Cowardly Hydra enters the battlefield with 5 +1/+1 counters on it.
Haste
Whenever an opponent plays a spell, remove a +1/+1 counter from Cowardly Hydra.
"That's the last time we'll see THAT face around here!"
-Mag Stalford, last words
Yay for great limited cards! And thanks for all the spoilers you and Seds have given lately, I'm surprised you're doing it yourselves after what happened to Zesty.
I'm playing against a very aggressive opponent. I need to topdeck the one remaining Martial Coup in my deck in order to survive. I draw Ardent Plea and think to myself that it would be a good idea to play it. If anything, I'll likely stumble upon a creature or something and that is always good. I cascade: land, land, Martial Coup. I'm certainly not going to play the Coup off of it, so I let it go to the bottom.
The deck was randomized and its order unknown to me, and so a card that puts cards on the bottom of my library isn't relevant to me (thinking statistically). But if I have a one-of in my deck, that I needed to draw, on the bottom of my library without the means of readily getting it back, the card goes from being "anywhere in my library" to "the least convenient place in my library."
But Godsire was way cooler. This guy is essentially Akroma Redux. He's nifty, and powerful, but they could have made him splashier without significantly altering gameplay.
I've been wondering that myself. Esper chicks are hot. I Googled it but couldn't find it, so I wound up picking up Windwright Mage and Vectis Agents playmats.
If I am not mistaken, the previous interpretation of "Including Fake!
Including My thinking Cards.
Don't Bileve ME!!!" was "Please don't think these include fake or imaginary cards."
I poached the MCC's rubric--hope that's OK. I'll finish doing comments tomorrow, but I wanted to get the results out.
Mindrot Wurm
0/2 Bonus
Not mythic
3/10 Balance
Even with a drawback, it is extremely broken in both aggro and dredge constructed. All you would need is a Gaea's Blessing to kill the drawback.
4/4 Flavor
I think this is a beautiful execution of the concept--everything is eaten away except the wurms.
2/4 Creativity
There aren't cards that do this exact effect, but it's certainly in an established vein.
-0 Quality
No problems.
9/20 Total
Callbeacon
0/2 Bonus
Not mythic
8/10 Balance
This would have been extremely balanced as a 1/1 or 0/2. At 1/2 it's just a hair too good.
2/4 Flavor
The flavor suits the ability, but is not particularly compelling. I think there's some room for flavor text on there.
4/4 Creativity
Very nice.
-0 Quality
Looks fine.
14/20 Total
Rotspoil Worms
0/2 Bonus
Not mythic
2/10 Balance
That second ability is already quite good, and adding the others makes it completely out of hand. Anything besides mass removal means they're pretty much screwed, and you can get in some good hits even before Wrath or Firespout hits.
3/4 Flavor
Not bad. I like worms eating other worms.
2/4 Creativity
It's pretty much Chronozoa but faster. However, being able to make one super-worm out of the pieces is a nice touch.
-1 Quality
No rarity.
6/20 Total
Ravenous Leotau
0/2 Bonus
Not mythic.
9/10 Balance
That ability is really black and white, not green, but it is a solid card. Also, green tends not to get 2/1s.
2/4 Flavor
The flavor is a bit disjointed. The ability fits with what I assume is your original name, Lurking Leotau, and the flavor text fits the name but not the ability.
2/4 Creativity
It's Avenging Angel or Gravebane Zombie. Interesting to have on a 2/1 beater, though.
-2.5 Quality
-1 point for putting the wrong name in the box, -1 point for incorrect templating (if you steal it with Bribery or such it would go on top of your library!) and -.5 for not really being mythic.
11.5/20 Total
Angelic Safeguard
0/2 Bonus
Not mythic
6/10 Balance
A bit too powerful--swinging for 3 flying on turn 2? These would be terrifying in pairs.
3/4 Flavor
I like the concept of her both needing and being distracted by teammates, but I don't really see her protecting them.
4/4 Creativity
A neat concept.
-1 Quality
No rarity
12/20 Total
Golden-Tail Eel
2/2 Bonus
Mythic
5/10 Balance
Perhaps in a different metagame this would work, but with us right in the middle of Alara right now, and Shadowmoor right behind us, I think this would be terribly overpowered. Imagine a mono-blue deck using a ton of blue hybrid.
