>Alvin the Cynic is named after a good friend of mine, who helped with this set. He sadly replaced a legend that gave all your nonwall creatures banding. <Heretic, conman, savior, prophet. These are just a few words used to describe the traveling street preacher Alvin the Cynic. Claiming to have been on a divie journey, The Church of the Creator keeps one eye on him, so he might not say anything too heretical. Has a protective aura to him. >Designed around the art. Originally didn't have a once per turn clause. <The creator gave all his angels distinct purposes and tasks. >Tribal Angel, designed around flavor theme. >Designed by the Creator in his final days, these angels are meant to go on the war path against any evil that may creep into the world. <Angels were told not to interact with mortals after the Fall. Some angels ignore these orders 'abstractly'. >In Alliances, there was a card that eventually became Exile called Marriage of Convenience. Since learning that, I've always wanted to include a card that represented the creature getting married, which includes the maiden here. The white clause is both a mechanical and a flavor one. >Notice the defunct creature type.

>>2015 I like them. The art, the word style, the vague sense of brokenness, It's all there for that feeling of old magic. You've got at least one person watching now.

>>2031 >I always respected the 'archer' effect. While not the most useful mechanic, it was always a nice mechanic to have, especially in a limited format. <Britonia is a fractured island nation across the ocean from the Franks. It's one of the more controversial memebers of the twelve kingdoms. <Its king will do anything to leave the island, so much he's a current member of the council of 12. >Chivalry is a part of the 6 card cycle of 1 drops. Each one wants to represent its colors most distilled virtue. >I like enchant lands, and originally there were more in the set. This is a simple effect, and while repeatable small life gain gets shit on these days, I always felt it was necessary, and underrated. <Churches litter the continent of The Realm, serving not just the church, but as civic centers for local communities. >One of two 'bands with other knights', this set was designed with the intention of using the modern 'bands with' rule. So he can band with any knight. >I never understood why Divine Transformation didn't give flying. I made this card ultimately because I fell inlove with that art. <Angels cannot make more angels. With the planeswalker simply known as The Creator dead, no new angels can be created. Over the millenia, attrition, as rare as it is, has taken out angels. Though unable to make more, so mortals get revered to a level like that on an angel, being recruited for tasks.

>While not many dragons exist in the set, Dragons are a common Magic creature type, and popular. So in a limited format, this effect is a rather limited one, its a strong casual card in the larger game. <While rare, killing dragons is a prestigious accomplishment. Many young knights will go out, with hopes of killing a young dragon. Not nearly as many come back. >I wanted a simple effect for the Squire, since I never liked Squire from The Dark didn't interact with knights at all. This also combo's with another card in this set, creating a literary narrative. >I wanted to create cards that could interact with banding, since that is one of the mechanics I wanted to experiment with. This card is a solid combat trick/burn save, that gets better when used in conjunction with banding. >A white "Hell's Caretaker" <The Elders of Heaven are mysterious figures. Even the angels aren't sure of their purpose, but according to church legend, they are the most revered of mortal souls. >I wanted a pacifism style effect in white, similar in vein to Serra Bestiary, since this would predate Pacifism. >>2031 Thanks man!

>Early on I had planned a "color is its own enemy" theme, which was slightly explored in Fallen Empires. Though most of the cards didn't make it far, a few did, including a cycle of 1/1 for 1 with protection from their own colors. <In the Feudal Kingdoms, Chivalry is everything, especially in war. There are historic tales of battles being paused so royalty could pass through, before combat engaging. >Mark Nosewater has called real world text 'Edutainment'. I disagree, as I feel realworld text can serve not just for great context, but truly inspire people to look these sources up. >This card was a last minute replacement to a card called Monk Companion, who instead of preventing damage regenerated creatures in bands with him. He proved too strong, but this doesn't feel nearly as medieval as the monk. <Plot point in the flavor text. >Another remnant from the colors are the own enemy mechanic. The Gosspmonger has a flavorful mechanic, tapping down similarly aligned creatures with useless chatter. <Politics among the nobility was often decided by pointless rumors, gossip, and suspicion.

Very nice. The art selection is great, where did you get it from?

>>2013 (OP) Very cool. I love everything about Creation, do you have it any larger?

>>2272 I don't, but I'll get you a HiRez one so you can make a bigger one. >>2224 Short answer, the Internet. Long answer, various online galleries, Yandex, and art books from the library.

>Hurrah is a combination of two of my favorite combat tricks, Righteousness and Blaze of Glory. The legend part of it is something of a remnant of "Legends Matter: aspect green and white would share. >I love white 'champion' creatures. Creatures stronger, but more expensive, than your run of the mill creature. Knight of Old embodies this, as a on the ground Serra, replacing flying with trample. <Knights of Old are a loosely formed order of knight errants and idealists taking up the near mythical 'Old Pledge'. The hardship of a life living off adventure and charity is hard, and those that can survive such a vow are often among some of the strongest in the land. >Kwanzaa is a vertical cycle, with the three cards all dealing with the maligned mechanic 'plainswalk'. MaRo once said there are so few plainswalkers because it doesn't make sense to be sneaky on a flat piece of land. <Deep south, beyond the caliphates of Al'Tair, the sea of sand, and the jungle of death, lie primitive tribal warriors. While mostly isolated, they do understand the value of trade, and Al'Tair market merchants and members of the merchant guild seek them out for exotic animal skins, rare spices, and every once in a great while, discovered relics.

>Though the big Enchant lands in the set didn't make it to the final product, many small, efficient ones did. This card designed just to help with that. >An attempt at a balanced Balance, I changed the discard and land destruction to Enchantments and artifacts respectably. >I also said poison needed more ways to remove it. <Though Magic exists in the world, not everyone is taught how to use it, and its presence isn't the most common. The realms are littered with healers, alchemists, and hacksaws using non-magical means to heal you, with various results of success. >A cycle of World Enchantments. Each one represents a different 'other' or 'afterlife' in contemporary or traditional afterlifes. >Limbo was inspired by the Mirage/Visions card Purgatory. >I sadly don't have any real lore reasons to them. >I wanted a series of Lords in the set, which serves as the other rare cycle. >I though instead of giving landwalk, the lords could pump up two creature types. This was a lot less powerful when I was using archaic wording, and many knights were simply legends. >Most lord of different colors were changed numerous times, as the set evolved. The only exception to this is Lord of the Realm. >He in my opinion is the strongest of the lords in this set. <The feudal system of the Realm is vast and complicated. A web of family lines litter the continent.

>>2425 >>2425 >I wanted some unconventional damage prevention not in the form of Samite Healer. I've always been fascinated with the mechanic of damage redirection, and wanted to include that in a flavorful way. <The Cult of self harm is a fanatical order of hospitallers and nuns. While virtues of selflessness are praised in the teachings of the church, and in deed of charity, this cult takes it to a fanatical degree, often killing themselves in the process. <There are many that feel they are secretly a Malil cult, while others claim they are simply a suicide cult, absolving their sin through acts of charity. >Probably more inspired by 'Biblically accurate angels' meme than traditional depictions. I wanted a angel that was a cosmic horror in white, color pie breaking be damned. >The Ophanim is a mystery even among the angels, often bringing terror even among the divine. They can be summoned, like all angels, but require constant mental and magical energy to keep in this world, even for a short period of time. >Color hate use to be a common part of Magic, so I naturally had to include some in the set. Has a pair with a black card. >just a flavorful combat trick, that I feel is surprisingly versatile. >Peasant is part of a "0 drop" cycle, that creation also belonged too. Peasant is the least restrictive of them. >The foundation of the various societies and kingdoms of The Realm, peasants can come in multiple forms, and have extremely diverse lives. but all serve the common trait of serving their lord.

>Peasant Knight can be combo'd with Eager Squire, creating a 'Don Quixote' style narrative. <Many peasants, once their debt is completed, will attempt a life of adventure, as the only requirement in accordance to tradition is have a sword and a horse. <Many of these individuals ultimately lack direction, and require a strong conviction, or a steady paycheck, to get them motivated to move. >Another powerful angel, distinctly made to be less powerful than Serra Angel. >Powers in Catholic angelology are beings who regulate the heavens and fight beings that threaten reality. <The original warriors created by The Creator, Powers were designed to fight the occasional demon that might come into the realm. They are entirely solitary, refusing to work with "lesser beings". >I have no quams stealing the name of a card.

>>2015 Beautiful Maiden should use "it's", and the font for P/T looks too modern (it's sans serif and low contrast). Other than that these rule.

>>2604 Thanks man. I've actually forgotten about the P/T text not being correct. >The Watchers are an attempt to utilize 'outside the game' in a constructive way. <The watchers were the first angels to succumb to black mana, and lead the first rebellion, which half the loyal angels parished. >A card trying to fix the fact Mesa Pegasus doesn't grant flying. Similar in vein to cards like Skirmishers. >Originally the set was going to contain a 1/0, and would need a few cards to run as an excuse to keep it alive. Trenches hangs around, because I like its design. <Trenches were developed later in the war as a means to counter the artillery of the Reuger Empire. >A very old design of mine. An attempt at a well seasoned knight errant. With this, I finish the cards of mono-white. What do you think? Next up everyones favorite color, blue.

