It's the Magic: Tests

A few months ago, the guys at Magic did a reality show/recruitment drive called The Great Designer Search 2 to find new designers. I was interested and did some research on the first GDS they'd done. One of the challenges from the original Great Designer Search was to make six cards, according to the following guidelines:

1. All five colors must be represented.
2. All six card types must be represented.
3. Converted mana costs one through five must be represented. (One spell should cost one, another two, etc.)
4. Two of the cards must be appropriate for common; two for uncommon and two for rare. (Make sure to label the rarity – put it in parenthesis after the title.) 

I was eliminated early (in the first round, actually) on in the second one, so I can't really say that designing the cards was of any benefit, but hey, who doesn't love showing off their homemade Magic cards?

 

I wanted something in the vein of Duress that wasn't quite as strong. Usually, you can cantrip or get a card for B. Maybe "Courtship of Madness" is a bit blatant about that choice (and also you don't get to make that choice when you play it), but it also lets you drop a card into your graveyard for B if you want. On the other hand, if you have to know if that one card in an opponent's hand is the game breaker, well, that's the niche here. Gitaxian Probe is less wonky and cheaper, but one becomes attached to one's Instant-speed...not-quite-discard.

Yes, it destroys Shrouded and your opponent's Hexproofed stuff. It should be cheaper, but destroying everything that's resistant to removal and pro-white is pretty handy. The thought of a set with a protection/shroud sub-theme is something I like. It does ask whether you could Momentary Blink something without Shroud, Protection, etc. and get it destroyed, as it's treated as a new permanent that wasn't around when Ray of Salvation targeted everything. That's my intent (aggressive blink, FTW), but I'm not sure that "Target all permanents" is treated like other targeted abilities or like a static abilities that always applies. It's not, after all, "Ray of Salvation targets all permanents" which would be a static ability...I think.

I've posted Tides of Time before, but I'm including it for the sake of completeness. I just love the concept of the untap land because I'm a sick, sick man. It's part of my love of the game of Magic that I imagine rather than the game of Magic I regularly play. lose.

Ray of Salvation picture courtesy of Shortpacked.