Welcome to the world of Gryptia, a new plane in the multiverse we have never visited before. The plane is a world short on water and constantly under the present of a blazing ever present sun which have left the world mostly a dry, barren desert. The people of Gryptia worship the sun and live around any patches of water which can be found on the desert plane. Rashi is the one these people, a young adult ready to set foot in the world fraught with danger. This months challenge will see you discovering the world of Gryptia with her.
Top 4
Flavour to come later.
Challenge:
Design two common cards:
Design a cleric creature with a new mechanic suitable for our egyptian themed set.
Design a second card which either uses the same mechanic or supports it in an obvious fashion.
Clarifications
Judging
From this point each player judges all other contestants. Only players who have submitted judgements are eligible to progress. Top 2 will go through to the finals.
Entrants
Jimmy Groove
Mis Master Mikaeus
Zoomba
Am Shegar
Entry Deadline: Wednesday 10th September (or until all players submit an entry and I notice). Judging Deadline: TBA
Dry Riverbed
Land - Desert (C) T: Add 1 to your mana pool. T: Add U to your mana pool and gain 1 life. Activate this ability only if there are two or more islands on the battlefield. "Once life thrived here, and in the right conditions it can thrive again." = Awati, Raincaller
Loot-Lure Solifuge2R
Creature - Insect (U)
Haste
When Loot-Lure Solifuge enters the battlefield you may discard up to X cards, where X is the number of Deserts you control. If you do, draw that many cards. "The creature's instinctual drive to hunt at the edge of oases causes it to collect coins, gems, and other shiny options from the corpses of its prey and arrange them in the desert, where the reflections lure more travelers." - Colu, Sage of Perils
2/1
Seal of the Tomb3
Artifact Creature - Wall(R)
When Seal of the Tomb enters the battlefield, search your library for up to a Curse card and put it into your graveyard. Shuffle your library. X, exile Seal of the Tomb from your graveyard: Put target Curse card with converted mana cost X or less in your graveyard onto the battlefield attached to an opponent. It is not the strongest of barriers, but pity the fool who ignores the warnings carved in it.
0/4
Home of the Chosen
Legendary Land - Desert (MR)
Home of the Chosen enters the battlefield tapped. When it enters the battlefield, put a 1/1 colorless legendary Human creature token named Rashi with desertwalk and "When this creature deals combat damage to a player, gain control of target artifact that player controls. If that artifact is legendary, you win the game." onto the battlefield. 1, T: Add 2 to your mana pool.
Orchard KeeperG
Creature - Human Cleric (C)
Steward (You may pair this creature with an unpaired land when either enters the battlefield. They remain paired for as long as you control both of them.)
Whenever the paired land is tapped for mana, add G to your mana pool. Under her care, dates bloom even in the deepest desert.
0/2
Cruel Terrain
Land - Desert (C) T: Add 1 to your mana pool.
Creatures paired with Cruel Terrain get +1/+1. Only a few are hardy enough to survive in this barren land. Those few are feared by many.
Desiccate1B
Instant (C)
Target creature gets -2/-2 until end of turn. If you control an Island, another target creature gets +2/+2 until end of turn. The Zaghiri tribe see humans as just another source of water.
Dunecrest Predator4R
Creature-- Lizard (U)
Whenever Dunecrest Predator attacks and isn't blocked, you may have it fight target creature. If you do, Dunecrest Predator deals no combat damage this turn. (Each creature deals damage to the other equal to its power.)
Its reflexes are so quick that it can turn in mid-pounce, land on its feet, and spring on another target in the time it takes you to shout for help.
3/4
Canopic Phylactery4
Artifact [R]
Whenever a creature you control dies, you may sacrifice Canopic Phylactery. If you do, return a creature card from your graveyard to the battlefield tapped. 6, Discard a creature card: Return Canopic Phylactery from your graveyard to the battlefield. Activate this ability only as a sorcery.
Sekheru, Grand Tomb of Jyzia
Land [M]
Sekheru, Grand Tomb of Jyzia enters the battlefield tapped. T: Add 1 to your mana pool.