>We start with arguably the most powerful card in the set. Is it even old school Magic if their isn't a deceptively broken card in the set? >Akashic Records is based on the place of the same name in New Age legend. <Said to be housed deep within the Aether, the Akashic records according to the machine elves, contain all knowledge of the multiverse. However, even they can't agree on its location. >Though they are certainly more common today, I've always liked 'tapped down' enchantments as a form of 'soft removal'. >One of the things I set out to do when experimenting with old mechanics, was include at least one Ante card. Three Ante cards made it into the final set. <Wizards who can't make it into a court often survive on parlour tricks and deceit. >Another mechanic that is pure old school, but was around for a very long time, text change effects. >This one already exists as a card I think. Would be good against all the tribal support in the set. >Color pie breaking? Probably, but a fun and flavorful color hoser none the less.

>>2556 The art for Ophanim is pretty different from the other cards. I assume that intentional but I wonder if it could be even more of a break from the rest.

>>2724 Yeah I've noticed that. I've actually debated taking it out of the set. I couldn't find public domain art I liked for it, and it from a design standpoint isn't white at all. >Back in the day landwalk hate was relatively common. I continued this tradition with a wall, that flavorfully could block an islandwalker. Originally there was going to be a number of cards that interacted with walls, but they fell off over time. >Pursuing my love of changing cards, we have a legendary that can change the color of a spell or permanent. A surprisingly powerful effect in the right hands. <In the final decade of the Realm, there came a school of thought among younger wizards that magic could be an expressive action. They took magic, not a concept of hard science and theoretics, but an art form, used to show beauty and expression. <Dara is an exceptionable member of this movement, able to change the very fabric of the magical energy around her the same way an artist my change the color of a canvas. >The hardest part of this set was coming up with balanced removal that wouldn't outshine cards from the Core Set. Disbelief is in the same vein as Remove Soul and Flash Counter. Yes I know Annul exists, and is strictly better. This works because it would be before annul was printed in Urza Saga. >We don't get much enchant enchantments or enchant artifacts anymore. I wanted a card that was a localized Energy Flux, and this still life works for that very well in my opinion. >This design might be one of the oldest I have. Originally appearing on Anycraze.com, it actually might pre-date that, as the original card to my memory had flavortext to a text based RPG I use to play in the early 2000's. >I wanted creative ways to fill up your graveyard, and this one was one that stuck in my memory. <Occasionally massive dragons appear from behind the great wall. These beings are different than the dragons that litter the continent.

>The green color hoser in blue. Honestly probably would been better off from a thematic standpoint being saved for the expansion. <Winters, while not longer than winters on Earth, are particularly harsh in The Realms. Many northern Kingdoms will go weeks without seeing the sun, and snow in most of it is almost a constant. Faerie Trickster: >The first "playtest" card, this one as seen on the bottom taken from the Alpha playtest sheet, albeit color shifted from green to the more appropriate color blue. Ferry: >Ferry is a design I made for a much older set. >It serves as a way banding can be used as a vehicle, in this case, the creature gets its Islandwalk ability, since, its you know, a boat. Fisher's Hook: >Another remnant of colors being strong against its own color. This card accidently shares flavortext with Segovian Leviathan (I didn't want to change it). >A solid tempo card, it should be remembered that at the time this set is inspired from, it would have doubled as a combat trick. Kraken: >The obligatory big blue creature of the set. >Trample and Islandwalk may seem redundant, but you can't always promise your opponent will have an island in play.

>>2796 Apparently two cards weren't included in the post, so here they are.

>Some effects are just simple by design. This card works on two fronts from a flavor perspective, it can spot a creature being sneaky, allowing it to be apprehended, or blind a flyer, making it fall from the sky. <Originally designed by the Remus empire, Lighthouses dot the continent of the Realm, Al'tair, and even a handful still in the Remus Empire. Though peasants believe them to be magical in nature, they mostly run on practical effects. >An Undine is a water nymph who can become human, and even get a soul, through marriage. This card was almost entirely inspired by the art, and was designed first with flavor in mind. >The 'stay tapped' mechanic is also delightfully vintage, and a good addition in my opinion. >Magic Mirror is the ultimate text change enchantment, giving you versatility at an ever increasing cost. >The name Meropi came from cuckchan actually, as these were originally called Atlantians. >Apparently Meropi comes from a parody of Atlantis. >The princess is part of the 1/1 for 1 pro color cycle. >Meropi spy was designed entirely around the art. >Both of these were to, in theory, help Merfolk as a tribe in the old school and 93/95 formats. <How big the mer empire is, is always up for scholarly debate. While Titus, the current Sea King claims the entire ocean is under his domain, many far away from him suspect that the kingdom is actually relatively small, as its known very few go out into the much larger ocean.

Mystic Interference >A card literally stolen from 'Meanderings', the set that would eventually become Mirage/Visions. That card was actually stronger than this one, and served as an inspiration for the entire 0-drop cycle. Ocean Elemental >I really wanted their to be a bunch of elementals in the set, because I mainly enjoy the old school personification of them. This one, actually has a pair with the red one. >Pirate Captain is one of the most consistent of designs in the set. With the exception of the first draft having a different lord, this has always been the same. >The art changed numerous times, before settling on N. C. Wyeth wonderful art for Treasure Island. <Where as Barbarians harass the east and north, Pirates harass the west and south. Most of these groups are anarchistic, and are just as likely to raid each other, as they are to any trader or corsair. However, occasionally a captain will rise up to steer that crew into a grander purpose. Plane Shift >I wanted a few unique ways for blue to give away an island. This was one such attempt. The idea being your moving the physical location of two pieces of land. >I tried to stay away from art that was 'too famous'. This Monet piece is fairly well known, but far from his most known piece. Port Merchant >Inspired by a custom card I saw over 30 years ago. >It can be changed from Ship to other creature types with magic mirror or change face. Potentially punishing a tribal player.

Psychic Shock >Its hard to imagine, but blue once had access to burn. Psionic Blast is one of the most famous removal spells of old school Magic, and pingers littered the first decade of the game. >I wanted to experiment with blue burn in a way that seemed natural to the color. Burrowing inspiration from Psionic Blast, I made a smaller, and weaker version of it. Reflecting the Sea >Remember how I said I wanted ways for cards to go to the graveyard? I figured this powerful card is one way to do that. It also has a fairly difficult learning curve, which is always encouraged. <The Ocean is revered in many cultures of the world, including The Realm. Some believe the sea can predict the future, and an entire culture of soothsayers exist to try and predict the future by staring at the sea. Rescry >A card inspired by the Yugioh card Reload and Magical Mallet. Return Home >This card literally started life broker than it is now. >Might be the strongest spot removal in the set. >Refuse to change it because I like how it looks, and how it feels. River Elemental >A flood with feet. That's it really. Designed around the art. Needs flavortext.

>>3035 An effect that removes a creature from play more thoroughly than exile, for the low low cost of UU. I can see why people wanted that changed.

>>3120 Its original design was 1U, and was an instant. What do you think a far cost would be for it? >While this set only contains three merfolk, hardly enough to dedicate a draft strategy to it, it was designed with a theoretical constructed play in mind. I feel while expensive, this would work good in an OS fish strategy. >This card is literally a color shifted Ritual of the Machine, except you sacrifice an artifact instead of a creature. Honestly a last minute design because blue was short one rare. <The mysterious king of the Meropi empire enforces tariff's with the human and dwarven ships that cross his realm. He is however, opening to trade as well, which makes him rather progressive compared to his predecessors, who would just sink the ship with something on it they wanted. >I really wanted a whole series of different ships in the set, and I didn't support their removal from the game in the Grand Creature Type Update. However, unlike Dinosaurs, I doubt we will see anymore ships with the Vehicle type existing. >A combination of REB and Suffocate. Admittedly might be too strong. >One of the two blue legends. In my opinion a strong but not overpowered representation of the ocean that helps blue in a number of ways. Originally wasn't legendary.

>>3134 >I wanted a more balanced sleep style effect. I guess in some sense, there is an advantage to this one, since it effects all players. >Very few cards mention The Merchant Guild, which in lore, is one of the "Twelve Kingdoms", the other one not a Kingdom in the traditional sense of the word is The Wizard School. <The Merchant Guild is the most powerful member of the Twelve Kingdoms, muscling themselves in after the dissolving of The Kingdom of Leope. <No one trusts them, but they do business with everyone. >I really liked Volcanic Eruption, and the extremely old school thing of blue having land destruction. So I made a 1 land Volcanic Eruption. >The Mary Celeste is inspired by the real life maritime mystery. Another "vehicle with banding" exploration. >The blue 1 drop. Basically an Invisible.

