Magic the Gathering - Am I any good at designing cards?

[RangerWickett]

Wizards of the Coast is having a contest for a position as a paid intern, designing Magic cards. I just got cut after the third round, and I dunno, I'm looking for validation that I'm not a terrible card designer. I made top 136 out of over 1000 applicants, so I suppose it could be worse, but on the thread over at WotC's boards, I got a comment that I screwed up how I handled one of the card design tests.

So, folks who play Magic and understand the balance between power, rarity, complexity, and originality, let me know if the following cards sound any good. These weren't the actual cards I submitted; I tweaked them with hindsight because I did recognize some flaws.

The parameters of the test were that you needed 6 cards, representing the 5 colors, lands, and artifacts. The casting costs had to go from 0 to 5, and you had to have 2 rares, 2 uncommons, and 2 commons.

Of course, I could just be a mediocre card designer.

RangerWickett's revised cards
[sblock]
Magic Cards I should’ve made

Howl of the Wolfpack (uncommon)
3GW
Sorcery

Creatures you control get +1/+1 until end of turn for each other creature you control.


Recast (uncommon)
2UU
Instant

As you play this spell, you may choose an insant or sorcery card with a converted mana cost of 4 or less in any graveyard. If you do, Recast is played as a copy of that card.


Questing Staff (rare)
3
Artifact

3, T: Remove target creature you control from the game. If you do, return it to play under its owner’s control at end of turn.
1WUG, T: Choose one—Gain 4 life; or draw a card; or put a 1/1 green hippo creature token into play.


Cystia, Plane of Nightmares (rare)
BB
World Enchantment

When Cystia, Plane of Nightmares comes into play, remove the top two cards of each players library from the game.
1, remove the top two cards of your library from the game: Choose a card removed from the game by Cystia. That card’s owner shuffles it into his or her library. Any player may play this ability.


Goblin Bard (common)
R
Creature – Goblin Bard
1/1
Whenever a creature you control is put into a graveyard from play, target creature gets +1/+0 until end of turn.
“Remember the heroic tale of Gook the headless! Alas, poor Gook, I knew him well.”


Cherished Homeland (common)
Land

T: Add 1 to your mana pool.
T: Add one mana to your mana pool of any color a creature you control is.
[/sblock]

 

[glass]

I am by no means an expert, but they mostly seem pretty good to me. Two comments though:

What is Trick of the Changeling? A former name for recast that wasn't fully edited?

Is there a theme to Questing Staff's abilities. It seems a bit like a random grab-bag to me.


glass.

 

[wmasters]

Well, they're not terrible. But, of course, I've got no idea what the other over 1000 in the competition were like. Anyhow, here's some comments since you asked for them. While I understand Magic well I haven't played for a couple of blocks, so I'm a little out of touch with the current environment. Anyhow, here's my thoughts.

Howl of the Wolfpack (uncommon)
3GW
Sorcery

Creatures you control get +1/+1 until end of turn for each other creature you control.

Well it's an OK uncommon as WOTC print uncommons. In constructed it wouldn't see play - it's home is in a weenie deck, and a 5 mana cost card needs to be a game winner for weenies, and I'm not sure this is. If you've got a lot of creatures you probably have the game sown up anyway, and if you don't... then it's 5 mana for not a lot. In draft it's a lot better, it's playable, but does require you to be playing green-white, which limits it's usefulness as well.

Recast (uncommon)
2UU
Instant

As you play this spell, you may choose an insant or sorcery card with a converted mana cost of 4 or less in any graveyard. If you do, Trick of the Changeling is played as a copy of that card.

I'm assuming you mean Recast, not Trick of the Chageling in the text of this, otherwise it makes no sense. In principle it looks ok, in blue it's probably another counterspell but it's more versatile, which justifies the cost. It might be nicer valued at 3U so you can splash for them in another colour; I don't think that would make the card overpowered. The wording is not ideal - it can create an infinite stalemate all by itself unless you remove the targetted card, and/or Recast, from the graveyard. As is you can have the siutation "I cast Recast. I put it in my graveyard, and target an instant in my graveyard. I'll target the Recast I've just put there...." and so on.

This is, as so many blue cards are, a constructed card, but that's no bad thing. It might get some play.

Questing Staff (rare)
3
Artifact

3, T: Remove target creature you control from the game. If you do, return it to play under its owner’s control at end of turn.
1WUG, T: Choose one—Gain 4 life; or draw a card; or put a 1/1 green hippo creature token into play.

A rare card with WUG, it's not likely to be a common draft card, but that's where it's good. If you draw this in draft then you're probably playing it; it's very versatile and every option is good. In constructed... you need a 3 colour deck, and it's expensive to run this at 4 mana a turn. Probably not a constructed card at all. All in all I think that probably makes this a rare you put in your folder and forget about...

