Every set has a new theme, and often times those themes require support to see play. To take a recent example, Aether Revolt had the Improvise mechanic, which requires having early artifacts in play in order to cast spells for much cheaper than you normally would. Improvise was commonly enabled by putting several artifact tokens into play (using cards like Servo Schematic) or by using cheap artifacts such as the implement cycle. Supporting cards are the unsung heroes of a set; rarely are they seen as the stars of the show, but they enable countless other cards so they can fulfill their potential. Today, we're going to be designing supporting cards.
Main challenge: Choose a modern-legal set and a mechanic from that set. Announce your chosen set and mechanic, then design a card that enables or otherwise directly supports that mechanic.
Subchallenge 1: If your chosen mechanic is a keyword, your card does not have your chosen keyword in its rules text.
Subchallenge 2: Your card is a common.
Main Challenge
A mechanic can be a keyword (like Revolt or Emerge), or it can be subtler, such as the "graveyard matters" themes from both Innistrad blocks, or the "Power 5 or greater matters" theme from the Naya shard in Alara.
Subchallenge 1
Your card can't mention your keyword at all; Vizier of the Anointed would not pass the main challenge.
A reminder to everyone: In the MCC, putting rarity on cards is mandatory! If you don't put a rarity on your card, expect huge deductions in both Viability AND Quality.
Also, you should format your text cards accordingly to the forum rules (see the "this formatting looks best" spoiler in the linked OP). Again, expect deductions in Quality otherwise.
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.
DEADLINES
Design deadline: Thursday, July 17th 2017 23:59 EDT
Judging deadline: Sunday, July 20th 2017 23:59 EDT
admirableadmiral
StonerOfKruphix
Jimmy Groove
Raptorchan
LnGrrrR
Pathfinding1G
Sorcery (C)
As an additional cost to cast Pathfinding, tap an untapped creature you control.
Reveal the top five cards of your library, you may put a land card from among them onto the battlefield. Put the rest on the bottom of your library in any order.
Gonna try to stick to the same theme the whole month. Supporting 5-power guys in Limited is hard though.
Shards of Alara - 5-Power Matters
Cylian Behemoth1GW
Creature - Beast {C}
At the beginning of combat on your turn, you may pay 5. If you don't, prevent all damage that Cylian Behemoth would deal to players. Humans see Gargantuan destruction as wanton. Cylia's inner elven circle see it as incidental.
5/5
Rift Researcher1WU
Creature - Human Wizard (C)
Defender
Whenever Rift Researcher deals combat damage put or remove a time counter on target permanent. “Time is an illusion”
1/5
Art by
PD. In Fact I create to support time counters from Time Spiral block, but is more in tune with the ability of vanishing.
ATTACHMENTS
Rift Researcher
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"Over time, all trips end up in the same place, at home."
Nourish the Land1BG
Instant {C}
As an additional cost to cast Nourish the Land, sacrifice a creature.
Search your library for a basic land card and put that card onto the battlefield. Then shuffle your library. A fresh sprout from within the rot.
Scrap Wagon3
Artifact - Vehicle (C)
Crew 3 (Tap any number of creatures you control with total power 3 or more: This Vehicle becomes an artifact creature until end of turn.)
You may sacrifice an artifact rather than pay Scrap Wagon's crew cost.
5/4
Aloof Perfect1G
Creature - Elf Warrior (C)
Whenever Aloof Perfect becomes exiled, draw a card. He could fight his own battles, but he finds that ordering the less fair to fight them for him is more rewarding and far less likely to blemish his flawless form.
1/3
Shinobi CharmU
Instant (C)
Choose one —
• Target creature you control gains hexproof until end of turn.
• Target creature you control can't be blocked until end of turn.
• Return target creature you control to it's owner's hand.
Sultai Trawlers4G
Creature - Human Rogue (C) [Sultai Watermark]
When Sultai Trawlers enters the battlefield, choose target face-up exiled card you own. Put that card into your graveyard. "Gold and gemstones cannot slay a dragon. We may yet find a solution in the Gurmag."
4/4
Nylea's FavoredGGG
Creature - Beast [C] The goddess of the hunt cares little for the affairs of mortals. Her domain is the wilds, untamed and free.
4/4
Conclave Cultivator1G
Creature — Elf Druid (C)
Whenever Conclave Cultivator becomes tapped, add G to your mana pool. The Conclave's gardeners are able to work wonders, causing life to spring up in the least likely of places.
1/3
(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)
Nutrientsucker Mold2G
Creature - Fungus (C)
At the beginning of your end step, you may move a +1/+1 counter from target creature onto Strengthsucker Mold. “Recently, I’ve been finding it near impossible to grow anything of worth in these soils.”
—Radwick, farmer of Gatstaf
2/2
Kaladesh - Crew and also oddly Aether Revolt - Improvise (but submitting for Crew)
Crash-Test Construct3
Artifact Creature – Construct (C)
At the beginning of each end step, if Crash-Test Construct is tapped, untap it. In the Builder's School, one of the first lessons a novice tinkerer is taught is that they should never test drive their own inventions.
2/2
Cloud ThreadersUG
Creature - Bird Spider (C)
Flying
Whenever Cloud Threaders blocks or becomes blocked, return it to it's owners hand. "And you said we couldn't make them weave webs from cumulus to cumulus!"
—Simic Biomancer
1/5
Geminal ProtuberanceUR
Creature - Eldrazi Drone (C)
Devoid (This card has no color.)
When Geminal Protuberance enters or leaves the battlefield, target creature gets +1/-1 or -1/+1 until end of turn. 3, Sacrifice Geminal Protuberance: Up to two target creatures gain double strike until end of turn. Kozilek's brood is ever-changing in time, space, and number.
1/2
Clause of Argus Kos1WW
Enchantment (R)
Creatures you control without graduation counters on them have indestructible.
Whenever a creature you control attacks or blocks, put a graduation counter on it. "Henceforth, Wojek initiates are treated and protected as civilians until they complete their training." - Art 4.17
Design - (2/3) Appeal: I can imagine the "Stop doom blading my *****!" Timmies liking this, and Johnny can use this to get multiple combo creatures out while staying protected. Spike isn't too interested at 3 mana. (3/3) Elegance: Special counters are always a lil' funky, but I think the card's flavor helps a ton with the comprehension here.
Development - (3/3) Viability: All good, thank you for not forcing this at common (or even uncommon). (1.5/3) Balance: So protecting creatures for their turn drop is probably not something I want to invest 3 mana in, especially when it's an incomplete protection. Actually one of the stronger uses here is protecting creatures with activated abilities, which I'm guessing was unintended and strikes me as distinctly... unboros. I'd drop the cost, give hexproof on top of indestructible and add add "or when it activates an ability" to the graduation.
Creativity - (3/3) Uniqueness: This is quite novel. (2.5/3) Flavor: The mechanical flavor is lovely. Referencing Argus Kos is a little weird, I thought he was more of a jaded detective dude. Also weird he's going through the Azorius Senate, as opposed to declaring it by angel enforcement or something. Granted I haven't read the Ravnica novels, if Kos worked closely with the Azorius I'll give the half point back.
E: He did in fact work for the Azorius, but he a. was forced b. ended up killing the Azorius leader at the time. Not exactly a healthy working relationship.
Polish - (3/3) Quality: Good. The first ability might need to be singular on the counters ("without a counter"), but I'm not confident enough on that to take away points. (2/2) *Main Challenge: (1/2) Subchallenges: Not a common.
Love the concept, love the flavor, execution was a wee hazy here and there.
Total: 21/25
P.S Your first round card was my clear favorite out of that bunch.
Sultai Trawlers4G
Creature - Human Rogue (C) [Sultai Watermark]
When Sultai Trawlers enters the battlefield, choose target face-up exiled card you own. Put that card into your graveyard. "Gold and gemstones cannot slay a dragon. We may yet find a solution in the Gurmag."
