Welcome to the Card Creation League! Everyone is free to participate in either or both of the first two rounds. Come join us!
Theme
This month we're going to build (or rebuild) a character in a kind of roundabout way. Won't spoil any more than that.
Third, finally we've fleshed out this person enough for them to show their face...
Challenge
Design your character! In other words, design a legendary creature or planeswalker card that represents the character you used in the previous two rounds.
No color restriction this time.
Make sure to include a rarity.
PLEASE NOTE: This month will continue the use of the "Mandatory Top 3 Rule." For this month, you must submit a Top 3 during a round's critique period in order to receive any points for the round. Submitting critiques as well will be worth 2 bonus points in the round.
Azoth, the First Alchemist2UBG
Legendary Planeswalker - Azoth (MR)
|0|: Put two -1/-1 counters on target creature. If that creature dies this turn, for each -1/-1 counter on it, put a loyalty counter on Azoth, the First Alchemist or put a +1/+1 counter on target creature you control.
|0|: Discard a card. If you do, you may search your library for a card that shares a type with it and put it into your hand.
\-8/: You get an emblem with "At the beginning of your upkeep, choose up to three cards in your graveyard and shuffle them into your library. If there are at least three different card types among the cards chosen, you can't lose the game until the beginning of your next upkeep and your opponents can't win the game."
|3|
The Grim Captain2UBR
Legendary Creature - Human Pirate Wizard (M)
At the beginning of your end step, choose target creature card in a graveyard. If that card's power is less than or equal to the amount of damage dealt to its owner this turn by Pirates you control, return it to the battlefield under your control. 1B: Until end of turn, target creature you control gains menace and becomes a Pirate in addition to its other types.
3/3
Round 1: Salia’s Rebuttal2U
Instant {C}
This spell costs 2 less to cast if it’s your turn.
Counter target spell unless its controller pays 3. I think not.Feedback Actuator0
Artifact Creature - Servo {C}
Whenever Feedback Actuator attacks and isn’t blocked, sacrifice it. If you do, draw a card. Salia: “Well, it’s made from scraps, I was rushed, and it can’t turn left.”
Elwin: “So it won’t work?”
Salia: “Oh, I never said that.”
0/2
Salia, Cunning Strategist1U
Legendary Creature - Human Artificer {M}
Flash 1(R/W)(R/W): Create a 1/1 colorless Servo artifact creature token. If it’s your turn, it enters the battlefield tapped and attacking. Otherwise you may have it block an attacking creature. Activate this ability only during combat before the combat damage step.
1/2
Larion, Royal Librarian1UU
Legendary Creature — Human Wizard (M)
If you would draw one or more cards except the first one you draw in your draw step, draw that many cards plus one instead.
Larion, Royal Librarian can’t be blocked as long as you have seven or more cards in hand.
Whenever Larion, Royal Librarian deals combat damage to a player, you may draw a card. His vast knowledge and deep curiosity are what convinced the king to entrust the Royal Library to him.
1/4
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
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.)
Rhulor's Sowing3GU
Sorcery (R)
Create a 1/3 green Treefolk creature token. Scry X, where X is the number of creatures you control, then reveal the top two cards of your library. Put all land cards revealed this way onto the battlefield tapped and all nonland cards into your hand. For each plane, a seed. From each seed, insight.
---
Wandering Scion4G
Creature - Treefolk (UC)
At the beginning of your end step, put a +1/+1 counter on Wandering Scion if one or more other creatures entered the battlefield under your control this turn. “May the stories you hear become your leaves and bark, your roots and knots, until the day we meet again.”
— Rhulor, Gatherer of Lore 2/5
Rhulor, Gatherer of Lore4GU
Legendary Planeswalker - Rhulor (MR)
/+1\: Create a 1/3 green Treefolk creature token.
/+1\: Scry 1, then reveal the top card of your library. Put X +1/+1 counters on target creature you control, where X is the revealed card’s converted mana cost.
\-7/: You get an emblem with “At any time, you may look at the top three cards of your library and put them back in any order and/or play them.”
|3|
Mayael, Cylian General1RGW
Legendary Creature - Elf Shaman {M}
At the beginning of your upkeep, reveal cards from the top of your library until you reveal a creature card with power 5 or greater. Put that creature card onto the battlefield and the rest of the revealed cards on the bottom of your library in a random order. That creature gains haste until end of turn. Sacrifice it at the beginning of the next end step.
2/3
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
A mere ten days after the Mending, a young knight of Valeron and a young ranger of Eos made a discovery that would change Alara forever.
Dromoka, Guardian of the Wastes3GW
Legendary Creature - Elder Dragon (m)
Flying
Creatures you control have hexproof from planeswalkers.
Whenever an opponent casts a spell, put a +1/+1 counter on target creature you control. If it's your turn, put a +1/+1 counter on each creature you control instead. Don't be fooled. In the wastes, the sky is clear when Dromoka is watching and the air is silent when Dromoka is listening.
5/5
Flintlock:
Be prepared to have everyone tell you that you can't use -1/-1 and +1/+1 counters on the same card. I don't really see much reason to break that rule here, especially when tying them to a third type of counter. You forgot to shuffle after tutoring. The emblem is kind of neat but shuffling every turn is a pain.
Cardz:
This is a cool and fresh feeling Jeskai card, feels very much blue but with Boros added. Not sure I buy it at mythic but it seems fun.
bravelion:
Sure, on point for Library related abilities. The damage trigger is a bit odd for the flavor, I guess he is an aggressive librarian.
soramaro:
Tough ultimate to get to but I really like that ability, if it works. Is it supposed to give everything flash basically? And "play" as in lands too? The two plus abilities are fine and work well enough together. Seems a bit expensive depending on how powerful the ultimate actually is.
RaikouRider:
The concept is fine but 4-mana auto-Emrakul is clearly broken. I'm not sure what fixes it - at the very least, cut the search down to flipping one or two cards from the top.
Hemlock: Sunscorch Regent up to 11. Fits the colors and the previous iterations quite well.
I was just waiting for some signal. Don't have time today, I'll try to get these done by tomorrow night. EDIT: Now yesterday's tomorrow night is here, and so are my critiques.
No time to reread this right now, I hope there aren't too many typos (ideally none).
Azoth, the First Alchemist2BGU
Legendary Planeswalker - Azoth (M)
0: Put two -1/-1 counters on target creature. When that creature dies this turn, for each -1/-1 counter on it, put a loyalty counter on Azoth, the First Alchemist or put a +1/+1 counter on target creature you control.
0: Discard a card. If you do, you may search your library for a card that shares a type with it and put it into your hand.
