As we enter the spoiler season, I figured this months theme could be tied to that. So, without further ado:
The design file is complete. You are confident that this may be the first design ever to pass through development without a single change to the file (because you are basically some MaRo-Jesus hybrid). Because of this belief, you mark one of the cards with a tag "Spoil this card first". Words echo through WotC of your amazing, perfect set and be extension they discuss the card that you have deemed worth of being "first spoiled". Eventually these whispers make it to the desk of a person who makes such decisions, who of course takes your divine word as law, and begins writing an article for this masterpiece of a card.
Main challenge: Design a card that would be the first card that you want to show the players to get them excited for your new fall set.
Subchallenge 1: The card is NOT rare or mythic rare.
Subchallenge 2: The card has a new keyword or ability word that is the main mechanic of your new set.
None yet.
Design -
(X/3) Appeal: Do the different player psychographics (Timmy/Johhny/Spike) have a use for the card? (X/3) Elegance: Is the card easily understandable at a glance? Do all the flavor and mechanics combined as a whole make sense?
Development - (X/3) Viability: How well does the card fit into the color wheel? Does it break or bend the rules of the game? Is it the appropriate rarity? (X/3) Balance: Does the card have a power level appropriate for contemporary constructed/limited environments without breaking them? Does it play well in casual and multiplayer formats? Does it create or fit into a deck/archetype? Does it create an oppressive environment?
Creativity - (X/3) Uniqueness: Has a card like this ever been printed before? Does it use new mechanics, ideas, or design space? Does it combine old ideas in a new way? Overall, does it feel “fresh”? (X/3) Flavor: Does the name seem realistic for a card? Does the flavor text sound professional? Do all the flavor elements synch together to please Vorthos players?
Polish - (X/3) Quality: Points deducted for incorrect spelling, grammar, and templating. (X/2) *Main Challenge: Was the main challenge satisfied? Was it approached in a unique or interesting way? Does the card fit the intent of the challenge? (X/2) Subchallenges: One point awarded per satisfied subchallenge condition.
Total: X/25
*An entry with 0 points here is subject to disqualification.
Player deadline: Monday, September 7th 23:59 EDT
Judge deadline: Friday, September 11th 23:59 EDT
Savage Predation3GG
Instant [U]
Target creature you control gains indestructible until end of turn, then fights up to one target creature an opponent controls.
Quickdraw 1G(You may cast this card for its quickdraw cost when an opponent casts a spell.) Jace panted heavily. Garruk would be on him soon, and the sun was swiftly setting. He took a moment to cast a sensory spell, and suddenly the planeswalker-hunter appeared in front of him.
702.XX Quickdraw
702.XXa Quickdraw is a static ability linked to a triggered ability (see rule 603.10). "Quickdraw [cost]" means "As an opponent finishes casting a spell, you may reveal this card from your hand. When you reveal this card this way, you may cast it by paying [cost] rather than its mana cost."
702.XXb If a player chooses to reveal a card using its quickdraw ability, he or she plays with that card revealed until that card leaves his or her hand, that ability resolves, or that ability otherwise leaves the stack.
Diversified Power2GGG
Sorcery (U) Aggregate - Creatures you control get +X/+X and gain trample until end of turn, where X is the number of card types among permanents you control. The more resourceful, the more overwhelming.
Ludevic's Horror2BBGG
Legendary Creature - Zombie Horror (M)
When Ludevic's Horror enters the battlefield, destroy target Human.
Enthrall (When this creature enters the battlefield, enthrall it with a creature an opponent controls. That creature has protection from this creature. Whenever that creature leaves the battlefield, this creature is no longer enthralled.)
As long as Ludevic's Horror is enthralled, it has trample. "I ought to be thy angel, but I am rather thy bane."
--Ludevic of Ulm
5/5
Collected Insight3UU
Instant (U) Clairvoyance - As an additional cost to cast Collected Insight, you may reveal any number of cards that share a name with it from your hand.
For each card revealed to Collected Insight, copy it. You may choose new targets for the copies.
Target player draws two cards.
The keyword:
Clairvoyance - As an additional cost to cast ~, you may reveal any number of cards that share a name with it from your hand.
<Effect pertaining to the number of cards revealed>
I don't think I've ever been in a month with six judges! Things will get very interesting in future rounds.
While preparing layout, at first glance, I have a whole lot of very interesting entries deserving to advance, way more than three. I'll say this in advance: this looks to be a very hard bracket. I honestly wouldn't want to be a player involved in it. If your card doesn't make it through this bracket, that will not mean it's not good, just that there were even better cards.
Status: judgments complete, not final until deadline (but I don't foresee any big changes). I foresaw high scores, and I wasn't wrong. Five out of seven contestants went over 20 points in this bracket. It's the first time ever that I'll have to exclude people with over 20 points. I'm really sorry for those people, but this time my bracket was of very high quality.
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.
Not rare or mythic: Explosive Expert2R
Creature — Human Wizard (U)
Research (Whenever you draw a card, this creature gets +1/+1 until end of turn.) T, Sacrifice Explosive Expert: Explosive Expert deals damage equal to its power to target creature or player. On the plane of Galpis, experimental knowledge is everything. That doesn’t prevent experiments from going wrong though.
2/1
Mythic: Lakonaris, the Genius2UR
Legendary Creature — Human Wizard (M)
Research (Whenever you draw a card, this creature gets +1/+1 until end of turn.) 1R, Discard a card: Draw a card. 5U: Draw a card. “The stream of ideas is endless.”
3/3
Stalwart Cenobite2W
Creature - Human Monk (U)
Lifelink, vigilance Reform - When this creature enters the battlefield under your control, you may tap a creature you control. If you do, put a +1/+1 counter on that creature.
2/2
Design (2/3) Appeal - Timmy likes to make his creatures bigger, but he isn't impressed by the stats of this creature. Johnny might use this in some tap/untap engine. Spike would have probably liked this creature even if it didn't have reform. (2.5/3) Elegance - "This creature" vs "that creature" requires you a moment to grasp, but overall it's a very clear card.
Development (3/3) Viability - The color pie is respected and rarity is fine. I don't know if it's intentional that you may tap the Cenobite itself when it enters to give it a +1/+1 counter, so I'm not sure if I'm supposed to say that this should say "another creature". I think you had to think about this, so it's probably intentional. I don't think that's an oversight, so I'll consider it an intentional interaction that adds depth to the card. (3/3) Balance - Reform is not a repeatable trigger, so I'd say this is costed appropriately to be quite strong in limited and maybe see a little constructed play in white weenie decks. I'd say it's a quite high pick in draft. I see no problems in casual or multiplayer.
