Fracking mana is mana that you have to sacrifice as part of a casting cost, activation cost, or cost of a triggered ability. A plane-specific mechanic, not something I'd want to be in every block. All Phyrexian mana symbols here are actually fracking mana (the gray one is generic, the big black one is black).
Setting: Muraganda or Zendikar, or any plane where land features prominently.
Colors: BRG. Giving Jund a The Gitrog Monster, Mulch, Regrowth vibe.
Wildfire Rebirth1(B/P)RG
Enchantment (R) (A source that produces mana spent on (B/P) must be sacrificed as an additional cost.)
At the beginning of each player's upkeep, that player sacrifices a land they control.
At the beginning of each player's end step, that player returns a land card from their graveyard to the battlefield.
Canopy Protector4(G/P)G
Creature - Treefolk (C) (A source that produces mana spent on (B/P) must be sacrificed as an additional cost.)
Reach
When Canopy Protector enters the battlefield, create a 1/1 green Saproling creature token for each land card in your graveyard.
5/5
Sylvos, the World Churn4(R/P)(G/P)
Legendary Creature - Elemental (M) (A source that produces mana spent on (B/P) must be sacrificed as an additional cost.)
Haste, menace, hexproof from white, hexproof from blue
Whenever Sylvos attacks, you may return up to three permanents with converted mana cost of six or less from your graveyard to the battlefield.
6/6
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.
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
I hope everyone enjoyed February's challenges. I tried to make them fun and tried to make each round feel different than the last. Thanks to everyone for participating. I think Round 3 was my favorite - I really enjoyed seeing the Form cards.
IcariiFA's helpful comments on my card brings to mind a question I've been musing to myself over the past few months. Given a set of abilities, what is the best "frame" to give the card? For example, consider the following cards.
Dire Fleet Poisoner1B
Creature - Pirate (R)
Flash
Deathtouch
When Dire Fleet Poisoner enters the battlefield, target attacking pirate creature you control gets +1/+1 and gains deathtouch until end of turn.
2/2
Dire Fleet Poisoner3B
Creature - Pirate (R)
Flash
Deathtouch
When Dire Fleet Poisoner enters the battlefield, target attacking pirate creature you control gets +1/+1 and gains deathtouch until end of turn.
3/3
In some instances, the card's abilities dictate a mana cost. For example, Dire Fleet Daredevil needs to cost 1,2, or 3 mana to be effective. Tendershoot Dryad can't really cost less than 4, and anything less than 5 is somewhat criminal (At 5 it should be mythic). Dire Fleet Poisoner, though, seems open-ended, and it's hard to determine whether to design the card at CMC 2, 3, 4, or 5.
But then there are some cards that you just can't tell how they should be costed, and their cost really does dictate their power. Legion's Landing comes to mind. Why would Wizards print that as a CMC 1 that made one token instead of, say, costing 2W and producing two or three tokens? Why is Rekindling Phoenix a 4/3 for 4 instead of a 5/4 for 5?
Sometimes the answer might be "the rest of the set", as each color in a set has a certain number of cards at any given mana cost. But sometimes I find myself designing a card and wondering "Gee, should I be making this cost 5 or cost 3?" And that question can really be so open-ended and unfocused that you don't find a way to answer it very well.
Has anyone else been wondering the same sorts of things? Does anyone have any words of wisdom to share on the subject?
A friendly reminder: please vote in the CCL February Finals Poll if you haven't already done so. The poll closes tomorrow night. Some really nice cards were designed by FreshMeat and IcariiFA, so go check them out!!!
Flatline, I would interpret that question differently. I interpret it as "Could Wizards print this card?" not "Could I print this card?". The question in the rubric needs to be asked because there are many things about the rules Wizards couldn't wave a magic wand and change. The basic structure of the game is ossified.
I agree that if a card introduced something that conflicted with the rules in a way that wasn't easily or cleanly resolvable it would not be as "viable" as it could be and thus would be fair game for docking points there. In my mind, though, directly conflicting with the rules of the game is different than operating in a gray area that needs further clarification. I think that question is more art than science, and something the judges have to think about and ask themselves: "Could I see this being printed?" "Could I envision a clean way for Wizards to execute rules for this card or mechanic that isn't confusing or destructive?"
