How to Design Balanced Custom Magic Cards (A Guide)

Designing a custom card is easy. Designing a balanced custom card is hard.

We have all seen them: a 1-mana 10/10 with Haste, or a spell that says "You win the game." These might be fun for 3 seconds, but they aren't fun to play with.

If you want your friends to actually let you shuffle your custom commander into a deck, follow these principles of balance.

Principle 1: The "Vanilla Test"

The "Vanilla Test" compares your creature's stats (Power/Toughness) to its Mana Value (CMC).

• Standard: A generic creature is usually P/T equal to its cost. (e.g., A 3/3 for 3 mana).
• Green: Gets better stats (3/3 for 2 mana).
• Blue: Gets worse stats (2/2 for 3 mana, but with flying).

The Rule: If your creature has a powerful ability, its stats should be lower than the vanilla standard.

• Bad: 3 mana 4/4 with "Tap: Destroy target creature." (Too strong stats AND ability).
• Good: 3 mana 1/1 with "Tap: Destroy target creature." (Fragile body balances strong ability).

Principle 2: The Color Pie

Magic is built on the Color Pie. Each color has things it can do and things it cannot do. Breaking this is the #1 sign of an amateur design.

• White: Can destroy artifacts/enchantments, exile creatures (usually with conditions), gain life. Cannot draw cards easily or deal direct damage.
• Blue: Can draw cards, counter spells, bounce permanents. Cannot kill creatures permanently.
• Black: Can kill creatures, discard cards, pay life for cards. Cannot destroy artifacts/enchantments easily.
• Red: Can deal damage, destroy artifacts, haste. Cannot destroy enchantments.
• Green: Can destroy artifacts/enchantments, ramp mana, big creatures. Cannot kill creatures directly (needs "Fight").

Do not give a mono-Green card "Counter target spell." It immediately feels wrong.

Principle 3: Costing "Free" Effects

Phyrexian mana (

) and "Free" spells are historically the most broken mechanics in Magic (Gitaxian Probe, Mental Misstep). If your card allows a player to do something without spending mana, you must be extremely careful.

• Bad: "0 Mana Instant: Draw 2 cards."
• Fixed: "0 Mana Instant: Discard 2 cards, then draw 2 cards." (Card selection is safer than card advantage).

Principle 4: Complexity Creep

Just because you can fit 8 lines of text doesn't mean you should.

• Reading is hard: Opponents need to understand your card quickly.
• Keep it simple: If a card has 3 different abilities, cut one.
• Use Keywords: Instead of writing "This creature cannot be the target of spells or abilities your opponents control," just write Hexproof.

Balanced Design Checklist

Before you hit "Print" on TCGCustom, ask yourself:

1. Is it fun for the opponent? Or does it just stop them from playing?
2. Does it fit the color pie?
3. Is it strictly better than a real card? If you made "Lightning Bolt but it does 4 damage," that's just power creep.

Design is an art. The best custom cards are the ones that make people say, "Wait, is that a real card?"

Try Designing a Balanced Card Now