Design Class – Top-Down vs. Mechanic

Anyway… now that some of you have been making your own cards, lets take a look at different ways to design cards; Top-Down and Mechanic. It’s pretty simple concept; simple enough that this is what Wizards used for “You Make the Card 2” which lead to Crucible of Worlds. If you’re too lazy to click on that link, just keep reading.

First: I won’t comment on the new official card type: Planeswalkers. Only because we have no idea what it does. There’s been plenty of ideas that have been thrown around about what it could do. But until we “officially” know, I can’t say anything. I’m actually saying this for all spoiled cards: No comment until we see a sanctioned spoil. That means, it comes from Wizards, a magazine, or another web site that has a scan. It’s only fair to people who aren’t trying to be spoiled before the prerelease, and so we don’t get any information wrong.

Anyway… now that some of you have been making your own cards, lets take a look at different ways to design cards; Top-Down and Mechanic. It’s pretty simple concept; simple enough that this is what Wizards used for “You Make the Card 2” which lead to Crucible of Worlds. If you’re too lazy to click on that link, just keep reading.

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Design Class – Necessary Materials

Welcome. I know that today I would discuss Linear and Modular design, but then I realized: hey, let’s start from the beginning.

Welcome class. You’ve come here to learn how to design better Magic cards I’m assuming (but you realize what they say about assume… it makes an ass out of u and me). The types of cards that we care going to be designing are ones that seem logical to both the Color Pie and to the style of Magic in general. That means no Blue Lightning Bolts, no Green discard, and no 5/5 creatures for Black with no drawbacks.

Now, I’m not saying that you have to create strict “Magic only” cards, because you won’t see me doing that at all. Like Nightcrawler from the X-Men demonstrates, you can create a Magic card about anything. Just let your imagination go wild. You can create funny cards, you can create serious ones. But with Design Class, we’re going to teach you how to create those cards according to the Color Pie.

But, I’m sure most of you have Magic cards already in your mind. You doodle ideas while you’re bored at school, those car rides to your grandmother’s, and sometimes during those long, boring meetings your boss makes you sit through talking about the annual report. Those are soooo boring. You’ve seen magic sites that have card creation contests and have wanted to enter in them, but scared at what other people will say about your prized baby. This is a good place to start.

So, lets get to it…

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After MaRo – The 2007 State of Design Response

My Tuesday posts will be about the article that MaRo just posted the day before, calling the title: After MaRo. If you don’t usaully read him, then why are you reading my site? Today, I’ll be looking at his State of Design post he does every year. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, click here. Read it. I’m going to go over it and none of this will make any sense if you don’t. This is a very long post, but I don’t care if you skim it. I can’t control what you decide to read and not read on my site. (MaRo art done by UGmadness.net)

I see you MaRo, sitting in that little 102×82 rectangle looking over us as we read your report. That little knowing smile grinning at us as you tell the readers how you think Magic is going while at the same time planting hints for the next block(s). A self evaluation is always a good thing, especially when it’s not required by your boss who’s handing it to you at 4:30 Friday afternoon asking it to be done by 5 (Damn you Lumberg!).

But what I’m going to do is take your topics that you covered and tell you how I think they did this Magic year. Some will be good, some will be bad which is great because everyone likes constructed criticism, especially old Roseanne script writers who is now working in one of the better jobs in the world (Come on, who doesn’t want to be both Anne Hathaway‘s and Scarlett Johannson‘s personal slave assistant?).

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Virgin Pie – Xth Edition Rares

Sigh. Anyway, we’ve got rares to look at today. Remember, these are not the best rare in the set in terms of power, but the ones that are the best designed for the color. This is the first time they have been printed in the Core Set, so that limits our options. Some of these, no doubt are powerful, but stick with the color’s philosophy.

Same deal. Hopefully you were able to predict that this is what I was going to do. The logical step from common to uncommon to, what’s that? Oh, yeah, rare. Rare just like the buffalo steak I had a couple of weeks ago. Well, it was medium rare but there is no medium rare in Magic now, is there? Also, I do recommend trying buffalo; it’s better for you, and it’s pretty tasty. I’ve also had ostrich before as well. It’s a red meat (which surprised me for a bird).

What, you thought that I would be talking about Magic this entire introduction? I’ve got the girls from American Pie to the right here? Do they have anything to do with Magic? Most likely not. Though, it does match up with the title of this section: Virgin Pie. See, in the movie, the guys were trying to lose their virginity (kids, situations like that are only good in movie comedies. MTG Color Pie does not recommend actually losing one’s virginity to a pie). Hence, this is not only a play on the meaning virginity, (like it being printed for the first time somewhere), but a play on the movie American Pie (which my mad photoshop skills got rid of the word American). See how that all ties in together like an episode of Arrested Development? Plus, kids today wouldn’t get it if I did a Don McLean reference. Now they will.

Sigh. Anyway, we’ve got rares to look at today. Remember, these are not the best rare in the set in terms of power, but the ones that are the best designed for the color. This is the first time they have been printed in the Core Set, so that limits our options. Some of these, no doubt are powerful, but stick with the color’s philosophy.

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Virgin Pie – Xth Edition Uncommons

I was going to repost the first several paragraphs from my previous post to provide some kinda of consistency. Then I realized that you were going to skip it and just look at the girls to the right. Or the cards. I guess that’s why some people come here, to read cards and to learn from me. Or the girls from American Pie. But Shannon Elizabeth isn’t on the cover, shouldn’t she be? Don’t ask me, ask Paramount (Yes, that’s a SFWish image).

Today, we’ve got the uncommons to look at. Remember, these are not the best uncommons in the set in terms of power, but the ones that are the best designed for the color. There’s a smaller pool now, since we’re still sticking to cards where this is their first time being printed in a Core Set (again, with the virgin remark).

I think that this is an interesting exercise since it forces you to look at other cards. I mean, Cruel Edict would win for black, but it was reprinted in 9th (and as a player rewards card). By taking a look at the new cards, it tells us in what way R&D are going with each color.

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