***MCC*** Discussion Thread

[MCC Hammer]

Current threads:
July Round 3

Rubric Discussion Thread and Poll
Old Discussion Thread

Round Archive & Hall of Champions:

July '10 "A Game of Games"
Round 1: Create a card that contains the phrase "converted mana cost" in the rules text.
Round 2: Create a card with three modes.
Round 3: Create a card that causes a coin flip and/or chooses a target at random.
Round 4: TBA


June '10 "Low Costs"
Round 1: Design a 1-mana creature.
Round 2: Design a 1-mana instant or sorcery.
Round 3: Design a 1-mana enchantment or artifact.
Round 4: Design a nonland card with either no mana cost or a mana cost of .

Winner - Surge:

Bloodhunter
Creature - Vampire (R)
Bloodhunter is black.
Cast Bloodhunter only if an opponent has 10 or less life and if you control two or more Swamps.
Bloodhunter attacks each turn if able.
Not every thirst can be satisfied.
4/4

Render:

May '10 "In Wizards' Shoes"
Round 1: Design a card that scales with extra investment.
Round 2: Design a card that uses land in an unusual way.
Round 3: Design a card that involves discarding.
Round 4: Design a card that alters the game globally.

Winner - teddy_bear_X:

Pardic Elemental
Creature - Elemental R
Vanishing 3 (This permanent enters the battlefield with three time counters on it. At the beginning of your upkeep, remove a time counter from it. When the last is removed, sacrifice it.)
Players can’t play lands.
4/3

April '10 "A Good Show of One-Upmanship"
Round 1: Design a card with "counter target spell" in the rules text.
Round 2: Design a creature card that includes the phrase "~ can't be countered by spells or abilities."
Round 3: Design a noncreature permanent card (artifact, enchantment, land, or planeswalker) with shroud.
Round 4: Design a card that moves all cards of one or more types from the battlefield to another zone.

Winner-Aurora Illumina:

Phantom of Purity
Creature - Spirit [Uncommon]
Flying
, Sacrifice Phantom of Purity: Exile all enchantments you don't control. Then, unless was spent to activate this ability, exile all enchantments you control.
"An unnatural scene, a flash of light. A world pure, a worthy sight."
—Aurora, Ætherwalker
2/2

March '10 "Nothing Really Matters"
Round 1: Design a card with the numeral 0 in the rules, reminder, and/or flavor text.
Round 2: Design a creature card with printed power less than or equal to 0.
Round 3: Design a creature card with printed toughness less than or equal to 0.
Round 4: Design a numeral-less card.

Winner-Gerrard's Mom:

Empathic Curse
Enchantment - Aura (U)
Enchant creature
All damage that would be dealt by creatures is dealt to enchanted creature instead.
Sacrifice enchanted creature: Attach Empathic Curse to target creature. Any player may activate this ability, but only if he or she controls the enchanted creature, and only as a sorcery.

February '10 "It'll cost ya"
Round 1: Design a card with an additional cost.
Round 2: Design a card with an increased or reduced cost.
Round 3: Design a "free" spell.
Round 4: Design a no-cost-but-additional-cost card.

Winner - elathel trom:

Conservation Instinct
Instant (uncommon)
Conservation Instinct is green.
You may put a green creature with power 2 or less you control on top of its owner's library rather than pay Conservation Instinct's mana cost.
Put a 3/3 green Beast creature token onto the battlefield.
The fittest is often the fastest.

January '10 "Countdown"
Round 1: Design a 4-mana draw spell.
Round 2: Design a 3-mana destroy spell.
Round 3: Design a 2-mana library trigger-er.
Round 4: Design a 1-mana Tutor.

Winner - ced395:

Concealed Notion
Enchantment (R)
As an additional cost to cast Concealed Notion, sacrifice an enchantment.
When Concealed Notion enters the battlefield, search your library for a card and exile that card face down. Then shuffle your library.
When Concealed Notion is put into a graveyard from the battlefield, put the exiled card in your hand.

