MCC March Round 2 – My Master Plan? To Steal Yours!
Welcome round 2 contestants! In the first challenge, you made a new menace or antagonist to the magic universe and your vile creations cut your opponents to shreds. Now it time to continue the evil march.
You are forming the master plan to your diabolic schemes; a spell that could easily end your opponent’s futile struggles. Meanwhile, your rival masterminds have come up with their own methods to dominate the multiverse. Why put their ideas to waste when you can seize them and make them better?
Your Challenge:
Create an instant or sorcery spell that either:
A) Uses one of your round 2 opponents keyword/ability words from the first round.
B) Directly synergies with a round 2 opponents keyword/ability word from the first round.
Please post the card you are drawing influence from along with your entry so it is abundantly clear who you are stealing from .
Sub Challenge 1: Your spell has a converted mana cost 5 or greater.
Sub Challenge 2: Your spell does not make tribal references in it’s rules text.
Clarifications:
Only your opponents that made it through to the second round are eligible to “steal” from.
Tribal reference include but are not limited to effects like “Elves you control get…”, “Target creature gets +1/+1 for each Giant…”, “Dragons cost 2 less to cast…”, etc... These are all illegal.
Card entries are due Thursday, March 12th by 11:59 EST.
Round two submission phase is over. Here are oure entries. Despite my warning, a number of folks did not read the rules or clarifications clearly, and have been disqualified. Top 2 advance from their groups.
Judge - admirableadmiral
Piar
Tilwin
thenoodler SelesnyaNewLife - Disqualified: Submitted a creature instead of an instant or sorcery spell.
Judge - IcariiFA
IlGreven
L0ng5h0t
void_nothing
Trivmvirate
Judge - bravelion83
Flatline
Antny223
Altaurus321 scrad_the_wanderer - Disqualified: Stole an ability from an illegal card (not a round 2 contestant.)
Judge - Ogonomany
netn10
PsyOp
Moss_Elemental Groovelord - Disqualified: Stole an ability from an illegal card (not a round 2 contestant.)
Due to a special request, I'm extending the Judge Deadline to Monday, 11:59PM eastern time. Bon chance, contestants!
Visions of Endless Time2GGUU
Instant (R)
Cast Visions of Endless Time only during a player's upkeep.
Untap all permanents. Each player draws seven cards. The gifts of the Ennmai are new beginnings, whether they're wanted or not.
Compost 2B(2B, Exile this card from your graveyard: Draw a card.)
When you compost Elder Gnort, target player discards a card.
The wisdom of old Gnorts is usually conveyed in a barrage of insults and obscenities.
3/3
Obscene End3BG
Sorcery (R)
Destroy target permanent. Target player puts the top X cards of his or her library into his or her graveyard, where X is that permanent's converted mana cost.
Compost 3BG(3BG, Exile this card from your graveyard: Draw a card.) "Gnorts are well known for their bark, but you should really watch out for their bite."
Psyon of Stolen Memories2UU
Creature - Psyon (Uncommon)
Eraser (Whenever this creature blocks or becomes blocked, the other blocked or blocking creature loses all abilities until end of turn)
Whenever a Psyon you control blocks or becomes blocked, draw a card. The Mysterious Psyon are masters of memory manipulation
and deception, often working as a hivemind of agents for corrupted kings.
3/2
I take altaurus321's mechanic.
Fireclaw Hellspawn2R
Creature - Hellspawn Warrior (U)
Consume 2R(If a creature you control would die, you may pay 2R and exile it instead. If you do, return this to the battlefield.)
Fireclaw Hellspawn has first strike as long as it shares a color with its consumed creature.
3/2
Carnage of the Undead4BUG
Sorcery (Mythic)
Until end of turn, each creature card in your graveyard has consume 0 and has "When this creature enters the battlefield, draw a card". (If a creature you control would die, you may pay 0 and exile it instead. If you do, return the creature from your graveyard to the battlefield.)
Mindweaver1WU
Creature - Iqui (U)
Skim (Whenever an opponent draws a card, if this creature is untapped, put a +1/+1 counter on it.)
Whenever Mindweaver skims, you may pay W. If you do, tap target creature.
They seize an idea before others even grasp it.
1/1
Fragile Alliance3WU
Sorcery {U}
Each player draws a card. Put a white 1/1 Human Soldier creature token onto the battlefield for each card in target opponent's hand.
"I'll celebrate as her sister for as long as it proves worthwhile to do so." - Queen Domasca to General Ruso
Raving Fury3R
Creature - Fury (C)
Raving Fury attacks each turn if able.
Rage 2 (Whenever this creature attacks, it gets +2/+0 until end of turn.) Anger: The cause of and the solution to all conflicts.
2/2
Planeborn Hoplite -- W
Creature -- Planeborn Knight (C)
First strike Planestake -- Planeborn Hoplite gets +1/+1 as long as an opponent controls a planeswalker. "The first intrusion is the most painful. As planeborn, it is our duty to make sure even that does not happen." -E'kuan, Planeborn Elder
1/1
Bloodspill3BB
Sorcery (R)
Each player sacrifices two creatures Planestake - If an opponent controls a planeswalker, each opponent sacrifices two creatures instead. "All this senseless death. It is so beautiful." - Filthar, archdemon
Formless Spark2UU
Creature - Plasmoid [R]
Flash, discharge (When this creature dies, it deals damage equal to its power divided between any number of target creatures. Then exile it.)
When Formless Spark enters the battlefield, counter target creature spell. Formless Spark becomes a copy of that creature, and gains discharge.
0/1
They have no shape except somone else's.
Dune Reviver1G
Creature - Wildborn Shaman (c)
When Sandscourger enters the battlefield, reclaim target creature card in your graveyard (To reclaim a card, exlie it. At the beginning of its owner's next draw step, that player may choose to put that card into his or her hand instead of drawing a card). "Where today a vast civillization flourishes, there was once nothing but great wilderness. That widerness shall return."
2/2
Vanish into AEther3UU
Instant [R]
Exile target spell.
At the beginning of your upkeep, if Vanish into AEther is in your graveyard, you may pay 1UU. If you do, reclaim it. If not, exile it. (To reclaim a card, exile it. At the beginning of it's owners next draw step, that player may skip his or her draw step and put a reclaimed card into his or her hand instead.)
Jimmy groove's mechanic: Inspire (cost) (Exile this card from your hand inspiring target creature, (cost): draw a card. You may cast that card while it is exiled.)
Dreams Into Reality3RRGG
Sorcery (m)
Put all creature cards in exile onto the battlefield under your control, then draw a card for each creature you control. All creatures put onto the battlefield this way gain haste. At the beginning of the next end step, return them to their owner's hand.
Compost 2B(2B, Exile this card from your graveyard: Draw a card.)
When you compost Elder Gnort, target player discards a card.
The wisdom of old Gnorts is usually conveyed in a barrage of insults and obscenities.
