Soya Sen :symu::symw:
Legendary Creature - Advisor [R]
As Soya Sen enters the battlefield, choose a color.
Soya Sen is the chosen color, and has protection from the chosen color.
:symtap:: Counter target spell of the chosen color unless it's controller pays :1mana:.
1/1 "Trusting me is as unwise as it is necessary."
Reminiscence
Enchantment [R]
When Reminiscence enters the battlefield, put your graveyard on top of your library in any order.
You can’t search or shuffle your library.
:1mana::symu:, Sacrifice Reminiscence: Shuffle your library.
“Like all fiction, memories should be enjoyed in moderation.” - Soya Sen
Viax, Secretmonger :1mana::symu::symu:
Legendary Creature - Cephalid Advisor [M]
:1mana:: Look at target player’s hand, sideboard and face-down cards.
:1mana:: Players and permanents lose hexproof and shroud until end of turn.
:1mana:: Creatures lose landwalk and unblockable until end of turn.
0/5 ”I know the answers. You don’t even know the questions.”
"Not valuable enough. Tell me something else," Viax chirped dismissively.
"Not enough?? How is the location of Pallidia-Mors' third wand not valuable enough!?"
"I could tell you.. for a price." Viax's eyes betrayed his amusement. Soya was sure he said that exact phrase dozens of times a day.
"Grand Arbiter Ollyard has an illegitimate-"
"Daughter, I know."
Soya Sen grimaced. She had exhausted her supply of "safe" secrets. From this point on, anything she told Viax would put her reputation and personal safety at risk.
"Okay." Soya sighed. "Prince Meya is terminally ill. He'll be dead by month's end."
Viax's pupils widened for the slightest of moments. "Oh? And what makes you say that?"
"Because I've been poisoning his drinks with bitterblossom every time I've seen him at a royal event. Certainly you've noticed his absence from public events as of late."
"Rather foolish of you to use a poison so few have access to, Soya Sen."
"I have my reasons. And of course, common poisons have common remedies."
"Hmmph." Viax touched a tentacle to his chin as he pondered. "I'll have to verify this, of course. Come back tomorrow; if what you say is true, I'll tell you what I know about your former lover."
Soya turned slightly red, not enough for Viax to notice. "That has nothing to do with why I'm investigating her," she lied. Soya strode towards the exit. "See you tomorrow."
Alchemist Street IrregularsUR
Creature - Human Rogue (R)
Haste
Whenever Alchemist Street Irregulars deal damage to a player, draw a card then discard a card.
Whenever Alchemist Street Irregulars becomes the target of a spell or an ability, you may flip a coin. If you flip heads, counter that spell or ability and draw a card. If you flip tails, discard a card.
2/1
Excerpt of the Diary of Whispering Snaketongue:
I never liked "Scarlet" Jane much. (Does anyone truly believe that's her real name? People can be so stupid.) She was boastful, obnoxious and manipulative in such shameless ways that only the most idiotic of her "lovers" (read: "marks") could pass as playfulness. It made the rest of us -cautious, disciplined, educated- look like irrelevant sods even if we were as efficient or more at doing our job. I myself allowed to be entranced by her charms once, fool as I was in my younger years; it proved a most formative experience in the ways of women -or at least that kind of women- and I'm now much wiser.
Having said that, her murder -if real at all- cannot be celebrated or dismissed (I'm fully prepared to find out that it was another of her stupid gambits, but I need to be sure.) Having made herself an icon of our institution, leaving the matter of her disappearance in obscurity will reflect poorly in all of us. It was bad enough to live under her shadow when she was alive and well; it would be utterly inexcusable to allow her to condemn us to further irrelevance with her death.
Poring through our archives proved to be as useless as it was infuriating. Her ridiculous name plastered in so many papers kept providing pointless and at some times totally absurd lines of investigation that promised to be as fruitful and agreeable as searching for a straw amidst a pile of needles, so now I turn my head to the information running freely through the streets. Unlike our Jane, I've never been much of a man of action. However, a man with brains -and with a not too tightly shut bag of gold- may easily create for himself a network of street urchins willing to do all the grunt work leaving the brain of the operation alone to exercise his powerful mind.
It's always a source of amusement for me to hear the absurd amounts that some people would pay for magical devices or enchantments that grant invisibility (with a rather shaky percentage of success, it must be said.) A learned mind knows that nothing is more invisible than mundane normality. The beggars, the dirty-nosed kids running errands, the uniformed lowly guards and clumsy maids are the ones that will go unnoticed and see and hear the things that are locked for the most stealthy spies.
I'm calling it right now- worst rare in the set. Even good limited players will find better bombs at common and uncommon no sweat. Worst. Episode. Ever.
I really do predict this to be our worst rare in set award winner. I'd be happier opening a jar of eyeballs, so I think anything worse is highly unlikely. This card wont just have zero constructed potential, but not be significantly better than a mass of ghouls in a draft.
Nirik, Deceptive Gargoyle5
Legendary Artifact Creature - Gargoyle Rogue (MR)
Flying
Whenever Nirik, Deceptive Gargoyle would be destroyed, if it is a creature, it becomes a noncreature artifact until end of turn instead. (It is still legendary.)
4/4
Mind Filter2
Artifact (R)
Whenever you would draw a card, instead choose a card type. Then look at the top two cards of your library, you may reveal a card of the chosen type from among them and put it into your hand. Put the rest on the bottom of your library in any order. (The card types are artifact, creature, enchantment, instant, land, planeswalker, sorcery, and tribal.)
Placeholder
Private Mod Note
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I'll bet you wish you had a non-unglued/unhinged card that shared your first name.
The game is not being dumbed down. Control is doing fine; Draw-Go is not the only kind of control. Aggro is doing fine; Red Deck Wins is not the only kind of aggro. Creature combat is an important core concept and belongs in every color. Mythic rarity is not destroying the game. People whine too much for no good reason. Magic is more popular than ever, so keep calm, brew some decks and play some damn cards.
I haven't had reliable access to the internet, which is extra annoying because this is a really fun contest thus far. Nevertheless, I just got my critiques and top 3 posted in round 2 and will definitely have them on time this round. I wished I could've edited my card some more, everything wrong with it that was pointed out were errors I wanted to fix, but I'm sure you guys know how templating goes and leaving a card unfinished.
Onto this round...
TEAM NEMESIS
Olt, Guttercrawler 2GG
Legendary Creature - Ooze Rogue
Prowl - Discard a card.
When Olt, Guttercrawler dies, you may pay any amount of green mana. Put X 1/1 green Ooze tokens into play where X is the total amount of mana spent in this way.
Sacrifice an Ooze: Return Olt, Guttercrawler from your graveyard to your hand.
"Novice agents don't understand the benefits of leaving a meticulous trail."
3/4
"This city is all dead ends." Olt muttered to himself, dragging yet another accidental corpse to a murky, polluted river. Using violent means to obtain any information from such weak citizens only proved to be counter productive. Disposing of the bodies was not putting him in any risk, he was familiar with this process. How to dismember them, how to drain the blood, how to remove any identifying factors. He even knew the best places to bury them, where they'd be least likely to be discovered and even in the event that they were discovered, the local police wouldn't be bothered with such trivial matters.
