Halloween near me is particularly a season for pranks. This month, that's gonna be the focus of the challenges: Practical jokes, beneficent and malicious.
Some people try to truly terrify their friends with a prank to fill them with shock and sudden fright, going to elaborate lengths to hide in wait for them.
Main Challenge: Design a creature card with menace and with 5 or more power.
Subchallenge 1: Your card has a triggered ability that triggers when it deals combat damage to a player. Subchallenge 2: Your card is a traditionally "scary"/"monster" creature type (judge's discretion).
Please message me about any questions you might have about the challenges. Other than that, have fun, and good luck!
If you have doubts about whether a type is "scary" you can post it to the MCC discussion thread and I'll give final word, but most of the scary types should be obvious.
Design Deadline: All submissions are to be final and submitted by October 25th 11:59 PM EST
Judging Deadline: All Judgements are to be final and completed by October 28th 11:59 PM EST
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.
Contestants:
Marco
RickyRister
Subject16
Flatline
doomfish
IcariiFA
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.
Belligerent Cyclops2R
Creature - Cyclops (Rare)
Menace
Your opponents have hexproof. (They can't be the target of spells or abilities their opponents control.)
Whenever Belligerent Cyclops deals combat damage to a player, until end of turn, that player can be the target of spells and abilities you control as though they didn't have hexproof.
5/4
Ruthless Master1BR
Creature — Demon (R)
Menace, haste
Whenever Ruthless Master deals combat damage to a player, sacrifice a creature. "The lives of my minions are of no concern to me. I am interested only in the death of my enemies."
5/4
(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)
Kyzeth, the Mysophant4BB
Legendary Creature - Germ Horror (Mythic)
Menace
Whenever Kyzeth, the Mysophant deals combat damage to a player, he or she creates that many 0/1 black Germ creature tokens with "When this creature dies, you get a poison counter."
Whenever a player loses the game, if that player had ten or more poison counters, you gain 7 life and draw seven cards. "Behold Kyzeth, the Hallowed Plague, whom even I dare not touch."
-Sheoldred, Whispering One
5/5
Arvaga, The Eternal Nightmare3UB
Legendary Creature - Spirit (R)
Menace
Whenever Arvaga, The Eternal Nightmare deals combat damage to a player, tap target creature he or she controls. Creatures don't untap during that player's next untap step. "Sleep will be the last thing you do, but not the last thing you fear."
5/4
Stalking Raptor Pack4RR
Creature - Dinosaur (U)
Menace
Creatures with menace you control must be blocked if able.
Whenever Stalking Raptor Pack deals combat damage to a player, create a 2/2 red Dinosaur creature token with menace.
5/5
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 deadline is in just over 8 hours. Please make sure that you have submitted and finalized a card by then, and that your entry is not disqualified for failing the main challenge.
Ashkamahl, Overlord of Chaos4BBRR
Creature - Demon (M)
First strike, menace, trample, haste
Whenever Ashkamahl, Overlord of Chaos deals combat damage to a player, other attacking creatures you control get +2/+0 and gain trample and indestructible until end of turn. "Ashkamahl, commander of the Hellhorde, leveler of cities, eradicator of humanity's hope."
-Ardal, Dovogian survivor
7/6
The round is closed. This is the versus round. The contestant with the highest total score in each of the three brackets will advance. The brackets are as follows:
void_nothing:
Marco vs. RickyRister
Flatline vs. doomfish
bravelion83:
Flatline vs. doomfish
IcariiFA vs. Subject16
Raptorchan:
IcariiFA vs. Subject16
Marco vs. RickyRister
Arvaga, The Eternal Nightmare3UB
Legendary Creature - Spirit (R)
Menace
Whenever Arvaga, The Eternal Nightmare deals combat damage to a player, tap target creature he or she controls. Creatures don't untap during that player's next untap step. "Sleep will be the last thing you do, but not the last thing you fear."
5/4
Design - (3/3) Appeal: Big body and relevant ability for Timmy, ways to do combos with more tapping for Johnny, tournament value for Spike. (2/3) Elegance: The "Creatures don't untap during that player's next untap step" is not elegant. You probably mean "creatures that player controls..." but now it works a bit differently - in rare cases but still (see Prophet of Kruphix and other similar cards).
Development - (3/3) Viability: Menace is black and tapping is blue. Rarity is okay. (2,5/3) Balance: Commander and limited star, questionable in constructed and not for eternal formats.
Creativity - (2/3) Uniqueness: All effect are well known, but tapping one creature with restriction to untap for all creatures is unique. (2/3) Flavor: The main problem is name - it has Nightmare in the name but doesn't have Nightmare creature type. Check all known creature cards with Horror and Nightmare in their names to see what's wrong here. The same is true for a lot (if not all) cards with other creature types in their names – see also cards ettata’d to Minions, Riggers, Pilots, Warriors, etc. Polish - (2/3) Quality: Classic wording should be "Whenever Arvaga, The Eternal Nightmare deals combat damage to a player, tap target creature that player controls". See Ashling, the Extinguisher for example. (2/2) *Main Challenge: Power 5 and menace, yes. (2/2) Subchallenges: Ghosts are well known scary creatures and triggered ability here.
Total: 20,5/25
*An entry with 0 points here is subject to disqualification.
Kyzeth, the Mysophant4BB
Legendary Creature - Germ Horror (Mythic)
Menace
Whenever Kyzeth, the Mysophant deals combat damage to a player, he or she creates that many 0/1 black Germ creature tokens with "When this creature dies, you get a poison counter."
Whenever a player loses the game, if that player had ten or more poison counters, you gain 7 life and draw seven cards. "Behold Kyzeth, the Hallowed Plague, whom even I dare not touch."
-Sheoldred, Whispering One
5/5
Design - (1,5/3) Appeal: Big body and monstrous last effeect may look good for Timmy but this card doesn't do much for him by its own, Johnny is okay with this, Spike is not interested. (2/3) Elegance: A quite complex to be really elegant.
