Welcome round 3 contestants! Last round I challenged you to steal one of your opponents ideas and turn it into a massive instant or sorcery that showed off your evil genius. Today, as an ode to monologuing villains and the origins stories of magics final core set, we are going to illustrate and evil coming of age of our own. Tell us a tale of tragedy and misfortune!
Your Challenge:
Create a double faced card that shows the change of something Good to something Evil.
This is another challenge that is based heavily in flavor. I suggest you make it quite clear what is going on with your card through flavor text, naming, and mechanics.
No explanations of your cards ideas are allowed. It must be illustrated by what would be printed on the card only.
Sub Challenge 1:At least one side must be legendary and at least one side must be a creature.
Sub Challenge 2:Neither side can be a planeswalker.
Clarifications:
You must create a Double faced card, not a flip or other similiar template.
One side of the card must be legendary and one side must be a creature. A side that is a Legendary creature fulfills the sub challenge. A card with one side being a legendary artifact and the other being a creature fulfills the challenge. If both side are legendary and one is a creature it fulfills the challenge. If both sides are creatures and only one is legendary it passes. Finally, if both sides are legendary creatures it passes.
Renders are allowed, but text explaining your card and it's ideas/flavor are not.
Solex, The Hoarding King2GW
Legendery Creature - Human Advisor (Rare)
Tap another untapped creature you control: Put a colorless artifact token named Gold onto the battlefield. It has "Sacrifice this artifact: Add one mana of any color to your mana pool.".
At the beginning of each end step, if you control four or more permanents named Gold, you may transform Solex. "The key to prosperity is to unite everyone under one cause..."
2/4
Solex, Avatar of Greed (Black)
Legendary Creature - Avatar (Rare)
Flying
Solex's power and toughness are each equal to the number of permanents named Gold you control.
Sacrifice a creature: Put two colorless artifact tokens named Gold onto the battlefield. they have "Sacrifice this artifact: Add one mana of any color to your mana pool." "... And that cause is me"
*/*
Anoth's Machine4
Artifact [R]
Indestructible X, T: Draw X cards, then discard X cards, where X is equal to the number of +1/+1 counters on Anoth's machine. Then transform Anoth's Machine. Some say the sorcerer Anoth died while building this machine. Others believe it brought him immortality.
Anoth, He Who Hungers
(B) Legendary Creature, Vampire Spirit [R]
Anoth, He Who Hungers can't be blocked. Morbid - At the end of each turn, if a creature died this turn, put a +1/+1 counter on Anoth, He Who Hungers, then transform it. "Eventually I shall seek out death, and it shall fear me!"
- Anoth Ravensbane
3/3
Sardrax, Young Genius1WU
Legendary Creature - Human Artificer Wizard (M) 2WU, t: Search your library for an Aura or Equipment card, put that card onto the battlefield attached to Sardrax, Young Genius, then shuffle your library.
At the beginning of your end step, if Sardrax, Young Genius has five or more permanents attached to it, you may transform Sardrax. Every invention he created made him stronger...
2/2
/// Sardrax, Killing Machine
Legendary Artifact Creature - Construct (M)
Trample, hexproof, indestructible
Sardrax, Killing Machine attacks each turn if able.
When Sardrax, Killing Machine has no permanents attached to it, sacrifice Sardrax. ... but lost himself along the way.
7/7
Ibza the Curious1UR
Legendary Creature - Vedalken Wizard (M)
Hexproof 2UR: Copy target instant or sorcery spell you control. If this is the third time this ability has resolved this turn, transform Ibza the Curious and cast it. "Every experiment leads me one step closer..."
2/2
The Terrible Truth
((U/R)) Sorcery (M)
The Terrible Truth deals 13 damage to each creature and each opponent. Each player draws thirteen cards. In his final explosive experiment, the scientist became that which he was unwittingly seeking.
King Orekara's Sarcophagus
Legendary Artifact (R)
Whenever King Orekara's Sarcophagus or another artifact enters the battlefield under your control, add to your mana pool.
Whenever you cast a spell, if it's the third artifact spell you cast this turn, transform King Orekara's Sarcophagus. "This is a magnificent find! I can't wait to see what we unearth tomorrow!"
-Jornel Ento, Lead Archeologist
// King Orekara's Mummy
Legendary Artifact Creature - Zombie (R)
Indestructible, deathtouch
5/5 "I'm afraid we have awakened a force that we may be powerless to stop."
-Jornel Ento, Lead Archeologist
(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)
Pardon the delay in updating today as I was away from home and got ill. I'll have the judge brackets ready for tomorrow as I am still not well and am exhausted. There will be an extension on time to judge. Thank you for your understanding.
Pardon the delay in updating today as I was away from home and got ill. I'll have the judge brackets ready for tomorrow as I am still not well and am exhausted. There will be an extension on time to judge. Thank you for your understanding.
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.)
No problem IcarriFA. Thanks for the heads up. You're not feeling "a bit weak" are you? Hopefully you don't have the.....
Adynamía Virus
Creature - Virus (U)
Contagion 1 (Whenever this creature blocks or becomes blocked by a creature, put a -1/-1 counter on that creature.)
Each non-Virus creature with one or more -1/-1 counters on it gets -1/-0. "I feel a bit weak. I think I may be coming down with something."
1/2
If so, here's hoping for a...
Amazing Recovery
Instant (C)
Remove all -1/-1 counters from target creature you control. That creature gets +X/+X until end of turn, where X is equal to the number of -1/-1 counters removed this way.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
(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)
We have 2 dropouts. That leaves us with 3 pairings:
Matchup 1:
netn10 v. Flatline
Matchup 2:
L0ng5h0t v. thenoodler
Matchup 3:
Piar v. Moss_Elemental
Due to the odd number of matchups, The judging will be divided up slightly differently as I will judge ALL participants while the other judges will put in the normal two. Each contestant will be scored by 3 judges and have their totals added for a final score. Only 3 will advance to the final round.
Obviously I'm not going to deduct any points this round for mistakes due to the non-Latin characters temporary restriction.
The Lion's Lair is 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 through the links in my signature.
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.
It wasn't requested, but I chose to go on with my homemade race from my round 1 judge card.
Serlak Larva(U/R)
Creature - Serlak (R)
Hunger 1 (When this creature enters the battlefield, if you cast it from your hand, it deals 1 damage to another target creature. If that creature dies this way, put a +1/+1 counter on this creature.)
Remove two +1/+1 counters from Serlak Larva: Draw a card, then transform Serlak Larva. Serlaks are amphibious and reproduce underwater. They're born as innocuous larvae.
0/1
//
Alpha Serlak
((R/G)) Legendary Creature - Serlak
Trample
Other Serlak creatures you control get +1/+1 for each Human creature your opponents control. Serlaks are amphibious but stay on land to hunt. They prey on humans all day, letting out their endless hunger.
5/5
Anoth's Machine4
Artifact [R]
Indestructible X, T: Draw X cards, then discard X cards, where X is equal to the number of +1/+1 counters on Anoth's machine. Then transform Anoth's Machine. Some say the sorcerer Anoth died while building this machine. Others believe it brought him immortality.
Anoth, He Who Hungers
(B) Legendary Creature, Vampire Spirit [R]
Anoth, He Who Hungers can't be blocked. Morbid - At the end of each turn, if a creature died this turn, put a +1/+1 counter on Anoth, He Who Hungers, then transform it. "Eventually I shall seek out death, and it shall fear me!"
- Anoth Ravensbane
3/3
Design (6.5/10) Creativity - In Innistrad, there has already been an artifact that transformed into a legendary creature (Elbrus, the Binding Blade//Withengar Unbound), but at least it didn't transform back and forth as this does. Elegance - A bit wordy, but still understandable. Potential - I don't think Timmy would care that much, too much work to get it big enough. Johnny likes the Machine very much because it lets him find his combo pieces by looting repeatedly, but with Anoth himself he'll try to find a way to transform him back as soon as possible because what he really wants is the Machine. Spike, at the contrary, likes the Machine because it lets him dig through his deck for his best cards, but what he wants is Anoth himself as an unblockable growing win condition.
Development (6.5/10) Viability - Anoth himself (the back face) is black only because it's a Vampire. Mechanically, it should be blue. "can't block" is black, but "can't be blocked" is blue. I also see nothing wrong with that morbid ability being in blue, as I see it as color neutral: all colors had morbid in Innistrad block and all colors have a little ability to put +1/+1 counters on the creature itself. Here we either have a wrong flavor for the right mechanics, or the wrong mechanics for the right flavor. There's also a slight color bleed in the Machine, letting all colors have access to looting, but that looks minor in comparison. Rarity looks fine. Balance - Costs look reasonable. What I see is some anti-synergy in Anoth himself: he can't be blocked but needs a creature to die for morbid, so if you want to trigger morbid reliably you either have to have a removal spell in your hand with an available target each turn, or you have to involve other creatures in combat. Maybe that was the intent, but those two abilities still read somewhat strange next to one another. Certainly playable in limited. In constructed, if it will get played, I think it will only be as a 3/3 unblockable for 4 (cast the Machine and immediately activate its ability with X = 0). Creative Writing - All good here.
Polish Challenge (2/2) - Both met. Quality (1.5/3) - In Anoth's Machine, the word "Machine" of the card name is not capitalized in its first instance (half a point deducted). Also, when X is a cost in an activated ability, the "where X is..." template is not used, but it's a separate sentence: "X is...". So this sould say: "X, T: Draw X cards, then discards X cards. Then transform Anoth's Machine. X is the number of +1/+1 counters on Anoth's Machine." (see various cards, most recently Elite Arcanist and Prototype Portal, half a point deducted).
In Anoth, He Who Hungers's type line the comma should be a dash (half a point deducted). The long dash isn't accepted because of the non Latin characters restriction, but the short one (aka minus sign) is. You could have at least used that, just like you did for the morbid ability and the flavor text attribution (by the way, finally someone that puts it on its own line!).
