quote:

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Originally posted by B14ckM4g3:
I have to agree with jtrade77 -- I didn't want extra credit for the extra crap, I just really wanted a full story for my planeswalker. I didn't get a 1.7 because I didn't explain the abilities? That wasn't asked for. I also felt very much that they were relatively self-explanatory.
I had felt that I wrote enough, so didn't bother getting into every niche and detail as to 'why this is here instead of that, and this is here because he is a ___'.

A little clarificiation would of been better for both of us. I think that Jtrade77's submission was great. the only extra that I did on top of his was make a core-set version planeswalker, and more storyline (which I am sure he could of pulled off).

But on fluffycow's side, I have been a judge. and his contest is much more difficult than my own and those that preceded it. Judging took several days and I am sure he didn't come to these conclusions lightly. And it isn't easy to judge several cards.

If nothing changes, I can understand why. It's alot to go through. But for round 4, a bit more clarity on what gets a 'perfect 10' will help us contenders give you what you want.

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JTrader77 had a stronger prontagonist submission while you had a stronger story submission. For a perfect score, the story, flavor and characters would have to make me fall out of my seat.

There were a few things missing in your submission, one in, Aezeus, Son of Arcanis, why are you accelerating mana in UW? If he took after his mother and father shouldn't he be drawing a card or fly? That should have been explained.

Thrafin, Yawgmoths offspring, why is he destroying tapped creature and not just any creature? Is that because he can sneak up on people? What makes it so that he can sacrifice creatures and power himself up? Is he eating them or making them apart of him? I know he's not really a card that I am grading, but since you introduced him, those things should be explained

If Aezeus, Prince of Angels has protection from creatures, shouldn't he be invulnerable to Thrafin?

There are a couple more things but you get the idea.

quote:

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Originally posted by fluffycow:
So the card was meant to say target spell right?
A house may have been the wrong choice of words for Card 2B, I dislike it more for the fact that it opens the window for a zero costing counterspell artifact with no real commitment than what it actually does. You are right in that the card is only good against a drawspell and that really limits its usefulness, and you can argue that Tornod's Crypt is essentially the same thing against graveyard based decks. However, at zero mana and no other cost, the card is essentially power creeping. But after thinking about it, I may have scored this too low if the only problem I have with this card is just one mana cost.

Card 2C:
Turn 1: Mox diamond, underground sea, this
Turn 2: stifle or wasteland
or
This in play with a mox, armaggeddon
or
I play discard and have a slight advantage, I drop with and pithing needle him

Some strategies may be worse than others, but stopping everyone from drawing is too scary on a 2 casting cost creature.

I will think about card 2B though and you will receive a higher score

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quote:

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Originally posted by B14ckM4g3:
alright, I get what your saying about my (aezeus) submission. Fair enough on those accords.
And thanks for the second-look at my (brainstorming) entries.

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Glad that's settled!

quote:

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Originally posted by fluffycow:
Sorry, a three mana enchantment to go against only brainstorm just isn't good enough

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Except you asked for 3 cards that stop Brainstorm, not other cards, and that would not only have a minimal impact on standard and modern but would also not harm legacy as a whole (like Dazed). A card that shuts down Brainstorm and one of JTMS's* abilities may not be great, but it's what you asked for, and for you to ignore and disregard it is crap.

quote:

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Originally posted by fluffycow:

[QUOTE]Originally posted by AEther Storm:
First of all, my thanks to Fluffycow for setting this up and coming with original ideas to get us going. Thinking of new and original tasks for us is probably as hard as executing them. It was my first time doing this but had lots of fun working on the cards. I hope this gets continued again soon.

On with the stuff:

1. New unique effect.

By far the hardest of the 3.
Fusion – 3UR
Instant (rare)

Choose one: Choose 2 target permanents you control and remove them from the game. Put a token into play that is a combined copy of both cards. If it is a creature, it gains haste until end of turn.
If the token leaves play, return the removed cards to play. If a creature comes into play in this way, it can not attack until your next turn (not even if it has haste).*
Or: Search your library for 2 Instant or Sorcery cards with a combined converted mana cost of 5 or less and remove them from the game. If there is an X in the mana cost, X is 0. Fusion becomes a copy of those spells gaining their effects.**

* (For instance, if you fuse a CoP: Red in play and a Grizzly Bear, you would get a 2/2 white-green bear enchantment that has the CoP: Red ability.)
** (You can fuse an instant and sorcery together, thus Ancestral Recall and a Time Walk for instance. Or a Force of Will and a Giant Growth.)

A bit lengthy here, but interesting I hope. As I said, this was the hardest. I didn’t want to do anything freaky, but this could pose for some nice interactions. It can be played in response to anything, trigger CiP abilities or it could make an expensive Time Walk/Ancestral Recall combo for instance. I probably could work on the wording but am not sure how to put it.

2. Brainstorm stopper.
Very, very tough. I reckon that anything printed that would stop Brainstorm would by definition be too powerful. Some cards can hinder decks (Meddling Mage) but you can work around that (destroy, bounce, not including counters). Initially I went for cards that can disrupt Brainstorm decks, then I had a brainfart in the end.

Forked Sorcerer – 1u/r
Creature – Lizard Wizard (rare)
2/1
When Forked Sorcerer comes into play, name an Instant or Sorcery card. Whenever the named card is played, other players may copy that card and play it without paying its mana cost. (Copies played do not trigger this ability)
“One for you and one for you. Now stop crying.”

This gives you the benefits of a card of an opponents deck, but you have to know the deck you’re playing against.

Interference Sentinel – 1
Artifact creature – Sentinel (rare)
0/2
2, tap: Search your library for a card and imprint it on – this-, then remove it from the game. For each of the imprinted cards types, that type costs 3 more to play.
”He levies a toll on certain magic. What kind of magic? Whatever he decides.”

You lose a card but you gain time. This is not directly aimed at Brainstorm, but can hinder any deck including Workshop based decks (which I personally despise). Downside, you can hinder yourself, too. I made it a non-creature artifact at first, but then Workshop decks could cast this turn 1 and activate it turn 1. Making it a creature makes it more vulnerable and removes that issue.

Knowledge Limitations – 2
Artifact (rare)
Players can not draw more than 1 card each turn.
“Just smile and wave boys, smile and wave.”

Boom, there we go. Fetches and Tutors still get around this so it’s not that bad, but there goes Ancestral and its various offspring. Easily casted in Vintage with SoLoMoxen and Legacy with Mox Diamonds and the likes (not counting Rituals). It can be countered, destroyed, bounced, etcetera. It doesn’t hose decks but hinders a number of them.

Now onto my favorite one:

3. A new Protagonist

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…

LOL, just had to do that ;-)

Nerat Potir is introduced as citizen of the Icatian capital Windenby (thank you MTGWiki). I chose the Fallen Empires expansion and more directly the Sarpadian Volumes as I would love to read the actual Sarpadian Volumes (as they do not exist, closes thing are the comics apparently which I never read). I believe it’s an excellent storyline during a harsh time where humans had to fight to survive. I opted not to move the character over different sets (Future Sight could have been a possibility with the time rifts, but I didn’t want to make her a Planeswalker) so instead she grows during the length of the war on Sarpadia.

