Development's a tough job. When they talk about the new set, it's always - oh, what a neat design, design really did a great job on that one!... No one ever mentions you. Well, you are still happy, sifting through the endless ideas and submissions, hoping to find a diamond in the rough. You almost carelessly approve of another card, but your hand stops right before pressing "send" - a little girl appears right before your back with a sudden exclamation. Oh great, head of the department brought his daughter to work. "Look, daddy!" - she shouts through the room to his office - "this card is crazy bonkers!". You stop for a second and realize that yes, indeed, it IS bonkers. Your boss walks to his daughter with an approving look. "You saved us from another two years of broke-ness. I guess we have to reward you. Just describe a card to that guy" - he glares at you - "and we will print it!". You've got a tough job ahead of you.
CHALLENGE: Design a card that fits at least three criteria -
1.) Can defeat Emrakul in combat!
2.) Is at least three colors or more!
3.) Has mana cost of three or less.
4.) Uses a new keyword that can appear only at rare+ because of the complexity.
5.) Total sum of stats is eight or more.
Additional challenges:
Your card fits least four criteria. Mark your entry accordingly so a judge will know.
SCORING SYSTEM: First round will have the usual scoring system. People will be divided in teams, and each team ranks cards from other team assigned them.
Later rounds seem to show a steep drop-out trend, so, to fix it, you won't be ranking teams of people: you'll be given a list of pairings, and in each pairing you should determine a winner. This takes a bit more time than the usual system but doesn't punish people for other people dropping out.
Optional challenges give you one extra point each. Judging doubles your score for a round(so judge, please).
SCHEDULE:
1st-7th: Round 1.
8th-14th: Round 2 and critiques for Round 1.
14th-18th: Round 3 and critiques for Round 2.
18th-21th: Critiques for Round 3.
21th-24th: Semifinals
25st-27th: Critiques for Semifinals.
28th-End of the month: Finals.
Next month's 1st-7th: Final public poll.
DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS 24:00 UTC August 14
Private Mod Note
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Wizards can start putting booster packs inside dog poo and dog owners will still complain.
1. Three colors.
2. Cost 3 or less.
3. Total sum of states is eight or more.
4. Complex ability.
Sazag, the Cunning DeathWBG
Legendary Creature - Snake Warrior (Mythic)
Leadership (Each creature you control with the greatest power or tied with the greatest power on the battlefield has all abilities of this card except for its Leadership ability.)
Lifelink, deathtouch G, t: This creature fights another target creature.
3/5
Groundblazing BehemothWRG
Creature - Behemoth (R)
Tunnel 1 - Creature's you control get +X/+0, first strike, trample and haste until the end of turn where X is the number of cards revealed when tunneling. (When ~ enters the battlefield, reveal cards from the top of your library until you reveal a land card. Put that card in your hand and the rest on the bottom of your library in any order) 4/4
The creature is 3 cc or less, with 3 colours, has base stats of 8, and has a complex keyword that I believe would be found on rares only (although even cascade was found on uncommon. Same with things like banding, etc. Also, this could theoretically best emrakul in combat, although not always. Depends on the amount of cards revealed.
By the way, the keyword tunnel says:
tunnel X - When ~ enters the battlefield, reveal cards from the top of your library until you reveal X land cards. Put that card in your hand and the rest on the bottom of your library in any order. Effect based on X.
It could be creature gets +X/+0, gain X life, deal X damage, draw X cards (sufficiently costed of course) mill X, etc.
Am Shegar:
Can you clarify "Can defeat Emrakul in combat!" ? Does defeat just mean Emrakul is destroyed? Does the creature need to survive the exchange for it to count as a defeat? Must Emrakul be destroyed or do other forms of removal from the field count?
Another question: "Total sum of stats is eight or more." Is stats purely P/T in this case?
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I'll bet you wish you had a non-unglued/unhinged card that shared your first name.
Nemesis Shard3
Artifact (Rare)
Nemesis 1 (As you play this card, name a creature card not currently on the battlefield. Whenever this card deals combat damage to a creature with that name, destroy that creature.)
If an opponent casts the named card, Nemesis Shard gets protection from that card and becomes a 4/4 Nemesis Warrior creature that is every color the named card isn't.
The "defeat Emrakul in combat" is intentionally left somewhat vague - but if a card is able to remove Emrakul from the battlefield somehow, perhaps though blocking or being blocked, it counts.
Total sum of stats = power + toughness.
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Wizards can start putting booster packs inside dog poo and dog owners will still complain.
Ardenail, the LingeringWUB
Legendary Creature - Spirit (M)
Flying, Deathtouch, Lifelink Invoke - Whenever two or more permanents enter your graveyard from the battlefield, return Ardenail, the Lingering from your graveyard to the battlefield.
2/3
Devouring OverlordUBR
Creature - Demon
Souleater (When this creature enters the battlefield, search your library for a creature card and exile it. This creature consumed that creature. This creature has all abilities the consumed creature has and gets +X/+Y, where X is the consumed creature's power and Y is the consumed creature's toughness.)
When Devouring Overlord leaves the battlefield, you lose life equal to the converted mana cost of the card it devoured.