"Sunny" side:
Sharri, Leonin Forerunner RWW
Legendary Creature - Cat Soldier
First strike, haste
Whenever Sharri, Leonin Forerunner deals combat damage to a player, you may pay RW and exile it. If you do, return Sharri to the battlefield transformed at the beginning of the next end step and that player can't play artifact, creature, or land cards during his or her next turn. "I can buy us time . . ."
4/1
"Night" side:
Sharri's Hide
Legendary Artifact - Equipment
Living weapon
Equipped creature gets +4/+1 and has first strike and haste.
All combat damage dealt to players by equipped creature counts towards combat damage dealt to those players by your commander.
Equip 3 ". . . but it will cost us."
Design (6/10) Creativity - That ability about Commander surely makes this card original enough. Elegance - Way too lengthy to get points here. Also, seeing living weapon on the back face leaves you disoriented at first, as usually when you transform a double-faced card it's not entering the battlefield. Then you realize that you exile this and it enters the battlefield directly transformed, so living weapon actually works, but you still have to think about it. It's not that intuitive nor understandable at a glance, especially for a less experienced player. Potential - The only thing Timmy won't like is the low toughness, everything else seems made right for him, especially the "commander" ability. Johnny may try to use this to shut the opponent down so that he can go off without any fear. If Spike plays this, and it's not a given, it will be just because it's quite efficient as a 4 power first strike, haste for three mana (of specific colors, but still three mana).
Development (6.5/10) Viability - The front face is way more white than red, and that's correctly reflected in the mana cost. The only red thing in it is haste. The triggered ability is a mix of flickering and a kind of Silence, both white. In fact, the optional cost in it could have just been monowhite, with red only in the card's mana cost.But in the end it's also fine as it is. Rarity is missing, so I can't judge it (and it loses you points in "Quality" and here too, because I can't judge a missing thing). Balance - I've just talked about the mana cost. Here I'll add that three specifically colored mana looks fine to me as a cost. As a Melvin, I love the fact that the bonuses the Hide gives are exactly equal to the Forerunner's power, toughness, and evergreen abilities. These are the details that make Melvin rejoice. It's very hard to judge the "commander" ability as I don't play that format. I guess it's fine, but it may also be broken and I'm not realizing it. I admit my ignorance there. At least this card can still be used outside of Commander, unlike things such as Command Tower. It's also good that there is a "may" on the Forerunner, so you can always choose not to transform it. That is what would most often happen in both limited and normal constructed, I think. Creative Writing - All good here.
Polish Challenge (2/2) - Both met. Quality (2/3) - First, a serious error: rarity is missing. I guess this is at least rare, but rarity should never be left to be guessed by the judge (one point deducted).
I'm very doubtful about the wording of Sharri's Hide's "commander" ability, but I can't deduct points for it as I don't have any precedent to compare it with. Anyway, I'll say for the record that "counts towards" just sounds wrong to me. There must be a better way to word that ability, even if I can't come up with any right now.
Finally, I recommend formatting cards as specified in the CCC forum rules. In this particular case, names should be bold, but I'm not deducting points for this because it's just a matter of formatting.
Ibza the Curious1UR
Legendary Creature - Vedalken Wizard (M)
Hexproof 2UR: Copy target instant or sorcery spell you control. If this is the third time this ability has resolved this turn, transform Ibza the Curious and cast it. "Every experiment leads me one step closer..."
2/2
The Terrible Truth
((U/R)) Sorcery (M)
The Terrible Truth deals 13 damage to each creature and each opponent. Each player draws thirteen cards. In his final explosive experiment, the scientist became that which he was unwittingly seeking.
Design (10/10) Creativity - A sorcery on the back face of a DFC! Full points here. Elegance - This is one of the very few cases of a card that reads intuitive but would probably need to read much less so because of the rules (see "Viability"). Anyway, as it's worded now it's perfectly understandable at a glance. Potential - Timmy loves the back face. Johnny loves the front face instead. Spike likes the hexproof but probably sees the back face as overwin.
Development (5.5/10) Viability - Let me first get done with the easy things: rarity is obviously right and everything is in color. Ok, with that said, there are two things that really worry me here:
- First, when you resolve the activated ability for the third time in a turn, you get a sorcery on the battlefield, even for just a brief moment, and that's one of the very few things absolutely forbidden in Magic. This is because when you resolve an effect, you're following the instructions in the order they're written on the card. So first you will transform Ibza into The Terrible Truth while it's still on the battlefield, and only then you go through all steps of casting it. It's true that state-based actions aren't checked in the middle of a spell or ability resolving, but that doesn't change the fact that in the moment after you've transformed it and before you cast it you have a sorcery on the battlefield.
- And here we come to the second problem: one of the steps of casting it is taking it from the zone it currently is in (in this case the battlefield) and put it onto the stack, which is a different zone. Oh, look: a DFC that changed zone! Whenever that happens, the front face is what you get in the new zone. So what you're actually casting is not The Terrible Truth, but Ibza again! That's certainly not what you wanted.
There is an easy solution for both problems: instead of saying "transform Ibza and cast it", first exile it (to avoid having a sorcery on the battlefield), and then "cast it transformed without paying its mana cost". The key word there is "transformed", as it makes the back face be the one on the stack with only a slight and very easy change needed in the Comprehensive Rules. You also need to say "without paying its mana cost" because otherwise the game would ask you to pay The Terrible Truth's mana cost, which doesn't exist, and unpayable costs can't be paid. So just have Ibza say "If this is the third time this ability has resolved this turn, exile Ibza the Curious, then cast it transformed without paying its mana cost". This is what I was referring to in "Elegance" when I was saying that the intuitive wording is not the correct one. So that wording made you gain points there, but it makes you lose points here. Balance - Costs look fine. It normally takes twelve mana plus the cost of the spell you're copying (all copies with the same target, by the way, as you can't change it if it's not explicitly written on the card) all in a single turn to transform, and that is a huge cost, but if you manage to cast this transformed, man! What a blowout! The use of the word "opponent" instead of "player" is huge here: you're damaging your own creatures too and you're letting your opponents draw cards too (but then they will have to discard a lot of them soon, and they're also getting much closer to being decked, if you're in the milling game), but only they get the 13 to the face! This is an absolute bomb in limited. I don't see it in constructed, it just takes too much to transform there. If it gets played there, it will be played just as a 2/2 hexproof for three mana. Not bad, but not the most amazing thing in the format. Creative Writing - Very good flavor, both in names and flavox texts. Also, this is a card that between its two faces tells a quite good story.
Polish Challenge (2/2) - Both met. Quality (3/3) - The only problem here is the wording I've already talked about in "Viability" because it affects the functionality of the card. I won't deduct points for lack of precedents to compare this with. Other than that, everything's good here.
Sardrax, Young Genius1WU
Legendary Creature - Human Artificer Wizard (M) 2WU, t: Search your library for an Aura or Equipment card, put that card onto the battlefield attached to Sardrax, Young Genius, then shuffle your library.
At the beginning of your end step, if Sardrax, Young Genius has five or more permanents attached to it, you may transform Sardrax. Every invention he created made him stronger...
2/2
/// Sardrax, Killing Machine
Legendary Artifact Creature - Construct (M)
Trample, hexproof, indestructible
Sardrax, Killing Machine attacks each turn if able.
When Sardrax, Killing Machine has no permanents attached to it, sacrifice Sardrax. ... but lost himself along the way.
7/7
Design (7.5/10) Creativity - In Innistrad, there was a legendary artifact that transformed into a legendary creature (Elbrus, the Binding Blade//Withengar Unbound). This is kind of the opposite version of it. Elegance - Very wordy (it just needs to be), but also still quite understandable. Potential - Timmy like the sheer power of the Killing Machine, even if it could take a while to get it. Johnny likes the challenge of transforming this as fast as he can. I don't think Spike would be interested in this very much, but it still does a very good job in getting Johnny and especially Timmy excited.
Development (8/10) Viability - I think the front face could also have been monowhite, as white has the ability to search for and interact with Auras and Equipments by itself. But the back face has some blue in it, as blue can interact with artifacts, hexproof is a blue ability, and trample is tertiary in all other colors than red and green. Indestructible being white actually makes the back face feel more white/blue than the front face. But there's also to remember that Bruna, Light of Alabaster is a white/blue card which whole point is to interact with Auras, even if that isn't usually blue. Keeping everything into account, there could be some minor bleed here, but it's still fine. This looks good as a mythic, both because of complexity and because the back face is quite splashy. Balance - This is very hard to transform, and probably rightly so, given the power of the back face. It takes five turns to transform if you only use the Young Genius's ability, for a total of twenty mana. Or course, you can save time and mana playing some Auras and Equipment of your own, but it still should take many turns. A single removal spell in response to the fifth thing attached to the Young Genius will cost you a huge amount of time and mana that go to waste. But if you instead manage to transform it, you just drop the bomb! The Killing Machine really lives up to its name! It's practically impossible to remove, and it will also still have a bunch of Auras and Equipment attached to pump it. That more than repays you for the huge time and mana investment you made to get it. Playable in limited only if you get enough Auras and Equipment in your limited pool to reliably transform it. Very playable in constructed in an aura or equipment deck, but I don't know how many of those there are in constructed. Usually not a lot, but in those decks it can be a huge win condition, if you have the time to transform it, which won't always be the case in constructed. Creative Writing - For some reason I kept reading the name as "Sarkhan", maybe the name is a bit too similar. Other than that, everything's fine here.
Polish Challenge (2/2) - Both met. Quality (2.5/3) - MSE tells me "Legendary Creature - Human Artificer Wizard" doesn't fit on the type line (half a point deducted). For reference, "Legendary Artifact Creature - Construct" barely fits.
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.)
