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4

1

I'm thinking of a mechanic similar to this:

Betrayal - R, Tap: ~this~ deals 1 damage to target creature or player. (this ability may only be played by an opponent)

One card per answer, as usual.

flag	asked Nov 4 at 13:58 ripper234♦♦ 5,356●7●24

ripper234 · Answer 1 · 2009-11-06 08:33:25Z UTC

4

alt text

answered Nov 6 at 8:33

ripper234♦♦
5,356●7●24

	I like it, but you really should stop with the multicolored cards... the Alara times are gone now, people don't commit to UB on a card just like that. – Avish♦ Nov 8 at 17:11
	Multicolor will return ... some day :) But you're right, I don't know why I did all these as multicolored. – ripper234♦ Nov 8 at 18:44

ripper234 · Answer 2 · 2009-11-06 08:51:46Z UTC

4

OK, this is the last one I post (for a while), I promise:

alt text

answered Nov 6 at 8:51

ripper234♦♦
5,356●7●24

My intention was that the player who played the first ability gets the token. Is that how the card actually works? – ripper234♦ Nov 6 at 8:56

Currently, "You" in cards is defined as the card's controller. You'd need to adjust the rules for backstab to include an explicit definition of "You" in backstab abilities as being the player who played the ability. Or you can word it "Put a 1/1/ colorless Drone token into play, under the control of the player who activated this ability." – Avish♦ Nov 8 at 7:39

1

I'm not sure. Check out rules 109.5 - "For an activated ability, this is the player who activated the ability" – ripper234♦ Nov 8 at 10:30

pretty sure you did it right, at least when I read it I understood it as working that way, and it sounds awesome, this is my favorite of the cards I've seen in this thread so far. – shawn Jun 1 at 12:16

Avish · Answer 3 · 2009-11-09 08:04:11Z UTC

4

I don't have the time to work on an image right now, so here's my suggestion in text:

Backstabbing Mercenary
XB
4/4

Haste

Backstabbing Mercenary enters the battlefield with X bid counters on it.

At the beginning of each player's upkeep, that player may pay {X}, where X is the number of bid counters on Backstabbing Mercenary. If he or she does, put a bid counter on Backstabbing Mercenary, untap it, and that player gains control of it.

"There's always a higher bidder."

edited Nov 9 at 8:04

answered Nov 8 at 7:36

Avish♦♦
2,703●1●10

Sweet ... though I think you should include 'Untap' in the effects of winning a bid. – ripper234♦ Nov 8 at 10:33

Oh right, of course. Fixed. – Avish♦ Nov 8 at 13:17

1

my favorite so far! its very logical, especialy the growth of bid counters. but without at least haste on the creature originaly, it is simply unplayable, because it will be stolen if you play it early, and cost too much if you play it late. – rif-raf♦ Nov 8 at 21:06

Hmm, good idea. I'll add haste. It'll also simply the ability text which is getting way too cumbersome. – Avish♦ Nov 9 at 8:03

Sorry, now it's just too powerful. Imagine opening with two or three of these in your hand! You can pay B and get a 4/4 haster! Sure, you opponent can pay 1 and take it, but then next turn you'll just pay 2 and take it back and swing for the win! – ripper234♦ Nov 9 at 9:27

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ripper234 · Answer 4 · 2009-11-06 08:37:48Z UTC

3

And now, a flip card:

alt text

answered Nov 6 at 8:37

ripper234♦♦
5,356●7●24

	I forgot the reminder text that 'A creature backstabs when one of its abilities is played by an opponent'. A bit cumbersome, but I like the effect. – ripper234♦ Nov 6 at 8:45
	I love the backstab mechanic, been thinking of something similar. – Avish♦ Nov 8 at 7:33

Ancarma · Answer 5 · 2009-11-04 14:26:04Z UTC

2

I changed the idea around a bit, I think cards like this can make games really interesting, because there's another source for what you could save mana. I thought if it could ONLY be played by your opponent then it would be too big of a downside about the card (or you should've made it more powerful for it's mana cost, yada yada etc.).

So, say hello to my Akint Mercenary!

alt text

answered Nov 4 at 14:26

Ancarma♦
1,350●8

Even if it's any player, it's still a large drawback, especially with such a low mana investment. You can totally neutralize this creature by paying B. The cost either has to be higher, or perhaps include a life payment. Another possibility is "any player may play this ability, but only on his/her turn"... – ripper234♦ Nov 4 at 14:53

I think it's good as it is, it could be a good sideboard card against aggro or burn decks. 3 toughness, and you'll probably be on the lower side most of the times. Besides, would you choose to tap this thing every turn instead of attacking? Would you pay the 1 mana every turn? I don't think you will use it more than 4 times in a game. – Ancarma♦ Nov 4 at 15:09

1

No, but your opponent will tap it whenever they could -- in the worst case this will cost you a life and neutralize your creature, in the best case it will cost your opponent a life and will still neutralize your creature. I don't know. – Avish♦ Nov 4 at 18:08

ripper234 · Answer 6 · 2009-11-06 08:34:01Z UTC

2

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answered Nov 6 at 8:34

ripper234♦♦
5,356●7●24

shawn · Answer 7 · 2010-05-29 15:33:10Z UTC

hey don't think to narrowly, none of these abilities should tap the creature but you might add clauses like, "use this ability only once per turn", and since you get priority first you would have the first chance to use it on your turn, also activation costs could include things like "tap permanents you control" so that any player can activate them.

as far as negative abilities go this betrayal/backstab thing seems hard to balance and possible if your not carefull even worse than the negatives on horrors and demons.

not gonna give you a whole card here but how about an effect and you can spend the time to balance it on a card yourself at your liesure.

if ~ attacks and is not blocked, you may untap ~, if you do combat damage is dealt normally but ~ also deals combat damage to target creature.

that way your opponent can damage your creatures at the cost of giving you an extra blocker next turn.

Adrianf · Answer 8 · 2010-05-30 14:32:32Z UTC

1

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answered May 30 at 14:32

Adrianf
249●6

	At first I thought it doesn't make sense to put abilities of all colors, but in second thought I see why you did it - so every color has a defense against it :) I still think it's too strong. – ripper234♦ May 30 at 21:13
	You're right, abilities of all colors is for that. And yes, it seems a little bit too strong jeje but the idea is to make your opponent waste mana or suffer the consequences, and if he pays the creature isn't very dangerous – Adrianf May 31 at 17:37
	should cost less I think. – shawn Jun 1 at 11:35

rif-raf · Answer 9 · 2009-11-05 12:52:35Z UTC

0

alt text

edited Nov 5 at 12:52

answered Nov 5 at 6:02

rif-raf♦
1,845●3●15

1

And we can't see yours :P fixing it now. – Ancarma♦ Nov 5 at 7:12

You have a lot of spelling errors in it though... I'm not really sure what you mean by 'swamp thing', and how does Betrayal work for this card then? – Ancarma♦ Nov 5 at 7:15

Missing power/toughness. Not sure why it costs BBB instead of maybe 1BB. – ripper234♦ Nov 5 at 8:02

ok notes taken apprently i totaly miss edited the thing and will fix it now – rif-raf♦ Nov 5 at 12:48

Alright, now we can talk. This is far too powerful. Haste 5/5 for BBB, with the only minor drawback that it can be stopped by black decks by investing BBB every turn? Oh yeah and it costs that caster 5 life ... big deal. Way to powerful. – ripper234♦ Nov 5 at 14:33

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