3/3
Corpse Rotation
Sorcery (R)
Exile all creature cards from all graveyards. Then destroy all creatures.
As long as Corpse Rotation is in your graveyard, each creature card in your graveyard has compost . ( , Exile the card from your graveyard: Draw a card.) Fresh fertilizer offers the greatest yield.
(22 Total) - October 2014; December 2014; January 2015; April 2015; June 2015; August 2015; September 2015; November 2015; December 2015(T); January 2016; March 2016(T); April 2016; June 2016; October 2016; December 2016(T); February 2017; April 2017; December 2017; November 2018(T); January 2019; April 2019; June 2019
(8 Total) - May 2015; May 2016; June 2016; August 2016; October 2016; December 2016; October 2017; May 2019
(7 Total) - September 2015; October 2015; January 2016; March 2016; April 2016; July 2016(T); March 2019(T)
In the spirit of avoiding any disqualifications this round:
Please double check your entries. A number of them have not followed the main and or/secondary challenges. I want to see everyone do their best and get the highest scores possible!
Edit: For some reason the forum board isn't letting me edit my main post. Weird error. I'll add this to clarification when I can, but put a token creature onto the battlefield that references a tribe fails the 2nd sub challenge.
Planeborn Hoplite -- W
Creature -- Planeborn Knight (C)
First strike Planestake -- Planeborn Hoplite gets +1/+1 as long as an opponent controls a planeswalker. "The first intrusion is the most painful. As planeborn, it is our duty to make sure even that does not happen." -E'kuan, Planeborn Elder
1/1
Mindwarp Invader 2UU
Creature - Teladrix (C)
Fugue (If this creature would deal damage to a player, instead that player puts that many cards from the top of his or her library into his or her graveyard)
Mindwarp Invader can't be blocked.
"Good or bad, of today or of a past era, your memories will serve a greater purpose now." - Welgor, Teladrix Consul
3/2
Fugueblaze -- 3RR
Sorcery (R)
Fugue (If this spell would deal damage to a player, instead that player puts that many cards from the top of his or her library into his or her graveyard.)
Fugueblaze deals 10 damage to target creature or player. Teladrix congregations are strictly regulated. Intrusions as small as mice are dealt with quickly and decisively.
My thoughts on the matter are that creating a token of the unique creature type is a fairly easy and obvious solution to the base challenge. It would of been very simple to have a card that created tokens with the keyword ability that your opponents introduced and I wanted to push designers in a more creative direction. Not that there couldn't be creative ways to create said tokens, but I felt we could do better.
My card is based on coletrain's "indoctrinate" keyword. (Indoctrinate X means "Distribute X indoctrination counters among creatures you don't control. When the number of indoctrination counters on a creature is greater than or equal to its toughness, remove all of them and gain control of that creature.")
Spread the Word3WUU
Sorcery (R)
Indoctrinate X, where X is the number of creatures on the battlefield.
Round two submission phase is over. Here are oure entries. Despite my warning, a number of folks did not read the rules or clarifications clearly, and have been disqualified. Top 2 advance from their groups.
Judge - admirableadmiral
Piar
Tilwin
thenoodler SelesnyaNewLife - Disqualified: Submitted a creature instead of an instant or sorcery spell.
Note - When I say "#N in MOQX", it means: this is the mistake number N in my "Mark of Quality, part X" article.
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 templating, wording, spelling, or grammar, no matter how little they may be; a whole point for particularly serious errors.
No complaints unless I got something objectively wrong.
Fireclaw Hellspawn2R
Creature - Hellspawn Warrior (U)
Consume 2R (If a creature you control would die, you may pay 2R and exile it instead. If you do, return this from your graveyard to the battlefield.)
Fireclaw Hellspawn has first strike as long as it shares a color with its consumed creature.
3/2
Bone Mannequin1BB
Creature — Skeleton Zombie (R)
Consume BB(If a creature you control would die, you may pay BB and exile it instead. If you do, return this card from your graveyard to the battlefield. Otherwise, sacrifice that creature.)
Bone Mannequin has all activated abilities of the consumed card.
2/2
I didn’t want to post this card before the round was closed because I was stealing one of my players’ mechanics and I didn’t want to raise potential doubts.
Corrected consume’s reminder text to say "this card" to avoid ambiguities, and adding the final line, which is necessary because without it the creature that’s about to die does not die if you choose not to pay for consume. That’s because of the way replacement effects work: if you replace the creature’s death, it won’t happen anymore, even if you replace it with a choice. So if you decline the choice you’re substituting an event with nothing, which while possible is clearly not the intent here.
The right wording is "consumed card" because it’s in exile by then, and "creatures" exist only on the battlefield (#2 in MOQ1).
EDIT 3/18 - D'OH! What an epic fail! I just realized I fall in the same trap as some of the DQs, designing a creature instead of an instant or sorcery. Oh well... I'll leave this card here anyway just as a cool card.
Inspiration from Groovelord: Elder Gnort(B/G)(B/G)(B/G)
Creature -- Gnort Shaman (U)
Compost 2B(2B, Exile this card from your graveyard: Draw a card.)
When you compost Elder Gnort, target player discards a card. The wisdom of old Gnorts is usually conveyed in a barrage of insults and obscenities.
3/3
Submission: Corpse Rotation
Sorcery (R)
Exile all creature cards from all graveyards. Then destroy all creatures.
As long as Corpse Rotation is in your graveyard, each creature card in your graveyard has compost . ( , Exile the card from your graveyard: Draw a card.) Fresh fertilizer offers the greatest yield.
Design (7.5/10) Creativity – All the single parts have been done before, but their mix results in something quite original, especially because the compost granting ability works from the graveyard. Elegance – Once you understand that the creatures you destroy with this are not exiled, you're good here. The "then" before "destroy all creatures" should help a lot here. Potential – Timmy will like very much the act itself of resolving this: it greatly affects the battlefield, and there's a lot of manuality involved in resolving it, with great visual feedback (by the way, thanks a lot to Reuben and Dan, this is something I learned to think about listening to the Remaking Magic podcast, and also the terminology I just used). For Timmy, the compost is just a nice bonus. For Spike, it's one of the main points of the card, with the wrath part. He will like very much the card advantage compost can give him: he gets to reset the board, which is great when he's behind, and should some of his creatures die in the process, he can recycle them to draw cards. What more can he ask for? Finally, I don't think Johnny will be very interested about this.
