December MCC 2018 Round 4 - Friends Will Be Friends
Good commander is not the only thing your deck needs. What about planeswalker cards? Even more, what about planeswalkers that can be your commanders maybe?
Main Challenge: Design a legendary planeswalker that can be used in your legendary creature's commander deck.
Subchallenge 1: Your planeswalker's name refers to your legendary creature's name. Subchallenge 2: Your planeswalker can be your commander for the same deck as well.
Main Challenge: Your planeswalker can be included into your legendary creature's commander deck which means it has no different colors in its color identity. In can have less colors though.
Subchallenge 1: Feel free to interpret is as you want. However, your creature's name should be included into your planeswalker's name at least partially, but how to do it is up to you - in can be another version of your creature that ignited the spark, its friend, foe, mentor and so on... Subchallenge 2: Your planeswalker CAN be your commander and also can include your creature in its commander deck which means it has exactly the same color identity (can't have more colors because it would violate the main challenge).
Please feel free to ask additional questions if you have any in the MCC Discussion thread.
Design Deadline: All submissions are to be final and submitted by January 9th 11:59 PM EST
Judging Deadline: All judgements are to be final and completed by January 13th 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.
Narlarp, Spark Injected3UG
Legendary Planeswalker - Narlarp (M)
0: Put a +1/+1 counter on each creature you control.
0: Remove a counter from any number of permanents you control. Put a loyalty counter on Narlarp, Spark Injected for each counter removed this way.
-7: You get an emblem with "Creatures your team controls get +X/+X, where X is the greatest number of counters on a permanent you control."
Narlarp, Spark Injected can be your commander.
4
Fenyang, Liu’s StudentURW
Legendary Planeswalker — Fenyang (M)
+1: You may discard a card. If you do, draw a card and create a 1/1 white Warrior creature token with haste.
-2: Creatures you control get +1/+0 and gain vigilance until end of turn.
-6: You may cast a noncreature spell with converted mana cost X or less without paying its mana cost, where X is the number of creatures you control.
Fenyang, Liu’s Student can be your commander.
3
Zhi Liu, Martial Master2WU
Legendary Creature — Human Monk (M)
Whenever you or a teammate casts a noncreature spell, creatures your team controls get +1/+1 until end of turn. 2R, T: Target creature your team controls gets +X/+0 until end of turn, where X is its power. “Knowledge flows through generations just like a river. The students of yesterday are the teachers of tomorrow.”
2/3
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.)
Mubin of the Blessed Forge3GW
Legendary Planeswalker - Mubin {M}
+1: Untap up to one equipped creature you control. That creature can block an additional creature.
+1: Reveal cards from the top of your library until you reveal an Equipment card. Put that card on top of your library and the rest on the bottom in a random order.
-X: Create Sword of Asha, a legendary green and white Equipment artifact token with indestructible, equip 2GW and "Equipped creature gets +X/+X, has lifelink, and can't be blocked by more than one creature."
Mubin of the Blessed Forge can be your commander. 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.
Stoner here. My account got deleted or something. Here's my entries.
Caolán, Steadfast Cenn2WW
Legendary Creature - Kithkin Soldier (MR)
Whenever an opponent casts a noncreature spell, create X 1/1 white Kithkin Soldier creature tokens, where X is that spell's converted mana cost. 1(G/U)W: Until end of turn, Kithkin your team controls get +2/+2 and gain "Whenever this creature deals combat dsmage to sn opponent, draw a card.". Activate this ability only once each turn and only if you control six or more Kithkin. Through light or darkness, a cenn's job never ends.
3/3
This round's entry:
Caolán, Ascended Cenn1GWU
Legendary Planeswalker — Caolán (MR)
0: Put a loyalty counter on Caolán, Ascended Cenn for each token you control.
-X: Create X 1/1 white Kithkin Soldier creature tokens. You gain X life and draw X cards.
-3: You get an emblem with: "If an effect would create one or more tokens under your control, it creates that many plus one instead."
Caolán, Ascended Cenn can be your commander.
3
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
My EDH Decks:
Kruphix, God of Value and Eldrazi. GU Gahiji: Wider is better. (Now with 40% more tokens!) RGW Daxos brought some frienchantments! WB Kynaios and Tiro: Four strong arms to hug you better. RGWU Saskia: You better not tell her that pointing is rude. BRGW Sidisi the Zombeesi, the Unmilled, Breaker of Graves, Mother of Zambambos. (Zombie tribal)BGU Omnath, The Angriest Elemental Ever & His Spike-Handed Buddies.RG (Retired but forever in my heart)
Design - (1.75/3) Appeal: This doesn't rock Timmy's boat at all, I'm afraid, but Spike sees some potential, and Johnny wants to make it do something spectacular. (2.75/3) Elegance: Yeah, this does a nice job of presenting a unified "here's a planeswalker" front.
Development - (3/3) Viability: Colors are just fine, rules are good, obv mythic. (2.5/3) Balance: 4 mana (in three colors) to get a permanent, guaranteed +1 to all your tokens is far from broken, but nicely powerful. The first ability is good, but requires a dedicated deck to take advantage; I think it's fine. That middle ability...proooooobably ok, I think. 4 mana for 3 tokens and 3 cards is pretty solid (heck, even 2 tokens and 2 cards and the possibility of him living to use the first ability the next turn is pretty nice). This feels like the kind of card I'd underestimate until he was tromping my face. I think we're mostly good, though.
Creativity - (2.5/3) Uniqueness: I like a good planeswalker who a) can make his "ultimate" go off as soon as he E's the B, and b) who realizes you might have another copy of him waiting in the wings. Nothing about him is *completely* original (except maybe that first ability, that's nifty), but the combination is really pretty cool. (1/3) Flavor: With planeswalkers, a whole lot has to be communicated with name and art. With no art, the name has to do all the lifting, and this is pretty generic. Name of the guy, the fact that he was a Cenn, and now he's ascended. Eh. It works, but it's not spectacular. (Although I like the idea of him being ascennded. )
Total: 20.5/25
*An entry with 0 points here is subject to disqualification.
IcariiFA GU
Design - (1.75/3) Appeal: Spike feels like the first two abilities are just counters messing around and counterproductive. Johnny is cool with the overall idea, but not sure he gets excited about it. Timmy really wants that ultimate to go off. (2/3) Elegance: It's a little bulky in concept. First ability is ++, second is "oh, I get it", third is a twice-read and then I had to go back to make sure the first two abilities worked in concert to impact the third.
Development - (3/3) Viability: No color or rules issues, as far as I can tell, obv mythic. (2.75/3) Balance: That first ability is pretty good. Nissa has to pay two loyalty to get the same effect. Your card is a bit more expensive (and two-tone), so I could buy it. Second ability is fine, although when it "goes off" in spectacular fashion, it's going to be memorable. And that third ability *could* be pretty nuts. Overall...I think it's fine.
Creativity - (2.25/3) Uniqueness: Not zomgbbq innovative, but a new way to get loyalty, and a fun emblem to play around with. (1.75/3) Flavor: This name gets me a little further, as I can see a strong link between "spark injected" and how he gets +loyalty. Not a TON of flavor from that one aspect, but not bad.
Total: 20.5/25
*An entry with 0 points here is subject to disqualification.
RaikouRider GW
Design - (2.5/3) Appeal: There's basic appeal across the board with this one, but it's a lot of hoops for Timmy and Spike. Johnny likes the challenge, though. (1.75/3) Elegance: I think there might be some confusion as to whether a player can remove more than one counter from any given creature for a single activation of the ability (pretty sure your intent was that they can't; it's one counter per permanent per activation). The power/toughness boosting is also pretty complicated. Also, this gets the award for "most likely to make players double-check the legendary rule".