Development - (3/3) Viability: This is black and mythic, no less. (1,5/3) Balance: A good beater in comborific environment but the main problem - this card is antisynergistic. It doesn't have infect so your opponent can block it with two Germs after the first successful attack for a long time but won't die from poison fast. Moreso - do you really want to kill your opponent with poison while damaging him for 5 without infect? This reminds me a lot about things mentioned by MaRo in this article: https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/feature/something-wicked-way-comes-part-1-2010-09-06
Creativity - (3/3) Uniqueness: Pretty unique and fresh if you ask me. (2,5/3) Flavor: All good but the lack of infect seriously looks like a missed opportunity.
Polish - (2/3) Quality: The same problem IcariiFA card has so I'll copy that. Classic wording should be "Whenever Kyzeth, the Mysophant deals combat damage to a player, that player creates that many 0/1 black Germ creature tokens..." See Ashling, the Extinguisher for example. (2/2) *Main Challenge: 5 power and menace, sure. (2/2) Subchallenges: Germs are well known scary movie creatures indeed and the triggered ability is on place.
Total: 19,5/25
*An entry with 0 points here is subject to disqualification.
Belligerent Cyclops2R
Creature - Cyclops (Rare)
Menace
Your opponents have hexproof. (They can't be the target of spells or abilities their opponents control.)
Whenever Belligerent Cyclops deals combat damage to a player, until end of turn, that player can be the target of spells and abilities you control as though they didn't have hexproof.
5/4
Design - (3/3) Appeal: Appealing for any player - pure value for Timmy and Spike and the drawback is easily avoidable for any Johnny player. (2,5/3) Elegance: Complex but understandable enough. Also, see the Quality section.
Development - (2/3) Viability: This is red but I am not sure which color this effect should be - but it encourages burn so I'll let it slide. Should be mythic though. (0,5/3) Balance: This card is plain broken. The drawback doesn't look relevant even from the first glance, especially when you are playing aggro, not burn, and even worse - this effect is avoidable and evasion helps a lot.
Creativity - (3/3) Uniqueness: The effect is unique enough to get full points. (1,5/3) Flavor: The name is generic and the effect doesn't make sense. The lack of flavor text can't help to explain it.
Polish - (1,5/3) Quality: "they can't be the targets" and "as though he or she didn't have hexproof" - "they" is wrong here. (2/2) *Main Challenge: Power 5, menace. (2/2) Subchallenges: Cyclops are scary creatures and the effect on place.
Total: 18/25
*An entry with 0 points here is subject to disqualification.
Ashkamahl, Overlord of Chaos4BBRR
Creature - Demon (M)
First strike, menace, trample, haste
Whenever Ashkamahl, Overlord of Chaos deals combat damage to a player, other attacking creatures you control get +2/+0 and gain trample and indestructible until end of turn. "Ashkamahl, commander of the Hellhorde, leveler of cities, eradicator of humanity's hope."
-Ardal, Dovogian survivor
7/6
Design - (2/3) Appeal: Timmy will like to play a creature this powerful and full of keywords, Johnny will be glad to cheat such a nice finisher into play, Spike is not interested. (2,5/3) Elegance: Surprisingly elegant though the ability takes a couple of seconds to understand the main point.
Development - (3/3) Viability: Rakdos mythic and no less. (1,5/3) Balance: No matter how powerful it is, a card like this is too heavy to be played very well in Limited and constructed. Commander, yes.
Creativity - (2,5/3) Uniqueness: A bunch of keywords and quite a generic bonus for other creatures, but the ability to grant it through the first strike definitely makes the day. (1/3) Flavor: The name is generic and the flavor text is a bit awkward - what's that, "For your consideration, Ashkamahl"? (insert Ardal, Dovogian survivor, making Tony Stark's pose here). Even worse, you forgot it should be legendary.
Polish - (3/3) Quality: No problems here. (2/2) *Main Challenge: Power 5+ and menace, sure. (2/2) Subchallenges: Demons are scary and the triggered ability is the best among all contestants in my bracket. Gj.
Total: 19,5/25
*An entry with 0 points here is subject to disqualification.
IcariiFA 20,5 vs Subject16 19,5
Marco 18 vs RickyRister 19,5
Judgments complete. Again, because of real life, I don't think I will be able to revise these before the deadline. I'm sorry.
Ruthless Master1BR
Creature — Demon (R)
Menace, haste
Whenever Ruthless Master deals combat damage to a player, sacrifice a creature. "The lives of my minions are of no concern to me. I am interested only in the death of my enemies."
5/4
Design (2.5/3) Appeal - Timmy likes this until he gets to the drawback. He wouldn't mind paying more mana to avoid it, unlike Spike, who really likes this as is instead. Johnny has the challenge to get around the drawback. The Johnny/Spike hybrid loves this card. (3/3) Elegance - Harder to do better than this here.
Development (3/3) Viability - Everything is in color and rarity looks right. (3/3) Balance - This is interesting because it has haste yet it's an horrible play on an empty board. If you play this and then attack with it, you will have to sacrifice it right away if you control no other creatures. You really have to either not attack (wasting the value from haste) or wait until you have some expendable creatures. As a result, this won't often be a turn three play despite costing three mana, at least in limited. I can see this card has been really thought off, and I really like that. I can see it in constructed (casual for sure, probably Standard too) in some kind of token decks or reanimator decks, or simply as a good sacrifice outlet. I see no particular problems in multiplayer.
Creativity (0.5/3) Uniqueness - Just another undercosted Demon with a drawback. Nothing new here. (3/3) Flavor - The name is fine and the flavor text is good both by itself and paired with the mechanics.
Polish (2.5/3) Quality - Haste comes before menace in the order of keywords. See Chittering Host and Lose Calm (Oracle text) for examples (-0.5). (2/2) Main Challenge - Good. (2/2) Subchallenges - Both met.
