Court Of Conscience1WWBB Sorcery [Myhtic]
Destroy all artifacts, creatures, and enchantments. Then each player returns all artifacts, creatures, and enchantments from his or her graveyard to the battlefield. There is a court higher than the courts of justice, in which you will answer only to yourself.
Design - Appeal: Johnny likes this. Big for Timmy. Elegance: Very unelegant to destroy cards just to bring them back immediately to get a blink effect.
Development - Viability: Will confuse players because of nonsensical destroying at first glance. Might be dampened a bit by this being Mythic. Balance: Symmetrical effect should be fine.
Creativity - Uniqueness: Slightly reminiscient of Second Sunrise, but has a far broader application. This kind of blink is quite new. Flavor: I feel like holding court and this global effect seems connected somehow, but I don't quite get it. How does a court bring back the dead?
Polish - Quality: The cards getting returned need to be "artifact, creature, and enchantment cards".
Glorious Resurrection4WWW
Sorcery (MR)
Return target creature card in your graveyard to the battlefield, then you may return any number of Aura enchantment cards with enchant creature from your graveyard to the battlefield attached to that creature. "You angered the gods by murdering me, Trostus. That was most unwise."
- Kolyas, Heirophant of Helios
Design - Appeal: Big effect for Timmy. Nice build around for Johnny. Elegance: Simple, straightforwards, intuitive. Nice.
Development - Viability: Seems good. Not sure about Mythic. Seems not splashy enough, too dependent. Balance: 7 mana is a whole lot for something that needs multiple specific cards in the graveyard. Compared to Fated Return it lacks instant speed and requires auras in the graveyard to make up for indestructible and even then Fated Return didn't see much play.
Creativity - Uniqueness: Even if I mentioned Fated Return before, this card has its very own style. A bit like Retether, but unique enough to be fresh. Flavor: Like the name. The flavortext is a bit awkward as a conversation piece. Not a big issue though.
Polish - Quality:Evershrike makes me think you don't need the 'then'. Which feels wrong, but that's the way they did it. Also Evershrike doesn't require the enchant creature part.
Relic of Selfar4
Legendary Artifact (M) 4, T, Exile Relic of Selfar: Return all cards that is put into your graveyard from the battlefield this turn onto the battlefield. Then return all cards that is put into your graveyard this turn into your hand. Activate this ability only during your turn. "Time manipulation is never pretty, but certainly, it is useful." - Riftmaster Felnia
Design - Appeal: Very much a Johnny card. I think the application is too narrow for Timmy. Might contain enough value for Spike. Elegance: This card returns all cards to your hand, but before that they make a brief visit to battlefield. That's just weird and awkward. If it's supposed to be a symmetric effect that returns permanents to the field and anything else that was milled/discarded to the hand that would be pretty sweet.
Development - Viability: Might confuse players as is. Why put the cards onto the battlefield in between? is what they are going to wonder about and think they are missing some import piece of information. Not sure if this is splashy enough for Mythic, depends on how powerful it turns out. Balance: 8 mana is quite the cost. It's not on the weak side at any rate. I think it's costy enough to not be abusable.
Creativity - Uniqueness: Depending on what the card is supposed to do it might just be a Second Sunrise on an artifact. Flavor: Not sure what Selfar is, but all of this sounds cool. I like it.
Polish - Quality:were put..., to - not onto or into, !!!First you put all cards onto the battlefield, then return them to your hand. If this is intended the referencing of the cards the second time around needs to be different to make things clear.
Heqet, Vizier of Memory1UR
Legendary Creature - Human Wizard (R)
Prowess
You may play cards with cycling from your graveyard.
If a card with cycling would be put into your graveyard from anywhere but your hand, exile it instead. "No matter how it ends, everyone who dies trying to pass the trials of gods will be remembered."
2/3
Design - Appeal: Sounds great for Spike and Johnny. Timmy doesn't mind too much either. Elegance: As simple as it can be. Good enough.
Development - Viability: I dislike a R/U card allowing to play creatures from the grave. Rare is a good fit. Balance: On the strong side, but in the end, all it does is draw you extra cards for mana. Sort of. Should be fine.
Creativity - Uniqueness: Interesting space for cycling matters. Certainly new. Flavor: I get that you are trying to connect cycling with Amonkhet, but the other legendary viziers were top-down and this doesn't strike me as such. Also I don't think the society of Amonkhet has much use for memories, quite the opposite actually. Cycling, having not much flavor anyways, doesn't feel easily flavored as something dying during the trials, especially not when it goes on so many instants and sorceries.
Nostalgic Conjurer
Creature — Human Wizard (M)
You may play instant and sorcery cards from your graveyard, but not from anywhere else.
Each instant and sorcery card in your graveyard has flashback. The flashback cost is equal to its mana cost. (You may cast that card from your graveyard for its flashback cost. Then exile it.)
3/5
Design - Appeal: Looks very Spike and Johnny to me. Maybe a bit on the costy side for Spike. Elegance: I guess it's fine.
Development - Viability: All good here. Balance:Past in Flames + U and you get a body for it, but a drawback and and no flashback. I'd say this is fine.
Creativity - Uniqueness: Well, Past in Flames is a thing. This is still considerably different as far as gameplay goes, but it's not terribly unique. Flavor: Nostalgy enables this guy to do all this? Seems a bit goofy. Could use a bit of flavortext.
Polish - Quality: The first line already allows to cast spells from the graveyard the way you worded it. That needs to go. Just restrict ccasting from hand.
Multiple instances of lifelink on the same creature are redundant.
Multiple instances of lifelink on the same creature are redundant.
Multiple instances of lifelink on the same creature are redundant.
—Eli Shiffrin, Rules Manager, on a design stacking lifelink instances
Design
Appeal: Spike likes rebuying cards. Johnny wants to abuse this somehow.
Elegance: The wording is pretty clunky, but the effect is simple enough and easy to understand.
Development
Viability: Blue is a bad color for this effect. Blue can rebuy spells. Rebuying artifacts would be a big stretch but not out of reason. But rebuying creatures isn't something blue does.
Balance: This card is very powerful but very expensive mana-wise too. The fact that it's limited to three uses makes me think this card is perfectly fine if a little too commander-ish.
Creativity
Uniqueness: Cute homage to Ring of Three Wishes.
Flavor: Why is this ring an enchantment? They have typically been artifacts in the past.
Polish
Quality: You need to capitalize the R in Remove, and the correct order for the card types is "artifact, creature, instant or sorcery" (it's almost always alphabetical).
Challenges:
Design
Appeal: This is too much of an investment for spike. Johnny might try to win the game with it.
Elegance: This card has too many moving parts and numbers to calculate. You could read it three times, understand what the text means, and still not get what the card does.
Development
Viability: Sultai is a good fit.
Balance: This card is a ridiculous investment. Paying six mana and sacrificing several creatures to get a few cards' value out of this is nowhere near a good deal. I wouldn't expect this card to see play in any format.
Creativity
Uniqueness: It's unique.
Flavor: The name is a bad fit for the mechanics. You have so many moving parts on this card, and the name isn't even closely related.
Polish
Quality: You need to combine the reminder texts for gravestorm and flashback. Also, for a mythic rare card such as this one (especially one as wordy as this one), you should skip the reminder text.
Challenges:
Design
Appeal: Spike loves this. Johnny likes it too.
Elegance: This card isn't very elegant. Also, the rules nuances to this card are unintuitive and lead to awkward judge calls.
Development
Viability: Sultai is a good fit for this ability, as is mythic rare.
Balance: This card is a very dangerous commander. Being able to rebuy five cards is a big deal, as it being able to use cards from any graveyard.
Creativity
Uniqueness: It's a lot like Yawgmoth's Will.
Flavor: You don't need much flavor to tie the mechanics together, though some flavor text would be appreciated.
Polish
Quality: The correct wording is "exile X target cards from graveyards" (Angel of Serenity)
Challenges:
Design
Appeal: Spike likes this. Timmy is somewhat interested, as is Johnny.
Elegance: It's clean. Side note: I'm not sure if your wording is the correct wording or not as there is no precedent that I can see, but it looks like it is? It's unfortunately you have to repeat the self-exile clause.
Development
Viability: Green works.
Balance: This is fine. Classic variant on "increase the mana cost of an existing card by 1 but give it an upside". It's probably worse than Seasons' Past under most circumstances, and thus is probably forgettable outside of commander.
Creativity
Uniqueness: The similarity to Restock is unmistakeable.
Flavor: The flavor text is good if a bit flat in my opinion. I'm under the impression that it's referencing something in the artwork which I obviously can't evalutate, but this doesn't feel like the strongest way to evoke a feeling.
Ring of Second Chances2UB
Enchantment (R)
Ring of Second Chances enters the battlefield with three charge counters. UB, Remove a charge counter from Ring of Second Chances: You may cast target artifact, creature, instant, or sorcery spell from your graveyard. If that spell would enter the graveyard this turn, exile it instead. "You can always make the same mistake twice." -Mednor, Djinn of Mahamoti
Note: The art for this card would depict a ring (the kind drawn on the ground for summoning spirits and such) being used to summon a Djinn.
Multiple instances of lifelink on the same creature are redundant.
Multiple instances of lifelink on the same creature are redundant.
Multiple instances of lifelink on the same creature are redundant.
—Eli Shiffrin, Rules Manager, on a design stacking lifelink instances
Feyomsi, Vizier of Ukud3BG
Legendary Creature - Cat Demon (M)
When Feyomsi, Vizier of Ukud enters the battlefield, return up to two target land cards from your graveyard to your hand.
Nonland cards in your graveyard have retrace. (You may cast a card with retrace from your graveyard by discarding a land card in addition to paying its other costs.) Sidisi's teacher rebuilt his entire necropolis from its own ashes.
5/4
Notes: Feyomsi was Sidisi's teacher, not Tasigur's, I got that mixed up.
Design (3/3) Appeal - Timmy likes a relevant body on the battlefield that also allows him to recast his big creatures/spells from his graveyard. Johnny can certainly use both abilities in many different ways. Now that he can see himself actually casting this in an average game, Spike is interested too. The very high mana cost really turned him down before. (3/3) Elegance - The rules text is very easy to understand and not too long. The shorter flavor text looks much better on the card. The wordiness has been reduced as much as possible, and now MSE shows me that the text box is full but doesn't look too crowded or have microtext. The abilities also make a lot of sense with each other and with the flavor text, and as a result the card feels very good as a whole.
