Counters month. Keywords month. You'll see what I mean.
Main Challenge: Design a card with sunburst or with a converge ability that places counters. Subchallenge 1: Your card isn't a creature if it has sunburst or isn't an instant or sorcery if it has converge. Subchallenge 2: Your card is mythic rare.
If you have questions about the challenge, please post in the MCC discussion thread. Best of luck!
For the first subchallenge a converge card can put any counters on anything as long as it's the converge ability word that specifies what these counters are.
Design Deadline: All submissions are to be final and submitted by July 24th 11:59 PM EST
Judging Deadline: All judgements are to be final and completed by July 27th 11:59 PM 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.
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.
Qupata, Lair of the Dinosaurs4G
Legendary Enchantment (M)
Sunburst (This enters the battlefield with a charge counter on it for each color of mana spent to cast it.) XX, Remove X charge counters from Qupata, Lair of the Dinosaurs, Return Qupata to your hand: Create X X/X green Dinosaur creature tokens. A sacred temple touched by the Threefold Sun’s rays, where each one of them generates a new roaring life.
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.)
Firebird of Wishes4R
Creature - Phoenix Spirit (MR)
Flying Converge - When you cast Firebird of Wishes, create X colorless Treasure artifact tokens with "T: Sacrifice this artifact. Add one mana of any color", where X is the number of colors of mana spent to cast Firebird of Wishes. If X is 5, Firebird of Wishes enters the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter.
As long as Firebird of Wishes has a +1/+1 counter on it, it returns to the top of its owner's library instead of anywhere else when it leaves the battlefield. I'd give all the riches I once wished for, to once again gaze upon It that gave them to me.
4/2
Paradise Avenger4G
Creature - Elemental Avatar (m)
Flash
Trample
Sunburst (This enters the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter on it for each color of mana spent to cast it.)
: Choose up to X colors, where X is the number of +1/+1 counters on Paradise Avenger. Add one mana of each of the chosen colors.
5/5
Bumping to remind everyone to submit - you have two days left - as well as to make sure your entry is in compliance with the main challenge; we don't want to DQ anyone in the versus round specifically.
Daylight Suppressor5B
Creature — Eldrazi (M)
Devoid (This card has no color.) Converge — Each creature your opponents control enters the battlefield with X -1/-1 counters on it, where X is the number of colors of mana spent to cast it.
Whenever a creature your opponent controls with a -1/-1 counter on it leaves the battlefield, you may pay C. If you do, that creature's controller loses life equal to the number of -1/-1 counters on it.
5/8
Glimmervoid Infactor6
Artifact Creature - Construct {R}
Fabricate—Sunburst (When this creature enters the battlefield, put a +1/+1 counter on it for each color of mana spent to cast it or create a 1/1 colorless Servo artifact creature token for each color of mana spent to cast it.) The suns’ power to protect, their warmth to nurture.
2/2
Very good, everyone's in. Round is now closed! This is the versus round. The top total scorer in each pairing will advance to the finals. Judging assignments are as follows:
void_nothing:
bravelion83 vs. picnic_bomber
Forestsguy vs. Raptorchan
Antiantiserum:
Forestsguy vs. Raptorchan
Hemlock vs. Cardz5000
Gerrard's Mom:
Hemlock vs. Cardz5000
bravelion83 vs. picnic_bomber
Paradise Avenger4G
Creature - Elemental Avatar (m)
Flash
Trample
Sunburst (This enters the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter on it for each color of mana spent to cast it.)
: Choose up to X colors, where X is the number of +1/+1 counters on Paradise Avenger. Add one mana of each of the chosen colors.
5/5
Design - (3/3) Appeal: People are generally excited about oversized things. (1/3) Elegance: Being huge and having a tap ability are not complementary directions.
Development - (2/3) Viability: Has some green keywords and a mana ability, sure. I'm not sure anything about it screams mythic except its size, but it's passable. (2/3) Balance: So Gigantosaurus shows us that five colored mana can give us a 10/10, and there are sufficient hoops to jump through getting all five colors that the other upsides don't seem unreasonable. That said, it's quite easy to cast as a 7/7 or so and at that size the difference isn't much. Even as a 6/6 it will often either swallow an attacker or have psuedo-haste. Maybe it's not broken but I think it needs some work.
Creativity - (1/3) Uniqueness: It's practically French vanilla. The wording of the mana ability is new I think, but it's kind of unnecessary - after that much work you might as well give them "Add X mana in any combination of colors." (2/3) Flavor: Only new Multani and Muldrotha have these subtypes, so I guess it's some kind of maro being, which is neat. The name is a cool juxtaposition, has some kind of 80s New Wave vibe that I dig. Maybe legendary would have been a good call here.
Polish - (3/3) Quality: (2/2) Main Challenge: (1/2) Subchallenges: Is creature with sunburst
Glimmervoid Infactor6
Artifact Creature - Construct {R}
Fabricate—Sunburst (When this creature enters the battlefield, put a +1/+1 counter on it for each color of mana spent to cast it or create a 1/1 colorless Servo artifact creature token for each color of mana spent to cast it.) The suns’ power to protect, their warmth to nurture.
