It's Magic Classics Month here at the MCC and finally we'll tackle one of the oldest yet most maligned and misunderstood non-evergreen keyword mechanics in Magic: cumulative upkeep.
Main Challenge: Design a card with cumulative upkeep.
Subchallenge 1: Your card is not a creature. Subchallenge 2: Your card has mana in its cumulative upkeep cost of a color that is not in its mana cost.
Something like, for example, Earthen Goo would pass subchallenge 2.
Design Deadline: All submissions are to be final and submitted by June 8th 11:59 PM EDT
Judging Deadline: All judgements are to be final and completed by June 11th 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.
Design (2/3) Appeal: Primarily a combo piece due to its resource hogging. Due to its inability to win the game on its own, Spikes are less likely to take an interest. (2/3) Elegance: It's understandable, but due to the ability to stack the triggers, you have to know which way to order them each turn to take full advantage of the card.
Development (2/3) Viability: The effect of the card in White is something we haven't really seen since Alliances, and, even then, it was only as a color hoser. However, given that this card has a color identity of WB, the ability is more in line. Outside of the challenge, I think it would work better with a casting cost and a cumulative upkeep. Rarity is on point. (2/3) Balance: This would be difficult to utilize in Limited with the color requirements, but I don't know if it could find a home in any Constructed environments. Again, the fact that you can stack the triggers to get a "free" use without paying the cumulative upkeep after the first time does increase its effectiveness.
Creativity (2.5/3) Uniqueness: This reminded me of Armageddon Clock, a card older than many of the people playing M:tG. 'Compund Interest' allows the damage to be directed anywhere, but the ratcheting up to "how high will it go" adds some nostalgia feels for me. (2/3) Flavor: The name is solid, but the flavor text is a little stale. Orzhov loans were notorious for bleeding you dry (sometimes literally). The terms made Lili's contracts seem fair.
Polish (2.75/3) Quality: "...on it. You gain life equal to the damage dealt this way." (2/2) *Main Challenge: Cumulative upkeep present. (2/2) Subchallenges: Not a creature? Yes. CU of a color not found in mana cost? Yes.
Total: 19.25/25
*An entry with 0 points here is subject to disqualification.
Design (2/3) Appeal: I don't see much Spike potential in this. (2.5/3) Elegance: It's a little clunky as written, but the ideas for the mechanics come across.
Development (2.5/3) Viability: It makes tokens and/or pumps a tribe, both of which are very Red and Green abilities. I'm not sure this couldn't be downgraded to Uncommon given the lackluster power level. (2.5/3) Balance: I have two gripes with the card in this area. The tokens don't have haste, and the Green pump isn't +1/+1. Change the tokens to Berserkers (for flavor) and this suddenly becomes a mana sink that can close out games. As is, it's actually underpowered for anywhere outside Limited, and, even then, it doesn't hit that bomb Rare level.
Creativity (2/3) Uniqueness: This hits an interesting cross section between Jötun Owl Keeper and Balduvian Fallen (below). Much like Assemble the Legion, it can build over several turns. Unlike Assemble, it takes an ever increasing investment to do so. (1.5/3) Flavor: With a name like 'The Bloodhall', flavor text would have enhanced. The "blood" aspect is lacking here that we would often associate with Black or some interaction with life.
Polish (2/3) Quality: "...create a 1/1 Red Warrior creature token for each spent this way, then Warrior creatures you control get +1/+0 until end of turn for each spent this way." See Balduvian Fallen. (2/2) *Main Challenge: Cumulative upkeep present. (2/2) Subchallenges: Not a creature? Yes. CU of a color not found in mana cost? Yes.
Total: 19/25
*An entry with 0 points here is subject to disqualification.
Design (2/3) Appeal: It's a land that fetches other (basic) lands, provided you have the requisite Green mana. Timmy has a headache. (3/3) Elegance: No problems understanding what the card does.
Development (1.5/3) Viability: There have only been four Mythic lands printed since that rarity came to be (not counting upshifts), and one of them starts out as an artifact. 'Garden of the Ancients' would be on a similar level to Eye of Ugin, if it did a little more. This can easily drop to Rare. (1/3) Balance: This can be a build around card, but, unlike Eye of Ugin, it has no effect on the early game. This has the same level of uselessness as a Reflecting Pool on Turn 1. To a degree, it's more akin to Search for Tomorrow if played on Turn 2. Most times, though, I'd rather just have a Terramorphic Expanse.
Creativity (2.5/3) Uniqueness: Cumulative upkeep with land fetch? That's a new twist.
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”? (2.5/3) Flavor: The name and flavor text are making me wonder where on Pandora to find this garden.
Polish (3/3) Quality: No issues found. (2/2) *Main Challenge: Cumulative upkeep present. (2/2) Subchallenges: Not a creature? Yes. CU of a color not found in mana cost? Yes.
Total: 20.5/25
*An entry with 0 points here is subject to disqualification.
Design (2/3) Appeal: Timmy sees a big Demon, but is confused about how to best use it. (2.5/3) Elegance: This has minor complexity, but you can tell what the card is designed to do.
Development (3/3) Viability: It works in the colors of Rakdos, and Daxos's Torment reminds us that this opalescence ability isn't reserved to White and Blue. Rare is a good level for this. (2/3) Balance: 'Lurking Darkness' won't reshape any formats, but it is a decent build-around type of effect. Worse in Limited, as board states normally don't remain empty very long.
Creativity (2/3) Uniqueness: Enchantments becoming creatures has been a thing since Urza's Block. The fact that this also has a scaling Pyrohemia effect blended in adds some variety to its applications. (1.5/3) Flavor: The name fits very well for the Demon appearing when no one else is around, but is disconnected from the damage each upkeep.
Polish (2.5/3) Quality: "Lurking Darkness is a 6/6 Demon creature with flying as long as there are no other creatures on the battlefield." See Rusted Relic. Unlike the Theros Gods or Arix, you are adding a type and qualities once a condition is met, not suppressing ones already present. "Whenever you pay Lurking Darkness's cumulative upkeep, it deals..." (2/2) *Main Challenge: Cumulative upkeep present. (2/2) Subchallenges: Not a creature? Yes. CU of a color not found in mana cost? Yes.
Total: 19.5/25
*An entry with 0 points here is subject to disqualification.
Final Scores
bravelion83: 19.25
mirrodin71: 19
Freyleyes: 20.5
Flatline: 19.5
Compound InterestW
Enchantment (R)
Cumulative upkeep B(At the beginning of your upkeep, put an age counter on this permanent, then sacrifice it unless you pay its upkeep cost for each age counter on it.)
