Well, assuming the judgments are finished, that puts me at the bottom of my bracket, so I've been eliminated. No hard feelings on that, you guys delivered what you believed to be the best, most fair judgments you could and I appreciate the time and effort that you put into them. I don't want it to seem like I don't appreciate the work, because I very much do. You guys are awesome. I still want to share my thoughts, though.
(1/3) Appeal: Mostly a Txmmy thing for the unkillable Flying Monkeys. Jxnny doesn't want to be told how to get the max effect out of a spell and Spike doesn't want to spend three mana of different colors on a miracle.
I think Spike would love this thing. He'd never want to cast it for it's miracle cost, but keep in mind that it does not actually cost 2WW. It costs two installments of 1W. Major difference. That means it can come down on turn three with only two lands on the battlefield. White weenies would love this card. Compare it against Midnight Haunting or Timely Reinforcements. Though, the best comparison I can think of is Mogg War Marshal, in which case there is a lot of stuff to talk about.
Meanwhile Johnny I would totally concede might not like this card. If anything, it would be an engine to him: something to trigger ETB effects or to synergize with his Knight deck. I can agree that he wouldn't be drawn to the card for the card's sake, though.
(1.5/3) Elegance: With reminder text for Miracle, this is sitting pretty at 10 lines of text, and remember every Miracle card to date has reminder text. It's also not entirely clear how long the flying and indestructible lasts for. Is it permanent? That sounds difficult to track without a counter of some sort, especially if you cast multiple copies with the different effects.
So, you know how suspend is something of a complex mechanic? In fact, the last time I read the comprehensive rules of the game, suspend was a special action, like playing a land. It didn't use the stack and you couldn't respond to the act of exiling the card from a hand. Not having that text explaining what suspend did would potentially confuse a player. However, there are many cards in Time Spiral alone which forewent the reminder text to avoid having too many lines of text. Time Spiral, where the mechanic first appeared and where it would be the most potentially confusing to a new player.
So, to avoid having microtext on this card, what we do is: not print the reminder text for miracle on the physical form of this card. We are allowed to do that, and if we do, we get a card with 8 lines of text. Alternatively, we could leave out the reminder text for reserve, in which case we still get a card with eight lines of text.
To get a sense of it, look at the original hybrid cards. The reminder text was there because people wouldn't necessarily know how the mechanic worked. They could have continued printing that reminder text on hybrid cards. However they chose not to, because they assumed people would know how it works.
(2/3) Uniqueness: While token generation is pretty prosaic, there are definitely some unique features like a new "installment plan" mechanic.
Honestly, I was thinking, this round, since one of the challenges would be to have your card have no mana cost at all, each and every card that checked that box would get 3/3 points on uniqueness unless it specifically copied another card which lacked a mana cost.
(2/3) Flavor: 1/1 Knights just feels way off. 1/1 white tokens have been Soldiers for as long as I can remember, and 2/2s have been Knights. Sure there was Errand of Duty but please don't use that as precedent. I'm also not getting the flying and indestructible granting from the overall flavor.
(2.5/3) Flavor: The name seems a little clunky for a Magic card, but I've seen worse get printed. Honestly my biggest complaint is that Knight tokens almost always are 2/2s.
Point taken, Knights should tend to be 2/2. I should have made it "Arrival of the Vanguard" or something and made them 1/1 Soldiers instead.
Though, beyond that, I really liked the flavor I put into this card. The idea was that this card represents two ways that "the cavalry" showing up can have meaning in a battle. Perhaps a military strategist sends the mounted troops out to return later when they've flanked the enemy or holds them in "reserve" until an opportune moment.
Alternatively, the cavalry could arrive unexpectedly, an army of saviors to turn the tide of what would have been a lost battle. In that case, I liked the idea of them becoming almost angelic figures, flying in on winged steeds and being impervious to harm.
Spark Goblin Pits4R
Enchantment
Lands have "T: Add R." RRRRR: Create a 1/1 red Goblin creature token. Any player may activate this ability.
Sacrifice a Goblin: Copy target instant or sorcery spell. Any player may activate this ability.
(2.5/3) Quality: How long does flying and indestructible last? I know I already mentioned this, but it really needs some sort of marker to show if it lasts indefinitely.
This is objectively a fault in the judgement. Take a look at Flame-Wreathed Phoenix, Maelstrom Djinn, or Fated Return. Abilities can be given without duration and it does not need to be stated as such.
All other complaints I have about the judgement are subjective, so I won't bring them into contention.
Toxic Courier2UU
Creature - Insect Illusion
Infect
Toxic Courier can't be blocked if defending player has 6 or more poison counters. "It's like a milkman. A deadly, deadly milkman."
-Jeorg, maker of bad observations
2/2
Titan Wall2RG
Creature - Wall
Defender T, Pay 5 life: Titan Wall fights target creature. Activate this ability only if you control eight or more lands.
