It's Magic Classics Month here at the MCC and we'll first take on two similar abilities that have been around as long as Magic: The "Shade" and "Firebreathing" abilities.
Main Challenge: Design a creature card with one of the following exact activated abilities - "B: THIS gets +1/+1 until end of turn" or "R: THIS gets +1/+0 until end of turn" (replacing THIS with the card's name).
Subchallenge 1: Your card is multicolored. Subchallenge 2: Your card is common or uncommon.
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 May 6th 11:59 PM EDT
Judging Deadline: All judgements are to be final and completed by May 9th 11:59 PM EDT
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.
Curious Shade2UB
Creature - Wizard Shade (U)
Menace B: Curious Shade gets +1/+1 until end of turn.
Whenever Curious Shade deals combat damage to a player, draw a card. "A broken soul was but a minor inconvenience in the search for arcane magics"
1/1
Voldaren BloodsuckerBR
Creature — Vampire (U)
Skulk (This creature can’t be blocked by creatures with greater power.) R: Voldaren Bloodsucker gets +1/+0 until end of turn. “A good breakfast gives you the right energy for the day.”
—Olivia Voldaren
1/3
Private Mod Note
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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.)
Lifespark ElementalRW
Creature — Elemental (U)
Trample, lifelink, haste R: Lifespark Elemental gets +1/+0 until end of turn.
At the beginning of the end step, sacrifice Lifespark Elemental. "We all need a pick me up from time to time."
3/1
(22 Total) - October 2014; December 2014; January 2015; April 2015; June 2015; August 2015; September 2015; November 2015; December 2015(T); January 2016; March 2016(T); April 2016; June 2016; October 2016; December 2016(T); February 2017; April 2017; December 2017; November 2018(T); January 2019; April 2019; June 2019
(8 Total) - May 2015; May 2016; June 2016; August 2016; October 2016; December 2016; October 2017; May 2019
(7 Total) - September 2015; October 2015; January 2016; March 2016; April 2016; July 2016(T); March 2019(T)
Resistance Arsonist1WR
Creature- Goblin Ally (U)
Vigilance R: Resistance Arsonist gets +1/+0 until end of turn.
Support: Whenever you activate or trigger an ability of this creature, you may tap it if it is untapped. If you do, replace that creature’s name with “creatures you control” in that instance of that ability.
2/1 They told me to guard against the darkness with love. Good thing I LOVE fire!
Design (2/3) Appeal: This looks like it should be in Johnny's wheelhouse, possibly Spike's, depending on if there is a shell to slot into. (3/3) Elegance: I have no issues understanding how this card functions.
Is the card easily understandable at a glance? Do all the flavor and mechanics combined as a whole make sense?
Development (3/3) Viability: Draw and looter effects of this nature is very Blue, and firebreathing is one of the oldest Red abilities in the game. (2.5/3) Balance: Does this work as an Uncommon for Limited? Yes. It might have Constructed applications if it could find the right home, though the Weird subtype might hamper that somewhat.
Creativity (3/3) Uniqueness: I like the "greedy looter" effect presented here. The first card's free, but after that, there's a price to pay. (2.5/3) Flavor: I enjoy the name and flavor text. While the simple flavor text adds a nice finishing touch, I'm not sure there would be sufficient space for it on the card.
Polish (2/3) Quality: Triggered abilities should be listed before activated abilities. See also Bident of Thassa. (2/2) *Main Challenge: It breathes fire. (2/2) Subchallenges: Common/Uncommon? Yes. Multicolor? Yes.
Total: 22/25
*An entry with 0 points here is subject to disqualification.
Design (2/3) Appeal: It's a Shade... which means it'll forever be compared to Nantuko Shade for it's potential playability in Constructed. This falls below that bar. Pauper might give it a go, though. (2/3) Elegance: The conditional lifelink clause will rarely be active, and there is a strong chance that it might get overlooked when it is.
Development (2/3) Viability: This is pushed for a Common, but not excessively, as evidenced by Crypt Ripper. That said, it might be more acceptable at 1BB or 3B to remain at Common, but - as is - it should be an Uncommon. (3/3) Balance: In Limited, this can be a mana sink in mid game, or help recover and stabilize in the late game. Outside of that environment, it isn't going to be redirecting or warping anything.
Creativity (2/3) Uniqueness: Given the restriction for the challenge, the conditional lifelink does add a different approach to shades, especially given the trigger. (1/3) Flavor: I can think of why you might call it a "clutching" shade, but that's a little more meta than worldbuilding.
Polish (2/3) Quality: Static abilities should appear before activated abilites. See also Flinthoof Boar. (2/2) *Main Challenge: It pumps Black mana to hulk out. (1/2) Subchallenges: Common/Uncommon? Yes. Multicolor? No.
Total: 17/25
*An entry with 0 points here is subject to disqualification.
Design (0/3) Appeal: I can't determine who would want this card. (1/3) Elegance: Dragonkin are dragons. The "Human Dragon" creature type falls flat here, as Dragon Mage is already an anthromorphized Dragon.
Development (1/3) Viability: This could easily have been mono Red. Getting additional benefits from "power 4 or greater" occurs there as well. And there are mono Red dragons that have higher toughness than power. A "jump" effect like this is much more Blue than Green. (1/3) Balance: This is bad in Limited, and of less use in Constructed. With 2 toughness and conditional evasion, this hits the board and has negligible impact.
Creativity (1/3) Uniqueness: It can fly if it generates enough heat? Sounds like something a Goblin would come up with. Which might have been a better creature type to design around here. (2/3) Flavor: The flavor text is a complete disconnect here.
Polish (2/3) Quality: "Dracanae has flying as long as its power is 4 or greater." (2/2) *Main Challenge: It breathes fire. (2/2) Subchallenges: Common/Uncommon? Yes. Multicolor? Yes.
Total: 12/25
*An entry with 0 points here is subject to disqualification.
Design (2/3) Appeal: It's a Shade... which means it'll forever be compared to Nantuko Shade for it's potential playability in Constructed. This falls below that bar. Even with the card draw, it's not strong enough for Johnny and not flashy enough for Timmy. (3/3) Elegance: Abilities are direct and understandable.
Development (3/3) Viability: Dimir colors work, and while it's on the outer edge of Uncommon for the CMC and P/T, it's plausable. (3/3) Balance: It's decent in Limited, but I don't see it making the grade in any Constructed format. Some players may enjoy it in EDH in the correct builds.
