Aspiration of the Worthy3GG
Creature - Avatar (M)
Aspiration of the Worthy's power and toughness are each equal to the number of creatures you control plus the number of creature cards in your graveyard.
Embalm - GG, Sacrifice two creatures (GG, Sacrifice two creatures, Exile this card from your graveyard: Create a token that's a copy of it, except it's a white Zombie Avatar with no mana cost. Embalm only as a sorcery.) No one knows what their place in the afterlife will look like, and all imagine it differently.
*/*
Serpents of Bloodsand2BR
Creature - Serpent [U]
First Strike, Haste
Whenever Serpents of Bloodsand deals combat damage, you may sacrifice it. If you do, destroy all creatures blocking or blocked by it.
Embalm 2W (2W, Exile this card from your graveyard: Create a token that's a copy of it, except it's a white Zombie Serpent with no mana cost. Embalm only as a sorcery.) Across the sea of sand, only blood will water the thirsty mouths of the gods.
2/1
Furybound Minotaur 2R
Creature - Minotaur Warrior (U)
When Furybound Minotaur enters the battlefield, if it's not a token, you may sacrifice it. If you do, it deals 3 damage to target creature or player.
Embalm 1R Even in death, his rage lingers.
3/1
Hazoret's Faithful2RR
Creature — Minotaur Cleric (M)
First strike, haste, trample
At the beginning of your end step, sacrifice Hazoret's Faithful. W: Exile Hazoret's Faithful, then return it to the battlefield under its owner's control.
Embalm RRR
3/1
I think I'm missing someone, so, lmk who you are if you're missing.
Also, in lieu of late organization here, I'm gonna extend the judging deadline to June 14th at 23:59 PDT
My thoughts are with the friends and family of the Orlando Shooting victims and with the rest of the LGBTQA+ community.
Check out my Newborder Peasant Cube here! http://www.cubetutor.com/draft/37467
Necarg, please don't acknowledge this in any way whatsoever.
True Name Mafia (Win),Clan Contest IX Mafia (Win), Bravely Default Mafia (Loss), BOTAS (loss), BfV (Loss), Ace Attourney (loss)
Rules Advisor before they were eradicated
Amonkhet Challenge (Judge's note: fixed it for you, it was spelled as "Amnokhet" with the N and O swapped)
Apostle of Plagues1BB
Creature - Human Cleric [Uncommon]
Creature tokens get -1/-1.
Whenever Apostle of Plagues or another cleric enters the battlefield, remove a counter of any type from target permanent.
Embalm BB
2/3
Design (2/3) Appeal - Timmy likes how this affects the boards, even though he doesn't like that this affects his own tokens too. Johnny can definitely do something with both abilities. Spike sees this as a sideboard card against tokens. (3/3) Elegance - No problems here.
Development (3/3) Viability - Everything is in color and rarity looks acceptable. Knowing them, it might be rare if it were to be printed for real, but uncommon looks fine too. (2/3) Balance - The trigger does NOT say "under your control", so it triggers from your opponents' Clerics too. Also, removing the counter is mandatory and that might force you to remove counters you don't actually want to remove, such as -1/-1 from opposing creatures or +1/+1 counters from your creatures if they are the only counters on the battlefield. In a vacuum, both could serve as drawbacks to balance a card that's above the curve, but here I really don't think that's needed. This is not so above the curve that it needs drawbacks, at the contrary, I'd argue that's not above the curve at all for today's creature standards. I totally think that this should say "[u]you may[/u] remove a counter". The fact that the first ability affects the Apostle itself too when it's embalmed is very interesting as that's what actually allows the embalm cost to be lower than the mana cost. Another very relevant fact is that this can remove loyalty counters from opposing planeswalkers. Overall, I'd say this is certainly limited playable, but in constructed I see this at best as a sideboard options against token decks. It looks quite good at that actually. Except for the fact that it can force you to remove counters you don't want to remove, which doesn't look that fun, I see no other problems in casual or multiplayer.
Creativity (2/3) Uniqueness - The first ability is just Illness in the Ranks and both Cleric tribal and removing counters are nothing new. The interaction between that first ability and embalm is very neat though and it does give this card its own identity. (2/3) Flavor - The name is very good and fits very well with the mechanics. I want to prize how well it fits. No flavor text to be judged, even though MSE shows me several lines would fit without any problem.
Polish (1/3) Quality - In the triggered ability, the word "cleric" is a creature type, so it should be capitalized (-0.5). When a counter can be "of any type" just saying "a counter" is enough (examples: Ferropede, Medicine Runner, Spinal Parasite), so this should be "remove a counter from target permanent" (-0.5). On an uncommon, reminder text for a block keyword is mandatory (very well known fact, so -1). As an aside, I think I'll have to get used to saying "set keyword" or "non-evergreen keyword" instead now that blocks are no more... (2/2) Main Challenge - Good. (2/2) Subchallenges - Both met.
Total: 19/25
Commander!
Augur of Lost TimeB
Creature - Skeleton Wizard (R) Join forces — When Augur of Lost Time enters the battlefield, each player starting with you may pay any amount of mana. Look at the top X cards from your library, where X is the total amount of mana paid this way. Put one of them into your hand and the rest into your graveyard. B, Exile a card from your graveyard: Regenerate Augur of Lost Time.
1/2
Design (2/3) Appeal - I don't think Timmy cares. Both Johnny and Spike like to dig into their library for different reasons. Spike also likes the regeneration. (2.5/3) Elegance - Wordy but still very easily understandable.
Development (2.5/3) Viability - Regenerate is no longer supported even if it still works just fine in the rules. We won't see any new cards with it though. No problems with the color pie or rarity. (2/3) Balance - Join forces is kind of self-balancing, because it scales with the mana payment. The mana cost-to-P/T ratio is good. I don't know how much sense it makes to judge a card clearly meant for a casual constructed format (Commander) in limited and competitive constructed. Commander sets are not Standard legal and they are also not meant for limited play, you couldn't play sealed or draft with them even if you wanted to because they're not in boosters. Anyway, I'd say this would be probably playable in limited but certainly not in regular constructed. In Commander and multiplayer in general, the political aspect of this card looks very important.
Creativity (0.5/3) Uniqueness - The join forces effect is technically new, but nothing on this card feels particularly original. We've already seen all the different parts a lot of times. (2/3) Flavor - The name is good. The idea of "lost time" fits well enough with the mechanics putting cards from the top of your library into your graveyard. The time you would have spent casting those cards is literally lost now that they're in the graveyard. No flavor text to be judged, even though it really doesn't fit on the card according to MSE, so that's not as big of a problem as it could be in a vacuum.
Polish (2.5/3) Quality - It should be "look at the top X cards [u]of[/u] your library...", not "from" (-0.5). Mana-Charged Dragon says join forces can be a trigger, so that's fine. I just felt like I should mention that here. (2/2) Main Challenge - Good. (2/2) Subchallenges - Both met.