At the beginning of your upkeep, Compound Interest deals damage to any target equal to the number of age counters on it, then you gain that much life. With an Orzhov loan, your highest expense will always be on interests.
MCC - Winner (6): Oct 2014, Apr Nov 2017, Jan 2018, Apr Jun 2019 || Host (15): Dec 2014, Apr Jul Aug Dec 2015, Mar Jul Aug Oct 2016, Feb Jul 2017, Jun Nov 2018, Feb Jul 2019 (last one here) || Judge (34): every month from Nov 2014 to Nov 2016 except Oct 2015, every month from Feb to Jul 2017 except Apr 2017, then Oct 2017, May Jun Nov 2018, Feb Jul 2019 (last one here) CCL - Winner (3): Jul 2016 (tied with Flatline), May 2017, Jul 2019 (last one here) || Host (5): Feb 2015, Mar Apr May Jun 2016 DCC - Winner (1): Mar 2015 (tied with Piar) || Host (3): May Oct 2015, Jan 2016
• The two public custom sets I've been part a part of the design team for: "Brotherhood of Ormos" - Blog post with all info - set thread - design skeleton / card list || "Extinctia: Homo Evanuit" - Blog post with all info - set thread - card list spreadsheet
• "The Lion's Lair", my article series about MTG and custom card design in particular. Latest article here. Here is the article index.Rather outdated by now, and based on the old MCC rubric, but I'm leaving this here for anybody that might be interested anyway.
• My only public attempt at being a writer: the story of my Leonin custom planeswalker Jeff Lionheart. (I have a very big one that I'm working on right now but that's private for now, and I don't know if I will ever actually publish it, and I also have ideas for multiple future ones, including one where I'm going to reprise Jeff.)
The Bloodhall2R
Enchantment (R)
Cumulative upkeep R or G (At the beginning of your upkeep, put an age counter on this permanent, then sacrifice it unless you pay its upkeep cost for each age counter on it.)
Whenever The Bloodhall’s cumulative upkeep is paid, create a 1/1 red warrior creature token for each R you paid. Warrior creatures you control gets +1/+0 until end of turn for each G you paid.
Garden of the Ancients
Legendary Land {M}
Cumulative upkeep G
Whenever you pay Garden of the Ancients’ cumulative upkeep, you may search your library for a basic land card, put it onto the battlefield, then shuffle your library. The garden of life from where the world grew into existence.
Lurking Darkness2BB
Enchantment (R)
Cumulative upkeep R(At the beginning of your upkeep, put an age counter on this permanent, then sacrifice it unless you pay its upkeep cost for each age counter on it.)
As long as there are no other creatures on the battlefield, Lurking Darkness is a 6/6 Demon creature with flying.
Whenever you pay Lurking Darkness's cumulative upkeep cost, it deals damage equal to the number of age counters on it to each creature.
(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)
Appeal: 2.5/3 - Timmy sees how big the numbers can get and figures he might try it. Johnny want to try to break it, Spike is just salivating at winning all the damage races ever.
Elegance: 3/3 - You look at this and you don't need anything else explained. It's simple but incredibly profound.
Viability: 3/3 - Having it black/white instead of red/white is a bend, but black gets just enough "deals damage" compared to "lose life" effects that you can justify it, so no deduction. Rare is absolutely right, it compares rather similarly to Bitterblossom in terms of "I'm winning the game unless you deal with this" enchantments.
Balance: 1.5/3 - That you pay white mana to start and black for the upkeep does open up the possibility of exploiting the intended tradeoff with ritualspells, to where you could really make this oppressive, to say nothing of how something like Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth trivializes this. Also that both effects trigger at the beginning of your upkeep is bothersome - it allows you to stack the triggers and get a final activation from it without paying the associated CU cost.
Uniqueness: 3/3 - I can't find anything that comes close to what you're up to here, and it just seems...logical. Amazing work.
Flavor: 3/3 - I might be biased since I'm an accountant, but there's a subtle something about this that makes me smile. Perfectly Orzhov.
Quality: 3/3 - "Interests" should probably be singular for "loan", but for one *maybe* incorrect letter I can't justify an entire half-point deduction.
Main Challenge: 2/2 - Main Challenge is met.
Sub-Challenges: 2/2 - Both Subchallenges met.
Total: 23/25
Appeal: 2.5/3 - What's this, you say? Lots of tokens that can be really huge? Everyone likes this. Spike's going to grumble about mana efficiency but we'll let him.
Elegance: 3/3 - Make dudes, pump dudes. Very clean, very concise, very elegant.
Viability: 2/3 - This is definitely a red and kinda green card, rare is right for a consistent token generator that can be spitting out big dudes. But since they don't have haste, the green half of the CU payment is useless without setup on the red side first. I can see why, but it's still awkward to deal with.
Balance: 2.5/3 - I mean...this is a tribal card that'll obliterate in tribal decks, and is a strong card just on its own, to where it just...slots into anything that can use a mana sink. It doesn't need an engine, it is its own engine - and a very powerful one.
Uniqueness: 2/3 - There's not much unique with a red/green token-making enchantment, even with the CU attachment it draws fairly clear parallels to Jötun Owl Keeper.
Flavor: 1/3 - With a name like THE bloodhall, not making this legendary is a criminal mistake. And to that end, Bloodhall is more indicative of Red/Black than Red/Green - see Stensia Bloodhall and Bloodhall Priest. If this was Cumulative Upkeep R or B and made 1/1 vampires it would be a homerun, but as is...really really falls flat.
Quality: 3/3 - Absolutely zero problems here.
Main Challenge: 2/2 - Main Challenge was met.
Sub-Challenges: 2/2 - First subchallenge met. Second subchallenge...technically as written it passes but including the same mana color in the CU cost goes against what I feel is the spirit of the subchallenge. That said, segregating the colors mattering how you did makes me think you couldn't have kept it mono-red so I'll give you benefit of the doubt.
Total: 20/25
Appeal: 3/3 - Timmy wants this card. Johnny wants this card. Neither of them will get one because Spike also wants this card and already pre-ordered a hundred of them.
Elegance: 3/3 - It's a land that makes lands. Garden is...not the word I'd use for that, but I can't think of a better one without digging into a thesaurus so no deduction.
Viability: 2.5/3 - I entirely understand why this is mythic, but compared to Maze's End or Mirrorpool (the only other lands printed at mythic in non-promo sets) in terms of attention-getting it doesn't make the cut. Insofar as color pie...yeah that works.
