Foresaying Aurora BG
Enchantment - Aura (uncommon)
Enchant land
When you play Foresaying Aurora choose X.
Vanishing X
If enchanted land is tapped for mana it produces 1 instead of its usual mana.
When Foresaying Aurora leaves play search your library for a land card an put it into play tapped.
Roots of the Underworld 1BB
Enchantment (Rare)
At the beginning of each player's upkeep that player loses life equal to the number of cards in their graveyard. The twisted roots grew upwards from the caverns to the surface where they spread their deadly toxins.
Demon's Gift :sym2b::sym2b:
Enchantment-Aura
Enchant Creature
Enchanted creature has ":2mana::symb::symb:, Pay half your life rounded up: Destroy each other creature. They can't be regenerated."
Players may play instant and sorcery cards in their graveyard as if they were in their hands for twice their casting cost. Remove cards played this way from the game face up.
Players may play instant and sorcery cards they own that are removed from the game with Echoes of Echoes as if they were in their hands for four times their casting cost. Shuffle cards played this way into their owners library.
RG WurmBall RG Gruul Prototype UG Maddening Mongrel UU The Spellshifts Have Eyes RR Legal, Lethal Goblins UB Planeswalkers RR Zodiac Arrest GB New Elves BB Disciple of the Artifacts
Undying Grudge 2BB
Enchantment - Aura
Enchant creature you control
When enchanted creature is put into a graveyard from play, return it to play under your control.
Persist (When this permanent is put into a graveyard from play, if it had no -1/-1 counters on it, return it to play under its owner’s control with a -1/-1 counter on it.) In Shadowmoor, a grudge strong enough is capable of bringing a wailing soul back from the death.
Round 1 - Enchantments
Judge: Kraj
Player block 33-43
Good luck, everyone!
Hostile Æther 1UB
Legendary Enchantment (R)
If a creature would be returned to a player's hand from play, remove it from the game instead. "Nothing is as beautiful as nothing."
—Villos, Twisted Æthermage
Text Card
Abilities are a little diff on the text card vs the render.
Please go with the text card. Thank you
Natures Surge
Enchantment ((((RARE))))
Nature’s Surge is all colors (Even if this card isn’t in play).
Creatures cards you control that aren't in play, have Sunburst. (They come into play with a +1/+1 counter on it for each color of mana used to pay their cost.)
Power can be derived from anything, and that anything is nature.
Soul Axe Enchantment - Aura (C)
Enchant creature
Enchanted creature gets +3/+0 and gains first strike.
Synch (At end of turn Soul Axe comes into play, sacrifice it unless you played two or more spells with Synch this turn.)
With a weapon in each hand, a warrior can’t help but focus on doing that which he was trained for.
Influence of the Nullstone - 4
Legendary Enchantment - (R)
Whenever a player would add mana to their mana pool from a source other than Influence of the Nullstone, they add that amount of colorless mana to their mana pool instead. XX: Add X mana of any color to your mana pool. Any player may play this ability. Each player may only play this ability once each turn. Since the Nullstone appeared on Vraxis, the plane’s colored mana sources had began to fade.
Painful Visions2BB
Enchantment (R)
Vanishing 4
Whenever you remove a time counter from Painful Visions, draw a card.
When Painful Visions is put into a graveyard from play, discard your hand. You lose 1 life for each card discarded in this way.
Artist: Mauro Herrera (http://www.el-grimlock.deviantart.com/)
Firestorm Tactics - :1mana::symr::symr:
Enchantment - (R)
Whenever a creature attacks or blocks, Firestorm Tactics deals 1 damage to that creature.
:1mana::symr::symr:: Put a red 1/1 Lizard creature token with protection from red into play. The Liendahlians acknowledged that sometimes it is better to bring the environment to your enemy. The fact that firestorms were the favored environment of their trained firedrakes was just a bonus.
Twilight's Beckoning - 2BB
Enchantment (R) 1B: Remove target card in a graveyard from the game. If that card is a creature card, put a 2/2 black Zombie creature token into play.
Artist: Foobix
Sorry about having no render, i'm not at my home, and i thought i would be before the round closed.
Mesmeric Vapor 2UU
Enchantment [U]
Whenever a permanent comes into play under your control, you may scry 1. All beings, including the slivers, drink in the power of the vapors. Only the truely clairvoyant may harness its powers.
Bonus: 5 points
Not white - 1 point
CMC 4 or less - 1 point
Mana Symbols used - 1 point
Rendered card art - 2 points
Balance: 8 points
Interesting, a hybrid that encourages you to spend more than the minimum UU. The best way to play this is with WUB where you'd get a pumped creature and they discard (hopefully a good creature card), which I think is powerful, but not broken.
Flavour/Creativity/Quality: 6 points
Too wordy, no room for flavor text. Abilities interact OK, especially if the discarded card is a creature. My main problem is that this card gives nonblue decks easy access to copy effects. The colorless/colored hybrid cycle in shadowmoor at least required 6 generic mana for out of color usage of the cards. At 4 mana it's a lot more playable, especially if you're playing black and/or white, which is a bad thing.
Total - 19 points
Bonus: 3 points
Not white - 1 point
CMC 4 or less - 1 point
Mana Symbols used - 1 point
Rendered card art - 0 points
Balance: 9 points
If I understand correctly, this enchantment copies all of a creature's abilities without becoming a creature itself. I can see this getting used for copying scions of oona, merrow reejereys, and other lords in blue tribal decks.
Flavour/Creativity/Quality: 5 points
No render submitted and no flavor text. The only example of copying with modification I could find is Sakashima the Impostor, whose template tells me your card should be worded "comes into play as a copy of that creature, except its type is still Tribal Enchantment." Congratulations on making me look up oneiric.
Total - 17 points
Bonus: 5 points
Not white - 1 point
CMC 4 or less - 1 point
Mana Symbols used - 1 point
Rendered card art - 2 points
Balance: 9 points
At common, this would be chased after for limited. I like the somewhat anti 2-for-1 tech where the creature may tap itself for the mana needed to sack the aura. Well balanced.
Flavour/Creativity/Quality: 7 points
Red mana accel is usually a one time burst of mana. No creative new abilities. I think you could have gotten a line of flavor in. Other than that, all good.
Total - 21 points
" Karasu">
Bonus: 5 points
Not white - 1 point
CMC 4 or less - 1 point
Mana Symbols used - 1 point
Rendered card art - 2 points
Balance: 9 points
Chordcloak compares well to griffin guide. Trading flying for shroud usually wouldn't be worth it if it weren't for the reusability of chordcloak's aura swap. In a set with many aura swap cards this would be great. Swapping in for shroud to counter targeted removal, then swapping out to get a 2/2. I like it.
