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loreholdlesbian · 2 years ago

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Lost Caverns of Ixalan Draft Booster Challenge

With every set, I like to make a booster pack of custom cards that fit naturally in the set. My goal is to push in novel directions, as much as allowable within the confines of the necessary rarity distribution and within the confines of trying to make cards that don't still feel natural as part of the set. I also aim to try and cover a wide variety of mechanics and themes. I think this is probably my favorite one of these I've done so far, so let's get into it!!!

Art links

Lucía

Grim Captain's Herald

Jade Trident Bearer

Cosmium Compass

Wargnome Smithy // Gnomemaster's Weaponry

Oltec Sun Dial

Caving Gear

Deepriver Frillback

Lost to the Dark

Mycoid Blightwing

Reckless Descent

Sudden Sinkhole

Malamet Combat Rite

Mouth of the Depths

Rare

Lucía, Herald of Aclazotz Legendary Creature- Vampire Demon [mythic] Flying Descend 4 - Whenever Lucía attacks while there are four or more permanent cards in your graveyard, create a 1/1 black Bat creature token with flying that's tapped and attacking. Whenever a Bat, Demon, or Vampire you control deals combat damage to a player, you may pay 2 life. If you do, draw a card. 3/4

An underground set feels like a fun place to put a bat typal effect, but an ixalan set kinda wants its typal focused in the main four creature types. Luckily, Bat pairs very thematically with vampire so I made a the card batch, and threw in Demons for good measure since the card ended up being a vampire demon. Ironically, I think the rare is one of the less boundary pushing cards in this pack, but i like it and within this set it could only be done at rare since all non-Dino typal effects are being kept to rare so I stand by it.

Uncommons

Grim Captain's Herald 4 Creature- Skeleton Spirit Grim Captain's Herald is also a Dinosaur, a Merfolk, a Pirate, and a Vampire. Whenever you cast a Dinosaur, Merfolk, Pirate, and/or Vampire spell, create a Treasure token and put a +1/+1 counter on Grim Captain’s Herald. This ability triggers only once each turn. 2/2

Okay I know I just talked about this set not having a typal thing and all non-dinosaur typal being kept to rare but hear me out. My intention here is to give a reward if you want to build any of the 4 types without devoting larger set structure to it, and I like how since a decent number of the set's creatures are these types it'll always have some hits in whatever deck you put it in or can build a deck specifically filled with just those kinds of creatures. I like it for EDH too, I could see throwing it in decks for any of the 4.

Jade Trident Ranger 3G Creature- Merfolk Warrior When Jade Trident Bearer enters the battlefield, create a tapped Map token. (It’s an artifact with “1, T, Sacrifice this artifact: Target creature you control explores. Activate only as a sorcery.”) Whenever a creature you control explores, it fights up to one target creature you don’t control. 3/3

I wanted to do something fun with maps, and "Fight whenever a creature explores" felt like a fun reward, since it takes advantage of the way explore can help make creatures bigger as well as, with ETB make a map as opposed to ETB explore, the better ability to select what creature of yours you want to fight and when you want it to fight. I went with a tapped map because I don't like green creatures that fight on ETB and an untapped map would be too similar to that.

Cosmium Compass 2 Artifact 2, T: Scry 2. As you discover, you may increase or decrease the discover value by 1. This effect can’t reduce a discover value to less than 1. It points not to the north, but to the unknown.

Here's a discover reward I'm very happy with. The obvious discover reward is the second ability of course, but the scry helps a lot too while also giving the card a use case outside of discover. Originally the use case was "being a creature", but I switched it to artifact with this ability and I'm just much happier with this.

Commons

Wargnome Smithy 2 Artifact When Wargnome Smithy enters or leaves the battlefield, create a 1/1 colorless Gnome artifact creature token. Craft with white 3W (3W, Exile this artifact, Exile a white permanent you control or a white card from your graveyard: Return this card transformed under its owner’s control. Craft only as a sorcery.) // Gnomemaster's Weaponry Artifact- Equipment Whenever equipped creature attacks, each attacking creature gets +1/+0 until end of turn. Equip 1 (1: Attach to target creature you control. Equip only as a sorcery.) “As one, the machinery lifts its voice to tell you this: ‘Gnome.’”

First things first, appreciate my flavor text callback. I knew I wanted a craft design in here, and it took me a bit to get something I'm happy with that felt appropriately boundry-pushing but still felt cclean, but i'm very happy with the result. I intend this to be a cycle of colorless artifacts with a colored craft that all have a trigger on ETB and LTB. I like how it has a bit of the flavor of incorporating an aspect of what you craft it with by gaining white as a color. The leave the battlefield effect means it triggers when you use its craft ability, but also that it makes really good craft fodder for other cards. That's the benefit of the cycle being all colorless- you might even take the off color ones to be craft fodder. I think this'll play really interestingly.

Oltec Sun Dial W Artifact Whenever Oltec Sun Dial becomes tapped, tap target artifact or creature an opponent controls. 4W, T: You gain 3 life.