Development - (3/3) Viability: Colors and rules seem fine. Obv mythic. (2.75/3) Balance: I think these costs are appropriate, and I don't see it breaking any formats. The second ability seems a little underwhelming, but then again, it *is* a loyalty-increase, not decrease.
Creativity - (2.5/3) Uniqueness: A pretty solid "focuses on equipped creatures" planeswalker, with some standard ideas applied in new ways. (3/3) Flavor: This is how you communicate flavor for a planeswalker. Good, evocative imagery that ties in with all the abilities. Nice job.
Polish - (3/3) Quality: Fine. (2/2) *Main Challenge: Met. (1/2) Subchallenges: Doesn't refer to your round 3 card.
Total: 21.5/25
*An entry with 0 points here is subject to disqualification.
bravelion83 URW
Design - (1.5/3) Appeal: Johnny wants to make this work, and Spike sees some cheap solid effects, but nothing to write home about. Timmy really doesn't see the appeal. (1.75/3) Elegance: There's *light* connections between the three abilities, but in general, I don't feel a lot of cohesion. First two abilities are straightforward, but the last one starts out sounding like Convoke and then turns into free spells.
Development - (3/3) Viability: I *think* all the abilities fit in the color wheel alright. White feels, to me, like the thread that ties everything in and makes it work. Rules, on the other hand, are fine, and obv mythic. (2/3) Balance: The base 'walker is quite nice, with a solid initial ability and a nice basic second ability. I feel like that third ability is WAY overpriced. If I'm going to work toward 3-4 turns of +1-ing my 'walker so that I can activate their ultimate, it'd better do something more than just a free spell (may not actually be free; consult the number of creatures you control). I could pretty easily see this as -3 (in essence turning him into URW: Cast a spell for free if you control creatures equal to its CMC). Maybe that's naive of me, but I don't think so, especially in the face of Convoke.
Creativity - (2.25/3) Uniqueness: I really like the conditional first ability: gain +1 loyalty (maybe cycle a card and get a creature/maybe do nothing). The free spell ability also feels very fresh. (2/3) Flavor: The "student who has achieved mastery" is pretty frequently used, but I like the ability evolution from the round 3 card. Name certainly isn't the *most* evocative, but it's not terrible.
Caolán, Ascended Cenn1GWU
Legendary Planeswalker — Caolán (MR)
0: Put a loyalty counter on Caolán, Ascended Cenn for each token you control.
-X: Create X 1/1 white Kithkin Soldier creature tokens. You gain X life and draw X cards.
-3: You get an emblem with: "If an effect would create one or more tokens under your control, it creates that many plus one instead."
Caolán, Ascended Cenn can be your commander.
3
Design - (2/3) Appeal: While being just a little bit appealing to Timmy, this leads to painfully unfunny, predictable and repetetive gameplay. Spike would grab it anyway and Johnny can find a place for it in his strategies. (2/3) Elegance: A planeswalker with such abilities DEFINETELY requires second and maybe third glance to fully understand how it works.
Development - (3/3) Viability: No problems here. (2,5/3) Balance: I guess this card is almost self-balanced. What makes it pushed is the ability to regain all loyalty next turn and do things again, but eh, that's a game and almost all planeswalkers are more or less unfair cards I suppose.
Creativity - (2/3) Uniqueness: Resembles Huatli, Radiant Champion even for its use in token strategies (Trust me, I used one) a little bit. Other is fine, also i like an idea to easily get multiple emblems, yet again, it reminds about Huatli. (3/3) Flavor: I asked for a planewsalker with strong connection with your legend, I got it. Not going to blame you for the easiest way to do so.
Polish - (2/3) Quality: Should have been "emblem with "If an effect..." Also, it creates that many tokens..." (2/2) *Main Challenge: Yes. (2/2) Subchallenges: Yes and yes.
Total: 20,5/25
Narlarp, Spark Injected3UG
Legendary Planeswalker - Narlarp (M)
0: Put a +1/+1 counter on each creature you control.
0: Remove a counter from any number of permanents you control. Put a loyalty counter on Narlarp, Spark Injected for each counter removed this way.
-7: You get an emblem with "Creatures your team controls get +X/+X, where X is the greatest number of counters on a permanent you control."
Narlarp, Spark Injected can be your commander.
4
Design - (2,5/3) Appeal: Timmy would like to have a free buff for his board. Johnny would find the most weird counters to get rid of for his own benefit. Spike is a little skeptical but digs it because planeswalker is still a planeswalker. (2/3) Elegance: "Remove a counter from any number of permanents you control" is confusing as hell. Am I supposed to remove exactly one counter from each of them?
Development - (3/3) Viability: No problems here. Thumbs up for mentioning the team even if it wasn't a part of this round's challenge. (2,5/3) Balance: Emblem is scary. But you have to do something on board to benefit from it and it probably won't be the planeswalker irself.
Creativity - (2,5/3) Uniqueness: First ability was done before multiple times, even on planeswalkers. Other two are pretty unique. (2,5/3) Flavor: I am not going to say that spark injection is totally impossible though Yawgmoth haven't succeeded, but it looks like the main flavor problem your card has. Everything else is good, expecially an ability to redisitibute loyalty from other planeswalkers.
Polish - (2/3) Quality: "Remove a counter from any number of permanents you control" wording is not clear enough. (2/2) *Main Challenge: Yes. (2/2) Subchallenges: Yes and yes.
Total: 21/25
Mubin of the Blessed Forge3GW
Legendary Planeswalker - Mubin {M}
+1: Untap up to one equipped creature you control. That creature can block an additional creature.
+1: Reveal cards from the top of your library until you reveal an Equipment card. Put that card on top of your library and the rest on the bottom in a random order.
-X: Create Sword of Asha, a legendary green and white Equipment artifact token with indestructible, equip 2GW and "Equipped creature gets +X/+X, has lifelink, and can't be blocked by more than one creature."
Mubin of the Blessed Forge can be your commander. 3
Design - (2/3) Appeal: Spike doesn't care. Johnny does. Timmy, not so much but still. (1,5/3) Elegance: Providing a permanent ability to block an additional creature to your guys leads to memory issues. If you wanted to make it temporary, I can reduce 0.5 point in Quality section instead so it's not a big difference. Making a permanent that depends on the number of (something) that was spent to make it without any counters to indicate it leads to even more issues.
Development - (3/3) Viability: No issues detected. (3/3) Balance: I guess this is balanced enough to not reduce the points.
Creativity - (2,5/3) Uniqueness: Aside from tutoring for equipments, this is pretty unique concept. (2/3) Flavor: I don't like an ability to create a legendary equipment with different values multiple times. It feels wrong.
Polish - (1,5/3) Quality: I would be confused to see mana symbol instead of a loyalty indicator. Also I guess the equip cost should be placed after other abilities of an Equipment token. Also, legendary tokens should be "named" (see Nahiri, the Lithomancer). (2/2) *Main Challenge: Yes. (1/2) Subchallenges: Your planeswalker's name doesn't have any connection to your legendary creature's name.
Total: 18,5/25
Fenyang, Liu’s StudentURW
Legendary Planeswalker — Fenyang (M)
+1: You may discard a card. If you do, draw a card and create a 1/1 white Warrior creature token with haste.
-2: Creatures you control get +1/+0 and gain vigilance until end of turn.
-6: You may cast a noncreature spell with converted mana cost X or less without paying its mana cost, where X is the number of creatures you control.