Development (8/10) Viability – This is green only because of flavor. Mechanically there is nothing green in this card. This will make you gain points in flavor but lose points here, as mechanically this card should be monoblack, without any doubt. It would have been black/green if it said "destroy all nonland permanents" instead of "all creatures", for example. Rarity is right. Balance – The mana cost looks as low as it can be while still being acceptable. Wraths nowadays cost at least five mana (there is an article by Sam Stoddart about developing removal spells where he says they are trying to stay away from the four mana wrath in the general weakening of removal), here we have one with additional upside so that is definitely right. The only potential problem I see with this card is memory issues when it's in the graveyard and its compost granting ability is turned on (not saying "activated" because it's a static ability, not an activated one). You have to remember that this card is in your graveyard, and while there are ways to help yourself remind it (put it slightly displaced in your graveyard, or put it always on top of it, as you're allowed to rearrange your graveyard in any format that's not Legacy or Vintage), these issues would be immediately solved if this was an enchantment working from the battlefield with the "exile all graveyards, then destroy everything" part as an ETB ability. I would have liked it much better that way, but obviously in this round you couldn't do it because it would have failed the main challenge. Well, I guess this is the best it can be while still fitting the challenge. I see this more as a constructed card than a limited one, like most wraths, but it should be playable in limited nonetheless. Creative Writing – Very nice pun in the name (Corpse / Crop Rotation), and you also built onto it in flavor text. Very good work, full points here.
Polish Challenge (2/2) – Both met. Quality (2.5/3) – In the reminder text for compost, there is an ambiguity, as it says "exile the card": which card? Corpse Rotation, or the creature card? Solution: have the reminder text say "exile that card" (half a point deducted).
Inspiration from thenoodler: Mindweaver1WU
Creature - Iqui (U)
Skim (Whenever an opponent draws a card, if this creature is untapped, put a +1/+1 counter on it.)
Whenever Mindweaver skims, you may pay W. If you do, tap target creature. They seize an idea before others even grasp it.
1/1
Submission: Fragile Alliance3WU
Sorcery {U}
Each player draws a card. Put a white 1/1 Human Soldier creature token onto the battlefield for each card in target opponent's hand.
"I'll celebrate as her sister for as long as it proves worthwhile to do so." - Queen Domasca to General Ruso
Design (7/10) Creativity – I can't remember any existing scalable token effect based on the number of cards in the opponent's hand. The drawing part is nothing new. Elegance – All good here. Potential – Timmy will like very much the games where he gets to put a bunch a tokens onto the battlefield with this, but that won't always happen. When he's playing against aggro it will probably never happen, when he's playing against control it will almost always happen, provided the opponent lets this resolve, but that's not usually something Timmy thinks about. There's not a lot to do for Johnny here. Spike doesn't like that the opponent gets to draw too, and he probably also sees this as costing a little bit too much.
Development (7.5/10) Viability – This is the perfect gold card: something only the first color does plus something only the second color does. I could see this at rare too because of the potential to make a lot of tokens against control decks, but uncommon can probably be fine, as everyone gets to draw, so this is actually card disadvantage for you (remember you're still spending a card to do this), and it's highly variably in the number of tokens it makes. Balance – Making each player draw two cards at instant speed costs two mana. This is a sorcery and only draws everyone one card, so it makes sense to imagine this part could only cost one blue mana. The token part is much harder to judge, because the number of tokens this makes is highly variable, as I've already mentioned. The question now becomes: leaving one mana aside for the drawing part, how many tokens do I need to make with this to make the token part cost four mana at sorcery speed and still be satisfied? Captain's Call says the answer is three. Will this make three tokens reliably? That means your opponent has two cards in hand when you cast this on your fifth turn. That's definitely possible and even plausible, more in limited than in constructed. Again, in constructed control decks will have at least two cards in hand for sure, aggro decks want to dump their entire hand on the battlefield before the fifth turn, if they have two cards in hands it means they've stumbled and things aren't probably looking so good for them anyway. Keeping everything into account, your mana cost looks reasonable after all. Very playable in limited, while in constructed it may end up being a sideboard card in the end, as it looks quite good in some matchups and almost useless in others. Finally, the synergy with thenoodler's original card is acceptable, but it would certainly have been better with this letting both players draw multiple cards. Creative Writing – Name and flavor text are fine. Not breathtaking, but definitely acceptable.
Polish Challenge (1/2) – Subchallenge 1 met. Subchallenge 2 NOT met, as per IcariiFA's clarification in post #15 of this thread. Quality (2/3) – It should say "put a 1/1 white Human Soldier creature token…" (#42 in MOQ2, half a point deducted). In the flavor text, the attribution should be on a separate line (#12 in MOQ1, half a point deducted).
Inspiration from thenoodler: Mindweaver1WU
Creature - Iqui (U)
Skim (Whenever an opponent draws a card, if this creature is untapped, put a +1/+1 counter on it.)
Whenever Mindweaver skims, you may pay W. If you do, tap target creature. They seize an idea before others even grasp it.
1/1
Submission: No Rest for the Weary4UW
Instant (R)
Choose one
- Tap all creatures you don't control. Those creatures don't untap during their controllers' next untap step.
- Untap all creatures you control. Those creatures gain vigilance until your next end step. Fateful Hour-- If you have 5 or less life, you may do both.
Design (6.5/10) Creativity – I can't remember fateful hour used as entwine. That's original, but the single modes certainly aren't. Elegance – A bit on the wordy side, but other than that, no problems here. Potential – Timmy will like the fact that this spell visibly affects the board, making him feel like he's doing something, but the effects themselves aren't something he's excited about. Johnny may try to use this in some kind of tap/untap engine. Spike will almost always just use the first mode to clear the way for his attacks.
Development (6.5/10) Viability – Everything is in color and rarity looks right. Balance – The first mode is kind of an instant speed Sleep, while the second is a variation on To Arms! that gives vigilance instead of cantripping. Taking into account that the former is a sorcery and that this has the flexibility of a modal card, it looks like the cost can be fine, but could also have been one mana less. But then, Thoughtweft Gambit tells us that choosing both, which you do with fateful hour, costs six mana. Here you only choose one normally, but you get something additional out of it, so six mana definitely looks right. The Gambit is uncommon, but I like seeing this as a rare both because of the additional complexity compared to the Gambit and because this looks like it has an even bigger impact on the board. Certainly playable in limited, but I can't see this in constructed, where you expect a card that costs six mana to win you the game by itself. Finally, the synergy with thenoddler's new ability (skim) isn't so strong, I can only see the idea being to untap Mindweaver with the second mode in response to the opponent drawing, but if that's the intention there's a problem with the rules: skim has an intervening if clause that prevents it from triggering when the opponent draws and it's still tapped. That means that even if you cast No Rest for the Weary to untap it in response, the skim ability still hasn't triggered at all, so you would get an untapped Mindweaver but no +1/+1 counters. Still better than nothing, but not what you wanted. Creative Writing – You said the name was just a placeholder but in the end it stuck. Sounds good enough to me. No room for flavor text.
Polish Challenge (2/2) – Both met. Quality (1/3) – A long dash is missing after "Choose one" (#14 in MOQ1, half a point deducted). Options should be preceded by bullets, not hypens (#14 in MOQ1, half a point deducted). A space is missing between "Fateful Hour" and the following dash (half a point deducted). It should be "you may choose both", "do both" has only ever been used in the reminder text of the Invert the Skies cycle in Shadowmoor and Eventide (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.)