>>3191 >originally there were a lot more cards that interacted with walls. However, these were removed over time. >I really like my art choice on this one. >This originally worked differently, but I wanted it to have a positive interaction with Stern Merchant. >Just a filler with art I liked. The name of the painting is literally 'Wonderful Birds' <Sailors across the world revere birds, especially sea birds. In the Reuger Empire, it's believed they are the souls of those lost at sea, in The Realms, they are believed to be prophetic warnings by The Creator, who's controlling them as warnings to those who listen. >A 4/4 flying for 4 with a drawback that might not ever be relevant is pretty strong. <With dragon hunting a major sport, very few dragons reach full maturity. Those that do, learn quickly how to disappear out of sight. That's it for blue! I hope you've all had a great FNM and I'll start with my favorite color, black, tomorrow.

>>3192 Very nice! Overall it's a nice look back at the flavor of old Blue. For return home it's cost should honestly be doubled. White's signature problem remover the 3 cost exile enchantment is utterly outclassed here when considering creatures and it's not even a White spell. Add on it's versatile interaction potential and UUUU seems right.

Hopefully you all didn't immediately run back to cuckchan like a normie. >Old school almost has the cards required for a proper suicide black strategy, almost. Since this set started in the vein of improving the Old School cardpool, I decided to increase this a bit. This card is to help black in its card draw, utilizing the philosophy of High Risk/High Reward. >I love Dance of the Dead and Animate Dead. I love them from a mechanical standpoint, I love them from a flavorful standpoint. Honestly, rule confusion aside, I think they are the best designed reanimator spells in the game. I included the "nonartifact" clause because people have complained about animate dead being too good in robots, and I wanted a pseudo "answer" as what would have been seen in the day. Plus it makes flavorful sense. >I sort of fell into a flavor rule of demons and angels exiling cards, to heaven or hell, respectably. This added some rather interesting design choices, like this pseudo Lord of the Pit over here. >This art was actually concept art for Fantasia, before Walt Disney fired Kay Neilson. <The demons of the underworld have an economy based entirely on souls of all living beings. >A global demonic tutor. It originally cost B, until someone pointed out that it guaranteed a turn 1 Hymn with a Dark Ritual. >The black 1 drop enchant creature spell. >>3234 Actually I think I'll make it cost 3UU.

>Flair effects, usually one time mind you, were in black. I figured cemetery wouldn't be too color pie breaking if I added a drawback. >A number of poison counter creatures exist. However, for the last decade poison counters have gotten a second life, so I felt there was a lot less room for experimentation with it. <When the two cultures met, naturally both sides were introduced to new viruses. A few viruses, enhanced by the magic of the land took of physical forms, at least, according to legend. >A solid black removal spell, picked entirely for the art. >another card to compliment suicide strategies. It has attached to it, one of my favorite black aura's, Soul Kiss. >a flavorful, but expensive removal spell in black.

>>3252 The painting art style suits Black will with all the gothic styles. For Coven the original soul kiss gives +2 for 1. What where your thought for making the life loss equal?

>>3250 Also my theming sense tells me Black mass needs to do something negative to both players as well, but I'm not to sure about that really.

>>3272 >>3280 Honestly, no. It just kind of came naturally. Now that you point that out, it might be worth changing. I'll do a write up to these tomorrow.

>>3287 Dark temptation and Endless devour-er are wins both in flavor and in power. Have you ever playtested a mock game with the full set?

>>3287 >A thematic draw spell, largely designed around the art. Modern iterations of this are obviously less clunky. <Ramses the Eternal is a Mummy Lich that resides in the ruins under the Al'Tair desert. >The artist for this is an unknown flemmish painter. >I didn't want to make a strictly better pit scorpion. >As someone said, this one is an entirely flavorful design. >I really like the over the top horrific depictions of demons in medieval art. I ultimately decided on this one, both because of how grotesque, and how lewd, it is. >>3309 No but I plan on getting the cards printed eventually.

>This cards original art was found on Epilogue.net and was a simple painting of a dead tree with an emphasis on the starry background behind it. I used several different arts for it after that, while settling on this one, which is a great piece in its own right. >The original flavor text of it was "The biggest fear of all, is thinking, deep down, none of this matters." >Every color has one hoser for an enemy color, or that was the idea at least. This is the white hoser in black, inspired at least partially by Gloom. >A one hit Hymn, probably too strong, but fun. <Nero would be the last emperor of the Remus empire before its eventual collapse to the Barbarians of the east. Paranoid, prideful, and short tempered, his rule would be the final knife in the back of the ancient relic. >A wight is a spirit in English folklore that typically trapped to a location, usually an improper grave. Tradition states that the wight is nearly invincible, but will go if the body its guarding is properly buried, or destroyed. >I tried to incorporate this concept as a Magic card. >As said before, I wanted cards that interacted with banding. Natually black got a card that blows a bands up. >Ruling: Only the initial target needs to be nonblack, any black creatures in the band will be destroyed as well. .>This card was originally white, and was moved to black. I wanted a shade in the set anyway, and with this, got one. <The ruins that litter isolated parts of the continent are rumored by locals to be haunted, and its advised to stay away from them. While no proof of them being haunted, they are typically inhabited by wild animals, goblinoids, and even bandits, and going near one unprepared could be a fate worse than death.

>Inspired by the Djinn in Islam, Iblis was my take on the ultimate genie card. Very powerful, very dangerous. >Iblis works like any wish effects, and his ability is a mandatory replacement effect. <Iblis is certainly the oldest being on the plane, and was brought here from Rabiah by The Creator himself. He's trapped in his lamp, until one summons him, which by ancient magical law, he must grant three wishes, but then the recipient is forfeit to him. <Despite all his power, Iblis isn't the most powerful being on the plane, not by a longshot, and he is bound to his lamp, though he would to one day, conquer this world, to spite the man who condemned him here. >Brutal art. Anyone who wants some great wallpaper, look this one up. >I feel the green color hoser is stronger than the white. >My attempt to make a card to reflect Legion from The Bible. <Every century, a small outbreak happens somewhere relatively isolated. Every time, its victims change, adults, children, one year it was even wilds animals. It starts with some unusual happenstance, but soon most of the inhabitants will start talking in unison, and attacking anyone that isn't >Legion outbreaks are one of the only events where Angels will work with the church.

>>3348 So an Iblis deck would run heavy sacrifice (to bind Iblis to the mortal coil)and suicide Black to rush Iblis and then draw the perfect counter to whatever they're opponent is playing. Risky and temperamental but when it works you feel omnipotent.

>The black lord. Probably the second strongest after Lord of the Realm. I really like how the art turned out on this one. <There's a whole order of knights who's sole job is to hunt down Necromancers, and others who revive or work with the dead. Despite this, there are many wizards who actively seek out this knowledge. >I really got into studying pre-flood stories while I was working on this, and it shows with some cards here. <During the first age, the giants who didn't sleep, called Nephilim, ruled over the other living beings as tyrants. Though they are dead now, many cultures fear (in their own ways) that one day the Nephilim will return, to enact revenge. >I wanted a Pestilence variant, and ultimately made two. This is one of them. >The mirror to Paradise Found (>>2556), it felt more black to do damage to you then to give everyone life. Was inspired by the Legends card Hellfire. This is also one of the ways I felt black could interact with enchantments, without breaking the color pie. >The black 0 cost spell. I've been told simultaneously this is both broken, and useless, at the same time.

>>3370 That was kinda my thought process. Its funny, until Ice Age, Legends were technically restricted to one as a rule. >>3375 >I always liked the "lands hurt you" local enchantments. The last one I remember being printed was in RTR, that enchant land that would force you to mill three whenever you tapped it. Most of them are old, and its definitely an old and most abandoned design space. >This gives poison decks much more support. I understand last year or so they printed a bunch of spells that give poison counters, but most of these designs predate that. >Another really old design from back in the "Epilogue" days. I've always thought it was a fine design, personally. >I included the reminder text cause most people didn't understand the drawback. <Giant Scorpions are one of the many horrors that haunt the ruins in the sea of heat. >Graveyard order mattering is one of the greatest design spaces WotC ever did, and then they abandoned it. It encourages responsible play, keen memory, and concentration to be used effectively, and as someone who ran it as a deck one, has an extremely high skill ceiling. >I also am interested in experimenting with non-blue counterspells. Black to my memory, has four. Dash Hopes, which either counters a spell or forces its controller to lose 5 life, withering boon, which counters a creature spell with an additional cost of life, and finally Stromgald Cabal/Thrull Wizard/Deathgrip, all which are color specific permanent cards. >Although not credited, this design is inspired by a card named "Dauthi" on the "Meanderings" design sheet, a set that would eventually become Mirage/Visions.