Total: 21.5/25
Stalking Raptor Pack4RR
Creature - Dinosaur (U)
Menace
Creatures with menace you control must be blocked if able.
Whenever Stalking Raptor Pack deals combat damage to a player, create a 2/2 red Dinosaur creature token with menace.
5/5
Design (2.5/3) Appeal - Timmy loves this card. Not much for Johnny here. Spike has very high expectations from a six-drop, and while this is certainly good he might want even more for that price. (2.5/3) Elegance - The tension between the two non-keyword abilities (more on it later) hurts a little here, though it's strategic complexity, which is the right kind of complexity. No problems with comprehension complexity.
Development (1.5/3) Viability - Everything is in color, but in my opinion this is clearly a rare, both for splashiness and gameplay. (3/3) Balance - This card has a very interesting tension because it includes itself in the creatures that must be blocked yet it has to connect to create the token. By the way, yet another reason why this card is better suited for rare. This looks to me like a limited bomb, or at least it's very close. As for constructed, I wouldn't be surprised to see this in Standard, but I would in bigger formats (not a problem). I see no problems in casual or multiplayer.
Creativity (2.5/3) Uniqueness - I can't remember an ability like the second one before. The rest is nothing new though. (2/3) Flavor - The name is fine, even if it would sound more realistic to me for a Magic card dropping the word "Raptor". Not a big problem. About the absence of flavor text, while the text box looks fine without it in MSE, a couple lines would still have fit without any problem.
Polish (2.5/3) Quality - It should be "Creatures you control with menace" (see Favorable Winds for an example, -0.5). (2/2) Main Challenge - Good. (2/2) Subchallenges - Would I be scared if I had a (pack of) dinosaur(s) in front of me? Definitely! So, both met.
Total: 20.5/25
Arvaga, The Eternal Nightmare3UB
Legendary Creature - Spirit (R)
Menace
Whenever Arvaga, The Eternal Nightmare deals combat damage to a player, tap target creature he or she controls. Creatures don't untap during that player's next untap step. "Sleep will be the last thing you do, but not the last thing you fear."
5/4
Design (2.5/3) Appeal - Perfect for Timmy. Not much for Johnny here. Looks efficient enough for Spike. (2.5/3) Elegance - This could have been a little more intuitive in my opinion if it said "Creatures that player controls don't untap during that player's next untap step." Even though functionally equivalent most of the time, there are corner cases where that can matter, for example if you have a card that lets you untap creatures at every untap step. But again, these are just corner cases, which do not really feel like they are worth of serious punishment.
Development (3/3) Viability - Everything is in color and acceptable as a rare. I could have seen this at mythic too, but there is nothing wrong with regular rare. (3/3) Balance - A 5/4 with evasion and additional upside for five mana is definitely pushed, even though it requires two different colors. I don't think this is broken though. Must play in limited, and I can definitely see this in constructed (casual and Standard, not bigger formats but it's not a problem). No problems in multiplayer.
Creativity (1/3) Uniqueness - Interesting mix of abilities, but nothing we haven't seen before. (3/3) Flavor - Excellent flavor, both name and flavor text. Nothing to say here.
Polish (2.5/3) Quality - It should be "tap target creature that player controls" (-0.5). (2/2) Main Challenge - Good. (2/2) Subchallenges - Would I be scared if I had a spirit appear right in front of me. Probably yes, but it really depends on what kind of spirit it is. This is clearly a malevolent spirit, so I'll let it count as scary. Both met.
Total: 21.5/25
Kyzeth, the Mysophant4BB
Legendary Creature - Germ Horror (Mythic)
Menace
Whenever Kyzeth, the Mysophant deals combat damage to a player, he or she creates that many 0/1 black Germ creature tokens with "When this creature dies, you get a poison counter."
Whenever a player loses the game, if that player had ten or more poison counters, you gain 7 life and draw seven cards. "Behold Kyzeth, the Hallowed Plague, whom even I dare not touch."
-Sheoldred, Whispering One
5/5
Design (2.5/3) Appeal - I expect most Timmies to like this. Johnny tends to like weird cards like this. I'm not sure how much Spike is interested. (1/3) Elegance - The text is very long. Cards that give opponents tokens can sometimes be a bit unintuitive at first glance.
Development (2.5/3) Viability - Black usually loses life to draw cards, but this is certainly no break. Other than that, no problems with the color pie. This just has to be mythic. (2.5/3) Balance - This looks good in regular duel, and it's kind of a limited bomb, but I can tell from the last ability that this card has been created with multiplayer in mind. I guess that ability is fine, it's kind of "high investment, high reward" but we've already seen big abilities that trigger "whenever a player loses the game". I don't think this would see play in regular competitive constructed formats, but I may be wrong.
Creativity (3/3) Uniqueness - A new and original take on poison. It just deserves full points here. (1.5/3) Flavor - The name is fine in a vacuum. I'll confess my ignorance: despite being half English I do not know what the word "mysophant" means, and for once strangely Google didn't help. As for flavor text, it's really good but if you copy and paste it in MSE along with the rules text you will see that the font gets really small, to the point of being unrealistic. This is an example of a card where the right choice would have been to not have any flavor text. Finally, I want to highlight the mechanical execution of the disease flavor, that's really well done.
Polish (2.5/3) Quality - It should be "that player creates..." (-0.5). (2/2) Main Challenge - Good. (2/2) Subchallenges - Both met. A Horror is scary by definition.
