#saving phase

The Next Phase

Congratulations to our runners-up for this week: @starch255 for most unique answer to the prompt, @askkrenko for coolest card, and @misterstingyjack for best overall design.

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@starch255 - Overzealous Janitors

Love the bit of levity there. In my blog post, I mentioned cleanup step as one of the steps not to mess with, though adding extra is better than removing them. I was surprised at how this card actually does a pretty fine job of adding more. It will get confusing to be sure, since the turn will end multiple times before it ends, but that’s just what happens. Somehow, doing a cleanup step after every step feels easier than doing it just once. This definitely feels like a real stretch into silver-border territory, but I don’t quite think it’s too far in that direction. As for how the card actually functions, it seems... fine? You could try and build around it, but there’s not a ton of ways to abuse it. It really seems more like a hate card, shutting off things like Overrun and Falter, which is probably why you put it in white. Such a weird card, and will cause some headaches, but what else is a commander set for? This card is somehow right in the middle of incrediby complex and doesn’t do anything, and for that it seems the perfect runner-up for unique entry.

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@askkrenko - Melek’s Mastery

My boy! I love Melek and miss him dearly. This is a really cool card that I can’t decide if it’s too strong or not. Comparing it to thousand year storm or swarm intelligence it seems about on the level, but the extra damage from permanents is harder to judge. Skipping combat is a great way to signpost this as a spellslinger card, and if you’re just using it as a cheaper swarm intelligence it has no real downside. The last ability is really cool, but the templating is off a bit (”If a permanent you control would deal noncombat damage to a permanent or player, it deals double that damage to that permanent or player instead”). This is such a weird (pun intended) but powerful card, and I think it’s a great way to trade off an important phase for a powerful effect. Out of all of the cards entered this week, this is the one I would most want to play personally.

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@misterstingyjack - Restrategize

Wow, this is the sort of card I’m shocked doesn’t exist! It’s a lot of text to just say “rewind to the beginning of combat.” I think this is a really cool effect both for it’s assumed usage, changing your mind about how you want to attack, and also the more combo-y usage of retriggering attack triggers. It reminds me of a flicker effect in that way: a clear intended purpose but with a lot of possible upside. I also like what it does in multiplayer formats like Commander Legends, where this lets you choose to attack different players, or get attack triggers like Hellrider’s off at different opponents. My biggest complaint is the mana cost. You’re going to be getting very little value out of this most of the time. If your opponent tries to blow you out with a pump spell, this can serve as a self-fog, but still doesn’t help against most removal. It’s also going to be a dead card if you’re on the defensive or have a small board. I think At two or even one mana this card would be fine, especially for a supplemental set. But it’s hard to say that I’m totally right on that, and everything else about the card is impressive, both in the effect and the very well written templating. I highly expect we’ll see a card like this some day in print.

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Thank you again everyone, and another hearty congratulations to our winners and runners-up. Commentary will be up in just a moment.

Stepping Up

Here are our winners for this week! Congratulations to @nine-effing-hells for winning best answer to the prompt, @joecurryat for coolest card, and @rasputin-gold for best overall design!

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@nine-effing-hells​ - Lokhtarian Tactician

There were a lot of people this week who tried to pull off an effect like this, but the fact that you got it to work almost perfectly is what got your the prize here. I’m really impressed at the thoroughness of this card. This sort of effect takes a lot of words just to do what it does, but it’s something I think magic would really want. It’s sort of a really weird take on Raging River, but I like this version because it just feels so tactical and so Boros. I think you could have left off the flavor text, both to help fit the text better but also because it’s a little redundant to me. It’s very clear to me from a flavor perspective what’s going on. I also like how you recognized how small of an effect this is and put it on a cheap 2/2 to make up for it. I’m a big fan of this card, and you should be proud!

