This week, we'll be taking a break from the aspects of magic you don't often see. In fact, this week we'll be looking at the most common part of magic there is: the commons.
Main Challenge: Design a common creature card.
Subchallenge 1: Your card is monocolored, and has mana symbols somewhere other than the mana cost of the card that are a different color. Subchallenge 2: Your card has 20 or fewers words in its rules text.
For the first subchallenge, the colored mana symbols could take form in many ways, such as the flashback cost of Travel Preparations, the 'alternate mana spent' clause of Court Hussar, or something else. Just make sure it's a symbol (U) and not text ("blue mana").
Player Deadline: 23:59 EDT, 21 November 2014
Judge Deadline: 23:59 EDT, 26 November 2014
Design (X/10) – This reflects the work put into the initial concept of the card. Creativity – How original or innovative is the card? Does it present an old idea with a new twist? Does it employ an entirely new mechanic? Elegance – Is the concept easily understood at a glance? Does the design just 'click' with the flavor? Potential – Will different player demographics (Spike/Johnny/Timmy) find a use for this card? Does it stand out as a card to build a deck around?
Development (X/10) – This reflects the execution of the idea, fleshing it into a playable card. Viability – How well does this card fit into the color wheel? Does it break or bend the rules of the game? Is it at the appropriate rarity? Balance – Does the card's cost match its power? How balanced are its interactions with other cards? Can it be played in constructed, limited, or multiplayer without breaking any of those formats? Creative Writing – Does the name sound like it fits on a card? Does the flavor text feel natural and professional? Does the combination of name, flavor text, and card concept make Vorthos spout poetry?
Polish – This reflects the finishing touches made to the card, polishing it to an end product that could see print. Challenge (X/2) – One point awarded per satisfied challenge condition. Quality (X/3) – Points deducted for incorrect spelling, grammar, and templating.
Total: X/25
Moss_Elemental
Triumvirate vs NVRBLND
Ninja Caterpie vs Sagharri
admirableadmiral
Ninja Caterpie vs Sagharri
Palanthas vs GG Chrono
Link
Palanthas vs GG Chrono
Ogonomancy vs hopefulhawkeye
bravelion83
Ogonomancy vs hopefulhawkeye
Triumvirate vs NVRBLND
Design (6/10)
Creativity – Valley Dasher, but with one less toughness in exchange for sometimes not having to attack.
Elegance – I'm not sure why the goblin would have to recieve the 'training' of the white mana every turn in order to not attack, but otherwise the idea is good enough.
Potential – It doesn't really appeal to any one demographic.
Development (8/10)
Viability – I'll go out on a limb and say that this is in-color, even though there aren't really any precedents. White is about order, and not having to attack seems like enough order to me.
Balance – It's got a weaker body than an existing common in excange for a situational upside. It's a fair trade.
Creative Writing – You lose out in this area.
Polish –
Challenge (2/2) –
Quality (3/3) –
Total: 19/25
Design (10/10)
Creativity – It's new, and evocative of a tormented soul flailing until it (hopefully) finds rest.
Elegance – It comes across well.
Potential – Spike likes the stats, but other than that it's limited fodder.
Development (8/10)
Viability – The colors work out, even if I don't like how the triggered ability is white.
Balance – The card is considerably stronger than an existing card, but requires you to keep up white mana if you want to play around its downside. I like it.
Creative Writing – The flavor text is fairly poor in my opinion.
Polish –
Challenge (2/2) –
Quality (3/3) –
Total: 23/25
Design (7/10)
Creativity – It's nothing too ingenuitive, but it hasn't been done before.
Elegance – So the bird flies out of his corpse when he dies?
Potential – Spike likes it, and johnny will try to combo with it in draft.
Development (6/10)
Viability – This is too pushed for a black common. A 3/3 for 4 mana is already the standard for its rarity and mana cost, but when you factor in the two relevant upsides you have yourself something that's too strong.
Balance – Outside of color pie power level issues, I personally like how it's got utility and is strong without being too strong as a common.
Creative Writing – The name doesn't make sense unless you're already familiar with Seller of Songbirds, which doesn't sit well with me.
Polish –
Challenge (2/2) –
Quality (3/3) –
Total: 18/25
Design (3/10)
Creativity – Very little about this is original. It's also strictly better than Oreskos Swiftclaw in two different ways.
Elegance – It's clean.
Potential – Spike will play this because of how strong it is for a common in draft.
Development (6/10)
Viability – The colors are right, and the effects have been seen before at that rarity.
Balance – This is incredibly pushed for a common. A two mana three power flier is really strong, and the haste ability is just icing on the cake. This card is too efficient and needs some balancing.
Creative Writing – The flavor is excellent enough to redeem the card somewhat.
Goblin Trainee1R
Creature - Goblin Soldier (C)
Haste
Goblin Trainee attacks each turn if able. You may pay W to ignore this effect until end of turn.
2/1
Frenzied Godchanter3R
Creature - Human Shaman (C) 1WG: Frenzied Godchanter gets +2/+2 and gains trample until end of turn if you control a creature with power 5 or greater. The Nayan mystics are driven to such reverence in the presence of great beasts they often sacrifice their humanity to imitate those they worship.
3/2
Warden of the First Tree4W
Creature - Human Warrior (C)
Vigilance (B/G): Warden of the First Tree gains deathtouch until end of turn. "No intruders shall pass into these sacred grounds, no matter what must be done to stop them."
2/5
All judgments are final. Man, that first one was hard!
"I'm pulling out of my driveway! We all know what that means! It's time to start to judge!"
