MCC March Final Round - What!? Impossible! I can't be... DEFEATED!!!
Welcome to the Final Round, evil doers. It's come down to your moment of truth, the whole multiverse is on edge as your master plan comes to fruition! But, low and behold, some goody-goody planeswalker stands in your way... and he or she is winning! This is inconceivable! How can you lose after all your time spent preparing?
You won't. Everything is going exactly as planned.
Your Challenge:
You will be creating two cards for this challenge.
1st: Create a card that includes the phrase "you can't lose the game" OR a card that replaces you losing the game, preventing the loss.
2nd: Create a card the synergies with the first as a win condition.
I realize there will be a lot of clarifications in this round, but feel free to ask. I will add to the clarifications as they arise in addition to what I have started here.
Sub Challenge 1: Your two cards must have a difference in their converted mana cost of 4 or greater.
Sub Challenge 2: Neither card can be a planeswalker. (Emblems would be just too easy, no?)
A "Win Condition" should have the potential to cause an opponent to lose the game. It doesn't have to automatically win, but should have the potential to win eventually.
Your win condition should play well with your first card, not make it irrelevant.
A card with a CMC of 1 and a second with a converted mana cost of 5 fulfills the 1st sub challenge.
Eligible Contestants:
Flatline
Moss_Elemental
thenoodler
Judges:
IcariiFA
bravelion83
Ogonomany
admirableadmiral
Card entries are due Monday, March 30th by 11:59 EST.
Judgings will be due Thursday, April 2nd by 11:59 EST.
Brain Enhancer8
Artifact (M)
You have no maximum hand size.
As long as you have seven or more cards in hand, you can't lose the game and your opponents can't win the game. t: Draw a card. If you have six or fewer cards in hand, draw another card. Knowledge begets power, which, in turn, begets more knowledge.
Mental Victory2UU
Enchantment (R)
You have no maximum hand size.
At the beginning of your upkeep, if you have twenty or more cards in hand, you win the game. Victory is assured when you set your mind to it.
You need to update the main challenge. A card that triggers on you losing the game would happen after the loss and be too late. It needs to replace your losing the game (Lich's Mirror, Laboratory Maniac)
Systemic Poverty
Enchantment (M)
At the end of each opponent's precombat main phase, that player discards a card.
As long as each opponent has no cards in hand, you can't lose the game and your opponents can't win the game. "Why would I want to help the poor? I have no reason to fear a poor man."
-King Rajora, the Oppressor
Downward Spiral
Enchantment - Aura (R)
Enchant player
Whenever enchanted player discards a card, that player loses 2 life.
At the beginning of enchanted player's upkeep, if he or she has no cards in hand, transform Downward Spiral. There are few things in life that are more difficult to watch than a man's slow descent into madness.
//
Madness
Enchantment - Aura (R)
Enchant player
At the beginning of enchanted player's upkeep, if that player has no cards in hand, he or she loses 3 life. Of course one of those things would be the madness itself.
(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)
Check out "The Lion's Lair", the article series where I specifically talk about custom card design with the intent to help you get better at it. The article index is always updated with the latest content.
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.
Venom Serlak1GG
Creature — Serlak (M)
Deathtouch
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.)
You can’t lose the game.
Whenever an opponent is dealt combat damage by Venom Serlak, that player loses the game.
1/2
Ultimate Sacrifice5WWB
Sorcery (M)
Each of your opponents sacrifices each creature he or she controls. “I’ll leave you the choice. You can sacrifice yourself, or I will sacrifice you.”
Brain Enhancer8
Artifact (M)
You have no maximum hand size.
As long as you have seven or more cards in hand, you can't lose the game and your opponents can't win the game. t: Draw a card. If you have six or fewer cards in hand, draw another card. Knowledge begets power, which, in turn, begets more knowledge.
Design (7.5/10) Creativity – The single parts have all been done before. The last ability, in particular, reminds me of Library of Alexandria's draw ability. Putting them all together makes a card that is more than the sum of its parts, though, because of the synergy between the different abilities. Elegance – All good here. Potential – I don't think Timmy cares about this, he prefers to cast his cards rather than accumulating them in his hand. Johnny loves this card. Spike likes the drawing part, but hates the mana cost.
Development (8.5/10) Viability – Everything here has already been on lands or artifacts before, so it's all something colorless permanents can do. I think rarity is right, this definitely feels mythic to me. Balance – Eight mana should be safe enough as a cost to print this. Jayemdae Tome and Staff of Nin seem reasonable comparisons. This has additional abilities with strong synergy so raising the cost looks necessary. I can't see this getting played in limited, and in constructed only if built around. It should be more playable in multiplayer, where you have more time to get to cast this, but it will certainly put a giant red sign on your face. Creative Writing – All good here.
Polish Challenge (2/2) – Both met. Quality (2.5/3) – In the last ability, "draw another card" should be "draw an additional card" (see Monastery Siege and other cards, half a point deducted).
Total: 20.5/25
Mental Victory2UU
Enchantment (R)
You have no maximum hand size.
At the beginning of your upkeep, if you have twenty or more cards in hand, you win the game. Victory is assured when you set your mind to it.
Design (8.5/10) Creativity – I can't remember another alternative win condition based on the number of cards in your hand. Elegance – All good here. Potential – Timmy doesn't care, Johnny loves this, Spike will use this only if it proves reliable enough.
Development (9/10) Viability – Blue is certainly the color that would get an alternative win condition based on the number of cards in hand. It's also the most suited in getting advantage of it, with all its draw effects. Rarity is fine, even if I could also see this as a mythic. Balance – The cost looks fine, even if the real cost is having to keep twenty cards in your hand. Both getting them and accumulating them in your hand without casting anything will be hard, and that's good for an alternative win condition. It's not supposed to be easy. This will be best used in some kind of stalling deck, giving you the time to fulfill its condition. I can easily see this in a turbofog kind of deck. Unplayable in limited, and in constructed too, unless you build your whole deck around it. The synergy between the two cards is clearly visible and very good. Creative Writing – All good here.
Polish Challenge (2/2) – Both met. Quality (3/3) – All good here.
Systemic Poverty
Enchantment (M)
At the end of each opponent's precombat main phase, that player discards a card.
As long as each opponent has no cards in hand, you can't lose the game and your opponents can't win the game. "Why would I want to help the poor? I have no reason to fear a poor man."
-King Rajora, the Oppressor
Design (7.5/10) Creativity – Having an ability trigger at the end of a phase is definitely new, but there might be some rules problem (I'll get to them later), as is tying the "can't lose the game" part to a simil-hellbent condition. Elegance – Once you understand the unusual trigger, you're good. Potential – Timmy doesn't care, Johnny loves this, and Spike likes the card advantage from the opponent discarding cards.
Development (6/10) Viability – This card oozes with black: effect, cost, flavor, everything is as black as black can be. This is fine as a mythic, but just because of the "can't lose the game" ability. Balance – The cost can be a little bit too restrictive, but at least it keeps the card in check. I can't see this played in limited, and in constructed you'll also have to build around it.
And now for my main doubt about this card: does it work in the rules at all? I don't know if a triggered ability triggering at the end of a phase rather than at the beginning works. Does it trigger at the end of the phase and then go on the stack at the beginning of the following step? That's the only way I can see this working, and even then, why not just have this trigger at the beginning of combat? It's a functional change only if you skip the combat phase, but how often does that happen? I would have totally worded this to trigger at the beginning of each opponent's combat. I'm absolutely not sure this would work in the rules as it is (the card) and as they are (the rules). The change needed to make this single card work could be potentially huge. Would it be worth it? I don't think so. Just have it trigger at the beginning of combat and it's much better. Creative Writing – All good here.
Polish Challenge (2/2) – Both met. Quality (3/3) – Never before an ability has triggered at the end of a phase rather than at its beginning, but the wording looks very plausible. I'm just pointing this out, no points deducted.