Development (3/3) Viability - Now I get to go deeper on why I had doubts on this card as Sultai colored. The first ability is purely green, and changing the number of land cards returned doesn't change that. The retrace granting ability certainly feels black as black is the color that interacts with the graveyard the most. It could have also felt blue (or maybe even red) as a twist on flashback, but it feels more black to me because you're using your graveyard as a resource, which outside of graveyard blocks is something black does more than any other color. Finally, this is not a card that mechanically requires three colors to work, even if it could have been the full Sultai colors because of flavor as I mentioned in my comments. I honestly prefer it this way though. No need to make the card narrower by adding a color if it's not needed. As for rarity, this is a card that I could see at both regular rare and mythic rare. I would have accepted both. Allowing you to recast any card out of your graveyard without restrictions might push it towards mythic indeed though. (3/3) Balance - A 5/4 with additional upside for five mana looks powerful but not broken, certainly not out of range for a mythic though. This is definitely playable in limited, where it lets you recycle extra lands to get more spells out of your graveyard. You will never get flooded with this, in a sense it's kind of a mana sink even without having any mana symbol in its rules text. With the updated stats, I now expect this to see play in constructed, Standard for sure. If they allowed dredge decks in Modern, which they have said they don't want, this could be considered there too. Might the retrace granting ability be enough anyway? I don't know, but it's certainly a good doubt to have in this contest. I see no particular problems in casual or multiplayer.
Creativity (2.5/3) Uniqueness - As I mentioned, the first ability looks like a variation on Crucible of Worlds. It's functionally different, but the purpose is the same: allowing you to replay lands in your graveyard. One lets them stay in the graveyard, the other returns them to your hand, but there is no real difference as you can only play one land each turn anyway (under ordinary circumstances), regardless of where you play it from. The retrace granting ability is new and Gatherer confirmed me that it has never been done before, not even once. It looks like it's one of those kind of obvious things that you're certain it has to already exist but it turns out it doesn't and you're amazed to learn it has never actually been done before. (3/3) Flavor - Now we're talking. The name was already good before and in fact it stayed the same, but the flavor text now makes much more sense. Rebuilding a whole plane from scratch is something that only planeswalkers can hope to do (and after the Mending it would be almost impossible anyway), but rebuilding a single town looks much more plausible for a plane-bound single being, even a powerful one. I'm also glad it was meant to be Sidisi and not Tasigur. Now it really works. No problems with the creature types, Rakshasas are a thing on Tarkir and both the Sultai in the old timeline and the Silumgar clan in the new one have plenty of them.
Polish (3/3) Quality - All good. (2/2) Main Challenge - Good. "Up to two" certainly includes two. (2/2) Subchallenges - Both met.
Annals of Prehistory4GG
Enchantment {M}
You may play permanent cards from your graveyard.
If a permanent card would be put into your graveyard from the battlefield, exile it instead. The hall of the Hydra-God is covered with runes detailing Nayan myths as old as time itself.
Design (2.5/3) Appeal - Timmy likes to be able to replay things out of the graveyard. Johnny can also use the ability to do that to good extent. Spike likes getting additional value from the graveyard, but the cost looks a bit high to him. (3/3) Elegance - This is an exemplar card in this regard.
Development (1/3) Viability - No changes have been made to this card, so I will repeat what I mentioned in my first comments: there are color pie problems with this card. "Permanent cards" means any card with one of the following types: lands (which green has no problem getting out of the graveyard), artifacts (maybe, even if green philosophically hates artifice and blue is the color that interacts with artifacts the most in a positive way), enchantments (which white would reanimate, not green), planeswalkers and creatures (both of which black gets to reanimate, or white if they have a low enough cmc or power, certainly not green). Allowing green to get all of these types out of the graveyard when it's only supposed to do so with lands is a problem. As is, this card needs to be gold, at least BG, probably Sultai or Abzan. See here for more. As for rarity, "your graveyard is a second hand" feels pretty mythic of an effect to me. (2/3) Balance - The effect is very powerful, but at six mana it feel safe enough to me. Also, you still have to pay the costs for the permanent cards you play out of your graveyard, and that's a built-in safety valve. Finally, once you cast this you will get no additional cards into your graveyard in ordinary ways, though you can still mill yourself (which requires you to build your deck accordingly) or hope your opponent processes cards from exile into your graveyard (unlikely even in BFZ block and a corner case anyway). This means the timing of when you cast this is very important: you need to have enough things to reanimate already in your graveyard as you cast this. That's another balancing factor. I have listed so many of those in this paragraph that I'm quite confident this wouldn't break anything even though it looks like it could have the potential. This looks interesting as the top of the curve of an aggro deck, allowing you to get back all the creatures you traded in combat and giving you more gas, which such a deck often lacks in the mid-to-late game. I think you could play this in limited, but it's not certain. I think sometimes you will have to cut it. It could see some constructed play in deck built specifically around it, but the high mana cost limits its playability in competitive formats. I see nothing wrong in casual or multiplayer.
Creativity (2/3) Uniqueness - Again, I repeat what I first said in my original comments: this feels original enough and definitely has its own identity, but the single pieces remind of several other existing cards, for example Crucible of Worlds, Rest in Peace, Samurai of the Pale Curtain, etc... (3/3) Flavor - Both name and flavor text are very good and fit very well with the overall card concept.
Polish (3/3) Quality - All good. I particularly appreciate the correct use of "play" vs. "cast" in the first ability (those cards can be lands) and of "put into your graveyard from the battlefield" vs. "die" in the second one (those cards can be noncreatures). Those are both things that I think a lot of people would get wrong. (2/2) Main Challenge - Good enough. By turn six (or whenever you cast this) I expect you to have at least two permanent cards in your graveyard that the first ability makes available again. (2/2) Subchallenges - Both met. "Permanent cards" include artifacts, enchantments, lands and planeswalkers in addition to creatures.
March of the Meek2WW
Sorcery (Rare)
Return any number of target creature cards with base power and toughness 1/1 from your graveyard to the battlefield. United they stand behind the Gate of the Afterlife, claiming the souls of those who failed to work together in the Trial of Solidarity.
Design (2/3) Appeal - This is a pure Johnny card. Timmy would want to reanimate bigger creatures, not mere 1/1s. Spike shares Timmy's opinion but there can be some 1/1s with interesting (to him) abilities he can get behind. Spike could also be glad to reanimate a lot of 1/1s at the same time, but I still think he would find better things to do with those four mana. (3/3) Elegance - I see no problems here.
Development (3/3) Viability - White can certainly reanimate small creatures. Rarity looks fine. (1/3) Balance - The mana cost looks high enough to me for the card to not be broken, and this is what I meant with "probably fine" in my original comments. On second thought, the restriction of having the creatures be exactly 1/1 is huge though, and they have to be actual cards, as tokens cease to exist as soon as they hit the graveyard. I can honestly think of no real limited decks where you would have enough 1/1s to make this card worth including it in your deck. The opportunity cost of playing this instead of any other card in the same mana slot looks very high to me. A similar reasoning could apply to constructed, even though you can build your deck with just 1/1s if you want, and that's a thing that looks much harder to do in limited. I see no specific problems in casual or multiplayer, even if, again, the same reasoning applies there too.
Creativity (3/3) Uniqueness - I can't remember anything existing working like this. (0/3) Flavor - This card saw no changes after my first comments, so I have to confirm all my doubts from there. I invited you to reconsider the flavor because it's not coherent with what we know about Amonkhet from the story, but you didn't, so I can just copy and paste:
The name is a cross between March of the Machines (among others) and Mentor of the Meek (also among others). Not that inspired. As for the flavor text, we do know what's behind the Gate to the Afterlife (check the spelling, it's "to", not "of"): Razaketh. So who are "they"? His minions we've yet to see? And how can they collect the souls of those who fail the trials? (and why only the Solidarity one BTW?) We do know that those become the Anointed. Only the Worthy (those who pass all trials) cross the Gate.
All of this is still valid.
Polish (3/3) Quality - All good. "Gate of the Afterlife" is fine from a grammar standpoint, even if it's not correct from a flavor point of view. (2/2) Main Challenge - Good enough. "Any number" can certainly be two or greater. (1/2) Subchallenges - Subchallenge 1 met. Subchallenge 2 not met, because there is no way for any for the returned cards to not be a creature.
Light Over Meletis3WU
Enchantment (R)
When Light Over Meletis enters the battlefield, return up to one target enchantment card and up to one target instant or sorcery card from your graveyard to your hand. Heroic - Creatures you control have "Whenever you cast a spell that targets this creature, put a +1/+1 counter on this creature." During the Conference at Meletis, beings as different as the Pheres Band and the hoplites of Akros agreed to battle Nyx itself.
Designer's notes:
I was comfortable with my whole card and bravelion's whole rating of it, except the quality score. The man says that ability words shouldn't be nested into other abilities and I tend to believe him.
Double edit:
Quote from bravelion83 »
Also, will less experienced players get that if you somehow sacrifice this in response to the ETB trigger you can't return this to your hand with that ability even if you have no other enchantment cards in your graveyard because targets have already been chosen as the trigger was first put onto the stack?
That seems to be an extreme corner case. Even with Naturalize it's definitely a minority of cases. And new players need to be able to get that a Shocked Gravedigger can't return itself; calling this relatively simple ETB triggered ability a strike against complexity may be overly harsh.
Design (2.5/3) Appeal - Not that much for Timmy here, he likes +1/+1 counters but that's about it. Johnny can use all the features of this card in many different ways, and he really likes how open-ended this card is. Spike likes the card advantage he can get out of this and the high synergy between the two abilities. (1.5/3) Elegance - You're right that what I brought up in my comments is just a corner case, and in fact it only costs you half a point here, as I always intended for it to be. Maybe the way I wrote my comments made this sound more important than it actually was. It's still a potential point of confusion, even if admittedly not a big one. The wordiness remains, the card is still ten lines in the M15 frame in MSE, and even if we're still technically within the limits, we're really borderline though. The aesthetics of the resulting text box aren't great. At least the text is quite easy to understand despite its length.
