(This month's banner is my own elaboration on the art of the card Resolute Watchdog by Milivoj Ceran, my favorite art from Ravnica Allegiance.)
February MCC Round 4
More Legends of Ravnica
The last time I hosted, in the Guilds of Ravnica MCC (November), we ended up with two Mazirek cards and a lot of the other characters I chose had none. For example, I was really hoping to see a Feather. Anyway, to avoid this kind of problem, this time I've decided to just let you choose the character and also allow planeswalkers.
Main Challenge - Choose one of the five guilds from Ravnica Allegiance (Azorius, Rakdos, Gruul, Orzhov, Simic) and design a new legendary creature or planeswalker card for an already known character from that guild.
Subchallenge 1 - Your card has both of the guild's colors in its mana cost.
Subchallenge 2 - Your round 4 card is of a different guild than your cards from rounds 1, 2 and 3 (see table/list below).
For the main challenge, the character you choose must be already known in lore. Do not create new characters. The character you choose may be one that doesn't have a card yet or a new version of one that already does. Both are fine.
If you want to include a link to the Wiki page of your chosen character in your submission, you can do that this round. Do not put anything else in your submission though. Just your card and the optional link. This is an exception to the normal MCC rules specifically for this round, to allow you to choose more obscure characters if you want. This way, the judges don't have to be necessarily huge flavor experts and we don't risk them saying the character doesn't exist when it actually does and it's just an obscure reference.
For subchallenge 1, both colors have to be in the mana cost. A monocolored card with a multicolored color identity does NOT pass this subchallenge. Hybrid mana is fine.
If you have more questions, feel free to ask in the discussion thread.
DEADLINES
Design deadline: Sunday, March 3rd 23:59 EST
Judging deadline: Wednesday, March 6th 23:59 EST
Design - (X/3) Appeal: Do the different player psychographics (Timmy/Johhny/Spike) have a use for the card? (X/3) Elegance: Is the card easily understandable at a glance? Do all the flavor and mechanics combined as a whole make sense?
Development - (X/3) Viability: How well does the card fit into the color wheel? Does it break or bend the rules of the game? Is it the appropriate rarity? (X/3) Balance: Does the card have a power level appropriate for contemporary constructed/limited environments without breaking them? Does it play well in casual and multiplayer formats? Does it create or fit into a deck/archetype? Does it create an oppressive environment?
Creativity - (X/3) Uniqueness: Has a card like this ever been printed before? Does it use new mechanics, ideas, or design space? Does it combine old ideas in a new way? Overall, does it feel “fresh”? (X/3) Flavor: Does the name seem realistic for a card? Does the flavor text sound professional? Do all the flavor elements synch together to please Vorthos players?
Polish - (X/3) Quality: Points deducted for incorrect spelling, grammar, and templating. (X/2) *Main Challenge: Was the main challenge satisfied? Was it approached in a unique or interesting way? Does the card fit the intent of the challenge? (X/2) Subchallenges: One point awarded per satisfied subchallenge condition.
Total: X/25
*An entry with 0 points here is subject to disqualification.
JUDGES
bravelion83
Subject16
Cantripmancer
PLAYERS
Only the players included in the following table can submit a card. For each player, the guilds erased are those that player has already designed a card for during this month. This is relevant for subchallenge 2.
Freyleyes - can design for Gruul or Orzhov to pass subchallenge 2. picnic_bomber - can design for Azorius or Simic to pass subchallenge 2. Superbajt - can design for Azorius or Orzhov to pass subchallenge 2.
A helpful tip for those formatting their cards, I wrote it more than two years ago but it's still totally valid.
A reminder to everyone: In the MCC, putting rarity on cards is mandatory! If you don't put a rarity on your card, expect huge deductions in both Viability AND Quality.
Also, you should format your text cards accordingly to the forum rules (see the "this formatting looks best" spoiler in the linked OP). Again, expect deductions in Quality otherwise.
ATTACHMENTS
MCC-RNA-R4
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.)
The Immortal CouncilWWWBBB
Legendary Creature - Spirit Advisor {M}
When The Immortal Council enters the battlefield, target opponent loses X life and you gain X life, where X is equal to the number of Spirits you control.
Sacrifice five Spirits: Return The Immortal Council from your graveyard to your hand.
Afterlife 5 (When this creature dies, create five 1/1 white and black Spirit creature tokens with flying.) "They can try a thousand times over, we will never perish."
2/2
Isperia, the Lawgiver 4WU
Legendary Creature - Sphinx (M)
Flying
Whenever a creature attacks you or a planeswalker you control, tap that creature. That creature doesn't untap during its controller's untap step for as long as you control Isperia. "Our laws must reflect our moral high ground."
3/7
Vorel, Ascended Biomancer1GU
Legendary Planeswalker - Vorel (M) [ 0 ]: Double the number of each kind of counter on target permanent. [ -X ]: Distribute X +1/+1 counters among creatures you control. [ -XX ]: Create X X/X green Ooze creature tokens. { 2 }
The round is closed. Every judge judges all entries. Judgments complete, not final until deadline.
The Immortal CouncilWWWBBB
Legendary Creature - Spirit Advisor {M}
When The Immortal Council enters the battlefield, target opponent loses X life and you gain X life, where X is equal to the number of Spirits you control.
Sacrifice five Spirits: Return The Immortal Council from your graveyard to your hand.
Afterlife 5 (When this creature dies, create five 1/1 white and black Spirit creature tokens with flying.) "They can try a thousand times over, we will never perish."
2/2 Design (2.5/3) Appeal - Timmy probably sees this as a little too small, but he loves reading "afterlife 5". I see many tricks Johnny could do with this. Spike doesn't like how restrictive the mana cost is, but she likes this in an Aristocrats-style deck. (2.5/3) Elegance - The text is very long, but still easy enough to understand.