Total: 18.5/25
Downward Spiral
Enchantment - Aura (R)
Enchant player
Whenever enchanted player discards a card, that player loses 2 life.
At the beginning of enchanted player's upkeep, if he or she has no cards in hand, transform Downward Spiral. There are few things in life that are more difficult to watch than a man's slow descent into madness.
//
Madness
Enchantment - Aura (R)
Enchant player
At the beginning of enchanted player's upkeep, if that player has no cards in hand, he or she loses 3 life. Of course one of those things would be the madness itself.
Design (7/10) Creativity – Enchant player hasn't been seen that much outside of Innistrad curses, so it still feels original enough. Madness, though, somehow reminds me of The Rack. Elegance – Very good mechanical representation of the intended flavor. Full points here. Potential – Again, Timmy doesn't care and Johnny loves this (is there an echo here?). Spike likes the life loss, but he would probably prefer to have the choice not to transform this.
Development (8.5/10) Viability – Another very black card. Rarity looks right too, this doesn't feel mythic. Balance – This card is in the vein of Waste Not, Liliana's Caress, Megrim, and such cards, so two mana looks fine as a cost, also because transforming it and then keeping your opponents with no cards in hand for Madness doesn't look that easy. I can't see this getting played in limited or competitive constructed. In casual constructed it's surely playable in black discard decks. The synergy between the cards is clear and good. Creative Writing – All good here.
Polish Challenge (2/2) – Both met. Quality (3/3) – All good here.
Guardian of the Obzedat2WWB
Creature - Spirit Cleric (M)
Flash
Defender, extort (Whenever you cast spell, you may pay (W/B). If you do, each opponent loses 1 life and you gain that much life.)
If you would lose the game, instead exile Guardian of the Obzedat and gain life equal to the life you've lost this turn, then each opponent loses that much life.
0/5
Design (7.5/10) Creativity – That "lose the game" replacement effect is very original. The replaced event is the same as Lich's Mirror, but all the rest is completely different. Elegance – You have to think a little to understand what the replacement effect exactly does, but once you do you're good. Potential – Finally a card that can at least capture Timmy's attention for a moment ("I don't lose the game and I regain the life I lost? Cool!"). Johnny and Spike may use this as some kind of "insurance".
Development (8.5/10) Viability – The only thing that's not usually white or black is flash, but all colors are allowed to have it when it's necessary for the card's functionality to work, as it may be the case here. The replacement effect definitely makes this feel mythic. Balance – Extort is nice to have here: if you're behind, cast this and extort will help you gain some life back, and if by chance you're about to lose, go boom! Or, alternatively, you can wait to cast this in response to the event that would make you lose the game, and you can only do so because of flash. The fact that this has defender doesn't matter here, as this card's purpose is centainly not to attack. It may be playable in limited if you're already in its colors, but I don't think this card is strong enough to make you consider to shift one of your colors if you open it in draft. In constructed, as I've already said, this may get played as a form of "insurance" from losing the game. It's nice that it says "each opponent" for multiplayer. Creative Writing – Name is fine. No room for flavor text.
Polish Challenge (2/2) – Both met. Quality (2/3) – Reminder text should be in italics (half a point deducted). An "a" is also missing in it ("you cast a spell", half a point deducted).
Total: 20/25
Leeching Bond5(B/G)(B/G)(B/G)(B/G)
Sorcery (M)
Exchange target player's life total with target creature's power. Golgari mages often wander deep into the sewers to learn from the creatures that lurk there.
Design (10/10) Creativity – Nothing like this has ever been seen before. Maybe Tree of Redemption, but this is certainly different enough. Elegance – Very simple to understand and short. Full points here. Potential – Timmy likes that this is action and the visual feedback plays a great part in this. Johnny loves this as a win condition in a combo exchanging his opponent's life total with the power of a creature with zero power (which is exactly what you wanted him to do with Guardian of the Obzedat, by the way, and this is clearly the synergy between the two cards). Spike sees the potential in this but hates the mana cost.
Development (9/10) Viability – This is reminiscent enough of the aforementioned Tree of Redemption that it still feels green. It will also often cause a huge life loss to your opponent which feels black. If I imagine this card first as monogreen and then as monoblack it can make sense as both, so it looks good as a hybrid effect. This is definitely mythic. Any other rarity would be clearly wrong. Balance – The combo potential and inherent power of this card just require a high enough cost. Nine mana may be a bit too high though. Playtest would be needed to see if this card really needs a mana cost this high. I can't see this getting played in your ordinary limited deck, and in constructed you still have to build around it, but if you do, it's huge! As I've already said, the synergy between the two cards is both very clearly visible and effective. Creative Writing – All good here.
Polish Challenge (2/2) – Both met. Quality (3/3) – All good here.
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.)
Synergies between the cards is a key part of the second challenge and as such it will reflect mostly in the critique of your second card.
Design (7/10): Creativity: The discard effect feels fairly uncreative but actually hasn't been done all that much. The "can't lose" trigger on this is pretty nice. Elegance: The effects have a nice synergy on this card, though I feel like this effect won't often buy you more than a turn, since if you go below 0 life when they're are hellbent, you are likely to just die the next turn. Other than that the card feels pretty clean. Potential: This has some cool combo potential with stuff like Zur's Wierding. By itself it doesn't have crazy potential, but people do like discard.
Development (6.5/10): Viability: "Can't lose" effects are unique enough that this is fine at mythic. Definitely black as well. Balance: Pretty underwhelming. 7 mana is a lot to pay for the discard effect (while Nath of the Gilt-Leaf costs 5), and the "can't lose" generally only buys you a turn unless it's being comboed with something else. This would definitely be fine at 6, and possibly still fine at 5. Creative Writing: I can get behind the flavor text. The idea of you making everyone suffer comes through nicely with this card.
Polish: Challenge (2/2): Good. Quality (2/3): Triggers can occur at the end of phases. This would need to be change to the beginning of combat to get a similar effect that still works with the rules.
Total: 17.5/25
Design (7.5/10): Creativity: The split card twist is nice, but the front and back are pretty close to Liliana's Caress and Shrieking Affliction, respectively. Elegance: I really like the idea of the front side showing the person going mad and the back side being the person completely insane. Also works well with the first card as a win con. Small note: this feels to me like it should be a curse. Potential: As Liliana's Caress has shown, these cards are fun to build around.
Development (6.5/10): Viability: Both of the effects are simple enough that this card is fine as uncommon (especially since both sides have essentially been printed as such). Balance: Liliana's Caress didn't break anything, so there's no reason this would either. It's a fun card, but not particularly powerful outside of casual formats. Creative Writing: That flavor text really sells this card. The names are also really solid so well done here.
Design (6.5/10): Creativity: Kind of like a super Staff of Nin that instead of pinging stops you from ever losing. Elegance: I don't like that a card that prevents you from losing is so difficult to deal with. If a deck isn't running artifact removal, they just can't win. Platinum Angel is at least a creature and all colors have ways to deal with it. Potential: This seems like a good card to build around, and I hear people like drawing cards.
Development (5.5/10): Viability: Seems fine. Balance: If it didn't have the "can't lose" text with it, this would be OK. Probably a bit on the expensive side, but still very powerful. With it, however, this requires opponents to have artifact removal or else it is an 8 mana "you win the game", which isn't OK. Creative Writing: No complaints here. Solid all around.
Design (9.5/10): Creativity: Pretty cool. The best way I can describe it is that someone decided to make a cycle out of Mortal Combat and Epic Struggle and thought "What should the blue one be?". Elegance: Frankly, it almost feels surprising that this isn't already a card. Having a lot of cards in your hand feels like a natural alternate win condition for blue. Also works well with your first card (not that it needs the help). Potential: An alternate win condition that involves drawing cards. Really wonder about the potential here. (Sarcasm aside, there is lots here.)
