Libra, the Scales X
Legendary Artifact (rare)
Libra, the Scales enters the battlefield with X charge counters.
At the beginning of your upkeep, remove a charge counter from Libra. Then put X +1/+1 counters on target creature with the least power, and target player with the least life gains X life, where X is the number of charge counters on Libra.
When there are no charge counters on Libra, sacrifice it. One night is never enough time to even the day's imbalances, but it tries mightily.
Mox Fluorite 0
Artifact (rare)
:symtap:: Add W to your mana pool if you control a creature with protection.
:symtap:: Add G to your mana pool if you control a creature with shroud.
:symtap:: Add R to your mana pool if you control a creature with haste.
Should regenerate the creature, otherwise if a creature has lethal damage the game goes into an infinite loop.
That Hideous Strength 1BG
Instant
Until end of turn, whenever an opponent gains life, choose a permanent that player controls, destroy it, and draw a card.
Misotheistic Elf G
Creature--Elf Warrior (rare)
1/1
Flash
Whenever Misotheistic Elf attacks a planeswalker, put X +1/+1 counters on it, where X is the number of loyalty counters on that planeswalker. "I can hear the song of every living creature of this world but from you, there is a sickening silence. You don't belong here, and while you remain I cannot rest."
If I might contradict your judging a tad, GetItWrong...I think the winner IS broken. This would be in every Legacy deck for the simple fact that you could basically pitch an Ornithopter or any other 0CC spell and get 3 cards. Not only that but in a mirror match with blue this would be GOD. "My spell's getting countered anyway? I'll draw 3."
Well, possibly. There are very few playable cards with 0 casting cost, and you're pitching them right when they'd be useful on their own. Spending 1U or 2U to net one card isn't a particularly strong early play, and of course you're risking get 2-for-1'd if your opponent has her own counterspell.
Oh. I thought that you have to be able to play out the targeted effect to activate the ability. Meh, lesson learned. I don't actually know how to play Magic. Never played it before. I haunt this forum for names with assonance. They, at least, make me smile.
You're right, but if you don't use the word target it's not a targeted effect, so that rule doesn't apply. If you used the word target it might be fair, but it's still potentially explosive.
I don't think that your card, Kensei, should win. It has a huge incoming drawback, and then incredibly narrow counters because of the "same CMC" clause.
I agree it's underpowered...except cards that create a lockdown should be, to avoid having unfun game situations becoming commonplace. Hard-to-pull-off lockdowns have their place, as do cards that take a lot of work to become viable.
Quote from EBB »
Addendum- I'm trying to remember what each judge likes. GIW seems to care a lot about flavor (talk about nitpicking with blondebearde). Not that I have a problem with that. But someone should write an addendum to one of these WIJ threads about judges' subjective pleasures.
I pay attention to flavor, but it's never a deal-breaker with me unless the card seems to completely disregard the challenge. I'm more about innovation and balance in about equal measure. Or that's how I think I judge, maybe I don't know my own mind. I've certainly wished myself that I was better at remembering judges' preferences.
PalinodeU
Instant (U)
Counter target spell you own.
Draw 3 cards. I was wrong.
You definitely got an advantage from posting first. This sort of mechanic is what I was expecting most people to do. However, you've included two touches that I really like. Using the word "own" creates additional potential uses while not really increasing complexity at all--the MaRo definition of elegant. And you've placed this at a power level that makes it just possible that people will sometimes cast a spell with the intention of Palinoding it, just for the "discard two, draw three" effect. I think this would see a lot of play, but you could hardly call it broken. I think my only complaint is the flavortext, which goes for laconic but ends up just a little lackluster. Very well done.
Palinode Hub3UU
Enchantment (R)
As an additional cost to cast Palinode Hub, return three creatures you control to their owner's hand.
Return a creature you control to its owner’s hand: Counter target spell with converted mana cost equal to the returned creature’s converted mana cost.
