(This banner is my own elaboration on the art of the cards Knight of Grace by Sidharth Chaturvedi and Wizard's Retort by Grzegorz Rutkowski.)
June MCC Round 2
Family history
One thing I've always been fascinated by is family trees. It's amazing to find out what your origins are and how they've impacted who you are now. I've built my own family tree recently going as far back as I could, and I learned a lot more about its branches in England, Australia, and multiple different parts of Italy. In Magic, family connections are often represented through creature types and tribal mechanics. For example, the kinship mechanic from Lorwyn block comes to mind. Nowadays, most Magic sets have a tribal component. Dominaria is no exception, with its Wizards and Knights.
Main Challenge - Design a Wizard creature that cares about other Wizards or a Knight creature that cares about other Knights.
Subchallenge 1 - Your creature is green (aka there is a green mana symbol in its mana cost).
Subchallenge 2 - Your creature is not legendary.
• The tribal synergy required by the main challenge can be of any kind: you can give a bonus to any or all Wizard/Knight, care about controlling one or more Wizard/Knight, check if there is a Wizard/Knight card in a graveyard, etc... Any tribal synergy of any kind is good.
• The Wizard/Knight creature type must be mentioned in the rules text.
• If your creature is a Wizard, it must care about other Wizards and it can't care about Knights, and viceversa. In other words, no crossing between the two creature types.
• In Dominaria, Wizards are in blue and red and Knights are in white and black, so it will be very hard to include green. Subchallenge 1 is intentionally difficult. Think carefully about whether you really want to try to go for it. Sometimes it's better to have a clean design that doesn't meet one of the subchallenges rather than wanting to force a subchallenge at all costs (only to pay it in Elegance and Viability and maybe more). Of course, I'm not saying you must or should ignore subchallenge 1. If you have a card design in which green makes sense, totally go for it. I'm just saying I meant it to be hard.
• Subchallenge 1 cares about the colors in the mana cost, NOT the card's color identity. In other words, mana symbols in the rules text do NOT count.
• For subchallenge 2, as long as the card does not have the legendary supertype it's fine.
• If you have any other question that's not covered here, feel free to ask in the discussion thread.
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.
DEADLINES
Design Deadline: All submissions are to be final and submitted by Friday, June 15th 11:59 PM EST Judging Deadline: All judgements are to be final and completed by Monday, June 18th Tuesday, June 19th 11:59 PM EST
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.
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.)
Ana Summoner2GG
Creature - Elf Wizard (Rare) UU, T: You may put a Wizard creature card from your hand onto the battlefield. BB, T: You may put a Wizard creature card from your graveyard onto the battlefield.
2/4
Tolarian Exchange Student1G(U/R)
Creature - Treefolk Wizard [Common]
As long as you control another Wizard, Tolarian Exchange Student has +1/+0 and Prowess.
As long as you control another Treefolk, Tolarian Exchange Student has +0/+1 and Reach. Remember your roots has a very literal meaning in Krosa.
1/4
Class of 1993CWUBRG
Creatures - Human Wizards [Mythic Rare]
When Class of 1993 enters the battlefield, search cards you own from outside the game for any number of cards from the Alpha or Beta expansion set. Reveal them and shuffle them into your library.
Class of 1993's power and toughness is equal to the number of Wizards you control.
*/*
Kjeldor's Elite3WW
Creature - Human Knight [Rare]
When Kjeldor's Elite enters the battlefield, create two 2/2 Knight creature tokens with Vigilance.
Your life total can't go below the number of Knights you control (Damage or loss of life that would reduce it below that number reduces it to that number instead. You can't pay life that would make you go below that number.).
3/3
Archmage Artillerist3RR
Creature - Human Wizard Soldier [R]
Defender
Tap an untapped Wizard you control: Archmage Artillerist deals 1 damage to any target. "Don't fire until you can see the looks on their faces!"
2/4
Juniper Order OutriderGW
Creature - Elf Knight (R)
First strike
Whenever a Knight you control attacks, you may untap target creature or land. "Banner of Belzenlok sighted in Fallajia. Tell the druids to wake the Magnigoths."
- Missive from Almaaz expedition
2/2
Renowned Lord Commander2GW
Legendary Creature - Human Knight (R)
First strike, renown 1.
Other Knight creatures you control have first strike and renown 1.
Whenever a creature you control with a +1/+1 counter on it deals combat damage to an opponent, creatures you control get +1/+1 until end of turn.
2/2
Timely Hero2GW
Creature — Human Knight (R)
Flash
Vigilance
When Timely Hero enters the battlefield, prevent all damage that would be dealt to other Knight creatures you control this turn. "Just in the nick of time!"
4/4
(22 Total) - October 2014; December 2014; January 2015; April 2015; June 2015; August 2015; September 2015; November 2015; December 2015(T); January 2016; March 2016(T); April 2016; June 2016; October 2016; December 2016(T); February 2017; April 2017; December 2017; November 2018(T); January 2019; April 2019; June 2019
(8 Total) - May 2015; May 2016; June 2016; August 2016; October 2016; December 2016; October 2017; May 2019
(7 Total) - September 2015; October 2015; January 2016; March 2016; April 2016; July 2016(T); March 2019(T)
Elvish Watchmage1GG
Creatrue - Elf Wizard {R}
Wizard spells you control can’t be countered.
Whenever Elvish Watchmage or another wizard enters the battlefield under your control, you may untap a wizard you control.
1/3
Caretaker Komtur2GW
Creature - Human Knight (R) GW: Untap target Knight. It gains hexproof until end of turn. Bant knights are known for being prepared to treats on many levels.
4/4
Hero of Tel-Jilad2GG
Creature - Elf Knight [R]
Hero of Tel-Jilad enters the battlefield with two valor counters on it.
Whenever a knight creature you control would die, remove a valor counter from Hero of Tel-Jilad instead. If you did, regenerate that creature.
"Be more vigilant next time."
4/4
Order of Lost ArgothGW
Creature - Human Knight (r)
First strike
Whenever you put a lore counter on a Saga you control, put a +1/+1 counter on each Knight you control. Argoth might be long lost, but it has never vanished from people's memory.
3/2
Kjeldoran Vanguard1WW
Creature - Human Knight {R}
Vigilance
If another creature you control would be destroyed, instead you may remove all damage from that creature and sacrifice a Knight creature you control.
3/3
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
A mere ten days after the Mending, a young knight of Valeron and a young ranger of Eos made a discovery that would change Alara forever.
Timely Hero2GW
Creature — Human Knight (R)
Flash
Vigilance
When Timely Hero enters the battlefield, prevent all damage that would be dealt to other Knight creatures you control this turn. "Just in the nick of time!"
4/4
Design (2.5/3) Appeal - A big vigilant creature that can save his other creatures? I can hear from here all Timmies in the world shouting "YES!" I don't see much for Johnny here. Spike will most likely play this in her tribal Knight deck, which she will play assuming it's viable in the format she's playing. (3/3) Elegance - No problems here.