December '09 "A Legend in the Making"
Round 1: Design a legendary creature.
Round 2: Design a home town, trusty gear, or sidekick for your legend.
Round 3: Make an instant, sorcery, or enchantment representing a deed of your legend.
Round 4: Kill your legend.

Winner - Gerrard's Mom:

Consecrated Huntress
Creature - Elf Scout (C)
Provoke (When this attacks, you may have target creature defending player controls untap and block it if able.)
: Exile Consecrated Huntress and target creature blocking it.
Should her chosen prey be pitied or envied?
1/1

November '09 "The Outer Limits"
Round 1: Select any legendary creature and make a common creature card that reflects that creature's humble beginnings.
Round 2: Complete the generic cycle.
Round 3: Replace the borkenness that is Skullclamp.
Final: Complete the cycle of Call the Skybreaker, Spitting Image, Waves of Aggression, and Worm Harvest.

Winner - Jimmy Groove:

Restore the Fallen
Sorcery (R)
Return target creature card in a graveyard to the battlefield under your control.
Retrace
“Arise, my army!” the general commanded. “Arise! Arise!”

October '09 "Two"
Round 1: Make an instant or sorcery that has "choose two," "choose both," or "choose one or both" in the rules text.
Round 2: Make a flip permanent card (i.e. - Akki Lavarunner or Budoka Gardener).
Round 3: Make a split card.
Final Round: Make a creature card that can be played from both your hand and exactly one zone other than your hand.

Winner - Gerrard's Mom:

September '09 "Building On Other Designs"
Round 1: Design a common with a keyword ability that could appear on more than one card type.
Round 2: Design an uncommon that is in a vertical cycle with someone else's round 1 common.
Round 3: Design a rare that is in a vertical cycle with someone else's round 2 uncommon.
Final Round: Design a mythic rare that is in a vertical cycle with someone else's round 3 rare.

Winner - Ikeda:

In a vertical mega-cycle with:
Whisperer of Doubt
Whisperer of Thoughts
Whisperer of Certainties

August '09 "Elemental Fun"
Round 1: Make an instant with 'air' in its name.
Round 2: Make a sorcery with the word "earth" in the name.
Round 3: Design a creature card that has the word "water" in the name.
Final Round: Design an enchantment card that has the word "fire" in the name.

Winner - Ikeda:

July '09
Round 1: Make a mythic wurm, illusion, minotaur, or cat.
Round 2: Make a creature with an ability that can target another creature you control.
Round 3: Make a non-red card that deals non-combat damage.
Round 4: Make an instant or sorcery with a cantrip or other minor effect.

Winner - PMega:

June '09
Round 1: Make a black or red creature.
Round 2: Make a legendary non-red/non-black creature to defeat your round 1 card.
Round 3: Make an instant or sorcery with attacker or blocker in its ability text.
Round 4: Make a homeland for your round 2 card.

Winner - krynthe:

May '09
Round 1: Create a card with affinity for something other than artifacts or a land type.
Round 2: Create a permanent card with morph.
Round 3: Create a two-colored gold card.
Round 4: Create a card with one complete sentence of rules text.

Winner - MTGColorPie:

April '09
Round 1: Create an instant or sorcery card that targets a single artifact, creature, enchantment, land, or planeswalker.
Round 2: Create a card your round 1 card can target.
Round 3: Create a card with the combined mana cost of your round 1 & 2 cards.
Round 4: Create a card with no mana cost.

Winner - Mobiusman:

March '09
Round 1: Create a creature card with in its cost.
Round 2: Create an equipment card.
Round 3: Create a card with "destroy all" or "destroy each" in its rules text.
Round 4: Create a Planeswalker card.

Winner - Lanxal:

The Monthly Card Competition is the user-run, unofficial successor to the FCC (Jan '05-Feb '09, RIP). For those of you who were familiar with the FCC, the MCC will (for now at least) be keeping the same rules/structure as the FCC, but without the moderator-sponsored bits. For the most part that means no trophies and no stickied threads, but I don't see why any of that should be a problem. I'm going to make sure that all sign-up and round threads link back here and between each other so that the lack of being stickied won't be as big of an issue. Bookmarking this thread might be a clever idea.