Huh! This took a while for me to get my mind around--it's such an innovative Johnny card that at first it seemed unplayable. But in combination with a Momentary Blink sort of theme in your creatures, the returning becomes a benefit as much as a cost. It's hard to imagine it seeing real competitive play (and forget about Limited), but it works for me as a Johnny rare.
Palinode Flames
Instant {C}
Deal 2 damage to target creature. Then prevent the next four damage that would be dealt to it.
(Should be "Palinode Flames deals"). This is an odd concept--a spell and its palinode in the same card, sort of the ultimate enemy-colors effect. The color bleed doesn't really work for me: you're giving white an excellent Shock, and while white already has good one-mana removal, this version has basically no drawback (the only thing I can think of is you can't use two of them to kill a */4) plus an alternate mode. Red preventing damage to large creatures won't break any formats, but still seems slightly out of place, Ogre Enforcer notwithstanding.
Palinode Elemental2UU
Creature - Elemental
Whenever ~ enters the battlefield, return target creature to it's owners hand.
Whenever ~ attacks, return it to your hand.
2/5 Behold the elemental existence of contradiction. Such a thing cannot exist!
Flavortext made me grin. This is a clever design--the second ability initially comes across as a more flavorful equivalent to defender, until you realize it's actually what makes the card. My objection, unfortunately a major one, is the power level. It's a great wall that lets you bounce a creature every turn, potentially wrecking aggro decks even if they can spend two cards to kill it.
Reverent Palinode 1WU
Enchantment - Aura
Enchant creature
Enchanted creature has vigilance. If it's legendary, it gets +3/+3. If it's not, it has ":symtap:: Return target legendary permanent to its owner's hand". When a hero falls to pride or negligence, Kyallon's bards unsing her tales.
Very interesting. I like the flavortext, I like each individual effect, I don't quite get how it all coheres. It seems like it's representing both the reverence and its "unsinging" in one card, but I'm not sure why you would do that. The power level is hard to evaluate out of a set context--in a legend-themed set it could be quite strong.
Palinode Tome0
Artifact - Tome (R) 1: ~ becomes a copy of target tome.
Yeah this challenge is kinda lame, but assume that the other tomes made would be eratta'd into tomes, see thran tome, or any other. Also assume this would be in a block with lots of tomes.
I don't really see how a copy is a retraction--either this is missing some explanatory flavortext, or you misread the definition and thought a palinode was a straight sequel. I can't really judge it mechanically, but it's probably fair due to not keeping the copy ability. I think it would be cleaner as a 1-mana artifact that enters the battlefield as a copy of a Tome--trading a longshot potential for instant-speed wackiness for a better interaction with enters-the-battlefield text.
Palinode Falls
Legendary Land (R)
Shroud T: Add UU to your mana pool. ~ doesn't untap during your untap step. Travellers deny ever being there.
"Doesn't untap" should probably be on its own line. As it is, it makes me worry that you might have meant it to untap every other turn. Either way, it's not too broken but still breaks current design rules. It doesn't feel particularly innovative, although it's a clever and evocative response to the challenge.
Palinode 1U
Instant
Choose a number on a spell or permanent you control. Change the number to two plus that number. (This effect doesn't end at end of turn.)
He realized he had underestimated them in his last epic, and was "coerced" into changing the numbers.
Oh dear god this is just begging to be broken. Best I can come up with off the top of my head is Gemstone Array, which gives infinite mana, but I'm sure there's something better. Cards just weren't designed with this wackiness in mind (in fact, it might create contradictory instructions by changing "X can't be 0" to "X can't be 2" on something like Aladdin's Lamp). How about changing the last 1 on Transcendence to a 3: now you effectively have infinite life. A fun idea, but way too crazy to see print. Incidentally, your flavortext wanted "coerced" to be "persuaded:" and I think you realized that but accidentally put the subtext in where the text should've been.
Palinode Grove Legendary Land(U) T: Add GU to your mana pool. Then return a Forest or Island you control to its owner's hand. I'd like to amend my spell, if you would give me the chance.
Still broken. Maybe would've been something approaching printable if it had been a Forest Island itself, with "whenever ~ becomes tapped...". As is, it's easily made a drawbackless double land.