Creativity (2/3) Uniqueness - The mechanic is original enough, though not groundbreaking. The design space this card plays in is not, as we see similar cards in almost every set. (1.5/3) Flavor - The name is good. No flavor text even though MSE tells me it would have fitted without any problems, up to four lines.
Polish (3/3) Quality - All good here. I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt for the dashes that should be long, as you might have the "non-Latin characters" restriction. (1.5/2) Main Challenge - This is certainly ok as a spoiler card, but it looks more fit to a mechanics article rather than being exciting in and of itself. For example, it's more similar to Retrat to Kazandu than Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger from BFZ, and both have been spoiled on the same day at PAX. (2/2) Subchallenges - Both met.
Savage Predation3GG
Instant [U]
Target creature you control gains indestructible until end of turn, then fights up to one target creature an opponent controls.
Quickdraw 1G(You may cast this card for its quickdraw cost when an opponent casts a spell.) Jace panted heavily. Garruk would be on him soon, and the sun was swiftly setting. He took a moment to cast a sensory spell, and suddenly the planeswalker-hunter appeared in front of him.
702.XX Quickdraw
702.XXa Quickdraw is a static ability linked to a triggered ability (see rule 603.10). "Quickdraw [cost]" means "As an opponent finishes casting a spell, you may reveal this card from your hand. When you reveal this card this way, you may cast it by paying [cost] rather than its mana cost."
702.XXb If a player chooses to reveal a card using its quickdraw ability, he or she plays with that card revealed until that card leaves his or her hand, that ability resolves, or that ability otherwise leaves the stack.
Design (2.5/3) Appeal - Timmy might already use this just to give indestructible to one of his big monsters, the fight is even more upside for him. Johnny might try to abuse it somehow, but the fact that quickdraw is dependant on the opponent casting spell doesn't help him. At the contrary, Spike loves the chance to cast spells at discounted costs thanks to quickdraw. (2.5/3) Elegance - A bit wordy overall, but very understandable.
Development (3/3) Viability - The color pie is respected and rarity is good. I don't see a clear color alignment for quickdraw, so I'll assume it can be in all colors. (2.5/3) Balance - Quickdraw being tied to the opponent casting spells makes it not so easily abusable, and that's good. This particular card may look a bit overcosted without quickdraw, but that often happens with discount mechanics: when you pay full price, you're also paying for the flexibility of the card, while if you pay the discounted price it's quite a bargain! This is no exception. With quickdraw, this is an instant Prey Upon that also makes your creature indestructible. Certainly playable in limited. Its constructed playability will depend on how often you expect to cast this with quickdraw. I see no particular problem in casual or multiplayer.
Creativity (3/3) Uniqueness - The mechanic is very original, and coupling fight with indestructible gives this card a fresh feeling overall. (3/3) Flavor - The name is fine and the flavor text is very very good. Probably one of the best I've ever read on a custom card. The text box is still acceptable, but we're almost in microtext territory here. It's right at the limit (nine full lines in MSE).
Polish (3/3) Quality - All good here. (2/2) Main Challenge - It's very hard to make a first-preview card that's exciting enough but not a rare. In this case, what gives this card that extra punch it inevitably lacks because the mechanics have to be simple enough for an uncommon is the flavor. The flavor by itself would excite a lot of players (mainly Timmies and Vorthoses), with the anticipation of an epic confrontation between Jace and Garruk. The new mechanic is very original and looks like nothing already existing, and that excites Johnnies, Spikes, and Melvins, in anticipation for more radical cards with it. Very good work. (2/2) Subchallenges - Both met.
Total: 23.5/25
Out of judgment: the CR-like entry is very good, but it lacks what happens in case of multiple instances of quickdraw. I guess only one applies and you choose which one.
Terra Manipulator2G
Creature – Elf Shaman (U) Deplete - When Terra Manipulator enters the battlefield you may sacrifice a land, if you do, search your library for two basic land cards and put them onto the battlefield tapped. Where they saw barren ground, I saw opportunity.
1/1
Deplete – Whenever X happens (triggered ability), you may sacrifice a land, if you do, do Y.
Design (1/3) Appeal - Timmy likes ramp, but he doesn't like how sacrificing lands feels, even if he still ends up with one more land than he had. Johnny would have liked this if it would search for any land. I don't think Spike would care that much. (3/3) Elegance - All good here.
Development (1/3) Viability - The color pie is respected and rarity is reasonable, but there is a huge problem here I have to take into account: this card has you search your library for something and then NOT shuffle! You get to know the order of your whole library! This is clearly just an oversight, but one I just cannot forgive. I'm sorry. (2/3) Balance - I'll assume the library is shuffled after the search here. Provided that, this is certainly playable in limited, but I can't really see it in constructed. Maybe in block if there aren't better options for ramp. The fact that the search is limited to basic lands prevents this from being too strong, but hurts the playability of this card in constructed. I see no particular problems in casual or multiplayer. Sacrifing lands can be unfun, but at least here you have a payoff that more than makes up for it.
Creativity (2/3) Uniqueness - The mechanic is original enough, though not groundbreaking, and it reminds me of Harrow. It's literally the whole card, so there's nothing more to say here. (3/3) Flavor - The flavor is very good. Name, flavor text, and mechanical flavor tell a really nice story together.
Polish (0.5/3) Quality - Many small mistakes in the details. The dash after the ability word should be long. Normally I wouldn't penalize for this assuming you could have the "non.Latin characters" restriction, but the fact that you used the long dash both in the type line and in the explanation of the mechanic tells me that is not the case, so half a point deducted. A comma is missing after the trigger (it should be "...enters the battlefield, ...", half a point deducted). After "sacrifice a land" there should be a period, not a comma, and "if" should be capitalized as the beginning of a new sentence (half a point deducted). Finally, after all these details, a huge functional mistake: you should shuffle the library after searching for the lands! (One point deducted because this is a really serious mistake, and yes, it definitely impacts Quality as well as Viability.) (1.5/2) Main Challenge - This is certainly ok as a spoiler card, but it looks more fit to a mechanics article rather than being exciting in and of itself. For example, it's more similar to Retrat to Kazandu than Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger from BFZ, and both have been spoiled on the same day at PAX. (2/2) Subchallenges - Both met.
Ludevic's Horror2BBGG
Legendary Creature - Zombie Horror (M)
When Ludevic's Horror enters the battlefield, destroy target Human.
Enthrall (When this creature enters the battlefield, enthrall it with a creature an opponent controls. That creature has protection from this creature. Whenever that creature leaves the battlefield, this creature is no longer enthralled.)