2/2
Design - (2/3) Appeal: Lots of options (3/3) Elegance: The complexity is buried in reminder text, but it's not hard to understand.
Development - (2/3) Viability: Clearly artifacts can do this. Borderline rare. (2/3) Balance: Hmmm...only 1 off of Fusion Elemental and 6 bodies compares pretty favorably to Unified Front. I guess this is another case of using rarity just for straight power push. It's difficult to assemble in Limited and isn't breaking any Constructed formats with the requirement that you actually cast it for 6 mana. Some kind of multicolor artifact beatdown pumping all the Servos is the best case.
Creativity - (2/3) Uniqueness: This card does basically exist but it was certainly clever to find another mechanic that can take sunburst as a variable. (2/3) Flavor: Infactor? Like it comes up and is like "in fact these are Servos not Myr?" Other than that, nice Mirrodiny words, but I think taking Sunburst to Kaladesh would have made more sense.
Polish - (3/3) Quality: (2/2) Main Challenge: (0/2) Subchallenges: Also is creature with sunburst and is not mythic
Qupata, Lair of the Dinosaurs4G
Legendary Enchantment (M)
Sunburst (This enters the battlefield with a charge counter on it for each color of mana spent to cast it.) XX, Remove X charge counters from Qupata, Lair of the Dinosaurs, Return Qupata to your hand: Create X X/X green Dinosaur creature tokens. A sacred temple touched by the Threefold Sun’s rays, where each one of them generates a new roaring life.
Design - (3/3) Appeal: Repeatable creature generation has some interest for everyone. (0/3) Elegance: It has a lot of weird moving parts, particularly the fact that you can use only some of the counters but it gets bounced anyway.
Development - (2/3) Viability: Favoring five-color and making tokens are well within green. I'm not sure it carries the impact for mythic. (1/3) Balance: The floor of 7 mana for a 1/1 is clearly bad. The ceiling of repeatable 5 5/5s for 15 is strong I guess but at 15 mana there are plenty of other exciting things you can do. While the concept may grab some interest, in execution it's just too weak to see play.
Creativity - (2/3) Uniqueness: Slow Gelatinous Genesis with buyback. (1/3) Flavor: In broad strokes, sun and dinosaurs make sense, but the minor details of charge counters and variable size dinosaurs make it fall apart for me. Also the flavor text reads as though it should make three tokens.
Polish - (3/3) Quality: (2/2) Main Challenge: (2/2) Subchallenges:
Galilea, Starsiege Zeppelin5
Legendary Artifact - Vehicle (M)
Sunburst (This enters the battlefield with a charge counter on it for each color of mana spent to cast it.)
Flying T, Remove a charge counter from Galilea, Starsiege Zeppelin: Destroy target permanent. Activate this ability only if Galilea, Starsiege Zeppelin is a creature.
Crew 4
6/6
Design - (3/3) Appeal: Huge shooty rainbow zeppelins sound good (2/3) Elegance: Maybe a bit of confusion for sunburst fans as to which type of counters it gets, but the activated ability helps cover that. Summoning sickness is also a bit more confusing than usual here.
Development - (3/3) Viability: Mashup of Legacy Weapon and Skysovereign, Consul Flagship checks the boxes here. (2/3) Balance: Vs Skysovereign, adding one more crew gives us 1 toughness and the ability to destroy larger/different things, although at the cost of attacking and a limited supply. I think a mana cost instead of tap on the activated ability would have been nice to get full use out of your big mythic bomb without having to choose destroy or attack.
Creativity - (2/3) Uniqueness: Could have been a bit more differentiated from Skysovereign. The tap ability restriction is new but not that different from attack triggers (which can only be done by creatures). (3/3) Flavor: Nice name and fun to imagine all my crew being like "shoot it DOWNNN"
Polish - (3/3) Quality: I think you can reduce it to Galilea the second time but whatever. (2/2) Main Challenge: (2/2) Subchallenges: Technically not a creature
Firebird of Wishes4R
Creature - Phoenix Spirit (MR)
Flying Converge - When you cast Firebird of Wishes, create X colorless Treasure artifact tokens with "T: Sacrifice this artifact. Add one mana of any color", where X is the number of colors of mana spent to cast Firebird of Wishes. If X is 5, Firebird of Wishes enters the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter.
As long as Firebird of Wishes has a +1/+1 counter on it, it returns to the top of its owner's library instead of anywhere else when it leaves the battlefield. I'd give all the riches I once wished for, to once again gaze upon It that gave them to me.
4/2
Design .:. (2/3) Appeal: Jxnny sees some combo potential here, Spike sees a competitive card. (2,5/3) Elegance: The card is easy to understand and makes sense but is pretty wordy with 11 lines of text.