-8: You get an emblem with "At the beginning of your upkeep, choose up to three cards in your graveyard and shuffle them into your library. If there are at least three different card types among the chosen cards, you can't lose the game until the beginning of your next upkeep and your opponents can't win the game."
3 Why??? Why are people still confusing "when" with "if" in Magic cards (in this case, in the first 0 ability)? Anyway, that first ability has also other rules problems: with this wording, when the delayed triggered ability triggers from a creature dying, you have to choose a target creature to get the +1/+1 counters even if you actually want to put the loyalty counters on Azoth. To work like you probably want it to, it should be a modal ability:
Put two -1/-1 counters on target creature. When that creature dies this turn, choose one -
• Put a loyalty counter on Azoth, the First Alchemist for each -1/-1 counter on that creature.
• Put a +1/+1 counter on target creature you control for each -1/-1 counter on that creature.
The "for each -1/-1 counter" is repeated in each mode to avoid you being able to split the counters. Unfortunately, that generates ambiguous text in the second mode (is "that creature" the one who died or the one that gets the +1/+1 counters?). To remove this ambiguity, you have to add even more text, something like:
• Put a +1/+1 counter on target creature you control for each -1/-1 counter on the dead creature.
but I don't actually remember any existing Magic card referring to a creature as "the dead creature". If you're instead open to allowing the player to split the counters, you could use a clearer wording:
Put two -1/-1 counters on target creature. When that creature dies this turn, for each -1/-1 counter on it, choose one -
• Put a loyalty counter on Azoth, the First Alchemist.
• Put a +1/+1 counter on target creature you control.
The word "target" being there forces you to put all the +1/+1 counters on the same creature, but you can split between loyalty counters and +1/+1 counters. For example, if the creature had only the two -1/-1 counters from this card as it died, I could put one loyalty counter on Azoth and one +1/+1 on a target creature (including another player's one). If the dead creature had already one -1/-1 counters on it, so it has three when it dies, I could choose any of the following: three loyalty counters on Azoth, two loyalty counters on Azoth and one +1/+1 counter on a target creature, one loyalty counter on Azoth and two +1/+1 counters on a single target creature, three +1/+1 counters on a single target creature. I'm not sure what your intent is, all of these might be valid design choices. And that's just the first ability. Let me read the other ones.
*reads*
Ok, at least the other 0 is fine. A couple things I noticed in the ultimate: first, why not target the three cards that will get shuffled? I see no reason not to. Second, and most importantly, as written the first time the emblem ability resolves it will protect you from losing for one turn cycle but it will prevent your opponents from winning for all the rest of the game (no duration is specified for that part of the ability). I don't think that's what you wanted. If you want both parts to last for one turn cycle, you either have to repeat "until the beginning of your next upkeep" or put it before. Either:
If there are at least three different card types among the chosen cards, you can't lose the game until the beginning of your next upkeep and your opponents can't win the game until the beginning of your next upkeep.
or
If there are at least three different card types among the chosen cards, until the beginning of your next upkeep, you can't lose the game and your opponents can't win the game.
But maybe you did want the two parts to work differently. Again, I have no way of knowing your intent, but I would heavily recommend the wording of the last box.
Another thing that worries me is the sheer amount of text. I don't think it all fits on the card, and the needed corrections require even more text. I think this card just has too much text.
I also want to mention some positive things:
- I really like the twist on delirium on the ultimate, and I think it fits Azoth's color identity very well.
- All three colors are represented, and that's not easy to do in a three-colored card. Maybe actually white should also be there ("your opponents can't win the game" has only been on monowhite or colorless cards so far, a Gatherer search confirmed that to me), but that's not a big problem.- The only way of increasing Azoth's loyalty is using their first ability (singular they as I'm not sure what gender, if any, Azoth is supposed to be), and that's very original.
Overall, a nice idea with a lot of execution problems in my eyes. I'm sorry.
The Grim Captain2UBR
Legendary Creature - Human Pirate Wizard (M)
At the beginning of your end step, choose target creature card in a graveyard. If that card's power is less than or equal to the amount of damage dealt to its owner this turn by Pirates you control, return it to the battlefield under your control. 1B: Until end of turn, target creature you control gains menace and becomes a Pirate in addition to its other types.
3/3 Ok, so if you dealt more damage with your Pirates than the dead creature's power, you get to reanimate it at end of turn. That's fine, it works, and it's quite original, but it honestly took me a couple reads to get exactly what the triggered ability does. The activated ability is also fine and it has a very nice synergy with the triggered ability. The only other remark I have is that I don't see much blue mechanically on this card. If it weren't for the Ixalan Pirate flavor, this could be a black-red card, or maybe even a monoblack one. I feel like this card is blue just because Pirates are Grixis-colored on Ixalan. We all know sometimes this happens with real cards too, but I don't like when a color is only justified by flavor on a card. Overall, none of these looks like a major issue though.
Salia, Cunning Strategist1U
Legendary Creature - Human Artificer (M)
Flash 1(R/W)(R/W): Create a 1/1 colorless Servo artifact creature token. If it’s your turn, it enters the battlefield tapped and attacking. Otherwise, you may have it block an attacking creature. Activate this ability only during combat before the combat damage step.
1/2 The last line of text, the restriction on the ability's activation, is probably necessary but really unelegant. I wish there was a way to avoid it. Anyway, this looks like a very original card to me while also being perfectly functional. You found new red-white hybrid design space that makes complete sense. I like that. I also like the syngery between the blue side of the card (flash) and the red-white ability, you can make suprise attacks and blocks very easily, you just need to have five mana to both cast this and activate it on the same turn. This card is also very easy to understand and no longer than it needs to be. I feel like I like this card more and more the more I think about it. That's good.
Rhulor, Gatherer of Lore4GU
Legendary Planeswalker - Rhulor (M)
+1: Create a 1/3 green Treefolk creature token.
+1: Scry 1, then reveal the top card of your library. Put X +1/+1 counters on target creature you control, where X is the revealed card’s converted mana cost.
-7: You get an emblem with “Any time, you may look at the top three cards of your library and put them back in any order and/or play them.”
3 Let's ignore the fact that "At any time" is used without the "at", as we've seen in recent sets, because of rules reasons ("at" at the start of an ability identifies it as triggered, which this is not supposed to be). I am just mentioning it because I wanted to explain why I removed the "at" from there.
I like the two +1 abilities. I like the ultimate a little less, I see it as very original but potentially confusing. Both colors are clearly represented on the card, and that's good. I feel like with some little adjustments to the ultimate, this could be a very good-looking card and probably not too far from being actually printable.
Mayael, Cylian General1RGW
Legendary Creature - Elf Shaman (M)
At the beginning of your upkeep, reveal cards from the top of your library until you reveal a creature card with power 5 or greater. Put that creature card onto the battlefield and the rest of the revealed cards on the bottom of your library in a random order. That creature gains haste until end of turn. Sacrifice it at the beginning of the next end step.