Design/development: I mentally divide points equally among subsections, assign them, then add them up.
Challenges: what counts is always the letter of the law.
Quality: half a point deducted for any error in wording, spelling, or grammar; a whole point for particularly serious errors.
No complaints unless I got something objectively wrong.
First, would you please clarify the term "rules text" for the second subchallenge: Is it just text in the text box, or does it include text in the type line, P/T, mana cost, and/or card name? Second, does "1/1" and "+1/+1" count as 1 word or more? Thank you.
First: Rules text is what it's defined to be (see rule 207 in the Comprehensive Rules): all text in the text box, and just that, NOT including reminder text and flavor text (as they have no game function, see rule 207.2). All other text on the card (name, mana cost, everything in the type line, power and toughness, artist credit, collector's info and copyright) is NOT rules text.
Second: Differently from what I said before, they do NOT count as words, so base PT and PT modifiers are officially out of the 20 word limit for subchallenge 2.
As the OP only talks about "mana symbols" without specifying anything more, yes, hybrid mana, "twobrid" mana, and phyrexian mana are all acceptable. Even if they include a color that is already in your card's mana cost, they are still ok if they also contain one other color. Snow mana would count if the OP didn't say "that are a different color", but as a snow mana symbol is colorless, it doesn't even have a color to be compared to be "different", so snow mana does NOT count.
Azorius Bureaucrat2W
Creature — Human Advisor (C)
When Azorius Bureaucrat enters the battlefield, if U was spent to cast it, draw a card. “Good legislation requires knowledge of precedents.”
2/2
Ogonomany vs hopefulhawkeye
This has been a very hard matchup to judge, and it took a lot of pondering and thinking. The cards are so similar: both are white, both have an activated ability that grants themselves deathtouch, both have Tarkir flavor. It all came down to how well the flavor fit their respective clan and how immediate its comprehension is, the difference in points is only because of that. You can read more about this in the "Creative Writing" section of hopefulhawkeye's card judgment.
By the way, I paid extra attention in the spelling of Ogonomany's nickname. I feel bad myself when others spell or pronounce my nickname badly. Here in Italy not everyone knows English, and if you pronounce it like you'd do in Italian, like some Italian friends of mine did, the pronunciation changes and becomes wrong, as I created it in English and should be pronounced in English. So I think I know how you feel when you always see that extra "c", and I paid attention not to type it.
Warden of the First Tree4W
Creature - Human Warrior (C)
Vigilance (B/G): Warden of the First Tree gains deathtouch until end of turn. "No intruders shall pass into these sacred grounds, no matter what must be done to stop them."
2/5
Design (6.5/10) Creativity – Mardu Hateblade is the only existing white card that can gain deathtouch as an activated ability. That card must have inspired both you and your opponent (hopefulhawkeye). In your case, never before that ability has been on a creature with those stats and vigilance. New, but certainly not groundbreaking. Elegance – All good here. Potential – Not sure if Timmy cares. He may care, but he probably prefers to play some 4/4 trample or something for 5 mana at common. Johnny doesn't care. Some "Limited Spike" may be interested, but "Constructed Spike" certainly isn't.
Development (8.5/10) Viability – All good here. Balance – Cost looks right after all, I don't think it could cost less. I wouldn't be excited to play this in limited, but it's certainly playable there. Also, good that you can play this in multiple limited decks (Orzhov, Selesnya, or Abzan), so it's not as narrow as a card requiring you to be in three colors. Not playable in constructed. Creative Writing – All good here. This fits perfectly the flavor of the Abzan and their "family tree" tradition.
Polish Challenge (2/2) – W in the mana cost, (B/G) in rules text: subchallenge 1 passed.
12 words (the mana symbol doesn't count as it's not a word): subchallenge 2 passed too. Quality (3/3) – All good here.
Hateblade Slasher2W
Creature – Orc Warrior (C) R: Hateblade Slasher gains first strike until end of turn. 4B: Hateblade Slasher gains deathtouch until end of turn. "The Hateblade promise their souls to greater demons in exchange for the promise of a kill."
(3/1)
Design (6.5/10) Creativity – Mardu Hateblade is the only existing white card that can gain deathtouch as an activated ability. That card must have inspired both you and your opponent (Ogonomany). In your case, the inspiration is evident just from the name. Anyway, never before a card had two activated abilities that could give it the potent combo of first strike and deathtouch if you have the mana to activate both of them. I'll repeat what I said for your opponent's card: new, but certainly not groundbreaking. Elegance – All good here. Potential – Timmy and Johnny don't care. Spike is certainly attracted by the potential of the first strike/deathtouch combo.
Development (8/10) Viability – Everything's fine with the color pie. The potential of the first strike/deathtouch combo pushes this towards uncommon, but I feel it could be common as the activation costs look high enough (mostly the one for deathtouch). Balance – Costs look fine, and they probably are the hardest part to get right on a card like this. The deathtouch ability needs to cost this much because you certainly don't want the player to be able to have both abilities activated in the same turn too often, and most of all too soon. On a creature with high power and low toughness, I like the cost for first strike to be as low as possible, so the one for deathtouch is the one that has to increase. On a creature with low power and high toughness, the contrary would be true, and you rightfully acknowledged that in your design. Very playable in limited, but I don't see it in constructed. Creative Writing – Name is fine. At first, the flavor text feels more Sultai than Mardu. Just substituting "Hateblade" with "Sultai" gives "The Sultai promise their souls..." which seems to makes more sense. In fact, weren't the Sultai the ones to do deals with demons (the Rakshasa)? I don't think the Mardu do. I rechecked both parts of the Planeswalker's Guide to Tarkir multiple times by now, and indeed the only mention of demons I found is in the Sultai section. That doesn't mean there aren't demons among the Mardu (Butcher of the Horde still exists after all), but there's no mention anywhere of the Mardu doing deals with them, or any other non-Sultai clan for all that matters. It may be possible some Mardu did, as in the Sultai section you can find: "The Sultai were the first clan to make deals with the powerful rakshasas, ruthless cat-demons who offer great power at a terrible price." (emphasis mine). It says "the FIRST clan", not "the ONLY clan". Yet, no evidence can be found anywhere about other clans doing deals with them.