Creativity (3/3) Uniqueness: Temporarily boosting P/T from drawing cards, unlike the counters for Lorescale Coatl, helps to limit this getting out of hand, while still giving a minor boost (on most occassions). (1/3) Flavor: Not fond of the name, as "enlightened" runs counter to the feel of the flavor text. "Cognitive" might have worked better.
Polish (2/3) Quality: Triggered abilities should be listed before activated abilities. See also Cursed Ronin. (2/2) *Main Challenge: It pumps Black mana to hulk out. (2/2) Subchallenges: Common/Uncommon? Yes. Multicolor? Yes.
Total: DQ/25 Entry was edited approximately five hours after close of round.
*An entry with 0 points here is subject to disqualification.
Final Scores
StonerOfKruphix: 22/25
Forestsguy: 17/25
mirrodin71: 12/25
Theeklspeaks: DQ/25
Drake Stalker2RG
Creature - Spider (U)
Trample, reach
: Drake Stalker gets +1/+0 until end of turn. If there are no birds in the forest, you probably shouldn’t be there, either.
1/4
Wall of Tar1BR
Creature — Wall {U}
Defender (This creature can't attack.) B: Regenerate Wall of Tar. (The next time this creature would be destroyed this turn, it isn't. Instead tap it, remove all damage from it, and remove it from combat.) R: Wall of Tar gets +1/+0 until end of turn.
0/4 Mages defending besieged castles use tar in quite impressive new ways.
Circuitcharger1UR
Creature — Weird (U) R: Circuitcharger gets +1/+0 until end of turn.
Whenever Circuitcharger deals combat damage to a player or planeswalker, draw cards equal to Circuitcharger's power, then discard that many cards minus one at random. Results may vary.
1/3
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)
Pureflame PaladinRRWW
Creature - Elemental Knight {U}
Haste, vigilance R: Pureflame Paladin gets +1/+0 until end of turn. W: Pureflame Paladin gets +0/+1 until end of turn. It fights for the Legion with both heart and blade ablaze.
3/3
Haunting Shade2UB
Creature - Shade (Uncommon) B: Haunting Shade gets +1/+1 until end of turn.
Whenever Haunting Shade dies, gain control of target creature with power less than or equal to Haunting Shade's power. There is a thin line between you and your shadow.
1/1
Residual Shade2(W/B)(W/B)
Creature - Shade (U) B: Residual Shade gets +1/+1 until end of turn 1W: Put a +1/+1 counter on Residual Shade. Activate this ability only if Residual Shade's power is 4 or greater.
1/1
Clutching Shade2B
Creature - Shade (C) B: Clutching Shade gets +1/+1 until end of turn.
Clutching Shade has lifelink as long as its power is greater than your life total. The darkness is your ally.
2/2
Private Mod Note
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MtG is where you can hate white players or black players, and still not be racist.
Dracanae1RG
Creature - Human Dragon (U)
As long Dracanae has power 4 or greater gains flying. R: Dracanae gains +1/+0 until end of turn Trust in your friends, and they’ll have reason to trust in you.
1/2
Art by
ATTACHMENTS
Dracanae
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"Over time, all trips end up in the same place, at home."
Zurgo’s WarbladeWB
Creature - Human Warrior {U}
Vigilance, lifelink R: Zurgo’s Warblade gets +1/+0 until end of turn. “For a human to spur this much fear into their enemies...” —Zurgo, khan of the Mardu
1/1
Enlightened Shade 2UB
Creature - Shade (U) B: Enlightened Shade gets +1/+1 until end of turn.
Whenever you draw a card, Enlightened Shade gets +1/+1 until end of turn. Some knowledge was better left unknown.
2/2
Pyre-Hoof Kronch2RG
Creature — Beast (U) R: Pyre-Hoof Kronch gets +1/+0 until end of turn.
Whenever Pyre-Hoof Kronch becomes blocked, you may have it assign its combat damage to another creature or planeswalker of your choice this turn. Kronch Stomp
—Wrangler phrase meaning
"Changing your mind at the last instant"
1/4
Fleeting ShadeUB
Creature - Shade {U} B: Fleeting Shade gets +1/+1 until end of turn.
Whenever Fleeting Shade attacks or blocks, return it to its owner's hand at end of combat. (Return it only if it's still on the battlefield.)
1/1
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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.
Appeal: 2/3 - Timmy sees this can get HUGE and likes it. Johnny likes the ability to massivley swing races with the lifelink and pump, but the cost is pretty steep. Spike...he's keeping an eye on it in limited for sure, constructed it's barely worth a glance. Elegance: 3/3 Yep, that's a mardu warrior. No question there.
Viability: 3/3 - There's nothing here that looks out of place. I'd have thought it to be heavily pushed for the rarity, but other 1/1s for CD in past sets have easily been this level of power (Dimir Spybug and Baleful Strix come to mind first.) so nothing wrong with uncommon. Balance: 2.5/3 - Vigilance is a tad much with as much else you having going on, but it's very appropriately costed and plays well.
Uniqueness: 3/3 - This definitely fits into Mardu while exploring design space that really wasn't touched outside of a few cards like Warden of the First Tree. Brilliantly done. Flavor: 2/3 - Vigilance, on an aggressive creature in an aggressive tribe. Having it attack and then stay back for blocking really doesn't make sense for the Mardu, even if that 1 toughness makes it likely to die on the first swing. I'd also have liked the flavor to reference the firebreathing or dragons in some way, to tie that ability to an otherwise WB card.
Quality: 3/3 - Everything in order here. Main Challenge: 2/2 - Main challenge was met. Sub Challenges: 2/2 - Both Subchallenges met.
Total Score: 22.5/25
Appeal: 1.5/3 - Timmy sees 1 power for 4 mana and passes on it. Johnny sees the swerving combat tricks he can do and salivates, Spike sees a provoke variant and figures he can try it but he's holding his nose as he does it. Elegance: 1.5/3 - Yeah you get the idea eventually once you play it a few times, but it's going to be awkward to work it out in the beginning.
Viability: 1.5/3 - Green ability, red ability, red/green card. Seems fair enough. The thorn elemental ability is at uncommon or higher and this is more complex, but power wise it feels more common. The disconnect is troubling. Balance: 3/3 - There's nothing wrong with the balance in this sense.
