A card that could fit into a Standard-level set released in 2017
Karak, Valley of the Wandering
Legendary Land - Desert (R) T: Add C to your mana pool. T, Exile a Desert card from your graveyard: Add CC to your mana pool. 4B, T: Create a 2/2 black Zombie creature token for each nontoken creature that died this turn.
A card that could fit into a Standard-level set that is confirmed or speculated to be released in 2018
Teferi Reignited2UU
Planeswalker - Teferi (M)
+1: Until your next turn, nonland cards you own that aren't on the battlefield have flash.
-2: Until your next turn, target creature loses all abilities and has base power and toughness 0/1.
-6: Each player puts the cards in his or her hand on the bottom of his or her library in any order, then you draw that many cards.
4
A legend that could have been in a Commander 2017 deck, either an existing one or a tribal deck that could have been made but was not
Luba, the Awakener4GW
Legendary Creature - Bear Avatar (M) Eminence — At the beginning of your upkeep, if Luba, the Awakener is in the command zone or on the battlefield, put a +1/+1 counter on each bear you control.
When Luba enters the battlefield, create a 2/2 green Bear token for each +1/+1 counter on Bears you control.
6/6
A legend that could be in a Commander 2018 deck
Lorilldris, Malady Weaver2WUB
Legendary Creature - Elf Wizard (M)
Signature Spell — Curse (When you choose Lorilldris as your commander, start the game with one Curse card from your library in the command zone face up. When you cast Lorilldris, put that Curse from the command zone into your hand.)
Lifelink, menace
Whenever a nontoken Curse becomes attached to an opponent, you may create a token that's a copy of it and attach it to another target opponent.
4/4
A card incorporating a design weakness, hurdle, or challenge you want to overcome in 2018 (Interesting low rarity cards)
Conjoined Power2WB
Enchantment - Aura (C)
Enchant creature
Enchanted creature gets +2/+2, has menace, and can block an additional creature. Unabated desire boasts monstrous results.
Morbid Hearse2
Artifact — Vehicle (U)
Menace
Whenever a creature dies, put a +1/+1 counter on Morbid Hearse.
Crew 2 (Tap any number of creatures you control with total power 2 or more: This Vehicle becomes an artifact creature until end of turn.)
1/1
2018 Standard
Bloodlust Bishop2BB
Creature — Vampire Cleric (R)
Flying, deathtouch
Ascend (If you control ten or more permanents you get the city's blessing for the rest of the game.)
At the beginning of your upkeep, sacrifice a creature unless you have the city's blessing.
4/4
Commander 2017
Sengoth, Impatient Master4BR
Legendary Creature — Demon (M)
Flying, haste Eminence — As long as Sengoth, Impatient Master is in the command zone or on the battlefield, you may cast Demon spells by sacrificing a creature and paying that spell's mana cost reduced by that creature's converted mana cost.
4/5
Commander 2018
— A card with fateful moment that has transformed is still your commander.
— When a card with fateful moment transforms, it does not reset your "commander tax" nor your commander damage for that commander.
Nicol Bolas, Ambitious Tyrant3UBR
Legendary Creature — Elder Dragon (M)
Flying
When Nicol Bolas, Ambitious Tyrant enters the battlefield, destroy target permanent. Fateful Moment — At the beginning of each end step, if three or more creatures died this turn, exile Nicol Bolas, Ambitious Tyrant, then return him to the battlefield transformed.
5/5
/// Nicol Bolas, Ascended Autocrat2UBR
Planeswalker — Bolas (M) (This can't be transformed and doesn't transform when it moves to another zone.)
+2: Each opponent discards a card at random. Draw a card.
-2: Gain control of target creature. Untap that creature. It gains haste until end of turn. Sacrifice it at the beginning of the next end step.
-11: Each opponent reveals his or her hand. You may cast up to seven spells revealed this way without paying their mana cost.
5
Something to work on for 2018 (mono-green)
Shoreline Seeker1G
Creature — Merfolk Shaman (R) t: Add G or U to your mana pool. If you spend this mana to cast a Merfolk creature spell, it enters the battlefield with an additional +1/+1 counter on it. There is great power to be found where the shore meets the sea.
2/1
Thanks for waiting void_nothing. I still wanted to rename my ability for 2018 Commander, but what can you do? Good luck IcariiFA, and sorry for delay.
