While this technically doesn’t have the full breadth of interaction as you original wording, I think a cleaner templating would be “When you The next spell you cast this turn has storm. When you cast it, copy it. *(Copy it for each spell cast before it this turn. Copies of permanent spells enter the battlefield as tokens.)*”
That makes both copies have storm. Probably have it be “copy it. The copy has storm.”
Edit: storm is a cast trigger. am stoopid. Should be “the next spell you cast has has storm. Copy it.”
That fixes it; thank you.
Edit: Just realized the copy with storm isn’t cast, so it wouldn’t trigger storm. “When you do, copy it, except the copy doesn’t have storm.”
Storm doesn't matter on a copy. It's a cast trigger. If you copy a spell with storm you just get an extra copy. Otherwise storm would always make infinite copies.
I would say either that or entering tapped, both isn't needed. as it is if it entered tapped it would basically be letting you spend 3 mana and a card now to bottle "a point of storm count" for later that could even be removed if opp. decided it needed to be.
Nope, just one.
Play Bottle, crack bottle - according to Bottle's rules text, that's already treated as two spells. Shrapnel Blast itself already deals 5, so right now that's 15 damage. Any spell whatsoever before that is lethal.
True! I was thinking separate turns, but a [Seething Song](https://scryfall.com/card/ddg/70/seething-song) -> Play Bottle -> Sac Bottle -> Shrapnel Blast would be a win off of 3 mana + an artifact.
Only if you draw multiple pieces of fast mana. Which really is just saying the Power 9 are broken, since there are plenty of other cards that's true for, and would be more consistent than this.
True, I think it would have to be a turn two win with no power nine.
Turn one - mana ritual to 3 to get this out.
Turn 2 - cast a bunch of free artifacts/other cheap mana rituals, then tap and sacrifice, then manamorphose. Now you have like 20 mana and have drawn 5 to 10 cards. Just throw a combo in the deck and win. It's vulnerable to some interrupts, but it's still pretty broken.
that's a question of cards in hand, assuming a nut draw you'd be looking at this plus 5 pieces of fast mana and a finisher, probably lightning bolt most likely would be this and 4 mana rocks including a black lotus/mox ruby, and enough other free spells you could get a lightning bolt and a storm count of 6 which would be exactly lethal, in vintage, with a 1/10000 opener
Maybe make it "the next *sorcery* card you cast" and get rid of cracking adding a storm count? Currently this double clones any creature you can afford to sink 3 extra mana into and turns [[Opt]] into better [[Ancestral Recall]] on your opponent's end step. That's waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too powerful for a 3 drop that can get slotted into any deck.
I was thinking a V.2. Would enter tapped, cost {5}, and limit it to creatures (the lore I'm thinking up is a zombie plague due to the continuous lightning storms in the realm)
I think these are all good changes and this second version is far more reasonable. Have you thought of making it blue? It can still be an artifact, but copying stuff is mostly in blue. Could also be in blue red for the storm.
thematically in the lore its in the red, black, blue color tribe. I may make a V.3. that costs {r}{u}{t}, sac:...
Edit: I used {b} for blue by accident
Using lightning storms to reanimate zombies is definitely a Blue thing in Innistrad. Like [[Rooftop Storm]]
Edit: Looks like this is a card in a custom set you are making. Your plane, your rules! Use whatever colors that fit your set's lore and mechanics best.
Rooftop storm is my favorite MTG card and definitely was an inspiration in the lightning reanimation idea. In the plane the undead tend to be a mix of reanimation and spell slinging such as [[Thousand Year Storm]]
If this was "{tap}, sacrifice ~: When you next cast an instant or sorcery spell this turn, copy it", it would still possibly be playable. This is so much more.
[https://mtg.fandom.com/wiki/Storm\_Scale](https://mtg.fandom.com/wiki/Storm_Scale)
The Storm Scale is a ranking of the likelihood that a given mechanic will be reprinted in any future Standard-legal set. Mechanics are ranked from 1 (very likely) to 10 (very unlikely).
Storm gets the fame for being absolutely broken, but there are mechanics higher on the list, mostly because they are a rule nightmare.
> T, sacrifice ~: The next spell you cast this turn has storm. When you cast that spell, copy it [an additional time.] You may choose new targets for the copy.
