Oof, I bet that might be why they haven’t made a card like this. Just brutal if given to a non-Simic player, they could potentially just be hard locked out of casting spells for the rest of the game.
Oh it didn’t show but the leeches are a cycle of creatures that make you pay an additional mana of their color for spells you cast with said color.
So if you give per example the red one to an opponent only playing green, and play Painters Servant naming red, the spells they’ll cast will technically be red and therefore require an additional red to cast due to their leech. As they are a mono green deck, it is very unlikely for them to be able to play any cards from this point on
I was specifically talking about modifying casting, and the reason for that shows here. If you have removal in hand you can destroy/exile/bounce Asmodeus and continue playing. But if someone can put a card into play and pass it off to you that literally prevents you from casting spells unless you have a certain color, that’s gonna be back-breaking.
At the beginning of your end step, if you haven't cast any spells this turn, put a retirement counter on ~. Then, if ~ has 2 or more retirement counters on it, sacrifice it and draw 2 cards.
Something like this could be cool - sort of a short-term Standstill type effect if you give it to your opponent, but otherwise ramps you until you stop using him and then he gets bored, bequeaths you his estate, and wanders off to retired-bard-town.
I've never understood that line of text on trostani - is it a flavour thing? Or some sort of pressure release valve for some other card that was in standard at the time? It's so weird.
IIRC they wanted three distinct abilities to represent the three dryads that comprise Trostani, and there were a couple of potentially powerful theft and reanimation effects in Standard at the time (including [[Mass Manipulation]] and Agent of Treachery as another poster mentioned). I agree it feels a bit superfluous, but I remember it being occasionally relevant in Standard.
What do you *mean* calling the fantasy ghost grandpa "Abuelo" is lazy? It can't be lazy! He's not even Spanish, he's from the Incan-inspired people! What do you *mean* "that makes it worse"?
The only other one I can think of off the top of my head is [[Blood Artist]] which is... just a vampire. He must not be that good at painting, I think.
Ooh I love the flavor for this card and how it works with what simic does. Need more different mana cheating than things just costing X less to cast. I like how this works quite a lot, but also love the restriction a ton. Great work on this card design!
"You may pay an additional GU to cast spells. Spells you pay this cost for cost {4} less to cast."
Making the effect optional is REALLY good at trimming the stax implications away, even if there's no explicit precedent for the wording yet. Also doesn't punish incidental utility spells with 2, 1, or 0 generic costs.
I agree with making it optional, but I think if you could still cast low MV spells with this card in play it might be a bit *too* good. But what do I know they just printed [[Nadu]], lmao.
Yeah, balance is weird - but if you don't get the two mana net discount for casting a cheap spell, it still clogs up your decklist without getting punished for it.
And for comparison, {4} generic and two colored pips are clunky enough restrictions I'd be comparing them to cards like \[\[kellan ink duelist\]\] or \[\[Doc aurlock\]\], which are comparatively inoffensive cards. Even \[\[hinata dawn crowned\]\] only saw competitive Standard play because it scaled well past two or even four mana discounts.
I love that this comes with a downside.
Yes, it makes it a lot easier to play big mana spells. But it also makes counterspell cost 4.
Those early game, low mana cost spells that blue uses to delay others become almost unplayable the second he hits the field.
You'd probably not want sol ring in this deck, because paying 2 colored mana for an artifact that can only make colorless would feel pretty bad.
It really changes how you think about your mana curve. Cmc 5 and up mostly gets cheaper.
Cmc 4 is a mixed bag. Artifacts get way easier to cast, but you'll be paying more for anything with 3 color pips.
Below 4 cmc it's mostly just harder to cast stuff. Mana dorks will cost 3 or 4 mana. Counterspell costs 4 now.
It's like you're building a reverse devotion deck, where you're trying to eliminate color pips.
A potential fix for the donate problem and locking out an opponent could be:
Blue spells you play cost (2) less to cast and (U) more to cast.
Green spells you play cost (2) less to cast and (G) more to cast.
Otherwise, if you don’t want the effect to be modal you could do:
Spells the owner of ~ casts…
I would add a clause that says “this creature cannot be controlled except by its owner” or something similar just so you aren’t locking any non-Simic players out of the game, or make the reduction optional.
I think that it should have a clause like "A player other than the owner of (this dude) cannot gain control of (this dude)" just to make sure that it can't be donated to another player and lock them out of the game
Awesome, Id love to build around something like this. Like someone else mentioned, making it a “may” might be better.
For flavor and some extra shenanigans Id add “Spells and permanents you control are {G}{B}” or “…are all colors”. Eg: for [[Fallaji Wayfarer]] and other such multicolor synergy.