Development (2/3) Viability - This card could technically just be monowhite, as all colors are allowed to have flash when it's necessary for the card to function properly, and that's exactly the case here because of the damage prevention effect. It still doesn't cause any problem and makes sense as a Selesnya-colored card too: flash is green, vigilance both green and white, damage prevention white. (EDIT: damage prevention can be green too, I forgot about Fog and variants in the first pass.) This looks like it would not be the most exciting rare in its set, but it probably needs to be rare for limited reasons. (3/3) Balance - In limited, this would be playable even if it had no abilities. Vanilla 4/4s for 4 are already limited playable, even more with additional upside. I could see this splashed in a mostly white Standard Knight tribal deck for protection. I see no problems in casual or multiplayer. The mana cost looks pushed but not broken.
Creativity (0.5/3) Uniqueness - Nothing is particularly new here, just the specific mix of abilities. (2.5/3) Flavor - The flavor works fine. It heavily reminds me of all the times in the Dominaria story when we see Teferi, a time mage, constantly wanting to make time-related puns, which the people around him often don't like. For example when Gideon asks him and Karn to join the Gatewatch and Karn answers he wants to go to New Phyrexia:
Quote from Return to Dominaria, Episode 11 »
"The Phyrexians are trapped there," Teferi pointed out. "You have all the time in the Multiverse to destroy them. As I-"
Karn interrupted, "Don't make a time-related pun, please."
Teferi chuckled. "All right, but you see my point."
This is not Teferi though, just another unnamed "Timely Hero", so that's probably just bias on my part due to having just come out of Dominaria story. Not a problem. Also, I don't see anything in the flavor that necessarily implies the Knight creature type. It works, so again it's not a big problem, but I think this could also have been, say, a Soldier instead of a Knight and work too.
Polish (3/3) Quality - All good. (2/2) Main Challenge - Good. (2/2) Subchallenges - Both met.
Total: 20.5/25
Renowned Lord Commander2GW
Legendary Creature - Human Knight (R)
First strike, renown 1.
Other Knight creatures you control have first strike and renown 1.
Whenever a creature you control with a +1/+1 counter on it deals combat damage to an opponent, creatures you control get +1/+1 until end of turn.
2/2
Design (2/3) Appeal - Timmy likes a creature that can make all his creatures grow, though he would definitely want the last ability to work for causing bigger amount of combat damage (which it doesn't actually do as is, more on that in the very next section). He would also probably like the base stats to be a little bigger. Making that last ability useful as is (how can you take advantage of creatures growing when they can no longer deal combat damage?) is a challenge for Johnny, but it's one he probably shouldn't have if this card actually worked as intuition suggests. Spike wouldn't mind this card without the last ability at a cheaper mana cost. (1.5/3) Elegance - A little wordy but still very clear and easy to understand at surface level. The first two lines of rules text are very elegant, especially because of the symmetry between having and granting the same abilities. The last ability is counter-intuitive, because it triggers after combat damage has resolved, so it will give +1/+1 to creatures you control too late: too late for attack because you would want to have the bonus count for damage (it does not as is), too late for defense because the creatures will have to have survived combat to get the bonus. That's not intuitive at all. Easy solution: change it to an attack trigger instead of a damage one. "Whenever a creature you control with a +1/+1 counter on it attacks, creatures you control get +1/+1 until end of turn" has the functionality you're probably going for: creatures get the bonus when it's still useful (aka before combat damage). Another alternative would be to change the effect to something else that doesn't need to resolve before combat damage to work.
Development (2/3) Viability - All the abilities are something white can do, so there is no reason for this card to be green too instead of just monowhite. It's still fine as Selesnya-colored (just consider renown as the green part), but I actually feel green is here just to pass the subchallenge. Rarity looks right to me. (2.5/3) Balance - Assuming this works as it's probably meant to, this looks playable both in limited and maybe in Standard too. I'd certainly at least consider it for a Standard Knight tribal deck. Except for the last ability working in a non-intuitive way, which will hurt in casual, I see no other problems there or in multiplayer. The mana cost might look high, but I think that this will rarely put just 2 power on the board. Often it will be more, especially because of renown to all your other Knights.
Creativity (0.5/3) Uniqueness - A first strike/renown lord with an additional ability that cares about +1/+1 counters. Nothing particularly new to see here. (2/3) Flavor - I honestly have some problems with the card name. All three words it uses have specific meaning in Magic. While this card is actually all of the three (it has renown so it becomes "renowned", it gives a bonus to other creatures of its type so it's a "lord", it's a legendary creature so it can be used as a "commander"), and that's very clever, reading its name takes me out of the immersion in a fantasy world. Don't misunderstand me, I actually love breaking the fourth wall (if I were a writer, my stories would certainly include a lot of that), but I'm not sure the card name is the right place for that. Finally, MSE shows me a line of flavor text could have fit if you don't add reminder text for renown (which you should have, see Quality), but indeed the card looks better without it and with reminder text it doesn't fit at all, so that's not a problem.
Polish (2/3) Quality - There should be no full stop at the end of a list of keywords (first line of rules text, -0.5). Being a block keyword on a non-mythic rare, renown should have reminder text (-0.5). I would have included once at the end of the first line of rules text. No need to include it again in the second line. (2/2) Main Challenge - Good. (1/2) Subchallenges - Green, but legendary.
Total: 15.5/25
Hero of Tel-Jilad2GG
Creature - Elf Knight [R]
Hero of Tel-Jilad enters the battlefield with two valor counters on it.
Whenever a knight creature you control would die, remove a valor counter from Hero of Tel-Jilad instead. If you did, regenerate that creature.
"Be more vigilant next time."
4/4
Design (2/3) Appeal - Timmy likes a big creature that can save his other creatures. I don't see much for Johnny here. Spike likes this but she would probably want to be able to play this in her White Weenie Knight deck. (2/3) Elegance - Assuming the last ability is worded right (see Quality), I see no big problems here. It does require counter manipulation tied to an effect that's not officially supported anymore, so I can see newer players who started to play after regeneration was killed being a little confused, but the text is still easy enough to understand and not too long.
Development (2.5/3) Viability - Regeneration is green (and black) and was white only in Planar Chaos, so it's probably right for this card to be just monogreen. It's still a little strange to see a Knight tribal ability you would definitely want to use in monowhite Knight decks to save your small creatures getting used in another color and on a card that's difficult to splash even if you wanted because of the double colored mana cost. Rarity looks right to me. (2.5/3) Balance - As I said before for Flatline, vanilla 4/4s for 4 are already limited playable, and having additional upside only makes them even more playable there. This might see some Standard play, but it's hard to splash where you want it the most (a White Weenie Knight tribal deck). No problems in casual or multiplayer.