This was a very difficult round for me to judge as I felt all 3 of my entries were of a similar quality. That said, these are my judgements:
IlGreven
Fugueblaze -- 3RR
Sorcery (R)
Fugue (If this spell would deal damage to a player, instead that player puts that many cards from the top of his or her library into his or her graveyard.)
Fugueblaze deals 10 damage to target creature or player.
Design (7.0/10)
Creativity – A spell that alternates between creature damage and mill is unusual. Conceptually the card takes the same idea as puncture bolt.
Elegance – Mechanically this is elegant. Flavorfully this is lacking.
Potential – Spike won’t care outside of limited, where this card is very powerful. Johnny doesn’t get anything special out of the deal. Timmy likes big splashy spells, and this reeks of that.
Development (5.5/10)
Viability – This card is just as blue as it is red, and should reflect that. It could be a rare or uncommon depending on the environment, but rare is safer if underwhelming.
Balance – Into the Maw of Hell says this card is quite reasonable. The versatility between mill and removal is very powerful in limited and probably warrants the rare spot, but outside of that this card would struggle to see even casual play, especially since milling ten is equivalent to dealing about 4 damage to the face. That’s very underwhelming for 5 at sorcery speed and as a rare. The versatility here only takes it so fair. Still, better under then overpowered.
Creative Writing – The name is lazy, and the card had rumor for flavor text to make it more interesting which you opted out of providing.
Polish –Challenge (2/2) – Both met
Quality (3/3) – Looks on point to me.
17.5/25
L0ng5h0t
Vanish into AEther3UU
Instant [R]
Exile target spell.
At the beginning of your upkeep, if Vanish into AEther is in your graveyard, you may pay 1UU. If you do, reclaim it. If not, exile it. (To reclaim a card, exile it. At the beginning of it's owners next draw step, that player may skip his or her draw step and put a reclaimed card into his or her hand instead.)
Design (6.5/10)
Creativity – This is essential a recurring counter spell, which there have been variants of this before. This implementation here is somewhat different, but is hampered by reclaims execution, which feels dated like recover.
Elegance – The reclaim part here seems odd with the idea of vanishing into AEther.
Potential – Spike want’s to abuse this hard in constructed, though the price may be a hair steep to make the cut, thanks to it’s one time trigger to reclaim. Johnny might try to abuse it to protect something else, or by generating the mana for it. That’s a stretch. Card like this make Timmy cry.
Development (7.0/10)
Viability – This seems fine. I’m not sure if reclaim would be an any color mechanic but I think it’s mechanically and flavorfully vague enough to pass. Rare is correct.
Balance – This is balanced pretty close to being safe, but effects like this are inherently dangerous, and don’t encourage a fun environment if they are successful In competitive play. It won’t have a roll in limited play. Cards like this are often a complete wash by being overpriced or just plan oppressive, and I can’t see how this would be different. Spell Burst has taught me so.
Creative Writing –Seems reasonable, though again, reclaim here feels like a stretch.
Polish
Challenge (2/2) – Got them both.
Quality (2/3) – “If not” should be “If you don’t.”
Total: 18.0/25
void_nothing
Visions of Endless Time2GGUU
Instant (R)
Cast Visions of Endless Time only during a player's upkeep.
Untap all permanents. Each player draws seven cards.
Design (7/10)
Creativity – The two main effects haven’t been put on a single card before, though I think that’s on purpose.
Elegance – The timing restriction seems like an obvious tack on to try to avoid infinites, and I’m pretty sure it doesn’t do a good enough job.
Potential – Spike says this will be a competitive card and looks to break it. This has Combo all over it, so Johnny wants it. Timmy likes the effects but is turned away by the timing clause and how that limits the card fun and creates feel bad moments (“I forgot to cast it during my upkeep.””
Development (6.5/10)
Viability – This card fits it’s colors and rarity and could even be mythic. Sadly, it probably wouldn’t be printed as is.
Balance – This is a card that when cast, I’d expect the other player to combo out immediately. That is extremely unfun and undesirable. It provides both the mana and the cards to do whatever you want, and the timing restrictions don’t prevent it.
Creative Writing – I could see flavor text for something like this, but the name is very fitting.
Polish – This reflects the finishing touches made to the card, polishing it to an end product that could see print.
Challenge (2/2) – One point awarded per satisfied challenge condition.
Quality (3/3) – Points deducted for incorrect spelling, grammar, and templating.
Design (9/10) Creativity – This card is certainly the result of "What's the biggest, splashiest effect I can do with this mechanic?" I really think that created a pretty unique, interesting effect. Elegance – I wish this was an instant. I feel like doing this in response to a board wipe would have to be one of the sweetest feelings in the world. As it stands though, the flavor still comes through as reaping the benefits of things that have died, and it's a cool use of a new mechanic. Potential – Would definitely be a big hit for Timmies and Johnnies. It has a big splashy effect that can be built around for some huge potential.
Development (6.5/10) Viability – I'm pretty sure this would be fine without the blue. Creatures cantripping when they come into play is pretty green, and getting resources off of things dying is pretty black, as is the whole reanimating thing. Balance – I'm fairly happy with the mana cost on this. It needs some help in order to get any value off of it, but if you can get a sacrifice outlet out, you can recycle all the ETB effects in your graveyard with just one creature, not to mention all of the sweet, sweet card draw. It's possible that I may be overvaluing the amount of setup needed and undervaluing the benefits of going off with this, but I like the card as is. Creative Writing – I think a small tidbit of flavor text could have fit in there. I'm not thrilled with the name, as I think carnage isn't really the best word to use for the card. I would have preferred "Reap the undead" or something along those lines.
Polish Challenge (2/2) – Good. Quality (2/3) – The second "has" is unnecessary and the period at the end should be inside the quotation mark. The reminder text should say "return the creature card" or "return the card".
Total: 19.5/25
Design (5/10) Creativity – Definitely a unique card, as very few cards can return other cards from exile, especially a group of cards. That being said... Elegance – Returning cards from exile is typically avoided, and for good reason. When your returning cards from exile to any zone, your essentially just making it a second graveyard that's harder to get to. Aside from that, the flavor of the card doesn't really make sense to me, since I don't get how returning cards from exile can kill something. I'd also prefer this say "face-up" to stay consistent with other cards with this sort of effect. Potential – A pretty Johnny card, since it works well with all the flashback/compost/unearth/whatever cards.
Development (7/10) Viability – It's hard to pin down the color that cares about stuff in exile, since it's kind of been all over the place, so I think this is fine. Balance – Clearly this card needs support to be any good, so assuming that support exists, I think this card is fine. With something like delve, it essentially becomes "Destroy target creature, return all cards from exile to graveyard." which seems good. Plus there is the value with other graveyard mechanics. Creative Writing – The name is way too close to Pull from Eternity. Also, I feel like the name and flavor text aren't really appropriate for a card that is essentially a kill spell.