Fenyang, Liu’s Student can be your commander.
3
Design - (2/3) Appeal: Johnny and Timmy are mildly interedted. Spike most likely not. (2/3) Elegance: Third ability is confusing. I should cast a spell from where?
Development - (3/3) Viability: It feels like a Chinese menu but all these abilities are Jeskai. (2/3) Balance: First two abilities are fine but the last one only gives you virtual mana that can't pay for spells with CMNC higher than X and costs you 6 loyalty! You absolutely had to make this an emblem instead of a one-go action.
Creativity - (2/3) Uniqueness: First two abilities were done multiple times here and there but in other combinations. Third one... I'd say it's unique though it resembles something that I can't remember. (2,5/3) Flavor: Strong connection between your previous card's flavor text and this card's name. Warrior creature type is confusing because it doesn't fit Jeskai theme well. If you intended it to have Battlebond synergy, that's fine, but still.
Polish - (2,5/3) Quality: I assume you need to add "from your hand" to "You may cast a noncreature spell with converted mana cost X or less without paying its mana cost". (2/2) *Main Challenge: Yes. (2/2) Subchallenges: Yes and yes.
Narlarp, Spark Injected3UG
Legendary Planeswalker - Narlarp (M)
0: Put a +1/+1 counter on each creature you control.
0: Remove a counter from any number of permanents you control. Put a loyalty counter on Narlarp, Spark Injected for each counter removed this way.
-7: You get an emblem with "Creatures your team controls get +X/+X, where X is the greatest number of counters on a permanent you control."
Narlarp, Spark Injected can be your commander.
4
Design .:. (2/3) Appeal: Naturally, a commander card does appeal to Txmmy. Ability wise Narlap's also kind of a Txmmy card, buffing your whole team and ultimately giving a potentionally huge bonus to everything on your side of the board. There's also some combo potential for Jxnny to play around with. I'm thinking of cumulative upkeep. (3/3) Elegance: The card is easy to understand and makes sense.
Development .:. (3/3) Viability: If it wasn't for the Simic I'd say the messing with counters here is mostly green. The rarity is correct. (3/3) Balance: It has no built in protection nor does it net card advantage, two things that make planeswalkers very powerful. This one feels a little like the new Dovin to me, in the way I'm going to use him. The plan is to have a lot of creatures to get Dovin really high in loyalty first and ultimate him a few turns in a row. Narlap here can be used kinf of in this way if needed or just put one counter on each creature if that's sufficient to win or do stuff. Ultimating this once nets you a pretty powerful emblem. But also, as said, it doesn't have the ability to protect itself, besides getting counters, and feels not overpowered this way.
Creativity .:. (2/3) Uniqueness: We have a bunch of planeswalkers that a good at putting counters on stuff. The first ability we have seen in some iterations. The rest is pretty exciting. (3/3) Flavor: Injecting a spark feels like the appropriate way for a Simic person to ascend to a planeswalker.
Polish .:. (3/3) Quality: No flaws detected! (2/2) Main Challenge: Main challenge satisfied! (2/2) Subchallenges: Both subchallenges satisfied!
Total: 23/25
Mubin of the Blessed Forge3GW
Legendary Planeswalker - Mubin {M}
+1: Untap up to one equipped creature you control. That creature can block an additional creature.
+1: Reveal cards from the top of your library until you reveal an Equipment card. Put that card on top of your library and the rest on the bottom in a random order.
-X: Create Sword of Asha, a legendary green and white Equipment artifact token with indestructible, equip 2GW and "Equipped creature gets +X/+X, has lifelink, and can't be blocked by more than one creature."
Mubin of the Blessed Forge can be your commander. 3
Design .:. (1/3) Appeal: Naturally, a commander card does appeal to Txmmy. (2,5/3) Elegance: The card is mostly easy to understand and makes sense. Memory issues might become a thing, though, when you use the ability a few times on the same creature as it will be able to block more and more creatures. Something like "until end of turn" would be helpful.
Development .:. (3/3) Viability: GW surprisingly can care for equipment, as seen with Nazahn, Revered Bladesmith. The rarity is correct. (3/3) Balance: They untap a creature that attacked or tapped otherwise, maybe to tap it again. The second ability makes sure you get your next equipment ready asap. Or you insta-cash Mubin in for the legendary Sword of Asha, that works almost like a Behemoth Sledge. A heavy equipment theme like this best suits a voltron strategy of course. The twist is that your commander can't carry any weapons so you have to find others that are willing to pick up the fight. Compared to Nahiri, the Lithomancer, a planeswalker commander with a similar set up, Mubin adds green to the color identity of your deck and mostly makes sure that your equipment strategy works smoothly. Too powerful I don't think this is.
Creativity .:. (2/3) Uniqueness: It's very similar to Nahiri while still offering a slightly different angle to the equipment deck. (3/3) Flavor: Looks like a nice representation of the charater of the Alara storyline.
Polish .:. (2/3) Quality: "Untap up to one" should probably target. In Nahiri there's only one card to reference here, but I think it's fair to say that the text of the equipment token should be listed in the order it would appear on an acutal equipment card. That means the equip cost goes to the end. (2/2) Main Challenge: Main challenge satisfied! (1/2) Subchallenges: Subchallenge 2 satisfied!
Total: 19,5/25
Fenyang, Liu’s StudentURW
Legendary Planeswalker — Fenyang (M)
+1: You may discard a card. If you do, draw a card and create a 1/1 white Warrior creature token with haste.
-2: Creatures you control get +1/+0 and gain vigilance until end of turn.
-6: You may cast a noncreature spell with converted mana cost X or less without paying its mana cost, where X is the number of creatures you control.
Fenyang, Liu’s Student can be your commander.
3
Design .:. (2/3) Appeal: Naturally, a commander card does appeal to Txmmy. At three mana this feels aggressively enough to be considered a Spike card. (3/3) Elegance: The card is easy to understand and makes sense.
Development .:. (3/3) Viability: The abilities fit the color identity well. The rarity is correct. (3/3) Balance: As said, Fenyang feels pretty aggressive. It filters and creates a blocker to attack or protect itself early in the game. It pumps your army once while still leaving behind blockers later. The third ability feels epic but might not even needed. It reminds me of Aminatou, the Fateshifter, where either the first or the second ability is good enough to justify building a deck around it. Here the first two abilities together support a go wide creature strategy while fixing your draws. Still it doesn't feel unbalanced, it doesn't create an environment that's impossible to counteract. Three opponents will have a chance.
Creativity .:. (2/3) Uniqueness: Besides the third ability we have seen each part already on planeswalkers in some form. The whole package feels coherent and interesting though. (3/3) Flavor: Fenyand's certainly a studend of Liu.
Polish .:. (2,5/3) Quality: I think the third ability must specifiy from where to cast the card, see Electrodominance for reference. (2/2) Main Challenge: Main challenge satisfied! (2/2) Subchallenges: Both subchallenges satisfied!
Total: 22,5/25
Caolán, Ascended Cenn1GWU
Legendary Planeswalker — Caolán (MR)
0: Put a loyalty counter on Caolán, Ascended Cenn for each token you control.
-X: Create X 1/1 white Kithkin Soldier creature tokens. You gain X life and draw X cards.
-3: You get an emblem with: "If an effect would create one or more tokens under your control, it creates that many plus one instead."
Caolán, Ascended Cenn can be your commander.
3
Design .:. (3/3) Appeal: Naturally, a commander card does appeal to Txmmy. The third ability here is an invitation to all Jxnnies. While the -X is the obvious value ability it's the -3 that might turn this into a Spike worthy card. (3/3) Elegance: The card is easy to understand and makes sense.