Flavour/Creativity/Quality: 8 points
The leaves play ability should be under the +1/+1 ability. I think you have room for flavor text. The rest is fine.
Total - 22 points
Bonus: 4.5 points
Not white - 1 point
CMC 4 or less - 1 point
Mana Symbols used - 1 point
Rendered card art - 1.5 points (eyes on flames look like they were added with paint program)
Balance: 8 points
Wow that effect seems powerful. Play this and any creature and your creature count grows quick. It's hard to say if it's too powerful, but I don't think so.
Flavour/Creativity/Quality: 8 points
Needs a space between the comma and the tap symbol. Flavor text should probably say window "to" the soul and be two separate sentences.
Total - 20.5 points
Bonus: 5 points
Not white - 1 point
CMC 4 or less - 1 point
Mana Symbols used - 1 point
Rendered card art - 2 points
Balance: 7 points
This would've been great in shadowmoor limited. I don't think it would ever touch standard though. Cost could probably drop to one black mana and still be safe.
Flavour/Creativity/Quality: 8 points
Comma in flavor text after "him" is unnecessary. Nothing really wows me here. The rest looks fine.
Total - 20 points
Bonus: 4 points
Not white - 0 point
CMC 4 or less - 1 point
Mana Symbols used - 1 point
Rendered card art - 2 points
Balance: 7 points
Interesting card. I guess in certain situations you'd enchant yourself to prevent damage from large creatures or spells and take little damage later, but then your own enchantment is slowly killing you. You'll usually want to enchant your opponent and deal multiple instances of little damage to maximize the rot counters. At 2-4 mana, I can't see how to break it.
Flavour/Creativity/Quality: 6 points
Flavor text needs to be worded better. Should probably be "Chronicles" of the five gods. Second ability should say "enchanted" player's upkeep and slash doesn't belong in "him or her".
Total - 17 points
Bonus: 4.5 points
Not white - 1 point
CMC 4 or less - 1 point
Mana Symbols used - 1 point
Rendered card art - 1.5 points (red and black image for a blue card?)
Balance: 8 points
Seems a little too powerful for a turn 1 play. Sure, if you draw it late it won't be much use, but if you play this with a bunch of card drawing spells in hand you'll soon become near unkillable.
Flavour/Creativity/Quality: 8 points
The name and art don't communicate what the spell does. No flavor text.
Total - 20.5
Bonus: 4 points
Not white - 1 point
CMC 4 or less - 1 point
Mana Symbols used - 1 point
Rendered card art - 1 point (next time get a professional looking piece of art and a better card rendering program)
Balance: 8 points
On the one hand, I feel that the effect for 2 mana is too powerful, but on the other hand I feel that 4 mana to get it out is too much, so I guess they cancel out. Once you get this out, it will become a huge threat.
Flavour/Creativity/Quality: 8 points
Flavorwise, I don't quite get how twilight beckoning dead creatures to the rfg zone gets me a 2/2 zombie. The art hurts my eyes. The rest looks good.
Total - 20 points
Bonus: 5 points
Not white - 1 point
CMC 4 or less - 1 point
Mana Symbols used - 1 point
Rendered card art - 2 points
Balance: 7 points
Oh boy, Damnation on a stick! Despite the powerful effect it has 2 severe drawbacks. First it's a creature enchantment, which is vulnerable to being 2-for-1'd. Second, paying half your life has always been too significant of a drawback to merit constructed playability so far. The only upside is that you get to keep a creature post-wrath. Most people would rather keep half their life than keep one creature.
Flavour/Creativity/Quality: 7 points
I get that the gift from the demon is powerful destructive ability in exchange for your life, but the art doesn't convey that at all. I think you have room for flavor text, why not use it?
Total - 19 points
Bonus: 3 points
Not white - 1 point
CMC 4 or less - 1 point
Mana Symbols used - 1 point
Rendered card art - 0 points
Balance: 5 points
I'm assuming it's meant to put creatures into play from the graveyard since this is a black enchantment. Barring time counter shenanigans, you're probably only going to get 3-4 reanimations out of this, and even then, you can't reanimate anything big. I don't really see why someone would play this over zombify or mannequin.
Flavour/Creativity/Quality: 5 points
No render submitted and no flavor text hurts, and you need to specify where the creature card is coming from (hand, library, graveyard, rfg).
Balance ~ 8/10
Flavor ~ 3/3
Creativity ~ 2/3
Quality ~ 3/4
Bonus ~ 4/5
Comments: The card itself isn't poorly designed, but unfortunately, not a lot of these cards would have a lot of effect on standard format now, just because of how creature heavy and how fast the decks are... but I like the card a lot, it reminds me of how green would pull off a card similar to Bitterblossom, and it also showcases one of my favorite effects green has... the flavor is excellent, and relevant too... unfortunately, since you were missing a mana symbol in your text card, I couldn't award you full points, but good job nonetheless...
Total ~ 20/20
Balance ~ 3/10
Flavor ~ 3/3
Creativity ~ 3/3
Quality ~ 3/4
Bonus ~ 5/5
Comments: The reason I think Wizards tries to avoid making cards like this is simply that they create a war of attrition in the game... especially since this has a switch ability at instant speed, it really comes down to who can sac the most permanents during their opponent's untap step... I like that you took a creative route in making the card, and I know you put effort into making it, but the fact that this card is so black intensive, and probably requires to be built around, does not lend well towards balance, it's really just a bad rare... I enjoy the art though...
Total ~ 17/20
Balance ~ 7/10
Flavor ~ 3/3
Creativity ~ 0/3
Quality ~ 4/4
Bonus ~ 5/5
Comments: Though I'm still not convinced that red should get this much token production, I did not hold it against you... really my only problem with the card is that it seems so top-down... it feels like you took a really cool art, and forced it onto a card in the most literal sense... this isn't always a bad thing, but it doesn't make for a very creative feel... balance wise, there are probably some decks that would run this now, just as some sort of buffer against attacks, but it's not great... balance wise, Wren's Run Packmaster can make 2/2 wolves with deathtouch for :2mana::symg:, and that's an in color ability... so while I feel that this is undercosted for red token production, given the standard environment... I can't say it isn't unfair...
Total ~ 19/20
Balance ~ 7/10
Flavor ~ 3/3
Creativity ~ 3/3
Quality ~ 4/4
Bonus ~ 5/5
Comments: I really like what you've done with this card... it's true to the blue-black nature, and actually, I'd almost say it's the epitome of what blue black should be... granted these aren't new abilities to say the least, but the fact that you used them together so well merits a good score... Balance wise, I can't compare it to much other than its components... and the everyone discarding is really really good in two-heade giant, or in any multiplayer really, especially with some sort of megrim out there...