3/4 Flavor
The flavor doesn't really match up with the mechanic, but it's really nice anyway.
2/4 Creativity
Not ground-breaking, but not a rip-off either.
-0 Quality
10/20 Total
Fulminosaur
0/2 Bonus
Not mythic
5/10 Balance
This is basically a 2/1 shroud in red--that's already a bit overpowered, particularly for a red weenie. There has never been a red one-drop with more than one power that doesn't have a hefty drawback, and this guy's is pretty minimal. Throw in some Reroutes and some Shunts and he turns into a complete monster.
4/4 Flavor
A nice goblin-themed card.
3/4 Creativity
Feedback is a really neat design that my friends and I immediately began playing with, but Feedback 20 is a bit too much like shroud.
-0 Quality
12/20 Total
Abiding Apparition
0/2 Bonus
Not mythic
7/10 Balance
Honestly, a 1-drop unblockable is already pretty brutal, especially if you throw in some pump. Without that I would call this extremely balanced.
4/4 Flavor
I love this! The flavor text aligns perfectly with the mechanic.
4/4 Creativity
Very nice.
-0 Quality
15/20 Total
Caldera Dragon
0/2 Bonus
Not mythic
4/10 Balance
This guy would be plenty playable without the second ability--that just makes it a vicious lockdown against your opponent. If they can't deal with it quickly, they're going to be locked down at two mana for the rest of the game. Not to mention fun shenanigans with reinforce.
2/4 Flavor
Functional but generic. Nice picture, though.
2/4 Creativity
I like the idea of an early sacrifice for a big payoff down the line, and the exciting risk of getting him removed. I enjoyed Ib Halfheart for the same reason. The downside is that land destruction design space isn't really explored because it results in unfun cards.
-0 Quality
8/20 Total
Djer the Recruiter
0/2 Bonus
Not mythic
8/10 Balance
Not too overpowered, but you could make a great soldier deck around this guy. A bomb in limited, but not broken.
2/4 Flavor
This guy is just begging for some flavor text!
2/4 Creativity
*shrug*
-0 Quality
12/20 Total
Insanity Elemental
0/2 Bonus
Not mythic
8/10 Balance
Maybe a hair underpowered, I think, since most aggro decks want to run guys with less than two toughness and other decks don't worry so much about one-drops.
2/4 Flavor
Great name! Kind of an underwhelming ability for such a promising concept, though.
3/4 Creativity
Cool idea.
-0 Quality
13/20 Total
Griff, the Impatient
Didn't this apply to everyone before, not just you? If so, you would have won had you kept that. Sadly, your final version did not hold up quite so well.
Original:
2/2 Bonus
This would be game-warping in a delightful way. Everybody throwing down all their spells at once feels very mythic to me.
9/10 Balance
It would be hard to break the symmetry of this guy.
4/4 Flavor
Magnificent. My friend argued that they wouldn't use something as un-Magicky as "nuke," but I think that on goblins they'd do whatever they felt like.
2/4 Creativity
Creative to put it on a creature. You could have fun shenanigans with saccing him.
-0 Quality
17/20 Total
Final:
1/2 Bonus
It doesn't feel mythic if he's only speeding you up.
5/10 Balance
Vedalken Orrery cost 4. Sure, it was harder to kill, but that's a pretty big gap. Also, this ability is blue.
4/4 Flavor
Still awesome.
1/4 Creativity
It's a goblin carrying an orrery.
-0 Quality
11/20 Total
Crystalline Matriarch
0/2 Bonus
Not mythic
9/10 Balance
Very nice. This would probably see a lot of play in Constructed, and be killer in Limited too. But there are enough restrictions on timing and frequency that it's not overpowered.
3/4 Flavor
This could also use some flavor text, but the name is nice and ties in well with the ability.
4/4 Creativity
Very cool! As far as I know, there hasn't been a creature-shaper yet who makes creatures for their comes-into-play abilities.
-1 Quality
No rarity.
15/20 Total
Winner: A tie between ArchGenius and JqlGirl! Congrats to both winners. Whoever gets here first can post the new challenge.
