Welcome to the Card Creation League!
Round 3 is for March's top 8:
kjsharp
|Katamari|
netn10
Gerrard's Mom
rkohn1357
Hemlock
IcariiFA
void_nothing
Theme
This month is all about mana! Generate it, spend it, put it in a stew (note: MTG Salvation staff bears no responsibility from injuries due to stewing mana.) We will be trying to pay homage to every type of mana from Hybrid to Phyrexian to Colorless to Snow.
Challenge
Design two cards:
• One card must either use, generate, or mechanically reference snow mana.
• One card must either use, generate, or mechanically reference Phyrexian mana.
There can be no overlap in color identity or rarity between the two cards.
• See Rage Extractor as a card that mechanically references Phyrexian mana
• Color identity includes any mana symbols showing up in the cards casting cost or rules text (but not reminder text) in addition to its color indicator in the case of double faced cards.
• Rare and Mythic Rare are not considered overlapping rarities.
• I'm leaving this: ϕ so people can copy paste it if necessary.
PLEASE NOTE: This month will continue the use of the "Mandatory Top 3 Rule." For this month, you must submit a Top 3 during a round's critique period in order to receive any points for the round. Submitting critiques as well will be worth 2 bonus points in the round.
Your submissions are due Sunday, March 18th, 23:59 PST.
Schedule
• Round 1 — Open to Everyone (February 27th-March 4th)
• Round 2 — Open to Everyone (March 5th–10th)
• Rounds 1 and 2 Critiques (Due March 12th)
• Top 8 — Open to top 8 finishers (March 13th–18th)
• Top 8 Critiques (Due March 20th)
• Top 4 — Open to top 4 finishers from last round (March 21st–26th)
• Top 4 Critiques (Due March 28th)
• Final (End of month, winner determined by public poll)
Aurochs Matriarch3GG
Snow Creature - Aurochs (R)
Trample
Aurochs Matriarch enters the battlefield with three +1/+1 counters on it if mana produced from two or more snow permanents was spent to cast it.
Whenever an Aurochs you control attacks, kincall 3. (Look at the top three cards of your library. You may reveal any number of cards that share a creature type with this card and put those cards into your hand. Put the rest on the bottom of your library in any order.)
3/3
Phyrexian Ritualist3WB
Creature - Zombie Cleric (M)
Deathtouch, lifelink (W/P)(W/P)(W/P)(W/P)(W/P)(B/P)(B/P)(B/P)(B/P)(B/P), : Double your life total and half the life total of each of your opponents, rounded up. "When I empty this cup, shall I not have bitten into the purest of fruit? Shall I not have become a god?"
3/4
Alakall, The Everstorm4SU
Legendary Snow Creature - Elemental (R)
Flying
Opponents must exert creatures as they attack you. (An exerted creature won't untap during its controller's next untap step.)
Alakall, The Everstorm gets +1/+1 for each other tapped creature.
3/3
Karack, Compleat Malice5(B/P)(B/P)
Legendary Artifact Creature - Demon (M)
Flying
You may pay (B/P) instead of B for spells and abilities you control.
Whenever you lose 2 or more life, put 2 +1/+1 counters on Karack, Compleat Malice.
5/5
Herdcaller Aurochs2G
Creature - Aurochs (U)
Trample
Whenever Herdcaller Aurochs attacks, it gets +1/+0 until end of turn for each other attacking Aurochs. You may pay SS. If you do, search your library for an Aurochs creature card with power less than Herdcaller Aurochs and put it onto the battlefield, then shuffle your library.
3/2
Cobbled Monstrosity(B/P)(B/P)(B/P)(B/P)(B/P)
Creature - Zombie Golem (M)
Cobbled Monstrosity enters the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter on it for each mana spent to cast it.
Remove a +1/+1 counter from Cobbled Monstrosity: Target creature gets -1/-1 until end of turn.
0/0
Frozen to the Core3U
Enchantment (Rare)
Enchant permenant
Enchanted permenant loses all abilities. If it's a creature, it can't attack or block.
At the beginning of your upkeep, sacrifice Frozen to the Core unless you pay S.