Polish Challenge (2/2) – Good. Quality (3/3) – There's really no good preexisting template for this, so this looks good enough to me.
Total: 17/25
Design (6/10) Creativity – Pretty cool twist on Barter in Blood. Not much else to say other than that. Elegance – Mechanically the card is really cool and interesting, but flavorwise I struggle to see how an opponent controlling a planeswalker would prevent your creatures from dying. From that perspective the card falls kind of flat. Potential – As useful as other spells that cause multiple creatures to be sacrificed, so there is almost certainly a use for it, especially with how much people like planeswalkers.
Development (8.5/10) Viability – Yep. Balance – It's not that hard to figure out that this is well costed. It's one more than Barter in Blood, but has a conditional upside that can be a huge swing. Seems good. Creative Writing – Other than the fact that the flavor text and name don't really connect to planeswalkers at all, the flavor is pretty good on the card. There is the typical death-loving demon flavor text, and a pretty sweet name to boot.
Polish Challenge (2/2) – Good. Quality (3/3) – I'm not taking off for one missing period.
That you all for participating thus far. As you can see, we are still waiting on a set of scores so we have been delayed a day. I ask for your patience as I resolve this issue. Thank you.
Private Mod Note
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MCC March Round 2 – My Master Plan? To Steal Yours!
Welcome round 2 contestants! In the first challenge, you made a new menace or antagonist to the magic universe and your vile creations cut your opponents to shreds. Now it time to continue the evil march.
You are forming the master plan to your diabolic schemes; a spell that could easily end your opponent’s futile struggles. Meanwhile, your rival masterminds have come up with their own methods to dominate the multiverse. Why put their ideas to waste when you can seize them and make them better?
Your Challenge:
Create an instant or sorcery spell that either:
A) Uses one of your round 2 opponents keyword/ability words from the first round.
B) Directly synergies with a round 2 opponents keyword/ability word from the first round.
Please post the card you are drawing influence from along with your entry so it is abundantly clear who you are stealing from .
Sub Challenge 1: Your spell has a converted mana cost 5 or greater.
Sub Challenge 2: Your spell does not make tribal references in it’s rules text.
Clarifications:
Tribal reference include but are not limited to effects like “Elves you control get…”, “Target creature gets +1/+1 for each Giant…”, “Dragons cost 2 less to cast…”, etc... These are all illegal.
Tribal references in the flavor text are legal.
Eliligble Contestants:
Piar
Tilwin
thenoodler
Moss_Elemental
IlGreven
L0ng5h0t
void_nothing
Trivmvirate
Flatline
Antny223
Altaurus321
scrad_the_wanderer
netn10
PsyOp
SelesnyaNewLife
Groovelord
Judges:
IcariiFa
bravelion83
Ogonomany
admirableadmiral
Card entries are due Thursday, March 12th by 11:59 EST.
Round two submission phase is over. Here are oure entries. Despite my warning, a number of folks did not read the rules or clarifications clearly, and have been disqualified. Top 2 advance from their groups.
Judge - admirableadmiral
Piar
Tilwin
thenoodler
SelesnyaNewLife - Disqualified: Submitted a creature instead of an instant or sorcery spell.
Judge - IcariiFA
IlGreven
L0ng5h0t
void_nothing
Trivmvirate
Judge - bravelion83
Flatline
Antny223
Altaurus321
scrad_the_wanderer - Disqualified: Stole an ability from an illegal card (not a round 2 contestant.)
Judge - Ogonomany
netn10
PsyOp
Moss_Elemental
Groovelord - Disqualified: Stole an ability from an illegal card (not a round 2 contestant.)
Due to a special request, I'm extending the Judge Deadline to Monday, 11:59PM eastern time. Bon chance, contestants!
May the most dastardly mind win!
thenoodler's Round 1 entry - Mindweaver, Iqui, skim
Visions of Endless Time 2GGUU
Instant (R)
Cast Visions of Endless Time only during a player's upkeep.
Untap all permanents. Each player draws seven cards.
The gifts of the Ennmai are new beginnings, whether they're wanted or not.
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝
Sorcery (R)
Destroy target permanent. Target player puts the top X cards of his or her library into his or her graveyard, where X is that permanent's converted mana cost.
Compost 3BG (3BG, Exile this card from your graveyard: Draw a card.)
"Gnorts are well known for their bark, but you should really watch out for their bite."
Psyon of Stolen Memories 2UU
Creature - Psyon (Uncommon)
Eraser (Whenever this creature blocks or becomes blocked, the other blocked or blocking creature loses all abilities until end of turn)
Whenever a Psyon you control blocks or becomes blocked, draw a card.
The Mysterious Psyon are masters of memory manipulation
and deception, often working as a hivemind of agents for corrupted kings.
3/2
I take altaurus321's mechanic.
Creature - Hellspawn Warrior (U)
Consume 2R (If a creature you control would die, you may pay 2R and exile it instead. If you do, return this to the battlefield.)
Fireclaw Hellspawn has first strike as long as it shares a color with its consumed creature.
3/2
Carnage of the Undead 4BUG
Sorcery (Mythic)
Until end of turn, each creature card in your graveyard has consume 0 and has "When this creature enters the battlefield, draw a card". (If a creature you control would die, you may pay 0 and exile it instead. If you do, return the creature from your graveyard to the battlefield.)
Creature - Iqui (U)
Skim (Whenever an opponent draws a card, if this creature is untapped, put a +1/+1 counter on it.)
Whenever Mindweaver skims, you may pay W. If you do, tap target creature.
They seize an idea before others even grasp it.
1/1
Sorcery {U}
Each player draws a card. Put a white 1/1 Human Soldier creature token onto the battlefield for each card in target opponent's hand.
"I'll celebrate as her sister for as long as it proves worthwhile to do so." - Queen Domasca to General Ruso
(CubeTutor & MTGS)
360 Peasant Cube!
Custom Cube
RWU Miracles RWU
Creature - Fury (C)
Raving Fury attacks each turn if able.
Rage 2 (Whenever this creature attacks, it gets +2/+0 until end of turn.)
Anger: The cause of and the solution to all conflicts.
2/2
Creature -- Planeborn Knight (C)
First strike
Planestake -- Planeborn Hoplite gets +1/+1 as long as an opponent controls a planeswalker.
"The first intrusion is the most painful. As planeborn, it is our duty to make sure even that does not happen." -E'kuan, Planeborn Elder
1/1
Bloodspill 3BB
Sorcery (R)
Each player sacrifices two creatures
Planestake - If an opponent controls a planeswalker, each opponent sacrifices two creatures instead.
"All this senseless death. It is so beautiful." - Filthar, archdemon
Creature - Plasmoid [R]
Flash, discharge (When this creature dies, it deals damage equal to its power divided between any number of target creatures. Then exile it.)
When Formless Spark enters the battlefield, counter target creature spell. Formless Spark becomes a copy of that creature, and gains discharge.