Nerat was a young girl, brought up in the Icatian capital of Windenby. She was brought up by her mother as an only child, as her father was killed in her childhood during an Orc-Goblin raid only a month after being enlisted in a Skirmisher squad. Not that she missed him, he was never around in the first place and if he was, he would be drunk and abusing her mother in front of Nerat, their house being a 1-room shamble located on the southern outskirts of town.
Her mother was the light of her life, and being a healer working indirectly for the king she was always ready and willing to help others first, she always came last.
She taught Nerat that she always should be honest and fair against everyone. “We can’t heal inner wounds Nerat, unfortunately. And not everyone has the courage and insight to change themselves. We have to try and help those too, in any way we can. That makes a true healer”. In later years Nerat wondered if this was a way for her mother to justify the hurt her so-called father brought upon her.
Being brought up under the protective care from her mother who taught her healing magic, she was kind and friendly to everyone. The local kids had no hard time picking on her, their dads being soldiers or priests they looked down on her being an apprentice healer. Still, she always remained kindhearted towards everyone.

Nerat the Innocent 1W
Legendary creature – Human (uncommon)
1/2

1W, tap: Choose target attacking and blocking creatures that are fighting each other. Remove those creatures from combat, untap them and remove all combat damage from them.
0: Redirect to Nerat the Innocent 1 damage dealt to target creature or player. You can not spend more than or equal to Nerat the Innocents toughness in this way.

I chose for her to be uncommon, as she is still under the wings of her mother and under-age. This makes an interesting twist on legendaries as they are usually rare or mythic, only a handful sets (see Legends, Homelands and Kamigawa block) have uncommon legendaries. I first had her at 1/3 but being a ‘child’ I decided to go with 1/2.

Over the years they had tried to move further into the city where it was more safe, against the increasing number of Orc attacks, but no such luck. So far they had been spared, but Nerat had seen enough damage being done by the brutes. Whole house flattened and burned, people abducted or murdered.
Her healing skills are now well-known around Windenby and it didn’t take long until she received an invitation to come work at the court. Her mother stayed behind as Nerat moved to the castle, quickly moving up the ranks and becoming well-known and loved among the troops and staff. Over the months that followed, she became irritated about the strict rules that she had to follow carrying out her work. The rules worked fine for the Phalanxes and Skirmishers but she could have saved more lives if the commanders only listened to her. She wanted to be out on the field but was not allowed to leave the castle or barracks during raids. Then one night there was a great Orc-Goblin raid on the southern part of town and all the troops were summoned to repel the invasion. Even the citizens of Windenby were rallied to fend off the attackers, but still Nerat was not allowed to leave due to her importance of healing the troops that came back from the front. Fearing for her mother’s life she ignored orders and ran towards her former home, only to find that the fighting there had moved elsewhere. The whole area was lit up in flames, bodies lay everywhere. In front of the house she finally found her mother, a spear jutted from her stomach.
Overcome by grief for her mother and anger she left the castle service the next day, seeking vengeance upon the Orcs and Goblins, but also the strict commanders at the castle who hadn’t let her go earlier and fetch her mother. The bullies from her childhood and her father who had done so much wrong onto her mother. All this transformed her into:

Nerat, Torn Within 2WR
Legendary creature – Human Wizard (rare)
2/3

1W, tap: Prevent the next 2 damage that would be dealt to each creature and player.
1R, tap: Nerat, Torn Within deals 2 damage to each creature and player.

Secretly haunted by guilt but replacing it with rage to her superiors, including the increasing attacks on her village screaming for vengeance she turns partly red. Refusing the fact that she could have never helped her mother her anger scarred her and it will only grow unless she deals with it.

Nerat lived in seclusion for the coming years, wandering the mountains and killing as many Orcs and Goblins as she could find. Her fire magic had become more potent after she left the capital. During her solitude she slowly started to lose her mind, switching back and forth between the killings and the lessons her mother imprinted on her during her youth. Her anger towards her former society made her erratic. It became so bad that in moments of weakness she even started attacking Icatian scouting parties, and in her increasing delusion healing any wounded left after the battle. She became an outlaw, hunted upon by not only Goblins and Orcs, but also the Order of Leithur. Bitter and alone and hid in darker parts of the mountain range, sometimes retreating towards the swamps near the Ebon Stronghold for safety. After learning of a massive army of Orcs and Goblins moving towards her former home city, she realized the Icatian forces could not withstand such a massive assault. Finally accepting the fact that she could have never saved her mother’s life she became ridden with guilt about forsaking her people all these years, she made her way back towards the capital city to provide aide, but arriving too late. The city lay in ruins as Orcs and Goblins ran rampant pillaging anything that remained, killing off any wounded. Her mind going blank, she started casting the biggest spell she could, effectively sacrificing herself to save what whatever was left of the once proud capital of the kingdom of Icatia. With a fiersome fire spell she wiped out the Goblins and Orcs that leveled the city and with the remainder of her strength she cast an enchantment that would preserve the final resting place of her people, cursing anyone who dared to defile the now sacred site.

Nerat, the Irrational 1WBR
Legendary creature – Human Wizard (rare)
3/4

During your upkeep, choose one: Each player gains 3 life, or each player loses 1 life, or Nerat, the Irrational deals 3 damage to each creature.
At the beginning of your end step, you may choose to sacrifice Nerat, the Irrational. If you do, put an Legendary enchantment with shroud into play named ‘Nerat’s Legacy’ which has: Cards in all graveyards can not be the target of spells or abilities. Whenever you’re dealt damage by a creature, Nerat’s Legacy deals 1 damage to that creature’s controller. Whenever you’re the target of a spell or ability controlled by an opponent, that opponent loses 1 life.

Not being amongst people, the continues killing spree and dark places she inhabited (caves in mountain, swamps of Ebon) drove her mad and gave her some control over black mana. But we all love happy endings, somewhat, and thus to honor her mother’s and her people’s life she tries to save them, but when that fails she will try to save whatever is left of their legacy (white ability), while enacting vengeance on their foes (red ability) and anyone who dares to defile it (black ability).
I specifically didn’t want to make her a planeswalker, that would be too easy for me, instead I just kept her legendary but upped her to rare first and added a new color next.
I think this card matches her erratic nature perfectly as it could do something different each turn, and in the end she finds her ‘white’ self again wanting to right all the wrongs she did.

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quote:

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Card 1: Fusing cards seems fun, you may end up having to break it up into two cards just because of the amount of text. The only real issue I have with this is the amount of ruling that’s going to brought up. Ex: planeswalker and a creature, does damage remove loyalty counters or go towards toughness, or both? What is a planeswalker is changed into a creature until end of turn and fused with an aura?
The second part would also have ruling problems, what happens if you found two cards that have no legal targets for either, then what does copy become? And I am sure there are crazy interactions that I can’t think of off the top of my head.
Score: 6
Card 2A: Forked Sorcerer seems cool but I feel that if meddling mage seems no play, neither will this.
Card 2B: This doesn’t seem like it would give the desired effect since it just seems like a bad nether void and that cards see no play. It seems like a card that does something, just not enough to matter. Since it’s a creature, I can see people just remove it in response to the activated ability. In legacy a 2 tap ability better be pretty awesome because the format is just so resource intensive and has gotten so fast. I don’t think this will do the trick.
Card 2C: Knowledge Limitations, I don’t know if this will do the trick, but I like it! This slows down blue decks and stops most handcrafting tricks. This wouldn’t be very good against tempo decks but it will definitely make storm and high tide scream. The existence of this card should make brainstorm less ubiquitous and that’s the whole point. No one wants brainstorm to be unplayable, just a little less playable.
Score: 18
Card 3C: I really like your story, but I am not really feeling your cards.
Nerat the Innocent is pretty average which is fine since she is a child and her healing powers can’t be that grade since it should be true to the storyline. The redirecting damage that shouldn’t kill her thing is a nice touch.
Nerat, Torn Within should have been elaborated on a little more, I understand that she’s mad, but how did she get the power to start dealing damages or better yet where did she learn to cave-in? Even though she might be willing to heal even the enemy, in card sign I feel that you should have worked it out so that she doesn’t help your opponent out. At 2RW, she’s pretty unplayable in constructed and I wouldn’t be happy if I were looking forward to her card.
Nerat, the Irrational doesn’t really have the WOW factor that I feel that the final form of a legend should have. Her “Legacy” is really rather weak and as a vanilla 3/4 for 1RBW, she’s only good for sacrificing.
Score: 1.3
Total: 6 + 18, [1.3]

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Thanks fluffycow. I should've elaborated more on the Fusion card I agree, next round then. Note that the '*' are not on the card, that was just for explaining. In hindsight I would probably make it "..choose 2 target non-planeswalker permanents you control..", that would be the easiest and most logical. Otherwise you would indeed have to say something about P/T + loyalty counters.