Development .:. (3/3) Viability: A nice red (virtual multicolor) mythic. (1/3) Balance: The rules for five colored cards are a bit different, I know. Yet, a potential virtual 0CMC 6/3 with flying sounds over potent. At this point you could simply chain them. I'd compare this to the land untap mechanic from Urza block in level of brokenness. So, that's the maximum. The minimum is a virtual 4CMC 4/2 with flying. Compared to Ashcloud Phoenix that seems acceptable. Two and three colors decks aren't that unusual and would give you a v3CMC and a v2CMC 4/2 with flying but without downside respectively. Yes, too good.
Creativity .:. (3/3) Uniqueness: This phoenix is an interesting mash up of multi color matters, treasures, counters, and pseudo recursion. One could say this comes with too many ingredients and is too dazzling. But I like it. (3/3) Flavor: Wishes are strongly associated with drawing or getting additional cards of some sort. Wishing for treasure here is a new aspect added to that word and it fits.
Polish .:. (1,5/3) Quality: Can it be, is there no card that creates tokens with or that grants effects written in quotation marks where the sentence continues after the closing quotation mark? While Treasures usually have "T, Sacrifice this artifact: Add one mana of any color", I can't say, if it's correct or incorrect that this doesn't end with a point. One could circumvent that by reordering the words, to "When you cast this, for each color of mana spent to cast it, create a Treasure . ." Further, you count colors here, not mana. I think that 5 therefore should be five. Besides these situations I am not sure about, there's the thing that "this entes with a +1/+1 counter on it.", and that he second paragraph is a replacement effect that can't include a "when". "When" would indicate a triggered effect. It should read "If ~ would leave the battlefield, if it has a +1/+1 counter on it, put it on top of its owner's library instead of anywhere else." Oh, as a cast trigger, the converge ability should be listed before flying. (2/2) Main Challenge: Main challenge satisfied! (2/2) Subchallenges: Both subchallenges satisfied!
Total: 20/25
VS
Daylight Suppressor5B
Creature — Eldrazi (M)
Devoid (This card has no color.) Converge — Each creature your opponents control enters the battlefield with X -1/-1 counters on it, where X is the number of colors of mana spent to cast it.
Whenever a creature your opponent controls with a -1/-1 counter on it leaves the battlefield, you may pay C. If you do, that creature's controller loses life equal to the number of -1/-1 counters on it.
5/8
Design .:. (2/3) Appeal: Txmmy wants to play this card in Commander, Jxnny has one more -1/-1 counter card to mess around with. (3/3) Elegance: The card is easy to understand and makes sense.
Development .:. (3/3) Viability: Makes sense as a black mythic. (3/3) Balance: This one is more on the big and splashy side of being a mythic that slots nicely into midrangey, late gamey decks.
Creativity .:. (3/3) Uniqueness: An eldrazi with a color matters ability that still makes sense. Who would have thought? (3/3) Flavor: Sounds like a typical eldrazi card.
Polish .:. (2,5/3) Quality: It's "Whenever a creature an opponent controls . ." No other flaws detected! (2/2) Main Challenge: Main challenge satisfied! (2/2) Subchallenges: Both subchallenges satisfied!
Total: 23,5/25
&
Paradise Avenger4G
Creature - Elemental Avatar (m)
Flash
Trample
Sunburst (This enters the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter on it for each color of mana spent to cast it.)
: Choose up to X colors, where X is the number of +1/+1 counters on Paradise Avenger. Add one mana of each of the chosen colors.
5/5
Design .:. (2/3) Appeal: Timmy likes a potential 5CMC 10/10. A card that's on curve or better might be interesting for Spike. (3/3) Elegance: The card is easy to understand and makes sense.
Development .:. (3/3) Viability: I think a card like this is viable. (1/3) Balance: Before Gigantosaurus I would have had problems with this card. Like, do you get 10 power for five mana? That's what you get here if you spend a mana of each color. Wait, I still have some problems with it. A 10/10 for 5, well, we've seen that, nothing new here. But that with flash, and with trample, and with a mana ability? That sounds super duper good. As mono green card it is a 6/6 for five and with its keywords above everything we've seen so far. With two and three different colors available, so what decks usually have, we're dealing with a 7/7 or an 8/8 flashing trampler for five here. The mana ability is just icing on the card. (Yes, I eat my icing with cards.) I think that's a little too good, even for a mythic. Why does it start as a 5/5 anyways?
Creativity .:. (2,5/3) Uniqueness: The sunburst effect is entangled with a mana ability here. Pentad Prism comes to mind. In that form pretty new. (3/3) Flavor: Some kind of callback to Birds of Paradise and Lunar Avenger. Very interesting.
Polish .:. (3/3) Quality: The wording seems unusual but plausible. No flaws detected! (2/2) Main Challenge: Main challenge satisfied! (1/2) Subchallenges: Subchallenge 2 satisfied!
Total: 20,5/25
VS
Glimmervoid Infactor6
Artifact Creature - Construct {R}
Fabricate—Sunburst (When this creature enters the battlefield, put a +1/+1 counter on it for each color of mana spent to cast it or create a 1/1 colorless Servo artifact creature token for each color of mana spent to cast it.) The suns’ power to protect, their warmth to nurture.