0/1
They have no shape except somone else's.
Creature - Wildborn Shaman (c)
When Sandscourger enters the battlefield, reclaim target creature card in your graveyard (To reclaim a card, exlie it. At the beginning of its owner's next draw step, that player may choose to put that card into his or her hand instead of drawing a card).
"Where today a vast civillization flourishes, there was once nothing but great wilderness. That widerness shall return."
2/2
Vanish into AEther 3UU
Instant [R]
Exile target spell.
At the beginning of your upkeep, if Vanish into AEther is in your graveyard, you may pay 1UU. If you do, reclaim it. If not, exile it. (To reclaim a card, exile it. At the beginning of it's owners next draw step, that player may skip his or her draw step and put a reclaimed card into his or her hand instead.)
CCL Winner- July '08, Aug '08 Sept '08, Oct '08
Survivor- CCS: Lost in Takenuma, CCS: Stranded In Tolaria
Yeah couldn't find a card that inspired me and ran out of time. Good luck everyone else.
Dreams Into Reality 3RRGG
Sorcery (m)
Put all creature cards in exile onto the battlefield under your control, then draw a card for each creature you control. All creatures put onto the battlefield this way gain haste. At the beginning of the next end step, return them to their owner's hand.
Corpse Rotation
Sorcery (R)
Exile all creature cards from all graveyards. Then destroy all creatures.
As long as Corpse Rotation is in your graveyard, each creature card in your graveyard has compost . ( , Exile the card from your graveyard: Draw a card.)
Fresh fertilizer offers the greatest yield.
Please double check your entries. A number of them have not followed the main and or/secondary challenges. I want to see everyone do their best and get the highest scores possible!
Edit: For some reason the forum board isn't letting me edit my main post. Weird error. I'll add this to clarification when I can, but put a token creature onto the battlefield that references a tribe fails the 2nd sub challenge.
Creature -- Planeborn Knight (C)
First strike
Planestake -- Planeborn Hoplite gets +1/+1 as long as an opponent controls a planeswalker.
"The first intrusion is the most painful. As planeborn, it is our duty to make sure even that does not happen." -E'kuan, Planeborn Elder
1/1
Creature - Teladrix (C)
Fugue (If this creature would deal damage to a player, instead that player puts that many cards from the top of his or her library into his or her graveyard)
Mindwarp Invader can't be blocked.
"Good or bad, of today or of a past era, your memories will serve a greater purpose now." - Welgor, Teladrix Consul
3/2
Fugueblaze -- 3RR
Sorcery (R)
Fugue (If this spell would deal damage to a player, instead that player puts that many cards from the top of his or her library into his or her graveyard.)
Fugueblaze deals 10 damage to target creature or player.
Teladrix congregations are strictly regulated. Intrusions as small as mice are dealt with quickly and decisively.
My thoughts on the matter are that creating a token of the unique creature type is a fairly easy and obvious solution to the base challenge. It would of been very simple to have a card that created tokens with the keyword ability that your opponents introduced and I wanted to push designers in a more creative direction. Not that there couldn't be creative ways to create said tokens, but I felt we could do better.
As dumb as that is and all.
Spread the Word 3WUU
Sorcery (R)
Indoctrinate X, where X is the number of creatures on the battlefield.
Sorry that I mistook the comment and was snarky. No worries.
Judge - admirableadmiral
Piar
Tilwin
thenoodler
SelesnyaNewLife - Disqualified: Submitted a creature instead of an instant or sorcery spell.
Judge - IcariiFA
IlGreven
L0ng5h0t
void_nothing
Antny223 - Withdrawl
Judge - bravelion83
Flatline
Trivmvirate
Altaurus321
scrad_the_wanderer - Disqualified: Stole an ability from an illegal card (not a round 2 contestant.)
Judge - Ogonomany
netn10
PsyOp
Moss_Elemental
Groovelord - Disqualified: Stole an ability from an illegal card (not a round 2 contestant.)
Due to a special request, I'm extending the Judge Deadline to Monday, 11:59PM eastern time. Bon chance, contestants!
This is The Lion's Lair, the article series where I specifically talk about custom card design with the intent to help you get better at it. You can check out the articles right here:
#9 - "The last one"
#8 - "A rare occurrence" (A custom card design guide: rarity)
#7 - "Name dropping" (A custom card design guide: psychographics)
#6 - "Mark of quality, part 2" (A custom card design guide: templating)
#5 - "Mark of quality" (A custom card design guide: templating)
#4 - "The price is right" (A custom card design guide: mana and mana costs)
#3 - "As simple as that" (A custom card design guide: complexity and elegance)
#2 - "A slice of pie" (A custom card design guide: the color pie)
#1 - "Welcome home!" (A custom card design guide: introduction)
Note - When I say "#N in MOQX", it means: this is the mistake number N in my "Mark of Quality, part X" article.
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 templating, wording, spelling, or grammar, no matter how little they may be; a whole point for particularly serious errors.
No complaints unless I got something objectively wrong.
Bone Mannequin 1BB
Creature — Skeleton Zombie (R)
Consume BB (If a creature you control would die, you may pay BB and exile it instead. If you do, return this card from your graveyard to the battlefield. Otherwise, sacrifice that creature.)
Bone Mannequin has all activated abilities of the consumed card.
2/2
I didn’t want to post this card before the round was closed because I was stealing one of my players’ mechanics and I didn’t want to raise potential doubts.
Corrected consume’s reminder text to say "this card" to avoid ambiguities, and adding the final line, which is necessary because without it the creature that’s about to die does not die if you choose not to pay for consume. That’s because of the way replacement effects work: if you replace the creature’s death, it won’t happen anymore, even if you replace it with a choice. So if you decline the choice you’re substituting an event with nothing, which while possible is clearly not the intent here.
The right wording is "consumed card" because it’s in exile by then, and "creatures" exist only on the battlefield (#2 in MOQ1).
EDIT 3/18 - D'OH! What an epic fail! I just realized I fall in the same trap as some of the DQs, designing a creature instead of an instant or sorcery. Oh well... I'll leave this card here anyway just as a cool card.
Flatline
Design (7.5/10)
Creativity – All the single parts have been done before, but their mix results in something quite original, especially because the compost granting ability works from the graveyard.
Elegance – Once you understand that the creatures you destroy with this are not exiled, you're good here. The "then" before "destroy all creatures" should help a lot here.
Potential – Timmy will like very much the act itself of resolving this: it greatly affects the battlefield, and there's a lot of manuality involved in resolving it, with great visual feedback (by the way, thanks a lot to Reuben and Dan, this is something I learned to think about listening to the Remaking Magic podcast, and also the terminology I just used). For Timmy, the compost is just a nice bonus. For Spike, it's one of the main points of the card, with the wrath part. He will like very much the card advantage compost can give him: he gets to reset the board, which is great when he's behind, and should some of his creatures die in the process, he can recycle them to draw cards. What more can he ask for? Finally, I don't think Johnny will be very interested about this.