Development (8.5/10): Viability: I always feel like alternate win conditions should be mythic, but recent history has shown that they don't have to be, so this is fine. Balance: While this would never show up in tournaments (Sphinx's Revelation was already close enough to saying "You win the game."), in casual circles and things like EDH this could be a rock star. In those formats, it's actually feasible that you draw enough cards to reach the 20 card threshold (I know I've done it). Still not the most powerful, but at least it isn't impossible to reach. Creative Writing: The flavor text feels very blue to me, so that's good. The name is pretty sweet.
Design (8.5/10): Creativity: The loss trigger is cool, and has only really been done on Lich's Mirror. The rest of the card is pretty uninspiring. Elegance: The flavor of swooping in to save someone and shoot the attack right back at them is pretty cool. Potential: A fun casual card, and a bit of a Johnny card.
Development (6/10): Viability: Yep. Balance: Feels pretty undercosted. There will be some "Gotcha!" moments, but a lot of the times this will just be Basilica Guards with flash, which isn't good. The combo potential with stuff like Ad Nauseum is cool, but not enough to save this card. Creative Writing: The Orzhov flavoring feels a bit tacked on, but overall the flavor is solid.
Design (9.5/10): Creativity: Pretty cool. It's like Tree of Redemption and Biorhythm had a weird child. Elegance: For being so game breaking, the effect is actually fairly simple. It works very nicely with your first card as well. Potential: I don't know if this is a Timmy or Johnny card, but someone will use it.
Development (6.5/10): Viability: I'm a little iffy on a card that can be cast with just black mana being able to skyrocket a creatures power, but usually hybrid cards get a little wiggle room, and black is allowed to get temporary attack increases, so this is fine. Balance: I'm not gonna act like I know how viable this is in Standard. I'm assuming it might be a control finisher and is probably too expensive elsewhere. The bigger issue is that this would be the bane of EDH games everywhere. Life setting cards are a bit taboo in multiplayer (thus why Biorhythm is banned in EDH and why everyone hates Sorin Markov), and getting to 9 mana in multiplayer games is much more feasible that other formats. That is a pretty big issue with this card. Creative Writing: Name and flavor text do a good job of present a super disgusting image, so kudos.
Due to some saving related errors, my judgements will be delayed until about 9-10am EST time tomorrow. For my fellow judges who have not finalized their scores, feel free to use this extra time to your advantage. However, I expect us all to be done so I may announce the winner before the end of tomorrow my time. Thank you
It's not that. I saved my judgements on a document while at work and forgot to mail it to myself to finish and post it at home. Since I had the majority of it done and had plans that had me out most of the evening, I just went ahead and postponed things to this morning my time. Thankfully I've already gotten a bypass on the forums Non-Latin filter, so I don't have to worry about that anymore.
Here are my judgments:
Moss_Elemental
Entry 1
Design (7/10) Creativity – None of the individual abilities are new, but how they added up together is interesting. Elegance – Each effect is fairly simple and the self synergy doesn’t take much effort to deduce. Potential – Timmy doesn’t really card about an expensive draw sink. Johnny loves the effects and determining the best way to cast it. Spike appreciates the draw, but the cost makes him uninterested.
Development (9/10) Viability – This does feel mythic and is fine as an artifact. It doesn’t do anything that make make a rules guru go nuts. Balance – When you are pushing into an 8 mana mythic, you can get away with a lot. This card certainly doesn’t cross the line as artifacts that tap to draw with upside start at lower costs and rarities. This card is extremely safe for constructed formats and probably very usuful in casual ones like commander. Creative Writing – This card is probably squishing a bit with the flavor text, and the idea of a brain enhancer starts to tread into Sci Fi, not fantasy, as presented.
Polish Challenge (2/2) – Quality (2/3) – “Draw an additional card.” Should be the wording.
Total: 20/25
Entry 2
Design (6.5/10) Creativity – It feels like a card that should have already been printed but hasn’t. That’s usually more of a good thing. It does mimic the flavor concept of Battle of Wits a fair deal. Elegance – It’s very simple and easy to grasp while still being interesting. The one thing that bothers me though is that both of your cards have no maximum hand size clauses. For each card in a vacuum that makes sense. For the required synergy of the challenge it seems inelegant. Potential – Again, Timmy doesn’t care. Johnny loves alt wins that make him work. Spike is wondering why he hasn’t already won if he has the ability to draw 20 cards in hand.
Development (10/10) Viability – This is certainly a blue rare and deserves to be nowhere else. Balance – Most of these alternate win cards have traditionally been costed at 4 and here it seems reasonable to do so. I card like this would be casual fun, but poses no danger of breaking anything as is. Creative Writing – No complaints.
Polish Challenge (2/2) – On point. Quality (3/3) – No issues here.
Total: 21.5/25
Combined Total: 41.5
Flatline
Entry 1
Design (6.5/10) Creativity – The condition for maintaining your “can’t lose” condition is new and interesting. Elegance – Why precombat mainphase? I get that it kicks in before combat this way potentially, but the timing is unusual and doesn’t read well. Potential – Timmy doesn’t care. Johnny finds the conditions for preventing the lose interesting and will play cards that make it impossible to draw. Spike sees the cost relative to the effect and sells it for a quarter.
Development (6/10) Viability – I think this fits squarely in black and the effect is quite mythic. The rules timing on the trigger feels odd, but is acceptable. Balance – The tension this card creates is quite nice in maintaining an opponents handsize at zero. However, this encourages you to keep your opponents hand size at zero and preventing them from having anything to play ever, which is not a fun direction to design cards for. I feel you are aware of this and made it’s cost fairly absurd. The result is a card that has a very niche strategy in casual realms that will probably piss off more people than it pleases when it works but generally isn’t worth the effort. Creative Writing – The hand doesn’t represent wealth in magic, it represents the mind. I also don’t quite understand the connection of flavor to not being able to lose. Assuming your analogy to hand and wealth made sense, having no wealth means you can’t stop the wealthy doesn’t make much sense to me in the magic universe in being immortal. Also the flavor of this card suggests a tax, which makes it tread into whites territory. I can see all the elements you’re trying to use here, but they just add up oddly.
Polish Challenge (2/2) – Both met Quality (3/3) – Seems fine.
Total: 17.5/25
Entry 2
Design (6.5/10) Creativity – A transforming Enchantment aura like this is neat. Elegance – The flavor of this is great. The mechanics are odd since it pressures the opponent less when it transforms. Potential – Timmy likes the theme if anything but this kind of effect isn’t his main draw. Johnny has always loved the first effect and enjoys the challenge of the transformed side. Spike already knows effects like this aren’t competitive at this cost.
Development (9/10) Viability – It is black, and a rare for sure thanks to it’s unusual nature. It might pass as an uncommon in a set where flipping on noncreatures were a theme. Balance – Well, it’s not overpowered that’s for sure. The front side is fine, liliana’s caress points out how it’s under the curve. The transformation will typically make this card worse rather than better, though I understand in terms of synergy with the first card it will work better since you’ll prevent them from ever having a hand. As a stand alone this reads oddly in powerlevel. Creative Writing – I like the play on the flavor.
Polish Challenge (2/2) – Quality (3/3) – All good here.
Total: 20.5/25
Combined Total: 38
thenoodler
Entry 1
Design (6.5/10) Creativity – Combining the Children of Korlis effect with a “can’t lose” clause is technically new, but functionally only amounts to a small difference. All the parts of the card don’t feel particularly fresh but combine to make a powerful effect. Elegance – Clunky. Too many moving parts. Cost to body size seems strange. Potential – Timmy sees a big life swing potential, but this isn't his type of creature. Johnny could use it as some kind of combo with the death trigger and extort effects. Spike sees a powerful effect attached to a condition he never wants to reach anyway (a game loss.) That and the cost to trigger it as a response to losing is too hefty for him.
