I know this doesn't really have anything to do with me but, I'm not sure Cardz5000's card warrants a DQ. A DQ is only issued if the card fails to meet the main challenge (which Cardz's card does not). The viability section is where viability is supposed to be scored. That said, whether or not a card fits within the rules of Magic is incredibly undervalued in the current rubric in my opinion. The way the rubric has been explained to me in the past, whether or not a card fits within the rules of Magic only counts for 1 pt, which seems really wrong to me. But I've been told that each one of those questions in the rubric is worth 1 pt, and there's only 1 question that pertains to fitting into the rules.
On a similar note, I've been waiting until judgments were in to ask whether or not Cardz's +1/+1 static ability would actually work since the card is supposed to be treated "as though it doesn't exist". From the looks of the rules Cardz5000 posted, it looks like it would work. It just seems wildly unintuitive to count the static ability on a card that doesn't exist, but I guess I can see how that would work.
(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)
614.8. Regeneration is a destruction-replacement effect. The word “instead” doesn’t appear on the card but is implicit in the definition of regeneration. “Regenerate [permanent]” means “The next time [permanent] would be destroyed this turn, instead remove all damage marked on it and tap it. If it’s an attacking or blocking creature, remove it from combat.” Abilities that trigger from damage being dealt still trigger even if the permanent regenerates.
Regeneration has to be in place before damage. Indestructible ignores lethal damage, but, again, must be in place before lethal damage or a destroy effect takes place.
Regarding the combat scenario:
Quote from Comprehensive Rules »
510.2. Second, all combat damage that’s been assigned is dealt simultaneously. This turn-based action doesn’t use the stack. No player has the chance to cast spells or activate abilities between the time combat damage is assigned and the time it’s dealt.
511.1. The end of combat step has no turn-based actions. Once it begins, the active player gets priority.
When you cast Teferi's Protection during your second main phase, your Knight of New Benalia is a 6/4 with a -1/-1 counter on it, so it phases out. When it phases back in, it dies due to state-based checks as it is now a 3/1 with a -1/-1 counter.
The reason cards can't work when phased out is in the Rules of phasing, as mentioned in 702.25b. It's also more explicitly spelled out in the errata of Teferi's Protection.
Quote from »
While a permanent is phased out, it’s treated as though it doesn’t exist. It can’t be the target of spells or abilities, its static abilities have no effect on the game, its triggered abilities can’t trigger, it can’t attack or block, and so on.
This means that not only does the anthem effect not work, it also means that the card can't prevent itself from phasing in during its controller's next untap step. It can be acted upon by outside forces, but not by itself, because it does not exist.
@Flatline
By your reasoning, Algernone25 should also not have DQ'd RaikouRider because the card met the bare minimum for having the words from the main challenge. It's a partial Teferi's Protection for the same casting cost, which works at an Uncommon power level, but you didn't think it should still be judged in full?
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It is really fitting for the 2nd to last month of the MCC on MTGSalvation to go out like this....rules lawyering, subjective reasoning, questionable DQ's, groupthink/favoritism, issues with the rubric. Same problems, different month. This particular competition might be second only to the former debate forum in making people miserable--hosts, judges, and competitors alike. It's always so serious and why shouldn't it be? If you win, you can put it in your signature and of course listing all of your monthly wins gives you serious amateur MTG card designing credit--and tons of sex appeal. Who's ready for more punishment? Bring on the June MCC!
@Flatline
By your reasoning, Algernone25 should also not have DQ'd RaikouRider because the card met the bare minimum for having the words from the main challenge. It's a partial Teferi's Protection for the same casting cost, which works at an Uncommon power level, but you didn't think it should still be judged in full?
I hadn't looked at Algernone25's judgment of RaikouRider's until just now. The only reason I looked at the judgments of Cardz5000's card was because I was interested in whether or not it worked within the rules. Interestingly, after all this discussion, I'm still not sure whether it does or doesn't. I'm thinking it does because of the rule that states that a card's text overrides the general rules of the game where applicable. But I certainly could be wrong. All that said, I did go back and look at RaikouRider's card, and yes, I don't believe it should have been disqualified. Also, I don't believe it's my reasoning that is leading me to this conclusion, but the precedent that has been set by the rubric and the history of the competition. I have no position of authority here, but I have been competing in the MCC pretty regularly for quite a long time now, and as far as know, the only thing that warrants a DQ is failure to meet the main challenge. Again, I don't really know that I agree with this personally, but letter of the MCC law would allow for an exact reprint as long it met the main challenge. Technically, the only place that would punish an exact reprint is the uniqueness section (something I definitely think is wrong). On a similar note, as far as I know, the rubric would also allow for the submission of Pokemon card as long as it met the main challenge (another thing I disagree with), although submitting a Pokemon card would be punished in almost all other areas of the rubric since it makes no sense and doesn't work within the rules. Fortunately, I've never seen anybody really try to test any of this by approaching the rubric in an exact literal sense. I think for the most part, people understand the spirit of the competition.