I have to reach a final point, and I'll go with this: I think leaving just half a point of difference between your card and Ogonomany's one is the right thing to do, and here's why. I have to take into account the fact that the flavor of his card is immediately understandable and makes perfect sense at a glance, while yours may be right too, but you have to think about it. It's not immediate, the first thought you have as you read it is "isn't this Sultai?", then you investigate the official sources and discover that indeed that flavor text does NOT explicitly contradict them. In the end, the difference is just one of immediacy. His is just more immediate, that's all. This is the conclusion I reached after two days of pondering and thinking, and it's not going to change. I may be wrong, but I'm just human after all.
Polish Challenge (2/2) – W in the mana cost, B and R in rules text: subchallenge 1 passed.
17 words, not counting mana symbols as they aren't words: subchallenge 2 passed too. Quality (3/3) – All good here.
Soulhoarder1G
Creature - Naga Shaman (C) Morbid — When Soulhoarder enters the battlefield, if a creature died this turn, add B, G or U to your mana pool. "It is not just your body that you will surrender to the Sultai upon death."
—Nefradi, Kheru Lich Lord
2/1
Design (8.5/10) Creativity – In Innistrad block, morbid has never been used to add mana. Also, a Sultai card using not delve but a keyword from a totally different block is certainly innovative enough to get full points here. Elegance – Very elegant, a single sentence explains everything clearly. Also, I feel that morbid could indeed make sense in Sultai, with all the zombie shenanigans they've got going on. Potential – Timmy doesn't care. Johnny could try abusing this by using a sacrifice outlet and flickering or something like that. Spike might use this in specific decks/matchups where a lot of creatures die so that you get mana from this reliably, but he's interested only if he's able to do that often enough.
Development (8.5/10) Viability – Mana production in green is fine. Green is the second color after black in graveyard interaction so morbid is also fine. This looks fine at common, as you won't always get mana from this. I could see this at uncommon too, but common feels good to me. The only issue I may have with this is that this couldn't be from KTK as it is because of morbid, but as morbid is very flavorful in Sultai, I could imagine this in an hypothetical return to Tarkir where morbid substitutes delve. There it would be perfect. Balance – Cost is good. Very playable in limited. Might be playable in some specific decks in constructed too. Creative Writing – All good here.
Polish Challenge (2/2) – Even though there is G in the rules text, which is also in the mana cost, there are also U and B that aren't, so subchallenge 1 is met.
Word count is 18 counting "morbid" (mana symbols don't count as they're not words). If you don't count the ability word as it has no rules meaning (like reminder text and flavor text that also don't count), it's 17. Anyway you choose to consider this, it passes subchallenge 2 too. Quality (3/3) – All good here.
Frenzied Godchanter3R
Creature - Human Shaman (C) 1WG: Frenzied Godchanter gets +2/+2 and gains trample until end of turn if you control a creature with power 5 or greater. The Nayan mystics are driven to such reverence in the presence of great beasts they often sacrifice their humanity to imitate those they worship.
3/2
Design (7/10) Creativity – A cross among Drumhunter, Mosstodon, and the first mode of Selesnya Charm. Everything in this card has been already done before, just not all together. Elegance – All good here. Potential – Timmy likes this: it takes advantage of his big beasts and becomes one itself. Johnny and probably Spike too don't care.
Development (7.5/10) Viability – The color pie is satisfied. Maybe this would be an uncommon if actually printed, because as soon as you activate the ability once successfully, you can do it again as long as you have mana available, as the Godchanter itself becomes a creature with power 5. I think if you could only activate the ability once per turn this card would be better suited for common. But that's not so important to keep this card from being common at all, I'm not saying that. I just feel this can either be a strong common or a fair uncommon. Balance – Mana cost looks right. The ability cost is right if you consider what I just said in the "Viability" section. If you could only activate it once each turn I would have said the ability could have costed less, but as it's not the case, that's fine. Very playable in limited as long as you're in Naya colors, not so much otherwise as a vanilla red creature. I don't see this being played in constructed, maybe only in block. Creative Writing – All good here.
Polish Challenge (2/2) – R in the mana cost, G and W in rules text: subchallenge 1 passed.
19 words, not counting activation cost, +2/+2 and the numeral "5". Even if you count the numeral, you've still got 20 (PT bonuses don't count, see my clarifications above, and mana symbols obviously can't count as they're aren't words): subchallenge 2 passed anyway. Quality (2.5/3) – The "if" statement should either come at the beginning of the sentence followed by a comma ("If you control a creature with power 5 or greater, Frenzied Godchanter gets +2/+2 and gains trample until end of turn", see various cards, such as Brood Birthing and Scroll of Avacyn), or be a requirement for the activation ("Activate this ability only if you control a creature with power 5 or greater"). In any case, that ability wouldn't be worded like you did if it were actually printed (half a point deducted).
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.)
Eater of Songbirds3B
Creature - Ogre Rogue (C)
When Eater of Songbirds dies, put a 1/1 white Bird creature token with flying onto the battlefield.