Development .:. (3/3) Viability: The abilities fit the color identity well. The rarity is correct. (2/3) Balance: The non-0 abilities seem pretty relevant at any point in the game. Paying 4 mana for 3 tokens, 3 cards (and 3 life) is a pretty decent rate. Paying 4 for a half a Adding Season is also pretty good. You can cash it in for either thing on turn 4 and don't look back. The option to pump Caolán up a little more before you use the more impactful abilities becomes more important with the second and subsequent casting. One good pump turns the -X in an ability with game deciding potential. While the -X delivers a good one time boost it also needs a bit of work. It is the -3 that I find problematic. Getting another token out of each token creating card for free turns every normal-rate card into an above-rate card and each decent-rate card into an absurd-rate card. That emblem is too good for a one time investment. Upping the loyalty cost even by 1 might turn this into a fair card already. Maybe it's nothing 3 opponents can't handle when working together, but out of the bunch I think it leads to probably the most problematic commander.
Creativity .:. (2/3) Uniqueness: We know token creating and card drawing and life gaining planeswalkers. This feels pretty fresh anyways. (3/3) Flavor: Planeswalker kithkin, very exciting!
Polish .:. (2,5/3) Quality: Colons are only used to separate activation cost from an activated abilitie's effect and is not needed here. (2/2) Main Challenge: Main challenge satisfied! (2/2) Subchallenges: Both subchallenges satisfied!
Design - (2.5/3) Appeal: Timmy likes the size involved. Johnny likes the counters. Spike likes the mass pump that lasts, although maybe it's a bit slow for him. (2/3) Elegance: A bunch of moving parts here, and the ultimate counts teams for one part but only individual players for the other, which seems like recipe for confusion.
Development - (3/3) Viability: Colors are right; a planeswalker and face commander has to be mythic. (2.5/3) Balance: That first 0 ability is kind of concerning - an anthem every turn is a lot. If it were a +1 it'd be completely beyond the pale.
Creativity - (1.5/3) Uniqueness: Somewhat unique ultimate, but plenty of precedent for mass +1/+1 counters and counter "moving". Also, the card mostly is just a fancy machine for mass-pumps. (3/3) Flavor: "Spark Injected" tells a story all of its own about the character becoming a planeswalker through unusual means. Good job.
Polish - (2.5/3) Quality: Wrong mana symbol order. (2/2) *Main Challenge: Done. (2/2) Subchallenges: And done.
Total: 21/25
Design - (2.5/3) Appeal: Mostly a Timmy/Johnny card, what with flooding the board with tokens and enabling discard interactions and such; theoretically appealing to Spike (particularly with that super super potent +1) but doesn’t quite have the numbers for it. (3/3) Elegance: The Warriors being white while also having haste is odd. I’d prefer maybe if it made the generic Tarkir white Warrior and then granted it haste until end of turn?
Development - (3/3) Viability: Colors and rarity obviously correct. (2.5/3) Balance: A powerful +1 is at odds with an ultimate that's weak for its cost.
Creativity - (1/3) Uniqueness: Not much exact precedent but these are all pretty “safe” abilities, and highly similar ones (how many times have you seen a ‘walker that draws cards, or makes tokens, or mass pumps?) have been on planeswalkers before. (3/3) Flavor: Bonus for actually making a different character and not just the planeswalker version of the original legend.
Polish - (2/3) Quality: Ultimate doesn’t specify what zone to cast from. (2/2) *Main Challenge: Done. (2/2) Subchallenges: And done.
Total: 21/25
Design - (2/3) Appeal: Timmy and Johnny both like a super-Equipment-lord ‘walker, but although Spike plays things like Batterskull and Sword of War and Peace it might be a bit too niche for him. (1/3) Elegance: The Sword of Asha looks like memory issues city. Actually, the rest of the card has several elegance problems as well including not specifying for how long the creature targeted by the first +1 can block an additional creature and (this is relatively minor) putting cards both on top of and on bottom of the library with the faux-tutor ability.
Development - (3/3) Viability: All good. (3/3) Balance: So dependent upon building around the Equipment theme that it couldn’t possibly be objectionable.
Creativity - (2/3) Uniqueness: Somewhat reminiscent of Nahiri, the Lithomancer. (2.5/3) Flavor: Matches the original well enough.
Polish - (1.5/3) Quality: Fails to specify the duration for a bonus; uses the 3 symbol to represent loyalty, which is incorrect. (2/2) *Main Challenge: Done. (2/2) Subchallenges: And done.
Total: 19/25
Design - (3/3) Appeal: Looks like an all-rounder - Timmy likes token swarms, Johnny likes doubling, Spike likes the sheer repeated value of the -X. (2.5/3) Elegance: There's a slight kind of inelegance to a planeswalker with a "parasitic" plus loyalty ability, although in this case it can be fueled just by activating the -X ability, so I don't mind all that much.
Development - (3/3) Viability: Looks fine. (2.5/3) Balance: Seems like it could get out of hand, but not without some work put in - think of the -X with a Doubling Season out, though.
Creativity - (1.5/3) Uniqueness: Lots of 'walkers swarm the board with tokens, various Elspeths and Sorins most prominently. The stackable pseudo-ultimate emblem, despite being Anointed Procession, is unique in that you can essentially spam it; this reminds me of Sorin, Lord of Innistrad, a card which I've always loved. (2/3) Flavor: It's coherent, I guess? "Ascended ___" is about the most boring title you can give a planeswalker; we already know Caolán was a cenn in their pre-spark life.
Damn, just half a point difference! So close! Congrats, IcariiFA!
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
My EDH Decks:
Kruphix, God of Value and Eldrazi. GU Gahiji: Wider is better. (Now with 40% more tokens!) RGW Daxos brought some frienchantments! WB Kynaios and Tiro: Four strong arms to hug you better. RGWU Saskia: You better not tell her that pointing is rude. BRGW Sidisi the Zombeesi, the Unmilled, Breaker of Graves, Mother of Zambambos. (Zombie tribal)BGU Omnath, The Angriest Elemental Ever & His Spike-Handed Buddies.RG (Retired but forever in my heart)
December MCC 2018 Round 4 - Friends Will Be Friends
Good commander is not the only thing your deck needs. What about planeswalker cards? Even more, what about planeswalkers that can be your commanders maybe?
Main Challenge: Design a legendary planeswalker that can be used in your legendary creature's commander deck.
Subchallenge 1: Your planeswalker's name refers to your legendary creature's name.
Subchallenge 2: Your planeswalker can be your commander for the same deck as well.
Subchallenge 1: Feel free to interpret is as you want. However, your creature's name should be included into your planeswalker's name at least partially, but how to do it is up to you - in can be another version of your creature that ignited the spark, its friend, foe, mentor and so on...
Subchallenge 2: Your planeswalker CAN be your commander and also can include your creature in its commander deck which means it has exactly the same color identity (can't have more colors because it would violate the main challenge).
Please feel free to ask additional questions if you have any in the MCC Discussion thread.
Design Deadline: All submissions are to be final and submitted by January 9th 11:59 PM EST
Judging Deadline: All judgements are to be final and completed by January 13th 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:
Raptorchan
void_nothing
Cantripmancer
Antiantiserum
Contestants:
StonerOfKruphix GWU
IcariiFA GU
RaikouRider GW
bravelion83 URW
Brackets:
No
A helpful tip for those formatting their cards:
Legendary Planeswalker - Narlarp (M)
0: Put a +1/+1 counter on each creature you control.