>I had a hard time determining the other black legend. One was Ramses the Eternal, a creature who when he died, he would come back unless the opponent paid 6 mana, then he'd be exiled, a demon, and even a black knight. >Upon seeing the haunting art of Richard Tennant Cooper, I fell in love with them, this one in particular, and had to include it in my deck. I already had a card called "Angel of Death" and really liked the art on it, so I instead made a rogue grim reaper angel as the card for this one. <Thanatos was the original Angel of Death created by the creator. In those days, it was possible for such tasks to be completed by just one individual. During the second age, the creator made a whole host of Angels who's job it was to escort the dead, but like all the original angels, Thanatos was allowed to continue his service. <Thanatos has a great deal of self will and autonomy, often allow mortals a chance to extend their short lives, in challenges. One of his favorites is playing a game, though no mortal has ever succeeded against him. Another is him offering to take the soul of another loved one instead. He takes a great deal of delight in seeing the ever fascinating dilemma that comes from this. <The angels think of Thanatos as an anathema, but as long as he continues to do his job, and not break any major divine law, there is little they can do to stop him. >The black protection from black creature. This one went through several different art selectiong, including several from this artist (he also drew Legion). >The Grigori are the "backside" of The Watchers (>>2684). I really wanted to design a card that couldn't be in your deck, and couldn't be reanimated. Sure there are ways to cheat it out, but that's true for anything. <These corrupted demons caused the end of the first age (which was actually the second). Their rebellion against The Creator, and the teaching of war and magic to the mortal beings lead to discovery of black mana on the plane. >A black damage replacer, which replaces damage done to you with poison counters. You obviously can't run it as x4, which is the point, and it's bad against a poison deck, but it's good with other things. >I included this for two reasons, an excuse to use that flavor text, and an excuse to use that art.

>A somewhat mirror to Legends "Wall of Light". >The other 'black enchantment removal' card. I feel like black forcing a life tax on enchantments, an abstract concept, fits well with its nihilistic philosophy at time. Honestly better than outright blowing them up like they been doing. >The other 'pestilence variant'. This one seems very risky, but very powerful when played right. Just watch for lightning >I feel it needs flavor text. >Xilbalba is the Aztec underworld. Its name means "a place of fear." >With this I wanted a literal underworld, where nothing from it can escape. With this I've finished black. Now be prepared people, we go into the highest testosterone color in the set, Red. Expect badass barbarians, dragon lords, lots of fire, even a bitchin' dwarf.

>>3375 Regret feels great to see, the art and text work wonderfully together. Spite is something Black always loves to see.

>>3391 Minor typo on Winter's Gloom, it says pay two life of sacrifice instead of pay two life or sacrifice. >>3389 More modern magic sensibilities would want to give Thanatos a trigger on sacrifice or more attack. But for this era, it's all good, right?

>>3402 >>3405 Thank you'll, its already fixed. As for that other one, it's the Saboteur ability. While two cards existed with it before that, it is usually credited "and where the name was coined" in Fallen Empires, and appeared consistently through the mid-90's, the most famous of which is probably Ophidian. Other notable examples include Goblin Vandal, and Mindstab Thrull. Eventually they decided to just let abilties trigger when creatures deal damage, which is admittedly stronger, but lacks a certain intellectual grace of these ones.

>>3405 Text to these will be coming later. Enjoy them as what they are now.

By the way, were these made using Magic Set Editor?

>>3413 >I fucking love Barbarians, and nothing quiet represents the end of an era like barbarians. I wanted them to be a major theme in the settings, mainly as a proverbial purifier for the last decadent remnants of the remus empire. >This art was originally on the card "Desperate Charge" which was a rule breaking card called "Counter attack", and that art was the art for "Battle Fatigue" >Red use to get tapped down effects. I wanted to honor that with at least one card in the set. >One of red's themes in the early days (along with blacks) was coming up with ways to get around Cop:Red. Bellum does this I feel in a great way, without being broken. >The last red card designed in the set. I actually had to relook this art up, but man is it powerful. >I wanted their to be a "rare Aura" that actually felt rare while still feeling oldschool. >>3414 >This card was actually designed in The Dark (as seen on the bottom). The only evidence for it is a found printed out email of a discussion about it being far to powerful to print. >I feel big french vanilla's are an important part of Magic's core identity, especially ones with long, cool flavortext. <These titan sized giants are only occasionally seen, if they are actually seen at all. >A efficient ogre in the uncommon slot. Might be a bit pushed by old school standards. <Blood knights aren't uncommon in the realm. Many young peasant knights and knight errant become obsessed with battle, often chasing it down with reckless abandon. These knights, are often called Crimson or blood knights, due to its obvious association with blood. Some knights take this to heart, painting their armor in a bright red color. >I really like Relentless Assault. I wanted their to be a relentless assault in the set, but I couldn't logically make it equal or even better than RA. Originally this was called "Counter Attack". It could be only be cast if your opponent attacked you, and let you untap all your creatures. After that, you would get a combat step on his turn, but at the end of that combat step, you would lose the game. >I've been told I should give this card fire breathing, so its not super strictly worse than Shivan. What do ya'll think? >>3429 Yes

>The protection from Red one drop. Based on an even older design called "Apocalyptic Cult". <Most dwarves live pastoral lives in the last century of The Realm. After the near extinction of Dwarves to a virus several hundred years earlier, the surviving dwarves sold their ancient claims to human kings, joined the realm, and became merchants, eventually establishing The Merchant's Guild, which they are a major part of. >There's been a youth movement of Dwarves to regain their "Warrior" honor. Though this movement is a minority among dwarves, it hasn't gone without notice from The Lords of the Realm at large. Some take jobs being bouncers, guards, and mercenaries, far below their standings in life. Other's have foresworn their family names, and attempted to join Kaldheim, the last independant dwarven city, far east in the wildlands. >I wanted a plainswalking red creature. Was originally designed "Dwarven Caravan", but I couldn't find appropriate art for it. Flavorful, but borderline unplayable drawback. <Being a major part of the Merchant guild, Dwarves are viewed with suspicion, especially since The Merchant Guild became the 12th Kingdom. However, they do follow the laws to a T. >Earthquake, but better, and more expensive. Has a Hurricane counterpart. >In a time before EDH, you could splash a plains are two, or a dual, for the odd off effect. Fencing shows my love for adding this, though it's hardly the only card in the set. <Fencing is a relatively new form of swordsman ship, developed by the Twin Kingdoms. The two sides can't agree on how it should be conducted though, sabre, a curved blade from the desert lands, or rapier, a thin steardy piece of metal designed to take advantage of weak points in armor. <Rapier fighting has become, in its short time, a major sport on the peninsula. Strict rules of conduct keep it from devolving into blood baths like the Pits of Remus, and the free form of it keeps it from being stiff and formal like the traditional jousting tournaments. >Red use to also be a color of combat tricks and tactics. While banding never really belonged to red, the idea of doubling around someone and tag teaming them does feel very red, and it stayed.

>>3444 Instead of fire breathing maybe it's a bit tougher? All that time resting on treasure has given it a coating of armor perhaps.

>>3447 I like it!

>>3456 >As stated in black, I really like Graveyard order mattering, and every TCG should utilize it. This guy is probably a hair too strong, but its build around effects like this that keep the game interesting. <Many creatures inhabit the underworld, where black mana on the plane is the strongest. Though mortals all refer to them as 'demons', its a surprisingly diverse ecosystem of various horrors and evils. >The 3.0 supplement book "Path of the Sword" had a class called "The Adamantium Warrior". It was part of a series of "Legendary classes", which all had absurd requirements, and absurd abilities. >I wanted an 'adamantium warrior' in my setting, as well as a legendary barbarian, that felt truly legendary, a Conan style character. >Rampage wasn't originally in his design, but after a certain legend was designed, I decided to include rampage one. <The completion of a 2000 year old barbarian prophecy, Kondak was born during a blood moon, while killing his mother in the process. <It's said that Kondak will destroy the civilized people, and return the world to its natural order, and behind him, under the command of Wartooth, he leads the unified barbarian tribes to ruin. >A lightning bolt with disintegrate attached to it. A solid red spell >strictly better than Goblin Flotilla, sans the creature type, I actually designed this before "closing the sea", but that only justified its islandwalk even more. <The vikings are essential to Wartooth, as their knowledge of the world is more valuable than the strength and numbers provided by the other tribes. >A one sided howling mine that requires you to give a spell back. <I don't actually have anything written on this legend. I have a vague idea he's a powerful demon in Xilbaba/The Underworld/Hell, but that is all. >Red use to occasionally get toughness boosting effects, to shows its connection to mountains and stone. >This a color pair with Ocean Elemental. >This card started life as "suicidal Kolbold", a 1/0 for 0. Unfortunately I could not find appropriate art for the card. >Poke was the original name for "Flare" from Ice Age, but some sex jokes convinced them to change it. >Another one of those cards designed to answer issues in old school, in this case regenerators vs mono red. <The Colosseum, and the various other fighting pits of the Remus empire ultimately work on consensus. Put up a good show, you'll get to live another day, don't, and the mob is the least of your problems. >Based on the final battle in Norse mythology, Ragnarok turns the game into truly a battlefield. >The last of these designed in order, entirely to work around an unshown legend. Sorry for the few days of silence.

>While strong color hate is important, it shouldn't be so oppressive it's impossible to play around. >I feel this is a great example of one, while it naturally being symmetrical, discouraging it from going into izzet. >land destruction is a pet mechanic of mine, as is many others. >The quest for a 'fair' stone rain continues, though in reality, Stone Rain is far. >The original art for this was originally drawn by everyone's favorite Austrian Painter. >The Red pair to Snuff (>>3134) >When asking what some things were wanted/needed in 93/94, more efficient 1 drops were one. >I couldn't in good consciousness make a red savannah lions, so as always I added a flavorful drawback. >Another 'banding matters' combat trick, this time inspired by Bloodlust.