Palinode of SoulsB
Instant {R}
Sacrifice a creature.
Draw a card. "If there were one thing in my life/
That I could retract, like a butterfly knife/
Aside from the stock market crash/
And these pants... which with my shirt do clash/
It would surely be you, dear wife."
...your doggerel is as bad as mine. But funny. Well done giving the challenge some bite...unfortunately the card already exists. And it wasn't playable then either.
As predicted, the winner is hoyerhan. Kensei takes a close second. Thanks everyone for your fun entries.
Unstable Morphrock 3
Artifact Creature--Shapeshifter (rare)
3/3
Whenever an artifact enters the battlefield, Unstable Morphrock becomes a copy of it and gains this ability.
Qi Heartbinder 1WG
Planeswalker--Qi (mr) {3}
+1: Put a loyalty counter on target permanent. For the rest of the game, control of it can't change.
+1: Gain 1 life for each loyalty counter on permanents you control.
-8: For each permanent you control with a loyalty counter, reveal the top two cards of your library and exile one of them. You may play the other one without paying its mana cost.
Narsil, the Broken Blade 2
Legendary Artifact--Equipment
Equip 1
Equipped creature gets +1/+1.
Whenever equipped creature deals combat damage to a creature, unattach and destroy all auras and equipment attached to that creature. 5, sacrifice Narsil, the Broken Blade: Search your library for a legendary Equipment card, put it onto the battlefield, and shuffle your library.
(I'm assuming here that the One Ring is indestructible, so this would just unattach it, not destroy it, as in the backstory.)
Mindtide Moon 2U
Enchantment 2: Exchange control of target Island and target blue creature.
Mindtide Moon has "Cycling 0" as long as you've drawn two or more cards this turn.
Impossible Colossus 1G
Creature--Beast (rare)
9/9
Trample, protection from black
You may cast Impossible Colossus from the battlefield, but not from anywhere else.
Face of the Traitor 1R
Enchantment--Aura (uncommon)
Enchant player
Creatures attack enchanted player each turn if possible. Alda looked upon the small, unassuming man, and immediately felt an overpowering hatred. Her bow strained against her back. "You, then," she said, "must be the one who brought the darkness. The one who, it is said, even the grass of this plane yearns to destroy without knowing why."
Imatrari, Illicit Wanemaster2BB
Legendary Creature-Human Wizard Rogue (R)
At the beginning of your upkeep, discard a card.
Embezzle — Whenever you cast an instant spell, target opponent reveals a card from his or her hand at random. If an instant card is revealed this way, that player loses 2 life for each card in your hand. You gain life equal to the life lost this way.
2/2
Make a multicolor planeswalker (NO nonloyalty abilities!)
A very logical way to respond to the challenge. The nested contingencies here--you need a good handsize despite the drawback, plus instants, plus your opponent needs instants, plus she can't be able to unload them in response to the trigger, plus random chance has to work--seem to make the card too weak to justify its complexity. I am intrigued by the idea that the drawback could help protect against your opponent's own Embezzle effects.
Insane Ice Wizard 1UU
Creature - Wizard 1, T, Discard a card: Tap target creature with the same converted mana cost as the discarded card. The next two times that creature would become untapped, it remains tapped instead.
1/3
Heh. The feel and flavor of this works well enough for me, but the power level is just too weak: trading a card for a temporary kill isn't worth the inconsistency of hoping you've got a disposable card that matches the creature you want gone.
Insight Into WitchcraftBBBB
Sorcery - (U)
ITarget player discards 2 cards at random.
Target player loses 2 life.
Target creature gets -2/-2 until end of turn.
IIW:
Make a superhero into a card
The name seems slightly strained, but still plausible. The card is quite powerful--4 mana usually just gets you a nonrandom discard, and here you've got quite often an easy three-for-one. There's not much innovation here, just a stack of common black effects.
Incomprehensible Ill-Will1BR SorceryR
Each player discards three cards. Then if that player has no cards in hand, that player draws three cards. You can see someone elses ambitions as you lose yours.