3/3
This fits the 2nd, 3rd and 4th challenges, and in a roundabout way can also fit the 5th (and to a lesser extent, the 1st). Take that into account however you feel like.
EDIT: Seeing as everyone does it, I'll clarify and say that the card strongly fits the three-color, 3-or-less-CMC, and rare-only-keyword criteria.
EDIT 2: Made the name bold. Also would like to clarify that the different names in the mechanic (mechanic is called Souleater, but the exiled creature is consumed) is done very much on purpose - it makes the mechanic weirder and clumsier, which I wanted to do. I also have precedence - the cards exile with the Gatecrash mechanic Cipher are encoded on a creature.
four criteria: Beats Emrakul, it's three colors, costs three or less and added stats are 8. I wonder if the third ability is keyword worthy (I'm inclined for the no)
The Everburning TreeWRG
Creature - Plant Avatar (R)
Defender, Reach
When The Everburning Tree blocks a creature with power equal or greater than The Everburning Tree's toughness, exile that creature. 2R: The Everburning Tree gets +2/-2 until end of turn. "Old myths say it was a signal from God. Its flames get lost in the sky as if God himself is tending them ever since"
1/7
VoidmasterGUB
Creature - Human Wizard (R)
Voidcast (You may cast cards exiled by this permanent.)
Whenever this creature blocks or is blocked by a creature, exile that creature.
You may spend mana as though it were any color to cast creature spells exiled by Voidmaster.
0/1
Glorious ObliteratorRBW
Creature - Elemental (M)
Haste, vigilance
Whenever Glorious Obliterator is dealt damage, sacrifice it. If you do, it deals that much damage to target creature or player.
4/4
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If you're having creature problems I feel bad for you son
You got 99 attackers but I'm blocking with 1.
The Winner is Judge | 7
This Winner is Also Judge | 6
Club Flamingo | Lots
Void-birth Nephilim 4BUWG
Legendary Creature - Nephalim (M)
Spectrum 4 (If you control a permanent of each of this permanent's colors, you may play this for its spectrum cost)
Trample, Vigilance
Whenever you sacrifice another permanent, gain 1 life and return that permanent from your graveyard to the battlefield at the beginning of the next end step.
Whenever a creature attacks, its controller sacrifices a permanent.
7/7
So I did:
2) Three or more colors
4) A keyword too complicated for uncommons
5) Big ass creature
Also, it was designed with Emrakul in mind, but it doesn't actually defeat him.. though it will frustrate the crap out of him.
RaggarBRG
Creature - Beast (M)
Haste
When Raggar enters the battlefield, rage X. (Remove X creature cards from your graveyard. Raggar gets +X/+X until end of turn and fights up to X creatures you don't control)
4/4
Meets the last four criteria (and the first one if you have enough creature cards in your graveyard)
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MCC February 2014 - 2nd Round (11th-20th)
MCC March 2014 - 1st Round (17th-24th)
MCC April 2014 - 1st Round (17th-32nd)
MCC May 2014 - 1st Round (17th-32nd)
MCC June 2014 - Judge
MCC July 2014 - Host
MCC August 2014 - 1st Round (17th-31st)
MCC August 2015 - 1st Round (21st-36th)
MCC September 2015 - 1st Round (22nd-39th)
MCC October 2015 - 1st Round (13th-20th)
CCL March 2014 - Score: 71.4/300 (18th)
CCL May 2014 - Score: 29/36 (10th)
CCL June 2014 - Score: 86/150 (10th)
CCL July 2014 - Score:36/50 (6th T)
CCL August 2015 - Score: 14 (5th T)
CCL September 2015 - Score: 3 (5th)
CCL October 2015 - Host
DCC September 2015 - Score: 30 (9th)
DCC October 2015 - Score: 46 (8th-T)
2.) Is at least three colors or more!
3.) Has mana cost of three or less.
4.) Uses a new keyword that can appear only at rare+ because of the complexity.
Could arguably kill emrakul in combat?
Storm of Life and DeathWBG
Sorcery (R)
Tempest (When you cast this spell from your hand, you may search your library for any number of cards that share a name with it and cast them without paying their mana costs. Then shuffle your library.)
Creatures you control get +1/+1 and your choice of lifelink, deathtouch, trample, or indestructible until end of turn.
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I'll bet you wish you had a non-unglued/unhinged card that shared your first name.
NOTES:
-As before, don't pay too much attention to the numerical grades I'm giving, they're mostly to help me judge.
-The criteria I'm focusing on are overall design and compatibility with the challenges the card is stated to meet.
-I'll not mention the 3rd or 5th challenges unless the card tries to fit one of them but actually violates that it.
1st Place:
Nemesis Shard 3
Artifact (Rare)
Nemesis 1 (As you play this card, name a creature card not currently on the battlefield. Whenever this card deals combat damage to a creature with that name, destroy that creature.)
If an opponent casts the named card, Nemesis Shard gets protection from that card and becomes a 4/4 Nemesis Warrior creature that is every color the named card isn't.
Arguably, this meets all five criteria.