Balance: 2/3 - Thawing Glaciers, eat your heart out. You can't play it turn 1 to any effect which is very good, but you're going to be hitting land drops every turn (and a couple extra lands to boot) for about as long as you want. You know those 13-land decks in MTG Arena that work super well in spite of how they really shouldn't? Something like this could make them a reality in paper.
Uniqueness: 1/3 - It's Hibernation's End but for basic lands instead of creatures. That's...really it.
Flavor: 3/3 - A name and flavor like that demand it be legendary. check. Needs flavor text. Check. Flavor text that's painfully, PAINFULLY on point...check. Too on point for my blood, but I can see WotC doing it so you're clean.
Quality: 3/3 - Had to double check wording between your and mirrodin's card, but you're both correct on templating for your respective effects.
Main Challenge: 2/2 - Main Challenge was met.
Sub-Challenges: 2/2 - Both Sub-Challenges met.
Total: 21.5/25
Appeal: 2.5/3 - Timmy loves 6/6 demons, Johnny loves 6/6 beaters on an empty board, Spike whines about mana efficiency again but he's not turning down the possibility of this going off.
Elegance: 2.5/3 - There's a number of moving parts here. Once you see them all working it all comes together, but you have to see it first.
Viability: 2.5/3 - Pestilence says there's no need for red to be here. Rare is fair, mythic would be viable but you can make a case for it not moving up.
Balance: 2/3 - This is mardu's wet dream. I'll sweep the board, then attack with a 6/6 flier, my hand is full of removal to kill whatever you try playing to shut it off. In any reasonable design space this is going to be a force to be reckoned with, and the mana needed to get a kill from 20 life is entirely manageable. It's not going to BREAK a format but it's for sure going to make a regular appearance at the top tables.
Uniqueness: 2.5/3 - Following the time-honored tradition of 6/6 creatures for 4 with a drawback. But this drawback is attention-getting, and it comes with its own way to get around it, so props for that.
Flavor: 3/3 - If you've ever played Trivia Murder Party, you probably get a sense of what this is supposed to convey, and does so very well. I like it.
Quality: 3/3 - Templating looks fine, nothing amiss here.
Main Challenge: 2/2 - Main Challenge was met
Sub-Challenges: 1.5/2 - Technically both sub-challenges met, but unlike mirrodin's submission there's no good reason to have the CU cost be red outside of that being worth bonus points.
Top 16 - 2012 Indiana State Championships Currently Playing: GBStandard - Golgari Safari MidrangeBG RBWModern - Mardu PyromancerWBR RLegacy - Good Old Fashioned BurnR
Design - (2/3) Appeal: This is a fully point to Jxnny and a half-point each to Txmmy (who likes how this scales but doesn't want to wait for the big effect) and Spike (who likes machine gun removal that incidentally gains life but also is leery of cumulative upkeep cards NOT named Braid of Fire). (3/3) Elegance: Pretty elegant stuff.
Development - (2/3) Viability: Rare is correct, black mana in the cumulative upkeep cost is absolutely correct - but other than Orzhov flavor, there's no reason for this card to have white in the mana cost. It's not as though the effect is something that is a blend of white and black, it can be - and is - monoblack through and through. Now if it had a R cumulative upkeep cost or something then you'd get full viability points here. (2/3) Balance: Cumulative upkeep is a harsh drawback, but this is still a removal engine. Dangerous if unchecked.
Creativity - (1.5/3) Uniqueness: This color combination has plenty of ways to drain life over time and this card is conceptually similar to Magmatic Core. (1.5/3) Flavor: To be perfectly honest I can't say I get this flavor all that well - the name is straightforward and reflects both the cumulative upkeep mechanic and how the Orzhov do business, but the flavor text appears to almost be restating the name, and it's also not telling me how a real-world economic concept is causing Orzhov mages to literally drain souls from their debtors.
Design - (2.5/3) Appeal: Everyone can get into it at least somewhat. Txmmy likes that level of token generation, Jxnny has plenty to play around with, and Spike, although cumulative upkeep is a pricey drawback, loves the flexibility and tribal with a prevalent type. (3/3) Elegance: A neat self-contained self-synergistic package.
Development - (3/3) Viability: Everything about this feels right - effects per color are on point for the cumulative upkeep. (3/3) Balance: Nice stuff, flexible and able to flood the board but certainly not that fast.
Creativity - (2.5/3) Uniqueness: The best point of comparison is Balduvian Fallen and Assemble the Legion, which makes for a pretty wacky card. (2.5/3) Flavor: No flavor text but I dig the overall aesthetic - there are other "Bloodhalls" in the planes such as the one Bloodhall Ooze is from and Stensia Bloodhall so I'm kind of digging a nonlegendary card with "The" in front of the name as it's maybe a universally applicable concept.
Polish - (2/3) Quality: Missed italicization on the reminder text and some capitalization mistakes. (2/2) *Main Challenge: Done. (2/2) Subchallenges: And done.
Total: 22.5/25
Design - (3/3) Appeal: Safe to say everyone likes ramp that doesn't cost them a card to use. (2.5/3) Elegance: Nothing inelegant in the text itself but that's a lot of searching and shuffling, which eats up time.
Development - (3/3) Viability: I very much prefer that cost to be green mana and this to be a legendary mythic, please. At a colorless upkeep cost or nonlegendary or any such thing, this card would probably be way off the rails. (1.5/3) Balance: Slow to start and theoretically fine on its own but everything about this card screams abuseable. If Thawing Glaciers is dangerous then so is this card.
Creativity - (1/3) Uniqueness: Definitely comparable to the aforementioned Thawing Glaciers as well as to a number of other lands. (1.5/3) Flavor: Name feels legendary yet also generic. Flavor text doesn't help much; it doesn't really say anything that the name does not say.
Polish - (3/3) Quality: Seems okay. (2/2) *Main Challenge: Done. (2/2) Subchallenges: And done (by virtue of having NO mana cost).
Total: 19.5/25
Design - (2/3) Appeal: Seems to be basically a Txmmy/Jxnny card; this is too unreliable of a beater and too slow of a Pyrohemia by far for your average Spike. (2/3) Elegance: Starts to get inelegant when there are two of them on the battlefield (there's a reason Demonic Rising makes tokens and doesn't turn into a creature). Also generally a wordy text box.
Development - (2.5/3) Viability: While mass creature burn is a red thing nowadays, I think you could get away with making this a monoblack in all aspects card, calling back to Pestilence and the number of black enchantments that were variants of that very card. Double black in the mana cost plus red in the cumulative upkeep cost also just makes this card feel a bit awkard to use. (3/3) Balance: This card is a bomb. So it's slow and expensive, like many bombs are today and like all bombs once were. As it seems to be an outright nostalgic card, I think that fits.
