Well, the fact that designing a card themed around the commander and all the things attached to the concept (commander's identity; command zone, etc) will automatically derivate in a low score regarding viability... well... kinda sucks. It would have been great to have a month/round focused on this, adapting viability parameters to the proposed scenario (cutting Spike from the formula, making an extra-juicy vorthos round.)
I've just posted my card, wich I'm very proud of, but still being frustrating the fact that there's no way I could get a perfect score or even less. The result: I'm going to change my entry to a card that has both, constructed and casual appealing, to at least still having the chance of a high score.
I'm not sure why that would be. There are Spike, Johnny, Timmy, Vorthos, and I guess Melvin EDH decks (I probably have one of each at least). A card could easily appeal to a number of those psychographics within the EDH format. Plus, Potential is "Will the targeted player demographic find a use for this card?" so you don't have to target everyone anyway...?
I can't speak for other people but I'm making my card to explore design space and make certain legendary creatures who can't really be used as commanders slightly more playable.
The thing is: With exactly one existing card referring to a commander, there is a huge unexplored design space. Also, at almost every round, one will see above 90% of cards meeting both challenges. I think that this here is something similiar: A lot of people stretching their design a little to fit an extra requirement, or to fit a requirement extra well. Sometimes, leaving a chellenge be in order to make the rest of the card more elegant is the better choice. I tend to especially like such designs, but simply saying 'competitor XY didn't do YZ so he defeats everyone else who did YZ by default' is, in my opinion, downright wrong.
The thing is: With exactly one existing card referring to a commander, there is a huge unexplored design space. Also, at almost every round, one will see above 90% of cards meeting both challenges. I think that this here is something similiar: A lot of people stretching their design a little to fit an extra requirement, or to fit a requirement extra well. Sometimes, leaving a chellenge be in order to make the rest of the card more elegant is the better choice. I tend to especially like such designs, but simply saying 'competitor XY didn't do YZ so he defeats everyone else who did YZ by default' is, in my opinion, downright wrong.
I do believe that's because experience players in the MCC get knowledgeable enough of the inner workings of the game to figure out when ignoring a challenge would net them more points thant the opposite. Those guys are the 10% you mention in Round 1 and simply have a higher winning rate than newer or lesser costum-card-designers.
It would be wrong to elevate one of the players above the others because the word ''comander'' isn't anywhere on his card. But, the thing is, even though it's unexplored design space, I personnaly find it restrictive and somewhat narrow.
As a comparison, Savior of Kamingawa's ''7 cards in hand'' or other ''number of cards in hand matters'' mechanic have seldom shown up in Costum cards or anywhere else in magic. It's unexplored, but for a reason.
You know why a commander card that doesn't say commander is so interesting? Because it offers up possibilities. Consider these:
You're not special 1B
Instant
Destroy target legendary creature. ''No battlefield for you''
You're definitely not special 1B
Instant
Destroy target Commander ''The extra two mana's on me''
They're both quite undeniably commander cards. But one of them has one precise usage and while it's ''new'' in a sense it's not exciting because it's so incredibly straightforward. In a similar environment, you can bet your Mox that those two cards would be cast on the exact same targets 95% of the time, but there's a 5% of time where the first card offers up more possibilities, more interesting counterplay and creates more possible game states.
I often repeat that one of the main reasons I love magic is because the good cards can be used in a dozen different situations to do a dozen different things. Context is everything. Great cards always have a good versatility and can go in lots of different decks for lots of different reasons.
I honestly encourage every and all players to design a Commander card that doesn't say commander on the card. If it's even remotely well designed, the commander-appeal will shine through and the versatility will be a good bonus.
Hero's Demise
Nice guess on the pricing there, Clockwork Gamer
I don't have any particular issue with people writing "commander" on their cards, since Command Tower is given as an example, they just need to have a reason to do so, as Command Tower does. I just took a quick look and saw some reasonable designs using "commander" as well as some that took a broader look. There are not-so-great examples of both types as well.