Make a card that would be a political card in multiplayer.
Very clever! A hellbent card in slight disguise, this gives you a huge benefit if you have two or fewer cards in hand and your opponent does not. Otherwise, it's a slightly awkward part of a discard-themed deck. It's potentially powerful, but I think it's printable and suggests some fun deck designs.
If Islands Walked3URG
Instant {MR}
Islands you control become 7/7 blue elemental creatures with trample and haste until end of turn. Some things can be imagined, but never seen. Some things can only be seen, never imagined.
Great flavortext. The card is fun, in a warped sort of way. An interesting finisher in a control deck. You can splash and into an Island-heavy deck fairly easily via duals and non-land fixers, but it's essentially a 9-mana card if you want to win with it, so it's certainly not overpowered. I'm not sure I like it being an instant when the abilities it grants are attack-oriented...and why do you need haste? If you've got an Island that entered the battlefield this turn, just use it to pay the mana cost.
Irrepressible Ink-Warden1UR
Creature - Cephalid Soldier (U)
Haste
When ~ enters the battlefield, return target creature to its owner's hand. Did you ink you could stand in my way? 2/2
Lame flavor text I know... lols. C'mon, I'm easily amused!
"Warden" seems like a stretch--wardens guard, they don't release. A part-red Cephalid is a little odd, but hypothetical set, etc. The card is clever; I like its tautness of concept. I could see it costing more.
Irreversible Ideal Wrack2URB
Sorcery
Gain control of target creature. Until that creature leaves the battlefield, no other player can gain control of it.
"You are not fighting for the right cause. How about seeing the world from my perspective?" - Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker
3 colors and five mana seems like a lot of work to go through just for irreversibility. I like the use of the word Wrack, very magic-y.
Impenetrable Iron Wall7
Artifact Creature - Wall (R)
Shroud.
Impenetrable Iron Wall is indestructible.
Impenetrable Iron Wall can't be countered.
Impenetrable Iron Wall may block up to three creatures.
0/8
IIW
Design a card that could get into tier 1 legacy decks without breaking current T2 environment.
You can't even kill it in combat?! The non-interactivity of this makes it seem a bit unfun. The name is borderline plausible, although it certainly fits the card!
Intentionally Insane Wildness - 1GW Instant (R)
Search your library for any number of basic land cards and put them onto the battlefield tapped.
You lose the game at the beginning of your next end step. That's so crazy it has to work!
Heh. A definitely stretch as far as names go (the challenge's fault more than yours). This seems a bit too easy to break: several landfall cards come to mind (wait until a creature goes unblocked before casting this, then give it +2/+2 for each land in your deck, or +4/+4 and trample, etc.). Too powerful, and inevitably ending the game on turn 4 isn't fun.
ImpulsiveKnowledge
Make a card that would be a political card in multiplayer.
X
Legendary Artifact (rare)
Libra, the Scales enters the battlefield with X charge counters.
At the beginning of your upkeep, remove a charge counter from Libra. Then put X +1/+1 counters on target creature with the least power, and target player with the least life gains X life, where X is the number of charge counters on Libra.
When there are no charge counters on Libra, sacrifice it.
One night is never enough time to even the day's imbalances, but it tries mightily.
0
Artifact (rare)
:symtap:: Add W to your mana pool if you control a creature with protection.
:symtap:: Add G to your mana pool if you control a creature with shroud.
:symtap:: Add R to your mana pool if you control a creature with haste.
That Hideous Strength
1BG
Instant
Until end of turn, whenever an opponent gains life, choose a permanent that player controls, destroy it, and draw a card.
G
Creature--Elf Warrior (rare)
1/1
Flash
Whenever Misotheistic Elf attacks a planeswalker, put X +1/+1 counters on it, where X is the number of loyalty counters on that planeswalker.
"I can hear the song of every living creature of this world but from you, there is a sickening silence. You don't belong here, and while you remain I cannot rest."
