This month we had a listener submitted design challenge from Craftedlavaistrue! We got a whopping 18 submission containing some of the most unique, unusual, and rarely seen tokens in Magic: the Gathering because “Twoken play at that game!”
The Challenge: Choose a token which is only produced by a single existing card. Design a new card using that token.
Redbay’s Bonus Point: Make it a Bird, so “Toucan” play at that game.
Patrick’s Bonus Point: Design it for Two-Headed Giant so that four can play at that game.
MDub’s Bonus Point: Make it fun to draft for the upcoming release of Commander Masters.
Submissions
Platypeople’s Submission (2:00)
Shenmeng Surfgull 8UU
Token Maker
Creature – Elemental Bird (U)
Assist (Another player can pay up to 8 of this spell’s cost)
Flying
Whenever Shenmeng Surfgull enters the battlefield or you cast a spell with assist, each other player that paid some of its cost creates a 4/4 blue Elemental Bird creature token with flying.
4/4
Comments: Assist wasn’t really a build around in the original battle bond set so this is a fun twist on the mechanic. The costing feels spot on and the payoff an really help break a board stall.
References: This card is a reference to the plane of Shenmeng which got its first plane chase card recently.
Dillon’s Submission (6:52)
Aggressive Ideation 2/R
Token Maker
Enchantment (R)
Spirits your team controls have haste.
{2/R}{2/R}: Exile the top card of your library face down and look at it. Create a 2/2 colorless Spirit creature token. When that token leaves the battlefield, put the exiled card into your hand. Any player on your team may activate this ability.
Comments: After some investigation, two-brid feels like it has a home on this card. This design offers a different way to break board stalls by burying your opponents in card advantage. The reference to a team is a nice way to make this play in Two-headed Giant.
References: This a couple of cards that tie Ugin to red mana.
Hayley’s Submission (10:30)
Repressed Childhood 1G
Token Maker
Enchantment – Background (R)
When Repressed Childhood or a commander creature you control enters the battlefield, if you don’t control an Egg, create 0/1 green Egg token creature defender.
Commander creatures you control have “{2G}, Sacrifice an Egg: Transform this creature and put two +1/+1 counters on them for each time they’ve been cast from the command zone.”
Comments: This is a fun way to empower some transform commanders that otherwise can feel a little clunky. More backgrounds is also a welcome sight among the hosts. The egg token might be an allusion to the experience of trans people.
Reference: Ulrich is infamous among magic players, but maybe he works pretty well with this background.
Sage B’s Submission (12:46)
Darklash Ambusher 3B
Token Maker
Creature – Bird Rogue (U)
Flash
Flying
When Darklash Ambusher enters the battlefield, create a 1/1 Black Harpy creature token with flying for each player that has cast a spell this turn.
2/1
Flavor text: “Sometimes the only family you get in life are fosters. They may look different, but they are the closest bond you got.”
Art description: A dark alleyway with a humanoid Crow draped in a black cloak with a gang of Harpies behind it. They are eyeing down the center of the card as to represent them looking at their next victim.
Comments: This card is definitely going to pump out some tokens. In a two player game, the ideal scenario is two tokens in one turn, but in Two-headed Giant or Commander you can hope for up to four! The amount of flavor on this card is really fun.
Redbay’s Submission (15:42)
Morning Tern 1U
Token Maker
Creature – Bird
Kicker {2}
Flying
When ~ enters the battlefield, if it wasn’t kicked, then another target player creates a 4/4 green Wurm creature token.
Comments: Big bird! A 3/3 for four mana is probably a little too weak in modern magic, but at two mana this is a good rate. The downside of giving away a 4/4 can be completely negated in Two-headed Giant or mitigated with some politicking in Commander.
References: Gilded Drake is the original two mana 3/3 in blue.
Wobbles’ Submission (19:30)
Gru, Anti-Supervillian 1WB
Token Maker
Legendary Creature – Human Artificer
Ward — Sacrifice a treasure
When an equipment enters the battlefield under your team’s control, create a 1/1 black Minion creature token, then attach that equipment to it.
3/3
Comments: Another twist on a previously established token type. This is a reference to the animated movie Despicable Me and the minions that became popularized from it. The card itself has a strong Ward to help protect it while you work to create tokens.
Rowan’s Submission (24:10)
Comments: This card is pulling a lot of weight. Part limited finisher, part commander role player, part signpost, this card wears a lot of hats. Perhaps the numbers could be tweaked a little bit, but the ideas are really strong here.