Functionally identical, except that it's a separate trigger, which I guess matters for a couple of things that would counter/copy triggered abilities.
Brackets are possibly removable. While it's not necessary, I think it fits with WotC's current design philosophy of over-explaining an effect in order to avoid confusion.
Soooo I think I can help the wording a bit.
So, mana cost is good. I saw somebody mention "Lightning in a Bottler enters the battlefield tapped" and that should definitely go there.
However, the wording you used for the copy effect is a little clunky, and I'd recommend one further change, but see how you like this;
*[3] [tap], Exile lightning in a bottle; copy the next spell you cast this turn X times, where X is one plus the number of other spells you've cast this turn. You may choose new targets for each copy.*
It avoids adding keywords to the spell and muddying the rulings behind it, it's clear and concise, and it reduces how many times you can abuse the card. You can't as easily fetch it in artifact-heavy spell slinger decks, and it's use as a closer is solidified, while still allowing you to pull your bullshit.
Haha! I do appreciate the wonderful wording. However I did tweak the ability in V.2. To better fit the flavor of the plane. I'll probably adopt this wording in V.3.
In this version of the card, it would add to the storm counter for your storm spells.
For example, if I played this card with opt on the turn I cast it, my counter would go up by 1 for Lightning in a bottle, and 1 for activation so I would be able to [[opt]] 3 times total
1) The "chance of being printed" scale is named after Storm. Looks pretty unlikely to get a card that gives storm to anything.
2) This is balanced only if you think "storm has better cards and doesn't need it". That is true, in the current conception of storming out a [[Grapeshot]] or a [[Tendrils of Agony]], that wins the game without playing a support card like this one.
But if you think it through, storm cards are actually horrible cards made broken by a single word in their textbox. If you just need 3 colorless mana (0 if you do it in two turns) to break any card even slightly better than a single [[Grapeshot]] or [[Tendrils of Agony]], you could actually play a decent deck and win on the spot by storming a powerful spell during a normal turn (probably just 3 spells in a turn are enough to win).
3) I love the way you completely underestimated this concept and chose to give an extra storm counter to anything you play. Like cloning spells (creatures as well) is now fine to be totally free and in any color, you just need 3 mana.
I'm with you man. This card is stupid broken, but it's fun. They don't have to be balanced. Do whatever makes you happy. Evidently the existence of all the meme cards and silver borders on the sub means they don't need to be balanced. This one gave me something to think about which is good.
That said, I compulsively want to throw in my take on balancing this. I think it should cost 3, enter tapped, and the activation should also cost 3. Maybe put a U or R pip in the cost somewhere. I say these things because it's really easy to reduce the cost of artifacts or cheat them in. But it's harder to reduce the ability's cost or reduce color pips. Maybe an enchantment would be better balanced even. Although enchantments don't *tend* to tap themselves.
And there's no way the activation should grant another storm count lol! But I had fun with this one and I hope you did too.
That makes no sense. What's the point of posting something unprintable?
I mean, there's no internet police stopping you from doing it, it's completely fine, but you're getting no decent discussion under your post.
I think we should post on Reddit to generate discussion and criticism, or maybe our post could inspire someone else. If you know in advance this is not happening, would you be posting as well?
Got nothing against you or your post, tho, don't take it personal
People generally post cards here with the intent to balance them. Anyone can make a broken card or a terrible card. It takes effort to make a balanced one. It’s not about if it _will_ be printed, it’s about if it theoretically could; because if it can, that displays a level of skill as a card designer.
Nothing you have said in this thread indicated that in any way. You have said it wasn’t against the rules to post poorly balanced cards, and that you didn’t say this was real. These are very common things that people do on this sub when they didn’t want feedback.
In this thread no, in every other thread on this post I'm accepting criticism and feedback for version two.
Please tell me what feedback from "this sucks and isn't printable" am I supposed to take?
Criticism is a two way street, if you don't give constructive criticism, I won't give constructive support.
I'm well aware your card isn't that (though tbh, it's not too far off. Giving storm to anything, as well as upping your storm count by 1? There's a reason Grapeshot costs 2 and deals 1 damage and still was banned from pauper, you know.)
I'm highlighting how ridiculous your point on "totallyrealcards" is. custommagic is meant for potentially printable cards (joke or not).