I absolutely LOVE the design of this card. Nemesis is such an awesome and flavorful mechanic, I wish to see more of it. It definitely seems like a rare-only mechanic, and even a mechanic that would only appear on very few cards important to the lore of a block. I do have a minor note, though - the wording on the card should be "WHENEVER an opponent casts a spell WITH THE CHOSEN NAME, ~ becomes... AND LOSES THIS ABILITY." This is not particularly important, though - just wanted to mention it. 9/10
Now, this is a somewhat difficult card to judge in the criteria, so let's just say right off the bat that this does NOT fit the three-color challenge. It only does so on very specific occasions. I decided not to deduct points for claiming to meet a challenge but not actually doing so, due to the unique nature of the card.
The card DOES cost 3 or less mana, and it DOES have a rare-only mechanic. As I said before, Nemesis is a super cool mechanic, and I love it. My only issue with it really is the second line, but after giving it some thought I do think it makes the mechanic better overall. 9/10
I'm not deducting any points from the total-P/T-8 challenge, even though the card doesn't have an inherent P/T at all - it makes sense for the card, and it definitely feels like a 4/4, which is what matters. I'm also giving bonus points for it actually being able to defeat Emrakul in combat, in a unique and interesting way.
Average: 9/10
2nd Place:
1. Three colors.
2. Cost 3 or less.
3. Total sum of states is eight or more.
4. Complex ability.
Sazag, the Cunning Death WBG
Legendary Creature - Snake Warrior (Mythic)
Leadership (Each creature you control with the greatest power or tied with the greatest power on the battlefield has all abilities of this card except for its Leadership ability.)
Lifelink, deathtouch G, t: This creature fights another target creature.
3/5
This is a pretty interesting card. I love the Leadership mechanic as a concept, and lifelink, deathtouch and fight-on-demand on the same card is very alluring. The stat-to-cost ratio makes sense for this challenge (even though it's completely overpowered everywhere else). It's not incredibly exciting - just an average, solid design. 7/10
The card represents its three colors quite well - I'm taking off points here for the mono green activated ability, which is really out of place to me. 8/10
I think the Leadership mechanic is a nice concept, and the card lends itself quite well to it, but the name is completely contradictory - it implies that the card leads others to battle, not that it helps the leader. This wouldn't be a major issue normally, but the "off-the-wall, overpowered, over-complicated" mechanic is a focal point to this design and as such I'm deducting points. 7/10
Average: 7.3/10
3rd Place:
Groundblazing Behemoth WRG
Creature - Behemoth (R)
Tunnel 1 - Creature's you control get +X/+0, first strike, trample and haste until the end of turn where X is the number of cards revealed when tunneling. (When ~ enters the battlefield, reveal cards from the top of your library until you reveal a land card. Put that card in your hand and the rest on the bottom of your library in any order)
4/4
The creature is 3 cc or less, with 3 colours, has base stats of 8, and has a complex keyword that I believe would be found on rares only (although even cascade was found on uncommon. Same with things like banding, etc. Also, this could theoretically best emrakul in combat, although not always. Depends on the amount of cards revealed.
The overall design of this makes sense flavor-wise - A giant beast that breaks a path for all the other creatures charging behind it. It doesn't feel very new or special, but that's not BAD - it's just a bit less exciting. 7/10
The card represents its three colors very well - WRG is known for having massive beasts, and it's also the color combination that's most likely to buff up its creatures. 9/10
The Tunnel mechanic, though... Oh boy, it truly is a mouthful. I think power level-wise it's fine, but it has a ton of issues that are quite easily fixable. Unfortunately, though, you made several mistakes with the card (not necessarily with the mechanic), that - being (in my eyes) quite obvious - take your design down by quite a bit. Let's begin:
-The name is slightly unexciting, but that's quite negligible;
-The fact that it says "tunnel X" is weird to me, I think there isn't that much design space for it to warrant a numerical component to make it even more wordy. It could (and probably should) just say "tunnel", and tunnel to one land only.
-The fact that it says, as a part of the mechanic, "when ~ ETBs," severely limits the design space for the mechanic, and also makes the card read very weirdly at first. Also, minor issue, but the way its worded it needs to say "Tunnel X. Effect." and not "Tunnel X - effect", as the effects comes after the tunneling is already over.
-As you said, the mechanic is not inherently complex - it's quite distinctly less complex than Cascade, in my opinion, and could easily fit on uncommons or perhaps even commons.
-Lastly, and most importantly, you specifically stated that Tunnel works as "Tunnel X - effect based on X", while your card's value of X is determined by the amount of cards you tunneled through - two completely different numbers.
Overall I think the mechanic has a nice idea behind it, but it needs major work before I could see it on actual cards in a set. 3/10
Average: 6.3/10. Actual score as a whole would probably be closer to 5 or 4, though.
Raggar is an intriguing card. I really like the fact that it can potentially meet all five criteria, even if that’s a largely circumstantial possibility. The Rage keyword is interesting, but it has some flavor issues: Why does Raggar need to cannibalize your dead creatures to get angry and fight things? I’m also not sure if Rage should be a keyword action and not a keyword ability, but that’s more of a technicality.
