Stray Thoughts: Punishment

NOTE: Rather than simply clean things up and write a post about my final conclusion, I've got an ongoing thought process recorded here. It seems more informative than just writing down my final conclusion.

I want to make up a returning keyword. I love what scry did for M11, but the existing ones just don't suit my needs. I'm leaning towards something to put in red, largely because I have a lot of trouble with the of available mechanics for commons. It definitely has to be something that can go on non-creature spells, and if it can go on creatures as an ETB ability so much the better.

Considered but dismissed:

Flashback - Elegant mechanic, not very much design space and no clear flavor

Kicker - Similar issues, no overarching flavor or clear mechanic

Hellbent - Interesting and very Red, but not very fun and requires too much support

Contraptions - Overpowered

New Idea: What about the "Punisher" mechanic from Odyssey block? It's not a keyword, but it's flavorful and a casual favorite. Let's take a quick look over the options and see what's there:

Book Burning - Not very good, but fun and wacky.

Blazing Salvo - Solid card, but not super interesting.

Barbarian Bully - Interesting concept, bad choice for reprint

Longhorn Firebeast - Similar - cool concept, underpowered by modern standards

Dwarven Scorcher - Like Blazing Salvo, but worse.

Browbeat - A classic. Definitely worth reprinting if we use the mechanic.

Breaking Point - Too far off-color for my tastes.

Molten Influence - Off color and overly narrow

Skullscorch - Ew. Let's stick to cards that are actually fun.

Dwarven Driller - Um, no?

Lava Blister - Who designed these cards and why do they hate fun?

More recently, Temporal Extortion, Dash Hopes, and Tyrannize have shifted the concept slightly adding black and changing it to life loss.

Okay, there are definitely a lot more of these than I thought. Still, most of them are horribly unfun or distressingly off-color. Browbeat is the only one I like enough to be sure I'd want to reprint it.

Concerns:

Often involves using off-color abilities - should be careful.

Something of a griefer mechanic - cruel choices that aren't fun for new players.

Let's try off the ability tentatively with a few commons, browbeat at uncommon, and one scary rare:

Jerk Elemental - 1R

Creature - Elemental (C)

When Jerk Elemental enters the battlefield, any opponent may have it deal 4 damage to him or her. If a player does, sacrifice Jerk Elemental.

3/1

Firesmite - 2R

Instant (C)

Firesmite deals 5 damage to target creature unless that creature's controller has Firesmite deal 5 damage to him or her.

Browbeat - 2B

Sorcery (U)

Any player may have Browbeat deal 5 damage to him or her. If no one does, target player draws three cards.

Devastate - 1RR

Sorcery (R)

Target opponent may have Devastate deal 7 damage to them. If they do not, they sacrifice and artifact, a creature, and a land.

The more I mess with this mechanic the more I think it belongs in black. It feels more like a sadistic choice forced upon the hero than an angry threat, and life payment fits the template a lot better than choosing to take damage. Even Browbeat has an awkward template where people could accidentally give their opponents cards by targeting them. This may have a place in the set at some point, but I don't think it's the common-level mechanic I'm looking for. I'll keep in mind if I need some more flavor for black, but it's not going on the skeleton any time soon.

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Goals and Principles

I've been lagging a bit on this project, and I think it's partly due to a lack of clear objectives. "Make a new-style core set" is a good starting point, but it leaves a lot to be determined. After only two new core sets, we're still learning what exactly that means. Furthermore, M99 is being designed in the abstract, without any Standard environment to fit into or M98 to differentiate it from.

Let's start with what I doubt want M99 to be. I don't want it to be a list of my favorite cards. I don't want it to be a half-assed way to get out of designing new cards. I don't want to just fill in the blanks, taking M11 and replacing half the cards with similar new ones.

1) I want it to be a complete, cohesive set. The design process doesn't end when I've got 229 cards filled out - that's when I start making cuts and filling holes.

2) I want the set to have some iconic, memorable selling points. The new planeswalker cycle is a good start, but some exciting reprints and splashy new cards will help.

3) I want the set to have its own feel that is distinct from M10, M11, and any hypothetical sets M12-M98. This will probably involve designing a new "returning" mechanic, as there aren't any others that I feel fit the core as well as scry.

With more specific goals in mind, hopefully I will be able to make more progress on the set.