Bitter Turmoil - Complete Spoiler: Purple - Part 2

A more expensive Arc Lightning, which makes
sense because purple isn't very good at emulating red.
However, it is good at tacking on special
enhancements, such as flashback, in this case.
This is one of the most efficient burn spells
Purple has to offer, and therefore, this will
likely be the most played.

Played in the wrong deck, this card is a horrid
FAIL.  In the right deck, this card can be almost as
powerful as Green Sun's Zenith.

An inefficient tutor, that might be a requirement
in a purple "dredge" deck.  The reason it would be
inefficient is because if thats the route you plan to
go then this is effectively a 3 mana Entomb.

At first glance, this might not seem to effective.
However, strong magic players might see its uses.
In response to your Mind Control, I'll tuck this guy
into my little storage facility, where you cant touch him.
The biggest part about this card is that it cantrips, which
makes very playable in the maindeck.

Before I had the name for this card, I designed what it
did.  Then the name wasn't so hard to figure out.

I haven't really put this to the test, but I'm guessing
that someone will find a way to break this.  I know a way
to use it to gain a crap ton of life, but I'm more worried about
someone losing 40 or so life to this card. We shall see
what you guys come up with.

seems like a really bad discard effect, but the
upside is you can target yourself.

Combos with Devour Thought.  Also combos very very
well with Rapture's Summation, so keep that in mind.

4 mana is a little steep, but the chance for a 2 for 1
seems worth it.

Volcanic Hammer!  not too exciting, but
will be used in limited to be certain.

Horrible blaze.

Ever play against that guy that just has to play out
their hand all in one turn?  Just show him this card
after he plays his hand and watch him stomp off
in a nerd rage!

I wanted to recreate Cruel Ultimatum for purple.
This is as nasty as I wanted to get.

The best card in set.  Hands down.  You thought
Counterspell was OP?  How do you like Mana Burst?
This makes sense to me, as Purple is supposed to
be better at countermagic then Blue.  That's all the
defense I have, so let me have it, for making such
an overpowered card.  *ducks under his desk*

Purple's weaker version of mind sludge, but
again, you can target yourself, and sometimes that's
relevant.

This effectively counters all spells on the stack, if it
resolves.  Think mindbreak trap.  Then instead of putting them
into a graveyard, they forget those cards instead.  Useful
if you plan on reviving spells in your opponents
Forgotten zone.

The applications for this card are many.

Simple enough.

You could build a deck just around this card.

This card pulls double duty as a pump and
as a token generator.  Sadly, purple isn't much of
a color for using tokens well.  Except for maybe
with this card......

Combos with "Portal from a Raging World". 
Otherwise, a weaker Eldrazi Monument.

If you can get this one out early, it could
cause some heavy disruption.  If its late, then it
will largely be ignored.

This could easily trump all of the other Zeniths. 
Its an Akroma's Vengeance, or a Death Cloud. 
Pick your massive removal spell, because this card
will be the major sweeper in purple control.

I just had to do it.  Go forth, and break this card!

1 mana essence scatter?  Sign me up!  Did
I mention that purple can counter like a boss?

We already talked about this one, didn't we?

Negate, shock, and green hate?  All rolled into a
nice little 2 mana bundle?  How can you go wrong?

1 mana divination if you set it up correctly.

"OMG you are gonna give purple fog?  I thought
purple didn't get any green effects?  OP OP OP!"
Ok, so first off, you are gonna complain about Fog
being OP?  Second, have you ever heard of a card called
"Holy Day"?  What about "Darkness"?  Third, the flavor
is there, and it just makes sense for this card to exist in
purple.

Hope you guys enjoyed purple!
Remember, the more feedback and hits I get, the more often I will feel like getting this stuff out to you!  So let the feedback commence!

Magic the Gathering 2011: Top 5 Best things to happen for Magic this year.

Top 5 Best things to happen for Magic in 2011:

5) Modern
- The Modern format was a much needed refresher to the extended format.  Extended was close to dead, and people got to the point where they didn't want to invest into standard, since the card price would just cut dramatically after rotation.  Modern keeps some of those high played cards some value after rotation, and just provide another eternal format that should appeal to those of us that have been loyal to the game for the last 10 years or so, but were not 'grandfathered' into the system enough to have the cards for legacy.
Quick Aside: I do not think that Modern alone is the answer for depreciating card values from standard.  While it does help, it is a huge card pool and being that it is an eternal format, that card pool will continue to grow, and at some point or another its going to be legacy (for the most part).  Wizards has to keep printing powerful cards into standard to keep the people playing, and if all of the most powerful cards end up in modern, they may have to amend it again.  I don't know what the solution is, but I really do think - while modern was a decent step - we need more out of our cards then just a couple of years. 