Singularity Crusader3
Artifact Creature - Horror Knight (Rare)
First strike 2(W/P): Creatures you control get +1/+1 until end of turn. "... And with the rise of our Father, the fleshless shall triumph,
For they have no hearts to be full of debts, nor eyes to shed tears." - Tome of Machines, verse 1875
2/2
Mayra, Fareweller of Winter1G
Legendary Creature - Dryad Druid (r)
Hexproof
: Choose a color not already chosen for this ability this turn. Add one mana of that color to your mana pool.
2/2
Bloodied Berserker1RR
Creature - Human Berserker (u)
Multikicker (You may pay an additional any number of times as you cast this spell.)
Haste
When Bloodied Berserker enters the battlefield, it deals damage to target creature equal to the number of times it was kicked.
3/2
Goblin SnowballR
Snow Creature - Goblin Warrior (R)
Haste
Whenever Goblin Snowball attacks, if the number of +1/+1 counters on it is less than the number of snow Mountains you control, you may pay S. If you do, put a +1/+1 counter on it. Recklessness and gravity are the goblins' strongest weapons and their leading causes of death.
1/1
Partisan of the Orthodoxy2
Creature - Cleric (U)
You may pay 1 less life to pay ϕ costs. "Sever the nerves that tie you to this world and shed the pain of emotions."
- The Argent Etchings
2/3
NOTE: The intent is that two of them would reduce all Phyrexian mana costs to 0 life for you.
Thanks void
NOTE: I don't think we have a symbol for the generic Phyrexian mana from Rage Extractor, but that's what is supposed to represent in this card. The intent is that two of them would reduce all Phyrexian mana costs to 0 life for you.
Weird the {B/P} version and the sym version look of black Phyrexian mana are not at all the same color and now I'm confused (B/P)
That's probably just a mistake in the image file used. I'm gonna talk to the devs about it.
EDIT: It's like this for all the Phyrexian mana symbols, but that can't be avoided due to technical reasons on the back-end. We're almost all using mana tags here, so... carry on?
Distortion Manufactory1(R/P)
Artifact (R)
You may have each creature enter the battlefield under your control with up to X -1/-1 counters on it, where X is that creature's toughness minus 1.
Whenever a creature enters the battlefield under your control with one or more -1/-1 counters on it, it gains haste and gets +2/+0 for each -1/-1 counter on it until end of turn. "Work and war form a continuum. My menials fervidly integrate themselves into any point along it." - Urabrask the Hidden
Fyndhorn Kindred3G
Snow Enchantment (M)
Snow creatures you control have "T: Add GG." (This mana can be spent on S costs.)
At the beginning of your upkeep, you may pay 4SS. If you do, create your choice of a snow 3/3 green Wolverine Beast creature token with hexproof and haste, a snow 4/4 green Elephant Beast creature token with trample, or a snow 6/9 green Treefolk creature token with defender and reach. All of nature needed to be in concordance in a place as harsh as Terisiare.
kjsharp: 1) The difference between one, two, or three snow permanents being used to cast a card is pretty small. Might as well just reference any amount of snow mana. Kinship is fine, the narrative of a growing heard is good. 2) The ritualist I like less. The ten phyrexian mana cost feels more of gimmick then interesting. At least as an activated ability on a creature that's not really worth the 5 mana investment. Its fringe commander.
|Katamari|: Side note: I really dislike when someone feels the need to explain their designs. If you feel you have to explain it, its a sign that it doesn't stand up well on its own. 1) The planeswalker feels to parasitic. It only functions well in a specific deck catered to it. Freeze is a good way to codify a often used mechanic for ice. 2.) A little weak for a rare but solid otherwise. Just call it an uncommon.
netn10: 1) Reminds me of Imprisoned in the Moon, but yours feels too white. 2) Solid, strong, simple,fair. Nothing wrong here.
Gerrard's Mom: 1) Has the potential to snowball, but that's the pun, no? Stronger than it looks in older formats. 2) Good ability, clean design. Dangerous, but fair if the cards in the same enviorments are costed accordingly.
rkohn1357: 1) Two very similiar auroch cards this round. I dont like how the search ability feels so embedded. This should be a rare. Might generate too much value. 2) Underwhelming at mythic. Versatile but many modes not worth the cost. More viable in a format with the ability to add counters.