I just love everything about this card! As a price to take two mana value off from the card I have to pay an additional green blue? And it still costs two less? I'll take it! That's why I like [[[Grand Arbiter Augustin IV](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/f/4/f43748ea-1d65-4ee8-9c66-221412a284c0.jpg?1673148699)]] (Don't know if that works in this sub, but whatever.)
I'm gonna do the redditor thing:
This is a strictly worse \[\[Goblin Electromancer\]\]. only 2 upsides: green instead of red, and applies to all spells, not just instants and sorceries.
Cool concept
Could be a really nasty Donate target
Oof, I bet that might be why they haven’t made a card like this. Just brutal if given to a non-Simic player, they could potentially just be hard locked out of casting spells for the rest of the game.
The closest they’ve come is cards like [[Alabaster Leech]] which only affect cards of a certain color.
Then you combo this with [[Painter’s Servant]] to completely lock your opponent out of the game
Painter's Servant 🤝 Wack-ass impractical instant win "combos"
How? That card doesn't effect mana cost just color identity
Oh it didn’t show but the leeches are a cycle of creatures that make you pay an additional mana of their color for spells you cast with said color. So if you give per example the red one to an opponent only playing green, and play Painters Servant naming red, the spells they’ll cast will technically be red and therefore require an additional red to cast due to their leech. As they are a mono green deck, it is very unlikely for them to be able to play any cards from this point on
Ah gotcha, yeah that makes more sense lol
[Painter’s Servant](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/b/e/be407a81-b25a-4e5d-845e-be0cc0d18db8.jpg?1562835450) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Painter%27s%20Servant) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/shm/257/painters-servant?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/be407a81-b25a-4e5d-845e-be0cc0d18db8?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
In my opinion the actual closest to how this functions is [[Asmodeus the archfiend]], aka. If you dont have black you cant play
[Asmodeus the archfiend](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/a/5/a5e6b864-58e7-43b9-9d79-1d0361340960.jpg?1627704325) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Asmodeus%20the%20archfiend) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/afr/88/asmodeus-the-archfiend?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/a5e6b864-58e7-43b9-9d79-1d0361340960?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
I was specifically talking about modifying casting, and the reason for that shows here. If you have removal in hand you can destroy/exile/bounce Asmodeus and continue playing. But if someone can put a card into play and pass it off to you that literally prevents you from casting spells unless you have a certain color, that’s gonna be back-breaking.
If this was ever printed, it would probably have a clause like "~ can't be controlled or casted by players that don't own it" for that reason.
At the beginning of your end step, if you haven't cast any spells this turn, put a retirement counter on ~. Then, if ~ has 2 or more retirement counters on it, sacrifice it and draw 2 cards. Something like this could be cool - sort of a short-term Standstill type effect if you give it to your opponent, but otherwise ramps you until you stop using him and then he gets bored, bequeaths you his estate, and wanders off to retired-bard-town.
"Spells ~'s owner casts..."
Or just T: sacrifice this. Or T: return this to owner's hand, play only as a sorcery.
Maybe "Green and blues spells you cast"
Personally I think changing it to permanent spells would make this balanced enough
Could give it a clause like [[Trostani Discordant]], which also keeps your stuff from getting stolen as well.
I've never understood that line of text on trostani - is it a flavour thing? Or some sort of pressure release valve for some other card that was in standard at the time? It's so weird.
It shared a standard with [[Agent of Treachery]] so maybe.
[Agent of Treachery](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/c/c/cc6686e6-4535-49be-b0b3-e76464656cd2.jpg?1639052497) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Agent%20of%20Treachery) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/m20/43/agent-of-treachery?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/cc6686e6-4535-49be-b0b3-e76464656cd2?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Same set as [[Thief of Sanity]]
[Thief of Sanity](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/9/4/94946d6c-1edb-46e9-a5ae-0ca2a016a7cd.jpg?1712354786) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Thief%20of%20Sanity) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/otc/243/thief-of-sanity?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/94946d6c-1edb-46e9-a5ae-0ca2a016a7cd?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
IIRC they wanted three distinct abilities to represent the three dryads that comprise Trostani, and there were a couple of potentially powerful theft and reanimation effects in Standard at the time (including [[Mass Manipulation]] and Agent of Treachery as another poster mentioned). I agree it feels a bit superfluous, but I remember it being occasionally relevant in Standard.