Total: 18/25
Anubia, Keeper of the Worthy3W
Legendary Creature - Human Priest (M)
Lifelink, vigilance
Other creatures in your graveyard have Embalm 3W (3W, Exile this card from your graveyard: Create a token that's a copy of it, except it's a white Zombie with no mana cost. Embalm only as a sorcery.)
Embalm 3W(It's a white Zombie Priest with no mana cost.) Only the God-Pharaoh's chosen shall have my blessing.
3/3
Judge's note: obviously you're going for the Amonkhet challenge, even though you didn't write it out explicitly as required.
Design (3/3) Appeal - I think everyone can like this card. Timmy likes a significant creature with significant abilities. Johnny can certainly use a card that gives embalm to all his creatures in some way. Spike likes the card advantage inherent to the embalm mechanic. (3/3) Elegance - I see no particular problems in this area.
Development (3/3) Viability - If this is not a mythic, I don't know what could be. Everything is in color. If I had to choose a color that gives emblam to every creature I'd probably choose white too. (2.5/3) Balance - One thing catches my attention here: the granted embalm cost is fixed. Any creature in your graveyard, regardless of how big or small it is and regardless of its abilities, will have an embalm cost of 3W, which is already low for creatures that natively have embalm, you can easily see this if you take a look at all the embalm creatures in the Amonkhet set (we'll have to get used to only talk about set and not blocks now that blocks are no more...). I think the granted embalm cost being a function of the creature card's mana cost would have been more balanced in my opinion, certainly less risky at least. Anyway, this is a limited bomb and it looks Standard playable too to me. I see no particular problems in casual or multiplayer.
Creativity (3/3) Uniqueness - Granting embalm to all creatures in your graveyard might be an easy place to go, but it's still new and feels very original. I expect this to be remembered as "that card that gave all your dead creatures embalm". This card has definitely its own identity both mechanically and flavorfully. (3/3) Flavor - A clear reference to Anubis. This is to Anubis what Hapatra is to Cleopatra or Temmet is to King Tut. The name is good, as is the flavor text, which is short enough to fit on the card with no problems according to MSE. I'm not sure that the Worthy have a keeper in the real Amonkhet though. I guess we'll learn what exactly happens to them soon enough.
Polish (0/3) Quality - In keyword lists, vigilance comes before lifelink (examples: Aerial Responder, Dawnstrike Paladin, Felidar Sovereign and many more, -0.5). In the embalm-granting ability, the keyword should not be capitalized (it should be "...have embalm 3W", -0.5). In the first reminder text, if you refer to "this card" it's Anubia itself, while you should be referring to the creature card in your graveyard that gains embalm. It should say "3W, Exile [u]that (creature) card[/u] from your graveyard..." (the word "creature" may or may not be included, -0.5). No need for the second reminder text, you've already said in the first reminder text that when you embalm a creature it becomes a white Zombie with no mana cost, so it's clear that applies to Anubia too. While it's debatable, I really think that second reminder text would not be there were this card to be printed for real (-0.5). If I recall correctly, you've even been told in the discussion thread that the second instance of a keyword does not need reminder text. In the graveyard "creatures" don't exist, "creature [u]cards[/u]" do, and by the way this eliminates the need to say "other". This should say "Other Creature [u]cards[/u] in your graveyard have..." (-1 for functional mistake). Finally, the flavor text is obviously a quote from Anubia him/herself, so it should be included between quotation marks (-0.5). (2/2) Main Challenge - Good. (0/2) Subchallenges - The embalm cost is equal to the converted mana cost, but subchallenge 1 required it to be less. Equal is not less. Subchallenge 1 did not say "less than or equal to", so it's not met. Also, white card is white, so subchallenge 2 is also not met.
Total: 19.5/25
Final comment
I think I've never had a card with scores so polarized: this card either got the maximum or a full zero in every area except Balance. You also took a lot of risks ignoring both subchallenges (and overlooking templating rules), but you probably had faith that your design was strong enough to make up for it. It turns out the risks paid off this time. I'd advise against doing this all the time, but once in a while you can do it when you feel confident enough about your card, and this is proof of it. Congratulations for this, but if you allow me to give you a little advice, don't overlook Quality. This time your design was strong enough to overcome that too, but will it always be?
Main Challenge: Commander
Relax W
Enchantment (R) Join forces— At the beginning of your upkeep, starting with you each player may pay 1. Each player gain X life, where X is the total amount of mana paid this way.
Doubt it possible post a second card with embalm???
Not while also having it count for the challenge. If you still want to post it, feel free to do so in the discussion thread. I might even get to judge that card too if you want, after I'm done with my official bracket.
Design (1/3) Appeal - The stereotyped version of Timmy certainly likes lifegain. I don't think the others care though. Johnny would use this only as a combo piece, if ever. Spike would just never use it. (3/3) Elegance - Not too long, even if the real wording would be a bit longer (more on this later), and very easily understandable.
Development (2/3) Viability - Lifegain is certainly white. All existing cards with join forces are rares, so I guess this just follows suit, but this card doesn't feel rare to me, even though it still might need to be rare for balance. It's probably one of those cards that needs to be rare even though it doesn't read like a rare. Finally, this is also the place to talk about broken rules. This card functionally works, but it's not join forces (see Quality). It still works because ability words have no rules meaning, but it's not it. (1/3) Balance - I don't know how much sense it makes to judge a card clearly meant for a casual constructed format (Commander) in limited and competitive constructed. Commander sets are not Standard legal and they are also not meant for limited play, you couldn't play sealed or draft with them even if you wanted to because they're not in boosters. Anyway, I'd honestly say this doesn't look playable even in limited, let alone constructed. Now, I know that in Commander lifegain is more relevant than in ordinary 1-vs-1 Magic, so maybe this is playable there, probably with specific commanders that care about it.
Creativity (0.5/3) Uniqueness - This is actually a twist on join forces and that would be good here theoretically, but you can't sell it as join forces when it's not technically (see Quality). Also, lifegain is not that inspired of an effect, we see plenty of it all the time. (1.5/3) Flavor - One-word names are always nice to see, even if it feels a bit generic in this case. It still fits well enough with the mechanics. No flavor text though even if there is plenty of room, as MSE confirms me (I checked just to be sure).
Polish (0/3) Quality - The name should be bold, as per the forum rules (-1 for very well known fact). My own reminder about formatting cards according to the forum rules has been there in each round OP for many months by now for a reason. Mana-Charged Dragon says join forces can be a trigger, so that's fine. I just felt like I should mention that here. Too bad this is not actually join forces, but just another ability that looks very similar. For it to actually be join forces, it should be "each player starting with you may pay any amount of mana" (it's even in the clarifications spoiler), not "may pay 1". Beside the fact that you put "each player" after "starting with you" instead of before (-0.5), that is a functional difference, because with your wording each player can only pay one mana maximum, while with the true join forces they can pay how much mana they want without any upper limit (-1 for functional mistake). The aforementioned Dragon also says there should be no comma before "starting with you" (-0.5). (1/2) Main Challenge - Good in spirit, but not in execution. As I've just mentioned, this is not actually join forces. The card just labels a functionally different ability as "join forces". (2/2) Subchallenges - Both met.
