I would like to start this round by saying that there were several requests both in the discussion thread and via PM about having an FCC round that pays tribute to PolarBearGod. M_E, AoK, and I discussed it and could not think of a round idea that both met the needs for a fun and fair FCC round while honored PBG properly.
Instead, we decided to create this thread to be a place for the design community to thank him for his contributions.
With that said, here is round 2's challenge:
Make an instant card.
Bonus points:
Not blue - 1 point
Produces or is capable of producing the same effect exactly twice - 1 point
(For example, it can have two targets, be played exactly twice, make two tokens, etc.)
Usual Bonuses:
Use Mana Symbols in card (must be in both textcard and render (if submitted) in order to count) - 1 point
Supply rendered card art - 1-2 points (1 for supplying art, 1 discretionary for judges)
Point Breakdown:
Bonus: (x/5): Judge how the card fits the bonus parameters.
Balance: (x/10): Judge how the card is balanced; its power level, and whether or not it could make or break a format.
Flavour/Creativity/Quality: (x/10): Judge how flavourful, cool, and well-worded the card is. Basically, this is the "slickness" category.
Players may wish to reference the Players List . If you have questions about the FCC, check out the FAQ. If you have a question about using MSE, find your answer here.
This round will run until 12:00am EDT Sunday, June 15th (when Sunday becomes Monday).
Judges, please don't begin judging until the round is over. You may start postings at 12:01am EDT, even if we (Moss_Elemental, Avatar of Kokusho, and Kraj) are not online then to close the round.
Not blue - 1 point
Produces or is capable of producing the same effect exactly twice - 1 point
(For example, it can have two targets, be played exactly twice, make two tokens, etc.)
Cheap Shot 1R
Instant (U)
Until end of turn, target creature gains "1R, :symq:: This creature deals 2 damage to target attacking or blocking creature."
Conspire "Hey, no fair!"
I have two variations. I hope I made the right choice.
Match 3
opponent: lostandthedamned (eep)
judge: WhisperedThunder
My first Round 2 done as pairings. I must say its much more intimidating.
Awaken the Unslain 2BB
Instant
Return target creature card in your graveyard with the greatest power to play. You lose life equal to its power.
Flashback-1B, Sacrifice the creature you control with the greatest power (You may play this card from your graveyard for its flashback cost. Then remove it from the game.) Even the largest of beasts can hide in death.
Legacy of the Ur-Dragon :xmana::symr:
Tribal Instant-Dragon
As an additional cost to play Legacy of the Ur-Dragon, discard a Dragon card.
Creatures you control get +X/+0 and gain haste until end of turn.
Flashback—Sacrifice X mountains. “The Ur-Dragon’s words of fire and rage flow through my veins.”
—Belarau, High Priest of the Dragonspeaker clan
A deck may contain either zero or two cards named Insurrection.
The next time a spell resolves, if that spell’s name is Insurrection, you win the game.
“Once a guild of street thieves, the Darkrunners would soon begin kidnapping nobility for ransom money. Those who payed for the safe return of their loved ones had no idea what their wealth would be used for.” —History of Calradia, vol. II
// “The Darkrunners’ plans were nearly complete. The king’s guards thought none knew of the secret path out of the palace through the catacombs, but they found more than light at the end of those tunnels.” —History of Calradia, vol. II
Match #21. RainbowBrite v. Asrama
Judge: Seratonin
Heroic Stand 1W
Instant (U)
Target creature you control gets +1/+1 until end of turn for each point of life you have below 5. If you have exactly one life, another target creature you control gets +1/+1 until end of turn for each point of life you have below 5.
Heroes are not made in times of peace. They’re made in the heat of battle, when all seems lost.
Angelic Boon3W
Tribal Instant--Angel
You gain 5 life.
If you have been dealt damage this turn, copy this spell at end of turn. "Aiding an angel is its own reward. Still, it never hurts to offer some encouragement."
—Lalvindia, Archangel
Second SacrilegeB
Instant
Return target creature card removed from the game to play. You lose life equal to its power.
Flashback—Pay 3 life. (You may play this card from your graveyard for its flashback cost. Then remove it from the game.) "A sword is the only blade one should bear." —Lim-Dûl the Necromancer
Soul Dispersion 3B
Instant (Uncommon)
As an additional cost to play Soul Dispersion, sacrifice a black creature.
Soul Dispersion is colorless.
Destroy up to two target creatures a single player controls. They can’t be regenerated. Their souls drifted away, leaving behind a pair of motionless, unmarked bodies.
Tectonic Rift3R
Instant (Uncommon)
Search target player’s library for a land card and put it into that player's graveyard. If that land was basic, search that player’s library for another basic land card and put it into that player's graveyard. Then the player shuffles his or her library. Illus :: Mike Sass
Spaceplower
Match #16
Me vs spiderboy4
Honorable Belgareth Presiding
Card: TBA
Good luck, spiderboy4!
Edit: And thanks, Bel, for the compliment. I agree, though. You're going to have to be judge extraordinaire to slice the fine hairs of perfection handed to you on a silver platter...ok, maybe that's going a little too far. Here's hoping I can live up to the expectations.
Deathguise Echoes :3mana::symw::symb:
Instant (R)
Reverb 2 — Each player chooses a creature he or she controls and removes it from the game, then loses life equal to its converted mana cost. At end of turn, return all creatures removed from the game this way to play under their owner’s control. (This spell has this text two times.) The power of suggestion is perfected in the mock death rituals of the faith hags.
Artist: Lizzy John
Reverb is an ability that appears only on instants and sorceries. The format follows "Reverb X - [Text] (This spell has this text X times.)" For instance, this would update Seeds of Strength to:
Seeds of Strength :symg::symw:
Instant
Reverb 3 - Target creature gets +1/+1 until end of turn. (This spell has this text three times.)
I particularly like the keyword "reverb" since it essentially means "verb again" or "do again". It also falls naturally into the "reverberation" mindset of an echoing/bouncing/multiples concept, which works well when you get into those Mythic Rares with Reverb 12.
On the flip side, as far as what it does, all it really is is a space-saving device to enable a spell to become more tightly packed. As mentioned above, Seeds of Strength would go from a bulky 3-liner with spaces to a compact 3-liner (or 2-liner without reminder text) with plenty of room for an additional ability (with an appropriate additional boost in mana cost, of course).
For my judgings, I'd consider an average score to be a 4.5 in bonus, a 7 or 8 in balance, and a 4 or 5 in F/C/Q, so anything higher than a 16 is above average.
[U]Bonus (4.75/5)[/U]
[U]Basic Requirements (4/4)[/U]: All good.
[U]Discretionary (.75/1)[/U]: You did a good job finding art of a pair of knights where one is clearly dark and one light, but they still have similarities and look like they're working together. The fact that they synch up with the hybrid card frame is also very cool. My gripes are that 1) these don't look like Magic knights (most notably, knights in Magic are always supposed to have mounts), and 2) this should probably have a gold frame, since it's more of a multicolored card with a hybrid symbol than it is a hybrid card with multicolored symbols. On the other hand, the knights and frame both look very cool as is, so I'm giving you most of the point.
[U]Balance (9/10)[/U]: Everything seems good. 4 power and toughness worth of creatures at instant speed with different types of protection for only 3 mana is strong. but with such a tricky mana cost it shouldn't be too big a problem. My main issue is that the card feels much more white than black. I mean, the black knight aspect is there, obviously, but instant speed token production is very white and not black at all. Still, it's multicolored and not hybrid, regardless of what the frame and bizarre cost may imply, so I'm okay with it. In terms of seeing play, it seems like a solid limited and casual card that's strong enough to maybe see some standard or block play if the right deck arises, which is a nice place to be balance-wise. I would probably make it uncommon, as that would still be fine in limited and doesn't quite feel rare, but I think it's still fine at rare overall. In the end, it's not perfect, but I think this card does a good job pushing the power curve a bit without going over it.
[U]F/C/Q (3.5/5)[/U]
[U]Flavor (2/5)[/U]: The flavor text does a very good job explaining the flavor connection between black and white knights, and black and white in general. The main problem is that the mechanic doesn't really support that common cause or explain the protection from each other. Black and white knights working together fighting chaos feels anti-red, or maybe anti-green. If the black knight had protection from green and the white one had protection from red, I'd say the flavor would be excellent, but as is, the protection from black and white needs some explanation (besides the obvious Black Knight and White Knight reference, which is cool but doesn't necessarilly fit into flavor). The other problem is that instant speed token producers almost always have flavor expalining why they're instants instead of sorceries. With regards to the name, while I love a good pun, I'm not sure if this one quite works, mainly because it's not a word on its own and is awkward to read. It's still amusing, though.
[U]Creativity (1.5/5)[/U]: It's Riftmarked Knight, but with a trickier mana cost instead of suspending and flash instead of first strike. I don't really like the fact that they don't have first strike, since that's what knights in Magic tend to do and it hurts the Black and White Knight refrence. Regardless, though, the card's pretty neat.
[U]Quality(-0)[/U]: I don't see anything wrong.
[U]Total (17.25)[/U]: It's a cool and very well balanced card, but the flash and protection from white/black are in need of some flavor justification.
[U]Bonus (4.5/5)[/U]
[U]Basic Requirements (4/4)[/U]:All good.
[U]Discretionary (.5/1)[/U]: The art is kind of crazy but fits the card well enough, and I like the way there's a few bits of red in the card but it's mostly black. This would get you more than half a point here, but then you lose the extra for bad flavor text formatting. There should be a dash on the next line, no a hyphen on the line before the name. I'm fine with hyphens in the text card, but in the render, it needs to look right, which is why this is here and not in quality.
[U]Balance (8/10)[/U]: It seems fine for the most part. Played without the red, it's weak, played with the red, it's strong but not too strong, which is at is should be. I do think that the color-intensity of the requirements for copying it are a bit much for the effect (even in a split black-red deck, you won't always have BBRR, and it's almost impossible to play in a deck that isn't divided between those two colors without a lot of color fixing). It is strong when played that way, so it's okay for the most part, but I'm not sure if it's strong enough for constructed, and in limited, where it would be really powerful when copied, the color requirements make it very difficult to play.