Evoke W(You may cast this spell for its evoke cost. If you do, it's sacrificed when it enters the battlefield.) "But you said, "Little birdie is 'swallow'!"
3/3
Glassblade Cadet1W
Creature - Human Soldier (C) U: Glassblade Cadet gains flying until end of turn. R: Glassblade Cadet gains haste until end of turn. "To fight with such delicately-crafted weaponry takes an immense amount of skill and finesse, as well as mastery of some rather esoteric spells. But the results speak for themselves." -Jaci Litmun, commander of the Glassblades
3/1
Design:
Creativity – There are other creatures that give you mana upon entry.
Elegance – No problems here.
Potential – Johnny might use it.
7/10.
Development:
Viability – No problems here.
Balance – It's weaker than Quirion Sentinel in a few ways, but it's p/t are okay for its cost.
Creative Writing – No problems here.
9/10
Polish:
Challenges – Both met.
Quality – No problems here.
5/5
Total: 21/25
Design:
Creativity – Hardly inspiring.
Elegance – No problems.
Potential – Johnny would play it. It's a limited card.
8/10.
Development:
Viability – I can see the activated ability as needing only green, or, for that matter, red.
Balance – You could have made this a 3/3.
Creative Writing – No problems here.
8/10
Polish:
Challenges – Both met
Quality – It should read “1GW: CARDNAME gets +1/+1 and gains trample until end of turn. Activate this ability only if you control a creature with power 5 or greater.”
3/5
Total: 19/25
Design:
Creativity – Now that is something that hasn't been done before.
Elegance – No problems here.
Potential – It's definitely made for limited.
9/10.
Development:
Viability – No problems here.
Balance – Valley Dasher is a 2/2. I guess it's worth reducing its toughness to have the ability to stop it from attacking.
Creative Writing – Some flavour text would have been nice. I'm sure there's room for it.
8/10
Polish:
Challenges – Both met.
Quality – No problems here.
5/5
Total: 22/25
Design:
Creativity – It's a bit underwhelming, but it hasn't been done before.
Elegance – No problems here.
Potential – Johnny and Spike might play with it.
8/10.
Development:
Viability – No problems here.
Balance – a toughness of 1 makes it too easy to kill. Maybe it could be higher, like 2.
Creative Writing – No problems here.
9/10
Polish:
Challenges – Both met
Quality – No problems here.
5/5
Total: 22/25
As always, no complaints.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."
Entry Design (6/10)] – Creativity – This card isn't particularly new in any way. It's not even a new twist on Evoke, really, since Walker of the Grove had this same basic trigger and result. Elegance – Quite simple and sensible. Potential – Johnny loves evoke already, though this admittedly doesn't give him much else to work with. There are much more exciting evoke cards. Spike likes two modes and two bodies for the price of one. I don't see Timmy being very excited about this one, though.
Development (5/10) – Viability – You've made a good choice in having the token it produces be technically viable in mono-black, so good job there. Balance – This seems pretty efficient for a black common creature, honestly. Black doesn't get a 3/3 for 4 CMC at common with an extra upside very often, but there are precedents that allow for it. Creative Writing – To understand this card's humor, I feel like you have to know about the card Singer of Songbirds, which isn't necessarily ideal. The flavor also seems a bit backward to me. Why does it poop out the songbird, alive, when it dies? "Ogre Rogue" is quite pleasing to say, by the way.
Entry Design (5/10)] – Creativity – There hasn't been a ton of space explored with off-color activated abilities, so this precise combination hasn't been done before. It doesn't feel particularly "fresh", though. Elegance – This is simple and concise, though to me there's no overarching flavor that connects it all together. Potential – I don't see Timmy or Johnny having a particular love for this, but I suppose Spike might like it in limited. It's skill-testing, in a way.
Development (5/10) – Viability – This fits perfectly into the rules and the color pie. I feel like this kind of "menu" creature is usually at uncommon or higher, though. Balance – White doesn't often get 3/1s for 2 at common, but it's not unheard of. However, they don't tend to have this much of an upside. For limited, I would expect this to be at uncommon. Creative Writing – I like the little story you crafted with the name and flavor text to make up for the fact that the design itself is inherently flavorless.
Entry Design (7/10)] – Creativity – Deathtouch and vigilance are a fun combination that I don't believe have been seen together before. That pleases me. Elegance – The abilities are quite simple, and they fit together well. Potential – I suppose Spike might admire this cards versatility. There's not much here for Johnny, though. Timmy probably likes the idea that can attack and block ever turn, and often with impunity.
Development (6/10) – Viability – This fits well within the color pie, though I fear the rarity may be misplaced. It's not complex, but vigilance + deathtouch is a potent combination, which is likely why they haven't been done together before. Balance – I worry about the keyword combination for limited purposes at the intended rarity, but otherwise it seems fine. Creative Writing – This is obviously an Abzan reference, which is fine. I'm not wowed by the flavor, but I'm not disappointed either.
Entry Design (4/10)] – Creativity – First strike and deathtouch are a popular combination when attempting to make a powerful card for creature combat. It's a bit disappointing that there's already a common white Mardu card with grantable deatchtouch, and you've even called it out be referencing it in this card's name: Mardu Hateblade. Elegance – First strike + deathtouch is a well-known and potent combination, but, like all "menu" creatures, this has a lot of knobs to turn. Potential – I don't see Johnny enjoying this, but Timmy certainly gets excited about a creature that "can't lose" at combat. Spike might like the versatility, but I don't think he'd like the card over all.