Development (8.5/10) Viability – This card fit’s well into it’s colors for sure. Mythic is probably right between the the can’t lose clause and how much this can swing on the replacement effect. Pretty sure it doesn’t break anything. Balance – The effect is a powerful reversal and presents a huge trap with it’s instant speed effect. Further you can player it earlier and mess up your opponents math to get around it by damaging yourself. The intent behind this card is to have a big swooping defender that stops a loss, but more than likely it be used as a combo engine to “kill” yourself only to kill your opponents instead. A casual card that will probably only find use in commander besides. That’s acceptable. It probably does one too many things that detract from it’s most desirable usage. Creative Writing – Generic Orzhov card, but fair.
Polish Challenge (2/2) – Fine Quality (2/3) – Reminder text needs to be italicized and your missing a word in it.
Total: 19/25
Entry 2
Design (8.0/10) Creativity – Tree of Redemption is the closest thing to this. Elegance – Perfect on it’s own. However, the way it synergizes with your first card is a tad underwhelming as it doesn’t trigger any of it’s effects and I rather use other 0 power creatures to straight kill my opponent. Potential – Timmy sees a really big effect that makes him wants to do big things. Johnny sees a combo card with a lot of options to play into. Spike sees a player kill spell that probably is one mana out of reach to ramp into.
Development (8.5/10) Viability – I can see this card as mono green based on the tree and black because it cares about power, which fits into the mentality of black. Although to be fair, black has been shifted to wanting more toughness as of late. Mythic is correct and the effect works. Balance – Nine is probably ok for a card like this, though ten might be even better. This is a “You win the game” on the spot card effectively. Creative Writing – Considering the power level of this card, rarity, and the cost, the flavor is really mundane and weak.
Polish Challenge (2/2) – Fine Quality (3/3) – Good.
Design 9/10
Creativity: Spellbook, but on steroids.
Elegance: It's very different than anything that's been done before, so it's a little strange to play, but after a few games it becomes simple.
Potential: Spike loves drawing two cards a turn and not losing, ever. Timmy loves the huge effect. Johnny wants to cheat this into play and draw millions of cards.
Development 7/10
Viability: This works. If there was a rarity above mythic, this card would be that rarity. Honestly, because this card is so ridiculous in terms of effect, it feels super legendary to me.
Balance: The issue with this card is that it costs millions of mana and doesn't impact the board the turn you play it. You'd have to be playing a super controlling deck, a super dedicated ramp deck, or a deck that cheats it into play (with Show and Tell, perhaps?) in order to make use of it. Now that we've established that this card is never going to be played on turn 8 by tapping 8 lands, we can compare this to Griselbrand in terms of raw power. I feel like it's powerful enough to justify going to great length to play, which is a good spot to be. I also don't like how you'll eventually get 20+ cards in your hand as you draw 3 a turn and never discard.
Creative Writing: I'm not loving the name and flavor text. They fit, and they aren't bad, but you had a great opportunity to do something better.
Polish 5/5
Challenge:
Quality:
Total: 21/25
Design 7/10
Creativity: It's a minor variation on the Battle of Wits cycle. It hasn't been done before, but it's not the newest.
Elegance: Easy to understand.
Potential: Pure johnny territory.
Development 7/10
Viability: It checks out.
Balance: Like the rest of the cycle, you need to warp your deck in order to include this card. The heaviest of control decks might play this as a one-of, but even then a four mana spell that does nothing until you're already winning isn't what you want to play. As far as viability as a win condition in a dedicated deck, this card is probably among the hardest to win with. Battle of Wits can win because all it takes is drawing it (which is easier said than done, but far from impossible, and asks the least of the cycle). Chance Encounter is tricky and requires a bit of luck, but there are ways to abuse it. Epic Struggle is win-more by definition, as having 20 creatures likely means you can just attack for the kill, so I'd put your card on par with it. Mortal Combat is easy to trigger in the right deck, and only takes a few turns in fact. Lastly, Test of Endurance can be a win condition in a lifegain deck, which isn't out of the realm of possiblity (and quite better when your opponent's deck isn't aggressive.) It's not impossible to win with, but definitely subpar compared to most decks' win conditions.
Creative Writing: The name is fine. The flavor text is decent.
Polish 5/5
Challenge:
Quality:
Total: 19/25
Overall score: 40/50
Design 8/10
Creativity: Necrogen Mists, but it triggers at a more advantageous point in the turn, with some additional trinket text.
Elegance: It's not hard to understand.
Potential: Because of the way state-based actions works, this card doesn't work as a win condition; I'll elaborate on that later. It's too expensive for anyone to want to play it.
Development 5/10
Viability: Black fits. If not for the platinum angel effect, this would be a rare.
Balance: This card doesn't work. Even if you can't lose the game, you can still lose life from attacking creatures. Once you're in the negatives, the second an opponent draws a card and turns off the "can't lose" part of the card, you immediately lose the game due to state-based actions, and unless you can prevent them from ever drawing a card, you'll instantly lose.
Creative Writing: A strange name, but the flavor text more than makes up for it.
Polish 5/5
Challenge:
Quality:
Total: 18/25
Design 6/10
Creativity: The front side is Liliana's Caress, and the back side is a worse Shrieking Affliction. Putting the two together makes the card situationally better and functionally different, but not by a large enough margin for me to call this unique.
Elegance: That it flips on upkeep and the flip side triggers on upkeep is inelegant.
Potential: Johnny would play this.
Development 9/10
Viability: Black fits. This could be an uncommon, but rare is a safe place.
Balance: This is balanced well. It's good early when you're trying to get them hellbent as quickly as possible, and once they are it becomes more useful. It's weaker than two existing cards (that are played in the deck that this would go into), but it combines their functionality in a very useful way.
Creative Writing: The names feel bland, and the flavor text feels slightly off.
Polish 5/5
Challenge:
Quality:
Total: 20/25
Overall score: 38/50
Design 8/10
Creativity: The triggered ability is remniscient of Children of Korlis, but it's certainly new.
Elegance: This card has a few too many moving parts. I don't think extort is necessary on this card, as most of the time you're using it as Angel's Grace.
Potential: Johnny would play this. Spike would play this as well if he thought he could win the game off of it.
Development 7/10
Viability: The colors fit.
Balance: When it's being played in a fair way, it's a powerful effect that can turn around games you'd have no other way of winning. However, using it as a combo with any card that lets you pay a variable amount of life (such as Wall of Blood) lets you drain each opponent for however much life you are at. That's really powerful, especially when you consider how difficult it is to interact with. If you have a way to pay life out, the second that Guardian of the Obzedat resolves, you can pay life until you're at 0 life, at which point the replacement effect kicks in and your opponent loses life equal to your life total. Basically, you can drain them at split second speed, which is ridiculous. However, as any deck that is aggressive and reduces your opponent's life total can combat this simply by attacking turns 1 through 5, this strategy won't be completely unbeatable; just very strong.
Creative Writing: The name works.
Polish 3/5
Challenge:
Quality: Reminder text should be italicised. It's "Whenever you cast a spell...". The third ability should be worded "If you would lose the game, instead exile Guardian of the Obzedat. If you do, each opponent loses X life and you gain X life, where X is the amount of life you've lost this turn."
Total: 18/25
Design 9/10
Creativity: Tree of Redemption, but aggressive.
Elegance: It's not hard to understand, even if you permanently modify a creature's power without the use of counters.
Potential: Johnny wants to make a 20 power creature, spike wants to use this to set a player's life total to 0.
Development 5/10
Viability: This actually fits the colors really well.