Whenever an artifact with converted mana cost equal to or greater than the number of key counters on Sekheru enters the battlefield under your control, put a key counter on Sekheru. Then if Sekheru has seven or more key counters on it, you win the game.
Sekheru Sentinel1W
Creature-- Human Cleric [C] Exhume-- Whenever one or more cards leave your graveyard, put a 1/1 white Soldier creature token onto the battlefield. "Our forefathers gave their lives to build this tomb and all that is in it. We intend to make sure that their sacrifices are not in vain."
1/2
Deserted Caravansary
Land [C]
When Deserted Caravansary enters the battlefield, you may put a card from your graveyard on the bottom of your library. If you do, you gain 1 life. T: Add 1 to your mana pool. The paths where beasts of burden once passed are now buried underneath a hundred years' worth of sand.
Jimmy Groove: Steward is a nice twist on Soulbond, which is a mechanic that has a lot of design space to explore. The flavor you have for the keyword is fitting for the harsh desert world we have, where sources of water and food are essential. The downside here is that unlike Soulbond, Steward affects only the land which could cause memory issues. More importantly, though, are the individual cards. The creature is fine, but Cruel Terrain is insular compared to a lot of other land designs we've seen. It supports Steward, but in a way that's too obvious and in a way that doesn't play well with other cards. There have been a few cards like that, but most of them are instants or sorceries.
Zoomba: I developed a mechanic similar to your Supplicate, although it worked in reverse. It may make me biased, but I think this is a simple and easy-to-play-with mechanic. Jyzian Priestess, in particular, allows you to stay on the defensive and tap to gain 2 life at the same time.
Rage of the Pharaohs, on the other hand, is not my kind of design-- at least at common. I would rather it gave a flat power boost or lost the Haste. There's also a bit of flavor disconnect here, as you'd expect the rage of the Pharaohs to have something to deal with death and punishment, rather than power boosting.
Final judgment: In my eyes, I'd say both of you had your ups and downs. However, when it comes to mechanics, I think Zoomba wins this one simply because his Supplicate is more elegant than Steward.
Sorry, I was out this weekend attending to some drunken debauchery, so no time for long crits.
Zoomba - Supplicate: Very solid entry. An interesting mechanic that does a good job of conveying its flavor in its design, and that flavor fits ancient Egypt quite well.
Mix Master Mikaeus - Exhume: Another absolutely solid entry, but ultimately it feels like there's less space to expand upon it than there is with Supplicate.
Welcome to the world of Gryptia, a new plane in the multiverse we have never visited before. The plane is a world short on water and constantly under the present of a blazing ever present sun which have left the world mostly a dry, barren desert. The people of Gryptia worship the sun and live around any patches of water which can be found on the desert plane. Rashi is the one these people, a young adult ready to set foot in the world fraught with danger. This months challenge will see you discovering the world of Gryptia with her.
Top 4
Flavour to come later.
Challenge:
Design two common cards:
Judging
From this point each player judges all other contestants. Only players who have submitted judgements are eligible to progress. Top 2 will go through to the finals.
Entrants
Jimmy Groove
Mis Master Mikaeus
Zoomba
Am Shegar
Entry Deadline: Wednesday 10th September (or until all players submit an entry and I notice).
Judging Deadline: TBA
Land - Desert (C)
T: Add 1 to your mana pool.
T: Add U to your mana pool and gain 1 life. Activate this ability only if there are two or more islands on the battlefield.
"Once life thrived here, and in the right conditions it can thrive again." = Awati, Raincaller
Loot-Lure Solifuge 2R
Creature - Insect (U)
Haste
When Loot-Lure Solifuge enters the battlefield you may discard up to X cards, where X is the number of Deserts you control. If you do, draw that many cards.
"The creature's instinctual drive to hunt at the edge of oases causes it to collect coins, gems, and other shiny options from the corpses of its prey and arrange them in the desert, where the reflections lure more travelers." - Colu, Sage of Perils
2/1
Seal of the Tomb 3
Artifact Creature - Wall(R)
When Seal of the Tomb enters the battlefield, search your library for up to a Curse card and put it into your graveyard. Shuffle your library.