Otherwise, I like this card! It might be slightly too powerful for its cost in Limited, but that of course depends a lot on the particulars of the format. Perhaps if it didn’t have haste? The name is also somewhat lackluster, so I think it would need a creative overhaul if it were to see actual print as a mythic rare. Otherwise, it’s a solid and creative solution to the challenge at hand, with bonus points added for possibly meeting all five criteria at once.
2nd Place
Zealous Seraph is a somewhat interesting spin on Seraph of the Sword, depending on how you interpret the ability (see below). I’m not one hundred percent sure that being triple-colored actually justifies a three-mana cost for this effect on a 4/4 flyer, but I could be wrong.
However, the ability needs to be worded differently. Is it supposed to be active during each player’s combat phase, just its controller’s combat phase, or whenever Zealous Seraph actually attacks or blocks? I’m also a little confused as to why this card costs black mana, seeing as its ability feels very much at home in red/white.
If the ability was only active during your own combat phase, I could see myself rating this card a little higher, on account of both originality, viability and balance.
3rd Place
As a collectible Overrun-type of card, I think Storm of Life and Death is quite interesting in its design. I like the Tempest mechanic, but I don’t think it’s too complicated to see print at other rarities. The card itself is very good, but the collect-me factor is somewhat lessened by the fact that it’s a multicolored rare, making it a bit wonky in limited formats. I also very much enjoy the flavor, but I think the indestructible part of the effect might just be too strong for the cost. I don’t personally think the indestructible part is completely in line with the flavor of the card either.
Alas, it can’t defeat Emrakul in combat. And since I don’t think the keyword mechanic is complex enough, I’m forced to rate this lower than I would like to, since it fails to meet the minimum of three criteria. But it’s a cool card, and a card I could actually see myself wanting to play — particularly if it was redesigned to fit better into a common or uncommon slot.
1. Three colors.
2. Cost 3 or less.
3. Total sum of states is eight or more.
4. Complex ability.
Sazag, the Cunning DeathWBG
Legendary Creature - Snake Warrior (Mythic)
Leadership (Each creature you control with the greatest power or tied with the greatest power on the battlefield has all abilities of this card except for its Leadership ability.)
Lifelink, deathtouch G, t: This creature fights another target creature.
3/5
On the card: The first thing I'd like to say is that I don't feel the activated ability necessary to justify the green cost, as caring for a big creature feels quite green. I think that the card without that ability would feel more elegant and would also be more balanced. With it it's just a bit too much. Leadership is a very intresting ability and would play very intrestingly in the battlefield.
On the challenges: I think they are all quite well met. The only problem is that the creature itself is not able to block Emrakul, althought it can empower a blocker (I think reach instead of the fight ability would have packed it lovelily)
Groundblazing BehemothWRG
Creature - Behemoth (R)
Tunnel 1 - Creature's you control get +X/+0, first strike, trample and haste until the end of turn where X is the number of cards revealed when tunneling. (When ~ enters the battlefield, reveal cards from the top of your library until you reveal a land card. Put that card in your hand and the rest on the bottom of your library in any order) 4/4
The creature is 3 cc or less, with 3 colours, has base stats of 8, and has a complex keyword that I believe would be found on rares only (although even cascade was found on uncommon. Same with things like banding, etc. Also, this could theoretically best emrakul in combat, although not always. Depends on the amount of cards revealed.
By the way, the keyword tunnel says:
tunnel X - When ~ enters the battlefield, reveal cards from the top of your library until you reveal X land cards. Put that card in your hand and the rest on the bottom of your library in any order. Effect based on X.
It could be creature gets +X/+0, gain X life, deal X damage, draw X cards (sufficiently costed of course) mill X, etc.
On the card: I like the gambling nature of tunneling (althught you could always try to manipulate your library), that said, we would have to see how tunnel would play out in the set, I doubt that tunneling would merit a variable value. I do think that this is the kind of mechanic that gets people's imagigation rolling. I believe it can inspire a "no-lands" combo deck or a "few-lands" aggro. On power level, such a dramatic tunnelig effect on such a nice body is a bit too much for three mana(You even get to keep a land card!).
On the challenges: Again, beating Emrakul is not quite achieved, as you only *might* kill it *if* it blocks and you tunneled a bunch of cards. Groundblazing Behemot would need 11 cards tunneled (sure, it would make quite a memorable play!), but the fact that tunneling goes off on ETB dims its shine a bit. Sure, Emrakul is never hardcasted so the same chances of getting an entrance may still exist for the Behemoth, in addition to another tricks (copying, flickering, etc.).
On the execution: Tunneling needs work. Keeping the land card is a bad idea, as it makes things confusing (Which would be "that card" when tunneling 3?) and adds a value I'm not sure you intended to add. Also, tunneling more than 1 doesn't really feel quite right- Another thing to point is that when you tried to explain Tunnel, you used X both for the number of lands required to be shown and for the number of cards shown. I really think this is a nice ability to keep working on.
Nemesis Shard3
Artifact (Rare)
Nemesis 1 (As you play this card, name a creature card not currently on the battlefield. Whenever this card deals combat damage to a creature with that name, destroy that creature.)