5/5
Arrival of the Cavalry (Arrival of the Cavalry is white) Sorcery R
Reserve 1W(Rather than cast this card from your hand, pay 1W and exile it with a ready counter on it. You may then cast it from exile for 1W as long as it has a ready counter on it.)
Create three 1/1 white Knight creature tokens. If Arrival of the Cavalry’s miracle cost was paid, those tokens gain flying and indestructible.
Miracle GWU
This round is giving me a headache. Trying to make something both elegant and sensible is proving difficult. May I request that we be allowed to design our own alternate casting cost mechanics?
Fair enough. You guys take the time you need. If I had known you guys were that much understaffed I would have come on as a judge. (Though, jumping straight into judging after several years away didn't seem right.)
I think Spike would love this thing. He'd never want to cast it for it's miracle cost, but keep in mind that it does not actually cost 2WW. It costs two installments of 1W. Major difference. That means it can come down on turn three with only two lands on the battlefield. White weenies would love this card. Compare it against Midnight Haunting or Timely Reinforcements. Though, the best comparison I can think of is Mogg War Marshal, in which case there is a lot of stuff to talk about.
Meanwhile Johnny I would totally concede might not like this card. If anything, it would be an engine to him: something to trigger ETB effects or to synergize with his Knight deck. I can agree that he wouldn't be drawn to the card for the card's sake, though.
So, you know how suspend is something of a complex mechanic? In fact, the last time I read the comprehensive rules of the game, suspend was a special action, like playing a land. It didn't use the stack and you couldn't respond to the act of exiling the card from a hand. Not having that text explaining what suspend did would potentially confuse a player. However, there are many cards in Time Spiral alone which forewent the reminder text to avoid having too many lines of text. Time Spiral, where the mechanic first appeared and where it would be the most potentially confusing to a new player.
So, to avoid having microtext on this card, what we do is: not print the reminder text for miracle on the physical form of this card. We are allowed to do that, and if we do, we get a card with 8 lines of text. Alternatively, we could leave out the reminder text for reserve, in which case we still get a card with eight lines of text.
To get a sense of it, look at the original hybrid cards. The reminder text was there because people wouldn't necessarily know how the mechanic worked. They could have continued printing that reminder text on hybrid cards. However they chose not to, because they assumed people would know how it works.
Honestly, I was thinking, this round, since one of the challenges would be to have your card have no mana cost at all, each and every card that checked that box would get 3/3 points on uniqueness unless it specifically copied another card which lacked a mana cost.
Point taken, Knights should tend to be 2/2. I should have made it "Arrival of the Vanguard" or something and made them 1/1 Soldiers instead.
Though, beyond that, I really liked the flavor I put into this card. The idea was that this card represents two ways that "the cavalry" showing up can have meaning in a battle. Perhaps a military strategist sends the mounted troops out to return later when they've flanked the enemy or holds them in "reserve" until an opportune moment.
Alternatively, the cavalry could arrive unexpectedly, an army of saviors to turn the tide of what would have been a lost battle. In that case, I liked the idea of them becoming almost angelic figures, flying in on winged steeds and being impervious to harm.
Spark Goblin Pits 4R
Enchantment
Lands have "T: Add R."
RRRRR: Create a 1/1 red Goblin creature token. Any player may activate this ability.
Sacrifice a Goblin: Copy target instant or sorcery spell. Any player may activate this ability.
Archmage Enunciation WUBR
Instant
Choose one -
This is objectively a fault in the judgement. Take a look at Flame-Wreathed Phoenix, Maelstrom Djinn, or Fated Return. Abilities can be given without duration and it does not need to be stated as such.
All other complaints I have about the judgement are subjective, so I won't bring them into contention.
Sorcery R
Devoid
Choose two in any order -
IIW: Lands with the text "the game" on them.
Mirror-Dance Warrior 1URW
Creature - Spirit Minotaur Warrior
Whenever Mirror-Dance Warrior attacks, choose two —
- Tap target creature.
- Target creature can't be blocked this turn.
- Target creature gains first strike until end of turn.
2/2Toxic Courier 2UU
Creature - Insect Illusion
Infect
Toxic Courier can't be blocked if defending player has 6 or more poison counters.
"It's like a milkman. A deadly, deadly milkman."
-Jeorg, maker of bad observations
2/2
Titan Wall 2RG
Creature - Wall
Defender
T, Pay 5 life: Titan Wall fights target creature. Activate this ability only if you control eight or more lands.
5/5
(Arrival of the Cavalry is white) Sorcery R
Reserve 1W (Rather than cast this card from your hand, pay 1W and exile it with a ready counter on it. You may then cast it from exile for 1W as long as it has a ready counter on it.)
Create three 1/1 white Knight creature tokens. If Arrival of the Cavalry’s miracle cost was paid, those tokens gain flying and indestructible.
Miracle GWU