[U]F/C/Q (3.75)[/U]
[U]Flavor (2.5/5)[/U]: The flavor works, but it's pretty generic. The quote is cool, and I like this being how black views unity. There's nothing here to explain why adding red would augment the affect, though. Most real Magic cards that get augmented by extra colors don't do that either, but I think they should, and don't like the fact that it's just tacked onto your card flavor-wise.[u]
[U]Creativity (1.5/5)[/U]: This doesn't really add anything to the concepts already put forth by the Ravnica color-enchanced Spells. You do something different by having a primarilly black effect that could also be red, and then just double it if you pay both colors, as opposed to the Ravnica ones which gave an on-color effect to start and then a second effect in the second color as a bonus. The problem is that the Ravnica way of doing it is the more interesting of the two.
[U]Quality (-.25)[/U]: "Its," not "It's." Its is possessive, It's is a contraction for "It is."
[U]Total (17.25)[/U]: It's a solid card design, if it doesn't wow in any particular way.
[U]Bonus (4/5)[/U]
[U]Basic Requirements (4/4)[/U]: All good.
[U]Discretionary (0/1)[/U]: The art fits the name, but it's just way too abstract for a Magic card and doesn't show anything about what the card does.
[U]Balance (5.5/10)[/U]: So the card has a 50% chance to give +2/-2, a 25% chance to give +6/+2, and a 25% chance to give -6/-2. That means that the vast majority of the time you will play it on an opponent's creature with 2 toughness hoping you don't get 2 heads, since killing a 2 toughness creature is usually much more useful than pumping your own 3+ toughness creature with +2/-2, and the risk of pumping your opponent's creature is much smaller (as long as you play the spell at the right time, like your second main phase or the end of your opponent's turn) than the risk of killing your own creature. Killing a 2-toughnes creature for one mana at instant speed is about right, and the 25% chance to pump the creature instead seems like a fair tradeoff for the ability to play it on your own creature or your opponent's fatty hoping for 2 heads or 2 tails when you're desperate. While 1 mana is right for this effect however, green is definitely not the right color for that 1 mana. It may do it in a weird way, but this is, most of the time, a targeted creature removal spell, and green most definitely does not get targeted creature removal spells. The chance to pump the creature doesn't justify this, and neither does the coin flipping (red can justify out-of-color effects with randomness, but not green). If this card cost :symbr:, i'd probably giveit an 8 or 9 for balance, but as is, it's not only out of color, but it's out of color in the worst way: it doesn't merely do something that green doesn't normally get to do, it does something that fundamentally goes against one of green's big weaknesses. I know Mercy Killing did somthing similar, but it at least killed creatures in a very green way and had a drawback if you used it on your opponent's creatures. This, on the other hand, kills creatures in a very red way.
[U]F/C/Q (3.5/10)[/U]
[U]Flavor (1.5/5)[/U]: I think I see what you're going for here - taking some weird psychogenic substance and letting nature decide what happens - but it just doesn't quite work for me. The idea of doing something with unpredictable results and seeing what happens is more red, and I don't like nature making decisions being represented by coin flips. Coin flips tend to be more about chaos or unpredictability. The flavor's there, and it's not awful, but I'm not a fan.
[U]Creativity (2/5)[/U]: It's a pretty obvious place to go with coin flips, but I don't thing something quite like this has been done before, and I do think it's kind of neat.
[U]Quality (-0)[/U]: I don't see any problems
[U]Total (13/25)[/U]: I think this would be an excellent design for a hybrid black/red card. It borrows aspects from each color's pie (creature kill through toughness lowering from black, coin flipping and power pumping from red), but all the aspects work well enough in both colors that it would be fine as a hybrid instead of a multicolored card (black occasionally dabbles in randomness with random discard and used to get power-pump (Howl from Beyond, Unholy Strength, while killing creatures through toughness reduction is similar enough to damage that it's okay in red, especially with the power boost thrown in there). Unfortunately, the card really just doesn't work in green.
[U]Bonus (4.5/5)[/U]
[U]Basic Requirements (3.5/4)[/U]: Missing a mana symbol in the cost of the text card.
[U]Discretionary (.5/1)[/U]: All the main stuff is here, and the art's fine, although it didn't wow me. I'd say that art is iconic enough for Warcraft to be pushing it a bit (since that particular picture is on so much Warcraft stuff), but the art itself works well enough outside of the Warcraft universe, without any aspects that are particularly unique to Warcraft, that I'll let it slide.
[U]Balance (8.5/10)[/U]: This feels pretty good for a color hoser. It's weak but not worthless if your opponent doesn't have black or red, which is nice in limited, where a 2/2 flash flier for four could be playble on its own, and it's very strong but not instantly game-winning if your opponent does have the appropriate colors. I don't think it pushes any power curve boundaries, but everything is about right. It could also be fun to pair this card with Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth.
[U]F/C/Q (4/10)[/U]
[U]Flavor (2/5)[/U]: The flavor text works but feels a bit too forced to me. I guess a red sky and black clouds work as an allegory for black an red, but it doesn't quite click. It also seems to imply that the griffins attack at a specific time rather than against specific enemies. Something implying that the griffins are specially trained to fight black and red enemies or aree held back as reserve forces to be used when black and red enemies attack might have worked a bit better.
[U]Creativity (2.5/5)[/U]: You're attempting something interesting in trying to make a color hoser that you can always depend on to work better if your opponent is playing the right colors, as opposed to hosers like Cryoclasm that don't work if your opponent isn't using basic lands or Deathmark that require your opponent to have a creature of the right color in play. It's a neat idea, although it feels a bit clunky, and it also has some occasionally weird side effects, like triggering off a Vivid land of an opponent who isn't actually playing any black or red (this may be intentional, but it's awkward regardless).
[U]Quality (-.5)[/U]: The name doesn't work gramatically. Selective is an adjective, and reinforce is a verb. It would need to be either Selectively Reinforce or Selective Reinforcement(s) (I think the second one is better, personally, but both are gramatically correct).
[U]Total (16.5/25)[/U]: A good design for a color hoser. I think hosing lands that produce a certain color mana is a bit clunky, but with the lack of basic lands in many constructed decks nowadays, it may be necessary, since hosing basic lands doesn't always work.
Farmer
[U]Bonus (5)[/U]
[U]Basic Requirements (4)[/U]: Mana symbols are used in the text card and render where appropriate, there is a render, and both bonus requirements for the round are met.
[U]Discretionary Point (1)[/U]: I'll give half a point here for a solid render with no major problems. This means the art is magic-quality and makes some level of sense, the copyright line and artist credits are blank (I'm okay with "Unknown" if you don't know the artist, but don't put nothing), the expansion symbol is not the default MSE square, and there are no other noticable problems. I'll only give the full point if the render especially impresses me. Usually, this would be with great art, but if something else about the render impresses me, I may still give the full point.
[U]Balance (10)[/U]
[U]Power Level (10)[/U]: How good the card's overall power level is. Generally, beyond just being appropriately costed and having all the numbers balance out, the card should see play in at least one format out of competetive constructed (block, standard, extended, eternal), casual (duals and multiplayer), or, if common, limited, without breaking any of them (I consider a card to break casual if it's particularly un-fun or frustrating to play against, not necessarilly overpowered). A 7 or 8 means the cost and other numbers seem about right and the card will be playable in at least one format. A higher score means the card is especially well balanced/costed, does a very good job pushing the curve without breaking it, and/or the card will be very playable in a wider variety of formats.
[U]Bonus Balance Points (up to +2)[/U]: I'll give up to two bonus points for cards that I feel will play very well or appeal very strongly to players for other reasons. Cards that seem like they would be especially fun to play, both with and against, or cards that create very interesting and tricky play decisions and situations, might get these points. Cards with great Timmy or Johnny appeal could also get these points (if I really want to build a deck around your card, that'll help you here). Finally, I might reward cards that I feel take risks with hard-to-balance effects and pull them off (a non-broken Necropotence varient, for example, would likely get you risk points).
[U]F/C/Q (10)[/U]
[U]Flavor (5)[/U]: How well the name, flavor text, mechanic, and art all work together. A 2.5 is average and means the flavor worked but didn't impress me. Things that get a better score include especially cool or creative flavor, flavor that goes beyond the card (if you can convey a sense of a character or a setting with your flavor while still having the card make sense, for example), or flavor that just fits absolutely perfectly with the effect. I will never penalize for bad art here, but if the art helps tie together and improve the flavor, I will take it into account.
[U]Creativity (5)[/U]: How new/interesting is the effect. The interesting part is important. If the card does something that has technically never been done before, but is fairly boring, it still won't get a gret creativity score. Similarly, a card could get a decent creativity score even if it's just a variant of an existing effect if the effect is is based on is a very interesting, not often used one and it varies it in a very creative way.
[U]Quality (up to -3)[/U]: After calculating the flavor and creativity scores, I'll subtract penalties for quality. These penalties will go for anything that makes the card feel less like a real Magic card, whether it's templating issues, typos, or other things. If the card will not work as intended, I will, if possible, do the balance score as if the card did, but take off a heavy penalty in quality. I'll never take off quality points for anything render-related (that goes in bonus). If there is a quality issue that only exists in the render and not in the text card, I won't take off here.
Ed: oh wait a second. I think I could come up with sth...
(hopefully) works this round while say my thanks to PBG at once.
Let's say,
Company - 1WW
Instant (R)
Two target creatures gain "If this creature would leave play,
it becomes a creature enchantment with 'Enchanted creature
gets +2/+2 and is white' enchanting target creature instead." This world or beyond,
We will stand together.
No longer my submission:
Meteor Strike 1RR
Instant (R)
Each player sacrifice two permanents he or she controls.
Flashback 3RR “I watched as he opened the sixth seal…and the stars in
the sky fell to the earth, as late figs drop from a fig-tree
when shaken by a strong wind.” -Revelation 6:12-14
Put a 2/2 white Griffin creature token with Flying into play.
If an opponent controls a land that can produce R or B, put two 2/2 white Griffin creature token with Flying into play instead. The red sunset and the black clouds were the signal to the Griffins to start the siege.
Bonus (5/5): All good.
Balance (7/10): Turns your white weenies into white beaters. Since (as far as I undertand the rules) the transformed creature doesn't lose it other abiltiies, this could be very efficient when used with weenies that have flying, vigilance, etc. Most of the time, this will trigger twice, as having 3 creatures out on turn 4 isn't very difficult. It's a fine card, but I just don't know if it would get much play.