Hemlock: 1) A legendary... mana converter? I mean, it's solid with the hexproof but in terms of "what should be legendary" this doesnt hit that niche. 2) I like the use of mulitkicker with phyrexian mana. Solid idea and design.
void_nothing: 1) This is overly convoluted. It be a better card if it just gave you the choice to put a single -1/-1 counter on a creature as enters, then if you do it gets +2/+0 and gains haste till end of turn. Easy. 2) Again, feels convoluted. Granting mana and giving you the option to make big creaturs with it is nice, but the packaging/options here could be made more elegant.
1) IcariiFA: Alakall is probably my favorite card of the round. A fun design, a bomb but the 3 toughness makes it beatable. The demon is a good design too, but I think I would drop the phyrexian mana in the CMC or maybe make it 6P instead of 5PP. I suppose the card is balanced because there's only so much life one can reasonably use. I think what I like most about the demon is that it doesn't feel like other demons that have yet been created, yet it really does feel demonic. Great flavor on both tbh.
You took a similar path that I took regarding Phyrexian mana - making the life loss of the cost very very real, and really using the fact that you start at 20/40 life to balance the mechanic. I don't find phyrexian mana balanced and don't believe it should exist. But if it is going to exist, I'd prefer it on cards like ours than on cards like Gitaxian Probe, Dismember, or Mental Mistep.
2) rkohn1357: Good concept behind the Herdcaller Aurochs. Regarding gameplay, right now it's some mix of clunky, fun, exciting, super strong, and a rules text half of which I'd like on a 4-6 CMC card (put X creature onto the battlefield) but the other half of which I'd like on a 2-3 CMC card (the scaling with other attacking Aurochs aspect). Off the cuff I'm not coming up with a way to alter it to make me feel completely satisfied with it.
I'm a big fan of Cobbled Monstrosity. You balanced it well, the phyrexian mana has a purpose but here isn't "busted", and you give the player meaningful choice for how he wants to use the card.
3) netn10: I like Frozen to the Core a lot. It has the retro feel and calls back to Cumulative Upkeep. Giving blue a white ability but requiring snow mana works in my view. 3U feels fine, as would 1UU. I think you could have set this card at uncommon to complete the challenge, even though rare is justified as well.
Singularity Crusader is a well-designed card as well. I'd prefer the mana cost to simply be 2W, but the phyrexian mana in the activation cost works well in my view
4) Katamari: Heidar needs some improvement. First, I think he's too weak. The starting loyalty is oddly low, a strong first ability, a narrow middle ability, and a weak ultimate ability that is also costed too highly relative to the starting loyalty. I also don't like that the middle and ultimate abilities both just draw you cards.
I'll throw out a version of Heidar here to give you some food for thought.
Heidar, Glacier Wanderer 2SUU
+1: Freeze up to one target nonland permanent.
-2: Target player may not scry, draw cards, or search through his library until your next turn.
-6: Draw a card for each snow permanent you control.
{4}
I'll throw out another version of "freeze" for you to mull over: "Freeze N" (same as yours, except a permanent gets N freeze counters and removes one at the beginning of his upkeep. Once all freeze counters are removed, the card is no longer frozen).
Onto the Drown in Sorrow effect. My hunch is that this one shouldn't be printed and suspect this is more along the lines of the busted phyrexian cards from Magic's past because you're getting access to an even stronger effect for a little bit of life. I'd have to test it to be sure, and I like the fact that the card is most useful in situations in which your life total will already be under duress, so paying even more life to bolster that effect might be fair. The 4 Phyrexian symbols might just be enough to get me on board. At minimum this design is clever, thought provoking, and done with care
5) Hemlock: 2 solid submissions. I personally don't like the druid very much since it asks you to go through a ton of hoops to basically act as a Prophetic Prism, but in the right limited environment I could see this card being included for x or y reason (at uncommon, not at rare).
Bloodied Berserker, though, is really innovative design. Powerful yet balanced, a fun tool for aggressive decks, and interesting in the mirror as well. I wouldn't change a thing about it!