But all this needless killing was proving bothersome because of how much time it was wasting. Not to mention, the disappearances of the common denizens was catching the attention of no one important. Olt was leaving nil impact and no one that could provide him any leads were aware of any of his activities. He knew he had to step up the level of his interrogations. Time is a currency unto itself and every second Jane got to her advantage put her riches vastly above Olt's. He knew he could prove she was still alive and all those inquisitions he performed would absolutely pale in comparison to what he had in mind for Scarlett Jane.
Olt didn't have to turn many stones before making his way to the academy where Scarlett Jane was an instructor. It seemed almost too obvious to him, but he didn't have time to waste. His expedition tempered by his irascibility, he bypassed the deans and officials of the school, knowing they would know even less than those he was torturing.
He knew the one instructor in the school who was constantly in jeopardy of being fired or worse because of their approach to discipline. Olt knew this instructor had a stranglehold on the attention of the student body, which opened up many new avenues for him to explore. Calling in a favor, he slid in through the drainage pipes of the school and formed in the office of the pedagogue who would be the key to retrieving his blackmail portfolio and exacting his revenge on Scarlett Jane.
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Kurnast, Venal Proctor2:symbu::symbu:
Legendary Creature - Wizard Advisor {R}
Hexproof.
:symbu:, Tap target untapped Minion: Draw a card.
:symbu:: Target creature with converted mana cost 3 or less becomes a Minion in addition to its other types.
1/4
"The bestowing of tradition is not an open dialogue."
HatterofMad
Very expensive for an effect that is very easy to navigate around. I do like where you're coming from, though. A delayed destruction effect is interesting in theory, but I can't see wanting to play 6 mana for a 2/3 that couldn't kill creatures properly. The further clause that causes their owner to discard cards and nets you cards is nice, but ultimately, this thing is fragile, expensive and any impact it would have on a game could only be a game you were already winning.
Small Child
Pretty expensive investment for a less than thrilling effect. Although I guess it would be nice that the cards stay exiled, so it isn't useless upon dying, it will still die easily and the amount of mana you pump into this thing won't really give you time to use the cards you've extracted from your opponent. Not to mention, a card like Standstill would give you quite an advantage that anyone can recognize. Your opponent won't have to give up much to not cast a spell while this thing is in play for you, and you'd have to leave 3 mana open just to get the search off, then you'd have to hope what you wanted was an Instant or had Flash, because then they'd have till the end of your turn to kill it.
Socrates
This is a fun mechanic here. Sort of like a playable Wanderwine Prophets, which is a weak comparison, but I like this guy. He is the primer to the game winning alpha strike, but in U/B, the alpha strike is hardly the key to victory. So really, getting an assault in can provide you a second turn to spin the game back into your favor. Good work, here.
EtR
Doesn't this card limit its own usefulness? If no creatures are revealed to share a type, then you get to place no counters and if they top deck that creature, they will play it if it's small enough to die from a -1/-1 counter and if it's big enough to survive, it won't be too big of a deal, right? Essentially, this card allows you to peek into your opponent's hand at the cost of UB each turn, besides the investment of 4 mana into a 2/4 witherer.
Prophylaxis
This feels like it should be UR and not UB. Otherwise, it has a solid body and a fun, though somewhat narrow effect. The flavor text helps it all come together nicely, so good touch there.
schtingah
The mechanics of this are really fun, but I have no idea why this is an offcolor Elf. Some flavor would help explain that. Nevertheless, I really like this idea, despite the fact that she effectively negates the damage you can do with her, and would usually cost you 2 life for the advantage of drawing a card every turn. Not to mention, she gains a toughness when she trades off, so she's even less killable when she's owned by your opponent. I think you may have tried too hard to balance her.
Cythare
n/a
Icarael
Now this is a fun one. I really like this card. Not too expensive, not too broken. It keeps its power in check in being pretty mana intensive, but could also prove itself to be very useful. And props on the RP'ing, it really sells the card even more than it needed.
So at 4 mana, you get a 2/3 who can only block and can put markers on creatures that turn them into Spies, which cause a trigger that exiles the top card of the opponent's library whenever they draw a card. Fun cumulatively, but also very flimsy. Also, I don't think I understand the flavor or if it has a relationship to the ongoing story. Is this character a grifter of some sort? Why do they turn people into Spies?
WUGPhelddagrif GGGOmnath, Locus of Mana BBBXiahou Dun, the One-Eyed RRRAshling, the Pilgrim BBWTeysa, Scion of Orzhov UUUTalrand, Sky Summoner UUBVela the Night-Clad GGBVhati il-Dal RUWRuhan of the Fomori
Corrupt OracleUB
Creature - Human Wizard (R)
Play with the top and bottom cards of each player's library revealed.
Pay 1 life: Exchange the top and bottom cards of target player's library. "Will your lost love return? For the right price I can foresee anything."
1/2
why does team lover have so many good designers? -.-
herbert west: Rules-wise, you can't target creatures in the cost of an ability. Targeting uses the stack and the payment of costs doesn't.
You could reword it to ":0mana:: If target Minion is untapped, tap it and draw a card."
You're right, I've been working on it piecemeal when I had access to a computer. Very wonky internet connection lately for whatever reason. It will be fixed now.
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BInfect BWDeath & Taxes UBRAffinity
RBurn UBRSac Land Tendrils UBRGOops, All Spells
WUGPhelddagrif GGGOmnath, Locus of Mana BBBXiahou Dun, the One-Eyed RRRAshling, the Pilgrim BBWTeysa, Scion of Orzhov UUUTalrand, Sky Summoner UUBVela the Night-Clad GGBVhati il-Dal RUWRuhan of the Fomori
Finding that insolent harridan Meeri was as easy as following the trail of street toughs tied up with silk scarves or trying to remove pieces of various furniture from various orifices of theirs. Follutt spotted her whistling nonchalantly as she slipped into a back alley before the law arrived to curb her midday fun. He swooped silently on her from behind but had to dodge a boomerang, three crossbow bolts, a thrown hatchet, and some slingshot stones before alighting beside her, matching her pace which hadn't slowed or quickened at all during her barrage.
"Doubtless you've heard the news," he began.
"Yes, and she was a glory-hounding kleptomaniac and may she get all she deserves in the afterlife."
"Regardless of your personal feelings, Meeri-viyya, you can't deny her loss changes things for all of us. Someone wants people in your line of work, and in mine, dead. And I intend to follow any leads I can get."
"Maybe, and maybe one of her many, many enemies was pushed too far and finally caught up with her. And don't call me viyya; I'm not your little sister and we aren't even the same species for Yurn's sake."
Follutt looked concerned for just a moment, and then produced a book that made Meeri's eyes light up.
"Is that--?" she stammered.
"An unexpurgated copy of the Concealing Quarto, indeed. And it's yours so long as you answer me one question: What do you know about the Fulsome Path?"