Total ~ 22/20
Balance ~ 8/10
Flavor ~ 3/3
Creativity ~ 2/3
Quality ~ 3/4
Bonus ~ 5/5
Comments: This was easily one of my favorite cards this round... granted we've seen this ability before, recently on Reins of the Vinesteed, so it should have been worded correctly, which it wasn't, so points came off there, but aside from that, I LOVED this card! It was flavorful, from the name to the art, to the keyworded ability... its all just great... I'm still not convinced that the black decks would run this right now though... turn three is pretty important...
Total ~ 21/20
Balance ~ 9/10
Flavor ~ 3/3
Creativity ~ 3/3
Quality ~ 4/4
Bonus ~ 4/5
Comments: A really great card... a really good card in terms of power... this replaces all those horrible reanimation targets with, oh I don't know, real cards... but seriously, this card was very well done, there isn't much I can say... The art isn't to my liking, so point there, but otherwise, great job
Total ~ 23/20
Balance ~ 6/10
Flavor ~ 3/3
Creativity ~ 2/3
Quality ~ 3/4
Bonus ~ 5/5
Comments: My biggest issue with this card is if it's going to be a red beef enchantment, it has to be better to do anything in standard... unfortunately this either says you get a bonus 3 damage turn three, or wait to attack turn six? I don't like it, and in general, the whole 'form of' cards aren't my favorite, and tend to lend themselves into creation, at least I feel that way... great choice of art, one I wouldn't have expected... The wording is off, which is unfortunate, but basically, once you sacrifice the creature, state based effects would say the enchantment is destroyed, so you'd need a Reins of the Vinesteed like wording to really nail the right wording for that ability...
Total ~ 19/20
Balance ~ 6/10
Flavor ~ 3/3
Creativity ~ 1/3
Quality ~ 4/4
Bonus ~ 4/5
Comments: The thing I like least is the art... but that's no one's fault but my own... However, I also don't like that when this card hits the table, its so cheap to turn your damage into poison counters that it almost just takes your opponent down to ten life... this isn't a guarantee, but it's pretty strong... Also, I feel like using the snake cult thing from future sight, just wasn't to your advantage... it's a cute tie-in to another card, but I'd rather have something different...
Total ~ 18/20
Farmer ~ 20/20
The Orange Mage ~ 21/20
Dodavehu ~ 22/20
V0id ~ 23/20
Again, I'm sorry this took so long, I hope it won't happen again...
Balance: 4.5/10 This is very weak. Right off the bat it needs to pack a punch: it's an aura, costs four mana, and enchants a land (meaning in order to do anything with it you've usually just reduced your available mana by one). And does it pack a bunch? No way. Best-case scenario gives you a vanilla 4/4 for 3G that can get bigger, but is just much much worse than Dauntless Dourbark. Even the old Uktabi Wildcats is far superior to this.
FCQ: 6.5/10
Flavor: 3.5/4 Flavor is good. I like the name, flavor text is a bit clumsy but decent, the overall package is reasonably solid.
Creativity: 2/4 Doesn't really do anything new but the combination of abilities hasn't really been done.
Quality: 1/2 Lots of small templating issues. "Enchant basic land" (no capitals). "Enchanted land is a green Elemental creature in addition to its other types with power and toughness equal to the number of lands you control with the same name as enchanted land."
Bonus: 5/5 Next time please make an attempt at artist credit and copyright line. Even if you don't have full information, some credit is better than none.
Balance: 6/10I don't like this at all. For one, it's a rather efficient way to hose aggro. Sure, it's two colors but it'll also hit the table two turns earlier than Frozen Aether; that makes it a bit unfair as a control card. The colors are also poorly chosen. One can make an argument for bue on this card, though I think white is a better choice, but using green as the color of "everything gets haste" is a great big no; that's red's department. Green gets a little bit of haste, not a fat helping of it.
Then there's the fact that it grants haste at all, which basically says this card was designed to enable q creatures and that's pretty much it. It's intended as a narrow niche card but if anything would be played simply for its tapping.
FCQ: 5.5/10
Flavor: 1.5/4 Flavor text looks like an afterthought. The name is evocative, but that's about where the good stuff ends.
Creativity: 2/4 I'm not sure whether to call this creative or not. The abilities clearly aren't, but the combination is so unexpected that it feels like a creative stroke to put a card like this together.
Balance: 5/10 I really like where you were going here but it's just too abusive. Any card that can spend mana at instant speed turns this baby into a ridiculously efficient mana burn machine. If it had a "no mana burn" clause, I think I would give this high marks. As it is, it's pretty brutal.
FCQ: 8/10
Flavor: 2/4 Nothing exciting here. The name is bland but undeniably descriptive with a flavorful ability. No flavor text leaves it pretty dull, though.
Creativity: 4/4 I really like this. The idea that everyone gets to use everyone else's mana is very cool and potentially quite fun and 'build-around-able'. It just needs some polish to deliver a great card.
Quality: 2/2 "his or her". Not a big enough issue to take points off.
Balance: 6/10 This seems rather weak to me. For the same cost you could have Grave Pact which outright kills a creature of each opponents' rather than give one -1/-1. Granted, they get to pick which one dies whereas with this you get to choose which one gets affected, but overall the Pact is hugely more efficient in the attrition war. The last ability is rather pointless since it'll only give you back creatures that are haunting a creature still in play, which goes against the intent of the card which is stacking multiple haunts to kill a creature.
Even at a cheaper cost this effect doesn't feel worth it. You'd either have to up the penalty to -2/-2 or -2/-1 or something like that or (my personal preference) have it as an ability on a creature.
FCQ: 8.5/10
Flavor: 3.5/4 The flavor is good. Decent name, evocative ability, decent flavor text. There's room for improvement but I'd say it's above average.
Creativity: 3/4 It does something interesting and different with haunt but still borrows from the "all creatures get [keyword]" archetype. Again, room for improvement but good.
Balance: 7/10 Interesting. This hoses cards that bounce things from play as a cost, like Stampeding Wildebeasts or Spirit Loop, and it greatly increases the power of bounce spells like Cryptic Command. Yay. In this aspect it's a nicely costed niche card. The problem is that's all it does. While simple and elegant, it doesn't do anything at all on it's own and could use another ability to make it more playable.
FCQ: 9/10
Flavor: 4/4 Pretty good name, fitting ability, excellent flavor text. No complaints here.
Creativity: 3/4 Nothing too shocking but it's a fresh twist on Planar Void effects that has a unique effect on the game.