Total: 12/25
Amonkhet Challenge
Aspiration of the Worthy3GG
Creature - Avatar (M)
Aspiration of the Worthy's power and toughness are each equal to the number of creatures you control plus the number of creature cards in your graveyard.
Embalm - GG, Sacrifice two creatures (GG, Sacrifice two creatures, Exile this card from your graveyard: Create a token that's a copy of it, except it's a white Zombie Avatar with no mana cost. Embalm only as a sorcery.) No one knows what their place in the afterlife will look like, and all imagine it differently.
*/*
Design (2.5/3) Appeal - Timmy really likes this card, the only little detail that he doesn't like is the "sacrifice two creatures" part, which Johnny could easily use instead. Spike likes the low embalm cost, but there are probably better cards for him for five mana. (2.5/3) Elegance - Wordy but still easy enough to understand.
Development (3/3) Viability - Everything is in color and I agree this has to be mythic. (2.5/3) Balance - Sacrificing creatures as part of the embalm cost is very interesting. You could sacrifice creatures that have embalm themselves and get in an embalming loop, or that can be reanimated in any way. This card certainly looks playable in limited. It could see a bit of Standard play mainly due to the very low mana part of the embalm cost, but I don't think we'd see it everywhere. I see no particular problems in casual and multiplayer.
Creativity (2.5/3) Uniqueness - The embalm cost having a non-mana component and its synergy with the other ability definitely give this card its own identity, even though no single part taken by itself is new. (3/3) Flavor - There is a thin line between Elemental, Incarnation and Avatar, but in this case Avatar looks like it's the right choice, as this is clearly meant to represent an embodied imagination of the afterlife that any living inhabitant of Amonkhet has. That's not a natural element, nor a representation of a generic concept. The name is good and the flavor text is what really keeps the whole flavor of the card together.
Polish (2.5/3) Quality - As with all keywords that have a cost that's not only mana, the dash after the keyword should be long and most of all have no space right before and after it (example: Conflagrate, -0.5). (2/2) Main Challenge - Good. (2/2) Subchallenges - Very clever way to pass subchallenge 1! Indeed, the clarifications made clear (hey, that's what they do!) that only the mana part of the embalm cost is compared to the cmc and that additional non-mana costs, such as, say, sacrificing two creatures, do not count. Two is less than five, so subchallenge 1 is met. Subchallenge 2 is as well (the card is not white).
Total: 22.5/25
Amonkhet Challenge
Resentful Returned1BB
Creature — Zombie [U]
Whenever a creature token dies, its controller loses 2 life.
Embalm BB(BB, Exile this card from your graveyard: Create a token that's a copy of it, except it's a white Zombie with no mana cost. Embalm only as a sorcery.) "As spiteful in death as it was in life. Perhaps a return to servitude can adjust that."
—Senifet, Vizier of Bontu
4/1
Design (2/3) Appeal - Not much for Timmy here, but both Johnny and Spike could use this quite effectively. (3/3) Elegance - The only kind of complexity going on here is strategic complexity, aka the good kind. Comprehension complexity looks very low here.
Development (3/3) Viability - Everything is in color and rarity looks acceptable. (2.5/3) Balance - The interesting things here are that it triggers from your tokens dying too and especially from itself when it's embalmed, and it will die very easily too with only 1 toughness. This is one of those very rare cases where the card gets more interesting the lower its toughness is. I think this is playable in limited, not sure about constructed, maybe if some combos involving this are found. I see no particular problems in casual or multiplayer.
Creativity (2.5/3) Uniqueness - Even though it would make complete sense for it to have it mechanically, embalm is not in black in Amonket, so that's new. The way embalm plays with the first ability feels very original and gives the card its own identity, even though no single part is technically new. (2/3) Flavor - The flavor is good overall, but I have a few doubts about the use of the word "Returned" in the name. The name is good in a vacuum but it feels more like that of a Theros zombie to me rather than an Amonkhet one. The flavor text is very good and I really like it.
Polish (3/3) Quality - All good. (2/2) Main Challenge - Good. (2/2) Subchallenges - Both met.
I offered privately to judge StonerOfKruphix's original card out of competition and he said he would have liked me to, so here I am.
Judgment complete.
Amonkhet Challenge:
Unrelenting Executioner2B
Creature — Human Warrior (U)
Lifelink
When Unrelenting Executioner enters the battlefield, you may destroy target tapped creature.
Embalm WW(WW, Exile this card from your graveyard: Create a token that's a copy of it, except it's a white Zombie Human Warrior with no mana cost. Embalm only as a sorcery.) Not even death can stop him from finishing his job.
2/2
Design (2/3) Appeal - A bit small for Timmy, but it still affects the board in a very meaningful way. Johnny could probably use the embalm somehow, even if I can't see how (and in fact I'm no Johnny). Spike just loves how efficient this is. (3/3) Elegance - Not too long and very easy to understand.
Development (2.5/3) Viability - This makes sense both as a monoblack card (its front face value) and as a monowhite card (what it effectively is with embalm: you're paying white mana to get a white creature), and that's not easy to do. Essentially, it could be a hybrid white/black card: both lifelink and "destroy target tapped creature" are in both white and black. I'm going back and forth about rarity: it looks a bit pushed to me as an uncommon but indeed underwhelming as a rare. If there were a rarity right there in the middle, I would have said this should be that rarity. As a pushed uncommon it's probably right, but a potential 4-life swing each turn it goes unblocked plus double removal might be a bit much for uncommon. I'm still undecided, and the more I think about it the more I'm looping, so I'll just end it here. (3/3) Balance - I think this would already been strong for its cost without embalm, so it's a good thing the embalm cost is so restrictive, as it requires you to both go off-color and pay a double colored cost in that off-color. It might be the only realistic way to have an embalm cost that's lower than the cmc, except for cards specifically designed around that (Honored Hydra). In limited, I'd play this in any black deck, even if I didn't have the white mana to embalm. I think it would be hard (but not impossible) for this to arrive at the Orzhov player at the table if they don't open it themselves. It's also a card with an easily splashable mana cost, which makes that even harder. This looks very powerful in limited. I don't know if that's enough for constructed though. Probably not, even though I wouldn't be surprised to see this card in some Standard decks. I see no particular problems in casual or multiplayer.
Creativity (2/3) Uniqueness - Off-color embalm costs are new, even if a relatively easy place to go. All the rest is not though. (2/3) Flavor - The name is very good, but the flavor text, while fitting, feels a bit too generic to me.
Polish (3/3) Quality - All good. (2/2) Main Challenge - Good. (2/2) Subchallenges - Both met. You were not the only one to do this in this round, but here's a clever way to put white in the card without having the card itself count as white.
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.)
The Betrayer
Legendary Creature - Avatar (Mythic)
Haste Join forces - Starting with you, each player may pay any amount of mana. Put X +1/+1 counters on The Betrayer, where X is the total amount of mana paid this way.
At the beginning of each player's upkeep, that player gains control of The Betrayer, then untaps it.
1/1
DESIGN
(2/3) Appeal: Spike doesn't care about this card. Johnny can definitely abuse it, Timmy likes its potentially monstrous size.