MCC - Winner (6): Oct 2014, Apr Nov 2017, Jan 2018, Apr Jun 2019 || Host (15): Dec 2014, Apr Jul Aug Dec 2015, Mar Jul Aug Oct 2016, Feb Jul 2017, Jun Nov 2018, Feb Jul 2019 (last one here) || Judge (34): every month from Nov 2014 to Nov 2016 except Oct 2015, every month from Feb to Jul 2017 except Apr 2017, then Oct 2017, May Jun Nov 2018, Feb Jul 2019 (last one here) CCL - Winner (3): Jul 2016 (tied with Flatline), May 2017, Jul 2019 (last one here) || Host (5): Feb 2015, Mar Apr May Jun 2016 DCC - Winner (1): Mar 2015 (tied with Piar) || Host (3): May Oct 2015, Jan 2016
• The two public custom sets I've been part a part of the design team for: "Brotherhood of Ormos" - Blog post with all info - set thread - design skeleton / card list || "Extinctia: Homo Evanuit" - Blog post with all info - set thread - card list spreadsheet
• "The Lion's Lair", my article series about MTG and custom card design in particular. Latest article here. Here is the article index.Rather outdated by now, and based on the old MCC rubric, but I'm leaving this here for anybody that might be interested anyway.
• My only public attempt at being a writer: the story of my Leonin custom planeswalker Jeff Lionheart. (I have a very big one that I'm working on right now but that's private for now, and I don't know if I will ever actually publish it, and I also have ideas for multiple future ones, including one where I'm going to reprise Jeff.)
Design -
(3/3) Appeal: Timmy likes evasive fat with a drawback that's not debilitating if you just build around it. Johnny definitely sees the possibilities, especially for Commander politics. Spike is into a very easily mitigated drawback on an undercosted big beater with a solid evasion ability.
(2/3) Elegance: The drawback and the way to get around it read really quite awkwardly, but all in all it's still grokkable.
Development -
(2.5/3) Viability: Rare seems right, obviously; this seems intended more for a Commander product than an expert-level expansion. However, I'm not sure where in the color pie the drawback fits... red seems okay but the only color that's given hexproof to players (as a benefit) is white so there's no precedent.
(2/3) Balance: This undercosted, drawback beater might be too undercosted and have too little of a drawback, considering it's all deckbuilding-based. No deck but Burn itself really needs pure player-based burn, so a more traditional aggro deck would be able to use this as purely 5 power with menace for three mana.
Creativity -
(3/3) Uniqueness: Really quite unique stuff; the only thing that's near precedent is the likes of Arcane Lighthouse and even that is quite different in intent and execution.
(1.5/3) Flavor: The mechanical flavor is good, with a singleminded Cyclops stopping you from targeting an opponent until he literally runs up and hits them. However, the name is highly generic and there is no flavor text (although the rules text is verbose, so that's easy to forgive.)
Polish -
(3/3) Quality: No problem.
(2/2) *Main Challenge: Done.
(2/2) Subchallenges: I could see how Cyclopes are scary. Hah, see. Saboteur ability, check.
Total: 21/25
Design -
(1.5/3) Appeal: Timmy is obviously into it, there's really nothing compelling to do besides the obvious for Johnny, and Spike would consider it as a reanimation target but has many more and better options.
(1.5/3) Elegance: Keyword soup. Grants trample and indestructible to your other attackers, has trample itself, does not have indestructible. Speaking of indestructible, it's an odd thing to grant considering the attack will likely end the game anyway if you have other attackers, unless it's a multiplayer situation - I guess this could be meant for Commander too? Might be a recipe for confusion even though it's getting at one, compelling, core idea.
Development -
(3/3) Viability: Black, red, mythic, check.
(3/3) Balance: It's a big beater, sure, but only has real value if you're attacking with a whole bunch of other stuff too.
Creativity -
(2.5/3) Uniqueness: Quite a unique use of first strike, which is commendable for sure! Big beaters with keywords and mass pump have always been around, but this guy's definitely a new take.
(2.5/3) Flavor: There's flavor text, although it's generic, and the name is definitely generic as well. I love the image of a demonic general leading his hordes from the front, though. There's the odd thing with having the full name of one of Magic'smost famous characters in this guy's name, too.
Polish -
(2.5/3) Quality: It's fairly obvious that the legendary type went missing somehow.
(2/2) *Main Challenge: Good.
(2/2) Subchallenges: Demons are scary without a doubt; saboteur is there.
Total: 20.5/25
Design -
(2.5/3) Appeal: Timmy loves the stats but isn't happy about the drawback. Johnny would find a way to make the drawback into a positive. Spike figures this is a Ball Lightning-alike at absolute worst and a great wincon at best.
(3/3) Elegance: Thick, solid, tight.
Development -
(3/3) Viability: Black, red, rare, check.
(3/3) Balance: Great abilities on undercosted stats, but that really is a severe drawback, so it all works out.
Creativity -
(1.5/3) Uniqueness: This exact drawback has never been done - the very different Hellcarver Demon is in fact the closest thing - but this is a card that should remind you of a lot of precedent starting all the way back with Lord of the Pit.
(3/3) Flavor: Love love love the tie between the name, abilities, and flavor text. Great flavor package.
Design -
(2.5/3) Appeal: Timmy's down for token production and evasion. Johnny thinks menace tribal might be a thing. The marquee effect is a bit too niche for Spike but he sees it as a good Limited finisher.
(2.5/3) Elegance: Three separate abilities, one of which creates a token with a relatively small evergreen keyword, but it's all working in the same direction and no one ability is too wordy.
Development -
(2/3) Viability: Red definitely seems fine. But with the sheer scale of the effect, how it changes combat math, and the complexity of it all, there's no question I'd make this a rare over an uncommon.
(3/3) Balance: Nothing wrong here.
Creativity -
(2.5/3) Uniqueness: Keyword ability tribal is the most unique thing here - it's been done for flying, mostly, and never for menace. Other parts are definitely pretty often-seen though.
(2.5/3) Flavor: Could use flavor text, however brief (although it also works without). Also, at least in an Ixalan context, Dinosaur tokens are 3/3 green creatures with trample, and 2/2 menacers are black Pirates; however, that doesn't really work with the card mechanically.
Just an honest question about RickyRister's triggered ability. When the creature is dealing combat damage, isn't it too late to add +2/+0, trample and indestructible to other attacking creatures? I could not find a precedent in Gatherer. I think it would work if the trigger was "Whenever Ashkamahl, Overlord of Chaos attacks..."
