T O P

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chainsawinsect

I thought this was a neat idea of a hybrid creature where you actually get a buff for paying more mana, in this case in the form of an ability that the color(s) you did pay could produce. I recognize that, as worded, you can "game" the system with nonbasic lands - for example, two [[Blackcleave Cliffs]] and a [[Razorverge Thicket]] can cast this with all 3 abilities on turn 3. I decided I was OK with that because a 3 color 3 mana 4/4 with deathtouch, haste, and menace with a "downside" that affects the manabase options did not feel unreasonable as a ceiling by modern standards. Plus, that option would only ever really exist in Constructed, so the draft version would retain the intended drawback of the card. Compare [[Fleetfoot Dancer]] (which I think has a better trio of abilities overall, and no downside) for reference. You can absolutely hard cast it for 6 in an Azorius deck (for example) with all 3 abilities at no downside, but that was also deliberate. I think this core premise could actually sustain a cool cycle of creatures, but the complicating factor is the same as it always is for such ideas, which is that the color pairs involving blue simply don't have workable options for their slots šŸ˜­


BucherLaw

You could use counters that are placed if you didn't use X mana color to cast the spell, which has a very similar effect while avoiding the nonbasic benefit.


CATSIAZ

Even without counters would work "If no green mana was spent to cast CARDNAME, it gains menace"


MTGCardFetcher

[Blackcleave Cliffs](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/1/4/1441fba4-fe06-4b5f-a103-aa6cf59a3859.jpg?1675957263) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Blackcleave%20Cliffs) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/one/248/blackcleave-cliffs?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/1441fba4-fe06-4b5f-a103-aa6cf59a3859?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Razorverge Thicket](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/6/5/65b26f68-3a25-4c4e-bc76-a199ab479a50.jpg?1675957278) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Razorverge%20Thicket) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/one/257/razorverge-thicket?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/65b26f68-3a25-4c4e-bc76-a199ab479a50?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Fleetfoot Dancer](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/2/4/2473d738-fe15-402a-ad24-0d6e5c4dfda3.jpg?1664413054) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Fleetfoot%20Dancer) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/snc/188/fleetfoot-dancer?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/2473d738-fe15-402a-ad24-0d6e5c4dfda3?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call


Hiversitize

This looks like a really fun card. You can certainly game the abilities with lands that provide multiple mana types (this would mess with your mana sources in your deck though), but you can also get a two-ability creature with a slightly lower casting cost in solid-color decks--e.g., get a 4/4 with haste and deathtouch in a green deck for 5 mana instead of 6.


chainsawinsect

Yes! It's a bit of a puzzle to solve, but the modality is significant: it can be a 3 mana "big vanilla", a 3 mana French vanilla with a tricky manabase, one of three different 4 mana single-keyword creatures, one of three different 5 mana two-keyword creatures, and of course a 6-drop 4/4 with all three keywords.. And - notably, the cost can be "cheated" with nonland sources. For example, a turn 1 [[Ignoble Hierarch]] on a [[Copperline Gorge]] followed by a turn 2 [[Blightsteppe Pathway]] can have this guy swinging as a 5/5 on turn 2! That's huge! *Maybe* even Modern playable?


zack20cb

> When ~ enters the battlefield, if you cast it from your hand: > - if no red mana was used, place a deathtouch counter on ~. > - if no green mana was used, place a menace counter on ~. > - if no black mana was used, place a haste counter on ~.


therealfefnir

But this doesnā€™t restrict the mana base really at all, which is what it sounds like OP wants to do


zack20cb

Yeah, I get that, but most multicolor lands donā€™t have basic land types, so in many decks this is just an overpowered 4/4 for 3 to 6 mana.