This card should probably have flavor text but. Eh. This is meant to be a good card for the RW "tap your stuff as a cost" archetype, but I gave it a tap ability to make sure it stood by itself. I wanted the tap ability to be expensive tho to heavily encourage the archetype more.

Caving Gear 2U Artifact- Equipment As a creature you control explores Caving Gear, put this card into your hand. Equipped creature gets +1/+1 and can't be blocked. Equip 2 (2: Attach to target creature you control. Equip only as a sorcery.)

I liked that first line of text on something, but had to figure out what would be a good card to do it on. Something that rewards big creatures felt best, since if this card gets explored that means whatever explored it got a +1/+1 counter on it. Originally it was on a green bite spell, but when I made Jade Trident Bearer that felt to close, so I switched it to blue. Unblockable felt like the best reward in blue for a big creature.

Deepriver Frillback 4U Creature- Dinosaur Vigilance Descend 4 — Deepriver Frillback can’t attack unless there are four or more permanent cards in your graveyard or you discard a card as it attacks. 5/5 The dread it evokes as it chases is almost as deadly as its bite.

"Big blue creature that can only attack conditionally" is well-treaded design space (though it tends to be more upside these days). However, I like the addition I made here of letting you pay a cost if you don't meet the condition yet. And in this particular case I'm happy with how that cost helps you build up to the condition.

Lost to the Dark 1B Instant Target creature gets -3/-3 until end of turn. Put a finality counter on it. (If a creature with a finality counter on it would die, exile it instead.) Diego’s elation at narrowly surviving the cave-in quickly turned to horror when he realized he now knew no way out.

Finality counters!! love those little guys. Especially since I was able to guess what they were when Mark mentioned a new deciduous counter. I wanted to show off a new way to use them that wasn't in the set (though I can't take credit for this particular innovation, someone in a discord server came up with it). They were only used to limit recursion so far, but here I'm using it in place of the "If that creature would die this turn, exile it instead" with the added benefit that it's not limited to just this turn. a -N/-N effect felt a little better than a red damage spell, because I think the -n/-n is something you're a little more likely to use just to make a creature smaller, instead of killing it. (though still pretty unlikely)

Mycoid Blightwing 3B Creature- Fungus Bat Imp Flying When Mycoid Blightwing is put into your graveyard from anywhere, create a 1/1 black Fungus creature token with “This creature can’t block.” 3/2 Once infected, it feels no hunger or thirst, only the drive to spread spores further.

Here's a card to play into the graveyard themes. Sacrifice it, discard it, mill it, whatever, and you'll get a small reward. I could see it seeing play in modern, getting a reward- especially something on the board- for free always has potential. But a 1/1 that can't block is a small enough thing that I'm not like, worried.

Reckless Descent 1R Sorcery Mill two cards. You may play those cards from your graveyard until end of turn. Though goblins are rarely welcomed into the Sun Empire, Gleet’s willingness to jump into strange pits and shocking ability to return alive proved invaluable.

I've used this mill-based impulse draw in at least two of these booster packs so far, but I see absolutely no reason to stop until wotc finds this for themselves. It seems like an extremely useful tool for graveyard themes, and it's also a great way to show off something novel at common so it feels just perfect for this kind of project. The flavor text is exploring an aspect of the world that's just so odd to me, with the Sun Empire being only humans when there's several sentient species native to the continent. I also like taking goblins usually mocked traits and frames them positively, while staying humorous.

Sudden Sinkhole 3R Sorcery This spell costs 3 less to cast if it targets an artifact. Exile target artifact or nonbasic land. The building collapsed into the previously-unknown depths, never to see the suns again.

Here's a somewhat new take on the pillage design we've seen over and over again. This is a very strong version of the effect, both by itself and in the context of the set which has a strong artifact theme and an unusally high number of nonbasic lands you'll want gone. I went with exile over destroy to hate on craft and caves. This is hopefully even a constructed playable version of this effect which I'm pretty happy with, since the land destruction portion isn't at all strong but having it attached to a more playable card makes it more likely to be around when you really need it.

Malamet Combat Rite 2G Instant Put two +1/+1 counters on target creature you control. You gain life equal to the difference between its power and its base power. Malamet magic enhances not just the warrior’s body, but the warrior’s soul.

This is a version of the "increased power" thing we saw on the two legendary Malamets simplified for common, by giving it a base use case and only caring about a single creature only once. Fun fact- the maximum amount of life you could gain using just the cards in this pack (and basic lands to cast them I suppose) is 7.

Mouth of the Depths Land- Cave T, Mill a card: Add C. Even the most unassuming of entrances can swallow you whole.

This is a mana ability we've seen on creatures before including at common, but never a land, and it felt like a good fit for caves' whole deal and for a very simple synergistic common so I made this once and never changed a thing.

That's all folks!!

#mtg #magic the gathering #custom magic card #lost caverns of ixalan #ixalan #booster challenge

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