F/C/Q (7.5/10):
-Flavor (2/4): Angels without flying is a sin against MaRo. And if you say "changelings," I will hurt you.
-Creativity (3/3): Good.
-Quality (2.5/3): "Angel" would be capitalized both times.
Total: 19.5/25
Bonus (4/5): 'Tis blue.
Balance (6/10): So this can either force an attacker through, or save it from some sort of burn. It's probably costed about right (figure Touch of Invisiblity minus the cantrip, plus the Holy Day). Unfortuneatly, the lack of synergy between the two effect mean you'll rarely play this at a time that both will benefit you.
F/C/Q (7.5/10):
-Flavor (3/4): In going with the card's flavor, why doesn't it grant shroud? I can't think fo a good reason for this to not grant shroud. Wouldn't even push it to uncommon.
-Creativity (2/3): Okay. The effects are fairly simple, and the concept has been done many times before.
-Quality (2.5/3): The two effects would be on the same line, since they're affecting the same creature.
Total: 17.5/25
Bonus (5/5): All good.
Balance (6/10): Kinda weak. Unless you're running Giants, this will usually only net you around 6-8 life, which isn't that impressive for 4 mana. A quick Gatherer search of white cards in standard that say "gain" shows tha thtere are very few cards right now that only gain life; most have some other sort of effect (cantrip, make a token), so your card wouldn't really have a place.
F/C/Q (8.5/10):
-Flavor (3/4): The text sounds like it should be in quotes...
-Creativity (3/3): Good.
-Quality (2.5/3): You mispelled "strength."
Total: 19.5/25
Bonus (4/5): I don't think it quite fits the bonus requirement of producing the same effect twice.
Balance (7.5/10): It has uses. Could get wicked if you "mix" creatures with tap and untap effects. Not the first pick in a draft, but not the worst thing you could end up with, with such a diverse creature base out there (all those GW and WU hybrids out there).
F/C/Q (10/10):
-Flavor (4/4): Great.
-Creativity (X/3): Good.
-Quality (X/3): No issues.
Total: 21.5/25
Rubric is the same for last round, but I'll repost it anyways.
The bonus is as simple as it seems. (5/5) -1 point awarded for creating a card that -1 point awarded for creating a card with -1 point for including mana symbols in both text and render -2 points for render (Note, you get 1 point for the render, and 1 point for not doing something stupid and/or strange. I don’t deduct for non Modern Frames, but I have to see some reason why you would want something else. Please don’t just use frames to cheat art.)
Balance (10) On a standard ten point scale, you aiming for the center of the power and potential spectrum. Now that we’re past the first round, your cards will be expected to interact with other cards in Magic. When designing, ask yourselves: -How would it perform in Limited and Block? -What cards does it interact with in Standard/Extended/Legacy/Vintage/Classic? -How would it be in variant formats: EDH, Multiplayer? -How easily could this card find a deck? -Are there any existing cards that would bust it open or obsolete it?
FCQD, Distribution (3/3/3/1) Flavor: As a Vorthos I strong believe that any card is capable of being flavorful, as long as there is an explanation it could work. However, as a judge and designer, I have basic tenets for judging flavor: -The Color Pie is sacred. Treat it as such. If you bleed it, I may or may not bleed your score. -Flavor text isn’t needed, but if there, it may or may not help/hurt -I’ll look at the name, art (when supplied), expository line (the line in between the art and the text), and the actual text. They should all make sense and work off each other. -All that said, feel free to try new things and explain them to me after the round is closed.
Creativity: As a vivid reader of the text on Salvation and Wizards, I fully realize that it is hard to come up with new design space on your own. That said there are a few things you are able to do. -Try something that hasn’t been done in a long time -Don’t rip off any existing card. It probably will be found and you will penalized as such -Don’t just put randomly synergetic abilities and call it day
Special case; Incarnations have a close tie in with their names. Their abilities allude to what they can do. Now, I’m not saying anything, but if you have an awesome name, art, and cost, making the card may become easier.
Quality: I’m not a big stickler for quality stuff. This is probably the best way to get your opponent to lose points if I missed something. I have a few caveats that will be addressed here -Errors in wording -Stretched pictures -Micro text -Mismatched art work
Discretionary: There are cards that really click with people. There's no real way to describe it, but if you make a card that you are happy with, there's a good chance I will be to. Don't appease me first, appease your inner designer
Bonus 5/5
All in order
Balance 7/10
The card is reasonably cost, perfectly acceptable, and limits itself to what it can and can not do. The problem is, as powerful as it can be, it's limited to a late game finisher, and without some support, is a dead card. Changelings and powerhouse dragons are perfectly good to make a deck around, no dobut, yet for some reason it seems lacking. Yes, it can be used for the final Alpha strike, crashing down with cards that have +X/+0, +X/0. However, discarding a dragon card means that it's going to have to be for a killing blow, and early game, it's unlikely you would play it. It does what is supposed to do, and does it well, but as far as X spells goes, this is one seems pretty underwhelming.
FCQD
Flavor (2.5/3)-I like the Ur Dragon refrence, but it's just not as clean as it could be and the western versus eastern dragon is up in the air for me.
Creativity(2.5/3)
Nothing new here, but it's feels like a seperate card.
Quality (3/3)
Yup
Discretionary .5/1
I'm torn, because it has potential, but it's just not doing it for me.
Ace (20.25/25)
Bonus 4/5
It says 'exactly,' but it can be so, but Kraj said no to replicate, so I have to say no here.
Balance 7/10
Talk about a limited bomb. A black catch all that can more often than not wipe a field with enough mana. However, this black catch all, comes at a hefty price tag and a clever way to get around counters. By putting copies on the stack, you create seperate threats that have to be dealth with, and seperate -1/-1 counters that have to be removed. In a format with persist, oh yeah. In a format with tough to kill creatures, even more. It combines the verstality of Scar, the varible power of Profane Command, and just a slight touch of Plague Winds. It's powerful, though, capable of wiping an entire field, late game or crushing it early.
FCQD
Flavor (3/3)
All good
Creativity (2.25/3)
I feel like I've seen too many X Black spells recently. It's still intersting though with the Stack innovations
Quality (3/3)
Moving on
Discretionary (1/1)
Tournament staple and utlity.
Bonus 5/5
All good
Balance 9/10
Green creature tutors are difficult to overpower or underpower. They are somewhat counterintutive and seemingly strange depending on the deck. What dares warrant spending mana on finding a creature, when you probably already have a few. And who the hell plays Mono Green Control? Wait, this card makes that viable. It's sorta like the love child between Avatar of Might and Summoner's Pact. It's viable and perfectly costed and even though it is a dead card sometimes, it's open ended enough to work.
Edit: Given a bonus point due to limited/block viablity, plus the aforementioned MGC archtype I was talking about.
Edit
FCQD
Flavor (2/3)
Only slighly generic
Creatvity (2/3)
Two points for combining two used elements
Quality (3/3)
Yup
Discretionay (.5/1)
I'm all for reviving or creating an Archtype, but it's only partially there.
Asrama (21/25)
Bonus 5/5
Interesting
Balance 6/10
Thankfully, negative numbers are counted as zero last time I checked, so there are no crazy shennigans with you can't lose clauses and lich like effects. As a creature pump, it's an uncommon verging on rare territory with a very limited ability, a very limited effected, but on that can be triggered and used frequently. Sure, it won't also work, sure it's definitely last ditch, but I can see players accross the board losing to some late game heroics with two mana open and one final strike. Some decks will aim to abuse the cards unique conditions, but then again, a Sudden Shock will take of that. It's definte white pump and the critical condition you need to be in to play, makes it all the more appealing.
EDIT: However, being at the critical condition is more often than not a bad place to be so, even in that situation it probably wouldn't be enough. Intially dazzed by what it could do, I lost sight of what it will more than likely do. Which is less than subpar most times.
FCQD
Flavor 3/3
How white can you possibly get: late game heroics for the win.
Creativity 3/3
I've seen white pump, but like this? No sir
Quality 3/3
Wording is lengthly, but I'm not seeing easier ways to do put
Discretionary 1/1
Cool
UknightWB
Tribal Instant- Knight
Put a 2/2 white Human Knight creature token with protection from black into play.
Put a 2/2 black Human Knight creature token with protection from white into play. All knights, whether they are benevolent or tyrannical, do fight for a common goal. They fight for order and discipline. They fight to hold the chaos back.
2. Ikeda
Opponent is The (respected) Orange Mage.
Judge is the almighty Kraj.
Infectious Decay1BB
Instant (U)
Put two -1/-1 counters on target creature. If that creature is put into a graveyard from play this turn, put two -1/-1 counters on another target creature. Death is a gift that some victims are perfectly willing to share.
Artist: David Ho
It is my personal goal in life to create a dragon card that will win the MCC. "The dragon has no pretense of compassion, no false mask of civilization—just hunger, heat, and need." —Sarkhan Vol
Me vs. Dragon_of_cleansing_fire (good luck, by the way :))
Honorable Judge Kraj presiding
Alandar's Might1W
Instant [U]
Target creature gets +1/+1 until end of turn and is indestructible this turn.
Flashback WWW "Let come what may. This day, the gods favor me."
—Tolas, Kaemirian hero
Asking out a girl is like trying to cast a first turn Necropotence. Sometimes the other player will have the Force of Will to say no. You shouldn't let that stop you from trying it.
I was just using a rip off of Kraj's rubric, but the I saw Howler13's rip off of Kraj's rubric and decided to rip that off instead. My probelm with Kraj's scale is that it goes from 4 to 10, so it's like balance is only out of 6 points. This is a bit more open ended. I do F/C/Q in a 3/3/3 breakdown with 1 point left as discretionary.
3 or less - Incredibly broken or underpowered. It's almost like you tried.
4 - Underpowered, or incredibly broken due to an obviously overlooked combo with a series of cards (Ex: Modular creatures, suspend, etc.).
5 - The card is not terrible but is clearly over or under the curve, or is well-balanced on its own but fairly easily breaks in combination with another card.
6 - It's overall effect is decent, but not particularly useful, or is pushing the curve in a way that isn't absurd, but is unhealthy.
7 - In my book, this is "average." The card is reasonably well-costed but clearly has room for improvement or is too expensive or narrow to be playable.
8 - The card is really well-costed but is just a little too strong or a little too weak.