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(22 Total) - October 2014; December 2014; January 2015; April 2015; June 2015; August 2015; September 2015; November 2015; December 2015(T); January 2016; March 2016(T); April 2016; June 2016; October 2016; December 2016(T); February 2017; April 2017; December 2017; November 2018(T); January 2019; April 2019; June 2019
(8 Total) - May 2015; May 2016; June 2016; August 2016; October 2016; December 2016; October 2017; May 2019
(7 Total) - September 2015; October 2015; January 2016; March 2016; April 2016; July 2016(T); March 2019(T)
Man, I keep going back and forth. Y'all each have 1 home run, 1 dud, and several great cards. Really gorgeous suites of cards - y'all should both be proud of your designs!
Flatline's merfolk card really needed to have been printed in Rivals. I'm kinda of disappointed in Wizards for not printing Enemy duals this set. When they went back to the old yearly rotation schedule, putting the next land cycle in Rivals of Ixalan or Dominaria would make no legality difference, yet a whole host of archetypes would have opened up this season by bumping up that schedule by one set. WB Vampires, UG Merfolk, and UR Pirates are unplayable this Standard season as a result, which is a shame.
I think UG Merfolk will be tier 1 next season, and WB Vampires might make it there too. RB Pirates and W Vampire Monument have what it takes this season to be tier 1 as long as Attune to Aether is banned.
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Only one day left to vote and I'm trailing by 3. I doubt I can make that up, but I definitely can't if people don't vote. SO PLEASE VOTE!
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(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)
Congrats to IcarriFA on another CCL victory, and on an overall stellar year. Awesome work! I really thought I'd give you a run for your money, but alas, it wasn't even all that close. I'd be curious to know where my cards fell short. For instance, I'd love to know which of my entries kjsharp felt was a bust. On that note, I wrote up some quick crits for IcariiFA's cards. @IcariiFA....Would you prefer I PM you my thoughts on your cards, or should I just post them here? At this point, it would probably make more sense to PM them to you. I didn't want to post them while the voting was still going on for fear of influencing people's votes.
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(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)
Congrats to IcarriFA on another CCL victory, and on an overall stellar year. Awesome work! I really thought I'd give you a run for your money, but alas, it wasn't even all that close. I'd be curious to know where my cards fell short. For instance, I'd love to know which of my entries kjsharp felt was a bust. On that note, I wrote up some quick crits for IcariiFA's cards. @IcariiFA....Would you prefer I PM you my thoughts on your cards, or should I just post them here? At this point, it would probably make more sense to PM them to you. I didn't want to post them while the voting was still going on for fear of influencing people's votes.
Thanks man. Can't win them all, but I got ya this go round!
You can post your critiques here. I was going to do the same for you once the voting was done. I think both of our entries had highlights for sure. I'm also curious for some more expanded thoughts from kjsharp and other voters.
Karak, Valley of the Wandering - This card is very cool. I worry a bit about the last ability in EDH, but it's probably fine. It certainly would go nicely with Nivynerral's Disc. Awesome work.
Teferi Reignited - Teferi regaining his spark would certainly be cool (and inevitable, IMO). I would think he would have more to do with time than your card portrays though. The flash ability does have a bit of time flavor to it, and it is one of the aspects of his creature card, so the first ability makes sense for him. The middle ability doesn't scream Teferi to me, and the last ability seems too strong. If it goes off, you pretty much win the game. That seems a bit strong for 6 loyalty on a 4 CMC, 4 starting loyalty walker. The fact that the +1 ability doesn't protect him on its own helps offset this a bit, but I still think the last ability is too strong as is. Assuming the card was toned down a bit, I think this is a nice blue 'walker, but I'm just not sure would be Teferi.
Luba, the Awakener - A Bear commander just doesn't excite me much. It could be because there just haven't really been any exciting bears over the years. The eminence ability would be really strong if there were enough bears in the deck, possibly too strong. The tie-in between the two abilities seems a bit weird at first because generally you're going to put a +1/+1 on each of your bears right before you cast Luba, but I suppose it works to combat against blink abuse, which is probably a pretty good idea. Also, shouldn't the last ability be "....., create a 2/2 green Bear for each Bear you control with a +1/+1 counter on it"?