Like the first challenge, this one has a flavor component. As such, how well that flavor comes across is very important, so flavor portions of judging will weigh heavier in scoring than usual (though not as much as the first round).
Lots of quality cards this round, and some pretty close scores as a result.
Match 1:
Design (8/10): Creativity: Seeing as how Gold artifact tokens have only recently become a thing, this card does explore some interesting space with that. It's kind of like a Manaweft Sliver for all creatures on one side and a flying Ashnod's Altar on the other. Elegance: The flavor a king overcome by greed and becoming this evil flying monster is very apparent through the mechanics of the card. What is much less apparent is the fact that this king is good to begin with. A king who sends out all of his minions to fetch him gold doesn't exactly sound like a nice guy. Potential: There is some rampy goodness to be had with this card, so there's definitely so Timmy-ness to it. It does have a pretty unique effect and ramps pretty hard, so there would be plenty of places to try this card.
Development (6.5/10): Viability: I feel like of all the colors you could choose the front of the card to be, green and white are the worst two. Black is the obvious choice, since it's the color of greed and is the only color thus far to use Gold tokens. Red is the color of temporary mana, and at least blue has the ability to transform things (though I will say that would be a stretch here). Either way, green/white is definitely not the correct color combination for this card. Balance: Basically, how good is a Manaweft Sliver that affects all of your creatures. My guess is good, but nothing too broken. It does worry me a little bit that the creatures come in with the ability to tap for mana immediately, as that might push this card over the top. The flip side isn't two troublesome, as it's just a beefy Ashnod's Altar, which I don't think is a problem. Creative Writing: While the colors throw me off a little bit, for the most part all of the flavor writing for this card is a home run. The names are good (though "Avatar of Greed" seems a bit close to "Archdemon of Greed" to me). The flavor text is good, and the overall flavor of the card comes through very well.
Polish: Challenge (2/2): Good. Quality (2.5/3): A little sloppy with grammar and spelling: The first "legendary" is misspelled, there's an extra period at the end of the first ability on the front face, the "t" in "They" should be capitalized, and there's no period at the end of the flavor text.
Total: 19/25
Design (7/10): Creativity: There aren't a whole lot of cards that card about other artifacts entering the battle field, and there certainly aren't any that produce mana and then flip into a creature. Elegance: It's kind of hard to wrap my head around the fact that casting artifacts creates and indestructible monster. I guess the idea is that looking for too much stuff around the tomb unleashes and evil force? Based on mechanics alone, that's pretty shaky for the card. Potential: Certainly a cool build around card for any type of artifact deck. It's powerful enough that it's worth trying to get active.
Development (9/10): Viability: Artifacts can certainly produce colorless mana, and this certainly feels like a rare. All good here. Balance: I feel like as long as there aren't too many cheap artifacts running around, there's nothing really wrong with this. It has a similar effect to Etherium Sculptor, and that hasn't done anything too broken. Now, if it were put into a format with things like Memnite and Ornithopter it might get a bit hairy, but I think formats where that's likely to happen probably have good answers to these types of cards. Creative Writing: The names and flavor texts do their jobs and help get across the flavor that the mechanics themselves were missing. Basically, I'm saying it's good.
Polish: Challenge (2/2): Good. Quality (3/3): There is no good reference for whether deathtouch or indestructible should come first, so you're good.
Total: 21/25
Match 3:
Design (10/10): Creativity: The front is nothing crazy, but a transformed sorcery is certainly pushing this all the way to 11. Elegance: For a card that ruleswise is a nightmare, it's pretty easy to look at this card and understand what's going on. You copy some stuff as you please, then when you do it too much, KABOOM everything explodes. Very nice. Potential: Trying to combo off with this guy is certainly something that people would want to do, so I can easily see people being excited about this card, even if it is only in casual play.
Development (5.5/10): Viability: It's late and I'm lazy, and since bravelion summed everything up so eloquently in a way that I couldn't even begin to, go look at his critique if you want to understand why this is a bit of a nightmare. Balance: Without building around this card to get it to flip, it's probably about the same power level of Nivix Guildmage, which is to say not very. So the real question is how easy is it to flip, and how much is it worth it. For the latter, the effect is probably game ending for the most part, so it's certainly worth trying to get. Unfortunately, getting this to go off is difficult. Realistically, the only way you're gonna perform this is if you are copying a bunch of rituals, and even with that this still isn't particularly easy, as you'll likely need at least 8 mana to even have a chance of going off. So while the effect is powerful, this card is not. Creative Writing: Very well done here. The names and flavor texts really convey that a scientist has gone mad and has literally become enveloped in his experiments.
Polish: Challenge (2/2): Good. Quality (2/3): While the rules headaches have already been accounted for, the card is missing the standard "You may choose new targets for the copy" that comes with every copying effect.
Total: 19.5/25
Design (8/10): Creativity: It's kind of like if Stonehewer Giant and Bruna, Light of Alabaster had a baby that transformed into a ruthless killing machine. While it feels like it's borrowing some things from other cards, it's still very unique on it's own. Elegance: I really like the idea of this guy becoming so enveloped by his inventions that he becomes this unstoppable artifact monster. That being said, the fact that this can get Auras feels a little off when transforming into a giant artifact. Potential: It's a repeatable tutor, so I'm sure someone, somewhere would find a use for it. (In all seriousness there is a ton of potential in the effect this card gives)
Development (7.5/10): Viability: I struggle to see the blue in this. Both Aura searching and Equipment searching are squarely in white, so I don't really see much of a need for it. Blue can search out artifacts, but when the typeline has Equipment on it, it falls squarely into white's territory. Balance: There's no reason to even consider the back of this card since if you are flipping this, you are almost certainly winning the game. However, the front of this card still feels like a pretty powerful effect. It's very easy to answer this the turn it comes down, but I imagine if you untap with this card in play, it's going to put you pretty far ahead since you can get any equipment or Aura. I imagine it's not that much more powerful than Stonehewer Giant, which is good but not broken, but I still might be a bit wary of it. Creative Writing: I think this is my favorite flavoring of a card this round. The flavor text and names are both on point.
Design 9/10
Creativity: The peasants help everyone out by contributing. The ability reminds me of Convoke in a good way, except it's far more powerful.
Elegance: It has a lot of text, but it's not too confusing for its rarity.
Potential: This has a lot of potential everywhere.
Development 8/10
Viability: You have to remember that while Solex's night side has a black color identity, everything on that card needs to be something that green and white can do. Sacrificing creatures for mana is a very black/red thing, and definitely not a green/white thing.
Balance: This is fair. As a gold 2/4 for 4, the card can afford to have powerful abilities. It has impact the moment it hits the board (provided you have other creatures), yet isn't too terrifying if removed immediately, or even in a few turns. This can generate a scary amount of mana in a tokens deck, but such a deck would likely have inconsistencies because of the conflict of interests a big mana ramp deck that would want the gold tokens would have, and the aggressive creature-based strategy the tokens want. Solex's night side can be scary if left unchecked, but it does require you to go fairly all-in to do so, which makes it passable.
Creative Writing: Excellent flavor. This conveys the transformation of community to greed in flavor, mechanics, and colors. Excellently done.
Polish 4/5
Challenge:
Quality: You put two periods in the first gold ability. The T in They should have been capitalized on the night side.
Total: 21/25
Design 6/10
Creativity: Not much here is new on the day side, and that it transforms isn't new either. I can't give you too many points here.
Elegance: It feels a little weird that this transforms from artifacts. I'd thing a sarcophagus would care about creatures dying more.
Potential: This is definitely a Johnny card. Spike might be interested in throwing this into an artifact deck, as it's a very powerful effect in something like Affinity and a 5/5 indestructible is incredibly hard to deal with. He just doesn't like how the card can be highly swingy. Timmy ignores the day side and is immediately enamored at the prospect of an indestructible 5/5.
Development 9/10
Viability: If you removed the deathtouch this would feel a little more "in-color" for a colorless card (even though it flips). Also, this is right on the cusp of being a mythic rare, and in a set with a decent amount of artifacts it probably should be.
Balance: It's obviously very powerful early on, but that power is mitigated by how terrible it is once you've exhausted your hand. I'd consider playing one or two in a deck that would try to flip it by casting a bunch of Memnites and Ornithopters. That it transforms away from being a mana engine is also a very good fail-safe against infinite combos, as some sort of infinite engine that would hinge on this card would only work three times before giving you a 5/5 (which, while good, doesn't go infinite). Good balancing on the card. Lastly, deathtouch feels large irrelevant on this card, and something like trample would probably have been a better idea (if a more powerful one).
Creative Writing: I really like the flavor, but I wish there was more of a transition between the two. Also, you missed an opportunity to reference the day/night mechanic in the flavor with something like "What a great find! I can't want to take a look at it tonight."
Polish 4/5
Challenge: I don't really feel like you met the main challenge; the card doesn't feel "good" to me on the day side. If scooby doo's taught me anything, it's that ancient sarcophagi are evil things that are not to be messed with.
Quality:
Total: 19/25
Design 5/10
Creativity: I certainly can't say I've seen anything like this before.
Elegance: This card is an absolute mess. It took me three reads of the card to understand what the card does, and it took me several more reads to figure out what it would play like. This card has too many moving parts, and none of them feel like they mesh together well; on one side, you have a looting machine, on the other, an unblockable vampire that gets bigger when creatures die. The flavor is there, but the mechanics are horrendous. Also, why does a machine turn into a vampire? A horror would have made much more sense to me.
Potential: Spike hates this, and Timmy isn't interested. If johnny is building an aggressive deck that wants to loot for some reason, he might run this. The issue is that the card is so distracted in what it's doing, and as such it takes a highly specific deck to want to play this.
Development 5/10
Viability: This card has an ability that is firmly cemented in black in the night side, and a blue/red ability on the day side. That's fine, but when it comes to transform cards that are colorless on the day side, you want to make sure that you treat them as colorless cards, so as to not induce color bleed.