Development (4/10) – Viability – This is certainly within the color pie, but I doubt that first strike + deathtouch, even when provisional and at such a high cost. Balance – I worry about first strike + deathtouch at common. Creative Writing – I'm bothered by the fact that this card makes the Mardu wedge look like it's centered in white, which it isn't.
This week, we'll be taking a break from the aspects of magic you don't often see. In fact, this week we'll be looking at the most common part of magic there is: the commons.
Main Challenge: Design a common creature card.
Subchallenge 1: Your card is monocolored, and has mana symbols somewhere other than the mana cost of the card that are a different color.
Subchallenge 2: Your card has 20 or fewers words in its rules text.
Player Deadline: 23:59 EDT, 21 November 2014
Judge Deadline: 23:59 EDT, 26 November 2014
Creativity – How original or innovative is the card? Does it present an old idea with a new twist? Does it employ an entirely new mechanic?
Elegance – Is the concept easily understood at a glance? Does the design just 'click' with the flavor?
Potential – Will different player demographics (Spike/Johnny/Timmy) find a use for this card? Does it stand out as a card to build a deck around?
Development (X/10) – This reflects the execution of the idea, fleshing it into a playable card.
Viability – How well does this card fit into the color wheel? Does it break or bend the rules of the game? Is it at the appropriate rarity?
Balance – Does the card's cost match its power? How balanced are its interactions with other cards? Can it be played in constructed, limited, or multiplayer without breaking any of those formats?
Creative Writing – Does the name sound like it fits on a card? Does the flavor text feel natural and professional? Does the combination of name, flavor text, and card concept make Vorthos spout poetry?
Polish – This reflects the finishing touches made to the card, polishing it to an end product that could see print.
Challenge (X/2) – One point awarded per satisfied challenge condition.
Quality (X/3) – Points deducted for incorrect spelling, grammar, and templating.
Total: X/25
Moss_Elemental
Triumvirate vs NVRBLND
Ninja Caterpie vs Sagharri
admirableadmiral
Ninja Caterpie vs Sagharri
Palanthas vs GG Chrono
Link
Palanthas vs GG Chrono
Ogonomancy vs hopefulhawkeye
bravelion83
Ogonomancy vs hopefulhawkeye
Triumvirate vs NVRBLND
Creativity – Valley Dasher, but with one less toughness in exchange for sometimes not having to attack.
Elegance – I'm not sure why the goblin would have to recieve the 'training' of the white mana every turn in order to not attack, but otherwise the idea is good enough.
Potential – It doesn't really appeal to any one demographic.
Development (8/10)
Viability – I'll go out on a limb and say that this is in-color, even though there aren't really any precedents. White is about order, and not having to attack seems like enough order to me.
Balance – It's got a weaker body than an existing common in excange for a situational upside. It's a fair trade.
Creative Writing – You lose out in this area.
Polish –
Challenge (2/2) –
Quality (3/3) –
Total: 19/25
Creativity – It's new, and evocative of a tormented soul flailing until it (hopefully) finds rest.
Elegance – It comes across well.
Potential – Spike likes the stats, but other than that it's limited fodder.
Development (8/10)
Viability – The colors work out, even if I don't like how the triggered ability is white.
Balance – The card is considerably stronger than an existing card, but requires you to keep up white mana if you want to play around its downside. I like it.
Creative Writing – The flavor text is fairly poor in my opinion.
Polish –
Challenge (2/2) –
Quality (3/3) –
Total: 23/25
Creativity – It's nothing too ingenuitive, but it hasn't been done before.
Elegance – So the bird flies out of his corpse when he dies?
Potential – Spike likes it, and johnny will try to combo with it in draft.
Development (6/10)
Viability – This is too pushed for a black common. A 3/3 for 4 mana is already the standard for its rarity and mana cost, but when you factor in the two relevant upsides you have yourself something that's too strong.
Balance – Outside of color pie power level issues, I personally like how it's got utility and is strong without being too strong as a common.
Creative Writing – The name doesn't make sense unless you're already familiar with Seller of Songbirds, which doesn't sit well with me.
Polish –
Challenge (2/2) –
Quality (3/3) –
Total: 18/25
Creativity – Very little about this is original. It's also strictly better than Oreskos Swiftclaw in two different ways.
Elegance – It's clean.
Potential – Spike will play this because of how strong it is for a common in draft.
Development (6/10)
Viability – The colors are right, and the effects have been seen before at that rarity.
Balance – This is incredibly pushed for a common. A two mana three power flier is really strong, and the haste ability is just icing on the cake. This card is too efficient and needs some balancing.
Creative Writing – The flavor is excellent enough to redeem the card somewhat.
Polish –
Challenge (2/2) –
Quality (3/3) –
Total: 14/25
Creature - Goblin Soldier (C)
Haste
Goblin Trainee attacks each turn if able. You may pay W to ignore this effect until end of turn.
2/1
I believe that's 20 words.
You got 99 attackers but I'm blocking with 1.
The Winner is Judge | 7
This Winner is Also Judge | 6
Club Flamingo | Lots
Creature - Human Shaman (C)
1WG: Frenzied Godchanter gets +2/+2 and gains trample until end of turn if you control a creature with power 5 or greater.
The Nayan mystics are driven to such reverence in the presence of great beasts they often sacrifice their humanity to imitate those they worship.
3/2
Signature by DarkNightCavalier at Heroes of the Plane Studios
Creature - Human Warrior (C)
Vigilance
(B/G): Warden of the First Tree gains deathtouch until end of turn.
"No intruders shall pass into these sacred grounds, no matter what must be done to stop them."