2/2
Design .:. (1,5/3) Appeal: After Gigantosaurus it's hard to get Txmmy excited, does a 7/7 for six even do it anymore? Jxnny wants to play around with counters and tokens, that's for sure. (3/3) Elegance: The card is easy to understand and makes sense.
Development .:. (3/3) Viability: This seems like a card that could appear in a standard set. (3/3) Balance: Here we are more on the safe side of power level. 1WUBRG for a 7/7 or 7 power on six bodies isn't exactly broken. As the six is fixed it goes only down from there. Where I found other entries to be a little too exiciting, this might be a little less so. It's flexible.
Creativity .:. (2,5/3) Uniqueness: I like cards that use keyword abilities to determine numbers for keyword abilities. So far we have Arcbound Wanderer as example for this. Here we have the kaladeshian version of that. (2/3) Flavor: The flavor text is nice. Though, nuture seems like a weird word in regards to artifically created beings. On New Phyrexia probably more okey than anywhere else. But what does "infactor" mean, is this a neologism?
Polish .:. (3/3) Quality: No flaws detected! (2/2) Main Challenge: Main challenge satisfied! (0/2) Subchallenges: No subchallenges satisfied!
Total: 20/25
Raptorchan 23,5 VS
Forestsguy 20,0 & Hemlock 20,5 VS
Cardz5000 20,0
Design - (1.5/3) Appeal: Timmy sorta likes the sheer silly scale of this but doesn't like how do-nothing it is in general. Johnny sees Things To Do. Spike doesn't care. (2.5/3) Elegance: Relatively elegant but hell that's a lotta Xs.
Development - (3/3) Viability: Color is fine and rarity, at least in flavor terms, works. (2/3) Balance: So this is pretty underpowered, to the point where I'd really want to beef it up for it to see print. If, on average, you were spending three colors of mana on it, you'd be spending five mana and then six mana - eleven in all - to get three 3/3s, which seems hardly a worthy reward. Even at maximum mode, you'd get five 5/5s. yes - which should usually mean a win - but you're spending fifteen mana (in two installments) on it, the same total as Emrakul, the Aeons Torn and in fully five more colors.
Creativity - (0.5/3) Uniqueness: Owes a huge and obvious debt to Gelatinous Genesis, to the point where it's just a way-too-expensive, reusable, upper-bounded version therof. (2/3) Flavor: The notion of an origin point for Ixalan's Dinosaurs is pretty pleasing, but sunburst does not fit in that world at all; as you say yourself in the flavor text, the sun of Ixalan, particularly in its role as dino-creator, is thought of with three aspects (red, green, and white) and not five.
Polish - (2.5/3) Quality: "Return Qupata to its owner's hand"... (2/2) *Main Challenge: Done. (2/2) Subchallenges: And done.
Total: 18/25
Design - (3/3) Appeal: Timmy sees a big finisher, Johnny sees plenty of moving parts to manipulate, Spike sees... a big finisher, that's also any-threat removal. (2.5/3) Elegance: Does pretty cogent things but is quite wordy about it.
Development - (3/3) Viability: All checks out. (2.5/3) Balance: Really potent stuff and would need to be heavily playtested but the "only blow things up as a creature" clause is definitely a big balancing factor.
Creativity - (1.5/3) Uniqueness: Obviously owes a debt to both Skysovereign, Consul Flagship and Lux Cannon without entirely ripping either off. Also Legacy Weapon I guess? (2.5/3) Flavor: Name's a mouthful, and Zeppelin? In space? Otherwise, delightful.
Polish - (3/3) Quality: Looks alright. (2/2) *Main Challenge: Done. (2/2) Subchallenges: Done (in letter, at least).
Total: 22/25
Design - (3/3) Appeal: Timmy sees a ramping, recurring beater. Johnny sees a ramping, recurring beater. Spike sees a ramping, recurring beater. (1.5/3) Elegance: Woof, is that a wordy card with a lot of things to both calculate and remember. Still, it's pretty flavorful...
Development - (3/3) Viability: It's a mythic Phoenix and feels like one. (2/3) Balance: A "free" and self-recurring creature - even if you have to pay WUBRG for it - seems kinda dangerous and would need lots of playtesting.
Creativity - (2/3) Uniqueness: Not sure there's any one or even two cards you can point to as precedent but suffice it to say this card draws on existing stuff. (3/3) Flavor: Pretty solid.
Polish - (2/3) Quality: Minor wording mistakes in both the +1/+1 counter and recursion clauses. (2/2) *Main Challenge: Done. (2/2) Subchallenges: And done.
Total: 20.5/25
Design - (2.5/3) Appeal: Timmy sees a large and flavorful beater that shuts down opposing finishers. Johnny sees a potential alternate win condition. Spike sees a versatile finisher but wishes the stats-to-cost were more heavily weighted in favor of power, maybe? (2.5/3) Elegance: A somewhat wordy card, and one that does do something very new with converge, but ultimately a strongly elegant one with good internal synergy.