If an opponent casts the named card, Nemesis Shard gets protection from that card and becomes a 4/4 Nemesis Warrior creature that is every color the named card isn't.
Arguably, this meets all five criteria.
On the card: I really don't like nemesis as an ability, I feel it's an overcomplication and overlimitation of deathtouch. Also, I'm not sure what the 1 means (I suppose the number of cards you can name, but it isn't that clear from the wording). I don't think this will work very well on the battlefield: Naming seecondary creatures would make your opponent just refrain from casting them, and when naming a win-condition creature, this one may not scare your opponent enough from casting it. I would have changed "If an opponent casts the named card" with "As long as the named cards in on the battlefield" to make it work better. Emrakul is never hardcasted and you are not able to name tokens (This would work very well against them), nor you can make much if the creature is already in play.
On the challenges: I'm not seeing this beating Emrakul, it is unlikely that the Shard would end up becoming a creature. The three mana cost and the sum of 8 is good. I already told what I think about Nemesis, but even when I'm not fond of it there's a mechanic beyond that will do. The colors thing is also likely to happen, althought it's not really garanteed. While everything can happen more or less, I think you went for a route that didn't really favor an elegant fullfilment of the challenges as a whole.
On the execution: The 1 of the ability without a proper reference is a problem.
glurman: Complicated mechanic which isn't necessarily super clear. It means at the same time, right? I don't think it's too complicated to go on uncommons, even if it's a bit situational. Card itself is pretty cool though, kinda like a reviving Vampire Nighthawk. Todris052: I think it's decently safe to say this meets the P/T challenge, considering the unlikeliness of eating a 0/1. Mechanic seems extremely powerful to have all that text at once, especially if it has no limit (let's grab a Phyrexian Juggernaut?). I honestly don't see many other cards with a mechanic working like that. Hemlock: This is a very good defender. It can block anything, and it'll kill everything it can't tank. That said, it 'only' tanks most creatures without a large mana investment, so it's not THAT good... I'm still unsure as to its power level, to be honest.
Top 3:
1. glurman
2. Hemlock
3. Todris052
Private Mod Note
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If you're having creature problems I feel bad for you son
You got 99 attackers but I'm blocking with 1.
The Winner is Judge | 7
This Winner is Also Judge | 6
Club Flamingo | Lots
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Development's a tough job. When they talk about the new set, it's always - oh, what a neat design, design really did a great job on that one!... No one ever mentions you. Well, you are still happy, sifting through the endless ideas and submissions, hoping to find a diamond in the rough. You almost carelessly approve of another card, but your hand stops right before pressing "send" - a little girl appears right before your back with a sudden exclamation. Oh great, head of the department brought his daughter to work. "Look, daddy!" - she shouts through the room to his office - "this card is crazy bonkers!". You stop for a second and realize that yes, indeed, it IS bonkers. Your boss walks to his daughter with an approving look. "You saved us from another two years of broke-ness. I guess we have to reward you. Just describe a card to that guy" - he glares at you - "and we will print it!". You've got a tough job ahead of you.
CHALLENGE: Design a card that fits at least three criteria -
1.) Can defeat Emrakul in combat!
2.) Is at least three colors or more!
3.) Has mana cost of three or less.
4.) Uses a new keyword that can appear only at rare+ because of the complexity.
5.) Total sum of stats is eight or more.
Additional challenges:
Your card fits least four criteria. Mark your entry accordingly so a judge will know.
SCORING SYSTEM: First round will have the usual scoring system. People will be divided in teams, and each team ranks cards from other team assigned them.
Later rounds seem to show a steep drop-out trend, so, to fix it, you won't be ranking teams of people: you'll be given a list of pairings, and in each pairing you should determine a winner. This takes a bit more time than the usual system but doesn't punish people for other people dropping out.
Optional challenges give you one extra point each. Judging doubles your score for a round(so judge, please).
SCHEDULE:
1st-7th: Round 1.
8th-14th: Round 2 and critiques for Round 1.
14th-18th: Round 3 and critiques for Round 2.
18th-21th: Critiques for Round 3.
21th-24th: Semifinals
25st-27th: Critiques for Semifinals.
28th-End of the month: Finals.
Next month's 1st-7th: Final public poll.
DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS 24:00 UTC August 14
2. Cost 3 or less.
3. Total sum of states is eight or more.
4. Complex ability.
Sazag, the Cunning Death WBG
Legendary Creature - Snake Warrior (Mythic)
Leadership (Each creature you control with the greatest power or tied with the greatest power on the battlefield has all abilities of this card except for its Leadership ability.)
Lifelink, deathtouch
G, t: This creature fights another target creature.
3/5
Groundblazing Behemoth WRG
Creature - Behemoth (R)
Tunnel 1 - Creature's you control get +X/+0, first strike, trample and haste until the end of turn where X is the number of cards revealed when tunneling. (When ~ enters the battlefield, reveal cards from the top of your library until you reveal a land card. Put that card in your hand and the rest on the bottom of your library in any order)
4/4
The creature is 3 cc or less, with 3 colours, has base stats of 8, and has a complex keyword that I believe would be found on rares only (although even cascade was found on uncommon. Same with things like banding, etc. Also, this could theoretically best emrakul in combat, although not always. Depends on the amount of cards revealed.