0: Remove a counter from any number of permanents you control. Put a loyalty counter on Narlarp, Spark Injected for each counter removed this way.
-7: You get an emblem with "Creatures your team controls get +X/+X, where X is the greatest number of counters on a permanent you control."
Narlarp, Spark Injected can be your commander.
4
Legendary Planeswalker — Fenyang (M)
+1: You may discard a card. If you do, draw a card and create a 1/1 white Warrior creature token with haste.
-2: Creatures you control get +1/+0 and gain vigilance until end of turn.
-6: You may cast a noncreature spell with converted mana cost X or less without paying its mana cost, where X is the number of creatures you control.
Fenyang, Liu’s Student can be your commander.
3
Zhi Liu, Martial Master 2WU
Legendary Creature — Human Monk (M)
Whenever you or a teammate casts a noncreature spell, creatures your team controls get +1/+1 until end of turn.
2R, T: Target creature your team controls gets +X/+0 until end of turn, where X is its power.
“Knowledge flows through generations just like a river. The students of yesterday are the teachers of tomorrow.”
2/3
MCC - Winner (6): Oct 2014, Apr Nov 2017, Jan 2018, Apr Jun 2019 || Host (15): Dec 2014, Apr Jul Aug Dec 2015, Mar Jul Aug Oct 2016, Feb Jul 2017, Jun Nov 2018, Feb Jul 2019 (last one here) || Judge (34): every month from Nov 2014 to Nov 2016 except Oct 2015, every month from Feb to Jul 2017 except Apr 2017, then Oct 2017, May Jun Nov 2018, Feb Jul 2019 (last one here)
CCL - Winner (3): Jul 2016 (tied with Flatline), May 2017, Jul 2019 (last one here) || Host (5): Feb 2015, Mar Apr May Jun 2016
DCC - Winner (1): Mar 2015 (tied with Piar) || Host (3): May Oct 2015, Jan 2016
• The two public custom sets I've been part a part of the design team for:
"Brotherhood of Ormos" - Blog post with all info - set thread - design skeleton / card list || "Extinctia: Homo Evanuit" - Blog post with all info - set thread - card list spreadsheet
• "The Lion's Lair", my article series about MTG and custom card design in particular. Latest article here. Here is the article index. Rather outdated by now, and based on the old MCC rubric, but I'm leaving this here for anybody that might be interested anyway.
• My only public attempt at being a writer: the story of my Leonin custom planeswalker Jeff Lionheart. (I have a very big one that I'm working on right now but that's private for now, and I don't know if I will ever actually publish it, and I also have ideas for multiple future ones, including one where I'm going to reprise Jeff.)
Legendary Planeswalker - Mubin {M}
+1: Untap up to one equipped creature you control. That creature can block an additional creature.
+1: Reveal cards from the top of your library until you reveal an Equipment card. Put that card on top of your library and the rest on the bottom in a random order.
-X: Create Sword of Asha, a legendary green and white Equipment artifact token with indestructible, equip 2GW and "Equipped creature gets +X/+X, has lifelink, and can't be blocked by more than one creature."
Mubin of the Blessed Forge can be your commander.
3
Emille, Seven-Sting Dancer Shalin Nariya
Let's judge.
Caolán, Steadfast Cenn 2WW
Legendary Creature - Kithkin Soldier (MR)
Whenever an opponent casts a noncreature spell, create X 1/1 white Kithkin Soldier creature tokens, where X is that spell's converted mana cost.
1(G/U)W: Until end of turn, Kithkin your team controls get +2/+2 and gain "Whenever this creature deals combat dsmage to sn opponent, draw a card.". Activate this ability only once each turn and only if you control six or more Kithkin.
Through light or darkness, a cenn's job never ends.
3/3
This round's entry:
Caolán, Ascended Cenn 1GWU
Legendary Planeswalker — Caolán (MR)
0: Put a loyalty counter on Caolán, Ascended Cenn for each token you control.
-X: Create X 1/1 white Kithkin Soldier creature tokens. You gain X life and draw X cards.
-3: You get an emblem with: "If an effect would create one or more tokens under your control, it creates that many plus one instead."
Caolán, Ascended Cenn can be your commander.
3
Kruphix, God of Value and Eldrazi. GU
Gahiji: Wider is better. (Now with 40% more tokens!) RGW
Daxos brought some frienchantments! WB
Kynaios and Tiro: Four strong arms to hug you better. RGWU
Saskia: You better not tell her that pointing is rude. BRGW
Sidisi the Zombeesi, the Unmilled, Breaker of Graves, Mother of Zambambos. (Zombie tribal)BGU
Omnath, The Angriest Elemental Ever & His Spike-Handed Buddies.RG (Retired but forever in my heart)
(1.75/3) Appeal: This doesn't rock Timmy's boat at all, I'm afraid, but Spike sees some potential, and Johnny wants to make it do something spectacular.
(2.75/3) Elegance: Yeah, this does a nice job of presenting a unified "here's a planeswalker" front.
Development -
(3/3) Viability: Colors are just fine, rules are good, obv mythic.
(2.5/3) Balance: 4 mana (in three colors) to get a permanent, guaranteed +1 to all your tokens is far from broken, but nicely powerful. The first ability is good, but requires a dedicated deck to take advantage; I think it's fine. That middle ability...proooooobably ok, I think. 4 mana for 3 tokens and 3 cards is pretty solid (heck, even 2 tokens and 2 cards and the possibility of him living to use the first ability the next turn is pretty nice). This feels like the kind of card I'd underestimate until he was tromping my face. I think we're mostly good, though.
Creativity -
(2.5/3) Uniqueness: I like a good planeswalker who a) can make his "ultimate" go off as soon as he E's the B, and b) who realizes you might have another copy of him waiting in the wings. Nothing about him is *completely* original (except maybe that first ability, that's nifty), but the combination is really pretty cool.
(1/3) Flavor: With planeswalkers, a whole lot has to be communicated with name and art. With no art, the name has to do all the lifting, and this is pretty generic. Name of the guy, the fact that he was a Cenn, and now he's ascended. Eh. It works, but it's not spectacular. (Although I like the idea of him being ascennded. )
Polish -
(3/3) Quality: Fine.
(2/2) *Main Challenge: Met.
(2/2) Subchallenges: Both met.
Total: 20.5/25
*An entry with 0 points here is subject to disqualification.
IcariiFA GU
(1.75/3) Appeal: Spike feels like the first two abilities are just counters messing around and counterproductive. Johnny is cool with the overall idea, but not sure he gets excited about it. Timmy really wants that ultimate to go off.
(2/3) Elegance: It's a little bulky in concept. First ability is ++, second is "oh, I get it", third is a twice-read and then I had to go back to make sure the first two abilities worked in concert to impact the third.
Development -
(3/3) Viability: No color or rules issues, as far as I can tell, obv mythic.
(2.75/3) Balance: That first ability is pretty good. Nissa has to pay two loyalty to get the same effect. Your card is a bit more expensive (and two-tone), so I could buy it. Second ability is fine, although when it "goes off" in spectacular fashion, it's going to be memorable. And that third ability *could* be pretty nuts. Overall...I think it's fine.
Creativity -
(2.25/3) Uniqueness: Not zomgbbq innovative, but a new way to get loyalty, and a fun emblem to play around with.
(1.75/3) Flavor: This name gets me a little further, as I can see a strong link between "spark injected" and how he gets +loyalty. Not a TON of flavor from that one aspect, but not bad.
Polish -
(3/3) Quality: Fine.
(2/2) *Main Challenge: Met.