Bonus: 4.5/5 Render text does not match the text card.
Balance: 9/10 In a monocolored deck this card is decent. It makes every creature you play afterwards a little bigger permanently. Probably not worth the mana or card investment. In a multicolored deck, however, it makes creatures significantly bigger and, thanks to hybrid, can do so without even taxing the mana base.
Overall I'd say it's expensive enough that it's not going to break any games. Aggro and control won't play this but a mid-range deck might. The fact that is uses +1/+1 counters makes it more relevant as utility. I could see it as a useful but non-bomb card in Limited and maybe find a home in Standard, but I don't see it as something top-tier decks are going to utilize. That might mean it's ultimately a bit weak but I think that's due to the nature of the mechanics and not an issue with the design of the card.
FCQ: 3.5/10
Flavor: 1/4 Not a big fan here. The name is very green, the flavor text is blah. Having all colors connects to sunburst but not anything else about the card. And really, there's no reason for this to be an enchantment. It has the cost of an artifact, if you drop the irrelevant 'all-colors' ability it has the color of an artifact, and it has the ability of an artifact. It's an artifact.
Creativity: 1/4 Not really much here. It's another "everything has a keyword" card with the flavor of Transguild Courier. It doesn't do anything we haven't seen before.
Balance: 6/10 This is really powerful. We do have a drawback in that you skip your draw step and therefore draw no cards for free. Its also slower and more expensive than Harmonize. That's where the negatives end. The positives? For GG you get to draw 2 cards every time your saproling token chump blocks, or draw 6 cards when your fat ol' Dauntless Dourbark gets hit with a Shriekmaw. You can tutor it with Treefolk Harbinger and it pumps all your treefolk tribals. Leaf-Crown Elder puts it into play for free, Timber Protector makes enchantment hate useless. It fits right in to a treefolk tribal strategy and draws an insane number of cards. Greater Good, for comparison, is a well-costed and potentially potent card; this is oodles better.
FCQ: 6/10
Flavor: 3/4 Ectypal is a word I've never seen before; I can see where you were going with it but to be honest even after understanding the definition the flavor went over my head a little. And I think that's saying something.
Still, kudos for doing something interesting with the name. The flavor text is decent and does a good job of tying the name to the abilities.
Creativity: 1/4 Didn't really wow me here. It's Greater Good on crack with a tribal lord ability tossed in.
Balance: 9/10 Well the cost of this is probably pretty fair. Three mana to play, between one and three mana to get an ability out of it until end of turn, and the effect is that as long as you have creatures that your opponent can't evade, you will completely dominate combat. It won't do anything to help you win on your own, but it will make sure absolutely every blocking scenario will be in your favor.
This is the kind of design I would avoid because it just isn't really fun, but as far as the power of this card and what you pay to get it, I think it's reasonable.
FCQ: 3.5/10
Flavor: 2/4 The name feels a bit more WB to me than RB but it's decent. The card overall is rather bland and could certainly use some flavor text to spice it up.
Creativity: 0/4 I'm sorry but there just isn't anything creative here at all.
Quality: 1.5/2 Keywords aren't capitalized when they are in a sentence.
Balance: 5/10 It's a Sensei's Divining Top that's not horribly annoying, but in the process ends up being hugely overcosted. 1uuu for a two-card Top spin each turn for free is maybe passable but ultimately underwhelming. 4UU for a three-card version is seriously underpowered, and 7U for a four-card version is unspeakably awful. I think what you were going for was a good idea but the numbers just don't add up.
FCQ: 9/10
Flavor: 4/4 The flavor text is a little awkward and could be phrased better but the idea it's communicating is really good. I'd tweak it a little, but it's among the best flavor text I've seen so far this round. The text, abilities, and name all tie together well.
Creativity: 4/4 I like the idea of a spell that is weaker the cheaper you play it. It's an interesting concept on its own and also takes monocolor hybrid and puts a new spin on it. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if Eventide's cycle is done this way. Solid.
Quality: 1/2 "Ice Sheet comes into play with an ice counter on it for each U spent to play it."
"At the beginning..." Also, I think the interaction between the counters and the effect isn't very elegant. Having a variable that's always at least 1, naming 5 and then invoking math juju... it's all rather clunky for an effect that will happen every turn and isn't particularly exciting.
Balance: 10/10 I'm convinced there must be a card with a repeatable ability out there that is broken by reducing the cost but I'll be darned if I can find it. Overall, it's a nicely balanced card that "accelerates" both players' mana by making it easier to play certain spells, while at the same time protects by making it harder to play removal and disruption. Very well done.
FCQ: 9/10
Flavor: 3/4 Possibly the warm-and-fuzziest card name since Bouncing Beebles The flavor text reads like a Hallmark card, but overall I'd say the flavor is pretty well crafted. It just feels a little out of place in Magic.
Creativity: 4/4 Reminiscent of Augustin but with a unique twist. I don't think there are any existing cards that compare ownership with targets for an effect. This one does it elegantly.
Quality: 2/2 The ability text is a bit daunting but is doable.
Balance: 8/10 This card is pretty strong. It comes down a turn later than Phyrexian Arena but with essentially no drawback. Discarding your hand means a control player probably won't want to run this, but an aggro deck would pretty much love to drop some weenies on the first three turns then draw an extra card for the next three turns and empty his or her hand in the process.
I think the balance is pretty good but the discard drawback is negligible. It's the cost to play it and the limited uses you get from it that really do the balancing act.
FCQ: 6/10
Flavor: 2/4 Considering my opinion is that this card will rarely hurt you the "painful" part of the name doesn't really fit. Even if it did, the name is descriptive and connects well to the ability, but it's very bland.
Creativity: 2/4 The peices put together feel fairly fresh but there's not much to them invidually. It's Phyrexian Arena with vanishing.
Foresaying Aurora BG
Enchantment - Aura (uncommon)
Enchant land
When you play Foresaying Aurora choose X.
Vanishing X
If enchanted land is tapped for mana it produces 1 instead of its usual mana.
When Foresaying Aurora leaves play search your library for a land card an put it into play tapped.
Judge #10: WhisperedThunder
Roots of the Underworld 1BB
Enchantment (Rare)
At the beginning of each player's upkeep that player loses life equal to the number of cards in their graveyard.
The twisted roots grew upwards from the caverns to the surface where they spread their deadly toxins.
** DigitalLogic on MTGO **
Judge : seratonin
Circle of DesecrationBBB
Enchantment
BB: Each opponent lose 1 life. Gain 1 life for each opponent. Gain 1 poison counter.
render:
Judge: Kraj
Underhanded Tactics 2
Enchantment
R: Target creature gains First strike until end of turn.