Uniqueness: 3/3 - The Thorn Elemental ability being able to redirect to another creature or walker is new - get blocked by something but kill the deathtoucher instead, while not taking damage from it. Flavor: 2.5/3 - We really don't know anything about Kronches, but the two cards we have make it seem like they care about 4 power. The flavor text kind of makes sense, but only kind of.
Quality: 2.5/3 - Without any good precedent, it should probably look more like thorn elemental's ability but I'm not 100% sure how it should go. But it LOOKS wrong, just staring at it, and I have to deduct something for that. Main Challenge: 2/2 - Main challenge was met. Sub Challenges: 2/2 - Both Subchallenges met.
Total Score: 19.5/25
Appeal: 2/3 - Timmy sees a tiny thing he has to recast every time he wants to swing with it. Johnny wants to do blink shenanigans, Spike sees a beater that can survive his sweepers and sorcery speed kill. Elegance: 3/3 - Fleeting is very much the word here. Very well done
Viability: 2.5/3 - this ability is almost exclusively featured on commons, and mono-blue commons. Again, this evokes comparisons to other 1/1s for CD, so I'll let it slide keeping it at uncommon. Balance: 3/3 - This is pretty clean and not overwhelming. Going to be a windmill first pick in limited but it won't choke out the format like uncommons in the vein of Disinformation Campaign. In 60-card formats this is perfectly fine.
Uniqueness: 2/3 - This ability shows up from time to time, but there's nothing that jumps out at you as special. Flavor: 1.5/3 - I mean yes, fleeting, comes back to hand when it hits. But you've got so much room for flavor text and there's just NOTHING.
Quality: 3/3 - It's clean, that's all I can ask. Main Challenge: 2/2 - Main challenge was met. Sub Challenges: 2/2 - Both Subchallenges met.
Top 16 - 2012 Indiana State Championships Currently Playing: GBStandard - Golgari Safari MidrangeBG RBWModern - Mardu PyromancerWBR RLegacy - Good Old Fashioned BurnR
Lifespark ElementalRW
Creature — Elemental (U)
Trample, lifelink, haste R: Lifespark Elemental gets +1/+0 until end of turn.
At the beginning of the end step, sacrifice Lifespark Elemental. "We all need a pick me up from time to time."
3/1
Design - (2.5/3) Appeal: Timmy likes that this guy can get bigger but isn’t a fan of the small body. Johnny sees a fun enabler for a few archetypes with lifegain being the big one. Spike sees a great limited bomb and some nice keyword soup. (3/3) Elegance: Perfectly legible.
Development - (3/3) Viability: This card is a Spark Elemental with firebreathing and lifelink. The lifelink is the only thing about this card that justifies it being white, but that’s valid as there’s no other color it could be. (2/3) Balance: If we see this card as the creature version of Lightning Helix I think we already get a glimpse of this card’s power level. Monored burn is already a huge deck in today’s standard and this card could find a slot in there easily. And yet the lifelink means it’s a difficult card to play against for that deck too. The firebreathing for me is what pushes this over the edge of balance for me. I feel like it scales too well.
Creativity - (0.5/3) Uniqueness: Aside from the fire breathing, this is to Spark Elemental what Spark Trooper is to Ball Lightning. (2/3) Flavor: Lifespark Elemental is a great name for this card; it calls back to its homage card and cements the difference being lifegain. Not a fan of the flavor text, how is the elemental a pick me up? Why quotation marks-who’s saying this? The elemental?
Wall of Tar1BR
Creature — Wall {U}
Defender (This creature can't attack.) B: Regenerate Wall of Tar. (The next time this creature would be destroyed this turn, it isn't. Instead tap it, remove all damage from it, and remove it from combat.) R: Wall of Tar gets +1/+0 until end of turn.
0/4 Mages defending besieged castles use tar in quite impressive new ways.
Design - (1.5/3) Appeal: Timmy doesn’t like Defender, Johnny sees defender potential with firebreathing walls. Spike isn’t especially interested in stalling the field outside of limited. (2/3) Elegance: Regenerate has been phased out for “indestructible and tap it” because it causes a lot of confusion, but otherwise it’s good.
Development - (3/3) Viability: Rakdos hasn’t been known for producing walls before but this is a good example of one I feel. The regeneration and firebreathing brings the two colors together well. It’s on the strong side for an uncommon but I can’t imagine it at rare without some serious limited ramifications. (1/3) Balance: I remember playing against Wall of Bone in limited and one mana regeneration is very annoying to deal with. It was great at establishing a stalemate on the board as you could consistently block their biggest threat without risking any losses. Wall of Tar is similar but in a worse way I feel. The firebreathing means it can just pump its way up to kill a blocker and survive with no issue. This deincentivizes attacking altogether and leads to very boring game states in limited where evasive creatures only matter.
Creativity - (2/3) Uniqueness: We’ve had walls that regenerate, and walls that firebreathe, but never a wall that does both. (3/3) Flavor: Tar seems like the best way to bring a rakdos wall to life. It’s got the pitch/swamp side of black and the heat of red, plus like you said in your flavor text it was well used during siege times.
Polish - (2.5/3) Quality: Flavor text should be before the P/T box. (2/2) *Main Challenge: Firebreathing creature. (2/2) Subchallenges: Rakdos Uncommon.
Pureflame PaladinRRWW
Creature - Elemental Knight {U}
Haste, vigilance R: Pureflame Paladin gets +1/+0 until end of turn. W: Pureflame Paladin gets +0/+1 until end of turn. It fights for the Legion with both heart and blade ablaze.
3/3
Design - (2/3) Appeal: Timmy likes the pumping and the fact that you can pump power and toughness. Johnny doesn’t see anything to break about this card, and spike sees a flexible creature both as an attacker and a blocker. (3/3) Elegance: Completely legible.
Development - (3/3) Viability: The vigilance/haste combo has been a Boros stable since Bull Cerodon and the tradition holds strong here. It also calls back to Foundry Champion as a firebreather/armorer card too. (3/3) Balance: This card does a lot of things but I think it’s only impactful in limited, where it’s the bane of combat tricks. Vigilance and haste are two very good abilities to have paired with pumping power and toughness, and although it’s a big mana investment to keep this guy around as a threat, it’s also a very good one. If the mana cost wasn’t RRWW I reckon this might have been a rare, but I think it’s balanced out well.