Balance: Let's ignore all the fair applications of this ten mana sorcery, and they're practially nonexistant because of the mana cost. Now that that's out of the way, the card basically has the text "If there is a creature with 0 power on the battlefield, your opponent loses the game." Basically, this card has a ridiculous mana cost, but whenever it resolves, you instantly win the game. That's pretty bad design, and super uninteractive cards like this are terrible for the game's balance. Not only that, but the presence of cards like Sylvan Caryatid makes me like this card even less.
Creative Writing: The name, the flavor text, and the mechanics feel like three separate, disconnected entities. Not only that, but the flavor text and name feel uninspired.
MCC March Final Round - What!? Impossible! I can't be... DEFEATED!!!
Welcome to the Final Round, evil doers. It's come down to your moment of truth, the whole multiverse is on edge as your master plan comes to fruition! But, low and behold, some goody-goody planeswalker stands in your way... and he or she is winning! This is inconceivable! How can you lose after all your time spent preparing?
You won't. Everything is going exactly as planned.
Your Challenge:
You will be creating two cards for this challenge.
1st: Create a card that includes the phrase "you can't lose the game" OR a card that replaces you losing the game, preventing the loss.
2nd: Create a card the synergies with the first as a win condition.
I realize there will be a lot of clarifications in this round, but feel free to ask. I will add to the clarifications as they arise in addition to what I have started here.
Sub Challenge 1: Your two cards must have a difference in their converted mana cost of 4 or greater.
Sub Challenge 2: Neither card can be a planeswalker. (Emblems would be just too easy, no?)
Clarifications:
A "Win Condition" should have the potential to cause an opponent to lose the game. It doesn't have to automatically win, but should have the potential to win eventually.
Your win condition should play well with your first card, not make it irrelevant.
A card with a CMC of 1 and a second with a converted mana cost of 5 fulfills the 1st sub challenge.
Eligible Contestants:
Flatline
Moss_Elemental
thenoodler
Judges:
IcariiFA
bravelion83
Ogonomany
admirableadmiral
Card entries are due Monday, March 30th by 11:59 EST.
Judgings will be due Thursday, April 2nd by 11:59 EST.
May your final round by the most diabolical.
Brain Enhancer 8
Artifact (M)
You have no maximum hand size.
As long as you have seven or more cards in hand, you can't lose the game and your opponents can't win the game.
t: Draw a card. If you have six or fewer cards in hand, draw another card.
Knowledge begets power, which, in turn, begets more knowledge.
Mental Victory 2UU
Enchantment (R)
You have no maximum hand size.
At the beginning of your upkeep, if you have twenty or more cards in hand, you win the game.
Victory is assured when you set your mind to it.
You mean you're not diabolical enough to have a functioning time machine?
Ok...fine. *edited*
Enchantment (M)
At the end of each opponent's precombat main phase, that player discards a card.
As long as each opponent has no cards in hand, you can't lose the game and your opponents can't win the game.
"Why would I want to help the poor? I have no reason to fear a poor man."
-King Rajora, the Oppressor
Enchantment - Aura (R)
Enchant player
Whenever enchanted player discards a card, that player loses 2 life.
At the beginning of enchanted player's upkeep, if he or she has no cards in hand, transform Downward Spiral.
There are few things in life that are more difficult to watch than a man's slow descent into madness.
//
Madness
Enchantment - Aura (R)
Enchant player
At the beginning of enchanted player's upkeep, if that player has no cards in hand, he or she loses 3 life.
Of course one of those things would be the madness itself.
Check out "The Lion's Lair", the article series where I specifically talk about custom card design with the intent to help you get better at it. The article index is always updated with the latest content.
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.
Venom Serlak 1GG
Creature — Serlak (M)
Deathtouch
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.)
You can’t lose the game.
Whenever an opponent is dealt combat damage by Venom Serlak, that player loses the game.
1/2
Ultimate Sacrifice 5WWB
Sorcery (M)
Each of your opponents sacrifices each creature he or she controls.
“I’ll leave you the choice. You can sacrifice yourself, or I will sacrifice you.”
Moss_Elemental
Design (7.5/10)
Creativity – The single parts have all been done before. The last ability, in particular, reminds me of Library of Alexandria's draw ability. Putting them all together makes a card that is more than the sum of its parts, though, because of the synergy between the different abilities.
Elegance – All good here.
Potential – I don't think Timmy cares about this, he prefers to cast his cards rather than accumulating them in his hand. Johnny loves this card. Spike likes the drawing part, but hates the mana cost.
Development (8.5/10)
Viability – Everything here has already been on lands or artifacts before, so it's all something colorless permanents can do. I think rarity is right, this definitely feels mythic to me.
Balance – Eight mana should be safe enough as a cost to print this. Jayemdae Tome and Staff of Nin seem reasonable comparisons. This has additional abilities with strong synergy so raising the cost looks necessary. I can't see this getting played in limited, and in constructed only if built around. It should be more playable in multiplayer, where you have more time to get to cast this, but it will certainly put a giant red sign on your face.
Creative Writing – All good here.
Polish
Challenge (2/2) – Both met.
Quality (2.5/3) – In the last ability, "draw another card" should be "draw an additional card" (see Monastery Siege and other cards, half a point deducted).
Total: 20.5/25
Design (8.5/10)
Creativity – I can't remember another alternative win condition based on the number of cards in your hand.
Elegance – All good here.
Potential – Timmy doesn't care, Johnny loves this, Spike will use this only if it proves reliable enough.
Development (9/10)
Viability – Blue is certainly the color that would get an alternative win condition based on the number of cards in hand. It's also the most suited in getting advantage of it, with all its draw effects. Rarity is fine, even if I could also see this as a mythic.
Balance – The cost looks fine, even if the real cost is having to keep twenty cards in your hand. Both getting them and accumulating them in your hand without casting anything will be hard, and that's good for an alternative win condition. It's not supposed to be easy. This will be best used in some kind of stalling deck, giving you the time to fulfill its condition. I can easily see this in a turbofog kind of deck. Unplayable in limited, and in constructed too, unless you build your whole deck around it. The synergy between the two cards is clearly visible and very good.
Creative Writing – All good here.
Polish
Challenge (2/2) – Both met.
Quality (3/3) – All good here.
Total: 22.5/25
Round total: 20.5 + 22.5 = 43
Design (7.5/10)
Creativity – Having an ability trigger at the end of a phase is definitely new, but there might be some rules problem (I'll get to them later), as is tying the "can't lose the game" part to a simil-hellbent condition.
Elegance – Once you understand the unusual trigger, you're good.
Potential – Timmy doesn't care, Johnny loves this, and Spike likes the card advantage from the opponent discarding cards.
Development (6/10)
Viability – This card oozes with black: effect, cost, flavor, everything is as black as black can be. This is fine as a mythic, but just because of the "can't lose the game" ability.
Balance – The cost can be a little bit too restrictive, but at least it keeps the card in check. I can't see this played in limited, and in constructed you'll also have to build around it.
And now for my main doubt about this card: does it work in the rules at all? I don't know if a triggered ability triggering at the end of a phase rather than at the beginning works. Does it trigger at the end of the phase and then go on the stack at the beginning of the following step? That's the only way I can see this working, and even then, why not just have this trigger at the beginning of combat? It's a functional change only if you skip the combat phase, but how often does that happen? I would have totally worded this to trigger at the beginning of each opponent's combat. I'm absolutely not sure this would work in the rules as it is (the card) and as they are (the rules). The change needed to make this single card work could be potentially huge. Would it be worth it? I don't think so. Just have it trigger at the beginning of combat and it's much better.
Creative Writing – All good here.
Polish
Challenge (2/2) – Both met.
Quality (3/3) – Never before an ability has triggered at the end of a phase rather than at its beginning, but the wording looks very plausible. I'm just pointing this out, no points deducted.