Creativity - (2/3) Uniqueness: A nostalgic homage-y blend of old elements. (1.5/3) Flavor: I get "Lurking Darkness" from the become-a-Demon condition a la the Urza block Lurking enchantments, but I don't get the mass burn from it, and the inclusion of the red mana cumulative upkeep cost isn't helping matters. I guess there's Bump in the Night to remind me of, maybe?
Polish - (2.75/3) Quality: It's just "cumulative upkeep" that gets paid and not "cumulative upkeep cost" - but this is so minor I have to take off a quarter point only, which I basically never do. (2/2) *Main Challenge: Done. (2/2) Subchallenges: And done.
Sincere apologies for this late a submission. My timetable has been cleared and I should have more free time for any other events on MtGS.
Design - (2/3) Appeal: Timmy likes doing lots of damage, Johnny sees a great proliferate/counter doubling output, and Spike sees a card that’s too big a mana investment to be worthwhile. (3/3) Elegance: Clean and simple.
Development - (1.5/3) Viability: A versatile, mana hungry source of repeatable removal/damage definitely belongs at rare. Whilst this card is Orzhov in colors it’s technically monowhite, and direct damage is quite the bend for it. Had this card been a black enchantment with a white CU cost I think that would have fit better. (2.5/3) Balance: At worst this is 1 mana deal 1 damage gain 1 life, but unless you start the game with a dual land you’re not dropping this unless you can get a fair amount of value out of it. The payoff gets stronger over time and can put you ahead without you even developing a board which is definitely powerful, but the mana balance can be a big issue towards that goal and so eventually I think this will peter out in most decks (unless they run Urborg). Overall I think there are ways to break this card, but it’s not busted in of itself.
Creativity - (3/3) Uniqueness: Nothing springs to my mind immediately in terms of similarity to this card. The effect like casting a bigger and bigger Death Grasp every turn and aside from the –X ability on Sorin, Grim Nemesis. (2.5/3) Flavor: Compound interest sounds like a perfectly fitting name for an Orzhov card, but given what we know of the Orzhov their debts seem to be more exponential than incremental so this might be a little slow for them vorthos-wise, but it does the job well.
Polish - (2.5/3) Quality: “Then you gain that much life” has never been templated before. It should either have been “and you gain that much life” (comma removed), or a separate sentence altogether. (2/2) *Main Challenge: Met (2/2) Subchallenges: Both met
Total: 19/25
Design - (2.5/3) Appeal: Timmy loves making lots of creatures, and he loves making them all bigger too. Johnny like the versatility a lot. Spike sees no immediate payoff but appreciates being able to pump out lots of threats. (2/3) Elegance: It seems a little off that the warriors don’t have haste. If you mix and match, you end up creating tokens and pumping them without them doing anything. Also, for a card named “The Bloodhall” you’d expect it to be legendary (and also possibly a land).
Development - (2/3) Viability: This feels very red but not particularly green. Green’s pumping is solidly +n/+n instead of +n/+0 which is more red. If the effects/colors had been swapped around that might fit a little better, but this feels much more like a Boros card to me. In terms of power level it most certainly fits at rare. (3/3) Balance: I think this is fine, token generation at a cheap mana rate is very nice, and pumping out your Warriors is a nice game ender but on the condition that you have enough warriors. It’s powerful, but requires some build around to be used to its full potential.
Creativity - (3/3) Uniqueness: The closest card to this for me is Assemble the Legion which bears similarities by making an incremental number of tokens each upkeep, but without any mana investment or optional pumping. (2/3) Flavor: I can imagine a gathering place for warriors itching for a fight to be called the Bloodhall, it gives me a big Nordic vibe for sure. But “The Bloodhall” is too generic a card name for Magic, something like “NAME, the Bloodhall” if you’re describing a place or “Bloodhall Brawl” also fits a lot better.
Polish - (1.5/3) Quality: “gets” should be pluralized. Reminder text should be italicized. (2/2) *Main Challenge: Met (2/2) Subchallenges: Both Met
Total: 19/25
Design - (3/3) Appeal: Timmy likes ramping for big creatures, johnny wants to abuse this with Landfall. Spike sees a free source of ramp, color fixing and deck thinning all at once. (2.5/3) Elegance: Cumulative upkeep is so complex a mechanic I think I would add reminder text even on mythics.
Development - (2.5/3) Viability: I suppose this card is monogreen because of the upkeep cost, and ramping for any kind of land falls under green’s slice of the pie. The effect is definitely powerful and has its merits as a Mythic too, although this could be a rare as well. (1/3) Balance: I’m not sure I can call this balanced at all. This essentially ramps you every turn beyond the first upkeep trigger, and the fact that you can do that as early as turn 2 is a bit scary I think it’s at the cost of a land drop but you make up for very quickly. In the right decks this card thins out your deck so efficiently it can become very overwhelming. If this were to put the lands in tapped I might think differently, but this can help fix your colors and ramp you until you have enough lands so easily I think it’s too good.
Creativity - (3/3) Uniqueness:Glacial Chasm and Halls of Mist are the only lands with Cumulative upkeep and none of them interact with the mechanic. I would say I’ve never seen a card like this one for sure. (2.5/3) Flavor: The flavor indicates this place as a sort of Eden-esque land from which the rest of the world grew from. I think that fits but I think for a Magic card it would also be named as well, especially for a legendary land.
Polish - (3/3) Quality: No issues here. (2/2) *Main Challenge: Met (2/2) Subchallenges: Met Total: 22.5/25
Design - (2.5/3) Appeal: Timmy likes a 6/6 with flying. Johnny wants to try and solve the puzzle of the Demon killing itself. Spike sees a long-term boardwipe and a finisher but with little immediate impact. (2/3) Elegance: I might be a little confusing to people that it can end up damaging itself and dying beyond the Cumulative Upkeep trigger, but I think it shouldn’t be a huge issue. It may also be a little too wordy for a conventional MtG text box.
Development - (3/3) Viability: The Loner mechanic is primarily black, and the cumulative upkeep effect is both red and black (it reminds me of Pestilence/Pyrohemia). Getting a 6/6 flyer as a reward for wiping the whole table is very strong and definitely fits at rare for its complexity. (3/3) Balance: I think this card is well balanced. It’s fragile on two ends as it can die from Culumative Upkeep or by damaging itself if it’s a creature. The upside is that you get a massive flying beater that you can hide by just having another creature enter the battlefield. There’s a lot of choices you have to make to truly take advantage of this card, and the variety of angles you can take when playing this card make it powerful enough to justify its drawbacks.