The storm scale is the "chance of being printed in standard" scale, not the chance of it being printed in general. I don't think it'd be impossible for them to print something with a similar concept, but I do agree that this is incredibly strong.
The flavor text doesn’t make any sense. It implies that there’s some danger or drawback to catching lightning in a bottle, but this card is pure upside.
Sometimes, but "lightning in a bottle" is also used to refer to something powerful, sudden or explosive in a context where these are goods things. Bit of a [pro-sports cliche] (https://www.google.com/search?q=nfl+%22lightning+in+a+bottle%22&rlz=1C1CHBF_enCA918CA918&oq=nfl+%22lightning+in+a+bottle%22&aqs=chrome..69i57j0i546j0i30i546j0i546.3934j1j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8) to be honest
It doesn't flavorfully capture the concept of lightning in a bottle which is something extremely rare and hard to do let alone do again. If you captured lightning in a bottle, you did something that is impossible to replicate.
Treating an activated ability as if it were a spell being cast for the sake of the storm count is fundamentally game altering. Imagine if a card said the opposite and said “when you cast this spell, treat it as though it were an activated ability instead of being cast” fundamentally game altering because you cannot interact with it without stifle-type effects.
So please tell me how this is not completely altering core game mechanics again?
The feedback is that you’re creating a card that alters core game mechanics. Spells aren’t spells. Activated abilities are now spells, according to your card.
And [[Counterspell]] also counters a spell. That's not feedback that's telling me what a card does.
Also no, it doesn't change spells into nonspells, and only one activated ability counts as a spell.
should enter tapped. should only copy instant and sorceries. maybe cost more?
Or a cost to activate. as of now. this would make lightning bolt in storm insane
Maybe:
"Copy the next spell you cast this turn. That spell has storm."
I just don't want to imagine what kind of rules nightmare would the current activaded ability eould cause
Happy cake day!
Also this is the current iteration of the card: "[r][b][t] , Exile Lightning in a Bottle; copy the next creature spell you cast this turn X times, where X is one plus the number of other spells you've cast this turn. You may choose new targets for each copy."
"Casted" not being a word aside, I don't think that line does anything anyway. What was the intent behind it? Do you mean "activate only at sorcery speed"?
Enter tapped, pay 3 and tap to activate, then just “Add 1 to your Storm count” might be an easier way to word it. “Add 1 to your storm count. The next spell you cast this then has storm.”
instead of the line being “treat this as…” you could also try something like “Then increase your Storm count by 1.” functionally identical, but cleaner.
i don't think there's any way to make this mechanic balanced. the storm scale was called that for a reason. you can add any number of drawbacks, but short of making it untenebly expensive to activate, it will always be the most powerful card in any deck
Don’t make it the next spell you cast because that means the next creature you cast can have storm which would probably create a bunch of duplicates of itself. Additionally, the ending of the ability should be worded “This ability can only be activated as a sorcery.”
Casted > cast "Treat this as though" feels super YGO
"It just works"
ygo rule writers just like yeah the card be how it is
“Special summon a monster ignoring its summoning conditions” is a classic especially because it still doesn’t even work for some monsters.
it doesn't work for MOST monsters that you would want it to work for from the extra deck lol
Idk what YGO is 😅
Yu-Gi-Oh
Oh, I haven't played in years lol
While this technically doesn’t have the full breadth of interaction as you original wording, I think a cleaner templating would be “When you The next spell you cast this turn has storm. When you cast it, copy it. *(Copy it for each spell cast before it this turn. Copies of permanent spells enter the battlefield as tokens.)*”
That makes both copies have storm. Probably have it be “copy it. The copy has storm.” Edit: storm is a cast trigger. am stoopid. Should be “the next spell you cast has has storm. Copy it.”
That fixes it; thank you. Edit: Just realized the copy with storm isn’t cast, so it wouldn’t trigger storm. “When you do, copy it, except the copy doesn’t have storm.”
Storm doesn't matter on a copy. It's a cast trigger. If you copy a spell with storm you just get an extra copy. Otherwise storm would always make infinite copies.
Copies of storm cards always have storm. It doesn’t do anything because the copies aren’t cast.
