Author Topic: M:tG Random Question  (Read 2889 times)

Offline Amechra

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M:tG Random Question
« on: July 13, 2016, 02:38:59 PM »
So, I'm toying with an idea for a custom set. Basically, the "theme" is enemy pairs, and the gimmick is that the "enemy pair" teams approach problems like the color that's between them... in their own way.

White/Black plays kinda like Blue, Blue/Red plays kinda like Black, etcetera. Now, the important bit: I don't want to violate the color pie. So despite Green/Black playing like Red, I'm not doing that by just color-shifting Lightning Bolt.

To continue on with the Green/Black example - I'll be using Fight to blast creatures, Intimidate to bypass blockers, and so on and so forth.

So my random question: Which color do you think will be the hardest to pull off this way? My guess is White, since neither Blue nor Green really do life shenanigans (Blue/Red can fake it due to Red blastiness).
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Offline SorO_Lost

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Re: M:tG Random Question
« Reply #1 on: July 16, 2016, 11:08:45 AM »
Actually there are pretty much full on sets that pretty much do what you want, try using the key words "color bleed" or "color break" on google to pull some specific examples of cards that live up to another color's expectations. As Captain Barbarossa would say, the color pie is more like guidelines anyway.

Also Green does the crap out of life gain, specially with Elves, as well as stuff like Protection from Black/Blue and Enchantment/Artifact destruction. Blue also has lots of control and between them lots of little weenies that can be buffed. It's actually pretty easy to use allied colors to fill in for their missing pal.

Offline snakeman830

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Re: M:tG Random Question
« Reply #2 on: July 17, 2016, 07:30:13 PM »
U/G is probably the easiest one to pull off, as Soro mentioned.  Not much that White does that can't be accomplished in either Blue or Green.  Green has damage prevention, life gain, millions of little creatures, combat tricks, anthems, and enchantment/artifact destruction.  Blue has tapdown at its disposal as well.

The hardest one to mimic really would be Green, primarily because no other color really gets good land fetching.  Red has some temporary mana boosts, but actual mana ramp is almost exclusively in Green, followed by Black (not counting artifacts).
« Last Edit: July 17, 2016, 07:34:08 PM by snakeman830 »
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Offline Amechra

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Re: M:tG Random Question
« Reply #3 on: July 17, 2016, 09:19:36 PM »
I had honestly forgotten that Green got lifegain. Silly Amechra!

I'm not really interested in doing color bleed - this is more on a combo basis than a card basis.

White does some land fetching. It's usually based on playing catch-up, but it does exist. Red destroys/steals lands, and (as you said) does some temporary ramp. There's something there...

In general, I've got a good idea on how to do pseudo-Red, but that's about it.
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Offline Sinfire Titan

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Re: M:tG Random Question
« Reply #4 on: July 17, 2016, 10:00:55 PM »
Having white weenies that add red mana and vice versa (be it a one-shot ETB effect, a repeatable tap effect, or just a quick sac effect) could simulate ramp.

Blue has gotten several "Polymorph" effects in the form of Rapid Hybridization, Pongify, and Swan Song recently. Using those as a basis for U/R's creature removal is a good start.
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Offline Garryl

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Re: M:tG Random Question
« Reply #5 on: July 18, 2016, 01:50:22 AM »
Red you've touched upon already.

White's got a lot of overlap with green already for the creature side, and with blue for the control side.
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Green's creature side has a fair amount of overlap with red and white. White has the small guys and pumps, red has the big guys (dragons), trample, and combat tricks.
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Blue is very control heavy. White shares a lot of creature control elements, like tap-locking. Black is quite happy to draw cards, although usually at a cost.
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Black likes to take and kill things. When there's a possible upside to anything, it comes at a cost. Blue sometimes shares its appreciation for mind games with the opponent, and red also likes to see the world burn.
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« Last Edit: July 20, 2016, 07:02:07 PM by Garryl »

Offline SorO_Lost

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Re: M:tG Random Question
« Reply #6 on: July 20, 2016, 05:36:12 PM »
The hardest one to mimic really would be Green, primarily because no other color really gets good land fetching.
I'm not sure what you're talking about there, White has the best Land fetch card ever printed. Land Tax can be played and turn one, and if you happen to have gone second or delay, it'll immediately grab three lands out of your deck by your second turn. Tithe is the lesser Instant version of that and Wayfarer is the spam version of Tithe.

I think you mean Green's mana ramp, the ability to shove extra Land in play, is hard to copy. Mostly you have to stick to Artifacts like Sol Ring to generate extra mana or Walking Atlas to play extra lands. Red has one of the best Commander-style Enchantments out there with Braid of Fire but the card is like ten bucks a copy an Amazon and a prime target for for any disenchant effect.

Offline Garryl

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Re: M:tG Random Question
« Reply #7 on: August 10, 2016, 04:12:40 PM »
I was looking through some (really) old cards and came across Amnesia. It's a straight up discard effect in blue. For 6 mana, look at target player's hand and they discard all non-land cards.

Really, you can find a lot of out-of-color effects in older cards. An-Zerrin Ruins is tapdown in red, of all colors, for instance.

Edit: Some interesting ancient oddities.
- Amnesia: Discard in blue.
- An-Zerrin Ruins: Tapdown in red.
- Cyclone: Direct damage (sort of) in green.
« Last Edit: August 11, 2016, 02:23:41 AM by Garryl »