Just an honest question about RickyRister's triggered ability. When the creature is dealing combat damage, isn't it too late to add +2/+0, trample and indestructible to other attacking creatures? I could not find a precedent in Gatherer. I think it would work if the trigger was "Whenever Ashkamahl, Overlord of Chaos attacks..."
Halloween near me is particularly a season for pranks. This month, that's gonna be the focus of the challenges: Practical jokes, beneficent and malicious.
Some people try to truly terrify their friends with a prank to fill them with shock and sudden fright, going to elaborate lengths to hide in wait for them.
Main Challenge: Design a creature card with menace and with 5 or more power.
Subchallenge 1: Your card has a triggered ability that triggers when it deals combat damage to a player.
Subchallenge 2: Your card is a traditionally "scary"/"monster" creature type (judge's discretion).
Please message me about any questions you might have about the challenges. Other than that, have fun, and good luck!
Design Deadline: All submissions are to be final and submitted by October 25th 11:59 PM EST
Judging Deadline: All Judgements are to be final and completed by October 28th 11:59 PM EST
(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.
Contestants:
Marco
RickyRister
Subject16
Flatline
doomfish
IcariiFA
Judges:
void_nothing
bravelion83
Raptorchan
A helpful tip for those formatting their cards:
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝
Creature - Cyclops (Rare)
Menace
Your opponents have hexproof. (They can't be the target of spells or abilities their opponents control.)
Whenever Belligerent Cyclops deals combat damage to a player, until end of turn, that player can be the target of spells and abilities you control as though they didn't have hexproof.
5/4
Creature — Demon (R)
Menace, haste
Whenever Ruthless Master deals combat damage to a player, sacrifice a creature.
"The lives of my minions are of no concern to me. I am interested only in the death of my enemies."
5/4
Legendary Creature - Germ Horror (Mythic)
Menace
Whenever Kyzeth, the Mysophant deals combat damage to a player, he or she creates that many 0/1 black Germ creature tokens with "When this creature dies, you get a poison counter."
Whenever a player loses the game, if that player had ten or more poison counters, you gain 7 life and draw seven cards.
"Behold Kyzeth, the Hallowed Plague, whom even I dare not touch."
-Sheoldred, Whispering One
5/5
Legendary Creature - Spirit (R)
Menace
Whenever Arvaga, The Eternal Nightmare deals combat damage to a player, tap target creature he or she controls. Creatures don't untap during that player's next untap step.
"Sleep will be the last thing you do, but not the last thing you fear."
5/4
Creature - Dinosaur (U)
Menace
Creatures with menace you control must be blocked if able.
Whenever Stalking Raptor Pack deals combat damage to a player, create a 2/2 red Dinosaur creature token with menace.
5/5
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
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝
Creature - Demon (M)
First strike, menace, trample, haste
Whenever Ashkamahl, Overlord of Chaos deals combat damage to a player, other attacking creatures you control get +2/+0 and gain trample and indestructible until end of turn.
"Ashkamahl, commander of the Hellhorde, leveler of cities, eradicator of humanity's hope."
-Ardal, Dovogian survivor
7/6
void_nothing:
Marco vs. RickyRister
Flatline vs. doomfish
bravelion83:
Flatline vs. doomfish
IcariiFA vs. Subject16
Raptorchan:
IcariiFA vs. Subject16
Marco vs. RickyRister
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝
Legendary Creature - Spirit (R)
Menace
Whenever Arvaga, The Eternal Nightmare deals combat damage to a player, tap target creature he or she controls. Creatures don't untap during that player's next untap step.
"Sleep will be the last thing you do, but not the last thing you fear."
5/4
Design -
(3/3) Appeal: Big body and relevant ability for Timmy, ways to do combos with more tapping for Johnny, tournament value for Spike.
(2/3) Elegance: The "Creatures don't untap during that player's next untap step" is not elegant. You probably mean "creatures that player controls..." but now it works a bit differently - in rare cases but still (see Prophet of Kruphix and other similar cards).
Development -
(3/3) Viability: Menace is black and tapping is blue. Rarity is okay.
(2,5/3) Balance: Commander and limited star, questionable in constructed and not for eternal formats.
Creativity -
(2/3) Uniqueness: All effect are well known, but tapping one creature with restriction to untap for all creatures is unique.
(2/3) Flavor: The main problem is name - it has Nightmare in the name but doesn't have Nightmare creature type. Check all known creature cards with Horror and Nightmare in their names to see what's wrong here. The same is true for a lot (if not all) cards with other creature types in their names – see also cards ettata’d to Minions, Riggers, Pilots, Warriors, etc.
Polish -
(2/3) Quality: Classic wording should be "Whenever Arvaga, The Eternal Nightmare deals combat damage to a player, tap target creature that player controls". See Ashling, the Extinguisher for example.
(2/2) *Main Challenge: Power 5 and menace, yes.
(2/2) Subchallenges: Ghosts are well known scary creatures and triggered ability here.
Total: 20,5/25
*An entry with 0 points here is subject to disqualification.
Legendary Creature - Germ Horror (Mythic)
Menace
Whenever Kyzeth, the Mysophant deals combat damage to a player, he or she creates that many 0/1 black Germ creature tokens with "When this creature dies, you get a poison counter."
Whenever a player loses the game, if that player had ten or more poison counters, you gain 7 life and draw seven cards.
"Behold Kyzeth, the Hallowed Plague, whom even I dare not touch."
-Sheoldred, Whispering One
5/5
Design -
(1,5/3) Appeal: Big body and monstrous last effeect may look good for Timmy but this card doesn't do much for him by its own, Johnny is okay with this, Spike is not interested.
(2/3) Elegance: A quite complex to be really elegant.
Development -
(3/3) Viability: This is black and mythic, no less.