As long as Ludevic's Horror is enthralled, it has trample. "I ought to be thy angel, but I am rather thy bane."
--Ludevic of Ulm
5/5
Design (1.5/3) Appeal - Timmy loves this. I don't see much here for Johnny to do. Spike might use this if it proves powerful enough for its high and restrictive mana cost. (2/3) Elegance - Enthrall takes a few moment to understand, and this card is quite wordy overall.
Development (1.5/3) Viability - The first ability is black, the last one is green, and I assume enthrall can be in all colors, as soulbond was. The only problem I see here is that this new mechanic has protection built-in within it, and that's no longer evergreen. It's still deciduous, meaning it can still be used once in a while, but building a whole mechanic based on it is not something that would be viable now. It would just be too much for a deciduous mechanic. (2/3) Balance - Humans are usually there in every block that is not Lorwyn (or Extinctia if you count custom sets...), so I expect the first ability to be relevant often enough. Enthrall is flavorful, but it's not purely upside: giving a creature protection from this creature means that creature will be able to block this one all life long. In this card, that problem is solved by giving the Horror trample with the last ability, but what about other cards? Well, they are not a problem here, as here I'm judging only this particular card, but that's a concern that would have to be evaluated if enthrall is to be a major mechanic of an hypothetical block. Limited bomb. If this proves constructed playable, it will be mostly because of trample solving the protection issue I just talked about. The cost doesn't help though, as it's quite difficult to pay. Choosing which creature to enthrall this with can have interesting implications in multiplayer.
Creativity (3/3) Uniqueness - "Destroy target Human" has never been done outside of Dark Ascension (Human Frailty), and the new mechanic is definitely original, though it kind of plays in the same design space as soulbond. Overall, more than enough to give full points here. (3/3) Flavor - The flavor is very good. Name, flavor text, and mechanical flavor tell a really nice story together.
Polish (3/3) Quality - All good here. (2/2) Main Challenge - This is perfect as a first spoiler card. In fact, and not by chance, you had to give up the non-rare subchallenge to achieve this result. (1/2) Subchallenges - New mechanic, but mythic.
Pull from Beyond
Sorcery (U)
Return target creature card from your graveyard to the battlefield.
Retrieve (You may cast this card for its retrieve cost when it is put into your graveyard, if it was put into your graveyard from your library.)
Design (2/3) Appeal - Timmy likes to reanimate his big dead monsters. Johnny could use this in a sacrifice engine perhaps, and he's also the most likely to self-mill to turn retrieve on. Spike doesn't like the fact that reanimation now costs five mana, but loves the fact that he can get it with a discount. (3/3) Elegance - All good here.
Development (3/3) Viability - The color pie is respected, and rarity looks appropriate. Retrieve wants to interact with mill, so it needs to be in blue and black, the colors of milling, and this card is black, so all good here. (2.5/3) Balance - Very reminiscent of Rise from the Grave. This gives away the ability to reanimate creatures from your opponent's graveyard in exchange for the chance to cast it for a discounted cost. It looks like a fair exchange. Certainly playable in limited. In constructed it looks quite strong in a self-mill deck, if such a deck is viable in the format. Put a huge creature in the graveyard by milling yourself (the new Ulamog looks perfect, also conveniently it has no anti-reanimation clause), then keep milling yourself until you can cast this card for only three mana, potentially landing an Ulamog on the battlefield on the third turn! This is of course a "Magical Christmas Land" scenario, but it gives the idea of how strong this can be if retrived. There is some potential to do very strong, almost broken things. No problems in casual or multiplayer.
Creativity (2/3) Uniqueness - The mechanic is original enough, though not groundbreaking. The design space this card plays in is not, as we see similar cards in almost every block. (2/3) Flavor - I had to check the name to make sure it wasn't already used. It turns out I got confused with Pull from Eternity. That's usually a sign of a very good name, and is worth you a bonus half point. No flavor text even though MSE tells me several lines would have fitted.
Polish (3/3) Quality - The reminder text is unnecessarily long, it could have just been "You may cast this card for its retrieve cost when it is put into your graveyard from your library." No point deduction though because it's still functional as it is and it has no rules meaning anyway. (1.5/2) Main Challenge - This is certainly ok as a spoiler card, but it looks more fit to a mechanics article rather than being exciting in and of itself. For example, it's more similar to Retrat to Kazandu than Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger from BFZ, and both have been spoiled on the same day at PAX. (2/2) Subchallenges - Both met.
Double Check1U
Instant (common)
Draw a card.
Augment 1U(Whenever you cast an instant of sorcery spell, you may exile this card from your graveyard and pay 1U. If you do, add this spell's effects to that spell.)
Design (2/3) Appeal - Timmy doesn't care. Johnny loves this, both to dig for combo pieces and to do tricks with augmented spells. Spike loves this as a source of card advantage once you use augment (it's just card parity otherwise by itself). (3/3) Elegance - Very elegant. Probably one of the most elegant custom cards ever.
Development (3/3) Viability - Everything is within the color pie and rarity looks right. Augment feels perfect in blue, both because blue is the first color interacting with instants and sorceries, and because a variant of splice feels right at home in blue. (3/3) Balance - This card reminds me of Think Twice. Comparing augment with flashback, this cost one mana less but requires another instant or sorcery spell to be spliced upon. Looks like a fair exchange. Also, transforming any spell into a cantrip looks good. Certainly playable in limited. It could also find its own niche in constructed. I see no problems in casual or multiplayer.
Creativity (2/3) Uniqueness - The mechanic is original, but it's clear that it's just a twist on splice. Yet it still does a very good job at that. (1.5/3) Flavor - Name is fine. No flavor text even though it would have certainly fitted.
Polish (3/3) Quality - All good here. (1.5/2) Main Challenge - This is certainly ok as a spoiler card, but it looks more fit to a mechanics article rather than being exciting in and of itself. For example, it's more similar to Retrat to Kazandu than Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger from BFZ, and both have been spoiled on the same day at PAX. (2/2) Subchallenges - Both met.
Resolve to Learn2UU
Instant (U)
Prepare 2 (Every two cards you exile from the top of your library while casting this spell pays for 1.)
Draw two cards. "Effort paves off."
Design (2/3) Appeal - Timmy doesn't care. Johnny loves this, both to dig for combo pieces and to do tricks with exiled cards and maybe Processors. Spike loves this as a discountable source of card advantage. (3/3) Elegance - Another very elegant card. All good here.