Development (3/3) Viability - Returning enchantment cards from graveyard to hand is undoubtedly white, as much as returning instants and sorceries is blue. Putting +1/+1 counters is also something white can do, so no problems with the color pie. Rarity looks also right. (2.5/3) Balance - Returning two cards from your graveyard to your hand and potentially even more if you have means to blink this is nothing to laugh at, but at five mana in two colors looks fine to me. As I mentioned in my first comments, I really like the synergy between the two abilities: the two cards you return are an instant or sorcery, and those often target, and an enchantment, which can be an Aura and Auras target while on the stack. This means that they both trigger heroic for the second ability, and after you've recast those cards they go again to the graveyard ready to be returned again. Essentially the two abilities feed each other, and I really like that. This looks playable in limited, even though you probably wouldn't switch colors or splash just because you open this. I wouldn't be surprised to see this getting a little Standard play in specific decks, even though I would be surprised to see it in bigger formats. I see no particular problems in casual or multiplayer.
Creativity (2/3) Uniqueness - Mechanically there is nothing new on this card, but the whole package still manages to feel like its own thing. (3/3) Flavor - My "looks fine" in the original comments is actually an understatement. The flavor here is not just fine, it's great! I can easily see both the name and the flavor text getting printed right away as is. The rubric mentions whether the writing feels "professional", and to me the flavor text especially really does. Giving you maximum points in this area is the least I can do.
Polish (3/3) Quality - All good. Now the template is correct. (2/2) Main Challenge - Good. The "up to" pushes the limits of the challenge, as it allows the ability to return only one card or even no cards at all, but realistically you'll always return both cards if you can. (2/2) Subchallenges - Both met.
Dissipating MemoriesXUR
Sorcery (R)
Exile X target cards from your graveyard. Until the beginning of your end step, you may play those cards. (You still pay their costs.)
At the beginning of your end step, shuffle your hand and graveyard into your library, then draw X cards.
Exile Dissipating Memories. At last, Ludevic remembered the details of his creation, but only for a moment.
Design (2/3) Appeal - Not much for Timmy here, maybe he can appreciate the big effect of the second ability but that's about it. Spike likes the potential for card advantage, but there are better ways to get that, and also the skill required to choose the right value for X (see Balance). I expect Johnny to love this card, it looks tailor made for him. (1/3) Elegance - As I said, this card is very wordy (nine lines in MSE). I repeat that the abilities feel disconnected, with only flavor tying them together. In addition to what I wrote in the comments, now I also see potential memory issues, because when the trigger goes off at the end step you will have to remember the value of X from when you cast it before. It's not outrageous, but all these little points together produce a result that's unelegant, even though it might look fine at first glance.
Development (2/3) Viability - Again, I have to repeat what I said in my original comments: this card doesn't feel very blue, even though it probably needs to be just because of the card advantage it can produce that red is not supposed to get. Rarity looks right. (2/3) Balance - I just touched upon an interesting interaction in my comments, and I wondered whether it was intentional. Now I can go deeper and explain it thoroughly. If you look at the first ability (the impulsive draw), you can see that if X is high you "draw" a lot of cards but you also need to spend a lot of mana, so you will have only a few mana to actually cast the cards you exiled while you're allowed to, and it may not be enough to cast all of them. At the contrary, if you want to keep enough mana to cast them, you need to have a lower value of X, that means fewer "drawn" cards. So you have a tension between getting more cards and keeping mana open to cast them. That tension looks very interesting in gameplay, but also potentially frustating. In real Magic, a way to mitigate it has been to allow you "until the end of your next turn" to cast the cards, so that you at least have an untap step before the exiled cards' "expiration date". I think this would have a good thing to do here too, and my comment was meant to lead you to that, but unfortunately no changes have come. And all this ignoring the second ability (the one-sided Timetwister effect), which can get you even more cards you'll need the mana for. Finally, thank goodness for the exile clause. This kind of cards just need it, you really don't want them getting cast over and over again. This looks a good late-game play in limited, but I honestly can't see it in constructed. I see no particular problems in casual or multiplayer.
Creativity (2/3) Uniqueness - I can't remember any similar existing card, even though the single mechanics are nothing new if you take each element by itself. (3/3) Flavor - The name is fine. As already mentioned, I feel like the flavor text is the main, if not only, thing keeping the card together. For starters, using Ludevic (which we know is conveniently blue-red as a character by the way) looks like a good idea. Then, "remembered the details" = card advantage (mainly from the second ability) and "but only for a moment" = you have to use the exiled cards right now (impulsive draw). It's not the most breathtaking flavor I've ever seen, but it works well enough. The card wouldn't feel a single entity without it.
Polish (2.5/3) Quality - Here I feel like I have to apologize. I said it looked fine, but only while relooking at the card to write these judgments I catched a mistake: this is not an enchantment that stays on the battlefield but a one-shot sorcery, so it needs to say "At the beginning of your next end step" and the word "next" is missing here (-0.5). I'm sorry, but it escaped me at first. (2/2) Main Challenge - Good. X can certainly be two or greater. (2/2) Subchallenges - Both met. The exiled cards don't have to be creatures.
Total: 18.5/25
I guess top 2 from each bracket advance, as usual in round 2. So...
MCC - Winner (6): Oct 2014, Apr Nov 2017, Jan 2018, Apr Jun 2019 || Host (15): Dec 2014, Apr Jul Aug Dec 2015, Mar Jul Aug Oct 2016, Feb Jul 2017, Jun Nov 2018, Feb Jul 2019 (last one here) || Judge (34): every month from Nov 2014 to Nov 2016 except Oct 2015, every month from Feb to Jul 2017 except Apr 2017, then Oct 2017, May Jun Nov 2018, Feb Jul 2019 (last one here) CCL - Winner (3): Jul 2016 (tied with Flatline), May 2017, Jul 2019 (last one here) || Host (5): Feb 2015, Mar Apr May Jun 2016 DCC - Winner (1): Mar 2015 (tied with Piar) || Host (3): May Oct 2015, Jan 2016
• The two public custom sets I've been part a part of the design team for: "Brotherhood of Ormos" - Blog post with all info - set thread - design skeleton / card list || "Extinctia: Homo Evanuit" - Blog post with all info - set thread - card list spreadsheet
• "The Lion's Lair", my article series about MTG and custom card design in particular. Latest article here. Here is the article index.Rather outdated by now, and based on the old MCC rubric, but I'm leaving this here for anybody that might be interested anyway.
• My only public attempt at being a writer: the story of my Leonin custom planeswalker Jeff Lionheart. (I have a very big one that I'm working on right now but that's private for now, and I don't know if I will ever actually publish it, and I also have ideas for multiple future ones, including one where I'm going to reprise Jeff.)
Court Of Conscience1WWBB Sorcery [Myhtic]
Destroy all artifacts, creatures, and enchantments. Then each player returns all artifacts, creatures, and enchantments from his or her graveyard to the battlefield. There is a court higher than the courts of justice, in which you will answer only to yourself.
Design - Appeal: Johnny likes this. Big for Timmy. Elegance: Very unelegant to destroy cards just to bring them back immediately to get a blink effect.
Development - Viability: Will confuse players because of nonsensical destroying at first glance. Might be dampened a bit by this being Mythic. Balance: Symmetrical effect should be fine.
Creativity - Uniqueness: Slightly reminiscient of Second Sunrise, but has a far broader application. This kind of blink is quite new. Flavor: I feel like holding court and this global effect seems connected somehow, but I don't quite get it. How does a court bring back the dead?
Polish - Quality: The cards getting returned need to be "artifact, creature, and enchantment cards".
So this is a tough challenge. I guess I have to start off clarifying that this doesn't only return cards that it destroys, it returns all cards. Obviously I'll need to fix the wording issue, but most of what I can take from the comments is that it needs a flavor makeover. My thought originally was the Court of Conscience is really analogy for you only having yourself to answer to, but in retrospect I guess it's not the best name for this card.
So let's go down the list:
-Appeal) Seems to be positive only here
-Elegance) As I discussed earlier, the point is more than just a blink effect, this is a global event here, cards already in graveyards will be returned as well, so I feel like they way I did it is actually more elegant than blinking and returning.
-Viability) I think it is a mythic and the mechanic should allow for some very creative play.
-Balance) Seems to be positive only here, but since I get the feeling that the original intent of this card was not understood by the grader, I would like to make one change in this area. I've been concerned that it's too cheap at 5 CMC and since this kind of effect actually gets bigger the further into the game you get, I think I'm upping the CMC. It also seems more symmetrical that way too.
-Uniqueness) Seems to be positive only here.
-Flavor) I think this is where most of the criticism for this card is rooted. I've updated the tame to represent an apocalyptic grand battle. I originally thought Ragnarok would be the perfect name, but it is too mythologically specific. Twilight of the Gods is an alternate name for Ragnarok. With that I'll also update the flavor text.
-Quality) Fair comments. I've adjusted the text.
Twilight of the Gods2WWBB Sorcery [Myhtic]
Destroy all artifacts, creatures, and enchantments. Then each player returns all artifact, creature, and enchantment cards from his or her graveyard to the battlefield. There will come a night, when the past will meet the present, and our fates will be sung for all to hear.
No, not editing is not a problem. The card will be judged as is.
(The discussion thread would be a better place for questions like this.)
Judgement:
Design - (3/3) Appeal: Very interesting build around for Johnny. Big effect for Timmy. (1.5/3) Elegance: So, one of the criteria here is "Is the card easily understandable at a glance?" and destroying cards before immediately bringing them back sounds like a very nonsensical thing to do.
This is further enhanced by the fact that it brings back ALL cards from the graveyard. Most players will see that as the main purpose of the card and wonder why it destroys cards before bringing them back anyways.
They will feel like they are missing something, which they do, but a good lenticular design is one where players who don't fully understand a card don't notice they don't.
In my opinion this is more part of Viability, as it's not viable to make confusing cards, but I didn't make the rubric and this seems to be the place for that.
Development - (3/3) Viability: The colors are on point and when you want to be clever about a card mechanic, Mythic is the place for that. (3/3) Balance: Heavily costed symmetrical effect sounds weak, but with the right preparations can be very strong for the caster only and could make this see enough play. Should work as intended.
Creativity - (3/3) Uniqueness: Affects a range of card types that is seldom used and the blink effect is certainly unique. (3/3) Flavor: I could see this in a nordic mythology inspired block. The name is cool, while apparenlty being a bit insiderish. The flavortext sets a great atmosphere.
Polish - (3/3) Quality: Looks good. (2/2) Main Challenge: Makes plenty of cards avaiable. (2/2) Subchallenges: Can hit non-creatures and isn't mono-black.