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@joecurryat​ - Equivalent Exchange

This is the type of card I was hoping to see more of this contest. Skipping the draw step puts a player in a dangerous position, so there needs to be a big payoff for it, and I’d say this is pretty much right on the money. Compared to the similar dragon appeasement, this is far easier to cast but harder to trigger, and the tutor effect is mostly upside but is sometimes worse than drawing if you’ve sacrificed something cheap. In general, I think this card will usually act like a sorcery with a permanent drawback, sort of like treacherous blessing. I think playing this and going off is likely, but only if you have a good board state, and the fact that you can only tutor downward means you really need to either build your deck in an extremely specific way or have a dominant board state to begin with. I know this card looks broken and it’s hard to argue it isn’t, but I really respect the effort to making a cool card, and I think you did an excellent job at that.

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@rasputin-gold​ - Obstructive Beauracracy

I love this card. I love the idea of voting for steps to skip, since every player will probably have a very strong opinion on which to skip, and seeing them clash would be fun to watch. I think that’s super important in a will of the council ability. I also love your solution to the tie, making it be the worst case scenario, rather than just skipping all tied options. And the activated ability! Not only is it a great way to offset the balance of the first ability in favor of the owner, but it’s a greatly requested ability, seeing as how it’s only appeared on a few cards but is a popular mechanic. I also like how, since this is an upkeep trigger, you will have time to activate it before it triggers, but also will get hit by the vote’s decision, but also it’s hard to force a tie in a stax deck since you have to vote first. I also noticed that, because of the phrasing, you’ll never be forced to skip untap, so having the heavy cost of bouncing a land to try and force ties makes a lot of sense. This is a great card, has wonderful synergy with itself and the deck, and is super cool in a commander set.

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Thanks again for everyone who entered, this was an incredibly tough contest to go through, for me and I’m sure for you all as well! I’m very happy that we got so many entries, and I’ll be posting my commentary tomorrow after the runners-up.

The recent Commander Legends set has had many cards that break new ground or just do something that makes you go “...what?” One such card, at least for me, was Sphinx of the Second Sun. Slapping a whole ‘nother phase in right after a completely different phase. Not only that, but it’s a phase never referenced on a card before!

And don’t forget Obeka, who rather than giving you extra phases, just lets you... not have them. Hopefully you wanted that? If not, what kind of time-warping shenanigan card do you want?

Design a card that adds or skips steps or phases.

Your card can add or skip your own steps or phases or your opponents’ or everyone’s. Examples include Fatespinner, Relentless Assault, Necropotence, and Yosei.

You can also make cards that indirectly mess with phases, such as Time Stop or Do-Over. No extra turn cards, though, unless they still fit the contest in other ways, like Savor the Moment.

If you’re not sure what a step or phases is, here’s a link to the wiki, but I’ll also be writing up an article going through them.

These cards should be designed to match the power level of Commander Legends.

There will be three winners: One for most unique answer to the prompt, one for coolest card, and one for best overall design.

If you have any questions, feel free to send an ask my way. Or, if you have Discord, join our Discord server and ask me yourself!

-Mod Mr. ShinyObject

Fresh Phases

Check out some cards made by me and the other judges! In order:

@thatboonguy - Chronocompressor @abelzumi - Resonant Lull @3smuth - Binding Accord Me - Kami of the Blue Moon

Saving Phase Entries, Part 3

So, since this week’s contest is all about steps and phases, let’s go through each of them and talk about what effect they would have on the game if they were skipped or doubled. While some have been done before, a lot of these are just guesses. If you’re designing a card that you think will function differently than what I outline here, mention it in your submission / reminder text and I will take your word for it. Anyway, let’s start at the beginning:

Beginning Phase

The first time this was mentioned on a card was Sphinx of the Second Sun, spurring me on to make this contest. Altogether this is possibly the single most powerful phase in the game, providing the most benefit the game can give you: untapping permanents and drawing a card. But let’s break it apart:

Untap Step: Getting an extra untap step doubles your mana, though the timing can be incredibly relevant. An extra untap step right after the first does nothing, since players can’t do anything inbetween them, whereas untapping at end of turn is a godsend for interaction-heavy decks. Skipping it can be a terrifying thing to afflit on opponents, or a heavy downside for a powerful effect. Or +2/+2. Hey, if it wins you the game, that’s hardly a cost at all!