Development (3/3) Viability - Everything is within the color pie and rarity looks right. I'd assume that prepare is primary in blue and black and maybe secondary in green, just like its cousin delve, partly because of its similarity to mill. (2/3) Balance - Prepare looks even better than delve, as not all decks put many cards in the graveyard, but all decks have cards in the library. I think you will always cast this with prepare, there is not a lot of choice involved, and that's not so good strategically. I don't think making it cost double colored mana is enough for a Weave Fate that you will cast with a two-mana discount the vast majority of the time. Certainly playable in limited, and I also think it would see play in constructed in practically every blue deck. For such decks, it's a net gain over Divination. I see no problem in casual or multiplayer, except that some players, especially less experienced ones, might find a bit unfun to exile cards from their library.
Creativity (2/3) Uniqueness - It's clear that the mechanic is just a twist on convoke and delve. What to use after creatures on the battlefield and cards in graveyard to get mana? Cards in library! Still, it's something new even if it plays in design space we've already seen. (2/3) Flavor - Name and flavor text both fit the card's mechanics, but feel a bit too generic.
Polish (3/3) Quality - All good here. (1.5/2) Main Challenge - This is certainly ok as a spoiler card, but it looks more fit to a mechanics article rather than being exciting in and of itself. For example, it's more similar to Retrat to Kazandu than Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger from BFZ, and both have been spoiled on the same day at PAX. (2/2) Subchallenges - Both met.
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.)
Bribe the Treasure Guards1UU
Instant (Uncommon)
Each opponent may bribe you. The player who wins the bribe draws four cards and you draw two cards. (To bribe, each bribing player reveals a card from his or her hand to you. You may choose one of those cards and cast it without paying its mana cost, then the player that his her card was chosen this way wins the bribe.)
Defiant Lieutenant2WW
Creature — Human Soldier {U}
Vigilance
Renown 1
When Defiant Lieutenant becomes renowned, transform it. "Your corruption has run rampant for too long!"
3/3
// Sun's Chosen W Creature — Solar Warrior {U}
Vigilance
Perfect 1WW(You may pay 1WW whenever this creature attacks or blocks. If you do, it becomes perfect until end of turn.)
As long as Sun's Chosen is perfect, it has indestructible. "I won't stand for it any longer!"
4/4
Heavenly Host3WW
Creature - Angel (U)
Flying 1W: Exile target creature. Return that card to the battlefield under its owner's control at the beginning of the next end step. Ephemeral - As long as Heavenly Host is exiled, attacking creatures you control have lifelink.
3/4
Riverblade Artisan2U
Creature - Human Monk (U)
Prowess Mastery - Riverblade Artisan has "whenever Riverblade Artisan deals combat damage to a player, draw a card" as long as it is enchanted or equipped.
2/2 At the hand of an Everflow River monk, every weapon seems as graceful and as natural as a stream.
Soullink SummonsXWW SorceryC
Put X 1/1 white Spirit creature tokens with tether onto the battlefield. (If a source would deal damage to a creature with tether you control, you may have it deal that much damage to you instead. If a source would deal damage to you, you may have it deal that much damage to a creature with tether you control instead.)
Player deadline: Monday, August 7th 23:59 EDT
Judge deadline: Friday, August 11th 23:59 EDT
JUDGES
Koopa
bravelion83
WE NEED MORE JUDGES FOR THIS MONTH! GO HERE TO SIGN UP!
Koopa, you should adjust this section of the OP. I'm perfectly fine with copy/pasting my own OP from August, but we're not in August anymore! The deadlines have already passed! Also, it looks like a link to the judge signup thread is missing in "GO HERE".
And about this, I add my voice to yours: we really need more judges. If any of you is uncertain whether you want to play or judge, seriously consider judging.
And of course, judgeholder.
Oops! Fixed! Also, we could stand to have one more judge!
Perfect! Unfortunately I forgot two things:
- In my usual layout, the colors of the deadlines have a meaning: the closest one is green to signify that it's the active one, all others are red meaning they are either already passed or still yet to come but they're not the closest one. I took this idea from Ryder's CCLs. Of course, you're free to do as you wish, I'm just saying it because it might not be obvious.
- This round has been established by now, but please refrain from taking my deadlines from August as a good reference for future rounds. They're not good to close the month on time. I still have to close August and I won't have a winner until the first week of September will be over. My ideal as host would be to give four days for designs and four for judgments. That way you'd close the month on time, but unfortunately that's not always possible and extensions are sometimes necessary. Also take into account that on August I fixed round 1's design deadline on the 7th as I posted the thread in an emergency when the month had already begun. Again, do as you wish, saying this only to make you aware of it.
I should have told you these things too together with my last post. I'm sorry but I forgot. I'm also sorry to clutter the thread again.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
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.)
I just noticed that the card is NOT supposed to be a rare or MR. I have changed my card accordingly.
Pull from Beyond
Sorcery (U)
Return target creature card from your graveyard to the battlefield.
Retrieve (You may cast this card for its retrieve cost when it is put into your graveyard, if it was put into your graveyard from your library.)
(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)
War Courser (Common) 1(G/W)(G/W)
Creature - Centaur Soldier
2/2
When War Courser enters the battlefield, choose one -
Put a +1/+1 counter on War Courser.
Put a +1/+1 counter on another target creature.
Coalesce (You may choose both if G and W was spent.)
Fortune Sprite1(G/U)
Creature - Faerie (C)
Flying
Dice-up 1 (whenever you roll a die, add 1 to the result)
1/1 Many a goblin has been kicked out of Gambler's Hall for smuggling in a Fortune Sprite.
Stalwart Cenobite2W
Creature - Human Monk (U)
Lifelink, vigilance Reform - When this creature enters the battlefield under your control, you may tap a creature you control. If you do, put a +1/+1 counter on that creature.
2/2
Gluttonous Bloodblade1RR
Creature - Vampire Barbarian (C)
Insurgency R(If you cast this card with its insurgency cost, it enters the battlefield under an opponent's control and attacks each turn if able.)
Whenever Gluttonous Bloodblade attacks, it gets +2/+0 until end of turn and deals 2 damage to you. He deals almost as much damage to his master as to his master's foes.
2/2
Double Check1U
Instant (common)
Draw a card.
Augment 1U(Whenever you cast an instant of sorcery spell, you may exile this card from your graveyard and pay 1U. If you do, add this spell's effects to that spell.)