Development (8/10)
Viability – This is green only because of flavor. Mechanically there is nothing green in this card. This will make you gain points in flavor but lose points here, as mechanically this card should be monoblack, without any doubt. It would have been black/green if it said "destroy all nonland permanents" instead of "all creatures", for example. Rarity is right.
Balance – The mana cost looks as low as it can be while still being acceptable. Wraths nowadays cost at least five mana (there is an article by Sam Stoddart about developing removal spells where he says they are trying to stay away from the four mana wrath in the general weakening of removal), here we have one with additional upside so that is definitely right. The only potential problem I see with this card is memory issues when it's in the graveyard and its compost granting ability is turned on (not saying "activated" because it's a static ability, not an activated one). You have to remember that this card is in your graveyard, and while there are ways to help yourself remind it (put it slightly displaced in your graveyard, or put it always on top of it, as you're allowed to rearrange your graveyard in any format that's not Legacy or Vintage), these issues would be immediately solved if this was an enchantment working from the battlefield with the "exile all graveyards, then destroy everything" part as an ETB ability. I would have liked it much better that way, but obviously in this round you couldn't do it because it would have failed the main challenge. Well, I guess this is the best it can be while still fitting the challenge. I see this more as a constructed card than a limited one, like most wraths, but it should be playable in limited nonetheless.
Creative Writing – Very nice pun in the name (Corpse / Crop Rotation), and you also built onto it in flavor text. Very good work, full points here.
Polish
Challenge (2/2) – Both met.
Quality (2.5/3) – In the reminder text for compost, there is an ambiguity, as it says "exile the card": which card? Corpse Rotation, or the creature card? Solution: have the reminder text say "exile that card" (half a point deducted).
Total: 20/25
Design (7/10)
Creativity – I can't remember any existing scalable token effect based on the number of cards in the opponent's hand. The drawing part is nothing new.
Elegance – All good here.
Potential – Timmy will like very much the games where he gets to put a bunch a tokens onto the battlefield with this, but that won't always happen. When he's playing against aggro it will probably never happen, when he's playing against control it will almost always happen, provided the opponent lets this resolve, but that's not usually something Timmy thinks about. There's not a lot to do for Johnny here. Spike doesn't like that the opponent gets to draw too, and he probably also sees this as costing a little bit too much.
Development (7.5/10)
Viability – This is the perfect gold card: something only the first color does plus something only the second color does. I could see this at rare too because of the potential to make a lot of tokens against control decks, but uncommon can probably be fine, as everyone gets to draw, so this is actually card disadvantage for you (remember you're still spending a card to do this), and it's highly variably in the number of tokens it makes.
Balance – Making each player draw two cards at instant speed costs two mana. This is a sorcery and only draws everyone one card, so it makes sense to imagine this part could only cost one blue mana. The token part is much harder to judge, because the number of tokens this makes is highly variable, as I've already mentioned. The question now becomes: leaving one mana aside for the drawing part, how many tokens do I need to make with this to make the token part cost four mana at sorcery speed and still be satisfied? Captain's Call says the answer is three. Will this make three tokens reliably? That means your opponent has two cards in hand when you cast this on your fifth turn. That's definitely possible and even plausible, more in limited than in constructed. Again, in constructed control decks will have at least two cards in hand for sure, aggro decks want to dump their entire hand on the battlefield before the fifth turn, if they have two cards in hands it means they've stumbled and things aren't probably looking so good for them anyway. Keeping everything into account, your mana cost looks reasonable after all. Very playable in limited, while in constructed it may end up being a sideboard card in the end, as it looks quite good in some matchups and almost useless in others. Finally, the synergy with thenoodler's original card is acceptable, but it would certainly have been better with this letting both players draw multiple cards.
Creative Writing – Name and flavor text are fine. Not breathtaking, but definitely acceptable.
Polish
Challenge (1/2) – Subchallenge 1 met. Subchallenge 2 NOT met, as per IcariiFA's clarification in post #15 of this thread.
Quality (2/3) – It should say "put a 1/1 white Human Soldier creature token…" (#42 in MOQ2, half a point deducted). In the flavor text, the attribution should be on a separate line (#12 in MOQ1, half a point deducted).
Total: 17.5/25
Design (6.5/10)
Creativity – I can't remember fateful hour used as entwine. That's original, but the single modes certainly aren't.
Elegance – A bit on the wordy side, but other than that, no problems here.
Potential – Timmy will like the fact that this spell visibly affects the board, making him feel like he's doing something, but the effects themselves aren't something he's excited about. Johnny may try to use this in some kind of tap/untap engine. Spike will almost always just use the first mode to clear the way for his attacks.
Development (6.5/10)
Viability – Everything is in color and rarity looks right.
Balance – The first mode is kind of an instant speed Sleep, while the second is a variation on To Arms! that gives vigilance instead of cantripping. Taking into account that the former is a sorcery and that this has the flexibility of a modal card, it looks like the cost can be fine, but could also have been one mana less. But then, Thoughtweft Gambit tells us that choosing both, which you do with fateful hour, costs six mana. Here you only choose one normally, but you get something additional out of it, so six mana definitely looks right. The Gambit is uncommon, but I like seeing this as a rare both because of the additional complexity compared to the Gambit and because this looks like it has an even bigger impact on the board. Certainly playable in limited, but I can't see this in constructed, where you expect a card that costs six mana to win you the game by itself. Finally, the synergy with thenoddler's new ability (skim) isn't so strong, I can only see the idea being to untap Mindweaver with the second mode in response to the opponent drawing, but if that's the intention there's a problem with the rules: skim has an intervening if clause that prevents it from triggering when the opponent draws and it's still tapped. That means that even if you cast No Rest for the Weary to untap it in response, the skim ability still hasn't triggered at all, so you would get an untapped Mindweaver but no +1/+1 counters. Still better than nothing, but not what you wanted.
Creative Writing – You said the name was just a placeholder but in the end it stuck. Sounds good enough to me. No room for flavor text.
Polish
Challenge (2/2) – Both met.
Quality (1/3) – A long dash is missing after "Choose one" (#14 in MOQ1, half a point deducted). Options should be preceded by bullets, not hypens (#14 in MOQ1, half a point deducted). A space is missing between "Fateful Hour" and the following dash (half a point deducted). It should be "you may choose both", "do both" has only ever been used in the reminder text of the Invert the Skies cycle in Shadowmoor and Eventide (half a point deducted).
Total: 16/25
Flatline: 20
Altaurus321: 17.5
Trivmvirate: 16
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.)
IlGreven
Design (7.0/10)
Creativity – A spell that alternates between creature damage and mill is unusual. Conceptually the card takes the same idea as puncture bolt.
Elegance – Mechanically this is elegant. Flavorfully this is lacking.
Potential – Spike won’t care outside of limited, where this card is very powerful. Johnny doesn’t get anything special out of the deal. Timmy likes big splashy spells, and this reeks of that.