(1,5/3) Balance: A good beater in comborific environment but the main problem - this card is antisynergistic. It doesn't have infect so your opponent can block it with two Germs after the first successful attack for a long time but won't die from poison fast. Moreso - do you really want to kill your opponent with poison while damaging him for 5 without infect? This reminds me a lot about things mentioned by MaRo in this article: https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/feature/something-wicked-way-comes-part-1-2010-09-06
Creativity -
(3/3) Uniqueness: Pretty unique and fresh if you ask me.
(2,5/3) Flavor: All good but the lack of infect seriously looks like a missed opportunity.
Polish -
(2/3) Quality: The same problem IcariiFA card has so I'll copy that. Classic wording should be "Whenever Kyzeth, the Mysophant deals combat damage to a player, that player creates that many 0/1 black Germ creature tokens..." See Ashling, the Extinguisher for example.
(2/2) *Main Challenge: 5 power and menace, sure.
(2/2) Subchallenges: Germs are well known scary movie creatures indeed and the triggered ability is on place.
Total: 19,5/25
*An entry with 0 points here is subject to disqualification.
Creature - Cyclops (Rare)
Menace
Your opponents have hexproof. (They can't be the target of spells or abilities their opponents control.)
Whenever Belligerent Cyclops deals combat damage to a player, until end of turn, that player can be the target of spells and abilities you control as though they didn't have hexproof.
5/4
Design -
(3/3) Appeal: Appealing for any player - pure value for Timmy and Spike and the drawback is easily avoidable for any Johnny player.
(2,5/3) Elegance: Complex but understandable enough. Also, see the Quality section.
Development -
(2/3) Viability: This is red but I am not sure which color this effect should be - but it encourages burn so I'll let it slide. Should be mythic though.
(0,5/3) Balance: This card is plain broken. The drawback doesn't look relevant even from the first glance, especially when you are playing aggro, not burn, and even worse - this effect is avoidable and evasion helps a lot.
Creativity -
(3/3) Uniqueness: The effect is unique enough to get full points.
(1,5/3) Flavor: The name is generic and the effect doesn't make sense. The lack of flavor text can't help to explain it.
Polish -
(1,5/3) Quality: "they can't be the targets" and "as though he or she didn't have hexproof" - "they" is wrong here.
(2/2) *Main Challenge: Power 5, menace.
(2/2) Subchallenges: Cyclops are scary creatures and the effect on place.
Total: 18/25
*An entry with 0 points here is subject to disqualification.
Creature - Demon (M)
First strike, menace, trample, haste
Whenever Ashkamahl, Overlord of Chaos deals combat damage to a player, other attacking creatures you control get +2/+0 and gain trample and indestructible until end of turn.
"Ashkamahl, commander of the Hellhorde, leveler of cities, eradicator of humanity's hope."
-Ardal, Dovogian survivor
7/6
Design -
(2/3) Appeal: Timmy will like to play a creature this powerful and full of keywords, Johnny will be glad to cheat such a nice finisher into play, Spike is not interested.
(2,5/3) Elegance: Surprisingly elegant though the ability takes a couple of seconds to understand the main point.
Development -
(3/3) Viability: Rakdos mythic and no less.
(1,5/3) Balance: No matter how powerful it is, a card like this is too heavy to be played very well in Limited and constructed. Commander, yes.
Creativity -
(2,5/3) Uniqueness: A bunch of keywords and quite a generic bonus for other creatures, but the ability to grant it through the first strike definitely makes the day.
(1/3) Flavor: The name is generic and the flavor text is a bit awkward - what's that, "For your consideration, Ashkamahl"? (insert Ardal, Dovogian survivor, making Tony Stark's pose here). Even worse, you forgot it should be legendary.
Polish -
(3/3) Quality: No problems here.
(2/2) *Main Challenge: Power 5+ and menace, sure.
(2/2) Subchallenges: Demons are scary and the triggered ability is the best among all contestants in my bracket. Gj.
Total: 19,5/25
*An entry with 0 points here is subject to disqualification.
IcariiFA 20,5 vs Subject16 19,5
Marco 18 vs RickyRister 19,5
Ruthless Master 1BR
Creature — Demon (R)
Menace, haste
Whenever Ruthless Master deals combat damage to a player, sacrifice a creature.
"The lives of my minions are of no concern to me. I am interested only in the death of my enemies."
5/4
Design
(2.5/3) Appeal - Timmy likes this until he gets to the drawback. He wouldn't mind paying more mana to avoid it, unlike Spike, who really likes this as is instead. Johnny has the challenge to get around the drawback. The Johnny/Spike hybrid loves this card.
(3/3) Elegance - Harder to do better than this here.
Development
(3/3) Viability - Everything is in color and rarity looks right.
(3/3) Balance - This is interesting because it has haste yet it's an horrible play on an empty board. If you play this and then attack with it, you will have to sacrifice it right away if you control no other creatures. You really have to either not attack (wasting the value from haste) or wait until you have some expendable creatures. As a result, this won't often be a turn three play despite costing three mana, at least in limited. I can see this card has been really thought off, and I really like that. I can see it in constructed (casual for sure, probably Standard too) in some kind of token decks or reanimator decks, or simply as a good sacrifice outlet. I see no particular problems in multiplayer.
Creativity
(0.5/3) Uniqueness - Just another undercosted Demon with a drawback. Nothing new here.
(3/3) Flavor - The name is fine and the flavor text is good both by itself and paired with the mechanics.
Polish
(2.5/3) Quality - Haste comes before menace in the order of keywords. See Chittering Host and Lose Calm (Oracle text) for examples (-0.5).
(2/2) Main Challenge - Good.
(2/2) Subchallenges - Both met.
Total: 21.5/25
Stalking Raptor Pack 4RR
Creature - Dinosaur (U)
Menace
Creatures with menace you control must be blocked if able.
Whenever Stalking Raptor Pack deals combat damage to a player, create a 2/2 red Dinosaur creature token with menace.
5/5
Design
(2.5/3) Appeal - Timmy loves this card. Not much for Johnny here. Spike has very high expectations from a six-drop, and while this is certainly good he might want even more for that price.