Balance: This card feels like it does several incredibly different things and it does none of them exceptionally well. The looting side takes a while to be for a relevant enough amount to be worth anything, and the creature side, while not that bad, is very slow to get going, so creature-based decks can't capitalize on it. It feels like something I wouldn't even play in draft because this card simultaneously wants to be in a fast deck and a slow deck.
Creative Writing: The flavor and the mechanics feel disconnected. Why does the machine that Anoth spent his life on loot? Wouldn't looting better represent the research he was doing to build the machine? Why does the machine turn into a vampire? There are too many questions and the flavor text doesn't help much.
Polish 4/5
Challenge:
Quality: Activated abilities can't have their costs defined by their effect; that's putting the cart in front of the horse. The correct wording is "x, t: Draw X cards, then discard X cards, then transform Anoth's Machine. X is the number of +1/+1 counters on Anoth's Machine."
Total: 14/25
Design 9/10
Creativity: This is new, even if cards like Moonhold have done things like this before.
Elegance: Why is a Hide a weapon? Wouldn't her sword be a better idea?
Potential: Spike is all over the power level of this. Timmy wants to play this in commander.
Development 5/10
Viability: No rarity. Abilities are red and white.
Balance: This card is ridiculous! First of all, a 4/1 with first strike and haste, even at a restrictive mana cost, is incredibly powerful for a 3 drop. Now if you ever flip it, you basically get a free Silence and a crazy powerful weapon. This card does too much for its mana cost.
Creative Writing: I like the flavor text, but it fails to explain why sending her on a suicide mission leaves behind her gear.
Polish 4/5
Challenge:
Quality: It should be "...damage to a player, you may pay RW. If you do, exile Sharri, then return it to the battlefield..."
I currently have my judgements done. I am waiting to get cleared to bypass the Non Latin Unicode error so I can post them and update my threads related to the MCC. This should be resolved before the end of the day. I appreciate your patience. Judges, please take the time to double check your reviews so that you are satisfied with them if you have not done so already.
On another note, I will say this about my judgements. The past two rounds I made a point of automatically disqualifying entries that broke the rules of the round. This time, I let every card through because I felt it was a bit more subjective. However, there are several cards that I feel stepped beyond the bounds of the criteria and I made that clear in deducting a hefty amount points where the rubric allowed.
Design (7.5/10)
Creativity - Many of the individual elements of this card have been done before, but a lot of the way the effects are combined make it feel somewhat new. It does ring of King Macar, the Gold-Cursed pretty heavily with it's flavor.
Elegance - This feels like it has one too many parts to be perfectly on point.
Potential - Timmy likes the back side for how big it can get and the front for how much mana he can have. Johnny likes the potential abuse of the mana he can generate via tapping shenanigans. Spike might find a use for the card, but it feels like it just falls short of the power he needs.
Development (5.5/10)
Viability - This card is missing black, both mechanically and flavorfully. Rare is correct.
Balance - This card would play well in standard and could be a fun commander. Limited bomb of course, but a manageable one that isn’t an end all automatically, so that’s good. It probably falls short in other formats which is fine.
Flavor - The flavor of this card makes sense. However, the rules for the round were very clear on wanting something to change from Good to Evil, and the front side is not good. I feel that by making Solex white in green that you felt that satisfied the criteria, but between his name as a hoarder, his mechanics on making and coveting gold, and his reverse side showing his narcissism from the start he was never "good." At best, he was just greedy. At worst, he was already evil.
Challenge (2/2) - Success.
Quality (1/3) - "Legendary" is misspelled on the front. There is a double period at the end of the artifact ability. "They" should be capitalized on the reverse side. There should be no space in the ellipses on the reverse side's flavor text.
Total: 16/25
Flatline
Design (7/10)
Creativity - Similar transform cards have been done before, though not quite like this.
Elegance - Seems pretty straight forward on that point, though I'm not sure where the flavor of the artifact matters and mana granting come from.
Potential - Timmy thinks the mummy is cool, though maybe a hair short of "big" enough. Johnny wises he could just abuse the mana production. Spike sees a really easy and abusive 5/5 he can get in archetypes that already support it.
Development (5.5/10)
Viability - Rare is correct and it doesn’t break anything. It's a tad black for it's colorless cost, if only a smidgen so.
Balance - Unless the set is artifact heavy, this is a bad pick for limited. Standard will likely find a use for it, and modern already has several cheap and efficient artifact decks where this thing could become a star. It is likely pushing things there as a creature that trades with everything and dies to a limited range of removal.
Flavor - A mummies tomb trope is very easy to understand whether you pay much attention to fantasy or not. That said, like several other entries, I don't see the front side as particularly good. In the sense that it's a rare and valuable piece of history might have been debatable. Perhaps that's what you were going for, but really its an artifact holding an evil mummy that you crack open for some reason… There are some major disjoints in terms of the challenge and why this thing transforms in the first place.
Design (6.5/10)
Creativity - It's a very interesting take on a commander card and encourages a niche the colors already share with equipment.
Elegance - I get the story you're trying to tell but the mechanics of how the transformation occurs work against it. The living weapon facet of this card is also a bit much coupled with the can't play clause.
Potential - Timmy likes getting a cool equipment. Johnny doesn't have much appeal here. As a commander, Spike appreciates the options the transformed side gives to make anything you've got deal commander damage.
Development (5.5/10)
Viability -The color balance is right, and I don't see it breaking anything persay, but the lack of rarity is a major mistake.
Balance -I'm glad this is a commander card, because as a standard or even modern card, this does way too much. As a commander it's probably still pushing it hard in 1v1. I think that it does so many different little effects make it push the boundaries too far.
Flavor - The flavor of this card is a little off to begin with for me on self-exiling. I get this is some kind of martyr, but the exiling on hit effect is a bit off for me, as she was successful in landing a blow. Why would it die? However, more important then that is the good/evil aspect of the challenge. You're card is perhaps the most clearly defined as good on it's front side, but the back side doesn't read evil to me. It reads sad as know she is a gross living weapon thing, but that doesn't make it evil for me. If you had hinted at a changed motive at the backside by making the name and flavor text read antagonistic I could see it, but right now it reads “horrifically altered but still fighting the good fight for good.”
Challenge (2/2) - Fine.
Quality (2/3) There is no rarity, which comes up again here. The wording on the commander clause reads a bit odd, but there isn't precedent for it so I won't mark off. I'm pretty confident it would be more eloquent however.
Total: 16/25
L0ng5h0t
Design (5.5/10)
Creativity - We have had a artifact transform into a creature before, though the execution here is different.
Elegance - The face that I can cast this and tap it immediately for 0 to transform it without the drawing seems odd.
Potential - This is probably a tad slow and clunky for timmy to get behind, even if the flavor is a trope he may like. Johnny likes the looting side, but again, it's a tad clunky to keep it there on the side he prefers. Spike sees value and flexibility in it colorless cost, but spread too thinly over many turns.
Development (4.5/10)
Viability - This card does a lot of blue things for a black color identity and a colorless cost. Rare is correct, and it doesn't break anything.
Balance - This seems like a cute casual card and a strong in limited since it can be played in any deck, but probably falls short of really being playable elsewhere. Not the best situation for a rare, but an acceptable one.
Flavor - This very much seems like a vampires coffin trope, though the term machine draws away from that. However, flavor was very important for this challenge and I am left wondering what is good about the front side? The answer is... nothing. The motivations and reasons behind building the machine are ambiguous so it's alignment, which was a crucial point of the round, is wrong.
Challenge (2/2) - Fine
Quality (2/3) - The activate ability is incorrect and should be worded so the transform clause comes before defining X.
Total: 14/25
Moss_Elemental
Design (8/10)
Creativity - The front side skirts somewhere between Stonehwere Giant and Sovereigns of Lost Alara, but with a twist to transform it. Solid evolution of preexisting ideas.
Elegance - Despite how much is going on, it still feels like it has a nice flow. It does become a bit harder to parse on the backside.
Potential - Timmy wants the killing machine and likes getting big equipment's out of the deal too. Johnny enjoys the tutoring. Spike thinks the rewards here are huge and will try to break it, though he may find the turn delay to protect his 2/2 for 3 is too high a cost.
Development (9.5/10)
Viability - This card is certainly deserving of its Mythic status and is on point in it's colors. It does not break the rules of the game. The colors are on point, at the minor bleeds on the back side are flavorful and acceptable at mythic.
Balance - A build around card that will play well in limited (though probably not transform) and invited casual and commander players along for a great ride. The right standard environment would find this playable, and it may be fringe playable in modern, but that's a stretch. It is fragile enough that it won't get out of hand.
Flavor - This card tells a clear story that is certainly a fall from grace as the challenge asks for. Sardrax was probably a decent if ambitions fellow but didn't have anything afoul on his front before going mad with his inventions on the reverse.
Challenge (2/2) - On point
Quality (2.5/3) The Type line is too long on the front side. He doesn't need two classes.
Total: 22/25
Piar
Design (9/10)
Creativity - The idea of flipping into a sorcery has never been done before, and I'm glad someone attempted this.
Elegance - Very elegant, arguably the cleanest of them all this round at a glance. There is just the issue with it's transform trigger.
Potential - Timmy likes the idea of going nuclear though the work to get there isn't his cup of tea. This is a combo card, so johnny is in love. Spike sees the combo potential too, and on a hexproof body? He will try to break this thing hard, and probably can.
Development (6/10)
Viability - This is mythic and perfectly in it's colors, but as pointed out as worded this briefly has a sorcery on the battlefield itself, which is a huge rules no-no. It's an fairly simple fix, but as is it breaks one of the core rules of the game. Coincidently, Mark Rosewater mentioned it offhand in one of his articles this week when he talks about Living Lore.