Development (2.5/3) Viability - Mechanically this card could just be monoblack, but as a whole it does feel very Orzhov. I can easily see this card being mythic, both flavorfully and mechanically. (2/3) Balance - Is it intended that this can sacrifice itself to its own ability because it's a Spirit itself? Or is the activated ability actually meant to say "Sacrifice five other Spirits"? You could even sacrifice it to its own ability and then return it to your hand as the ability resolves, because the ability doesn't target so you can pay the cost, have the Council go to the graveyard, then on resolution take it back. If a target was required, you couldn't have done this. I'm actually a little worried by the ability to sacrifice this at will, especially because you could easily set up a loop creating five (!) Spirits on each iteration. It's true that you have to recast it every time and it has a very restrictive mana cost (thankfully), but if you have the mana to cast it once you will certainly have the mana to make at least one iteration of the loop on each of your turns. I think you would play this in every format where you can reliably pay the mana cost.
Creativity (1/3) Uniqueness - This is a technically new card made up completely by old pieces. This card's strength is the high synergy between those pieces, not their originality. (2/3) Flavor - The flavor of this card is fine and fits what we knew about the Obzedat until now. It turns out in the end they did perish... you can thank Kaya for that, and she only had to try once! But that's not a problem, we can just say this card is from an alternate universe where the Obzedat survived. The real problem (and the reason for the point deduction) is that I checked in MSE and the flavor text barely fits in the frame, we're still technically within limits but the card really looks better without flavor text. You could potentially cut the reminder text for afterlife, as this is a mythic with space constraints, but it doesn't help very much with this.
Polish (3/3) Quality - All good. (2/2) Main Challenge - Good. (2/2) Subchallenges - Both met.
Total: 19.5/25
Isperia, the Lawgiver 4WU
Legendary Creature - Sphinx (M)
Flying
Whenever a creature attacks you or a planeswalker you control, tap that creature. That creature doesn't untap during its controller's untap step for as long as you control Isperia. "Our laws must reflect our moral high ground."
3/7 Design (2.5/3) Appeal - Timmy likes a creature that's hard to remove and that greatly affects the board. Johnny might see this card as protection at most. Spike sees this as a soft lock. (2.5/3) Elegance - The fact that the triggered ability taps the creature after it has already attacked (and so it's already tapped) might be a bit confusing. The only time that will be relevant is when the creature that's attacking you has vigilance.
Development (2.5/3) Viability - Flying is shared between white and blue and the triggered ability has a white trigger with a blue effect, so no problems with the color pie. Flavorfully, this card just has to be mythic. Mechanically, let's just say that I am glad it's a mythic. The play pattern it implies doesn't look the most fun to me. (1/3) Balance - This strikes me as a card you'd probably love to play with but hate play against. Attacking profitably against this looks almost impossible, and even if you find someway through this, your attacking creature will not untap again for as long as this is around. The problem is not whether this is playable (I think it is in most competitive formats), but whether it is fun to play with or especially against, and I have my doubts on that. That's very relevant in casual. It affecting all creatures from all opponents makes that even worse in multiplayer.
Creativity (1.5/3) Uniqueness - Closest recent precedents I've been able to find: Icefall Regent, Rust Tick, Tidebinder Mage, Time of Ice. The more you go back in time the more you find, but I haven't been able to find a triggered ability with a freeze effect and an attack trigger. The two parts are nothing new if taken each by themselves, but they have neven been coupled before according to my research. (3/3) Flavor - I don't know how intentional this is, but I really like how this card's name is a mirror to Azor, the Lawbringer, which feels very appropriate as Azor is the Parun of the Azorius and the creator of the Guildpact. This card, just like the previous one, has to come from a parallel universe where things on Ravnica went differenty, as Isperia has been petrified by Vraska in ours and Dovin Baan took control of the Azorius, but I have no problem with that. In that universe, this card's flavor works great.
Polish (3/3) Quality - All good. (2/2) Main Challenge - Good. (2/2) Subchallenges - Both met.
Total: 20/25
Vorel, Ascended Biomancer1GU
Legendary Planeswalker - Vorel (M) [ 0 ]: Double the number of each kind of counter on target permanent. [ -X ]: Distribute X +1/+1 counters among creatures you control. [ -XX ]: Create X X/X green Ooze creature tokens. { 2 } Design (3/3) Appeal - Timmy loves almost everything on this card, except maybe the lack of a + ability. I see lots of things for Johnny to do with this card. Spike also likes this, especially when she realizes that it looks like a 3-mana 2-loyalty planeswalker, but it's actually like a 4-loyalty planeswalker because you can immediately activate the 0 on Vorel himself. (2/3) Elegance - Planeswalkers usually have quite long text, but you managed to make one with very short abilities. That's good. One potential problem I can see in this area is that X is one of the things that's known for confusing less experienced players, and having a -X and a -XX at the same time could only make it worse. Also, when you read this for the first time the lack of + abilities might perplex you and make you wonder how you're supposed to have enough loyalty to use the -X and -XX profitably. Then you will realize that you're supposed to use the 0 ability to double the counters on Vorel himself, but it might not be immediately apparent.
Development (2.5/3) Viability - This card is much more green than blue in my opinion. The -X and -XX are just monogreen, but at least there is some blue in the first ability (see Deepglow Skate and Gilder Bairn). If it only doubled +1/+1 counters, that ability would have been green too (see Solidarity of Heroes and Biogenic Upgrade), but doubling any kind of counter makes it blue and the overall feeling is indeed very Simic anyway. As for rarity, planeswalkers are auto-mythics. (For now, will WAR change that?) (3/3) Balance - It's always hard to judge planeswalkers, but I like the numbers on this. The 0 ability looks like it might spiral out of control turn after turn, but starting from a low loyalty should mitigate that. Limited bomb just like every other planeswalker. I wouldn't be surprised to see this in Standard. No problems in casual or multiplayer.
Creativity (3/3) Uniqueness - There is a lot of original things going on here. I think this must be one of the most original cards I've ever judged in the MCC. (3/3) Flavor - The name is very good and does an excellent job of explaining what happened to Vorel, who we only knew as a legendary creature before. Planeswalker have no flavor text by default, so no problem with that.
Polish (2.5/3) Quality - I said it last round and I'll repeat it here: no brackets are needed around loyalty costs or starting amount. Also no need for them to be bolded. How would you write the cost of an activated ability? You should write loyalty in the same way (-0.5). (2/2) Main Challenge - Good. (2/2) Subchallenges - Both met.
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.)