Meeri, Pragmatic Brawler2UR
Legendary Creature - Human Rogue (R)
Whenever Meeri, Pragmatic Brawler attacks, choose a number, then reveal the top card of your library. If the revealed card has converted mana cost equal to the chosen number, put it into your graveyard and Meeri gets +X/+0 and gains first strike until end of turn, where X is that card's converted mana cost. Otherwise, put it into your hand. For every weapon in her hand she has three up her sleeves.
2/2
One by one, names were crossed off from the list in his leather-bound book. Each one had bits and snippets of information but none of them had what he needed. As the another day came to a close, he had too few answers and too many corpses. It would take far too long to go through all of her lovers at this rate and time was precious. If he wanted more specific information,then itt was time to go higher up the food chain.
In the city, titles could be acquired in two ways. The first was by inheritance, from one heir to the next. The second way was purchasing them, over the years Korin had bought and sold dozens of titles, keeping some for himself and selling off the others to certain people of means.
That night he came to the door of one such person, Lord Boyle.
Lord Boyle was a schemer, and a good one at that. He had started as a middle echelon merchants son. However, he made friends with the right merchants above his station and soon, became well versed in the economic and political schemes of the city. Soon he was considered the person to see when you had a question of economics or finances. He advised several members of parliament, and even a few royals from time to time, and turn he was rewarded with favors, gifts, and trinkets of appreciation. He eventually acquired enough capital to purchase a title and the manor that came with it. However, only Korin knew that what he had was not enough for the greedy little snake. A fact he planned to exploit tonight.
Korin was ushered inside by a vendalken manservant and was seated at the table where Lord Boyle dined. Even in the dining room there were lavish displays of wealth,expensive tapestries and several valuable artifacts on pedestals around the room. After a few customary platitudes they came to the business at hand.
“ As much as its been dleightful catching up Korin,perhaps you can tell me why you've called on me this evening?”
Korin slid over a small piece of paper “ I’m was hoping you would be so kind as to give me certain information,information I know you can provide with your varied merchant contacts.”
Lord Boyle glanced at the slip of paper and nearly spit out his dinner as he quickly snapped “Even if I had this information, what makes you think that I’d give it to you for free.?”
Korin smiled and pulled out his black leather book, flipping back a few pages before pointing to one of the trinkets on a pedestal, a rather lagre an impressive blue gem.
“ That’s a sky sapphire, one of five in existence, cut from the large stone found in a great dragon horde, called such because of it’s bright blue hues and the way it refracts the light. It’s surprisingly delicate, for a gem.”
“ You think this little history lesson will convince me?”
Korin smile fell as he then snapped “ No, you twit. I happen to know that that particular was stolen from another lord several years ago, though it was thought to be sold on the black market several cities away from here.”
He paused and stood up as he got closer to the stone and let the next words fall carefully “ In reality, you had it stolen and brought to your home. No doubt you saw it when you and the lord in question were in talks concerning the upcoming drought and it's effect on wheat prices. You just had to make it yours didn't you? I must say you do have excellent tatse though, the gem is worth more than three of these manors” With that he smiled once more before reaching out and gently tilting the stone on it's perch as gravity did the rest and it crashed on the floor, shattering. Lord Boyle let out a small squeal.
“ Yet it is a pittance compared to all of the other stolen things you have in this home, I noticed at least five other high value stolen items on my way in. I thought at first I’d just black mail you by threatening to tell the various nobles just what you've stolen from them over the years, that would have been enough. However, your trying my patience, and I’ve had a long couple of days. So instead, for every minute you stonewall me,I’ll just break another one of your shiny little toys…are we clear?”
Lord Boyle, swallowed hard, moved to speak, and then finally hung his head low as he said sullenly.
“ As you wish. I'll tell you all I know”
"Excellent."
Covetous Vizier2UB
Creature-Human Advisor (R)
When Covetous Vizier, search target opponent's library for an artifact card and put it onto the battlefield under your control for as long as you control Covetous Vizier.
Sacrifice an artifact: You may draw cards equal to it’s converted mana cost His words may be at your ear but his eyes are on your treasure.
1/3
You may have trained under Jane's tutelage, but she wasn't the only one who made you the spy you are today. There were other master spies who helped shape your talents. You're still on good terms with one of them. they're retired now, but still keep tabs on what's going on, and their insight will be invaluable. Go and talk to them, and see what they can make of what you found. Since the inside job investigation you were conducting has reached a dead end.
Elise, Hidden Informant1U
Legendary Creature - Elf Spy (R)
Whenever you gain control of Elise, Hidden Informant, draw a card.
At the end of your turn, flip Elise, Hidden Informant and target opponent gains control of it.
2/2
///////////////////////////////////////////// Elise, Undercover Guard
Legendary Creature - Elf Soldier (R)
Whenever you gain control of Elise, Undercover Guard, you gain 2 life.
At the end of your turn, flip Elise, Undercover Guard and its owner gains control of it.
2/3
The card is dripping with flavor. In that regard, it meets the challenge nicely. It fails in all other aspects though. A blue Elf split card that flips every turn for a negligible effect is unprintable. It has not appeal to Timmy, Johnny, or Spike. Only Vorthos might play this, making it highly unplayable.
Fonzo, Old Hand2UB
Legendary Creature - Human Spy
Wither UB:symtap:: Target opponent reveals their hand. For each creature card revealed this way if there is a creature on the battlefield with the same name, put a -1/-1 counter on that creature. I have connections all over the city. If they show their face, I've got a nice surprise for them.
2/4
The flavor is decent thanks to the flavor text. I’m not sure why he has wither though. Is it because he’s “old” and “withered”? Your Mango is slightly off, the card’s formatting is lacking, and you didn’t include a rarity. Fortunately, it’s comprehensible. The ability is incredibly weak, especially for a legend. The chances of your opponent having a creature card in hand with the same name as a creature on the battlefield is slim. And even when they do, the payoff of putting a single -1/-1 counter on that creature is negligible. The only reason it’s playable at all is due to the fact it has a mana cost. Though, like the card above, Vorthos might play this because he doesn’t expect to win anyways.
Tobias Fauric2UB
Legendary Creature - Human Spy Wizard (M)
Hexproof XUB,T: Target opponent reveals the top X cards of his or her library. You may cast an instant or sorcery among the revealed cards without paying its mana cost, then that opponent puts the rest of the revealed cards on the bottom of his or her library in any order.
2/2 "The best spies don't just find out secrets; they use them."
Flavorful and balanced with the exception of hexproof, which is flavorful but pushes the power. Quite playable. It should be UR. Otherwise perfect for the protégé challenge.
Asad, Blade of the King4UB
Legendary Creature - Human Assassin UB, T: Tap Target Creature, destory it at the beginning of the next end step.
Whenever a tapped creature you don't control dies, its controller discards a card and you draw a card. Once a target is marked by the Blade of the king, it is only a matter of time till it meets its end.
2/3
The flavor is good. This is one serious contact. Balanced mechanically for the most part. The only thing that’s off is that when any tapped creature you don’t control dies you get the draw/discard benefit rather than when only when the creature destroyed by Asad dies, which would warp combat in a very non-Assassin fashion.