(1/3) Elegance: I'm going to ding you on quality too for this, but not knowing when the mana payment actually happens is a big issue. Is it when I cast the spell? When it enters the battlefield? During upkeeps? This needs to be answered.
DEVELOP
(1.5/3) Viability: This doesn't seem particularly black to me, and mythic seems like an odd place, but it's understandable.
(1/3) Balance: Black and Red is obviously going to have some way to utilize this to make it absolutely broken, depending on the timing of the joining of forces. Since we don't know that, I'm assuming the worst and that it happens every upkeep, which causes a whole catastrophe of issues.
CREATE
(2/3) Uniqueness: This obviously takes a page out of Karona, False God, and is very similar.
(1/3) Flavor: If there's anything that I am, it's a **** for unique creativity. This utterly fails in that regard. The name and concept could practically be used in any set and make sense. It doesn't feel like it actually has a home.
POLAND
(1/3) Quality: Already said this. No timing on the join forces. Docking two points because it's integral to the card.
(4/4) Challenges: Done.
Total: 13.5/25
God King Aburak4BB
Legendary Creature - Human Warrior {M}
God King Aburak has indestructible as long as it’s a token.
Whenever God King Aburak becomes blocked by a creature with indestructible, that creature loses indestructible until end of turn.
Embalm 2WW (2WW, Exile this card from your graveyard: Create a token that’s a copy of it, except it’s a white Zombie Human Warrior with no mana cost. Embalm only as a sorcery.) I will slaughter these false gods you all worship so dearly and prove to you who the real God King is!
6/4
Design
(1/3) Appeal: This really only applies to Timmy. There isn't much a johnny or spike can do with this card.
(3/3) Elegance: This is simple and fairly succinct for what it does. Good job.
DEVELOP
(2/3) Viability: Indestructible in white, ability denial is kinda everywhere, so you're good there. However, extra color for embalm isn't that reasonable,
and there's nothing about it that particularly feels black, and it probably works better at rare than mythic.
(1/3) Balance: There are two problems here: 1) There is no reason to have the embalm cost less than the regular one, especially since there is upside when it is. 2) A 6/4 for 6 with barely any upside is common material, not mythic.
CREATE
(2/3) Uniqueness: Ability denial is nothing new. However, off color embalming is new.
(1/3) Flavor: It's pretty clear that you want to go to Amonkhet with this, but it didn't really work. God King is something that goes around in my frat,
not in the vicinity of the Luxa. You should have gone with something actually relating to the lore, like with the three gods we haven't seen.
POLAND
(3/3) Quality: All good here.
(4/4) Challenges: Done.
Total:17/25
Furybound Minotaur 2R
Creature - Minotaur Warrior (U)
When Furybound Minotaur enters the battlefield, if it's not a token, you may sacrifice it. If you do, it deals 3 damage to target creature or player.
Embalm 1R Even in death, his rage lingers.
3/1
DESIGN
(2/3) Appeal: This is a limited Spike player's wet dream at uncommon, and can potentially offer some nice synergies for Jennys.
(2/3) Elegance: Different abilities explicitly based on whether the creature is a token isn't that elegant. The phrase "if it's not a token" is a bit odd.
DEVELOP
(3/3) Viability: Sacrifice and direct damage are both at home in red, and this feels great at uncommon.
(2/3) Balance: You did a good job on giving a reason for the card to cost less to embalm, but I still think that you should have costed the embalm one higher. (Tah-Crop Skirmisher costs 4 to embalm and is just a vanilla 2/1)
CREATE
(2.5/3) Uniqueness: This gives me a lot of thoughts about Heart-Piercer Manticore, but it's still quite different and new.
(3/3) Flavor: I actually see no qualms about the flavor here. It works really well, especially for Amonkhet.
POLAND
(2/3) Quality: "If it's not" needs to be "if it isn't" (see Progenitor Mimic) and you really need the embalm reminder text on uncommons and below for sure.
(4/4) Challenges: Done.
Total: 20/25
Reckless Warlord1R
Creature — Jackal Warrior (U)
Menace, haste
At the beginning of the end step, if Reckless Warlord isn't a token, sacrifice it.
Embalm 4R(4R, Exile this card from your graveyard: Create a token that's a copy of it, except it's a white Zombie Jackal Warrior with no mana cost. Embalm only as a sorcery.)
3/3
Design
(2/3) Appeal: Spike loves the power in RDW that it can bring in the late game and early game, and Jenny can pretty easily find ways to abuse it.
(1.5/3) Elegance: The phrase "if _____ isn't a token" does not sit well with me. Change it to be more clean and elegant by using "At the beginning of the end step, sacrifice a nontoken creature."
DEVELOP
(3/3) Viability: No qualms here.
(3/3) Balance: This seems perfectly fine at 2 mana, although you could still argue the case for 1.
CREATE
(1/3) Uniqueness: This is really similar to Spark Elemental.
(2.5/3) Flavor: Reckless Warlord sounds more Minotaur than Jackal to me, but that's the only problem I could see.
POLAND
(3/3) Quality: All Good.
(3/4) Challenges: Embalm cost was more expensive than the cmc, but I feel that was the better decision on your part.
Total: 19/25
Zealous Executioner2B
Creature - Human Mercenary (U)
When Zealous Executioner enters the battlefield, if it isn't a token, each player sacrifices a creature.
Embalm 1W
2/2
DESIGN
(2/3) Appeal: Has a little more appeal than Fleshbag Marauder, which appealed to Johnny and Spike.
(2/3) Elegance: The phrase "if it isn't a token" is not elegant in any way.
DEVELOP
(3/3) Viability: This kind of deal is tried and true.
(1.5/3) Balance: I like that there's a reason that the embalm cost is less, but a 2/1 embalms from the graveyard for 3 or 4 most of the time.
CREATE
(.5/3) Uniqueness: The only thing new here is off color embalm, and just about everyone did that.
(1/3) Flavor: The Flavor here is so bland and generic it's sold in the back of a grocery store.
POLAND
(2.5/3) Quality: You really need to put the reminder text for embalm on an uncommon with a small amount of text.
(4/4) Challenges: Done.
Total: 16.5/25
Herald of Devastation4BB
Creature - Demon (M)
Flying
When Herald of Devastation enters the battlefield, destroy all other nontoken creatures.
Embalm 4WW(4WW, Exile this card from your graveyard: Create a token that's a copy of it, except it's a white Zombie Demon with no mana cost. Embalm only as a sorcery.) Disaster never comes alone.
3/3
DESIGN
(3/3) Appeal: Big effect, combo potential, and powerful in limited. Seems appealing to me.
(2.5/3) Elegance: This is rather elegant for this challenge, but the other in there kinda hurts it a bit.
DEVELOP
(2/3) Viability: Black doesn't too often get wrath effects, but they do on the off chance. This feels like it should be the other way around though.
(2/3) Balance: Even with the off color, the embalm cost should probably be about 7.
CREATE
(1.5/3) Uniqueness: Wraths on creatures is nothing new.