Total: 23.5/25
Design - (3/3) Appeal: Timmy is excited for the big effect. Johnny likes to build around this. (3/3) Elegance: Very simple and straightforward. Works just as you'd expect it.
Development - (2/3) Viability: White is a great fit. The effect with its simplicity and dependency doesn't strike me as Mythic. This could be very well done at Rare. (2/3) Balance: 7 mana is a whole lot for something that needs multiple specific cards in the graveyard. Compared to Fated Return it lacks instant speed and requires auras in the graveyard to make up for indestructible and even then Fated Return didn't see much play.
Creativity - (3/3) Uniqueness: Even if I mentioned Fated Return before, this card has its very own style. A bit like Retether, but unique enough to be fresh. (2.5/3) Flavor: The name is a great fit. The flavortext is a bit awkward as a conversation. It's a tad too much.
Polish - (3/3) Quality: There's no perfect template for this yet and there seems to be many ways to do this, so why shouldn't this be one of them? (2/2) Main Challenge: Check. (2/2) Subchallenges: Color check. Good example for different card type resurrection.
Total: 22.5/25
Design - (2.5/3) Appeal: This card very much aims for a combo turn. That's a very Johnny thing. However, a combo turn where you get everything back is also interesting for Spike. (2.5/3) Elegance: It's a bit of a logic puzzle. But there's this cool symmetry to it. So there is that confusing side to it, but once you understood it, it's a very beatuiful card indeed.
Development - (2.5/3) Viability: This kind of grand effect seems to be quite suited for Mythic. I'm not sure about an artifact bringing any card type back from the graveyard, but at least it's tied to a heavy condition. (3/3) Balance: The effect is very worrying. Getting an entire turn worth of cards back like that is strong. But 4 mana is a high cost to set up and as well to spend at the end of the turn, after playing lots of cards. So maybe this is enough of a restriction.
Creativity - (2.5/3) Uniqueness: So, this is close to Second Sunrise for the first half of the card, but adds a cool component with the second half that hasn't been done like that. Especially since it's affected by milling and the likes. (3/3) Flavor: So, whatever Selfar is, the name and flavortext seem pretty resonant.
Polish - (1.5/3) Quality: This is the correct wording for your card:
Return to the battlefield all cards in your graveyard that were put there from the battlefield this turn. Then return to your hand all remaining cards in your graveyard that were put there this turn. Activate this ability only during your turn. (2/2) Main Challenge: Very much so. (2/2) Subchallenges: Non-black, ALL the card types.
Total: 21.5/25
Design - (3/3) Appeal: Deck building for Johnny. Lots of value for Spike. And with a three colored legendary you've hit home for the commander crowd. (3/3) Elegance: While being a big effect that requires some pointers this comes simply one line at a time and works just fine.
Development - (3/3) Viability: The colors are a great fit and naturally this needs to be at least a rare. The effect may be splashy enough for mythic, but it's a thin line. (3/3) Balance: The three color requirement makes for a good barrier to playing this card. Normally, getting to play cards from your graveyard is very strong, but again, there's quite the restriction here.
Cycling cards are not on the strong side most of the time and cycling, then still playing a card is just drawing an extra card for a reasonable amount of mana. So this should sit in a sweet spot.
Creativity - (3/3) Uniqueness: Certainly quite the unique space to venture into. Caring for cycling cards in another way than when they are getting cycled is innovative. (3/3) Flavor: With Viscera Dragger being a thing the combination of Grixis and Cycling feels natural. At first the name seems a bit goofy, but then it paints a very vivid picture in my mind, so that can't be wrong.
Polish - (3/3) Quality: Looks good. (2/2) Main Challenge: Check. (2/2) Subchallenges: Not-mono black. Lots of card types with cycling.
Total: 25/25
Design - (3/3) Appeal: Johnny would probably try to pair this with mill, while Spike just sacrifices that card in the end. Either way, it's excting for both I'd guess. (3/3) Elegance: Very simple and straightforward.
Development - (3/3) Viability: R/U is a great fit for an instant and sorcery related card. The potential powerlevel and narrow application, while being rather splashy justifies Mythic here. (3/3) Balance: The card is on the costy side and features a strong drawback. But the effect is potentially very powerful, so this could lead to fun games. Probably sits in a good spot.
Creativity - (1/3) Uniqueness: It's hard not to call this Past in Flames on a stick. It's nice being a creature and has a clever drawback, but the core concept isn't exactly new. (3/3) Flavor: The name is a bit goofy, but somehow the flavortext rightens the overall feeling of the card. It's a nice subtle fun.
Polish - (3/3) Quality: Looks good. (2/2) Main Challenge: Check. (2/2) Subchallenges: Not even black and far from affecting creatures.
Multiple instances of lifelink on the same creature are redundant.
Multiple instances of lifelink on the same creature are redundant.
Multiple instances of lifelink on the same creature are redundant.
—Eli Shiffrin, Rules Manager, on a design stacking lifelink instances
Design -
(2.5/3) Appeal: Only person this probably doesn't appeal to is Spike, as heavy multicolor cards generally need to be more higher impact for the cost.
(3/3) Elegance: Very easy to follow. No problems here!
Development -
(3/3) Viability: Black, blue, and red have all interacted with the graveyard, and returning cards from there is certainly something they can all do. Rare is correct for a "do-nothing" but high impact effect.
(3/3) Balance: 5 mana is probably correct for getting up to 6 cards worth of value. The Grixis colors makes this tough to cast, but the colors are required to make the entirety of the effect work on the card. Strong for EDH, and weak enough not to break Eternal formats or Standard.
Creativity -
(3/3) Uniqueness: Red gets the ability to cast cards from exile, but this is the firs time it has been done from the graveyard, and at random makes it a lot more interesting.
(3/3) Flavor: The combination of Nicol Bolas and Amonkhet flavor is great, and I could see this as a featured card, depending on the flavor of the a set.
Design -
(2.5/3) Appeal: A minor problem that Spike doesn't like that this costs triple Green mana, but the selection effect is VERY powerful.
(3/3) Elegance: Very easy to follow. No problems here!
Development -
(3/3) Viability: Due to the power level of this card once it hits the battlefield, Mythic Rare is appropriate. Flavor also makes this card appropriately Mythic.
(3/3) Balance: It would certainly be unbalanced if it weren't for its heavy cost, as this card allows you return your biggest bomb to hand in Limited, or grab a great card, depending on the situation, in a game of EDH.
Creativity -
(3/3) Uniqueness: While Eternal Witness lets you get back a card when she enters the battlefield, giving you both a creature and a card, this card changes the way your turns operate by providing you a choice: draw from deck or draw from your graveyard. Very unique.
(3/3) Flavor: As stated in my earlier comments, I really like the Temur flavor, and the Shamans were some of my most favorite green cards ever printed.
Design -
(3/3) Appeal: A very strong effect fro any archetype. However, Timmy doesn't usually like paying more to cast his cards, but he wouldn't mind replaying bombs from his graveyard for little additional cost.
(3/3) Elegance: Very easy to follow. No problems here!
Development -
(3/3) Viability: Blue and black both historically have cards that let you cast cards from your graveyard. Mythic is the only rarity this card could be; any lower and it would potentially cause problems in Limited.
(1/3) Balance: Biggest problem with this design is trying to balance the power of Yawgmoth's Will. While this does create a downside to casting all your spells, this card is probably still too powerful for Standard and EDH. This woudl also be an instant Cube hit, due to the power level.
Creativity -
(2/3) Uniqueness: This is a nice twist on the Yawmoth's Will style of effect, but it doesn't do much different other than being a permanent Will-type effect.
(3/3) Flavor: This style of card certainly fits Lazav's methods and could be an iconic card for the Dimir. The cardname makes this a complete flavor package.
Design -
(2/3) Appeal: Spike doesn't like giving your opponent extra cards, and Johnny probably doesn't like that his opponent gets the choice when to stop returning cards from the graveyard.
(3/3) Elegance: Very easy to follow. No problems here!
Development -
(3/3) Viability: Rare is certainly correct for this kind of effect, as the person who casts it would need to have extra mana left over to cast any cards returned using this card. Green gets card returning effects in its color pie.
(3/3) Balance: 4 mana is appropriately costed for an "equal opportunity" effect like this card (similar to Eureka). Your opponent getting to benefit first from this effect if you don't have extra mana is a balancing factor for this card only costing 4 mana. Any cheaper this card would be probably too strong for Limited and EDH, and costing any more would probably cause this card to be unplayable anywhere but in EDH.
Creativity -
(2/3) Uniqueness: Eureka meets Praetor's Counsel is an interesting new design space, but unlike StonerofKruphix's similar design, this feels a bit more lackluster.
(3/3) Flavor: I like the overall seasonal flavor. In my opinion a lot of green cards are missing that these days, so it's nice to see some fresh flavor. The name and flavor text are very simple, but elegant in their execution.
Design - (3/3) Appeal: Casting spells is always nice. (3/3) Elegance: Got it on the first read.
Development - (2/3) Viability: Adding black was a good call. Having an enchantment linger without an effect is weird. (3/3) Balance: Probably fine. Costy.
Creativity - (3/3) Uniqueness: Seems fresh. (2.5/3) Flavor: Still feels artifacty mechanicially. The flavor concept fits an enchantment well.
Polish - (2.5/3) Quality: Cards in graveyards aren't spells. (2/2) Main Challenge: Check. (2/2) Subchallenges: Check Check.
Total: 23/25
Design - (2.5/3) Appeal: Probably a Timmy or Johnny card. (2/3) Elegance: The gravestorm surprised me. Copy them X times might have been simpler.
Development - (2/3) Viability: Seems good. (2.5/3) Balance: Sounds dangerously powerful, but takes quite some hoops to jump through. Probably fine. Dangerously risky though.
Development - (3/3) Viability: Seems good. (2/3) Balance: Okay, 9 mana cast a spell for "free". Shoooould be fine. Should have been a cast trigger I feel.
Creativity - (2.5/3) Uniqueness: Distanced it well enough from other cards, but not terribly new. (3/3) Flavor: That's not knowledge! Those are dead bodies! Ewww. Cool.
Design - (3/3) Appeal: Loved by many. (3/3) Elegance: Simple and thematic.
Development - (2.5/3) Viability: To hand? Sure. Should probably be mythic in the new version. So splashy. (2.5/3) Balance: Each turn? Oof. But 6 mana. Hmm. Dangerous, probably fine.