The Immortal CouncilWWWBBB
Legendary Creature - Spirit Advisor {M}
When The Immortal Council enters the battlefield, target opponent loses X life and you gain X life, where X is equal to the number of Spirits you control.
Sacrifice five Spirits: Return The Immortal Council from your graveyard to your hand.
Afterlife 5 (When this creature dies, create five 1/1 white and black Spirit creature tokens with flying.) "They can try a thousand times over, we will never perish."
2/2 Design - (2.75/3) Appeal: Strong appeal across the board; a little something for everyone. (2.5/3) Elegance: A bit on the complex side, but the overall concept of the card is nicely communicated.
Development - (3/3) Viability: All good here. (2/3) Balance: I sorta feel like this is too powerful. Yes, the cost is high and restrictive, but once you've established that mana base, this becomes a fairly regular "attack for 2/otherwise sac for benefit, get five spirits, sac them to return to your hand, pay 6, drain [at least 1, likely more] life". And counterspells only delay it a turn (because any deck that runs this won't be short on spirits), as do destroy effects. Only solutions are exile (either from battlefield or grave). Feels maybe too good/obnoxious enough to be a concern. The base creature I feel is balanced; it's the recursion that scares me.
Creativity - (2.25/3) Uniqueness: Really, closest comparison I could find was Grasping Thrull. Overall, feels pretty fresh, even if it's mostly a combination of well-worn effects. (2/3) Flavor: Name fits well, and flavor text is workable.
Polish - (2.75/3) Quality: Pretty sure the comma in the flavor text should be a semicolon. (2/2) *Main Challenge: Good. (2/2) Subchallenges: Good.
Total: 21.25/25
*An entry with 0 points here is subject to disqualification.
Isperia, the Lawgiver 4WU
Legendary Creature - Sphinx (M)
Flying
Whenever a creature attacks you or a planeswalker you control, tap that creature. That creature doesn't untap during its controller's untap step for as long as you control Isperia. "Our laws must reflect our moral high ground."
3/7 Design - (2/3) Appeal: Both Johnny and Spike like this. Timmy gives it a long side-eye glance and wants its power and toughness to be switched. (2.75/3) Elegance: Strongly evocative and easy to understand. Slight ding because it has the potential to cause memory issues.
Development - (3/3) Viability: All good here. (3/3) Balance: I feel like this is pretty close to perfectly balanced. The cost to body package isn't hugely impressive, but this card's point isn't to be the beatstick; it's to be the control. That you still end up with a pretty solid beater with evasion is gravy. The effect is good, but not too good.
Creativity - (2/3) Uniqueness: The "tap, doesn't untap" isn't new, but the presentation and lingering effect is. (2.75/3) Flavor: Name relates well to the ability, flavor text doesn't hit you over the nose with obviousness, but is still well-written. General concept is very flavorful.
Total: 22.5/25
*An entry with 0 points here is subject to disqualification.
Vorel, Ascended Biomancer1GU
Legendary Planeswalker - Vorel (M) [ 0 ]: Double the number of each kind of counter on target permanent. [ -X ]: Distribute X +1/+1 counters among creatures you control. [ -XX ]: Create X X/X green Ooze creature tokens. { 2 } Design - (1.75/3) Appeal: Johnny is intrigued, and Spike is interested. Timmy mostly sees a lot of work before he gets his 13 13/13's. (2.5/3) Elegance: Pretty grokkable other than the double-take when you realize the only way he gets more loyalty is if he targets himself with the first ability.
Development - (3/3) Viability: No concerns here. (2/3) Balance: I feel like this is a very mixed bag of effects, power-wise. A 2-color planeswalker that just has 4 loyalty or creates a 1/1 token is pretty bleh. The second ability, however, is pretty nuts, either giving all your creatures a counter and living to be a threat, or just double pumping all your creatures (compare to Garruk Wildspeaker or Nissa, Voice of Zendikar). And that first ability can be strong out of the gate depending on what else you have on the board. And then there's the fact that he can pump your other planeswalkers. So...I'm having a hard time seeing this as "balanced", but for conflicting reasons.
Creativity - (2.75/3) Uniqueness: There are some unique elements here, especially the ability to target-pump other planeswalkers. There are some familiar elements, too, but presented in fun ways. (2/3) Flavor: The name is a little generic (ooooh, ascended!), but works. Abilities tie in well with the character.
The Immortal CouncilWWWBBB
Legendary Creature - Spirit Advisor {M}
When The Immortal Council enters the battlefield, target opponent loses X life and you gain X life, where X is equal to the number of Spirits you control.
Sacrifice five Spirits: Return The Immortal Council from your graveyard to your hand.
Afterlife 5 (When this creature dies, create five 1/1 white and black Spirit creature tokens with flying.) "They can try a thousand times over, we will never perish."
2/2 Design - (2/3) Appeal: A six mana 2/2 isn't Timmy's thing really. Afterlife 5 is impressive but he's not patient enough to wait for this dude to die for his payoff. Johnny loves the recursion engine here, and so does Spike when you take into account Artistocrat decks and the consistent lifedrain. (3/3) Elegance: Perfectly legible, and the abilities are all coherent and synergistic.
Development - (3/3) Viability: Token generation on creatures dying is a big part of both black and white's color pie (I mean that's why afterlife became a mechanic), as is Spirit tribal (though that's more of an esper thing now). Lifedrain is black but also orzhov when put into the guild wheel. It doesn't bend any particular aspect of the game, but it's very powerful and definitely at mythic rarity. (1.5/3) Balance: Now six colored mana is always bound to produce some powerful effects because of how limited the card's playability is outside said colors (see the new Niv-Mizzet for example). That said, I think this card is too good for a constructed environment. With two of these you can start some ridiculous shenanigans (i.e. you play your second Council, sending one to the graveyard as per legend rule and triggering afterlife. Then you can drain someone for at least 6 life and then sacrifice five spirits -one of which can be your council - at anytime to start this again). I reckon if a card like this would see print you would definitely see a mana cost stapled to that recursion ability, I mean look at Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord's recursion cost! In limited the same thing applies. So long as this card isn't exiled they can keep on coming back - which probably isn't as great as five flying 1/1s which is enough of a threat in limited. This can definitely be a format/archetype defining card.