4/4
Design - (1/3) Appeal: Kitchen table Johnnies are sold from "let's bring ***** back from exile", I don't think Spike or Timmy care that much. (3/3) Elegance: Straightforward enough.
Development - (2/3) Viability: Maro would give you a flat 0 here. I'm less of an exile purist when it's not going to hand or battlefield, but it's still kind of a knock. (1/3) Balance: Sooo in FRG/Khans draft this is arguably worse than "4/4 Mill 1 for 5", which itself is pretty unexciting as a draft enabler. Delve took a lot of the graveyard matters space and crowded out the usual Raise Dead effects, there's only one common in Khans and two uncommons in FR that did so. The advantage of your card is potential card selection for those Raise Dead effects, but that's rather less powerful in Khans draft. And you don't necessarily delve by turn 5 or 6 in a limited format, so it's possible you don't even get the "mill".
Creativity - (2/3) Uniqueness: Time spiral has done exile -> graveyard, though that was geared more towards hitting opponent's suspend cards. Different context gets a point. (3/3) Flavor: I dig it (hurr hurr), flavor text relates well to what they're doing. I like that it's green who's desperate to slay the UB dragons, very nice touch if that was intentional (the answer is yes).
Polish - (3/3) Quality: All good (is that how we do watermarks? w/e it worked.) (2/2) *Main Challenge: yep. (2/2) Subchallenges: yep. Total: 19/25
*An entry with 0 points here is subject to disqualification.
Nylea's FavoredGGG
Creature - Beast [C] The goddess of the hunt cares little for the affairs of mortals. Her domain is the wilds, untamed and free.
4/4
Design - (2/3) Appeal: So it's not obvious when exactly I'd take this in a draft, and I like that as a Spike. The other two have uses but are kind of lukewarm about it; Johnny might enjoy forcing something weird like mono-green in draft but is otherwise indifferent, I think Jimmy prefers bigger butts but might enjoy a green devotion payoff. (3/3) Elegance: Hard to go off track with a vanilla.
Development - (3/3) Viability: This is leaning on the common/uncommon line, but it makes enough sense in Theros block where it's probably fine. (3/3) Balance: From what I can remember, I think this'd fit well in Theros limited. Not something you can slam into every green deck, but enough of a payoff where I'd try to accommodate both the card itself and any green devotion. Again, I'm unsure where I'd actually pick this up in a draft, and that's a fine spot to be in balance wise.
Creativity - (1/3) Uniqueness:Leatherback Baloth's laywers have sent a cease and desist, and Woolly Thoctar is consulting hers on whether "3 mana hard to cast big fatty" is sufficient grounds for infringement. But the big cheap devotion booty wasn't actually done in Theros block (much to my surprise), so you get a point for introducing mister Leatherback in an interesting new context. (2/3) Flavor: Functional but pretty generic flavoring.
Polish - (3/3) Quality: Pretty hard to mess this one up! (2/2) *Main Challenge: Yep. (2/2) Subchallenges: Yep.
I was ready to slam the 4 mana 5/6 version, good job making it reasonable enough for common.
Conclave Cultivator1G
Creature — Elf Druid (C)
Whenever Conclave Cultivator becomes tapped, add G to your mana pool. The Conclave's gardeners are able to work wonders, causing life to spring up in the least likely of places.
1/3
Design - (2/3) Appeal: All three demographics would use the "ramp" in a limited deck, though none are really that excited. Outside of that, Johnny maybe gets a kick out of the weird clause. (3/3) Elegance: Hard to go wrong.
Development - (3/3) Viability: All good. (2.5/3) Balance: A touch on the weak/parasitic side, a pretty clear later pick.
Creativity - (2/3) Uniqueness: The exact clause hasn't been done before, and that's somewhat interesting. However I do feel the "Give specific mana for the set keyword" structure has been done, and this card falls squarely into that. (2/3) Flavor: Again, a functional but pretty generic flavoring.
Polish - (3/3) Quality: All good. (2/2) *Main Challenge: Ye. (2/2) Subchallenges: Ye.
Let me again apologize for the rules confusion, I made you design another card by accident.
A perfectly fine card, but I can't help but feel it's being different for the sake of being different. There's a rather more straightforward way of supporting convoke that's also very Selesnyan; have the card produce a creature token!
Cylian Behemoth1GW
Creature - Beast {C}
At the beginning of combat on your turn, you may pay 5. If you don't, prevent all damage that Cylian Behemoth would deal to players. Humans see Gargantuan destruction as wanton. Cylia's inner elven circle see it as incidental.
5/5
Design - (2.5/3) Appeal: Timmy REALLY wants to like this. He might try to build around it, especially in this set, but it's going to leave him wanting in limited because of the drawback. There are plenty of ways for Johnny to abuse this, and Spike will surely find a way to capitalize on the undercosted-ness. (2.5/3) Elegance:(I think I've been too harsh in my Elegance scores thus far. Consider my elegance-meter recalibrated going forward.)
It's pretty clear what the card it supposed to do, though the missing "this turn" clause makes it impossible to know for sure (See Quality). This particular trigger, "at the beginning of combat on your turn" always risks confusing some players as to precisely how and when it should trigger, and what effect responses to it will have. It's a totally viable trigger, just not the most elegant one available.
Development - (1.5/3) Viability: Solid color adherence. Definitely not common. This thing blocks for DAYS, and can come down as absurdly early as turn 2 (Remember, Noble Hierarch is in this block). As it's balanced now, I could maybe see it at uncommon, but I think it should have been balanced for rare instead. (3/3) Balance:(Since I've already deducted points for the rarity issue, I'll pretent it's an uncommon or rare while rating its balance) Both ramp/aggro and control strategies can use this. The former will usually be able to negate its drawback, and the latter will use it defensively to great effect. The read I'm getting from it is that it will be played differently and often in limited and constructed, which is really cool. With an appropriate rarity, I don't think it's too dangerous to any limited format, and even some commander strategies might be able to take advantage of a 5/5 for CMC3.
Creativity - (3/3) Uniqueness: I'm not aware of a card that uses this combination of low cost, high power, and drawback before. Very neat. (2/3) Flavor: The card itself fits its set's flavor very well. The flavor text is pretty well-written, and sounds good out of context, but I'm having trouble reconciling the "incidental" line with how gargantuans are depicted in other flavor texts in this block. Also, I just can't seem to wrap my head around how paying its trigger cost causes it to be MORE destructive, but the race that would be most thematically able to pay it (elves) seem to see it as LESS destructive. Both of these are fairly nit-picky quibbles, so only -0.5 for each.
Polish - (1.5/3) Quality: First ability needs "...this turn" added to it (-1). "Gargantuan" in the flavor text should not be capitalized, as it's not a proper noun (-0.5). (See Spearbreaker Behemoth from the same set) (2/2) *Main Challenge: It's undercosted for 5 power, making the drawback a situational benefit in the given set. Very nice. (1/2) Subchallenges: I know there's C on the card, but this isn't really a common, for reasons already covered.
Total: 19/25
*An entry with 0 points here is subject to disqualification.
Kaladesh - Crew
Crash-Test Construct3
Artifact Creature – Construct (C)
At the beginning of each end step, if Crash-Test Construct is tapped, untap it. In the Builder's School, one of the first lessons a novice tinkerer is taught is that they should never test drive their own inventions.
2/2
Design - (1.5/3) Appeal: This lets Timmy more easily crew up his awesome vehicles, but he doesn't like having to fit puzzle pieces together. Johnny will be interested in exploting this thing's untap trigger, but it's not an obvious combo enabler. Spike might play it if he's already drafted some good vehicles, but he's otherwise not excited about a 2/2 for 3 with pseudo vigilance. (3/3) Elegance: Super elegant, and not at the expense of being interesting.
