be stuck full of eyes/for treason is but trusted like the fox"
— William Shakespeare, Henry IV, Part I
Yeah, it’s wordy, but I was using the unwieldy Fourth Edition templating. I worked with what I had.
Probably a little too politically incorrect, but it certainly makes for an interesting visual, no?
But getting back on the beaten track: I have a few favorite cards that I think would make for expansion into an actual game mechanic.
Primal Clay was a favorite card of mine from Antiquities. For those who forget, it was a four-CC artifact creature that, when you played it, could be either a 3/3 creature, a 2/2 flying creature, or a 1/6 wall. Not that sexy, perhaps, but wonderful utility for whatever you needed at the time.
From this, I invented the "Proteans," a new class of creatures that had the Primal Clay mechanic. One for each color (and maybe multicolored ones for later expansions), each would have a built-in ability as well as the Primal Clay mechanic.
Using these criteria, this is what my fevered brain came up with:
Amoebic Familiar
Summon Creature – Protean
2UU
UU: Place Amoebic Familiar from play on top of your library
When you successfully cast Amoebic Familiar, choose one: Amoebic Familiar becomes either a 2/3 creature, a 2/2 flying creature or a 1/5 wall.
Traveling mages find the familiar’s versatility makes it a useful bodyguard.
Giant Protozoan
Summon Creature – Protean
2GG
GG: Regenerate
When you successfully cast Giant Protozoan, choose one: Giant Protozoan becomes either a 3/3 creature, a 3/1 creature with trample, or a 4/2 wall.
"The diet of these creatures is believed to be primarily dead or dying vegetation and the occasional unwary woodcutter."
— Traveler’s Guide to Dominaria
Death Spore Fungus
Summon Creature – Protean
2BB
BB: Fungal Mat can only be blocked by black and artifact creatures
When you successfully cast Fungal Mat, choose one: Fungal Mat becomes either a 3/2 creature, a 2/1 flying creature, or a 1/ 4 wall.
"Ick!"
Mutated Thermophilus
Summon Creature – Protean
2RR
RR: Mutated Thermophilus gains first strike until end of turn
When you successfully cast Mutated Thermophilus, choose one: Mutated Thermophilus becomes either a 3/2 creature, a 2/1 creature with mountainwalk, or a 4/1 wall
Travelers beware, they will venture from the boiling hot springs that are their home in search of food on occasion.
— Traveler’s Guide to Dominaria
Healing Mold
Summon Creature – Protean
2WW
WW: Prevent the next 1 damage that would be dealt to Healing Mold.
When you successfully cast Healing Mold, choose one: Healing Mold becomes either a 2/3 creature, a 1/ 2 flying creature or a 0/5 wall.
The curative powers of the Healing Mold are well known among the Samite people.
— Traveler’s Guide to Dominaria
Maybe in the second expansion, we can have multicolored Proteans and maybe even a Protean Queen!
Or maybe not.
The other idea I had is based on seldom-played Legends card, Cocoon, which read as follows:
Cocoon
G
Enchant Creature
Tap target creature you control and put three change counters on Cocoon. If there are any change counters on Cocoon, that creature does not untap during your untap phase. During your upkeep, remove one change counter. During the upkeep after the one in which the last change counter was removed, put a +1/+1 counter on the creature, the creature gains flying, and bury Cocoon.
And I thought my card was wordy! From this came my idea for another creature class, the "chrysalids," with the built-in Cocoon mechanic.
For example:
Voracious Caterpillar
2G
Summon Creature – Chrysalid
0/1
Voracious Caterpillar comes into play with three chrysalis counters on it.
During your upkeep, remove a chrysalis counter from Voracious Caterpillar.
When there are no more chrysalis counters on Voracious Caterpillar, it gains +4/+2 and trample.
It will eat you out of house and home, and then it will eat you.
That one’s kind of obvious, but I see all sorts of possibilities for this mechanic.
Barbed Butterfly
2U
Summon Creature – Chrysalid
0/1
Flying
Barbed Butterfly comes into play with two chrysalis counters on it.
During your upkeep, remove a Chrysalid counter from Barbed Butterfly
When there are no more chrysalis counters on Barbed Butterfly, it gains +1/+1 and "TAP: Barbed Butterfly deals one damage to target creature of player."
Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.
This one’s a personal favorite; I’d love to see what artwork for this might be.
Larval Leeches
2B
Summon Creature – Chrysalid
0/1
Larval Leeches come into play with one chrysalis counter on it.
During your upkeep, remove a chrysalis counter from Larval Leeches.
When there are no more chrysalis counters on Larval Leeches, you gain two life and target opponent loses two life.
"And I thought the death spore fungus was bad!"
Pale Silverfish
2W
Summon Creature – Chrysalid
0/1
Pale Silverfish come into play with two chrysalis counters on it.
During your upkeep, remove a chrysalis counter from Pale Silverfish.
When there are no more chrysalis counters on Pale Silverfish, it gains +2/+1 and "sacrifice Pale Silverfish: Destroy target artifact or enchantment."
Silverfish are the bane of artificers and boon of exterminators.
Kind of a cool tweak on Disenchant, no?
With the chrysalid mechanic, you have is basically a different kind of echo, instead of paying twice for an undercosted creature, you pay for an overcosted creature, that, if you can protect it long enough, becomes quite the value once it metamorphoses into a chrysalid. And as you can see from the examples above, there are a lot of different things you can do with the mechanic.
Part II: More cards I’ve created for my imaginary expansion. Some are cool. Some are silly. Others are good enough to see print. I wonder if WotC R&D is hiring…