I think the fact that "You're not special" was made long before Commander was mainstream is testament to it not being "undeniably" a Commander card. I feel this is exactly the concern some have raised. I also think it's quite wrong to say that only lesser or inexperienced designers would make a card that references the commander. I've won multiple MCC's and I've done just that. There is a large design space for cards that mention commanders that can only work by mentioning them. Saying I'm a lesser or inexperienced designer using that space comes off as insulting.
For me the case is easy: the task said "Think Command Tower", so I thought Command Tower. Command Tower has exactly one trait: it mentions 'commander'.
If my Lead Designer asks me to design a card like Command Tower he/she is going to get a card that mentions 'commander'.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Multiple instances of lifelink on the same creature are redundant.
Multiple instances of lifelink on the same creature are redundant.
Multiple instances of lifelink on the same creature are redundant.
—Eli Shiffrin, Rules Manager, on a design stacking lifelink instances
Judgements are up. I gave out a perfect score this round, congrats to the participant who submitted a truly excellent card this round!
That card was brilliant indeed.
Did I just lose 7 points for balance? I SUCK when it comes to balance it seems. Gets me every time.
Gotta admit I didn't dare to take a look at all blue Legends, because I felt there's gotta be something broken in there and I liked the design so much ;_;
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Multiple instances of lifelink on the same creature are redundant.
Multiple instances of lifelink on the same creature are redundant.
Multiple instances of lifelink on the same creature are redundant.
—Eli Shiffrin, Rules Manager, on a design stacking lifelink instances
Yeah, I must recognize that, even if spezza19's card is one of those cards that does not seem like a "serious" design, it's so cleverly made that you finally say: What the heck! ... It's a ton of fun!
I'm not a commander fan (even when I'm making a Karn deck myself), but I just imagine how funny a commander game could become once this hits the table, and it sounds really hilarious (specially the part in wich everyone starts begging for a couple of tokens :nod:)
EDIT: Well, here comes the mean part of the post, but I wouldn't have given the perfect score, since the round isn't %100 EDH aligned (so Spike and Timmy have nothing to do with it), but would still have given a high score for sure.
I'm a proud member of the Online Campaign for Real English. If you believe in capital letters, correct spelling, and good sentence structure, then copy this into your signature.
I'm a proud member of the Online Campaign for Real English. If you believe in capital letters, correct spelling, and good sentence structure, then copy this into your signature.
Also, maybe it's just me, but whenever I see a card with an incredibly basic one word name, I expect it to be an extra powerful card. Am I just crazy, or does this phenomenon occur for others as well?
I'm a proud member of the Online Campaign for Real English. If you believe in capital letters, correct spelling, and good sentence structure, then copy this into your signature.
Also, maybe it's just me, but whenever I see a card with an incredibly basic one word name, I expect it to be an extra powerful card. Am I just crazy, or does this phenomenon occur for others as well?
My card was just 'Egoling' and it's broken beyond everything. So there's something to it.
I'd still like to know whether I lost all points for balance alone...
Clockwork Gamer is only missing two judgings and then we're just waiting for Koopa. I blame Mario.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Multiple instances of lifelink on the same creature are redundant.
Multiple instances of lifelink on the same creature are redundant.
Multiple instances of lifelink on the same creature are redundant.
—Eli Shiffrin, Rules Manager, on a design stacking lifelink instances
The only thing that bugs me about it is that the effect is optional. If it's a red tutor, I want to see it forcing you to dig through your library every turn. Choosing not to just feels weird to me.
You can always choose to not find a card when you tutor with anything, so giving it a May is basically "you don't have to spend time shuffling this turn if you don't want."
I'm done with my judgings.
Feel free to PM me if you believe there is something I should be made aware of. It most likely won't change your score but I'm open to any comments.
Also if any judge wants to take a swing at scoring my Judge Card I'm curious to see how I would've fared in this round.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Some kind of witty comment should be here.
I'm sure you can think of something by yourself.