Creativity - (2.5/3) Uniqueness: Goes for the same thing as Deadbridge Chant. Cool use of Delirium. (3/3) Flavor: Sweet.
Polish - (3/3) Quality: Benefit of the doubt. (2/2) Main Challenge: Check. (2/2) Subchallenges: Check Check.
Total: 23.5/25
IcariiFA and Tesco(black)lotus advance.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Multiple instances of lifelink on the same creature are redundant.
Multiple instances of lifelink on the same creature are redundant.
Multiple instances of lifelink on the same creature are redundant.
—Eli Shiffrin, Rules Manager, on a design stacking lifelink instances
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Appeal: Johnny likes this. Big for Timmy.
Elegance: Very unelegant to destroy cards just to bring them back immediately to get a blink effect.
Development -
Viability: Will confuse players because of nonsensical destroying at first glance. Might be dampened a bit by this being Mythic.
Balance: Symmetrical effect should be fine.
Creativity -
Uniqueness: Slightly reminiscient of Second Sunrise, but has a far broader application. This kind of blink is quite new.
Flavor: I feel like holding court and this global effect seems connected somehow, but I don't quite get it. How does a court bring back the dead?
Polish -
Quality: The cards getting returned need to be "artifact, creature, and enchantment cards".
Appeal: Big effect for Timmy. Nice build around for Johnny.
Elegance: Simple, straightforwards, intuitive. Nice.
Development -
Viability: Seems good. Not sure about Mythic. Seems not splashy enough, too dependent.
Balance: 7 mana is a whole lot for something that needs multiple specific cards in the graveyard. Compared to Fated Return it lacks instant speed and requires auras in the graveyard to make up for indestructible and even then Fated Return didn't see much play.
Creativity -
Uniqueness: Even if I mentioned Fated Return before, this card has its very own style. A bit like Retether, but unique enough to be fresh.
Flavor: Like the name. The flavortext is a bit awkward as a conversation piece. Not a big issue though.
Polish -
Quality: Evershrike makes me think you don't need the 'then'. Which feels wrong, but that's the way they did it. Also Evershrike doesn't require the enchant creature part.
Appeal: Very much a Johnny card. I think the application is too narrow for Timmy. Might contain enough value for Spike.
Elegance: This card returns all cards to your hand, but before that they make a brief visit to battlefield. That's just weird and awkward. If it's supposed to be a symmetric effect that returns permanents to the field and anything else that was milled/discarded to the hand that would be pretty sweet.
Development -
Viability: Might confuse players as is. Why put the cards onto the battlefield in between? is what they are going to wonder about and think they are missing some import piece of information. Not sure if this is splashy enough for Mythic, depends on how powerful it turns out.
Balance: 8 mana is quite the cost. It's not on the weak side at any rate. I think it's costy enough to not be abusable.
Creativity -
Uniqueness: Depending on what the card is supposed to do it might just be a Second Sunrise on an artifact.
Flavor: Not sure what Selfar is, but all of this sounds cool. I like it.
Polish -
Quality: were put..., to - not onto or into, !!!First you put all cards onto the battlefield, then return them to your hand. If this is intended the referencing of the cards the second time around needs to be different to make things clear.
Appeal: Sounds great for Spike and Johnny. Timmy doesn't mind too much either.
Elegance: As simple as it can be. Good enough.
Development -
Viability: I dislike a R/U card allowing to play creatures from the grave. Rare is a good fit.
Balance: On the strong side, but in the end, all it does is draw you extra cards for mana. Sort of. Should be fine.
Creativity -
Uniqueness: Interesting space for cycling matters. Certainly new.
Flavor: I get that you are trying to connect cycling with Amonkhet, but the other legendary viziers were top-down and this doesn't strike me as such. Also I don't think the society of Amonkhet has much use for memories, quite the opposite actually. Cycling, having not much flavor anyways, doesn't feel easily flavored as something dying during the trials, especially not when it goes on so many instants and sorceries.
Polish -
Quality: Looks good.
Appeal: Looks very Spike and Johnny to me. Maybe a bit on the costy side for Spike.
Elegance: I guess it's fine.
Development -
Viability: All good here.
Balance: Past in Flames + U and you get a body for it, but a drawback and and no flashback. I'd say this is fine.
Creativity -
Uniqueness: Well, Past in Flames is a thing. This is still considerably different as far as gameplay goes, but it's not terribly unique.
Flavor: Nostalgy enables this guy to do all this? Seems a bit goofy. Could use a bit of flavortext.
Polish -
Quality: The first line already allows to cast spells from the graveyard the way you worded it. That needs to go. Just restrict ccasting from hand.
Multiple instances of lifelink on the same creature are redundant.
Multiple instances of lifelink on the same creature are redundant.
—Eli Shiffrin, Rules Manager, on a design stacking lifelink instances
Appeal: Spike likes rebuying cards. Johnny wants to abuse this somehow.
Elegance: The wording is pretty clunky, but the effect is simple enough and easy to understand.
Development
Viability: Blue is a bad color for this effect. Blue can rebuy spells. Rebuying artifacts would be a big stretch but not out of reason. But rebuying creatures isn't something blue does.
Balance: This card is very powerful but very expensive mana-wise too. The fact that it's limited to three uses makes me think this card is perfectly fine if a little too commander-ish.
Creativity
Uniqueness: Cute homage to Ring of Three Wishes.
Flavor: Why is this ring an enchantment? They have typically been artifacts in the past.
Polish
Quality: You need to capitalize the R in Remove, and the correct order for the card types is "artifact, creature, instant or sorcery" (it's almost always alphabetical).
Challenges:
Appeal: This is too much of an investment for spike. Johnny might try to win the game with it.
Elegance: This card has too many moving parts and numbers to calculate. You could read it three times, understand what the text means, and still not get what the card does.
Development
Viability: Sultai is a good fit.
Balance: This card is a ridiculous investment. Paying six mana and sacrificing several creatures to get a few cards' value out of this is nowhere near a good deal. I wouldn't expect this card to see play in any format.
Creativity
Uniqueness: It's unique.
Flavor: The name is a bad fit for the mechanics. You have so many moving parts on this card, and the name isn't even closely related.
Polish
Quality: You need to combine the reminder texts for gravestorm and flashback. Also, for a mythic rare card such as this one (especially one as wordy as this one), you should skip the reminder text.
Challenges:
Appeal: Spike loves this. Johnny likes it too.
Elegance: This card isn't very elegant. Also, the rules nuances to this card are unintuitive and lead to awkward judge calls.
Development
Viability: Sultai is a good fit for this ability, as is mythic rare.
Balance: This card is a very dangerous commander. Being able to rebuy five cards is a big deal, as it being able to use cards from any graveyard.
Creativity
Uniqueness: It's a lot like Yawgmoth's Will.
Flavor: You don't need much flavor to tie the mechanics together, though some flavor text would be appreciated.
Polish
Quality: The correct wording is "exile X target cards from graveyards" (Angel of Serenity)
Challenges:
Appeal: Spike likes this. Timmy is somewhat interested, as is Johnny.
Elegance: It's clean. Side note: I'm not sure if your wording is the correct wording or not as there is no precedent that I can see, but it looks like it is? It's unfortunately you have to repeat the self-exile clause.
Development
Viability: Green works.
Balance: This is fine. Classic variant on "increase the mana cost of an existing card by 1 but give it an upside". It's probably worse than Seasons' Past under most circumstances, and thus is probably forgettable outside of commander.
Creativity
Uniqueness: The similarity to Restock is unmistakeable.
Flavor: The flavor text is good if a bit flat in my opinion. I'm under the impression that it's referencing something in the artwork which I obviously can't evalutate, but this doesn't feel like the strongest way to evoke a feeling.
Polish
Quality:
Challenges:
Ring of Second Chances 2UB
Enchantment (R)
Ring of Second Chances enters the battlefield with three charge counters.
UB, Remove a charge counter from Ring of Second Chances: You may cast target artifact, creature, instant, or sorcery spell from your graveyard. If that spell would enter the graveyard this turn, exile it instead.
"You can always make the same mistake twice." -Mednor, Djinn of Mahamoti
Note: The art for this card would depict a ring (the kind drawn on the ground for summoning spirits and such) being used to summon a Djinn.
Here's the brackets again (same as before):
Brackets (18 Players):
doomfish
TheRealStinkyJoeTerry
JimmyGroove
iphanx
Raptorchan
Flatline
bravelion83
Vertain
RaikouRider
netn10
void_nothing
Necarg
Folza
glurman
StonerOfKruphix
ShatterKim
Koopa
admirableadmiral
Theelkspeaks
Tesco(black)lotus
IcariiFA
Aetherblade
Multiple instances of lifelink on the same creature are redundant.
Multiple instances of lifelink on the same creature are redundant.
—Eli Shiffrin, Rules Manager, on a design stacking lifelink instances
Judgments complete, not final until deadline.
I will remind everyone that for once, given the nature of the round, short notes were allowed between first comments and actual judgments.
My first comments for reference.
Vertain
Feyomsi, Vizier of Ukud 3BG
Legendary Creature - Cat Demon (M)
When Feyomsi, Vizier of Ukud enters the battlefield, return up to two target land cards from your graveyard to your hand.
Nonland cards in your graveyard have retrace. (You may cast a card with retrace from your graveyard by discarding a land card in addition to paying its other costs.)
Sidisi's teacher rebuilt his entire necropolis from its own ashes.
5/4
Notes: Feyomsi was Sidisi's teacher, not Tasigur's, I got that mixed up.
Design
(3/3) Appeal - Timmy likes a relevant body on the battlefield that also allows him to recast his big creatures/spells from his graveyard. Johnny can certainly use both abilities in many different ways. Now that he can see himself actually casting this in an average game, Spike is interested too. The very high mana cost really turned him down before.
(3/3) Elegance - The rules text is very easy to understand and not too long. The shorter flavor text looks much better on the card. The wordiness has been reduced as much as possible, and now MSE shows me that the text box is full but doesn't look too crowded or have microtext. The abilities also make a lot of sense with each other and with the flavor text, and as a result the card feels very good as a whole.