9 - The card is both well-costed and constructed playable, or if it just doesn't quite cut the mustard in constructed by nature of the design (ie., it's a big Timmy card or a niche Johnny card) but couldn't possibly be better balanced.
10 - The card is, for all intents and purposes, "perfect." It pushes the power beyond it's limits, but does so which elegance, and it doesn't make the game unfair. I hate to point to Watchwolf as an example, because of how bland it is, but there you go.
Bonus: 5/5
Not blue - 1 point
Produces or is capable of producing the same effect exactly twice - 1 point
Use Mana Symbols in card - 1 point
Supply rendered card art - 2 points
The pic was just perfect.
Balance: 8/10
The only thing I can criticize is the cost. I love the effect, but I don't think RR for 2 damage you can devide up on two creatures is that great. Right now I'm comparing it to First Volley with an extra ability. It is of coarse extremely efficient if you can kill two 1 toughness creatures, but for the same cost you can get Pyroclasm.
I really like delay here, especially with this effect. You can hold it in waiting and use it with other burn to finish off higher toughness creatures or to deal with sudden threats like Groundbreaker. It's also candy for raising your storm count much like suspend. I think that four mana to delay it is a bit much. It's not so much that it's useless this way, but it would only really get delayed by combo decks.
F/C/Q: 8/10
Flavor - 3/3
Loved the flavor, especially how well the art matches the effect.
Creativity 2/3
Delay is a pretty cool mechanic, very grokable. I think pairing it with relatively boring 2 damage doesn't make the best use of it.
Quality 2/3
You would have been better off without flavor text. It's not that you left out a space after your last comma, I'm saying that a card like this doesn't need flavor text at all. Or if you do have flavor text, I think it needs to be a lot shorter so you don't compress the card text.
Discretionary 0/1
I really felt this should have said "~ deals 2 damage divided as you choose among one or two target creatures." but picked up the Seeds of Strength wording for the bonus point
Total: 21/25
Bonus: 5/5
Not blue - 1 point
Produces or is capable of producing the same effect exactly twice - 1 point
Use Mana Symbols in card - 1 point
Supply rendered card art - 2 points
On one hand I wonder if this pic is worth the full discretionary point because it really doesn't demonstrate the action the card represents as well as say Dread Return. On the other hand I don't even know what a creature returning to play from RFG would look like, so I have no choice but to shut up and give you the point.
I know I've seen that pic somewhere before, but can't place where. I highly doubt you know what I'm talking about when I say this, but it makes me think of Chardath Spulzeer, so if it's not from Forgotten Terror then it should have been.
Balance: 6/10
I've found a lot of things you can do with it, each with certain issues. Did you notice you can have 4 3/3's in play on turn 2 if you luck sack? Street Wraith, Extirpate, and two copies of Second Sacrilege get you a 12 power army that Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth makes unblockable. This deck is certainly without issues such as consistency, and if you were following along with that math you've noticed an other problem.
Next on my search to try to break this in standard was Greater Gargadon but BR, 9 life and 2 cards is a big price for a fattie and Terror is still out there so that's not the wisest use. It's a sort of combo with Champion, but that's no danger to the game IMOP. It's like getting out of Oblivion Ring, which is one of the better uses I can think of. Anyway, the best combo tech I can think of in standard is Mangara of Corondor, and the runner up is Tombstalker to turn your card into a standard legal Reanimate with flashback. The latter would seem more likely to see real play since Tombstalker is already in some use, but Mangara of Corondor and this would be good adds to most black/white decks, especially those already using Tombstalker.
I do think you run into problems in extended and beyond. With Psychatog you can get anything into play without paying any mana, and of coarse since it's in color with the tog this can be problematic. It's one saving grace is Misdirection, which in legacy and vintage can be pretty painful. You can even remove big blue monster to pay for misdirection and change the target to that.
In sum, it's pretty good in standard with the right tricks or as metagame against Crib Swap and Oblivion Ring. Haakon, Stromgald Scourge decks would use it for that kind of thing, and there is enough combo potential that it would be mainboarded some of the time. You run afoul in extended in part because of Psychatog, but I can't blame you for Dr. Teeth. I think it would see a little legacy and vintage play, but I'm not by a long shot going to accuse you of breaking those formats.
F/C/Q: 9/10
Flavor 3/3
It's kind of unclear if this is in black's color pie, but I'll give it to them. It's like Reanimate, and it gives the middle finger to Swords to Plowshares so I'm all for it.
Creativity 3/3
This certainly hasn't been done before.
Quality 2/3
You can target cards that you don't own, and you don't state what happens then. I assumed that they would come into play under their owner's control, which means Misdirection is a fierce hose. If you intended it to be into play under your control then I have to make some adjustments in balance. I just feel that you meant for it to only target cards you own, but you didn't say that.
Discretionary 1/1
This is one of those sort of cards that inspires me to try to build around it. I mean in standard where it's probably at it's least powerful. I'm thinking Scarblade Elite with the original 187 Nekrataal.
Bonus: 3/5
Not blue - 1 point
Produces or is capable of producing the same effect exactly twice - 0 point
Use Mana Symbols in card - 1 point
Supply rendered card art - 1 points
Well, you didn't give in to the second bonus point. You could have worded it in a way to get this point, but doing so would have mad the card so unnecessarily complicated that it would have cost you more in the end. I appreciate that actually, as sometimes a particular aspect of a card seems forced based on the bonus point and sometimes you have to just ignore them. That's how I won in April.
I like the pic, but I'm taking off for your artist credit and copyright lines. You can't leave them blank, so I'm taking off a half point for each. You could have said "Unknown" for the artist and that would have been fine.
Balance: 6/10
Revealing a card a random seems unnecessary. Even if you could just choose if it's RR or 2 I wouldn't be impressed. Rite of Flame is prett good on first turn to make let's say Blood Knight. Let's say you're mono red, you still have a reasonable chance of revealing a mountain and what do you spend the 2 on? You can't count on the mana being red well enough to make it worth playing early.
I like how you can give the mana to your opponent. It's amusing, but I don't see it as game winning for you. You can use Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir to sure they don't play an instant on you, but then what you have is Shock, except that it is life loss instead of damage. I see this use as secondary, as there are plenty of ways for it to backfire.
If it were just adding RR to target player's mana pool I would have given this n 8 or 9, but as I told Quazifuji month in round three cards that make uncertain color of mana aren't good enough. For your card, you have to be willing to get 2 from it, and if you do happen to get RR then you might not be able to change your plans. Mana cards shouldn't carry risks like this, it's just unnecessary.
F/C/Q: 9/10
Flavor 3/3
Mana production from hand is in red's slice of color pie, and this an play out like burn some of the time which is also red's domain. Seething Song gives precedent for red mana and musical flavor, so that's a nice connection.
Creativity 3/3
The only thing I've seen like this is Spectral Searchlight, and this is different enough to be it's own card.
Quality 3/3
No mistakes. I mean, there's the artist credit and copyright thing, but I've already take off there.
Discretionary 0/1
Total: 18/25
Bonus: 4.5/5
Not blue - 1 point
Produces or is capable of producing the same effect exactly twice - 1 point
Use Mana Symbols in card - 1 point
Supply rendered card art - 1.5 points
It's a good pic, but I didn't feel it fit the effect very well. It also looks squished, like you sized it for the extended art render then forced it to standard frame. I say that because I did the same thing a while back, and with that same pic coincidentally.
Balance: 5/10
If you play it right it's like two Enrages, but unless you have two high toughness creatures it doesn't work. The situation this card wants is difficult to pull off. Let's say it's your turn 4, and you have an Ashenmoor Gouger. You can get 3 extra damage from him being unblocked, but you have to have a second target. Unless you have an other 4 toughness creature this means you're sacrificing something, at which point it's worse than Enrage. You could have greatly benefited by the addition of the words "up to", as in "Up to two target creatures you control get +X/-X until end of turn."
F/C/Q: 7/10
Flavor 2/3
My only criticism is the name. Flowstone Cavern sounds like a land or an artifact. I think you should have gone with something more action oriented, like Flowstone Charge or Flowstone Rage.
Creativity 2/3 Flowstone Slide meets Symbiosis, I can dig it.
Quality 3/3
No mistakes.
Discretionary 0/1
Total: 16.5/25
Absolutionis and lord_of_obscurity.
Match 12
:rate5::rate5::rate5::rate5::rate1: Absolutionis
:rate5::rate5::rate5::rate5::rate0: Yare
Match 13
:rate5::rate5::rate5::rate3::rate0: lord_of_obscurity
:rate5::rate5::rate5::rate1.5::rate0: tortazo
Karma Transfer :1mana::symwb::symwb::symwb:
Instant
Target creature gets "Sacrifice this creature: return target creature card in your graveyard to play." until the end of turn.
Haunt He sacrificed himself to save others...or himself.
Illus: Shirotsuki
Flare of Tabula Rasa
:1mana::symw::symw::symw:
Instant
Rare
Remove all creature’s from the game. Then, each player searches his or her library for a creature card that shares a creature type for each creature removed from the game this way and puts it into play.
“My perfect guise shall come in times of great peril, lest my will say it shall come in times of capricious strategy.” — Ezrabain
Render
Lest there be confusion
You play this, creatures go bye bye. Put a creature into play for each creature removed from the game as long as it shared a type with one of those creatures.
Instead, we decided to create this thread to be a place for the design community to thank him for his contributions.
With that said, here is round 2's challenge:
Make an instant card.
Bonus points:
Not blue - 1 point
Produces or is capable of producing the same effect exactly twice - 1 point
(For example, it can have two targets, be played exactly twice, make two tokens, etc.)
Usual Bonuses:
Use Mana Symbols in card (must be in both textcard and render (if submitted) in order to count) - 1 point
Supply rendered card art - 1-2 points (1 for supplying art, 1 discretionary for judges)
Point Breakdown:
Bonus: (x/5): Judge how the card fits the bonus parameters.
Balance: (x/10): Judge how the card is balanced; its power level, and whether or not it could make or break a format.
Flavour/Creativity/Quality: (x/10): Judge how flavourful, cool, and well-worded the card is. Basically, this is the "slickness" category.