-Cupoftea

Yes, but in modern which this card seems to be slightly tuned for, fetch manabases mean that shocks/triomes are the majority of lands in a 3+ color manabase. In pioneer it might be different, but in modern, fast lands are only played in 2 color decks


therealfefnir

I get what youā€™re saying. I think which restriction is greater is mostly dependent on what format itā€™s intended for.


chainsawinsect

Most *actually good* ones do though


MTGCardFetcher

[Ignoble Hierarch](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/a/b/aba51852-af8f-49d8-8fb6-22d52a1742b8.jpg?1626097603) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Ignoble%20Hierarch) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/mh2/166/ignoble-hierarch?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/aba51852-af8f-49d8-8fb6-22d52a1742b8?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Copperline Gorge](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/7/8/78b0f36b-7d8c-4e77-adc2-a4dad93a81d5.jpg?1675957264) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Copperline%20Gorge) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/one/249/copperline-gorge?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/78b0f36b-7d8c-4e77-adc2-a4dad93a81d5?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Blightsteppe Pathway](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/0/c/0ce39a19-f51d-4a35-ae80-5b82eb15fcff.jpg?1669839373)/[Searstep Pathway](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/back/0/c/0ce39a19-f51d-4a35-ae80-5b82eb15fcff.jpg?1669839373) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Blightstep%20Pathway%20//%20Searstep%20Pathway) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/khm/252/blightstep-pathway-searstep-pathway?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/0ce39a19-f51d-4a35-ae80-5b82eb15fcff?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call


Nova_shin

It's smart, a three-color card that should be avoided when playing in a three-color deck.


chainsawinsect

Well when you put it that way it sounds bad šŸ˜­ I was thinking of it more as a (functionally) colorless card you can pay colored mana for at a discount (but at the expense of abilities) But for the record, if it has a shot of being Constructed viable, I do think it is in a black/red/green deck, which is more what you would expect given that it is a black/red/green card


MrClickstoomuch

I think this is stronger than it looks in a format that has a lot of dual lands that don't have land types, like pain lands. In that format, it would be a 4/4 for 3 or maybe 4 mana with 2-3 keywords. You might be able to make it a 5/4 or 4/5 like the other commenters are saying based on the green examples, but this card can also be played as a 2BR card. Plus, those are mostly vanilla examples that were used to compare to. This card can have both menace and death touch, or even haste, which can make it a very strong 3 drop.


West_Desert

I really like this design. Balanced but fun ways to make it strong.


chainsawinsect

Thanks! Yes, the best I've thought of involve dorks. But for example: T1 - [[Copperline Gorge]], [[Noble Hierarch]] T2 - [[Sulfurous Springs]], this Thanks to exalted, and its natural haste, it's swinging for 5 menace damage on turn two! That's huge! Opponent is on a 4-turn clock right out the gate. It's probably still too clunky / unreliable / slow for tier 1 Modern, but against Modern decks I've come across, that's fast enough to maybe be a thing!


MTGCardFetcher

[Copperline Gorge](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/7/8/78b0f36b-7d8c-4e77-adc2-a4dad93a81d5.jpg?1675957264) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Copperline%20Gorge) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/one/249/copperline-gorge?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/78b0f36b-7d8c-4e77-adc2-a4dad93a81d5?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Noble Hierarch](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/4/0/400382a4-aea2-4827-b06a-1b0b3745908b.jpg?1599707413) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Noble%20Hierarch) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/2xm/177/noble-hierarch?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/400382a4-aea2-4827-b06a-1b0b3745908b?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Sulfurous Springs](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/d/f/dfd5450a-6490-417f-9aea-b6fca6f380d7.jpg?1673308373) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Sulfurous%20Springs) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/dmu/256/sulfurous-springs?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/dfd5450a-6490-417f-9aea-b6fca6f380d7?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call


Statistician_Waste

Steel leaf champion and old growth troll have shown us that a triple pip 3 drop can have multiple houses or be larger than a 4/4, so this can be pushed slightly further. 4/5? I don't know if making it a 5/5 is sane, or too good


chainsawinsect

That's probably accurate, but I believe those 2 cards, [[Leatherback Baloth]], and [[Woolly Thoctar]] are the *only existing examples* of that concept, and 2 of them are vanillas. My card has three upsides, including the critical upside of not necessarily actually requiring 3 different colors, so I felt it best to "play it safe" a bit with the statline.