Creativity - (2/3) Uniqueness: I'm drawing parallels between this and Sekki, Season's Guide for the recursion and Spirit tribal stuff, but tribal lifedrain is an effect that hasn't been done before (unless you count Sanctum Seeker I guess). (3/3) Flavor: There's no reason that the Ghost Council is gone forever because Kaya killed its current members, that's almost the point of councils (rotating leaders). The fact that the council comes back from the "dead" is shown perfectly on the card as well.
Polish - (3/3) Quality: Everything seems dandy to me. (2/2) *Main Challenge: It's a new group of ghosts, but still the Obzedat/Ghost Council. (2/2) Subchallenges: It's a new guild and has both its colors.
Total: 21.5/25
Isperia, the Lawgiver 4WU
Legendary Creature - Sphinx (M)
Flying
Whenever a creature attacks you or a planeswalker you control, tap that creature. That creature doesn't untap during its controller's untap step for as long as you control Isperia. "Our laws must reflect our moral high ground."
3/7 Design - (1.5/3) Appeal: 3 power for six mana is a bit underwhelming for Timmy. Johnny likes the rattlesnake but doesn't see much room for synergy unless he can force attacks. Spike sees an anti-aggro creature that costs too much to actually stop aggro. (2.5/3) Elegance: I don't see any trouble here. Possible confusion with the "tapped as long as you control Isperia" because I've seen it happen on Icefall Regent.
Development - (3/3) Viability: Freezing down creatures is very blue, and punishing attackers is very white. Both share the quirk of low power/high toughness flying creatures too. I can see this being a mythic for limited balance and flavor. (2.5/3) Balance: This card doesn't push the boat out in terms of overall power level, but left unanswered she slows down games to a painstakingly slow pace which can make her a bit oppressive in limited. You deincentivize the opponent from attacking which as a control deck (the type of deck you're playing this in) you end up lightening the pressure on you allowing you to answer more direct threats appropriately. Isperia does this without directly needing to interact with those creatures, and her 3/7 flying body is large enough to avoid most types of removal in limited. In constructed this card is inversely too easy to kill for her ability to be worthwhile, and the current archetype she locks down (aggro) usually has you on your last legs by turn six and won't mind swinging one more time if it guarantees them a kill. Overall a bit rough for limited but fine.
Creativity - (3/3) Uniqueness: Perma-freezing has been seen a couple times but never like this. It's mostly been ETB or activated abilities and only on one card at a time. (3/3) Flavor: The attacking trigger harkens back to the RTR Isperia which is a nice flavor touch, and "Lawgiver" is a reference to Azor, the Lawbringer i.e. the original Azorius founder. It helps cement down Isperia as someone who punished aggression but in a way that doesn't neutralize, which is a character trait of hers.
Polish - (3/3) Quality: Looks good to me. (2/2) *Main Challenge: We've seen Isperia before and she's back for more. (2/2) Subchallenges: It's a new guild and has both its colors.
Total: 22.5/25
Vorel, Ascended Biomancer1GU
Legendary Planeswalker - Vorel (M) [ 0 ]: Double the number of each kind of counter on target permanent. [ -X ]: Distribute X +1/+1 counters among creatures you control. [ -XX ]: Create X X/X green Ooze creature tokens. { 2 } Design - (3/3) Appeal: Timmy loves everything about this. It makes other things bigger! Itself bigger! It makes big things! Johnny also loves the counter shenanigans, and Spike sees an exponential win condition that drops early in the game. (2/3) Elegance: The [0] cost might make it be confusing to people as to how Vorel can get more loyalty. Otherwise it's good.
Development - (3/3) Viability: Doubling counters is entirely Simic, as it creating Ooze tokens and counter conversion/manipulation. As of now Planeswalkers are all still mythic but even then I feel that this would stay as such. (2.5/3) Balance: In all likelihood Vorel will double himself more times than not. As such he lands on turn three as a four loyalty walker ready to be an eight loyalty walker. Left unchecked, that's four 4/4s on turn five or eight 8/8s on turn 6. Definitely powerful, but also prone to offensive pressure as he doesn't actively do anything to protect himself except pop out small oozes if that doesn't kill him, but I used to play Huatli, Radiant Champion back when Brawl was a real thing and I can assure you the amount of loyalty you get can make attacking her a waste of time. In all formats this card is a threat but isn't unkillable. I can see this as a finisher for a lot of decks, especially with multiple ways to break parity with it. The sheer versatility of this card combined with how quickly he can come down and get out of hand means this feels a little unbalanced to me.
Creativity - (2/3) Uniqueness: It's a simic card that does very simic things, per Gilder Bairn, Deepglow Skate and Doubling Season. Making X X/X tokens has been done a lot, just not on a planeswalker with the ability to grow as exponentially as it can then generate value. (2.5/3) Flavor: Vorel exists in Magic lore already, so it's not impossible to see him ascend (curious to see how though considering his background - if what he went through didn't trigger his spark what did?) Vorel is a member of the Hull clade which is focused on defense and protection rather than offense means this card making Ooze tokens is a little off, but he's also a strong advocate of Vannifar so that could be a link/reference.
Polish - (3/3) Quality: No issues here. (2/2) *Main Challenge: It's a planeswalker and Vorel existed already as a legendary. (2/2) Subchallenges: It's a new guild and has both its colors.
picnic_bomber is the winner. Congratulations! Thanks to all players and judges.
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.)
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(This month's banner is my own elaboration on the art of the card Resolute Watchdog by Milivoj Ceran, my favorite art from Ravnica Allegiance.)
February MCC Round 4
More Legends of Ravnica
The last time I hosted, in the Guilds of Ravnica MCC (November), we ended up with two Mazirek cards and a lot of the other characters I chose had none. For example, I was really hoping to see a Feather. Anyway, to avoid this kind of problem, this time I've decided to just let you choose the character and also allow planeswalkers.
Main Challenge - Choose one of the five guilds from Ravnica Allegiance (Azorius, Rakdos, Gruul, Orzhov, Simic) and design a new legendary creature or planeswalker card for an already known character from that guild.
Subchallenge 1 - Your card has both of the guild's colors in its mana cost.
Subchallenge 2 - Your round 4 card is of a different guild than your cards from rounds 1, 2 and 3 (see table/list below).