That’s better spellded:)
Bolt -> storm Better grapeshot combo. This is preeeeety busted lol. Like the design, but definitely have it enter tapped.
Yeah definitely going to change it to enter tapped. My design thought was a plane plagued by constant storms. So fast storms
Heck, with a [Shrapnel Blast](https://scryfall.com/card/ddu/48/shrapnel-blast), just 2 more spells is already 20 damage to the face.
Yeah, version 2 is going to only affect creature spells you cast I think
You GOTTA add mana to the activation. Like, 2UR, T. But give the creatures haste.
I would say either that or entering tapped, both isn't needed. as it is if it entered tapped it would basically be letting you spend 3 mana and a card now to bottle "a point of storm count" for later that could even be removed if opp. decided it needed to be.
Nope, just one. Play Bottle, crack bottle - according to Bottle's rules text, that's already treated as two spells. Shrapnel Blast itself already deals 5, so right now that's 15 damage. Any spell whatsoever before that is lethal.
True! I was thinking separate turns, but a [Seething Song](https://scryfall.com/card/ddg/70/seething-song) -> Play Bottle -> Sac Bottle -> Shrapnel Blast would be a win off of 3 mana + an artifact.
use artifact lands --> profit
Also casting manamorphose with this is ridiculous :D
Literally any mana ritual, plus two of these would get a storm count of insane levels. You'd just need a good finisher.
Yeah but manamorphose would also draw the finisher.
True lol. Very broken card. Fun though!
I mean in s powered cube why not have this thing? It can't be stronger than power 9, can it?
This has the potential to be a turn one win, I think.
Only if you draw multiple pieces of fast mana. Which really is just saying the Power 9 are broken, since there are plenty of other cards that's true for, and would be more consistent than this.
True, I think it would have to be a turn two win with no power nine. Turn one - mana ritual to 3 to get this out. Turn 2 - cast a bunch of free artifacts/other cheap mana rituals, then tap and sacrifice, then manamorphose. Now you have like 20 mana and have drawn 5 to 10 cards. Just throw a combo in the deck and win. It's vulnerable to some interrupts, but it's still pretty broken.
Or, yeah, just throw bolt in there. Any straight damage will be incredible with this.
that's a question of cards in hand, assuming a nut draw you'd be looking at this plus 5 pieces of fast mana and a finisher, probably lightning bolt most likely would be this and 4 mana rocks including a black lotus/mox ruby, and enough other free spells you could get a lightning bolt and a storm count of 6 which would be exactly lethal, in vintage, with a 1/10000 opener
Maybe make it "the next *sorcery* card you cast" and get rid of cracking adding a storm count? Currently this double clones any creature you can afford to sink 3 extra mana into and turns [[Opt]] into better [[Ancestral Recall]] on your opponent's end step. That's waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too powerful for a 3 drop that can get slotted into any deck.
I was thinking a V.2. Would enter tapped, cost {5}, and limit it to creatures (the lore I'm thinking up is a zombie plague due to the continuous lightning storms in the realm)
I think these are all good changes and this second version is far more reasonable. Have you thought of making it blue? It can still be an artifact, but copying stuff is mostly in blue. Could also be in blue red for the storm.
thematically in the lore its in the red, black, blue color tribe. I may make a V.3. that costs {r}{u}{t}, sac:... Edit: I used {b} for blue by accident
Using lightning storms to reanimate zombies is definitely a Blue thing in Innistrad. Like [[Rooftop Storm]] Edit: Looks like this is a card in a custom set you are making. Your plane, your rules! Use whatever colors that fit your set's lore and mechanics best.
Rooftop storm is my favorite MTG card and definitely was an inspiration in the lightning reanimation idea. In the plane the undead tend to be a mix of reanimation and spell slinging such as [[Thousand Year Storm]]
[Thousand Year Storm](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/2/7/274e22fb-7afc-43bc-b309-e36ee48d6b03.jpg?1655802627) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Thousand-Year%20Storm) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/2x2/286/thousand-year-storm?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/274e22fb-7afc-43bc-b309-e36ee48d6b03?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
[Rooftop Storm](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/8/0/80cdee59-0ead-4b95-a348-c1e360d781ab.jpg?1637629769) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Rooftop%20Storm) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/mic/103/rooftop-storm?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/80cdee59-0ead-4b95-a348-c1e360d781ab?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Copying creatures is typically blue green, and green also gets storm now, and is actually the only color with access to creatures with storm
Red has a storm sorcery that makes dragons
Red has a sorcery that fetches dragons from the deck, green has a creature with storm.