Forked Sorcerer is stronger than Meddling Mage, as you can copy anything! Daze, Mental Misstep and the likes just got a whole lot worse. But I'm sure you thought of that.
I know 2B was the worst of the cards, but I couldn't come up with anything else at the time.

About my Protagonist, the ability to deal damage (card 2) came from not just living in and nearby mountains, but mostly the anger/rage that grew in her and all the dishonesty that she had seen during her life (bullying, Orc-Goblin raids, father, etc.).
Her mind had been affected so that she didn't really care who was who anymore (irrational, red trait), healing people she normally wouldn't but the kindness in her made her do it anyway (white trait).
Card 3 is, in my opinion, a good reflection of what she has become. She has some interesting upkeep abilities but not much else. I decided so because she was not really a fighter, so first strike or haste or something would not fit into the storyline. Vigilance could've fitted there but I opted not to. I also had in mind that this takes place during or around the Fallen Empires storyline where there were no specific abilities around anyway, otherwise it would stand out too much. I chose for her not to be that special so that this story could easily be a side story to the original storyline, but be left out without a problem.
Don't know if it affects anything, just wanted to elaborate.
Thanks for judging all the cards, let's have the next round!

__________________
/Thunder in the wind/No rain/Peace mourns its passing/

quote:

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Originally posted by skizzikmonger:
Except you asked for 3 cards that stop Brainstorm, not other cards, and that would not only have a minimal impact on standard and modern but would also not harm legacy as a whole (like Dazed). A card that shuts down Brainstorm and one of JTMS's* abilities may not be great, but it's what you asked for, and for you to ignore and disregard it is crap.

*I don't play legacy, so I'm only assuming that JTMS is played in Legacy.

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This contest requires a lot of knowledge, understanding of meta (both past and present) and even specific interactions. If you haven't had a least 3-5 years of Magic experience, you wouldn't fully understand a lot of what's going on.

In round 1, for you to be able to design a competitive red creature, you had to know why tarmogoyf, dark confidant , etc were good. Some of the "good" card aren't apparent until you play against it. So if you designed a red creature that couldn't attack, then you probably didn't understand how red fits in the color pie or didn't understand the other cards enough.

In round 2 the questions got a little harder, for the new dual lands, you had to instantly know that the cards would have to be weaker than the revised dual lands and have an idea of what would be acceptable as a drawback for being weaker. You had to have had experience with pains, scars, M10, filter, shocks, fetches, and/or other non-basic lands (not limited to Tolarian academy, kor haven, maze of ith) to really understand how they differ, in what situation one is better than the others and what abilities are too good for a dual land. If you didn't then it would be very hard for you to gauge a good design.

Each week I ask for more from those that are still interested and I specifically intended for this not be a let's just submit something random because it made me chuckle contest (I don't want to waste my time reading thoughtless submissions).

As for the card brainstorm, in order to design a balanced card that is meant to stop brainstorm, you would have to know certain interaction. For example, brainstorm's synergy with fetches, the fact that RUG delver can win through a choke on turn 2 or 3, and main phase brainstorms have more value even though it's an instant. So if you are unfamiliar with legacy it would be unlikely for you to really understand what exactly is going on.

There are things I take for granted that you know when I asked you to design a card and in the case of brainstorm, some of my assumptions are what I listed above and: blue plays counterspell and your card may get countered, you know how sideboarding works, you know what decks would play brainstorms and why digging for 3 is so powerful, you understand that I don't mean what's the craziest effect you can think of against brainstorm on the assumption that your card resolves, etc.

quote:

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Originally posted by AEther Storm:
Thanks fluffycow. I should've elaborated more on the Fusion card I agree, next round then. Note that the '*' are not on the card, that was just for explaining. In hindsight I would probably make it "..choose 2 target non-planeswalker permanents you control..", that would be the easiest and most logical. Otherwise you would indeed have to say something about P/T + loyalty counters.

Forked Sorcerer is stronger than Meddling Mage, as you can copy anything! Daze, Mental Misstep and the likes just got a whole lot worse. But I'm sure you thought of that.
I know 2B was the worst of the cards, but I couldn't come up with anything else at the time.

About my Protagonist, the ability to deal damage (card 2) came from not just living in and nearby mountains, but mostly the anger/rage that grew in her and all the dishonesty that she had seen during her life (bullying, Orc-Goblin raids, father, etc.).
Her mind had been affected so that she didn't really care who was who anymore (irrational, red trait), healing people she normally wouldn't but the kindness in her made her do it anyway (white trait).
Card 3 is, in my opinion, a good reflection of what she has become. She has some interesting upkeep abilities but not much else. I decided so because she was not really a fighter, so first strike or haste or something would not fit into the storyline. Vigilance could've fitted there but I opted not to. I also had in mind that this takes place during or around the Fallen Empires storyline where there were no specific abilities around anyway, otherwise it would stand out too much. I chose for her not to be that special so that this story could easily be a side story to the original storyline, but be left out without a problem.
Don't know if it affects anything, just wanted to elaborate.
Thanks for judging all the cards, let's have the next round!

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I really did like the fusion card, but the ruling on it would be pretty ridiculous. I also really enjoyed your story, if your cards came out in fallen empires, then those probably would have been overpowered. haha

Alright, so the finalists are:

1. Jtrade77
2. B14ckM4g3
3. AEther Storm

Thanks to everyone else that have participated and I hope you may host something like this of your own and I would love to be a part of that.

Everyone starts at zero points again.

If you have any questions, please post on here, I tried to make as many notes as I can on what I think a card should be, but it’s highly unlikely that I have covered all the bases.

All three entries are extremely subjective, so please use as many examples and situations as you think you will need so that I will have nothing to say except “this dude is right, I wish I thought of that”. Also keep in mind that you are up against very strong designers and their submissions will have an impact on your score, in another word, each entry is relative.

Card 1: Choose a mechanic in one color and put it on a card using different color(s). Example:
“Finest Hour” – the relentless assault effect is usually in red
Read:
http://www.wizards.com/magic/magazine/article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/mm/36
for reference.
I think they may have stretched the Finest Hour example but as long as you can explain it with examples, then I am game. This card should not be weak, you can make any card, you can even reference your own mechanics from previous submissions. Pretend that this card will come out in Return to Ravnica and this card should impact at least standard. You may add other effect on the card like exalted on finest hour and make it an enchantment rather than a sorcery.
Note: Conditional effects such as seedtime will not be as strong of a submission as an unconditional one like finest hour. Flip cards or transform cards are even weaker.
I like flashy things, but simple and elegant beats crazy that barely makes any sense any day of the week. However, thinking outside of the box is though highly encouraged. For example: shifting two abilities in the same card, split cards, etc.

Card 2: Give me a new mechanic, that I can pay 1U for time walk (miracle – temporal mastery), pay 0 for a black lotus (suspend - lotus bloom) and pay 1B for demonic tutor (hellbent – infernal tutor). This may be a unique enough mechanic that only a handful of cards would have it.
Note: If you do something like suspend where you are counting something, they may differ between each card. EX: ancestral visions has suspend 4 while lotus bloom has suspend 3. You may not use any ability that has already been submitted in the contest. For example, a conditional spell that after turn x it does something different is not valid because it has been submitted.