Creativity (1/3) Uniqueness - Valor counters gives this a nice sense of having its own identity, but nothing else is particularly new or original. (2/3) Flavor - All creatures with "Tel-Jilad" in the name either care about artifacts or regeneration, but all the latter ones are Trolls, which this is not, so I would have expected this to be in the former category, which it also is not. While Tel-Jilad on Mirrodin/New Phyrexia is certainly a green location, I feel like this could have been the hero of any green place on any plane. On the positive side, valor counters make a lot of sense for a "hero", as the flavor text does with the regeneration ability, but I would have tried to find a different word from "vigilant" on a card that doesn't have or care about vigilance as an ability.
Polish (0/3) Quality - (Additional comments in parenthesis and in italics.) The second ability starts with "whenever", which makes it a triggered ability, and has "would" and "instead", which makes it (technically a static ability generating) a replacement effect. It can't be both at the same time. it should be either "Whenever a Knight (capitalized by the way as it's a creature type, -0.5) creature dies, remove a valor counter from Hero of Tel-Jilad. If you do (present tense, not past tense also by the way, -0.5), return that creature to the battlefield (regenerate wouldn't work here, with a triggered ability the creature is already in the graveyard by the time the regeneration shield would apply).", which is a functional triggered ability, or "If a Knight creature you control would die, remove a valor counter from Hero of Tel-Jilad instead. If you do, regenerate that creature.", which is a functional (static ability generating a) replacement effect. As is, it's not functional, so -1. Finally, the flavor text should be in italics (like all my comments here have been ) and this is a very well known fact, so -1 here too, which brings the total in this section to zero. I'm sorry. (2/2) Main Challenge - Good. (2/2) Subchallenges - Both met.
Total: 16/25
Archmage Artillerist3RR
Creature - Human Wizard Soldier [R]
Defender
Tap an untapped Wizard you control: Archmage Artillerist deals 1 damage to any target. "Don't fire until you can see the looks on their faces!"
2/4
Design (2.5/3) Appeal - Timmy likes the explosive damage potential of this card in a Wizard tribal deck, which will very likely cointain red anyway. The last ability looks open-ended enough for Johnny to be interested. Spike likes dealing damage divided as best she sees fit, but she's a little disappointed at first by the relatively high mana cost. (3/3) Elegance - No problems here.
Development (3/3) Viability - Everything is in color. I think the high damage potential of the last ability justifies this being a rare. (3/3) Balance - Definitely limited playable. It being able to use its own ability by itself if you have no other Wizards helps there, and it also has pseudo-haste because there is no tap symbol in the ability cost. I can also easily see this in constructed, the activated ability is just too tempting to not try to make this work there, and it looks like it will be very strong in a dedicated Wizard tribal deck, which will conveniently already play red. Being able to choose different players as targets will make this interesting in multiplayer too. The mana cost may look high, but you have to take into account the explosive potential of the activated ability.
Creativity (1/3) Uniqueness - Nothing particularly new, but the gameplay of turning all of your Wizards into shooters does feel interesting. (3/3) Flavor - Both name and flavor text make sense with the mechanics and are good enough to realistically see print as is. Not a lot to say in this area. Good work!
Polish (2.5/3) Quality - In the type line, Soldier should come before Wizard (-0.5). For examples, see Aven Windreader and Thistledown Duo, which interestingly are the only two existing creature cards in the whole history of Magic with both the Soldier and the Wizard creature types, at least according to Gatherer. (2/2) Main Challenge - Good. (1/2) Subchallenges - Not legendary, but not green.
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.)
Elvish Watchmage1GG
Creatrue - Elf Wizard {R}
Wizard spells you control can’t be countered.
Whenever Elvish Watchmage or another wizard enters the battlefield under your control, you may untap a wizard you control.
1/3
Design .:. (1/3) Appeal: Johnny says thanks for another card that allows untap combos. (3/3) Elegance: The card is easy to understand and makes sense.
Development - (3/3) Viability: There are a few elf wizards and some are even mono green. Granting uncounterability - a green thing when tied to creatures - to wizards seems like a nice way of meeting the goals of the challenge. Untapping also is in greens repertoire. Rarity seems right. (3/3) Balance: Compared to Cat Snake I'd say this card is neither especially strong nor weak. It lacks the big body but adds the combo potenital. In that way it's way more interesting.
Creativity .:. (2,5/3) Uniqueness: This elf wizard is a mixture of a few thing we already knew. As a whole the card still makes a fresh impression, mostly because a elf that cares about wizards seems so weird. (2,5/3) Flavor: Name and abilities go good together. A flavor text would have been nice.
Polish .:. (2/3) Quality: Creature instead of Creatrue. Subtypes in rules text are capitalized, e.g. Academy Journeymage. As far as I'm aware, "a" is mostly used if it's not clear of there is a target for a triggered ability, e.g. Extract from Darkness, the untap ability usually targets though, e.g. Dross Scorpion. Unsure on that one and no deduction. (2/2) Main Challenge: Main challenge satisfied! (2/2) Subchallenges: Both subchallenges satisfied!
Total: 21/25
Order of Lost ArgothGW
Creature - Human Knight (r)
First strike
Whenever you put a lore counter on a Saga you control, put a +1/+1 counter on each Knight you control. Argoth might be long lost, but it has never vanished from people's memory.
3/2
Design .:. (1/3) Appeal: Pushed enough to make a Spike happy. (3/3) Elegance: The card is easy to understand and makes sense.
Development - (2,5/3) Viability: Knights can be partly green, we have seen that on Alara and even on Dominaria, e. g. Sidar Kondo of Jamuraa. Tied to the history of the land it feels correct. With the counter ability it could be mono white as well. What speaks for green is the incredible good stats, they become incredible through first strike. Below rare should not be possible. (2/3) Balance: A two mana first striker with 3 power and no downside or condition is a first. It even has an upside, one that synergizes on curve with History of Benalia. While the meta right now seems strong overall, and thus the card might not be broken, it is at least pushed a lot.
Creativity .:. (2/3) Uniqueness: Combining a mass buff with sagas is interesting. (3/3) Flavor: The flavor hits right in the feels.
Polish .:. ] (3/3) Quality: No flaws detected! (2/2) Main Challenge: Main challenge satisfied! (2/2) Subchallenges: Both subchallenges satisfied!
Total: 20,5/25
Ana Summoner2GG
Creature - Elf Wizard (Rare) UU, T: You may put a Wizard creature card from your hand onto the battlefield. BB, T: You may put a Wizard creature card from your graveyard onto the battlefield.
2/4
Design .:. (2/3) Appeal: There is a good amount of big wizards Timmy might want to cheat into play. Johnny we don't have to ask. (3/3) Elegance: The card is easy to understand and makes sense.
Development - (2,5/3) Viability: As said about Cardz's entry, elf wizards do exist in magic. This green wizards calls back to the almost forgotten Ana, from times before we knew that Sultai even existed. As spiritual successor of creatures like Ana Disciple and Ana Battlemage I can see this only caring for wizards. We don't seem to know much about the Ana. Anavolver, like other volvers, is just a weird being. (3/3) Balance: This is better than Elvish Piper in regards of versatility, being able to reanimate in addition to summon for free is quite strong. Being only able to affect wizards somwhat restricts these abilities. Though, Arcane Adaptation for example allows for nice combos. But could the activation cost even be cheaper? The Piper only asks for one colored mana but is also weaker in terms of power and thoughness. Maybe that balances it out.