For the main challenge, the character you choose must be already known in lore. Do not create new characters. The character you choose may be one that doesn't have a card yet or a new version of one that already does. Both are fine.
If you want to include a link to the Wiki page of your chosen character in your submission, you can do that this round. Do not put anything else in your submission though. Just your card and the optional link. This is an exception to the normal MCC rules specifically for this round, to allow you to choose more obscure characters if you want. This way, the judges don't have to be necessarily huge flavor experts and we don't risk them saying the character doesn't exist when it actually does and it's just an obscure reference.
For subchallenge 1, both colors have to be in the mana cost. A monocolored card with a multicolored color identity does NOT pass this subchallenge. Hybrid mana is fine.
If you have more questions, feel free to ask in the discussion thread.
DEADLINES
Design deadline: Sunday, March 3rd 23:59 EST
Judging deadline: Wednesday, March 6th 23:59 EST
(X/3) Appeal: Do the different player psychographics (Timmy/Johhny/Spike) have a use for the card?
(X/3) Elegance: Is the card easily understandable at a glance? Do all the flavor and mechanics combined as a whole make sense?
Development -
(X/3) Viability: How well does the card fit into the color wheel? Does it break or bend the rules of the game? Is it the appropriate rarity?
(X/3) Balance: Does the card have a power level appropriate for contemporary constructed/limited environments without breaking them? Does it play well in casual and multiplayer formats? Does it create or fit into a deck/archetype? Does it create an oppressive environment?
Creativity -
(X/3) Uniqueness: Has a card like this ever been printed before? Does it use new mechanics, ideas, or design space? Does it combine old ideas in a new way? Overall, does it feel “fresh”?
(X/3) Flavor: Does the name seem realistic for a card? Does the flavor text sound professional? Do all the flavor elements synch together to please Vorthos players?
Polish -
(X/3) Quality: Points deducted for incorrect spelling, grammar, and templating.
(X/2) *Main Challenge: Was the main challenge satisfied? Was it approached in a unique or interesting way? Does the card fit the intent of the challenge?
(X/2) Subchallenges: One point awarded per satisfied subchallenge condition.
Total: X/25
*An entry with 0 points here is subject to disqualification.
JUDGES
bravelion83
Subject16
Cantripmancer
PLAYERS
Only the players included in the following table can submit a card. For each player, the guilds erased are those that player has already designed a card for during this month. This is relevant for subchallenge 2.
Freyleyes - can design for Gruul or Orzhov to pass subchallenge 2.
picnic_bomber - can design for Azorius or Simic to pass subchallenge 2.
Superbajt - can design for Azorius or Orzhov to pass subchallenge 2.
A helpful tip for those formatting their cards, I wrote it more than two years ago but it's still totally valid.
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.)
Legendary Creature - Spirit Advisor {M}
When The Immortal Council enters the battlefield, target opponent loses X life and you gain X life, where X is equal to the number of Spirits you control.
Sacrifice five Spirits: Return The Immortal Council from your graveyard to your hand.
Afterlife 5 (When this creature dies, create five 1/1 white and black Spirit creature tokens with flying.)
"They can try a thousand times over, we will never perish."
2/2
Legendary Creature - Sphinx (M)
Flying
Whenever a creature attacks you or a planeswalker you control, tap that creature. That creature doesn't untap during its controller's untap step for as long as you control Isperia.
"Our laws must reflect our moral high ground."
3/7
Legendary Planeswalker - Vorel (M)
[ 0 ]: Double the number of each kind of counter on target permanent.
[ -X ]: Distribute X +1/+1 counters among creatures you control.
[ -XX ]: Create X X/X green Ooze creature tokens.
{ 2 }
Judgments complete, not final until deadline.
Legendary Creature - Spirit Advisor {M}
When The Immortal Council enters the battlefield, target opponent loses X life and you gain X life, where X is equal to the number of Spirits you control.
Sacrifice five Spirits: Return The Immortal Council from your graveyard to your hand.
Afterlife 5 (When this creature dies, create five 1/1 white and black Spirit creature tokens with flying.)
"They can try a thousand times over, we will never perish."
2/2
Design
(2.5/3) Appeal - Timmy probably sees this as a little too small, but he loves reading "afterlife 5". I see many tricks Johnny could do with this. Spike doesn't like how restrictive the mana cost is, but she likes this in an Aristocrats-style deck.
(2.5/3) Elegance - The text is very long, but still easy enough to understand.
Development
(2.5/3) Viability - Mechanically this card could just be monoblack, but as a whole it does feel very Orzhov. I can easily see this card being mythic, both flavorfully and mechanically.
(2/3) Balance - Is it intended that this can sacrifice itself to its own ability because it's a Spirit itself? Or is the activated ability actually meant to say "Sacrifice five other Spirits"? You could even sacrifice it to its own ability and then return it to your hand as the ability resolves, because the ability doesn't target so you can pay the cost, have the Council go to the graveyard, then on resolution take it back. If a target was required, you couldn't have done this. I'm actually a little worried by the ability to sacrifice this at will, especially because you could easily set up a loop creating five (!) Spirits on each iteration. It's true that you have to recast it every time and it has a very restrictive mana cost (thankfully), but if you have the mana to cast it once you will certainly have the mana to make at least one iteration of the loop on each of your turns. I think you would play this in every format where you can reliably pay the mana cost.
Creativity
(1/3) Uniqueness - This is a technically new card made up completely by old pieces. This card's strength is the high synergy between those pieces, not their originality.
(2/3) Flavor - The flavor of this card is fine and fits what we knew about the Obzedat until now. It turns out in the end they did perish... you can thank Kaya for that, and she only had to try once! But that's not a problem, we can just say this card is from an alternate universe where the Obzedat survived. The real problem (and the reason for the point deduction) is that I checked in MSE and the flavor text barely fits in the frame, we're still technically within limits but the card really looks better without flavor text. You could potentially cut the reminder text for afterlife, as this is a mythic with space constraints, but it doesn't help very much with this.
Polish
(3/3) Quality - All good.
(2/2) Main Challenge - Good.
(2/2) Subchallenges - Both met.