>>3505 No problem. It's a fun time doing this. I'm thinking once you're done we can just jump straight into that next set you where talking about making.

>>3506 If this were released to the masses I can see the jokes about Red seething over blue already.

>>3506 Love the idea of Sell-Sword, seems like it would have a lot of weird interactions. His face looks too big for his head, weird painting.

>Chaos Orb is one of the most popular cards in Old School, and is almost the mascot of the format. I wanted another dexterity card, to compliment Falling Star and Chaos Orb, but wasn't sure what. Then I saw this art, and it all worked out. Either everyone gets a wish, or it crashes into the earth. I know I could do use this as a coin flip effect, but alas, I kinda like flipping cards. >The red 1 drop aura, and in my opinion, the worst on its own. >I was reading the great Duelist #4, when I saw an article from one of the designers of Fallen Empires. He mentioned that Dwarven Catapult, is meant to be played as a combat trick, not as removal. I never thought of it like that. This serves as a direct inspiration to it. >Did you know there was a red Time Walk in alpha. This inspiration takes that, and keeps the original text, but 'fixes' it, and increases the cost by 1. >Timber Wolves was a rare because it was an off color effect. I took that inspiration, and made a greek hero. I never loved the art, as the Pompetti are was much better, but the art gets it done.

>Red drawback creature. Honestly might be to strong. >I love walls, Walls of Clay touch on reds 3: Regenerate ability it use to have, but colorless, because it is a wall. <The various Caliphates in Xilbala uitilize clay walls, magically reinforced, but created through practical means. >A solid vanilla for limited play. >This card was actually Anarchist originally, but I decided not to use real world cards, so I changed my name.

>>3512 >>3513 I still got green, multicolored, and lands. We will see, and yes, I could see it too. >>3519 It looks fun. Thanks, here is all the mono red cards. Here is a card deleted from the final set.

Here we start with green. Green is my least played color, so it was the hardest for me to design for. Still, I did it, and it went well enough I feel.

>>2013 (OP) comfy af

>>3521 Ah the classic overpowered card next to 2/2 for four design. Starbust's effect is really fun in concept though.

>>3521 And then right next to it is Sprinklers, which feels great to see. >>3523 Lol

>>3526 Thanks anon, I really appreciate it, and hope you enjoy the second half of the set. >>3527 which 2/2 for four are you talking about? but yeah I get what you mean.

>>3525 >This one was desinged primarily around the art. Elihu Vedder provided some great monster art for the set. >Enemy color landwalk is also pretty based. >You know, Magic doesn't have a proper bridge toll (one that taxes you)? I attempted to fix that in a way. Trolls regenerate, so that's naturally included. >Another example of that lovely mechanic. I justify the 4 cost by letting it target any artifact, not just one the defending player controls. <The Island of Britonia is a fractured and wild place. While it does have a King, who represents the whole island, how much power he actually has is up for debate. The island instead is full of scheming lords and isolated villages, and in between these are littered with wild animals and bandits. >Probably not that good, but one of the early designs for the set that I kept. Do ya'll like it? >The green lord is the weakest, especially in the context of the set when played alone. <Druids hide in the primeval forests that dot the continent. According to legends, they possess the Magic of the elves, and continue those traditions. The Fey hate them. >>3533 >Another example of the 'saboteur' mechanic. This had another to compliment it, which instead searched your library for a land and put it into your hand. That card didn't make it into the set. <The humans drove the elves to extinction thousands of years ago, under a king who unified mankind. This is an important event in the religious beliefs of The Church of the Creator. >A one spot "spore cloud" >Faerie get some support because I wanted to make them work in the context of the 95 format. >They have an enchantment theme, most importantly, around local enchantments/aura's. <The Faerie are the only Magic entities that are a member of the Realm. While Dwarves have represenatives in the Merchants Guild, when functioning their kingdoms never joined. The Faeries however were a founding member under William John Thomas II, the Conqueror.' >Just a vanilla beater. >The 1/1 pro color for green, finishing off the cycle.

>Naturally this set has a strong knight theme, being partially inspired by Arthurian Legends and the Matter of France will do that. >I wanted a cheap beater that was efficient, but with potentially bad drawback. >He has no race type because I wanted what he is to be a mystery. >I swear I remember him costing 3. <The Green Knight is a legend across the realm. Though what exactly he is changes between region, as he is described as an avatar of Chivalry itself, a paragon of the wilds, a ghost, and even an aspect of the creator. The one unifying aspect of these stories is him challenging knights to honorable combat, and sparing the (extremely) few he deems worthy. >I originally had both more sacrifice effects. and die effects in green, but most felt too modern. This however fits that niche delightfully, without being too modern. <Sir Galihad was a vanilla legend that didn't make it into the final set. He was also going to be a character in the 'Adventuring Quest' who I will get to later. >Life gain is said to only be good when its massive. I wanted to include at least one big one time life gain card, ala, stream of life or taste of paradise. >One example of the druids 'sacrifice' mechanic that originally was going to be a core part of the colors identity. >Of course because I'm unoriginal, I included a legendary creature with that mechanic too. <Jognkulb is the mysterious spiritual leader of the druids. Said to be approaching three hundred years old, he's by far the oldest living human on the plane. There are rumors that the blood sacrifices of his religious order are to blame for his longevity, while others will claim his natural ties to the trees allow him to age like one.

>>3533 Oh I meant more spiritually. Starbust is in the same column as Tragic hero, and their wildly different power scales are fascinating. I was wondering if Starburst could be balanced at 3RR, but given pure red's rushdown angle I do wonder. >>3538 Fun cards all around. I can see some real power behind a late game vision. >>3539 Woah, what a powerful creature that Lana is. And she seems so jubilant as well. >>3540 Patina's Imprison destroying effect may be niche, but when it works it works. All in all I feel like the green set is turning out okay even if you don't play it that much. Maybe more mana and color related effects could be neat, but the set isn't even revealed yet so this may be foot in mouth.

>>3545 Thanks man. I really liked Lana too, she turned out much better than her counterpart. I'll eventually add descriptions too these, I'm just busy atm.

>>3548 It's interesting how the occasional nipple really elevates the art. Anyway, all great cards here, each is full of flavor and effect, overall the best group yet. They've got a wow factor to them, capturing the feeling of harnessing nature's power. I do wonder if Rejuvenate Land and Reincarnate's placement could be switched. The land going straight to battlefield and the creature returning to hand.

>I wanted to experiment on how much of a drawback I could give Ancestral Recall before its ;fair'. I also wanted to experiment with ante, and wanted to do things no one did with the mechanic. The art was the final reason for the card, though I couldn't a version of this that's higher quality than this unfortunately. >Stolen directly from the Matter of France. Surprisingly this card doesn't exist irl. >A green Mark of Fury with a drawback. There is a card that compliments this in the set. >Yeah it's an inferior Crop Rotation, it might even be an inferior Renewal. It is however a card I enjoy making. >Green was the only card not to have some variant of Crusade. Blue had one with upkeep cost, red had one in the form of an artifact. I decided to do green, but with the drawback that creatures need to be in play in order for it to survive.

>>3539 >I didn't want a strictly superior Llanowar Elves, nor a strictly superior Mana Birds. I did however want a mana dork, and it working with one of the tribes in the set, works well. >Cicely Barker's art somehow fell into the public domain, which allowed me to feel comfortable using it, despite it not being as old as most of the art in this set (he art is also wonderful). >Jovial Lana actually started life as a pair to Dara Dreamscaper. Where as Dara was designed around the art of the card, using mechanics I enjoy using, Lana is the opposite of that, instead being designed as a foil to Dara. I think this is why she has come off so much stronger than her older sister. <There's a lore here, but I don't remember off hand what I wrote about her, other than she's a rival of Dara in artistic circles. >I really loved Bequeathal from Exodus,and wanted to include it in this set. When someone suggested I only use (relatively) original names, I went with Last Words. <In most cultures of the world, Last Words are held in great reverence. Whether it being the final prayer of a night, a poetic verse from a priest, or wisdom from a barbarian, these words are often held in great reverence to those closest to them, and in some cases, can be passed orally for generations to come. >I gave green a powerful Blue/Black color hoser in a single card. I also broke my rule about not using famous art for this one, because, that piece is amazing. >One of the very first cards designed for the set. It originally had this amazing Quinton Hoover art, but as a went with public domain art, that had to change. <Barbarians, though a rough history with civilized lands, occasionally get hired as guides, trackers, and even in some cases as mercenaries. <The Iniquage tribe is a particularly unusual group of barbarians, as they specialize in trackers and deep forest survival, instead of the frozen tundra and vast wastelands the other tribes do. >>3540 >Inspired by the fan set Middle Kingdom. Just some ally color fixing for gruul. >Probably one of the oldest designs I have, as I remember this card existing in a set I designed in middle school. I understand WotC made a version of this that cantrips. >I got little to say about this from a design standpoint so I'll state my opinion on real world quotes. MaRo has described real world literary references as "Edutainment", and much like Kamigawa, something he hated personally. I disagree, and say that is a wrong mentality to have. I always felt real world literature gave Magic a patina of class and dignity rarely (if ever) seen in a TCG. Sure some from the modern era get strange (looking at you 9th Inspirit), but very little do that. (UB need not apply). >Patina is, as mentioned by my biggest fan, an artifact imprison. It's also a term commonly used in car circles as the natural degrading of metal over time (if a listing says the car has Patina, it's probably a rotbox). >A bigger River Bear. That's all. >>3548 >green one drop aura, which completes the cycle. >Massive removal for artifacts and enchantments. >This one actually went through a number of redesigns. The art sort of confirmed what the card would do, and I figured this designed the way it is, would discourage mulligans, and help fight mana screw. >Based on the D&D spell, and inspired by Reincarnation from Legends. Also that art is hot. >Fits the same vein as Raise Dead and Reconstruct. There was actually one for enchantments as well, that didn't make it into this set.