Development
(3/3) Viability - Now I get to go deeper on why I had doubts on this card as Sultai colored. The first ability is purely green, and changing the number of land cards returned doesn't change that. The retrace granting ability certainly feels black as black is the color that interacts with the graveyard the most. It could have also felt blue (or maybe even red) as a twist on flashback, but it feels more black to me because you're using your graveyard as a resource, which outside of graveyard blocks is something black does more than any other color. Finally, this is not a card that mechanically requires three colors to work, even if it could have been the full Sultai colors because of flavor as I mentioned in my comments. I honestly prefer it this way though. No need to make the card narrower by adding a color if it's not needed. As for rarity, this is a card that I could see at both regular rare and mythic rare. I would have accepted both. Allowing you to recast any card out of your graveyard without restrictions might push it towards mythic indeed though.
(3/3) Balance - A 5/4 with additional upside for five mana looks powerful but not broken, certainly not out of range for a mythic though. This is definitely playable in limited, where it lets you recycle extra lands to get more spells out of your graveyard. You will never get flooded with this, in a sense it's kind of a mana sink even without having any mana symbol in its rules text. With the updated stats, I now expect this to see play in constructed, Standard for sure. If they allowed dredge decks in Modern, which they have said they don't want, this could be considered there too. Might the retrace granting ability be enough anyway? I don't know, but it's certainly a good doubt to have in this contest. I see no particular problems in casual or multiplayer.
Creativity
(2.5/3) Uniqueness - As I mentioned, the first ability looks like a variation on Crucible of Worlds. It's functionally different, but the purpose is the same: allowing you to replay lands in your graveyard. One lets them stay in the graveyard, the other returns them to your hand, but there is no real difference as you can only play one land each turn anyway (under ordinary circumstances), regardless of where you play it from. The retrace granting ability is new and Gatherer confirmed me that it has never been done before, not even once. It looks like it's one of those kind of obvious things that you're certain it has to already exist but it turns out it doesn't and you're amazed to learn it has never actually been done before.
(3/3) Flavor - Now we're talking. The name was already good before and in fact it stayed the same, but the flavor text now makes much more sense. Rebuilding a whole plane from scratch is something that only planeswalkers can hope to do (and after the Mending it would be almost impossible anyway), but rebuilding a single town looks much more plausible for a plane-bound single being, even a powerful one. I'm also glad it was meant to be Sidisi and not Tasigur. Now it really works. No problems with the creature types, Rakshasas are a thing on Tarkir and both the Sultai in the old timeline and the Silumgar clan in the new one have plenty of them.
Polish
(3/3) Quality - All good.
(2/2) Main Challenge - Good. "Up to two" certainly includes two.
(2/2) Subchallenges - Both met.
Total: 24.5/25
RaikouRider
Annals of Prehistory 4GG
Enchantment {M}
You may play permanent cards from your graveyard.
If a permanent card would be put into your graveyard from the battlefield, exile it instead.
The hall of the Hydra-God is covered with runes detailing Nayan myths as old as time itself.
Design
(2.5/3) Appeal - Timmy likes to be able to replay things out of the graveyard. Johnny can also use the ability to do that to good extent. Spike likes getting additional value from the graveyard, but the cost looks a bit high to him.
(3/3) Elegance - This is an exemplar card in this regard.
Development
(1/3) Viability - No changes have been made to this card, so I will repeat what I mentioned in my first comments: there are color pie problems with this card. "Permanent cards" means any card with one of the following types: lands (which green has no problem getting out of the graveyard), artifacts (maybe, even if green philosophically hates artifice and blue is the color that interacts with artifacts the most in a positive way), enchantments (which white would reanimate, not green), planeswalkers and creatures (both of which black gets to reanimate, or white if they have a low enough cmc or power, certainly not green). Allowing green to get all of these types out of the graveyard when it's only supposed to do so with lands is a problem. As is, this card needs to be gold, at least BG, probably Sultai or Abzan. See here for more. As for rarity, "your graveyard is a second hand" feels pretty mythic of an effect to me.
(2/3) Balance - The effect is very powerful, but at six mana it feel safe enough to me. Also, you still have to pay the costs for the permanent cards you play out of your graveyard, and that's a built-in safety valve. Finally, once you cast this you will get no additional cards into your graveyard in ordinary ways, though you can still mill yourself (which requires you to build your deck accordingly) or hope your opponent processes cards from exile into your graveyard (unlikely even in BFZ block and a corner case anyway). This means the timing of when you cast this is very important: you need to have enough things to reanimate already in your graveyard as you cast this. That's another balancing factor. I have listed so many of those in this paragraph that I'm quite confident this wouldn't break anything even though it looks like it could have the potential. This looks interesting as the top of the curve of an aggro deck, allowing you to get back all the creatures you traded in combat and giving you more gas, which such a deck often lacks in the mid-to-late game. I think you could play this in limited, but it's not certain. I think sometimes you will have to cut it. It could see some constructed play in deck built specifically around it, but the high mana cost limits its playability in competitive formats. I see nothing wrong in casual or multiplayer.
Creativity
(2/3) Uniqueness - Again, I repeat what I first said in my original comments: this feels original enough and definitely has its own identity, but the single pieces remind of several other existing cards, for example Crucible of Worlds, Rest in Peace, Samurai of the Pale Curtain, etc...
(3/3) Flavor - Both name and flavor text are very good and fit very well with the overall card concept.
Polish
(3/3) Quality - All good. I particularly appreciate the correct use of "play" vs. "cast" in the first ability (those cards can be lands) and of "put into your graveyard from the battlefield" vs. "die" in the second one (those cards can be noncreatures). Those are both things that I think a lot of people would get wrong.
(2/2) Main Challenge - Good enough. By turn six (or whenever you cast this) I expect you to have at least two permanent cards in your graveyard that the first ability makes available again.
(2/2) Subchallenges - Both met. "Permanent cards" include artifacts, enchantments, lands and planeswalkers in addition to creatures.
Total: 20.5/25
netn10
March of the Meek 2WW
Sorcery (Rare)
Return any number of target creature cards with base power and toughness 1/1 from your graveyard to the battlefield.
United they stand behind the Gate of the Afterlife, claiming the souls of those who failed to work together in the Trial of Solidarity.
Design
(2/3) Appeal - This is a pure Johnny card. Timmy would want to reanimate bigger creatures, not mere 1/1s. Spike shares Timmy's opinion but there can be some 1/1s with interesting (to him) abilities he can get behind. Spike could also be glad to reanimate a lot of 1/1s at the same time, but I still think he would find better things to do with those four mana.
(3/3) Elegance - I see no problems here.
Development
(3/3) Viability - White can certainly reanimate small creatures. Rarity looks fine.
(1/3) Balance - The mana cost looks high enough to me for the card to not be broken, and this is what I meant with "probably fine" in my original comments. On second thought, the restriction of having the creatures be exactly 1/1 is huge though, and they have to be actual cards, as tokens cease to exist as soon as they hit the graveyard. I can honestly think of no real limited decks where you would have enough 1/1s to make this card worth including it in your deck. The opportunity cost of playing this instead of any other card in the same mana slot looks very high to me. A similar reasoning could apply to constructed, even though you can build your deck with just 1/1s if you want, and that's a thing that looks much harder to do in limited. I see no specific problems in casual or multiplayer, even if, again, the same reasoning applies there too.
Creativity
(3/3) Uniqueness - I can't remember anything existing working like this.
(0/3) Flavor - This card saw no changes after my first comments, so I have to confirm all my doubts from there. I invited you to reconsider the flavor because it's not coherent with what we know about Amonkhet from the story, but you didn't, so I can just copy and paste: All of this is still valid.
Polish
(3/3) Quality - All good. "Gate of the Afterlife" is fine from a grammar standpoint, even if it's not correct from a flavor point of view.
(2/2) Main Challenge - Good enough. "Any number" can certainly be two or greater.
(1/2) Subchallenges - Subchallenge 1 met. Subchallenge 2 not met, because there is no way for any for the returned cards to not be a creature.
Total: 18/25
void_nothing
Light Over Meletis 3WU
Enchantment (R)
When Light Over Meletis enters the battlefield, return up to one target enchantment card and up to one target instant or sorcery card from your graveyard to your hand.
Heroic - Creatures you control have "Whenever you cast a spell that targets this creature, put a +1/+1 counter on this creature."
During the Conference at Meletis, beings as different as the Pheres Band and the hoplites of Akros agreed to battle Nyx itself.
Designer's notes:
Design
(2.5/3) Appeal - Not that much for Timmy here, he likes +1/+1 counters but that's about it. Johnny can use all the features of this card in many different ways, and he really likes how open-ended this card is. Spike likes the card advantage he can get out of this and the high synergy between the two abilities.
(1.5/3) Elegance - You're right that what I brought up in my comments is just a corner case, and in fact it only costs you half a point here, as I always intended for it to be. Maybe the way I wrote my comments made this sound more important than it actually was. It's still a potential point of confusion, even if admittedly not a big one. The wordiness remains, the card is still ten lines in the M15 frame in MSE, and even if we're still technically within the limits, we're really borderline though. The aesthetics of the resulting text box aren't great. At least the text is quite easy to understand despite its length.
Development
(3/3) Viability - Returning enchantment cards from graveyard to hand is undoubtedly white, as much as returning instants and sorceries is blue. Putting +1/+1 counters is also something white can do, so no problems with the color pie. Rarity looks also right.
(2.5/3) Balance - Returning two cards from your graveyard to your hand and potentially even more if you have means to blink this is nothing to laugh at, but at five mana in two colors looks fine to me. As I mentioned in my first comments, I really like the synergy between the two abilities: the two cards you return are an instant or sorcery, and those often target, and an enchantment, which can be an Aura and Auras target while on the stack. This means that they both trigger heroic for the second ability, and after you've recast those cards they go again to the graveyard ready to be returned again. Essentially the two abilities feed each other, and I really like that. This looks playable in limited, even though you probably wouldn't switch colors or splash just because you open this. I wouldn't be surprised to see this getting a little Standard play in specific decks, even though I would be surprised to see it in bigger formats. I see no particular problems in casual or multiplayer.
Creativity
(2/3) Uniqueness - Mechanically there is nothing new on this card, but the whole package still manages to feel like its own thing.
(3/3) Flavor - My "looks fine" in the original comments is actually an understatement. The flavor here is not just fine, it's great! I can easily see both the name and the flavor text getting printed right away as is. The rubric mentions whether the writing feels "professional", and to me the flavor text especially really does. Giving you maximum points in this area is the least I can do.
Polish
(3/3) Quality - All good. Now the template is correct.
(2/2) Main Challenge - Good. The "up to" pushes the limits of the challenge, as it allows the ability to return only one card or even no cards at all, but realistically you'll always return both cards if you can.