Total: 18.5/25
Design (7/10)
Creativity – Enchant player hasn't been seen that much outside of Innistrad curses, so it still feels original enough. Madness, though, somehow reminds me of The Rack.
Elegance – Very good mechanical representation of the intended flavor. Full points here.
Potential – Again, Timmy doesn't care and Johnny loves this (is there an echo here?). Spike likes the life loss, but he would probably prefer to have the choice not to transform this.
Development (8.5/10)
Viability – Another very black card. Rarity looks right too, this doesn't feel mythic.
Balance – This card is in the vein of Waste Not, Liliana's Caress, Megrim, and such cards, so two mana looks fine as a cost, also because transforming it and then keeping your opponents with no cards in hand for Madness doesn't look that easy. I can't see this getting played in limited or competitive constructed. In casual constructed it's surely playable in black discard decks. The synergy between the cards is clear and good.
Creative Writing – All good here.
Polish
Challenge (2/2) – Both met.
Quality (3/3) – All good here.
Total: 20.5/25
Round total: 18.5 + 20.5 = 39
Design (7.5/10)
Creativity – That "lose the game" replacement effect is very original. The replaced event is the same as Lich's Mirror, but all the rest is completely different.
Elegance – You have to think a little to understand what the replacement effect exactly does, but once you do you're good.
Potential – Finally a card that can at least capture Timmy's attention for a moment ("I don't lose the game and I regain the life I lost? Cool!"). Johnny and Spike may use this as some kind of "insurance".
Development (8.5/10)
Viability – The only thing that's not usually white or black is flash, but all colors are allowed to have it when it's necessary for the card's functionality to work, as it may be the case here. The replacement effect definitely makes this feel mythic.
Balance – Extort is nice to have here: if you're behind, cast this and extort will help you gain some life back, and if by chance you're about to lose, go boom! Or, alternatively, you can wait to cast this in response to the event that would make you lose the game, and you can only do so because of flash. The fact that this has defender doesn't matter here, as this card's purpose is centainly not to attack. It may be playable in limited if you're already in its colors, but I don't think this card is strong enough to make you consider to shift one of your colors if you open it in draft. In constructed, as I've already said, this may get played as a form of "insurance" from losing the game. It's nice that it says "each opponent" for multiplayer.
Creative Writing – Name is fine. No room for flavor text.
Polish
Challenge (2/2) – Both met.
Quality (2/3) – Reminder text should be in italics (half a point deducted). An "a" is also missing in it ("you cast a spell", half a point deducted).
Total: 20/25
Design (10/10)
Creativity – Nothing like this has ever been seen before. Maybe Tree of Redemption, but this is certainly different enough.
Elegance – Very simple to understand and short. Full points here.
Potential – Timmy likes that this is action and the visual feedback plays a great part in this. Johnny loves this as a win condition in a combo exchanging his opponent's life total with the power of a creature with zero power (which is exactly what you wanted him to do with Guardian of the Obzedat, by the way, and this is clearly the synergy between the two cards). Spike sees the potential in this but hates the mana cost.
Development (9/10)
Viability – This is reminiscent enough of the aforementioned Tree of Redemption that it still feels green. It will also often cause a huge life loss to your opponent which feels black. If I imagine this card first as monogreen and then as monoblack it can make sense as both, so it looks good as a hybrid effect. This is definitely mythic. Any other rarity would be clearly wrong.
Balance – The combo potential and inherent power of this card just require a high enough cost. Nine mana may be a bit too high though. Playtest would be needed to see if this card really needs a mana cost this high. I can't see this getting played in your ordinary limited deck, and in constructed you still have to build around it, but if you do, it's huge! As I've already said, the synergy between the two cards is both very clearly visible and effective.
Creative Writing – All good here.
Polish
Challenge (2/2) – Both met.
Quality (3/3) – All good here.
Total: 24/25
Round total: 20 + 24 = 44
Moss_Elemental: 20.5 + 22.5 = 43
Flatline: 18.5 + 20.5 = 39
thenoodler: 20 + 24 = 44
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.)
Creativity: The discard effect feels fairly uncreative but actually hasn't been done all that much. The "can't lose" trigger on this is pretty nice.
Elegance: The effects have a nice synergy on this card, though I feel like this effect won't often buy you more than a turn, since if you go below 0 life when they're are hellbent, you are likely to just die the next turn. Other than that the card feels pretty clean.
Potential: This has some cool combo potential with stuff like Zur's Wierding. By itself it doesn't have crazy potential, but people do like discard.
Development (6.5/10):
Viability: "Can't lose" effects are unique enough that this is fine at mythic. Definitely black as well.
Balance: Pretty underwhelming. 7 mana is a lot to pay for the discard effect (while Nath of the Gilt-Leaf costs 5), and the "can't lose" generally only buys you a turn unless it's being comboed with something else. This would definitely be fine at 6, and possibly still fine at 5.
Creative Writing: I can get behind the flavor text. The idea of you making everyone suffer comes through nicely with this card.
Polish:
Challenge (2/2): Good.
Quality (2/3): Triggers can occur at the end of phases. This would need to be change to the beginning of combat to get a similar effect that still works with the rules.
Total: 17.5/25
Creativity: The split card twist is nice, but the front and back are pretty close to Liliana's Caress and Shrieking Affliction, respectively.
Elegance: I really like the idea of the front side showing the person going mad and the back side being the person completely insane. Also works well with the first card as a win con. Small note: this feels to me like it should be a curse.
Potential: As Liliana's Caress has shown, these cards are fun to build around.
Development (6.5/10):
Viability: Both of the effects are simple enough that this card is fine as uncommon (especially since both sides have essentially been printed as such).
Balance: Liliana's Caress didn't break anything, so there's no reason this would either. It's a fun card, but not particularly powerful outside of casual formats.
Creative Writing: That flavor text really sells this card. The names are also really solid so well done here.
Polish:
Challenge (2/2): Good.
Quality (3/3): Good.
Total: 19/25
Creativity: Kind of like a super Staff of Nin that instead of pinging stops you from ever losing.
Elegance: I don't like that a card that prevents you from losing is so difficult to deal with. If a deck isn't running artifact removal, they just can't win. Platinum Angel is at least a creature and all colors have ways to deal with it.
Potential: This seems like a good card to build around, and I hear people like drawing cards.
Development (5.5/10):
Viability: Seems fine.
Balance: If it didn't have the "can't lose" text with it, this would be OK. Probably a bit on the expensive side, but still very powerful. With it, however, this requires opponents to have artifact removal or else it is an 8 mana "you win the game", which isn't OK.
Creative Writing: No complaints here. Solid all around.
Polish:
Challenge (2/2): Good.
Quality (3/3): Seems fine.
Total: 17/25
Creativity: Pretty cool. The best way I can describe it is that someone decided to make a cycle out of Mortal Combat and Epic Struggle and thought "What should the blue one be?".
Elegance: Frankly, it almost feels surprising that this isn't already a card. Having a lot of cards in your hand feels like a natural alternate win condition for blue. Also works well with your first card (not that it needs the help).
Potential: An alternate win condition that involves drawing cards. Really wonder about the potential here. (Sarcasm aside, there is lots here.)
Development (8.5/10):
Viability: I always feel like alternate win conditions should be mythic, but recent history has shown that they don't have to be, so this is fine.
Balance: While this would never show up in tournaments (Sphinx's Revelation was already close enough to saying "You win the game."), in casual circles and things like EDH this could be a rock star. In those formats, it's actually feasible that you draw enough cards to reach the 20 card threshold (I know I've done it). Still not the most powerful, but at least it isn't impossible to reach.
Creative Writing: The flavor text feels very blue to me, so that's good. The name is pretty sweet.
Polish:
Challenge (2/2): Good.
Quality (3/3): Good.