Development - (3/3) Viability: "Black" mythic devoid Eldrazi. Looks good. (3/3) Balance: "Only" 5 power for six mana makes this not over-the-top; the converge ability is very dangerous and crucially doesn't go away when this creature is no longer around, but until your opponents actually cast creatures with this out, it's removal bait.
Creativity - (3/3) Uniqueness: Gotta give full points for a highly unique use of converge. (2.5/3) Flavor: Eldrazi that require colored mana "hypocritically" hating on all colors is great flavor execution - I do wish this had flavor text but maybe space is at a premium here.
Polish - (2.5/3) Quality: "Your opponents control" and not "your opponent controls". (2/2) *Main Challenge: Good. (2/2) Subchallenges: And done.
July MCC 2018 Round 3 - Solar Powered
Counters month. Keywords month. You'll see what I mean.
Main Challenge: Design a card with sunburst or with a converge ability that places counters.
Subchallenge 1: Your card isn't a creature if it has sunburst or isn't an instant or sorcery if it has converge.
Subchallenge 2: Your card is mythic rare.
If you have questions about the challenge, please post in the MCC discussion thread. Best of luck!
Design Deadline: All submissions are to be final and submitted by July 24th 11:59 PM EST
Judging Deadline: All judgements are to be final and completed by July 27th 11:59 PM 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:
void_nothing
Antiantiserum
Gerrard's Mom
Contestants:
Cardz5000
bravelion83
Raptorchan
Hemlock
Forestsguy
picnic_bomber
A helpful tip for those formatting their cards:
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝
Legendary Enchantment (M)
Sunburst (This enters the battlefield with a charge counter on it for each color of mana spent to cast it.)
XX, Remove X charge counters from Qupata, Lair of the Dinosaurs, Return Qupata to your hand: Create X X/X green Dinosaur creature tokens.
A sacred temple touched by the Threefold Sun’s rays, where each one of them generates a new roaring life.
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 - Phoenix Spirit (MR)
Flying
Converge - When you cast Firebird of Wishes, create X colorless Treasure artifact tokens with "T: Sacrifice this artifact. Add one mana of any color", where X is the number of colors of mana spent to cast Firebird of Wishes. If X is 5, Firebird of Wishes enters the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter.
As long as Firebird of Wishes has a +1/+1 counter on it, it returns to the top of its owner's library instead of anywhere else when it leaves the battlefield.
I'd give all the riches I once wished for, to once again gaze upon It that gave them to me.
4/2
Creature - Elemental Avatar (m)
Flash
Trample
Sunburst (This enters the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter on it for each color of mana spent to cast it.)
: Choose up to X colors, where X is the number of +1/+1 counters on Paradise Avenger. Add one mana of each of the chosen colors.
5/5
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝
Creature — Eldrazi (M)
Devoid (This card has no color.)
Converge — Each creature your opponents control enters the battlefield with X -1/-1 counters on it, where X is the number of colors of mana spent to cast it.
Whenever a creature your opponent controls with a -1/-1 counter on it leaves the battlefield, you may pay C. If you do, that creature's controller loses life equal to the number of -1/-1 counters on it.
5/8
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝
Artifact Creature - Construct {R}
Fabricate—Sunburst (When this creature enters the battlefield, put a +1/+1 counter on it for each color of mana spent to cast it or create a 1/1 colorless Servo artifact creature token for each color of mana spent to cast it.)
The suns’ power to protect, their warmth to nurture.
2/2
void_nothing:
bravelion83 vs. picnic_bomber
Forestsguy vs. Raptorchan
Antiantiserum:
Forestsguy vs. Raptorchan
Hemlock vs. Cardz5000
Gerrard's Mom:
Hemlock vs. Cardz5000
bravelion83 vs. picnic_bomber
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝
Design -
(3/3) Appeal: People are generally excited about oversized things.
(1/3) Elegance: Being huge and having a tap ability are not complementary directions.
Development -
(2/3) Viability: Has some green keywords and a mana ability, sure. I'm not sure anything about it screams mythic except its size, but it's passable.
(2/3) Balance: So Gigantosaurus shows us that five colored mana can give us a 10/10, and there are sufficient hoops to jump through getting all five colors that the other upsides don't seem unreasonable. That said, it's quite easy to cast as a 7/7 or so and at that size the difference isn't much. Even as a 6/6 it will often either swallow an attacker or have psuedo-haste. Maybe it's not broken but I think it needs some work.
Creativity -
(1/3) Uniqueness: It's practically French vanilla. The wording of the mana ability is new I think, but it's kind of unnecessary - after that much work you might as well give them "Add X mana in any combination of colors."
(2/3) Flavor: Only new Multani and Muldrotha have these subtypes, so I guess it's some kind of maro being, which is neat. The name is a cool juxtaposition, has some kind of 80s New Wave vibe that I dig. Maybe legendary would have been a good call here.