Development - (2.5/3) Viability: It's fine being colorless. Having it trigger at each end step is a little much for a common, but the resulting power level doesn't warrant an upgrade to uncommon. (3/3) Balance: In a vacuum, it's limited filler and nothing more. Given a format where vehicles are a thing, it gets a little better, but certainly not game-breaking. It supports vehivles in a way that makes IT a little more versatile, rather than making your vehicles better (unless the vehicle has vigilance), and there is definitely a little bit of headroom for it to get a tiny bit better before having too great a versatility for common. So... all good here. Creativity - (2/3) Uniqueness: Without the context of Kaladesh, this effect wouldn't feel very special at all. With vehicles in the mix, the intended use of the effect renders it somewhat cleverer of a design. (1.5/3) Flavor: The name is cute. Perfectly fine for a semi-serious card like this. The flavor text doesn't sound childish or unprofessional, though it's a little bulky. It could do without, "In the Builder's School" entirely. Also, I don't understand how the untap effect plays into the test-dummy flavor. It it were an undercosted creature with defender, it would make more sense (and be more useful outside of vehicle strategies, too, but that's a different thing).
Polish - (3/3) Quality: It could be argued that the pessessive apostrophe in "Builder's" should come after the final S, but I don't think it's strictly incorrect (enough) to have it be a singular possessive. No points deducted. (1.5/2) *Main Challenge: As mentioned in Balance, the support this card provides is actually in reverse. If you control a vehicle for this to crew, IT becomes more versatile as a creature more than it enables your other vehicles. Yes, it lets you crew one to attack, and crew a different one to block, but that requires that you control multiple vehicles that you can't all crew at the same time. It's not exactly a fringe scenario, but with only a single vehicle, there's not a very good reason to play this thing. If there were more vehicles with vigilance, it would be a better support card, but there's only one. (2/2) Subchallenges: Yep and yep.
Total: 20/25
*An entry with 0 points here is subject to disqualification.
Gatecrash - Evolve
Cloud ThreadersUG
Creature - Bird Spider (C)
Flying
Whenever Cloud Threaders blocks or becomes blocked, return it to it's owners hand. "And you said we couldn't make them weave webs from cumulus to cumulus!"
—Simic Biomancer
1/5
Design - (2/3) Appeal: Timmy loves him some evolve, but big-butt blockers aren't really his thing. He'll try this out, but it doesn't excite him. It isn't obviously exploitable, but Johnny sees enough potential to keep an eye out for cool synergies. Spike won't care much about the evolve angle, but will be happy to use this as a repeatable, "indestructible" anything-blocker. (3/3) Elegance: The rules text is perfectly clear. While unprecedented and a tad contrived, this card actually does seem very elegant in its execution.
Development - (2.5/3) Viability: No problem with the color wheel or rarity. I could see this being printed, but I personally dislike the fact that this dodges combat damage despite having a high toughness. It doesn't break any rules, I guess, but it's an awkward implementation. (2/3) Balance: It's not over- or under-powered in any format, even without evolve. It's actually balanced quite well as far as power level goes. One small gripe I have with it is that between a) its common rarity, b) its blocking effectiveness and resilience, and c) the fact that you're potentially reserving 2 mana every turn to replay it, it will either drastically slow down limited or be totally ignored. It can also be used as a pretty bad attacker in an evolve-heavy aggro deck, but I definitely see it playing a more defensive role by design. I wouldn't ever be happy to play this or play against this, as it has the power to turn games very slow and grindy.
Creativity - (3/3) Uniqueness: My initial impression of the card was much more positive than this critique is coming across. If this effect has been done before, I can't find an example of it. Very fresh, and very clever in its evolve support. (1.5/3) Flavor: This is one of those cards whose flavor elements are mostly "fine" to "good" on their own, but which actually confuse the overall flavor when combined. The name is great, and it fits OK with the mechanical flavor, albeit obliquely. The flavor text sounds a little iffy, as low-floating, cottonlike cumulus clouds are the type of cloud that would make MOST sense to "weave" between, and the quote should have referenced who the biomancer was speaking to in the attribution. The big question, though, is what the connection is between a creature that spins webs in the clouds and that creature being forced back into its owner's hand pre-damage after a block. Polish - (1.5/3) Quality: "Biomancer" in the flavor text shouldn't be capitalized. There are several examples of this convention, including Adaptive Snapjaw (-0.5). The extraneous apostrophe in "it's" should be moved to "owners" to make it possessive. (-1 total) (2/2) *Main Challenge: It's definitely an evolve supporter. (2/2) Subchallenges: Doesn't have evole itself, and has the correct rarity of common.
Total: 19.5/25
*An entry with 0 points here is subject to disqualification.
Battle for Zendikar, ingest
Geminal ProtuberanceUR
Creature - Eldrazi Drone (C)
Devoid (This card has no color.)
When Geminal Protuberance enters or leaves the battlefield, target creature gets +1/-1 or -1/+1 until end of turn. 3, Sacrifice Geminal Protuberance: Up to two target creatures gain double strike until end of turn. Kozilek's brood is ever-changing in time, space, and number.
1/2
Design - (2/3) Appeal: These are the kind of machinations Timmy can actually get behind. Not the flowstone effect, but the possibility of multiple pumped double-strikers. Johnny's not as interested in the activated ability, but an enters/leaves-the-battlefield trigger is probably exploitable enough on its own for him. Spike won't much care about this in constructed, but there's enough versatility here for him to play it in limited. (1/3) Elegance: There's a lot going on here, and it all feels jumbled rather than focused. "If X or Y, then choose A or B" will require a lot of card-reading, even after seeing it a few times. The activated ability is elegant on its own, but because of its interaction with the triggered ability (and ingest, geez), it gets pretty complicated fast. Very wordy, too. Including flavor text, it all occupies 9 lines in MSE, though a few of them are very short.
Development - (1.5/3) Viability: The three colors that have gotten variations of the "+1/-1 or -1/+1" effect are Blue, Red, and Green. The activated ability is OK in red, but blue creatures don't really get to sacrifice themselves for team-buffing effects. Blue also doesn't do double strike. I think either monored or G/R would have been more appropriate. It's also on the complicated side for a common. Uncommon would have worked OK. (2/3) Balance: I don't THINK this is dangerously exploitable but it's also pretty open-ended. There's potential for things to go crazy, and there are three elements of value going on here. I can't see any specific problems for constructed formats, but at common it's bound to make a larger-than-intended splash in limited.
Creativity - (2/3) Uniqueness: It's mostly a Taco Bell card (lots of familiar ingredients assembled differently), though the clause for "enters or leaves the battlefield" has only been done a handful of times. I'd like to see that on more cards, as it adds a different kind of value without disregarding conventional uses of existing mechanics. (1.5/3) Flavor: So "geminal" is an IRL term that describes two distinct particles or groups of particles attached to the same atom. It doesn't refer to the atom itself, but the two or more things attached to it. So you'd use the word "geminal" to describe the two creatures it gives double strike to, not the creature itself. And actually... they're only geminal as long as they're still "bonded" to the same thing. As soon as this dies, the creatures wouldn't be geminal anymore. Further, I don't understand the connection between "geminality", the Water Servant effect, and the brood constantly changing properties. But I DO like the general sciency feel of the flavor elements. I just wish they had been more focused, and less nebulous. Polish - (2/3) Quality: Its triggered ability should start, "Whenever ~ enters the battlefield or leaves the battlefield..." See this list of all cards with either wording (-0.5). The activated ability should say, "Up to two target creatures each gain doublestrike. . ." See this list of examples (-0.5). (1/2) *Main Challenge: It will only enable or support ingest some of the time, only a little bit, and there's actually more reason to play this for its other abilities than for the extra, single-use mill 2. (1/2) Subchallenges: It does not have ingest, but it isn't a common (despite being labeled as such)
Total: 14/25
*An entry with 0 points here is subject to disqualification.
Design - (3/3) Appeal: Johnny/Jenny LOVE this. Spike will probably find this to be useful as well. Even Timmy/Tammy might find a spot for this in their deck. Good job. (2.5/3) Elegance: Simple. There might be some confusion about this hitting everything, not just enemy creature or not just your creatures, depending on what the players expect.