Creativity .:. (2/3) Uniqueness: A tweaked Piper with callbacks to earlyer days of magic. (2/3) Flavor: While the card makes sense I would have wished for more flavor. We know so little about the Ana.
Polish .:. (3/3) Quality: Here too (see Cardz5000) I'm not sure if the second ability has to target or not. So no flaws detected! (2/2) Main Challenge: Main challenge satisfied! (2/2) Subchallenges: Both subchallenges satisfied!
Total: 21,5/25
Vanguard of the ReliquaryGW
Creature — Human Knight (R)
When Vanguard of the Reliquary or another Knight enters the battlefield under your control, you may search your library for a Forest or Plains card, put it onto the battlefield tapped, then shuffle your library.
Whenever a land enters the battlefield under your control, target creature gains indestructible until end of turn. Knowledge of the battlegrounds gave the Knights of the Reliquary the upper hand against the invaders.
3/3
Design .:. (2/3) Appeal: What a powerful card, Spike approves. Landfall knights sounds like a Johnny deck. (3/3) Elegance: The card is easy to understand and makes sense.
Development - (3/3) Viability: Funny that I would have two elves and two knight where each pair has similar points to critique. As said about Hemlock's card, partly green knights on Alara are nothing new to us. The well known card that this is design is based on, Knight of the Reliquary that is, works with lands as well. I see no issue regarding viability. (0/3) Balance: Regarding power level however, this card might be broken. A two mana 3/3 with either of these abilities, or even just a one time fetch would already be good. Even by today's standards. I am looking at Knight of the White Orchid, at Watchwolf of course. The Vanguard does too much and is too good at it.
Creativity .:. (1/3) Uniqueness: While also being very similar to an existing card. Name and one ability are reminscent of the very card that appears in the flavor text. (3/3) Flavor: Which goes well with the abilities and continues the story, this creates a card that feels whole.
Polish .:. (2,5/3) Quality: It's "Whenever this or another . . .", e.g. Aetherstorm Roc. No other flaws detected! (2/2) Main Challenge: Main challenge satisfied! (2/2) Subchallenges: Subchallenges satisfied!
A time extension has been asked and granted. The new judging deadline is tonight. Expect round 3 to be posted tomorrow.
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.)
Design - (0.5/3) Appeal: Timmy likes it, sorta? But even at the maxed out mode it's just a 2/5 with two evergreen keywords. Johnny sees nowhere to go with it. Spike does not care to build around a glorified Giant Spider in his Limited decks. (1.5/3) Elegance: What an ugly mana cost, especially since it's so out of place in a Dominaria context. There's also two static abilities here that require you to constantly check your board to determine this card's stats - on a common, mind - and one of them grants a triggered ability, which could lead to serious confusion for new players. Development - (2.5/3) Viability: Fine at common, but hybrid mana is out of place in this context. (3/3) Balance: Nothing objectionable at all.
Creativity - (1.5/3) Uniqueness: Certainly nothing grants these exact abilities, and I have to admit that mana cost was a unique if ill-conceived idea for this challenge, but ultimately it's just a variant of an old-as-the-hills ability stretching back to Kird Ape. (1/3) Flavor: Dominaria's Treefolk are huge, not the roughly Human size one would need to study at the Academy. Furthermore, they're usually not at all interested in classes save for a couple legendary exceptions - these aren't highly civilized Lorwyn Treefolk we're talking here. Finally, the combo of Krosa and Tolaria should indicate a G/U card, red having no real place in the flavor. I must admit though - the name's amusing.
Polish - (2/3) Quality: Keyword names don't get capitalized. The flavor text ought to have quotes - "Remember your roots" has... (2/2) *Main Challenge: Done. (2/2) Subchallenges: Done. Total: 16/25
Design - (3/3) Appeal: Timmy loves a small efficient creature that can then help him ramp. Johnny wants to abuse T abilities and triggers. Spike simply salivates. (3/3) Elegance: Elegant indeed - not wordy, but still an interesting and versatile and powerful effect.
Development - (3/3) Viability: Colors and rarity spot-on. (2.5/3) Balance: Extremely strong, Limited or Constructed, but I think it errs on the side of fair rather than overpowered.
Creativity - (2/3) Uniqueness: Granting your tribe an attack trigger isn't new; granting this one is, although untapping stuff by attacking does have some precedent. (3/3) Flavor: Delicious and at times obscure. Great callback to the Juniper Order. Flavor text is great.
Design - (2.5/3) Appeal: Timmy likes for what must be fairly obvious reasons. Johnny doesn't seem that interested because the interactions are relatively few, but they are there (and besides, this can be a combo piece or finisher saver). Spike likes this even if just for Limited applications. (2.5/3) Elegance: The replacement effect has to be written slightly awkwardly (out of necessity for what the ability needs to achieve).
Development - (3/3) Viability: Effect is slightly fringe for white but at the rarity and with the type involved it's okay. Rare is correct. (3/3) Balance:Fairly strong but not that good - after all, saving your beaters still costs you a card, and it can't save itself.
Creativity - (1.5/3) Uniqueness: Basically mass regeneration-granting, which is not new - not even sacrificing your creatures for it is, as proved by Fanatical Devotion. (1.5/3) Flavor: Nothing wrong with the flavor, but quite generic and no flavor text. Also seems to feel more like a rear guard than a vanguard, what with the "save everyone's asses" flavor.
Polish - (3/3) Quality: Fine. (2/2) *Main Challenge: Good. (1/2) Subchallenges: Not legendary but also not green. Total: 20/25
Design - (2.5/3) Appeal: Timmy likes a beater that protects itself and others. Johnny might want to spam untaps but has more efficient ways of doing that, although not on so good of a body. Spike is in surprising agreement with Timmy. (3/3) Elegance: Very.
Development - (3/3) Viability: Colors and rarity spot-on. (3/3) Balance: Strong but fine - a huge Limited bomb for sure but that's encouraged for a four-mana rare.
Creativity - (1.5/3) Uniqueness: Unique for being a lord that just targets its tribe with an activated ability, although the effects of said ability are not too unique. (2.5/3) Flavor: I like the Bant flavor. Ungrammatical flavor text, slightly, and I'm not sure what a "Komtur" is - presumably a rank.
Polish - (2.5/3) Quality: "Treats" should be "treat" if I understand the intended wordplay correctly. (2/2) *Main Challenge: Done. (2/2) Subchallenges: Done. Total: 22/25
We have all the judgments. Round 3 coming in a few minutes.
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.)
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
(This banner is my own elaboration on the art of the cards Knight of Grace by Sidharth Chaturvedi and Wizard's Retort by Grzegorz Rutkowski.)
