The / one makes sense as it creates Death creatures from the Life creatures by adding Death. They both have the same purpose of creature generation and anti CC. I wonder if Graveyard would be too much competition. I also am concerned that the Duo element would not be represented by an activation cost in this version. Modifying it to represent both types of quanta would be wise.
The / is good but I do not think they fill the same deck slot. Care to enlighten me?
/ Diving while Burrowed? This feels like a joke. (funny visual images) It also does not fit the previous thematic pattern of Using A to convert extreme B toward A.
/ Half growth, delayed and immaterial. I know you have more creative ideas than a slowed and sometimes immaterial Lava Golem.
/ This is a delayed Vampire effect. I do not see potential here but it is quirky enough that I might be overlooking something obvious.
/ Cool down | Heat up?
The
/
one works as a duo because it brings creatures to the base cost. The life card grants life creatures when death creatures you control die, and vice versa. It's a forced duo because you're required to have creatures of one type and quanta of the other. I'm thinking of calling it "raise the dead/raise the living". Unupgraded, the card says "Attacking creatures have a 25% chance to get poisoned. When a life creature dies, bring a random death creature into play". Upgraded, the card says "Attacking creatures have a 50% chance to get poisoned, when a death creature dies, bring a random life creature into play". At least, at this point in the design.
The idea for both is a life/death synergy with thornshield, however, there are a couple key flaws. For instance, I am still undecided as to whether the card should affect both players, or just one. The concept in and of itself is broken if you have both unupgraded and upgraded versions of the card in play. However, I feel like it's closest to being ready.
You keyed in on the main flaw with the
/
card. Looking at both elements, they're about sturdiness versus chaos. The idea was to have a card that converts one into the other. (The other potential direction to take this card is the discord/blackhole route). However, the main goal was to make sure no matter what, the card would benefit otyugh/maxwell's demons. This meant it had to affect attack power and defense at differing rates, so targeting enemies will eventually kill them with the two. Perhaps this card would be better:
Unupgraded, this card gets -2/-1, target creatures gets +2/+1.
Upgraded, a random creatures gets -2/-1, target creature gets +2/+1.
The
/
one is getting a complete rework. I'm thinking of instead making it great wurm, a creature who may unborrow itself in order to dive, remaining unburrowed until the start of your turn, when you burrow it again. The upgraded version of this card would make target creature dive, and then make it burrowed after it dives.
Unupgraded, it plays with burrow's ability to do large damage when an opportunity presents itself, and then stay hidden when it's not safe. Upgraded it still does this, but suddenly it's also a lobotomize effect.
/
is a difficult card to design. Growth is the most obvious example of turning time into damage. Perhaps "Harbinger", which gets +3/+0 for every turn it's in stasis, and then drops to it's base stats after attacking? Upgraded the card is immortal while in stasis.
/
is also getting a full rework. thematically it's one of the harder to design, as light and darkness, unlike the rest, physically can't coexist. Maybe a creature that flickers into play, and returns to your hand after combat?
EDIT: Just thought of something
Traitor/traitor.
The effect is simple, killing it makes it switch teams. Unupgraded it costs darkness and it on the enemy's side of the field, upgraded it costs light and is on your side of the field. At any point either player may pay the opposite mana cost, (darkness if it's a light creature, and vice versa) to steal it. The switching sides upon dying would be a passive effect, and not lobotomizable. The active, paying quanta to kill it, could be lobo'd. This adds synergy with liquid shadow.
/
has been giving me trouble because steam machine already exists. Element wise, fire is the most complete element, there's no really niche "thing" it needs, and giving it more CC, PC, or creatures feels redundant. I'm really drawing a blank mechanically.