6) Gerrard's Mom: Goblin Snowball is really good and clever design. It is in keeping with standard conventions for creature cards that cost R, so it feels printable. I also really like Partisan of the Orthodoxy (good Lord does it work well with the card I designed!). If you make the mana cost 2W instead it would be balanced (I strongly dislike using the phyrexian mana in the CMC here). This will really appeal to Johnny players who want to combo off in some fashion. Great submissions!
7) void_nothing: I really like Distortion Manufacture. I think it may very well be the most creative entry submitted this round, and I think it could lead to some really interesting aggressive or combo decks that operate on a unique axis. Let me propose two changes. (i) Drop the Phyrexian mana. I think simply costing 1R would suffice. (ii) Have it turn all of your cards into Ball Lightnings that you have to sacrifice at the end of the turn.
Fyndhorn Kindred is great too. Fun and potentially powerful if built around. Honestly you could probably get away with having the 4SS ability be a simple activated ability that you can only activate as a sorcery (that would give it a burgeoning feel that exudes "Green" in a visceral way). Feels mythic in a goofy way.
kjsharp - Aurouchs Matriarchs is a solid card that I think will play really well. I'm a little disappointed that it doesn't benefit from attacking with other Aurochs, as that's kind of their thing, but it would be hard to fit on the card. I love how Phyrexian Ritualist's ability cost complements the flavor, but I'm worried that it won't play as well as it looks.
IcariiFA - Alakall's exert ability is really cool and goes well with its snowstorm flavor. I would change its pump ability to only work for opponents' creatures, as getting bigger with your own is more of a white thing. Karaak's ability is very unique and fits black's flavor perfectly. I might make it only add one +1/+1 counter instead of two.
netn10 - Frozen to the Core is fine, but probably not rare. I like Singularity Crusader as a simple, but well-executed card.
|Katamari| - I'm not a fan of the freeze mechanic; tapping an untapped creature is probably a little too easy to do. Also, it works a lot better with Thing in the Ice than you think (remove all but one ice counter, then cast an instant or sorcery). I'm also pretty worried about having a colorless 1 mana wrath, although the life cost would be pretty significant.
Hemlock - Bloodied Berserker is a great, balanced card, but I really don't get the appeal of Mayra. Only being able to filter mana is not something I would expect from a rare card.
Gerrard's Mom - Both of these cards are really cool. Goblin Snowball's flavor is great, the only thing that would make it better is making it have to attack each turn. This would both fit the theme (a rolling snowball can't stop after all) and prevent it from being too good (as it stands, I believe it's a bit overpowered).
void_nothing - I like the concepts, but I think the execution is a bit clunky and overly complicated. Limiting the options on Distortion Manufactory and reducing the number of creature types on Fyndhorn's Kindred's tokens would be a good place to start trimming these down.
Kinda want three snow permanents required to line up with all the other threes, and it would only make it harder to pull off in Limited.
Aurochs are fun and kincall is reasonable I think.
Not sure how I feel about the repeatable nature of the Phyrexian guy. If you can keep yourself at 16 or better, by my calculations you can hit the next land drop and pay 8 life to stay where you are, getting ahead as you get more mana and halving the opponent out in...5 turns? I suppose that's fine, kind of planeswalker like since it requires you to keep a decent life total, and the cost is impressively mythic.
Use of exert is nice. Not sure I'm totally sold on just straight up snow in the cost but I don't really remember why they didn't do any of that in Coldsnap.
Karack is pretty cool, I like the washing into Phyrexian.
Just templating, I think the Aurochs needs "Then you may"? I like throwing Aurochs into the everpresent-these-days 3/2 for 3 and the trigger is pretty good.
I like the intent of the Phyrexian card but I'm not actually sure if paying life doesn't count as "spending mana". I'm also not sure I get the flavor and it's sort of weird that it just punishes you for spending life - would have been a much better mythic if the mana did one thing and the life something else.
Not supposed to be the same rarity. Frozen to the Core could have easily passed as uncommon and the cost seems high - see Gelid Shackles.
The knight is kind of neat but doesn't really show off anything new for Phyrexian mana.
I guess Heidar randomly getting a spark would have fit pretty well with the old story's penchant to have any character in danger ascend.
Freeze kind of seems like going overboard for the effect it grants but the play might be interesting. I like the documented random interactions with existing cards, but more in an ironic fashion than a realistic fashion.