Creativity - (3/3) Uniqueness: I’ve never seen a card like this. An enchantment that’s a creature on an empty board kinda reminds me of the Opal/Hidden cards, but this is completely different to those. (3/3) Flavor: The flavor of a Demon slowly wiping away all its enemies behind the scenes and finally making its appearance when all his enemies are gone is fantastic. The name conveys it perfectly too.
Polish - (3/3) Quality: I wasn’t sure if the trigger was a when or a whenever but Balduvian Fallen says whenever. No mistakes. (2/2) *Main Challenge: Met (2/2) Subchallenges: Both met
May MCC 2019 Round 4 - Ravages of Age
It's Magic Classics Month here at the MCC and finally we'll tackle one of the oldest yet most maligned and misunderstood non-evergreen keyword mechanics in Magic: cumulative upkeep.
Main Challenge: Design a card with cumulative upkeep.
Subchallenge 1: Your card is not a creature.
Subchallenge 2: Your card has mana in its cumulative upkeep cost of a color that is not in its mana cost.
Judging Deadline: All judgements are to be final and completed by June 11th 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
Contestants:
mirrodin71
Freyleyes
Flatline
bravelion83
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝
Design
(2/3) Appeal: Primarily a combo piece due to its resource hogging. Due to its inability to win the game on its own, Spikes are less likely to take an interest.
(2/3) Elegance: It's understandable, but due to the ability to stack the triggers, you have to know which way to order them each turn to take full advantage of the card.
Development
(2/3) Viability: The effect of the card in White is something we haven't really seen since Alliances, and, even then, it was only as a color hoser. However, given that this card has a color identity of WB, the ability is more in line. Outside of the challenge, I think it would work better with a casting cost and a cumulative upkeep. Rarity is on point.
(2/3) Balance: This would be difficult to utilize in Limited with the color requirements, but I don't know if it could find a home in any Constructed environments. Again, the fact that you can stack the triggers to get a "free" use without paying the cumulative upkeep after the first time does increase its effectiveness.
Creativity
(2.5/3) Uniqueness: This reminded me of Armageddon Clock, a card older than many of the people playing M:tG. 'Compund Interest' allows the damage to be directed anywhere, but the ratcheting up to "how high will it go" adds some nostalgia feels for me.
(2/3) Flavor: The name is solid, but the flavor text is a little stale. Orzhov loans were notorious for bleeding you dry (sometimes literally). The terms made Lili's contracts seem fair.
Polish
(2.75/3) Quality: "...on it. You gain life equal to the damage dealt this way."
(2/2) *Main Challenge: Cumulative upkeep present.
(2/2) Subchallenges: Not a creature? Yes. CU of a color not found in mana cost? Yes.
Total: 19.25/25
*An entry with 0 points here is subject to disqualification.
Design
(2/3) Appeal: I don't see much Spike potential in this.
(2.5/3) Elegance: It's a little clunky as written, but the ideas for the mechanics come across.
Development
(2.5/3) Viability: It makes tokens and/or pumps a tribe, both of which are very Red and Green abilities. I'm not sure this couldn't be downgraded to Uncommon given the lackluster power level.
(2.5/3) Balance: I have two gripes with the card in this area. The tokens don't have haste, and the Green pump isn't +1/+1. Change the tokens to Berserkers (for flavor) and this suddenly becomes a mana sink that can close out games. As is, it's actually underpowered for anywhere outside Limited, and, even then, it doesn't hit that bomb Rare level.
Creativity
(2/3) Uniqueness: This hits an interesting cross section between Jötun Owl Keeper and Balduvian Fallen (below). Much like Assemble the Legion, it can build over several turns. Unlike Assemble, it takes an ever increasing investment to do so.
(1.5/3) Flavor: With a name like 'The Bloodhall', flavor text would have enhanced. The "blood" aspect is lacking here that we would often associate with Black or some interaction with life.
Polish
(2/3) Quality: "...create a 1/1 Red Warrior creature token for each spent this way, then Warrior creatures you control get +1/+0 until end of turn for each spent this way." See Balduvian Fallen.
(2/2) *Main Challenge: Cumulative upkeep present.
(2/2) Subchallenges: Not a creature? Yes. CU of a color not found in mana cost? Yes.
Total: 19/25
*An entry with 0 points here is subject to disqualification.
Design
(2/3) Appeal: It's a land that fetches other (basic) lands, provided you have the requisite Green mana. Timmy has a headache.
(3/3) Elegance: No problems understanding what the card does.
Development
(1.5/3) Viability: There have only been four Mythic lands printed since that rarity came to be (not counting upshifts), and one of them starts out as an artifact. 'Garden of the Ancients' would be on a similar level to Eye of Ugin, if it did a little more. This can easily drop to Rare.
(1/3) Balance: This can be a build around card, but, unlike Eye of Ugin, it has no effect on the early game. This has the same level of uselessness as a Reflecting Pool on Turn 1. To a degree, it's more akin to Search for Tomorrow if played on Turn 2. Most times, though, I'd rather just have a Terramorphic Expanse.
Creativity
(2.5/3) Uniqueness: Cumulative upkeep with land fetch? That's a new twist.
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”?
(2.5/3) Flavor: The name and flavor text are making me wonder where on Pandora to find this garden.
Polish
(3/3) Quality: No issues found.
(2/2) *Main Challenge: Cumulative upkeep present.
(2/2) Subchallenges: Not a creature? Yes. CU of a color not found in mana cost? Yes.
Total: 20.5/25
*An entry with 0 points here is subject to disqualification.
Design
(2/3) Appeal: Timmy sees a big Demon, but is confused about how to best use it.
(2.5/3) Elegance: This has minor complexity, but you can tell what the card is designed to do.
Development
(3/3) Viability: It works in the colors of Rakdos, and Daxos's Torment reminds us that this opalescence ability isn't reserved to White and Blue. Rare is a good level for this.
(2/3) Balance: 'Lurking Darkness' won't reshape any formats, but it is a decent build-around type of effect. Worse in Limited, as board states normally don't remain empty very long.
Creativity
(2/3) Uniqueness: Enchantments becoming creatures has been a thing since Urza's Block. The fact that this also has a scaling Pyrohemia effect blended in adds some variety to its applications.
(1.5/3) Flavor: The name fits very well for the Demon appearing when no one else is around, but is disconnected from the damage each upkeep.