2/3 I like that this card is not too complicated and overall easy enough to understand despite the text being a little longer than maybe I would like it to be. I feel like this card is white only because of the Naya flavor. Mechanically, I think the card could just be red-green, and as I've already mentioned before I don't like very much when a color is not mechanically represented on a card and is there just for flavor, despite it sometimes happening with real cards too.
Dromoka, Guardian of the Wastes3GW
Legendary Creature - Elder Dragon (M)
Flying
Creatures you control have hexproof from planeswalkers.
Whenever an opponent casts a spell, put a +1/+1 counter on target creature you control. If it's your turn, put a +1/+1 counter on each creature you control instead. Don't be fooled. In the wastes, the sky is clear when Dromoka is watching and the air is silent when Dromoka is listening.
5/5 I think this is easily the most elegant card this round, and "hexproof from planeswalkers" is very original. I really like this card a lot. Both colors are also represented. I really am a big fan of this card.
Top 3
1st: Hemlock
2nd: Cardz5000
3rd: soramaro
p.s. - It's not intentional that it's the same as Gerrard's Mom. I actually only looked at their top 3 after writing mine and I was surprised to see us two having the same top 3, so I thought it was better to mention it not being intentional.
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.)
RaikouRaider: The way it looks for the card guarantees hitting a monstruosity for a very low cost. This comboes way too well with Emrakul
Soramaro: The emblem is pretty awesome and allowss some convoluted wins. I like how the middle ability kind of ties the first and the last.
bravelion: This guy coverd a lot of classically blue effects. Tue ability of doubling your damage trigger payoff can keep a stream of cards by itself if conditions are met. It might not be the most exciting mythic but it encompasses many of bñue core concepts.
Cardz5000: I always found the Jeskai legend from Tarkir a bit underwhelming becasue it didn't do anything quite different. This is mana intensive but has a niche use as a tool to fight combat restrictions and is also a useful token producer. I think the way it's worded (with no if able) makes the tokens able to block anything, I don't know if it was on purpose but I like it. The intensiveness in mana and the frailty of the body go a good way in balancing it
Gerrard's Mom: In lieu with convoluted damage triggers we're getting nowadays, this is a nice addition to a pirate deck. I feel the second ability is quite problematic. The Grim Captain itself does not need to do any work to get the goods, and pirates is a tribe with enough evasion already. I don't like the fact that it turns random creatures into pirates, probably getting the returned creatures to become pirates in arfition to their types would have been more flavorful and swift.
Flintlock: I absolutely love the 0: ability, but the others have their problems. Shuffling every turn is a bit annoying, but the unreliability of the effect is what I dislike the most: You work your way into an ulti that can be easily disrupted or that it spends itself off. The first one is a bit too convoluted and I'm sure that it can be simplified a bit.
Round 1: Azoth's DraughtUBG
Instant (U)
Until end of turn, target creature or planeswalker loses all abilities and becomes a green Ooze creature with base power and toughness 1/1, then destroy it. Trespassing upon Azoth's atelier is its own punishment.Round 2: Faceless Assistant2U
Creature - Homunculus (U)
When Faceless Assistant enters the battlefield, you may search your library for a sorcery or instant card and reveal it. If you do, shuffle your library and put that card on top of it.
When Faceless Assistant dies, shuffle your library. "Long ago, I would sculpt them with bespoke features. I'd ascribe each a name and praise each task complete. I cannot remember why."
- Azoth, the First Alchemist.
1/3
Azoth, the First Alchemist2UBG
Legendary Planeswalker - Azoth (MR)
|0|: Put two -1/-1 counters on target creature. If that creature dies this turn, for each -1/-1 counter on it, put a loyalty counter on Azoth, the First Alchemist or put a +1/+1 counter on target creature you control.
|0|: Discard a card. If you do, you may search your library for a card that shares a type with it and put it into your hand.
\-8/: You get an emblem with "At the beginning of your upkeep, choose up to three cards in your graveyard and shuffle them into your library. If there are at least three different card types among the cards chosen, you can't lose the game until the beginning of your next upkeep and your opponents can't win the game."
|3|.Obligatory no +1/+1 and -1/-1 counters remark. The emblem is meh for a 5-mana three-color walker.
Round 1: Grim Captain's ExplorationUB
Sorcery (C)
Choose up to three cards at random from your graveyard. Return each land card chosen this way to your hand. You may put any of the rest on top of your library in any order. Some crews are drawn not by treasure, but by those who sought treasure and failed.Round 2: Shinsnapper Croc2BR
Creature - Zombie Crocodile (U)
Whenever a creature you control attacks, you may pay BR and sacrifice that creature. If you do, return Shinsnapper Croc from your graveyard to the battlefield tapped and attacking. "It keeps the crew from straggling, and it's usually still hungry when it catches up to the enemy.'
- The Grim Captain
4/3
The Grim Captain2UBR
Legendary Creature - Human Pirate Wizard (M)
At the beginning of your end step, choose target creature card in a graveyard. If that card's power is less than or equal to the amount of damage dealt to its owner this turn by Pirates you control, return it to the battlefield under your control. 1B: Until end of turn, target creature you control gains menace and becomes a Pirate in addition to its other types.
3/3Making creatures Pirates would normally just be cool flavored trinket text, but in this case its made relevant by their first ability. Feels very grixis, Piratey, and necromancy. I would have liked to see some Rise from the Grave type text making the reanimated creatures zombie pirates.
Round 1: Larion’s ResearchXXUU
Sorcery (R)
Draw X cards. Return up to X target instant or sorcery cards from your graveyard to your hand. The king of Neburron had tasked him with guarding the royal library. After it was burned down in an act of vandalism, he took it upon himself to rewrite down all the knowledge of the world and rebuild it.Round 2: Incendiary Vandal3RR
Creature — Human Rogue (R)
When Incendiary Vandal enters the battlefield, destroy all artifacts. For each permanent destroyed this way, Incendiary Vandal deals 2 damage to that permanent’s controller. “The Royal Library of Neburron was the jewel of our kingdom. May whoever burned it down also experience the pain of seeing what you love consumed by flames.”
—Larion, Royal Librarian
2/2
Larion, Royal Librarian1UU
Legendary Creature — Human Wizard (M)
If you would draw one or more cards except the first one you draw in your draw step, draw that many cards plus one instead.
Larion, Royal Librarian can’t be blocked as long as you have seven or more cards in hand.
Whenever Larion, Royal Librarian deals combat damage to a player, you may draw a card. His vast knowledge and deep curiosity are what convinced the king to entrust the Royal Library to him.