I think you still need "until end of turn" on the second ability for the Phyrexian card. It's kind of neat but doesn't quite gel for my Melvin. What about -X/-X where X is the amount of life you lost this turn?
You have a neat flavor package on the dryad but mana washing is just not that exciting, especially with memory issues. Some kind of snow cost to add WUBRG might have been fun.
I do like Multikicker with Phyrexian mana as it gives you options above your current number of lands. This guy is a well-thought-out package, removing a blocker and being hasty. Very red.
I guess there has probably been one time I was like "If only this Hill Giant were an Arc Runner that turned into a 1/1 instead". But I'm still not sure if I would have invested a card to do that. I'm also weirdly mad that it doesn't let me just kill everything I play if I want it to.
Cone of Snow Creatures on a Stick with lots of extra words at least makes it a consistent pair of permanents that do nothing on their own but ask you to be in some weird situation.
Pretty close on my top 2 and my next 2 but splitting like this:
kjsharp
IcariiFA
Hemlock
HM: rkohn1357
Bonus: Cryocompleation1{S/P} (snow or 2 life)
Enchantment - Aura (U)
Enchant creature
Whenever enchanted creature attacks or blocks, put a +1/+1 counter on it, then its controller loses 2 life.
Hey!, I'm Hemlock here and I'm having some trouble loggin in. I'm trying to fix it but I don't think I will be able to post until a couple hours from now. I'll critique from this login if I can't get my login fixed!
By: Miguel Coimbra
March CCL 2018 Round 3 - Snowmageddon
Welcome to the Card Creation League!
Round 3 is for March's top 8:
kjsharp
|Katamari|
netn10
Gerrard's Mom
rkohn1357
Hemlock
IcariiFA
void_nothing
Theme
This month is all about mana! Generate it, spend it, put it in a stew (note: MTG Salvation staff bears no responsibility from injuries due to stewing mana.) We will be trying to pay homage to every type of mana from Hybrid to Phyrexian to Colorless to Snow.
Challenge
• See Rage Extractor as a card that mechanically references Phyrexian mana
• Color identity includes any mana symbols showing up in the cards casting cost or rules text (but not reminder text) in addition to its color indicator in the case of double faced cards.
• Rare and Mythic Rare are not considered overlapping rarities.
• I'm leaving this: ϕ so people can copy paste it if necessary.
PLEASE NOTE: This month will continue the use of the "Mandatory Top 3 Rule." For this month, you must submit a Top 3 during a round's critique period in order to receive any points for the round. Submitting critiques as well will be worth 2 bonus points in the round.
Schedule
• Round 1 — Open to Everyone (February 27th-March 4th)
• Round 2 — Open to Everyone (March 5th–10th)
• Rounds 1 and 2 Critiques (Due March 12th)
• Top 8 — Open to top 8 finishers (March 13th–18th)
• Top 8 Critiques (Due March 20th)
• Top 4 — Open to top 4 finishers from last round (March 21st–26th)
• Top 4 Critiques (Due March 28th)
• Final (End of month, winner determined by public poll)
Snow Creature - Aurochs (R)
Trample
Aurochs Matriarch enters the battlefield with three +1/+1 counters on it if mana produced from two or more snow permanents was spent to cast it.
Whenever an Aurochs you control attacks, kincall 3. (Look at the top three cards of your library. You may reveal any number of cards that share a creature type with this card and put those cards into your hand. Put the rest on the bottom of your library in any order.)
3/3
Phyrexian Ritualist 3WB
Creature - Zombie Cleric (M)
Deathtouch, lifelink
(W/P)(W/P)(W/P)(W/P)(W/P)(B/P)(B/P)(B/P)(B/P)(B/P), : Double your life total and half the life total of each of your opponents, rounded up.
"When I empty this cup, shall I not have bitten into the purest of fruit? Shall I not have become a god?"
3/4
Legendary Snow Creature - Elemental (R)
Flying
Opponents must exert creatures as they attack you. (An exerted creature won't untap during its controller's next untap step.)
Alakall, The Everstorm gets +1/+1 for each other tapped creature.
3/3
Karack, Compleat Malice 5(B/P)(B/P)
Legendary Artifact Creature - Demon (M)
Flying
You may pay (B/P) instead of B for spells and abilities you control.