Players:
1. Dragoon26 v. Dragon_of_cleansing_fire
2. The Orange Mage v. Ikeda
3. penguinwriter v. lostandthedamned
4. DarienCR v. KoolKoal
5. azathoth v. NightArcher
6. fan_of_reds v. The Mad Tapper
7. SoronTheBeast v. cardamne
8. Niv v. Farmer
9. kyndel v. Fernin
10. Savia v. V0id
11. 1T4 v. ericku
12. Absolutionis v. Yare
13. lord_of_obscurity v. tortazo
14. Bond92 v. magicplayerhamm
15. Kenny "Lan" Karasu v. Moss_Elemental
16. spiderboy4 v. Cantripmancer
17. Pseudofate v. genesys
18. BlackBull v. Dodavehu
19. Nagil v. Praethus
20. orgolove v. Ace
21. RainbowBrite v. Asrama
Players may wish to reference the Players List . If you have questions about the FCC, check out the FAQ. If you have a question about using MSE, find your answer here.
This round will run until 12:00am EDT Sunday, June 15th (when Sunday becomes Monday).
Judges:
Kraj (Matches 1 and 2)
WhisperedThunder (Matches 3 and 4)
SquareDragon (Matches 5 and 6)
Quazifuji (Matches 7 and 8)
Howler13 (Matches 9-11)
Kenaron (Matches 12 and 13)
Megiddo (Matches 14 and 15)
Belgareth (Matches 16 and 17)
cannon (Matches 18 and 19)
seratonin (Matches 20 and 21)
Judges, please don't begin judging until the round is over. You may start postings at 12:01am EDT, even if we (Moss_Elemental, Avatar of Kokusho, and Kraj) are not online then to close the round.
Good luck, everyone!
Current New Favorite Person™: Mallory Archer
She knows why.
Match 15: M_E vs. Kenny "Lan" Karasu
Judge: Megiddo
Instant (U)
Until end of turn, target creature gains "1R, :symq:: This creature deals 2 damage to target attacking or blocking creature."
Conspire
"Hey, no fair!"
I have two variations. I hope I made the right choice.
opponent: lostandthedamned (eep)
judge: WhisperedThunder
My first Round 2 done as pairings. I must say its much more intimidating.
Awaken the Unslain 2BB
Instant
Return target creature card in your graveyard with the greatest power to play. You lose life equal to its power.
Flashback-1B, Sacrifice the creature you control with the greatest power (You may play this card from your graveyard for its flashback cost. Then remove it from the game.)
Even the largest of beasts can hide in death.
Thanks to Spiderboy4 of High~Light for the above sig banner.
I happen to run a game for a set:
The Safeguard Custom Card Competition
I happen to be working on another set:
Peddler's Empire
First card revealed.
Judge: seratonin
Card text:
Legacy of the Ur-Dragon :xmana::symr:
Tribal Instant-Dragon
As an additional cost to play Legacy of the Ur-Dragon, discard a Dragon card.
Creatures you control get +X/+0 and gain haste until end of turn.
Flashback—Sacrifice X mountains.
“The Ur-Dragon’s words of fire and rage flow through my veins.”
—Belarau, High Priest of the Dragonspeaker clan
Card render:
Avatar of Orgolove
June FCC: 3rd round
June DCC: 3rd place
July FCC: Final Round. Was top cards in three out of nine judges (including Kraj.) Average score over 21/25.
July DCC: 2nd place. 100 to 95.
Instant
A deck may contain either zero or two cards named Insurrection.
The next time a spell resolves, if that spell’s name is Insurrection, you win the game.
“Once a guild of street thieves, the Darkrunners would soon begin kidnapping nobility for ransom money. Those who payed for the safe return of their loved ones had no idea what their wealth would be used for.” —History of Calradia, vol. II
//
“The Darkrunners’ plans were nearly complete. The king’s guards thought none knew of the secret path out of the palace through the catacombs, but they found more than light at the end of those tunnels.” —History of Calradia, vol. II
Judge: Seratonin
Heroic Stand 1W
Instant (U)
Target creature you control gets +1/+1 until end of turn for each point of life you have below 5. If you have exactly one life, another target creature you control gets +1/+1 until end of turn for each point of life you have below 5.
Heroes are not made in times of peace. They’re made in the heat of battle, when all seems lost.
Host, December 2015: A Winter Wonderland? - R1|R2|R3|Top 8|Semifinals|Finals|Poll
Host, CCL April 2014: A Game of Fate - Signup|R1|R2|R3|Top 8|Semifinal|Finals|Poll
Host, CCL December 2012: Spy Games - Signup|R1|R2|R3|Top 8|Semifinals|Finals|Poll
Host, CCL November 2010: The Perfect Crime - Signup|R1|R2|R3|Top 8|Semifinals|Finals|Poll
Host, CCL August 2009: A Commander's Journey: Signups|R1|R2|R3|Top 8|Semifinals|Finals|Poll
I've got tons of art from the web. Want art for a render? PM me! Want to create your own collection? Start here!
Hmm, possibly this:
Angelic Boon 3W
Tribal Instant--Angel
You gain 5 life.
If you have been dealt damage this turn, copy this spell at end of turn.
"Aiding an angel is its own reward. Still, it never hurts to offer some encouragement."
—Lalvindia, Archangel
Winner of the 2nd Design Survivor Contest
Creator of the Vorthos Card Contest
Winner of 12th and the 18th Short Story Contests
Creator of the Vs. Tournament.
--Runner of the Superhero Vs. Tounrament
--Runner of the Villian Vs. Tournament.
Judge: Kenaron
Second Sacrilege B
Instant
Return target creature card removed from the game to play. You lose life equal to its power.
Flashback—Pay 3 life. (You may play this card from your graveyard for its flashback cost. Then remove it from the game.)
"A sword is the only blade one should bear." —Lim-Dûl the Necromancer
Magic Rules Advisor
How Creatures Die
Targets | Triggered Abilities | Priority and the Stack | Older Articles
Instant (Uncommon)
As an additional cost to play Soul Dispersion, sacrifice a black creature.
Soul Dispersion is colorless.
Destroy up to two target creatures a single player controls. They can’t be regenerated.
Their souls drifted away, leaving behind a pair of motionless, unmarked bodies.
Judge :: Belgareth
Instant holder, just add water!!
Submission ::
Tectonic Rift 3R
Instant (Uncommon)
Search target player’s library for a land card and put it into that player's graveyard. If that land was basic, search that player’s library for another basic land card and put it into that player's graveyard. Then the player shuffles his or her library.
Illus :: Mike Sass
I can't wait to discuss this card..:)
Match #16
Me vs spiderboy4
Honorable Belgareth Presiding
Card: TBA
Good luck, spiderboy4!
Edit: And thanks, Bel, for the compliment. I agree, though. You're going to have to be judge extraordinaire to slice the fine hairs of perfection handed to you on a silver platter...ok, maybe that's going a little too far. Here's hoping I can live up to the expectations.
Deathguise Echoes :3mana::symw::symb:
Instant (R)
Reverb 2 — Each player chooses a creature he or she controls and removes it from the game, then loses life equal to its converted mana cost. At end of turn, return all creatures removed from the game this way to play under their owner’s control. (This spell has this text two times.)
The power of suggestion is perfected in the mock death rituals of the faith hags.
Artist: Lizzy John
Seeds of Strength :symg::symw:
Instant
Reverb 3 - Target creature gets +1/+1 until end of turn. (This spell has this text three times.)
On the flip side, as far as what it does, all it really is is a space-saving device to enable a spell to become more tightly packed. As mentioned above, Seeds of Strength would go from a bulky 3-liner with spaces to a compact 3-liner (or 2-liner without reminder text) with plenty of room for an additional ability (with an appropriate additional boost in mana cost, of course).
SoronTheBeast
[U]Bonus (4.75/5)[/U]
[U]Basic Requirements (4/4)[/U]: All good.
[U]Discretionary (.75/1)[/U]: You did a good job finding art of a pair of knights where one is clearly dark and one light, but they still have similarities and look like they're working together. The fact that they synch up with the hybrid card frame is also very cool. My gripes are that 1) these don't look like Magic knights (most notably, knights in Magic are always supposed to have mounts), and 2) this should probably have a gold frame, since it's more of a multicolored card with a hybrid symbol than it is a hybrid card with multicolored symbols. On the other hand, the knights and frame both look very cool as is, so I'm giving you most of the point.
[U]Balance (9/10)[/U]: Everything seems good. 4 power and toughness worth of creatures at instant speed with different types of protection for only 3 mana is strong. but with such a tricky mana cost it shouldn't be too big a problem. My main issue is that the card feels much more white than black. I mean, the black knight aspect is there, obviously, but instant speed token production is very white and not black at all. Still, it's multicolored and not hybrid, regardless of what the frame and bizarre cost may imply, so I'm okay with it. In terms of seeing play, it seems like a solid limited and casual card that's strong enough to maybe see some standard or block play if the right deck arises, which is a nice place to be balance-wise. I would probably make it uncommon, as that would still be fine in limited and doesn't quite feel rare, but I think it's still fine at rare overall. In the end, it's not perfect, but I think this card does a good job pushing the power curve a bit without going over it.
[U]F/C/Q (3.5/5)[/U]
[U]Flavor (2/5)[/U]: The flavor text does a very good job explaining the flavor connection between black and white knights, and black and white in general. The main problem is that the mechanic doesn't really support that common cause or explain the protection from each other. Black and white knights working together fighting chaos feels anti-red, or maybe anti-green. If the black knight had protection from green and the white one had protection from red, I'd say the flavor would be excellent, but as is, the protection from black and white needs some explanation (besides the obvious Black Knight and White Knight reference, which is cool but doesn't necessarilly fit into flavor). The other problem is that instant speed token producers almost always have flavor expalining why they're instants instead of sorceries. With regards to the name, while I love a good pun, I'm not sure if this one quite works, mainly because it's not a word on its own and is awkward to read. It's still amusing, though.
[U]Creativity (1.5/5)[/U]: It's Riftmarked Knight, but with a trickier mana cost instead of suspending and flash instead of first strike. I don't really like the fact that they don't have first strike, since that's what knights in Magic tend to do and it hurts the Black and White Knight refrence. Regardless, though, the card's pretty neat.
[U]Quality(-0)[/U]: I don't see anything wrong.
[U]Total (17.25)[/U]: It's a cool and very well balanced card, but the flash and protection from white/black are in need of some flavor justification.
cardamne
[U]Bonus (4.5/5)[/U]
[U]Basic Requirements (4/4)[/U]:All good.