Cystia, Plane of Nightmares (rare)
BB
World Enchantment

When Cystia, Plane of Nightmares comes into play, remove the top two cards of each players library from the game.
1, remove the top two cards of your library from the game: Choose a card removed from the game by Cystia. That card’s owner shuffles it into his or her library. Any player may play this ability.

Are World Enchantment's back? I've not seen the need for the word World, but maybe WoTC have brought that back form way back when. Anyway... this is OK, it helps thin your deck, but that's really a late game strategy, and when you're in late game you're more likely to be looking for a specific card. I'd play a tutor, if one's avaliable. This is another card that would sit in a rares folder I think. Unfortunately, this isn't a good draft rarer either really - it doesn't directly bring you closer to winning, which is what you tend to look for.

Goblin Bard (common)
R
Creature – Goblin Bard
1/1
Whenever a creature you control is put into a graveyard from play, target creature gets +1/+0 until end of turn.
“Remember the heroic tale of Gook the headless! Alas, poor Gook, I knew him well.”

This is the best card you've listed by far. A 1/1 for 1 with an ability to do more is always a card that can see play. This can easily see play in draft or constructed, and is a well thought out card. Possibly it could be Uncommon, but I don't think it's a probelm being common either.

Cherished Homeland (common)
Land

T: Add 1 to your mana pool.
T: Add one mana to your mana pool of any color a creature you control is.

Yeah, it's fine, and quite the standard of other alternate land. It's a well designed card again, that has many uses, both in draft and constructed. It probably should be Uncommon, you don't want to see hundreds of these in draft but wouldn't mind picking up one or two; besides which alternate land that's not very powerful tends to sit in uncommon slots.

 

[glass]

"I cast Recast. I put it in my graveyard, and target an instant in my graveyard. I'll target the Recast I've just put there...." and so on.

I don't think that works. You have to choose your targets long before Recast itself gets into the graveyard; the spell doesn't leave the stack until it resolves, and obviously you must have chosen target by the time it resolves.

(It works if you have two copies, of course).


glass.

 

[dragonhead]

but why would you Recast a Recast? That is a waste of mana unless im misunderstanding the card. The cards seemed to be to high a cost, or to many color of cost to be such... weak cards. if the cards had more of a punch to them, especialy cards that would be used in a sunburst deck, then you probably have advanced to the next round. but saying that, to high mana cost, not enough mana rewards.

 

[glass]

but why would you Recast a Recast?

You keep recasting it for ever, thereby drawing the game. This is an advantage if you were otherwise going to lose.


glass.

 

[RangerWickett]

That doesn't work, because you choose what to copy as you play it, and you play it as that copy. Once it's already played, you can't choose another thing to copy.

Basically it's intended to be a 'clone' for spells. If you clone another clone that's already in play, you just become whatever that clone is. You can't draw the game.

And yes, I forgot to edit the card name from Trick of the Changeling. I just remembered the 'Recaster' as a PrC for changelings in Eberron, and wanted to use that name.

 

[wmasters]

You're right, it doesn't work, I got that wrong before - oops! That's me trying to remember timing from quite a while ago.

But if you've played (or discarded) one Recast earlier in the game then that Recast is already in your graveyard. So you cast Recast 2 (from your hand) , selecting the instant spell Recast 1 in your graveyard.

Since Recast 1 is in your graveyard and stays there, and Recast 2 keeps casting as if it were Recast 1 and keeps selecting Recast 1 as a target, it's an infinite loop.

In theory it's not game draw; a judge should rule that if a player can break an infinite loop then he must. Of course, if there is no other instant or sorcery in their graveyard either, then there's no other valid target and it is a draw.

I fully understand the intent of the card, and for the most part it's a nice card, one of the nicer ones that's there I think. But I think you need to be very careful about the wording of cards like that because of the potential to create situations like this.

 

[wmasters]

The cards seemed to be to high a cost, or to many color of cost to be such... weak cards. if the cards had more of a punch to them, especialy cards that would be used in a sunburst deck, then you probably have advanced to the next round. but saying that, to high mana cost, not enough mana rewards.

Actually, I disagree with this - the objective after all wasn't necessarily to produce unbalancing strong cards and certainely wasn't to produce cards to improve an existing deck archetype. Incidentally, who was judging the competition? Was it voted for by Magic players, or looked at by game designers? You'd get a very different response I imagine.

 

[RangerWickett]

By the way, Questing Staff riffs off an existing card: Questing Phelddagrif*

*Phelddagrif is an anagram for Garfield, PhD. Richard Garfield was the designer of magic.