Welcome to round 2, challengers. For our second challenge we will be looking at a popular type of deck and the card that often makes them special. Ever bought a duel deck?
Your Challenge:
Choose a planeswalker card that has yet to be featured in a duel deck. Then, design a planeswalker that mechanically and thematically would make a great opponent for them. Include your chosen walker along with your designed walker.
Sub Challenge 1: Your card has a converted mana cost that is at least two greater than or two less than your chosen walker.
Sub Challenge 2: Your card has a starting loyalty that is at least two greater than or two less than your chosen walker.
Clarifications:
* Your chosen walker card can be any planeswalker card that has not been used yet in a duel deck. That means Liliana Vess would be an illegal choice, but Liliana of the Veil is fine. Here is the full list of walkers already included in past duel decks.
* If you choose Tamiyo, the Moon Sage as your card, you would need to design a walker that has a cost of three or less, seven or more. It's starting loyalty would need to be two or less, six or more.
* You may pick a planeswalker character that already exists or have a unique creation for you submitted card.
Our Rubric for the Month:
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) Sub Challenges: One point awarded per satisfied subchallenge condition.
Total: X/25
*An entry with 0 points here is subject to disqualification.
Design Appeal (2/3): Timmy likes the ultimate, and Spike likes how simply using the -3 once will likely win the game. Johnny might try this in a zombie-based deck, but it's a stretch. Elegance (1.5/3): The second ability is super clunky. It's not super hard to understand once you've played ten games with it, but that's not a good sign.
Development Viability (3/3): Balance (1.5/3): As mentioned above, the emblem is likely enough to win the game on its own, regardless of whether or not Liliana survives. Emblems can't be interacted with, and while that's fine if they're featured on a planeswalker's ultimate or if they're marginal (in Sorin, Lord of Innistrad's case), Liliana's -3 can hardly be called marginal. Even if you have no Zombies in your deck, you're at minimum getting a zombie every turn. Once you get two zombies out, it doubles. For the rest of the game, your opponent must control the flow of zombies or die. Other than that, the +1 and the -7 seem fine, even if the -7 is absurdly game-winning (but that's fine on a 6 mana planeswalker).
Creativity Uniqueness (1.5/3): Each ability is some slight modification of a card or combination of cards. Flavor (2/3): "Lady" is hardly a descriptive title. "Patron", "Master", or "Tyrant" each would have put an interesting spin on the card; yours offers little in the way of creativity.
Polish Quality (2.5/3):Zombie Apocalypse says the third ability should be "Destroy all non-Zombie creatures, then put..." Main Challenge (1.5/2): Liliana isn't exactly a thematic opponent to Gideon. Gideon is trying to regain control over the world, and Liliana, while a patron of the dark arts, hardly represents anarchy or chaos, but rather greed. Sub Challenges (2/2):
Total: 17.5/25
Design Appeal (1/3): Johnny might try to combo with this somehow. Timmy doesn't care. Spike would play this in a deck that really wanted the lifegain, but it's too marginal for him to care otherwise. Elegance (3/3):
Development Viability (2/3): While the third ability is technically blue, the first and third ability are existing white cards (Due Respect, Sudden Disappearance), and the second ability is purely lifegain, which is a blue ability. Balance (1/3): While I agree that two mana planeswalkers need to be low in power, this one is too marginal in just about every way. The +1 is somewhat relevant, but it provides no real value and only gives a slight tempo advantage. The -1 is good against a burn deck or an otherwise aggressive deck, but even then it's poor if your opponent doesn't tap many permanents, and is only likely to gain 2-4 life against decks that you want to play this against. The -5 is powerful under the right circumstances, but for an ultimate it only provides a small amount of value unless you're comboing this with something, and even then it's poor planning to rely on your planeswalker's ultimate to have synergy with your deck. At the end of the day your Venser has three marginal abilities and no real way to gain value out of the card, even if it goes uncontested. That's the crux of the matter; if I were a control deck and you cast this spell, I probably wouldn't even bother to counter or remove it. It just doesn't do anything against decks that aren't in your face.