It was a 2HG game. I'll call the players on one team Player 1A and Player 1B, and the players on the other Player 2A and Player 2B.
Team 1 was attacking for seven damage. When it resolved, Player 2A picked up his life die and set it to 3.
Player 1A: "I think you were at 9." (Both teams were using dice because we're idiots, and will always use pen and paper in the future.)
Player 2A: "I'm pretty sure I was at 10."
Player 1A: It was 9 or lower, because I distinctly remember seeing a single digit.
Player 1A looks at a judge standing nearby.
Judge: I think I saw them at 9, but I'm not sure.
Player 2A ticks the life counter down to two, and Player 1B promptly plays a Hideous End on one of Team 1's creatures.
Player 2A starts to scoop up his cards, and then stops and is able to reconstruct the game state.
Player 2A: That was awfully convenient for you. I want a judge.
What did the judge rule? I'll post the answer in 48 hours.
Creature--Hydra (Rare)
Cowardly Hydra enters the battlefield with 5 +1/+1 counters on it.
Haste
Whenever an opponent plays a spell, remove a +1/+1 counter from Cowardly Hydra.
"That's the last time we'll see THAT face around here!"
-Mag Stalford, last words
0/0
My money's on that angel art being Jason Chan. Compare the texture on her wings with DvD Luminous Angel. Which is exciting--he's one of my favorites.
I'm guessing these are Wizards-sanctioned.
Same situation, but your deck looked like this when you played Ardent Plea:
Land
Land
Land
Land
Meddling Mage
Martial Coup
10,000 points for using the word sphinges!
Including My thinking Cards.
Don't Bileve ME!!!" was "Please don't think these include fake or imaginary cards."
Mindrot Wurm
0/2 Bonus
Not mythic
3/10 Balance
Even with a drawback, it is extremely broken in both aggro and dredge constructed. All you would need is a Gaea's Blessing to kill the drawback.
4/4 Flavor
I think this is a beautiful execution of the concept--everything is eaten away except the wurms.
2/4 Creativity
There aren't cards that do this exact effect, but it's certainly in an established vein.
-0 Quality
No problems.
9/20 Total
Callbeacon
0/2 Bonus
Not mythic
8/10 Balance
This would have been extremely balanced as a 1/1 or 0/2. At 1/2 it's just a hair too good.
2/4 Flavor
The flavor suits the ability, but is not particularly compelling. I think there's some room for flavor text on there.
4/4 Creativity
Very nice.
-0 Quality
Looks fine.
14/20 Total
Rotspoil Worms
0/2 Bonus
Not mythic
2/10 Balance
That second ability is already quite good, and adding the others makes it completely out of hand. Anything besides mass removal means they're pretty much screwed, and you can get in some good hits even before Wrath or Firespout hits.
3/4 Flavor
Not bad. I like worms eating other worms.
2/4 Creativity
It's pretty much Chronozoa but faster. However, being able to make one super-worm out of the pieces is a nice touch.
-1 Quality
No rarity.
6/20 Total
Ravenous Leotau
0/2 Bonus
Not mythic.
9/10 Balance
That ability is really black and white, not green, but it is a solid card. Also, green tends not to get 2/1s.
2/4 Flavor
The flavor is a bit disjointed. The ability fits with what I assume is your original name, Lurking Leotau, and the flavor text fits the name but not the ability.
2/4 Creativity
It's Avenging Angel or Gravebane Zombie. Interesting to have on a 2/1 beater, though.
-2.5 Quality
-1 point for putting the wrong name in the box, -1 point for incorrect templating (if you steal it with Bribery or such it would go on top of your library!) and -.5 for not really being mythic.
11.5/20 Total
Angelic Safeguard
0/2 Bonus
Not mythic
6/10 Balance
A bit too powerful--swinging for 3 flying on turn 2? These would be terrifying in pairs.
3/4 Flavor
I like the concept of her both needing and being distracted by teammates, but I don't really see her protecting them.
4/4 Creativity
A neat concept.
-1 Quality
No rarity
12/20 Total
Golden-Tail Eel
2/2 Bonus
Mythic
5/10 Balance
Perhaps in a different metagame this would work, but with us right in the middle of Alara right now, and Shadowmoor right behind us, I think this would be terribly overpowered. Imagine a mono-blue deck using a ton of blue hybrid.