Juliet’s Submission (26:50)
Chickadee Cockatrice 1B
Token Maker
Creature – Bird Cockatrice (U)
Flying, Deathtouch
When Chickadee Cockatrice dies, target player creates a 1/1 white Zombie Cat token with lifelink.
1/1
Flavor text: Curiosity killed the cat. Petrification brought him back.
Comments: Magic could use more chickadees and this is a good start. This card is a classic black common that gives you a token when it dies. This offers a nice twist where you can give that token away if you want. The flavor text is a home run.
References: Tim is still salty about the strictly better basilisk in Alpha.
We aren’t sponsored but if you want to know the commercial’s Peter was talking about you can find them here and here.
Garduu’s Submission (30:55)
Comments: This is a Phyrexian spin on the classic phoenix card. The art, name, and mechanics work together to help give this a strong Phyrexian feel. It feels like maybe Feather token isn’t how you would make this card work if it was outside the challenge, but this is a fun idea with plenty of potential.
Grrbear’s Submission (35:20)
Comments: This card brings some interesting new technology to the design challenge. Allegiance is a cool spin on hybrid. Figuring out how to get three modes on a card might become tricky as you generate more designs, but this is a cool mechanic.
SillyPhilly’s Submission (39:43)
Comments: This is another card that gives your teammate a token in Two-headed Giant but an opponent a counter in Commander and 1v1. The mill on this token is a nice bonus to help games come to a quicker conclusion in Two-headed Giant. The art is neat as well.
Saltdust-Crusader’s Submission (43:05)
Radiant Reinforcements 2WW
Token Maker
Instant
You and any number of other target players each create two 2/1 white Cleric enchantment creature token.
Comments: NEW SUBMITTER! “You and any number of other target players” is a really nice line of text, and the token being an enchantment creature offers plenty of upside. Perhaps it would be fun to see some upside for giving these tokens to an opponent, but still a nice first submission.
Craftedlavaistrue’s Submission (44:56)
Goblin Museum 1RR
Token Maker
Enchantment
At the beginning of each end step, each player creates a 0/1 colorless Goblin Construct artifact creature token with “This creature can’t block” and “At the beginning of your upkeep, this creature deals 1 damage to you.”
Constructs your team controls get +1/+0.
Comments: This card is going to speed up some games! These tokens deal a lot of damage whether it’s by attacking or through their upkeep triggers. Both your team and your opponents are going to need a way to mitigate these if you hope to survive.
References: Whatever happened to Tuk Tuk anyway?
You can find the video about Steven Spielberg’s use of clocks here.
Patrick’s Submission (49:35)
Comments: This card is a solid role-player in a Two-Headed Giant set. Six mana to create some tokens and take out some flyers is nothing to sneeze at. This is probably a little weak to see play in commander.
References: This card reminds the hosts of Ezuri’s Predation.
Ash’s Submission (53:00)
Comments: This card is solid. Getting an 8/8 for 8 with all these keywords is fine, but adding convoke makes this potentially really powerful. Being on an enchantment means this has additionally utility if the opponent answers your big beast.
References: Ghangi might make the perfect commander deck for this card.
Monowhiteborder’s Submission (56:38)
Comments: This is a top-down design for a classic D&D artifact. You can pay one mana right away to get essentially a four mana 4/4. Alternatively, you can try and build up some counters to make a creature worthy of the God Horror moniker.
Larcent’s Submission (59:35)
Comments: This is a fantastic flicker target. It’s nice that on it’s base you get 8 power across two creatures, but if you can tempt your opponents you can also get some treasure and cards. The treasure is a nice flavor note but might be superfluous when you already have 7 mana to cast this.
Home Slice’s Submission (64:03)
Comments: Our last submission might be the best blocker of the bunch. The deathtouch makes it trade almost every time, and the 1/4 body makes it negate a lot of potential attackers. If your opponent does attack into it, they have to be afraid of the X/X tokens coming back at them.
Wrap-Up
Tim’s Favorite: Herald of Winter’s Crown
Peter’s Favorite: Chickadee Cockatrice
That’s our podcast for the week! For August we have a new design challenge — A Gust of Wind.
The Challenge: Design a blue burn spell.
Juliet’s Bonus Point: Au Gust of Wind — Make it a gold card.
Peter’s Bonus Point: Gone with the Wind (1939) — The spell should spend time in the exile zone.
Join the discord to participate!