1/4The bluest blue you could ever blue. The unblockable condition is very flavorful for someone who has all the information.
Round 1: Rhulor's Sowing3GU
Sorcery (R)
Create a 1/3 green Treefolk creature token. Scry X, where X is the number of creatures you control, then reveal the top two cards of your library. Put all land cards revealed this way onto the battlefield tapped and all nonland cards into your hand. For each plane, a seed. From each seed, insight.Round 2: Wandering Scion4G
Creature - Treefolk (UC)
At the beginning of your end step, put a +1/+1 counter on Wandering Scion if one or more other creatures entered the battlefield under your control this turn. “May the stories you hear become your leaves and bark, your roots and knots, until the day we meet again.”
— Rhulor, Gatherer of Lore 2/5
Rhulor, Gatherer of Lore4GU
Legendary Planeswalker - Rhulor (MR)
/+1\: Create a 1/3 green Treefolk creature token.
/+1\: Scry 1, then reveal the top card of your library. Put X +1/+1 counters on target creature you control, where X is the revealed card’s converted mana cost.
\-7/: You get an emblem with “At any time, you may look at the top three cards of your library and put them back in any order and/or play them.”
|3|The emblem reads like one of the old abilities that is now re-written to be a zero cost activated ability. The two + abilites work really well to protect him while he gets ready to ult.
Round 1: Chant of the AnimaRGW
Instant {R}
Search your library for a creature card and reveal that card. Shuffle your library, then put the card in your hand or on top of your library.
Until the end of your next turn, creature spells with power 5 or greater you cast cost 2 less to cast.Round 2: Valleyblazer Thoctar6RG
Creature - Beast {R}
Trample
Whenever Valleyblazer Thoctar enters the battlefield or attacks, it deals damage equal to its power to any target. "Now you see why the Valley of the Ancients has remained untouched by civilization since the dawn of Alara."
- Mayael the Anima 6/6
Mayael, Cylian General1RGW
Legendary Creature - Elf Shaman {M}
At the beginning of your upkeep, reveal cards from the top of your library until you reveal a creature card with power 5 or greater. Put that creature card onto the battlefield and the rest of the revealed cards on the bottom of your library in a random order. That creature gains haste until end of turn. Sacrifice it at the beginning of the next end step.
2/3When divorced from the mechanical identity of the shards, this card feels more BRG than RGW. In a low creature deck, this gets very broken.
Round 1: Dromoka's BreathGW
Instant (u)
Dromoka's Breath deals 3 damage to target attacking or blocking creature.
Target attacking or blocking creature gets +3/+3 until end of turn. The same beam of light fills friendly souls with warmth and burns the hostile onesRound 2: Radiant Scaletender4W
Creature - Dragon (r)
Flash
Flying
At the end of each turn, put a +1/+1 counter on each creature you control that has been dealt damage this turn. "Each of your scars will be covered by the scales of my brood" - Dromoka, translated from Draconic.
3/4
Dromoka, Guardian of the Wastes3GW
Legendary Creature - Elder Dragon (m)
Flying
Creatures you control have hexproof from planeswalkers.
Whenever an opponent casts a spell, put a +1/+1 counter on target creature you control. If it's your turn, put a +1/+1 counter on each creature you control instead. Don't be fooled. In the wastes, the sky is clear when Dromoka is watching and the air is silent when Dromoka is listening.
5/5This nails the Dromoka flavor. I like the "If it's your turn" clause diles up the green aspects of the card
Bleh; I got way too caught up in my own head making Azoth. I should've just stuck with one of my previous ideas. Ah well.
Under construction
A nice and flavourful card that feels appropriate for a flying Dutchman figure/legendary necromancer pirate.
While the abilities somewhat tie back to the previous cards, I can't help feel that Rhulor's abilities are kinda generic, besides the fact he creates Treefolk?
I like the 'throwback' to the 'on your turn' clause of Dragonlord Dromoka, plus the tie in to the general Abzan counter theme. Overall, it's maybe a bit on the over the curve side, though.
While probably a very fun casual card when it's allowed to see the start of your next turn, this seems like it's going to get gibbed a lot. Additionally, the effect doesn't seem very white (especially with the sacrifice clause).
>Curiosity
>'Knowledge'
Very clever . The card itself might be a little bit overpowered (?), but I like the general idea regardless.
For what it does, this seems like a really big mana investment and, beyond its initial surprise factor, the ability seems kinda overly specific for what it's doing. Beyond that, it's a token generator. It's okay (and having flash makes it a bit more unusual), but it's kinda just eh.
Hemlock: Dromoka, Guardian of the Wastes
So for 1W more, Managorger Hydra loses trample, gets +4/+4 and gains flying, can pump all creatures, not just itself and has an additional PW-hate ability. That’s a lot of stuff. I like both the planeswalker hate and the pump ability, but on the same card, they feel a bit disjointed and excessive to me, even though they both care about creatures. It’s understandable that you want another ability other than the one caring about PWs, because depending on what PWs your opponents is running, it may or may not be trinket text. However, as a second component, the pump ability feels a little too heavy to me, not necessarily because it breaks any formats, but because it’s relevancy is just so much higher.
RaikouRider: Mayael, Cylian General
I know next to nothing about Mayael, but from the card’s I’ve seen her on, she doesn’t strike me as a person that would be a general. In the mechanical context of Alara, because the creature has to be sacrificed at EOT, the ability feels like a cross between Naya and Grixis – or possibly Jund. Either way, it doesn’t give off a vibe of ‘pure Naya-ness’, which, at least to me, is implied with the character and card name choice. From a gameplay perspective, the card is certainly very powerful, but the fact that she ‘does nothing’ the turn she comes into play scales the power down to an acceptable level imo. Of course the no-brainer idea would be to play her in a deck with Emrakul and no other creatures with CMC>5, and I really don’t like how the Eldrazi have transformed decks that care about big creatures as a whole – but that’s not something your design is responsible for.
Bravelion83: Larion, Royal Librarian
The first ability is very appropriate for a librarian. The other two though? Not so much, I think. OK, maybe the unblockability means that he’s so knowledgeable that he ‘knows his way around’, so to say, and thus knows how to avoid dangers. But, especially when combined with the third ability, it really feels like the ability for a rouge type or a more practically oriented kind of wizard, not a librarian. Mechanics-wise, I also think all abilities synergize with each other a little too smoothly. In a blue deck, getting to seven cards or making Larion unblockable in another way shouldn’t be a huge problem, and once you get in one or two hits, he’s a self-fueling engine. The fact that his toughness is 4 also echoes this over-optimizedness – it basically screams “yes, I’m boltproof!”. Removing either the third or second ability would have made the card more interesting imo. In fact, I think the card would have been fine (even as a Mythic) with just the first ability, maybe at UU and a reduced butt size.