Polish -
(3/3) Quality:
(2/2) Main Challenge:
(1/2) Subchallenges: Is creature with sunburst
Total: 17/25
Design -
(2/3) Appeal: Lots of options
(3/3) Elegance: The complexity is buried in reminder text, but it's not hard to understand.
Development -
(2/3) Viability: Clearly artifacts can do this. Borderline rare.
(2/3) Balance: Hmmm...only 1 off of Fusion Elemental and 6 bodies compares pretty favorably to Unified Front. I guess this is another case of using rarity just for straight power push. It's difficult to assemble in Limited and isn't breaking any Constructed formats with the requirement that you actually cast it for 6 mana. Some kind of multicolor artifact beatdown pumping all the Servos is the best case.
Creativity -
(2/3) Uniqueness: This card does basically exist but it was certainly clever to find another mechanic that can take sunburst as a variable.
(2/3) Flavor: Infactor? Like it comes up and is like "in fact these are Servos not Myr?" Other than that, nice Mirrodiny words, but I think taking Sunburst to Kaladesh would have made more sense.
Polish -
(3/3) Quality:
(2/2) Main Challenge:
(0/2) Subchallenges: Also is creature with sunburst and is not mythic
Total: 18/25
Design -
(3/3) Appeal: Repeatable creature generation has some interest for everyone.
(0/3) Elegance: It has a lot of weird moving parts, particularly the fact that you can use only some of the counters but it gets bounced anyway.
Development -
(2/3) Viability: Favoring five-color and making tokens are well within green. I'm not sure it carries the impact for mythic.
(1/3) Balance: The floor of 7 mana for a 1/1 is clearly bad. The ceiling of repeatable 5 5/5s for 15 is strong I guess but at 15 mana there are plenty of other exciting things you can do. While the concept may grab some interest, in execution it's just too weak to see play.
Creativity -
(2/3) Uniqueness: Slow Gelatinous Genesis with buyback.
(1/3) Flavor: In broad strokes, sun and dinosaurs make sense, but the minor details of charge counters and variable size dinosaurs make it fall apart for me. Also the flavor text reads as though it should make three tokens.
Polish -
(3/3) Quality:
(2/2) Main Challenge:
(2/2) Subchallenges:
Total: 16/25
Design -
(3/3) Appeal: Huge shooty rainbow zeppelins sound good
(2/3) Elegance: Maybe a bit of confusion for sunburst fans as to which type of counters it gets, but the activated ability helps cover that. Summoning sickness is also a bit more confusing than usual here.
Development -
(3/3) Viability: Mashup of Legacy Weapon and Skysovereign, Consul Flagship checks the boxes here.
(2/3) Balance: Vs Skysovereign, adding one more crew gives us 1 toughness and the ability to destroy larger/different things, although at the cost of attacking and a limited supply. I think a mana cost instead of tap on the activated ability would have been nice to get full use out of your big mythic bomb without having to choose destroy or attack.
Creativity -
(2/3) Uniqueness: Could have been a bit more differentiated from Skysovereign. The tap ability restriction is new but not that different from attack triggers (which can only be done by creatures).
(3/3) Flavor: Nice name and fun to imagine all my crew being like "shoot it DOWNNN"
Polish -
(3/3) Quality: I think you can reduce it to Galilea the second time but whatever.
(2/2) Main Challenge:
(2/2) Subchallenges: Technically not a creature
Total: 22/25
Cardz5000 18
bravelion83 16
picnic_bomber 22
Creature - Phoenix Spirit (MR)
Flying
Converge - When you cast Firebird of Wishes, create X colorless Treasure artifact tokens with "T: Sacrifice this artifact. Add one mana of any color", where X is the number of colors of mana spent to cast Firebird of Wishes. If X is 5, Firebird of Wishes enters the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter.
As long as Firebird of Wishes has a +1/+1 counter on it, it returns to the top of its owner's library instead of anywhere else when it leaves the battlefield.
I'd give all the riches I once wished for, to once again gaze upon It that gave them to me.
4/2
Design .:.
(2/3) Appeal: Jxnny sees some combo potential here, Spike sees a competitive card.
(2,5/3) Elegance: The card is easy to understand and makes sense but is pretty wordy with 11 lines of text.
Development .:.
(3/3) Viability: A nice red (virtual multicolor) mythic.
(1/3) Balance: The rules for five colored cards are a bit different, I know. Yet, a potential virtual 0CMC 6/3 with flying sounds over potent. At this point you could simply chain them. I'd compare this to the land untap mechanic from Urza block in level of brokenness. So, that's the maximum. The minimum is a virtual 4CMC 4/2 with flying. Compared to Ashcloud Phoenix that seems acceptable. Two and three colors decks aren't that unusual and would give you a v3CMC and a v2CMC 4/2 with flying but without downside respectively. Yes, too good.
Creativity .:.
(3/3) Uniqueness: This phoenix is an interesting mash up of multi color matters, treasures, counters, and pseudo recursion. One could say this comes with too many ingredients and is too dazzling. But I like it.
(3/3) Flavor: Wishes are strongly associated with drawing or getting additional cards of some sort. Wishing for treasure here is a new aspect added to that word and it fits.