Creativity - (2/3) Uniqueness: It calls back to a few cards with its abilities but what cards don’t? (3/3) Flavor: Pureflame isn’t something we’ve heard among the Boros so far but it sure sounds Boros. We’ve seen elementals as soldiers among the Legion already so it’s not hard to imagine them as knights either. The flavor text is really great too.
Polish - (2.5/3) Quality: As per Cerodon Yearling, Vigilance is ordered before haste. (2/2) *Main Challenge: It’s a firebreathing creature. (2/2) Subchallenges: It’s a Boros uncommon.
Haunting Shade2UB
Creature - Shade (Uncommon) B: Haunting Shade gets +1/+1 until end of turn.
Whenever Haunting Shade dies, gain control of target creature with power less than or equal to Haunting Shade's power. There is a thin line between you and your shadow.
1/1
Design - (2.5/3) Appeal: Timmy sees a small body but likes that it gets bigger. Johnny loves abusing theft effects, and Spike sees a good creature with enough investment. (3/3) Elegance: Everything seems fine to me.
Development - (1.5/3) Viability: This fits greatly into the color wheel. Using the shade ability to influence the scope of creature theft is pretty ingeneous I’ll give you that. But there is no way this card is an uncommon. I’ve looked back at permanent creature theft at uncommon and I can only find three (vaguely) similar cards: Dominate, Legacy’s Allure and Siren of the Fanged Coast. Two of these take a serious time or mana investment first and the other is a choice given to an opponent. I think the flexibility of what you can steal when this dies is too much for an uncommon power level. (2/3) Balance: This card is probably most easily compared to Hostage Taker in constructed right now, and whilst this card has smaller stats and can’t steal artifacts, it can also pump itself to avoid damage and become a bigger threat as well as always guarantee a steal. Any removal spell used against this is a potential 2 for 1 as you might lose a creature in the process. Now the amount of exile available in standard right now might help mitigate that but I’m not yet convinced. In limited this card is a huge bomb for sure, especially once you have the backup mana to pump it.
Creativity - (3/3) Uniqueness: It uses the shade pumping in a new and interesting way, and it steals creatures by dying which as far as I know we’ve only seen on Keiga, the Tide Star so far. (3/3) Flavor: I get the haunting as a means to foreshadow stealing creatures but can’t help to think ‘possessing’ might have been better. Either way, it gets the point across and the flavor text cements its method of haunting you.
Polish - (2.5/3) Quality: It should be “When Haunting Shade dies”, not “Whenever”. (2/2) *Main Challenge: It’s a creature with a Shade pump. (2/2) Subchallenges: Dimir and Uncommon (though it really feels like a rare).
Design - (2.5/3) Appeal: Txmmy likes it, period. Johnny wants it to carry an Aura or Equipment. Spike thinks it’s just a tiny bit too expensive to cast. (3/3) Elegance: Yup, elegant stuff.
Development - (3/3) Viability: It is blue. It is black. It is uncommon. (2.5/3) Balance: Super potent in Limited but very fragile for any kind of Constructed.
Creativity - (1/3) Uniqueness: Basically a Chinese-menu card that happens to also basically be a Shadowmage Infiltrator variant. (2/3) Flavor: The name “Curious” seems a little… mild? Innocuous? For this card’s abilities. Flavor text is also a bit generic.
Polish - (2/3) Quality: This should really be a “Shade Wizard” rather than a “Wizard Shade” and the flavor text lacks a period at the end. (2/2) *Main Challenge: Done. (2/2) Subchallenges: And done.
Total: 20/25
Design - (2.5/3) Appeal: Txmmy/Spike like a difficult to block repeatable Fireball to the face that can, in a pinch, be a good blocker itself. This isn’t exactly Jxnny combo fuel but they appreciate the sentiment anyhow. (3/3) Elegance: Excellently elegant, and a great teaching tool for activated ability timing. Good job.
Development - (3/3) Viability: Everything looks spot-on. (2.5/3) Balance: Terrifying to some degree in Limited (not being able to pump toughness really helps) and fine elsewhere.
Creativity - (1.5/3) Uniqueness: A fairly Chinese-menu multicolor card but a real clever use of skulk, by gum. (3/3) Flavor: I do like that flavor text. Olivia in full genteel auntie yet sinister vamp mode.
Design - (2/3) Appeal: A definite T/J card. Spike will pass on an expensive Orcish Oriflamme on a fragile body. (2/3) Elegance: An elegant idea with bizarre execution - it would be hard to do (as a keyword) any other way, however.
Development - (3/3) Viability: Unusual enough to need to be an uncommon, not splashy enough to need to be rare. Ally fits here even though there’s no Ally tribal aspect to the card (normally a pet peeve but I think Ally works as a type with the keyword you created). Colors are spot-on. (3/3) Balance: No complaints from me.
Creativity - (3/3) Uniqueness: Definitely a unique idea went into the making of this card. (3/3) Flavor: Frankly beautiful flavor text.
Polish - (0.5/3) Quality: There is bluntly a lot wrong here. Mana symbols in the wrong order, support is already a keyword (action), ability words(?) are in italics followed by dashes, not regular text followed by colons (which denote an activated ability), wording errors including, probably, the need to change “support” into a replacement effect, and flavor text placed below the power and toughness with no quotation marks even though it’s clearly a quote. Only reason I haven’t given a 0 here is that the card is readable. (2/2) *Main Challenge: Done. (2/2) Subchallenges: And done.
Total: 20.5/25
Design - (2/3) Appeal: A Txmmy/Jxnny card - Spike likes a mana sink, alright, but this is not evasive and its growth is either expensive or slooooow. (3/3) Elegance: Abilities actually slot together pretty nicely here. A very Mel appeal card.
Development - (2/3) Viability: Everything about this card screams (B/G) hybrid rather than (W/B). I guess white has Staying Power and stability but… +1/+1 counters, Shade pump also appearing occasionally in green (Ursapine), caring about 4+ power? That’s all green stuff. (3/3) Balance: Looks fine to me.
Creativity - (1.5/3) Uniqueness: Shade upgrading to Jenara, Asura of War is a twist but a kinda obvious one. (1/3) Flavor: Name is really on-the-nose, and not having too much rules text, there’s plenty of room for flavor text here.