Well, possibly. There are very few playable cards with 0 casting cost, and you're pitching them right when they'd be useful on their own. Spending 1U or 2U to net one card isn't a particularly strong early play, and of course you're risking get 2-for-1'd if your opponent has her own counterspell.
You're right, but if you don't use the word target it's not a targeted effect, so that rule doesn't apply. If you used the word target it might be fair, but it's still potentially explosive.
I agree it's underpowered...except cards that create a lockdown should be, to avoid having unfun game situations becoming commonplace. Hard-to-pull-off lockdowns have their place, as do cards that take a lot of work to become viable.
I pay attention to flavor, but it's never a deal-breaker with me unless the card seems to completely disregard the challenge. I'm more about innovation and balance in about equal measure. Or that's how I think I judge, maybe I don't know my own mind. I've certainly wished myself that I was better at remembering judges' preferences.
You definitely got an advantage from posting first. This sort of mechanic is what I was expecting most people to do. However, you've included two touches that I really like. Using the word "own" creates additional potential uses while not really increasing complexity at all--the MaRo definition of elegant. And you've placed this at a power level that makes it just possible that people will sometimes cast a spell with the intention of Palinoding it, just for the "discard two, draw three" effect. I think this would see a lot of play, but you could hardly call it broken. I think my only complaint is the flavortext, which goes for laconic but ends up just a little lackluster. Very well done.
Huh! This took a while for me to get my mind around--it's such an innovative Johnny card that at first it seemed unplayable. But in combination with a Momentary Blink sort of theme in your creatures, the returning becomes a benefit as much as a cost. It's hard to imagine it seeing real competitive play (and forget about Limited), but it works for me as a Johnny rare.
(Should be "Palinode Flames deals"). This is an odd concept--a spell and its palinode in the same card, sort of the ultimate enemy-colors effect. The color bleed doesn't really work for me: you're giving white an excellent Shock, and while white already has good one-mana removal, this version has basically no drawback (the only thing I can think of is you can't use two of them to kill a */4) plus an alternate mode. Red preventing damage to large creatures won't break any formats, but still seems slightly out of place, Ogre Enforcer notwithstanding.
Flavortext made me grin. This is a clever design--the second ability initially comes across as a more flavorful equivalent to defender, until you realize it's actually what makes the card. My objection, unfortunately a major one, is the power level. It's a great wall that lets you bounce a creature every turn, potentially wrecking aggro decks even if they can spend two cards to kill it.
Very interesting. I like the flavortext, I like each individual effect, I don't quite get how it all coheres. It seems like it's representing both the reverence and its "unsinging" in one card, but I'm not sure why you would do that. The power level is hard to evaluate out of a set context--in a legend-themed set it could be quite strong.
I don't really see how a copy is a retraction--either this is missing some explanatory flavortext, or you misread the definition and thought a palinode was a straight sequel. I can't really judge it mechanically, but it's probably fair due to not keeping the copy ability. I think it would be cleaner as a 1-mana artifact that enters the battlefield as a copy of a Tome--trading a longshot potential for instant-speed wackiness for a better interaction with enters-the-battlefield text.
"Doesn't untap" should probably be on its own line. As it is, it makes me worry that you might have meant it to untap every other turn. Either way, it's not too broken but still breaks current design rules. It doesn't feel particularly innovative, although it's a clever and evocative response to the challenge.
Oh dear god this is just begging to be broken. Best I can come up with off the top of my head is Gemstone Array, which gives infinite mana, but I'm sure there's something better. Cards just weren't designed with this wackiness in mind (in fact, it might create contradictory instructions by changing "X can't be 0" to "X can't be 2" on something like Aladdin's Lamp). How about changing the last 1 on Transcendence to a 3: now you effectively have infinite life. A fun idea, but way too crazy to see print. Incidentally, your flavortext wanted "coerced" to be "persuaded:" and I think you realized that but accidentally put the subtext in where the text should've been.
Unimpeachable interpretation of the challenge, but this is just obnoxiously weak. Even as a cantrip, people wouldn't play it over Remand.