Balance - This is where it gets dicey as well. In the right standard environment this will be fine, and in limited it's a bad guildmage. In modern however, the potential to combo out with this is quite real with the right mana adding sorcery, and while that typically is fine, the fact that this combo piece is already on a hexproof body makes it a very safe avenue to abuse. So it has the potential to become a deck in modern. It might fall short of a one shot kill, but it gives you the ammo to go off again either the same turn, finish with a grapeshot, or go off again next turn. It's...iffy.
Flavor - The idea of an experiment gone wrong is just about perfect for the challenge, but the execution is a hair off for me in that he accidentally creates a disaster. It's more of a tragedy then an act of evil, but that may just be me being picky. However, I don't consider it stepping outside of the balance of the challenge like some other entries.
Challenge (2/2) Correct.
Quality (2/3) You need to be able to define new targets for the spells copies.
MCC March Round 3 - I Wasn't Always Like This...
Welcome round 3 contestants! Last round I challenged you to steal one of your opponents ideas and turn it into a massive instant or sorcery that showed off your evil genius. Today, as an ode to monologuing villains and the origins stories of magics final core set, we are going to illustrate and evil coming of age of our own. Tell us a tale of tragedy and misfortune!
Your Challenge:
Create a double faced card that shows the change of something Good to something Evil.
This is another challenge that is based heavily in flavor. I suggest you make it quite clear what is going on with your card through flavor text, naming, and mechanics.
No explanations of your cards ideas are allowed. It must be illustrated by what would be printed on the card only.
Sub Challenge 1: At least one side must be legendary and at least one side must be a creature.
Sub Challenge 2: Neither side can be a planeswalker.
Clarifications:
One side of the card must be legendary and one side must be a creature. A side that is a Legendary creature fulfills the sub challenge. A card with one side being a legendary artifact and the other being a creature fulfills the challenge. If both side are legendary and one is a creature it fulfills the challenge. If both sides are creatures and only one is legendary it passes. Finally, if both sides are legendary creatures it passes.
Renders are allowed, but text explaining your card and it's ideas/flavor are not.
Eligible Contestants:
Flatline
Altaurus321
L0ng5h0t
void_nothing
netn10
Moss_Elemental
Piar
thenoodler
Judges:
IcariiFa
bravelion83
Ogonomany
admirableadmiral
Card entries are due Saturday, March 21th by 11:59 EST.
Judgings will Be due Tuesday, March 24th by 11:59 EST.
I wish you the best of luck in your continued evil endeavors.
Legendery Creature - Human Advisor (Rare)
Tap another untapped creature you control: Put a colorless artifact token named Gold onto the battlefield. It has "Sacrifice this artifact: Add one mana of any color to your mana pool.".
At the beginning of each end step, if you control four or more permanents named Gold, you may transform Solex.
"The key to prosperity is to unite everyone under one cause..."
2/4
Solex, Avatar of Greed (Black)
Legendary Creature - Avatar (Rare)
Flying
Solex's power and toughness are each equal to the number of permanents named Gold you control.
Sacrifice a creature: Put two colorless artifact tokens named Gold onto the battlefield. they have "Sacrifice this artifact: Add one mana of any color to your mana pool."
"... And that cause is me"
*/*
Anoth's Machine 4
Artifact [R]
Indestructible
X, T: Draw X cards, then discard X cards, where X is equal to the number of +1/+1 counters on Anoth's machine. Then transform Anoth's Machine.
Some say the sorcerer Anoth died while building this machine. Others believe it brought him immortality.
==============================================================
Anoth, He Who Hungers
(B) Legendary Creature, Vampire Spirit [R]
Anoth, He Who Hungers can't be blocked.
Morbid - At the end of each turn, if a creature died this turn, put a +1/+1 counter on Anoth, He Who Hungers, then transform it.
"Eventually I shall seek out death, and it shall fear me!"
- Anoth Ravensbane
3/3
CCL Winner- July '08, Aug '08 Sept '08, Oct '08
Survivor- CCS: Lost in Takenuma, CCS: Stranded In Tolaria
Correct.
Sardrax, Young Genius 1WU
Legendary Creature - Human Artificer Wizard (M)
2WU, t: Search your library for an Aura or Equipment card, put that card onto the battlefield attached to Sardrax, Young Genius, then shuffle your library.
At the beginning of your end step, if Sardrax, Young Genius has five or more permanents attached to it, you may transform Sardrax.
Every invention he created made him stronger...
2/2
///
Sardrax, Killing Machine
Legendary Artifact Creature - Construct (M)
Trample, hexproof, indestructible
Sardrax, Killing Machine attacks each turn if able.
When Sardrax, Killing Machine has no permanents attached to it, sacrifice Sardrax.
... but lost himself along the way.
7/7
Legendary Creature - Vedalken Wizard (M)
Hexproof
2UR: Copy target instant or sorcery spell you control. If this is the third time this ability has resolved this turn, transform Ibza the Curious and cast it.
"Every experiment leads me one step closer..."
2/2
The Terrible Truth
((U/R)) Sorcery (M)
The Terrible Truth deals 13 damage to each creature and each opponent. Each player draws thirteen cards.
In his final explosive experiment, the scientist became that which he was unwittingly seeking.
Legendary Artifact (R)
Whenever King Orekara's Sarcophagus or another artifact enters the battlefield under your control, add to your mana pool.
Whenever you cast a spell, if it's the third artifact spell you cast this turn, transform King Orekara's Sarcophagus.
"This is a magnificent find! I can't wait to see what we unearth tomorrow!"
-Jornel Ento, Lead Archeologist
//
King Orekara's Mummy
Legendary Artifact Creature - Zombie (R)
Indestructible, deathtouch
5/5
"I'm afraid we have awakened a force that we may be powerless to stop."
-Jornel Ento, Lead Archeologist
No problem! Get well soon!
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 - Virus (U)
Contagion 1 (Whenever this creature blocks or becomes blocked by a creature, put a -1/-1 counter on that creature.)
Each non-Virus creature with one or more -1/-1 counters on it gets -1/-0.
"I feel a bit weak. I think I may be coming down with something."
1/2
If so, here's hoping for a...
Instant (C)
Remove all -1/-1 counters from target creature you control. That creature gets +X/+X until end of turn, where X is equal to the number of -1/-1 counters removed this way.
We have 2 dropouts. That leaves us with 3 pairings:
Matchup 1:
netn10 v. Flatline
Matchup 2:
L0ng5h0t v. thenoodler
Matchup 3:
Piar v. Moss_Elemental
Due to the odd number of matchups, The judging will be divided up slightly differently as I will judge ALL participants while the other judges will put in the normal two. Each contestant will be scored by 3 judges and have their totals added for a final score. Only 3 will advance to the final round.
IcariiFa will judge match 1, 2, and 3.
bravelion83 will judge match 2 and 3.
Ogonomany will judge match 1 and 3.
admirableadmiral will judge match 1 and 2.
Deadline will be this Thursday, 11:59 EST time.
Obviously I'm not going to deduct any points this round for mistakes due to the non-Latin characters temporary restriction.
The Lion's Lair is 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 through the links in my signature.
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.
It wasn't requested, but I chose to go on with my homemade race from my round 1 judge card.
Serlak Larva (U/R)
Creature - Serlak (R)
Hunger 1 (When this creature enters the battlefield, if you cast it from your hand, it deals 1 damage to another target creature. If that creature dies this way, put a +1/+1 counter on this creature.)
Remove two +1/+1 counters from Serlak Larva: Draw a card, then transform Serlak Larva.
Serlaks are amphibious and reproduce underwater. They're born as innocuous larvae.
0/1
//
Alpha Serlak
((R/G)) Legendary Creature - Serlak
Trample
Other Serlak creatures you control get +1/+1 for each Human creature your opponents control.
Serlaks are amphibious but stay on land to hunt. They prey on humans all day, letting out their endless hunger.
5/5
Two very close matchups for me this round.
L0ng5h0t
Design (6.5/10)
Creativity - In Innistrad, there has already been an artifact that transformed into a legendary creature (Elbrus, the Binding Blade//Withengar Unbound), but at least it didn't transform back and forth as this does.
Elegance - A bit wordy, but still understandable.
Potential - I don't think Timmy would care that much, too much work to get it big enough. Johnny likes the Machine very much because it lets him find his combo pieces by looting repeatedly, but with Anoth himself he'll try to find a way to transform him back as soon as possible because what he really wants is the Machine. Spike, at the contrary, likes the Machine because it lets him dig through his deck for his best cards, but what he wants is Anoth himself as an unblockable growing win condition.
Development (6.5/10)
Viability - Anoth himself (the back face) is black only because it's a Vampire. Mechanically, it should be blue. "can't block" is black, but "can't be blocked" is blue. I also see nothing wrong with that morbid ability being in blue, as I see it as color neutral: all colors had morbid in Innistrad block and all colors have a little ability to put +1/+1 counters on the creature itself. Here we either have a wrong flavor for the right mechanics, or the wrong mechanics for the right flavor. There's also a slight color bleed in the Machine, letting all colors have access to looting, but that looks minor in comparison. Rarity looks fine.
Balance - Costs look reasonable. What I see is some anti-synergy in Anoth himself: he can't be blocked but needs a creature to die for morbid, so if you want to trigger morbid reliably you either have to have a removal spell in your hand with an available target each turn, or you have to involve other creatures in combat. Maybe that was the intent, but those two abilities still read somewhat strange next to one another. Certainly playable in limited. In constructed, if it will get played, I think it will only be as a 3/3 unblockable for 4 (cast the Machine and immediately activate its ability with X = 0).
Creative Writing - All good here.
Polish
Challenge (2/2) - Both met.
Quality (1.5/3) - In Anoth's Machine, the word "Machine" of the card name is not capitalized in its first instance (half a point deducted). Also, when X is a cost in an activated ability, the "where X is..." template is not used, but it's a separate sentence: "X is...". So this sould say: "X, T: Draw X cards, then discards X cards. Then transform Anoth's Machine. X is the number of +1/+1 counters on Anoth's Machine." (see various cards, most recently Elite Arcanist and Prototype Portal, half a point deducted).