By the way, the keyword tunnel says:
tunnel X - When ~ enters the battlefield, reveal cards from the top of your library until you reveal X land cards. Put that card in your hand and the rest on the bottom of your library in any order. Effect based on X.
It could be creature gets +X/+0, gain X life, deal X damage, draw X cards (sufficiently costed of course) mill X, etc.
Can you clarify "Can defeat Emrakul in combat!" ? Does defeat just mean Emrakul is destroyed? Does the creature need to survive the exchange for it to count as a defeat? Must Emrakul be destroyed or do other forms of removal from the field count?
Another question: "Total sum of stats is eight or more." Is stats purely P/T in this case?
Artifact (Rare)
Nemesis 1 (As you play this card, name a creature card not currently on the battlefield. Whenever this card deals combat damage to a creature with that name, destroy that creature.)
If an opponent casts the named card, Nemesis Shard gets protection from that card and becomes a 4/4 Nemesis Warrior creature that is every color the named card isn't.
Arguably, this meets all five criteria.
Total sum of stats = power + toughness.
Legendary Creature - Spirit (M)
Flying, Deathtouch, Lifelink
Invoke - Whenever two or more permanents enter your graveyard from the battlefield, return Ardenail, the Lingering from your graveyard to the battlefield.
2/3
First four challenges met
Creature - Demon
Souleater (When this creature enters the battlefield, search your library for a creature card and exile it. This creature consumed that creature. This creature has all abilities the consumed creature has and gets +X/+Y, where X is the consumed creature's power and Y is the consumed creature's toughness.)
When Devouring Overlord leaves the battlefield, you lose life equal to the converted mana cost of the card it devoured.
3/3
This fits the 2nd, 3rd and 4th challenges, and in a roundabout way can also fit the 5th (and to a lesser extent, the 1st). Take that into account however you feel like.
EDIT: Seeing as everyone does it, I'll clarify and say that the card strongly fits the three-color, 3-or-less-CMC, and rare-only-keyword criteria.
EDIT 2: Made the name bold. Also would like to clarify that the different names in the mechanic (mechanic is called Souleater, but the exiled creature is consumed) is done very much on purpose - it makes the mechanic weirder and clumsier, which I wanted to do. I also have precedence - the cards exile with the Gatecrash mechanic Cipher are encoded on a creature.
The Everburning Tree WRG
Creature - Plant Avatar (R)
Defender, Reach
When The Everburning Tree blocks a creature with power equal or greater than The Everburning Tree's toughness, exile that creature.
2R: The Everburning Tree gets +2/-2 until end of turn.
"Old myths say it was a signal from God. Its flames get lost in the sky as if God himself is tending them ever since"
1/7
Voidmaster GUB
Creature - Human Wizard (R)
Voidcast (You may cast cards exiled by this permanent.)
Whenever this creature blocks or is blocked by a creature, exile that creature.
You may spend mana as though it were any color to cast creature spells exiled by Voidmaster.
0/1
BGStandard Green AggroGB
UWRGModern Saheeli CobraGRWU
UBRGLegacy StormGRBU
Wizards Certified Rules Advisor
Glorious Obliterator RBW
Creature - Elemental (M)
Haste, vigilance
Whenever Glorious Obliterator is dealt damage, sacrifice it. If you do, it deals that much damage to target creature or player.
4/4
You got 99 attackers but I'm blocking with 1.
The Winner is Judge | 7
This Winner is Also Judge | 6
Club Flamingo | Lots
Legendary Creature - Nephalim (M)
Spectrum 4 (If you control a permanent of each of this permanent's colors, you may play this for its spectrum cost)
Trample, Vigilance
Whenever you sacrifice another permanent, gain 1 life and return that permanent from your graveyard to the battlefield at the beginning of the next end step.
Whenever a creature attacks, its controller sacrifices a permanent.
7/7
So I did:
2) Three or more colors
4) A keyword too complicated for uncommons
5) Big ass creature
Also, it was designed with Emrakul in mind, but it doesn't actually defeat him.. though it will frustrate the crap out of him.
Creature - Beast (M)
Haste
When Raggar enters the battlefield, rage X. (Remove X creature cards from your graveyard. Raggar gets +X/+X until end of turn and fights up to X creatures you don't control)
4/4
Meets the last four criteria (and the first one if you have enough creature cards in your graveyard)
MCC March 2014 - 1st Round (17th-24th)
MCC April 2014 - 1st Round (17th-32nd)
MCC May 2014 - 1st Round (17th-32nd)
MCC June 2014 - Judge
MCC July 2014 - Host
MCC August 2014 - 1st Round (17th-31st)
MCC August 2015 - 1st Round (21st-36th)
MCC September 2015 - 1st Round (22nd-39th)
MCC October 2015 - 1st Round (13th-20th)
CCL May 2014 - Score: 29/36 (10th)
CCL June 2014 - Score: 86/150 (10th)
CCL July 2014 - Score:36/50 (6th T)
CCL August 2015 - Score: 14 (5th T)
CCL September 2015 - Score: 3 (5th)
CCL October 2015 - Host
DCC October 2015 - Score: 46 (8th-T)
3.) Has mana cost of three or less.