Gerrik, the Maskmaker2UW
Legendary Creature- Human Rogue (R) XUW,T: Choose up to X target creatures you control. For each creature chosen this way, you may have it become a copy of target nonlegendary creature until end of turn. He uses spun air and glamers to sculpt his works, creating masks that truly hide their wearers' identity.
2/2
Good flavor. Mechanically balanced. Mirrorweave on legs. Not amazing but playable. Got your mana symbols backwards. Fulfills the challenge nicely.
Braddock, Shadowsage1UB
Legendary Creature - Human Rogue (R)
At the beginning of your end step, if you control three or more other creatures and each creature you control dealt combat damage to a player this turn, you may exile Braddock, Shadowsage. If you do, take an extra turn after this one. 1B: Target creature gains intimidate until end of turn. "My time in the shadows is over. But yours is just beginning."
1/3
The flavor is excellent. It's balanced mechanically. It's a really well packaged card, it's very original, and fulfills the challenge perfectly.
Octorus, the Eye2UB Legendary Creature - Human Advisor
Whenever an opponent casts a spell, you may pay 1UB. If you do, search that player's library for a card and exile it face down. That player then shuffles his or her library.
You may play face-down cards exiled with Octorus, the Eye.
0/2
Nice flavor. Mechanically balanced. It could easily be more than 0/2. Praetor's Grasp on legs. It's meets the challenge nicely.
Manchuria, the SleeperUUBB
Legendary Creature - Spirit Vampire (MR)
Defender
Spy creatures your opponents control have “Whenever you draw a card, exile the top card of your library.” T: Target creature becomes a spy in addition to it’s creature types. (This effect does not end at the end of turn) "Have you seen my queen of diamonds?"
2/3
A mythic color intensive Spirit Vampire named Manchuria with defender and a slow buildup ability? “Manchuria is a historical name given to a large geographic region in northeast Asia”, so it’s probably not a good name for a card. And it’s a mighty stretch from random guy’s card being exiled to “Have you seen my queen of diamonds?” The tap ability is the best if not the only thing it has going for it. I see potential in this card, but it needs quite a bit of polishing.
1st Place: Socrates
2nd Place: Prophylaxis
3rd Place: Small Child
Arcel - Nifty. Either a spectre that doesn't fly or a Stealer of Secrets that pings you when you connect. I like the versatility here, although the slight asymmetry bugs me. Flavor's good though.
Maokun - Interesting, and somewhat difficult to evaluate. A two-mana 2/1 haste that loots is pretty incredible, although I'm not sure how I feel about the second half of the card. It's something both players can exploit at the expense of using cards to target it, making for a curious little mini-game.
void_nothing - Neato. Most of the time you'll just get two cards a turn, but every now and then you'll get a hell of a beater instead. I'd imagine if you built the deck right, you can filter out cards that are situationally unhelpful this way - say, a second copy of his guy.
Ninja_Caterpie - It looks like a fine card, although the design doesn't do anything for me. It's very hard to block, and the ability is very steep to activate (compare to Azure Mage - you're changing colors and restricting its use). Not really sure what the flavor is supposed to be here.
Saagn - Strong, but I like it. The first ability needs some fixing - costs can't target, and the way it's worded it immediately mills someone out when you drop him.
Arcel
Ok, nice little story and a pretty solid uncommon here. Really wants evasion of some kind though, intimidate? Would push it from a mediocre guy to a high pick without breaking it, I think.
Maokun
RP is good. The card is a little busy, but I guess it makes decent sense. I'm not sure I like how the looting is also stapled onto the ability countering trigger, but I guess it sort of encourages the opponent to try his luck with removal.
void_nothing
Best RP award. Card is weird and seems overcosted; maybe you can set it up to hit +15/+0 or whatever, but that would take a lot of work. I think I would like this much more as a mono-red uncommon that just did the throwing the top card trick, choosing numbers and drawing the card sort of loses the flavor.
Ninja_Caterpie
I don't know that it needs both deathtouch and intimidate, I think you just want to encourage players to attack with it. The activated ability is cute in that it can grab multiple cards if activated multiple times.
Saagn
I don't think you can target in the cost, look at Soldevi Sentry. The concept is interesting, undercosted flying with the drawback of giving the opponent card selection, or even card advantage if they can stop it. Cute package, makes sense in black.
1. Ninja Caterpie (activated draw trigger was the best idea this round)
2. Saagn (slightly off in execution, but an interesting drawback)
3. Maokun (ambitious, needed some tweaking)
Backstreet Dealer2BB
Creature - Rat Rogue {U}
Whenever Backstreet Dealer deals combat damage to a player, choose one - That player discards a card; or pay 1 life, then draw a card. "I can take his belongings. But if you want them, there's a price."
2/2
Cool. I like this a lot. Could use some evasion of course.
If it were me (because i love symmetry) would add "and loses 1 life" or "and you gain 1 life" to the "player discards a card" part.
Scarred Beggar1B
Creature - Human Rogue (U)
Deathtouch, intimidate 2U: Whenever Scarred Beggar deals combat damage to a player this turn, draw a card.
1/1
both deathtouch and intimidate seems unnecessary, but makes flavor sense i guess. an excellent design overall
i had something in my custom cube that was like this except the ability was "2G: Draw a card. Activate this ability only if ~ dealt combat damage to a player this turn."
Shadow Leaper BB
Creature - Imp (U)
Target opponent draws a card: Shadow Prowler gains flying until end of turn
Whenever Shadow Prowler deals damage to a player, that player discards a card. It’ll have your secrets, almost before you know it’s there.
2/2
a cost shouldn't target, i imagine you'll be hearing this from other judges. should say something like "an opponent of your choice draws a card:"
would add a clause to the ability saying "activate this ability only once each turn" otherwise you can make all your opponent draw all cards in their library and lose the game
you have an interesting idea here, it just needs a lot of work
Alchemist Street IrregularsUR
Creature - Human Rogue (R)
Haste
Whenever Alchemist Street Irregulars deal damage to a player, draw a card then discard a card.
Whenever Alchemist Street Irregulars becomes the target of a spell or an ability, you may flip a coin. If you flip heads, counter that spell or ability and draw a card. If you flip tails, discard a card.
2/1
maybe a little wordy, but otherwise i've got no problems with this as is
Meeri, Pragmatic Brawler2UR
Legendary Creature - Human Rogue (R)
Whenever Meeri, Pragmatic Brawler attacks, choose a number, then reveal the top card of your library. If the revealed card has converted mana cost equal to the chosen number, put it into your graveyard and Meeri gets +X/+0 and gains first strike until end of turn, where X is that card's converted mana cost. Otherwise, put it into your hand. For every weapon in her hand she has three up her sleeves.
2/2
Wish this said to reveal until you get a nonland card.
This package is just a little hard to grok on the first read through, and will fall flat just so often. Well, you'll most often get a card out of the deal, which is ok, but not so hot on a 2/2 for 4 mana.
Arcel :
Backstreet Dealer 2BB
Creature - Rat Rogue {U}
Whenever Backstreet Dealer deals combat damage to a player, choose one - That player discards a card; or pay 1 life, then draw a card.
"I can take his belongings. But if you want them, there's a price."
2/2
This card needs some love. Intimidate, or +1/+0, or something.