In Anoth, He Who Hungers's type line the comma should be a dash (half a point deducted). The long dash isn't accepted because of the non Latin characters restriction, but the short one (aka minus sign) is. You could have at least used that, just like you did for the morbid ability and the flavor text attribution (by the way, finally someone that puts it on its own line!).
Total: 16.5/25
Design (6/10)
Creativity - That ability about Commander surely makes this card original enough.
Elegance - Way too lengthy to get points here. Also, seeing living weapon on the back face leaves you disoriented at first, as usually when you transform a double-faced card it's not entering the battlefield. Then you realize that you exile this and it enters the battlefield directly transformed, so living weapon actually works, but you still have to think about it. It's not that intuitive nor understandable at a glance, especially for a less experienced player.
Potential - The only thing Timmy won't like is the low toughness, everything else seems made right for him, especially the "commander" ability. Johnny may try to use this to shut the opponent down so that he can go off without any fear. If Spike plays this, and it's not a given, it will be just because it's quite efficient as a 4 power first strike, haste for three mana (of specific colors, but still three mana).
Development (6.5/10)
Viability - The front face is way more white than red, and that's correctly reflected in the mana cost. The only red thing in it is haste. The triggered ability is a mix of flickering and a kind of Silence, both white. In fact, the optional cost in it could have just been monowhite, with red only in the card's mana cost.But in the end it's also fine as it is. Rarity is missing, so I can't judge it (and it loses you points in "Quality" and here too, because I can't judge a missing thing).
Balance - I've just talked about the mana cost. Here I'll add that three specifically colored mana looks fine to me as a cost. As a Melvin, I love the fact that the bonuses the Hide gives are exactly equal to the Forerunner's power, toughness, and evergreen abilities. These are the details that make Melvin rejoice. It's very hard to judge the "commander" ability as I don't play that format. I guess it's fine, but it may also be broken and I'm not realizing it. I admit my ignorance there. At least this card can still be used outside of Commander, unlike things such as Command Tower. It's also good that there is a "may" on the Forerunner, so you can always choose not to transform it. That is what would most often happen in both limited and normal constructed, I think.
Creative Writing - All good here.
Polish
Challenge (2/2) - Both met.
Quality (2/3) - First, a serious error: rarity is missing. I guess this is at least rare, but rarity should never be left to be guessed by the judge (one point deducted).
I'm very doubtful about the wording of Sharri's Hide's "commander" ability, but I can't deduct points for it as I don't have any precedent to compare it with. Anyway, I'll say for the record that "counts towards" just sounds wrong to me. There must be a better way to word that ability, even if I can't come up with any right now.
Finally, I recommend formatting cards as specified in the CCC forum rules. In this particular case, names should be bold, but I'm not deducting points for this because it's just a matter of formatting.
Total: 16.5/25
Piar
Design (10/10)
Creativity - A sorcery on the back face of a DFC! Full points here.
Elegance - This is one of the very few cases of a card that reads intuitive but would probably need to read much less so because of the rules (see "Viability"). Anyway, as it's worded now it's perfectly understandable at a glance.
Potential - Timmy loves the back face. Johnny loves the front face instead. Spike likes the hexproof but probably sees the back face as overwin.
Development (5.5/10)
Viability - Let me first get done with the easy things: rarity is obviously right and everything is in color. Ok, with that said, there are two things that really worry me here:
- First, when you resolve the activated ability for the third time in a turn, you get a sorcery on the battlefield, even for just a brief moment, and that's one of the very few things absolutely forbidden in Magic. This is because when you resolve an effect, you're following the instructions in the order they're written on the card. So first you will transform Ibza into The Terrible Truth while it's still on the battlefield, and only then you go through all steps of casting it. It's true that state-based actions aren't checked in the middle of a spell or ability resolving, but that doesn't change the fact that in the moment after you've transformed it and before you cast it you have a sorcery on the battlefield.
- And here we come to the second problem: one of the steps of casting it is taking it from the zone it currently is in (in this case the battlefield) and put it onto the stack, which is a different zone. Oh, look: a DFC that changed zone! Whenever that happens, the front face is what you get in the new zone. So what you're actually casting is not The Terrible Truth, but Ibza again! That's certainly not what you wanted.
There is an easy solution for both problems: instead of saying "transform Ibza and cast it", first exile it (to avoid having a sorcery on the battlefield), and then "cast it transformed without paying its mana cost". The key word there is "transformed", as it makes the back face be the one on the stack with only a slight and very easy change needed in the Comprehensive Rules. You also need to say "without paying its mana cost" because otherwise the game would ask you to pay The Terrible Truth's mana cost, which doesn't exist, and unpayable costs can't be paid. So just have Ibza say "If this is the third time this ability has resolved this turn, exile Ibza the Curious, then cast it transformed without paying its mana cost". This is what I was referring to in "Elegance" when I was saying that the intuitive wording is not the correct one. So that wording made you gain points there, but it makes you lose points here.
Balance - Costs look fine. It normally takes twelve mana plus the cost of the spell you're copying (all copies with the same target, by the way, as you can't change it if it's not explicitly written on the card) all in a single turn to transform, and that is a huge cost, but if you manage to cast this transformed, man! What a blowout! The use of the word "opponent" instead of "player" is huge here: you're damaging your own creatures too and you're letting your opponents draw cards too (but then they will have to discard a lot of them soon, and they're also getting much closer to being decked, if you're in the milling game), but only they get the 13 to the face! This is an absolute bomb in limited. I don't see it in constructed, it just takes too much to transform there. If it gets played there, it will be played just as a 2/2 hexproof for three mana. Not bad, but not the most amazing thing in the format.
Creative Writing - Very good flavor, both in names and flavox texts. Also, this is a card that between its two faces tells a quite good story.
Polish
Challenge (2/2) - Both met.
Quality (3/3) - The only problem here is the wording I've already talked about in "Viability" because it affects the functionality of the card. I won't deduct points for lack of precedents to compare this with. Other than that, everything's good here.
Total: 20.5/25
Design (7.5/10)
Creativity - In Innistrad, there was a legendary artifact that transformed into a legendary creature (Elbrus, the Binding Blade//Withengar Unbound). This is kind of the opposite version of it.
Elegance - Very wordy (it just needs to be), but also still quite understandable.
Potential - Timmy like the sheer power of the Killing Machine, even if it could take a while to get it. Johnny likes the challenge of transforming this as fast as he can. I don't think Spike would be interested in this very much, but it still does a very good job in getting Johnny and especially Timmy excited.
Development (8/10)
Viability - I think the front face could also have been monowhite, as white has the ability to search for and interact with Auras and Equipments by itself. But the back face has some blue in it, as blue can interact with artifacts, hexproof is a blue ability, and trample is tertiary in all other colors than red and green. Indestructible being white actually makes the back face feel more white/blue than the front face. But there's also to remember that Bruna, Light of Alabaster is a white/blue card which whole point is to interact with Auras, even if that isn't usually blue. Keeping everything into account, there could be some minor bleed here, but it's still fine. This looks good as a mythic, both because of complexity and because the back face is quite splashy.
Balance - This is very hard to transform, and probably rightly so, given the power of the back face. It takes five turns to transform if you only use the Young Genius's ability, for a total of twenty mana. Or course, you can save time and mana playing some Auras and Equipment of your own, but it still should take many turns. A single removal spell in response to the fifth thing attached to the Young Genius will cost you a huge amount of time and mana that go to waste. But if you instead manage to transform it, you just drop the bomb! The Killing Machine really lives up to its name! It's practically impossible to remove, and it will also still have a bunch of Auras and Equipment attached to pump it. That more than repays you for the huge time and mana investment you made to get it. Playable in limited only if you get enough Auras and Equipment in your limited pool to reliably transform it. Very playable in constructed in an aura or equipment deck, but I don't know how many of those there are in constructed. Usually not a lot, but in those decks it can be a huge win condition, if you have the time to transform it, which won't always be the case in constructed.
Creative Writing - For some reason I kept reading the name as "Sarkhan", maybe the name is a bit too similar. Other than that, everything's fine here.
Polish
Challenge (2/2) - Both met.
Quality (2.5/3) - MSE tells me "Legendary Creature - Human Artificer Wizard" doesn't fit on the type line (half a point deducted). For reference, "Legendary Artifact Creature - Construct" barely fits.
Total: 20/25
Results
L0ng5h0t: 16.5
thenoodler: 16.5
Piar: 20.5
Moss_Elemental: 20
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.)
Match 1:
Creativity: Seeing as how Gold artifact tokens have only recently become a thing, this card does explore some interesting space with that. It's kind of like a Manaweft Sliver for all creatures on one side and a flying Ashnod's Altar on the other.
Elegance: The flavor a king overcome by greed and becoming this evil flying monster is very apparent through the mechanics of the card. What is much less apparent is the fact that this king is good to begin with. A king who sends out all of his minions to fetch him gold doesn't exactly sound like a nice guy.
Potential: There is some rampy goodness to be had with this card, so there's definitely so Timmy-ness to it. It does have a pretty unique effect and ramps pretty hard, so there would be plenty of places to try this card.
Development (6.5/10):
Viability: I feel like of all the colors you could choose the front of the card to be, green and white are the worst two. Black is the obvious choice, since it's the color of greed and is the only color thus far to use Gold tokens. Red is the color of temporary mana, and at least blue has the ability to transform things (though I will say that would be a stretch here). Either way, green/white is definitely not the correct color combination for this card.
Balance: Basically, how good is a Manaweft Sliver that affects all of your creatures. My guess is good, but nothing too broken. It does worry me a little bit that the creatures come in with the ability to tap for mana immediately, as that might push this card over the top. The flip side isn't two troublesome, as it's just a beefy Ashnod's Altar, which I don't think is a problem.