Creativity Uniqueness (1.5/3): As noted, two of the abilities are on already existing cards. Flavor (0/3): First of all, venser is a teleportation mage, yet only the ultimate ability does anything spatially related. The +1 could maybe be construed to be teleporting the enemies away, so they take a while to get back to the battlefield, hence why they're tapped? But the -1 makes no sense at all. Second, why is Venser with the Azorious? It's a strange twist thematically, and since Venser valued the freedom that teleportation brought him, you'd think that he would be at odds with the innumerable laws and restrictions that the Azorious provide. Thirdly, why is he quarreling with Sarkhan? They're from different planes, and not even that much at ends ideologically. They both seem to value freedom in some sense. At the end of the day, your card's flavor feels like a mess.
Polish Quality (2/3): "Until your next turn, nonland permanents..."; "You gain 1 life for each..." Main Challenge (1.5/2): Again, Venser seems like an odd opponent for Sarkhan. Sub Challenges (2/2):
Total: 14/25
Design Appeal (0/3): None of the effects really excite Timmy. Johnny doesn't really have any way to combo with this, and Spike doesn't see any reason to play this card over Ajani, Mentor of Heroes. Elegance (3/3):
Development Viability (3/3): Balance (0.5/3): The +1 is strictly worse than the other planeswalker with the exact same mana cost, Ajani, Mentor of Heroes. The -2 can be very powerful when you have a bord full of creatures and your opponent does as well, but in board states where one player has more creatures than the other, there isn't much value to be had here. The ultimate is massively underwhelming; sure, it can be good, but it's incredibly narrow and costly to achieve. In fact, against 90% of decks it's going to do absolutely nothing. If you'd added something like "Permanents you control have hexproof", then it would be much better. As-is, however, I probably wouldn't ever use the -7. Lastly, you really needed "Up to one target creature" on the +1, as in its absence, your planeswalker can't tick up if there isn't a creature on the battlefield.
Creativity Uniqueness (2/3): The -3 is just a Tajuru Preserver, but otherwise it's new. Flavor (3/3): Sure, the flavor isn't bad, even if the name is mediocre.
Polish Quality (3/3): Main Challenge (2/2): Sub Challenges (2/2):
Total: 18.5/25
Design Appeal (3/3): Timmy is awed by the powerful ultimate, johnny wants to abuse the -2, and spike sees enough potential to be interested. Elegance (2.5/3): The -9 feels a little out of place for a GW planeswalker.
Development Viability (2/3): Green only feels minorly represented on this card. While the -2 is remniscient of Elderwood Scion, green is justified on that card in the sense that it's more like a partial hexproof; on your card, the effect is more aggressive than defensive, and feels much more white than green. Everything else checks out. Balance (2.5/3): The first two abilities feel correct in terms of power level and costs. The -2 is waiting to be abused, but you can't really use it the turn you cast this, and if you're untapping with a 6 mana planeswalker, you should have a massive effect. The ultimate, however, is a little too... fair. For a -9, I expect it to win me the game, not just mimic Gideon, Champion of Justice's (except you lose your planeswalker!). It's a powerful effect, but not one I'm sure I'd be thrilled to use after such an investment.
Creativity Uniqueness (3/3): The -2 is remniscient of Elderwood Scion, but otherwise it's new. Flavor (3/3): How the hell do you pronounce that name? Other than that, the mechanics help contribute to the flavor.
Polish Quality (1/3): "Until your next turn,...", "...spells you cast cost 2 less to cast and spells your opponents cast cost 2 more to cast.", "For each player, choose a land and a nonland permanent..." Main Challenge (2/2): Sub Challenges (2/2):
Chose a planeswalker card that has yet to be featured in a duel deck. Then, design a planeswalker that mechanically and thematically would make a great opponent for them. Include your chosen walker along with your designed walker.
Does our planeswalker have to be a new character, or may we pick a character who already has a card? If so, can the character we pick have been present in another duel deck? (Not trying to make another Jace vs Chandra with different cards, just curious if we can pick a character with established history.)