June MCC Round 2
Family history
One thing I've always been fascinated by is family trees. It's amazing to find out what your origins are and how they've impacted who you are now. I've built my own family tree recently going as far back as I could, and I learned a lot more about its branches in England, Australia, and multiple different parts of Italy. In Magic, family connections are often represented through creature types and tribal mechanics. For example, the kinship mechanic from Lorwyn block comes to mind. Nowadays, most Magic sets have a tribal component. Dominaria is no exception, with its Wizards and Knights.
Main Challenge - Design a Wizard creature that cares about other Wizards or a Knight creature that cares about other Knights.
Subchallenge 1 - Your creature is green (aka there is a green mana symbol in its mana cost).
Subchallenge 2 - Your creature is not legendary.
• The tribal synergy required by the main challenge can be of any kind: you can give a bonus to any or all Wizard/Knight, care about controlling one or more Wizard/Knight, check if there is a Wizard/Knight card in a graveyard, etc... Any tribal synergy of any kind is good.
• The Wizard/Knight creature type must be mentioned in the rules text.
• If your creature is a Wizard, it must care about other Wizards and it can't care about Knights, and viceversa. In other words, no crossing between the two creature types.
• In Dominaria, Wizards are in blue and red and Knights are in white and black, so it will be very hard to include green. Subchallenge 1 is intentionally difficult. Think carefully about whether you really want to try to go for it. Sometimes it's better to have a clean design that doesn't meet one of the subchallenges rather than wanting to force a subchallenge at all costs (only to pay it in Elegance and Viability and maybe more). Of course, I'm not saying you must or should ignore subchallenge 1. If you have a card design in which green makes sense, totally go for it. I'm just saying I meant it to be hard.
• Subchallenge 1 cares about the colors in the mana cost, NOT the card's color identity. In other words, mana symbols in the rules text do NOT count.
• For subchallenge 2, as long as the card does not have the legendary supertype it's fine.
• If you have any other question that's not covered here, feel free to ask in the discussion thread.
(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.
DEADLINES
Design Deadline: All submissions are to be final and submitted by Friday, June 15th 11:59 PM EST
Judging Deadline: All judgements are to be final and completed by
Monday, June 18thTuesday, June 19th 11:59 PM ESTJUDGES
bravelion83
Antiantiserum
void_nothing
PLAYERS
Cardz5000
Clockwork Gamer
Flatline
Forestsguy
Freyleyes
Gerrard's Mom
Hemlock
netn10
RaikouRider
Raptorchan
StonerOfKruphix
The_Hittite
A helpful tip for those formatting their cards (I wrote it quite some time ago but it's still totally valid):
BRACKETS
Top 2 from each bracket advance to round 3.
Judge: Antiantiserum
Cardz5000
Hemlock
netn10
StonerOfKruphix
Judge: bravelion83
Flatline
Forestsguy
Freyleyes
The_Hittite
Judge: void_nothing
Clockwork Gamer
Gerrard's Mom
RaikouRider
Raptorchan
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.)
Creature - Elf Wizard (Rare)
UU, T: You may put a Wizard creature card from your hand onto the battlefield.
BB, T: You may put a Wizard creature card from your graveyard onto the battlefield.
2/4
Creature - Treefolk Wizard [Common]
As long as you control another Wizard, Tolarian Exchange Student has +1/+0 and Prowess.
As long as you control another Treefolk, Tolarian Exchange Student has +0/+1 and Reach.
Remember your roots has a very literal meaning in Krosa.
1/4
Class of 1993 CWUBRG
Creatures - Human Wizards [Mythic Rare]
When Class of 1993 enters the battlefield, search cards you own from outside the game for any number of cards from the Alpha or Beta expansion set. Reveal them and shuffle them into your library.
Class of 1993's power and toughness is equal to the number of Wizards you control.
*/*
Kjeldor's Elite 3WW
Creature - Human Knight [Rare]
When Kjeldor's Elite enters the battlefield, create two 2/2 Knight creature tokens with Vigilance.
Your life total can't go below the number of Knights you control (Damage or loss of life that would reduce it below that number reduces it to that number instead. You can't pay life that would make you go below that number.).
3/3
I'm sure you can think of something by yourself.
Creature - Human Wizard Soldier [R]
Defender
Tap an untapped Wizard you control: Archmage Artillerist deals 1 damage to any target.
"Don't fire until you can see the looks on their faces!"
2/4
Creature - Elf Knight (R)
First strike
Whenever a Knight you control attacks, you may untap target creature or land.
"Banner of Belzenlok sighted in Fallajia. Tell the druids to wake the Magnigoths."
- Missive from Almaaz expedition
2/2
Legendary Creature - Human Knight (R)
First strike, renown 1.
Other Knight creatures you control have first strike and renown 1.
Whenever a creature you control with a +1/+1 counter on it deals combat damage to an opponent, creatures you control get +1/+1 until end of turn.
2/2
Creature — Human Knight (R)
Flash
Vigilance
When Timely Hero enters the battlefield, prevent all damage that would be dealt to other Knight creatures you control this turn.
"Just in the nick of time!"
4/4
Creatrue - Elf Wizard {R}
Wizard spells you control can’t be countered.
Whenever Elvish Watchmage or another wizard enters the battlefield under your control, you may untap a wizard you control.
1/3
Creature - Human Knight (R)
GW: Untap target Knight. It gains hexproof until end of turn.
Bant knights are known for being prepared to treats on many levels.
4/4
Creature - Elf Knight [R]
Hero of Tel-Jilad enters the battlefield with two valor counters on it.
Whenever a knight creature you control would die, remove a valor counter from Hero of Tel-Jilad instead. If you did, regenerate that creature.
"Be more vigilant next time."
4/4
Creature - Human Knight (r)
First strike
Whenever you put a lore counter on a Saga you control, put a +1/+1 counter on each Knight you control.
Argoth might be long lost, but it has never vanished from people's memory.
3/2
Creature - Human Knight {R}
Vigilance
If another creature you control would be destroyed, instead you may remove all damage from that creature and sacrifice a Knight creature you control.
3/3
Emille, Seven-Sting Dancer Shalin Nariya
Top 2 from each bracket advance to round 3.
Judge: Antiantiserum
Cardz5000
Hemlock
netn10
StonerOfKruphix
Judge: bravelion83
Flatline
Forestsguy
Freyleyes
The_Hittite
Judge: void_nothing
Clockwork Gamer
Gerrard's Mom
RaikouRider
Raptorchan
Let the judging begin!
Judgments complete, not final until deadline.
Timely Hero 2GW
Creature — Human Knight (R)
Flash
Vigilance
When Timely Hero enters the battlefield, prevent all damage that would be dealt to other Knight creatures you control this turn.
"Just in the nick of time!"
4/4
Design
(2.5/3) Appeal - A big vigilant creature that can save his other creatures? I can hear from here all Timmies in the world shouting "YES!" I don't see much for Johnny here. Spike will most likely play this in her tribal Knight deck, which she will play assuming it's viable in the format she's playing.