Development - (1/3) Viability: Moving counters around is green. Stealing counters goes a bit far, but it's still acceptable. Having a repeated effect like this on a common is not okay. Commons do this kind of thing as an enters-the-battlefield effect. This is an uncommon for memory reasons. (3/3) Balance: 3 mana is fair for this. At uncommon. But we've been over that. You need some other cards to make this work. I like how this could find it's way into constructed decks as well.
Creativity - (2/3) Uniqueness: Interesting how there's lots of creatures moving counters from themselves onto others, but none do it the other way around. There's Daghatar the Adamant, but that's redistributing. (2.5/3) Flavor: Nutrientsucker sounds rather clunky (but is still better than Strengthsucker, so good call on that namechange). The flavortext is very good.
Polish - (2.5/3) Quality: Oops, different name in the textbox. (2/2) Main Challenge: Scary combos. Good thing Dark Ascension was all about scary. (2/2) Subchallenges: Both met.
Total: 20.5/25
Design - (1/3) Appeal: Ramping could be interesting for Timmy/Tammy. There's better tools out there though. (2/3) Elegance: What's that additional cost all about? Really feels tacked on.
Development - (3/3) Viability: Good call not to search the library at common. This is a much better way to do it. Could also put the cards onto the bottom in a random order, but that's okay. (1.5/3) Balance: That drawback of having to tap a creature kills the card for me. It's already bad at fixing mana, because it's not searching. That's a drawback there already. But having to have a creature on the board almost ensures you are not going to play this on 2, then undoing your only blocker on 3, unless you are playing another 2-drop, but then why are you ramping if your deck consists of 2-drops? That makes it bad at ramping as well.
Creativity - (2/3) Uniqueness: Pretty close to Satyr Wayfinder, but has it's own dynamic. (2.5/3) Flavor: The name is on spot for this card. Could use some flavortext.
Polish - (3/3) Quality: Looks good. (2/2) Main Challenge: Many Landfall cards are creatures that get +p/+t for lands entering. Doesn't work so well with this card, but I guess it technicially helps with landfall. (2/2) Subchallenges: Both met.
Total: 19/25
Design - (2/3) Appeal: Spike hates how your opponent has to enable this. Johnny/Jenny might try to make this work with a Alluring Siren kind of card. Timmy/Tammy should like 1/5 taunts. They block so nicely. This can also be used to ask players in multiplayer games to help you out with something or work together to remove counters from a third player's card. (3/3) Elegance: Simple enough.
Development - (2/3) Viability: I'm not sure this needed to be white. Sure, 1/5 defenders for 3 mana is a thing white is most likely to get, but nothing keeps blue from doing that. Counter removing is a blue part, but white isn't very represented here. Maybe it being tied to combat damage? Not convinced. It's borderline complex for a common, but should still be okay. If we're talking Planar Chaos anything goes actually, but that's not something to judge by. (3/3) Balance: This seems fine. Even if you can't get the whole counter thing going, a 3 mana 1/5 defender is fair game for a drafting environment.
Creativity - (3/3) Uniqueness: Tying the counter manipulation to combat damage is fresh. There's no card quite like this. (2.5/3) Flavor: The name is nice. The flavortext is a bit nonsensical and cheesy.
Polish - (2/3) Quality: That wording needs to be different, I'm sure. 'Remove' needs a 'from'. (2/2) Main Challenge: Works well with Planar Chaos mechanics. Would be nicer if it could also work with suspended cards, but then we're leaving common territory. (2/2) Subchallenges: Both met.
Total: 21.5/25
Design - (2/3) Appeal: Johnny/Jenny would enjoy this, as drafting sacrifice decks and even three-colored decks is a thing they enjoy. Spike has some interest in efficient resource usage. I doubt anyone would be overly excited for this. (3/3) Elegance: Sure. The land even enters untapped, less words than usually.
Development - (1.5/3) Viability: This might come unexpected, but there's no black portion in here. Sacrificing feels very black, but is actually a tool commonly used by green. You are pretty close to Perilous Forays with this. I imagine this being black is a good control over what kind of deck has access to it in drafting, but there should be some component to it that actually justifies the color. It's a nice lenticular common design. (2/3) Balance: With 3 mana this is actually on the expensive side. Altar's Reap has a similar function and is at a good spot mana-wise. This is two-colored as well, which makes it even harder to cast. I think this needs to cost 2. Especially when you want this to work with Morbid on cards that have yet to be played. But I guess the land entering untapped helps with that.
Creativity - (1/3) Uniqueness: A mixture of Primal Growth and Altar's Reap. Or to be more precise, a one-time use Perilous Forays. It's a good spot to bring the effect into. (3/3) Flavor: "Nourishing" is quite the harmless word for what's happening here, but that can be fun. The flavortext is very Golgari, but works on Innistrad as well.
Polish - (3/3) Quality: The second line can be condensed into "Search your library for a basic land card, put it onto the battlefield, then shuffle your library." (2/2) Main Challenge: Works with Morbid. (2/2) Subchallenges: Both met.
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
Design
(2/3) Appeal: Timmy likes Heroic, and Johnny likes synergistic cards. Spike hates this card.
(3/3) Elegance:
Development
(3/3) Viability:
(2/3) Balance: This card is insane if you put it on a heroic creature early on, and awful if you can't (while also being pretty awkward versus instant speed removal). I don't consider that to be the best way to balance cards.
Creativity
(2/3) Uniqueness: The trigger is new, but this card isn't breaking the mold. I wouldn't feel too bad about a low score here, as it's quite difficult to get a high uniqueness score on a common.
(1.5/3) Flavor: The name works but it tells me nothing about the card (it's too generic), and the same is true of the flavor text.
Polish
(3/3) Quality:
(4/4) Challenges:
Total: 20.5/25
Design
(3/3) Appeal: Everyone can appreciate this card.
(3/3) Elegance:
Development
(2.5/3) Viability: I'm not actually sure if green is the correct color for this effect. White feels like a better choice, but green isn't the worst.
(2.5/3) Balance: Your card is worse than Feral Prowler most of the time.
Creativity
(1.5/3) Uniqueness: The similarity to Feral Prowler is strong.
(2.5/3) Flavor: The flavor text doesn't have a very good flow to it. The name, mechanics, and flavor text do work together well, though.
Polish
(2/3) Quality: I'm pretty sure the correct wording is "When Aloof Perfect is exiled from the battlefield, draw a card."
(4/4) Challenges:
Total: 21/25
Design
(2/3) Appeal: Timmy loves attacking for 5 early on, and Johnny likes building around it. Spike isn't the biggest fan.
(3/3) Elegance:
Development
(2.5/3) Viability: This should probably be an uncommon.
(2/3) Balance: Compare this to Renegade Freighter. Yours is roughly the same power level; it's weaker without support, but if you can freely sacrifice artifacts to it then it's much stronger. That's not a good thing, as Freighter was way too good.
Creativity
(2.5/3) Uniqueness: Though similar to Heart of Kiran, sacrificing an artifact to crew is a unique spin.
(2.5/3) Flavor: No flavor text, though the name is quite good.
Polish
(3/3) Quality:
(4/4) Challenges:
Total: 21.5/25
Design
(2/3) Appeal: Spike loves this card, and Johnny likes it.
(3/3) Elegance: Your card does a few different things but it's still pretty clean.
Development
(2.5/3) Viability: This seems like it should have been an uncommon.
(3/3) Balance:
Creativity
(2/3) Uniqueness: It's hard to call this card unique, but you did a good job given the restrictions.
(3/3) Flavor: This card feels very tricky; a perfect emulation of a ninjutsu charm.