4.) Uses a new keyword that can appear only at rare+ because of the complexity.
Could arguably kill emrakul in combat?
Storm of Life and Death WBG
Sorcery (R)
Tempest (When you cast this spell from your hand, you may search your library for any number of cards that share a name with it and cast them without paying their mana costs. Then shuffle your library.)
Creatures you control get +1/+1 and your choice of lifelink, deathtouch, trample, or indestructible until end of turn.
3.) Has mana cost of three or less.
5.) Total sum of stats is eight or more.
Zealous Seraph RWB
Creature - Angel {R}
Flying
Prevent all damage that would be dealt to Zealous Seraph during combat.
4/4
Emille, Seven-Sting Dancer Shalin Nariya
Not sure about Koopa's entry, as it seems to be very much a WIP, but if he manages to sneak it in before Team 4 starts judging, all power to him.
Team 1 judges team 4
netn10
fallenonme
Aspirinsmurf
Team 2 judges team 1
glurman
Todris052
Hemlock
Team 3 judges team 2
Koopa
Ninja caterpie
CardLurd
drewdagreek
Team 4 judges team 3
GameWorldLeader
KoolKoal
RaikouRider
-As before, don't pay too much attention to the numerical grades I'm giving, they're mostly to help me judge.
-The criteria I'm focusing on are overall design and compatibility with the challenges the card is stated to meet.
-I'll not mention the 3rd or 5th challenges unless the card tries to fit one of them but actually violates that it.
1st Place:
I absolutely LOVE the design of this card. Nemesis is such an awesome and flavorful mechanic, I wish to see more of it. It definitely seems like a rare-only mechanic, and even a mechanic that would only appear on very few cards important to the lore of a block. I do have a minor note, though - the wording on the card should be "WHENEVER an opponent casts a spell WITH THE CHOSEN NAME, ~ becomes... AND LOSES THIS ABILITY." This is not particularly important, though - just wanted to mention it. 9/10
Now, this is a somewhat difficult card to judge in the criteria, so let's just say right off the bat that this does NOT fit the three-color challenge. It only does so on very specific occasions. I decided not to deduct points for claiming to meet a challenge but not actually doing so, due to the unique nature of the card.
The card DOES cost 3 or less mana, and it DOES have a rare-only mechanic. As I said before, Nemesis is a super cool mechanic, and I love it. My only issue with it really is the second line, but after giving it some thought I do think it makes the mechanic better overall. 9/10
I'm not deducting any points from the total-P/T-8 challenge, even though the card doesn't have an inherent P/T at all - it makes sense for the card, and it definitely feels like a 4/4, which is what matters. I'm also giving bonus points for it actually being able to defeat Emrakul in combat, in a unique and interesting way.
Average: 9/10
2nd Place:
This is a pretty interesting card. I love the Leadership mechanic as a concept, and lifelink, deathtouch and fight-on-demand on the same card is very alluring. The stat-to-cost ratio makes sense for this challenge (even though it's completely overpowered everywhere else). It's not incredibly exciting - just an average, solid design. 7/10
The card represents its three colors quite well - I'm taking off points here for the mono green activated ability, which is really out of place to me. 8/10
I think the Leadership mechanic is a nice concept, and the card lends itself quite well to it, but the name is completely contradictory - it implies that the card leads others to battle, not that it helps the leader. This wouldn't be a major issue normally, but the "off-the-wall, overpowered, over-complicated" mechanic is a focal point to this design and as such I'm deducting points. 7/10
Average: 7.3/10
3rd Place:
The overall design of this makes sense flavor-wise - A giant beast that breaks a path for all the other creatures charging behind it. It doesn't feel very new or special, but that's not BAD - it's just a bit less exciting. 7/10
The card represents its three colors very well - WRG is known for having massive beasts, and it's also the color combination that's most likely to buff up its creatures. 9/10
The Tunnel mechanic, though... Oh boy, it truly is a mouthful. I think power level-wise it's fine, but it has a ton of issues that are quite easily fixable. Unfortunately, though, you made several mistakes with the card (not necessarily with the mechanic), that - being (in my eyes) quite obvious - take your design down by quite a bit. Let's begin:
-The name is slightly unexciting, but that's quite negligible;
-The fact that it says "tunnel X" is weird to me, I think there isn't that much design space for it to warrant a numerical component to make it even more wordy. It could (and probably should) just say "tunnel", and tunnel to one land only.
-The fact that it says, as a part of the mechanic, "when ~ ETBs," severely limits the design space for the mechanic, and also makes the card read very weirdly at first. Also, minor issue, but the way its worded it needs to say "Tunnel X. Effect." and not "Tunnel X - effect", as the effects comes after the tunneling is already over.
-As you said, the mechanic is not inherently complex - it's quite distinctly less complex than Cascade, in my opinion, and could easily fit on uncommons or perhaps even commons.