Anyway, here is the corresponding Gatherer search (Copy and paste the whole url removing the space right after "http", as the square brackets prevents the autolink from working correctly):
http ://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Search/Default.aspx?action=advanced&type=+["Planeswalker"]&set=|["Duel Decks: Ajani vs. Nicol Bolas"]|["Duel Decks: Elspeth vs. Kiora"]|["Duel Decks: Elspeth vs. Tezzeret"]|["Duel Decks: Garruk vs. Liliana"]|["Duel Decks: Jace vs. Chandra"]|["Duel Decks: Jace vs. Vraska"]|["Duel Decks: Sorin vs. Tibalt"]|["Duel Decks: Venser vs. Koth"]
For further convenience, here is the typed list from the search above:
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.)
Thullr the Stern4GW
Planeswalker - Thullr (M)
+1: Until the beginning of your next turn, no more than two creatures can attack you or planeswalkers you control each combat.
-2: Until the beginning of your next turn, spells cost you 2 less to cast and your opponents 2 more to cast.
-9: Choose a land and a nonland permanent each player controls. Put all other permanents on the bottom of their owners' libraries.
{[6]}
Bolas the Betrayed7UBR
Planeswalker - Bolas (M)
[+3]: Exile up to one target creature, up to one target artifact, and up to one target land.
[-4]: Target player exiles his or her hand and you draw that many cards.
[-13]: You may play cards exiled by Bolas the Betrayed without paying their mana costs this turn.
[5]
Ajani, the Protector3GW
Planeswalker - Ajani (M)
[+1]: Target creature you control +3/+3 until your next turn.
[-2]: Creatures you control gain trample and indestructible until end of turn.
[-7]: You get an emblem with "Spells and abilities your opponent control can't cause you to sacrifice permanents."
[5]
Tibalt, the Tormentor1BR
Planeswalker-- Tibalt [M]
+1: Tibalt, the Tormentor deals 1 damage to target creature or player. If a creature was dealt damage this way, it gets +1/+0 until end of turn.
-3: Each player sacrifices a permanent and loses 1 life.
-8: You get an emblem with "Whenever a creature you control dies, each opponent sacrifices a creature unless he or she discards a card at random."
[4]
Thoramin, the Dark Shadow
Planeswalker - Thoramin (M)
+1: Put a 1/1 black Bird creature token with flying onto the battlefield.
-1: Draw a card and lose 1 life.
-4: Transform Thoramin, the Dark Shadow.
[5]
// Thoramin, the Midnight Raven
Legendary Creature - Bird (M)
Flying, deathtouch
Birds you control get +1/+1 for each loyalty counter on Thoramin, the Midnight Raven.
Remove a loyalty counter from Thoramin, the Midnight Raven: Transform Thoramin, the Midnight Raven.
3/4
(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)
Syrrus Atman, Arbiter4WU
Planeswalker - Syrrus (M)
+1: Detain target permanent you control and target permanent you don't control that shares a type with it.
-1: Put a 2/2 white and blue Spirit creature token with flying and hexproof onto the battlefield.
-7: You gain an emblem with “At the beginning of each upkeep, draw a card and gain 1 life.”
[5]
Avacyn, Light of Innistrad3WW
Planeswalker - Avacyn (M)
[+2] Target permanent you control other than Avacyn, Light of Innistrad gains indestructible until the beginning of your next upkeep.
[0] Until end of turn, Avacyn, Light of Innistrad becomes a 4/4 Angel creature with flying, vigilance and indestructible that's still a planeswalker.
[-10] Destroy each non-land permanent you do not control.
{3}
Emille, Deific Dancer3RW
Planeswalker - Emille {M}
Whenever a source deals damage to Emille, she deals that much damage to that source's controller.
+1: Up to one target creature attacks target player or planeswalker this turn if able.
-3: Emille deals 4 damage to target creature and you gain 4 life.
0: Until end of turn, Emille becomes a 5/5 Human Soldier creature that's still a planeswalker. 5
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
A mere ten days after the Mending, a young knight of Valeron and a young ranger of Eos made a discovery that would change Alara forever.
Duel deck: Karn, Liberated vs Tezzeret, Phyrexian Scion
Tezzeret, Phyrexian Scion 2WUB
Planeswalker - Tezzeret
[+1]: Put a -1/-1 counter on target creature, then proliferate
[-3]: Gain control of target permanent. It becomes an artifact in addition to its other types.