Chalice of Unity
Artifact - Rare
At the beggining of each other player's main phase, that player may add one mana of any color to his or her mana pool. If any does, draw a card.
: Add one mana of any color to your mana pool Feast, my friends. Let us all share this bounty and disregard the ominous aura slowly growing around me.
The way I see it, the first ability seems quite weird. The only time your opponent should ever do this is if them getting an additional mana outweighs you drawing a card, which makes this Manalith with a downside. I think it could be uncommon or have an additional upside.
I think if it had been something in the vein of Howling Mine it could have been really cool:
Chalice of Unity
Artifact - Rare
At the beginning of each player's upkeep, that player draws a card.
At the beginning of each player's pre-combat mainphase, that player adds one mana of any color to his or her mana pool.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Oh, what's that you say, Karn? You remove poison counters? You should tell that to Mr. Rosewater.
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
I've just posted my card, wich I'm very proud of, but still being frustrating the fact that there's no way I could get a perfect score or even less. The result: I'm going to change my entry to a card that has both, constructed and casual appealing, to at least still having the chance of a high score.
Sad Panda is sad.
I do believe that's because experience players in the MCC get knowledgeable enough of the inner workings of the game to figure out when ignoring a challenge would net them more points thant the opposite. Those guys are the 10% you mention in Round 1 and simply have a higher winning rate than newer or lesser costum-card-designers.
It would be wrong to elevate one of the players above the others because the word ''comander'' isn't anywhere on his card. But, the thing is, even though it's unexplored design space, I personnaly find it restrictive and somewhat narrow.
As a comparison, Savior of Kamingawa's ''7 cards in hand'' or other ''number of cards in hand matters'' mechanic have seldom shown up in Costum cards or anywhere else in magic. It's unexplored, but for a reason.
You know why a commander card that doesn't say commander is so interesting? Because it offers up possibilities. Consider these:
You're not special 1B
Instant
Destroy target legendary creature.
''No battlefield for you''
You're definitely not special 1B
Instant
Destroy target Commander
''The extra two mana's on me''
They're both quite undeniably commander cards. But one of them has one precise usage and while it's ''new'' in a sense it's not exciting because it's so incredibly straightforward. In a similar environment, you can bet your Mox that those two cards would be cast on the exact same targets 95% of the time, but there's a 5% of time where the first card offers up more possibilities, more interesting counterplay and creates more possible game states.
I often repeat that one of the main reasons I love magic is because the good cards can be used in a dozen different situations to do a dozen different things. Context is everything. Great cards always have a good versatility and can go in lots of different decks for lots of different reasons.
I honestly encourage every and all players to design a Commander card that doesn't say commander on the card. If it's even remotely well designed, the commander-appeal will shine through and the versatility will be a good bonus.
I'm sure you can think of something by yourself.
Nice guess on the pricing there, Clockwork Gamer
I don't have any particular issue with people writing "commander" on their cards, since Command Tower is given as an example, they just need to have a reason to do so, as Command Tower does. I just took a quick look and saw some reasonable designs using "commander" as well as some that took a broader look. There are not-so-great examples of both types as well.
If my Lead Designer asks me to design a card like Command Tower he/she is going to get a card that mentions 'commander'.
Multiple instances of lifelink on the same creature are redundant.
Multiple instances of lifelink on the same creature are redundant.
—Eli Shiffrin, Rules Manager, on a design stacking lifelink instances
How you should approach every game of Magic.
Mod Helpdesk (defunct)
My Flawless Score MCC Card | My Other One | # Three!
All of the judge's names link to Koopa's holder. Did you notice?
Not at all. Ugh... Will fix now.
BGStandard Green AggroGB
UWRGModern Saheeli CobraGRWU
UBRGLegacy StormGRBU
Wizards Certified Rules Advisor
anyhow, thanks for fixing it.