Cardz5000: Salia, Cunning Strategist
Amusingly this mirrors your critique of my card in a way, but I think the activated ability reads pretty ‘old-fashioned’. All that extra wording is essentially only really relevant during the turn Salia enters the battlefield, making her into a 5-mana (or 8-mana) combat trick. In most cases however, just having her make a 1/1 Servo token with haste would fulfill the exact same function. Granted, that would make it impossible for the activation cost to feature hybrid mana. But at two colored mana symbols, you have to have pretty heavy access to W and R anyway to enable multiple uses, so making it 1RW wouldn’t change this all too much.
Gerrard’s Mom: The Grim Captain
There are definitely strong parallels to Admiral Beckett Brass here, but that’s understandable since taking control of something based on combat results is very pirate-y. This card puts an interesting and flavorfully fitting spin on the concept, however and, thanks to the second ability, is also way more suited for a Pirate EDH deck. I think this is my favourite card from this round.
Flintlock: Azoth, the First Alchemist
My first thought was ‘that’s an awul lot of text’. I’m not sure how it would look on an actual magic card layout. I like the unorthodox approach to increasing the number of loyalty counters on a PW. However, the ability has so much flexibility that the second 0-ability feels needlessly overpowered on the card. I definitely think it should be a minus-abilits, even if it was just -1. The ultimate is fitting for an alchemist, it immediately makes you think of ingredients for some immortality elixir. As far as ultimates go, it seems a bit ‘wobbly’ in the sense that it doesn’t guarantee you a win very easily.
“Force of Personality”
Multani, Yavimaya's Avatar, taken from MTGGoldfish, by Ryan Yee and Wizards of the Coast
Theme
This month we're going to build (or rebuild) a character in a kind of roundabout way. Won't spoil any more than that.
Third, finally we've fleshed out this person enough for them to show their face...
Challenge
PLEASE NOTE: This month will continue the use of the "Mandatory Top 3 Rule." For this month, you must submit a Top 3 during a round's critique period in order to receive any points for the round. Submitting critiques as well will be worth 2 bonus points in the round.
Contestants:
Flintlock
Gerrard's Mom
soramaro
Hemlock
RaikouRider
bravelion83
Cardz5000
Jimmy Groove
Schedule
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝
Legendary Planeswalker - Azoth (MR)
|0|: Put two -1/-1 counters on target creature. If that creature dies this turn, for each -1/-1 counter on it, put a loyalty counter on Azoth, the First Alchemist or put a +1/+1 counter on target creature you control.
|0|: Discard a card. If you do, you may search your library for a card that shares a type with it and put it into your hand.
\-8/: You get an emblem with "At the beginning of your upkeep, choose up to three cards in your graveyard and shuffle them into your library. If there are at least three different card types among the cards chosen, you can't lose the game until the beginning of your next upkeep and your opponents can't win the game."
|3|
Legendary Creature - Human Pirate Wizard (M)
At the beginning of your end step, choose target creature card in a graveyard. If that card's power is less than or equal to the amount of damage dealt to its owner this turn by Pirates you control, return it to the battlefield under your control.
1B: Until end of turn, target creature you control gains menace and becomes a Pirate in addition to its other types.
3/3
Salia’s Rebuttal 2U
Instant {C}
This spell costs 2 less to cast if it’s your turn.
Counter target spell unless its controller pays 3.
I think not.
Feedback Actuator 0
Artifact Creature - Servo {C}
Whenever Feedback Actuator attacks and isn’t blocked, sacrifice it. If you do, draw a card.
Salia: “Well, it’s made from scraps, I was rushed, and it can’t turn left.”
Elwin: “So it won’t work?”
Salia: “Oh, I never said that.”
0/2
Legendary Creature - Human Artificer {M}
Flash
1(R/W)(R/W): Create a 1/1 colorless Servo artifact creature token. If it’s your turn, it enters the battlefield tapped and attacking. Otherwise you may have it block an attacking creature. Activate this ability only during combat before the combat damage step.
1/2
Legendary Creature — Human Wizard (M)
If you would draw one or more cards except the first one you draw in your draw step, draw that many cards plus one instead.
Larion, Royal Librarian can’t be blocked as long as you have seven or more cards in hand.
Whenever Larion, Royal Librarian deals combat damage to a player, you may draw a card.
His vast knowledge and deep curiosity are what convinced the king to entrust the Royal Library to him.
1/4
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.)
Sorcery (R)
Create a 1/3 green Treefolk creature token. Scry X, where X is the number of creatures you control, then reveal the top two cards of your library. Put all land cards revealed this way onto the battlefield tapped and all nonland cards into your hand.
For each plane, a seed. From each seed, insight.
---
Wandering Scion 4G
Creature - Treefolk (UC)
At the beginning of your end step, put a +1/+1 counter on Wandering Scion if one or more other creatures entered the battlefield under your control this turn.
“May the stories you hear become your leaves and bark, your roots and knots, until the day we meet again.”
— Rhulor, Gatherer of Lore
2/5
Legendary Planeswalker - Rhulor (MR)
/+1\: Create a 1/3 green Treefolk creature token.
/+1\: Scry 1, then reveal the top card of your library. Put X +1/+1 counters on target creature you control, where X is the revealed card’s converted mana cost.
\-7/: You get an emblem with “At any time, you may look at the top three cards of your library and put them back in any order and/or play them.”
|3|
Legendary Creature - Elf Shaman {M}
At the beginning of your upkeep, reveal cards from the top of your library until you reveal a creature card with power 5 or greater. Put that creature card onto the battlefield and the rest of the revealed cards on the bottom of your library in a random order. That creature gains haste until end of turn. Sacrifice it at the beginning of the next end step.
2/3
Emille, Seven-Sting Dancer Shalin Nariya
Legendary Creature - Elder Dragon (m)
Flying
Creatures you control have hexproof from planeswalkers.
Whenever an opponent casts a spell, put a +1/+1 counter on target creature you control. If it's your turn, put a +1/+1 counter on each creature you control instead.
Don't be fooled. In the wastes, the sky is clear when Dromoka is watching and the air is silent when Dromoka is listening.
5/5
Flintlock:
Be prepared to have everyone tell you that you can't use -1/-1 and +1/+1 counters on the same card. I don't really see much reason to break that rule here, especially when tying them to a third type of counter. You forgot to shuffle after tutoring. The emblem is kind of neat but shuffling every turn is a pain.
Cardz:
This is a cool and fresh feeling Jeskai card, feels very much blue but with Boros added. Not sure I buy it at mythic but it seems fun.
bravelion:
Sure, on point for Library related abilities. The damage trigger is a bit odd for the flavor, I guess he is an aggressive librarian.
soramaro:
Tough ultimate to get to but I really like that ability, if it works. Is it supposed to give everything flash basically? And "play" as in lands too? The two plus abilities are fine and work well enough together. Seems a bit expensive depending on how powerful the ultimate actually is.