(2/3) Flavor: A white demon, while politically common, isn't really a thing for magic.
POLAND
(3/3) Quality: No Qualms here.
(3/4) Challenges: Equal to Cmc, not less than, so 1 subchallenge missed.
Total:19/25
My thoughts are with the friends and family of the Orlando Shooting victims and with the rest of the LGBTQA+ community.
Check out my Newborder Peasant Cube here! http://www.cubetutor.com/draft/37467
Necarg, please don't acknowledge this in any way whatsoever.
True Name Mafia (Win),Clan Contest IX Mafia (Win), Bravely Default Mafia (Loss), BOTAS (loss), BfV (Loss), Ace Attourney (loss)
Rules Advisor before they were eradicated
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Aspiration of the Worthy 3GG
Creature - Avatar (M)
Aspiration of the Worthy's power and toughness are each equal to the number of creatures you control plus the number of creature cards in your graveyard.
Embalm - GG, Sacrifice two creatures (GG, Sacrifice two creatures, Exile this card from your graveyard: Create a token that's a copy of it, except it's a white Zombie Avatar with no mana cost. Embalm only as a sorcery.)
No one knows what their place in the afterlife will look like, and all imagine it differently.
*/*
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝
Creature - Serpent [U]
First Strike, Haste
Whenever Serpents of Bloodsand deals combat damage, you may sacrifice it. If you do, destroy all creatures blocking or blocked by it.
Embalm 2W (2W, Exile this card from your graveyard: Create a token that's a copy of it, except it's a white Zombie Serpent with no mana cost. Embalm only as a sorcery.)
Across the sea of sand, only blood will water the thirsty mouths of the gods.
2/1
Furybound Minotaur 2R
Creature - Minotaur Warrior (U)
When Furybound Minotaur enters the battlefield, if it's not a token, you may sacrifice it. If you do, it deals 3 damage to target creature or player.
Embalm 1R
Even in death, his rage lingers.
3/1
Hazoret's Faithful 2RR
Creature — Minotaur Cleric (M)
First strike, haste, trample
At the beginning of your end step, sacrifice Hazoret's Faithful.
W: Exile Hazoret's Faithful, then return it to the battlefield under its owner's control.
Embalm RRR
3/1
necarg
netn10
Freyleyes
Voxzorz
Flatline
JamBlock
Raptorchan
bravelion83
Forestsguy
Sagharri
Folza
mirrodin71
void_nothing
admirableadmiral
Tilwin
P E
scrad_the_wanderer
kjsharp
iphanx
Marco
Rocco
StonerOfKruphix
Turbler
IcariiFA
The_Hittite
SnowBlack1021
TheRealStinkyJoeTerry
I think I'm missing someone, so, lmk who you are if you're missing.
Also, in lieu of late organization here, I'm gonna extend the judging deadline to June 14th at 23:59 PDT
Check out my Newborder Peasant Cube here! http://www.cubetutor.com/draft/37467
True Name Mafia (Win),Clan Contest IX Mafia (Win), Bravely Default Mafia (Loss), BOTAS (loss), BfV (Loss), Ace Attourney (loss)
Rules Advisor before they were eradicated
Amonkhet Challenge (Judge's note: fixed it for you, it was spelled as "Amnokhet" with the N and O swapped)
Apostle of Plagues 1BB
Creature - Human Cleric [Uncommon]
Creature tokens get -1/-1.
Whenever Apostle of Plagues or another cleric enters the battlefield, remove a counter of any type from target permanent.
Embalm BB
2/3
Design
(2/3) Appeal - Timmy likes how this affects the boards, even though he doesn't like that this affects his own tokens too. Johnny can definitely do something with both abilities. Spike sees this as a sideboard card against tokens.
(3/3) Elegance - No problems here.
Development
(3/3) Viability - Everything is in color and rarity looks acceptable. Knowing them, it might be rare if it were to be printed for real, but uncommon looks fine too.
(2/3) Balance - The trigger does NOT say "under your control", so it triggers from your opponents' Clerics too. Also, removing the counter is mandatory and that might force you to remove counters you don't actually want to remove, such as -1/-1 from opposing creatures or +1/+1 counters from your creatures if they are the only counters on the battlefield. In a vacuum, both could serve as drawbacks to balance a card that's above the curve, but here I really don't think that's needed. This is not so above the curve that it needs drawbacks, at the contrary, I'd argue that's not above the curve at all for today's creature standards. I totally think that this should say "[u]you may[/u] remove a counter". The fact that the first ability affects the Apostle itself too when it's embalmed is very interesting as that's what actually allows the embalm cost to be lower than the mana cost. Another very relevant fact is that this can remove loyalty counters from opposing planeswalkers. Overall, I'd say this is certainly limited playable, but in constructed I see this at best as a sideboard options against token decks. It looks quite good at that actually. Except for the fact that it can force you to remove counters you don't want to remove, which doesn't look that fun, I see no other problems in casual or multiplayer.
Creativity
(2/3) Uniqueness - The first ability is just Illness in the Ranks and both Cleric tribal and removing counters are nothing new. The interaction between that first ability and embalm is very neat though and it does give this card its own identity.
(2/3) Flavor - The name is very good and fits very well with the mechanics. I want to prize how well it fits. No flavor text to be judged, even though MSE shows me several lines would fit without any problem.
Polish
(1/3) Quality - In the triggered ability, the word "cleric" is a creature type, so it should be capitalized (-0.5). When a counter can be "of any type" just saying "a counter" is enough (examples: Ferropede, Medicine Runner, Spinal Parasite), so this should be "remove a counter from target permanent" (-0.5). On an uncommon, reminder text for a block keyword is mandatory (very well known fact, so -1). As an aside, I think I'll have to get used to saying "set keyword" or "non-evergreen keyword" instead now that blocks are no more...
(2/2) Main Challenge - Good.
(2/2) Subchallenges - Both met.
Total: 19/25
Commander!
Augur of Lost Time B
Creature - Skeleton Wizard (R)
Join forces — When Augur of Lost Time enters the battlefield, each player starting with you may pay any amount of mana. Look at the top X cards from your library, where X is the total amount of mana paid this way. Put one of them into your hand and the rest into your graveyard.
B, Exile a card from your graveyard: Regenerate Augur of Lost Time.
1/2
Design
(2/3) Appeal - I don't think Timmy cares. Both Johnny and Spike like to dig into their library for different reasons. Spike also likes the regeneration.
(2.5/3) Elegance - Wordy but still very easily understandable.
Development
(2.5/3) Viability - Regenerate is no longer supported even if it still works just fine in the rules. We won't see any new cards with it though. No problems with the color pie or rarity.
(2/3) Balance - Join forces is kind of self-balancing, because it scales with the mana payment. The mana cost-to-P/T ratio is good. I don't know how much sense it makes to judge a card clearly meant for a casual constructed format (Commander) in limited and competitive constructed. Commander sets are not Standard legal and they are also not meant for limited play, you couldn't play sealed or draft with them even if you wanted to because they're not in boosters. Anyway, I'd say this would be probably playable in limited but certainly not in regular constructed. In Commander and multiplayer in general, the political aspect of this card looks very important.
