In the hope that Ransac will drop his lawsuit:
Time Paradox
I hate Time Paradox. There you have it: uncensored opion!
Its a card that says "win now or die".. it has turned from a Time Warp reprint into a Final Fortune reprint.
Also, i don't like cards that give you extra turns, but if we are going to do one, I'd say we have to be creative with it. "Take another turn after this one. Target opponent gains control of all non-land permanents you control" or "Take another turn after this one. Each opponent may gain control of a permanent you control"
King Stirge
Referring to the question about King Stirge: Yes, its an enchantment getting the counters. I thought this would simpler because the counter and the changing trigger at the same time. It puts a counter on the enchantment where it does nothing until it changes back.
Looking back on it, I think the card is a ruling-nightmare. Perhaps it shouldn't turn back? Or put copies of itself in play? Remove it from the game Haunting target player/creature?
Cost Increasor
I love the Cost Increasor. (see, i have positive opinions as well). If we keep the "for each M you spent" cards (perhaps we can call them drops? A black spell with a couple of drops of blue mana?)
More Blue cards?
If we do the Odd One Out, I definitely think blue doesn't more cards; there simply will be no multicolor cards involving blue, so the other colors will have less monocolored cards, but the same number in total (can't do the math right now, but will try to get back to this)
What is rare?
An ancient question, to be sure. But for now, I agree that for some cards its obvious and for the rest it can be figured out/adjusted later. I don't think its very necessary to consider this so early in the design.
Flavor?
I would be willing to look in on flavortexts from time to time, but I want to focus more on game-aspects than flavor aspects. Is the Creative Team responsible for the entire card or just the flavor (name, art, text)?
White Legends
A sever lack of white cards and Legends eh? I'll keep that in mind.
Protected Knight
Nice card, but strictly filler (unless it satisfies some kind of story demand). You've rightfully pointed out (Ransac did, right?) that most of our cards are tweaks. I'd go as far as to say that most cards (especially non-rares) are tweaks of older cards. This is not a bad thing, but we should make sure the set doesn't get dull.
No Odd One Out?
I would be very sorry to see this get the boot, but I am more confused on how it called a theme, like the Norse Mythology. Let me explain:
Odd one Out is kinda of like a mechanic; it has some small restrictions on flavor (the story must somehow incorporate that that which was blue once dominated the world and the rest somehow got rid of it by cooperating) and gives the set a specific feel to it.
Starting with Norse Mythology, we had to choose to either use real names or 'Norsish' ones: I don't know whats been going on exactly, but my vote is for Norsish.
Using real names, means we should stick to real stories. Real stories have characters. Characters have abilities. This limits the design space a lot in my opinion.
We could've designed a lot of cool cards, but if the Norse Mythology doesn't have a story about a creature that could fit the bill, it gets axed (not the deodorant).
Making up our own stories, however, limits the design space in no way. This is okay, but then we would be back to square one.
And, designing based on stories might make a set feel 'unconnected' if people don't know all the stories. By choosing a set-mechanic most of the cards are mechanically connected.
Next, do we have to choose between Norsish and Odd One Out? Can't we think of story that took place in Schmorway that involved something blue supressing the rest (certain god, certain people, even just ice or low temps?)
Lastly, I think the Norwegian thing might have been done with Ice Age/Alliances. Especially with Cold Snap on the way, do we want to do this?
Why not a world of drifting islands? Or Floating Castles?
And now, my brain is empty. Good day.
D)