Whenever you lose 2 or more life, put 2 +1/+1 counters on Karack, Compleat Malice.
5/5
Creature - Aurochs (U)
Trample
Whenever Herdcaller Aurochs attacks, it gets +1/+0 until end of turn for each other attacking Aurochs. You may pay SS. If you do, search your library for an Aurochs creature card with power less than Herdcaller Aurochs and put it onto the battlefield, then shuffle your library.
3/2
Cobbled Monstrosity (B/P)(B/P)(B/P)(B/P)(B/P)
Creature - Zombie Golem (M)
Cobbled Monstrosity enters the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter on it for each mana spent to cast it.
Remove a +1/+1 counter from Cobbled Monstrosity: Target creature gets -1/-1 until end of turn.
0/0
Enchantment (Rare)
Enchant permenant
Enchanted permenant loses all abilities. If it's a creature, it can't attack or block.
At the beginning of your upkeep, sacrifice Frozen to the Core unless you pay S.
Singularity Crusader 3
Artifact Creature - Horror Knight (Rare)
First strike
2(W/P): Creatures you control get +1/+1 until end of turn.
"... And with the rise of our Father, the fleshless shall triumph,
For they have no hearts to be full of debts, nor eyes to shed tears." - Tome of Machines, verse 1875
2/2
Legendary Creature - Dryad Druid (r)
Hexproof
: Choose a color not already chosen for this ability this turn. Add one mana of that color to your mana pool.
2/2
Bloodied Berserker 1RR
Creature - Human Berserker (u)
Multikicker (You may pay an additional any number of times as you cast this spell.)
Haste
When Bloodied Berserker enters the battlefield, it deals damage to target creature equal to the number of times it was kicked.
3/2
Snow Creature - Goblin Warrior (R)
Haste
Whenever Goblin Snowball attacks, if the number of +1/+1 counters on it is less than the number of snow Mountains you control, you may pay S. If you do, put a +1/+1 counter on it.
Recklessness and gravity are the goblins' strongest weapons and their leading causes of death.
1/1
Partisan of the Orthodoxy 2
Creature - Cleric (U)
You may pay 1 less life to pay ϕ costs.
"Sever the nerves that tie you to this world and shed the pain of emotions."
- The Argent Etchings
2/3
NOTE: The intent is that two of them would reduce all Phyrexian mana costs to 0 life for you.
Thanks void
You're looking for a unicode symbol. ϕ
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝
Added to clerifications, thanks
(B/P)
That's probably just a mistake in the image file used. I'm gonna talk to the devs about it.
EDIT: It's like this for all the Phyrexian mana symbols, but that can't be avoided due to technical reasons on the back-end. We're almost all using mana tags here, so... carry on?
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝
Artifact (R)
You may have each creature enter the battlefield under your control with up to X -1/-1 counters on it, where X is that creature's toughness minus 1.
Whenever a creature enters the battlefield under your control with one or more -1/-1 counters on it, it gains haste and gets +2/+0 for each -1/-1 counter on it until end of turn.
"Work and war form a continuum. My menials fervidly integrate themselves into any point along it." - Urabrask the Hidden
Fyndhorn Kindred 3G
Snow Enchantment (M)
Snow creatures you control have "T: Add GG." (This mana can be spent on S costs.)
At the beginning of your upkeep, you may pay 4SS. If you do, create your choice of a snow 3/3 green Wolverine Beast creature token with hexproof and haste, a snow 4/4 green Elephant Beast creature token with trample, or a snow 6/9 green Treefolk creature token with defender and reach.
All of nature needed to be in concordance in a place as harsh as Terisiare.
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝
Edit:
That's a wrap, you have two days to get top3s and critiques in for your competitors!
|Katamari|: Side note: I really dislike when someone feels the need to explain their designs. If you feel you have to explain it, its a sign that it doesn't stand up well on its own. 1) The planeswalker feels to parasitic. It only functions well in a specific deck catered to it. Freeze is a good way to codify a often used mechanic for ice. 2.) A little weak for a rare but solid otherwise. Just call it an uncommon.
netn10: 1) Reminds me of Imprisoned in the Moon, but yours feels too white. 2) Solid, strong, simple,fair. Nothing wrong here.
