Variants of Crystal Ball
Custom Cards forum
Posted on Aug. 14, 2021, 10:13 a.m. by DemonDragonJ
I think that Crystal Ball is an awesome card, since there is rarely a situation in which its ability will not be useful, but I naturally wish to experiment with it, and produce my own versions of it, so the results of my work are shown, below.
Sphere of True Seeing Show
Obviously, being able to scry 2 every turn is awesome, but I wished for a version that could scry a variable amount, so I made a card than can do that, and also can be used as a mana sink, if cast later in the game. I increased the initial casting cost to balance its increased power.
Gitaxian Sphere Show
I am very fond of Phyrexian mana, so I am frequently seeking ways to make new cards that use it, and I felt that a variant of Crystal Ball made perfect sense. I contemplated giving this card an initial casting cost of , but I did not wish to make its casting cost too easy and flexible.
What does everyone else say about this? What are your thoughts about these two cards?
seshiro_of_the_orochi says... #3
In case you want to play Sphere of True Seeing, Soothsaying is very close, though I do realize that it's ability is worse than scrying.
Regarding OG Crystal Ball, it might be a good card, but I feel like the opportunity cost is quite high with it. Sure, Scry 2 is powerful, and in some decks, like Eligeth, Crossroads Augur, it is straight up obscene. But for the most part, it is a three-drop that smoothes out your draws. That's fine, and I'd usually want such a card in most decks, but I wouldn't want too many cards that do just that and nothing else. Seer's Lantern for example is a similar card for that only scrys for one, but also doubles as a mana rock. I'd prefer this in many cases when I'm not hellbent for the scry 2.
Am I underestimating scry 2? I'm always open for new knowledge.
August 14, 2021 1:18 p.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #4
seshiro_of_the_orochi, in my experience, the scry 2 from Crystal Ball is very useful, especially in situations where a player is seeking a certain card and wishes to filter away unwanted cards; for example, there have been times when I have plenty of lands, and use the ball to discover that the top two cards of my library are lands, so I put them onto the bottom of my library, meaning that I am more likely to draw a card that is not a land the next time that I draw a card.
August 15, 2021 8:22 a.m.
seshiro_of_the_orochi says... #5
That makes perfect sense, but the big question is: Is it good enough to play a card that does nothing else?
August 15, 2021 9:25 a.m.
TheOfficialCreator says... #6
seshiro_of_the_orochi I've never used crystal ball, even in Yennett deck shenanigans. I always find something better to play.
August 15, 2021 9:36 a.m.
seshiro_of_the_orochi says... #7
TheOfficialCreator: That matches my experiences. I think I have one copy in Yuriko because that deck really wants topdeck manipulation. I also included Soothsaying and Sensei's Divining Top there.
August 15, 2021 9:51 a.m.
TheOfficialCreator says... #8
seshiro_of_the_orochi I want both of those cards for my Yennett; I have soothsaying but not the top because.. price.
August 15, 2021 9:53 a.m.
seshiro_of_the_orochi says... #9
An important addition: I'm not saying it's bad by any means. Scry 2 for 1 mana per turn is very good, even if you ignore that each card you scry could bw considered worth 1/2 card drawn. What I'm saying is that I don't think I want that effect in each and every deck.
TheOfficialCreator: This actually seems like a great reason to play Crystal Ball. It's super cheap, and if I wouldn't have a top, I'd put this into Yuriko even more.
August 15, 2021 9:58 a.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #10
seshiro_of_the_orochi, Soothsaying is a very awesome card, so I shall keep it in mind, and I may even start a thread to discuss its usefulness in EDH.
August 15, 2021 6:55 p.m.
seshiro_of_the_orochi says... #11
That's great :) I realized I somewhat took over your thread. That's not the nice thing to do, I'm sorry.
August 15, 2021 11:48 p.m.
DemonDragonJ says... #12
seshiro_of_the_orochi, that is no problem, as I am glad that I started a lively discussion.
TheOfficialCreator says... #2
Have you ever thought about custom set development? These cards are great XD
I personally like the Gitaxian Sphere more, and not just because I'm a Phyrexian nut, but because it seems like you get a bit more bang for your buck. Sphere of True Seeing is a neat mana sink, I could see it at common or uncommon rarity, defnitely uncommon if it was taken down to 3, but I don't know.
I agree with you that the cost would've been too flexible. Just look at Dismember, lol. I think the Gitaxian Sphere belongs at either uncommon or rare.
August 14, 2021 12:11 p.m.