2/5
"I'm pulling out of my driveway! We all know what that means! It's time to start to judge!"
Design/development: I mentally divide points equally among subsections, assign them, then add them up.
Challenges: what counts is always the letter of the law.
Quality: half a point deducted for any error in wording, spelling, or grammar; a whole point for particularly serious errors.
No complaints unless I got something objectively wrong.
First: Rules text is what it's defined to be (see rule 207 in the Comprehensive Rules): all text in the text box, and just that, NOT including reminder text and flavor text (as they have no game function, see rule 207.2). All other text on the card (name, mana cost, everything in the type line, power and toughness, artist credit, collector's info and copyright) is NOT rules text.
Second: Differently from what I said before, they do NOT count as words, so base PT and PT modifiers are officially out of the 20 word limit for subchallenge 2.
No, see the first point above.
As the OP only talks about "mana symbols" without specifying anything more, yes, hybrid mana, "twobrid" mana, and phyrexian mana are all acceptable. Even if they include a color that is already in your card's mana cost, they are still ok if they also contain one other color. Snow mana would count if the OP didn't say "that are a different color", but as a snow mana symbol is colorless, it doesn't even have a color to be compared to be "different", so snow mana does NOT count.
Azorius Bureaucrat 2W
Creature — Human Advisor (C)
When Azorius Bureaucrat enters the battlefield, if U was spent to cast it, draw a card.
“Good legislation requires knowledge of precedents.”
2/2
Ogonomany vs hopefulhawkeye
This has been a very hard matchup to judge, and it took a lot of pondering and thinking. The cards are so similar: both are white, both have an activated ability that grants themselves deathtouch, both have Tarkir flavor. It all came down to how well the flavor fit their respective clan and how immediate its comprehension is, the difference in points is only because of that. You can read more about this in the "Creative Writing" section of hopefulhawkeye's card judgment.
By the way, I paid extra attention in the spelling of Ogonomany's nickname. I feel bad myself when others spell or pronounce my nickname badly. Here in Italy not everyone knows English, and if you pronounce it like you'd do in Italian, like some Italian friends of mine did, the pronunciation changes and becomes wrong, as I created it in English and should be pronounced in English. So I think I know how you feel when you always see that extra "c", and I paid attention not to type it.
Design (6.5/10)
Creativity – Mardu Hateblade is the only existing white card that can gain deathtouch as an activated ability. That card must have inspired both you and your opponent (hopefulhawkeye). In your case, never before that ability has been on a creature with those stats and vigilance. New, but certainly not groundbreaking.
Elegance – All good here.
Potential – Not sure if Timmy cares. He may care, but he probably prefers to play some 4/4 trample or something for 5 mana at common. Johnny doesn't care. Some "Limited Spike" may be interested, but "Constructed Spike" certainly isn't.
Development (8.5/10)
Viability – All good here.
Balance – Cost looks right after all, I don't think it could cost less. I wouldn't be excited to play this in limited, but it's certainly playable there. Also, good that you can play this in multiple limited decks (Orzhov, Selesnya, or Abzan), so it's not as narrow as a card requiring you to be in three colors. Not playable in constructed.
Creative Writing – All good here. This fits perfectly the flavor of the Abzan and their "family tree" tradition.
Polish
Challenge (2/2) – W in the mana cost, (B/G) in rules text: subchallenge 1 passed.
12 words (the mana symbol doesn't count as it's not a word): subchallenge 2 passed too.
Quality (3/3) – All good here.
Total: 20/25
Design (6.5/10)
Creativity – Mardu Hateblade is the only existing white card that can gain deathtouch as an activated ability. That card must have inspired both you and your opponent (Ogonomany). In your case, the inspiration is evident just from the name. Anyway, never before a card had two activated abilities that could give it the potent combo of first strike and deathtouch if you have the mana to activate both of them. I'll repeat what I said for your opponent's card: new, but certainly not groundbreaking.
Elegance – All good here.
Potential – Timmy and Johnny don't care. Spike is certainly attracted by the potential of the first strike/deathtouch combo.
Development (8/10)
Viability – Everything's fine with the color pie. The potential of the first strike/deathtouch combo pushes this towards uncommon, but I feel it could be common as the activation costs look high enough (mostly the one for deathtouch).
Balance – Costs look fine, and they probably are the hardest part to get right on a card like this. The deathtouch ability needs to cost this much because you certainly don't want the player to be able to have both abilities activated in the same turn too often, and most of all too soon. On a creature with high power and low toughness, I like the cost for first strike to be as low as possible, so the one for deathtouch is the one that has to increase. On a creature with low power and high toughness, the contrary would be true, and you rightfully acknowledged that in your design. Very playable in limited, but I don't see it in constructed.
Creative Writing – Name is fine. At first, the flavor text feels more Sultai than Mardu. Just substituting "Hateblade" with "Sultai" gives "The Sultai promise their souls..." which seems to makes more sense. In fact, weren't the Sultai the ones to do deals with demons (the Rakshasa)? I don't think the Mardu do. I rechecked both parts of the Planeswalker's Guide to Tarkir multiple times by now, and indeed the only mention of demons I found is in the Sultai section. That doesn't mean there aren't demons among the Mardu (Butcher of the Horde still exists after all), but there's no mention anywhere of the Mardu doing deals with them, or any other non-Sultai clan for all that matters. It may be possible some Mardu did, as in the Sultai section you can find: "The Sultai were the first clan to make deals with the powerful rakshasas, ruthless cat-demons who offer great power at a terrible price." (emphasis mine). It says "the FIRST clan", not "the ONLY clan". Yet, no evidence can be found anywhere about other clans doing deals with them.