Polish - (2.5/3) Quality: The activated abilities should be written in the opposite order. Yes, that feels wrong somehow, but so does seeing B before W and the most recent Guildmage cycle is definitely precedent I feel comfy calling on. (2/2) *Main Challenge: Done. (2/2) Subchallenges: And done.
May MCC 2019 Round 1 - Pumping It Up
It's Magic Classics Month here at the MCC and we'll first take on two similar abilities that have been around as long as Magic: The "Shade" and "Firebreathing" abilities.
Main Challenge: Design a creature card with one of the following exact activated abilities - "B: THIS gets +1/+1 until end of turn" or "R: THIS gets +1/+0 until end of turn" (replacing THIS with the card's name).
Subchallenge 1: Your card is multicolored.
Subchallenge 2: Your card is common or uncommon.
Judging Deadline: All judgements are to be final and completed by May 9th 11:59 PM EDT
(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.
void_nothing
Subject16
Eventide Sojourner
Algernone25
Please sign up to be a judge if you do not play!
Contestants:
This round is open for everyone!
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝
Creature - Wizard Shade (U)
Menace
B: Curious Shade gets +1/+1 until end of turn.
Whenever Curious Shade deals combat damage to a player, draw a card.
"A broken soul was but a minor inconvenience in the search for arcane magics"
1/1
Creature — Vampire (U)
Skulk (This creature can’t be blocked by creatures with greater power.)
R: Voldaren Bloodsucker gets +1/+0 until end of turn.
“A good breakfast gives you the right energy for the day.”
—Olivia Voldaren
1/3
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.)
Creature — Elemental (U)
Trample, lifelink, haste
R: Lifespark Elemental gets +1/+0 until end of turn.
At the beginning of the end step, sacrifice Lifespark Elemental.
"We all need a pick me up from time to time."
3/1
Creature- Goblin Ally (U)
Vigilance
R: Resistance Arsonist gets +1/+0 until end of turn.
Support: Whenever you activate or trigger an ability of this creature, you may tap it if it is untapped. If you do, replace that creature’s name with “creatures you control” in that instance of that ability.
2/1
They told me to guard against the darkness with love. Good thing I LOVE fire!
Design
(2/3) Appeal: This looks like it should be in Johnny's wheelhouse, possibly Spike's, depending on if there is a shell to slot into.
(3/3) Elegance: I have no issues understanding how this card functions.
Is the card easily understandable at a glance? Do all the flavor and mechanics combined as a whole make sense?
Development
(3/3) Viability: Draw and looter effects of this nature is very Blue, and firebreathing is one of the oldest Red abilities in the game.
(2.5/3) Balance: Does this work as an Uncommon for Limited? Yes. It might have Constructed applications if it could find the right home, though the Weird subtype might hamper that somewhat.
Creativity
(3/3) Uniqueness: I like the "greedy looter" effect presented here. The first card's free, but after that, there's a price to pay.
(2.5/3) Flavor: I enjoy the name and flavor text. While the simple flavor text adds a nice finishing touch, I'm not sure there would be sufficient space for it on the card.
Polish
(2/3) Quality: Triggered abilities should be listed before activated abilities. See also Bident of Thassa.
(2/2) *Main Challenge: It breathes fire.
(2/2) Subchallenges: Common/Uncommon? Yes. Multicolor? Yes.
Total: 22/25
*An entry with 0 points here is subject to disqualification.
Design
(2/3) Appeal: It's a Shade... which means it'll forever be compared to Nantuko Shade for it's potential playability in Constructed. This falls below that bar. Pauper might give it a go, though.
(2/3) Elegance: The conditional lifelink clause will rarely be active, and there is a strong chance that it might get overlooked when it is.
Development
(2/3) Viability: This is pushed for a Common, but not excessively, as evidenced by Crypt Ripper. That said, it might be more acceptable at 1BB or 3B to remain at Common, but - as is - it should be an Uncommon.
(3/3) Balance: In Limited, this can be a mana sink in mid game, or help recover and stabilize in the late game. Outside of that environment, it isn't going to be redirecting or warping anything.
Creativity
(2/3) Uniqueness: Given the restriction for the challenge, the conditional lifelink does add a different approach to shades, especially given the trigger.
(1/3) Flavor: I can think of why you might call it a "clutching" shade, but that's a little more meta than worldbuilding.
Polish
(2/3) Quality: Static abilities should appear before activated abilites. See also Flinthoof Boar.
(2/2) *Main Challenge: It pumps Black mana to hulk out.
(1/2) Subchallenges: Common/Uncommon? Yes. Multicolor? No.
Total: 17/25
*An entry with 0 points here is subject to disqualification.
Design
(0/3) Appeal: I can't determine who would want this card.
(1/3) Elegance: Dragonkin are dragons. The "Human Dragon" creature type falls flat here, as Dragon Mage is already an anthromorphized Dragon.
Development
(1/3) Viability: This could easily have been mono Red. Getting additional benefits from "power 4 or greater" occurs there as well. And there are mono Red dragons that have higher toughness than power. A "jump" effect like this is much more Blue than Green.
(1/3) Balance: This is bad in Limited, and of less use in Constructed. With 2 toughness and conditional evasion, this hits the board and has negligible impact.
Creativity
(1/3) Uniqueness: It can fly if it generates enough heat? Sounds like something a Goblin would come up with. Which might have been a better creature type to design around here.
(2/3) Flavor: The flavor text is a complete disconnect here.
Polish
(2/3) Quality: "Dracanae has flying as long as its power is 4 or greater."
(2/2) *Main Challenge: It breathes fire.
(2/2) Subchallenges: Common/Uncommon? Yes. Multicolor? Yes.
Total: 12/25
*An entry with 0 points here is subject to disqualification.
Design
(2/3) Appeal: It's a Shade... which means it'll forever be compared to Nantuko Shade for it's potential playability in Constructed. This falls below that bar. Even with the card draw, it's not strong enough for Johnny and not flashy enough for Timmy.
(3/3) Elegance: Abilities are direct and understandable.
Development
(3/3) Viability: Dimir colors work, and while it's on the outer edge of Uncommon for the CMC and P/T, it's plausable.