Creative Writing: While the colors throw me off a little bit, for the most part all of the flavor writing for this card is a home run. The names are good (though "Avatar of Greed" seems a bit close to "Archdemon of Greed" to me). The flavor text is good, and the overall flavor of the card comes through very well.
Polish:
Challenge (2/2): Good.
Quality (2.5/3): A little sloppy with grammar and spelling: The first "legendary" is misspelled, there's an extra period at the end of the first ability on the front face, the "t" in "They" should be capitalized, and there's no period at the end of the flavor text.
Total: 19/25
Creativity: There aren't a whole lot of cards that card about other artifacts entering the battle field, and there certainly aren't any that produce mana and then flip into a creature.
Elegance: It's kind of hard to wrap my head around the fact that casting artifacts creates and indestructible monster. I guess the idea is that looking for too much stuff around the tomb unleashes and evil force? Based on mechanics alone, that's pretty shaky for the card.
Potential: Certainly a cool build around card for any type of artifact deck. It's powerful enough that it's worth trying to get active.
Development (9/10):
Viability: Artifacts can certainly produce colorless mana, and this certainly feels like a rare. All good here.
Balance: I feel like as long as there aren't too many cheap artifacts running around, there's nothing really wrong with this. It has a similar effect to Etherium Sculptor, and that hasn't done anything too broken. Now, if it were put into a format with things like Memnite and Ornithopter it might get a bit hairy, but I think formats where that's likely to happen probably have good answers to these types of cards.
Creative Writing: The names and flavor texts do their jobs and help get across the flavor that the mechanics themselves were missing. Basically, I'm saying it's good.
Polish:
Challenge (2/2): Good.
Quality (3/3): There is no good reference for whether deathtouch or indestructible should come first, so you're good.
Total: 21/25
Match 3:
Creativity: The front is nothing crazy, but a transformed sorcery is certainly pushing this all the way to 11.
Elegance: For a card that ruleswise is a nightmare, it's pretty easy to look at this card and understand what's going on. You copy some stuff as you please, then when you do it too much, KABOOM everything explodes. Very nice.
Potential: Trying to combo off with this guy is certainly something that people would want to do, so I can easily see people being excited about this card, even if it is only in casual play.
Development (5.5/10):
Viability: It's late and I'm lazy, and since bravelion summed everything up so eloquently in a way that I couldn't even begin to, go look at his critique if you want to understand why this is a bit of a nightmare.
Balance: Without building around this card to get it to flip, it's probably about the same power level of Nivix Guildmage, which is to say not very. So the real question is how easy is it to flip, and how much is it worth it. For the latter, the effect is probably game ending for the most part, so it's certainly worth trying to get. Unfortunately, getting this to go off is difficult. Realistically, the only way you're gonna perform this is if you are copying a bunch of rituals, and even with that this still isn't particularly easy, as you'll likely need at least 8 mana to even have a chance of going off. So while the effect is powerful, this card is not.
Creative Writing: Very well done here. The names and flavor texts really convey that a scientist has gone mad and has literally become enveloped in his experiments.
Polish:
Challenge (2/2): Good.
Quality (2/3): While the rules headaches have already been accounted for, the card is missing the standard "You may choose new targets for the copy" that comes with every copying effect.
Total: 19.5/25
Creativity: It's kind of like if Stonehewer Giant and Bruna, Light of Alabaster had a baby that transformed into a ruthless killing machine. While it feels like it's borrowing some things from other cards, it's still very unique on it's own.
Elegance: I really like the idea of this guy becoming so enveloped by his inventions that he becomes this unstoppable artifact monster. That being said, the fact that this can get Auras feels a little off when transforming into a giant artifact.
Potential: It's a repeatable tutor, so I'm sure someone, somewhere would find a use for it. (In all seriousness there is a ton of potential in the effect this card gives)
Development (7.5/10):
Viability: I struggle to see the blue in this. Both Aura searching and Equipment searching are squarely in white, so I don't really see much of a need for it. Blue can search out artifacts, but when the typeline has Equipment on it, it falls squarely into white's territory.
Balance: There's no reason to even consider the back of this card since if you are flipping this, you are almost certainly winning the game. However, the front of this card still feels like a pretty powerful effect. It's very easy to answer this the turn it comes down, but I imagine if you untap with this card in play, it's going to put you pretty far ahead since you can get any equipment or Aura. I imagine it's not that much more powerful than Stonehewer Giant, which is good but not broken, but I still might be a bit wary of it.
Creative Writing: I think this is my favorite flavoring of a card this round. The flavor text and names are both on point.
Polish:
Challenge (2/2): Good.
Quality (3/3): Good.
Total: 20.5/25
Flatline: 21/25
Piar: 19.5/25
Moss_Elemental: 20.5/25
Creativity: The peasants help everyone out by contributing. The ability reminds me of Convoke in a good way, except it's far more powerful.
Elegance: It has a lot of text, but it's not too confusing for its rarity.
Potential: This has a lot of potential everywhere.
Development 8/10
Viability: You have to remember that while Solex's night side has a black color identity, everything on that card needs to be something that green and white can do. Sacrificing creatures for mana is a very black/red thing, and definitely not a green/white thing.
Balance: This is fair. As a gold 2/4 for 4, the card can afford to have powerful abilities. It has impact the moment it hits the board (provided you have other creatures), yet isn't too terrifying if removed immediately, or even in a few turns. This can generate a scary amount of mana in a tokens deck, but such a deck would likely have inconsistencies because of the conflict of interests a big mana ramp deck that would want the gold tokens would have, and the aggressive creature-based strategy the tokens want. Solex's night side can be scary if left unchecked, but it does require you to go fairly all-in to do so, which makes it passable.
Creative Writing: Excellent flavor. This conveys the transformation of community to greed in flavor, mechanics, and colors. Excellently done.
Polish 4/5
Challenge:
Quality: You put two periods in the first gold ability. The T in They should have been capitalized on the night side.
Total: 21/25
Creativity: Not much here is new on the day side, and that it transforms isn't new either. I can't give you too many points here.
Elegance: It feels a little weird that this transforms from artifacts. I'd thing a sarcophagus would care about creatures dying more.
Potential: This is definitely a Johnny card. Spike might be interested in throwing this into an artifact deck, as it's a very powerful effect in something like Affinity and a 5/5 indestructible is incredibly hard to deal with. He just doesn't like how the card can be highly swingy. Timmy ignores the day side and is immediately enamored at the prospect of an indestructible 5/5.
Development 9/10
Viability: If you removed the deathtouch this would feel a little more "in-color" for a colorless card (even though it flips). Also, this is right on the cusp of being a mythic rare, and in a set with a decent amount of artifacts it probably should be.
Balance: It's obviously very powerful early on, but that power is mitigated by how terrible it is once you've exhausted your hand. I'd consider playing one or two in a deck that would try to flip it by casting a bunch of Memnites and Ornithopters. That it transforms away from being a mana engine is also a very good fail-safe against infinite combos, as some sort of infinite engine that would hinge on this card would only work three times before giving you a 5/5 (which, while good, doesn't go infinite). Good balancing on the card. Lastly, deathtouch feels large irrelevant on this card, and something like trample would probably have been a better idea (if a more powerful one).
Creative Writing: I really like the flavor, but I wish there was more of a transition between the two. Also, you missed an opportunity to reference the day/night mechanic in the flavor with something like "What a great find! I can't want to take a look at it tonight."
Polish 4/5
Challenge: I don't really feel like you met the main challenge; the card doesn't feel "good" to me on the day side. If scooby doo's taught me anything, it's that ancient sarcophagi are evil things that are not to be messed with.
Quality:
Total: 19/25
Creativity: I certainly can't say I've seen anything like this before.
Elegance: This card is an absolute mess. It took me three reads of the card to understand what the card does, and it took me several more reads to figure out what it would play like. This card has too many moving parts, and none of them feel like they mesh together well; on one side, you have a looting machine, on the other, an unblockable vampire that gets bigger when creatures die. The flavor is there, but the mechanics are horrendous. Also, why does a machine turn into a vampire? A horror would have made much more sense to me.
Potential: Spike hates this, and Timmy isn't interested. If johnny is building an aggressive deck that wants to loot for some reason, he might run this. The issue is that the card is so distracted in what it's doing, and as such it takes a highly specific deck to want to play this.
Development 5/10
Viability: This card has an ability that is firmly cemented in black in the night side, and a blue/red ability on the day side. That's fine, but when it comes to transform cards that are colorless on the day side, you want to make sure that you treat them as colorless cards, so as to not induce color bleed.
Balance: This card feels like it does several incredibly different things and it does none of them exceptionally well. The looting side takes a while to be for a relevant enough amount to be worth anything, and the creature side, while not that bad, is very slow to get going, so creature-based decks can't capitalize on it. It feels like something I wouldn't even play in draft because this card simultaneously wants to be in a fast deck and a slow deck.
Creative Writing: The flavor and the mechanics feel disconnected. Why does the machine that Anoth spent his life on loot? Wouldn't looting better represent the research he was doing to build the machine? Why does the machine turn into a vampire? There are too many questions and the flavor text doesn't help much.
Polish 4/5
Challenge:
Quality: Activated abilities can't have their costs defined by their effect; that's putting the cart in front of the horse. The correct wording is "x, t: Draw X cards, then discard X cards, then transform Anoth's Machine. X is the number of +1/+1 counters on Anoth's Machine."
Total: 14/25
Creativity: This is new, even if cards like Moonhold have done things like this before.
Elegance: Why is a Hide a weapon? Wouldn't her sword be a better idea?
Potential: Spike is all over the power level of this. Timmy wants to play this in commander.
Development 5/10
Viability: No rarity. Abilities are red and white.