Creativity
(0.5/3) Uniqueness - The join forces effect is technically new, but nothing on this card feels particularly original. We've already seen all the different parts a lot of times.
(2/3) Flavor - The name is good. The idea of "lost time" fits well enough with the mechanics putting cards from the top of your library into your graveyard. The time you would have spent casting those cards is literally lost now that they're in the graveyard. No flavor text to be judged, even though it really doesn't fit on the card according to MSE, so that's not as big of a problem as it could be in a vacuum.
Polish
(2.5/3) Quality - It should be "look at the top X cards [u]of[/u] your library...", not "from" (-0.5). Mana-Charged Dragon says join forces can be a trigger, so that's fine. I just felt like I should mention that here.
(2/2) Main Challenge - Good.
(2/2) Subchallenges - Both met.
Total: 18/25
Anubia, Keeper of the Worthy 3W
Legendary Creature - Human Priest (M)
Lifelink, vigilance
Other creatures in your graveyard have Embalm 3W (3W, Exile this card from your graveyard: Create a token that's a copy of it, except it's a white Zombie with no mana cost. Embalm only as a sorcery.)
Embalm 3W (It's a white Zombie Priest with no mana cost.)
Only the God-Pharaoh's chosen shall have my blessing.
3/3
Judge's note: obviously you're going for the Amonkhet challenge, even though you didn't write it out explicitly as required.
Design
(3/3) Appeal - I think everyone can like this card. Timmy likes a significant creature with significant abilities. Johnny can certainly use a card that gives embalm to all his creatures in some way. Spike likes the card advantage inherent to the embalm mechanic.
(3/3) Elegance - I see no particular problems in this area.
Development
(3/3) Viability - If this is not a mythic, I don't know what could be. Everything is in color. If I had to choose a color that gives emblam to every creature I'd probably choose white too.
(2.5/3) Balance - One thing catches my attention here: the granted embalm cost is fixed. Any creature in your graveyard, regardless of how big or small it is and regardless of its abilities, will have an embalm cost of 3W, which is already low for creatures that natively have embalm, you can easily see this if you take a look at all the embalm creatures in the Amonkhet set (we'll have to get used to only talk about set and not blocks now that blocks are no more...). I think the granted embalm cost being a function of the creature card's mana cost would have been more balanced in my opinion, certainly less risky at least. Anyway, this is a limited bomb and it looks Standard playable too to me. I see no particular problems in casual or multiplayer.
Creativity
(3/3) Uniqueness - Granting embalm to all creatures in your graveyard might be an easy place to go, but it's still new and feels very original. I expect this to be remembered as "that card that gave all your dead creatures embalm". This card has definitely its own identity both mechanically and flavorfully.
(3/3) Flavor - A clear reference to Anubis. This is to Anubis what Hapatra is to Cleopatra or Temmet is to King Tut. The name is good, as is the flavor text, which is short enough to fit on the card with no problems according to MSE. I'm not sure that the Worthy have a keeper in the real Amonkhet though. I guess we'll learn what exactly happens to them soon enough.
Polish
(0/3) Quality - In keyword lists, vigilance comes before lifelink (examples: Aerial Responder, Dawnstrike Paladin, Felidar Sovereign and many more, -0.5). In the embalm-granting ability, the keyword should not be capitalized (it should be "...have embalm 3W", -0.5). In the first reminder text, if you refer to "this card" it's Anubia itself, while you should be referring to the creature card in your graveyard that gains embalm. It should say "3W, Exile [u]that (creature) card[/u] from your graveyard..." (the word "creature" may or may not be included, -0.5). No need for the second reminder text, you've already said in the first reminder text that when you embalm a creature it becomes a white Zombie with no mana cost, so it's clear that applies to Anubia too. While it's debatable, I really think that second reminder text would not be there were this card to be printed for real (-0.5). If I recall correctly, you've even been told in the discussion thread that the second instance of a keyword does not need reminder text. In the graveyard "creatures" don't exist, "creature [u]cards[/u]" do, and by the way this eliminates the need to say "other". This should say "
OtherCreature [u]cards[/u] in your graveyard have..." (-1 for functional mistake). Finally, the flavor text is obviously a quote from Anubia him/herself, so it should be included between quotation marks (-0.5).(2/2) Main Challenge - Good.
(0/2) Subchallenges - The embalm cost is equal to the converted mana cost, but subchallenge 1 required it to be less. Equal is not less. Subchallenge 1 did not say "less than or equal to", so it's not met. Also, white card is white, so subchallenge 2 is also not met.
Total: 19.5/25
Final comment
I think I've never had a card with scores so polarized: this card either got the maximum or a full zero in every area except Balance. You also took a lot of risks ignoring both subchallenges (and overlooking templating rules), but you probably had faith that your design was strong enough to make up for it. It turns out the risks paid off this time. I'd advise against doing this all the time, but once in a while you can do it when you feel confident enough about your card, and this is proof of it. Congratulations for this, but if you allow me to give you a little advice, don't overlook Quality. This time your design was strong enough to overcome that too, but will it always be?
Main Challenge: Commander
Relax W
Enchantment (R)
Join forces— At the beginning of your upkeep, starting with you each player may pay 1. Each player gain X life, where X is the total amount of mana paid this way.
Not while also having it count for the challenge. If you still want to post it, feel free to do so in the discussion thread. I might even get to judge that card too if you want, after I'm done with my official bracket.
Design
(1/3) Appeal - The stereotyped version of Timmy certainly likes lifegain. I don't think the others care though. Johnny would use this only as a combo piece, if ever. Spike would just never use it.
(3/3) Elegance - Not too long, even if the real wording would be a bit longer (more on this later), and very easily understandable.
Development
(2/3) Viability - Lifegain is certainly white. All existing cards with join forces are rares, so I guess this just follows suit, but this card doesn't feel rare to me, even though it still might need to be rare for balance. It's probably one of those cards that needs to be rare even though it doesn't read like a rare. Finally, this is also the place to talk about broken rules. This card functionally works, but it's not join forces (see Quality). It still works because ability words have no rules meaning, but it's not it.
(1/3) Balance - I don't know how much sense it makes to judge a card clearly meant for a casual constructed format (Commander) in limited and competitive constructed. Commander sets are not Standard legal and they are also not meant for limited play, you couldn't play sealed or draft with them even if you wanted to because they're not in boosters. Anyway, I'd honestly say this doesn't look playable even in limited, let alone constructed. Now, I know that in Commander lifegain is more relevant than in ordinary 1-vs-1 Magic, so maybe this is playable there, probably with specific commanders that care about it.
Creativity
(0.5/3) Uniqueness - This is actually a twist on join forces and that would be good here theoretically, but you can't sell it as join forces when it's not technically (see Quality). Also, lifegain is not that inspired of an effect, we see plenty of it all the time.
(1.5/3) Flavor - One-word names are always nice to see, even if it feels a bit generic in this case. It still fits well enough with the mechanics. No flavor text though even if there is plenty of room, as MSE confirms me (I checked just to be sure).