Total: 19.5/25
Legendary Creature - Sphinx (M)
Flying
Whenever a creature attacks you or a planeswalker you control, tap that creature. That creature doesn't untap during its controller's untap step for as long as you control Isperia.
"Our laws must reflect our moral high ground."
3/7
Design
(2.5/3) Appeal - Timmy likes a creature that's hard to remove and that greatly affects the board. Johnny might see this card as protection at most. Spike sees this as a soft lock.
(2.5/3) Elegance - The fact that the triggered ability taps the creature after it has already attacked (and so it's already tapped) might be a bit confusing. The only time that will be relevant is when the creature that's attacking you has vigilance.
Development
(2.5/3) Viability - Flying is shared between white and blue and the triggered ability has a white trigger with a blue effect, so no problems with the color pie. Flavorfully, this card just has to be mythic. Mechanically, let's just say that I am glad it's a mythic. The play pattern it implies doesn't look the most fun to me.
(1/3) Balance - This strikes me as a card you'd probably love to play with but hate play against. Attacking profitably against this looks almost impossible, and even if you find someway through this, your attacking creature will not untap again for as long as this is around. The problem is not whether this is playable (I think it is in most competitive formats), but whether it is fun to play with or especially against, and I have my doubts on that. That's very relevant in casual. It affecting all creatures from all opponents makes that even worse in multiplayer.
Creativity
(1.5/3) Uniqueness - Closest recent precedents I've been able to find: Icefall Regent, Rust Tick, Tidebinder Mage, Time of Ice. The more you go back in time the more you find, but I haven't been able to find a triggered ability with a freeze effect and an attack trigger. The two parts are nothing new if taken each by themselves, but they have neven been coupled before according to my research.
(3/3) Flavor - I don't know how intentional this is, but I really like how this card's name is a mirror to Azor, the Lawbringer, which feels very appropriate as Azor is the Parun of the Azorius and the creator of the Guildpact. This card, just like the previous one, has to come from a parallel universe where things on Ravnica went differenty, as Isperia has been petrified by Vraska in ours and Dovin Baan took control of the Azorius, but I have no problem with that. In that universe, this card's flavor works great.
Polish
(3/3) Quality - All good.
(2/2) Main Challenge - Good.
(2/2) Subchallenges - Both met.
Total: 20/25
Legendary Planeswalker - Vorel (M)
[ 0 ]: Double the number of each kind of counter on target permanent.
[ -X ]: Distribute X +1/+1 counters among creatures you control.
[ -XX ]: Create X X/X green Ooze creature tokens.
{ 2 }
Design
(3/3) Appeal - Timmy loves almost everything on this card, except maybe the lack of a + ability. I see lots of things for Johnny to do with this card. Spike also likes this, especially when she realizes that it looks like a 3-mana 2-loyalty planeswalker, but it's actually like a 4-loyalty planeswalker because you can immediately activate the 0 on Vorel himself.
(2/3) Elegance - Planeswalkers usually have quite long text, but you managed to make one with very short abilities. That's good. One potential problem I can see in this area is that X is one of the things that's known for confusing less experienced players, and having a -X and a -XX at the same time could only make it worse. Also, when you read this for the first time the lack of + abilities might perplex you and make you wonder how you're supposed to have enough loyalty to use the -X and -XX profitably. Then you will realize that you're supposed to use the 0 ability to double the counters on Vorel himself, but it might not be immediately apparent.
Development
(2.5/3) Viability - This card is much more green than blue in my opinion. The -X and -XX are just monogreen, but at least there is some blue in the first ability (see Deepglow Skate and Gilder Bairn). If it only doubled +1/+1 counters, that ability would have been green too (see Solidarity of Heroes and Biogenic Upgrade), but doubling any kind of counter makes it blue and the overall feeling is indeed very Simic anyway. As for rarity, planeswalkers are auto-mythics. (For now, will WAR change that?)
(3/3) Balance - It's always hard to judge planeswalkers, but I like the numbers on this. The 0 ability looks like it might spiral out of control turn after turn, but starting from a low loyalty should mitigate that. Limited bomb just like every other planeswalker. I wouldn't be surprised to see this in Standard. No problems in casual or multiplayer.
Creativity
(3/3) Uniqueness - There is a lot of original things going on here. I think this must be one of the most original cards I've ever judged in the MCC.
(3/3) Flavor - The name is very good and does an excellent job of explaining what happened to Vorel, who we only knew as a legendary creature before. Planeswalker have no flavor text by default, so no problem with that.
Polish
(2.5/3) Quality - I said it last round and I'll repeat it here: no brackets are needed around loyalty costs or starting amount. Also no need for them to be bolded. How would you write the cost of an activated ability? You should write loyalty in the same way (-0.5).
(2/2) Main Challenge - Good.
(2/2) Subchallenges - Both met.
Total: 23/25
picnic_bomber: 23
Superbajt: 20
Freyleyes: 19.5
MCC - Winner (6): Oct 2014, Apr Nov 2017, Jan 2018, Apr Jun 2019 || Host (15): Dec 2014, Apr Jul Aug Dec 2015, Mar Jul Aug Oct 2016, Feb Jul 2017, Jun Nov 2018, Feb Jul 2019 (last one here) || Judge (34): every month from Nov 2014 to Nov 2016 except Oct 2015, every month from Feb to Jul 2017 except Apr 2017, then Oct 2017, May Jun Nov 2018, Feb Jul 2019 (last one here)
CCL - Winner (3): Jul 2016 (tied with Flatline), May 2017, Jul 2019 (last one here) || Host (5): Feb 2015, Mar Apr May Jun 2016
DCC - Winner (1): Mar 2015 (tied with Piar) || Host (3): May Oct 2015, Jan 2016
• The two public custom sets I've been part a part of the design team for:
"Brotherhood of Ormos" - Blog post with all info - set thread - design skeleton / card list || "Extinctia: Homo Evanuit" - Blog post with all info - set thread - card list spreadsheet
• "The Lion's Lair", my article series about MTG and custom card design in particular. Latest article here. Here is the article index. Rather outdated by now, and based on the old MCC rubric, but I'm leaving this here for anybody that might be interested anyway.