(2.5/3) Elegance - The tension between the two non-keyword abilities (more on it later) hurts a little here, though it's strategic complexity, which is the right kind of complexity. No problems with comprehension complexity.
Development
(1.5/3) Viability - Everything is in color, but in my opinion this is clearly a rare, both for splashiness and gameplay.
(3/3) Balance - This card has a very interesting tension because it includes itself in the creatures that must be blocked yet it has to connect to create the token. By the way, yet another reason why this card is better suited for rare. This looks to me like a limited bomb, or at least it's very close. As for constructed, I wouldn't be surprised to see this in Standard, but I would in bigger formats (not a problem). I see no problems in casual or multiplayer.
Creativity
(2.5/3) Uniqueness - I can't remember an ability like the second one before. The rest is nothing new though.
(2/3) Flavor - The name is fine, even if it would sound more realistic to me for a Magic card dropping the word "Raptor". Not a big problem. About the absence of flavor text, while the text box looks fine without it in MSE, a couple lines would still have fit without any problem.
Polish
(2.5/3) Quality - It should be "Creatures you control with menace" (see Favorable Winds for an example, -0.5).
(2/2) Main Challenge - Good.
(2/2) Subchallenges - Would I be scared if I had a (pack of) dinosaur(s) in front of me? Definitely! So, both met.
Total: 20.5/25
Arvaga, The Eternal Nightmare 3UB
Legendary Creature - Spirit (R)
Menace
Whenever Arvaga, The Eternal Nightmare deals combat damage to a player, tap target creature he or she controls. Creatures don't untap during that player's next untap step.
"Sleep will be the last thing you do, but not the last thing you fear."
5/4
Design
(2.5/3) Appeal - Perfect for Timmy. Not much for Johnny here. Looks efficient enough for Spike.
(2.5/3) Elegance - This could have been a little more intuitive in my opinion if it said "Creatures that player controls don't untap during that player's next untap step." Even though functionally equivalent most of the time, there are corner cases where that can matter, for example if you have a card that lets you untap creatures at every untap step. But again, these are just corner cases, which do not really feel like they are worth of serious punishment.
Development
(3/3) Viability - Everything is in color and acceptable as a rare. I could have seen this at mythic too, but there is nothing wrong with regular rare.
(3/3) Balance - A 5/4 with evasion and additional upside for five mana is definitely pushed, even though it requires two different colors. I don't think this is broken though. Must play in limited, and I can definitely see this in constructed (casual and Standard, not bigger formats but it's not a problem). No problems in multiplayer.
Creativity
(1/3) Uniqueness - Interesting mix of abilities, but nothing we haven't seen before.
(3/3) Flavor - Excellent flavor, both name and flavor text. Nothing to say here.
Polish
(2.5/3) Quality - It should be "tap target creature that player controls" (-0.5).
(2/2) Main Challenge - Good.
(2/2) Subchallenges - Would I be scared if I had a spirit appear right in front of me. Probably yes, but it really depends on what kind of spirit it is. This is clearly a malevolent spirit, so I'll let it count as scary. Both met.
Total: 21.5/25
Kyzeth, the Mysophant 4BB
Legendary Creature - Germ Horror (Mythic)
Menace
Whenever Kyzeth, the Mysophant deals combat damage to a player, he or she creates that many 0/1 black Germ creature tokens with "When this creature dies, you get a poison counter."
Whenever a player loses the game, if that player had ten or more poison counters, you gain 7 life and draw seven cards.
"Behold Kyzeth, the Hallowed Plague, whom even I dare not touch."
-Sheoldred, Whispering One
5/5
Design
(2.5/3) Appeal - I expect most Timmies to like this. Johnny tends to like weird cards like this. I'm not sure how much Spike is interested.
(1/3) Elegance - The text is very long. Cards that give opponents tokens can sometimes be a bit unintuitive at first glance.
Development
(2.5/3) Viability - Black usually loses life to draw cards, but this is certainly no break. Other than that, no problems with the color pie. This just has to be mythic.
(2.5/3) Balance - This looks good in regular duel, and it's kind of a limited bomb, but I can tell from the last ability that this card has been created with multiplayer in mind. I guess that ability is fine, it's kind of "high investment, high reward" but we've already seen big abilities that trigger "whenever a player loses the game". I don't think this would see play in regular competitive constructed formats, but I may be wrong.
Creativity
(3/3) Uniqueness - A new and original take on poison. It just deserves full points here.
(1.5/3) Flavor - The name is fine in a vacuum. I'll confess my ignorance: despite being half English I do not know what the word "mysophant" means, and for once strangely Google didn't help. As for flavor text, it's really good but if you copy and paste it in MSE along with the rules text you will see that the font gets really small, to the point of being unrealistic. This is an example of a card where the right choice would have been to not have any flavor text. Finally, I want to highlight the mechanical execution of the disease flavor, that's really well done.
Polish
(2.5/3) Quality - It should be "that player creates..." (-0.5).
(2/2) Main Challenge - Good.
(2/2) Subchallenges - Both met. A Horror is scary by definition.
Total: 19.5/25
Flatline: 21.5
doomfish: 20.5
IcariiFA: 21.5
Subject16: 19.5
MCC - Winner (6): Oct 2014, Apr Nov 2017, Jan 2018, Apr Jun 2019 || Host (15): Dec 2014, Apr Jul Aug Dec 2015, Mar Jul Aug Oct 2016, Feb Jul 2017, Jun Nov 2018, Feb Jul 2019 (last one here) || Judge (34): every month from Nov 2014 to Nov 2016 except Oct 2015, every month from Feb to Jul 2017 except Apr 2017, then Oct 2017, May Jun Nov 2018, Feb Jul 2019 (last one here)
CCL - Winner (3): Jul 2016 (tied with Flatline), May 2017, Jul 2019 (last one here) || Host (5): Feb 2015, Mar Apr May Jun 2016
DCC - Winner (1): Mar 2015 (tied with Piar) || Host (3): May Oct 2015, Jan 2016
• The two public custom sets I've been part a part of the design team for:
"Brotherhood of Ormos" - Blog post with all info - set thread - design skeleton / card list || "Extinctia: Homo Evanuit" - Blog post with all info - set thread - card list spreadsheet
• "The Lion's Lair", my article series about MTG and custom card design in particular. Latest article here. Here is the article index. Rather outdated by now, and based on the old MCC rubric, but I'm leaving this here for anybody that might be interested anyway.