Polish
(0/3) Quality - The name should be bold, as per the forum rules (-1 for very well known fact). My own reminder about formatting cards according to the forum rules has been there in each round OP for many months by now for a reason. Mana-Charged Dragon says join forces can be a trigger, so that's fine. I just felt like I should mention that here. Too bad this is not actually join forces, but just another ability that looks very similar. For it to actually be join forces, it should be "each player starting with you may pay any amount of mana" (it's even in the clarifications spoiler), not "may pay 1". Beside the fact that you put "each player" after "starting with you" instead of before (-0.5), that is a functional difference, because with your wording each player can only pay one mana maximum, while with the true join forces they can pay how much mana they want without any upper limit (-1 for functional mistake). The aforementioned Dragon also says there should be no comma before "starting with you" (-0.5).
(1/2) Main Challenge - Good in spirit, but not in execution. As I've just mentioned, this is not actually join forces. The card just labels a functionally different ability as "join forces".
(2/2) Subchallenges - Both met.
Total: 12/25
Amonkhet Challenge
Aspiration of the Worthy 3GG
Creature - Avatar (M)
Aspiration of the Worthy's power and toughness are each equal to the number of creatures you control plus the number of creature cards in your graveyard.
Embalm - GG, Sacrifice two creatures (GG, Sacrifice two creatures, Exile this card from your graveyard: Create a token that's a copy of it, except it's a white Zombie Avatar with no mana cost. Embalm only as a sorcery.)
No one knows what their place in the afterlife will look like, and all imagine it differently.
*/*
Design
(2.5/3) Appeal - Timmy really likes this card, the only little detail that he doesn't like is the "sacrifice two creatures" part, which Johnny could easily use instead. Spike likes the low embalm cost, but there are probably better cards for him for five mana.
(2.5/3) Elegance - Wordy but still easy enough to understand.
Development
(3/3) Viability - Everything is in color and I agree this has to be mythic.
(2.5/3) Balance - Sacrificing creatures as part of the embalm cost is very interesting. You could sacrifice creatures that have embalm themselves and get in an embalming loop, or that can be reanimated in any way. This card certainly looks playable in limited. It could see a bit of Standard play mainly due to the very low mana part of the embalm cost, but I don't think we'd see it everywhere. I see no particular problems in casual and multiplayer.
Creativity
(2.5/3) Uniqueness - The embalm cost having a non-mana component and its synergy with the other ability definitely give this card its own identity, even though no single part taken by itself is new.
(3/3) Flavor - There is a thin line between Elemental, Incarnation and Avatar, but in this case Avatar looks like it's the right choice, as this is clearly meant to represent an embodied imagination of the afterlife that any living inhabitant of Amonkhet has. That's not a natural element, nor a representation of a generic concept. The name is good and the flavor text is what really keeps the whole flavor of the card together.
Polish
(2.5/3) Quality - As with all keywords that have a cost that's not only mana, the dash after the keyword should be long and most of all have no space right before and after it (example: Conflagrate, -0.5).
(2/2) Main Challenge - Good.
(2/2) Subchallenges - Very clever way to pass subchallenge 1! Indeed, the clarifications made clear (hey, that's what they do!) that only the mana part of the embalm cost is compared to the cmc and that additional non-mana costs, such as, say, sacrificing two creatures, do not count. Two is less than five, so subchallenge 1 is met. Subchallenge 2 is as well (the card is not white).
Total: 22.5/25
Amonkhet Challenge
Resentful Returned 1BB
Creature — Zombie [U]
Whenever a creature token dies, its controller loses 2 life.
Embalm BB (BB, Exile this card from your graveyard: Create a token that's a copy of it, except it's a white Zombie with no mana cost. Embalm only as a sorcery.)
"As spiteful in death as it was in life. Perhaps a return to servitude can adjust that."
—Senifet, Vizier of Bontu
4/1
Design
(2/3) Appeal - Not much for Timmy here, but both Johnny and Spike could use this quite effectively.
(3/3) Elegance - The only kind of complexity going on here is strategic complexity, aka the good kind. Comprehension complexity looks very low here.
Development
(3/3) Viability - Everything is in color and rarity looks acceptable.
(2.5/3) Balance - The interesting things here are that it triggers from your tokens dying too and especially from itself when it's embalmed, and it will die very easily too with only 1 toughness. This is one of those very rare cases where the card gets more interesting the lower its toughness is. I think this is playable in limited, not sure about constructed, maybe if some combos involving this are found. I see no particular problems in casual or multiplayer.
Creativity
(2.5/3) Uniqueness - Even though it would make complete sense for it to have it mechanically, embalm is not in black in Amonket, so that's new. The way embalm plays with the first ability feels very original and gives the card its own identity, even though no single part is technically new.
(2/3) Flavor - The flavor is good overall, but I have a few doubts about the use of the word "Returned" in the name. The name is good in a vacuum but it feels more like that of a Theros zombie to me rather than an Amonkhet one. The flavor text is very good and I really like it.
Polish
(3/3) Quality - All good.
(2/2) Main Challenge - Good.
(2/2) Subchallenges - Both met.
Total: 22/25
void_nothing: 22.5
admirableadmiral: 22
Folza: 19.5
Forestsguy: 19
Sagharri: 18
mirrodin71: 12
Out of competition
I offered privately to judge StonerOfKruphix's original card out of competition and he said he would have liked me to, so here I am.
Judgment complete.
Amonkhet Challenge:
Unrelenting Executioner 2B
Creature — Human Warrior (U)
Lifelink
When Unrelenting Executioner enters the battlefield, you may destroy target tapped creature.
Embalm WW (WW, Exile this card from your graveyard: Create a token that's a copy of it, except it's a white Zombie Human Warrior with no mana cost. Embalm only as a sorcery.)
Not even death can stop him from finishing his job.
2/2
Design
(2/3) Appeal - A bit small for Timmy, but it still affects the board in a very meaningful way. Johnny could probably use the embalm somehow, even if I can't see how (and in fact I'm no Johnny). Spike just loves how efficient this is.
(3/3) Elegance - Not too long and very easy to understand.
Development
(2.5/3) Viability - This makes sense both as a monoblack card (its front face value) and as a monowhite card (what it effectively is with embalm: you're paying white mana to get a white creature), and that's not easy to do. Essentially, it could be a hybrid white/black card: both lifelink and "destroy target tapped creature" are in both white and black. I'm going back and forth about rarity: it looks a bit pushed to me as an uncommon but indeed underwhelming as a rare. If there were a rarity right there in the middle, I would have said this should be that rarity. As a pushed uncommon it's probably right, but a potential 4-life swing each turn it goes unblocked plus double removal might be a bit much for uncommon. I'm still undecided, and the more I think about it the more I'm looping, so I'll just end it here.