• My only public attempt at being a writer: the story of my Leonin custom planeswalker Jeff Lionheart. (I have a very big one that I'm working on right now but that's private for now, and I don't know if I will ever actually publish it, and I also have ideas for multiple future ones, including one where I'm going to reprise Jeff.)
Legendary Creature - Spirit Advisor {M}
When The Immortal Council enters the battlefield, target opponent loses X life and you gain X life, where X is equal to the number of Spirits you control.
Sacrifice five Spirits: Return The Immortal Council from your graveyard to your hand.
Afterlife 5 (When this creature dies, create five 1/1 white and black Spirit creature tokens with flying.)
"They can try a thousand times over, we will never perish."
2/2
Design -
(2.75/3) Appeal: Strong appeal across the board; a little something for everyone.
(2.5/3) Elegance: A bit on the complex side, but the overall concept of the card is nicely communicated.
Development -
(3/3) Viability: All good here.
(2/3) Balance: I sorta feel like this is too powerful. Yes, the cost is high and restrictive, but once you've established that mana base, this becomes a fairly regular "attack for 2/otherwise sac for benefit, get five spirits, sac them to return to your hand, pay 6, drain [at least 1, likely more] life". And counterspells only delay it a turn (because any deck that runs this won't be short on spirits), as do destroy effects. Only solutions are exile (either from battlefield or grave). Feels maybe too good/obnoxious enough to be a concern. The base creature I feel is balanced; it's the recursion that scares me.
Creativity -
(2.25/3) Uniqueness: Really, closest comparison I could find was Grasping Thrull. Overall, feels pretty fresh, even if it's mostly a combination of well-worn effects.
(2/3) Flavor: Name fits well, and flavor text is workable.
Polish -
(2.75/3) Quality: Pretty sure the comma in the flavor text should be a semicolon.
(2/2) *Main Challenge: Good.
(2/2) Subchallenges: Good.
Total: 21.25/25
*An entry with 0 points here is subject to disqualification.
Legendary Creature - Sphinx (M)
Flying
Whenever a creature attacks you or a planeswalker you control, tap that creature. That creature doesn't untap during its controller's untap step for as long as you control Isperia.
"Our laws must reflect our moral high ground."
3/7
Design -
(2/3) Appeal: Both Johnny and Spike like this. Timmy gives it a long side-eye glance and wants its power and toughness to be switched.
(2.75/3) Elegance: Strongly evocative and easy to understand. Slight ding because it has the potential to cause memory issues.
Development -
(3/3) Viability: All good here.
(3/3) Balance: I feel like this is pretty close to perfectly balanced. The cost to body package isn't hugely impressive, but this card's point isn't to be the beatstick; it's to be the control. That you still end up with a pretty solid beater with evasion is gravy. The effect is good, but not too good.
Creativity -
(2/3) Uniqueness: The "tap, doesn't untap" isn't new, but the presentation and lingering effect is.
(2.75/3) Flavor: Name relates well to the ability, flavor text doesn't hit you over the nose with obviousness, but is still well-written. General concept is very flavorful.
Polish -
(3/3) Quality: Fine.
(2/2) *Main Challenge: Good.
(2/2) Subchallenges: Good.
Total: 22.5/25
*An entry with 0 points here is subject to disqualification.
Legendary Planeswalker - Vorel (M)
[ 0 ]: Double the number of each kind of counter on target permanent.
[ -X ]: Distribute X +1/+1 counters among creatures you control.
[ -XX ]: Create X X/X green Ooze creature tokens.
{ 2 }
Design -
(1.75/3) Appeal: Johnny is intrigued, and Spike is interested. Timmy mostly sees a lot of work before he gets his 13 13/13's.
(2.5/3) Elegance: Pretty grokkable other than the double-take when you realize the only way he gets more loyalty is if he targets himself with the first ability.
Development -
(3/3) Viability: No concerns here.
(2/3) Balance: I feel like this is a very mixed bag of effects, power-wise. A 2-color planeswalker that just has 4 loyalty or creates a 1/1 token is pretty bleh. The second ability, however, is pretty nuts, either giving all your creatures a counter and living to be a threat, or just double pumping all your creatures (compare to Garruk Wildspeaker or Nissa, Voice of Zendikar). And that first ability can be strong out of the gate depending on what else you have on the board. And then there's the fact that he can pump your other planeswalkers. So...I'm having a hard time seeing this as "balanced", but for conflicting reasons.
Creativity -
(2.75/3) Uniqueness: There are some unique elements here, especially the ability to target-pump other planeswalkers. There are some familiar elements, too, but presented in fun ways.
(2/3) Flavor: The name is a little generic (ooooh, ascended!), but works. Abilities tie in well with the character.
Polish -
(3/3) Quality: Fine.
(2/2) *Main Challenge: Good.
(2/2) Subchallenges: Good.
Total: 21/25
*An entry with 0 points here is subject to disqualification.
Freyleyes: 21.25
picnic_bomber: 21
Legendary Creature - Spirit Advisor {M}
When The Immortal Council enters the battlefield, target opponent loses X life and you gain X life, where X is equal to the number of Spirits you control.
Sacrifice five Spirits: Return The Immortal Council from your graveyard to your hand.
Afterlife 5 (When this creature dies, create five 1/1 white and black Spirit creature tokens with flying.)
"They can try a thousand times over, we will never perish."
2/2
Design -
(2/3) Appeal: A six mana 2/2 isn't Timmy's thing really. Afterlife 5 is impressive but he's not patient enough to wait for this dude to die for his payoff. Johnny loves the recursion engine here, and so does Spike when you take into account Artistocrat decks and the consistent lifedrain.
(3/3) Elegance: Perfectly legible, and the abilities are all coherent and synergistic.
Development -
(3/3) Viability: Token generation on creatures dying is a big part of both black and white's color pie (I mean that's why afterlife became a mechanic), as is Spirit tribal (though that's more of an esper thing now). Lifedrain is black but also orzhov when put into the guild wheel. It doesn't bend any particular aspect of the game, but it's very powerful and definitely at mythic rarity.