Polish
(2.5/3) Quality: It's "Target creature you control can't be blocked this turn." (Artful Dodge)
(4/4) Challenges: This doesn't feel like it cleanly passes the main challenge, as it doesn't feel like a card you're typically using to enable ninjutsu. Yes, making a creature unblockable ensures you can ninjutsu it, but that isn't really what this card is about. Still, I won't penalize you here.
Total: 22/25
LnGrrrR 22/25
Raptorchan 21.5/25
Jimmy Groove 21/25
StonerOfKruphix 20.5/25
Private Mod Note
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August MCC Round 2
Every set has a new theme, and often times those themes require support to see play. To take a recent example, Aether Revolt had the Improvise mechanic, which requires having early artifacts in play in order to cast spells for much cheaper than you normally would. Improvise was commonly enabled by putting several artifact tokens into play (using cards like Servo Schematic) or by using cheap artifacts such as the implement cycle. Supporting cards are the unsung heroes of a set; rarely are they seen as the stars of the show, but they enable countless other cards so they can fulfill their potential. Today, we're going to be designing supporting cards.
Main challenge: Choose a modern-legal set and a mechanic from that set. Announce your chosen set and mechanic, then design a card that enables or otherwise directly supports that mechanic.
Subchallenge 1: If your chosen mechanic is a keyword, your card does not have your chosen keyword in its rules text.
Subchallenge 2: Your card is a common.
Main Challenge
A mechanic can be a keyword (like Revolt or Emerge), or it can be subtler, such as the "graveyard matters" themes from both Innistrad blocks, or the "Power 5 or greater matters" theme from the Naya shard in Alara.
Subchallenge 1
Your card can't mention your keyword at all; Vizier of the Anointed would not pass the main challenge.
(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.
DEADLINES
Design deadline: Thursday, July 17th 2017 23:59 EDT
Judging deadline: Sunday, July 20th 2017 23:59 EDT
admirableadmiral
StonerOfKruphix
Jimmy Groove
Raptorchan
LnGrrrR
ManyCookies
Subject16
Conntroll
The_Hittite
Flatline
Rocco
void_nothing
RaikouRider
IcariiFA
Sub_Silentio
doomfish
RickyRister
iphanx
mirrodin71
Freyleyes
Pathfinding 1G
Sorcery (C)
As an additional cost to cast Pathfinding, tap an untapped creature you control.
Reveal the top five cards of your library, you may put a land card from among them onto the battlefield. Put the rest on the bottom of your library in any order.
Shards of Alara - 5-Power Matters
Cylian Behemoth 1GW
Creature - Beast {C}
At the beginning of combat on your turn, you may pay 5. If you don't, prevent all damage that Cylian Behemoth would deal to players.
Humans see Gargantuan destruction as wanton. Cylia's inner elven circle see it as incidental.
5/5
Emille, Seven-Sting Dancer Shalin Nariya
Rift Researcher 1WU
Creature - Human Wizard (C)
Defender
Whenever Rift Researcher deals combat damage put or remove a time counter on target permanent.
“Time is an illusion”
1/5
Art by
PD. In Fact I create to support time counters from Time Spiral block, but is more in tune with the ability of vanishing.
Nourish the Land 1BG
Instant {C}
As an additional cost to cast Nourish the Land, sacrifice a creature.
Search your library for a basic land card and put that card onto the battlefield. Then shuffle your library.
A fresh sprout from within the rot.
Scrap Wagon 3
Artifact - Vehicle (C)
Crew 3 (Tap any number of creatures you control with total power 3 or more: This Vehicle becomes an artifact creature until end of turn.)
You may sacrifice an artifact rather than pay Scrap Wagon's crew cost.
5/4
Aloof Perfect 1G
Creature - Elf Warrior (C)
Whenever Aloof Perfect becomes exiled, draw a card.
He could fight his own battles, but he finds that ordering the less fair to fight them for him is more rewarding and far less likely to blemish his flawless form.
1/3
Shinobi Charm U
Instant (C)
Choose one —
• Target creature you control gains hexproof until end of turn.
• Target creature you control can't be blocked until end of turn.
• Return target creature you control to it's owner's hand.
Club Flamingo Wins: 1!
Sultai Trawlers 4G
Creature - Human Rogue (C) [Sultai Watermark]
When Sultai Trawlers enters the battlefield, choose target face-up exiled card you own. Put that card into your graveyard.
"Gold and gemstones cannot slay a dragon. We may yet find a solution in the Gurmag."
4/4
Nylea's Favored GGG
Creature - Beast [C]
The goddess of the hunt cares little for the affairs of mortals. Her domain is the wilds, untamed and free.
4/4
Conclave Cultivator 1G
Creature — Elf Druid (C)
Whenever Conclave Cultivator becomes tapped, add G to your mana pool.
The Conclave's gardeners are able to work wonders, causing life to spring up in the least likely of places.
1/3
Nutrientsucker Mold 2G
Creature - Fungus (C)
At the beginning of your end step, you may move a +1/+1 counter from target creature onto Strengthsucker Mold.
“Recently, I’ve been finding it near impossible to grow anything of worth in these soils.”
—Radwick, farmer of Gatstaf
2/2
Artifact Creature – Construct (C)
At the beginning of each end step, if Crash-Test Construct is tapped, untap it.
In the Builder's School, one of the first lessons a novice tinkerer is taught is that they should never test drive their own inventions.
2/2
Cloud Threaders UG
Creature - Bird Spider (C)
Flying
Whenever Cloud Threaders blocks or becomes blocked, return it to it's owners hand.
"And you said we couldn't make them weave webs from cumulus to cumulus!"
—Simic Biomancer
1/5
Geminal Protuberance UR
Creature - Eldrazi Drone (C)
Devoid (This card has no color.)
When Geminal Protuberance enters or leaves the battlefield, target creature gets +1/-1 or -1/+1 until end of turn.
3, Sacrifice Geminal Protuberance: Up to two target creatures gain double strike until end of turn.
Kozilek's brood is ever-changing in time, space, and number.
1/2
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝
Design -
(2/3) Appeal: I can imagine the "Stop doom blading my *****!" Timmies liking this, and Johnny can use this to get multiple combo creatures out while staying protected. Spike isn't too interested at 3 mana.
(3/3) Elegance: Special counters are always a lil' funky, but I think the card's flavor helps a ton with the comprehension here.
Development -
(3/3) Viability: All good, thank you for not forcing this at common (or even uncommon).
(1.5/3) Balance: So protecting creatures for their turn drop is probably not something I want to invest 3 mana in, especially when it's an incomplete protection. Actually one of the stronger uses here is protecting creatures with activated abilities, which I'm guessing was unintended and strikes me as distinctly... unboros. I'd drop the cost, give hexproof on top of indestructible and add add "or when it activates an ability" to the graduation.
Creativity -
(3/3) Uniqueness: This is quite novel.
(2.5/3) Flavor: The mechanical flavor is lovely. Referencing Argus Kos is a little weird, I thought he was more of a jaded detective dude. Also weird he's going through the Azorius Senate, as opposed to declaring it by angel enforcement or something. Granted I haven't read the Ravnica novels, if Kos worked closely with the Azorius I'll give the half point back.
E: He did in fact work for the Azorius, but he a. was forced b. ended up killing the Azorius leader at the time. Not exactly a healthy working relationship.
Polish -
(3/3) Quality: Good. The first ability might need to be singular on the counters ("without a counter"), but I'm not confident enough on that to take away points.
(2/2) *Main Challenge:
(1/2) Subchallenges: Not a common.
Love the concept, love the flavor, execution was a wee hazy here and there.
Total: 21/25
P.S Your first round card was my clear favorite out of that bunch.
Design -
(1/3) Appeal: Kitchen table Johnnies are sold from "let's bring ***** back from exile", I don't think Spike or Timmy care that much.
(3/3) Elegance: Straightforward enough.
Development -
(2/3) Viability: Maro would give you a flat 0 here. I'm less of an exile purist when it's not going to hand or battlefield, but it's still kind of a knock.