Lorilldris, Malady Weaver - Signature spell is a cool idea, but I'm wondering what the other signature spells would be. It seems like curse would be a lot worse than say, creature, or enchantment, if for no other reason, there are just a lot more of them to choose from (curses are enchantments after all). I suppose you could make the other signature spells Trap, Arcane, and Human (or some other creature type), but there aren't a lot of options beyond that that I can think of. Anyway, assuming there was a cool way to balance the signature spells.....I'm not sure why this is an Elf. The way it's flavored, I really want this to be a UBR Vampire or Human Wizard. Other than that minor quibble (and assuming signature spell could be properly balanced), I quite like Lorilldris.
Conjoined Power - This is a very nice common. I really like the flavor the ability brings to mind, which is tied in rather nicely with the name and flavor text. I feel all the 2's on the card help with this as well. Excellent job.
I'd be happy to have further discussion on my thoughts if you'd like. That's kinda why I figured a PM might be the way to go.
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(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)
Ok, so, the promised feedback. As I said earlier in this thread, I really enjoyed reading both of your designs. They were excellent.
This was the entry I liked the least from both of you. I was looking for a card that would have made Standard better, that I would have wanted to have seen in Standard this past year, and neither of these cards seemed to be designed with that in mind. Both are fine cards in their own right, well balanced, one a fun Limited card and the other just one of those cards that gets made. I really liked Vile Redeemer when it was spoiled, but it proved clunky in practice. It's fine to print those cards, of course, but it was the only card you designed IcariiFA that I didn't "love".
Also, Flatline, it's always nice to improve your vocabulary by having fun. Magic and Diablo taught me a lot of words as a child, and you taught me hearse!
These were both very nice entries. Teferi is a very nice card. Fun and innovative and fresh, which is hard to do for a Planeswalker. It bears a strong enough likeness to Teferi himself that I was excited reading the card, and I expect others would be too. I think I'd want a different ultimate - the one you have is unnecessarily incredible given how quick you get to it. The card is at its best against Control anyway, so having an ultimate read "you win the game" against Control seems like an odd choice.
Flatline, I think your gut intuition and wisdom cost you here, which is unfortunate. I suspect you would have gotten at least one more vote if this poll had been shifted back one week. When I first read the card I thought it was good but a tad underpowered. I like the style of card, and it's probably important for Standard to have these sorts of cards (which, oddly, it doesn't have at the moment, although Ghalta looks primed to take over that role if what I'm hearing from pros bears out). After playing in the MTGO Beta over the past few weeks, though, my opinion on your card changed - I think it is balanced and at the right power level. I might make it a 4/5 or a 5/4, but it's much closer than I had first thought. Ascend is easier to reach than most people had expected, myself included.
I'm less adept at judging Commander cards. This was my favorite entry by Flatline, as I absolutely love this demon card. Powerful, fun, and exciting, I genuinely hope that this will see print in the future. Icarii - I like yours as well. I am a bit worried about its power level (it seems very very strong), but this didn't bother me much because I don't claim to be a Commander expert. Do you think that the card is too linear? What possibilities open up to us when we see this card? What "depth" do you see in it?
Both of these cards are excellent. This was my favorite card you designed Icarii. Incredibly innovative. I'm mulling over various alternative ways to implement "signature spell", and all of them don't allow you to make the commander itself both powerful yet balanced, so perhaps yours is the best way. I considered having the Commander put the spell onto the battlefield when you cast the Commander, having the signature spell behave in much the same way as the Commander itself so that the two are sort of like "partners", etc etc. So perhaps yours is the way to go. You'd have to ask people more invested and experienced in Commander what they would like to see. Like Flatline, I strongly think you need to change the creature type. This ain't an elf.
This Nicol Bolas is a real beauty Flatline. Apart from the rules issues/questions I've already raised with you, I think this is a really exciting, fun, and balanced card. People would be genuinely excited to play with it. I'm very happy with it as written, but perhaps one thing you could work on the card further would be to raise the loyalty and rejigger the CMC and loyalty ratios to make him appear "bigger and badder". I'd try to do so merely for optical reasons, so I'd try to do it in such a way that didn't alter its power level in any meaningful way.
I didn't understand this challenge, and apparently y'all didn't either. Flatline's "mono-green" card isn't for mono-green, and Icarii's "interesting common" card is more cute than interesting (of course, what does "interesting" mean in English anyway? Is there a more vacuous word in our language?). But moving beyond that, I think both cards are well-designed. I especially like Flatline's --> I'd like to see that card printed. People would really like it! Icarii, I really like how you move beyond traditional WB synergies revolving around life and highlight a fault-line between Black and White in one card. I think people would be excited to play with it for its novelty.
