~ Making custom Magic: The Gathering cards for the trio of main characters in my cyberpunk novel Cyber-Serial: Postmodern Prometheus, on sale now.
Started as a tradition with my epic fantasy duology Journeyers and carried on with my sci-fi satire Wherever He May Swarm, I have now created a set of custom trio of MTG cards for Cyber-Serial, the third of my major novel projects embarked in the last 3 years.
The Custom MTG exercise is an exploration of the abilities & flavors of the main characters of the novel, as well as the major locales and energies at play within the conflicts. Additionally, there is a consideration of how to place these characters & story elements within the color pie of Magic.
Yes, plot elements and mild spoilers will be in play by viewing these cards before reading the story. But the hope is that the cards encourage you to read the novel to find their fruition within the story!
These cards were created using MTGCardSmith and are for recreational purposes only. Please enjoy my overpowered (yet book-lore accurate) creations!
Gabriel is a young woman who is prodigiously talented at the computer. Her colors are Temur (Blue-Red-Green), which is a wild and creative combination based in natural life energy. Her ward cost is due to her isolated and autistic demeanor; her overpowered upkeep ability reflects her ability to find (or hack) anything out there due to her interconnection to the online realms of the IndraNet.
She taps for 3 as an especially robust Mana Dude and also sets up her own ultimate ability by compiling Page Counters. The counters add up into allowing her to summon Sariel — and usefully draw cards from her various Book artifacts. They are indestructible because, as V says, ideas are bulletproof.
Sariel is the star of our show, the supernatural being borne from the depths of the IndraNet and the raw creativity of Gabriel. Sariel, The Revealer, is capable of performing miracles and influencing the world from the digital realms in a very serious way. He is 8/8 and all colors, practically a God of the game of Magic, just like he is the same for the IndraNet, or psychic internet, itself.
Sariel’s card is designed around “group hug” dynamics; this means that he is capable of helping any player (including his owner) with each of his major triggered abilities – during combat and at each end step. Similar to his creator, Gabriel, he is capable of searching far and wide for the most proper spells he desires. Sariel is a card that breaks all limits by design and can be a savior or a scourge to any other player at the table.
Uriel is a jack-of-all-trades powerhouse in Esper (White-Blue-Black), reflecting his more anti-heroic and ambivalent nature as a servant of justice for a corrupt oligarch. A detective throughout cyberspace, his convictions are religious and his motives are humane yet naive. Uriel’s primary conflicts come from within his conscience.
He is over 200 years old and one of the most dangerous human beings alive. As a result, his card reflects the multivariate nature of his abilities; he is a user and abuser of activated abilities. Any threat on the table is ultimately something he can deal with — just as long as you have the mana base for it.
For more of my MTG creations from Cyber-Serial and to browse the world-build itself, check out the Cyber-Wiki I created to house the universe: characters, locations, technologies, events, and more.
Thank you for checking out my triad of Cyber-Serial cards! Please consider buying my book!
Godspeed,
Dylan
Thresholds of Transformation 