BB: Target creature gains Deathtouch until end of turn.
Demon's Gift :sym2b::sym2b:
Enchantment-Aura
Enchant Creature
Enchanted creature has ":2mana::symb::symb:, Pay half your life rounded up: Destroy each other creature. They can't be regenerated."
According to this study I should be deaf by now.
Banner made by: Spiderboy4 :o:o:o
It shouldn't be "dies"
It shouldn't be "is put into the graveyard from the battlefield"
It should be "is put into the graveyard from play"
Enchantment (R)
Players may play instant and sorcery cards in their graveyard as if they were in their hands for twice their casting cost. Remove cards played this way from the game face up.
Players may play instant and sorcery cards they own that are removed from the game with Echoes of Echoes as if they were in their hands for four times their casting cost. Shuffle cards played this way into their owners library.
Illus. Andrew Jones
really, enchantment card? maaaan, I hope I make it fartehr than round one this time, so i get to see the more interesting challenges
anyways, good luck to everyone.
Friend, artist, magic player, but most of all, Polar Bear God. We'll miss you, buddy
time to finalize my ideas
RG WurmBall
UB PlaneswalkersRG Gruul Prototype
UG Maddening Mongrel
UU The Spellshifts Have Eyes
RR Legal, Lethal Goblins
RR Zodiac Arrest
GB New ElvesBB Disciple of the Artifacts
Judge. WhisperedThunder
Undying Grudge
2BB
Enchantment - Aura
Enchant creature you control
When enchanted creature is put into a graveyard from play, return it to play under your control.
Persist (When this permanent is put into a graveyard from play, if it had no -1/-1 counters on it, return it to play under its owner’s control with a -1/-1 counter on it.)
In Shadowmoor, a grudge strong enough is capable of bringing a wailing soul back from the death.
Judge: Kraj
Player block 33-43
Good luck, everyone!
Hostile Æther 1UB
Legendary Enchantment (R)
If a creature would be returned to a player's hand from play, remove it from the game instead.
"Nothing is as beautiful as nothing."
—Villos, Twisted Æthermage
Retrodrome, your one stop site for everything nostalgic.
Abilities are a little diff on the text card vs the render.
Please go with the text card. Thank you
Natures Surge
Enchantment ((((RARE))))
Nature’s Surge is all colors (Even if this card isn’t in play).
Creatures cards you control that aren't in play, have Sunburst. (They come into play with a +1/+1 counter on it for each color of mana used to pay their cost.)
Power can be derived from anything, and that anything is nature.
:symb:Rats
Artifacts For the Lose:symu::symr:Illujuines Titan-ic Pact:symr::symu::symw::symg:Two Sisters:symg::symw:
Guile-Scape:symr::symg:Standard Giants:symg::symr:
:symg::symr::symb::symu::symw:Sisays Arch:symu::symb::symr::symg:
And for only my second ever FCC common:
Soul Axe
Enchantment - Aura (C)
Enchant creature
Enchanted creature gets +3/+0 and gains first strike.
Synch (At end of turn Soul Axe comes into play, sacrifice it unless you played two or more spells with Synch this turn.)
With a weapon in each hand, a warrior can’t help but focus on doing that which he was trained for.
Influence of the Nullstone - 4
Legendary Enchantment - (R)
Whenever a player would add mana to their mana pool from a source other than Influence of the Nullstone, they add that amount of colorless mana to their mana pool instead.
XX: Add X mana of any color to your mana pool. Any player may play this ability. Each player may only play this ability once each turn.
Since the Nullstone appeared on Vraxis, the plane’s colored mana sources had began to fade.
Render
Enchantment (R)
Vanishing 4
Whenever you remove a time counter from Painful Visions, draw a card.
When Painful Visions is put into a graveyard from play, discard your hand. You lose 1 life for each card discarded in this way.
Artist: Mauro Herrera (http://www.el-grimlock.deviantart.com/)
Record: 3-2
Simpsons Mafia (Newbie) - Vanilla Mafia - Win
The Fiasco Corporation - Town Reporter - Loss
Doomsday Mafia - Mafia Roleblocker - Win
Battle Royale Mafia - Serial Daykiller - Loss
Danger City Mafia - Vanilla Town - Win
Enchantment (R)
1B: Remove target card in a graveyard from the game. If that card is a creature card, put a 2/2 black Zombie creature token into play.
Artist: Foobix
Mesmeric Vapor 2UU
Enchantment [U]
Whenever a permanent comes into play under your control, you may scry 1.
All beings, including the slivers, drink in the power of the vapors. Only the truely clairvoyant may harness its powers.
Good luck everyone!
I'm off to bed though--have to give a sermon tomorrow.
Good luck.
Bonus: 5 points
Not white - 1 point
CMC 4 or less - 1 point
Mana Symbols used - 1 point
Rendered card art - 2 points
Balance: 8 points
Interesting, a hybrid that encourages you to spend more than the minimum UU. The best way to play this is with WUB where you'd get a pumped creature and they discard (hopefully a good creature card), which I think is powerful, but not broken.
Flavour/Creativity/Quality: 6 points
Too wordy, no room for flavor text. Abilities interact OK, especially if the discarded card is a creature. My main problem is that this card gives nonblue decks easy access to copy effects. The colorless/colored hybrid cycle in shadowmoor at least required 6 generic mana for out of color usage of the cards. At 4 mana it's a lot more playable, especially if you're playing black and/or white, which is a bad thing.
Total - 19 points
Bonus: 3 points
Not white - 1 point
CMC 4 or less - 1 point
Mana Symbols used - 1 point
Rendered card art - 0 points
Balance: 9 points
If I understand correctly, this enchantment copies all of a creature's abilities without becoming a creature itself. I can see this getting used for copying scions of oona, merrow reejereys, and other lords in blue tribal decks.
Flavour/Creativity/Quality: 5 points
No render submitted and no flavor text. The only example of copying with modification I could find is Sakashima the Impostor, whose template tells me your card should be worded "comes into play as a copy of that creature, except its type is still Tribal Enchantment." Congratulations on making me look up oneiric.
Total - 17 points
Bonus: 5 points
Not white - 1 point
CMC 4 or less - 1 point
Mana Symbols used - 1 point
Rendered card art - 2 points
Balance: 9 points
At common, this would be chased after for limited. I like the somewhat anti 2-for-1 tech where the creature may tap itself for the mana needed to sack the aura. Well balanced.
Flavour/Creativity/Quality: 7 points
Red mana accel is usually a one time burst of mana. No creative new abilities. I think you could have gotten a line of flavor in. Other than that, all good.