Still broken. Maybe would've been something approaching printable if it had been a Forest Island itself, with "whenever ~ becomes tapped...". As is, it's easily made a drawbackless double land.
...your doggerel is as bad as mine. But funny. Well done giving the challenge some bite...unfortunately the card already exists. And it wasn't playable then either.
3
Artifact Creature--Shapeshifter (rare)
3/3
Whenever an artifact enters the battlefield, Unstable Morphrock becomes a copy of it and gains this ability.
Next challenge: Create a card with the word "Palinode" in its name.
Troll Ascetic's ability.
Qi Heartbinder
1WG
Planeswalker--Qi (mr)
{3}
+1: Put a loyalty counter on target permanent. For the rest of the game, control of it can't change.
+1: Gain 1 life for each loyalty counter on permanents you control.
-8: For each permanent you control with a loyalty counter, reveal the top two cards of your library and exile one of them. You may play the other one without paying its mana cost.
2
Legendary Artifact--Equipment
Equip 1
Equipped creature gets +1/+1.
Whenever equipped creature deals combat damage to a creature, unattach and destroy all auras and equipment attached to that creature.
5, sacrifice Narsil, the Broken Blade: Search your library for a legendary Equipment card, put it onto the battlefield, and shuffle your library.
(I'm assuming here that the One Ring is indestructible, so this would just unattach it, not destroy it, as in the backstory.)
2U
Enchantment
2: Exchange control of target Island and target blue creature.
Mindtide Moon has "Cycling 0" as long as you've drawn two or more cards this turn.
1UU
Tribal Instant--Wizard
Cascade
Counter target spell if you control a Wizard.
1G
Creature--Beast (rare)
9/9
Trample, protection from black
You may cast Impossible Colossus from the battlefield, but not from anywhere else.
1R
Enchantment--Aura (uncommon)
Enchant player
Creatures attack enchanted player each turn if possible.
Alda looked upon the small, unassuming man, and immediately felt an overpowering hatred. Her bow strained against her back. "You, then," she said, "must be the one who brought the darkness. The one who, it is said, even the grass of this plane yearns to destroy without knowing why."
A very logical way to respond to the challenge. The nested contingencies here--you need a good handsize despite the drawback, plus instants, plus your opponent needs instants, plus she can't be able to unload them in response to the trigger, plus random chance has to work--seem to make the card too weak to justify its complexity. I am intrigued by the idea that the drawback could help protect against your opponent's own Embezzle effects.
Heh. The feel and flavor of this works well enough for me, but the power level is just too weak: trading a card for a temporary kill isn't worth the inconsistency of hoping you've got a disposable card that matches the creature you want gone.
The name seems slightly strained, but still plausible. The card is quite powerful--4 mana usually just gets you a nonrandom discard, and here you've got quite often an easy three-for-one. There's not much innovation here, just a stack of common black effects.
Very clever! A hellbent card in slight disguise, this gives you a huge benefit if you have two or fewer cards in hand and your opponent does not. Otherwise, it's a slightly awkward part of a discard-themed deck. It's potentially powerful, but I think it's printable and suggests some fun deck designs.
Great flavortext. The card is fun, in a warped sort of way. An interesting finisher in a control deck. You can splash
"Warden" seems like a stretch--wardens guard, they don't release. A part-red Cephalid is a little odd, but hypothetical set, etc. The card is clever; I like its tautness of concept. I could see it costing
3 colors and five mana seems like a lot of work to go through just for irreversibility. I like the use of the word Wrack, very magic-y.
You can't even kill it in combat?! The non-interactivity of this makes it seem a bit unfun. The name is borderline plausible, although it certainly fits the card!
Heh. A definitely stretch as far as names go (the challenge's fault more than yours). This seems a bit too easy to break: several landfall cards come to mind (wait until a creature goes unblocked before casting this, then give it +2/+2 for each land in your deck, or +4/+4 and trample, etc.). Too powerful, and inevitably ending the game on turn 4 isn't fun.