[-7]: You get an emblem with, "Artifacts you control have indestructible."
[4]
Edit - It comes too late, but the first ability should be "Put a -1/-1 counter on up to one target creature, then proliferate." It was a copy paste error while building the render.
Vronos, Avacyn's Emissary2WU
Planeswalker - Vronos
+1: Tap target creature. It dosen't untap during its controller's next untap step.
-2: Exile target creature until vronos leaves the battlefield.
-8: you gain 10 life and draw 10 cards.
3
Liliana, Lady of the Dead
Planeswalker — Liliana (M)
Starting Loyalty: 4
+1: Return up to one target creature card from your graveyard to your hand.
-3: You get an emblem with “At the beginning of your end step, put X 2/2 black Zombie creature tokens onto the battlefield, where X is 1 plus half the number of Zombies you control, rounded down.”
-7: Destroy all non-Zombie creatures. Then put thirteen 2/2 black Zombie creature tokens onto the battlefield tapped.
The interplay of Liliana's ability to create a horde of shambling zombies or create card advantage vs Gideons ability to get super fat or repeatedly attack should make for interesting decisions depending on what situation you play the planeswalkers in.
June Round 2 - Duel et Duex
Welcome to round 2, challengers. For our second challenge we will be looking at a popular type of deck and the card that often makes them special. Ever bought a duel deck?
Your Challenge:
Choose a planeswalker card that has yet to be featured in a duel deck. Then, design a planeswalker that mechanically and thematically would make a great opponent for them. Include your chosen walker along with your designed walker.
Sub Challenge 1: Your card has a converted mana cost that is at least two greater than or two less than your chosen walker.
Sub Challenge 2: Your card has a starting loyalty that is at least two greater than or two less than your chosen walker.
Clarifications:
* If you choose Tamiyo, the Moon Sage as your card, you would need to design a walker that has a cost of three or less, seven or more. It's starting loyalty would need to be two or less, six or more.
* You may pick a planeswalker character that already exists or have a unique creation for you submitted card.
Our Rubric for the Month:
(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) Sub Challenges: One point awarded per satisfied subchallenge condition.
Total: X/25
*An entry with 0 points here is subject to disqualification.
Our Judges:
IcariiFA
bravelion83
CyroZenith
admirableadmiral
sperlman
Challengers:
Awkward Squirtle
CommanderZ
Doombringer
doomfish
thenoodler
SgtFailure
void_nothing
Tilwin
Lef
Moss_Elemental
Mix Master Mikaeus
Piar
PsyOp
R-Shig
RaikouRider
Riliss
Ryder052
Flatline
Jimmy Groove
Folza
Hopefulhawkeye
The Deadline for Submissions is June 12th, 11:59 EST. Judge Deadline will be June 15th, 11:59 EST.
Judging Groups:
admirableadmiral
Doombringer
Hopefulhawkeye
Moss_Elemental
void_nothing
bravelion83
Awkward Squirtle
Mix Master Mikaeus
R-Shig
thenoodler
CryoZenith
CommanderZ
Folza
RaikouRider
Tilwin
IcariiFA
Flatline
Lef
PsyOp
Ryder052
SgtFailure
sperlman
doomfish
Jimmy Groove
Piar
riliss
Design
Appeal (2/3): Timmy likes the ultimate, and Spike likes how simply using the -3 once will likely win the game. Johnny might try this in a zombie-based deck, but it's a stretch.
Elegance (1.5/3): The second ability is super clunky. It's not super hard to understand once you've played ten games with it, but that's not a good sign.
Development
Viability (3/3):
Balance (1.5/3): As mentioned above, the emblem is likely enough to win the game on its own, regardless of whether or not Liliana survives. Emblems can't be interacted with, and while that's fine if they're featured on a planeswalker's ultimate or if they're marginal (in Sorin, Lord of Innistrad's case), Liliana's -3 can hardly be called marginal. Even if you have no Zombies in your deck, you're at minimum getting a zombie every turn. Once you get two zombies out, it doubles. For the rest of the game, your opponent must control the flow of zombies or die. Other than that, the +1 and the -7 seem fine, even if the -7 is absurdly game-winning (but that's fine on a 6 mana planeswalker).