(3/3) Balance: It's decent in Limited, but I don't see it making the grade in any Constructed format. Some players may enjoy it in EDH in the correct builds.
Creativity
(3/3) Uniqueness: Temporarily boosting P/T from drawing cards, unlike the counters for Lorescale Coatl, helps to limit this getting out of hand, while still giving a minor boost (on most occassions).
(1/3) Flavor: Not fond of the name, as "enlightened" runs counter to the feel of the flavor text. "Cognitive" might have worked better.
Polish
(2/3) Quality: Triggered abilities should be listed before activated abilities. See also Cursed Ronin.
(2/2) *Main Challenge: It pumps Black mana to hulk out.
(2/2) Subchallenges: Common/Uncommon? Yes. Multicolor? Yes.
Total: DQ/25 Entry was edited approximately five hours after close of round.
*An entry with 0 points here is subject to disqualification.
Final Scores
StonerOfKruphix: 22/25
Forestsguy: 17/25
mirrodin71: 12/25
Theeklspeaks: DQ/25
Drake Stalker 2RG
Creature - Spider (U)
Trample, reach
: Drake Stalker gets +1/+0 until end of turn.
If there are no birds in the forest, you probably shouldn’t be there, either.
1/4
Creature — Wall {U}
Defender (This creature can't attack.)
B: Regenerate Wall of Tar. (The next time this creature would be destroyed this turn, it isn't. Instead tap it, remove all damage from it, and remove it from combat.)
R: Wall of Tar gets +1/+0 until end of turn.
0/4
Mages defending besieged castles use tar in quite impressive new ways.
Creature — Weird (U)
R: Circuitcharger gets +1/+0 until end of turn.
Whenever Circuitcharger deals combat damage to a player or planeswalker, draw cards equal to Circuitcharger's power, then discard that many cards minus one at random.
Results may vary.
1/3
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)
Creature - Elemental Knight {U}
Haste, vigilance
R: Pureflame Paladin gets +1/+0 until end of turn.
W: Pureflame Paladin gets +0/+1 until end of turn.
It fights for the Legion with both heart and blade ablaze.
3/3
Creature - Shade (Uncommon)
B: Haunting Shade gets +1/+1 until end of turn.
Whenever Haunting Shade dies, gain control of target creature with power less than or equal to Haunting Shade's power.
There is a thin line between you and your shadow.
1/1
Creature - Shade (U)
B: Residual Shade gets +1/+1 until end of turn
1W: Put a +1/+1 counter on Residual Shade. Activate this ability only if Residual Shade's power is 4 or greater.
1/1
Creature - Shade (C)
B: Clutching Shade gets +1/+1 until end of turn.
Clutching Shade has lifelink as long as its power is greater than your life total.
The darkness is your ally.
2/2
Creature - Human Dragon (U)
As long Dracanae has power 4 or greater gains flying.
R: Dracanae gains +1/+0 until end of turn
Trust in your friends, and they’ll have reason to trust in you.
1/2
Art by
Creature - Human Warrior {U}
Vigilance, lifelink
R: Zurgo’s Warblade gets +1/+0 until end of turn.
“For a human to spur this much fear into their enemies...”
—Zurgo, khan of the Mardu
1/1
Creature - Shade (U)
B: Enlightened Shade gets +1/+1 until end of turn.
Whenever you draw a card, Enlightened Shade gets +1/+1 until end of turn.
Some knowledge was better left unknown.
2/2
Creature — Beast (U)
R: Pyre-Hoof Kronch gets +1/+0 until end of turn.
Whenever Pyre-Hoof Kronch becomes blocked, you may have it assign its combat damage to another creature or planeswalker of your choice this turn.
Kronch Stomp
—Wrangler phrase meaning
"Changing your mind at the last instant"
1/4
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝
Fleeting Shade UB
Creature - Shade {U}
B: Fleeting Shade gets +1/+1 until end of turn.
Whenever Fleeting Shade attacks or blocks, return it to its owner's hand at end of combat. (Return it only if it's still on the battlefield.)
1/1
Emille, Seven-Sting Dancer Shalin Nariya
void_nothing:
BlackWaltz3
bravelion83
egoblinsw
Fajen Thygia
Subject16:
Flatline
Artorias
Cardz5000
netn10
Eventide Sojourner:
StonerOfKruphix
Forestsguy
mirrodin71
Theelkspeaks
Algernone25:
Freyleyes
IcariiFA
RaikouRider
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝
Appeal: 2/3 - Timmy sees this can get HUGE and likes it. Johnny likes the ability to massivley swing races with the lifelink and pump, but the cost is pretty steep. Spike...he's keeping an eye on it in limited for sure, constructed it's barely worth a glance.
Elegance: 3/3 Yep, that's a mardu warrior. No question there.
Viability: 3/3 - There's nothing here that looks out of place. I'd have thought it to be heavily pushed for the rarity, but other 1/1s for CD in past sets have easily been this level of power (Dimir Spybug and Baleful Strix come to mind first.) so nothing wrong with uncommon.
Balance: 2.5/3 - Vigilance is a tad much with as much else you having going on, but it's very appropriately costed and plays well.
Uniqueness: 3/3 - This definitely fits into Mardu while exploring design space that really wasn't touched outside of a few cards like Warden of the First Tree. Brilliantly done.
Flavor: 2/3 - Vigilance, on an aggressive creature in an aggressive tribe. Having it attack and then stay back for blocking really doesn't make sense for the Mardu, even if that 1 toughness makes it likely to die on the first swing. I'd also have liked the flavor to reference the firebreathing or dragons in some way, to tie that ability to an otherwise WB card.
Quality: 3/3 - Everything in order here.
Main Challenge: 2/2 - Main challenge was met.
Sub Challenges: 2/2 - Both Subchallenges met.
Total Score: 22.5/25
Appeal: 1.5/3 - Timmy sees 1 power for 4 mana and passes on it. Johnny sees the swerving combat tricks he can do and salivates, Spike sees a provoke variant and figures he can try it but he's holding his nose as he does it.
Elegance: 1.5/3 - Yeah you get the idea eventually once you play it a few times, but it's going to be awkward to work it out in the beginning.
Viability: 1.5/3 - Green ability, red ability, red/green card. Seems fair enough. The thorn elemental ability is at uncommon or higher and this is more complex, but power wise it feels more common. The disconnect is troubling.