3/4 Flavor
The flavor doesn't really match up with the mechanic, but it's really nice anyway.
2/4 Creativity
Not ground-breaking, but not a rip-off either.
-0 Quality
10/20 Total
Fulminosaur
0/2 Bonus
Not mythic
5/10 Balance
This is basically a 2/1 shroud in red--that's already a bit overpowered, particularly for a red weenie. There has never been a red one-drop with more than one power that doesn't have a hefty drawback, and this guy's is pretty minimal. Throw in some Reroutes and some Shunts and he turns into a complete monster.
4/4 Flavor
A nice goblin-themed card.
3/4 Creativity
Feedback is a really neat design that my friends and I immediately began playing with, but Feedback 20 is a bit too much like shroud.
-0 Quality
12/20 Total
Abiding Apparition
0/2 Bonus
Not mythic
7/10 Balance
Honestly, a 1-drop unblockable is already pretty brutal, especially if you throw in some pump. Without that I would call this extremely balanced.
4/4 Flavor
I love this! The flavor text aligns perfectly with the mechanic.
4/4 Creativity
Very nice.
-0 Quality
15/20 Total
Caldera Dragon
0/2 Bonus
Not mythic
4/10 Balance
This guy would be plenty playable without the second ability--that just makes it a vicious lockdown against your opponent. If they can't deal with it quickly, they're going to be locked down at two mana for the rest of the game. Not to mention fun shenanigans with reinforce.
2/4 Flavor
Functional but generic. Nice picture, though.
2/4 Creativity
I like the idea of an early sacrifice for a big payoff down the line, and the exciting risk of getting him removed. I enjoyed Ib Halfheart for the same reason. The downside is that land destruction design space isn't really explored because it results in unfun cards.
-0 Quality
8/20 Total
Djer the Recruiter
0/2 Bonus
Not mythic
8/10 Balance
Not too overpowered, but you could make a great soldier deck around this guy. A bomb in limited, but not broken.
2/4 Flavor
This guy is just begging for some flavor text!
2/4 Creativity
*shrug*
-0 Quality
12/20 Total
Insanity Elemental
0/2 Bonus
Not mythic
8/10 Balance
Maybe a hair underpowered, I think, since most aggro decks want to run guys with less than two toughness and other decks don't worry so much about one-drops.
2/4 Flavor
Great name! Kind of an underwhelming ability for such a promising concept, though.
3/4 Creativity
Cool idea.
-0 Quality
13/20 Total
Griff, the Impatient
Didn't this apply to everyone before, not just you? If so, you would have won had you kept that. Sadly, your final version did not hold up quite so well.
Original:
2/2 Bonus
This would be game-warping in a delightful way. Everybody throwing down all their spells at once feels very mythic to me.
9/10 Balance
It would be hard to break the symmetry of this guy.
4/4 Flavor
Magnificent. My friend argued that they wouldn't use something as un-Magicky as "nuke," but I think that on goblins they'd do whatever they felt like.
2/4 Creativity
Creative to put it on a creature. You could have fun shenanigans with saccing him.
-0 Quality
17/20 Total
Final:
1/2 Bonus
It doesn't feel mythic if he's only speeding you up.
5/10 Balance
Vedalken Orrery cost 4. Sure, it was harder to kill, but that's a pretty big gap. Also, this ability is blue.
4/4 Flavor
Still awesome.
1/4 Creativity
It's a goblin carrying an orrery.
-0 Quality
11/20 Total
Crystalline Matriarch
0/2 Bonus
Not mythic
9/10 Balance
Very nice. This would probably see a lot of play in Constructed, and be killer in Limited too. But there are enough restrictions on timing and frequency that it's not overpowered.
3/4 Flavor
This could also use some flavor text, but the name is nice and ties in well with the ability.
4/4 Creativity
Very cool! As far as I know, there hasn't been a creature-shaper yet who makes creatures for their comes-into-play abilities.
-1 Quality
No rarity.
15/20 Total
Winner: A tie between ArchGenius and JqlGirl! Congrats to both winners. Whoever gets here first can post the new challenge.