Card 3: There are some cards pre-sale for $20-$40 and ends up being <25% of its initial value after a couple of weeks of release, yet most of these cards have potential if only they just had a friend that would help them out. So make me a card that would make one of these playable in standard. Pretend that the card you are making will be the only playable card in M13, which means that in standard, you have the card pool of Scars block, Innistrad block, M12 and your card. Below are three cards and you will choose from, make a complimentary card that would make your card competitive in the current meta, then tell me why you think it would be competitive and give me a mock decklist. Cool synergies should be explained.
Your card should not be so specific that it’s obvious that it can only be used with the card you were given and nothing else. For example, none of this:

Doom’s Gain
B
Enchantment
When a creature is destroyed and sent to the graveyard from play by a black instant, search your deck for 2 swamps and put them into play, then untap all of your lands and draw 2 cards.

This card is clearly overpower, off color, and tells you exactly what you should use with it.

The finalist with the highest point total entering into the finals will get to pick which card he wants to use, followed by the next finalist with the highest point total entering into the finals. Please response with which card you would like as soon as possible if you are in first or second place so that the third finalist would know his card.

Here are the cards:
1. Skaab Ruinator
2. Molten-Tail Masticore
3. Havengul Lich

The card can very well be so efficient that it opens up a whole new archetype, for example a BBB spell or creature that makes Phyrexian Obliterator the ideal 4 drop in monoblack.

Each entry weighs the same and everyone enters the final round in a clean slate.

I will give a week from when this is posted or when the last full submission has been received, whichever comes first. You may again request a little more time seeing that this may take a bit of thinking.

Card 2 should have all three abilities on it? Or just one of those three? Or is this a subjective entry where you want a (kicker) new mechanic that adds one of those three abilities?
Sorry if this sounds dumb. I just want to make sure I fully understand the concept of what you want.

Card choices:
1 skaab ruinator
2 moltentail masticore
3 havengul lich

quote:

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Originally posted by B14ckM4g3:
Just for some clarity:

Card 2 should have all three abilities on it? Or just one of those three? Or is this a subjective entry where you want a (kicker) new mechanic that adds one of those three abilities?
Sorry if this sounds dumb. I just want to make sure I fully understand the concept of what you want.

Card choices:
1 skaab ruinator
2 moltentail masticore
3 havengul lich

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Mechanic name: Vintage

Vintage: When you cast this spell, do X. If you do, then you may also do X.

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1st entry - Time walk

Walkling
1UU
Creature - Shapeshifter
1/4

Vintage: When you cast ~, you may exile a blue card in your hand and return an island to your hand. If you do, take an extra turn after this one.

Shroud

1: ~ Gets +1/+0 until end of turn
1: ~ gets +0/+1 until end of turn
U: ~ Becomes any creature type(s) until end of turn.

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Card 2: Black Lotus

Evermore
2
Artifact

Vinatage: When you cast ~, You may choose one card in your hand, then discard the rest. If you do, ~ gains: (Tap: Sacrifice this artifact: Add 3 mana of any one color to your mana pool.

Comes into play tapped.
When Evermore leaves play, you may draw a card.

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Card 3 - Demonic tutor

Tattoo of the Hyena
BBB
Enchantment - Aura

Vintage: When you cast ~, you may pay 3 life and sacrifice a creature. If you do, search your library for a card and put it into your hand. then shuffle your library.

Enchanted creature gets +3/+1, intimidate and undying.

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So this is what I came up with. To elaborate:

Card 1, walkling, is a base off of morphling. I made it a 1/4 so the power fluctuation wasn't preposterous. I gave it shroud so it couldn't be equipped (would make it wayyy to powerful). I made it with the shapeshifters creature-copy ability so that in the right deck it may see a boost in power. Tried to not make it overpowered, while still versatile, and usable.

Card 2 was more difficult. First it was an artifact creature that died very easily. I felt that that may have made it either too good or not utilize the lotus ability. So I mulled it over, did card 3 and came back to it.
Then after I had time to think about it some more, I realized that in itself, the artifact sucks. 2 mana to draw a card with no sac outlet. If the vintage ability is not used, it is a dead slot of crap. if it is used, it could change the game drastically. I felt that discarding all but one card made it so that if you did it early game it damn well better be worth it. In later game, it may give you that advantage that you may need. But there are no guaruntees that even with a card draw and lotus mana that you could turn the game around. Probably fits in best with reanimator as the cards are discarded instead of exiled. Made it come into play tapped just in case there is a broken powerhouse thats been dying for this card so it can't just make a turn-2 win-con. I think it's balanced quite nicely.

Card 3 I found to be the easiest for the mechanic. Just what should the card do? So i thought about it and figured a black creature would be too much. A kill spell would of been even worse. So then an enchantment came to me. Predators gambit was the best since unholy strength (IMO), and all it did was possibly add intimidate. I figured a card like this could be utilized with many of blacks 'solo' creatures that don't like the other guys. Could also be used in a variety of decks where creatures being in your graveyard could be just as beneficial as on the field. At 3 solid black it's not splash friendly (and I wanted it that way as tutoring is powerful enough). +3/+1 is a nice power boost. Intimdate may be useful. Undying speaks for itself. And with a tutor for a variety of cards in a variety of decks this could be the 'icing on the cake' for a creature (say obliterator or taskmaster or Rune-scarred). Again, I think it is balanced because of the BBB costing. Any less than triple black would of made it splashable and too much to handle.

As for the mechanic, I figured something new and something old. I chose the name Vintage I think for obvious reasons. and I think it fits quite well. Each color that would utilize a vintage mechanic would have you do something as a downside that is color-coordinated. I felt that for blue, the FoW exiling and Gush land-bounce was appropriate. For artifact (the most difficult) I felt that coming into play tapped complimented the discarding your hand ability (which seems to fit with a variety of artifact cards) into not being a broken powerhouse but still very playable. For black (the easiest) I felt that 3 life and a creature sac would fit nicely. However, that is not to say that it would be the same thing across the board. Such as:

Lore Demon
4B
Creature - Demon
4/4

Vintage: When you cast ~ you may discard a card. if you do, it gains undying.

Flying

It could fit into either a very powerful card slot or a not-so powerful card slot. The above example is just a show as to how it could be a versatile mechanic for a not-so powerful card slot. And how it could be chosen to NOT be used.

----

Hopefully that seems apporpriate to what you wanted, was well explained, not OP and not Jank, Usable and versatile, wasn't previously used (in this function) and meets your expectations.

Edit: Currently have questions 2 ready, and a partial of question 3. Will post it all when I have everything together.

You ask for a mechanic to color switch then give examples using individual cards, citing an article:

Relentless Assault --> Finest Hour
Lightning Helix --> Essence Drain

Additionally, most mechanics are many-colored rather than single colored. (Some aren't though.)

I don't care which card I get for Card 3, as I don't know crap about Standard but will give it a fair go.

__________________
/Thunder in the wind/No rain/Peace mourns its passing/

quote:

---

Originally posted by B14ckM4g3:
Card 2:

Mechanic name: Vintage

Vintage: When you cast this spell, do X. If you do, then you may also do X.

----

1st entry - Time walk

Walkling
1UU
Creature - Shapeshifter
1/4

Vintage: When you cast ~, you may exile a blue card in your hand and return an island to your hand. If you do, take an extra turn after this one.

Shroud

1: ~ Gets +1/+0 until end of turn
1: ~ gets +0/+1 until end of turn
U: ~ Becomes any creature type(s) until end of turn.