Balance: This card is ridiculous! First of all, a 4/1 with first strike and haste, even at a restrictive mana cost, is incredibly powerful for a 3 drop. Now if you ever flip it, you basically get a free Silence and a crazy powerful weapon. This card does too much for its mana cost.
Creative Writing: I like the flavor text, but it fails to explain why sending her on a suicide mission leaves behind her gear.
Polish 4/5
Challenge:
Quality: It should be "...damage to a player, you may pay RW. If you do, exile Sharri, then return it to the battlefield..."
Total: 18/25
I currently have my judgements done. I am waiting to get cleared to bypass the Non Latin Unicode error so I can post them and update my threads related to the MCC. This should be resolved before the end of the day. I appreciate your patience. Judges, please take the time to double check your reviews so that you are satisfied with them if you have not done so already.
On another note, I will say this about my judgements. The past two rounds I made a point of automatically disqualifying entries that broke the rules of the round. This time, I let every card through because I felt it was a bit more subjective. However, there are several cards that I feel stepped beyond the bounds of the criteria and I made that clear in deducting a hefty amount points where the rubric allowed.
Netn10
Creativity - Many of the individual elements of this card have been done before, but a lot of the way the effects are combined make it feel somewhat new. It does ring of King Macar, the Gold-Cursed pretty heavily with it's flavor.
Elegance - This feels like it has one too many parts to be perfectly on point.
Potential - Timmy likes the back side for how big it can get and the front for how much mana he can have. Johnny likes the potential abuse of the mana he can generate via tapping shenanigans. Spike might find a use for the card, but it feels like it just falls short of the power he needs.
Development (5.5/10)
Viability - This card is missing black, both mechanically and flavorfully. Rare is correct.
Balance - This card would play well in standard and could be a fun commander. Limited bomb of course, but a manageable one that isn’t an end all automatically, so that’s good. It probably falls short in other formats which is fine.
Flavor - The flavor of this card makes sense. However, the rules for the round were very clear on wanting something to change from Good to Evil, and the front side is not good. I feel that by making Solex white in green that you felt that satisfied the criteria, but between his name as a hoarder, his mechanics on making and coveting gold, and his reverse side showing his narcissism from the start he was never "good." At best, he was just greedy. At worst, he was already evil.
Challenge (2/2) - Success.
Quality (1/3) - "Legendary" is misspelled on the front. There is a double period at the end of the artifact ability. "They" should be capitalized on the reverse side. There should be no space in the ellipses on the reverse side's flavor text.
Total: 16/25
Creativity - Similar transform cards have been done before, though not quite like this.
Elegance - Seems pretty straight forward on that point, though I'm not sure where the flavor of the artifact matters and mana granting come from.
Potential - Timmy thinks the mummy is cool, though maybe a hair short of "big" enough. Johnny wises he could just abuse the mana production. Spike sees a really easy and abusive 5/5 he can get in archetypes that already support it.
Development (5.5/10)
Viability - Rare is correct and it doesn’t break anything. It's a tad black for it's colorless cost, if only a smidgen so.
Balance - Unless the set is artifact heavy, this is a bad pick for limited. Standard will likely find a use for it, and modern already has several cheap and efficient artifact decks where this thing could become a star. It is likely pushing things there as a creature that trades with everything and dies to a limited range of removal.
Flavor - A mummies tomb trope is very easy to understand whether you pay much attention to fantasy or not. That said, like several other entries, I don't see the front side as particularly good. In the sense that it's a rare and valuable piece of history might have been debatable. Perhaps that's what you were going for, but really its an artifact holding an evil mummy that you crack open for some reason… There are some major disjoints in terms of the challenge and why this thing transforms in the first place.
Challenge (2/2) - Correct
Quality (3/3) Seems right.
Total: 17.5/25
Creativity - It's a very interesting take on a commander card and encourages a niche the colors already share with equipment.
Elegance - I get the story you're trying to tell but the mechanics of how the transformation occurs work against it. The living weapon facet of this card is also a bit much coupled with the can't play clause.
Potential - Timmy likes getting a cool equipment. Johnny doesn't have much appeal here. As a commander, Spike appreciates the options the transformed side gives to make anything you've got deal commander damage.
Development (5.5/10)
Viability -The color balance is right, and I don't see it breaking anything persay, but the lack of rarity is a major mistake.
Balance -I'm glad this is a commander card, because as a standard or even modern card, this does way too much. As a commander it's probably still pushing it hard in 1v1. I think that it does so many different little effects make it push the boundaries too far.
Flavor - The flavor of this card is a little off to begin with for me on self-exiling. I get this is some kind of martyr, but the exiling on hit effect is a bit off for me, as she was successful in landing a blow. Why would it die? However, more important then that is the good/evil aspect of the challenge. You're card is perhaps the most clearly defined as good on it's front side, but the back side doesn't read evil to me. It reads sad as know she is a gross living weapon thing, but that doesn't make it evil for me. If you had hinted at a changed motive at the backside by making the name and flavor text read antagonistic I could see it, but right now it reads “horrifically altered but still fighting the good fight for good.”
Challenge (2/2) - Fine.
Quality (2/3) There is no rarity, which comes up again here. The wording on the commander clause reads a bit odd, but there isn't precedent for it so I won't mark off. I'm pretty confident it would be more eloquent however.
Total: 16/25
Creativity - We have had a artifact transform into a creature before, though the execution here is different.
Elegance - The face that I can cast this and tap it immediately for 0 to transform it without the drawing seems odd.
Potential - This is probably a tad slow and clunky for timmy to get behind, even if the flavor is a trope he may like. Johnny likes the looting side, but again, it's a tad clunky to keep it there on the side he prefers. Spike sees value and flexibility in it colorless cost, but spread too thinly over many turns.
Development (4.5/10)
Viability - This card does a lot of blue things for a black color identity and a colorless cost. Rare is correct, and it doesn't break anything.
Balance - This seems like a cute casual card and a strong in limited since it can be played in any deck, but probably falls short of really being playable elsewhere. Not the best situation for a rare, but an acceptable one.
Flavor - This very much seems like a vampires coffin trope, though the term machine draws away from that. However, flavor was very important for this challenge and I am left wondering what is good about the front side? The answer is... nothing. The motivations and reasons behind building the machine are ambiguous so it's alignment, which was a crucial point of the round, is wrong.
Challenge (2/2) - Fine
Quality (2/3) - The activate ability is incorrect and should be worded so the transform clause comes before defining X.
Total: 14/25
Creativity - The front side skirts somewhere between Stonehwere Giant and Sovereigns of Lost Alara, but with a twist to transform it. Solid evolution of preexisting ideas.
Elegance - Despite how much is going on, it still feels like it has a nice flow. It does become a bit harder to parse on the backside.
Potential - Timmy wants the killing machine and likes getting big equipment's out of the deal too. Johnny enjoys the tutoring. Spike thinks the rewards here are huge and will try to break it, though he may find the turn delay to protect his 2/2 for 3 is too high a cost.
Development (9.5/10)
Viability - This card is certainly deserving of its Mythic status and is on point in it's colors. It does not break the rules of the game. The colors are on point, at the minor bleeds on the back side are flavorful and acceptable at mythic.
Balance - A build around card that will play well in limited (though probably not transform) and invited casual and commander players along for a great ride. The right standard environment would find this playable, and it may be fringe playable in modern, but that's a stretch. It is fragile enough that it won't get out of hand.
Flavor - This card tells a clear story that is certainly a fall from grace as the challenge asks for. Sardrax was probably a decent if ambitions fellow but didn't have anything afoul on his front before going mad with his inventions on the reverse.
Challenge (2/2) - On point
Quality (2.5/3) The Type line is too long on the front side. He doesn't need two classes.
Total: 22/25
Creativity - The idea of flipping into a sorcery has never been done before, and I'm glad someone attempted this.
Elegance - Very elegant, arguably the cleanest of them all this round at a glance. There is just the issue with it's transform trigger.
Potential - Timmy likes the idea of going nuclear though the work to get there isn't his cup of tea. This is a combo card, so johnny is in love. Spike sees the combo potential too, and on a hexproof body? He will try to break this thing hard, and probably can.
Development (6/10)
Viability - This is mythic and perfectly in it's colors, but as pointed out as worded this briefly has a sorcery on the battlefield itself, which is a huge rules no-no. It's an fairly simple fix, but as is it breaks one of the core rules of the game. Coincidently, Mark Rosewater mentioned it offhand in one of his articles this week when he talks about Living Lore.
Balance - This is where it gets dicey as well. In the right standard environment this will be fine, and in limited it's a bad guildmage. In modern however, the potential to combo out with this is quite real with the right mana adding sorcery, and while that typically is fine, the fact that this combo piece is already on a hexproof body makes it a very safe avenue to abuse. So it has the potential to become a deck in modern. It might fall short of a one shot kill, but it gives you the ammo to go off again either the same turn, finish with a grapeshot, or go off again next turn. It's...iffy.
Flavor - The idea of an experiment gone wrong is just about perfect for the challenge, but the execution is a hair off for me in that he accidentally creates a disaster. It's more of a tragedy then an act of evil, but that may just be me being picky. However, I don't consider it stepping outside of the balance of the challenge like some other entries.
Challenge (2/2) Correct.
Quality (2/3) You need to be able to define new targets for the spells copies.
Total: 19/25
Match 1:
netn10: 16 + 19 + 21 = 56
Vs.
Flatline: 17.5 + 21 + 19 = 57.5
Match 2:
L0ng5h0t: 14 + 16.5 + 14 = 44.5
Vs.
thenoodler: 16 + 16.5 + 18 = 50.5
Match 3:
Piar: 19 + 20.5 + 19.5 = 59
Vs.
Moss_Elemental: 22 + 20 + 20.5 = 62.5
Thank you all for participating! The final round will be posted in the next couple hours... I hope you're excited!