Polish
(2.5/3) Quality: "Lurking Darkness is a 6/6 Demon creature with flying as long as there are no other creatures on the battlefield." See Rusted Relic. Unlike the Theros Gods or Arix, you are adding a type and qualities once a condition is met, not suppressing ones already present. "Whenever you pay Lurking Darkness's cumulative upkeep, it deals..."
(2/2) *Main Challenge: Cumulative upkeep present.
(2/2) Subchallenges: Not a creature? Yes. CU of a color not found in mana cost? Yes.
Total: 19.5/25
*An entry with 0 points here is subject to disqualification.
Final Scores
bravelion83: 19.25
mirrodin71: 19
Freyleyes: 20.5
Flatline: 19.5
Enchantment (R)
Cumulative upkeep B (At the beginning of your upkeep, put an age counter on this permanent, then sacrifice it unless you pay its upkeep cost for each age counter on it.)
At the beginning of your upkeep, Compound Interest deals damage to any target equal to the number of age counters on it, then you gain that much life.
With an Orzhov loan, your highest expense will always be on interests.
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.)
Enchantment (R)
Cumulative upkeep R or G (At the beginning of your upkeep, put an age counter on this permanent, then sacrifice it unless you pay its upkeep cost for each age counter on it.)
Whenever The Bloodhall’s cumulative upkeep is paid, create a 1/1 red warrior creature token for each R you paid. Warrior creatures you control gets +1/+0 until end of turn for each G you paid.
Legendary Land {M}
Cumulative upkeep G
Whenever you pay Garden of the Ancients’ cumulative upkeep, you may search your library for a basic land card, put it onto the battlefield, then shuffle your library.
The garden of life from where the world grew into existence.
Enchantment (R)
Cumulative upkeep R (At the beginning of your upkeep, put an age counter on this permanent, then sacrifice it unless you pay its upkeep cost for each age counter on it.)
As long as there are no other creatures on the battlefield, Lurking Darkness is a 6/6 Demon creature with flying.
Whenever you pay Lurking Darkness's cumulative upkeep cost, it deals damage equal to the number of age counters on it to each creature.
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝
Elegance: 3/3 - You look at this and you don't need anything else explained. It's simple but incredibly profound.
Viability: 3/3 - Having it black/white instead of red/white is a bend, but black gets just enough "deals damage" compared to "lose life" effects that you can justify it, so no deduction. Rare is absolutely right, it compares rather similarly to Bitterblossom in terms of "I'm winning the game unless you deal with this" enchantments.
Balance: 1.5/3 - That you pay white mana to start and black for the upkeep does open up the possibility of exploiting the intended tradeoff with ritual spells, to where you could really make this oppressive, to say nothing of how something like Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth trivializes this. Also that both effects trigger at the beginning of your upkeep is bothersome - it allows you to stack the triggers and get a final activation from it without paying the associated CU cost.
Uniqueness: 3/3 - I can't find anything that comes close to what you're up to here, and it just seems...logical. Amazing work.
Flavor: 3/3 - I might be biased since I'm an accountant, but there's a subtle something about this that makes me smile. Perfectly Orzhov.
Quality: 3/3 - "Interests" should probably be singular for "loan", but for one *maybe* incorrect letter I can't justify an entire half-point deduction.
Main Challenge: 2/2 - Main Challenge is met.
Sub-Challenges: 2/2 - Both Subchallenges met.
Total: 23/25
Elegance: 3/3 - Make dudes, pump dudes. Very clean, very concise, very elegant.
Viability: 2/3 - This is definitely a red and kinda green card, rare is right for a consistent token generator that can be spitting out big dudes. But since they don't have haste, the green half of the CU payment is useless without setup on the red side first. I can see why, but it's still awkward to deal with.
Balance: 2.5/3 - I mean...this is a tribal card that'll obliterate in tribal decks, and is a strong card just on its own, to where it just...slots into anything that can use a mana sink. It doesn't need an engine, it is its own engine - and a very powerful one.
Uniqueness: 2/3 - There's not much unique with a red/green token-making enchantment, even with the CU attachment it draws fairly clear parallels to Jötun Owl Keeper.
Flavor: 1/3 - With a name like THE bloodhall, not making this legendary is a criminal mistake. And to that end, Bloodhall is more indicative of Red/Black than Red/Green - see Stensia Bloodhall and Bloodhall Priest. If this was Cumulative Upkeep R or B and made 1/1 vampires it would be a homerun, but as is...really really falls flat.
Quality: 3/3 - Absolutely zero problems here.
Main Challenge: 2/2 - Main Challenge was met.
Sub-Challenges: 2/2 - First subchallenge met. Second subchallenge...technically as written it passes but including the same mana color in the CU cost goes against what I feel is the spirit of the subchallenge. That said, segregating the colors mattering how you did makes me think you couldn't have kept it mono-red so I'll give you benefit of the doubt.
Total: 20/25
Elegance: 3/3 - It's a land that makes lands. Garden is...not the word I'd use for that, but I can't think of a better one without digging into a thesaurus so no deduction.
Viability: 2.5/3 - I entirely understand why this is mythic, but compared to Maze's End or Mirrorpool (the only other lands printed at mythic in non-promo sets) in terms of attention-getting it doesn't make the cut. Insofar as color pie...yeah that works.
Balance: 2/3 - Thawing Glaciers, eat your heart out. You can't play it turn 1 to any effect which is very good, but you're going to be hitting land drops every turn (and a couple extra lands to boot) for about as long as you want. You know those 13-land decks in MTG Arena that work super well in spite of how they really shouldn't? Something like this could make them a reality in paper.
Uniqueness: 1/3 - It's Hibernation's End but for basic lands instead of creatures. That's...really it.
Flavor: 3/3 - A name and flavor like that demand it be legendary. check. Needs flavor text. Check. Flavor text that's painfully, PAINFULLY on point...check. Too on point for my blood, but I can see WotC doing it so you're clean.
Quality: 3/3 - Had to double check wording between your and mirrodin's card, but you're both correct on templating for your respective effects.
Main Challenge: 2/2 - Main Challenge was met.
Sub-Challenges: 2/2 - Both Sub-Challenges met.
Total: 21.5/25
Elegance: 2.5/3 - There's a number of moving parts here. Once you see them all working it all comes together, but you have to see it first.
Viability: 2.5/3 - Pestilence says there's no need for red to be here. Rare is fair, mythic would be viable but you can make a case for it not moving up.
Balance: 2/3 - This is mardu's wet dream. I'll sweep the board, then attack with a 6/6 flier, my hand is full of removal to kill whatever you try playing to shut it off. In any reasonable design space this is going to be a force to be reckoned with, and the mana needed to get a kill from 20 life is entirely manageable. It's not going to BREAK a format but it's for sure going to make a regular appearance at the top tables.