I have to reach a final point, and I'll go with this: I think leaving just half a point of difference between your card and Ogonomany's one is the right thing to do, and here's why. I have to take into account the fact that the flavor of his card is immediately understandable and makes perfect sense at a glance, while yours may be right too, but you have to think about it. It's not immediate, the first thought you have as you read it is "isn't this Sultai?", then you investigate the official sources and discover that indeed that flavor text does NOT explicitly contradict them. In the end, the difference is just one of immediacy. His is just more immediate, that's all. This is the conclusion I reached after two days of pondering and thinking, and it's not going to change. I may be wrong, but I'm just human after all.
Polish
Challenge (2/2) – W in the mana cost, B and R in rules text: subchallenge 1 passed.
17 words, not counting mana symbols as they aren't words: subchallenge 2 passed too.
Quality (3/3) – All good here.
Total: 19.5/25
Trivmvirate vs NVRBLND
Design (8.5/10)
Creativity – In Innistrad block, morbid has never been used to add mana. Also, a Sultai card using not delve but a keyword from a totally different block is certainly innovative enough to get full points here.
Elegance – Very elegant, a single sentence explains everything clearly. Also, I feel that morbid could indeed make sense in Sultai, with all the zombie shenanigans they've got going on.
Potential – Timmy doesn't care. Johnny could try abusing this by using a sacrifice outlet and flickering or something like that. Spike might use this in specific decks/matchups where a lot of creatures die so that you get mana from this reliably, but he's interested only if he's able to do that often enough.
Development (8.5/10)
Viability – Mana production in green is fine. Green is the second color after black in graveyard interaction so morbid is also fine. This looks fine at common, as you won't always get mana from this. I could see this at uncommon too, but common feels good to me. The only issue I may have with this is that this couldn't be from KTK as it is because of morbid, but as morbid is very flavorful in Sultai, I could imagine this in an hypothetical return to Tarkir where morbid substitutes delve. There it would be perfect.
Balance – Cost is good. Very playable in limited. Might be playable in some specific decks in constructed too.
Creative Writing – All good here.
Polish
Challenge (2/2) – Even though there is G in the rules text, which is also in the mana cost, there are also U and B that aren't, so subchallenge 1 is met.
Word count is 18 counting "morbid" (mana symbols don't count as they're not words). If you don't count the ability word as it has no rules meaning (like reminder text and flavor text that also don't count), it's 17. Anyway you choose to consider this, it passes subchallenge 2 too.
Quality (3/3) – All good here.
Total: 22/25
Design (7/10)
Creativity – A cross among Drumhunter, Mosstodon, and the first mode of Selesnya Charm. Everything in this card has been already done before, just not all together.
Elegance – All good here.
Potential – Timmy likes this: it takes advantage of his big beasts and becomes one itself. Johnny and probably Spike too don't care.
Development (7.5/10)
Viability – The color pie is satisfied. Maybe this would be an uncommon if actually printed, because as soon as you activate the ability once successfully, you can do it again as long as you have mana available, as the Godchanter itself becomes a creature with power 5. I think if you could only activate the ability once per turn this card would be better suited for common. But that's not so important to keep this card from being common at all, I'm not saying that. I just feel this can either be a strong common or a fair uncommon.
Balance – Mana cost looks right. The ability cost is right if you consider what I just said in the "Viability" section. If you could only activate it once each turn I would have said the ability could have costed less, but as it's not the case, that's fine. Very playable in limited as long as you're in Naya colors, not so much otherwise as a vanilla red creature. I don't see this being played in constructed, maybe only in block.
Creative Writing – All good here.
Polish
Challenge (2/2) – R in the mana cost, G and W in rules text: subchallenge 1 passed.
19 words, not counting activation cost, +2/+2 and the numeral "5". Even if you count the numeral, you've still got 20 (PT bonuses don't count, see my clarifications above, and mana symbols obviously can't count as they're aren't words): subchallenge 2 passed anyway.
Quality (2.5/3) – The "if" statement should either come at the beginning of the sentence followed by a comma ("If you control a creature with power 5 or greater, Frenzied Godchanter gets +2/+2 and gains trample until end of turn", see various cards, such as Brood Birthing and Scroll of Avacyn), or be a requirement for the activation ("Activate this ability only if you control a creature with power 5 or greater"). In any case, that ability wouldn't be worded like you did if it were actually printed (half a point deducted).
Total: 19/25
Ogonomany 20/25
hopefulhawkeye 19.5/25
Trivmvirate 22/25
NVRBLND 19/25
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.)
Creature - Ogre Rogue (C)
When Eater of Songbirds dies, put a 1/1 white Bird creature token with flying onto the battlefield.
Evoke W (You may cast this spell for its evoke cost. If you do, it's sacrificed when it enters the battlefield.)
"But you said, "Little birdie is 'swallow'!"
3/3
- My Full Mirrodin Cube (draft it here)
- My One-Drop Cube (draft it here)
MCC Winner Nov ‘14 & Nov ‘15
Creature - Human Soldier (C)
U: Glassblade Cadet gains flying until end of turn.
R: Glassblade Cadet gains haste until end of turn.
"To fight with such delicately-crafted weaponry takes an immense amount of skill and finesse, as well as mastery of some rather esoteric spells. But the results speak for themselves." -Jaci Litmun, commander of the Glassblades
3/1
Creativity – There are other creatures that give you mana upon entry.
Elegance – No problems here.
Potential – Johnny might use it.
7/10.
Development:
Viability – No problems here.
Balance – It's weaker than Quirion Sentinel in a few ways, but it's p/t are okay for its cost.