[U]Discretionary (.5/1)[/U]: The art is kind of crazy but fits the card well enough, and I like the way there's a few bits of red in the card but it's mostly black. This would get you more than half a point here, but then you lose the extra for bad flavor text formatting. There should be a dash on the next line, no a hyphen on the line before the name. I'm fine with hyphens in the text card, but in the render, it needs to look right, which is why this is here and not in quality.
[U]Balance (8/10)[/U]: It seems fine for the most part. Played without the red, it's weak, played with the red, it's strong but not too strong, which is at is should be. I do think that the color-intensity of the requirements for copying it are a bit much for the effect (even in a split black-red deck, you won't always have BBRR, and it's almost impossible to play in a deck that isn't divided between those two colors without a lot of color fixing). It is strong when played that way, so it's okay for the most part, but I'm not sure if it's strong enough for constructed, and in limited, where it would be really powerful when copied, the color requirements make it very difficult to play.
[U]F/C/Q (3.75)[/U]
[U]Flavor (2.5/5)[/U]: The flavor works, but it's pretty generic. The quote is cool, and I like this being how black views unity. There's nothing here to explain why adding red would augment the affect, though. Most real Magic cards that get augmented by extra colors don't do that either, but I think they should, and don't like the fact that it's just tacked onto your card flavor-wise.[u]
[U]Creativity (1.5/5)[/U]: This doesn't really add anything to the concepts already put forth by the Ravnica color-enchanced Spells. You do something different by having a primarilly black effect that could also be red, and then just double it if you pay both colors, as opposed to the Ravnica ones which gave an on-color effect to start and then a second effect in the second color as a bonus. The problem is that the Ravnica way of doing it is the more interesting of the two.
[U]Quality (-.25)[/U]: "Its," not "It's." Its is possessive, It's is a contraction for "It is."
[U]Total (17.25)[/U]: It's a solid card design, if it doesn't wow in any particular way.
SoronTheBeast
Niv
[U]Bonus (4/5)[/U]
[U]Basic Requirements (4/4)[/U]: All good.
[U]Discretionary (0/1)[/U]: The art fits the name, but it's just way too abstract for a Magic card and doesn't show anything about what the card does.
[U]Balance (5.5/10)[/U]: So the card has a 50% chance to give +2/-2, a 25% chance to give +6/+2, and a 25% chance to give -6/-2. That means that the vast majority of the time you will play it on an opponent's creature with 2 toughness hoping you don't get 2 heads, since killing a 2 toughness creature is usually much more useful than pumping your own 3+ toughness creature with +2/-2, and the risk of pumping your opponent's creature is much smaller (as long as you play the spell at the right time, like your second main phase or the end of your opponent's turn) than the risk of killing your own creature. Killing a 2-toughnes creature for one mana at instant speed is about right, and the 25% chance to pump the creature instead seems like a fair tradeoff for the ability to play it on your own creature or your opponent's fatty hoping for 2 heads or 2 tails when you're desperate. While 1 mana is right for this effect however, green is definitely not the right color for that 1 mana. It may do it in a weird way, but this is, most of the time, a targeted creature removal spell, and green most definitely does not get targeted creature removal spells. The chance to pump the creature doesn't justify this, and neither does the coin flipping (red can justify out-of-color effects with randomness, but not green). If this card cost :symbr:, i'd probably giveit an 8 or 9 for balance, but as is, it's not only out of color, but it's out of color in the worst way: it doesn't merely do something that green doesn't normally get to do, it does something that fundamentally goes against one of green's big weaknesses. I know Mercy Killing did somthing similar, but it at least killed creatures in a very green way and had a drawback if you used it on your opponent's creatures. This, on the other hand, kills creatures in a very red way.
[U]F/C/Q (3.5/10)[/U]
[U]Flavor (1.5/5)[/U]: I think I see what you're going for here - taking some weird psychogenic substance and letting nature decide what happens - but it just doesn't quite work for me. The idea of doing something with unpredictable results and seeing what happens is more red, and I don't like nature making decisions being represented by coin flips. Coin flips tend to be more about chaos or unpredictability. The flavor's there, and it's not awful, but I'm not a fan.
[U]Creativity (2/5)[/U]: It's a pretty obvious place to go with coin flips, but I don't thing something quite like this has been done before, and I do think it's kind of neat.
[U]Quality (-0)[/U]: I don't see any problems
[U]Total (13/25)[/U]: I think this would be an excellent design for a hybrid black/red card. It borrows aspects from each color's pie (creature kill through toughness lowering from black, coin flipping and power pumping from red), but all the aspects work well enough in both colors that it would be fine as a hybrid instead of a multicolored card (black occasionally dabbles in randomness with random discard and used to get power-pump (Howl from Beyond, Unholy Strength, while killing creatures through toughness reduction is similar enough to damage that it's okay in red, especially with the power boost thrown in there). Unfortunately, the card really just doesn't work in green.
Farmer
[U]Bonus (4.5/5)[/U]
[U]Basic Requirements (3.5/4)[/U]: Missing a mana symbol in the cost of the text card.
[U]Discretionary (.5/1)[/U]: All the main stuff is here, and the art's fine, although it didn't wow me. I'd say that art is iconic enough for Warcraft to be pushing it a bit (since that particular picture is on so much Warcraft stuff), but the art itself works well enough outside of the Warcraft universe, without any aspects that are particularly unique to Warcraft, that I'll let it slide.
[U]Balance (8.5/10)[/U]: This feels pretty good for a color hoser. It's weak but not worthless if your opponent doesn't have black or red, which is nice in limited, where a 2/2 flash flier for four could be playble on its own, and it's very strong but not instantly game-winning if your opponent does have the appropriate colors. I don't think it pushes any power curve boundaries, but everything is about right. It could also be fun to pair this card with Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth.
[U]F/C/Q (4/10)[/U]
[U]Flavor (2/5)[/U]: The flavor text works but feels a bit too forced to me. I guess a red sky and black clouds work as an allegory for black an red, but it doesn't quite click. It also seems to imply that the griffins attack at a specific time rather than against specific enemies. Something implying that the griffins are specially trained to fight black and red enemies or aree held back as reserve forces to be used when black and red enemies attack might have worked a bit better.
[U]Creativity (2.5/5)[/U]: You're attempting something interesting in trying to make a color hoser that you can always depend on to work better if your opponent is playing the right colors, as opposed to hosers like Cryoclasm that don't work if your opponent isn't using basic lands or Deathmark that require your opponent to have a creature of the right color in play. It's a neat idea, although it feels a bit clunky, and it also has some occasionally weird side effects, like triggering off a Vivid land of an opponent who isn't actually playing any black or red (this may be intentional, but it's awkward regardless).
[U]Quality (-.5)[/U]: The name doesn't work gramatically. Selective is an adjective, and reinforce is a verb. It would need to be either Selectively Reinforce or Selective Reinforcement(s) (I think the second one is better, personally, but both are gramatically correct).
[U]Total (16.5/25)[/U]: A good design for a color hoser. I think hosing lands that produce a certain color mana is a bit clunky, but with the lack of basic lands in many constructed decks nowadays, it may be necessary, since hosing basic lands doesn't always work.
Farmer
[U]Bonus (5)[/U]
[U]Basic Requirements (4)[/U]: Mana symbols are used in the text card and render where appropriate, there is a render, and both bonus requirements for the round are met.
[U]Discretionary Point (1)[/U]: I'll give half a point here for a solid render with no major problems. This means the art is magic-quality and makes some level of sense, the copyright line and artist credits are blank (I'm okay with "Unknown" if you don't know the artist, but don't put nothing), the expansion symbol is not the default MSE square, and there are no other noticable problems. I'll only give the full point if the render especially impresses me. Usually, this would be with great art, but if something else about the render impresses me, I may still give the full point.
[U]Balance (10)[/U]
[U]Power Level (10)[/U]: How good the card's overall power level is. Generally, beyond just being appropriately costed and having all the numbers balance out, the card should see play in at least one format out of competetive constructed (block, standard, extended, eternal), casual (duals and multiplayer), or, if common, limited, without breaking any of them (I consider a card to break casual if it's particularly un-fun or frustrating to play against, not necessarilly overpowered). A 7 or 8 means the cost and other numbers seem about right and the card will be playable in at least one format. A higher score means the card is especially well balanced/costed, does a very good job pushing the curve without breaking it, and/or the card will be very playable in a wider variety of formats.
[U]Bonus Balance Points (up to +2)[/U]: I'll give up to two bonus points for cards that I feel will play very well or appeal very strongly to players for other reasons. Cards that seem like they would be especially fun to play, both with and against, or cards that create very interesting and tricky play decisions and situations, might get these points. Cards with great Timmy or Johnny appeal could also get these points (if I really want to build a deck around your card, that'll help you here). Finally, I might reward cards that I feel take risks with hard-to-balance effects and pull them off (a non-broken Necropotence varient, for example, would likely get you risk points).
[U]F/C/Q (10)[/U]
[U]Flavor (5)[/U]: How well the name, flavor text, mechanic, and art all work together. A 2.5 is average and means the flavor worked but didn't impress me. Things that get a better score include especially cool or creative flavor, flavor that goes beyond the card (if you can convey a sense of a character or a setting with your flavor while still having the card make sense, for example), or flavor that just fits absolutely perfectly with the effect. I will never penalize for bad art here, but if the art helps tie together and improve the flavor, I will take it into account.
[U]Creativity (5)[/U]: How new/interesting is the effect. The interesting part is important. If the card does something that has technically never been done before, but is fairly boring, it still won't get a gret creativity score. Similarly, a card could get a decent creativity score even if it's just a variant of an existing effect if the effect is is based on is a very interesting, not often used one and it varies it in a very creative way.
[U]Quality (up to -3)[/U]: After calculating the flavor and creativity scores, I'll subtract penalties for quality. These penalties will go for anything that makes the card feel less like a real Magic card, whether it's templating issues, typos, or other things. If the card will not work as intended, I will, if possible, do the balance score as if the card did, but take off a heavy penalty in quality. I'll never take off quality points for anything render-related (that goes in bonus). If there is a quality issue that only exists in the render and not in the text card, I won't take off here.
-Douglas Adams
okay, so we are here.
Ed: oh wait a second. I think I could come up with sth...
(hopefully) works this round while say my thanks to PBG at once.