Goblins have poor impulse control. Don't click this link!!
some of my favourite flavour text:
Wayward Soul
"no home no heart no hope"
—Stronghold graffito
Raging Goblin
He raged at the world, at his family, at his life. But mostly he just raged.
That card was brilliant indeed.
Did I just lose 7 points for balance? I SUCK when it comes to balance it seems. Gets me every time.
Gotta admit I didn't dare to take a look at all blue Legends, because I felt there's gotta be something broken in there and I liked the design so much ;_;
Multiple instances of lifelink on the same creature are redundant.
Multiple instances of lifelink on the same creature are redundant.
—Eli Shiffrin, Rules Manager, on a design stacking lifelink instances
EDH
Azami (video)
:symw::symb::symg: Teneb (video)
Drana (video) (retired)
:symw::symr: Brion (video)
:symb::symr: Wort (video)
Arcum (video) (retired)
:symr::symg: Stonebrow (video)
B Shirei (video)
WU Rasputin (video) (retired)
R Urabrask (video)
WUR Zedruu (video) (retired)
W Isamaru
UB Grimgrin
U Mistform Ultimus (video)
UBR Gwendlyn (video)
URG Animar (video)
RG Thromok
WB Selenia
Standard
WU Geist of Saint Traft standard EDH (video) (retired)
WUB Battle of Wits!
I'm not a commander fan (even when I'm making a Karn deck myself), but I just imagine how funny a commander game could become once this hits the table, and it sounds really hilarious (specially the part in wich everyone starts begging for a couple of tokens :nod:)
EDIT: Well, here comes the mean part of the post, but I wouldn't have given the perfect score, since the round isn't %100 EDH aligned (so Spike and Timmy have nothing to do with it), but would still have given a high score for sure.
Glorious avatar and signature done by Rivenor at Miraculous Recovery Signatures.
***Former MCC Organizer***
Come join us! Show us your creative side.
I'm a proud member of the Online Campaign for Real English. If you believe in capital letters, correct spelling, and good sentence structure, then copy this into your signature.
Glorious avatar and signature done by Rivenor at Miraculous Recovery Signatures.
***Former MCC Organizer***
Come join us! Show us your creative side.
I'm a proud member of the Online Campaign for Real English. If you believe in capital letters, correct spelling, and good sentence structure, then copy this into your signature.
Modern:WUSpiritsWU, R12 BoltR
Commander:Diamonds are a Girls Best Friend, Ace of Spades, I Love the Night, The Reaper
~Signature by: Miraculous Recovery Signatures~
Also, maybe it's just me, but whenever I see a card with an incredibly basic one word name, I expect it to be an extra powerful card. Am I just crazy, or does this phenomenon occur for others as well?
Glorious avatar and signature done by Rivenor at Miraculous Recovery Signatures.
***Former MCC Organizer***
Come join us! Show us your creative side.
I'm a proud member of the Online Campaign for Real English. If you believe in capital letters, correct spelling, and good sentence structure, then copy this into your signature.
My card was just 'Egoling' and it's broken beyond everything. So there's something to it.
I'd still like to know whether I lost all points for balance alone...
Clockwork Gamer is only missing two judgings and then we're just waiting for Koopa. I blame Mario.
Multiple instances of lifelink on the same creature are redundant.
Multiple instances of lifelink on the same creature are redundant.
—Eli Shiffrin, Rules Manager, on a design stacking lifelink instances
You can always choose to not find a card when you tutor with anything, so giving it a May is basically "you don't have to spend time shuffling this turn if you don't want."
Feel free to PM me if you believe there is something I should be made aware of. It most likely won't change your score but I'm open to any comments.
Also if any judge wants to take a swing at scoring my Judge Card I'm curious to see how I would've fared in this round.
I'm sure you can think of something by yourself.
I think if it had been something in the vein of Howling Mine it could have been really cool:
Chalice of Unity
Artifact - Rare
At the beginning of each player's upkeep, that player draws a card.
At the beginning of each player's pre-combat mainphase, that player adds one mana of any color to his or her mana pool.