(3/3) Elegance - No problems here.
Development
(2/3) Viability - This card could technically just be monowhite, as all colors are allowed to have flash when it's necessary for the card to function properly, and that's exactly the case here because of the damage prevention effect. It still doesn't cause any problem and makes sense as a Selesnya-colored card too: flash is green, vigilance both green and white, damage prevention white. (EDIT: damage prevention can be green too, I forgot about Fog and variants in the first pass.) This looks like it would not be the most exciting rare in its set, but it probably needs to be rare for limited reasons.
(3/3) Balance - In limited, this would be playable even if it had no abilities. Vanilla 4/4s for 4 are already limited playable, even more with additional upside. I could see this splashed in a mostly white Standard Knight tribal deck for protection. I see no problems in casual or multiplayer. The mana cost looks pushed but not broken.
Creativity
(0.5/3) Uniqueness - Nothing is particularly new here, just the specific mix of abilities.
(2.5/3) Flavor - The flavor works fine. It heavily reminds me of all the times in the Dominaria story when we see Teferi, a time mage, constantly wanting to make time-related puns, which the people around him often don't like. For example when Gideon asks him and Karn to join the Gatewatch and Karn answers he wants to go to New Phyrexia: This is not Teferi though, just another unnamed "Timely Hero", so that's probably just bias on my part due to having just come out of Dominaria story. Not a problem. Also, I don't see anything in the flavor that necessarily implies the Knight creature type. It works, so again it's not a big problem, but I think this could also have been, say, a Soldier instead of a Knight and work too.
Polish
(3/3) Quality - All good.
(2/2) Main Challenge - Good.
(2/2) Subchallenges - Both met.
Total: 20.5/25
Renowned Lord Commander 2GW
Legendary Creature - Human Knight (R)
First strike, renown 1.
Other Knight creatures you control have first strike and renown 1.
Whenever a creature you control with a +1/+1 counter on it deals combat damage to an opponent, creatures you control get +1/+1 until end of turn.
2/2
Design
(2/3) Appeal - Timmy likes a creature that can make all his creatures grow, though he would definitely want the last ability to work for causing bigger amount of combat damage (which it doesn't actually do as is, more on that in the very next section). He would also probably like the base stats to be a little bigger. Making that last ability useful as is (how can you take advantage of creatures growing when they can no longer deal combat damage?) is a challenge for Johnny, but it's one he probably shouldn't have if this card actually worked as intuition suggests. Spike wouldn't mind this card without the last ability at a cheaper mana cost.
(1.5/3) Elegance - A little wordy but still very clear and easy to understand at surface level. The first two lines of rules text are very elegant, especially because of the symmetry between having and granting the same abilities. The last ability is counter-intuitive, because it triggers after combat damage has resolved, so it will give +1/+1 to creatures you control too late: too late for attack because you would want to have the bonus count for damage (it does not as is), too late for defense because the creatures will have to have survived combat to get the bonus. That's not intuitive at all. Easy solution: change it to an attack trigger instead of a damage one. "Whenever a creature you control with a +1/+1 counter on it attacks, creatures you control get +1/+1 until end of turn" has the functionality you're probably going for: creatures get the bonus when it's still useful (aka before combat damage). Another alternative would be to change the effect to something else that doesn't need to resolve before combat damage to work.
Development
(2/3) Viability - All the abilities are something white can do, so there is no reason for this card to be green too instead of just monowhite. It's still fine as Selesnya-colored (just consider renown as the green part), but I actually feel green is here just to pass the subchallenge. Rarity looks right to me.
(2.5/3) Balance - Assuming this works as it's probably meant to, this looks playable both in limited and maybe in Standard too. I'd certainly at least consider it for a Standard Knight tribal deck. Except for the last ability working in a non-intuitive way, which will hurt in casual, I see no other problems there or in multiplayer. The mana cost might look high, but I think that this will rarely put just 2 power on the board. Often it will be more, especially because of renown to all your other Knights.
Creativity
(0.5/3) Uniqueness - A first strike/renown lord with an additional ability that cares about +1/+1 counters. Nothing particularly new to see here.
(2/3) Flavor - I honestly have some problems with the card name. All three words it uses have specific meaning in Magic. While this card is actually all of the three (it has renown so it becomes "renowned", it gives a bonus to other creatures of its type so it's a "lord", it's a legendary creature so it can be used as a "commander"), and that's very clever, reading its name takes me out of the immersion in a fantasy world. Don't misunderstand me, I actually love breaking the fourth wall (if I were a writer, my stories would certainly include a lot of that), but I'm not sure the card name is the right place for that. Finally, MSE shows me a line of flavor text could have fit if you don't add reminder text for renown (which you should have, see Quality), but indeed the card looks better without it and with reminder text it doesn't fit at all, so that's not a problem.
Polish
(2/3) Quality - There should be no full stop at the end of a list of keywords (first line of rules text, -0.5). Being a block keyword on a non-mythic rare, renown should have reminder text (-0.5). I would have included once at the end of the first line of rules text. No need to include it again in the second line.
(2/2) Main Challenge - Good.
(1/2) Subchallenges - Green, but legendary.
Total: 15.5/25
Hero of Tel-Jilad 2GG
Creature - Elf Knight [R]
Hero of Tel-Jilad enters the battlefield with two valor counters on it.
Whenever a knight creature you control would die, remove a valor counter from Hero of Tel-Jilad instead. If you did, regenerate that creature.
"Be more vigilant next time."
4/4
Design
(2/3) Appeal - Timmy likes a big creature that can save his other creatures. I don't see much for Johnny here. Spike likes this but she would probably want to be able to play this in her White Weenie Knight deck.
(2/3) Elegance - Assuming the last ability is worded right (see Quality), I see no big problems here. It does require counter manipulation tied to an effect that's not officially supported anymore, so I can see newer players who started to play after regeneration was killed being a little confused, but the text is still easy enough to understand and not too long.
Development
(2.5/3) Viability - Regeneration is green (and black) and was white only in Planar Chaos, so it's probably right for this card to be just monogreen. It's still a little strange to see a Knight tribal ability you would definitely want to use in monowhite Knight decks to save your small creatures getting used in another color and on a card that's difficult to splash even if you wanted because of the double colored mana cost. Rarity looks right to me.
(2.5/3) Balance - As I said before for Flatline, vanilla 4/4s for 4 are already limited playable, and having additional upside only makes them even more playable there. This might see some Standard play, but it's hard to splash where you want it the most (a White Weenie Knight tribal deck). No problems in casual or multiplayer.
Creativity
(1/3) Uniqueness - Valor counters gives this a nice sense of having its own identity, but nothing else is particularly new or original.