Creativity
Uniqueness (1.5/3): Each ability is some slight modification of a card or combination of cards.
Flavor (2/3): "Lady" is hardly a descriptive title. "Patron", "Master", or "Tyrant" each would have put an interesting spin on the card; yours offers little in the way of creativity.
Polish
Quality (2.5/3): Zombie Apocalypse says the third ability should be "Destroy all non-Zombie creatures, then put..."
Main Challenge (1.5/2): Liliana isn't exactly a thematic opponent to Gideon. Gideon is trying to regain control over the world, and Liliana, while a patron of the dark arts, hardly represents anarchy or chaos, but rather greed.
Sub Challenges (2/2):
Total: 17.5/25
Design
Appeal (1/3): Johnny might try to combo with this somehow. Timmy doesn't care. Spike would play this in a deck that really wanted the lifegain, but it's too marginal for him to care otherwise.
Elegance (3/3):
Development
Viability (2/3): While the third ability is technically blue, the first and third ability are existing white cards (Due Respect, Sudden Disappearance), and the second ability is purely lifegain, which is a blue ability.
Balance (1/3): While I agree that two mana planeswalkers need to be low in power, this one is too marginal in just about every way. The +1 is somewhat relevant, but it provides no real value and only gives a slight tempo advantage. The -1 is good against a burn deck or an otherwise aggressive deck, but even then it's poor if your opponent doesn't tap many permanents, and is only likely to gain 2-4 life against decks that you want to play this against. The -5 is powerful under the right circumstances, but for an ultimate it only provides a small amount of value unless you're comboing this with something, and even then it's poor planning to rely on your planeswalker's ultimate to have synergy with your deck. At the end of the day your Venser has three marginal abilities and no real way to gain value out of the card, even if it goes uncontested. That's the crux of the matter; if I were a control deck and you cast this spell, I probably wouldn't even bother to counter or remove it. It just doesn't do anything against decks that aren't in your face.
Creativity
Uniqueness (1.5/3): As noted, two of the abilities are on already existing cards.
Flavor (0/3): First of all, venser is a teleportation mage, yet only the ultimate ability does anything spatially related. The +1 could maybe be construed to be teleporting the enemies away, so they take a while to get back to the battlefield, hence why they're tapped? But the -1 makes no sense at all. Second, why is Venser with the Azorious? It's a strange twist thematically, and since Venser valued the freedom that teleportation brought him, you'd think that he would be at odds with the innumerable laws and restrictions that the Azorious provide. Thirdly, why is he quarreling with Sarkhan? They're from different planes, and not even that much at ends ideologically. They both seem to value freedom in some sense. At the end of the day, your card's flavor feels like a mess.
Polish
Quality (2/3): "Until your next turn, nonland permanents..."; "You gain 1 life for each..."
Main Challenge (1.5/2): Again, Venser seems like an odd opponent for Sarkhan.
Sub Challenges (2/2):
Total: 14/25
Design
Appeal (0/3): None of the effects really excite Timmy. Johnny doesn't really have any way to combo with this, and Spike doesn't see any reason to play this card over Ajani, Mentor of Heroes.
Elegance (3/3):
Development
Viability (3/3):
Balance (0.5/3): The +1 is strictly worse than the other planeswalker with the exact same mana cost, Ajani, Mentor of Heroes. The -2 can be very powerful when you have a bord full of creatures and your opponent does as well, but in board states where one player has more creatures than the other, there isn't much value to be had here. The ultimate is massively underwhelming; sure, it can be good, but it's incredibly narrow and costly to achieve. In fact, against 90% of decks it's going to do absolutely nothing. If you'd added something like "Permanents you control have hexproof", then it would be much better. As-is, however, I probably wouldn't ever use the -7. Lastly, you really needed "Up to one target creature" on the +1, as in its absence, your planeswalker can't tick up if there isn't a creature on the battlefield.
Creativity
Uniqueness (2/3): The -3 is just a Tajuru Preserver, but otherwise it's new.