Total - 21 points
Bonus: 5 points
Not white - 1 point
CMC 4 or less - 1 point
Mana Symbols used - 1 point
Rendered card art - 2 points
Balance: 9 points
Chordcloak compares well to griffin guide. Trading flying for shroud usually wouldn't be worth it if it weren't for the reusability of chordcloak's aura swap. In a set with many aura swap cards this would be great. Swapping in for shroud to counter targeted removal, then swapping out to get a 2/2. I like it.
Flavour/Creativity/Quality: 8 points
The leaves play ability should be under the +1/+1 ability. I think you have room for flavor text. The rest is fine.
Total - 22 points
Bonus: 4.5 points
Not white - 1 point
CMC 4 or less - 1 point
Mana Symbols used - 1 point
Rendered card art - 1.5 points (eyes on flames look like they were added with paint program)
Balance: 8 points
Wow that effect seems powerful. Play this and any creature and your creature count grows quick. It's hard to say if it's too powerful, but I don't think so.
Flavour/Creativity/Quality: 8 points
Needs a space between the comma and the tap symbol. Flavor text should probably say window "to" the soul and be two separate sentences.
Total - 20.5 points
Bonus: 5 points
Not white - 1 point
CMC 4 or less - 1 point
Mana Symbols used - 1 point
Rendered card art - 2 points
Balance: 7 points
This would've been great in shadowmoor limited. I don't think it would ever touch standard though. Cost could probably drop to one black mana and still be safe.
Flavour/Creativity/Quality: 8 points
Comma in flavor text after "him" is unnecessary. Nothing really wows me here. The rest looks fine.
Total - 20 points
Bonus: 4 points
Not white - 0 point
CMC 4 or less - 1 point
Mana Symbols used - 1 point
Rendered card art - 2 points
Balance: 7 points
Interesting card. I guess in certain situations you'd enchant yourself to prevent damage from large creatures or spells and take little damage later, but then your own enchantment is slowly killing you. You'll usually want to enchant your opponent and deal multiple instances of little damage to maximize the rot counters. At 2-4 mana, I can't see how to break it.
Flavour/Creativity/Quality: 6 points
Flavor text needs to be worded better. Should probably be "Chronicles" of the five gods. Second ability should say "enchanted" player's upkeep and slash doesn't belong in "him or her".
Total - 17 points
Bonus: 4.5 points
Not white - 1 point
CMC 4 or less - 1 point
Mana Symbols used - 1 point
Rendered card art - 1.5 points (red and black image for a blue card?)
Balance: 8 points
Seems a little too powerful for a turn 1 play. Sure, if you draw it late it won't be much use, but if you play this with a bunch of card drawing spells in hand you'll soon become near unkillable.
Flavour/Creativity/Quality: 8 points
The name and art don't communicate what the spell does. No flavor text.
Total - 20.5
Bonus: 4 points
Not white - 1 point
CMC 4 or less - 1 point
Mana Symbols used - 1 point
Rendered card art - 1 point (next time get a professional looking piece of art and a better card rendering program)
Balance: 8 points
On the one hand, I feel that the effect for 2 mana is too powerful, but on the other hand I feel that 4 mana to get it out is too much, so I guess they cancel out. Once you get this out, it will become a huge threat.
Flavour/Creativity/Quality: 8 points
Flavorwise, I don't quite get how twilight beckoning dead creatures to the rfg zone gets me a 2/2 zombie. The art hurts my eyes. The rest looks good.
Total - 20 points
Bonus: 5 points
Not white - 1 point
CMC 4 or less - 1 point
Mana Symbols used - 1 point
Rendered card art - 2 points
Balance: 7 points
Oh boy, Damnation on a stick! Despite the powerful effect it has 2 severe drawbacks. First it's a creature enchantment, which is vulnerable to being 2-for-1'd. Second, paying half your life has always been too significant of a drawback to merit constructed playability so far. The only upside is that you get to keep a creature post-wrath. Most people would rather keep half their life than keep one creature.
Flavour/Creativity/Quality: 7 points
I get that the gift from the demon is powerful destructive ability in exchange for your life, but the art doesn't convey that at all. I think you have room for flavor text, why not use it?
Total - 19 points
Bonus: 3 points
Not white - 1 point
CMC 4 or less - 1 point
Mana Symbols used - 1 point
Rendered card art - 0 points
Balance: 5 points
I'm assuming it's meant to put creatures into play from the graveyard since this is a black enchantment. Barring time counter shenanigans, you're probably only going to get 3-4 reanimations out of this, and even then, you can't reanimate anything big. I don't really see why someone would play this over zombify or mannequin.
Flavour/Creativity/Quality: 5 points
No render submitted and no flavor text hurts, and you need to specify where the creature card is coming from (hand, library, graveyard, rfg).
Total: 13 points
Kenny "Lan" Karasu - 22
Bond92 - 21
DarienCR - 20.5
azathoth - 20.5
FoobixDesi - 20
snoopYah - 20
Shepherd - 19
WUBRGspellsMagic - 19
PhonixFly - 17
lgmhorus - 17
Mab - 13
Feel free to send me your comments, although I can't guarantee they'll help your cause!
Balance ~ 8/10
Flavor ~ 3/3
Creativity ~ 2/3
Quality ~ 3/4
Bonus ~ 4/5
Comments: The card itself isn't poorly designed, but unfortunately, not a lot of these cards would have a lot of effect on standard format now, just because of how creature heavy and how fast the decks are... but I like the card a lot, it reminds me of how green would pull off a card similar to Bitterblossom, and it also showcases one of my favorite effects green has... the flavor is excellent, and relevant too... unfortunately, since you were missing a mana symbol in your text card, I couldn't award you full points, but good job nonetheless...
Total ~ 20/20
Balance ~ 3/10
Flavor ~ 3/3
Creativity ~ 3/3
Quality ~ 3/4
Bonus ~ 5/5
Comments: The reason I think Wizards tries to avoid making cards like this is simply that they create a war of attrition in the game... especially since this has a switch ability at instant speed, it really comes down to who can sac the most permanents during their opponent's untap step... I like that you took a creative route in making the card, and I know you put effort into making it, but the fact that this card is so black intensive, and probably requires to be built around, does not lend well towards balance, it's really just a bad rare... I enjoy the art though...
Total ~ 17/20
Balance ~ 7/10
Flavor ~ 3/3
Creativity ~ 0/3
Quality ~ 4/4
Bonus ~ 5/5
Comments: Though I'm still not convinced that red should get this much token production, I did not hold it against you... really my only problem with the card is that it seems so top-down... it feels like you took a really cool art, and forced it onto a card in the most literal sense... this isn't always a bad thing, but it doesn't make for a very creative feel... balance wise, there are probably some decks that would run this now, just as some sort of buffer against attacks, but it's not great... balance wise, Wren's Run Packmaster can make 2/2 wolves with deathtouch for :2mana::symg:, and that's an in color ability... so while I feel that this is undercosted for red token production, given the standard environment... I can't say it isn't unfair...