(2/3) Flavor - All creatures with "Tel-Jilad" in the name either care about artifacts or regeneration, but all the latter ones are Trolls, which this is not, so I would have expected this to be in the former category, which it also is not. While Tel-Jilad on Mirrodin/New Phyrexia is certainly a green location, I feel like this could have been the hero of any green place on any plane. On the positive side, valor counters make a lot of sense for a "hero", as the flavor text does with the regeneration ability, but I would have tried to find a different word from "vigilant" on a card that doesn't have or care about vigilance as an ability.
Polish
(0/3) Quality - (Additional comments in parenthesis and in italics.) The second ability starts with "whenever", which makes it a triggered ability, and has "would" and "instead", which makes it (technically a static ability generating) a replacement effect. It can't be both at the same time. it should be either "Whenever a Knight (capitalized by the way as it's a creature type, -0.5) creature dies, remove a valor counter from Hero of Tel-Jilad. If you do (present tense, not past tense also by the way, -0.5), return that creature to the battlefield (regenerate wouldn't work here, with a triggered ability the creature is already in the graveyard by the time the regeneration shield would apply).", which is a functional triggered ability, or "If a Knight creature you control would die, remove a valor counter from Hero of Tel-Jilad instead. If you do, regenerate that creature.", which is a functional (static ability generating a) replacement effect. As is, it's not functional, so -1. Finally, the flavor text should be in italics (like all my comments here have been ) and this is a very well known fact, so -1 here too, which brings the total in this section to zero. I'm sorry.
(2/2) Main Challenge - Good.
(2/2) Subchallenges - Both met.
Total: 16/25
Archmage Artillerist 3RR
Creature - Human Wizard Soldier [R]
Defender
Tap an untapped Wizard you control: Archmage Artillerist deals 1 damage to any target.
"Don't fire until you can see the looks on their faces!"
2/4
Design
(2.5/3) Appeal - Timmy likes the explosive damage potential of this card in a Wizard tribal deck, which will very likely cointain red anyway. The last ability looks open-ended enough for Johnny to be interested. Spike likes dealing damage divided as best she sees fit, but she's a little disappointed at first by the relatively high mana cost.
(3/3) Elegance - No problems here.
Development
(3/3) Viability - Everything is in color. I think the high damage potential of the last ability justifies this being a rare.
(3/3) Balance - Definitely limited playable. It being able to use its own ability by itself if you have no other Wizards helps there, and it also has pseudo-haste because there is no tap symbol in the ability cost. I can also easily see this in constructed, the activated ability is just too tempting to not try to make this work there, and it looks like it will be very strong in a dedicated Wizard tribal deck, which will conveniently already play red. Being able to choose different players as targets will make this interesting in multiplayer too. The mana cost may look high, but you have to take into account the explosive potential of the activated ability.
Creativity
(1/3) Uniqueness - Nothing particularly new, but the gameplay of turning all of your Wizards into shooters does feel interesting.
(3/3) Flavor - Both name and flavor text make sense with the mechanics and are good enough to realistically see print as is. Not a lot to say in this area. Good work!
Polish
(2.5/3) Quality - In the type line, Soldier should come before Wizard (-0.5). For examples, see Aven Windreader and Thistledown Duo, which interestingly are the only two existing creature cards in the whole history of Magic with both the Soldier and the Wizard creature types, at least according to Gatherer.
(2/2) Main Challenge - Good.
(1/2) Subchallenges - Not legendary, but not green.
Total: 21/25
The_Hittite: 21
Flatline: 20.5
Freyleyes: 16
Forestsguy: 15.5
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.)
Creatrue - Elf Wizard {R}
Wizard spells you control can’t be countered.
Whenever Elvish Watchmage or another wizard enters the battlefield under your control, you may untap a wizard you control.
1/3
Design .:.
(1/3) Appeal: Johnny says thanks for another card that allows untap combos.
(3/3) Elegance: The card is easy to understand and makes sense.
Development -
(3/3) Viability: There are a few elf wizards and some are even mono green. Granting uncounterability - a green thing when tied to creatures - to wizards seems like a nice way of meeting the goals of the challenge. Untapping also is in greens repertoire. Rarity seems right.
(3/3) Balance: Compared to Cat Snake I'd say this card is neither especially strong nor weak. It lacks the big body but adds the combo potenital. In that way it's way more interesting.
Creativity .:.
(2,5/3) Uniqueness: This elf wizard is a mixture of a few thing we already knew. As a whole the card still makes a fresh impression, mostly because a elf that cares about wizards seems so weird.
(2,5/3) Flavor: Name and abilities go good together. A flavor text would have been nice.
Polish .:.
(2/3) Quality: Creature instead of Creatrue. Subtypes in rules text are capitalized, e.g. Academy Journeymage. As far as I'm aware, "a" is mostly used if it's not clear of there is a target for a triggered ability, e.g. Extract from Darkness, the untap ability usually targets though, e.g. Dross Scorpion. Unsure on that one and no deduction.
(2/2) Main Challenge: Main challenge satisfied!
(2/2) Subchallenges: Both subchallenges satisfied!
Total: 21/25
Creature - Human Knight (r)
First strike
Whenever you put a lore counter on a Saga you control, put a +1/+1 counter on each Knight you control.
Argoth might be long lost, but it has never vanished from people's memory.
3/2
Design .:.
(1/3) Appeal: Pushed enough to make a Spike happy.
(3/3) Elegance: The card is easy to understand and makes sense.
Development -
(2,5/3) Viability: Knights can be partly green, we have seen that on Alara and even on Dominaria, e. g. Sidar Kondo of Jamuraa. Tied to the history of the land it feels correct. With the counter ability it could be mono white as well. What speaks for green is the incredible good stats, they become incredible through first strike. Below rare should not be possible.
(2/3) Balance: A two mana first striker with 3 power and no downside or condition is a first. It even has an upside, one that synergizes on curve with History of Benalia. While the meta right now seems strong overall, and thus the card might not be broken, it is at least pushed a lot.
Creativity .:.
(2/3) Uniqueness: Combining a mass buff with sagas is interesting.
(3/3) Flavor: The flavor hits right in the feels.
Polish .:. ]
(3/3) Quality: No flaws detected!
(2/2) Main Challenge: Main challenge satisfied!
(2/2) Subchallenges: Both subchallenges satisfied!
Total: 20,5/25
Creature - Elf Wizard (Rare)
UU, T: You may put a Wizard creature card from your hand onto the battlefield.
BB, T: You may put a Wizard creature card from your graveyard onto the battlefield.
2/4
Design .:.
(2/3) Appeal: There is a good amount of big wizards Timmy might want to cheat into play. Johnny we don't have to ask.
(3/3) Elegance: The card is easy to understand and makes sense.
Development -
(2,5/3) Viability: As said about Cardz's entry, elf wizards do exist in magic. This green wizards calls back to the almost forgotten Ana, from times before we knew that Sultai even existed. As spiritual successor of creatures like Ana Disciple and Ana Battlemage I can see this only caring for wizards. We don't seem to know much about the Ana. Anavolver, like other volvers, is just a weird being.