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
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September MCC Round 1
"The Pitch"
As we enter the spoiler season, I figured this months theme could be tied to that. So, without further ado:
The design file is complete. You are confident that this may be the first design ever to pass through development without a single change to the file (because you are basically some MaRo-Jesus hybrid). Because of this belief, you mark one of the cards with a tag "Spoil this card first". Words echo through WotC of your amazing, perfect set and be extension they discuss the card that you have deemed worth of being "first spoiled". Eventually these whispers make it to the desk of a person who makes such decisions, who of course takes your divine word as law, and begins writing an article for this masterpiece of a card.
Main challenge: Design a card that would be the first card that you want to show the players to get them excited for your new fall set.
None yet.
(X/3) Appeal: Do the different player psychographics (Timmy/Johhny/Spike) have a use for the card?
(X/3) Elegance: Is the card easily understandable at a glance? Do all the flavor and mechanics combined as a whole make sense?
Development -
(X/3) Viability: How well does the card fit into the color wheel? Does it break or bend the rules of the game? Is it the appropriate rarity?
(X/3) Balance: Does the card have a power level appropriate for contemporary constructed/limited environments without breaking them? Does it play well in casual and multiplayer formats? Does it create or fit into a deck/archetype? Does it create an oppressive environment?
Creativity -
(X/3) Uniqueness: Has a card like this ever been printed before? Does it use new mechanics, ideas, or design space? Does it combine old ideas in a new way? Overall, does it feel “fresh”?
(X/3) Flavor: Does the name seem realistic for a card? Does the flavor text sound professional? Do all the flavor elements synch together to please Vorthos players?
Polish -
(X/3) Quality: Points deducted for incorrect spelling, grammar, and templating.
(X/2) *Main Challenge: Was the main challenge satisfied? Was it approached in a unique or interesting way? Does the card fit the intent of the challenge?
(X/2) Subchallenges: One point awarded per satisfied subchallenge condition.
Total: X/25
*An entry with 0 points here is subject to disqualification.
Player deadline: Monday, September 7th 23:59 EDT
Judge deadline: Friday, September 11th 23:59 EDT
JUDGES
Koopa
bravelion83
Trivmvirate
Moss_Elemental
CardLurd
nicol800
PLAYERS
Am Shegar
ArchSinccubus
Seance
Todris052
netn10
caliburdeath
SkyBoundFencer
Folza
admirableadmiral
hopefulhawkeye
GameWorldLeader
Flatline
scard_the_wanderer
CrazyMatt
EyeballFrog
glurman
Awkward Squirtle
RaikouRider
Jimmy Grove
IcariiFA
Freshmeat
Rhand
Marco
Hemlock
Ink-Treader
Venser_FR
RickyRister
reddevils77
SelesnyaNewLife
NegativeFiveBelow
Legend
void_nothing
Antny223
doomfish
PsyOp
Ryder052
scarbo
sperlman
Tilwin
Judging Brackets:
Koopa:
Top 3 from each advance.
BGStandard Green AggroGB
UWRGModern Saheeli CobraGRWU
UBRGLegacy StormGRBU
Wizards Certified Rules Advisor
Instant [U]
Target creature you control gains indestructible until end of turn, then fights up to one target creature an opponent controls.
Quickdraw 1G (You may cast this card for its quickdraw cost when an opponent casts a spell.)
Jace panted heavily. Garruk would be on him soon, and the sun was swiftly setting. He took a moment to cast a sensory spell, and suddenly the planeswalker-hunter appeared in front of him.
702.XXa Quickdraw is a static ability linked to a triggered ability (see rule 603.10). "Quickdraw [cost]" means "As an opponent finishes casting a spell, you may reveal this card from your hand. When you reveal this card this way, you may cast it by paying [cost] rather than its mana cost."
702.XXb If a player chooses to reveal a card using its quickdraw ability, he or she plays with that card revealed until that card leaves his or her hand, that ability resolves, or that ability otherwise leaves the stack.
Sorcery (U)
Aggregate - Creatures you control get +X/+X and gain trample until end of turn, where X is the number of card types among permanents you control.
The more resourceful, the more overwhelming.
BGStandard Green AggroGB
UWRGModern Saheeli CobraGRWU
UBRGLegacy StormGRBU
Wizards Certified Rules Advisor
Legendary Creature - Zombie Horror (M)
When Ludevic's Horror enters the battlefield, destroy target Human.
Enthrall (When this creature enters the battlefield, enthrall it with a creature an opponent controls. That creature has protection from this creature. Whenever that creature leaves the battlefield, this creature is no longer enthralled.)
As long as Ludevic's Horror is enthralled, it has trample.
"I ought to be thy angel, but I am rather thy bane."
--Ludevic of Ulm
5/5
MCC March 2014 - 1st Round (17th-24th)
MCC April 2014 - 1st Round (17th-32nd)
MCC May 2014 - 1st Round (17th-32nd)
MCC June 2014 - Judge
MCC July 2014 - Host
MCC August 2014 - 1st Round (17th-31st)
MCC August 2015 - 1st Round (21st-36th)
MCC September 2015 - 1st Round (22nd-39th)
MCC October 2015 - 1st Round (13th-20th)
CCL May 2014 - Score: 29/36 (10th)
CCL June 2014 - Score: 86/150 (10th)
CCL July 2014 - Score:36/50 (6th T)
CCL August 2015 - Score: 14 (5th T)
CCL September 2015 - Score: 3 (5th)
CCL October 2015 - Host
DCC October 2015 - Score: 46 (8th-T)
Instant (U)
Clairvoyance - As an additional cost to cast Collected Insight, you may reveal any number of cards that share a name with it from your hand.
For each card revealed to Collected Insight, copy it. You may choose new targets for the copies.
Target player draws two cards.
The keyword:
Clairvoyance - As an additional cost to cast ~, you may reveal any number of cards that share a name with it from your hand.
<Effect pertaining to the number of cards revealed>
While preparing layout, at first glance, I have a whole lot of very interesting entries deserving to advance, way more than three. I'll say this in advance: this looks to be a very hard bracket. I honestly wouldn't want to be a player involved in it. If your card doesn't make it through this bracket, that will not mean it's not good, just that there were even better cards.
Status: judgments complete, not final until deadline (but I don't foresee any big changes). I foresaw high scores, and I wasn't wrong. Five out of seven contestants went over 20 points in this bracket. It's the first time ever that I'll have to exclude people with over 20 points. I'm really sorry for those people, but this time my bracket was of very high quality.
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.
Not rare or mythic:
Explosive Expert 2R
Creature — Human Wizard (U)
Research (Whenever you draw a card, this creature gets +1/+1 until end of turn.)
T, Sacrifice Explosive Expert: Explosive Expert deals damage equal to its power to target creature or player.