(3/3) Balance - I think this would already been strong for its cost without embalm, so it's a good thing the embalm cost is so restrictive, as it requires you to both go off-color and pay a double colored cost in that off-color. It might be the only realistic way to have an embalm cost that's lower than the cmc, except for cards specifically designed around that (Honored Hydra). In limited, I'd play this in any black deck, even if I didn't have the white mana to embalm. I think it would be hard (but not impossible) for this to arrive at the Orzhov player at the table if they don't open it themselves. It's also a card with an easily splashable mana cost, which makes that even harder. This looks very powerful in limited. I don't know if that's enough for constructed though. Probably not, even though I wouldn't be surprised to see this card in some Standard decks. I see no particular problems in casual or multiplayer.
Creativity
(2/3) Uniqueness - Off-color embalm costs are new, even if a relatively easy place to go. All the rest is not though.
(2/3) Flavor - The name is very good, but the flavor text, while fitting, feels a bit too generic to me.
Polish
(3/3) Quality - All good.
(2/2) Main Challenge - Good.
(2/2) Subchallenges - Both met. You were not the only one to do this in this round, but here's a clever way to put white in the card without having the card itself count as white.
Total: 21.5/25
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.)
DESIGN
(2/3) Appeal: Spike doesn't care about this card. Johnny can definitely abuse it, Timmy likes its potentially monstrous size.
(1/3) Elegance: I'm going to ding you on quality too for this, but not knowing when the mana payment actually happens is a big issue. Is it when I cast the spell? When it enters the battlefield? During upkeeps? This needs to be answered.
DEVELOP
(1.5/3) Viability: This doesn't seem particularly black to me, and mythic seems like an odd place, but it's understandable.
(1/3) Balance: Black and Red is obviously going to have some way to utilize this to make it absolutely broken, depending on the timing of the joining of forces. Since we don't know that, I'm assuming the worst and that it happens every upkeep, which causes a whole catastrophe of issues.
CREATE
(2/3) Uniqueness: This obviously takes a page out of Karona, False God, and is very similar.
(1/3) Flavor: If there's anything that I am, it's a **** for unique creativity. This utterly fails in that regard. The name and concept could practically be used in any set and make sense. It doesn't feel like it actually has a home.
POLAND
(1/3) Quality: Already said this. No timing on the join forces. Docking two points because it's integral to the card.
(4/4) Challenges: Done.
Total: 13.5/25
Design
(1/3) Appeal: This really only applies to Timmy. There isn't much a johnny or spike can do with this card.
(3/3) Elegance: This is simple and fairly succinct for what it does. Good job.
DEVELOP
(2/3) Viability: Indestructible in white, ability denial is kinda everywhere, so you're good there. However, extra color for embalm isn't that reasonable,
and there's nothing about it that particularly feels black, and it probably works better at rare than mythic.
(1/3) Balance: There are two problems here: 1) There is no reason to have the embalm cost less than the regular one, especially since there is upside when it is. 2) A 6/4 for 6 with barely any upside is common material, not mythic.
CREATE
(2/3) Uniqueness: Ability denial is nothing new. However, off color embalming is new.
(1/3) Flavor: It's pretty clear that you want to go to Amonkhet with this, but it didn't really work. God King is something that goes around in my frat,
not in the vicinity of the Luxa. You should have gone with something actually relating to the lore, like with the three gods we haven't seen.
POLAND
(3/3) Quality: All good here.
(4/4) Challenges: Done.
Total:17/25
DESIGN
(2/3) Appeal: This is a limited Spike player's wet dream at uncommon, and can potentially offer some nice synergies for Jennys.
(2/3) Elegance: Different abilities explicitly based on whether the creature is a token isn't that elegant. The phrase "if it's not a token" is a bit odd.
DEVELOP
(3/3) Viability: Sacrifice and direct damage are both at home in red, and this feels great at uncommon.
(2/3) Balance: You did a good job on giving a reason for the card to cost less to embalm, but I still think that you should have costed the embalm one higher. (Tah-Crop Skirmisher costs 4 to embalm and is just a vanilla 2/1)
CREATE
(2.5/3) Uniqueness: This gives me a lot of thoughts about Heart-Piercer Manticore, but it's still quite different and new.
(3/3) Flavor: I actually see no qualms about the flavor here. It works really well, especially for Amonkhet.
POLAND
(2/3) Quality: "If it's not" needs to be "if it isn't" (see Progenitor Mimic) and you really need the embalm reminder text on uncommons and below for sure.
(4/4) Challenges: Done.
Total: 20/25
Design
(2/3) Appeal: Spike loves the power in RDW that it can bring in the late game and early game, and Jenny can pretty easily find ways to abuse it.
(1.5/3) Elegance: The phrase "if _____ isn't a token" does not sit well with me. Change it to be more clean and elegant by using "At the beginning of the end step, sacrifice a nontoken creature."
DEVELOP
(3/3) Viability: No qualms here.
(3/3) Balance: This seems perfectly fine at 2 mana, although you could still argue the case for 1.
CREATE
(1/3) Uniqueness: This is really similar to Spark Elemental.
(2.5/3) Flavor: Reckless Warlord sounds more Minotaur than Jackal to me, but that's the only problem I could see.
POLAND
(3/3) Quality: All Good.
(3/4) Challenges: Embalm cost was more expensive than the cmc, but I feel that was the better decision on your part.
Total: 19/25
DESIGN
(2/3) Appeal: Has a little more appeal than Fleshbag Marauder, which appealed to Johnny and Spike.
(2/3) Elegance: The phrase "if it isn't a token" is not elegant in any way.
DEVELOP
(3/3) Viability: This kind of deal is tried and true.
(1.5/3) Balance: I like that there's a reason that the embalm cost is less, but a 2/1 embalms from the graveyard for 3 or 4 most of the time.
CREATE
(.5/3) Uniqueness: The only thing new here is off color embalm, and just about everyone did that.
(1/3) Flavor: The Flavor here is so bland and generic it's sold in the back of a grocery store.
POLAND
(2.5/3) Quality: You really need to put the reminder text for embalm on an uncommon with a small amount of text.
(4/4) Challenges: Done.
Total: 16.5/25
DESIGN
(3/3) Appeal: Big effect, combo potential, and powerful in limited. Seems appealing to me.
(2.5/3) Elegance: This is rather elegant for this challenge, but the other in there kinda hurts it a bit.
DEVELOP
(2/3) Viability: Black doesn't too often get wrath effects, but they do on the off chance. This feels like it should be the other way around though.
(2/3) Balance: Even with the off color, the embalm cost should probably be about 7.
CREATE
(1.5/3) Uniqueness: Wraths on creatures is nothing new.
(2/3) Flavor: A white demon, while politically common, isn't really a thing for magic.
POLAND
(3/3) Quality: No Qualms here.
(3/4) Challenges: Equal to Cmc, not less than, so 1 subchallenge missed.
Total:19/25
Raptorchan - 19
Flatline - 19
Freyleyes - 17
JamBlock - 16.5
netn10 - 13.5
Round 2 will be up tonight.
Check out my Newborder Peasant Cube here! http://www.cubetutor.com/draft/37467
True Name Mafia (Win),Clan Contest IX Mafia (Win), Bravely Default Mafia (Loss), BOTAS (loss), BfV (Loss), Ace Attourney (loss)
Rules Advisor before they were eradicated