• My only public attempt at being a writer: the story of my Leonin custom planeswalker Jeff Lionheart. (I have a very big one that I'm working on right now but that's private for now, and I don't know if I will ever actually publish it, and I also have ideas for multiple future ones, including one where I'm going to reprise Jeff.)
Design -
(3/3) Appeal: Timmy likes evasive fat with a drawback that's not debilitating if you just build around it. Johnny definitely sees the possibilities, especially for Commander politics. Spike is into a very easily mitigated drawback on an undercosted big beater with a solid evasion ability.
(2/3) Elegance: The drawback and the way to get around it read really quite awkwardly, but all in all it's still grokkable.
Development -
(2.5/3) Viability: Rare seems right, obviously; this seems intended more for a Commander product than an expert-level expansion. However, I'm not sure where in the color pie the drawback fits... red seems okay but the only color that's given hexproof to players (as a benefit) is white so there's no precedent.
(2/3) Balance: This undercosted, drawback beater might be too undercosted and have too little of a drawback, considering it's all deckbuilding-based. No deck but Burn itself really needs pure player-based burn, so a more traditional aggro deck would be able to use this as purely 5 power with menace for three mana.
Creativity -
(3/3) Uniqueness: Really quite unique stuff; the only thing that's near precedent is the likes of Arcane Lighthouse and even that is quite different in intent and execution.
(1.5/3) Flavor: The mechanical flavor is good, with a singleminded Cyclops stopping you from targeting an opponent until he literally runs up and hits them. However, the name is highly generic and there is no flavor text (although the rules text is verbose, so that's easy to forgive.)
Polish -
(3/3) Quality: No problem.
(2/2) *Main Challenge: Done.
(2/2) Subchallenges: I could see how Cyclopes are scary. Hah, see. Saboteur ability, check.
Total: 21/25
Design -
(1.5/3) Appeal: Timmy is obviously into it, there's really nothing compelling to do besides the obvious for Johnny, and Spike would consider it as a reanimation target but has many more and better options.
(1.5/3) Elegance: Keyword soup. Grants trample and indestructible to your other attackers, has trample itself, does not have indestructible. Speaking of indestructible, it's an odd thing to grant considering the attack will likely end the game anyway if you have other attackers, unless it's a multiplayer situation - I guess this could be meant for Commander too? Might be a recipe for confusion even though it's getting at one, compelling, core idea.
Development -
(3/3) Viability: Black, red, mythic, check.
(3/3) Balance: It's a big beater, sure, but only has real value if you're attacking with a whole bunch of other stuff too.
Creativity -
(2.5/3) Uniqueness: Quite a unique use of first strike, which is commendable for sure! Big beaters with keywords and mass pump have always been around, but this guy's definitely a new take.
(2.5/3) Flavor: There's flavor text, although it's generic, and the name is definitely generic as well. I love the image of a demonic general leading his hordes from the front, though. There's the odd thing with having the full name of one of Magic's most famous characters in this guy's name, too.
Polish -
(2.5/3) Quality: It's fairly obvious that the legendary type went missing somehow.
(2/2) *Main Challenge: Good.
(2/2) Subchallenges: Demons are scary without a doubt; saboteur is there.
Total: 20.5/25
Design -
(2.5/3) Appeal: Timmy loves the stats but isn't happy about the drawback. Johnny would find a way to make the drawback into a positive. Spike figures this is a Ball Lightning-alike at absolute worst and a great wincon at best.
(3/3) Elegance: Thick, solid, tight.
Development -
(3/3) Viability: Black, red, rare, check.
(3/3) Balance: Great abilities on undercosted stats, but that really is a severe drawback, so it all works out.
Creativity -
(1.5/3) Uniqueness: This exact drawback has never been done - the very different Hellcarver Demon is in fact the closest thing - but this is a card that should remind you of a lot of precedent starting all the way back with Lord of the Pit.
(3/3) Flavor: Love love love the tie between the name, abilities, and flavor text. Great flavor package.
Polish -
(3/3) Quality: Sweet.
(2/2) *Main Challenge: Good.
(2/2) Subchallenges: Demons scary, saboteur done.
Total: 23/25
Design -
(2.5/3) Appeal: Timmy's down for token production and evasion. Johnny thinks menace tribal might be a thing. The marquee effect is a bit too niche for Spike but he sees it as a good Limited finisher.
(2.5/3) Elegance: Three separate abilities, one of which creates a token with a relatively small evergreen keyword, but it's all working in the same direction and no one ability is too wordy.
Development -
(2/3) Viability: Red definitely seems fine. But with the sheer scale of the effect, how it changes combat math, and the complexity of it all, there's no question I'd make this a rare over an uncommon.
(3/3) Balance: Nothing wrong here.
Creativity -
(2.5/3) Uniqueness: Keyword ability tribal is the most unique thing here - it's been done for flying, mostly, and never for menace. Other parts are definitely pretty often-seen though.
(2.5/3) Flavor: Could use flavor text, however brief (although it also works without). Also, at least in an Ixalan context, Dinosaur tokens are 3/3 green creatures with trample, and 2/2 menacers are black Pirates; however, that doesn't really work with the card mechanically.
Polish -
(3/3) Quality: Good.
(2/2) *Main Challenge: Definitely done.
(2/2) Subchallenges: Saboteur ability; Dinosaurs are scary.
Total: 22/25
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝
RickyRister
IcariiFA
Flatline
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝
Thanks to any rules gurus out there.
First strike helps.