(1/3) Balance: Sooo in FRG/Khans draft this is arguably worse than "4/4 Mill 1 for 5", which itself is pretty unexciting as a draft enabler. Delve took a lot of the graveyard matters space and crowded out the usual Raise Dead effects, there's only one common in Khans and two uncommons in FR that did so. The advantage of your card is potential card selection for those Raise Dead effects, but that's rather less powerful in Khans draft. And you don't necessarily delve by turn 5 or 6 in a limited format, so it's possible you don't even get the "mill".
Creativity -
(2/3) Uniqueness: Time spiral has done exile -> graveyard, though that was geared more towards hitting opponent's suspend cards. Different context gets a point.
(3/3) Flavor: I dig it (hurr hurr), flavor text relates well to what they're doing. I like that it's green who's desperate to slay the UB dragons, very nice touch if that was intentional (the answer is yes).
Polish -
(3/3) Quality: All good (is that how we do watermarks? w/e it worked.)
(2/2) *Main Challenge: yep.
(2/2) Subchallenges: yep.
Total: 19/25
*An entry with 0 points here is subject to disqualification.
Design -
(2/3) Appeal: So it's not obvious when exactly I'd take this in a draft, and I like that as a Spike. The other two have uses but are kind of lukewarm about it; Johnny might enjoy forcing something weird like mono-green in draft but is otherwise indifferent, I think Jimmy prefers bigger butts but might enjoy a green devotion payoff.
(3/3) Elegance: Hard to go off track with a vanilla.
Development -
(3/3) Viability: This is leaning on the common/uncommon line, but it makes enough sense in Theros block where it's probably fine.
(3/3) Balance: From what I can remember, I think this'd fit well in Theros limited. Not something you can slam into every green deck, but enough of a payoff where I'd try to accommodate both the card itself and any green devotion. Again, I'm unsure where I'd actually pick this up in a draft, and that's a fine spot to be in balance wise.
Creativity -
(1/3) Uniqueness: Leatherback Baloth's laywers have sent a cease and desist, and Woolly Thoctar is consulting hers on whether "3 mana hard to cast big fatty" is sufficient grounds for infringement. But the big cheap devotion booty wasn't actually done in Theros block (much to my surprise), so you get a point for introducing mister Leatherback in an interesting new context.
(2/3) Flavor: Functional but pretty generic flavoring.
Polish -
(3/3) Quality: Pretty hard to mess this one up!
(2/2) *Main Challenge: Yep.
(2/2) Subchallenges: Yep.
I was ready to slam the 4 mana 5/6 version, good job making it reasonable enough for common.
Total: 21/25
Design -
(2/3) Appeal: All three demographics would use the "ramp" in a limited deck, though none are really that excited. Outside of that, Johnny maybe gets a kick out of the weird clause.
(3/3) Elegance: Hard to go wrong.
Development -
(3/3) Viability: All good.
(2.5/3) Balance: A touch on the weak/parasitic side, a pretty clear later pick.
Creativity -
(2/3) Uniqueness: The exact clause hasn't been done before, and that's somewhat interesting. However I do feel the "Give specific mana for the set keyword" structure has been done, and this card falls squarely into that.
(2/3) Flavor: Again, a functional but pretty generic flavoring.
Polish -
(3/3) Quality: All good.
(2/2) *Main Challenge: Ye.
(2/2) Subchallenges: Ye.
Let me again apologize for the rules confusion, I made you design another card by accident.
A perfectly fine card, but I can't help but feel it's being different for the sake of being different. There's a rather more straightforward way of supporting convoke that's also very Selesnyan; have the card produce a creature token!
Total: 21.5/25
Conntroll: 21
Subject16: 19
The_Hittite: 21
Flatline: 21.5
Cylian Behemoth 1GW
Creature - Beast {C}
At the beginning of combat on your turn, you may pay 5. If you don't, prevent all damage that Cylian Behemoth would deal to players.
Humans see Gargantuan destruction as wanton. Cylia's inner elven circle see it as incidental.
5/5
Design -
(2.5/3) Appeal: Timmy REALLY wants to like this. He might try to build around it, especially in this set, but it's going to leave him wanting in limited because of the drawback. There are plenty of ways for Johnny to abuse this, and Spike will surely find a way to capitalize on the undercosted-ness.
(2.5/3) Elegance: (I think I've been too harsh in my Elegance scores thus far. Consider my elegance-meter recalibrated going forward.)
It's pretty clear what the card it supposed to do, though the missing "this turn" clause makes it impossible to know for sure (See Quality). This particular trigger, "at the beginning of combat on your turn" always risks confusing some players as to precisely how and when it should trigger, and what effect responses to it will have. It's a totally viable trigger, just not the most elegant one available.
Development -
(1.5/3) Viability: Solid color adherence. Definitely not common. This thing blocks for DAYS, and can come down as absurdly early as turn 2 (Remember, Noble Hierarch is in this block). As it's balanced now, I could maybe see it at uncommon, but I think it should have been balanced for rare instead.
(3/3) Balance: (Since I've already deducted points for the rarity issue, I'll pretent it's an uncommon or rare while rating its balance) Both ramp/aggro and control strategies can use this. The former will usually be able to negate its drawback, and the latter will use it defensively to great effect. The read I'm getting from it is that it will be played differently and often in limited and constructed, which is really cool. With an appropriate rarity, I don't think it's too dangerous to any limited format, and even some commander strategies might be able to take advantage of a 5/5 for CMC3.
Creativity -
(3/3) Uniqueness: I'm not aware of a card that uses this combination of low cost, high power, and drawback before. Very neat.
(2/3) Flavor: The card itself fits its set's flavor very well. The flavor text is pretty well-written, and sounds good out of context, but I'm having trouble reconciling the "incidental" line with how gargantuans are depicted in other flavor texts in this block. Also, I just can't seem to wrap my head around how paying its trigger cost causes it to be MORE destructive, but the race that would be most thematically able to pay it (elves) seem to see it as LESS destructive. Both of these are fairly nit-picky quibbles, so only -0.5 for each.
Polish -
(1.5/3) Quality: First ability needs "...this turn" added to it (-1). "Gargantuan" in the flavor text should not be capitalized, as it's not a proper noun (-0.5). (See Spearbreaker Behemoth from the same set)
(2/2) *Main Challenge: It's undercosted for 5 power, making the drawback a situational benefit in the given set. Very nice.
(1/2) Subchallenges: I know there's C on the card, but this isn't really a common, for reasons already covered.
Total: 19/25
*An entry with 0 points here is subject to disqualification.
Crash-Test Construct 3
Artifact Creature – Construct (C)
At the beginning of each end step, if Crash-Test Construct is tapped, untap it.
In the Builder's School, one of the first lessons a novice tinkerer is taught is that they should never test drive their own inventions.
2/2
Design -
(1.5/3) Appeal: This lets Timmy more easily crew up his awesome vehicles, but he doesn't like having to fit puzzle pieces together. Johnny will be interested in exploting this thing's untap trigger, but it's not an obvious combo enabler. Spike might play it if he's already drafted some good vehicles, but he's otherwise not excited about a 2/2 for 3 with pseudo vigilance.
(3/3) Elegance: Super elegant, and not at the expense of being interesting.
Development -
(2.5/3) Viability: It's fine being colorless. Having it trigger at each end step is a little much for a common, but the resulting power level doesn't warrant an upgrade to uncommon.
(3/3) Balance: In a vacuum, it's limited filler and nothing more. Given a format where vehicles are a thing, it gets a little better, but certainly not game-breaking. It supports vehivles in a way that makes IT a little more versatile, rather than making your vehicles better (unless the vehicle has vigilance), and there is definitely a little bit of headroom for it to get a tiny bit better before having too great a versatility for common. So... all good here.
Creativity -
(2/3) Uniqueness: Without the context of Kaladesh, this effect wouldn't feel very special at all. With vehicles in the mix, the intended use of the effect renders it somewhat cleverer of a design.