>>3559 Like the idea for Ecosystem. Not much to say about this set, besides it's background goodness is good. >>3561 Is wish Tranquil monk was tougher and cost more, to push their zen peace flavor to the next level of stopping an army with tranquility. T-Rex! So cool! >>3562 Banding does indeed matter. Woden is pretty cool, guiding the lost though forest and staving off rot. Seems like a swell guy.

>>2176 Exiling should be part of the activation cost of Elder of Heaven and I would raise its mana cost by at least 1 more white mana. As it stands there is going to be a deck that chain untaps Elder of Heaven in response to its own ability in order to resurrect a ton of units and for 3 mana and only 1 white this card will definitely see play in multicolor decks that quickly dump a big unit into the graveyard only to rez it. I suppose you could also make it cost WWW instead of 2W or 2WW in order to make it a more difficult play in multicolor decks. Also, usually tap-down effects are more blue's territory than white's. I also notice Elysium doesn't stop tap-activated abilities.

>>3559 Oh boy, an ante-based ancestral recall. Yeah that card is busted. You just put a shit card in your ante, like a basic land, and you can use Rewards of Charity as a green Ancestral Recall without issues. The most overpowered card in the history of MTG (pic related) is basically this.

>>3575 The ante is traditionally picked at random by the top card of your library. >>3574 That's a good point about Elder I hadn't considered, and one I hadn't considered. I'll think about it. >>3572 As always thank you. So everyone, it appears that I made this thread back when I was out of work in 2021, and someone necro'd it. Though I'm not going to be posting anything to that one, it might be worth checking out some earlier designs for the cards.

>>3561 >>3562 This marks the end of Green as a color. Next we go into the part of the set I hate because its in its own right a mess, multicolored, but first, card descriptions! >Tir Na Nog is Gaelic for "Land of the Youth", a proverbial island where people don't age and everyone is young forever. This card, doesn't really reflect that, and was originally called The Wheel. I do like the effect though. >I wanted to use the Kubin art, Maybe I'll take anon's advice and make him bigger. >An slightly off color effect, though green use to get to keep things tapped down (see Elvish Hunter, Vine Whip, Roots, ect). >The person in that art is actually Rip Van Winkel. >The "Hurricane" counterpart to Eruption (>>3445) >Lets face it, Dinosaurs are cool. Vanilla's are cool. >>3562 >Banding does indeed matter. >So yeah, turns out my set was one card short, so I added this card that I had in my backlogs. >Another forgotten green mechanic, in the vein of Maddening Winds and Wanderlust. >The other green legend. Also a pseudo counterpart to Soul of the Sea. <Worshipped by the Druids, Woden is said the be the guardian of all the wild and dark woods of the world. Those who are good and lost in the woods will be guided out, but those who aren't will meet a fate worse than death.

Now we get to the mess of the set, the multicolored cards. Unbalanced, uneven, and even inconsistent. I was considering briefly removing multicolored cards from the set entirely, but fuck it, I love gold cards. "Azorius" takes on a generally 'cold' theme, which ironically continues much stronger in the next set. >Steamed Hams! >W/U is the color of winter, and each season in this set has a legendary Queen, and a dance associated with it. Each one compliments the queen in some way, with this one being a combo of Winter Orb and Kismet. <Festivals of Winter are common in The Realms. While traditions and dances vary by region, it's always the same, a celebration of preparation for the cold times, and hope for an easy winter. >Ice Elemental has a flavorful drawback along a strong stat line. A 3/6 for 4 is definitely above the curve, especially for the time, but that drawback, can be a bad drawback in the wrong match. I always loved the complicated Licid mechanic. One of the strangest mechanics ever made. I saw this art in a /pol/ thread, and went into it, eventually finding the artist. Everything around the card is designed to use the art. >Another card designed around the art. Strong, and effective. <Angels occasionally make those worthy of it a pseudo mortal angel. Over the ages, wizards have experimented with this, creating an arcane humonculus that more adaptable than the usual angel blessed.

There's a lot of color changing in this set. Other than Protection, what does it actually do here?

>>3591 Why do you always avoid using apostrophes? A lot of cards' texts need correcting thanks to this.

>>3593 Color hate cards >>3592 Apathy and poor grammar.

I'd like to ask a super inspired question because the theme is creation and it's results, and I love the idea of it, it's implications for us and then if we create something. what way did you approach design and and draft implementations? To make it a better question, how did you line up picking out art, theming, contrasts, etc? I love how recursive the whole setup feels by the way, as I ask the questions I can notice how it's asking the creator.

>>3595 That queen is scary. I can see what you meant about losing focus a bit at the multicolors. Still I suggest making it 1/2 lands instead.

>>3597 Honestly, one of the primary inspirations for the set was the disaster that was Legends. Originally there wasn't going to be a theme, I'd just assign names to cards, and really early on, the set used names from other Pre-Revisionist lore and cards. Such as Serra, references to Ulgrotha, hell Wenna, started off as the obscure nation in The Domains called Wrenna. Some cards were changed for the art, as others were changed because a lack of art. As for the setting, eventually I started referencing cards I made, and as such, it just kind of happened. It's why the setting could seem a little strange, like the fact The Realms is Twelve Kingdoms in a federation due to a common founder heritage, and why in this hemisphere, elves are nearly extinct, and as far as most know, are extinct. I needed a setting changing enemy, and since I had several pieces of art (as well as a ship of the line) I decided across the other side of the ocean would be an industrialized enemy. Most of the set however, sits the same, to explore mechanics and theme's from the earliest days of Magic and expanding upon them. >>3615 I've debated on making all the queens 2/2 instead of 3/3s. Here we have the last of the Azorius cards, I've been busy, but I promise card descriptions in a day or two.

>>3595 Probably the strongest of the Queens, and easily the embodiment of w/u as a playstyle. Mix of Kismet and Winter Orb. Might need to tone it down. <Said to be in charge of the season of Winter. The Queen is described as a light skinned, dark haired woman, who is beautiful to the eyes, but deadly to the touch. Those who have claimed to have met her describe her as being polite, humorless, and callous. She cares not for those who aren't prepared. >I probably could have saved this for the next set. A Reindeer, you can ride it, or it can fly. >There was some guys in Kamigawa that manually increased your hand size by a small number. I liked it, so I stole it. The tap ability was just to make him a bit more useful. >Named after someone I knew, before this setting, he was going to be the progenitor of The Northern Paladin's on Dominaria. <Hailing from the far northeast, Freshwater is an evile from his own lands. Had he been less popular, he would have been executed, but his desire for justice, and his kindness to the commoners spared his life. Since then, he's moved towards the setting sun, crossing the unnatural boundaries of his home, and moving through the barbarian lands, bringing whatever justice he could. >There's a YuGiOh card called Ordeal of the Traveller. This is inspired by that, with The Sphinx asking a riddle, and if wrong, they get sent back to the AEther. >Some of you might be wondering why it doesn't have flying. Vedder based this design on The Sphinx of Egypt, which also doesn't have wings. I took the liberty then to not include flying with it.

>>3624 >another card designed around the art. I did design this before expressive iteration, so there is that. >Through the Veil breaks my "no art to famous" rule, as does a couple of other cards. >This is the most meta card in the set. IF the Veil is the game, you getting a card from your binder is breaking through it. >A wall with the cloud mechanic. Nice art, nothing else to say. <The Winger Hussars ended the last big holy war, free'd the southern kingdoms of the Peninsula, and ushered in the era of never ending peace. They ride literal enchanted armor that combined magic with mechanical principles.

>>3642 It interesting to see which ideas have been done. At least for Magic I wonder if one of the issues it would have faced if it didn't take a nosedive would have been running out of ideaspace. The franchise is done now so I guess it doesn't really matter though. The zombie that remains isn't really worried about such things.

>>3645 I hate what this game has become as well.