Total: 23/25
Creativity: The loss trigger is cool, and has only really been done on Lich's Mirror. The rest of the card is pretty uninspiring.
Elegance: The flavor of swooping in to save someone and shoot the attack right back at them is pretty cool.
Potential: A fun casual card, and a bit of a Johnny card.
Development (6/10):
Viability: Yep.
Balance: Feels pretty undercosted. There will be some "Gotcha!" moments, but a lot of the times this will just be Basilica Guards with flash, which isn't good. The combo potential with stuff like Ad Nauseum is cool, but not enough to save this card.
Creative Writing: The Orzhov flavoring feels a bit tacked on, but overall the flavor is solid.
Polish:
Challenge (2/2): Good.
Quality (3/3): Good.
Total: 19.5/25
Creativity: Pretty cool. It's like Tree of Redemption and Biorhythm had a weird child.
Elegance: For being so game breaking, the effect is actually fairly simple. It works very nicely with your first card as well.
Potential: I don't know if this is a Timmy or Johnny card, but someone will use it.
Development (6.5/10):
Viability: I'm a little iffy on a card that can be cast with just black mana being able to skyrocket a creatures power, but usually hybrid cards get a little wiggle room, and black is allowed to get temporary attack increases, so this is fine.
Balance: I'm not gonna act like I know how viable this is in Standard. I'm assuming it might be a control finisher and is probably too expensive elsewhere. The bigger issue is that this would be the bane of EDH games everywhere. Life setting cards are a bit taboo in multiplayer (thus why Biorhythm is banned in EDH and why everyone hates Sorin Markov), and getting to 9 mana in multiplayer games is much more feasible that other formats. That is a pretty big issue with this card.
Creative Writing: Name and flavor text do a good job of present a super disgusting image, so kudos.
Polish:
Challenge (2/2): Good.
Quality (3/3): Good.
Total: 21/25
Here are my judgments:
Moss_Elemental
Design (7/10)
Creativity – None of the individual abilities are new, but how they added up together is interesting.
Elegance – Each effect is fairly simple and the self synergy doesn’t take much effort to deduce.
Potential – Timmy doesn’t really card about an expensive draw sink. Johnny loves the effects and determining the best way to cast it. Spike appreciates the draw, but the cost makes him uninterested.
Development (9/10)
Viability – This does feel mythic and is fine as an artifact. It doesn’t do anything that make make a rules guru go nuts.
Balance – When you are pushing into an 8 mana mythic, you can get away with a lot. This card certainly doesn’t cross the line as artifacts that tap to draw with upside start at lower costs and rarities. This card is extremely safe for constructed formats and probably very usuful in casual ones like commander.
Creative Writing – This card is probably squishing a bit with the flavor text, and the idea of a brain enhancer starts to tread into Sci Fi, not fantasy, as presented.
Polish
Challenge (2/2) –
Quality (2/3) – “Draw an additional card.” Should be the wording.
Total: 20/25
Entry 2
Design (6.5/10)
Creativity – It feels like a card that should have already been printed but hasn’t. That’s usually more of a good thing. It does mimic the flavor concept of Battle of Wits a fair deal.
Elegance – It’s very simple and easy to grasp while still being interesting. The one thing that bothers me though is that both of your cards have no maximum hand size clauses. For each card in a vacuum that makes sense. For the required synergy of the challenge it seems inelegant.
Potential – Again, Timmy doesn’t care. Johnny loves alt wins that make him work. Spike is wondering why he hasn’t already won if he has the ability to draw 20 cards in hand.
Development (10/10)
Viability – This is certainly a blue rare and deserves to be nowhere else.
Balance – Most of these alternate win cards have traditionally been costed at 4 and here it seems reasonable to do so. I card like this would be casual fun, but poses no danger of breaking anything as is.
Creative Writing – No complaints.
Polish
Challenge (2/2) – On point.
Quality (3/3) – No issues here.
Total: 21.5/25
Combined Total: 41.5
Design (6.5/10)
Creativity – The condition for maintaining your “can’t lose” condition is new and interesting.
Elegance – Why precombat mainphase? I get that it kicks in before combat this way potentially, but the timing is unusual and doesn’t read well.
Potential – Timmy doesn’t care. Johnny finds the conditions for preventing the lose interesting and will play cards that make it impossible to draw. Spike sees the cost relative to the effect and sells it for a quarter.
Development (6/10)
Viability – I think this fits squarely in black and the effect is quite mythic. The rules timing on the trigger feels odd, but is acceptable.
Balance – The tension this card creates is quite nice in maintaining an opponents handsize at zero. However, this encourages you to keep your opponents hand size at zero and preventing them from having anything to play ever, which is not a fun direction to design cards for. I feel you are aware of this and made it’s cost fairly absurd. The result is a card that has a very niche strategy in casual realms that will probably piss off more people than it pleases when it works but generally isn’t worth the effort.
Creative Writing – The hand doesn’t represent wealth in magic, it represents the mind. I also don’t quite understand the connection of flavor to not being able to lose. Assuming your analogy to hand and wealth made sense, having no wealth means you can’t stop the wealthy doesn’t make much sense to me in the magic universe in being immortal. Also the flavor of this card suggests a tax, which makes it tread into whites territory. I can see all the elements you’re trying to use here, but they just add up oddly.
Polish
Challenge (2/2) – Both met
Quality (3/3) – Seems fine.
Total: 17.5/25
Entry 2
Design (6.5/10)
Creativity – A transforming Enchantment aura like this is neat.
Elegance – The flavor of this is great. The mechanics are odd since it pressures the opponent less when it transforms.
Potential – Timmy likes the theme if anything but this kind of effect isn’t his main draw. Johnny has always loved the first effect and enjoys the challenge of the transformed side. Spike already knows effects like this aren’t competitive at this cost.
Development (9/10)
Viability – It is black, and a rare for sure thanks to it’s unusual nature. It might pass as an uncommon in a set where flipping on noncreatures were a theme.
Balance – Well, it’s not overpowered that’s for sure. The front side is fine, liliana’s caress points out how it’s under the curve. The transformation will typically make this card worse rather than better, though I understand in terms of synergy with the first card it will work better since you’ll prevent them from ever having a hand. As a stand alone this reads oddly in powerlevel.
Creative Writing – I like the play on the flavor.
Polish
Challenge (2/2) –
Quality (3/3) – All good here.
Total: 20.5/25
Combined Total: 38
Design (6.5/10)
Creativity – Combining the Children of Korlis effect with a “can’t lose” clause is technically new, but functionally only amounts to a small difference. All the parts of the card don’t feel particularly fresh but combine to make a powerful effect.
Elegance – Clunky. Too many moving parts. Cost to body size seems strange.
Potential – Timmy sees a big life swing potential, but this isn't his type of creature. Johnny could use it as some kind of combo with the death trigger and extort effects. Spike sees a powerful effect attached to a condition he never wants to reach anyway (a game loss.) That and the cost to trigger it as a response to losing is too hefty for him.
Development (8.5/10)
Viability – This card fit’s well into it’s colors for sure. Mythic is probably right between the the can’t lose clause and how much this can swing on the replacement effect. Pretty sure it doesn’t break anything.
Balance – The effect is a powerful reversal and presents a huge trap with it’s instant speed effect. Further you can player it earlier and mess up your opponents math to get around it by damaging yourself. The intent behind this card is to have a big swooping defender that stops a loss, but more than likely it be used as a combo engine to “kill” yourself only to kill your opponents instead. A casual card that will probably only find use in commander besides. That’s acceptable. It probably does one too many things that detract from it’s most desirable usage.
Creative Writing – Generic Orzhov card, but fair.
Polish
Challenge (2/2) – Fine
Quality (2/3) – Reminder text needs to be italicized and your missing a word in it.
Total: 19/25
Entry 2
Design (8.0/10)
Creativity – Tree of Redemption is the closest thing to this.