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Challenge
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝
Flatline's merfolk card really needed to have been printed in Rivals. I'm kinda of disappointed in Wizards for not printing Enemy duals this set. When they went back to the old yearly rotation schedule, putting the next land cycle in Rivals of Ixalan or Dominaria would make no legality difference, yet a whole host of archetypes would have opened up this season by bumping up that schedule by one set. WB Vampires, UG Merfolk, and UR Pirates are unplayable this Standard season as a result, which is a shame.
I think UG Merfolk will be tier 1 next season, and WB Vampires might make it there too. RB Pirates and W Vampire Monument have what it takes this season to be tier 1 as long as Attune to Aether is banned.
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝
You can post your critiques here. I was going to do the same for you once the voting was done. I think both of our entries had highlights for sure. I'm also curious for some more expanded thoughts from kjsharp and other voters.
Teferi Reignited - Teferi regaining his spark would certainly be cool (and inevitable, IMO). I would think he would have more to do with time than your card portrays though. The flash ability does have a bit of time flavor to it, and it is one of the aspects of his creature card, so the first ability makes sense for him. The middle ability doesn't scream Teferi to me, and the last ability seems too strong. If it goes off, you pretty much win the game. That seems a bit strong for 6 loyalty on a 4 CMC, 4 starting loyalty walker. The fact that the +1 ability doesn't protect him on its own helps offset this a bit, but I still think the last ability is too strong as is. Assuming the card was toned down a bit, I think this is a nice blue 'walker, but I'm just not sure would be Teferi.
Luba, the Awakener - A Bear commander just doesn't excite me much. It could be because there just haven't really been any exciting bears over the years. The eminence ability would be really strong if there were enough bears in the deck, possibly too strong. The tie-in between the two abilities seems a bit weird at first because generally you're going to put a +1/+1 on each of your bears right before you cast Luba, but I suppose it works to combat against blink abuse, which is probably a pretty good idea. Also, shouldn't the last ability be "....., create a 2/2 green Bear for each Bear you control with a +1/+1 counter on it"?
Lorilldris, Malady Weaver - Signature spell is a cool idea, but I'm wondering what the other signature spells would be. It seems like curse would be a lot worse than say, creature, or enchantment, if for no other reason, there are just a lot more of them to choose from (curses are enchantments after all). I suppose you could make the other signature spells Trap, Arcane, and Human (or some other creature type), but there aren't a lot of options beyond that that I can think of. Anyway, assuming there was a cool way to balance the signature spells.....I'm not sure why this is an Elf. The way it's flavored, I really want this to be a UBR Vampire or Human Wizard. Other than that minor quibble (and assuming signature spell could be properly balanced), I quite like Lorilldris.
Conjoined Power - This is a very nice common. I really like the flavor the ability brings to mind, which is tied in rather nicely with the name and flavor text. I feel all the 2's on the card help with this as well. Excellent job.
Also, Flatline, it's always nice to improve your vocabulary by having fun. Magic and Diablo taught me a lot of words as a child, and you taught me hearse!
Flatline, I think your gut intuition and wisdom cost you here, which is unfortunate. I suspect you would have gotten at least one more vote if this poll had been shifted back one week. When I first read the card I thought it was good but a tad underpowered. I like the style of card, and it's probably important for Standard to have these sorts of cards (which, oddly, it doesn't have at the moment, although Ghalta looks primed to take over that role if what I'm hearing from pros bears out). After playing in the MTGO Beta over the past few weeks, though, my opinion on your card changed - I think it is balanced and at the right power level. I might make it a 4/5 or a 5/4, but it's much closer than I had first thought. Ascend is easier to reach than most people had expected, myself included.
This Nicol Bolas is a real beauty Flatline. Apart from the rules issues/questions I've already raised with you, I think this is a really exciting, fun, and balanced card. People would be genuinely excited to play with it. I'm very happy with it as written, but perhaps one thing you could work on the card further would be to raise the loyalty and rejigger the CMC and loyalty ratios to make him appear "bigger and badder". I'd try to do so merely for optical reasons, so I'd try to do it in such a way that didn't alter its power level in any meaningful way.