Total ~ 19/20
Balance ~ 7/10
Flavor ~ 3/3
Creativity ~ 3/3
Quality ~ 4/4
Bonus ~ 5/5
Comments: I really like what you've done with this card... it's true to the blue-black nature, and actually, I'd almost say it's the epitome of what blue black should be... granted these aren't new abilities to say the least, but the fact that you used them together so well merits a good score... Balance wise, I can't compare it to much other than its components... and the everyone discarding is really really good in two-heade giant, or in any multiplayer really, especially with some sort of megrim out there...
Total ~ 22/20
Balance ~ 8/10
Flavor ~ 3/3
Creativity ~ 2/3
Quality ~ 3/4
Bonus ~ 5/5
Comments: This was easily one of my favorite cards this round... granted we've seen this ability before, recently on Reins of the Vinesteed, so it should have been worded correctly, which it wasn't, so points came off there, but aside from that, I LOVED this card! It was flavorful, from the name to the art, to the keyworded ability... its all just great... I'm still not convinced that the black decks would run this right now though... turn three is pretty important...
Total ~ 21/20
Balance ~ 9/10
Flavor ~ 3/3
Creativity ~ 3/3
Quality ~ 4/4
Bonus ~ 4/5
Comments: A really great card... a really good card in terms of power... this replaces all those horrible reanimation targets with, oh I don't know, real cards... but seriously, this card was very well done, there isn't much I can say... The art isn't to my liking, so point there, but otherwise, great job
Total ~ 23/20
Balance ~ 6/10
Flavor ~ 3/3
Creativity ~ 2/3
Quality ~ 3/4
Bonus ~ 5/5
Comments: My biggest issue with this card is if it's going to be a red beef enchantment, it has to be better to do anything in standard... unfortunately this either says you get a bonus 3 damage turn three, or wait to attack turn six? I don't like it, and in general, the whole 'form of' cards aren't my favorite, and tend to lend themselves into creation, at least I feel that way... great choice of art, one I wouldn't have expected... The wording is off, which is unfortunate, but basically, once you sacrifice the creature, state based effects would say the enchantment is destroyed, so you'd need a Reins of the Vinesteed like wording to really nail the right wording for that ability...
Total ~ 19/20
Balance ~ 6/10
Flavor ~ 3/3
Creativity ~ 1/3
Quality ~ 4/4
Bonus ~ 4/5
Comments: The thing I like least is the art... but that's no one's fault but my own... However, I also don't like that when this card hits the table, its so cheap to turn your damage into poison counters that it almost just takes your opponent down to ten life... this isn't a guarantee, but it's pretty strong... Also, I feel like using the snake cult thing from future sight, just wasn't to your advantage... it's a cute tie-in to another card, but I'd rather have something different...
Total ~ 18/20
Farmer ~ 20/20
The Orange Mage ~ 21/20
Dodavehu ~ 22/20
V0id ~ 23/20
Again, I'm sorry this took so long, I hope it won't happen again...
Fernin
Dragon_of_cleansing_fire
The Mad Tapper
33. Krey
Balance: 4.5/10 This is very weak. Right off the bat it needs to pack a punch: it's an aura, costs four mana, and enchants a land (meaning in order to do anything with it you've usually just reduced your available mana by one). And does it pack a bunch? No way. Best-case scenario gives you a vanilla 4/4 for 3G that can get bigger, but is just much much worse than Dauntless Dourbark. Even the old Uktabi Wildcats is far superior to this.
FCQ: 6.5/10
Flavor: 3.5/4 Flavor is good. I like the name, flavor text is a bit clumsy but decent, the overall package is reasonably solid.
Creativity: 2/4 Doesn't really do anything new but the combination of abilities hasn't really been done.
Quality: 1/2 Lots of small templating issues. "Enchant basic land" (no capitals). "Enchanted land is a green Elemental creature in addition to its other types with power and toughness equal to the number of lands you control with the same name as enchanted land."
Balance: 6/10I don't like this at all. For one, it's a rather efficient way to hose aggro. Sure, it's two colors but it'll also hit the table two turns earlier than Frozen Aether; that makes it a bit unfair as a control card. The colors are also poorly chosen. One can make an argument for bue on this card, though I think white is a better choice, but using green as the color of "everything gets haste" is a great big no; that's red's department. Green gets a little bit of haste, not a fat helping of it.
Then there's the fact that it grants haste at all, which basically says this card was designed to enable q creatures and that's pretty much it. It's intended as a narrow niche card but if anything would be played simply for its tapping.
FCQ: 5.5/10
Flavor: 1.5/4 Flavor text looks like an afterthought. The name is evocative, but that's about where the good stuff ends.
Creativity: 2/4 I'm not sure whether to call this creative or not. The abilities clearly aren't, but the combination is so unexpected that it feels like a creative stroke to put a card like this together.
Quality: 2/2
Balance: 5/10 I really like where you were going here but it's just too abusive. Any card that can spend mana at instant speed turns this baby into a ridiculously efficient mana burn machine. If it had a "no mana burn" clause, I think I would give this high marks. As it is, it's pretty brutal.
FCQ: 8/10
Flavor: 2/4 Nothing exciting here. The name is bland but undeniably descriptive with a flavorful ability. No flavor text leaves it pretty dull, though.
Creativity: 4/4 I really like this. The idea that everyone gets to use everyone else's mana is very cool and potentially quite fun and 'build-around-able'. It just needs some polish to deliver a great card.
Quality: 2/2 "his or her". Not a big enough issue to take points off.
Balance: 6/10 This seems rather weak to me. For the same cost you could have Grave Pact which outright kills a creature of each opponents' rather than give one -1/-1. Granted, they get to pick which one dies whereas with this you get to choose which one gets affected, but overall the Pact is hugely more efficient in the attrition war. The last ability is rather pointless since it'll only give you back creatures that are haunting a creature still in play, which goes against the intent of the card which is stacking multiple haunts to kill a creature.
Even at a cheaper cost this effect doesn't feel worth it. You'd either have to up the penalty to -2/-2 or -2/-1 or something like that or (my personal preference) have it as an ability on a creature.
FCQ: 8.5/10
Flavor: 3.5/4 The flavor is good. Decent name, evocative ability, decent flavor text. There's room for improvement but I'd say it's above average.