Ninja Caterpie :
Scarred Beggar 1B
Creature - Human Rogue (U)
Deathtouch, intimidate
: Whenever Scarred Beggar deals combat damage to a player this turn, draw a card.
1/1
The flavor is kinda cool. Pretty devastating in limited.
Saagn :
Shadow Leaper BB
Creature - Imp (U)
Target opponent draws a card: Shadow Prowler gains flying until end of turn
Whenever Shadow Prowler deals damage to a player, that player discards a card.
It’ll have your secrets, almost before you know it’s there.
2/2
I don't understand the flavor connection between this card gaining flying and your opponent drawing a card.
Maokun :
Alchemist Street Irregulars UR
Creature - Human Rogue (R)
Haste
Whenever Alchemist Street Irregulars deal damage to a player, draw a card then discard a card.
Whenever Alchemist Street Irregulars becomes the target of a spell or an ability, you may flip a coin. If you flip heads, counter that spell or ability and draw a card. If you flip tails, discard a card.
2/1
This card makes some sense flavor-wise. I'm not sure if the coin-flipping ability is more hassle than it's worth.
void_nothing :
Meeri, Pragmatic Brawler 2UR
Legendary Creature - Human Rogue (R)
Whenever Meeri, Pragmatic Brawler attacks, choose a number, then reveal the top card of your library. If the revealed card has converted mana cost equal to the chosen number, put it into your graveyard and Meeri gets +X/+0 and gains first strike until end of turn, where X is that card's converted mana cost. Otherwise, put it into your hand.
For every weapon in her hand she has three up her sleeves.
2/2
I would've given the controller the card either way. As is, Meeri getting the bonus feels a bit like you lost.
Top 3:
1. void_nothing
2. maokun
3. Ninja caterpie
Soya Sen :symu::symw:
Legendary Creature - Advisor [R]
As Soya Sen enters the battlefield, choose a color.
Soya Sen is the chosen color, and has protection from the chosen color.
:symtap:: Counter target spell of the chosen color unless it's controller pays :1mana:.
1/1
"Trusting me is as unwise as it is necessary."
Reminiscence
Enchantment [R]
When Reminiscence enters the battlefield, put your graveyard on top of your library in any order.
You can’t search or shuffle your library.
:1mana::symu:, Sacrifice Reminiscence: Shuffle your library.
“Like all fiction, memories should be enjoyed in moderation.” - Soya Sen
Viax, Secretmonger :1mana::symu::symu:
Legendary Creature - Cephalid Advisor [M]
:1mana:: Look at target player’s hand, sideboard and face-down cards.
:1mana:: Players and permanents lose hexproof and shroud until end of turn.
:1mana:: Creatures lose landwalk and unblockable until end of turn.
0/5
”I know the answers. You don’t even know the questions.”
"Not enough?? How is the location of Pallidia-Mors' third wand not valuable enough!?"
"I could tell you.. for a price." Viax's eyes betrayed his amusement. Soya was sure he said that exact phrase dozens of times a day.
"Grand Arbiter Ollyard has an illegitimate-"
"Daughter, I know."
Soya Sen grimaced. She had exhausted her supply of "safe" secrets. From this point on, anything she told Viax would put her reputation and personal safety at risk.
"Okay." Soya sighed. "Prince Meya is terminally ill. He'll be dead by month's end."
Viax's pupils widened for the slightest of moments. "Oh? And what makes you say that?"
"Because I've been poisoning his drinks with bitterblossom every time I've seen him at a royal event. Certainly you've noticed his absence from public events as of late."
"Rather foolish of you to use a poison so few have access to, Soya Sen."
"I have my reasons. And of course, common poisons have common remedies."
"Hmmph." Viax touched a tentacle to his chin as he pondered. "I'll have to verify this, of course. Come back tomorrow; if what you say is true, I'll tell you what I know about your former lover."
Soya turned slightly red, not enough for Viax to notice. "That has nothing to do with why I'm investigating her," she lied. Soya strode towards the exit. "See you tomorrow."
4th place at CCC&G Pro Tour
Chances of bad hands (<2 or >4 land):
21: 28.9%
22: 27.5%
23: 26.3%
24: 25.5%
25: 25.1%
26: 25.3%
Alchemist Street Irregulars UR
Creature - Human Rogue (R)
Haste
Whenever Alchemist Street Irregulars deal damage to a player, draw a card then discard a card.
Whenever Alchemist Street Irregulars becomes the target of a spell or an ability, you may flip a coin. If you flip heads, counter that spell or ability and draw a card. If you flip tails, discard a card.
2/1
Excerpt of the Diary of Whispering Snaketongue:
I never liked "Scarlet" Jane much. (Does anyone truly believe that's her real name? People can be so stupid.) She was boastful, obnoxious and manipulative in such shameless ways that only the most idiotic of her "lovers" (read: "marks") could pass as playfulness. It made the rest of us -cautious, disciplined, educated- look like irrelevant sods even if we were as efficient or more at doing our job. I myself allowed to be entranced by her charms once, fool as I was in my younger years; it proved a most formative experience in the ways of women -or at least that kind of women- and I'm now much wiser.
Having said that, her murder -if real at all- cannot be celebrated or dismissed (I'm fully prepared to find out that it was another of her stupid gambits, but I need to be sure.) Having made herself an icon of our institution, leaving the matter of her disappearance in obscurity will reflect poorly in all of us. It was bad enough to live under her shadow when she was alive and well; it would be utterly inexcusable to allow her to condemn us to further irrelevance with her death.
Poring through our archives proved to be as useless as it was infuriating. Her ridiculous name plastered in so many papers kept providing pointless and at some times totally absurd lines of investigation that promised to be as fruitful and agreeable as searching for a straw amidst a pile of needles, so now I turn my head to the information running freely through the streets. Unlike our Jane, I've never been much of a man of action. However, a man with brains -and with a not too tightly shut bag of gold- may easily create for himself a network of street urchins willing to do all the grunt work leaving the brain of the operation alone to exercise his powerful mind.
It's always a source of amusement for me to hear the absurd amounts that some people would pay for magical devices or enchantments that grant invisibility (with a rather shaky percentage of success, it must be said.) A learned mind knows that nothing is more invisible than mundane normality. The beggars, the dirty-nosed kids running errands, the uniformed lowly guards and clumsy maids are the ones that will go unnoticed and see and hear the things that are locked for the most stealthy spies.
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Legendary Artifact Creature - Gargoyle Rogue (MR)
Flying
Whenever Nirik, Deceptive Gargoyle would be destroyed, if it is a creature, it becomes a noncreature artifact until end of turn instead. (It is still legendary.)
4/4
Artifact (R)
Whenever you would draw a card, instead choose a card type. Then look at the top two cards of your library, you may reveal a card of the chosen type from among them and put it into your hand. Put the rest on the bottom of your library in any order. (The card types are artifact, creature, enchantment, instant, land, planeswalker, sorcery, and tribal.)
Scarred Ogre (Uncommon)
1R
Creature - Ogre Warrior
3/2
Tortured Ogre can't attack or block as long as an opponent controls an Equipment.