4) Event Decks
- The event decks, while just another lame excuse on Wizards part to sell expensive cardboard, is actually a great investment for many players.  One came with 2 Goblin guides, one had 2 Stoneforge mystics and a Mirran crusader, one had 4 freaking Dismembers. No, these arent going to win FNM's like they claim (unless your play group has no idea how to build or play) but they are a great way to start on a deck and they also tend to be an efficient way to build your collection.

3) The Rotation of Lightning Bolt
- This one is good and bad.  The good news is the 3 damage menace is gone, and it was overpowered.  Creatures like Olivia, Bloodline keeper, and Fiend hunter can now live longer.  Karn can -3 when hitting the board without fear of the 1 mana counter.  No more double bolting Titans.  The only problem is that Shock and to a lesser extent, Incinerate, suck.  If we had a 1 mana red spell that did 2.5 damage, then I think we would have a fair enough card.

A tad clunky, but it gets you where you need
to go.

2) Innistrad
- Innistrad was as refreshing as it was clean.  A solid start for a seemingly solid block, Innistrad has a lot going for it.  Bringing back flashback was enough to get me on board.  The transform mechanic, while a tad clunky provides some neat change to the way we treat cards, and thankfully not many of those cards will see play in constructed.  The overall theme deserves some praise as well, their goal was to tell a story that enveloped all of the horror troupes within it, and I believe this hit this idea home. All in all, I'm very pleased with Innistrad, and I look forward to the next sets to come.

1) Starcitygames.com response to the cheater, Alex Bertoncini.

At first, I had no idea SCG had any balls at all.  But after this, I have no choice but to admit that they not only have the testes, they also have very large ones at that.  Check out what they had to say about the cheater:

"In accordance with this policy, I will not be awarding Alex Bertoncini with any cash prizes or appearance fees from the Charlotte Invitational. Instead,I will be donating all cash prizes and appearance fees Alex was scheduled to receive from the Charlotte Invitational (totaling $10,250) directly to the Child's Play charity, an organization that provides toys and games to children in hospitals across the world.

I am also stripping Alex of the titles of Charlotte Invitational Champion and 2011 StarCityGames.com Player of the Year. The 2011 StarCityGames.com Invitational: Charlotte Champion is now Adam Prosak. The 2011 StarCityGames.com Player of the Year is now Gerry Thompson. I congratulate both players on their excellent performances in both the Invitational and during the 2011 Open Series season. I wish them both the best and hope to see them at future StarCityGames.com Open Series events." - SCG President Pete Hoefling

Look forward to the Top 5 Worst things to happen to Magic in 2011 - coming soon!

My Top 15 favorite Bitter Turmoil cards.

15) Kruig, the Eternal Baloth

14) Deathquake

13) Johann's Judgment

12) Thought Retriever (nys - not yet spoiled)

Thought Retriever is a great card for a ton of decks, and it can be used aggressively in aggro decks, or effectively in control decks. 

11) Sunblast Obliterator

10) Lost your way (nys)

A blowout card against combo, and just a nasty slap in the face against anyone else.

9) Sacir, Render of Oblivion

8) Unwavering Relic (nys)

This card helps you in so many ways, and its because of those options (plus built in protection) that gives this card a chance to very well appear in so many decks.

7) Flame Lance

6) Ranik's Ambusher (nys)

The options this guy has is sickening.  Not to mention that it can combo with certain card to turbo card it.

5) Arcanas, the Riftwoven

4) Wess, the Unstable

3) Sacir's Missive (nys)

Combos, and it just awesome by himself.

2) Nephil, the Riftmaster (nys)

So....good....

1) Gruemaw, Grixis Bloodlord

But wait, the final card was just so good, number 1 on my list doesnt do it justice.  I present.....

Grand master Platinum numbero uno: Mana Burst (nys)

My favorite card of the set.  It is so OP guys that you are going to throw stuff at me and yell about how OP it is every time someone uses it.  I say bring it, because I loved designing it and I just think its swell.

A helping hand.

In Weathered Hope, I had a number of cards in the set that were created/inspired by some awesome people I know.  I haven't gotten a chance to share some of the spotlight yet, so I figured now would be as good a time as any.

Jon Chrisawn's Rimewind Adept

Here is some of the convo that birthed this card:

August 29, 2010
Torio Boscacci

whats your email? i might send you some pics of some cards i have questions about. Also, i want you to design 1 balanced card that you want in this set and fits the themes, etc. You deserve it for helping me a bunch with this set
..
August 30, 2010
Jon Chrisawn

xxxxxxxxxxxx@gmail.com

Sounds wicked.
..
August 30, 2010
Torio Boscacci

sweet! let me know what you come up with. Keywords are duration, reign, elemental, manaflare but you can do anything that you think fits.
..
August 31, 2010
Jon Chrisawn

Ok, here's my card. What do you think?