Let's say,
Company - 1WW
Instant (R)
Two target creatures gain "If this creature would leave play,
it becomes a creature enchantment with 'Enchanted creature
gets +2/+2 and is white' enchanting target creature instead."
This world or beyond,
We will stand together.
No longer my submission:
Meteor Strike 1RR
Instant (R)
Each player sacrifice two permanents he or she controls.
Flashback 3RR
“I watched as he opened the sixth seal…and the stars in
the sky fell to the earth, as late figs drop from a fig-tree
when shaken by a strong wind.” -Revelation 6:12-14
Textless Render
♪~~~♫~~~~
(\ /)
(♥.♥)
(> <)
Music, Love, Magic and Bunny.
Life is so beautiful...
Judge: WhisperedThunder
Children of the Woods 1G
Instant (C)
Convoke (Each creature you tap while playing this spell reduces its cost by 1 or by one mana of that creature’s color.)
Choose one — Put two 0/1 green Bird creature tokens with flying into play; or put a 1/3 green Treefolk creature token with defender into play.
Entwine 2 (Choose both if you pay the entwine cost.)
One generation plants the trees; another gets the shade.
Vs Niv (good luck to you)
Judge: Quazifuji
Selective Reinforce 2WW
Instant (U)
Put a 2/2 white Griffin creature token with Flying into play.
If an opponent controls a land that can produce R or B, put two 2/2 white Griffin creature token with Flying into play instead.
The red sunset and the black clouds were the signal to the Griffins to start the siege.
Match 9
kyndel
Balance (7/10): Turns your white weenies into white beaters. Since (as far as I undertand the rules) the transformed creature doesn't lose it other abiltiies, this could be very efficient when used with weenies that have flying, vigilance, etc. Most of the time, this will trigger twice, as having 3 creatures out on turn 4 isn't very difficult. It's a fine card, but I just don't know if it would get much play.
F/C/Q (7.5/10):
-Flavor (2/4): Angels without flying is a sin against MaRo. And if you say "changelings," I will hurt you.
-Creativity (3/3): Good.
-Quality (2.5/3): "Angel" would be capitalized both times.
Total: 19.5/25
Balance (6/10): So this can either force an attacker through, or save it from some sort of burn. It's probably costed about right (figure Touch of Invisiblity minus the cantrip, plus the Holy Day). Unfortuneatly, the lack of synergy between the two effect mean you'll rarely play this at a time that both will benefit you.
F/C/Q (7.5/10):
-Flavor (3/4): In going with the card's flavor, why doesn't it grant shroud? I can't think fo a good reason for this to not grant shroud. Wouldn't even push it to uncommon.
-Creativity (2/3): Okay. The effects are fairly simple, and the concept has been done many times before.
-Quality (2.5/3): The two effects would be on the same line, since they're affecting the same creature.
Total: 17.5/25
Match 10
Savia
1T4
Balance (6/10): Kinda weak. Unless you're running Giants, this will usually only net you around 6-8 life, which isn't that impressive for 4 mana. A quick Gatherer search of white cards in standard that say "gain" shows tha thtere are very few cards right now that only gain life; most have some other sort of effect (cantrip, make a token), so your card wouldn't really have a place.
F/C/Q (8.5/10):
-Flavor (3/4): The text sounds like it should be in quotes...
-Creativity (3/3): Good.
-Quality (2.5/3): You mispelled "strength."
Total: 19.5/25
Balance (7.5/10): It has uses. Could get wicked if you "mix" creatures with tap and untap effects. Not the first pick in a draft, but not the worst thing you could end up with, with such a diverse creature base out there (all those GW and WU hybrids out there).
F/C/Q (10/10):
-Flavor (4/4): Great.
-Creativity (X/3): Good.
-Quality (X/3): No issues.
Total: 21.5/25
Moving On:
-kyndel
-V0id
-erikcu
Rubric is the same for last round, but I'll repost it anyways.
The bonus is as simple as it seems. (5/5)
-1 point awarded for creating a card that
-1 point awarded for creating a card with
-1 point for including mana symbols in both text and render
-2 points for render
(Note, you get 1 point for the render, and 1 point for not doing something stupid and/or strange. I don’t deduct for non Modern Frames, but I have to see some reason why you would want something else. Please don’t just use frames to cheat art.)
Balance (10)
On a standard ten point scale, you aiming for the center of the power and potential spectrum. Now that we’re past the first round, your cards will be expected to interact with other cards in Magic. When designing, ask yourselves:
-How would it perform in Limited and Block?
-What cards does it interact with in Standard/Extended/Legacy/Vintage/Classic?
-How would it be in variant formats: EDH, Multiplayer?
-How easily could this card find a deck?
-Are there any existing cards that would bust it open or obsolete it?
FCQD, Distribution (3/3/3/1)
Flavor:
As a Vorthos I strong believe that any card is capable of being flavorful, as long as there is an explanation it could work. However, as a judge and designer, I have basic tenets for judging flavor:
-The Color Pie is sacred. Treat it as such. If you bleed it, I may or may not bleed your score.
-Flavor text isn’t needed, but if there, it may or may not help/hurt
-I’ll look at the name, art (when supplied), expository line (the line in between the art and the text), and the actual text. They should all make sense and work off each other.
-All that said, feel free to try new things and explain them to me after the round is closed.
Creativity:
As a vivid reader of the text on Salvation and Wizards, I fully realize that it is hard to come up with new design space on your own. That said there are a few things you are able to do.
-Try something that hasn’t been done in a long time
-Don’t rip off any existing card. It probably will be found and you will penalized as such
-Don’t just put randomly synergetic abilities and call it day
Special case; Incarnations have a close tie in with their names. Their abilities allude to what they can do. Now, I’m not saying anything, but if you have an awesome name, art, and cost, making the card may become easier.
Quality:
I’m not a big stickler for quality stuff. This is probably the best way to get your opponent to lose points if I missed something. I have a few caveats that will be addressed here
-Errors in wording
-Stretched pictures
-Micro text
-Mismatched art work
Discretionary: There are cards that really click with people. There's no real way to describe it, but if you make a card that you are happy with, there's a good chance I will be to. Don't appease me first, appease your inner designer
20. orgolove v. Ace
orglove (20.5/25)
Bonus 5/5
All in order
Balance 7/10
The card is reasonably cost, perfectly acceptable, and limits itself to what it can and can not do. The problem is, as powerful as it can be, it's limited to a late game finisher, and without some support, is a dead card. Changelings and powerhouse dragons are perfectly good to make a deck around, no dobut, yet for some reason it seems lacking. Yes, it can be used for the final Alpha strike, crashing down with cards that have +X/+0, +X/0. However, discarding a dragon card means that it's going to have to be for a killing blow, and early game, it's unlikely you would play it. It does what is supposed to do, and does it well, but as far as X spells goes, this is one seems pretty underwhelming.
FCQD
Flavor (2.5/3)-I like the Ur Dragon refrence, but it's just not as clean as it could be and the western versus eastern dragon is up in the air for me.
Creativity(2.5/3)
Nothing new here, but it's feels like a seperate card.
Quality (3/3)
Yup
Discretionary .5/1
I'm torn, because it has potential, but it's just not doing it for me.
Ace (20.25/25)
Bonus 4/5
It says 'exactly,' but it can be so, but Kraj said no to replicate, so I have to say no here.
Balance 7/10
Talk about a limited bomb. A black catch all that can more often than not wipe a field with enough mana. However, this black catch all, comes at a hefty price tag and a clever way to get around counters. By putting copies on the stack, you create seperate threats that have to be dealth with, and seperate -1/-1 counters that have to be removed. In a format with persist, oh yeah. In a format with tough to kill creatures, even more. It combines the verstality of Scar, the varible power of Profane Command, and just a slight touch of Plague Winds. It's powerful, though, capable of wiping an entire field, late game or crushing it early.
FCQD
Flavor (3/3)
All good
Creativity (2.25/3)
I feel like I've seen too many X Black spells recently. It's still intersting though with the Stack innovations
Quality (3/3)
Moving on
Discretionary (1/1)
Tournament staple and utlity.
21. RainbowBrite v. Asrama
RainbowBrite (21.5/25)
Bonus 5/5
All good
Balance 9/10
Green creature tutors are difficult to overpower or underpower. They are somewhat counterintutive and seemingly strange depending on the deck. What dares warrant spending mana on finding a creature, when you probably already have a few. And who the hell plays Mono Green Control? Wait, this card makes that viable. It's sorta like the love child between Avatar of Might and Summoner's Pact. It's viable and perfectly costed and even though it is a dead card sometimes, it's open ended enough to work.
Edit: Given a bonus point due to limited/block viablity, plus the aforementioned MGC archtype I was talking about.
Edit
FCQD
Flavor (2/3)
Only slighly generic
Creatvity (2/3)
Two points for combining two used elements
Quality (3/3)
Yup
Discretionay (.5/1)
I'm all for reviving or creating an Archtype, but it's only partially there.
Asrama (21/25)
Bonus 5/5
Interesting
Balance 6/10
Thankfully, negative numbers are counted as zero last time I checked, so there are no crazy shennigans with you can't lose clauses and lich like effects. As a creature pump, it's an uncommon verging on rare territory with a very limited ability, a very limited effected, but on that can be triggered and used frequently. Sure, it won't also work, sure it's definitely last ditch, but I can see players accross the board losing to some late game heroics with two mana open and one final strike. Some decks will aim to abuse the cards unique conditions, but then again, a Sudden Shock will take of that. It's definte white pump and the critical condition you need to be in to play, makes it all the more appealing.
EDIT: However, being at the critical condition is more often than not a bad place to be so, even in that situation it probably wouldn't be enough. Intially dazzed by what it could do, I lost sight of what it will more than likely do. Which is less than subpar most times.
FCQD
Flavor 3/3
How white can you possibly get: late game heroics for the win.
Creativity 3/3
I've seen white pump, but like this? No sir
Quality 3/3
Wording is lengthly, but I'm not seeing easier ways to do put
Discretionary 1/1
Cool
Moving on
Orgolove
RainbowBrite
Winner of the First and Fourth Double Dare Single Elimination Contests
2009 July CCL: COMING THIS JULY
2008 December CCL: The Mechinations of Fate
Double Dare to Design: The 5th Single Elimination Contest
Double Dare That Designer: The 2nd Single Elimination Contest
Tribal Instant- Knight
Put a 2/2 white Human Knight creature token with protection from black into play.