Upkeep Step: There have been cards before that give you extra or take them away, but I still think there’s room for creativity here. Since the upkeep does nothing on its own, making an effect that cares about upkeeps while creating or nullifying them could lead to some interesting cards. There’s already one of those, too.

Draw Step: Here’s the famous one. Skipping your draw step is a common downside for cards that let you draw in other, more directed ways. Extra draw steps, beyond the obvious benefit of drawing an extra card, could have other fringe benefits with howling mine type effects.

Main Phase

You all know the main phase. It’s the main one! The one where you play lands and cast the bulk of your spells. Getting extra main phases doesn’t do much, since they don’t do much on their own, but the timing of them can sometimes change their usage. Skipping a main phase, however, can be anywhere between annoying and game-ending. A deck with a lot of instants or a solid board state might not mind, but those missing land drops or wanting to cast spells may start seething.

Combat Phase

If Draw step is the most commonly skipped step, combat phase is probably the most commonly duplicated step. Seems pretty straightforward: extra combats means extra attacks! No combats means no attacks. Just be careful to keep track of what might be able to attack (what entered this turn, what is untapped, what survived combat).

Beginning of Combat Step: This is mostly here for rules reasons, I would suggest not skipping or duplicating this unless you just really like/hate Goblin Rabblemaster.

Declare Attackers Step: Losing this is essentially losing the entire combat phase outside of getting your Rabblemaster token. Getting an extra doesn’t do much other than giving you two chances to choose what you’re attacking. Also, according to on of our mods, you could declare a creature with vigilance as attacking twice to get additional “when this creature attacks” triggers, and there’s definitely some design space there.

Declare Blockers Step: Well, you can guess what happens when this step is skipped. Nobody blocks! But also no ninjitsu. Getting an extra one gets tricky. I don’t believe you get to block multiple times with the same creature. Frenzy triggers multiple times, so that’s cool.

Combat Damage Step: Skipping this step is just a fog. Duplicating it gives really weird double strike. Sounds cool!

End of Combat Step: I would not suggest messing with this. Duplicating it doesn’t do anything, removing it makes it so creatures are just eternally in combat, always attacking or blocking. Not sure what use that would have other than letting you make a divine verdict that’s a sorcery.

Post-combat Main Phase

As expected, all the stuff caused by messing with the first main phase applies here as well. It’s important to note the difference between the two main phases, though. Skipping your pre-combat main phases leaves you in a worse position in combat, with less mana for tricks, no hasty creatures, and no sorceries to remove blockers. Removing post-combat main means you have to commit to the board before knowing if you’re getting in for damage, and it also makes abilities like bloodthirst and spectacle harder to trigger.

Ending Phase

Now we get to the boring one. The ending phase consists of the end step and the cleanup step. The end step is the upkeep step’s older brother, likewise having no specific in-game effects. It’s most famous for making people sacrifice ball lightnings, but lately has been becoming more popular for effects normally relegated to upkeeps, since it’s easier for permanents to stick around to their controllers end step then survive until the start of the next turn. So anything you can do to upkeeps, you can probably do to end steps. The cleanup step is another rules-laden section, responsible for shutting off “until end of turn” effects, but also for making players hand-size change. Removing the cleanup step is clear silver-border territory and should be probably avoided, getting another would get confusing, shutting off “until end of turn” effects but not “this turn” effects.

Pass the Turn

Hopefully this can help inspire you. What phase looked cool to you? What do you want more of, and where do you want to put it? I’m really excited to see some designs this week. and if you want any feedback (probably not from me, I’m trying to remain neutral until judging), remember you can join our discord here.

Otherwise, if you’re all done with your entry, you can submit it >here<.

Saving Phase Entries, Part 1

Saving Phase Entries, Part 4