---

Card 2: Black Lotus

Evermore
2
Artifact

Vinatage: When you cast ~, You may choose one card in your hand, then discard the rest. If you do, ~ gains: (Tap: Sacrifice this artifact: Add 3 mana of any one color to your mana pool.

Comes into play tapped.
When Evermore leaves play, you may draw a card.

---

Card 3 - Demonic tutor

Tattoo of the Hyena
BBB
Enchantment - Aura

Vintage: When you cast ~, you may pay 3 life and sacrifice a creature. If you do, search your library for a card and put it into your hand. then shuffle your library.

Enchanted creature gets +3/+1, intimidate and undying.

---

So this is what I came up with. To elaborate:

Card 1, walkling, is a base off of morphling. I made it a 1/4 so the power fluctuation wasn't preposterous. I gave it shroud so it couldn't be equipped (would make it wayyy to powerful). I made it with the shapeshifters creature-copy ability so that in the right deck it may see a boost in power. Tried to not make it overpowered, while still versatile, and usable.

Card 2 was more difficult. First it was an artifact creature that died very easily. I felt that that may have made it either too good or not utilize the lotus ability. So I mulled it over, did card 3 and came back to it.
Then after I had time to think about it some more, I realized that in itself, the artifact sucks. 2 mana to draw a card with no sac outlet. If the vintage ability is not used, it is a dead slot of crap. if it is used, it could change the game drastically. I felt that discarding all but one card made it so that if you did it early game it damn well better be worth it. In later game, it may give you that advantage that you may need. But there are no guaruntees that even with a card draw and lotus mana that you could turn the game around. Probably fits in best with reanimator as the cards are discarded instead of exiled. Made it come into play tapped just in case there is a broken powerhouse thats been dying for this card so it can't just make a turn-2 win-con. I think it's balanced quite nicely.

Card 3 I found to be the easiest for the mechanic. Just what should the card do? So i thought about it and figured a black creature would be too much. A kill spell would of been even worse. So then an enchantment came to me. Predators gambit was the best since unholy strength (IMO), and all it did was possibly add intimidate. I figured a card like this could be utilized with many of blacks 'solo' creatures that don't like the other guys. Could also be used in a variety of decks where creatures being in your graveyard could be just as beneficial as on the field. At 3 solid black it's not splash friendly (and I wanted it that way as tutoring is powerful enough). +3/+1 is a nice power boost. Intimdate may be useful. Undying speaks for itself. And with a tutor for a variety of cards in a variety of decks this could be the 'icing on the cake' for a creature (say obliterator or taskmaster or Rune-scarred). Again, I think it is balanced because of the BBB costing. Any less than triple black would of made it splashable and too much to handle.

As for the mechanic, I figured something new and something old. I chose the name Vintage I think for obvious reasons. and I think it fits quite well. Each color that would utilize a vintage mechanic would have you do something as a downside that is color-coordinated. I felt that for blue, the FoW exiling and Gush land-bounce was appropriate. For artifact (the most difficult) I felt that coming into play tapped complimented the discarding your hand ability (which seems to fit with a variety of artifact cards) into not being a broken powerhouse but still very playable. For black (the easiest) I felt that 3 life and a creature sac would fit nicely. However, that is not to say that it would be the same thing across the board. Such as:

Lore Demon
4B
Creature - Demon
4/4

Vintage: When you cast ~ you may discard a card. if you do, it gains undying.

Flying

It could fit into either a very powerful card slot or a not-so powerful card slot. The above example is just a show as to how it could be a versatile mechanic for a not-so powerful card slot. And how it could be chosen to NOT be used.

----

Hopefully that seems apporpriate to what you wanted, was well explained, not OP and not Jank, Usable and versatile, wasn't previously used (in this function) and meets your expectations.

I'll get to work on the other cards later. If these cards do not do what you are asking, please let me know ASAP so I can come up with something else. Either I nailed it or I failed it.

---

Look up!

Basically what he said, I want to pay the time walk mana cost to get a time walk effect.

quote:

---

Originally posted by Jtrade77:
I have a question involving clarification on question one:

You ask for a mechanic to color switch then give examples using individual cards, citing an article:

Relentless Assault --> Finest Hour
Lightning Helix --> Essence Drain

Additionally, most mechanics are many-colored rather than single colored. (Some aren't though.)

For question one, are you asking for the design of a single card, or the movement of a mechanic like Convoke? For example if I wanted to move a traditional blue effect into white, despite it not being a regular mechanic, would that be a valid answer worth the full points, or does it have to involve a named mechanic?

---

Jtrade77 - Havengul Lich
B14ckM4g3 - Skaab Ruinator
AEther Storm - Molten-Tail Maticore

__________________
/Thunder in the wind/No rain/Peace mourns its passing/

quote:

---

Originally posted by B14ckM4g3:
Card 2:

Mechanic name: Vintage

Vintage: When you cast this spell, do X. If you do, then you may also do X.

----

1st entry - Time walk

Walkling
1UU
Creature - Shapeshifter
1/4

Vintage: When you cast ~, you may exile a blue card in your hand and return an island to your hand. If you do, take an extra turn after this one.

Shroud

1: ~ Gets +1/+0 until end of turn
1: ~ gets +0/+1 until end of turn
U: ~ Becomes any creature type(s) until end of turn.

---

Card 2: Black Lotus

Evermore
2
Artifact

Vinatage: When you cast ~, You may choose one card in your hand, then discard the rest. If you do, ~ gains: (Tap: Sacrifice this artifact: Add 3 mana of any one color to your mana pool.

Comes into play tapped.
When Evermore leaves play, you may draw a card.

---

Card 3 - Demonic tutor

Tattoo of the Hyena
BBB
Enchantment - Aura

Vintage: When you cast ~, you may pay 3 life and sacrifice a creature. If you do, search your library for a card and put it into your hand. then shuffle your library.

Enchanted creature gets +3/+1, intimidate and undying.

---

So this is what I came up with. To elaborate:

Card 1, walkling, is a base off of morphling. I made it a 1/4 so the power fluctuation wasn't preposterous. I gave it shroud so it couldn't be equipped (would make it wayyy to powerful). I made it with the shapeshifters creature-copy ability so that in the right deck it may see a boost in power. Tried to not make it overpowered, while still versatile, and usable.

Card 2 was more difficult. First it was an artifact creature that died very easily. I felt that that may have made it either too good or not utilize the lotus ability. So I mulled it over, did card 3 and came back to it.
Then after I had time to think about it some more, I realized that in itself, the artifact sucks. 2 mana to draw a card with no sac outlet. If the vintage ability is not used, it is a dead slot of crap. if it is used, it could change the game drastically. I felt that discarding all but one card made it so that if you did it early game it damn well better be worth it. In later game, it may give you that advantage that you may need. But there are no guaruntees that even with a card draw and lotus mana that you could turn the game around. Probably fits in best with reanimator as the cards are discarded instead of exiled. Made it come into play tapped just in case there is a broken powerhouse thats been dying for this card so it can't just make a turn-2 win-con. I think it's balanced quite nicely.

Card 3 I found to be the easiest for the mechanic. Just what should the card do? So i thought about it and figured a black creature would be too much. A kill spell would of been even worse. So then an enchantment came to me. Predators gambit was the best since unholy strength (IMO), and all it did was possibly add intimidate. I figured a card like this could be utilized with many of blacks 'solo' creatures that don't like the other guys. Could also be used in a variety of decks where creatures being in your graveyard could be just as beneficial as on the field. At 3 solid black it's not splash friendly (and I wanted it that way as tutoring is powerful enough). +3/+1 is a nice power boost. Intimdate may be useful. Undying speaks for itself. And with a tutor for a variety of cards in a variety of decks this could be the 'icing on the cake' for a creature (say obliterator or taskmaster or Rune-scarred). Again, I think it is balanced because of the BBB costing. Any less than triple black would of made it splashable and too much to handle.

