[Workshop Wednesday] Elemental, My Dear Watson

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    Welcome back to TwistedSpoon Studio! Workshop Wednesday is where we talk custom Magic designs, and this week we're covering Elementals. I've always felt like Elementals should have some sort of special type line-- either as Enchantment creatures (being made of magic) or land creatures (often being living places). This week, we're tackling an execution that combines the two: Embody!



    Embody is an alternate-cost mechanic that allows you to return a land to your hand in order to make the spell cheaper. Early in the game, this allows players to trade tempo for bulk. Later on, this becomes a way to replay lands or even generate extra mana by returning a tapped land to your hand.



    In terms of typelines, enchantment creatures need more justification than artifact creatures do. In order to feel more like enchantments, these creatures tend to have an activated, triggered, or static ability. Today's selection shows off one of each to convey this idea.



    The combination of Elementals and this land-substitution mechanic screams Zendikar, but it would be weird to change elementals like this after three visits and 20+ years of non-enchantment Elementals. While Nature's Fist attempted to justify this change in its flavor text, the Embody mechanic would work just as well if these were normal creatures. Either way, I'm just thankful it didn't turn out to be another Sultai mechanic.


    That's all we have for this week! Pretend that there's a call to action here so that you have something to ignore. Reddit!

    

See you soon!

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