Gerrard's Mom: 1) Has the potential to snowball, but that's the pun, no? Stronger than it looks in older formats. 2) Good ability, clean design. Dangerous, but fair if the cards in the same enviorments are costed accordingly.
rkohn1357: 1) Two very similiar auroch cards this round. I dont like how the search ability feels so embedded. This should be a rare. Might generate too much value. 2) Underwhelming at mythic. Versatile but many modes not worth the cost. More viable in a format with the ability to add counters.
Hemlock: 1) A legendary... mana converter? I mean, it's solid with the hexproof but in terms of "what should be legendary" this doesnt hit that niche. 2) I like the use of mulitkicker with phyrexian mana. Solid idea and design.
void_nothing: 1) This is overly convoluted. It be a better card if it just gave you the choice to put a single -1/-1 counter on a creature as enters, then if you do it gets +2/+0 and gains haste till end of turn. Easy. 2) Again, feels convoluted. Granting mana and giving you the option to make big creaturs with it is nice, but the packaging/options here could be made more elegant.
2nd: Hemlock
3rd: kjsharp
You took a similar path that I took regarding Phyrexian mana - making the life loss of the cost very very real, and really using the fact that you start at 20/40 life to balance the mechanic. I don't find phyrexian mana balanced and don't believe it should exist. But if it is going to exist, I'd prefer it on cards like ours than on cards like Gitaxian Probe, Dismember, or Mental Mistep.
2) rkohn1357: Good concept behind the Herdcaller Aurochs. Regarding gameplay, right now it's some mix of clunky, fun, exciting, super strong, and a rules text half of which I'd like on a 4-6 CMC card (put X creature onto the battlefield) but the other half of which I'd like on a 2-3 CMC card (the scaling with other attacking Aurochs aspect). Off the cuff I'm not coming up with a way to alter it to make me feel completely satisfied with it.
I'm a big fan of Cobbled Monstrosity. You balanced it well, the phyrexian mana has a purpose but here isn't "busted", and you give the player meaningful choice for how he wants to use the card.
3) netn10: I like Frozen to the Core a lot. It has the retro feel and calls back to Cumulative Upkeep. Giving blue a white ability but requiring snow mana works in my view. 3U feels fine, as would 1UU. I think you could have set this card at uncommon to complete the challenge, even though rare is justified as well.
Singularity Crusader is a well-designed card as well. I'd prefer the mana cost to simply be 2W, but the phyrexian mana in the activation cost works well in my view
4) Katamari: Heidar needs some improvement. First, I think he's too weak. The starting loyalty is oddly low, a strong first ability, a narrow middle ability, and a weak ultimate ability that is also costed too highly relative to the starting loyalty. I also don't like that the middle and ultimate abilities both just draw you cards.
I'll throw out a version of Heidar here to give you some food for thought.
Heidar, Glacier Wanderer 2SUU
+1: Freeze up to one target nonland permanent.
-2: Target player may not scry, draw cards, or search through his library until your next turn.
-6: Draw a card for each snow permanent you control.
{4}
I'll throw out another version of "freeze" for you to mull over: "Freeze N" (same as yours, except a permanent gets N freeze counters and removes one at the beginning of his upkeep. Once all freeze counters are removed, the card is no longer frozen).
Onto the Drown in Sorrow effect. My hunch is that this one shouldn't be printed and suspect this is more along the lines of the busted phyrexian cards from Magic's past because you're getting access to an even stronger effect for a little bit of life. I'd have to test it to be sure, and I like the fact that the card is most useful in situations in which your life total will already be under duress, so paying even more life to bolster that effect might be fair. The 4 Phyrexian symbols might just be enough to get me on board. At minimum this design is clever, thought provoking, and done with care
5) Hemlock: 2 solid submissions. I personally don't like the druid very much since it asks you to go through a ton of hoops to basically act as a Prophetic Prism, but in the right limited environment I could see this card being included for x or y reason (at uncommon, not at rare).
Bloodied Berserker, though, is really innovative design. Powerful yet balanced, a fun tool for aggressive decks, and interesting in the mirror as well. I wouldn't change a thing about it!