RaikouRider:
The concept is fine but 4-mana auto-Emrakul is clearly broken. I'm not sure what fixes it - at the very least, cut the search down to flipping one or two cards from the top.
Hemlock:
Sunscorch Regent up to 11. Fits the colors and the previous iterations quite well.
2. Cardz5000
3. soramaro
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝
No time to reread this right now, I hope there aren't too many typos (ideally none).
Azoth, the First Alchemist 2BGU
Legendary Planeswalker - Azoth (M)
0: Put two -1/-1 counters on target creature. When that creature dies this turn, for each -1/-1 counter on it, put a loyalty counter on Azoth, the First Alchemist or put a +1/+1 counter on target creature you control.
0: Discard a card. If you do, you may search your library for a card that shares a type with it and put it into your hand.
-8: You get an emblem with "At the beginning of your upkeep, choose up to three cards in your graveyard and shuffle them into your library. If there are at least three different card types among the chosen cards, you can't lose the game until the beginning of your next upkeep and your opponents can't win the game."
3
Why??? Why are people still confusing "when" with "if" in Magic cards (in this case, in the first 0 ability)? Anyway, that first ability has also other rules problems: with this wording, when the delayed triggered ability triggers from a creature dying, you have to choose a target creature to get the +1/+1 counters even if you actually want to put the loyalty counters on Azoth. To work like you probably want it to, it should be a modal ability:
• Put a loyalty counter on Azoth, the First Alchemist for each -1/-1 counter on that creature.
• Put a +1/+1 counter on target creature you control for each -1/-1 counter on that creature.
• Put a loyalty counter on Azoth, the First Alchemist.
• Put a +1/+1 counter on target creature you control.
*reads*
Ok, at least the other 0 is fine. A couple things I noticed in the ultimate: first, why not target the three cards that will get shuffled? I see no reason not to. Second, and most importantly, as written the first time the emblem ability resolves it will protect you from losing for one turn cycle but it will prevent your opponents from winning for all the rest of the game (no duration is specified for that part of the ability). I don't think that's what you wanted. If you want both parts to last for one turn cycle, you either have to repeat "until the beginning of your next upkeep" or put it before. Either:
Another thing that worries me is the sheer amount of text. I don't think it all fits on the card, and the needed corrections require even more text. I think this card just has too much text.
I also want to mention some positive things:
- I really like the twist on delirium on the ultimate, and I think it fits Azoth's color identity very well.
- All three colors are represented, and that's not easy to do in a three-colored card. Maybe actually white should also be there ("your opponents can't win the game" has only been on monowhite or colorless cards so far, a Gatherer search confirmed that to me), but that's not a big problem.- The only way of increasing Azoth's loyalty is using their first ability (singular they as I'm not sure what gender, if any, Azoth is supposed to be), and that's very original.
Overall, a nice idea with a lot of execution problems in my eyes. I'm sorry.
The Grim Captain 2UBR
Legendary Creature - Human Pirate Wizard (M)
At the beginning of your end step, choose target creature card in a graveyard. If that card's power is less than or equal to the amount of damage dealt to its owner this turn by Pirates you control, return it to the battlefield under your control.
1B: Until end of turn, target creature you control gains menace and becomes a Pirate in addition to its other types.
3/3
Ok, so if you dealt more damage with your Pirates than the dead creature's power, you get to reanimate it at end of turn. That's fine, it works, and it's quite original, but it honestly took me a couple reads to get exactly what the triggered ability does. The activated ability is also fine and it has a very nice synergy with the triggered ability. The only other remark I have is that I don't see much blue mechanically on this card. If it weren't for the Ixalan Pirate flavor, this could be a black-red card, or maybe even a monoblack one. I feel like this card is blue just because Pirates are Grixis-colored on Ixalan. We all know sometimes this happens with real cards too, but I don't like when a color is only justified by flavor on a card. Overall, none of these looks like a major issue though.
Salia, Cunning Strategist 1U
Legendary Creature - Human Artificer (M)
Flash
1(R/W)(R/W): Create a 1/1 colorless Servo artifact creature token. If it’s your turn, it enters the battlefield tapped and attacking. Otherwise, you may have it block an attacking creature. Activate this ability only during combat before the combat damage step.
1/2
The last line of text, the restriction on the ability's activation, is probably necessary but really unelegant. I wish there was a way to avoid it. Anyway, this looks like a very original card to me while also being perfectly functional. You found new red-white hybrid design space that makes complete sense. I like that. I also like the syngery between the blue side of the card (flash) and the red-white ability, you can make suprise attacks and blocks very easily, you just need to have five mana to both cast this and activate it on the same turn. This card is also very easy to understand and no longer than it needs to be. I feel like I like this card more and more the more I think about it. That's good.
Rhulor, Gatherer of Lore 4GU
Legendary Planeswalker - Rhulor (M)
+1: Create a 1/3 green Treefolk creature token.
+1: Scry 1, then reveal the top card of your library. Put X +1/+1 counters on target creature you control, where X is the revealed card’s converted mana cost.
-7: You get an emblem with “Any time, you may look at the top three cards of your library and put them back in any order and/or play them.”
3
Let's ignore the fact that "At any time" is used without the "at", as we've seen in recent sets, because of rules reasons ("at" at the start of an ability identifies it as triggered, which this is not supposed to be). I am just mentioning it because I wanted to explain why I removed the "at" from there.
I like the two +1 abilities. I like the ultimate a little less, I see it as very original but potentially confusing. Both colors are clearly represented on the card, and that's good. I feel like with some little adjustments to the ultimate, this could be a very good-looking card and probably not too far from being actually printable.
Mayael, Cylian General 1RGW
Legendary Creature - Elf Shaman (M)
At the beginning of your upkeep, reveal cards from the top of your library until you reveal a creature card with power 5 or greater. Put that creature card onto the battlefield and the rest of the revealed cards on the bottom of your library in a random order. That creature gains haste until end of turn. Sacrifice it at the beginning of the next end step.
2/3
I like that this card is not too complicated and overall easy enough to understand despite the text being a little longer than maybe I would like it to be. I feel like this card is white only because of the Naya flavor. Mechanically, I think the card could just be red-green, and as I've already mentioned before I don't like very much when a color is not mechanically represented on a card and is there just for flavor, despite it sometimes happening with real cards too.
Dromoka, Guardian of the Wastes 3GW
Legendary Creature - Elder Dragon (M)
Flying
Creatures you control have hexproof from planeswalkers.