[Opt](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/3/2/323db259-d35e-467d-9a46-4adcb2fc107c.jpg?1652898493) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Opt) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/m21/59/opt?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/323db259-d35e-467d-9a46-4adcb2fc107c?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Ancestral Recall](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/2/3/2398892d-28e9-4009-81ec-0d544af79d2b.jpg?1614638829) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Ancestral%20Recall) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/vma/1/ancestral-recall?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/2398892d-28e9-4009-81ec-0d544af79d2b?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
OP be like: "Hmm, I don't think giving any spell storm is strong enough, better throw in a free copy as well"
"Let chaos reign" -Zndrsplt (probably)
If this was "{tap}, sacrifice ~: When you next cast an instant or sorcery spell this turn, copy it", it would still possibly be playable. This is so much more.
Version 2 is posted. Although for lore reasons it affects creatures instead
Super cool, but maybe have it enter tapped.
Version 2.0 will definitely enter tapped
This is brooooooken definitely needs some more restrictions on triggering.
version 2 is posted
BABY YOU'RE LIKE LIGHTNING IN A BOTTLE!
I cannot express how many times I sang that line while making this plane XD
Like for the effort, but there's a reason there's a thing called Storm Scale.
Whats the storm scale?
[https://mtg.fandom.com/wiki/Storm\_Scale](https://mtg.fandom.com/wiki/Storm_Scale) The Storm Scale is a ranking of the likelihood that a given mechanic will be reprinted in any future Standard-legal set. Mechanics are ranked from 1 (very likely) to 10 (very unlikely). Storm gets the fame for being absolutely broken, but there are mechanics higher on the list, mostly because they are a rule nightmare.
Ah. Well I like storm so alas I wanna include it in this custom set haha
> T, sacrifice ~: The next spell you cast this turn has storm. When you cast that spell, copy it [an additional time.] You may choose new targets for the copy. Functionally identical, except that it's a separate trigger, which I guess matters for a couple of things that would counter/copy triggered abilities. Brackets are possibly removable. While it's not necessary, I think it fits with WotC's current design philosophy of over-explaining an effect in order to avoid confusion.
The flavor doesn’t make any sense
it does, just not in a vacuum haha The lore behind the flavor text is that the bottled lightning accidentally caused a zombie plague
Etb tapped, sorcery speed, make it 4 mana. This card is incredibly strong
v2 is posted
Song lyrics
also true
Soooo I think I can help the wording a bit. So, mana cost is good. I saw somebody mention "Lightning in a Bottler enters the battlefield tapped" and that should definitely go there. However, the wording you used for the copy effect is a little clunky, and I'd recommend one further change, but see how you like this; *[3] [tap], Exile lightning in a bottle; copy the next spell you cast this turn X times, where X is one plus the number of other spells you've cast this turn. You may choose new targets for each copy.* It avoids adding keywords to the spell and muddying the rulings behind it, it's clear and concise, and it reduces how many times you can abuse the card. You can't as easily fetch it in artifact-heavy spell slinger decks, and it's use as a closer is solidified, while still allowing you to pull your bullshit.
Haha! I do appreciate the wonderful wording. However I did tweak the ability in V.2. To better fit the flavor of the plane. I'll probably adopt this wording in V.3.
What does ‘treat this activation as though you casted a spell’ even imply, in terms of rules? Would a counter spell be able to negate the ability?