1) void_nothing: I'm with you until the last ability. Why?
I personally really like the first ability. It's weird and interesting. It'd be fun to draft around, and has potential applications elsewhere. I'm just really struggling to understand the last ability. The mana generation hits you out of left field, as do the colors. Maybe this is just one of those cards where I have to assume you have something in mind for a set that I don't know about.
2) IcariiFA: I like it. It's simple and feels similar to Electrostatic Pummeler or Kiln Fiend in how much it excites me. I like the 4 CMC 4/4 Trample base frame too - that shows good attention to detail. I also really appreciate the mythic rarity here. As someone who loves drafting, I prefer to see really powerful limited cards at mythic even if their complexity is more rare in nature.
3) Hemlock: I like this card. I think the application here is smart because one of the ways you really fall behind with equipment is with regard to tempo, and adding mana to your mana pool helps you catch up. Because you already have to fall behind on tempo to catch back up on tempo with this ability, I think it's balanced. Very nice!
4) Raptorchan: I think this is quite clever. It feels fresh and innovative...quite the feat given that it is a mana rock! I'd consider one of two changes. Either (i) have the CMC be 1 or (ii) have the activation cost to add a brick counter to it be 1 instead of 2. Count me as a fan!
5) rkohn1357: A good mana dork that pushes deck building in directions off the beaten path. At the moment I think it is slightly too strong, but there is an easy way to fix this - make it a 2/2 or a 2/1 flyer. My rationale is that I want this thing to be killable because control decks gaining a mana advantage would be really busted, and so I want Magma Spray or Shock to be able to take care of it. Only because we're adding blue mana do I have this concern. Other than that, I really like the design! Nice submission
6) Jimmy Groove: Geez, another interesting design. I think this one is quite clever as well. A combo piece for aristocrat or sacrifice based decks. Colors are good, I think it is fair? You obviously were trying to prevent infinite loops by having it return to the battlefield only at the end of turn, but I think it would be even safer (and more printable?) to have it return to hand if it died that turn.
Flavor is on point too. Good name, good flavor text (change "on" to "own").
I really love these cards, y'all did a great job and came up with some interesting designs.
I'm pretty sure that new rules and clarifications would be created should Gerrard's Mom's card be printed. It's very difficult to just guess because we aren't the ones in power who are determining the rules. To answer your question Flatline, I think "what would happen here" is whatever you would want to have happen there if you were in Wizards R&D.
I'm sure some day, especially as digital MTG grows in importance, that cards like Gerrard Mom's or mechanics like the gravestitch ability I created last month will be created, and at that point Wizards will determine how they want to craft the rules for those cards. And then, perhaps five or ten years later, in response to a new card being created, they'll change the rules yet again. For example, the busted interaction between Goblin Dark-Dwellers and Boom//Bust prompted a rules change.
For Gerrard Mom's specific card, the easiest thing to do would be to change the rules line to "Weatherlight Reforged has all abilities of creatures crewing it except those that set base power and toughness." There are probably some ways to just add some italicized text afterward as well: "If multiple abilities try to set Weatherlight Reforged's base power and toughness, choose one of them to apply."
Personally I don't think we should allow the fact that we aren't working at Wizards to hamper our card designs or our creativity. Were I judging Gerrard Mom's card, I wouldn't take off any points. A card's viability should not be tied to the card's designer's employment status.
------------------
Unrelated: how does MTGSalvation deal with cards like Boom/Bust, Beck/Call, and Commit [to] Memory? I can't figure out how to get those cards to display on the forum. Is there a special trick to it?
I think Rudyard joined Opus Dei, and he got Antiantiserum and void_nothing to tag along for the ride
If I could propose one amendment to your new amendment void. I think simply requiring the approval of the other judges to do more than one card would suffice. I can envision various challenges where you could judge the cards together using one pass on the rubric, and toward the later stages of the competition where there are fewer participants I could imagine such a challenge being okay. Requiring the pre-approval of the other judges would avoid this type of problem from occurring in the future.
Of course, it might be best to just flat out dictate that only one card per challenge is allowed. Just proposing this alternative to see if you think that this might be a bit more flexible while still preventing the problem we're trying to avoid.
Somehow I still feel like I don't understand the parameters of the challenge. Is it okay if something adds CBG to your mana pool?