(2/2) Subchallenges - Both met.
Total: 21.5/25
Necarg
Dissipating Memories XUR
Sorcery (R)
Exile X target cards from your graveyard. Until the beginning of your end step, you may play those cards. (You still pay their costs.)
At the beginning of your end step, shuffle your hand and graveyard into your library, then draw X cards.
Exile Dissipating Memories.
At last, Ludevic remembered the details of his creation, but only for a moment.
Design
(2/3) Appeal - Not much for Timmy here, maybe he can appreciate the big effect of the second ability but that's about it. Spike likes the potential for card advantage, but there are better ways to get that, and also the skill required to choose the right value for X (see Balance). I expect Johnny to love this card, it looks tailor made for him.
(1/3) Elegance - As I said, this card is very wordy (nine lines in MSE). I repeat that the abilities feel disconnected, with only flavor tying them together. In addition to what I wrote in the comments, now I also see potential memory issues, because when the trigger goes off at the end step you will have to remember the value of X from when you cast it before. It's not outrageous, but all these little points together produce a result that's unelegant, even though it might look fine at first glance.
Development
(2/3) Viability - Again, I have to repeat what I said in my original comments: this card doesn't feel very blue, even though it probably needs to be just because of the card advantage it can produce that red is not supposed to get. Rarity looks right.
(2/3) Balance - I just touched upon an interesting interaction in my comments, and I wondered whether it was intentional. Now I can go deeper and explain it thoroughly. If you look at the first ability (the impulsive draw), you can see that if X is high you "draw" a lot of cards but you also need to spend a lot of mana, so you will have only a few mana to actually cast the cards you exiled while you're allowed to, and it may not be enough to cast all of them. At the contrary, if you want to keep enough mana to cast them, you need to have a lower value of X, that means fewer "drawn" cards. So you have a tension between getting more cards and keeping mana open to cast them. That tension looks very interesting in gameplay, but also potentially frustating. In real Magic, a way to mitigate it has been to allow you "until the end of your next turn" to cast the cards, so that you at least have an untap step before the exiled cards' "expiration date". I think this would have a good thing to do here too, and my comment was meant to lead you to that, but unfortunately no changes have come. And all this ignoring the second ability (the one-sided Timetwister effect), which can get you even more cards you'll need the mana for. Finally, thank goodness for the exile clause. This kind of cards just need it, you really don't want them getting cast over and over again. This looks a good late-game play in limited, but I honestly can't see it in constructed. I see no particular problems in casual or multiplayer.
Creativity
(2/3) Uniqueness - I can't remember any similar existing card, even though the single mechanics are nothing new if you take each element by itself.
(3/3) Flavor - The name is fine. As already mentioned, I feel like the flavor text is the main, if not only, thing keeping the card together. For starters, using Ludevic (which we know is conveniently blue-red as a character by the way) looks like a good idea. Then, "remembered the details" = card advantage (mainly from the second ability) and "but only for a moment" = you have to use the exiled cards right now (impulsive draw). It's not the most breathtaking flavor I've ever seen, but it works well enough. The card wouldn't feel a single entity without it.
Polish
(2.5/3) Quality - Here I feel like I have to apologize. I said it looked fine, but only while relooking at the card to write these judgments I catched a mistake: this is not an enchantment that stays on the battlefield but a one-shot sorcery, so it needs to say "At the beginning of your next end step" and the word "next" is missing here (-0.5). I'm sorry, but it escaped me at first.
(2/2) Main Challenge - Good. X can certainly be two or greater.
(2/2) Subchallenges - Both met. The exiled cards don't have to be creatures.
Total: 18.5/25
I guess top 2 from each bracket advance, as usual in round 2. So...
Vertain: 24.5
void_nothing: 21.5
RaikouRider: 20.5
Necarg: 18.5
netn10: 18
MCC - Winner (6): Oct 2014, Apr Nov 2017, Jan 2018, Apr Jun 2019 || Host (15): Dec 2014, Apr Jul Aug Dec 2015, Mar Jul Aug Oct 2016, Feb Jul 2017, Jun Nov 2018, Feb Jul 2019 (last one here) || Judge (34): every month from Nov 2014 to Nov 2016 except Oct 2015, every month from Feb to Jul 2017 except Apr 2017, then Oct 2017, May Jun Nov 2018, Feb Jul 2019 (last one here)
CCL - Winner (3): Jul 2016 (tied with Flatline), May 2017, Jul 2019 (last one here) || Host (5): Feb 2015, Mar Apr May Jun 2016
DCC - Winner (1): Mar 2015 (tied with Piar) || Host (3): May Oct 2015, Jan 2016
• The two public custom sets I've been part a part of the design team for:
"Brotherhood of Ormos" - Blog post with all info - set thread - design skeleton / card list || "Extinctia: Homo Evanuit" - Blog post with all info - set thread - card list spreadsheet
• "The Lion's Lair", my article series about MTG and custom card design in particular. Latest article here. Here is the article index. Rather outdated by now, and based on the old MCC rubric, but I'm leaving this here for anybody that might be interested anyway.
• My only public attempt at being a writer: the story of my Leonin custom planeswalker Jeff Lionheart. (I have a very big one that I'm working on right now but that's private for now, and I don't know if I will ever actually publish it, and I also have ideas for multiple future ones, including one where I'm going to reprise Jeff.)
So this is a tough challenge. I guess I have to start off clarifying that this doesn't only return cards that it destroys, it returns all cards. Obviously I'll need to fix the wording issue, but most of what I can take from the comments is that it needs a flavor makeover. My thought originally was the Court of Conscience is really analogy for you only having yourself to answer to, but in retrospect I guess it's not the best name for this card.
So let's go down the list:
-Appeal) Seems to be positive only here
-Elegance) As I discussed earlier, the point is more than just a blink effect, this is a global event here, cards already in graveyards will be returned as well, so I feel like they way I did it is actually more elegant than blinking and returning.
-Viability) I think it is a mythic and the mechanic should allow for some very creative play.
-Balance) Seems to be positive only here, but since I get the feeling that the original intent of this card was not understood by the grader, I would like to make one change in this area. I've been concerned that it's too cheap at 5 CMC and since this kind of effect actually gets bigger the further into the game you get, I think I'm upping the CMC. It also seems more symmetrical that way too.
-Uniqueness) Seems to be positive only here.
-Flavor) I think this is where most of the criticism for this card is rooted. I've updated the tame to represent an apocalyptic grand battle. I originally thought Ragnarok would be the perfect name, but it is too mythologically specific. Twilight of the Gods is an alternate name for Ragnarok. With that I'll also update the flavor text.
-Quality) Fair comments. I've adjusted the text.
Twilight of the Gods 2WWBB
Sorcery [Myhtic]
Destroy all artifacts, creatures, and enchantments. Then each player returns all artifact, creature, and enchantment cards from his or her graveyard to the battlefield.
There will come a night, when the past will meet the present, and our fates will be sung for all to hear.
BGStandard Green AggroGB
UWRGModern Saheeli CobraGRWU
UBRGLegacy StormGRBU
Wizards Certified Rules Advisor
(The discussion thread would be a better place for questions like this.)
Judgement:
(3/3) Appeal: Very interesting build around for Johnny. Big effect for Timmy.
(1.5/3) Elegance: So, one of the criteria here is "Is the card easily understandable at a glance?" and destroying cards before immediately bringing them back sounds like a very nonsensical thing to do.
This is further enhanced by the fact that it brings back ALL cards from the graveyard. Most players will see that as the main purpose of the card and wonder why it destroys cards before bringing them back anyways.
They will feel like they are missing something, which they do, but a good lenticular design is one where players who don't fully understand a card don't notice they don't.
In my opinion this is more part of Viability, as it's not viable to make confusing cards, but I didn't make the rubric and this seems to be the place for that.
Development -
(3/3) Viability: The colors are on point and when you want to be clever about a card mechanic, Mythic is the place for that.
(3/3) Balance: Heavily costed symmetrical effect sounds weak, but with the right preparations can be very strong for the caster only and could make this see enough play. Should work as intended.
Creativity -
(3/3) Uniqueness: Affects a range of card types that is seldom used and the blink effect is certainly unique.
(3/3) Flavor: I could see this in a nordic mythology inspired block. The name is cool, while apparenlty being a bit insiderish. The flavortext sets a great atmosphere.
Polish -
(3/3) Quality: Looks good.
(2/2) Main Challenge: Makes plenty of cards avaiable.
(2/2) Subchallenges: Can hit non-creatures and isn't mono-black.
Total: 23.5/25
(3/3) Appeal: Timmy is excited for the big effect. Johnny likes to build around this.
(3/3) Elegance: Very simple and straightforward. Works just as you'd expect it.
Development -
(2/3) Viability: White is a great fit. The effect with its simplicity and dependency doesn't strike me as Mythic. This could be very well done at Rare.
(2/3) Balance: 7 mana is a whole lot for something that needs multiple specific cards in the graveyard. Compared to Fated Return it lacks instant speed and requires auras in the graveyard to make up for indestructible and even then Fated Return didn't see much play.
Creativity -
(3/3) Uniqueness: Even if I mentioned Fated Return before, this card has its very own style. A bit like Retether, but unique enough to be fresh.
(2.5/3) Flavor: The name is a great fit. The flavortext is a bit awkward as a conversation. It's a tad too much.
Polish -
(3/3) Quality: There's no perfect template for this yet and there seems to be many ways to do this, so why shouldn't this be one of them?
(2/2) Main Challenge: Check.
(2/2) Subchallenges: Color check. Good example for different card type resurrection.
Total: 22.5/25
(2.5/3) Appeal: This card very much aims for a combo turn. That's a very Johnny thing. However, a combo turn where you get everything back is also interesting for Spike.
(2.5/3) Elegance: It's a bit of a logic puzzle. But there's this cool symmetry to it. So there is that confusing side to it, but once you understood it, it's a very beatuiful card indeed.
Development -
(2.5/3) Viability: This kind of grand effect seems to be quite suited for Mythic. I'm not sure about an artifact bringing any card type back from the graveyard, but at least it's tied to a heavy condition.
(3/3) Balance: The effect is very worrying. Getting an entire turn worth of cards back like that is strong. But 4 mana is a high cost to set up and as well to spend at the end of the turn, after playing lots of cards. So maybe this is enough of a restriction.