As for the mechanic, I figured something new and something old. I chose the name Vintage I think for obvious reasons. and I think it fits quite well. Each color that would utilize a vintage mechanic would have you do something as a downside that is color-coordinated. I felt that for blue, the FoW exiling and Gush land-bounce was appropriate. For artifact (the most difficult) I felt that coming into play tapped complimented the discarding your hand ability (which seems to fit with a variety of artifact cards) into not being a broken powerhouse but still very playable. For black (the easiest) I felt that 3 life and a creature sac would fit nicely. However, that is not to say that it would be the same thing across the board. Such as:

Lore Demon
4B
Creature - Demon
4/4

Vintage: When you cast ~ you may discard a card. if you do, it gains undying.

Flying

It could fit into either a very powerful card slot or a not-so powerful card slot. The above example is just a show as to how it could be a versatile mechanic for a not-so powerful card slot. And how it could be chosen to NOT be used.

----

Hopefully that seems apporpriate to what you wanted, was well explained, not OP and not Jank, Usable and versatile, wasn't previously used (in this function) and meets your expectations.

I'll get to work on the other cards later. If these cards do not do what you are asking, please let me know ASAP so I can come up with something else. Either I nailed it or I failed it.

---

Also the lotus one doesn't work as intended, no way to keep track of if the cost was paid or not,so it would have to come into play untapped, and gain the ability until end of turn, or always have the ability but only be usable if the additional cost was paid.

quote:

---

Originally posted by AEther Storm:
2 and 3 are ready. I'll get to work on 1 tomorrow. That's tough.

---

Card 1: Create a card that:
Has an ability it normally wouldn’t have;
Impacts standard at least;
Is from Return to Ravnica;
Flashy and outside the box are preferred (turning crazy pretty easy with this), but simple and elegant beats crazy.

Jeez fluffycow, I had a hard time just finding an ability, let alone meet the other requirements. First off, before I read the whole description, I was going for coin flipping in black. It’s the perfect color for it, getting result a or b doesn’t matter to black as it enjoys its victim agony one way or the other. Then I read, it has to impact standard. Scratch that. So I thought a LONG time and came up with a mostly black, sometimes blue effect: Looking at your opponents hand, graveyard and deck and removing cards from them (Extirpate, Thought Hemorrhage, Sadistic Sacrament were cards that inspired me).
There was only one conclusion, this could be a white treat as well. White is the color of healing, protection, lifegain, angels, soldiers, etc, but white also has a nasty side, Wrath of God, Armageddon, law-based spells, where players are met by the awesome stopping and delaying powers it has. We all have issues with bureaucracy, and I thought of the following.

Customs Inspector (Rare)
Creature – Human Soldier 1WW
2/2
First strike, Vigilance
When Customs Inspector comes into play, target opponent reveals his or her hand. Choose a nonland card from it. Search its owner’s graveyard, hand, and library for all cards with the same name as that card and remove them from the game. Then that player shuffles his or her library. You gain 1 life for each card removed this way.
“Those are not allowed in our country and are hereby confiscated. They are now deemed property of the state.”

I’ll explain the whole card. I made him a Soldier in the end as Custom Inspectors are kind of police officers, which could be compared to soldiers. They carry firearms and uphold the law. Plus, making him a Soldier could make him have more impact on other formats than standard (good in Tribal).
Vigilance is easy, Customs never sleeps. First strike was harder, but in the end, you need to declare goods first when travelling, and you go through customs first when arriving, so they’ll get their hands on your stuff even before you’re truly in the place you’re travelling to. There is no escaping Customs.
Seizing the card speaks for itself. They found something that is illegal and confiscate it, putting it in storage and sometimes destroying it if they have to. The life gain reflects this somewhat, but also that (corrupt) officials could/would use impounded items for their own use (drugs, illegal movies, etc), reaping the benefits.

I think he fits fine into white weenie decks. He buys you time with the life gain while taking out a threat, and has a great set of stats. First strike and vigilance combined are just plain nasty.
Hope I elaborated enough. It’s 01.00 hrs here and I need to go to sleep now..

Oh, I know Scour has a similar ability, but that doesn’t let you look into your opponents hand first and only works if they have an enchantment in play. Hope that doesn’t count.

Card 2: Time Walk, Demonic Tutor, Black Lotus

As these are all epic cards and cornerstones of many Vintage deck, I wanted to do something so that you had to earn the right to get that desired effect, and not be able to simply cast something and do it. You need to meet some requirement before pulling it off. So, here comes Require (couldn’t think of a better keyword). There’s a little like Evermind on there as well, I thought it was the perfect way of making the card pay tribute to the power of the cards of old.

Require – Spells with require do not have a casting cost. Instead, you need to meet a set requirement before you can actually use its effect. (In hindsight, this could be a regular ability, too.) It’s applicable on all the great cards (Recall, Twister Mox, etc.).
Note: you don't actually play the card (it's like a cycling ability, so it doesn't benefit Storm decks), but you can Stifle it.

Do the Time Walk (Mythic Rare)
Sorcery
Do the Time Walk is blue.
Cards without a casting cost can not be played.
Require: If you have exactly 7 cards in your hands, you may reveal Do the Time Walk from your hand and pay 1U. If you do, take another turn after this one. Remove Do the Time Walk from the game.
“This takes forever.”

For clarification, you need 6 cards in your hand and this, total 7. This might seem easy, but in the Eternal formats, how do you get 7 cards in your hand? If you’re on the draw, sure you could play 2 lands at first and do nothing. No counter, brainstorm, etc. Seems easy.
Well, excuse me? Do nothing on turn 1 and 2 in Vintage? You’ll lose the game if you don’t. At least counter something! So it’s tough enough, but with Jace, cantrips and a battery of draw spells this could work, especially if you have a good board position. If you can pull it off, you will probably win. And if you don’t, you’ve probably lost anyway.

Bargain Deal (Rare)
Sorcery
Bargain Deal is black.
Cards without a casting cost can not be played.
Require: If you have lost 3 or more life this turn, you may reveal Bargain Deal from your hand and pay 1B. If you do, search your library for any card, reveal it, and put it into your hand. Remove Bargain Deal from the game.
“You know you want it, no pain, no gain”.

Very flavorful in my opinion. You need to hurt yourself (or be Bolted by your opponent during your turn) and ‘pay the price’ for reaping the rewards. 1 Fetchland is not going to cut it, you need to work for the price. You could Bump in the Night yourself I suppose.. or Dark Confidant could help out. Phyrexian Arena. Pox. Necropotence. To name a few.

Flourishing Lotus (Mythic Rare)
Artifact
Cards without a casting cost can not be played.
Require: If you control 3 lands whose mana abilities can produce at least 3 different types of colored mana, you may reveal Flourishing Lotus from your hand and pay 0. If you do, add 3 mana of any color to your mana pool. Remove Flourishing Lotus from the game.
“So beautiful you dare not touch it”

This rules out cards like Undiscovered Paradise or Crystal Quarry. You could have 2 Savannah and a Taiga in play for instance, having access to W/G/R. It’s accessible as of turn 2 with Rampant Growth for instance, but you get an acceleration of 1 as your land is tapped. So I don’t think this is too broken, though 6 mana on turn 3 is nothing to sneeze at.

Card 3: Improve a crap standard card

Molten-Tail Masticore
Card Type: Artifact Creature
Creature Type: Masticore
Power/Toughness: 4/4
Casting Cost: 4
Card Text: At the beginning of your upkeep, sacrifice Molten-Tail Masticore unless you discard a card.
4, Exile a creature card from your graveyard: Molten-Tail Masticore deals 4 damage to target creature or player.
2: Regenerate Molten-Tail Masticore.