And would the following card pass the challenge even though it itself doesn't add mana but creates things that do? Summon the Shamans2RG
Sorcery (U)
Create two 1/1 red and green Elf Shaman creatures with haste and " , add R or G."
I wish this article had an MTGO section, or at least did an MTGO card value evaluation alongside the other. It does take some work to calculate the MTGO prices because you need to manually look at the price of other versions of the card from GoatBots or Cardhoarder, but that's what would make the article valuable for us MTGO folks!
Fracking mana is mana that you have to sacrifice as part of a casting cost, activation cost, or cost of a triggered ability. A plane-specific mechanic, not something I'd want to be in every block. All Phyrexian mana symbols here are actually fracking mana (the gray one is generic, the big black one is black).
Setting: Muraganda or Zendikar, or any plane where land features prominently.
Colors: BRG. Giving Jund a The Gitrog Monster, Mulch, Regrowth vibe.
Wildfire Rebirth 1(B/P)RG
Enchantment (R)
(A source that produces mana spent on (B/P) must be sacrificed as an additional cost.)
At the beginning of each player's upkeep, that player sacrifices a land they control.
At the beginning of each player's end step, that player returns a land card from their graveyard to the battlefield.
Canopy Protector 4(G/P)G
Creature - Treefolk (C)
(A source that produces mana spent on (B/P) must be sacrificed as an additional cost.)
Reach
When Canopy Protector enters the battlefield, create a 1/1 green Saproling creature token for each land card in your graveyard.
5/5
Sylvos, the World Churn 4
Legendary Creature - Elemental (M)
(A source that produces mana spent on (B/P) must be sacrificed as an additional cost.)
Haste, menace, hexproof from white, hexproof from blue
Whenever Sylvos attacks, you may return up to three permanents with converted mana cost of six or less from your graveyard to the battlefield.
6/6
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
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),
"When I empty this cup, shall I not have bitten into the purest of fruit? Shall I not have become a god?"
3/4
I hope everyone enjoyed February's challenges. I tried to make them fun and tried to make each round feel different than the last. Thanks to everyone for participating. I think Round 3 was my favorite - I really enjoyed seeing the Form cards.
Dire Fleet Poisoner 1B
Creature - Pirate (R)
Flash
Deathtouch
When Dire Fleet Poisoner enters the battlefield, target attacking pirate creature you control gets +1/+1 and gains deathtouch until end of turn.
2/2
Dire Fleet Poisoner 3B
Creature - Pirate (R)
Flash
Deathtouch
When Dire Fleet Poisoner enters the battlefield, target attacking pirate creature you control gets +1/+1 and gains deathtouch until end of turn.
3/3
In some instances, the card's abilities dictate a mana cost. For example, Dire Fleet Daredevil needs to cost 1,2, or 3 mana to be effective. Tendershoot Dryad can't really cost less than 4, and anything less than 5 is somewhat criminal (At 5 it should be mythic). Dire Fleet Poisoner, though, seems open-ended, and it's hard to determine whether to design the card at CMC 2, 3, 4, or 5.
But then there are some cards that you just can't tell how they should be costed, and their cost really does dictate their power. Legion's Landing comes to mind. Why would Wizards print that as a CMC 1 that made one token instead of, say, costing 2W and producing two or three tokens? Why is Rekindling Phoenix a 4/3 for 4 instead of a 5/4 for 5?
Sometimes the answer might be "the rest of the set", as each color in a set has a certain number of cards at any given mana cost. But sometimes I find myself designing a card and wondering "Gee, should I be making this cost 5 or cost 3?" And that question can really be so open-ended and unfocused that you don't find a way to answer it very well.
Has anyone else been wondering the same sorts of things? Does anyone have any words of wisdom to share on the subject?
Flatline, I would interpret that question differently. I interpret it as "Could Wizards print this card?" not "Could I print this card?". The question in the rubric needs to be asked because there are many things about the rules Wizards couldn't wave a magic wand and change. The basic structure of the game is ossified.
