Project Zendikar

[jatill]

Brace yourselves.

I plan on adding all of Zendikar to Manalink (or at least the 90% that I can do). Obviously, there are not enough free slots to add everything, so I will take the current version of Manalink and add all the good constructed cards. Then I will create a second, separate version that replaces some cards (5th edition cards, most likely) with Zendikar cards so that Zendikar can be played in draft and sealed.

I would need some help to make this possible, so please let me know if you will help. I need:
1) Someone to add all the cards using SkyMagic Editor. This is a hefty task.
2) Lots of people to test. Since the number of cards to add is so enormous, I will not be doing testing. I'll leave that to helpers.

Post here in the forums if you're willing to help. I'm looking to begin as soon as the full spoiler is released. Comments and feedback are also welcome.

[Salbei]

I´d like to do some playtesting. Would do the artwork of the new cards aswell.

Can´t really do much with the skymagic editor beside replacing fixed values like names/manacost etc.

[somacat]

I can help with some playtesting too, although I'm going on vacation in a couple of weeks.

Unfortunately, I'm a bit of a SkyMagic noob. Not really sure what I'd be able to add in that regard.

[stassy]

Can do some playtest though I'm a noob at all the recent gameplay changes.

[jatill]

Using SkyMagic Editor is just data entry... no coding required. There are a couple specific pieces of knowledge, but they can be gleaned by looking at oter card entries.

Here's how you would enter the new fetchlands, for example:
1) Know the id that the new card will have (I'll provide this).
2) Click on an existing fetchland. Change the name, rules text, and id.
Flip the 'coded' indicator to 1. Save.
3) On the Magic.exe tab, find an existing fetchland. Change the name and id.
4) BEFORE you save, single click on a 'Dummy' spot at the end. Then save.

The end. Easy, right? Adding cards is usually just about finding the cards most similar to the one you're adding.

[somacat]

Sorry, again, I'm a bit of a noob at SkyMagic - wouldn't that just create a duplicate of say, the RW dual land except with different text etc? Like, would it have a GB dual text, pictures, etc, but fetch a Plains or Mountain doing this? Or would the card ID provided by you have the correct changed code attached to it?

If that's the case, I could probably do this. You might have to wait four or five days until my rostered day off work though

And I guess I could always PM you if I had any trouble because I didn't know what I was doing

[jatill]

Sorry, again, I'm a bit of a noob at SkyMagic - wouldn't that just create a duplicate of say, the RW dual land except with different text etc? Like, would it have a GB dual text, pictures, etc, but fetch a Plains or Mountain doing this? Or would the card ID provided by you have the correct changed code attached to it?

Yes, it would. I have to go in and update the CODE POINTER field in the Magic.exe tab to tell the card to actually do something different.

[somacat]

OK That makes sense. I'll be happy to do this during my next day off after I get all the information then, unless someone else wants to put their hand up and is able to do it in a more timely manner?

[jatill]

OK That makes sense. I'll be happy to do this during my next day off after I get all the information then, unless someone else wants to put their hand up and is able to do it in a more timely manner?

Thanks for volunteering. We're going to do this in 2 waves. Wave 1 will be adding all the cards that will live in the official manalink game.

The spoiler is here:
http://mtgsalvation.com/zendikar-spoiler.html#3815
but if you wait until after this weekend, use the official spoiler instead.

Here are those cards in the format (new_card id, old_card)

Conqueror's Pledge 27, Camouflage
Felidar Sovereign 78, False Orders
Iona, Shield of Emeria 120, Illusionary Mask
Luminarch Ascension 289, Word of Command
Angel Token 1002, Cowardice
World Queller 1013, Deflection
Archive Trap 1041, Furnace of Rath
Hedron Crab 1043, Gaea's Herald
Mindbreak Trap 1052, Guerrilla Tactics
Rite Of Replication 1053, Hammer of Bogardan
Sphinx of Jwar Isle 1064, Ivory Mask
Sphinx of Lost Truths 1072, Living Terrain
Summoner's Bane 1074, Lone Wolf
Illusion token 1978, Seal of Fire
Bloodchief Ascension 1086, Mind Bend
Bloodghast 1088, Mind Slash
Disfigure 1095, Natural Affinity
Gatekeeper of Malakir 1103, Oracle's Attendants
Guul Draz Specter 1111, Phyrexian Colossus
Ob Nixilis, the Fallen 1127, Redeem
Vampire Hexmage 1129, Relentless Assault
Vampire Lacerator 1132, Rhox
Burst Lightning 1136, Sacred Ground
Chandra Ablaze 1159, Spreading Algae
Goblin Guide 1163, Story Circle
Obsidian Fireheart 1168, Teferi's Puzzle Box
Beastmaster Ascension 1171, Thieves' Auction
Harrow 1178, Two-Headed Dragon
Lotus Cobra 1257, Utopia Tree
Nissa Revane 1431, Fanning the Flames
Nissa's Chosen 1568, Primal Order
Rampaging Baloths1570, Sengir Autocrat
Scute Mob 933, Electric Eel
Terra Stomper 934, Festival
Eternity Vessel 945, Scarwood Bandits
Expedition Map 981, Blinding Angel
Arid Mesa 984, Brass Herald
Marsh Flats, Stromgald Crusader
Misty Rainforest 1834, Sword of Light and Shadow
Oran-Rief, the Vastwood 1985, Wargate
Scalding Tarn 1981, Squirrel Nest
Verdant Catacombs 1959, Enduring Ideal