Creativity -
(2.5/3) Uniqueness: So, this is close to Second Sunrise for the first half of the card, but adds a cool component with the second half that hasn't been done like that. Especially since it's affected by milling and the likes.
(3/3) Flavor: So, whatever Selfar is, the name and flavortext seem pretty resonant.
Polish -
(1.5/3) Quality: This is the correct wording for your card:
Return to the battlefield all cards in your graveyard that were put there from the battlefield this turn. Then return to your hand all remaining cards in your graveyard that were put there this turn. Activate this ability only during your turn.
(2/2) Main Challenge: Very much so.
(2/2) Subchallenges: Non-black, ALL the card types.
Total: 21.5/25
(3/3) Appeal: Deck building for Johnny. Lots of value for Spike. And with a three colored legendary you've hit home for the commander crowd.
(3/3) Elegance: While being a big effect that requires some pointers this comes simply one line at a time and works just fine.
Development -
(3/3) Viability: The colors are a great fit and naturally this needs to be at least a rare. The effect may be splashy enough for mythic, but it's a thin line.
(3/3) Balance: The three color requirement makes for a good barrier to playing this card. Normally, getting to play cards from your graveyard is very strong, but again, there's quite the restriction here.
Cycling cards are not on the strong side most of the time and cycling, then still playing a card is just drawing an extra card for a reasonable amount of mana. So this should sit in a sweet spot.
Creativity -
(3/3) Uniqueness: Certainly quite the unique space to venture into. Caring for cycling cards in another way than when they are getting cycled is innovative.
(3/3) Flavor: With Viscera Dragger being a thing the combination of Grixis and Cycling feels natural. At first the name seems a bit goofy, but then it paints a very vivid picture in my mind, so that can't be wrong.
Polish -
(3/3) Quality: Looks good.
(2/2) Main Challenge: Check.
(2/2) Subchallenges: Not-mono black. Lots of card types with cycling.
Total: 25/25
(3/3) Appeal: Johnny would probably try to pair this with mill, while Spike just sacrifices that card in the end. Either way, it's excting for both I'd guess.
(3/3) Elegance: Very simple and straightforward.
Development -
(3/3) Viability: R/U is a great fit for an instant and sorcery related card. The potential powerlevel and narrow application, while being rather splashy justifies Mythic here.
(3/3) Balance: The card is on the costy side and features a strong drawback. But the effect is potentially very powerful, so this could lead to fun games. Probably sits in a good spot.
Creativity -
(1/3) Uniqueness: It's hard not to call this Past in Flames on a stick. It's nice being a creature and has a clever drawback, but the core concept isn't exactly new.
(3/3) Flavor: The name is a bit goofy, but somehow the flavortext rightens the overall feeling of the card. It's a nice subtle fun.
Polish -
(3/3) Quality: Looks good.
(2/2) Main Challenge: Check.
(2/2) Subchallenges: Not even black and far from affecting creatures.
Total: 23.5/25
Jimmy Groove 22.5
iphanx 21.5
Raptorchan 25
Flatline 23
Multiple instances of lifelink on the same creature are redundant.
Multiple instances of lifelink on the same creature are redundant.
—Eli Shiffrin, Rules Manager, on a design stacking lifelink instances
JUDGMENTS COMPLETE
Design -
(2.5/3) Appeal: Only person this probably doesn't appeal to is Spike, as heavy multicolor cards generally need to be more higher impact for the cost.
(3/3) Elegance: Very easy to follow. No problems here!
Development -
(3/3) Viability: Black, blue, and red have all interacted with the graveyard, and returning cards from there is certainly something they can all do. Rare is correct for a "do-nothing" but high impact effect.
(3/3) Balance: 5 mana is probably correct for getting up to 6 cards worth of value. The Grixis colors makes this tough to cast, but the colors are required to make the entirety of the effect work on the card. Strong for EDH, and weak enough not to break Eternal formats or Standard.
Creativity -
(3/3) Uniqueness: Red gets the ability to cast cards from exile, but this is the firs time it has been done from the graveyard, and at random makes it a lot more interesting.
(3/3) Flavor: The combination of Nicol Bolas and Amonkhet flavor is great, and I could see this as a featured card, depending on the flavor of the a set.
Polish -
(3/3) Quality: Good.
(2/2) Main Challenge: Good.
(2/2) Subchallenges: Good.
Total: 24.5/25
Design -
(2.5/3) Appeal: A minor problem that Spike doesn't like that this costs triple Green mana, but the selection effect is VERY powerful.
(3/3) Elegance: Very easy to follow. No problems here!
Development -
(3/3) Viability: Due to the power level of this card once it hits the battlefield, Mythic Rare is appropriate. Flavor also makes this card appropriately Mythic.
(3/3) Balance: It would certainly be unbalanced if it weren't for its heavy cost, as this card allows you return your biggest bomb to hand in Limited, or grab a great card, depending on the situation, in a game of EDH.
Creativity -
(3/3) Uniqueness: While Eternal Witness lets you get back a card when she enters the battlefield, giving you both a creature and a card, this card changes the way your turns operate by providing you a choice: draw from deck or draw from your graveyard. Very unique.
(3/3) Flavor: As stated in my earlier comments, I really like the Temur flavor, and the Shamans were some of my most favorite green cards ever printed.
Polish -
(3/3) Quality: Good.
(2/2) Main Challenge: Good.
(2/2) Subchallenges: Good.
Total: 24.5/25
Design -
(3/3) Appeal: A very strong effect fro any archetype. However, Timmy doesn't usually like paying more to cast his cards, but he wouldn't mind replaying bombs from his graveyard for little additional cost.
(3/3) Elegance: Very easy to follow. No problems here!
Development -
(3/3) Viability: Blue and black both historically have cards that let you cast cards from your graveyard. Mythic is the only rarity this card could be; any lower and it would potentially cause problems in Limited.
(1/3) Balance: Biggest problem with this design is trying to balance the power of Yawgmoth's Will. While this does create a downside to casting all your spells, this card is probably still too powerful for Standard and EDH. This woudl also be an instant Cube hit, due to the power level.
Creativity -
(2/3) Uniqueness: This is a nice twist on the Yawmoth's Will style of effect, but it doesn't do much different other than being a permanent Will-type effect.
(3/3) Flavor: This style of card certainly fits Lazav's methods and could be an iconic card for the Dimir. The cardname makes this a complete flavor package.
Polish -
(3/3) Quality: Good.
(2/2) Main Challenge: Good.
(2/2) Subchallenges: Good.
Total: 22/25
Design -
(2/3) Appeal: Spike doesn't like giving your opponent extra cards, and Johnny probably doesn't like that his opponent gets the choice when to stop returning cards from the graveyard.
(3/3) Elegance: Very easy to follow. No problems here!
Development -
(3/3) Viability: Rare is certainly correct for this kind of effect, as the person who casts it would need to have extra mana left over to cast any cards returned using this card. Green gets card returning effects in its color pie.
(3/3) Balance: 4 mana is appropriately costed for an "equal opportunity" effect like this card (similar to Eureka). Your opponent getting to benefit first from this effect if you don't have extra mana is a balancing factor for this card only costing 4 mana. Any cheaper this card would be probably too strong for Limited and EDH, and costing any more would probably cause this card to be unplayable anywhere but in EDH.
Creativity -
(2/3) Uniqueness: Eureka meets Praetor's Counsel is an interesting new design space, but unlike StonerofKruphix's similar design, this feels a bit more lackluster.
(3/3) Flavor: I like the overall seasonal flavor. In my opinion a lot of green cards are missing that these days, so it's nice to see some fresh flavor. The name and flavor text are very simple, but elegant in their execution.
Polish -
(3/3) Quality: Good.
(2/2) Main Challenge: Good.
(2/2) Subchallenges: Good.
Total: 24/25
glurman 24.5/25
StonerOfKruphix 24.5/25
ShatterKim 22/25
Koopa 24/25
(3/3) Appeal: Casting spells is always nice.
(3/3) Elegance: Got it on the first read.
Development -
(2/3) Viability: Adding black was a good call. Having an enchantment linger without an effect is weird.
(3/3) Balance: Probably fine. Costy.
Creativity -
(3/3) Uniqueness: Seems fresh.
(2.5/3) Flavor: Still feels artifacty mechanicially. The flavor concept fits an enchantment well.
Polish -
(2.5/3) Quality: Cards in graveyards aren't spells.
(2/2) Main Challenge: Check.
(2/2) Subchallenges: Check Check.
Total: 23/25
(2.5/3) Appeal: Probably a Timmy or Johnny card.
(2/3) Elegance: The gravestorm surprised me. Copy them X times might have been simpler.
Development -
(2/3) Viability: Seems good.
(2.5/3) Balance: Sounds dangerously powerful, but takes quite some hoops to jump through. Probably fine. Dangerously risky though.
Creativity -
(3/3) Uniqueness: Neat.
(3/3) Flavor: Sounds resonant.
Polish -
(2/3) Quality: Probably too much text.
(2/2) Main Challenge: Check.
(2/2) Subchallenges: Check Check.
Total: 21/25
(3/3) Appeal: Many takers.
(3/3) Elegance: Simple, yet fulfilling.
Development -
(3/3) Viability: Seems good.
(2/3) Balance: Okay, 9 mana cast a spell for "free". Shoooould be fine. Should have been a cast trigger I feel.
Creativity -
(2.5/3) Uniqueness: Distanced it well enough from other cards, but not terribly new.
(3/3) Flavor: That's not knowledge! Those are dead bodies! Ewww. Cool.
Polish -
(3/3) Quality: Looks good.
(2/2) Main Challenge: Check.
(2/2) Subchallenges: Check Check.
Total: 23.5/25
(3/3) Appeal: Loved by many.
(3/3) Elegance: Simple and thematic.
Development -
(2.5/3) Viability: To hand? Sure. Should probably be mythic in the new version. So splashy.
(2.5/3) Balance: Each turn? Oof. But 6 mana. Hmm. Dangerous, probably fine.
Creativity -
(2.5/3) Uniqueness: Goes for the same thing as Deadbridge Chant. Cool use of Delirium.
(3/3) Flavor: Sweet.
Polish -
(3/3) Quality: Benefit of the doubt.
(2/2) Main Challenge: Check.
(2/2) Subchallenges: Check Check.
Total: 23.5/25
Multiple instances of lifelink on the same creature are redundant.
Multiple instances of lifelink on the same creature are redundant.
—Eli Shiffrin, Rules Manager, on a design stacking lifelink instances