Uniqueness: 2.5/3 - Following the time-honored tradition of 6/6 creatures for 4 with a drawback. But this drawback is attention-getting, and it comes with its own way to get around it, so props for that.
Flavor: 3/3 - If you've ever played Trivia Murder Party, you probably get a sense of what this is supposed to convey, and does so very well. I like it.
Quality: 3/3 - Templating looks fine, nothing amiss here.
Main Challenge: 2/2 - Main Challenge was met
Sub-Challenges: 1.5/2 - Technically both sub-challenges met, but unlike mirrodin's submission there's no good reason to have the CU cost be red outside of that being worth bonus points.
Total: 21.5/25
Bravelion83: 23/25
Freyleyes: 21.5/25
Flatline: 21.5/25
Mirrodin71: 20/25
Currently Playing:
GBStandard - Golgari Safari MidrangeBG
RBWModern - Mardu PyromancerWBR
RLegacy - Good Old Fashioned BurnR
Clan Contest 3 Mafia - Mafia Co-MVP
(2/3) Appeal: This is a fully point to Jxnny and a half-point each to Txmmy (who likes how this scales but doesn't want to wait for the big effect) and Spike (who likes machine gun removal that incidentally gains life but also is leery of cumulative upkeep cards NOT named Braid of Fire).
(3/3) Elegance: Pretty elegant stuff.
Development -
(2/3) Viability: Rare is correct, black mana in the cumulative upkeep cost is absolutely correct - but other than Orzhov flavor, there's no reason for this card to have white in the mana cost. It's not as though the effect is something that is a blend of white and black, it can be - and is - monoblack through and through. Now if it had a R cumulative upkeep cost or something then you'd get full viability points here.
(2/3) Balance: Cumulative upkeep is a harsh drawback, but this is still a removal engine. Dangerous if unchecked.
Creativity -
(1.5/3) Uniqueness: This color combination has plenty of ways to drain life over time and this card is conceptually similar to Magmatic Core.
(1.5/3) Flavor: To be perfectly honest I can't say I get this flavor all that well - the name is straightforward and reflects both the cumulative upkeep mechanic and how the Orzhov do business, but the flavor text appears to almost be restating the name, and it's also not telling me how a real-world economic concept is causing Orzhov mages to literally drain souls from their debtors.
Polish -
(3/3) Quality: Appears fine.
(2/2) *Main Challenge: Done.
(2/2) Subchallenges: And done.
Total: 19/25
(2.5/3) Appeal: Everyone can get into it at least somewhat. Txmmy likes that level of token generation, Jxnny has plenty to play around with, and Spike, although cumulative upkeep is a pricey drawback, loves the flexibility and tribal with a prevalent type.
(3/3) Elegance: A neat self-contained self-synergistic package.
Development -
(3/3) Viability: Everything about this feels right - effects per color are on point for the cumulative upkeep.
(3/3) Balance: Nice stuff, flexible and able to flood the board but certainly not that fast.
Creativity -
(2.5/3) Uniqueness: The best point of comparison is Balduvian Fallen and Assemble the Legion, which makes for a pretty wacky card.
(2.5/3) Flavor: No flavor text but I dig the overall aesthetic - there are other "Bloodhalls" in the planes such as the one Bloodhall Ooze is from and Stensia Bloodhall so I'm kind of digging a nonlegendary card with "The" in front of the name as it's maybe a universally applicable concept.
Polish -
(2/3) Quality: Missed italicization on the reminder text and some capitalization mistakes.
(2/2) *Main Challenge: Done.
(2/2) Subchallenges: And done.
Total: 22.5/25
(3/3) Appeal: Safe to say everyone likes ramp that doesn't cost them a card to use.
(2.5/3) Elegance: Nothing inelegant in the text itself but that's a lot of searching and shuffling, which eats up time.
Development -
(3/3) Viability: I very much prefer that cost to be green mana and this to be a legendary mythic, please. At a colorless upkeep cost or nonlegendary or any such thing, this card would probably be way off the rails.
(1.5/3) Balance: Slow to start and theoretically fine on its own but everything about this card screams abuseable. If Thawing Glaciers is dangerous then so is this card.
Creativity -
(1/3) Uniqueness: Definitely comparable to the aforementioned Thawing Glaciers as well as to a number of other lands.
(1.5/3) Flavor: Name feels legendary yet also generic. Flavor text doesn't help much; it doesn't really say anything that the name does not say.
Polish -
(3/3) Quality: Seems okay.
(2/2) *Main Challenge: Done.
(2/2) Subchallenges: And done (by virtue of having NO mana cost).
Total: 19.5/25
(2/3) Appeal: Seems to be basically a Txmmy/Jxnny card; this is too unreliable of a beater and too slow of a Pyrohemia by far for your average Spike.
(2/3) Elegance: Starts to get inelegant when there are two of them on the battlefield (there's a reason Demonic Rising makes tokens and doesn't turn into a creature). Also generally a wordy text box.
Development -
(2.5/3) Viability: While mass creature burn is a red thing nowadays, I think you could get away with making this a monoblack in all aspects card, calling back to Pestilence and the number of black enchantments that were variants of that very card. Double black in the mana cost plus red in the cumulative upkeep cost also just makes this card feel a bit awkard to use.
(3/3) Balance: This card is a bomb. So it's slow and expensive, like many bombs are today and like all bombs once were. As it seems to be an outright nostalgic card, I think that fits.
Creativity -
(2/3) Uniqueness: A nostalgic homage-y blend of old elements.
(1.5/3) Flavor: I get "Lurking Darkness" from the become-a-Demon condition a la the Urza block Lurking enchantments, but I don't get the mass burn from it, and the inclusion of the red mana cumulative upkeep cost isn't helping matters. I guess there's Bump in the Night to remind me of, maybe?
Polish -
(2.75/3) Quality: It's just "cumulative upkeep" that gets paid and not "cumulative upkeep cost" - but this is so minor I have to take off a quarter point only, which I basically never do.
(2/2) *Main Challenge: Done.
(2/2) Subchallenges: And done.
Total: 19.75/25
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝
(2/3) Appeal: Timmy likes doing lots of damage, Johnny sees a great proliferate/counter doubling output, and Spike sees a card that’s too big a mana investment to be worthwhile.
(3/3) Elegance: Clean and simple.