(2/2) Subchallenges: Both met.
Total: 20.5/25
*An entry with 0 points here is subject to disqualification.
RaikouRider GW
(2.5/3) Appeal: There's basic appeal across the board with this one, but it's a lot of hoops for Timmy and Spike. Johnny likes the challenge, though.
(1.75/3) Elegance: I think there might be some confusion as to whether a player can remove more than one counter from any given creature for a single activation of the ability (pretty sure your intent was that they can't; it's one counter per permanent per activation). The power/toughness boosting is also pretty complicated. Also, this gets the award for "most likely to make players double-check the legendary rule".
Development -
(3/3) Viability: Colors and rules seem fine. Obv mythic.
(2.75/3) Balance: I think these costs are appropriate, and I don't see it breaking any formats. The second ability seems a little underwhelming, but then again, it *is* a loyalty-increase, not decrease.
Creativity -
(2.5/3) Uniqueness: A pretty solid "focuses on equipped creatures" planeswalker, with some standard ideas applied in new ways.
(3/3) Flavor: This is how you communicate flavor for a planeswalker. Good, evocative imagery that ties in with all the abilities. Nice job.
Polish -
(3/3) Quality: Fine.
(2/2) *Main Challenge: Met.
(1/2) Subchallenges: Doesn't refer to your round 3 card.
Total: 21.5/25
*An entry with 0 points here is subject to disqualification.
bravelion83 URW
(1.5/3) Appeal: Johnny wants to make this work, and Spike sees some cheap solid effects, but nothing to write home about. Timmy really doesn't see the appeal.
(1.75/3) Elegance: There's *light* connections between the three abilities, but in general, I don't feel a lot of cohesion. First two abilities are straightforward, but the last one starts out sounding like Convoke and then turns into free spells.
Development -
(3/3) Viability: I *think* all the abilities fit in the color wheel alright. White feels, to me, like the thread that ties everything in and makes it work. Rules, on the other hand, are fine, and obv mythic.
(2/3) Balance: The base 'walker is quite nice, with a solid initial ability and a nice basic second ability. I feel like that third ability is WAY overpriced. If I'm going to work toward 3-4 turns of +1-ing my 'walker so that I can activate their ultimate, it'd better do something more than just a free spell (may not actually be free; consult the number of creatures you control). I could pretty easily see this as -3 (in essence turning him into URW: Cast a spell for free if you control creatures equal to its CMC). Maybe that's naive of me, but I don't think so, especially in the face of Convoke.
Creativity -
(2.25/3) Uniqueness: I really like the conditional first ability: gain +1 loyalty (maybe cycle a card and get a creature/maybe do nothing). The free spell ability also feels very fresh.
(2/3) Flavor: The "student who has achieved mastery" is pretty frequently used, but I like the ability evolution from the round 3 card. Name certainly isn't the *most* evocative, but it's not terrible.
Polish -
(3/3) Quality: Fine.
(2/2) *Main Challenge: Met.
(2/2) Subchallenges: Both met.
Total: 19.5/25
*An entry with 0 points here is subject to disqualification.
All done! Good entries all around, but here's how I feel they rank:
StonerOfKruphix: 20.5
IcariiFA: 20.5
bravelion83: 19.5
Legendary Planeswalker — Caolán (MR)
0: Put a loyalty counter on Caolán, Ascended Cenn for each token you control.
-X: Create X 1/1 white Kithkin Soldier creature tokens. You gain X life and draw X cards.
-3: You get an emblem with: "If an effect would create one or more tokens under your control, it creates that many plus one instead."
Caolán, Ascended Cenn can be your commander.
3
Design -
(2/3) Appeal: While being just a little bit appealing to Timmy, this leads to painfully unfunny, predictable and repetetive gameplay. Spike would grab it anyway and Johnny can find a place for it in his strategies.
(2/3) Elegance: A planeswalker with such abilities DEFINETELY requires second and maybe third glance to fully understand how it works.
Development -
(3/3) Viability: No problems here.
(2,5/3) Balance: I guess this card is almost self-balanced. What makes it pushed is the ability to regain all loyalty next turn and do things again, but eh, that's a game and almost all planeswalkers are more or less unfair cards I suppose.
Creativity -
(2/3) Uniqueness: Resembles Huatli, Radiant Champion even for its use in token strategies (Trust me, I used one) a little bit. Other is fine, also i like an idea to easily get multiple emblems, yet again, it reminds about Huatli.
(3/3) Flavor: I asked for a planewsalker with strong connection with your legend, I got it. Not going to blame you for the easiest way to do so.
Polish -
(2/3) Quality: Should have been "emblem with "If an effect..." Also, it creates that many tokens..."
(2/2) *Main Challenge: Yes.
(2/2) Subchallenges: Yes and yes.
Total: 20,5/25
Legendary Planeswalker - Narlarp (M)
0: Put a +1/+1 counter on each creature you control.
0: Remove a counter from any number of permanents you control. Put a loyalty counter on Narlarp, Spark Injected for each counter removed this way.
-7: You get an emblem with "Creatures your team controls get +X/+X, where X is the greatest number of counters on a permanent you control."
Narlarp, Spark Injected can be your commander.
4
Design -
(2,5/3) Appeal: Timmy would like to have a free buff for his board. Johnny would find the most weird counters to get rid of for his own benefit. Spike is a little skeptical but digs it because planeswalker is still a planeswalker.
(2/3) Elegance: "Remove a counter from any number of permanents you control" is confusing as hell. Am I supposed to remove exactly one counter from each of them?
Development -
(3/3) Viability: No problems here. Thumbs up for mentioning the team even if it wasn't a part of this round's challenge.
(2,5/3) Balance: Emblem is scary. But you have to do something on board to benefit from it and it probably won't be the planeswalker irself.
Creativity -
(2,5/3) Uniqueness: First ability was done before multiple times, even on planeswalkers. Other two are pretty unique.
(2,5/3) Flavor: I am not going to say that spark injection is totally impossible though Yawgmoth haven't succeeded, but it looks like the main flavor problem your card has. Everything else is good, expecially an ability to redisitibute loyalty from other planeswalkers.
Polish -
(2/3) Quality: "Remove a counter from any number of permanents you control" wording is not clear enough.
(2/2) *Main Challenge: Yes.
(2/2) Subchallenges: Yes and yes.
Total: 21/25
Legendary Planeswalker - Mubin {M}
+1: Untap up to one equipped creature you control. That creature can block an additional creature.
+1: Reveal cards from the top of your library until you reveal an Equipment card. Put that card on top of your library and the rest on the bottom in a random order.
-X: Create Sword of Asha, a legendary green and white Equipment artifact token with indestructible, equip 2GW and "Equipped creature gets +X/+X, has lifelink, and can't be blocked by more than one creature."
Mubin of the Blessed Forge can be your commander.
3
Design -
(2/3) Appeal: Spike doesn't care. Johnny does. Timmy, not so much but still.
(1,5/3) Elegance: Providing a permanent ability to block an additional creature to your guys leads to memory issues. If you wanted to make it temporary, I can reduce 0.5 point in Quality section instead so it's not a big difference. Making a permanent that depends on the number of (something) that was spent to make it without any counters to indicate it leads to even more issues.
Development -
(3/3) Viability: No issues detected.
(3/3) Balance: I guess this is balanced enough to not reduce the points.
Creativity -
(2,5/3) Uniqueness: Aside from tutoring for equipments, this is pretty unique concept.
(2/3) Flavor: I don't like an ability to create a legendary equipment with different values multiple times. It feels wrong.