6) Gerrard's Mom: Goblin Snowball is really good and clever design. It is in keeping with standard conventions for creature cards that cost R, so it feels printable. I also really like Partisan of the Orthodoxy (good Lord does it work well with the card I designed!). If you make the mana cost 2W instead it would be balanced (I strongly dislike using the phyrexian mana in the CMC here). This will really appeal to Johnny players who want to combo off in some fashion. Great submissions!
7) void_nothing: I really like Distortion Manufacture. I think it may very well be the most creative entry submitted this round, and I think it could lead to some really interesting aggressive or combo decks that operate on a unique axis. Let me propose two changes. (i) Drop the Phyrexian mana. I think simply costing 1R would suffice. (ii) Have it turn all of your cards into Ball Lightnings that you have to sacrifice at the end of the turn.
Fyndhorn Kindred is great too. Fun and potentially powerful if built around. Honestly you could probably get away with having the 4SS ability be a simple activated ability that you can only activate as a sorcery (that would give it a burgeoning feel that exudes "Green" in a visceral way). Feels mythic in a goofy way.
2) Gerrard's Mom
3) void_nothing
HM: rkohn1357
IcariiFA - Alakall's exert ability is really cool and goes well with its snowstorm flavor. I would change its pump ability to only work for opponents' creatures, as getting bigger with your own is more of a white thing. Karaak's ability is very unique and fits black's flavor perfectly. I might make it only add one +1/+1 counter instead of two.
netn10 - Frozen to the Core is fine, but probably not rare. I like Singularity Crusader as a simple, but well-executed card.
|Katamari| - I'm not a fan of the freeze mechanic; tapping an untapped creature is probably a little too easy to do. Also, it works a lot better with Thing in the Ice than you think (remove all but one ice counter, then cast an instant or sorcery). I'm also pretty worried about having a colorless 1 mana wrath, although the life cost would be pretty significant.
Hemlock - Bloodied Berserker is a great, balanced card, but I really don't get the appeal of Mayra. Only being able to filter mana is not something I would expect from a rare card.
Gerrard's Mom - Both of these cards are really cool. Goblin Snowball's flavor is great, the only thing that would make it better is making it have to attack each turn. This would both fit the theme (a rolling snowball can't stop after all) and prevent it from being too good (as it stands, I believe it's a bit overpowered).
void_nothing - I like the concepts, but I think the execution is a bit clunky and overly complicated. Limiting the options on Distortion Manufactory and reducing the number of creature types on Fyndhorn's Kindred's tokens would be a good place to start trimming these down.
2. Gerrard's Mom
3. kjsharp
Aurochs are fun and kincall is reasonable I think.
Not sure how I feel about the repeatable nature of the Phyrexian guy. If you can keep yourself at 16 or better, by my calculations you can hit the next land drop and pay 8 life to stay where you are, getting ahead as you get more mana and halving the opponent out in...5 turns? I suppose that's fine, kind of planeswalker like since it requires you to keep a decent life total, and the cost is impressively mythic.
Karack is pretty cool, I like the washing into Phyrexian.
I like the intent of the Phyrexian card but I'm not actually sure if paying life doesn't count as "spending mana". I'm also not sure I get the flavor and it's sort of weird that it just punishes you for spending life - would have been a much better mythic if the mana did one thing and the life something else.
The knight is kind of neat but doesn't really show off anything new for Phyrexian mana.
Freeze kind of seems like going overboard for the effect it grants but the play might be interesting. I like the documented random interactions with existing cards, but more in an ironic fashion than a realistic fashion.
I think you still need "until end of turn" on the second ability for the Phyrexian card. It's kind of neat but doesn't quite gel for my Melvin. What about -X/-X where X is the amount of life you lost this turn?
I do like Multikicker with Phyrexian mana as it gives you options above your current number of lands. This guy is a well-thought-out package, removing a blocker and being hasty. Very red.
Cone of Snow Creatures on a Stick with lots of extra words at least makes it a consistent pair of permanents that do nothing on their own but ask you to be in some weird situation.
Bonus:
Cryocompleation 1{S/P} (snow or 2 life)
Enchantment - Aura (U)
Enchant creature
Whenever enchanted creature attacks or blocks, put a +1/+1 counter on it, then its controller loses 2 life.
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