Creative Writing – No problems here.
9/10
Polish:
Challenges – Both met.
Quality – No problems here.
5/5
Total: 21/25
Creativity – Hardly inspiring.
Elegance – No problems.
Potential – Johnny would play it. It's a limited card.
8/10.
Development:
Viability – I can see the activated ability as needing only green, or, for that matter, red.
Balance – You could have made this a 3/3.
Creative Writing – No problems here.
8/10
Polish:
Challenges – Both met
Quality – It should read “1GW: CARDNAME gets +1/+1 and gains trample until end of turn. Activate this ability only if you control a creature with power 5 or greater.”
3/5
Total: 19/25
Creativity – Now that is something that hasn't been done before.
Elegance – No problems here.
Potential – It's definitely made for limited.
9/10.
Development:
Viability – No problems here.
Balance – Valley Dasher is a 2/2. I guess it's worth reducing its toughness to have the ability to stop it from attacking.
Creative Writing – Some flavour text would have been nice. I'm sure there's room for it.
8/10
Polish:
Challenges – Both met.
Quality – No problems here.
5/5
Total: 22/25
Creativity – It's a bit underwhelming, but it hasn't been done before.
Elegance – No problems here.
Potential – Johnny and Spike might play with it.
8/10.
Development:
Viability – No problems here.
Balance – a toughness of 1 makes it too easy to kill. Maybe it could be higher, like 2.
Creative Writing – No problems here.
9/10
Polish:
Challenges – Both met
Quality – No problems here.
5/5
Total: 22/25
As always, no complaints.
Entry
Design (6/10)] –
Creativity – This card isn't particularly new in any way. It's not even a new twist on Evoke, really, since Walker of the Grove had this same basic trigger and result.
Elegance – Quite simple and sensible.
Potential – Johnny loves evoke already, though this admittedly doesn't give him much else to work with. There are much more exciting evoke cards. Spike likes two modes and two bodies for the price of one. I don't see Timmy being very excited about this one, though.
Development (5/10) –
Viability – You've made a good choice in having the token it produces be technically viable in mono-black, so good job there.
Balance – This seems pretty efficient for a black common creature, honestly. Black doesn't get a 3/3 for 4 CMC at common with an extra upside very often, but there are precedents that allow for it.
Creative Writing – To understand this card's humor, I feel like you have to know about the card Singer of Songbirds, which isn't necessarily ideal. The flavor also seems a bit backward to me. Why does it poop out the songbird, alive, when it dies? "Ogre Rogue" is quite pleasing to say, by the way.
Polish –
Challenge (2/2) – Met.
Quality (3/3) – Seems fine.
Total: 16/25
Entry
Design (5/10)] –
Creativity – There hasn't been a ton of space explored with off-color activated abilities, so this precise combination hasn't been done before. It doesn't feel particularly "fresh", though.
Elegance – This is simple and concise, though to me there's no overarching flavor that connects it all together.
Potential – I don't see Timmy or Johnny having a particular love for this, but I suppose Spike might like it in limited. It's skill-testing, in a way.
Development (5/10) –
Viability – This fits perfectly into the rules and the color pie. I feel like this kind of "menu" creature is usually at uncommon or higher, though.
Balance – White doesn't often get 3/1s for 2 at common, but it's not unheard of. However, they don't tend to have this much of an upside. For limited, I would expect this to be at uncommon.
Creative Writing – I like the little story you crafted with the name and flavor text to make up for the fact that the design itself is inherently flavorless.
Polish –
Challenge (2/2) – Met.
Quality (3/3) – Seems fine.
Total: 15/25
Palanthas = 16
GG Chrono = 15
Entry
Design (7/10)] –
Creativity – Deathtouch and vigilance are a fun combination that I don't believe have been seen together before. That pleases me.
Elegance – The abilities are quite simple, and they fit together well.
Potential – I suppose Spike might admire this cards versatility. There's not much here for Johnny, though. Timmy probably likes the idea that can attack and block ever turn, and often with impunity.
Development (6/10) –
Viability – This fits well within the color pie, though I fear the rarity may be misplaced. It's not complex, but vigilance + deathtouch is a potent combination, which is likely why they haven't been done together before.
Balance – I worry about the keyword combination for limited purposes at the intended rarity, but otherwise it seems fine.
Creative Writing – This is obviously an Abzan reference, which is fine. I'm not wowed by the flavor, but I'm not disappointed either.
Polish –
Challenge (2/2) – Met.
Quality (3/3) – Alright.
Total: 18/25
Entry
Design (4/10)] –
Creativity – First strike and deathtouch are a popular combination when attempting to make a powerful card for creature combat. It's a bit disappointing that there's already a common white Mardu card with grantable deatchtouch, and you've even called it out be referencing it in this card's name: Mardu Hateblade.
Elegance – First strike + deathtouch is a well-known and potent combination, but, like all "menu" creatures, this has a lot of knobs to turn.
Potential – I don't see Johnny enjoying this, but Timmy certainly gets excited about a creature that "can't lose" at combat. Spike might like the versatility, but I don't think he'd like the card over all.
Development (4/10) –
Viability – This is certainly within the color pie, but I doubt that first strike + deathtouch, even when provisional and at such a high cost.
Balance – I worry about first strike + deathtouch at common.
Creative Writing – I'm bothered by the fact that this card makes the Mardu wedge look like it's centered in white, which it isn't.
Polish –
Challenge (2/2) – Met.
Quality (3/3) – Seems fine.
Total: 13/25
Ogonomany = 18
hopefulhawkeye = 13