Balance: 3/3 - There's nothing wrong with the balance in this sense.
Uniqueness: 3/3 - The Thorn Elemental ability being able to redirect to another creature or walker is new - get blocked by something but kill the deathtoucher instead, while not taking damage from it.
Flavor: 2.5/3 - We really don't know anything about Kronches, but the two cards we have make it seem like they care about 4 power. The flavor text kind of makes sense, but only kind of.
Quality: 2.5/3 - Without any good precedent, it should probably look more like thorn elemental's ability but I'm not 100% sure how it should go. But it LOOKS wrong, just staring at it, and I have to deduct something for that.
Main Challenge: 2/2 - Main challenge was met.
Sub Challenges: 2/2 - Both Subchallenges met.
Total Score: 19.5/25
Appeal: 2/3 - Timmy sees a tiny thing he has to recast every time he wants to swing with it. Johnny wants to do blink shenanigans, Spike sees a beater that can survive his sweepers and sorcery speed kill.
Elegance: 3/3 - Fleeting is very much the word here. Very well done
Viability: 2.5/3 - this ability is almost exclusively featured on commons, and mono-blue commons. Again, this evokes comparisons to other 1/1s for CD, so I'll let it slide keeping it at uncommon.
Balance: 3/3 - This is pretty clean and not overwhelming. Going to be a windmill first pick in limited but it won't choke out the format like uncommons in the vein of Disinformation Campaign. In 60-card formats this is perfectly fine.
Uniqueness: 2/3 - This ability shows up from time to time, but there's nothing that jumps out at you as special.
Flavor: 1.5/3 - I mean yes, fleeting, comes back to hand when it hits. But you've got so much room for flavor text and there's just NOTHING.
Quality: 3/3 - It's clean, that's all I can ask.
Main Challenge: 2/2 - Main challenge was met.
Sub Challenges: 2/2 - Both Subchallenges met.
Total Score: 21/25
Freyleyes - 22.5/25
RaikouRider - 21/25
IcariiFA - 19.5/25Currently Playing:
GBStandard - Golgari Safari MidrangeBG
RBWModern - Mardu PyromancerWBR
RLegacy - Good Old Fashioned BurnR
Clan Contest 3 Mafia - Mafia Co-MVP
Design -
(2.5/3) Appeal: Timmy likes that this guy can get bigger but isn’t a fan of the small body. Johnny sees a fun enabler for a few archetypes with lifegain being the big one. Spike sees a great limited bomb and some nice keyword soup.
(3/3) Elegance: Perfectly legible.
Development -
(3/3) Viability: This card is a Spark Elemental with firebreathing and lifelink. The lifelink is the only thing about this card that justifies it being white, but that’s valid as there’s no other color it could be.
(2/3) Balance: If we see this card as the creature version of Lightning Helix I think we already get a glimpse of this card’s power level. Monored burn is already a huge deck in today’s standard and this card could find a slot in there easily. And yet the lifelink means it’s a difficult card to play against for that deck too. The firebreathing for me is what pushes this over the edge of balance for me. I feel like it scales too well.
Creativity -
(0.5/3) Uniqueness: Aside from the fire breathing, this is to Spark Elemental what Spark Trooper is to Ball Lightning.
(2/3) Flavor: Lifespark Elemental is a great name for this card; it calls back to its homage card and cements the difference being lifegain. Not a fan of the flavor text, how is the elemental a pick me up? Why quotation marks-who’s saying this? The elemental?
Polish -
(3/3) Quality: Perfect.
(2/2) *Main Challenge: Completed.
(2/2) Subchallenges: It’s Boros and uncommon.
Total: 20/25
Design -
(1.5/3) Appeal: Timmy doesn’t like Defender, Johnny sees defender potential with firebreathing walls. Spike isn’t especially interested in stalling the field outside of limited.
(2/3) Elegance: Regenerate has been phased out for “indestructible and tap it” because it causes a lot of confusion, but otherwise it’s good.
Development -
(3/3) Viability: Rakdos hasn’t been known for producing walls before but this is a good example of one I feel. The regeneration and firebreathing brings the two colors together well. It’s on the strong side for an uncommon but I can’t imagine it at rare without some serious limited ramifications.
(1/3) Balance: I remember playing against Wall of Bone in limited and one mana regeneration is very annoying to deal with. It was great at establishing a stalemate on the board as you could consistently block their biggest threat without risking any losses. Wall of Tar is similar but in a worse way I feel. The firebreathing means it can just pump its way up to kill a blocker and survive with no issue. This deincentivizes attacking altogether and leads to very boring game states in limited where evasive creatures only matter.
Creativity -
(2/3) Uniqueness: We’ve had walls that regenerate, and walls that firebreathe, but never a wall that does both.
(3/3) Flavor: Tar seems like the best way to bring a rakdos wall to life. It’s got the pitch/swamp side of black and the heat of red, plus like you said in your flavor text it was well used during siege times.
Polish -
(2.5/3) Quality: Flavor text should be before the P/T box.
(2/2) *Main Challenge: Firebreathing creature.
(2/2) Subchallenges: Rakdos Uncommon.
Total: 19/25
Design -
(2/3) Appeal: Timmy likes the pumping and the fact that you can pump power and toughness. Johnny doesn’t see anything to break about this card, and spike sees a flexible creature both as an attacker and a blocker.
(3/3) Elegance: Completely legible.
Development -
(3/3) Viability: The vigilance/haste combo has been a Boros stable since Bull Cerodon and the tradition holds strong here. It also calls back to Foundry Champion as a firebreather/armorer card too.
(3/3) Balance: This card does a lot of things but I think it’s only impactful in limited, where it’s the bane of combat tricks. Vigilance and haste are two very good abilities to have paired with pumping power and toughness, and although it’s a big mana investment to keep this guy around as a threat, it’s also a very good one. If the mana cost wasn’t RRWW I reckon this might have been a rare, but I think it’s balanced out well.
Creativity -
(2/3) Uniqueness: It calls back to a few cards with its abilities but what cards don’t?
(3/3) Flavor: Pureflame isn’t something we’ve heard among the Boros so far but it sure sounds Boros. We’ve seen elementals as soldiers among the Legion already so it’s not hard to imagine them as knights either. The flavor text is really great too.