Alright, FAQ time. This FAQ is going to start out almost carbon-copied from the old FCC FAQ, but I feel it's important that this be separate so that changes can be made without confusion.

What is the MCC?:

The MCC, or Monthly Card Contest, is a game that runs each month in the Card Making Contests and Games forum. In it the participants create their own homemade cards. It is designed to test the participants card making skills with a series of single-elimination rounds with restrictions on what cards you can make. COmpared to other contests, the MCC's focus is on thorough evaluation and feedback.

How many people can play in the MCC?:

Basically, 10 x the number of people who sign up as judges. It normally works out to 70 or 80, but we haven't had to turn anyone away yet.

How do I participate in the MCC as a player?:

On the 1st of each month Round 1 will be posted. Just submit a card there and ta da, you're entered.

Can I join the current MCC that is in progress?:

Nope, sorry. You can certainly take part in the discussion on this thread, but please don't post in the round thread.

How does the MCC work exactly after I have signed up?:

Each month has four single-elimination rounds. Rounds 1-3 will have a bracket of players assigned to a single judge. In Round 4 all the entries will be judged by all the judges.

There will be a thread for the current round linked to this post. That thread should only be used for posting cards and judgings. All commentary and discussion will be posted here.

Each round will have a round requirement and two bonus points.

Ok, so explain this whole judge and point system to me (Now with answers to a billion little questions):

Revised MCC Rubric
(The questions after each subcategory are suggested areas of inquiry for each judge to use to determine the elements of their judgings.)

Design (X/10) - This reflects the work put into the initial concept of the card.
Creativity – How original or innovative is the card? Does it present an old idea with a new twist? Does it employ an entirely new mechanic?
Elegance - Is the concept easily understood at a glance? Does the design just 'click' with the flavor?
Potential – Will different player demographics (Spike/Johnny/Timmy) find a use for this card? Does it stand out as a card to build a deck around?

Development (X/10) - This reflects the execution of the idea, fleshing it into a playable card concept.
Viability – How well does this card fit into the color wheel? Does it break or bend the rules of the game? Is it at the appropriate rarity?
Balance – Does the card's cost match its power? How balanced are its interactions with other cards? Can it be played in constructed, limited, or multiplayer without breaking any of those formats?
Creative Writing - Does the name sound like it fits on a card? Does the flavor text feel natural and professional? Does the combination of name, flavor text, and card concept make Vorthos spout poetry?

Polish - This puts the finishing touches on the card, polishing it to an end product that would be glad to see print. This area is very specifically divided into the following two sections.
Challenge (X/2) – One point awarded per satisfied challenge condition.
Quality (X/3) – Points (full or partial, as long as it's consistent) deducted for incorrect spelling, grammar, and templating.

Total: X/25

FAQ

Grammar and spelling have nothing to do with design, why should I be docked points for it?:

True, spelling has no reflection on your abilities as a designer. But the fact of the matter is that those sorts of errors are a) impossible to ignore and b) easy to correct. We could go on and on about this, or you could take a small fraction of the amount of time it would take to post a complain about it to just check over your card when you submit it.

I need artist credit?:

Yes. If you have a render, the render must credit your artist. The name given should be able to lead people to that artist without effort, so if you're pulling art off of DeviantArt or someplace similar you should probably include the site.

Can I include Design notes/Flavor notes/Art description?:

Nope. And I know that this is sometimes very tempting. But these cards should be evaluated as though they're being taken out of a booster pack and seen for the first time. The name, mechanics, flavor text, etc should all be able to stand on their own. This rule is inflexible because allowing any aspect of the card to be explained gives an unfair advantage to fluent speakers of English.

Are we using pre-or post M10 wording?:

As of September 2009, we require "real" Magic wording, which is currently that as of the M10 updates ("battlefield" instead of "in play", "exile" instead of "remove from the game" etc).

Do you need to have a render to get a perfect score?:

No. It helps, especially in the flavor department, but no judge should ever say -X, no render.

If I don't submit a render can I make a text card with 15 lines?:

Judges, when judging text-only cards you should make a mock-up in MSE to see whether you're dealing with microtext.