Explanation below

Infinite Slime (Rare)
Creature – Ooze 1G
2/2
Trample
When this would be exiled from anywhere, return it to your hand.
1G, sacrifice a creature: put x +1/+1 counters on this, where x is the sacrificed creatures’ power.
When this is put into a graveyard from play, put x 1/1 green Ooze creature tokens into play, where X is the number of counters on Infinite Slime.

It was pretty tough deciding on the final version, but here it is. About the synergy with Masticore, that’s obvious. It’s a recurring discard and damage engine, so that’s quite nasty. Then came the hard part, to make it a card that on itself would be interesting enough to play.
Trample: Goo has the ability to not be stopped by any obstacles and just slide over stuff.
Return to your hand: Everybody knows some kind of sticky candy, glue or other sticky muck that once it’s on your hands, that sticky feeling is there for the rest of the day, right? That’s where his ability came from.
Sac ability: It ‘eats’ and adds to its strength anything in its path.
Token ability: When you step in a pile of goo, it splats all over the place. See your average bad horror movie or a random Scooby Doo episode). You got the main body, but you still have to deal with the mess you made with the splatters.

I am not an expert in Standard, correction, I suck at Standard (Legacy rules!), but here it is. I think it has a bomb of synergy in it. Basically you run quickly with some smallies and destroy any blockers, until you can finish it with Masticore. Finishers are the Slime, Masticore, Demonlord. I didn’t put any planeswalkers or BoP’s in here, didn’t want to make it too bomby, this seems fun on its own. I also don’t think it’s just for this deck. Monogreen aggro or any Token deck could use this, maybe G/R too.

4 Infinite Slime
4 Molten tail
4 Altar’s Reap
2 Glissa, the Traitor
3 Birthing Pod
4 Bone Splinters
2 Demonlord of Ashmouth
4 Young Wolf
2 Green Sun’s Zenith
4 Ambush Viper
4 Ulvenwald Bear

1 Buried Ruin
2 Grim Backwoods
4 Woodland Cemetery
9 Forest
7 Swamp

Cheers, off to bed now..zzz…zz….zzzzz

__________________
/Thunder in the wind/No rain/Peace mourns its passing/

Card 1 -- Recolor a mechanic

Ok, the mechanic I'm choosing is mass-bounce, specifically represented by cards like Upheaval and Devastation Tide. This is a blue ability. I want it in white. White has precedence for doing global resets, so why not global bounce too? I miss the days when white weenie wasn't dependent on tokens, could actually play 2/1's for W and enjoy them, and had a 'reset the game button'. I don't want this ability splashable, but I am sick of yet another overcosted wrath of god in the generic white rare spot. It's not Armageddon, because LD is too 'non-interactive' now; it's a true reset. I was tempted to add 'end the turn' onto the end of this card, but I'd rather avoid that if I can. You can still break the symmetry, but I think not being splashable means it is fair.

Original Card -- rare in the ODY expansion set, saw play in Psychatog decks:
Upheaval
Sorcery
4UU
Return all permanents to their owners' hands.
"The calm comes after the storm."

Card 1, Color-shifted Card:

Revolution
Sorcery
WWWW
Return all permanents to their owner's hands.
"Do not be too severe upon the errors of the people, but reclaim them by enlightening them."
--Thomas Jefferson

By making it *extreme* white, that is a heavy white commitment, the objective is to play a bunch of small white guys, beat down, and if board gets complicated, call Revolution and do it again! White weenie shall rise again (no tokens, just original cardboard flavor)! Give white players an excuse to O-ring their own men! If printed, this card would revive an archetype which isn't in standard right now.

Card 2 -- my mechanic is this section is called 'Presence'.

Presence X (This spell is countered unless you control X permanents).

To be clear, you don't need exactly X permanents, you can have more, so long as you do have at least X.

Certain effects are so powerful that I don't believe they deserve a place in the early game at a reduced cost (in standard) unless you can survive and still be present in the game for them. In standard, depending on the environment, games *usually* last 5th turn and result in having both players control less than 10 permanents. For example, the lotus effect is really great early, but if you can only get the mana when you are already controlling a bunch of lands and guys, it is less broken, almost fair. At presence 8, the lotus might power out a big spell, but it won't give you ridiculous earlier tempo. If Tutor can't fix a turn two mana screw, it also is less useful... you aren't likely to play it until you'd be able to Diabolic Tutor anyway.

Finally by the way presence is worded, it is possible to counter it if you can remove an opponent's permanents while it is on the stack. For the reminder it could easily be "This spell is countered unless you control X permanent when it resolves." but I'm not sure the 'When it resolves' is really necessary for understanding it. Extra turn spell is costed to 'suck' since I don't really want tempo decks using it as an alpha strike on turn four or five. Even then with the right token support it could be a metagame contender. You could redo the moxes (or a mox) at presence 6 or 7 if desired. Here are cards to demonstrate the mechanic, my entry for this round is the cards you specified, the first three. Consider the rest as additional demonstrations of what the mechanic can do:

2.1
Opening Lotus
Artifact (mythic)
0
Presence 8 (This spell is countered unless you control 8 permanents.)
T), Sacrifice Opening Lotus: Add three mana of any one color to your mana pool.

2.2
Devilish Tutor
Sorcery (rare)
1B
Presence 5 (This spell is countered unless you control 5 permanents.)
Search your library for a card and put that card into your hand. Then shuffle your library.

2.3
Triskaidekaphobia
Sorcery (mythic)
1U
Presence 13 (This spell is countered unless you control 13 permanents.)
Take an extra turn after this one.
Flavor: "Marin feared a certain symmetry so much, she moved time and space to avoid it."

Extras showing 'Presence' can carry a full block:

Stubborn Wildchild
Creature -- Elf (uncommon)
G
Presence 3 (This spell is countered unless you control 2 permanents)
T) Add 1G to your mana pool.
0/1
(Can't accelerate on turn 1... on turn two not so broken since you can't tap it until t3. Also, risky in constructed on t2 if you had a one drop.)

Territorial Captain (common)
Creature -- Soldier
1W
Presence 3 (This spell is countered unless you control 3 permanents.)
4/1

I'd defintiely try reprinting Darksteel Relic with the 'Presence' set to see if it gets played this time around.

Card three == Havengul Lich

To make Havengul Lich playable.
--5 mana is pretty high; I want to drop Lich on turn 3 but NOT enable insane shenanigans with low cost guys
--Need to get creatures in the yard
--Enabler must stick around past Vapor Snag
--Wanted Enabler to have an activated ability.

First I had issues with cost reduction. If black spells cost B less, suddenly you don't even want the Lich, you load up on B cost zombies and drop your hand turn 2. If Wizard spells cost U less, then suddenly free delvers; even if blue is one less, hello cheapo Snapcasters. I definitely did not want Diregraf Captain going under UB. Finally I settled for the multi-color aspect -- reduce gold/hybrid spells by 3 -- because it allows the creature's purpose to diversify. You don't have to go for Havengul Lich with this guy; he makes Drogskol Reaver into a house too. I'd play him in EDH with at least 5 different generals. This part of the card is tricky because I didn't want to pigeon-hole him into Lich-land, but at the same time wanted people to notice 'hey, this guy is great with Havengul Lich'. (He's also great with Grim-Grin, but that's not my card entry.) Standard right now has a decided lack of gold, so I felt ok with a 3 reduction, which I would not want entering a gold-heavy environment. (Seems fun for about a year with Rav 2.0 coming though.)

