MTG Salvation

December Round 1 is up. We still need at least one more judge. See the judge signup thread if you're interested.

Getting told to add first strike to my WW 2/1 flier with upside make me a little sad, I agree it may of been cool from a design perspective for a slightly more expensive card but I don't think including it to the balance section is fair.

I apologize, but I won't be able to do my judgings until tomorrow evening, and possibly even only on Monday.

Quote from Asrama »

I apologize, but I won't be able to do my judgings until tomorrow evening, and possibly even only on Monday.

Thanks for letting us know. We shall wait until 11:59 EST Monday night for your reviews. After that we will finish up the round regardless.

December Round 1 is over. Brackets are in the round thread's OP.

Judging is done.

@Epicycle - I'll have to do yours tomorrow. For now I wanted to get the contested scores out of the way first.

Thanks all for the crits! Just a few things:
Asrama and Bravelion: Mogg Dingbats has johnny appeal with anthems, although it is limited.
Asrama: Taking off points for the originality of flavor should go in uniqueness. The flavor category doesn't deal with fresh feel:
(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?

@sperlman: that's not a good example for Johnny appeal. Johnny likes it when a bad card becomes amazing, not when it becomes tolarable. And anthems have really wide appeal, so in that pairing, they are carrying the dingbats rather than the other way around, so no reason to give the dingbats credit for it.

And a joke is less funny the more times you hear it, and a style is not as impactful the more times it's done, so I feel flavor is exactly the right place to complain that the flavor you chose is not very original, as it hurts mostly the style of the card. Basically I was telling you that you went for the McDonald's type of flavor: it might have been good when it was fresh, but now it has grown a bit stale.

Thank you, IcariiFA and the judges, for hosting and running an inspiring contest this month.

Quote from palanthas »

Thank you, IcariiFA and the judges, for hosting and running an inspiring contest this month.

for hosting and running an inspiring contest this month.

inspiring

What you did. I see it.

You're welcome!

Quote from bravelion83 »

(3/3) Quality - All good, the only thing I'm not sure about is if the word "Discard" in the chain of costs should be capitalized or not. The Shard cycle from original Mirrodin doesn't help here, as it contained only symbols in that place, and I haven't been able to find any other precedent. My instinct says that it should not be capitalized, just like in alternative costs, but I have no precedent to back it up with so I'm not deducting any points for that.

Thanks first of all for the favorable review! I was proud of my card this first round.

My thinking with the capitalization here was that 1) the discard part was an entirely new and separate cost in the chain, and "Discard a card" by itself as a cost gets capitalized; and 2) even alongside other costs in an activated ability, it's also still capitalized. In alternate costs ("You may discard a card rather than..."), it's not capitalized because it's in the middle of a sentence.

Quote from void_nothing »

1) the discard part was an entirely new and separate cost in the chain, and "Discard a card" by itself as a cost gets capitalized;

This was exactly what I thought about a lot, and the main reason your version is still potentially plausible in my opinion. I spent a good amount of time earlier today to see if I could find a precedent to clear my mind but I found nothing. In the end I could see it printed both ways, and I think that until they don't do something like that for real we won't know what's the right way to do it.

My Judgements have been posted. I'll be reviewing them for typos and other errors before they are finalized tonight. If anyone has any questions or comments, please feel free to post them here and I'll address them.

@Asrama: Alright, my only issue now is that McDonald's was never good or fresh.

@MossElemental: No issues, thanks for the crits!

Quote from IcariiFA »

Getting back your own card from exile to your hand is a design space that is all but expressly forbidden as turning exile into a second graveyard is exactly what R&D has been avoiding for over a decade.

...*****. Ah well, see you guys in January!

When does round 2, 3, and 4 for December start?

Quote from sperlman »

@Asrama: Alright, my only issue now is that McDonald's was never good or fresh.

Should I have gone with Wendy's? I actually remember that when I was a kid, McDonald's the the most awesome thing ever.

Quote from shinike1729 »

When does round 2, 3, and 4 for December start?

Round 2 starts right now. Unfortunately, it's open only to those who passed round 1. Those who didn't make it will have to wait for next month's MCC round 1, and in the meantime they may check the other contests going on around here: the CCL accepts new players until round 3 included, and the DCC accepts new players anytime. I hope to see you again in the MCC next month, and soon in the other contests!