Mythic rarity is not destroying the game. People whine too much for no good reason. Magic is more popular than ever, so keep calm, brew some decks and play some damn cards.
Onto this round...
TEAM NEMESIS
Olt, Guttercrawler 2GG
Legendary Creature - Ooze Rogue
Prowl - Discard a card.
When Olt, Guttercrawler dies, you may pay any amount of green mana. Put X 1/1 green Ooze tokens into play where X is the total amount of mana spent in this way.
Sacrifice an Ooze: Return Olt, Guttercrawler from your graveyard to your hand.
"Novice agents don't understand the benefits of leaving a meticulous trail."
3/4
"This city is all dead ends." Olt muttered to himself, dragging yet another accidental corpse to a murky, polluted river. Using violent means to obtain any information from such weak citizens only proved to be counter productive. Disposing of the bodies was not putting him in any risk, he was familiar with this process. How to dismember them, how to drain the blood, how to remove any identifying factors. He even knew the best places to bury them, where they'd be least likely to be discovered and even in the event that they were discovered, the local police wouldn't be bothered with such trivial matters.
But all this needless killing was proving bothersome because of how much time it was wasting. Not to mention, the disappearances of the common denizens was catching the attention of no one important. Olt was leaving nil impact and no one that could provide him any leads were aware of any of his activities. He knew he had to step up the level of his interrogations. Time is a currency unto itself and every second Jane got to her advantage put her riches vastly above Olt's. He knew he could prove she was still alive and all those inquisitions he performed would absolutely pale in comparison to what he had in mind for Scarlett Jane.
Olt didn't have to turn many stones before making his way to the academy where Scarlett Jane was an instructor. It seemed almost too obvious to him, but he didn't have time to waste. His expedition tempered by his irascibility, he bypassed the deans and officials of the school, knowing they would know even less than those he was torturing.
He knew the one instructor in the school who was constantly in jeopardy of being fired or worse because of their approach to discipline. Olt knew this instructor had a stranglehold on the attention of the student body, which opened up many new avenues for him to explore. Calling in a favor, he slid in through the drainage pipes of the school and formed in the office of the pedagogue who would be the key to retrieving his blackmail portfolio and exacting his revenge on Scarlett Jane.
----------
Kurnast, Venal Proctor 2:symbu::symbu:
Legendary Creature - Wizard Advisor {R}
Hexproof.
:symbu:, Tap target untapped Minion: Draw a card.
:symbu:: Target creature with converted mana cost 3 or less becomes a Minion in addition to its other types.
1/4
"The bestowing of tradition is not an open dialogue."
HatterofMad
Very expensive for an effect that is very easy to navigate around. I do like where you're coming from, though. A delayed destruction effect is interesting in theory, but I can't see wanting to play 6 mana for a 2/3 that couldn't kill creatures properly. The further clause that causes their owner to discard cards and nets you cards is nice, but ultimately, this thing is fragile, expensive and any impact it would have on a game could only be a game you were already winning.
Small Child
Pretty expensive investment for a less than thrilling effect. Although I guess it would be nice that the cards stay exiled, so it isn't useless upon dying, it will still die easily and the amount of mana you pump into this thing won't really give you time to use the cards you've extracted from your opponent. Not to mention, a card like Standstill would give you quite an advantage that anyone can recognize. Your opponent won't have to give up much to not cast a spell while this thing is in play for you, and you'd have to leave 3 mana open just to get the search off, then you'd have to hope what you wanted was an Instant or had Flash, because then they'd have till the end of your turn to kill it.
Socrates
This is a fun mechanic here. Sort of like a playable Wanderwine Prophets, which is a weak comparison, but I like this guy. He is the primer to the game winning alpha strike, but in U/B, the alpha strike is hardly the key to victory. So really, getting an assault in can provide you a second turn to spin the game back into your favor. Good work, here.
EtR
Doesn't this card limit its own usefulness? If no creatures are revealed to share a type, then you get to place no counters and if they top deck that creature, they will play it if it's small enough to die from a -1/-1 counter and if it's big enough to survive, it won't be too big of a deal, right? Essentially, this card allows you to peek into your opponent's hand at the cost of UB each turn, besides the investment of 4 mana into a 2/4 witherer.
Prophylaxis
This feels like it should be UR and not UB. Otherwise, it has a solid body and a fun, though somewhat narrow effect. The flavor text helps it all come together nicely, so good touch there.
schtingah
The mechanics of this are really fun, but I have no idea why this is an offcolor Elf. Some flavor would help explain that. Nevertheless, I really like this idea, despite the fact that she effectively negates the damage you can do with her, and would usually cost you 2 life for the advantage of drawing a card every turn. Not to mention, she gains a toughness when she trades off, so she's even less killable when she's owned by your opponent. I think you may have tried too hard to balance her.
Cythare
n/a
Icarael
Now this is a fun one. I really like this card. Not too expensive, not too broken. It keeps its power in check in being pretty mana intensive, but could also prove itself to be very useful. And props on the RP'ing, it really sells the card even more than it needed.
Vexing Arcanix
So at 4 mana, you get a 2/3 who can only block and can put markers on creatures that turn them into Spies, which cause a trigger that exiles the top card of the opponent's library whenever they draw a card. Fun cumulatively, but also very flimsy. Also, I don't think I understand the flavor or if it has a relationship to the ongoing story. Is this character a grifter of some sort? Why do they turn people into Spies?
Thelas
n/a
1 Icarael
2 Socrates
3 schtingah
B Infect
BW Death & Taxes
UBR Affinity
R Burn
UBR Sac Land Tendrils
UBRG Oops, All Spells
WUG Phelddagrif
GGG Omnath, Locus of Mana
BBB Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed
RRR Ashling, the Pilgrim
BBW Teysa, Scion of Orzhov
UUU Talrand, Sky Summoner
UUB Vela the Night-Clad
GGB Vhati il-Dal
RUW Ruhan of the Fomori
Corrupt Oracle UB
Creature - Human Wizard (R)
Play with the top and bottom cards of each player's library revealed.
Pay 1 life: Exchange the top and bottom cards of target player's library.
"Will your lost love return? For the right price I can foresee anything."
1/2
herbert west: Rules-wise, you can't target creatures in the cost of an ability. Targeting uses the stack and the payment of costs doesn't.
You could reword it to ":0mana:: If target Minion is untapped, tap it and draw a card."
EDIT: two Braddocks. Am I missing something?
4th place at CCC&G Pro Tour
Chances of bad hands (<2 or >4 land):
21: 28.9%
22: 27.5%
23: 26.3%
24: 25.5%
25: 25.1%
26: 25.3%
You're right, I've been working on it piecemeal when I had access to a computer. Very wonky internet connection lately for whatever reason. It will be fixed now.