>>3624 hey thanks for giving a bigger answer than I was expecting, I know you mentioned you're busy. I had one last question, it probably has been answered in one of the cross board threads but, I wanted to play this at the table with dad, what's the best way to print these in decent quality and sleeve these to just kitchen table it? appreciate any answer and I'll look through as well. not adverse to just writing them out on blanks but just wondering

>>3649 Honestly, I'm not sure. I've never printed out proxies, but apparently Magic Set Editor has a feature that lets you print your cards. back in the day I just put the images into Office Word, and printed them from there, but I no longer remember the dimensions needed. I would love for you to print out a deck or two and come back and tell us how it did.

>>3625 >A vice style card for all players, forcing U/B into a strategy its not super comfortable doing. >Very off color, but inspired by Ramirez DiPietro. >Another stay tap, steal effect. This one, for legends. Designed entirely around the art. <The Mysterious Queen of Shebia rules an extremely wealthy, but relatively small, island nation. So mysterious is she, that no one even knows her real name. >Inspired around the art, and by yugioh cards like Nobleman of Crossout. >Pure flavor on this one. <Though The Realm outlawed slavery under the first king, William John Thomas II, slavery still thrives in many places of the world, and is a extremely lucrative business.

>>3647 Rakdos as a color represents summer, the impulsive flings, the long days, the deadly heat. It also represents the proverbial underworld, with many demons in the set. >Dance of Summer is a take on the flare effect. I wonder if it would be more interesting as a instant, but all the dances are sorceries. >I wanted the most unique demon possible. Demon of Deals I feel fits that bill well, and yes, I know this art is particularly famous. >Another card to compliment the tribal bonus. Besides being a Demon lord, it also has an effect that could, when used correctly, compliment the tribe in question. <Xilbala operates on an extremely complicated bureaucracy. There are some who say this is ultimately their punishment. >In my mind, this was designed to compliment Pitch, as well as any other discard effects. I always felt a Phoenix sitting in the graveyard just felt flavorfully wrong. >>3647 Every magic set should have a specter. >>3653 >While I've always loved Pete Venters funny goblins, I honestly miss goblins being nightmare fuel. >Fun Fact: It's surprisingly hard to find public domain art for goblins. Thus the somewhat abstract look on this. <In the realm goblins are entirely nocturnal. Though never huge in numbers, they are a constant night time threat like coyotes or wolves, ready to steal or eat anything they can get their hands on. >This card looked different in my mind than how it turned out. >It turns out I copied a Torment card I use to play with, and didn't even realize it. <In the last days of any civilization, decadents seems to take a hold. Inside both the ancient city of Remus, and in the realms, a certain proverbial spell seems to take over many, who ignore or are ignorant to the problems plaguing the land. Certain scholars have called this the "Kali-Yuga" or the age of death, but no serious scholar has acknowledge this. >The Queen of Summer copies mana flare and mana barbs. <The Queen of Summer is described as scantily clad redhead who is dangerous in conversation and in touch. Those that have met her said her words are more painful than that of her heat, and that she was ultimately indifferent to the plights of those around her.

>>3649 Oh cool! You're lucky you have a dad like that. Tell us how it went, please.

>>3655 Black can get first strike sometimes and nonbasic lands hate sometimes was given to blue so I can pretend it's on color. I think I've seen rewrite history's effect. Probably later than you came up with of course. >>3656 I suppose time in the graveyard represents them being a pile of ash. What if Goblin Creeper was a 2/1, or 2/2. I'm not saying it's a good idea, but what if.

>>3658 I think it would be too strong, and would need a higher CMC or rarity. Gruul is the color of autumn, of barbarians, and of the impulse of wild places. >I heard in an anime sometime as a kid about how in Japanese mythology the first murder victim was buried under a cherry blossom tree, and that's why their leaves turn red. Though I never looked into that, that story has stuck with me, and reflects that with this card, >The autumn dance is a strictly worse explore, but because of that fits the power level of the set as a whole. >Need flavortext suggestions. >The reason why several cards have Rampage. I've debated making him give all other creatures with rampage +1/+1 because a 4/4 just feels a bit to strong. <Erik is the great unifier of the barbarian lands. While many under him want to destroy civilization, he wants to join it, and legitimately create a civilization equal to the former Remus Empire of yore. >French vanilla who is involved in the heroes background story to the setting. >Has a background that I'm not going to type right now, as its one of the more fleshed out characters, but Hero Protagonist isn't his real name. >Just a standard removal spell.

I can't post?

>>3662 >Just a solid limited pick. Not much to say about this after that. >I wanted a "hunter of legends" and figured Nimrod would fit that bill well. He is inspired by the Biblical Nimrod. <Nimrod is an important figure in the lore of the world, as being responsible for the extinction of the elves, and indirectly responsible for the death of the planeswalker that created the world. >Red and green use to get occasionally tiny fliers. >The Autumn Queen predates all the other queens by almost two decades, and was probably one of the first cards I ever designed when I came across a particularly nice painting by an artist I can no longer remember the name of. >I choose red green for her colors less for any philosophy of the color pie and instead, because it just felt like the colors of autumn. >She always had the explore portion of her design, but the flare is new, as she originally (a long time ago) had a Horn of Greed effect slapped on her. <Capricious, fleeting, kind. The Queen of the Autumn Leaves is a natural artist, painting her domain in an abundance of reds, greens, browns, yellows, and orange. She feels that one should enjoy one last bit of beauty before the dark times comes. >A mana dork inspired by a few sources, including Elves of Deep Shadows.

>>3692 Here we go into Seleysnia (did I spell that right?) The color of spring, of truth, and of life gain. >One of the biggest problems with legends was the lack of enchantment removal. However, the flaws of that set went into fixing Ice Age, which would become the first true "Stand Alone" set. >Cleansing Winds is a group hug Tranquility. Plus the "draw back" might buy you a turn or two. >Actually inspired by the song "Russian Roads", this card never quiet got art I liked, though the idea was losing a pursuer in the woods. It will only work once, but it works. I made it untapped lands for balance reasons. >The Spring Dance fits the nature of spring well, with renewal, by returning a land from your yard into play. >A g/w niche counterspell. I just really liked the art. >At first glance this might seem like a strictly inferior Stream of Life, but at 6 mana or more it gets strictly better. 6 mana into Stream of Life will gain you 5 life, while six mana into this will gain you 6. It only goes up from there. >>3693 >Originally green and white were going to share a "legends matter" theme, where several cards would care for legends. Most didn't make the downsizing, but I didn't want to disclose Europa here. <Europa has been described as the perfect son. Born the oldest daughter of King Redtooth, Europa seemed for a relatively privileged life. Then on the ever of her eighth birthday, Europa was kidnapped by brigands, and her entourage was killed. The Brigands had planned a randsom, assuming Redtooth's kind nature would allow an easy cash in. They were wrong, and while stories of her rescue vary in each telling, she was brought home, with a completely different out. <Studying the legends of her people, she found tales of female warriors, and took up combat training. Though her father was skeptical, he figured it couldn't hurt, and even let her be taught how to read, so she could read these legends herself. <At sixteen, Europa has become a represents for her father on the Council of Thirteen, where she infamously openly dresses archaically and brandishes weapons. Though despite her eccentric appearance, shes always relatively level headed, and collective, always thinking first about her people, and then, The Realm. <There are unconfirmed rumors that her father sent her there to get her out of his hair, while he tries to find someone to marry her too. Several suiters have tried, but one of her demands is the man must beat her in armed combat, and most who could, feel breaking such a rule of chivalry would be beneath them.

>>3693 >An intrepid hero style creature. I almost made him cost 4, and hit 3 or greater. I also considered it killing giants, but also decided against that. >The Golden Hour is a Victorian concept, where that time at sunset when everything is in bright color hues. >Since G/W was the color of truth, I wanted that to reflect this in some meaningful way. >Enchant Worlds/World Enchantments were originally intended to be planes. I decided to harkon back to this concept with the potentially broken Planeswalk, which allows you to move to where your heart desires. >Originally the Spring Queen was an explore and howling mine, like rites of flourishing. As the set became more defined, so did the personality behind the cards. >This version of the spring queen is instead a crucible (but for everyone) and a horn of greed. (sorry for the lack of posts. Enjoy this alternative art for Dance of Spring)

>>3694 >I really like Alchemist art, but very few of it is of the quality I felt worthy to be featured on my cards. I had to make this card stronger than Resurrection, but weaker than Hymn of Rebirth. >Although I designed the jester first, it seemed only natural that I'd make a card to compliment it. Inspired by the tarot card, The Fool is one card that will allow you to fill your graveyard for reanimator shenanigans. >Got uploaded out of order. A potentially broken (or dangerous) ramp card. >Based on you know who, the design is one I've had sitting around for a very long time. <Not a lot written on this one, other than she dies to a stray cannon fire. The final demoralization of the Franks in the middle part of the war. >A solid vanilla. That art was actually used on the side of a float for a Victorian Mardi Gras parade. >The final ally color card, utilizing the saboteur mechanic. <Occasionally a missionary will decide to go on his own, and try to spread the word of the creator. Most of these missionaries make it very little, either dying, or returning home. Occasionally one does make strides though, and gets the greatest title, Saint. That's it for ally color pairs. Not quiet how I like it, but its okay. Next is enemy colors, tricolors, and than artifacts and lands.