It is really fitting for the 2nd to last month of the MCC on MTGSalvation to go out like this....rules lawyering, subjective reasoning, questionable DQ's, groupthink/favoritism, issues with the rubric. Same problems, different month. This particular competition might be second only to the former debate forum in making people miserable--hosts, judges, and competitors alike. It's always so serious and why shouldn't it be? If you win, you can put it in your signature and of course listing all of your monthly wins gives you serious amateur MTG card designing credit--and tons of sex appeal. Who's ready for more punishment? Bring on the June MCC-Hopefulhawkeye/BlackWaltz3
This comment does nothing to further the conversation, and seems like it is only a series of thinly veiled insults. Pretty sweet.
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(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)
That's a super sexy signature box you got there Flatline. =)
I'm just going to pretend you aren't being sarcastic and say thanks. I hope to add to it while there's still time. Ain't no shame in my game.
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(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)
As a completely outsier I'm telling you that shame isn't what you should feel about your pool of card creations wins. Only proud to have cool card designs.
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.)
Just noticed that my design is almost exactly the same as mirrodin71's design. I'm going to chalk that up to great minds thinking alike and change mine, since they posted first.
[b](2/3) Elegance:[/b] This seems alright, but I think that in this instance Phasing might act like Unearth in that once the “next step” trigger resolves, there isn’t another one afterwards so you’d need to word in a way for the phased permanents to come back.
(2/3) Viability:[/b] This is essentially Consulate Crackdown for all creatures, and I think it’s solidly white, and such mass removal pretty much only exists at rare. Preventing things from phasing has never happened before which begs for either fixes to how phasing works or a rewording of the card (see Elegance).
I'm pretty sure my card works just fine as it's currently worded. Unless I'm misunderstanding phasing (which is quite possible), phased out permanents phase in during your untap step as part of the ability. That said, once Teferi's Timelock left the battlefield, the rules of phasing would kick in, and all the permanents that were phased out would phase in during their controller's next untap step. Right? I don't bring this up as a complaint in any way, I just want to make sure I'm correct in my thinking.
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(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)
Oh man. I missed the fact that round 1 was closing last night. I just realized it now when I went to change my card. I didn't even bother to put the reminder text for fuse on my card. Oh well. I guess I've got too much going on. That's why I don't compete as much as I used to. Stupid real life!
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(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)
My judgments are up. If you think I was unfair, make sure you PM me well before the deadline.
On another note, my work just told me today that we're going to 12 hour days on Monday. I'll do my best to keep up with judging, but I may be a bit meaner than normal. I get cranky when I'm tired.
Surprising no one, we're running behind. Which is why the last MCC will only have three Rounds. I already budgeted time to allow for this to occur, especially as void_nothing and I are also judging the May MCC. I had an unexpected dinner party I was required to attend earlier this evening, which consumed a few hours. I am trying to finish the June Round 1 judgments now. I do not yet know when void will have theirs completed.
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Fair enough. You guys take the time you need. If I had known you guys were that much understaffed I would have come on as a judge. (Though, jumping straight into judging after several years away didn't seem right.)
Not exactly what I intended for the last MCC. As I said before, I got confused about the cutoff day for the round. I meant to change my card completely. The card I end up submitting was only supposed to be a place holder for the name Over/Out. Oh well. Good luck to everyone moving forward.
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(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)
I somehow only just now noticed that StonerOfKruphix's card is half Instant and half Sorcery too. That would be a point off Elegance, but it wouldn't change who goes to the next round so I'll leave it be.
(2.5/3) Flavor: "Knowledge and Wisdom" works great as a Split card name. I would have inverted them here. Wisdom for the Surviel (as you may want to toss some of the stack in the yard), and Knowledge for the reveal (everyone will know).
I have no problems with Eventide Sojourner's excellent judging of my card, and I can definitely see their reasoning here, but I just wanted to mention why the names are the way they are, telling the story of my card in the meantime. I know there are people who like to hear about the thought process behind a submission. In spoiler because it's quite long.