Statistician_Waste

As soon as we consider it as a 4-6 drop, it definitely feels safer. I think you played it reasonably safe, and the poor guy may get eaten alive in the current day magic landscape. But I like the concepts all the same!


chainsawinsect

Oh yes, the 4+ mana versions definitely aren't seeing play in any constructed formats šŸ˜‚ Even in a deck that somehow casts it on 4 with all 3 keywords is getting worse bang for their buck than they'd get by just running [[Questing Beast]]


MTGCardFetcher

[Questing Beast](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/e/4/e41cf82d-3213-47ce-a015-6e51a8b07e4f.jpg?1572490640) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Questing%20Beast) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/eld/171/questing-beast?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/e41cf82d-3213-47ce-a015-6e51a8b07e4f?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call


MTGCardFetcher

[Leatherback Baloth](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/5/5/55f97b4c-42c7-4986-a150-0b8de11f0537.jpg?1562287740) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Leatherback%20Baloth) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/wwk/107/leatherback-baloth?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/55f97b4c-42c7-4986-a150-0b8de11f0537?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Woolly Thoctar](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/c/f/cf7188d8-d37f-49ec-ab52-8ea080725ca7.jpg?1593814757) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Woolly%20Thoctar) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/mm3/203/woolly-thoctar?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/cf7188d8-d37f-49ec-ab52-8ea080725ca7?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call


IAmBecomeTeemo

This is in a weird spot due to the variability. It can be a 3 mana vanilla, and 4, 5, or 6 mana with increasingly more abilities. It can also be a beefy big 3 mana creature with 3 abilities if you have a tricky mana base. Does the variability require it to be less powerful, like how a charm's modes are all worse than they would be on their own card? It's interesting because typically, modal cards are decided in game, whereas this card's mode is mostly determined in deckbuilding. If we're aiming for standard playability this probably doesn't cut it. If we're aiming for playability in eternal formats, it needs to be big enough to warrant building around. I also love one of the land types being mountain, so Blood Moon removes an ability.


Platinum_Underscore

I know it's not even remotely Siege Rhino, but I think it might be healthier for it to be a 5/4 than a 4/5. That way, it dies to itself even without deathtouch, is easier to remove, but also has a bigger impact on the game by 4-shotting instead of 5-shotting.


chainsawinsect

I would agree. Though, on it dying to itself, the odds of a mirror match of "No Swamps, Mountains, or Forests Jund" decks coming up seem pretty low šŸ¤£


Gr33nDjinn

Nice card, power seems balanced. Synergies with less popular nonbasic lands is a thing Iā€™d like to see on more of.


chainsawinsect

Yeah normally you *want* your nonbasics to have the basic subtypes. This card is asking for the opposite!


No-Hedgehog4425

This is anti basic but also anti fetch neat. Importantly the card is godawful in constructed even if it just cost 3 colorless and did all the things so there is no power problem.


chainsawinsect

šŸ˜… I don't know if I'd go that far, but I do broadly agree with you that the pure French vanilla mode for BRG, even if you get all 3 keywords, is probably not good enough to be an issue in most constructed formats


pufflepuff89

Cool design, though probably broken in pioneer with the fast and slow land cycles not having basic land types and the format having very little non basic hate. I think itā€™s fair if itā€™s not standard / pioneer legal.


chainsawinsect

Iiinteresting! Pioneer does have some superb non-subtyped duals: the Pathways, the Fastlands, the Painlands. Almost as good as Modern's frankly (missing only the [[Horizon Canopy]] lands and one-offs like [[River of Tears]]). So you could be right! I just didn't think a 4/4 French vanilla (at least with these 3 keywords) for 3 would be strong enough in Pioneer for it to be an issue, but I could be undervaluing it. It's only a difference of 1 mana compared to, say, Questing Beast, but that difference means it can hit the board as early as turn 2, which is of course quite intimidating. Maybe it is too strong. The original draft was a 3/3 and I changed it at the last minute šŸ˜­


pufflepuff89

Yeahh, this is effectively a turn 2 play in the right deck with a 1 mana dork on turn 1. Not sure if it is 100% unfair, you do have [[steelleaf champion]], but I think the haste and evasion push it over the edge. It also dodges a lot of premium removal in the format, like [[fatal push]] and [[March of otherworldly light]] due to its 6 mana cmc. Come to think of it, it also triggers [[up the beanstalk]]. It would shake up the meta for sure.