-Lastly, and most importantly, you specifically stated that Tunnel works as "Tunnel X - effect based on X", while your card's value of X is determined by the amount of cards you tunneled through - two completely different numbers.
Overall I think the mechanic has a nice idea behind it, but it needs major work before I could see it on actual cards in a set. 3/10
Average: 6.3/10. Actual score as a whole would probably be closer to 5 or 4, though.
1st Place
Otherwise, I like this card! It might be slightly too powerful for its cost in Limited, but that of course depends a lot on the particulars of the format. Perhaps if it didn’t have haste? The name is also somewhat lackluster, so I think it would need a creative overhaul if it were to see actual print as a mythic rare. Otherwise, it’s a solid and creative solution to the challenge at hand, with bonus points added for possibly meeting all five criteria at once.
2nd Place
However, the ability needs to be worded differently. Is it supposed to be active during each player’s combat phase, just its controller’s combat phase, or whenever Zealous Seraph actually attacks or blocks? I’m also a little confused as to why this card costs black mana, seeing as its ability feels very much at home in red/white.
If the ability was only active during your own combat phase, I could see myself rating this card a little higher, on account of both originality, viability and balance.
3rd Place
Alas, it can’t defeat Emrakul in combat. And since I don’t think the keyword mechanic is complex enough, I’m forced to rate this lower than I would like to, since it fails to meet the minimum of three criteria. But it’s a cool card, and a card I could actually see myself wanting to play — particularly if it was redesigned to fit better into a common or uncommon slot.
On the card: The first thing I'd like to say is that I don't feel the activated ability necessary to justify the green cost, as caring for a big creature feels quite green. I think that the card without that ability would feel more elegant and would also be more balanced. With it it's just a bit too much. Leadership is a very intresting ability and would play very intrestingly in the battlefield.
On the challenges: I think they are all quite well met. The only problem is that the creature itself is not able to block Emrakul, althought it can empower a blocker (I think reach instead of the fight ability would have packed it lovelily)
On the execution: Nothing to note here.
On the card: I like the gambling nature of tunneling (althught you could always try to manipulate your library), that said, we would have to see how tunnel would play out in the set, I doubt that tunneling would merit a variable value. I do think that this is the kind of mechanic that gets people's imagigation rolling. I believe it can inspire a "no-lands" combo deck or a "few-lands" aggro. On power level, such a dramatic tunnelig effect on such a nice body is a bit too much for three mana(You even get to keep a land card!).
On the challenges: Again, beating Emrakul is not quite achieved, as you only *might* kill it *if* it blocks and you tunneled a bunch of cards. Groundblazing Behemot would need 11 cards tunneled (sure, it would make quite a memorable play!), but the fact that tunneling goes off on ETB dims its shine a bit. Sure, Emrakul is never hardcasted so the same chances of getting an entrance may still exist for the Behemoth, in addition to another tricks (copying, flickering, etc.).
On the execution: Tunneling needs work. Keeping the land card is a bad idea, as it makes things confusing (Which would be "that card" when tunneling 3?) and adds a value I'm not sure you intended to add. Also, tunneling more than 1 doesn't really feel quite right- Another thing to point is that when you tried to explain Tunnel, you used X both for the number of lands required to be shown and for the number of cards shown. I really think this is a nice ability to keep working on.
On the card: I really don't like nemesis as an ability, I feel it's an overcomplication and overlimitation of deathtouch. Also, I'm not sure what the 1 means (I suppose the number of cards you can name, but it isn't that clear from the wording). I don't think this will work very well on the battlefield: Naming seecondary creatures would make your opponent just refrain from casting them, and when naming a win-condition creature, this one may not scare your opponent enough from casting it. I would have changed "If an opponent casts the named card" with "As long as the named cards in on the battlefield" to make it work better. Emrakul is never hardcasted and you are not able to name tokens (This would work very well against them), nor you can make much if the creature is already in play.
On the challenges: I'm not seeing this beating Emrakul, it is unlikely that the Shard would end up becoming a creature. The three mana cost and the sum of 8 is good. I already told what I think about Nemesis, but even when I'm not fond of it there's a mechanic beyond that will do. The colors thing is also likely to happen, althought it's not really garanteed. While everything can happen more or less, I think you went for a route that didn't really favor an elegant fullfilment of the challenges as a whole.
On the execution: The 1 of the ability without a proper reference is a problem.
Standings
2-fallenonme
3- aspirinsmurf
Todris052: I think it's decently safe to say this meets the P/T challenge, considering the unlikeliness of eating a 0/1. Mechanic seems extremely powerful to have all that text at once, especially if it has no limit (let's grab a Phyrexian Juggernaut?). I honestly don't see many other cards with a mechanic working like that.
Hemlock: This is a very good defender. It can block anything, and it'll kill everything it can't tank. That said, it 'only' tanks most creatures without a large mana investment, so it's not THAT good... I'm still unsure as to its power level, to be honest.
Top 3:
1. glurman
2. Hemlock
3. Todris052
You got 99 attackers but I'm blocking with 1.
The Winner is Judge | 7
This Winner is Also Judge | 6
Club Flamingo | Lots