It was very hard to come up with a card idea for this round, I found the round challenge to be very difficult this time to execute on if you wanted to hit all the three challenges (main + sub), which is not a bad thing, hitting all challenges is supposed to be hard and I know it very well as an MCC veteran, having been here for years covering all roles (player, judge, and host, and I have no intention to stop my streak on the new site). Anyway, given this difficulty, I've started looking for inspiration everywhere I could. I obviously wanted the two halves to have high synergy, so I started from the mechanics. This card was built bottom-up.
I started writing synergistic text in the two halves but the word "creature" kept coming up. I've written several attempts before realizing I had to focus on the library to avoid mentioning creatures, and I thought of Riddle of Lightning. Was there a way to do something similar, involving the top card of your library? I've always like that card, and I remember having played with it a lot in Future Sight. It looked like an excellent inspiration for splitting up the effect into the two parts of a split card (you can choose whether the pun was intended or not): have the first half scry and the second reveal the top card and do something with it.
Then I thought about colors: the scrying half wanted to be blue, and I had to find colors and effect for the second half. I thought about reverting the Riddle: instead of dealing damage, what if the second half gained you life? Then it could easily be green/white, and I had already chosen to use hybrid mana, because having two gold halves sharing no colors looks prohibitive to me if you actually want the card to be played with fuse. Doing so with both gold halves sharing no color would require you to play a four-color deck at least, which is almost impossible in limited, and only a little easier in constructed but still hard. Hybrid mana greatly improves the playability of such a card and the number of decks that can play it.
Lifegain looked very good as a green/white hybrid option. What about the first half? With scry, it just felt monoblue to me. I needed to find a second color, which could only be red or black. That's when I thought that if this card is supposed to come from Ravnica (the only place so far having fuse split cards), I could just use surveil instead of scry, which would have allowed me to make it Dimir hybrid and meet all challenges, so I did it.
Then I asked myself: what about Uniqueness? It's by far my weakest point, and I'm aware of it. I always tend to play inside the box, in real life too. It's just part of my character. This card already used hybrid mana in both halves, which it's never been done in real Magic, but it didn't feel enough to me, and the GRN/RNA split cards were already playing in similar territory. In an attempt to improve Uniqueness with effects that admittedly were not that original, I thought of making it surveil X. I checked Gatherer and it didn't exist yet. Good. Making it surveil X wouldn't alter the synergy between the two halves, so I did this as well.
I finally had a plausible card to submit. But notice that I haven't talked about flavor yet. In fact, I went on the internet to look for expressions of the "this and that" kind, trying to find one who could work with the mechanics I had. That's when I stumbled on "knowledge and wisdom". It catched my attention because of the color pie: knowledge is blue as a concept (as in what you learn by studying) and wisdom is green (as in what you learn from life experience). Maro talks a lot about how the concept of wisdom is green, and I'm an avid Blogatog reader (sometimes I also post a few comments there, if you see a bravelion83 in the comment section of Blogatog it's me), so I definitely know that. So the name "knowledge" wanted to go with the blue half and the name "wisdom" with the green one. It totally worked in my eyes: you research knowledge by surveiling X, and wisdom is linked to life experience which works perfectly with the lifegain part. Now my card was complete and I could submit it.
So, for the record, that's why I've chosen to put the names like that and not reversed. I've never actually thought about inverting the names before reading the quoted comment. Honestly, I still think they work better as I've put them, but that's not intended as a complaint about the judgment in any way. The judgment is perfect and I thank Eventide Sojouner for taking the time to think about and judge my card. I know from experience (this is wisdom) that being an MCC judge is too often a thankless job, so I want to thank the judge when my card is the one being judged. I didn't expect to write the whole history of my card to explain why the names are as they are, but here we are. I just did that anyway, and I know there are people who like reading about things like this. If you're one of them and you've made it to the end, my thanks and a shoutout to you too!
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.)
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On a similar note, I've been waiting until judgments were in to ask whether or not Cardz's +1/+1 static ability would actually work since the card is supposed to be treated "as though it doesn't exist". From the looks of the rules Cardz5000 posted, it looks like it would work. It just seems wildly unintuitive to count the static ability on a card that doesn't exist, but I guess I can see how that would work.
Here's how regeneration works:
Regeneration has to be in place before damage. Indestructible ignores lethal damage, but, again, must be in place before lethal damage or a destroy effect takes place.
Regarding the combat scenario:
When you cast Teferi's Protection during your second main phase, your Knight of New Benalia is a 6/4 with a -1/-1 counter on it, so it phases out. When it phases back in, it dies due to state-based checks as it is now a 3/1 with a -1/-1 counter.