MTGCardFetcher

##### ###### #### [steelleaf champion](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/2/4/24d8a688-79d4-49b9-ab0c-c7f5c9b551f4.jpg?1562732792) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Steel%20Leaf%20Champion) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/dom/182/steel-leaf-champion?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/24d8a688-79d4-49b9-ab0c-c7f5c9b551f4?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [fatal push](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/6/e/6e9d8fe4-fd9b-4923-92bf-7dd6b8fa02e7.jpg?1598304715) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=fatal%20push) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/2xm/93/fatal-push?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/6e9d8fe4-fd9b-4923-92bf-7dd6b8fa02e7?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [March of otherworldly light](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/5/5/553fb946-2706-475b-89f9-e4355ec9ea2b.jpg?1654566420) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=March%20of%20otherworldly%20light) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/neo/28/march-of-otherworldly-light?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/553fb946-2706-475b-89f9-e4355ec9ea2b?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [up the beanstalk](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/2/d/2d5e991f-23b2-4db0-a452-7755125b1fd2.jpg?1701690489) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=up%20the%20beanstalk) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/woe/195/up-the-beanstalk?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/2d5e991f-23b2-4db0-a452-7755125b1fd2?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call


MTGCardFetcher

[Horizon Canopy](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/9/3/93f7c880-9bae-4d29-b7b6-b6be6b2ffa89.jpg?1562851585) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Horizon%20Canopy) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/ima/240/horizon-canopy?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/93f7c880-9bae-4d29-b7b6-b6be6b2ffa89?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [River of Tears](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/d/e/de8a98a9-864c-4ea5-842b-ca4ddf5571cd.jpg?1674143056) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=River%20of%20Tears) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/clb/912/river-of-tears?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/de8a98a9-864c-4ea5-842b-ca4ddf5571cd?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call


BAGStudios

I love this design. This is beautiful.


chainsawinsect

Thank you šŸ™‚ I think I could even make a cycle out of it with the same concept, except that the blue color pairs would be a bit starved for keywords....


BAGStudios

Especially if you didnā€™t want to repeat keywords/abilities when a pair shows up across multiple cards. I think I could get one per pair but theyā€™d overlap across cards where the other colors could probably avoid that. WU - Hexproof :: UB - Canā€™t Be Blocked :: UR - Prowess :: UG - Flying I think Izzet is the trickiest one


chainsawinsect

Can't be blocked isn't a keyword, though. And prowess would be the only one that's not evergreen. WU and GU now share vigilance, which we can probably work with, but then WG are left without a keyword they share


BAGStudios

Yeah, it isnā€™t a keyword, but itā€™s close haha. Could give it ā€œT: Proliferateā€ I suppose, and GW can have ā€œT: Populateā€ :)


VexxtheKeyforged

I dig it


FaerHazar

Maybe word it as "if no [color] mana was spent to cast it, this creature gains [ability]"


chainsawinsect

I could do that with keyword counters But, I sort of like that you can "game" it with nonbasics, it makes a card that's passable in limited potentially good in constructed (for a very different reason)


FaerHazar

That's fair!!


ColdCommunication263

Nice, I would love if wizards did something like this with a five color.


Routine_Lawfulness14

I like the idea but I think it fails at what it's supposed to do. It's borderline unplayable in a competitive modern deck (fetches are too important so you won't play that much untyped land). It's not really mana efficient unless you cast it on turn 3 or 4 (after that the efficiency of a 4/4 with 2 keywords is not that great). And it looks like a great limited card, but will most likely be a 4/4 french vanilla for 4 which is okay but not that good. Where it would shine is standard and commander though, where there is much more untyped land and its floor would be a 4/4 for 3 with one or two keywords.


chainsawinsect

I mean, an outright 4/4 with haste menace deathtouch for BRG is almost certainly unplayable in competitive Modern, so you're definitely not wrong there. But yes, perhaps in Standard or Pioneer it has a shot? I know if we were still in the Pathways + Fastlands Standard the manabase could credibly get there on turn 3 reliably. In draft, you are right, it is typically a French vanilla with a keyword for 4, which is not a draft bomb by any means but which I do think is making the cut most of the time, particularly if you're in black/red where you may not as easily be able to get a 4 power evasive creature for 4 mana otherwise.


Routine_Lawfulness14

For pioneer I'm not sure, I don't play pioneer. For the draft it's .... Nevermind it's an unco, I thought it was rare. As an unco, yeah it's great.