Selesnya Sentry

Constructing Effective Cards

New 28 Sep 2012 Asked by danvogelsong 5 Comments

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.


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