Whenever an opponent casts a spell, put a +1/+1 counter on target creature you control. If it's your turn, put a +1/+1 counter on each creature you control instead.
Don't be fooled. In the wastes, the sky is clear when Dromoka is watching and the air is silent when Dromoka is listening.
5/5
I think this is easily the most elegant card this round, and "hexproof from planeswalkers" is very original. I really like this card a lot. Both colors are also represented. I really am a big fan of this card.
Top 3
1st: Hemlock
2nd: Cardz5000
3rd: soramaro
p.s. - It's not intentional that it's the same as Gerrard's Mom. I actually only looked at their top 3 after writing mine and I was surprised to see us two having the same top 3, so I thought it was better to mention it not being intentional.
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.)
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝
RaikouRaider: The way it looks for the card guarantees hitting a monstruosity for a very low cost. This comboes way too well with Emrakul
Soramaro: The emblem is pretty awesome and allowss some convoluted wins. I like how the middle ability kind of ties the first and the last.
bravelion: This guy coverd a lot of classically blue effects. Tue ability of doubling your damage trigger payoff can keep a stream of cards by itself if conditions are met. It might not be the most exciting mythic but it encompasses many of bñue core concepts.
Cardz5000: I always found the Jeskai legend from Tarkir a bit underwhelming becasue it didn't do anything quite different. This is mana intensive but has a niche use as a tool to fight combat restrictions and is also a useful token producer. I think the way it's worded (with no if able) makes the tokens able to block anything, I don't know if it was on purpose but I like it. The intensiveness in mana and the frailty of the body go a good way in balancing it
Gerrard's Mom: In lieu with convoluted damage triggers we're getting nowadays, this is a nice addition to a pirate deck. I feel the second ability is quite problematic. The Grim Captain itself does not need to do any work to get the goods, and pirates is a tribe with enough evasion already. I don't like the fact that it turns random creatures into pirates, probably getting the returned creatures to become pirates in arfition to their types would have been more flavorful and swift.
Flintlock: I absolutely love the 0: ability, but the others have their problems. Shuffling every turn is a bit annoying, but the unreliability of the effect is what I dislike the most: You work your way into an ulti that can be easily disrupted or that it spends itself off. The first one is a bit too convoluted and I'm sure that it can be simplified a bit.
1.Cardz5000
2. Soramaro
3. bravelion
Azoth's Draught UBG
Instant (U)
Until end of turn, target creature or planeswalker loses all abilities and becomes a green Ooze creature with base power and toughness 1/1, then destroy it.
Trespassing upon Azoth's atelier is its own punishment.
Round 2:
Faceless Assistant 2U
Creature - Homunculus (U)
When Faceless Assistant enters the battlefield, you may search your library for a sorcery or instant card and reveal it. If you do, shuffle your library and put that card on top of it.
When Faceless Assistant dies, shuffle your library.
"Long ago, I would sculpt them with bespoke features. I'd ascribe each a name and praise each task complete. I cannot remember why."
- Azoth, the First Alchemist.
1/3
Legendary Planeswalker - Azoth (MR)
|0|: Put two -1/-1 counters on target creature. If that creature dies this turn, for each -1/-1 counter on it, put a loyalty counter on Azoth, the First Alchemist or put a +1/+1 counter on target creature you control.
|0|: Discard a card. If you do, you may search your library for a card that shares a type with it and put it into your hand.
\-8/: You get an emblem with "At the beginning of your upkeep, choose up to three cards in your graveyard and shuffle them into your library. If there are at least three different card types among the cards chosen, you can't lose the game until the beginning of your next upkeep and your opponents can't win the game."
|3|.
Obligatory no +1/+1 and -1/-1 counters remark. The emblem is meh for a 5-mana three-color walker.
Grim Captain's Exploration UB
Sorcery (C)
Choose up to three cards at random from your graveyard. Return each land card chosen this way to your hand. You may put any of the rest on top of your library in any order.
Some crews are drawn not by treasure, but by those who sought treasure and failed.
Round 2:
Shinsnapper Croc 2BR
Creature - Zombie Crocodile (U)
Whenever a creature you control attacks, you may pay BR and sacrifice that creature. If you do, return Shinsnapper Croc from your graveyard to the battlefield tapped and attacking.
"It keeps the crew from straggling, and it's usually still hungry when it catches up to the enemy.'
- The Grim Captain
4/3
Legendary Creature - Human Pirate Wizard (M)
At the beginning of your end step, choose target creature card in a graveyard. If that card's power is less than or equal to the amount of damage dealt to its owner this turn by Pirates you control, return it to the battlefield under your control.
1B: Until end of turn, target creature you control gains menace and becomes a Pirate in addition to its other types.
3/3
Making creatures Pirates would normally just be cool flavored trinket text, but in this case its made relevant by their first ability. Feels very grixis, Piratey, and necromancy. I would have liked to see some Rise from the Grave type text making the reanimated creatures zombie pirates.
Larion’s Research XXUU
Sorcery (R)
Draw X cards. Return up to X target instant or sorcery cards from your graveyard to your hand.
The king of Neburron had tasked him with guarding the royal library. After it was burned down in an act of vandalism, he took it upon himself to rewrite down all the knowledge of the world and rebuild it.
Round 2:
Incendiary Vandal 3RR
Creature — Human Rogue (R)
When Incendiary Vandal enters the battlefield, destroy all artifacts. For each permanent destroyed this way, Incendiary Vandal deals 2 damage to that permanent’s controller.
“The Royal Library of Neburron was the jewel of our kingdom. May whoever burned it down also experience the pain of seeing what you love consumed by flames.”
—Larion, Royal Librarian
2/2
Legendary Creature — Human Wizard (M)
If you would draw one or more cards except the first one you draw in your draw step, draw that many cards plus one instead.
Larion, Royal Librarian can’t be blocked as long as you have seven or more cards in hand.
Whenever Larion, Royal Librarian deals combat damage to a player, you may draw a card.
His vast knowledge and deep curiosity are what convinced the king to entrust the Royal Library to him.
1/4
The bluest blue you could ever blue. The unblockable condition is very flavorful for someone who has all the information.
Rhulor's Sowing 3GU
Sorcery (R)
Create a 1/3 green Treefolk creature token. Scry X, where X is the number of creatures you control, then reveal the top two cards of your library. Put all land cards revealed this way onto the battlefield tapped and all nonland cards into your hand.
For each plane, a seed. From each seed, insight.
Round 2:
Wandering Scion 4G
Creature - Treefolk (UC)
At the beginning of your end step, put a +1/+1 counter on Wandering Scion if one or more other creatures entered the battlefield under your control this turn.
“May the stories you hear become your leaves and bark, your roots and knots, until the day we meet again.”