Creativity: 3/4 It does something interesting and different with haunt but still borrows from the "all creatures get [keyword]" archetype. Again, room for improvement but good.
Quality: 2/2
Balance: 7/10 Interesting. This hoses cards that bounce things from play as a cost, like Stampeding Wildebeasts or Spirit Loop, and it greatly increases the power of bounce spells like Cryptic Command. Yay. In this aspect it's a nicely costed niche card. The problem is that's all it does. While simple and elegant, it doesn't do anything at all on it's own and could use another ability to make it more playable.
FCQ: 9/10
Flavor: 4/4 Pretty good name, fitting ability, excellent flavor text. No complaints here.
Creativity: 3/4 Nothing too shocking but it's a fresh twist on Planar Void effects that has a unique effect on the game.
Quality: 2/2
Balance: 9/10 In a monocolored deck this card is decent. It makes every creature you play afterwards a little bigger permanently. Probably not worth the mana or card investment. In a multicolored deck, however, it makes creatures significantly bigger and, thanks to hybrid, can do so without even taxing the mana base.
Overall I'd say it's expensive enough that it's not going to break any games. Aggro and control won't play this but a mid-range deck might. The fact that is uses +1/+1 counters makes it more relevant as utility. I could see it as a useful but non-bomb card in Limited and maybe find a home in Standard, but I don't see it as something top-tier decks are going to utilize. That might mean it's ultimately a bit weak but I think that's due to the nature of the mechanics and not an issue with the design of the card.
FCQ: 3.5/10
Flavor: 1/4 Not a big fan here. The name is very green, the flavor text is blah. Having all colors connects to sunburst but not anything else about the card. And really, there's no reason for this to be an enchantment. It has the cost of an artifact, if you drop the irrelevant 'all-colors' ability it has the color of an artifact, and it has the ability of an artifact. It's an artifact.
Creativity: 1/4 Not really much here. It's another "everything has a keyword" card with the flavor of Transguild Courier. It doesn't do anything we haven't seen before.
Quality: 1.5/2 "Creature cards you own..."
Balance: 6/10 This is really powerful. We do have a drawback in that you skip your draw step and therefore draw no cards for free. Its also slower and more expensive than Harmonize. That's where the negatives end. The positives? For GG you get to draw 2 cards every time your saproling token chump blocks, or draw 6 cards when your fat ol' Dauntless Dourbark gets hit with a Shriekmaw. You can tutor it with Treefolk Harbinger and it pumps all your treefolk tribals. Leaf-Crown Elder puts it into play for free, Timber Protector makes enchantment hate useless. It fits right in to a treefolk tribal strategy and draws an insane number of cards. Greater Good, for comparison, is a well-costed and potentially potent card; this is oodles better.
FCQ: 6/10
Flavor: 3/4 Ectypal is a word I've never seen before; I can see where you were going with it but to be honest even after understanding the definition the flavor went over my head a little. And I think that's saying something.
Still, kudos for doing something interesting with the name. The flavor text is decent and does a good job of tying the name to the abilities.
Creativity: 1/4 Didn't really wow me here. It's Greater Good on crack with a tribal lord ability tossed in.
Quality: 2/2
Balance: 9/10 Well the cost of this is probably pretty fair. Three mana to play, between one and three mana to get an ability out of it until end of turn, and the effect is that as long as you have creatures that your opponent can't evade, you will completely dominate combat. It won't do anything to help you win on your own, but it will make sure absolutely every blocking scenario will be in your favor.
This is the kind of design I would avoid because it just isn't really fun, but as far as the power of this card and what you pay to get it, I think it's reasonable.
FCQ: 3.5/10
Flavor: 2/4 The name feels a bit more WB to me than RB but it's decent. The card overall is rather bland and could certainly use some flavor text to spice it up.
Creativity: 0/4 I'm sorry but there just isn't anything creative here at all.
Quality: 1.5/2 Keywords aren't capitalized when they are in a sentence.
Balance: 5/10 It's a Sensei's Divining Top that's not horribly annoying, but in the process ends up being hugely overcosted. 1uuu for a two-card Top spin each turn for free is maybe passable but ultimately underwhelming. 4UU for a three-card version is seriously underpowered, and 7U for a four-card version is unspeakably awful. I think what you were going for was a good idea but the numbers just don't add up.
FCQ: 9/10
Flavor: 4/4 The flavor text is a little awkward and could be phrased better but the idea it's communicating is really good. I'd tweak it a little, but it's among the best flavor text I've seen so far this round. The text, abilities, and name all tie together well.
Creativity: 4/4 I like the idea of a spell that is weaker the cheaper you play it. It's an interesting concept on its own and also takes monocolor hybrid and puts a new spin on it. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if Eventide's cycle is done this way. Solid.
Quality: 1/2 "Ice Sheet comes into play with an ice counter on it for each U spent to play it."
"At the beginning..." Also, I think the interaction between the counters and the effect isn't very elegant. Having a variable that's always at least 1, naming 5 and then invoking math juju... it's all rather clunky for an effect that will happen every turn and isn't particularly exciting.
Balance: 10/10 I'm convinced there must be a card with a repeatable ability out there that is broken by reducing the cost but I'll be darned if I can find it. Overall, it's a nicely balanced card that "accelerates" both players' mana by making it easier to play certain spells, while at the same time protects by making it harder to play removal and disruption. Very well done.
FCQ: 9/10
Flavor: 3/4 Possibly the warm-and-fuzziest card name since Bouncing Beebles The flavor text reads like a Hallmark card, but overall I'd say the flavor is pretty well crafted. It just feels a little out of place in Magic.
Creativity: 4/4 Reminiscent of Augustin but with a unique twist. I don't think there are any existing cards that compare ownership with targets for an effect. This one does it elegantly.
Quality: 2/2 The ability text is a bit daunting but is doable.
Balance: 8/10 This card is pretty strong. It comes down a turn later than Phyrexian Arena but with essentially no drawback. Discarding your hand means a control player probably won't want to run this, but an aggro deck would pretty much love to drop some weenies on the first three turns then draw an extra card for the next three turns and empty his or her hand in the process.
I think the balance is pretty good but the discard drawback is negligible. It's the cost to play it and the limited uses you get from it that really do the balancing act.
FCQ: 6/10
Flavor: 2/4 Considering my opinion is that this card will rarely hurt you the "painful" part of the name doesn't really fit. Even if it did, the name is descriptive and connects well to the ability, but it's very bland.
Creativity: 2/4 The peices put together feel fairly fresh but there's not much to them invidually. It's Phyrexian Arena with vanishing.
Quality: 2/2
Current New Favorite Person™: Mallory Archer
She knows why.