Polish .:.
(1,5/3) Quality: Can it be, is there no card that creates tokens with or that grants effects written in quotation marks where the sentence continues after the closing quotation mark? While Treasures usually have "T, Sacrifice this artifact: Add one mana of any color", I can't say, if it's correct or incorrect that this doesn't end with a point. One could circumvent that by reordering the words, to "When you cast this, for each color of mana spent to cast it, create a Treasure . ." Further, you count colors here, not mana. I think that 5 therefore should be five. Besides these situations I am not sure about, there's the thing that "this entes with a +1/+1 counter on it.", and that he second paragraph is a replacement effect that can't include a "when". "When" would indicate a triggered effect. It should read "If ~ would leave the battlefield, if it has a +1/+1 counter on it, put it on top of its owner's library instead of anywhere else." Oh, as a cast trigger, the converge ability should be listed before flying.
(2/2) Main Challenge: Main challenge satisfied!
(2/2) Subchallenges: Both subchallenges satisfied!
Total: 20/25
Creature — Eldrazi (M)
Devoid (This card has no color.)
Converge — Each creature your opponents control enters the battlefield with X -1/-1 counters on it, where X is the number of colors of mana spent to cast it.
Whenever a creature your opponent controls with a -1/-1 counter on it leaves the battlefield, you may pay C. If you do, that creature's controller loses life equal to the number of -1/-1 counters on it.
5/8
Design .:.
(2/3) Appeal: Txmmy wants to play this card in Commander, Jxnny has one more -1/-1 counter card to mess around with.
(3/3) Elegance: The card is easy to understand and makes sense.
Development .:.
(3/3) Viability: Makes sense as a black mythic.
(3/3) Balance: This one is more on the big and splashy side of being a mythic that slots nicely into midrangey, late gamey decks.
Creativity .:.
(3/3) Uniqueness: An eldrazi with a color matters ability that still makes sense. Who would have thought?
(3/3) Flavor: Sounds like a typical eldrazi card.
Polish .:.
(2,5/3) Quality: It's "Whenever a creature an opponent controls . ." No other flaws detected!
(2/2) Main Challenge: Main challenge satisfied!
(2/2) Subchallenges: Both subchallenges satisfied!
Total: 23,5/25
Creature - Elemental Avatar (m)
Flash
Trample
Sunburst (This enters the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter on it for each color of mana spent to cast it.)
: Choose up to X colors, where X is the number of +1/+1 counters on Paradise Avenger. Add one mana of each of the chosen colors.
5/5
Design .:.
(2/3) Appeal: Timmy likes a potential 5CMC 10/10. A card that's on curve or better might be interesting for Spike.
(3/3) Elegance: The card is easy to understand and makes sense.
Development .:.
(3/3) Viability: I think a card like this is viable.
(1/3) Balance: Before Gigantosaurus I would have had problems with this card. Like, do you get 10 power for five mana? That's what you get here if you spend a mana of each color. Wait, I still have some problems with it. A 10/10 for 5, well, we've seen that, nothing new here. But that with flash, and with trample, and with a mana ability? That sounds super duper good. As mono green card it is a 6/6 for five and with its keywords above everything we've seen so far. With two and three different colors available, so what decks usually have, we're dealing with a 7/7 or an 8/8 flashing trampler for five here. The mana ability is just icing on the card. (Yes, I eat my icing with cards.) I think that's a little too good, even for a mythic. Why does it start as a 5/5 anyways?
Creativity .:.
(2,5/3) Uniqueness: The sunburst effect is entangled with a mana ability here. Pentad Prism comes to mind. In that form pretty new.
(3/3) Flavor: Some kind of callback to Birds of Paradise and Lunar Avenger. Very interesting.
Polish .:.
(3/3) Quality: The wording seems unusual but plausible. No flaws detected!
(2/2) Main Challenge: Main challenge satisfied!
(1/2) Subchallenges: Subchallenge 2 satisfied!
Total: 20,5/25
Artifact Creature - Construct {R}
Fabricate—Sunburst (When this creature enters the battlefield, put a +1/+1 counter on it for each color of mana spent to cast it or create a 1/1 colorless Servo artifact creature token for each color of mana spent to cast it.)
The suns’ power to protect, their warmth to nurture.
2/2
Design .:.
(1,5/3) Appeal: After Gigantosaurus it's hard to get Txmmy excited, does a 7/7 for six even do it anymore? Jxnny wants to play around with counters and tokens, that's for sure.
(3/3) Elegance: The card is easy to understand and makes sense.
Development .:.
(3/3) Viability: This seems like a card that could appear in a standard set.
(3/3) Balance: Here we are more on the safe side of power level. 1WUBRG for a 7/7 or 7 power on six bodies isn't exactly broken. As the six is fixed it goes only down from there. Where I found other entries to be a little too exiciting, this might be a little less so. It's flexible.
Creativity .:.
(2,5/3) Uniqueness: I like cards that use keyword abilities to determine numbers for keyword abilities. So far we have Arcbound Wanderer as example for this. Here we have the kaladeshian version of that.