(3/3) Balance: This is better than Elvish Piper in regards of versatility, being able to reanimate in addition to summon for free is quite strong. Being only able to affect wizards somwhat restricts these abilities. Though, Arcane Adaptation for example allows for nice combos. But could the activation cost even be cheaper? The Piper only asks for one colored mana but is also weaker in terms of power and thoughness. Maybe that balances it out.
Creativity .:.
(2/3) Uniqueness: A tweaked Piper with callbacks to earlyer days of magic.
(2/3) Flavor: While the card makes sense I would have wished for more flavor. We know so little about the Ana.
Polish .:.
(3/3) Quality: Here too (see Cardz5000) I'm not sure if the second ability has to target or not. So no flaws detected!
(2/2) Main Challenge: Main challenge satisfied!
(2/2) Subchallenges: Both subchallenges satisfied!
Total: 21,5/25
Creature — Human Knight (R)
When Vanguard of the Reliquary or another Knight enters the battlefield under your control, you may search your library for a Forest or Plains card, put it onto the battlefield tapped, then shuffle your library.
Whenever a land enters the battlefield under your control, target creature gains indestructible until end of turn.
Knowledge of the battlegrounds gave the Knights of the Reliquary the upper hand against the invaders.
3/3
Design .:.
(2/3) Appeal: What a powerful card, Spike approves. Landfall knights sounds like a Johnny deck.
(3/3) Elegance: The card is easy to understand and makes sense.
Development -
(3/3) Viability: Funny that I would have two elves and two knight where each pair has similar points to critique. As said about Hemlock's card, partly green knights on Alara are nothing new to us. The well known card that this is design is based on, Knight of the Reliquary that is, works with lands as well. I see no issue regarding viability.
(0/3) Balance: Regarding power level however, this card might be broken. A two mana 3/3 with either of these abilities, or even just a one time fetch would already be good. Even by today's standards. I am looking at Knight of the White Orchid, at Watchwolf of course. The Vanguard does too much and is too good at it.
Creativity .:.
(1/3) Uniqueness: While also being very similar to an existing card. Name and one ability are reminscent of the very card that appears in the flavor text.
(3/3) Flavor: Which goes well with the abilities and continues the story, this creates a card that feels whole.
Polish .:.
(2,5/3) Quality: It's "Whenever this or another . . .", e.g. Aetherstorm Roc. No other flaws detected!
(2/2) Main Challenge: Main challenge satisfied!
(2/2) Subchallenges: Subchallenges satisfied!
Total: 18,5/25
Cardz5000 21,0/25
Hemlock 20,5/25
StonerOfKruphix 18,5/25
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.)
(0.5/3) Appeal: Timmy likes it, sorta? But even at the maxed out mode it's just a 2/5 with two evergreen keywords. Johnny sees nowhere to go with it. Spike does not care to build around a glorified Giant Spider in his Limited decks.
(1.5/3) Elegance: What an ugly mana cost, especially since it's so out of place in a Dominaria context. There's also two static abilities here that require you to constantly check your board to determine this card's stats - on a common, mind - and one of them grants a triggered ability, which could lead to serious confusion for new players.
Development -
(2.5/3) Viability: Fine at common, but hybrid mana is out of place in this context.
(3/3) Balance: Nothing objectionable at all.
Creativity -
(1.5/3) Uniqueness: Certainly nothing grants these exact abilities, and I have to admit that mana cost was a unique if ill-conceived idea for this challenge, but ultimately it's just a variant of an old-as-the-hills ability stretching back to Kird Ape.
(1/3) Flavor: Dominaria's Treefolk are huge, not the roughly Human size one would need to study at the Academy. Furthermore, they're usually not at all interested in classes save for a couple legendary exceptions - these aren't highly civilized Lorwyn Treefolk we're talking here. Finally, the combo of Krosa and Tolaria should indicate a G/U card, red having no real place in the flavor. I must admit though - the name's amusing.
Polish -
(2/3) Quality: Keyword names don't get capitalized. The flavor text ought to have quotes - "Remember your roots" has...
(2/2) *Main Challenge: Done.
(2/2) Subchallenges: Done.
Total: 16/25
(3/3) Appeal: Timmy loves a small efficient creature that can then help him ramp. Johnny wants to abuse T abilities and triggers. Spike simply salivates.
(3/3) Elegance: Elegant indeed - not wordy, but still an interesting and versatile and powerful effect.
Development -
(3/3) Viability: Colors and rarity spot-on.
(2.5/3) Balance: Extremely strong, Limited or Constructed, but I think it errs on the side of fair rather than overpowered.
Creativity -
(2/3) Uniqueness: Granting your tribe an attack trigger isn't new; granting this one is, although untapping stuff by attacking does have some precedent.
(3/3) Flavor: Delicious and at times obscure. Great callback to the Juniper Order. Flavor text is great.
Polish -
(3/3) Quality: Good.
(2/2) *Main Challenge: Done.
(2/2) Subchallenges: And done.
Total: 23.5/25
(2.5/3) Appeal: Timmy likes for what must be fairly obvious reasons. Johnny doesn't seem that interested because the interactions are relatively few, but they are there (and besides, this can be a combo piece or finisher saver). Spike likes this even if just for Limited applications.
(2.5/3) Elegance: The replacement effect has to be written slightly awkwardly (out of necessity for what the ability needs to achieve).
Development -
(3/3) Viability: Effect is slightly fringe for white but at the rarity and with the type involved it's okay. Rare is correct.
(3/3) Balance: Fairly strong but not that good - after all, saving your beaters still costs you a card, and it can't save itself.
Creativity -
(1.5/3) Uniqueness: Basically mass regeneration-granting, which is not new - not even sacrificing your creatures for it is, as proved by Fanatical Devotion.
(1.5/3) Flavor: Nothing wrong with the flavor, but quite generic and no flavor text. Also seems to feel more like a rear guard than a vanguard, what with the "save everyone's asses" flavor.
Polish -
(3/3) Quality: Fine.
(2/2) *Main Challenge: Good.
(1/2) Subchallenges: Not legendary but also not green.
Total: 20/25
(2.5/3) Appeal: Timmy likes a beater that protects itself and others. Johnny might want to spam untaps but has more efficient ways of doing that, although not on so good of a body. Spike is in surprising agreement with Timmy.
(3/3) Elegance: Very.
Development -
(3/3) Viability: Colors and rarity spot-on.
(3/3) Balance: Strong but fine - a huge Limited bomb for sure but that's encouraged for a four-mana rare.
Creativity -
(1.5/3) Uniqueness: Unique for being a lord that just targets its tribe with an activated ability, although the effects of said ability are not too unique.
(2.5/3) Flavor: I like the Bant flavor. Ungrammatical flavor text, slightly, and I'm not sure what a "Komtur" is - presumably a rank.
Polish -
(2.5/3) Quality: "Treats" should be "treat" if I understand the intended wordplay correctly.
(2/2) *Main Challenge: Done.
(2/2) Subchallenges: Done.
Total: 22/25
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝
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.)