(1.5/3) Balance: Now six colored mana is always bound to produce some powerful effects because of how limited the card's playability is outside said colors (see the new Niv-Mizzet for example). That said, I think this card is too good for a constructed environment. With two of these you can start some ridiculous shenanigans (i.e. you play your second Council, sending one to the graveyard as per legend rule and triggering afterlife. Then you can drain someone for at least 6 life and then sacrifice five spirits -one of which can be your council - at anytime to start this again). I reckon if a card like this would see print you would definitely see a mana cost stapled to that recursion ability, I mean look at Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord's recursion cost! In limited the same thing applies. So long as this card isn't exiled they can keep on coming back - which probably isn't as great as five flying 1/1s which is enough of a threat in limited. This can definitely be a format/archetype defining card.
Creativity -
(2/3) Uniqueness: I'm drawing parallels between this and Sekki, Season's Guide for the recursion and Spirit tribal stuff, but tribal lifedrain is an effect that hasn't been done before (unless you count Sanctum Seeker I guess).
(3/3) Flavor: There's no reason that the Ghost Council is gone forever because Kaya killed its current members, that's almost the point of councils (rotating leaders). The fact that the council comes back from the "dead" is shown perfectly on the card as well.
Polish -
(3/3) Quality: Everything seems dandy to me.
(2/2) *Main Challenge: It's a new group of ghosts, but still the Obzedat/Ghost Council.
(2/2) Subchallenges: It's a new guild and has both its colors.
Total: 21.5/25
Legendary Creature - Sphinx (M)
Flying
Whenever a creature attacks you or a planeswalker you control, tap that creature. That creature doesn't untap during its controller's untap step for as long as you control Isperia.
"Our laws must reflect our moral high ground."
3/7
Design -
(1.5/3) Appeal: 3 power for six mana is a bit underwhelming for Timmy. Johnny likes the rattlesnake but doesn't see much room for synergy unless he can force attacks. Spike sees an anti-aggro creature that costs too much to actually stop aggro.
(2.5/3) Elegance: I don't see any trouble here. Possible confusion with the "tapped as long as you control Isperia" because I've seen it happen on Icefall Regent.
Development -
(3/3) Viability: Freezing down creatures is very blue, and punishing attackers is very white. Both share the quirk of low power/high toughness flying creatures too. I can see this being a mythic for limited balance and flavor.
(2.5/3) Balance: This card doesn't push the boat out in terms of overall power level, but left unanswered she slows down games to a painstakingly slow pace which can make her a bit oppressive in limited. You deincentivize the opponent from attacking which as a control deck (the type of deck you're playing this in) you end up lightening the pressure on you allowing you to answer more direct threats appropriately. Isperia does this without directly needing to interact with those creatures, and her 3/7 flying body is large enough to avoid most types of removal in limited. In constructed this card is inversely too easy to kill for her ability to be worthwhile, and the current archetype she locks down (aggro) usually has you on your last legs by turn six and won't mind swinging one more time if it guarantees them a kill. Overall a bit rough for limited but fine.
Creativity -
(3/3) Uniqueness: Perma-freezing has been seen a couple times but never like this. It's mostly been ETB or activated abilities and only on one card at a time.
(3/3) Flavor: The attacking trigger harkens back to the RTR Isperia which is a nice flavor touch, and "Lawgiver" is a reference to Azor, the Lawbringer i.e. the original Azorius founder. It helps cement down Isperia as someone who punished aggression but in a way that doesn't neutralize, which is a character trait of hers.
Polish -
(3/3) Quality: Looks good to me.
(2/2) *Main Challenge: We've seen Isperia before and she's back for more.
(2/2) Subchallenges: It's a new guild and has both its colors.
Total: 22.5/25
Legendary Planeswalker - Vorel (M)
[ 0 ]: Double the number of each kind of counter on target permanent.
[ -X ]: Distribute X +1/+1 counters among creatures you control.
[ -XX ]: Create X X/X green Ooze creature tokens.
{ 2 }
Design -
(3/3) Appeal: Timmy loves everything about this. It makes other things bigger! Itself bigger! It makes big things! Johnny also loves the counter shenanigans, and Spike sees an exponential win condition that drops early in the game.
(2/3) Elegance: The [0] cost might make it be confusing to people as to how Vorel can get more loyalty. Otherwise it's good.
Development -
(3/3) Viability: Doubling counters is entirely Simic, as it creating Ooze tokens and counter conversion/manipulation. As of now Planeswalkers are all still mythic but even then I feel that this would stay as such.
(2.5/3) Balance: In all likelihood Vorel will double himself more times than not. As such he lands on turn three as a four loyalty walker ready to be an eight loyalty walker. Left unchecked, that's four 4/4s on turn five or eight 8/8s on turn 6. Definitely powerful, but also prone to offensive pressure as he doesn't actively do anything to protect himself except pop out small oozes if that doesn't kill him, but I used to play Huatli, Radiant Champion back when Brawl was a real thing and I can assure you the amount of loyalty you get can make attacking her a waste of time. In all formats this card is a threat but isn't unkillable. I can see this as a finisher for a lot of decks, especially with multiple ways to break parity with it. The sheer versatility of this card combined with how quickly he can come down and get out of hand means this feels a little unbalanced to me.
Creativity -
(2/3) Uniqueness: It's a simic card that does very simic things, per Gilder Bairn, Deepglow Skate and Doubling Season. Making X X/X tokens has been done a lot, just not on a planeswalker with the ability to grow as exponentially as it can then generate value.
(2.5/3) Flavor: Vorel exists in Magic lore already, so it's not impossible to see him ascend (curious to see how though considering his background - if what he went through didn't trigger his spark what did?) Vorel is a member of the Hull clade which is focused on defense and protection rather than offense means this card making Ooze tokens is a little off, but he's also a strong advocate of Vannifar so that could be a link/reference.
Polish -
(3/3) Quality: No issues here.
(2/2) *Main Challenge: It's a planeswalker and Vorel existed already as a legendary.
(2/2) Subchallenges: It's a new guild and has both its colors.
Total: 22/25
2: picnic_bomber: 22/25
3: Freyleyes: 21.5/25
picnic_bomber: 23 + 21 + 22 = 66
Superbajt: 20 + 22.5 + 22.5 = 65
Freyleyes: 19.5 + 21.25 + 21.5 = 62.25
picnic_bomber is the winner. Congratulations! Thanks to all players and judges.
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.)