I can't really come up with a flavor text that I like... but I'm working on it.

The card is a 1/1 built-in Unsummon... and you can sac it to Boomerang something. I think it was too-powerful at its original mana cost (UU), so I upped it to 3U.
..
August 31, 2010
Torio Boscacci

up it to a 2/2 or 2/3? what rarity? or a 1/3 or 1/4? i dunno 1/1 seems to underpowered
..
August 31, 2010
Jon Chrisawn

i was thinking common/uncommon. upping the toughness is cool.
..
August 31, 2010
Torio Boscacci

Up toughness make it uncommon. Sounds like a powerhouse for blue i like it man
..
August 31, 2010
Jon Chrisawn

Thanks. A 1/3 uncommon seems good to me.
..
August 31, 2010
Torio Boscacci

sounds awesome
And here is the card that we created:

CJ Edwards' Kainel Voidrunner

August 30, 2010
Torio Boscacci

hey, i would like you to design a black planeswalker card for my set Weathered Hope. It needs to be weak in design and balanced with Caint, my white planeswalker.

Just for reference:
 Caint - The Simple 1W
 +1 - You gain 1 life.
 0 - Target creature gets protection from the color of your choice until the end of the turn.
 -9 - Caint deals 20 damage to target player and all creatures that player controls.
 Loyalty - 1

It's a normal rare, so unlike overpowered mythics this black planeswalker should be reasonable in power, but very deadly if left out for a while. If you should not to accept this mission, let me know. Please design the card in full - Artwork, name of card, etc.
..
August 31, 2010
Cj Edwards
Ill get to work on it, is there anyway i can get your set symbol?
..
August 31, 2010
Cj Edwards
i have a prototype for you, lets see if you like this, please correct my grammer if need be, i used your white Planeswalker as a good reference for it, he does basic things a black deck would do, weakly, but his ultimate takes the cake, its like Liliana on steroids lol

August 31, 2010
Torio Boscacci
If you will send me a pic of art, i'll just rebuild it on my editor, i cant figure out how to copy the set symbol. The +1 may be too powerful for that mana cost, but maybe the 1 loyalty balances it. I could also see the -1 being 0 on account of how weak it is, you can only hit creatures and its only 1 damage. I like the final ability its badass. thanks for the help love the name and the art too man.

After some tweaking, here is the final product:

Derek Yelton's Slayer Adept

I'm not really sure how this one came to be, but all I remember is being over at Derek's house talking about my magic set, and somehow we came upon this.

Thanks guys!

Bitter Turmoil - Complete Spoiler: Purple Part 1 - Creatures

Starting things off with a BANG!  Please note that
this is indeed part of the lord cycle, however, I could
not find a way to do the "Futureshift" frame in purple.
This guy allows you to cast anything in your forgotten zone
OR your opponents, which, if you are playing purple, hopefully
you have been 'stacking your deck' by forgetting
lots of stuff.

One of those "Risk Factor" cards, sometimes
you will be able to turn that downside into
a huge upside, and sometimes you'll be stuck with
this in your hand for a long time.

Neat Fact: This card used to be rare.  I finally
realized that it did not say "Tap this creature:
Draw a Card"

This guy is all about setting up Arcancas for you.

A big creature thats sure to be a winner in limited.

Great card.  One drop, tribal, and it enables you to
start forgetting things in a hurry. 

Limited wrecking ball.  Might see it in constructed,
but there is a lot of competiton.

Spiketail Hatching 2.0 - and thats a good thing.

Despite the apparent name swap fail, which has
already been corrected, this is the perfect distraction
for your more important threats.  Like...

Big Daddy purple titan has entered the building.
What it lacks in size he makes up for in the ability
to freeze your opponents tempo dead in their tracks.

Flying is always good in limited.  Plus it has
a pretty sweet upside.

Not sure why, but I really wanted 1 card to have
Absorb, and I chose this to be a suitable host.

Air elemental on crack.

Killer in limited, decent anywhere else.

I wanted to mimic the Woolly Thocter and the
Leatherback Baloth of the good old times.  If you
can clear the way, this card is overpowered.  If you can't,
he is easily taken down.

Part of the discard cycle and a solid one at that.
Can see it hitting constructed.

Gatekeeper with Kicker, please!

Another one drop option.  Pulls double duty as
a cheap defense but as a last ditch effort you can
ramp with it.

I'm going to say this is one of the dud rares in the set. 
Still, I see it owning limited so much that I cannot put it
an a lower rarity.

Neat, new, and nifty.

The force is strong with this one.

Superfly.  Has options and both of them rock. 
Solid on his own as flyers in this set are few and
far between.

One of the coolest dwellers.