On the plane of Galpis, experimental knowledge is everything. That doesn’t prevent experiments from going wrong though.
2/1
Mythic:
Lakonaris, the Genius 2UR
Legendary Creature — Human Wizard (M)
Research (Whenever you draw a card, this creature gets +1/+1 until end of turn.)
1R, Discard a card: Draw a card.
5U: Draw a card.
“The stream of ideas is endless.”
3/3
Design
(2/3) Appeal - Timmy likes to make his creatures bigger, but he isn't impressed by the stats of this creature. Johnny might use this in some tap/untap engine. Spike would have probably liked this creature even if it didn't have reform.
(2.5/3) Elegance - "This creature" vs "that creature" requires you a moment to grasp, but overall it's a very clear card.
Development
(3/3) Viability - The color pie is respected and rarity is fine. I don't know if it's intentional that you may tap the Cenobite itself when it enters to give it a +1/+1 counter, so I'm not sure if I'm supposed to say that this should say "another creature". I think you had to think about this, so it's probably intentional. I don't think that's an oversight, so I'll consider it an intentional interaction that adds depth to the card.
(3/3) Balance - Reform is not a repeatable trigger, so I'd say this is costed appropriately to be quite strong in limited and maybe see a little constructed play in white weenie decks. I'd say it's a quite high pick in draft. I see no problems in casual or multiplayer.
Creativity
(2/3) Uniqueness - The mechanic is original enough, though not groundbreaking. The design space this card plays in is not, as we see similar cards in almost every set.
(1.5/3) Flavor - The name is good. No flavor text even though MSE tells me it would have fitted without any problems, up to four lines.
Polish
(3/3) Quality - All good here. I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt for the dashes that should be long, as you might have the "non-Latin characters" restriction.
(1.5/2) Main Challenge - This is certainly ok as a spoiler card, but it looks more fit to a mechanics article rather than being exciting in and of itself. For example, it's more similar to Retrat to Kazandu than Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger from BFZ, and both have been spoiled on the same day at PAX.
(2/2) Subchallenges - Both met.
Total: 20.5/25
Design
(2.5/3) Appeal - Timmy might already use this just to give indestructible to one of his big monsters, the fight is even more upside for him. Johnny might try to abuse it somehow, but the fact that quickdraw is dependant on the opponent casting spell doesn't help him. At the contrary, Spike loves the chance to cast spells at discounted costs thanks to quickdraw.
(2.5/3) Elegance - A bit wordy overall, but very understandable.
Development
(3/3) Viability - The color pie is respected and rarity is good. I don't see a clear color alignment for quickdraw, so I'll assume it can be in all colors.
(2.5/3) Balance - Quickdraw being tied to the opponent casting spells makes it not so easily abusable, and that's good. This particular card may look a bit overcosted without quickdraw, but that often happens with discount mechanics: when you pay full price, you're also paying for the flexibility of the card, while if you pay the discounted price it's quite a bargain! This is no exception. With quickdraw, this is an instant Prey Upon that also makes your creature indestructible. Certainly playable in limited. Its constructed playability will depend on how often you expect to cast this with quickdraw. I see no particular problem in casual or multiplayer.
Creativity
(3/3) Uniqueness - The mechanic is very original, and coupling fight with indestructible gives this card a fresh feeling overall.
(3/3) Flavor - The name is fine and the flavor text is very very good. Probably one of the best I've ever read on a custom card. The text box is still acceptable, but we're almost in microtext territory here. It's right at the limit (nine full lines in MSE).
Polish
(3/3) Quality - All good here.
(2/2) Main Challenge - It's very hard to make a first-preview card that's exciting enough but not a rare. In this case, what gives this card that extra punch it inevitably lacks because the mechanics have to be simple enough for an uncommon is the flavor. The flavor by itself would excite a lot of players (mainly Timmies and Vorthoses), with the anticipation of an epic confrontation between Jace and Garruk. The new mechanic is very original and looks like nothing already existing, and that excites Johnnies, Spikes, and Melvins, in anticipation for more radical cards with it. Very good work.
(2/2) Subchallenges - Both met.
Total: 23.5/25
Out of judgment: the CR-like entry is very good, but it lacks what happens in case of multiple instances of quickdraw. I guess only one applies and you choose which one.
Design
(1/3) Appeal - Timmy likes ramp, but he doesn't like how sacrificing lands feels, even if he still ends up with one more land than he had. Johnny would have liked this if it would search for any land. I don't think Spike would care that much.
(3/3) Elegance - All good here.
Development
(1/3) Viability - The color pie is respected and rarity is reasonable, but there is a huge problem here I have to take into account: this card has you search your library for something and then NOT shuffle! You get to know the order of your whole library! This is clearly just an oversight, but one I just cannot forgive. I'm sorry.
(2/3) Balance - I'll assume the library is shuffled after the search here. Provided that, this is certainly playable in limited, but I can't really see it in constructed. Maybe in block if there aren't better options for ramp. The fact that the search is limited to basic lands prevents this from being too strong, but hurts the playability of this card in constructed. I see no particular problems in casual or multiplayer. Sacrifing lands can be unfun, but at least here you have a payoff that more than makes up for it.
Creativity
(2/3) Uniqueness - The mechanic is original enough, though not groundbreaking, and it reminds me of Harrow. It's literally the whole card, so there's nothing more to say here.
(3/3) Flavor - The flavor is very good. Name, flavor text, and mechanical flavor tell a really nice story together.
Polish
(0.5/3) Quality - Many small mistakes in the details. The dash after the ability word should be long. Normally I wouldn't penalize for this assuming you could have the "non.Latin characters" restriction, but the fact that you used the long dash both in the type line and in the explanation of the mechanic tells me that is not the case, so half a point deducted. A comma is missing after the trigger (it should be "...enters the battlefield, ...", half a point deducted). After "sacrifice a land" there should be a period, not a comma, and "if" should be capitalized as the beginning of a new sentence (half a point deducted). Finally, after all these details, a huge functional mistake: you should shuffle the library after searching for the lands! (One point deducted because this is a really serious mistake, and yes, it definitely impacts Quality as well as Viability.)
(1.5/2) Main Challenge - This is certainly ok as a spoiler card, but it looks more fit to a mechanics article rather than being exciting in and of itself. For example, it's more similar to Retrat to Kazandu than Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger from BFZ, and both have been spoiled on the same day at PAX.
(2/2) Subchallenges - Both met.
Total: 16/25
Design
(1.5/3) Appeal - Timmy loves this. I don't see much here for Johnny to do. Spike might use this if it proves powerful enough for its high and restrictive mana cost.