I keep forgetting to ask, but I wanted some feedback on Novembers MCC. For those who participated (as players/judges) or observed, consider:

1. What did you most enjoy about November's MCC?
2. What did you least enjoy about November's MCC?
3. Most memorable challenge?
4. Most memorable card(s) that were submitted?
5. Did you learn anything from November's MCC? If so, what?
6. What kind of challenges/themes/areas of emphasis would you like to see in the future?
7. What improvements would you like to see to the MCC?

Thanks folks! I'm genuinely curious about what people thought about the month and what can be done in the future to make it even better! I plan on hosting again soon based on what hear here.

http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/creativity/custom-card-creation/custom-card-contests-and-games/652219-december-mcc-round-2-join-the-ranks?comment=19

I'm done.

Thanks to the judges for making it on time. Round 3 is up!

Quote from IcariiFA »

I keep forgetting to ask, but I wanted some feedback on Novembers MCC. For those who participated (as players/judges) or observed, consider:

1. What did you most enjoy about November's MCC?
2. What did you least enjoy about November's MCC?
3. Most memorable challenge?
4. Most memorable card(s) that were submitted?
5. Did you learn anything from November's MCC? If so, what?
6. What kind of challenges/themes/areas of emphasis would you like to see in the future?
7. What improvements would you like to see to the MCC?

Thanks folks! I'm genuinely curious about what people thought about the month and what can be done in the future to make it even better! I plan on hosting again soon based on what hear here.

1. Honestly? the first challenge. Magic is not very good at diversifying its source material, as the only set inspired by the faiths, history and mythology of non-Europeans is Kamigawa (alright, Portal Three Kingdoms too). You've done an excellent job of avoiding the major hurdle that is the fact that most people don't know much about fables from the Americas,by providing a good story ad a tough challenge that mixed top-down design with worldbuilding skills. Great opener.
2. Not much I didn't like, but the second challenge had a lot of issues when judges had no way of truly understanding cards from CCGs that they didn't know. Yes, you could read the rules online, but that doesn't guarantee that you'll understand what made that card unique. For example, when I started playing Magic, I couldn't understand what the big deal was with Wildfire despite technically knowing how to play the game.
3. I already talked about the first one, but I'd probably remember number 3 as well for a long time, especially thanks to Ber_F's choice of inspiration...
4. Doombringer's Clockwing Postie. I like a lot of things about this card. The design behind it is all but impeccable, but the development is were it met its downfall.
5.Well, yes. There was a lot of interesting source material to go around. As a designer, I do think there are now more places I might look for card ideas. Considering how wide my inspirations include book I've read, games I played and places I've been already, that's saying a lot.
6. Whatever. The main point is to have fun. I do like it when hosts come up with challenges I never even thought of myself, and try to get me out of my comfort zone (as long as its not designing planeswalkers)
7. I'm good, thanks.

Subchallenge 1: The mana ability produces exactly one mana. That mana is one of at least two different colors of mana. ("T: Add M or N to your mana pool." *)

As a point of clarity, would the following rules text count toward this Subchallenge?

T: Add W or C to your mana pool.

I've never gotten a perfect score in the MCC before. Thank you, EpiCycle1, for your judgment. It's a humbling experience.

Quote from Asrama »

1. Honestly? the first challenge. Magic is not very good at diversifying its source material, as the only set inspired by the faiths, history and mythology of non-Europeans is Kamigawa (alright, Portal Three Kingdoms too).

I... Look, Magic does need diversifying, I totally agree with you, and R&D needs to be pushed not to rest on its laurels on that front, but... Mirage and Visions? Didn't we just finish up on Tarkir? Hell, Arabian Nights qualifies for this if you're willing to bring P3K into it. Give credit where it's due.

Quote from Piar »

Subchallenge 1: The mana ability produces exactly one mana. That mana is one of at least two different colors of mana. ("T: Add M or N to your mana pool." *)

As a point of clarity, would the following rules text count toward this Subchallenge?

T: Add W or C to your mana pool.

Colorless is not a color (doo dah, doo dah)