[Mass Manipulation](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/7/8/782760d7-59cc-4d40-a885-6a7980094fee.jpg?1584830240) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Mass%20Manipulation) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/rna/42/mass-manipulation?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/782760d7-59cc-4d40-a885-6a7980094fee?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
[Trostani Discordant](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/7/9/79d61bba-4404-4336-8290-51d1576f728d.jpg?1706240188) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Trostani%20Discordant) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/clu/213/trostani-discordant?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/79d61bba-4404-4336-8290-51d1576f728d?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Maybe instead of all spells, it's just: "green spells and blues spells cost (4) less and (g/u)(g/u) more to cast."
Maybe add an ability “sacrifice Cardname: draw a card, activate only if you control but don’t own Cardname”
It would be more viable if it said permanent spells cost 4 less and UG more
Give it a sac ability, then. That would prevent shenanigans. Sacrifice ~: scry 2
Donate is already such a shit deck archetype I don't think it's worth nerfing
Could give it shroud, making it harder to target for donate effects.
Give it to the eldrazi player!
To avoid this, the card can be " you may pay green and blue instead of 4 colorless mana or less to cast spells that require colorless mana"
Why are we looking to avoid it though
Because it can cause colorless players a complete shutdown
I love it. Very simple and true to the color identity(s).
Thank you!
OP: "I want to make a simic commander, but naming it Greenblue is stupid. Maybe if I translate it..."
This is how a lot of fantasy names get made. Take a word, translate it back and forth 2-3 times so it gets muddled, BOOM cool fantasy name
What do you *mean* calling the fantasy ghost grandpa "Abuelo" is lazy? It can't be lazy! He's not even Spanish, he's from the Incan-inspired people! What do you *mean* "that makes it worse"?
Read the flavor text, it's intentional
"I can do better... Broncanuss."
Is Bard the closest class type for a painter? Feels a bit off. Love the card though!
Sadly yes, there’s no creature type for artists yet. I used [[Kalain, Reclusive Painter]] as a reference.
The only other one I can think of off the top of my head is [[Blood Artist]] which is... just a vampire. He must not be that good at painting, I think.
There’s Anhelo the painter but he’s an assassin so that’s even further off
That landscape piece you did for the charity auction? Absolutely killed it! Great job Verdie
The fetcher grabbed a much more artistic version of the art, if you look.
[Blood Artist](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/b/7/b7f1c316-cf2f-4bbf-89a1-79c8043bdd96.jpg?1698988212) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Blood%20Artist) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/lcc/182/blood-artist?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/b7f1c316-cf2f-4bbf-89a1-79c8043bdd96?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Performer is a suitable type on some black border cards from the Unfinity set. Seems a reasonable replacement.
[Kalain, Reclusive Painter](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/e/4/e45e9552-7737-4c61-89b0-5a3bec3c8f34.jpg?1627709028) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Kalain%2C%20Reclusive%20Painter) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/afr/225/kalain-reclusive-painter?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/e45e9552-7737-4c61-89b0-5a3bec3c8f34?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Painting isn't a performance art, but there's not really an artist subtype, so...
Flavor text is on point
[[Gyre Engineer]] go brrrrr
[Gyre Engineer](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/2/6/26dd6a1d-4dcb-4392-9856-c0e4140efbd7.jpg?1584831572) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Gyre%20Engineer) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/rna/180/gyre-engineer?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/26dd6a1d-4dcb-4392-9856-c0e4140efbd7?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Man I wanna rule 0 this and build a deck around it.
Ooh I love the flavor for this card and how it works with what simic does. Need more different mana cheating than things just costing X less to cast. I like how this works quite a lot, but also love the restriction a ton. Great work on this card design!
Appreciate it!
"You may pay an additional GU to cast spells. Spells you pay this cost for cost {4} less to cast." Making the effect optional is REALLY good at trimming the stax implications away, even if there's no explicit precedent for the wording yet. Also doesn't punish incidental utility spells with 2, 1, or 0 generic costs.
I agree with making it optional, but I think if you could still cast low MV spells with this card in play it might be a bit *too* good. But what do I know they just printed [[Nadu]], lmao.
Yeah, balance is weird - but if you don't get the two mana net discount for casting a cheap spell, it still clogs up your decklist without getting punished for it. And for comparison, {4} generic and two colored pips are clunky enough restrictions I'd be comparing them to cards like \[\[kellan ink duelist\]\] or \[\[Doc aurlock\]\], which are comparatively inoffensive cards. Even \[\[hinata dawn crowned\]\] only saw competitive Standard play because it scaled well past two or even four mana discounts.
Fair.