Polish -
(1,5/3) Quality: I would be confused to see mana symbol instead of a loyalty indicator. Also I guess the equip cost should be placed after other abilities of an Equipment token. Also, legendary tokens should be "named" (see Nahiri, the Lithomancer).
(2/2) *Main Challenge: Yes.
(1/2) Subchallenges: Your planeswalker's name doesn't have any connection to your legendary creature's name.
Total: 18,5/25
Legendary Planeswalker — Fenyang (M)
+1: You may discard a card. If you do, draw a card and create a 1/1 white Warrior creature token with haste.
-2: Creatures you control get +1/+0 and gain vigilance until end of turn.
-6: You may cast a noncreature spell with converted mana cost X or less without paying its mana cost, where X is the number of creatures you control.
Fenyang, Liu’s Student can be your commander.
3
Design -
(2/3) Appeal: Johnny and Timmy are mildly interedted. Spike most likely not.
(2/3) Elegance: Third ability is confusing. I should cast a spell from where?
Development -
(3/3) Viability: It feels like a Chinese menu but all these abilities are Jeskai.
(2/3) Balance: First two abilities are fine but the last one only gives you virtual mana that can't pay for spells with CMNC higher than X and costs you 6 loyalty! You absolutely had to make this an emblem instead of a one-go action.
Creativity -
(2/3) Uniqueness: First two abilities were done multiple times here and there but in other combinations. Third one... I'd say it's unique though it resembles something that I can't remember.
(2,5/3) Flavor: Strong connection between your previous card's flavor text and this card's name. Warrior creature type is confusing because it doesn't fit Jeskai theme well. If you intended it to have Battlebond synergy, that's fine, but still.
Polish -
(2,5/3) Quality: I assume you need to add "from your hand" to "You may cast a noncreature spell with converted mana cost X or less without paying its mana cost".
(2/2) *Main Challenge: Yes.
(2/2) Subchallenges: Yes and yes.
Total: 20/25
StonerOfKruphix 20,5
IcariiFA 21
RaikouRider 18,5
bravelion83 20
Legendary Planeswalker - Narlarp (M)
0: Put a +1/+1 counter on each creature you control.
0: Remove a counter from any number of permanents you control. Put a loyalty counter on Narlarp, Spark Injected for each counter removed this way.
-7: You get an emblem with "Creatures your team controls get +X/+X, where X is the greatest number of counters on a permanent you control."
Narlarp, Spark Injected can be your commander.
4
Design .:.
(2/3) Appeal: Naturally, a commander card does appeal to Txmmy. Ability wise Narlap's also kind of a Txmmy card, buffing your whole team and ultimately giving a potentionally huge bonus to everything on your side of the board. There's also some combo potential for Jxnny to play around with. I'm thinking of cumulative upkeep.
(3/3) Elegance: The card is easy to understand and makes sense.
Development .:.
(3/3) Viability: If it wasn't for the Simic I'd say the messing with counters here is mostly green. The rarity is correct.
(3/3) Balance: It has no built in protection nor does it net card advantage, two things that make planeswalkers very powerful. This one feels a little like the new Dovin to me, in the way I'm going to use him. The plan is to have a lot of creatures to get Dovin really high in loyalty first and ultimate him a few turns in a row. Narlap here can be used kinf of in this way if needed or just put one counter on each creature if that's sufficient to win or do stuff. Ultimating this once nets you a pretty powerful emblem. But also, as said, it doesn't have the ability to protect itself, besides getting counters, and feels not overpowered this way.
Creativity .:.
(2/3) Uniqueness: We have a bunch of planeswalkers that a good at putting counters on stuff. The first ability we have seen in some iterations. The rest is pretty exciting.
(3/3) Flavor: Injecting a spark feels like the appropriate way for a Simic person to ascend to a planeswalker.
Polish .:.
(3/3) Quality: No flaws detected!
(2/2) Main Challenge: Main challenge satisfied!
(2/2) Subchallenges: Both subchallenges satisfied!
Total: 23/25
Legendary Planeswalker - Mubin {M}
+1: Untap up to one equipped creature you control. That creature can block an additional creature.
+1: Reveal cards from the top of your library until you reveal an Equipment card. Put that card on top of your library and the rest on the bottom in a random order.
-X: Create Sword of Asha, a legendary green and white Equipment artifact token with indestructible, equip 2GW and "Equipped creature gets +X/+X, has lifelink, and can't be blocked by more than one creature."
Mubin of the Blessed Forge can be your commander.
3
Design .:.
(1/3) Appeal: Naturally, a commander card does appeal to Txmmy.
(2,5/3) Elegance: The card is mostly easy to understand and makes sense. Memory issues might become a thing, though, when you use the ability a few times on the same creature as it will be able to block more and more creatures. Something like "until end of turn" would be helpful.
Development .:.
(3/3) Viability: GW surprisingly can care for equipment, as seen with Nazahn, Revered Bladesmith. The rarity is correct.
(3/3) Balance: They untap a creature that attacked or tapped otherwise, maybe to tap it again. The second ability makes sure you get your next equipment ready asap. Or you insta-cash Mubin in for the legendary Sword of Asha, that works almost like a Behemoth Sledge. A heavy equipment theme like this best suits a voltron strategy of course. The twist is that your commander can't carry any weapons so you have to find others that are willing to pick up the fight. Compared to Nahiri, the Lithomancer, a planeswalker commander with a similar set up, Mubin adds green to the color identity of your deck and mostly makes sure that your equipment strategy works smoothly. Too powerful I don't think this is.
Creativity .:.
(2/3) Uniqueness: It's very similar to Nahiri while still offering a slightly different angle to the equipment deck.
(3/3) Flavor: Looks like a nice representation of the charater of the Alara storyline.
Polish .:.
(2/3) Quality: "Untap up to one" should probably target. In Nahiri there's only one card to reference here, but I think it's fair to say that the text of the equipment token should be listed in the order it would appear on an acutal equipment card. That means the equip cost goes to the end.
(2/2) Main Challenge: Main challenge satisfied!
(1/2) Subchallenges: Subchallenge 2 satisfied!
Total: 19,5/25
Legendary Planeswalker — Fenyang (M)
+1: You may discard a card. If you do, draw a card and create a 1/1 white Warrior creature token with haste.
-2: Creatures you control get +1/+0 and gain vigilance until end of turn.
-6: You may cast a noncreature spell with converted mana cost X or less without paying its mana cost, where X is the number of creatures you control.
Fenyang, Liu’s Student can be your commander.
3
Design .:.
(2/3) Appeal: Naturally, a commander card does appeal to Txmmy. At three mana this feels aggressively enough to be considered a Spike card.
(3/3) Elegance: The card is easy to understand and makes sense.
Development .:.
(3/3) Viability: The abilities fit the color identity well. The rarity is correct.
(3/3) Balance: As said, Fenyang feels pretty aggressive. It filters and creates a blocker to attack or protect itself early in the game. It pumps your army once while still leaving behind blockers later. The third ability feels epic but might not even needed. It reminds me of Aminatou, the Fateshifter, where either the first or the second ability is good enough to justify building a deck around it. Here the first two abilities together support a go wide creature strategy while fixing your draws. Still it doesn't feel unbalanced, it doesn't create an environment that's impossible to counteract. Three opponents will have a chance.
Creativity .:.
(2/3) Uniqueness: Besides the third ability we have seen each part already on planeswalkers in some form. The whole package feels coherent and interesting though.
(3/3) Flavor: Fenyand's certainly a studend of Liu.
Polish .:.