For a while, we were using a modified version of the old FCC rubric which I'll post here under a spoiler for posterity.

FCC:

/2 Bonus
/10 Balance
/4 Flavor
/4 Creativity
-? Quality
/20 Total

Bonus: Each round will have two bonus point criteria. If your card meets them, you get these points.

Balance: Just that. This is the most debatable area and we're all just going to have to accept that there are no perfect answers. In order for your card to get a 10 here, it will ideally be a very playable card that isn't over the power curve and has uses in both constructed and limited play. Being fun/useful in casual games is also a big plus. I would encourage judges to weight this score towards the current standard environment, but there are no hard and fast rules regarding this. Judges, I would encourage you to post any particular quirks you have in your judgeholder. For instance, I wouldn't know a good Legacy card if it bit me.

Flavor: As well as being a cool card game, magic also tells some pretty amazing stories. Flavor is where your judge decides if your card continues this tradition. Is it neat? Is it evocative? Does it do something fantastic with an existing story? Do we want to know more about this? This is generally an aspect of the name, art (optional), mechanics, and flavor text.

Creativity: How new and exciting the card is. You'll generally lose more points, the more directly it can be compared to existing cards.

Quality: This is a catch-all. What it comes down to is that outside of those 20 set points, judges can detract points for anything that doesn't fit in those categories. Things like typos and templating errors certainly fall under this, but it can also include such ethereal things as color-pie issues and elegance. How much a given judge takes off for these things is up to them, but the maximum deduction should never be more than 5.

How do I become a judge?:

To limit complaints about scores, we want to make sure that our judgings are all up to certain standards. This isn't meant as some sort of punishment or criticism of potential judges, just as a way to keep things as civil and fair as possible. With this in mind, here's what I want to do. Every month there will be a judge sign-up thread. The Signup will have a custom card at the top and your sign-up should include a judging of that card. You can sign-up first and then post your judging later so long as it's before the 1st of the month. A couple of the organizers will look at the judgings for new applicants and either make them a judge for the month or send them a PM with helpful feedback and move them into a player bracket. Again, this isn't meant to be discouraging. If you're turned down as a judge for a month, we still like you and hope very much that you'll give it another try next month.

What do I get for judging?:

You receive the pride for doing it and knowing the fact that you just were a big help in running an event.

Can I judge and play in the same MCC?:

That's just silly.

What do I get for winning the MCC?:

Everyone who watches this contest will think you are SO COOL. There's no trophies or front-page features associated with this anymore. I'm not going to lie, I wish I'd snagged a trophy before the FCC died, but that really shouldn't be anyone's primary reason for playing.

I feel that the score my card received was completely unfair! What should I do to challenge it?:

Challenge is a bad word. For the most part, judges' rulings are final. Sometimes they won't be perfect, but that's ok. Along those lines, you can feel free to bring up concerns with your judge via PM or ask for additional discussion in this thread, but do so politely and don't expect anything to change.

Okay, maybe my card wasn't the best, but my opponent's card was horrific and it beat mine! Can I challenge the score of my opponent's card?:

You know what? Please don't. Discussing an opponent's card is, on the surface, just as valid as discussing your own, but the potential bad feelings just aren't worth it. If your opponent's card was really judged in a discussion-needing way, someone else will probably bring it up.

Yes I know, I was late to the round, but I had a really important engagement and my internet glitched on me when I got home just in time to post my card. Can you accept it, please?:

Nope. The round ends at the indicated day at 12:00 Midnight EST. If you post at 12:01 you're disqualified. Reason 1 being slippery slope issues, it's better to just be arbitrary and strict about it then for us to argue about each specific case. Reason 2 being that in general, you'll have plenty of time that you don't need to be trying to post at 11:55. Reason 3 being that this is just a game and if real-life things prevent you from moving on one month, that's really ok.

What is a render and how do I make one?:

A render is just a fancy name for a mockup of your card with art. To make one, the most widely used program is the fantastic free piece of software Magic Set Editor, which you can find here.

Are renders required?:

No.