(1.5/3) Flavor: The name is cute. Perfectly fine for a semi-serious card like this. The flavor text doesn't sound childish or unprofessional, though it's a little bulky. It could do without, "In the Builder's School" entirely. Also, I don't understand how the untap effect plays into the test-dummy flavor. It it were an undercosted creature with defender, it would make more sense (and be more useful outside of vehicle strategies, too, but that's a different thing).
Polish -
(3/3) Quality: It could be argued that the pessessive apostrophe in "Builder's" should come after the final S, but I don't think it's strictly incorrect (enough) to have it be a singular possessive. No points deducted.
(1.5/2) *Main Challenge: As mentioned in Balance, the support this card provides is actually in reverse. If you control a vehicle for this to crew, IT becomes more versatile as a creature more than it enables your other vehicles. Yes, it lets you crew one to attack, and crew a different one to block, but that requires that you control multiple vehicles that you can't all crew at the same time. It's not exactly a fringe scenario, but with only a single vehicle, there's not a very good reason to play this thing. If there were more vehicles with vigilance, it would be a better support card, but there's only one.
(2/2) Subchallenges: Yep and yep.
Total: 20/25
*An entry with 0 points here is subject to disqualification.
Cloud Threaders UG
Creature - Bird Spider (C)
Flying
Whenever Cloud Threaders blocks or becomes blocked, return it to it's owners hand.
"And you said we couldn't make them weave webs from cumulus to cumulus!"
—Simic Biomancer
1/5
Design -
(2/3) Appeal: Timmy loves him some evolve, but big-butt blockers aren't really his thing. He'll try this out, but it doesn't excite him. It isn't obviously exploitable, but Johnny sees enough potential to keep an eye out for cool synergies. Spike won't care much about the evolve angle, but will be happy to use this as a repeatable, "indestructible" anything-blocker.
(3/3) Elegance: The rules text is perfectly clear. While unprecedented and a tad contrived, this card actually does seem very elegant in its execution.
Development -
(2.5/3) Viability: No problem with the color wheel or rarity. I could see this being printed, but I personally dislike the fact that this dodges combat damage despite having a high toughness. It doesn't break any rules, I guess, but it's an awkward implementation.
(2/3) Balance: It's not over- or under-powered in any format, even without evolve. It's actually balanced quite well as far as power level goes. One small gripe I have with it is that between a) its common rarity, b) its blocking effectiveness and resilience, and c) the fact that you're potentially reserving 2 mana every turn to replay it, it will either drastically slow down limited or be totally ignored. It can also be used as a pretty bad attacker in an evolve-heavy aggro deck, but I definitely see it playing a more defensive role by design. I wouldn't ever be happy to play this or play against this, as it has the power to turn games very slow and grindy.
Creativity -
(3/3) Uniqueness: My initial impression of the card was much more positive than this critique is coming across. If this effect has been done before, I can't find an example of it. Very fresh, and very clever in its evolve support.
(1.5/3) Flavor: This is one of those cards whose flavor elements are mostly "fine" to "good" on their own, but which actually confuse the overall flavor when combined. The name is great, and it fits OK with the mechanical flavor, albeit obliquely. The flavor text sounds a little iffy, as low-floating, cottonlike cumulus clouds are the type of cloud that would make MOST sense to "weave" between, and the quote should have referenced who the biomancer was speaking to in the attribution. The big question, though, is what the connection is between a creature that spins webs in the clouds and that creature being forced back into its owner's hand pre-damage after a block.
Polish -
(1.5/3) Quality: "Biomancer" in the flavor text shouldn't be capitalized. There are several examples of this convention, including Adaptive Snapjaw (-0.5). The extraneous apostrophe in "it's" should be moved to "owners" to make it possessive. (-1 total)
(2/2) *Main Challenge: It's definitely an evolve supporter.
(2/2) Subchallenges: Doesn't have evole itself, and has the correct rarity of common.
Total: 19.5/25
*An entry with 0 points here is subject to disqualification.
Geminal Protuberance UR
Creature - Eldrazi Drone (C)
Devoid (This card has no color.)
When Geminal Protuberance enters or leaves the battlefield, target creature gets +1/-1 or -1/+1 until end of turn.
3, Sacrifice Geminal Protuberance: Up to two target creatures gain double strike until end of turn.
Kozilek's brood is ever-changing in time, space, and number.
1/2
Design -
(2/3) Appeal: These are the kind of machinations Timmy can actually get behind. Not the flowstone effect, but the possibility of multiple pumped double-strikers. Johnny's not as interested in the activated ability, but an enters/leaves-the-battlefield trigger is probably exploitable enough on its own for him. Spike won't much care about this in constructed, but there's enough versatility here for him to play it in limited.
(1/3) Elegance: There's a lot going on here, and it all feels jumbled rather than focused. "If X or Y, then choose A or B" will require a lot of card-reading, even after seeing it a few times. The activated ability is elegant on its own, but because of its interaction with the triggered ability (and ingest, geez), it gets pretty complicated fast. Very wordy, too. Including flavor text, it all occupies 9 lines in MSE, though a few of them are very short.
Development -
(1.5/3) Viability: The three colors that have gotten variations of the "+1/-1 or -1/+1" effect are Blue, Red, and Green. The activated ability is OK in red, but blue creatures don't really get to sacrifice themselves for team-buffing effects. Blue also doesn't do double strike. I think either monored or G/R would have been more appropriate. It's also on the complicated side for a common. Uncommon would have worked OK.
(2/3) Balance: I don't THINK this is dangerously exploitable but it's also pretty open-ended. There's potential for things to go crazy, and there are three elements of value going on here. I can't see any specific problems for constructed formats, but at common it's bound to make a larger-than-intended splash in limited.
Creativity -
(2/3) Uniqueness: It's mostly a Taco Bell card (lots of familiar ingredients assembled differently), though the clause for "enters or leaves the battlefield" has only been done a handful of times. I'd like to see that on more cards, as it adds a different kind of value without disregarding conventional uses of existing mechanics.
(1.5/3) Flavor: So "geminal" is an IRL term that describes two distinct particles or groups of particles attached to the same atom. It doesn't refer to the atom itself, but the two or more things attached to it. So you'd use the word "geminal" to describe the two creatures it gives double strike to, not the creature itself. And actually... they're only geminal as long as they're still "bonded" to the same thing. As soon as this dies, the creatures wouldn't be geminal anymore. Further, I don't understand the connection between "geminality", the Water Servant effect, and the brood constantly changing properties. But I DO like the general sciency feel of the flavor elements. I just wish they had been more focused, and less nebulous.
Polish -
(2/3) Quality: Its triggered ability should start, "Whenever ~ enters the battlefield or leaves the battlefield..." See this list of all cards with either wording (-0.5). The activated ability should say, "Up to two target creatures each gain doublestrike. . ." See this list of examples (-0.5).
(1/2) *Main Challenge: It will only enable or support ingest some of the time, only a little bit, and there's actually more reason to play this for its other abilities than for the extra, single-use mill 2.
(1/2) Subchallenges: It does not have ingest, but it isn't a common (despite being labeled as such)
Total: 14/25
*An entry with 0 points here is subject to disqualification.
void_nothing — 14
RaikouRider — 19
IcariiFA — 19.5
Sub_Silentio — 20
(3/3) Appeal: Johnny/Jenny LOVE this. Spike will probably find this to be useful as well. Even Timmy/Tammy might find a spot for this in their deck. Good job.
(2.5/3) Elegance: Simple. There might be some confusion about this hitting everything, not just enemy creature or not just your creatures, depending on what the players expect.
Development -
(1/3) Viability: Moving counters around is green. Stealing counters goes a bit far, but it's still acceptable. Having a repeated effect like this on a common is not okay. Commons do this kind of thing as an enters-the-battlefield effect. This is an uncommon for memory reasons.