I agree that if a card introduced something that conflicted with the rules in a way that wasn't easily or cleanly resolvable it would not be as "viable" as it could be and thus would be fair game for docking points there. In my mind, though, directly conflicting with the rules of the game is different than operating in a gray area that needs further clarification. I think that question is more art than science, and something the judges have to think about and ask themselves: "Could I see this being printed?" "Could I envision a clean way for Wizards to execute rules for this card or mechanic that isn't confusing or destructive?"
I personally really like the first ability. It's weird and interesting. It'd be fun to draft around, and has potential applications elsewhere. I'm just really struggling to understand the last ability. The mana generation hits you out of left field, as do the colors. Maybe this is just one of those cards where I have to assume you have something in mind for a set that I don't know about.
2) IcariiFA: I like it. It's simple and feels similar to Electrostatic Pummeler or Kiln Fiend in how much it excites me. I like the 4 CMC 4/4 Trample base frame too - that shows good attention to detail. I also really appreciate the mythic rarity here. As someone who loves drafting, I prefer to see really powerful limited cards at mythic even if their complexity is more rare in nature.
3) Hemlock: I like this card. I think the application here is smart because one of the ways you really fall behind with equipment is with regard to tempo, and adding mana to your mana pool helps you catch up. Because you already have to fall behind on tempo to catch back up on tempo with this ability, I think it's balanced. Very nice!
4) Raptorchan: I think this is quite clever. It feels fresh and innovative...quite the feat given that it is a mana rock! I'd consider one of two changes. Either (i) have the CMC be 1 or (ii) have the activation cost to add a brick counter to it be 1 instead of 2. Count me as a fan!
5) rkohn1357: A good mana dork that pushes deck building in directions off the beaten path. At the moment I think it is slightly too strong, but there is an easy way to fix this - make it a 2/2 or a 2/1 flyer. My rationale is that I want this thing to be killable because control decks gaining a mana advantage would be really busted, and so I want Magma Spray or Shock to be able to take care of it. Only because we're adding blue mana do I have this concern. Other than that, I really like the design! Nice submission
6) Jimmy Groove: Geez, another interesting design. I think this one is quite clever as well. A combo piece for aristocrat or sacrifice based decks. Colors are good, I think it is fair? You obviously were trying to prevent infinite loops by having it return to the battlefield only at the end of turn, but I think it would be even safer (and more printable?) to have it return to hand if it died that turn.
Flavor is on point too. Good name, good flavor text (change "on" to "own").
2) IcariiFA
3) Jimmy Groove
I'm sure some day, especially as digital MTG grows in importance, that cards like Gerrard Mom's or mechanics like the gravestitch ability I created last month will be created, and at that point Wizards will determine how they want to craft the rules for those cards. And then, perhaps five or ten years later, in response to a new card being created, they'll change the rules yet again. For example, the busted interaction between Goblin Dark-Dwellers and Boom//Bust prompted a rules change.
For Gerrard Mom's specific card, the easiest thing to do would be to change the rules line to "Weatherlight Reforged has all abilities of creatures crewing it except those that set base power and toughness." There are probably some ways to just add some italicized text afterward as well: "If multiple abilities try to set Weatherlight Reforged's base power and toughness, choose one of them to apply."
Personally I don't think we should allow the fact that we aren't working at Wizards to hamper our card designs or our creativity. Were I judging Gerrard Mom's card, I wouldn't take off any points. A card's viability should not be tied to the card's designer's employment status.
------------------
Unrelated: how does MTGSalvation deal with cards like Boom/Bust, Beck/Call, and Commit [to] Memory? I can't figure out how to get those cards to display on the forum. Is there a special trick to it?
It sounds like Rudyard is going through some crazy times. I hope you're hanging in there Rudyard!
If I could propose one amendment to your new amendment void. I think simply requiring the approval of the other judges to do more than one card would suffice. I can envision various challenges where you could judge the cards together using one pass on the rubric, and toward the later stages of the competition where there are fewer participants I could imagine such a challenge being okay. Requiring the pre-approval of the other judges would avoid this type of problem from occurring in the future.
Of course, it might be best to just flat out dictate that only one card per challenge is allowed. Just proposing this alternative to see if you think that this might be a bit more flexible while still preventing the problem we're trying to avoid.
And would the following card pass the challenge even though it itself doesn't add mana but creates things that do?
Summon the Shamans 2RG
Sorcery (U)
Create two 1/1 red and green Elf Shaman creatures with haste and "