B Infect
BW Death & Taxes
UBR Affinity
R Burn
UBR Sac Land Tendrils
UBRG Oops, All Spells
WUG Phelddagrif
GGG Omnath, Locus of Mana
BBB Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed
RRR Ashling, the Pilgrim
BBW Teysa, Scion of Orzhov
UUU Talrand, Sky Summoner
UUB Vela the Night-Clad
GGB Vhati il-Dal
RUW Ruhan of the Fomori
Signup Card
Round 1
Finding that insolent harridan Meeri was as easy as following the trail of street toughs tied up with silk scarves or trying to remove pieces of various furniture from various orifices of theirs. Follutt spotted her whistling nonchalantly as she slipped into a back alley before the law arrived to curb her midday fun. He swooped silently on her from behind but had to dodge a boomerang, three crossbow bolts, a thrown hatchet, and some slingshot stones before alighting beside her, matching her pace which hadn't slowed or quickened at all during her barrage.
"Doubtless you've heard the news," he began.
"Yes, and she was a glory-hounding kleptomaniac and may she get all she deserves in the afterlife."
"Regardless of your personal feelings, Meeri-viyya, you can't deny her loss changes things for all of us. Someone wants people in your line of work, and in mine, dead. And I intend to follow any leads I can get."
"Maybe, and maybe one of her many, many enemies was pushed too far and finally caught up with her. And don't call me viyya; I'm not your little sister and we aren't even the same species for Yurn's sake."
Follutt looked concerned for just a moment, and then produced a book that made Meeri's eyes light up.
"Is that--?" she stammered.
"An unexpurgated copy of the Concealing Quarto, indeed. And it's yours so long as you answer me one question: What do you know about the Fulsome Path?"
Meeri, Pragmatic Brawler 2UR
Legendary Creature - Human Rogue (R)
Whenever Meeri, Pragmatic Brawler attacks, choose a number, then reveal the top card of your library. If the revealed card has converted mana cost equal to the chosen number, put it into your graveyard and Meeri gets +X/+0 and gains first strike until end of turn, where X is that card's converted mana cost. Otherwise, put it into your hand.
For every weapon in her hand she has three up her sleeves.
2/2
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝
Sign up:
The Spy
Round 1
The Method
Round 2
One by one, names were crossed off from the list in his leather-bound book. Each one had bits and snippets of information but none of them had what he needed. As the another day came to a close, he had too few answers and too many corpses. It would take far too long to go through all of her lovers at this rate and time was precious. If he wanted more specific information,then itt was time to go higher up the food chain.
In the city, titles could be acquired in two ways. The first was by inheritance, from one heir to the next. The second way was purchasing them, over the years Korin had bought and sold dozens of titles, keeping some for himself and selling off the others to certain people of means.
That night he came to the door of one such person, Lord Boyle.
Lord Boyle was a schemer, and a good one at that. He had started as a middle echelon merchants son. However, he made friends with the right merchants above his station and soon, became well versed in the economic and political schemes of the city. Soon he was considered the person to see when you had a question of economics or finances. He advised several members of parliament, and even a few royals from time to time, and turn he was rewarded with favors, gifts, and trinkets of appreciation. He eventually acquired enough capital to purchase a title and the manor that came with it. However, only Korin knew that what he had was not enough for the greedy little snake. A fact he planned to exploit tonight.
Korin was ushered inside by a vendalken manservant and was seated at the table where Lord Boyle dined. Even in the dining room there were lavish displays of wealth,expensive tapestries and several valuable artifacts on pedestals around the room. After a few customary platitudes they came to the business at hand.
“ As much as its been dleightful catching up Korin,perhaps you can tell me why you've called on me this evening?”
Korin slid over a small piece of paper “ I’m was hoping you would be so kind as to give me certain information,information I know you can provide with your varied merchant contacts.”
Lord Boyle glanced at the slip of paper and nearly spit out his dinner as he quickly snapped “Even if I had this information, what makes you think that I’d give it to you for free.?”
Korin smiled and pulled out his black leather book, flipping back a few pages before pointing to one of the trinkets on a pedestal, a rather lagre an impressive blue gem.
“ That’s a sky sapphire, one of five in existence, cut from the large stone found in a great dragon horde, called such because of it’s bright blue hues and the way it refracts the light. It’s surprisingly delicate, for a gem.”
“ You think this little history lesson will convince me?”
Korin smile fell as he then snapped “ No, you twit. I happen to know that that particular was stolen from another lord several years ago, though it was thought to be sold on the black market several cities away from here.”
He paused and stood up as he got closer to the stone and let the next words fall carefully “ In reality, you had it stolen and brought to your home. No doubt you saw it when you and the lord in question were in talks concerning the upcoming drought and it's effect on wheat prices. You just had to make it yours didn't you? I must say you do have excellent tatse though, the gem is worth more than three of these manors” With that he smiled once more before reaching out and gently tilting the stone on it's perch as gravity did the rest and it crashed on the floor, shattering. Lord Boyle let out a small squeal.
“ Yet it is a pittance compared to all of the other stolen things you have in this home, I noticed at least five other high value stolen items on my way in. I thought at first I’d just black mail you by threatening to tell the various nobles just what you've stolen from them over the years, that would have been enough. However, your trying my patience, and I’ve had a long couple of days. So instead, for every minute you stonewall me,I’ll just break another one of your shiny little toys…are we clear?”
Lord Boyle, swallowed hard, moved to speak, and then finally hung his head low as he said sullenly.
“ As you wish. I'll tell you all I know”
"Excellent."
Covetous Vizier 2UB
Creature-Human Advisor (R)
When Covetous Vizier, search target opponent's library for an artifact card and put it onto the battlefield under your control for as long as you control Covetous Vizier.
Sacrifice an artifact: You may draw cards equal to it’s converted mana cost
His words may be at your ear but his eyes are on your treasure.
1/3
The Anabyn
Stay Hungry My Friends....
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You may have trained under Jane's tutelage, but she wasn't the only one who made you the spy you are today. There were other master spies who helped shape your talents. You're still on good terms with one of them. they're retired now, but still keep tabs on what's going on, and their insight will be invaluable. Go and talk to them, and see what they can make of what you found. Since the inside job investigation you were conducting has reached a dead end.
No Show
No Show
The card is dripping with flavor. In that regard, it meets the challenge nicely. It fails in all other aspects though. A blue Elf split card that flips every turn for a negligible effect is unprintable. It has not appeal to Timmy, Johnny, or Spike. Only Vorthos might play this, making it highly unplayable.
The flavor is decent thanks to the flavor text. I’m not sure why he has wither though. Is it because he’s “old” and “withered”? Your Mango is slightly off, the card’s formatting is lacking, and you didn’t include a rarity. Fortunately, it’s comprehensible. The ability is incredibly weak, especially for a legend. The chances of your opponent having a creature card in hand with the same name as a creature on the battlefield is slim. And even when they do, the payoff of putting a single -1/-1 counter on that creature is negligible. The only reason it’s playable at all is due to the fact it has a mana cost. Though, like the card above, Vorthos might play this because he doesn’t expect to win anyways.
Flavorful and balanced with the exception of hexproof, which is flavorful but pushes the power. Quite playable. It should be UR. Otherwise perfect for the protégé challenge.
The flavor is good. This is one serious contact. Balanced mechanically for the most part. The only thing that’s off is that when any tapped creature you don’t control dies you get the draw/discard benefit rather than when only when the creature destroyed by Asad dies, which would warp combat in a very non-Assassin fashion.