Development -
(1.5/3) Viability: A versatile, mana hungry source of repeatable removal/damage definitely belongs at rare. Whilst this card is Orzhov in colors it’s technically monowhite, and direct damage is quite the bend for it. Had this card been a black enchantment with a white CU cost I think that would have fit better.
(2.5/3) Balance: At worst this is 1 mana deal 1 damage gain 1 life, but unless you start the game with a dual land you’re not dropping this unless you can get a fair amount of value out of it. The payoff gets stronger over time and can put you ahead without you even developing a board which is definitely powerful, but the mana balance can be a big issue towards that goal and so eventually I think this will peter out in most decks (unless they run Urborg). Overall I think there are ways to break this card, but it’s not busted in of itself.
Creativity -
(3/3) Uniqueness: Nothing springs to my mind immediately in terms of similarity to this card. The effect like casting a bigger and bigger Death Grasp every turn and aside from the –X ability on Sorin, Grim Nemesis.
(2.5/3) Flavor: Compound interest sounds like a perfectly fitting name for an Orzhov card, but given what we know of the Orzhov their debts seem to be more exponential than incremental so this might be a little slow for them vorthos-wise, but it does the job well.
Polish -
(2.5/3) Quality: “Then you gain that much life” has never been templated before. It should either have been “and you gain that much life” (comma removed), or a separate sentence altogether.
(2/2) *Main Challenge: Met
(2/2) Subchallenges: Both met
Total: 19/25
(2.5/3) Appeal: Timmy loves making lots of creatures, and he loves making them all bigger too. Johnny like the versatility a lot. Spike sees no immediate payoff but appreciates being able to pump out lots of threats.
(2/3) Elegance: It seems a little off that the warriors don’t have haste. If you mix and match, you end up creating tokens and pumping them without them doing anything. Also, for a card named “The Bloodhall” you’d expect it to be legendary (and also possibly a land).
Development -
(2/3) Viability: This feels very red but not particularly green. Green’s pumping is solidly +n/+n instead of +n/+0 which is more red. If the effects/colors had been swapped around that might fit a little better, but this feels much more like a Boros card to me. In terms of power level it most certainly fits at rare.
(3/3) Balance: I think this is fine, token generation at a cheap mana rate is very nice, and pumping out your Warriors is a nice game ender but on the condition that you have enough warriors. It’s powerful, but requires some build around to be used to its full potential.
Creativity -
(3/3) Uniqueness: The closest card to this for me is Assemble the Legion which bears similarities by making an incremental number of tokens each upkeep, but without any mana investment or optional pumping.
(2/3) Flavor: I can imagine a gathering place for warriors itching for a fight to be called the Bloodhall, it gives me a big Nordic vibe for sure. But “The Bloodhall” is too generic a card name for Magic, something like “NAME, the Bloodhall” if you’re describing a place or “Bloodhall Brawl” also fits a lot better.
Polish -
(1.5/3) Quality: “gets” should be pluralized. Reminder text should be italicized.
(2/2) *Main Challenge: Met
(2/2) Subchallenges: Both Met
Total: 19/25
(3/3) Appeal: Timmy likes ramping for big creatures, johnny wants to abuse this with Landfall. Spike sees a free source of ramp, color fixing and deck thinning all at once.
(2.5/3) Elegance: Cumulative upkeep is so complex a mechanic I think I would add reminder text even on mythics.
Development -
(2.5/3) Viability: I suppose this card is monogreen because of the upkeep cost, and ramping for any kind of land falls under green’s slice of the pie. The effect is definitely powerful and has its merits as a Mythic too, although this could be a rare as well.
(1/3) Balance: I’m not sure I can call this balanced at all. This essentially ramps you every turn beyond the first upkeep trigger, and the fact that you can do that as early as turn 2 is a bit scary I think it’s at the cost of a land drop but you make up for very quickly. In the right decks this card thins out your deck so efficiently it can become very overwhelming. If this were to put the lands in tapped I might think differently, but this can help fix your colors and ramp you until you have enough lands so easily I think it’s too good.
Creativity -
(3/3) Uniqueness: Glacial Chasm and Halls of Mist are the only lands with Cumulative upkeep and none of them interact with the mechanic. I would say I’ve never seen a card like this one for sure.
(2.5/3) Flavor: The flavor indicates this place as a sort of Eden-esque land from which the rest of the world grew from. I think that fits but I think for a Magic card it would also be named as well, especially for a legendary land.
Polish -
(3/3) Quality: No issues here.
(2/2) *Main Challenge: Met
(2/2) Subchallenges: Met
Total: 22.5/25
(2.5/3) Appeal: Timmy likes a 6/6 with flying. Johnny wants to try and solve the puzzle of the Demon killing itself. Spike sees a long-term boardwipe and a finisher but with little immediate impact.
(2/3) Elegance: I might be a little confusing to people that it can end up damaging itself and dying beyond the Cumulative Upkeep trigger, but I think it shouldn’t be a huge issue. It may also be a little too wordy for a conventional MtG text box.
Development -
(3/3) Viability: The Loner mechanic is primarily black, and the cumulative upkeep effect is both red and black (it reminds me of Pestilence/Pyrohemia). Getting a 6/6 flyer as a reward for wiping the whole table is very strong and definitely fits at rare for its complexity.
(3/3) Balance: I think this card is well balanced. It’s fragile on two ends as it can die from Culumative Upkeep or by damaging itself if it’s a creature. The upside is that you get a massive flying beater that you can hide by just having another creature enter the battlefield. There’s a lot of choices you have to make to truly take advantage of this card, and the variety of angles you can take when playing this card make it powerful enough to justify its drawbacks.
Creativity -
(3/3) Uniqueness: I’ve never seen a card like this. An enchantment that’s a creature on an empty board kinda reminds me of the Opal/Hidden cards, but this is completely different to those.
(3/3) Flavor: The flavor of a Demon slowly wiping away all its enemies behind the scenes and finally making its appearance when all his enemies are gone is fantastic. The name conveys it perfectly too.
Polish -
(3/3) Quality: I wasn’t sure if the trigger was a when or a whenever but Balduvian Fallen says whenever. No mistakes.
(2/2) *Main Challenge: Met
(2/2) Subchallenges: Both met
Total: 23.5/25
mirrodin71 19/25
Freyleyes 22.5/25
Flatline 23.5/25
mirrodin71 19 + 20 + 22.5 + 19 = 80.5
Freyleyes 20.5 + 21.5 + 19.5 + 22.5 = 82
Flatline 19.5 + 21.5 + 19.75 + 23.5 = 83.25
bravelion83 19.25 + 23 + 19 + 19 = 80.25
Congratulations to Flatline!
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