The reason cards can't work when phased out is in the Rules of phasing, as mentioned in 702.25b. It's also more explicitly spelled out in the errata of Teferi's Protection.
This means that not only does the anthem effect not work, it also means that the card can't prevent itself from phasing in during its controller's next untap step. It can be acted upon by outside forces, but not by itself, because it does not exist.
@Flatline
By your reasoning, Algernone25 should also not have DQ'd RaikouRider because the card met the bare minimum for having the words from the main challenge. It's a partial Teferi's Protection for the same casting cost, which works at an Uncommon power level, but you didn't think it should still be judged in full?
Curious if this months MCC's 2nd subchallenge applies to the plural form of creature (creatures) as well?
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.)
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝
On another note, my work just told me today that we're going to 12 hour days on Monday. I'll do my best to keep up with judging, but I may be a bit meaner than normal. I get cranky when I'm tired.
I was on a long train ride last night but it was delayed by 3 hours, therefore I got home too late to do the June round 1 judgments.
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝
I have no problems with Eventide Sojourner's excellent judging of my card, and I can definitely see their reasoning here, but I just wanted to mention why the names are the way they are, telling the story of my card in the meantime. I know there are people who like to hear about the thought process behind a submission. In spoiler because it's quite long.
I started writing synergistic text in the two halves but the word "creature" kept coming up. I've written several attempts before realizing I had to focus on the library to avoid mentioning creatures, and I thought of Riddle of Lightning. Was there a way to do something similar, involving the top card of your library? I've always like that card, and I remember having played with it a lot in Future Sight. It looked like an excellent inspiration for splitting up the effect into the two parts of a split card (you can choose whether the pun was intended or not): have the first half scry and the second reveal the top card and do something with it.
Then I thought about colors: the scrying half wanted to be blue, and I had to find colors and effect for the second half. I thought about reverting the Riddle: instead of dealing damage, what if the second half gained you life? Then it could easily be green/white, and I had already chosen to use hybrid mana, because having two gold halves sharing no colors looks prohibitive to me if you actually want the card to be played with fuse. Doing so with both gold halves sharing no color would require you to play a four-color deck at least, which is almost impossible in limited, and only a little easier in constructed but still hard. Hybrid mana greatly improves the playability of such a card and the number of decks that can play it.
Lifegain looked very good as a green/white hybrid option. What about the first half? With scry, it just felt monoblue to me. I needed to find a second color, which could only be red or black. That's when I thought that if this card is supposed to come from Ravnica (the only place so far having fuse split cards), I could just use surveil instead of scry, which would have allowed me to make it Dimir hybrid and meet all challenges, so I did it.
Then I asked myself: what about Uniqueness? It's by far my weakest point, and I'm aware of it. I always tend to play inside the box, in real life too. It's just part of my character. This card already used hybrid mana in both halves, which it's never been done in real Magic, but it didn't feel enough to me, and the GRN/RNA split cards were already playing in similar territory. In an attempt to improve Uniqueness with effects that admittedly were not that original, I thought of making it surveil X. I checked Gatherer and it didn't exist yet. Good. Making it surveil X wouldn't alter the synergy between the two halves, so I did this as well.
I finally had a plausible card to submit. But notice that I haven't talked about flavor yet. In fact, I went on the internet to look for expressions of the "this and that" kind, trying to find one who could work with the mechanics I had. That's when I stumbled on "knowledge and wisdom". It catched my attention because of the color pie: knowledge is blue as a concept (as in what you learn by studying) and wisdom is green (as in what you learn from life experience). Maro talks a lot about how the concept of wisdom is green, and I'm an avid Blogatog reader (sometimes I also post a few comments there, if you see a bravelion83 in the comment section of Blogatog it's me), so I definitely know that. So the name "knowledge" wanted to go with the blue half and the name "wisdom" with the green one. It totally worked in my eyes: you research knowledge by surveiling X, and wisdom is linked to life experience which works perfectly with the lifegain part. Now my card was complete and I could submit it.
So, for the record, that's why I've chosen to put the names like that and not reversed. I've never actually thought about inverting the names before reading the quoted comment. Honestly, I still think they work better as I've put them, but that's not intended as a complaint about the judgment in any way. The judgment is perfect and I thank Eventide Sojouner for taking the time to think about and judge my card. I know from experience (this is wisdom) that being an MCC judge is too often a thankless job, so I want to thank the judge when my card is the one being judged. I didn't expect to write the whole history of my card to explain why the names are as they are, but here we are. I just did that anyway, and I know there are people who like reading about things like this. If you're one of them and you've made it to the end, my thanks and a shoutout to you too!
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.)