(2/3) Elegance - Enthrall takes a few moment to understand, and this card is quite wordy overall.
Development
(1.5/3) Viability - The first ability is black, the last one is green, and I assume enthrall can be in all colors, as soulbond was. The only problem I see here is that this new mechanic has protection built-in within it, and that's no longer evergreen. It's still deciduous, meaning it can still be used once in a while, but building a whole mechanic based on it is not something that would be viable now. It would just be too much for a deciduous mechanic.
(2/3) Balance - Humans are usually there in every block that is not Lorwyn (or Extinctia if you count custom sets...), so I expect the first ability to be relevant often enough. Enthrall is flavorful, but it's not purely upside: giving a creature protection from this creature means that creature will be able to block this one all life long. In this card, that problem is solved by giving the Horror trample with the last ability, but what about other cards? Well, they are not a problem here, as here I'm judging only this particular card, but that's a concern that would have to be evaluated if enthrall is to be a major mechanic of an hypothetical block. Limited bomb. If this proves constructed playable, it will be mostly because of trample solving the protection issue I just talked about. The cost doesn't help though, as it's quite difficult to pay. Choosing which creature to enthrall this with can have interesting implications in multiplayer.
Creativity
(3/3) Uniqueness - "Destroy target Human" has never been done outside of Dark Ascension (Human Frailty), and the new mechanic is definitely original, though it kind of plays in the same design space as soulbond. Overall, more than enough to give full points here.
(3/3) Flavor - The flavor is very good. Name, flavor text, and mechanical flavor tell a really nice story together.
Polish
(3/3) Quality - All good here.
(2/2) Main Challenge - This is perfect as a first spoiler card. In fact, and not by chance, you had to give up the non-rare subchallenge to achieve this result.
(1/2) Subchallenges - New mechanic, but mythic.
Total: 19/25
Design
(2/3) Appeal - Timmy likes to reanimate his big dead monsters. Johnny could use this in a sacrifice engine perhaps, and he's also the most likely to self-mill to turn retrieve on. Spike doesn't like the fact that reanimation now costs five mana, but loves the fact that he can get it with a discount.
(3/3) Elegance - All good here.
Development
(3/3) Viability - The color pie is respected, and rarity looks appropriate. Retrieve wants to interact with mill, so it needs to be in blue and black, the colors of milling, and this card is black, so all good here.
(2.5/3) Balance - Very reminiscent of Rise from the Grave. This gives away the ability to reanimate creatures from your opponent's graveyard in exchange for the chance to cast it for a discounted cost. It looks like a fair exchange. Certainly playable in limited. In constructed it looks quite strong in a self-mill deck, if such a deck is viable in the format. Put a huge creature in the graveyard by milling yourself (the new Ulamog looks perfect, also conveniently it has no anti-reanimation clause), then keep milling yourself until you can cast this card for only three mana, potentially landing an Ulamog on the battlefield on the third turn! This is of course a "Magical Christmas Land" scenario, but it gives the idea of how strong this can be if retrived. There is some potential to do very strong, almost broken things. No problems in casual or multiplayer.
Creativity
(2/3) Uniqueness - The mechanic is original enough, though not groundbreaking. The design space this card plays in is not, as we see similar cards in almost every block.
(2/3) Flavor - I had to check the name to make sure it wasn't already used. It turns out I got confused with Pull from Eternity. That's usually a sign of a very good name, and is worth you a bonus half point. No flavor text even though MSE tells me several lines would have fitted.
Polish
(3/3) Quality - The reminder text is unnecessarily long, it could have just been "You may cast this card for its retrieve cost when it is put into your graveyard from your library." No point deduction though because it's still functional as it is and it has no rules meaning anyway.
(1.5/2) Main Challenge - This is certainly ok as a spoiler card, but it looks more fit to a mechanics article rather than being exciting in and of itself. For example, it's more similar to Retrat to Kazandu than Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger from BFZ, and both have been spoiled on the same day at PAX.
(2/2) Subchallenges - Both met.
Total: 21/25
Design
(2/3) Appeal - Timmy doesn't care. Johnny loves this, both to dig for combo pieces and to do tricks with augmented spells. Spike loves this as a source of card advantage once you use augment (it's just card parity otherwise by itself).
(3/3) Elegance - Very elegant. Probably one of the most elegant custom cards ever.
Development
(3/3) Viability - Everything is within the color pie and rarity looks right. Augment feels perfect in blue, both because blue is the first color interacting with instants and sorceries, and because a variant of splice feels right at home in blue.
(3/3) Balance - This card reminds me of Think Twice. Comparing augment with flashback, this cost one mana less but requires another instant or sorcery spell to be spliced upon. Looks like a fair exchange. Also, transforming any spell into a cantrip looks good. Certainly playable in limited. It could also find its own niche in constructed. I see no problems in casual or multiplayer.
Creativity
(2/3) Uniqueness - The mechanic is original, but it's clear that it's just a twist on splice. Yet it still does a very good job at that.
(1.5/3) Flavor - Name is fine. No flavor text even though it would have certainly fitted.
Polish
(3/3) Quality - All good here.
(1.5/2) Main Challenge - This is certainly ok as a spoiler card, but it looks more fit to a mechanics article rather than being exciting in and of itself. For example, it's more similar to Retrat to Kazandu than Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger from BFZ, and both have been spoiled on the same day at PAX.
(2/2) Subchallenges - Both met.
Total: 21/25
Design
(2/3) Appeal - Timmy doesn't care. Johnny loves this, both to dig for combo pieces and to do tricks with exiled cards and maybe Processors. Spike loves this as a discountable source of card advantage.
(3/3) Elegance - Another very elegant card. All good here.
Development
(3/3) Viability - Everything is within the color pie and rarity looks right. I'd assume that prepare is primary in blue and black and maybe secondary in green, just like its cousin delve, partly because of its similarity to mill.
(2/3) Balance - Prepare looks even better than delve, as not all decks put many cards in the graveyard, but all decks have cards in the library. I think you will always cast this with prepare, there is not a lot of choice involved, and that's not so good strategically. I don't think making it cost double colored mana is enough for a Weave Fate that you will cast with a two-mana discount the vast majority of the time. Certainly playable in limited, and I also think it would see play in constructed in practically every blue deck. For such decks, it's a net gain over Divination. I see no problem in casual or multiplayer, except that some players, especially less experienced ones, might find a bit unfun to exile cards from their library.