Flavor (3/3): Sure, the flavor isn't bad, even if the name is mediocre.
Polish
Quality (3/3):
Main Challenge (2/2):
Sub Challenges (2/2):
Total: 18.5/25
Design
Appeal (3/3): Timmy is awed by the powerful ultimate, johnny wants to abuse the -2, and spike sees enough potential to be interested.
Elegance (2.5/3): The -9 feels a little out of place for a GW planeswalker.
Development
Viability (2/3): Green only feels minorly represented on this card. While the -2 is remniscient of Elderwood Scion, green is justified on that card in the sense that it's more like a partial hexproof; on your card, the effect is more aggressive than defensive, and feels much more white than green. Everything else checks out.
Balance (2.5/3): The first two abilities feel correct in terms of power level and costs. The -2 is waiting to be abused, but you can't really use it the turn you cast this, and if you're untapping with a 6 mana planeswalker, you should have a massive effect. The ultimate, however, is a little too... fair. For a -9, I expect it to win me the game, not just mimic Gideon, Champion of Justice's (except you lose your planeswalker!). It's a powerful effect, but not one I'm sure I'd be thrilled to use after such an investment.
Creativity
Uniqueness (3/3): The -2 is remniscient of Elderwood Scion, but otherwise it's new.
Flavor (3/3): How the hell do you pronounce that name? Other than that, the mechanics help contribute to the flavor.
Polish
Quality (1/3): "Until your next turn,...", "...spells you cast cost 2 less to cast and spells your opponents cast cost 2 more to cast.", "For each player, choose a land and a nonland permanent..."
Main Challenge (2/2):
Sub Challenges (2/2):
Total: 21/25
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝
The link doesn't work.
Anyway, here is the corresponding Gatherer search (Copy and paste the whole url removing the space right after "http", as the square brackets prevents the autolink from working correctly):
http ://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Search/Default.aspx?action=advanced&type=+["Planeswalker"]&set=|["Duel Decks: Ajani vs. Nicol Bolas"]|["Duel Decks: Elspeth vs. Kiora"]|["Duel Decks: Elspeth vs. Tezzeret"]|["Duel Decks: Garruk vs. Liliana"]|["Duel Decks: Jace vs. Chandra"]|["Duel Decks: Jace vs. Vraska"]|["Duel Decks: Sorin vs. Tibalt"]|["Duel Decks: Venser vs. Koth"]
For further convenience, here is the typed list from the search above:
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.)
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝
Thullr the Stern 4GW
Planeswalker - Thullr (M)
+1: Until the beginning of your next turn, no more than two creatures can attack you or planeswalkers you control each combat.
-2: Until the beginning of your next turn, spells cost you 2 less to cast and your opponents 2 more to cast.
-9: Choose a land and a nonland permanent each player controls. Put all other permanents on the bottom of their owners' libraries.
{[6]}
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝
Ugin, the Spirit Dragon versus:
Bolas the Betrayed 7UBR
Planeswalker - Bolas (M)
[+3]: Exile up to one target creature, up to one target artifact, and up to one target land.
[-4]: Target player exiles his or her hand and you draw that many cards.
[-13]: You may play cards exiled by Bolas the Betrayed without paying their mana costs this turn.
[5]
Ajani, the Protector 3GW
Planeswalker - Ajani (M)
[+1]: Target creature you control +3/+3 until your next turn.
[-2]: Creatures you control gain trample and indestructible until end of turn.
[-7]: You get an emblem with "Spells and abilities your opponent control can't cause you to sacrifice permanents."
[5]
Tibalt, the Tormentor 1BR
Planeswalker-- Tibalt [M]
+1: Tibalt, the Tormentor deals 1 damage to target creature or player. If a creature was dealt damage this way, it gets +1/+0 until end of turn.
-3: Each player sacrifices a permanent and loses 1 life.
-8: You get an emblem with "Whenever a creature you control dies, each opponent sacrifices a creature unless he or she discards a card at random."