Polish -
(2.5/3) Quality: As per Cerodon Yearling, Vigilance is ordered before haste.
(2/2) *Main Challenge: It’s a firebreathing creature.
(2/2) Subchallenges: It’s a Boros uncommon.
Total: 22.5/25
Design -
(2.5/3) Appeal: Timmy sees a small body but likes that it gets bigger. Johnny loves abusing theft effects, and Spike sees a good creature with enough investment.
(3/3) Elegance: Everything seems fine to me.
Development -
(1.5/3) Viability: This fits greatly into the color wheel. Using the shade ability to influence the scope of creature theft is pretty ingeneous I’ll give you that. But there is no way this card is an uncommon. I’ve looked back at permanent creature theft at uncommon and I can only find three (vaguely) similar cards: Dominate, Legacy’s Allure and Siren of the Fanged Coast. Two of these take a serious time or mana investment first and the other is a choice given to an opponent. I think the flexibility of what you can steal when this dies is too much for an uncommon power level.
(2/3) Balance: This card is probably most easily compared to Hostage Taker in constructed right now, and whilst this card has smaller stats and can’t steal artifacts, it can also pump itself to avoid damage and become a bigger threat as well as always guarantee a steal. Any removal spell used against this is a potential 2 for 1 as you might lose a creature in the process. Now the amount of exile available in standard right now might help mitigate that but I’m not yet convinced. In limited this card is a huge bomb for sure, especially once you have the backup mana to pump it.
Creativity -
(3/3) Uniqueness: It uses the shade pumping in a new and interesting way, and it steals creatures by dying which as far as I know we’ve only seen on Keiga, the Tide Star so far.
(3/3) Flavor: I get the haunting as a means to foreshadow stealing creatures but can’t help to think ‘possessing’ might have been better. Either way, it gets the point across and the flavor text cements its method of haunting you.
Polish -
(2.5/3) Quality: It should be “When Haunting Shade dies”, not “Whenever”.
(2/2) *Main Challenge: It’s a creature with a Shade pump.
(2/2) Subchallenges: Dimir and Uncommon (though it really feels like a rare).
Total: 21.5/25
Artorias: 19/25
Cardz5000: 22.5/25
Netn10: 21.5/25
(2.5/3) Appeal: Txmmy likes it, period. Johnny wants it to carry an Aura or Equipment. Spike thinks it’s just a tiny bit too expensive to cast.
(3/3) Elegance: Yup, elegant stuff.
Development -
(3/3) Viability: It is blue. It is black. It is uncommon.
(2.5/3) Balance: Super potent in Limited but very fragile for any kind of Constructed.
Creativity -
(1/3) Uniqueness: Basically a Chinese-menu card that happens to also basically be a Shadowmage Infiltrator variant.
(2/3) Flavor: The name “Curious” seems a little… mild? Innocuous? For this card’s abilities. Flavor text is also a bit generic.
Polish -
(2/3) Quality: This should really be a “Shade Wizard” rather than a “Wizard Shade” and the flavor text lacks a period at the end.
(2/2) *Main Challenge: Done.
(2/2) Subchallenges: And done.
Total: 20/25
(2.5/3) Appeal: Txmmy/Spike like a difficult to block repeatable Fireball to the face that can, in a pinch, be a good blocker itself. This isn’t exactly Jxnny combo fuel but they appreciate the sentiment anyhow.
(3/3) Elegance: Excellently elegant, and a great teaching tool for activated ability timing. Good job.
Development -
(3/3) Viability: Everything looks spot-on.
(2.5/3) Balance: Terrifying to some degree in Limited (not being able to pump toughness really helps) and fine elsewhere.
Creativity -
(1.5/3) Uniqueness: A fairly Chinese-menu multicolor card but a real clever use of skulk, by gum.
(3/3) Flavor: I do like that flavor text. Olivia in full genteel auntie yet sinister vamp mode.
Polish -
(3/3) Quality: Good.
(2/2) *Main Challenge: Done.
(2/2) Subchallenges: And done.
Total: 22.5/25
(2/3) Appeal: A definite T/J card. Spike will pass on an expensive Orcish Oriflamme on a fragile body.
(2/3) Elegance: An elegant idea with bizarre execution - it would be hard to do (as a keyword) any other way, however.
Development -
(3/3) Viability: Unusual enough to need to be an uncommon, not splashy enough to need to be rare. Ally fits here even though there’s no Ally tribal aspect to the card (normally a pet peeve but I think Ally works as a type with the keyword you created). Colors are spot-on.
(3/3) Balance: No complaints from me.
Creativity -
(3/3) Uniqueness: Definitely a unique idea went into the making of this card.
(3/3) Flavor: Frankly beautiful flavor text.
Polish -
(0.5/3) Quality: There is bluntly a lot wrong here. Mana symbols in the wrong order, support is already a keyword (action), ability words(?) are in italics followed by dashes, not regular text followed by colons (which denote an activated ability), wording errors including, probably, the need to change “support” into a replacement effect, and flavor text placed below the power and toughness with no quotation marks even though it’s clearly a quote. Only reason I haven’t given a 0 here is that the card is readable.
(2/2) *Main Challenge: Done.
(2/2) Subchallenges: And done.
Total: 20.5/25
(2/3) Appeal: A Txmmy/Jxnny card - Spike likes a mana sink, alright, but this is not evasive and its growth is either expensive or slooooow.
(3/3) Elegance: Abilities actually slot together pretty nicely here. A very Mel appeal card.
Development -
(2/3) Viability: Everything about this card screams (B/G) hybrid rather than (W/B). I guess white has Staying Power and stability but… +1/+1 counters, Shade pump also appearing occasionally in green (Ursapine), caring about 4+ power? That’s all green stuff.
(3/3) Balance: Looks fine to me.
Creativity -
(1.5/3) Uniqueness: Shade upgrading to Jenara, Asura of War is a twist but a kinda obvious one.
(1/3) Flavor: Name is really on-the-nose, and not having too much rules text, there’s plenty of room for flavor text here.
Polish -
(2.5/3) Quality: The activated abilities should be written in the opposite order. Yes, that feels wrong somehow, but so does seeing B before W and the most recent Guildmage cycle is definitely precedent I feel comfy calling on.
(2/2) *Main Challenge: Done.
(2/2) Subchallenges: And done.
Total: 19/25
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