Creativity
(2/3) Uniqueness - It's clear that the mechanic is just a twist on convoke and delve. What to use after creatures on the battlefield and cards in graveyard to get mana? Cards in library! Still, it's something new even if it plays in design space we've already seen.
(2/3) Flavor - Name and flavor text both fit the card's mechanics, but feel a bit too generic.
Polish
(3/3) Quality - All good here.
(1.5/2) Main Challenge - This is certainly ok as a spoiler card, but it looks more fit to a mechanics article rather than being exciting in and of itself. For example, it's more similar to Retrat to Kazandu than Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger from BFZ, and both have been spoiled on the same day at PAX.
(2/2) Subchallenges - Both met.
Total: 20.5/25
admirableadmiral: 23.5
Flatline: 21
scrad_the_wanderer: 21
CrazyMatt: 20.5
Folza: 20.5
GameWorldLeader: 19
hopefulhawkeye: 16
MCC - Winner (6): Oct 2014, Apr Nov 2017, Jan 2018, Apr Jun 2019 || Host (15): Dec 2014, Apr Jul Aug Dec 2015, Mar Jul Aug Oct 2016, Feb Jul 2017, Jun Nov 2018, Feb Jul 2019 (last one here) || Judge (34): every month from Nov 2014 to Nov 2016 except Oct 2015, every month from Feb to Jul 2017 except Apr 2017, then Oct 2017, May Jun Nov 2018, Feb Jul 2019 (last one here)
CCL - Winner (3): Jul 2016 (tied with Flatline), May 2017, Jul 2019 (last one here) || Host (5): Feb 2015, Mar Apr May Jun 2016
DCC - Winner (1): Mar 2015 (tied with Piar) || Host (3): May Oct 2015, Jan 2016
• The two public custom sets I've been part a part of the design team for:
"Brotherhood of Ormos" - Blog post with all info - set thread - design skeleton / card list || "Extinctia: Homo Evanuit" - Blog post with all info - set thread - card list spreadsheet
• "The Lion's Lair", my article series about MTG and custom card design in particular. Latest article here. Here is the article index. Rather outdated by now, and based on the old MCC rubric, but I'm leaving this here for anybody that might be interested anyway.
• My only public attempt at being a writer: the story of my Leonin custom planeswalker Jeff Lionheart. (I have a very big one that I'm working on right now but that's private for now, and I don't know if I will ever actually publish it, and I also have ideas for multiple future ones, including one where I'm going to reprise Jeff.)
Instant (Uncommon)
Each opponent may bribe you. The player who wins the bribe draws four cards and you draw two cards. (To bribe, each bribing player reveals a card from his or her hand to you. You may choose one of those cards and cast it without paying its mana cost, then the player that his her card was chosen this way wins the bribe.)
Creature — Human Soldier {U}
Vigilance
Renown 1
When Defiant Lieutenant becomes renowned, transform it.
"Your corruption has run rampant for too long!"
3/3
//
Sun's Chosen
W Creature — Solar Warrior {U}
Vigilance
Perfect 1WW (You may pay 1WW whenever this creature attacks or blocks. If you do, it becomes perfect until end of turn.)
As long as Sun's Chosen is perfect, it has indestructible.
"I won't stand for it any longer!"
4/4
eta
OK guess I'll enter.
Heavenly Host 3WW
Creature - Angel (U)
Flying
1W: Exile target creature. Return that card to the battlefield under its owner's control at the beginning of the next end step.
Ephemeral - As long as Heavenly Host is exiled, attacking creatures you control have lifelink.
3/4
Creature - Human Monk (U)
Prowess
Mastery - Riverblade Artisan has "whenever Riverblade Artisan deals combat damage to a player, draw a card" as long as it is enchanted or equipped.
2/2
At the hand of an Everflow River monk, every weapon seems as graceful and as natural as a stream.
EDIT: Minor templating changes
Sorcery C
Put X 1/1 white Spirit creature tokens with tether onto the battlefield. (If a source would deal damage to a creature with tether you control, you may have it deal that much damage to you instead. If a source would deal damage to you, you may have it deal that much damage to a creature with tether you control instead.)
Oops! Fixed! Also, we could stand to have one more judge!
BGStandard Green AggroGB
UWRGModern Saheeli CobraGRWU
UBRGLegacy StormGRBU
Wizards Certified Rules Advisor
Perfect! Unfortunately I forgot two things:
- In my usual layout, the colors of the deadlines have a meaning: the closest one is green to signify that it's the active one, all others are red meaning they are either already passed or still yet to come but they're not the closest one. I took this idea from Ryder's CCLs. Of course, you're free to do as you wish, I'm just saying it because it might not be obvious.
- This round has been established by now, but please refrain from taking my deadlines from August as a good reference for future rounds. They're not good to close the month on time. I still have to close August and I won't have a winner until the first week of September will be over. My ideal as host would be to give four days for designs and four for judgments. That way you'd close the month on time, but unfortunately that's not always possible and extensions are sometimes necessary. Also take into account that on August I fixed round 1's design deadline on the 7th as I posted the thread in an emergency when the month had already begun. Again, do as you wish, saying this only to make you aware of it.
I should have told you these things too together with my last post. I'm sorry but I forgot. I'm also sorry to clutter the thread again.
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.)
Pull from Beyond
Sorcery (U)
Return target creature card from your graveyard to the battlefield.
Retrieve (You may cast this card for its retrieve cost when it is put into your graveyard, if it was put into your graveyard from your library.)
1(G/W)(G/W)
Creature - Centaur Soldier
2/2
When War Courser enters the battlefield, choose one -
Put a +1/+1 counter on War Courser.
Put a +1/+1 counter on another target creature.
Coalesce (You may choose both if G and W was spent.)
Creature - Faerie (C)
Flying
Dice-up 1 (whenever you roll a die, add 1 to the result)
1/1
Many a goblin has been kicked out of Gambler's Hall for smuggling in a Fortune Sprite.
Creature - Human Monk (U)
Lifelink, vigilance
Reform - When this creature enters the battlefield under your control, you may tap a creature you control. If you do, put a +1/+1 counter on that creature.
2/2
Creature - Vampire Barbarian (C)
Insurgency R (If you cast this card with its insurgency cost, it enters the battlefield under an opponent's control and attacks each turn if able.)
Whenever Gluttonous Bloodblade attacks, it gets +2/+0 until end of turn and deals 2 damage to you.
He deals almost as much damage to his master as to his master's foes.
2/2
Instant (common)
Draw a card.
Augment 1U (Whenever you cast an instant of sorcery spell, you may exile this card from your graveyard and pay 1U. If you do, add this spell's effects to that spell.)