Some cards, like the fetch lands, are going to be very easy to enter via copy and paste. Others will require a little bit more data entry. Look through all the fields and let me know if you are unsure what they do. Remember, copying cards similar to the ones you are adding is the easiest way to go. Here are a few more hints, too.

On the csv tab:
-Set expansion to 8h for all these cards.
-Set numpics to 1
-For AI Base value, use this chart:

100-200 Bombs that potentially win the game on their own (Loxodon Warhammer, Meloku, Fireball)
80-99 High Quality removal (Terror, Swords to Plowshares)
70-79 Very strong Creatures (Air Elemental, Serra Angel)
60-69 Strong Spells (Tidings)
50-59 Above Average Creatures (Durkwood Boars, Prodigal Sorcerer)
40-49 Medium quality Removal (ex: Immolation)
20-39 Average Creatures
10-19 Lands and mana fixers
1-9 Filler cards (ex: Grizzly Bears)
0 Cards that should never make your draft / sealed deck

-For exp rarity, they should all be in the format 00X00, where X is the rarity indicated by the hint in the editor
-Set subtype to 211 to blank it out, when needed
-For cards that have more than 2 creature types (ex: allies) just pick 2 and exclude the 3rd. Always include Ally, though.
-In the rules text, there are a few special characters. \n is a new line, |1, |2 etc show the numbers as mana symbols. |T = tap, |B = Black mana symbol, |U = blue mana, etc.
-If a card has a lasting effect, like Nantuko Shade, list the name of that effect in Effect Title Text and Legacy Title Text.

On the exe tab:
-Don't forget to set the card subtype for merfolk, goblins, zombies, and legends
-For artifacts and lands that produce mana, set the card color to the color that card produces. For other cards, just list the actual color of the card.
-cc1 = colorless
-cc2 = colored mana
-cc3 = 1 for traps, 9 for planeswalkers, 0 otherwise
-code pointer I will fill in
-extra abilities 1: set this to 01 for cards that have an activated ability

Thanks so much for you help, and fire away with any questions.

[somacat]

OK, will try and have these done by the end of the weekend. I want to go to one of the Prerelease flights as well, but I *should* have time. Will PM when I'm done.

[Marek14]

BTW, how are you going to do Allies? Can you have a creature with three subtypes? (Sea Gate Loremaster, for example, is Merfolk Wizard Ally and all three of those types have cards that care about them).

[Salbei]

offtopic:
Jesus Christ ! Wizards added out-of-print Cards to their Pre-Release Boosters.

Couldn´t believe it first , but check the news. Multiple Sources have confirmed they found cards like Mox Jet(unlimited) in their Boosters.

[MalkolmX]

Wth mox jet? If that's true then there's another reason to attend Pre-Release this weekend, i'll be there!

[aww1979]

offtopic:
Jesus Christ ! Wizards added out-of-print Cards to their Pre-Release Boosters.

Couldn´t believe it first , but check the news. Multiple Sources have confirmed they found cards like Mox Jet(unlimited) in their Boosters.

I did some google searching and I only found one place where a guy says he got a Candelabra of Tawnos in a booster, and a lot of others where they are just spreading rumours thirdhand. I'll bet I'd have to spend more on boosters than I would just buying a mox to get something like that, even if it is real :p Plus, I haven't bought a booster/starter in nine years...

If there were enough of these reprints to drive the cost of moxes and such down to an affordable level, I might get back in the game again, but I really doubt there will be that many, again assuming this is true. I started at the time of revised/fallen empires, so I'd just missed all those cards; moxes were like $150 and black lotus was like $400 when I started. (and dual lands were like $6, but I didn't outgrow noobishness until they were out of print)

[Stroggoii]

No vampire nighthawk? I mean, he's awesome