X, exile Seal of the Tomb from your graveyard: Put target Curse card with converted mana cost X or less in your graveyard onto the battlefield attached to an opponent.
It is not the strongest of barriers, but pity the fool who ignores the warnings carved in it.
0/4
Home of the Chosen
Legendary Land - Desert (MR)
Home of the Chosen enters the battlefield tapped. When it enters the battlefield, put a 1/1 colorless legendary Human creature token named Rashi with desertwalk and "When this creature deals combat damage to a player, gain control of target artifact that player controls. If that artifact is legendary, you win the game." onto the battlefield.
1, T: Add 2 to your mana pool.
Orchard Keeper G
Creature - Human Cleric (C)
Steward (You may pair this creature with an unpaired land when either enters the battlefield. They remain paired for as long as you control both of them.)
Whenever the paired land is tapped for mana, add G to your mana pool.
Under her care, dates bloom even in the deepest desert.
0/2
Cruel Terrain
Land - Desert (C)
T: Add 1 to your mana pool.
Creatures paired with Cruel Terrain get +1/+1.
Only a few are hardy enough to survive in this barren land. Those few are feared by many.
Sekheru Sentinel 1W
Creature-- Human Cleric [C]
Exhume-- Whenever one or more cards leave your graveyard, put a 1/1 white Soldier creature token onto the battlefield.
"Our forefathers gave their lives to build this tomb and all that is in it. We intend to make sure that their sacrifices are not in vain."
1/2
Deserted Caravansary
Land [C]
When Deserted Caravansary enters the battlefield, you may put a card from your graveyard on the bottom of your library. If you do, you gain 1 life.
T: Add 1 to your mana pool.
The paths where beasts of burden once passed are now buried underneath a hundred years' worth of sand.
----------------------------
Club Flamingo Wins: 10
----------------------------
EDH Decks
BG Vicious Varolz | RW Jor Kadeen, the Mean Machine | RG Atarka: Muh_Dragons.dec (WIP) | WU Brago, Blink Eternal (WIP)
----------------------------
Jimmy Groove: Steward is a nice twist on Soulbond, which is a mechanic that has a lot of design space to explore. The flavor you have for the keyword is fitting for the harsh desert world we have, where sources of water and food are essential. The downside here is that unlike Soulbond, Steward affects only the land which could cause memory issues. More importantly, though, are the individual cards. The creature is fine, but Cruel Terrain is insular compared to a lot of other land designs we've seen. It supports Steward, but in a way that's too obvious and in a way that doesn't play well with other cards. There have been a few cards like that, but most of them are instants or sorceries.
Zoomba: I developed a mechanic similar to your Supplicate, although it worked in reverse. It may make me biased, but I think this is a simple and easy-to-play-with mechanic. Jyzian Priestess, in particular, allows you to stay on the defensive and tap to gain 2 life at the same time.
Rage of the Pharaohs, on the other hand, is not my kind of design-- at least at common. I would rather it gave a flat power boost or lost the Haste. There's also a bit of flavor disconnect here, as you'd expect the rage of the Pharaohs to have something to deal with death and punishment, rather than power boosting.
Final judgment: In my eyes, I'd say both of you had your ups and downs. However, when it comes to mechanics, I think Zoomba wins this one simply because his Supplicate is more elegant than Steward.
----------------------------
Club Flamingo Wins: 10
----------------------------
EDH Decks
BG Vicious Varolz | RW Jor Kadeen, the Mean Machine | RG Atarka: Muh_Dragons.dec (WIP) | WU Brago, Blink Eternal (WIP)
----------------------------
Zoomba - Supplicate: Very solid entry. An interesting mechanic that does a good job of conveying its flavor in its design, and that flavor fits ancient Egypt quite well.
Mix Master Mikaeus - Exhume: Another absolutely solid entry, but ultimately it feels like there's less space to expand upon it than there is with Supplicate.
1. Zoomba
2. 3M