(2/3) Flavor: The flavor text is nice. Though, nuture seems like a weird word in regards to artifically created beings. On New Phyrexia probably more okey than anywhere else. But what does "infactor" mean, is this a neologism?
Polish .:.
(3/3) Quality: No flaws detected!
(2/2) Main Challenge: Main challenge satisfied!
(0/2) Subchallenges: No subchallenges satisfied!
Total: 20/25
VS
Forestsguy 20,0
&
Hemlock 20,5
VS
Cardz5000 20,0
(1.5/3) Appeal: Timmy sorta likes the sheer silly scale of this but doesn't like how do-nothing it is in general. Johnny sees Things To Do. Spike doesn't care.
(2.5/3) Elegance: Relatively elegant but hell that's a lotta Xs.
Development -
(3/3) Viability: Color is fine and rarity, at least in flavor terms, works.
(2/3) Balance: So this is pretty underpowered, to the point where I'd really want to beef it up for it to see print. If, on average, you were spending three colors of mana on it, you'd be spending five mana and then six mana - eleven in all - to get three 3/3s, which seems hardly a worthy reward. Even at maximum mode, you'd get five 5/5s. yes - which should usually mean a win - but you're spending fifteen mana (in two installments) on it, the same total as Emrakul, the Aeons Torn and in fully five more colors.
Creativity -
(0.5/3) Uniqueness: Owes a huge and obvious debt to Gelatinous Genesis, to the point where it's just a way-too-expensive, reusable, upper-bounded version therof.
(2/3) Flavor: The notion of an origin point for Ixalan's Dinosaurs is pretty pleasing, but sunburst does not fit in that world at all; as you say yourself in the flavor text, the sun of Ixalan, particularly in its role as dino-creator, is thought of with three aspects (red, green, and white) and not five.
Polish -
(2.5/3) Quality: "Return Qupata to its owner's hand"...
(2/2) *Main Challenge: Done.
(2/2) Subchallenges: And done.
Total: 18/25
(3/3) Appeal: Timmy sees a big finisher, Johnny sees plenty of moving parts to manipulate, Spike sees... a big finisher, that's also any-threat removal.
(2.5/3) Elegance: Does pretty cogent things but is quite wordy about it.
Development -
(3/3) Viability: All checks out.
(2.5/3) Balance: Really potent stuff and would need to be heavily playtested but the "only blow things up as a creature" clause is definitely a big balancing factor.
Creativity -
(1.5/3) Uniqueness: Obviously owes a debt to both Skysovereign, Consul Flagship and Lux Cannon without entirely ripping either off. Also Legacy Weapon I guess?
(2.5/3) Flavor: Name's a mouthful, and Zeppelin? In space? Otherwise, delightful.
Polish -
(3/3) Quality: Looks alright.
(2/2) *Main Challenge: Done.
(2/2) Subchallenges: Done (in letter, at least).
Total: 22/25
(3/3) Appeal: Timmy sees a ramping, recurring beater. Johnny sees a ramping, recurring beater. Spike sees a ramping, recurring beater.
(1.5/3) Elegance: Woof, is that a wordy card with a lot of things to both calculate and remember. Still, it's pretty flavorful...
Development -
(3/3) Viability: It's a mythic Phoenix and feels like one.
(2/3) Balance: A "free" and self-recurring creature - even if you have to pay WUBRG for it - seems kinda dangerous and would need lots of playtesting.
Creativity -
(2/3) Uniqueness: Not sure there's any one or even two cards you can point to as precedent but suffice it to say this card draws on existing stuff.
(3/3) Flavor: Pretty solid.
Polish -
(2/3) Quality: Minor wording mistakes in both the +1/+1 counter and recursion clauses.
(2/2) *Main Challenge: Done.
(2/2) Subchallenges: And done.
Total: 20.5/25
(2.5/3) Appeal: Timmy sees a large and flavorful beater that shuts down opposing finishers. Johnny sees a potential alternate win condition. Spike sees a versatile finisher but wishes the stats-to-cost were more heavily weighted in favor of power, maybe?
(2.5/3) Elegance: A somewhat wordy card, and one that does do something very new with converge, but ultimately a strongly elegant one with good internal synergy.
Development -
(3/3) Viability: "Black" mythic devoid Eldrazi. Looks good.
(3/3) Balance: "Only" 5 power for six mana makes this not over-the-top; the converge ability is very dangerous and crucially doesn't go away when this creature is no longer around, but until your opponents actually cast creatures with this out, it's removal bait.
Creativity -
(3/3) Uniqueness: Gotta give full points for a highly unique use of converge.
(2.5/3) Flavor: Eldrazi that require colored mana "hypocritically" hating on all colors is great flavor execution - I do wish this had flavor text but maybe space is at a premium here.
Polish -
(2.5/3) Quality: "Your opponents control" and not "your opponent controls".
(2/2) *Main Challenge: Good.
(2/2) Subchallenges: And done.
Total: 23/25
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