Development (5.5/10)
Viability – This card is just as blue as it is red, and should reflect that. It could be a rare or uncommon depending on the environment, but rare is safer if underwhelming.
Balance – Into the Maw of Hell says this card is quite reasonable. The versatility between mill and removal is very powerful in limited and probably warrants the rare spot, but outside of that this card would struggle to see even casual play, especially since milling ten is equivalent to dealing about 4 damage to the face. That’s very underwhelming for 5 at sorcery speed and as a rare. The versatility here only takes it so fair. Still, better under then overpowered.
Creative Writing – The name is lazy, and the card had rumor for flavor text to make it more interesting which you opted out of providing.
Polish –Challenge (2/2) – Both met
Quality (3/3) – Looks on point to me.
17.5/25
Design (6.5/10)
Creativity – This is essential a recurring counter spell, which there have been variants of this before. This implementation here is somewhat different, but is hampered by reclaims execution, which feels dated like recover.
Elegance – The reclaim part here seems odd with the idea of vanishing into AEther.
Potential – Spike want’s to abuse this hard in constructed, though the price may be a hair steep to make the cut, thanks to it’s one time trigger to reclaim. Johnny might try to abuse it to protect something else, or by generating the mana for it. That’s a stretch. Card like this make Timmy cry.
Development (7.0/10)
Viability – This seems fine. I’m not sure if reclaim would be an any color mechanic but I think it’s mechanically and flavorfully vague enough to pass. Rare is correct.
Balance – This is balanced pretty close to being safe, but effects like this are inherently dangerous, and don’t encourage a fun environment if they are successful In competitive play. It won’t have a roll in limited play. Cards like this are often a complete wash by being overpriced or just plan oppressive, and I can’t see how this would be different. Spell Burst has taught me so.
Creative Writing –Seems reasonable, though again, reclaim here feels like a stretch.
Polish
Challenge (2/2) – Got them both.
Quality (2/3) – “If not” should be “If you don’t.”
Total: 18.0/25
Design (7/10)
Creativity – The two main effects haven’t been put on a single card before, though I think that’s on purpose.
Elegance – The timing restriction seems like an obvious tack on to try to avoid infinites, and I’m pretty sure it doesn’t do a good enough job.
Potential – Spike says this will be a competitive card and looks to break it. This has Combo all over it, so Johnny wants it. Timmy likes the effects but is turned away by the timing clause and how that limits the card fun and creates feel bad moments (“I forgot to cast it during my upkeep.””
Development (6.5/10)
Viability – This card fits it’s colors and rarity and could even be mythic. Sadly, it probably wouldn’t be printed as is.
Balance – This is a card that when cast, I’d expect the other player to combo out immediately. That is extremely unfun and undesirable. It provides both the mana and the cards to do whatever you want, and the timing restrictions don’t prevent it.
Creative Writing – I could see flavor text for something like this, but the name is very fitting.
Polish – This reflects the finishing touches made to the card, polishing it to an end product that could see print.
Challenge (2/2) – One point awarded per satisfied challenge condition.
Quality (3/3) – Points deducted for incorrect spelling, grammar, and templating.
Total: 18.5/25
Scores:
L0ng5h0t: 18.0
void_nothing: 18.5
Creativity – This card is certainly the result of "What's the biggest, splashiest effect I can do with this mechanic?" I really think that created a pretty unique, interesting effect.
Elegance – I wish this was an instant. I feel like doing this in response to a board wipe would have to be one of the sweetest feelings in the world. As it stands though, the flavor still comes through as reaping the benefits of things that have died, and it's a cool use of a new mechanic.
Potential – Would definitely be a big hit for Timmies and Johnnies. It has a big splashy effect that can be built around for some huge potential.
Development (6.5/10)
Viability – I'm pretty sure this would be fine without the blue. Creatures cantripping when they come into play is pretty green, and getting resources off of things dying is pretty black, as is the whole reanimating thing.
Balance – I'm fairly happy with the mana cost on this. It needs some help in order to get any value off of it, but if you can get a sacrifice outlet out, you can recycle all the ETB effects in your graveyard with just one creature, not to mention all of the sweet, sweet card draw. It's possible that I may be overvaluing the amount of setup needed and undervaluing the benefits of going off with this, but I like the card as is.
Creative Writing – I think a small tidbit of flavor text could have fit in there. I'm not thrilled with the name, as I think carnage isn't really the best word to use for the card. I would have preferred "Reap the undead" or something along those lines.
Polish
Challenge (2/2) – Good.
Quality (2/3) – The second "has" is unnecessary and the period at the end should be inside the quotation mark. The reminder text should say "return the creature card" or "return the card".
Total: 19.5/25
Creativity – Definitely a unique card, as very few cards can return other cards from exile, especially a group of cards. That being said...
Elegance – Returning cards from exile is typically avoided, and for good reason. When your returning cards from exile to any zone, your essentially just making it a second graveyard that's harder to get to. Aside from that, the flavor of the card doesn't really make sense to me, since I don't get how returning cards from exile can kill something. I'd also prefer this say "face-up" to stay consistent with other cards with this sort of effect.
Potential – A pretty Johnny card, since it works well with all the flashback/compost/unearth/whatever cards.
Development (7/10)
Viability – It's hard to pin down the color that cares about stuff in exile, since it's kind of been all over the place, so I think this is fine.
Balance – Clearly this card needs support to be any good, so assuming that support exists, I think this card is fine. With something like delve, it essentially becomes "Destroy target creature, return all cards from exile to graveyard." which seems good. Plus there is the value with other graveyard mechanics.
Creative Writing – The name is way too close to Pull from Eternity. Also, I feel like the name and flavor text aren't really appropriate for a card that is essentially a kill spell.
Polish
Challenge (2/2) – Good.
Quality (3/3) – There's really no good preexisting template for this, so this looks good enough to me.
Total: 17/25
Creativity – Pretty cool twist on Barter in Blood. Not much else to say other than that.
Elegance – Mechanically the card is really cool and interesting, but flavorwise I struggle to see how an opponent controlling a planeswalker would prevent your creatures from dying. From that perspective the card falls kind of flat.
Potential – As useful as other spells that cause multiple creatures to be sacrificed, so there is almost certainly a use for it, especially with how much people like planeswalkers.
Development (8.5/10)
Viability – Yep.
Balance – It's not that hard to figure out that this is well costed. It's one more than Barter in Blood, but has a conditional upside that can be a huge swing. Seems good.
Creative Writing – Other than the fact that the flavor text and name don't really connect to planeswalkers at all, the flavor is pretty good on the card. There is the typical death-loving demon flavor text, and a pretty sweet name to boot.
Polish
Challenge (2/2) – Good.
Quality (3/3) – I'm not taking off for one missing period.
Total: 19.5/25
PsyOp: 17/25
Moss_Elemental: 19.5/25