(3/3) Balance: 3 mana is fair for this. At uncommon. But we've been over that. You need some other cards to make this work. I like how this could find it's way into constructed decks as well.
Creativity -
(2/3) Uniqueness: Interesting how there's lots of creatures moving counters from themselves onto others, but none do it the other way around. There's Daghatar the Adamant, but that's redistributing.
(2.5/3) Flavor: Nutrientsucker sounds rather clunky (but is still better than Strengthsucker, so good call on that namechange). The flavortext is very good.
Polish -
(2.5/3) Quality: Oops, different name in the textbox.
(2/2) Main Challenge: Scary combos. Good thing Dark Ascension was all about scary.
(2/2) Subchallenges: Both met.
Total: 20.5/25
(1/3) Appeal: Ramping could be interesting for Timmy/Tammy. There's better tools out there though.
(2/3) Elegance: What's that additional cost all about? Really feels tacked on.
Development -
(3/3) Viability: Good call not to search the library at common. This is a much better way to do it. Could also put the cards onto the bottom in a random order, but that's okay.
(1.5/3) Balance: That drawback of having to tap a creature kills the card for me. It's already bad at fixing mana, because it's not searching. That's a drawback there already. But having to have a creature on the board almost ensures you are not going to play this on 2, then undoing your only blocker on 3, unless you are playing another 2-drop, but then why are you ramping if your deck consists of 2-drops? That makes it bad at ramping as well.
Creativity -
(2/3) Uniqueness: Pretty close to Satyr Wayfinder, but has it's own dynamic.
(2.5/3) Flavor: The name is on spot for this card. Could use some flavortext.
Polish -
(3/3) Quality: Looks good.
(2/2) Main Challenge: Many Landfall cards are creatures that get +p/+t for lands entering. Doesn't work so well with this card, but I guess it technicially helps with landfall.
(2/2) Subchallenges: Both met.
Total: 19/25
(2/3) Appeal: Spike hates how your opponent has to enable this. Johnny/Jenny might try to make this work with a Alluring Siren kind of card. Timmy/Tammy should like 1/5 taunts. They block so nicely. This can also be used to ask players in multiplayer games to help you out with something or work together to remove counters from a third player's card.
(3/3) Elegance: Simple enough.
Development -
(2/3) Viability: I'm not sure this needed to be white. Sure, 1/5 defenders for 3 mana is a thing white is most likely to get, but nothing keeps blue from doing that. Counter removing is a blue part, but white isn't very represented here. Maybe it being tied to combat damage? Not convinced. It's borderline complex for a common, but should still be okay. If we're talking Planar Chaos anything goes actually, but that's not something to judge by.
(3/3) Balance: This seems fine. Even if you can't get the whole counter thing going, a 3 mana 1/5 defender is fair game for a drafting environment.
Creativity -
(3/3) Uniqueness: Tying the counter manipulation to combat damage is fresh. There's no card quite like this.
(2.5/3) Flavor: The name is nice. The flavortext is a bit nonsensical and cheesy.
Polish -
(2/3) Quality: That wording needs to be different, I'm sure. 'Remove' needs a 'from'.
(2/2) Main Challenge: Works well with Planar Chaos mechanics. Would be nicer if it could also work with suspended cards, but then we're leaving common territory.
(2/2) Subchallenges: Both met.
Total: 21.5/25
(2/3) Appeal: Johnny/Jenny would enjoy this, as drafting sacrifice decks and even three-colored decks is a thing they enjoy. Spike has some interest in efficient resource usage. I doubt anyone would be overly excited for this.
(3/3) Elegance: Sure. The land even enters untapped, less words than usually.
Development -
(1.5/3) Viability: This might come unexpected, but there's no black portion in here. Sacrificing feels very black, but is actually a tool commonly used by green. You are pretty close to Perilous Forays with this. I imagine this being black is a good control over what kind of deck has access to it in drafting, but there should be some component to it that actually justifies the color. It's a nice lenticular common design.
(2/3) Balance: With 3 mana this is actually on the expensive side. Altar's Reap has a similar function and is at a good spot mana-wise. This is two-colored as well, which makes it even harder to cast. I think this needs to cost 2. Especially when you want this to work with Morbid on cards that have yet to be played. But I guess the land entering untapped helps with that.
Creativity -
(1/3) Uniqueness: A mixture of Primal Growth and Altar's Reap. Or to be more precise, a one-time use Perilous Forays. It's a good spot to bring the effect into.
(3/3) Flavor: "Nourishing" is quite the harmless word for what's happening here, but that can be fun. The flavortext is very Golgari, but works on Innistrad as well.
Polish -
(3/3) Quality: The second line can be condensed into "Search your library for a basic land card, put it onto the battlefield, then shuffle your library."
(2/2) Main Challenge: Works with Morbid.
(2/2) Subchallenges: Both met.
Total: 19.5/25
iphanx 19
mirrodin71 21.5
Freyleyes 19.5
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
(2/3) Appeal: Timmy likes Heroic, and Johnny likes synergistic cards. Spike hates this card.
(3/3) Elegance:
Development
(3/3) Viability:
(2/3) Balance: This card is insane if you put it on a heroic creature early on, and awful if you can't (while also being pretty awkward versus instant speed removal). I don't consider that to be the best way to balance cards.
Creativity
(2/3) Uniqueness: The trigger is new, but this card isn't breaking the mold. I wouldn't feel too bad about a low score here, as it's quite difficult to get a high uniqueness score on a common.
(1.5/3) Flavor: The name works but it tells me nothing about the card (it's too generic), and the same is true of the flavor text.
Polish
(3/3) Quality:
(4/4) Challenges:
Total: 20.5/25
(3/3) Appeal: Everyone can appreciate this card.
(3/3) Elegance:
Development
(2.5/3) Viability: I'm not actually sure if green is the correct color for this effect. White feels like a better choice, but green isn't the worst.
(2.5/3) Balance: Your card is worse than Feral Prowler most of the time.
Creativity
(1.5/3) Uniqueness: The similarity to Feral Prowler is strong.
(2.5/3) Flavor: The flavor text doesn't have a very good flow to it. The name, mechanics, and flavor text do work together well, though.
Polish
(2/3) Quality: I'm pretty sure the correct wording is "When Aloof Perfect is exiled from the battlefield, draw a card."
(4/4) Challenges:
Total: 21/25
(2/3) Appeal: Timmy loves attacking for 5 early on, and Johnny likes building around it. Spike isn't the biggest fan.
(3/3) Elegance:
Development
(2.5/3) Viability: This should probably be an uncommon.
(2/3) Balance: Compare this to Renegade Freighter. Yours is roughly the same power level; it's weaker without support, but if you can freely sacrifice artifacts to it then it's much stronger. That's not a good thing, as Freighter was way too good.
Creativity
(2.5/3) Uniqueness: Though similar to Heart of Kiran, sacrificing an artifact to crew is a unique spin.
(2.5/3) Flavor: No flavor text, though the name is quite good.
Polish
(3/3) Quality:
(4/4) Challenges:
Total: 21.5/25
(2/3) Appeal: Spike loves this card, and Johnny likes it.
(3/3) Elegance: Your card does a few different things but it's still pretty clean.
Development
(2.5/3) Viability: This seems like it should have been an uncommon.
(3/3) Balance:
Creativity
(2/3) Uniqueness: It's hard to call this card unique, but you did a good job given the restrictions.
(3/3) Flavor: This card feels very tricky; a perfect emulation of a ninjutsu charm.
Polish
(2.5/3) Quality: It's "Target creature you control can't be blocked this turn." (Artful Dodge)
(4/4) Challenges: This doesn't feel like it cleanly passes the main challenge, as it doesn't feel like a card you're typically using to enable ninjutsu. Yes, making a creature unblockable ensures you can ninjutsu it, but that isn't really what this card is about. Still, I won't penalize you here.
Total: 22/25
Raptorchan 21.5/25
Jimmy Groove 21/25
StonerOfKruphix 20.5/25