[4]
----------------------------
Club Flamingo Wins: 10
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EDH Decks
BG Vicious Varolz | RW Jor Kadeen, the Mean Machine | RG Atarka: Muh_Dragons.dec (WIP) | WU Brago, Blink Eternal (WIP)
----------------------------
I'm not sure if people are aware of the Raven Man, but it makes my card make more sense if you are.....
http://mtgsalvation.gamepedia.com/Raven_Man
Thoramin, the Dark Shadow
Planeswalker - Thoramin (M)
+1: Put a 1/1 black Bird creature token with flying onto the battlefield.
-1: Draw a card and lose 1 life.
-4: Transform Thoramin, the Dark Shadow.
[5]
//
Thoramin, the Midnight Raven
Legendary Creature - Bird (M)
Flying, deathtouch
Birds you control get +1/+1 for each loyalty counter on Thoramin, the Midnight Raven.
Remove a loyalty counter from Thoramin, the Midnight Raven: Transform Thoramin, the Midnight Raven.
3/4
Syrrus Atman, Arbiter 4WU
Planeswalker - Syrrus (M)
+1: Detain target permanent you control and target permanent you don't control that shares a type with it.
-1: Put a 2/2 white and blue Spirit creature token with flying and hexproof onto the battlefield.
-7: You gain an emblem with “At the beginning of each upkeep, draw a card and gain 1 life.”
[5]
GWU Bant Manifest - The Future Is Here. Or it will be at the end of turn. GWU
Avacyn, Light of Innistrad 3WW
Planeswalker - Avacyn (M)
[+2] Target permanent you control other than Avacyn, Light of Innistrad gains indestructible until the beginning of your next upkeep.
[0] Until end of turn, Avacyn, Light of Innistrad becomes a 4/4 Angel creature with flying, vigilance and indestructible that's still a planeswalker.
[-10] Destroy each non-land permanent you do not control.
{3}
Emille, Deific Dancer 3RW
Planeswalker - Emille {M}
Whenever a source deals damage to Emille, she deals that much damage to that source's controller.
+1: Up to one target creature attacks target player or planeswalker this turn if able.
-3: Emille deals 4 damage to target creature and you gain 4 life.
0: Until end of turn, Emille becomes a 5/5 Human Soldier creature that's still a planeswalker.
5
Emille, Seven-Sting Dancer Shalin Nariya
Tezzeret, Phyrexian Scion 2WUB
Planeswalker - Tezzeret
[+1]: Put a -1/-1 counter on target creature, then proliferate
[-3]: Gain control of target permanent. It becomes an artifact in addition to its other types.
[-7]: You get an emblem with, "Artifacts you control have indestructible."
[4]
Wording for the -3 comes from Captivating Vampire being broken into two lines. http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=205041
Edit - It comes too late, but the first ability should be "Put a -1/-1 counter on up to one target creature, then proliferate." It was a copy paste error while building the render.
http://lefowens.blogspot.com/
Vronos, Avacyn's Emissary 2WU
Planeswalker - Vronos
+1: Tap target creature. It dosen't untap during its controller's next untap step.
-2: Exile target creature until vronos leaves the battlefield.
-8: you gain 10 life and draw 10 cards.
3
Liliana, Lady of the Dead
Planeswalker — Liliana (M)
Starting Loyalty: 4
+1: Return up to one target creature card from your graveyard to your hand.
-3: You get an emblem with “At the beginning of your end step, put X 2/2 black Zombie creature tokens onto the battlefield, where X is 1 plus half the number of Zombies you control, rounded down.”
-7: Destroy all non-Zombie creatures. Then put thirteen 2/2 black Zombie creature tokens onto the battlefield tapped.
The interplay of Liliana's ability to create a horde of shambling zombies or create card advantage vs Gideons ability to get super fat or repeatedly attack should make for interesting decisions depending on what situation you play the planeswalkers in.
Are you designing commons? Check out my primer on NWO.
Interested in making a custom set? Check out my Set skeleton and archetype primer.
I also write articles about getting started with custom card creation.
Go and PLAYTEST your designs, you will learn more in a single playtests than a dozen discussions.
My custom sets:
Dreamscape
Coins of Mercalis [COMPLETE]
Exodus of Zendikar - ON HOLD