— Rhulor, Gatherer of Lore
2/5
Legendary Planeswalker - Rhulor (MR)
/+1\: Create a 1/3 green Treefolk creature token.
/+1\: Scry 1, then reveal the top card of your library. Put X +1/+1 counters on target creature you control, where X is the revealed card’s converted mana cost.
\-7/: You get an emblem with “At any time, you may look at the top three cards of your library and put them back in any order and/or play them.”
|3|
The emblem reads like one of the old abilities that is now re-written to be a zero cost activated ability. The two + abilites work really well to protect him while he gets ready to ult.
Chant of the Anima RGW
Instant {R}
Search your library for a creature card and reveal that card. Shuffle your library, then put the card in your hand or on top of your library.
Until the end of your next turn, creature spells with power 5 or greater you cast cost 2 less to cast.
Round 2:
Valleyblazer Thoctar 6RG
Creature - Beast {R}
Trample
Whenever Valleyblazer Thoctar enters the battlefield or attacks, it deals damage equal to its power to any target.
"Now you see why the Valley of the Ancients has remained untouched by civilization since the dawn of Alara."
- Mayael the Anima
6/6
Legendary Creature - Elf Shaman {M}
At the beginning of your upkeep, reveal cards from the top of your library until you reveal a creature card with power 5 or greater. Put that creature card onto the battlefield and the rest of the revealed cards on the bottom of your library in a random order. That creature gains haste until end of turn. Sacrifice it at the beginning of the next end step.
2/3
When divorced from the mechanical identity of the shards, this card feels more BRG than RGW. In a low creature deck, this gets very broken.
Dromoka's BreathGW
Instant (u)
Dromoka's Breath deals 3 damage to target attacking or blocking creature.
Target attacking or blocking creature gets +3/+3 until end of turn.
The same beam of light fills friendly souls with warmth and burns the hostile ones
Round 2:
Radiant Scaletender4W
Creature - Dragon (r)
Flash
Flying
At the end of each turn, put a +1/+1 counter on each creature you control that has been dealt damage this turn.
"Each of your scars will be covered by the scales of my brood" - Dromoka, translated from Draconic.
3/4
Legendary Creature - Elder Dragon (m)
Flying
Creatures you control have hexproof from planeswalkers.
Whenever an opponent casts a spell, put a +1/+1 counter on target creature you control. If it's your turn, put a +1/+1 counter on each creature you control instead.
Don't be fooled. In the wastes, the sky is clear when Dromoka is watching and the air is silent when Dromoka is listening.
5/5
This nails the Dromoka flavor. I like the "If it's your turn" clause diles up the green aspects of the card
2nd: Gerrard's Mom
3rd: bravelion83
Under construction
>'Knowledge'
Very clever . The card itself might be a little bit overpowered (?), but I like the general idea regardless.
Top 3
1. Gerrard's Mom
2. bravelion83
3. Hemlock
So for 1W more, Managorger Hydra loses trample, gets +4/+4 and gains flying, can pump all creatures, not just itself and has an additional PW-hate ability. That’s a lot of stuff. I like both the planeswalker hate and the pump ability, but on the same card, they feel a bit disjointed and excessive to me, even though they both care about creatures. It’s understandable that you want another ability other than the one caring about PWs, because depending on what PWs your opponents is running, it may or may not be trinket text. However, as a second component, the pump ability feels a little too heavy to me, not necessarily because it breaks any formats, but because it’s relevancy is just so much higher.
RaikouRider: Mayael, Cylian General
I know next to nothing about Mayael, but from the card’s I’ve seen her on, she doesn’t strike me as a person that would be a general. In the mechanical context of Alara, because the creature has to be sacrificed at EOT, the ability feels like a cross between Naya and Grixis – or possibly Jund. Either way, it doesn’t give off a vibe of ‘pure Naya-ness’, which, at least to me, is implied with the character and card name choice. From a gameplay perspective, the card is certainly very powerful, but the fact that she ‘does nothing’ the turn she comes into play scales the power down to an acceptable level imo. Of course the no-brainer idea would be to play her in a deck with Emrakul and no other creatures with CMC>5, and I really don’t like how the Eldrazi have transformed decks that care about big creatures as a whole – but that’s not something your design is responsible for.
Bravelion83: Larion, Royal Librarian
The first ability is very appropriate for a librarian. The other two though? Not so much, I think. OK, maybe the unblockability means that he’s so knowledgeable that he ‘knows his way around’, so to say, and thus knows how to avoid dangers. But, especially when combined with the third ability, it really feels like the ability for a rouge type or a more practically oriented kind of wizard, not a librarian. Mechanics-wise, I also think all abilities synergize with each other a little too smoothly. In a blue deck, getting to seven cards or making Larion unblockable in another way shouldn’t be a huge problem, and once you get in one or two hits, he’s a self-fueling engine. The fact that his toughness is 4 also echoes this over-optimizedness – it basically screams “yes, I’m boltproof!”. Removing either the third or second ability would have made the card more interesting imo. In fact, I think the card would have been fine (even as a Mythic) with just the first ability, maybe at UU and a reduced butt size.
Cardz5000: Salia, Cunning Strategist
Amusingly this mirrors your critique of my card in a way, but I think the activated ability reads pretty ‘old-fashioned’. All that extra wording is essentially only really relevant during the turn Salia enters the battlefield, making her into a 5-mana (or 8-mana) combat trick. In most cases however, just having her make a 1/1 Servo token with haste would fulfill the exact same function. Granted, that would make it impossible for the activation cost to feature hybrid mana. But at two colored mana symbols, you have to have pretty heavy access to W and R anyway to enable multiple uses, so making it 1RW wouldn’t change this all too much.
Gerrard’s Mom: The Grim Captain
There are definitely strong parallels to Admiral Beckett Brass here, but that’s understandable since taking control of something based on combat results is very pirate-y. This card puts an interesting and flavorfully fitting spin on the concept, however and, thanks to the second ability, is also way more suited for a Pirate EDH deck. I think this is my favourite card from this round.
Flintlock: Azoth, the First Alchemist
My first thought was ‘that’s an awul lot of text’. I’m not sure how it would look on an actual magic card layout. I like the unorthodox approach to increasing the number of loyalty counters on a PW. However, the ability has so much flexibility that the second 0-ability feels needlessly overpowered on the card. I definitely think it should be a minus-abilits, even if it was just -1. The ultimate is fitting for an alchemist, it immediately makes you think of ingredients for some immortality elixir. As far as ultimates go, it seems a bit ‘wobbly’ in the sense that it doesn’t guarantee you a win very easily.
Top 3:
2. Flintlock
3. RaikouRider
Hemlock
Gerrard's Mom
Cardz5000
bravelion83
soramaro
Round coming up...
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