>>3691 Yeah I was having some trouble too.

>>3693 The lore behind that spell, Planeswalk. The narrative potential totally blows me away. Nothing to say about the balance of the multicolored spells, as you said earlier they're not really made to be. I did like when legends matter was done in og MTG and it's still a fun thing now. The fool in particular feels like a Yu-gi-oh card in a way all the other ideas wild and old don't. I'm sure there's a reason for that.

>>3707 Honestly, I just wanted a counterpoint to The Jester, which in turn was inspired by Jester's Cap. The Fool in tarot is the journeyman, always one step away from disaster, and some of that went into his design.

Orzhov deals in knights, the more brutalist sides of feudalism, and of religion. A lot of cards in this combination were cut from the set, but possibly can be featured in the next expansion "Dreams". >Angel of Death is one of my favorite designs in the set. It shows I wanted "Exile" to be in the setting a complimentary otherworld where you go to Heaven or Hell, and many angels and demons in the set compliment this idea. >Circle's are both a common motif in magic, and in the early days of MTG. I wanted to set up one where you're using your own blood as a shield, instead of one of your creatures. >A conditional, but very powerful, anthem effect. The requirement for a demon is pure flavor. >His art is based on a French, who was found doing less than savory things to try to summon a demon. <Galrais is an important character in the destabilizing of The Realms, though he had no idea of a new enemy coming from across the ocean. <Galrais, like many Wenna nobility, have been in contact with demonic forces for some time. Galrais personally prefers the sacrificing of Children, who he feels, offers a much better sacrifice then those of serfs and criminals. >Inspired by Knight Captain of Eos. Wenna started life as Wrenna, a obscure kingdom in The Domains on Dominaria, where black knights come from. When I decided to remove all references (except one) to other MTG planes, I decided to change it to Wenna, but keep the idea there. >A b/w pump knight. Basic idea, good design. <Though there is a cult of Malel, and an actual knights of Melel, most use this otherwise small order as a shield to take justice into their own hands, donning black and white armor.

Nothing shows my inspiration from Legends like French vanilla legends. Kondak is the only surviving vanilla legend in the set. Though I did design a few more (hero protagonist was only giving rampage to have him synergize with other cards in that color). <There are many rogue knights in the later days of The Realm. Being blood knights, mercenaries, or glorified bandits. However, none of these compare to the sheer insanity and terror of Kondak. Completely silent, Kondak is a balancer of all things. He infamously kidnapped the favorite daughter of a Wenna lord, when it became knowledge that lord was taking women on their wedding nights. The daughter was sold into slavery, and is a prized possession of a Sultan in Al'tair. This is just one of many of his acts of 'balance', which he pursues. <No one has ever heard Kondak speak, eat, sleep, or remove his armor. There are rumors among the peasantry that he's not a mere man, but some sort of nature spirit or avatar. >Remember, you're mortal. >One other enchantment in the game has a lingering effect like this, Titania's Song. >Just a reversal of Spirit Shackle. >This is the last flavor text featuring the great Alvin the Cynic.

>>3710 I like the story told on Galrais, it's perfectly long without overdoing it, in any a way.

>>3712 Thank you. I miss basic descriptions for legends, but then again, I miss legends kinda being unique. >Butterfly effect predates Tibalt's Trickery by almost a decade. It was inspired by the card Spellshift from Planar Chaos. >Yeah its absurdly broken. >Elric went through a couple of different designs, before settling on this one. <Though only a mild successful wizard, alchemist, and elementalist in his time, his book "All about Elementals" would go down as an important reference guide to the various elementals, and his work in Alchemy would become the foundation for several schools of magic and science for centuries to come. <Its also, rumored, he wrote in his later days "Magic and The Realms", though no evidence exists to prove this. >I like wheel of fortune. I like Timetwister. Why not marry them together. I do recommend if you build decks out of these, to auto restrict this to 1.

Although not entirely universal, Golgari has a strong graveyard matters theme, as well as a minor poison counter theme. >Avatar of Life and Death originally had much better art, but that art was lost, and I had to settle on this instead. >Long before that phyrexian set, I had a few cards designed to give poison counters in ways around dealing damage. Chronic Addiction was largely inspired by the art, which works well as card art. >Just another vanilla. >Graveyard order matters is an awesome mechanic. You can't change my mind. This card was originally something entirely different, before the yard matters effect. >Using your graveyard as a resource is an important design decision, and one that shouldn't always come easy. Soul Harvest was also supposed to tie in with another G/B card that would let you sac any number of creatures to gain life. >The artist for this card also drew the Waide tarot deck.

>>3716 I was going to suggest using this instead for Chronic Addiction but not sure the framing is right. Don't know if there's a larger image and or who the artist is.

>>3720 I like it

<Deep underneath the underworld is a simple void, surrounded by the world. Here is raw AEther. <Inside that void lies something so horrific even the angels fear it, though few, even among their kind, actually know what it is, and had it not been for one fool trading his soul to Azael for 'Forbidden Knowledge", no mortal would no of its existence. <According to what that mad monk wrote, it was there at the creation of the world, and the Planeswalker, unable to best it, simply locked it up. <According to another monk, who claimed to have visited the Akashic Library, it is simply an amalgamation of mana, that seeps into the world. <Regardless, no one, not angel, demon, wizard, or planeswalker, has ever attempted to free this thing, for to do so, its consequences could be cataclysmic not only to this world, but all of Dominia.

>>3725 Oops. typo

The five elder dragons in enemy wedge colors. Obviously inspired by the OG elder dragons.

>>3715 Oh no it's Tibalt's trickery but different. Even the reminder of that cancer brings shivers to my spine. Cool guy there, some interesting abilities. Wheels are fun. >>3717 Very interesting, a little expensive but also very strong. Kinda off color a little, enough to make it work. Very flavorful indeed, that woman handing out poison to the troops, whispering words to the birds and handing them bundles.

>>3721 Nothing to say about the first two, but Duel and Nero both are filled with the meaning behind their names. >>3722 Crib swap: Play any creature you want without paying it's mana cost for 1GU and discarding a creature card. Dress change is neat, brings to mind a whimsical fairy fretting about the forgotten dresses. A nice effect and a flavor win. >>3723 A neat effect, I'm not sure exactly how you use the second part. Interesting and when it works it works. Now this is the sort of creature that makes eyes bug out of my head. Given the way balance is made for auras you play Titania on the turn you intend to win. >>3726 What if Amalgamation also had an ability for WW, that removed aura's on it or something.

The rest of these are a collection, mostly of legends, to fill out the desire to run EDH with old school Magic (the original purpose of the set). >The Black Company is a sort of "Jack of all trades" card, not doing anything particularly well. It's inspired by "The White Company". <Some soldiers of fortune end of legends in their own rights. The Black Company, a small group of outcasts, set out for riches and fortune, specializing in a number of unique skills. >Dominia is the archaic name for The Multiverse. Yes, that's the OG book cover art for Carter of Mars. I wanted a 'hero of a thousand worlds' vibe. Not sure how he ultimately fits into the setting though. >A flavor first design of the more "interesting" angel in Angelology. The Cherubim was designed more on flavor, than on function, but there are niche designs to explore with it.

I posted Carter twice, and forgot sir Reginald.

>A very old design I had from a biblical themed set from years ago. I do enjoy it, though I traditionally use black and white art for the card. <Babylon was the city Nimrod the Hunter founded. With its fall, the third age ended, and the consequences of its end would lead to the death of the Creator. >The last ante card in the set. Originally was considerably more broken. >One of my more original designs. I wanted to him to bring an entourage with him. Partially designed around the art. <The son of Darien. When a King in the Capital dies, a new king is elected. Tradition says the king's son is eligible, although its rare one wins. With the assassination of his father, Richard, just a mere child, was put into the ballet as tradition dictates. To the surprise of the commoners, he won, though why the council elected him, is a mystery. Many historians now are sure he was elected to help destabilize the old government.

>I wanted a powerful damage prevention effect with an equally powerful drawback. >The art was honestly the inspiration for the card. In reality finding good art for artifacts was hard. >I wanted a "Great" colored mana rock that would feel like it came from an old set. When I came across this art on the cover of an old pulp magazine, I really wanted to use it, and luckily, I found it. This SHOULD help players run two and three color decks when running this set as a stand alone set. <Blood Diamonds are forged in the mines of Shebia. Though unknown why, the process can make the artifact extremely mana enriched, but the diamond is cursed, sucking the life source slowly out of the user. >As mentioned earlier, it was even harder to find good art for artifact creatures. Without delving into Sci-Fi pulp art, I mostly went with paintings of statues. This particular horse for example, does the job well. Its second effect is a reference to Bronze Horse. >A colorless Anthem effect would have to have a drawback. Especially one that was asymmetrical. The draw back is also purely flavor. >Could probably use flavor text. >Probably the most controversial card in my opinion in the set. Made to replicate how a crucifixions kills. Text shamelessly stolen from Giant Oyster. >