Put a 2/2 black Human Knight creature token with protection from white into play.
All knights, whether they are benevolent or tyrannical, do fight for a common goal. They fight for order and discipline. They fight to hold the chaos back.
Opponent is The (respected) Orange Mage.
Judge is the almighty Kraj.
Infectious Decay 1BB
Instant (U)
Put two -1/-1 counters on target creature. If that creature is put into a graveyard from play this turn, put two -1/-1 counters on another target creature.
Death is a gift that some victims are perfectly willing to share.
Artist: David Ho
It is my personal goal in life to create a dragon card that will win the MCC.
"The dragon has no pretense of compassion, no false mask of civilization—just hunger, heat, and need." —Sarkhan Vol
Honorable Judge Kraj presiding
Instant [U]
Target creature gets +1/+1 until end of turn and is indestructible this turn.
Flashback WWW
"Let come what may. This day, the gods favor me."
—Tolas, Kaemirian hero
Level 1 DCI Judge
Check out my Commons Cube.
12. Absolutionis v. Yare
Not blue - 1 point
Produces or is capable of producing the same effect exactly twice - 1 point
Use Mana Symbols in card - 1 point
Supply rendered card art - 2 points
The pic was just perfect.
Balance: 8/10
The only thing I can criticize is the cost. I love the effect, but I don't think RR for 2 damage you can devide up on two creatures is that great. Right now I'm comparing it to First Volley with an extra ability. It is of coarse extremely efficient if you can kill two 1 toughness creatures, but for the same cost you can get Pyroclasm.
I really like delay here, especially with this effect. You can hold it in waiting and use it with other burn to finish off higher toughness creatures or to deal with sudden threats like Groundbreaker. It's also candy for raising your storm count much like suspend. I think that four mana to delay it is a bit much. It's not so much that it's useless this way, but it would only really get delayed by combo decks.
F/C/Q: 8/10
Flavor - 3/3
Loved the flavor, especially how well the art matches the effect.
Creativity 2/3
Delay is a pretty cool mechanic, very grokable. I think pairing it with relatively boring 2 damage doesn't make the best use of it.
Quality 2/3
You would have been better off without flavor text. It's not that you left out a space after your last comma, I'm saying that a card like this doesn't need flavor text at all. Or if you do have flavor text, I think it needs to be a lot shorter so you don't compress the card text.
Discretionary 0/1
I really felt this should have said "~ deals 2 damage divided as you choose among one or two target creatures." but picked up the Seeds of Strength wording for the bonus point
Total: 21/25
Not blue - 1 point
Produces or is capable of producing the same effect exactly twice - 1 point
Use Mana Symbols in card - 1 point
Supply rendered card art - 2 points
On one hand I wonder if this pic is worth the full discretionary point because it really doesn't demonstrate the action the card represents as well as say Dread Return. On the other hand I don't even know what a creature returning to play from RFG would look like, so I have no choice but to shut up and give you the point.
I know I've seen that pic somewhere before, but can't place where. I highly doubt you know what I'm talking about when I say this, but it makes me think of Chardath Spulzeer, so if it's not from Forgotten Terror then it should have been.
Balance: 6/10
I've found a lot of things you can do with it, each with certain issues. Did you notice you can have 4 3/3's in play on turn 2 if you luck sack? Street Wraith, Extirpate, and two copies of Second Sacrilege get you a 12 power army that Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth makes unblockable. This deck is certainly without issues such as consistency, and if you were following along with that math you've noticed an other problem.
Next on my search to try to break this in standard was Greater Gargadon but BR, 9 life and 2 cards is a big price for a fattie and Terror is still out there so that's not the wisest use. It's a sort of combo with Champion, but that's no danger to the game IMOP. It's like getting out of Oblivion Ring, which is one of the better uses I can think of. Anyway, the best combo tech I can think of in standard is Mangara of Corondor, and the runner up is Tombstalker to turn your card into a standard legal Reanimate with flashback. The latter would seem more likely to see real play since Tombstalker is already in some use, but Mangara of Corondor and this would be good adds to most black/white decks, especially those already using Tombstalker.
I do think you run into problems in extended and beyond. With Psychatog you can get anything into play without paying any mana, and of coarse since it's in color with the tog this can be problematic. It's one saving grace is Misdirection, which in legacy and vintage can be pretty painful. You can even remove big blue monster to pay for misdirection and change the target to that.
In sum, it's pretty good in standard with the right tricks or as metagame against Crib Swap and Oblivion Ring. Haakon, Stromgald Scourge decks would use it for that kind of thing, and there is enough combo potential that it would be mainboarded some of the time. You run afoul in extended in part because of Psychatog, but I can't blame you for Dr. Teeth. I think it would see a little legacy and vintage play, but I'm not by a long shot going to accuse you of breaking those formats.
F/C/Q: 9/10
Flavor 3/3
It's kind of unclear if this is in black's color pie, but I'll give it to them. It's like Reanimate, and it gives the middle finger to Swords to Plowshares so I'm all for it.
Creativity 3/3
This certainly hasn't been done before.
Quality 2/3
You can target cards that you don't own, and you don't state what happens then. I assumed that they would come into play under their owner's control, which means Misdirection is a fierce hose. If you intended it to be into play under your control then I have to make some adjustments in balance. I just feel that you meant for it to only target cards you own, but you didn't say that.
Discretionary 1/1
This is one of those sort of cards that inspires me to try to build around it. I mean in standard where it's probably at it's least powerful. I'm thinking Scarblade Elite with the original 187 Nekrataal.
Total: 20/25
13. lord_of_obscurity v. tortazo
Not blue - 1 point
Produces or is capable of producing the same effect exactly twice - 0 point
Use Mana Symbols in card - 1 point
Supply rendered card art - 1 points
Well, you didn't give in to the second bonus point. You could have worded it in a way to get this point, but doing so would have mad the card so unnecessarily complicated that it would have cost you more in the end. I appreciate that actually, as sometimes a particular aspect of a card seems forced based on the bonus point and sometimes you have to just ignore them. That's how I won in April.
I like the pic, but I'm taking off for your artist credit and copyright lines. You can't leave them blank, so I'm taking off a half point for each. You could have said "Unknown" for the artist and that would have been fine.
Balance: 6/10
Revealing a card a random seems unnecessary. Even if you could just choose if it's RR or 2 I wouldn't be impressed. Rite of Flame is prett good on first turn to make let's say Blood Knight. Let's say you're mono red, you still have a reasonable chance of revealing a mountain and what do you spend the 2 on? You can't count on the mana being red well enough to make it worth playing early.
I like how you can give the mana to your opponent. It's amusing, but I don't see it as game winning for you. You can use Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir to sure they don't play an instant on you, but then what you have is Shock, except that it is life loss instead of damage. I see this use as secondary, as there are plenty of ways for it to backfire.
If it were just adding RR to target player's mana pool I would have given this n 8 or 9, but as I told Quazifuji month in round three cards that make uncertain color of mana aren't good enough. For your card, you have to be willing to get 2 from it, and if you do happen to get RR then you might not be able to change your plans. Mana cards shouldn't carry risks like this, it's just unnecessary.
F/C/Q: 9/10
Flavor 3/3
Mana production from hand is in red's slice of color pie, and this an play out like burn some of the time which is also red's domain. Seething Song gives precedent for red mana and musical flavor, so that's a nice connection.
Creativity 3/3
The only thing I've seen like this is Spectral Searchlight, and this is different enough to be it's own card.
Quality 3/3
No mistakes. I mean, there's the artist credit and copyright thing, but I've already take off there.
Discretionary 0/1
Total: 18/25
Not blue - 1 point
Produces or is capable of producing the same effect exactly twice - 1 point
Use Mana Symbols in card - 1 point
Supply rendered card art - 1.5 points
It's a good pic, but I didn't feel it fit the effect very well. It also looks squished, like you sized it for the extended art render then forced it to standard frame. I say that because I did the same thing a while back, and with that same pic coincidentally.
Balance: 5/10
If you play it right it's like two Enrages, but unless you have two high toughness creatures it doesn't work. The situation this card wants is difficult to pull off. Let's say it's your turn 4, and you have an Ashenmoor Gouger. You can get 3 extra damage from him being unblocked, but you have to have a second target. Unless you have an other 4 toughness creature this means you're sacrificing something, at which point it's worse than Enrage. You could have greatly benefited by the addition of the words "up to", as in "Up to two target creatures you control get +X/-X until end of turn."
F/C/Q: 7/10
Flavor 2/3
My only criticism is the name. Flowstone Cavern sounds like a land or an artifact. I think you should have gone with something more action oriented, like Flowstone Charge or Flowstone Rage.
Creativity 2/3
Flowstone Slide meets Symbiosis, I can dig it.
Quality 3/3
No mistakes.
Discretionary 0/1
Total: 16.5/25
Match 12
:rate5::rate5::rate5::rate5::rate1: Absolutionis
:rate5::rate5::rate5::rate5::rate0: Yare
Match 13
:rate5::rate5::rate5::rate3::rate0: lord_of_obscurity
:rate5::rate5::rate5::rate1.5::rate0: tortazo
Psychogenic Trip G
Instant C
Flip two coins. Target creature gets
+3/+1 for each heads and -1/-3 for
each tails.
A choice made by nature is often the
best choice.
Skrypnyk
Millionaires, I hear it's good Music (Disclaimer: lyrics not PG-13) Thanks, CC
15. Kenny "Lan" Karasu v. Moss_Elemental
Judge: Megiddo
Instant
Target creature gets "Sacrifice this creature: return target creature card in your graveyard to play." until the end of turn.
Haunt
He sacrificed himself to save others...or himself.
Illus: Shirotsuki
燃える時計秘密めく花の香り
www.pokemoncrossroads.com
:1mana::symw::symw::symw:
Instant
Rare
Remove all creature’s from the game. Then, each player searches his or her library for a creature card that shares a creature type for each creature removed from the game this way and puts it into play.
“My perfect guise shall come in times of great peril, lest my will say it shall come in times of capricious strategy.” — Ezrabain
Render
Lest there be confusion
You play this, creatures go bye bye. Put a creature into play for each creature removed from the game as long as it shared a type with one of those creatures.
How you should approach every game of Magic.
Mod Helpdesk (defunct)
My Flawless Score MCC Card | My Other One | # Three!