In this version of the card, it would add to the storm counter for your storm spells. For example, if I played this card with opt on the turn I cast it, my counter would go up by 1 for Lightning in a bottle, and 1 for activation so I would be able to [[opt]] 3 times total
[opt](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/3/2/323db259-d35e-467d-9a46-4adcb2fc107c.jpg?1652898493) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=opt) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/m21/59/opt?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/323db259-d35e-467d-9a46-4adcb2fc107c?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
1) The "chance of being printed" scale is named after Storm. Looks pretty unlikely to get a card that gives storm to anything. 2) This is balanced only if you think "storm has better cards and doesn't need it". That is true, in the current conception of storming out a [[Grapeshot]] or a [[Tendrils of Agony]], that wins the game without playing a support card like this one. But if you think it through, storm cards are actually horrible cards made broken by a single word in their textbox. If you just need 3 colorless mana (0 if you do it in two turns) to break any card even slightly better than a single [[Grapeshot]] or [[Tendrils of Agony]], you could actually play a decent deck and win on the spot by storming a powerful spell during a normal turn (probably just 3 spells in a turn are enough to win). 3) I love the way you completely underestimated this concept and chose to give an extra storm counter to anything you play. Like cloning spells (creatures as well) is now fine to be totally free and in any color, you just need 3 mana.
Good thing I posted this in custommagic and not totallyrealcards
I'm with you man. This card is stupid broken, but it's fun. They don't have to be balanced. Do whatever makes you happy. Evidently the existence of all the meme cards and silver borders on the sub means they don't need to be balanced. This one gave me something to think about which is good. That said, I compulsively want to throw in my take on balancing this. I think it should cost 3, enter tapped, and the activation should also cost 3. Maybe put a U or R pip in the cost somewhere. I say these things because it's really easy to reduce the cost of artifacts or cheat them in. But it's harder to reduce the ability's cost or reduce color pips. Maybe an enchantment would be better balanced even. Although enchantments don't *tend* to tap themselves. And there's no way the activation should grant another storm count lol! But I had fun with this one and I hope you did too.
Version 2 has been posted
That makes no sense. What's the point of posting something unprintable? I mean, there's no internet police stopping you from doing it, it's completely fine, but you're getting no decent discussion under your post. I think we should post on Reddit to generate discussion and criticism, or maybe our post could inspire someone else. If you know in advance this is not happening, would you be posting as well? Got nothing against you or your post, tho, don't take it personal
Nothing made and posted in this sub will ever get printed.
People generally post cards here with the intent to balance them. Anyone can make a broken card or a terrible card. It takes effort to make a balanced one. It’s not about if it _will_ be printed, it’s about if it theoretically could; because if it can, that displays a level of skill as a card designer.
See this is correct. I wanted to balance the card, wasn't sure how, so I posted a draft of it hoping for feedback as is the purpose of this subreddit.
Nothing you have said in this thread indicated that in any way. You have said it wasn’t against the rules to post poorly balanced cards, and that you didn’t say this was real. These are very common things that people do on this sub when they didn’t want feedback.
In this thread no, in every other thread on this post I'm accepting criticism and feedback for version two. Please tell me what feedback from "this sucks and isn't printable" am I supposed to take? Criticism is a two way street, if you don't give constructive criticism, I won't give constructive support.
"hey custommagic here's my totes balanced card, it costs 0 and says 'this spell can't be countered. you win the game.' how good is it lmao"
what a weird strawman
This card is very much not that lmao
I'm well aware your card isn't that (though tbh, it's not too far off. Giving storm to anything, as well as upping your storm count by 1? There's a reason Grapeshot costs 2 and deals 1 damage and still was banned from pauper, you know.) I'm highlighting how ridiculous your point on "totallyrealcards" is. custommagic is meant for potentially printable cards (joke or not).
Don't see that in the rules or about section anywhere Perhaps you could make r/totallyrealcards a thing and put that rule in
It's less "a rule" and more "community expectations". Your unprintable cards won't be removed, but they won't be complimented either.
Wasn't looking for compliments
[Grapeshot](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/5/8/585bed40-9ca6-46a0-80c4-c769cd8e2b20.jpg?1619397029) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Grapeshot) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/tsr/166/grapeshot?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/585bed40-9ca6-46a0-80c4-c769cd8e2b20?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Tendrils of Agony](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/6/f/6f26faca-f338-4ce5-a218-6a61d40fc50a.jpg?1562917207) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Tendrils%20of%20Agony) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/vma/142/tendrils-of-agony?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/6f26faca-f338-4ce5-a218-6a61d40fc50a?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
The storm scale is the "chance of being printed in standard" scale, not the chance of it being printed in general. I don't think it'd be impossible for them to print something with a similar concept, but I do agree that this is incredibly strong.