(2,5/3) Quality: I think the third ability must specifiy from where to cast the card, see Electrodominance for reference.
(2/2) Main Challenge: Main challenge satisfied!
(2/2) Subchallenges: Both subchallenges satisfied!
Total: 22,5/25
Legendary Planeswalker — Caolán (MR)
0: Put a loyalty counter on Caolán, Ascended Cenn for each token you control.
-X: Create X 1/1 white Kithkin Soldier creature tokens. You gain X life and draw X cards.
-3: You get an emblem with: "If an effect would create one or more tokens under your control, it creates that many plus one instead."
Caolán, Ascended Cenn can be your commander.
3
Design .:.
(3/3) Appeal: Naturally, a commander card does appeal to Txmmy. The third ability here is an invitation to all Jxnnies. While the -X is the obvious value ability it's the -3 that might turn this into a Spike worthy card.
(3/3) Elegance: The card is easy to understand and makes sense.
Development .:.
(3/3) Viability: The abilities fit the color identity well. The rarity is correct.
(2/3) Balance: The non-0 abilities seem pretty relevant at any point in the game. Paying 4 mana for 3 tokens, 3 cards (and 3 life) is a pretty decent rate. Paying 4 for a half a Adding Season is also pretty good. You can cash it in for either thing on turn 4 and don't look back. The option to pump Caolán up a little more before you use the more impactful abilities becomes more important with the second and subsequent casting. One good pump turns the -X in an ability with game deciding potential. While the -X delivers a good one time boost it also needs a bit of work. It is the -3 that I find problematic. Getting another token out of each token creating card for free turns every normal-rate card into an above-rate card and each decent-rate card into an absurd-rate card. That emblem is too good for a one time investment. Upping the loyalty cost even by 1 might turn this into a fair card already. Maybe it's nothing 3 opponents can't handle when working together, but out of the bunch I think it leads to probably the most problematic commander.
Creativity .:.
(2/3) Uniqueness: We know token creating and card drawing and life gaining planeswalkers. This feels pretty fresh anyways.
(3/3) Flavor: Planeswalker kithkin, very exciting!
Polish .:.
(2,5/3) Quality: Colons are only used to separate activation cost from an activated abilitie's effect and is not needed here.
(2/2) Main Challenge: Main challenge satisfied!
(2/2) Subchallenges: Both subchallenges satisfied!
Total: 22,5/25
RaikouRider 19,5
bravelion83 22,5
StonerOfKruphix 22,5
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝
(2.5/3) Appeal: Timmy likes the size involved. Johnny likes the counters. Spike likes the mass pump that lasts, although maybe it's a bit slow for him.
(2/3) Elegance: A bunch of moving parts here, and the ultimate counts teams for one part but only individual players for the other, which seems like recipe for confusion.
Development -
(3/3) Viability: Colors are right; a planeswalker and face commander has to be mythic.
(2.5/3) Balance: That first 0 ability is kind of concerning - an anthem every turn is a lot. If it were a +1 it'd be completely beyond the pale.
Creativity -
(1.5/3) Uniqueness: Somewhat unique ultimate, but plenty of precedent for mass +1/+1 counters and counter "moving". Also, the card mostly is just a fancy machine for mass-pumps.
(3/3) Flavor: "Spark Injected" tells a story all of its own about the character becoming a planeswalker through unusual means. Good job.
Polish -
(2.5/3) Quality: Wrong mana symbol order.
(2/2) *Main Challenge: Done.
(2/2) Subchallenges: And done.
Total: 21/25
(2.5/3) Appeal: Mostly a Timmy/Johnny card, what with flooding the board with tokens and enabling discard interactions and such; theoretically appealing to Spike (particularly with that super super potent +1) but doesn’t quite have the numbers for it.
(3/3) Elegance: The Warriors being white while also having haste is odd. I’d prefer maybe if it made the generic Tarkir white Warrior and then granted it haste until end of turn?
Development -
(3/3) Viability: Colors and rarity obviously correct.
(2.5/3) Balance: A powerful +1 is at odds with an ultimate that's weak for its cost.
Creativity -
(1/3) Uniqueness: Not much exact precedent but these are all pretty “safe” abilities, and highly similar ones (how many times have you seen a ‘walker that draws cards, or makes tokens, or mass pumps?) have been on planeswalkers before.
(3/3) Flavor: Bonus for actually making a different character and not just the planeswalker version of the original legend.
Polish -
(2/3) Quality: Ultimate doesn’t specify what zone to cast from.
(2/2) *Main Challenge: Done.
(2/2) Subchallenges: And done.
Total: 21/25
(2/3) Appeal: Timmy and Johnny both like a super-Equipment-lord ‘walker, but although Spike plays things like Batterskull and Sword of War and Peace it might be a bit too niche for him.
(1/3) Elegance: The Sword of Asha looks like memory issues city. Actually, the rest of the card has several elegance problems as well including not specifying for how long the creature targeted by the first +1 can block an additional creature and (this is relatively minor) putting cards both on top of and on bottom of the library with the faux-tutor ability.
Development -
(3/3) Viability: All good.
(3/3) Balance: So dependent upon building around the Equipment theme that it couldn’t possibly be objectionable.
Creativity -
(2/3) Uniqueness: Somewhat reminiscent of Nahiri, the Lithomancer.
(2.5/3) Flavor: Matches the original well enough.
Polish -
(1.5/3) Quality: Fails to specify the duration for a bonus; uses the 3 symbol to represent loyalty, which is incorrect.
(2/2) *Main Challenge: Done.
(2/2) Subchallenges: And done.
Total: 19/25
(3/3) Appeal: Looks like an all-rounder - Timmy likes token swarms, Johnny likes doubling, Spike likes the sheer repeated value of the -X.
(2.5/3) Elegance: There's a slight kind of inelegance to a planeswalker with a "parasitic" plus loyalty ability, although in this case it can be fueled just by activating the -X ability, so I don't mind all that much.
Development -
(3/3) Viability: Looks fine.
(2.5/3) Balance: Seems like it could get out of hand, but not without some work put in - think of the -X with a Doubling Season out, though.
Creativity -
(1.5/3) Uniqueness: Lots of 'walkers swarm the board with tokens, various Elspeths and Sorins most prominently. The stackable pseudo-ultimate emblem, despite being Anointed Procession, is unique in that you can essentially spam it; this reminds me of Sorin, Lord of Innistrad, a card which I've always loved.
(2/3) Flavor: It's coherent, I guess? "Ascended ___" is about the most boring title you can give a planeswalker; we already know Caolán was a cenn in their pre-spark life.
Polish -
(3/3) Quality: Fine.
(2/2) *Main Challenge: Done.
(2/2) Subchallenges: And done.
Total: 21.5/25
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝
RaikouRider 21.5 + 18.5 + 19.5 + 19 = 78.5
StonerOfKruphix 20.5 + 20.5 + 22.5 + 21.5 = 85
IcariiFA 20.5 + 21 + 23 + 21 = 85.5
Bravelion83 19.5 + 20 + 22.5 + 21 = 83
Congratulations!
Kruphix, God of Value and Eldrazi. GU
Gahiji: Wider is better. (Now with 40% more tokens!) RGW
Daxos brought some frienchantments! WB
Kynaios and Tiro: Four strong arms to hug you better. RGWU
Saskia: You better not tell her that pointing is rude. BRGW
Sidisi the Zombeesi, the Unmilled, Breaker of Graves, Mother of Zambambos. (Zombie tribal)BGU
Omnath, The Angriest Elemental Ever & His Spike-Handed Buddies.RG (Retired but forever in my heart)