In regards to reductions, the cycle of apprentices in invasion, the medallions in tempest, and even Urza's Filter make it clear to me that any color can have casting cost reduction, though it has been an artifact ability (usually). I'm not worried about putting 'gold' casting cost reduction on a 'gold' card.

For getting guys in the yard, I picked a drawback in the line of Hidden Horror/Bodysnatcher, a fine tradition in black, also allowing an extra ability for being a drawback. Ye older 'come into play discard a guy or sac this'. Havengul Lich likes creatures in the graveyard.

For the enabler to stick, I went with shroud. I really hate hexproof because it is so non-interactive, and I was loading up abilities so the one-sidedness of hexproof is too much. Shroud on the other hand, can also be seen as a drawback, so I don't feel too bad tossing on top. I don't want this guy to get a t2 vapor snag, t3 snapcaster-snag leading into delver-based blowouts. I also didn't want him taking up swords and stuff to go aggro... he's not supposed to be a win condition as much as an enabler.

Finally I picked an 'untap' ability. ~~explanation removed~~

Ha-ha, next day I decided the card was getting too busy and just cut this part out of the final result. It was the 'cherry on top' but the card was already strong. The multi-color reduction should be good enough, even if he doesn't have an extra ability for Lich to exploit.

Here's my entry for card three:

Planescape Prodigy
Creature -- Zombie Wizard
UB
When Planescape Prodigy enters the battlefield, sacrifice it unless you discard a creature card.
Shroud
Your multi-color spells cost 3 less to cast.
2/2

Art description -- this is a dark wizard's apprentice who wanted power by combining colors so badly that he became a zombie when the energies of mind and undeath mingled inside him. He did find the power he sought. His precautions only protected him from external energies, not from himself.

Note, it's got 2 power so it's a competitive aggro zombie, and it's got 2 toughness so it can play well with Heartless Summoning, which is another Lich-based archetype.

I wrote a good deal on the deck building portion, based on there being no word limits, hoping for full points.

You can go u/b zombies with this, note that the lich is just there to recur -- his most important role being a t3 beatstick 4/4 zombie, not use abilities. It's pretty cool that it gives the deck a great deal of inevitability, since you basically put your graveyard (an sometimes your opponent's) back into play with him. Some versions of the deck might also run x4 Cemetary Reaper, but I chose to exclude since the ability conflicts with what Lich is doing.

Deck 1 -- Zombie Beatdown
23 land
4 Gravecrawler (great to discard to the prodigy, it should always come right back)
4 Diregraf Ghoul
4 Planescape Prodigy
4 Diregraf Captain
4 Havengul Lich
2 Grim-Grin Corpse Born (truly a beatstick with Prodigy + Gravecrawler, attacking t4)
4 of Snapcaster Mage, Blood Artist, Geralf's Messenger (your choice here)
4 Sword of X and X
7 Removal Spells (which may include mana leak)

Alternatively, you could go u/b/w reanimate, with the idea of t2 Prodigy discard reanimation target, t3 Alchemy dropping unburial rites, t4 flash unburial rites on target. Note the Lich's prime role is Unburial Rites 5-8 in here, because you can go t2 Prodigy (drop Prodigy), T3 Lich, t4 lich out prodigy from yard, t5 hardcast Drogskol Reaver OR lich it out if discarded. That seems good. Prodigy gives a way to discard your reanimation target early if you just have Unburial Rites in Hand (hopefully still t4 off sphere accel). Sphere of the suns maximized so Lich can cast their graveyard too.

Deck 2 -- Lich Reanimation
24 land (plenty of b/w and u/b and evne u/w duals) ... could drop a land and spells, add Ponders...
4 Sphere of the Suns

4 Snapcaster mages
2 Phantasmal Image
4 Planescape Prodigy
4 Havengul Lich
4 Drogskol Reaver or other re-animation target
2 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite

4 Unburial Rites
8 removal spells

Additional, this guy might be that final impetus to make a five color Lich-Birthing Pod Deck. That deck already has enough creatuers to play the Prodigy. In this case, the Lich is there to use abilities of other creatures; could probably get away with less than 4 copies, but Planescape Prodigy is pretty amazing with Phantasmal Image (which would get shrouded provided you have the extra discard), and Lich back out an Image for CIPT trigger is pretty good....

Deck 3 -- Lich-Pod
24 lands (u/b/g)
4 Birds of Paradise
4 Planescape Prodigy
3 Phantasmal Image
2 Phreyrexian Metamorph (40 cards)

4 Havengul Lich
4 Birthing Pod
1 Sun Titan
1 Elesh Norn
3 -- One copy each of those Avaycn Restored Legendary Angels
2 Acidic Slime
1 Solemn Simulacrum
5 Good Cards With Abilites For Lich to Use:
--Ulvenwald Tracker
--Spellskite
--Bloodline Keeper
--Merfolk Looter
--Jace's Archivist (good for stealing guys from their graveyard after the discard)

Finally here's the prodigy in a combo-deck with the Lich. Note that this deck has been around already, but the hardest part is having a Lich stick. With the additional enabler to t3 a lich, with a combo element in the yard, it becomes *far* more consistent and may break through into a real combo archetype. Note it must be creature heavy so the Prodigy can stick on the table.

Deck 4 -- Lich-combo
4 Planescape Prodigy
4 Havengul Lich
3 Perilous Myr
4 Priest of Urabrask
3 Solemn Simulacrum
2 Sacrifice Outlet -- (Bloodflow Connoisseur)
2 Phyrexian Metamorph
3 Wurmcoil Engine
Creatures [24]
1 Devil's Play
1 Blue Sun's Zenith
4 Forbidden Alchemy or Faithless Looting
4 Heartless Summoning
Spells [10]
4 Darkslick Shores
4 Dragonskull Summit
4 Drowned Catacomb
4 Sulfur Falls
3 Island
2 Mountain
2 Swamp
1 Uncharted Lighthouse
Land [24]

With Heartless Summoning on the battlefield, Perilous Myr dies when it comes into play. But it's ability activates. Therefore, it's a free Shock when played from the hand, and a 1 cost Shock from the graveyard with Havengul Lich on the battlefield, which then becomes reusable for as many times as you want! Additionally you can use Priest of Urabrask with Summoning out to accrure infinite mana for an infinite Devil's Play. Hope that explains the unconventional choices here. The key is to stick that Lich T3 off Prodigy/Summoning and get those guys in the yard... allowing for a t4 kill if you get the right pieces.

In case it's not clear, here's the combo.

(1) Have Heartless Summoning in play.
(2) Cast Priest of Urabrask for R.
(3) Cast Havengul Lich for 1UB (still floating R).
(4) Use R to cast Priest from your graveyard.
(5) Repeat for infinite mana.
(6) Kill your opponent with Devil's Play or mill them with Blue Sun's Zenith.

Alternately:
1) Have Planescape Prodigy t2, dropping the Priest
2) Cast Lich t3 for 1UR
3) Cast Heartless Summoning t4, go nuts with above loop.
4) Infinite X spell
The above is a rough outline, but I really believe with Planescape Prodigy, it would be established as a real contender. It could use Bonfire from AVR rather than Devil's Play if preferred. Oh, and it can run Myr Superion in the SB for a cute trick with the Summoning. Unsure if Bloodthorn Vampire in the base set, so I picked one from AVR, but there could be something better. With an outlet, you can partially combo off Perilous Myr with only the Prodigy, not needing a Summoning in play. (It's better to have Summoning to re-yard the creatures though.)

So there you have 4 different archetypes with the amazing Havengul Lich, super-charged by my card entry of Planescape Prodigy. Four copies of each. I think one of them would get tier one if the card were printed, likely the combo or B/U aggro version.