Good flavor. Mechanically balanced. Mirrorweave on legs. Not amazing but playable. Got your mana symbols backwards. Fulfills the challenge nicely.
The flavor is excellent. It's balanced mechanically. It's a really well packaged card, it's very original, and fulfills the challenge perfectly.
Nice flavor. Mechanically balanced. It could easily be more than 0/2. Praetor's Grasp on legs. It's meets the challenge nicely.
A mythic color intensive Spirit Vampire named Manchuria with defender and a slow buildup ability? “Manchuria is a historical name given to a large geographic region in northeast Asia”, so it’s probably not a good name for a card. And it’s a mighty stretch from random guy’s card being exiled to “Have you seen my queen of diamonds?” The tap ability is the best if not the only thing it has going for it. I see potential in this card, but it needs quite a bit of polishing.
1st Place: Socrates
2nd Place: Prophylaxis
3rd Place: Small Child
Team Colleague
No-shows:
Ryder052
KoolKoal
arbitraryarmor
MirrorEntity
Arcel - Nifty. Either a spectre that doesn't fly or a Stealer of Secrets that pings you when you connect. I like the versatility here, although the slight asymmetry bugs me. Flavor's good though.
Maokun - Interesting, and somewhat difficult to evaluate. A two-mana 2/1 haste that loots is pretty incredible, although I'm not sure how I feel about the second half of the card. It's something both players can exploit at the expense of using cards to target it, making for a curious little mini-game.
void_nothing - Neato. Most of the time you'll just get two cards a turn, but every now and then you'll get a hell of a beater instead. I'd imagine if you built the deck right, you can filter out cards that are situationally unhelpful this way - say, a second copy of his guy.
Ninja_Caterpie - It looks like a fine card, although the design doesn't do anything for me. It's very hard to block, and the ability is very steep to activate (compare to Azure Mage - you're changing colors and restricting its use). Not really sure what the flavor is supposed to be here.
Saagn - Strong, but I like it. The first ability needs some fixing - costs can't target, and the way it's worded it immediately mills someone out when you drop him.
Top 3:
1 - Arcel
2 - void_nothing
3 - Ninja_Caterpie
[Clan Flamingo] Tier Archivist
[15:21] <@CC> Remember, if you argue, you are an idiot.
Untrophied Wins:
Perfect MCC Scores: 2
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I only count three, maybe four that I could say are noteworthy designers.
Same. I'll get around to editing it in.
Generals meant to be drafted first in a single pack of 6 cards.
And here is the actual cube, meant to be drafted in 4 regular sized packs. (60 card decks)
Arcel
Ok, nice little story and a pretty solid uncommon here. Really wants evasion of some kind though, intimidate? Would push it from a mediocre guy to a high pick without breaking it, I think.
Maokun
RP is good. The card is a little busy, but I guess it makes decent sense. I'm not sure I like how the looting is also stapled onto the ability countering trigger, but I guess it sort of encourages the opponent to try his luck with removal.
void_nothing
Best RP award. Card is weird and seems overcosted; maybe you can set it up to hit +15/+0 or whatever, but that would take a lot of work. I think I would like this much more as a mono-red uncommon that just did the throwing the top card trick, choosing numbers and drawing the card sort of loses the flavor.
Ninja_Caterpie
I don't know that it needs both deathtouch and intimidate, I think you just want to encourage players to attack with it. The activated ability is cute in that it can grab multiple cards if activated multiple times.
Saagn
I don't think you can target in the cost, look at Soldevi Sentry. The concept is interesting, undercosted flying with the drawback of giving the opponent card selection, or even card advantage if they can stop it. Cute package, makes sense in black.
MIA: Ryder052, KoolKoal, arbitraryarmor, CrustaceanCrusader, MirrorEntity
2. Saagn (slightly off in execution, but an interesting drawback)
3. Maokun (ambitious, needed some tweaking)
Cool. I like this a lot. Could use some evasion of course.
If it were me (because i love symmetry) would add "and loses 1 life" or "and you gain 1 life" to the "player discards a card" part.
both deathtouch and intimidate seems unnecessary, but makes flavor sense i guess. an excellent design overall
i had something in my custom cube that was like this except the ability was "2G: Draw a card. Activate this ability only if ~ dealt combat damage to a player this turn."
a cost shouldn't target, i imagine you'll be hearing this from other judges. should say something like "an opponent of your choice draws a card:"
would add a clause to the ability saying "activate this ability only once each turn" otherwise you can make all your opponent draw all cards in their library and lose the game
you have an interesting idea here, it just needs a lot of work
maybe a little wordy, but otherwise i've got no problems with this as is
Wish this said to reveal until you get a nonland card.
This package is just a little hard to grok on the first read through, and will fall flat just so often. Well, you'll most often get a card out of the deal, which is ok, but not so hot on a 2/2 for 4 mana.
1. Ninja Caterpie
2. Arcel
3. Maokun
Backstreet Dealer 2BB
Creature - Rat Rogue {U}
Whenever Backstreet Dealer deals combat damage to a player, choose one - That player discards a card; or pay 1 life, then draw a card.
"I can take his belongings. But if you want them, there's a price."
2/2
This card needs some love. Intimidate, or +1/+0, or something.
Ninja Caterpie :
Scarred Beggar 1B
Creature - Human Rogue (U)
Deathtouch, intimidate
: Whenever Scarred Beggar deals combat damage to a player this turn, draw a card.
1/1
The flavor is kinda cool. Pretty devastating in limited.
Saagn :
Shadow Leaper BB
Creature - Imp (U)
Target opponent draws a card: Shadow Prowler gains flying until end of turn
Whenever Shadow Prowler deals damage to a player, that player discards a card.
It’ll have your secrets, almost before you know it’s there.
2/2
I don't understand the flavor connection between this card gaining flying and your opponent drawing a card.
Maokun :
Alchemist Street Irregulars UR
Creature - Human Rogue (R)
Haste
Whenever Alchemist Street Irregulars deal damage to a player, draw a card then discard a card.
Whenever Alchemist Street Irregulars becomes the target of a spell or an ability, you may flip a coin. If you flip heads, counter that spell or ability and draw a card. If you flip tails, discard a card.
2/1
This card makes some sense flavor-wise. I'm not sure if the coin-flipping ability is more hassle than it's worth.
void_nothing :
Meeri, Pragmatic Brawler 2UR
Legendary Creature - Human Rogue (R)
Whenever Meeri, Pragmatic Brawler attacks, choose a number, then reveal the top card of your library. If the revealed card has converted mana cost equal to the chosen number, put it into your graveyard and Meeri gets +X/+0 and gains first strike until end of turn, where X is that card's converted mana cost. Otherwise, put it into your hand.
For every weapon in her hand she has three up her sleeves.
2/2
I would've given the controller the card either way. As is, Meeri getting the bonus feels a bit like you lost.
Top 3:
1. void_nothing
2. maokun
3. Ninja caterpie
4th place at CCC&G Pro Tour
Chances of bad hands (<2 or >4 land):
21: 28.9%
22: 27.5%
23: 26.3%
24: 25.5%
25: 25.1%
26: 25.3%