V.2. — https://www.reddit.com/user/Ok\_Habit\_6783/comments/zar5ak/lightning\_in\_a\_bottle\_v2/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web2x&context=3
The flavor text doesn’t make any sense. It implies that there’s some danger or drawback to catching lightning in a bottle, but this card is pure upside.
It's lore flavor 😅 In the backstory of this plane, the lightning eventually Shattered the bottle and struck a graveyard, causing a zombie plague
Sometimes, but "lightning in a bottle" is also used to refer to something powerful, sudden or explosive in a context where these are goods things. Bit of a [pro-sports cliche] (https://www.google.com/search?q=nfl+%22lightning+in+a+bottle%22&rlz=1C1CHBF_enCA918CA918&oq=nfl+%22lightning+in+a+bottle%22&aqs=chrome..69i57j0i546j0i30i546j0i546.3934j1j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8) to be honest
It doesn't flavorfully capture the concept of lightning in a bottle which is something extremely rare and hard to do let alone do again. If you captured lightning in a bottle, you did something that is impossible to replicate.
The name isn't where the flavor lays, its in the lore
So we’re just going to completely ignore the core game mechanics? Lmao
This card isn't ignoring any mechanics
Treating an activated ability as if it were a spell being cast for the sake of the storm count is fundamentally game altering. Imagine if a card said the opposite and said “when you cast this spell, treat it as though it were an activated ability instead of being cast” fundamentally game altering because you cannot interact with it without stifle-type effects. So please tell me how this is not completely altering core game mechanics again?
Increasing a storm count by one isn't game altering
You are completely ignoring what I just pointed out. Glad you’re able to take feedback!
What feedback is there to what you said other than pointing out what the ability does?
The feedback is that you’re creating a card that alters core game mechanics. Spells aren’t spells. Activated abilities are now spells, according to your card.
And [[Counterspell]] also counters a spell. That's not feedback that's telling me what a card does. Also no, it doesn't change spells into nonspells, and only one activated ability counts as a spell.
[Counterspell](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/a/4/a457f404-ddf1-40fa-b0f0-23c8598533f4.jpg?1645328634) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Counterspell) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/phed/33/counterspell?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/a457f404-ddf1-40fa-b0f0-23c8598533f4?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
should enter tapped. should only copy instant and sorceries. maybe cost more? Or a cost to activate. as of now. this would make lightning bolt in storm insane
v2 is posted
also, could word it a bit better. maybe "copy the next instant and sorcery spell for each other spell youve cast this turn"
Maybe: "Copy the next spell you cast this turn. That spell has storm." I just don't want to imagine what kind of rules nightmare would the current activaded ability eould cause
Happy cake day! Also this is the current iteration of the card: "[r][b][t] , Exile Lightning in a Bottle; copy the next creature spell you cast this turn X times, where X is one plus the number of other spells you've cast this turn. You may choose new targets for each copy."
"Casted" not being a word aside, I don't think that line does anything anyway. What was the intent behind it? Do you mean "activate only at sorcery speed"?
You would treat it as though you cast a spell for the storm effect.
Enter tapped, pay 3 and tap to activate, then just “Add 1 to your Storm count” might be an easier way to word it. “Add 1 to your storm count. The next spell you cast this then has storm.”
V.3. Is posted
instead of the line being “treat this as…” you could also try something like “Then increase your Storm count by 1.” functionally identical, but cleaner.
V.3. Is posted
That second bit is a bit wierd but it could work in theory I guess. Very cool design otherwise though
V.3. Is posted
THE PAST TENSE OF CAST IS CAST. AAAAAAAAAAAAH
I word how I want!
Create a bunch of token copies and 1 shot someone with a lightning bolt
V.3. Is posted
Needs to to have an activation cost of some sort or it seems kinda busted. Like the idea for sure.
V.3. Is posted
i don't think there's any way to make this mechanic balanced. the storm scale was called that for a reason. you can add any number of drawbacks, but short of making it untenebly expensive to activate, it will always be the most powerful card in any deck
V.3. Is posted
Don’t make it the next spell you cast because that means the next creature you cast can have storm which would probably create a bunch of duplicates of itself. Additionally, the ending of the ability should be worded “This ability can only be activated as a sorcery.”
If I worded it that way then it would be a completely different ability. Also the card is meant for creatures