[kellan ink duelist](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/2/3/23ef4f09-2aa1-4a03-b2e2-66d1522f1e46.jpg?1627429378) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Killian%2C%20Ink%20Duelist) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/stx/197/killian-ink-duelist?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/23ef4f09-2aa1-4a03-b2e2-66d1522f1e46?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Doc aurlock](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/6/f/6fc27b30-8c8e-434c-a72c-e1d409efc1ae.jpg?1712356080) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=doc%20aurlock%2C%20grizzled%20genius) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/otj/201/doc-aurlock-grizzled-genius?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/6fc27b30-8c8e-434c-a72c-e1d409efc1ae?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [hinata dawn crowned](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/f/2/f25aff90-56fd-4f70-bb3b-cabf2900c391.jpg?1654568472) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Hinata%2C%20Dawn-Crowned) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/neo/222/hinata-dawn-crowned?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/f25aff90-56fd-4f70-bb3b-cabf2900c391?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
I love that this comes with a downside. Yes, it makes it a lot easier to play big mana spells. But it also makes counterspell cost 4. Those early game, low mana cost spells that blue uses to delay others become almost unplayable the second he hits the field. You'd probably not want sol ring in this deck, because paying 2 colored mana for an artifact that can only make colorless would feel pretty bad. It really changes how you think about your mana curve. Cmc 5 and up mostly gets cheaper. Cmc 4 is a mixed bag. Artifacts get way easier to cast, but you'll be paying more for anything with 3 color pips. Below 4 cmc it's mostly just harder to cast stuff. Mana dorks will cost 3 or 4 mana. Counterspell costs 4 now. It's like you're building a reverse devotion deck, where you're trying to eliminate color pips.
A potential fix for the donate problem and locking out an opponent could be: Blue spells you play cost (2) less to cast and (U) more to cast. Green spells you play cost (2) less to cast and (G) more to cast. Otherwise, if you don’t want the effect to be modal you could do: Spells the owner of ~ casts…
I would add a clause that says “this creature cannot be controlled except by its owner” or something similar just so you aren’t locking any non-Simic players out of the game, or make the reduction optional.
I think that it should have a clause like "A player other than the owner of (this dude) cannot gain control of (this dude)" just to make sure that it can't be donated to another player and lock them out of the game
This and [[Keruga, the macrosage]] seems like a really fun deck to build.
[Keruga, the macrosage](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/a/9/a90ee952-de7a-420f-993c-a38db89bc8ac.jpg?1666782800) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Keruga%2C%20the%20macrosage) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/iko/225/keruga-the-macrosage?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/a90ee952-de7a-420f-993c-a38db89bc8ac?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
“They can do anything nowadays” is so good
I love it, but would change it to just permanent spells, that way if it's donated the controller can still use their own removal on it.
“If one is too many cooks in the kitchen, then get ‘em a bigger kitchen!” 🗣️🔥🔥🔥
If it had a form of self removal to prevent catastrophic donate shenanigans I'd say this is printable
Cool concept but [[donate]] is why nothing like this will ever be printed
Awesome, Id love to build around something like this. Like someone else mentioned, making it a “may” might be better. For flavor and some extra shenanigans Id add “Spells and permanents you control are {G}{B}” or “…are all colors”. Eg: for [[Fallaji Wayfarer]] and other such multicolor synergy.
[Fallaji Wayfarer](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/b/c/bc2378b2-96e2-44ca-8434-9f06c26b183d.jpg?1673304752) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Fallaji%20Wayfarer) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/dmc/11/fallaji-wayfarer?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/bc2378b2-96e2-44ca-8434-9f06c26b183d?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
I just love everything about this card! As a price to take two mana value off from the card I have to pay an additional green blue? And it still costs two less? I'll take it! That's why I like [[[Grand Arbiter Augustin IV](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/f/4/f43748ea-1d65-4ee8-9c66-221412a284c0.jpg?1673148699)]] (Don't know if that works in this sub, but whatever.)
It would be more viable if it said permanent spells cost 4 less and UG more
Cast permanents are spells
I'm gonna do the redditor thing: This is a strictly worse \[\[Goblin Electromancer\]\]. only 2 upsides: green instead of red, and applies to all spells, not just instants and sorceries.
That means it isn't strictly worse.
thatsTheJoke.jpg
[Goblin Electromancer](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/7/1/71808155-db49-4027-a2fc-76f53475ac05.jpg?1712354723) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Goblin%20Electromancer) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/otc/228/goblin-electromancer?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/71808155-db49-4027-a2fc-76f53475ac05?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Every card is a strictly worse goblin electromancer if you don't know what strictly means.
Wrath of God is a strictly worse Goblin Electromancer.
also lowers by 2 instead of 1, costs 4 instead of 2, and is a 2/4 instead of 2/2