Elegance – Perfect on it’s own. However, the way it synergizes with your first card is a tad underwhelming as it doesn’t trigger any of it’s effects and I rather use other 0 power creatures to straight kill my opponent.
Potential – Timmy sees a really big effect that makes him wants to do big things. Johnny sees a combo card with a lot of options to play into. Spike sees a player kill spell that probably is one mana out of reach to ramp into.
Development (8.5/10)
Viability – I can see this card as mono green based on the tree and black because it cares about power, which fits into the mentality of black. Although to be fair, black has been shifted to wanting more toughness as of late. Mythic is correct and the effect works.
Balance – Nine is probably ok for a card like this, though ten might be even better. This is a “You win the game” on the spot card effectively.
Creative Writing – Considering the power level of this card, rarity, and the cost, the flavor is really mundane and weak.
Polish
Challenge (2/2) – Fine
Quality (3/3) – Good.
Total: 21.5/25
Combined Total: 40.5
Results:
Flatline: 38
thenoodler: 40.5
Creativity: Spellbook, but on steroids.
Elegance: It's very different than anything that's been done before, so it's a little strange to play, but after a few games it becomes simple.
Potential: Spike loves drawing two cards a turn and not losing, ever. Timmy loves the huge effect. Johnny wants to cheat this into play and draw millions of cards.
Development 7/10
Viability: This works. If there was a rarity above mythic, this card would be that rarity. Honestly, because this card is so ridiculous in terms of effect, it feels super legendary to me.
Balance: The issue with this card is that it costs millions of mana and doesn't impact the board the turn you play it. You'd have to be playing a super controlling deck, a super dedicated ramp deck, or a deck that cheats it into play (with Show and Tell, perhaps?) in order to make use of it. Now that we've established that this card is never going to be played on turn 8 by tapping 8 lands, we can compare this to Griselbrand in terms of raw power. I feel like it's powerful enough to justify going to great length to play, which is a good spot to be. I also don't like how you'll eventually get 20+ cards in your hand as you draw 3 a turn and never discard.
Creative Writing: I'm not loving the name and flavor text. They fit, and they aren't bad, but you had a great opportunity to do something better.
Polish 5/5
Challenge:
Quality:
Total: 21/25
Design 7/10
Creativity: It's a minor variation on the Battle of Wits cycle. It hasn't been done before, but it's not the newest.
Elegance: Easy to understand.
Potential: Pure johnny territory.
Development 7/10
Viability: It checks out.
Balance: Like the rest of the cycle, you need to warp your deck in order to include this card. The heaviest of control decks might play this as a one-of, but even then a four mana spell that does nothing until you're already winning isn't what you want to play. As far as viability as a win condition in a dedicated deck, this card is probably among the hardest to win with. Battle of Wits can win because all it takes is drawing it (which is easier said than done, but far from impossible, and asks the least of the cycle). Chance Encounter is tricky and requires a bit of luck, but there are ways to abuse it. Epic Struggle is win-more by definition, as having 20 creatures likely means you can just attack for the kill, so I'd put your card on par with it. Mortal Combat is easy to trigger in the right deck, and only takes a few turns in fact. Lastly, Test of Endurance can be a win condition in a lifegain deck, which isn't out of the realm of possiblity (and quite better when your opponent's deck isn't aggressive.) It's not impossible to win with, but definitely subpar compared to most decks' win conditions.
Creative Writing: The name is fine. The flavor text is decent.
Polish 5/5
Challenge:
Quality:
Total: 19/25
Overall score: 40/50
Creativity: Necrogen Mists, but it triggers at a more advantageous point in the turn, with some additional trinket text.
Elegance: It's not hard to understand.
Potential: Because of the way state-based actions works, this card doesn't work as a win condition; I'll elaborate on that later. It's too expensive for anyone to want to play it.
Development 5/10
Viability: Black fits. If not for the platinum angel effect, this would be a rare.
Balance: This card doesn't work. Even if you can't lose the game, you can still lose life from attacking creatures. Once you're in the negatives, the second an opponent draws a card and turns off the "can't lose" part of the card, you immediately lose the game due to state-based actions, and unless you can prevent them from ever drawing a card, you'll instantly lose.
Creative Writing: A strange name, but the flavor text more than makes up for it.
Polish 5/5
Challenge:
Quality:
Total: 18/25
Design 6/10
Creativity: The front side is Liliana's Caress, and the back side is a worse Shrieking Affliction. Putting the two together makes the card situationally better and functionally different, but not by a large enough margin for me to call this unique.
Elegance: That it flips on upkeep and the flip side triggers on upkeep is inelegant.
Potential: Johnny would play this.
Development 9/10
Viability: Black fits. This could be an uncommon, but rare is a safe place.
Balance: This is balanced well. It's good early when you're trying to get them hellbent as quickly as possible, and once they are it becomes more useful. It's weaker than two existing cards (that are played in the deck that this would go into), but it combines their functionality in a very useful way.
Creative Writing: The names feel bland, and the flavor text feels slightly off.
Polish 5/5
Challenge:
Quality:
Total: 20/25
Overall score: 38/50
Creativity: The triggered ability is remniscient of Children of Korlis, but it's certainly new.
Elegance: This card has a few too many moving parts. I don't think extort is necessary on this card, as most of the time you're using it as Angel's Grace.
Potential: Johnny would play this. Spike would play this as well if he thought he could win the game off of it.
Development 7/10
Viability: The colors fit.
Balance: When it's being played in a fair way, it's a powerful effect that can turn around games you'd have no other way of winning. However, using it as a combo with any card that lets you pay a variable amount of life (such as Wall of Blood) lets you drain each opponent for however much life you are at. That's really powerful, especially when you consider how difficult it is to interact with. If you have a way to pay life out, the second that Guardian of the Obzedat resolves, you can pay life until you're at 0 life, at which point the replacement effect kicks in and your opponent loses life equal to your life total. Basically, you can drain them at split second speed, which is ridiculous. However, as any deck that is aggressive and reduces your opponent's life total can combat this simply by attacking turns 1 through 5, this strategy won't be completely unbeatable; just very strong.
Creative Writing: The name works.
Polish 3/5
Challenge:
Quality: Reminder text should be italicised. It's "Whenever you cast a spell...". The third ability should be worded "If you would lose the game, instead exile Guardian of the Obzedat. If you do, each opponent loses X life and you gain X life, where X is the amount of life you've lost this turn."
Total: 18/25
Design 9/10
Creativity: Tree of Redemption, but aggressive.
Elegance: It's not hard to understand, even if you permanently modify a creature's power without the use of counters.
Potential: Johnny wants to make a 20 power creature, spike wants to use this to set a player's life total to 0.
Development 5/10
Viability: This actually fits the colors really well.
Balance: Let's ignore all the fair applications of this ten mana sorcery, and they're practially nonexistant because of the mana cost. Now that that's out of the way, the card basically has the text "If there is a creature with 0 power on the battlefield, your opponent loses the game." Basically, this card has a ridiculous mana cost, but whenever it resolves, you instantly win the game. That's pretty bad design, and super uninteractive cards like this are terrible for the game's balance. Not only that, but the presence of cards like Sylvan Caryatid makes me like this card even less.
Creative Writing: The name, the flavor text, and the mechanics feel like three separate, disconnected entities. Not only that, but the flavor text and name feel uninspired.
Polish 5/5
Challenge:
Quality:
Total: 19/25
Overall score: 37/50
Moss_Elemetal: 43 + 40 + 41.5 + 40 = 164.5
Flatline: 39 + 36.5 + 38 + 38 = 151.5
thenoodler: 44 + 40.5 + 40.5 + 37 = 161.5
March's most devious and Diabolic genius designer is...
MOSS_ELEMENTAL
Congratulations, and may your nefarious plans always come true!