Electrostatic Bolt

Constructing Effective Cards

I enjoyed your article about bad cards, but I fail to see one aspect - Why not make niche cards instead? For example, Shock, Electrostatic bolt, Burning Cloak, Firebolt, Seal of Fire, & Pillar of flame. Those are 8 well-known and powerful cards... all of which deal exactly 2 damage for 1 mana, but are each different. Instead of making them bad, make them fantastic in very specific situations. For example, Selesnya Sentry regenerating off of discarding a green card instead of 5G?

A key component of good game design is making players overcome obstacles. Sometimes those obstacles can be the cards themselves.

Burning Cloak Cloak Electrostatic Bolt Firebolt Game Design Green Making Magic Mana Pillar of Flame Seal of Fire Selesnya (G/W) Selesnya Sentry

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