Do I need to credit the artist? Should I put it on the render or in the post:

For legal reasons, giving the artist credit is mandatory. If you're going to submit a render, put the name of the artist in the render. If you have art but don't know the name of the artist, either find who did the art or don't use it. The policy on crediting art can be found here.

My own 2 cents on this: The bottom line is that the artists own the art and if they say they don't want it used for something like this DO NOT ARGUE. I view MTGS as basically a giant kitchen table where people talk and share card ideas, so I don't personally see any harm in sticking credited, unaltered art here. But these artists are professionals who make their living doing this and while I'm comfortable with the grey area of using art for this purpose without specifically asking each artist, when it comes to usage rights, the creator is right and I don't want to see anyone posting any ridiculousness about how they should be grateful that we're giving them free exposure or any of that.

Can I edit my card even after I have submitted it?:

The card that is in your post when the round ends is your final entry. If it was a different card earlier in the round that is fine, all that matters is the card that is in the post the second that round submissions close.

Editing your post after the submission part of the round has closed will result in automatic disqualification.

Me and another person have been arguing on a particular issue pertaining to the MCC forever. Who can give the final ruling?:

Organizers for each month are updated in the MCC Hammer signature (look at the bottom of this post). The lead organizer for the current month would be a good place to start, but the original startup crew for the MCC were WhisperedThunder, Cantripmancer, Milldawg, and JqlGirl. Milldawg and JqlGirl have "retired" from MCC work as of 11/2009, so don't bother them! Additionally, Arzangremmel and seratonin have significantly contributed to the MCC and are probably good resources for questions.

I'm trying to make my card work but I just can't get the wording right. What should I do?:

The MTGSalvation rules gurus are allowed to help you on your card text. The current Rules Gurus are Woapalanne, Binary, Condor, Darkasecas, Dr. Tom, Krashbot, Lesurgo, Sutherlands and Yare. If you need help on card text or if a judge disagrees with your card text, contact them over PM or instant messenger programs, if applicable. You can also post rules questions to the Rules Forum.

Can I get help on other parts of my card?:

MCC cards should be created on your own. That is, design, balancing, and all of that should be your idea and your's alone. However, in edition to the templating stuff discussed above there are a couple of areas in which you can seek help. The first is on rendering issues. The second is language issues. I want to make this point very clear. MCC cards will be judged in English and incorrect grammar will be marked down like any other wording error. That being said, we highly encourage you to play even if english is not your first language. If you not a little (or a lot) of help with translation just PM your card to someone who seems like an upstanding fellow and ask for help, it's no big deal.

Where can I learn about card creation and design in general?:

(This area is under construction.)
• Most of Mark Rosewater's articles on Wizards.com provide insight into actual card design and development.

Design Notes From Those Who Care
In Which Arzangremmel Goes the Distance With Creature Subtypes

Thanks for reading and hopefully this answered your questions.

See you in the MCC!

[WhisperedThunder]

Ho hum with the late judgings. I'll do that things where I wait until tomorrow afternoon.

[Mobiusman]

*looks aroud* Shiny new thread, WT! Must been expensive, property prices being what they are now. I hope no-one makes too much of a mess of it.

Now, the scores you and qqpq gave me were both entirely fair, so I'm not here to dispute that. I thought the mechanic was different enough to provoke and you guys didn't, so fair play to you both. It's a shame that the flavour text went un-picked up, though; it was a reference to both the card's precedent (Master of the Wild Hunt) and its thematic uncle (Lone Wolf). Oh, and I thought I should point out:

Originally Posted by WhisperedThunder

you made Petty Theft, right?

Thanks for rubbing it in, WT

Anyway, all the best to PMega and the others of the magnificent seven for their final round!

[Harbinger_]

Just out of curiosity when will the August signups be up?

[WhisperedThunder]

Originally Posted by Mobiusman

Oh, and I thought I should point out:Thanks for rubbing it in, WT

Aw! I'm a jerk! Oh well, you make awesome things as well, I am sure of it.

I'll switch to MCC Hammer and post August Sign-ups in a minute. And Round 4 will be posted this evening, regardless of whether all the judges finish.

[Asrama]

Um, correct me if I'm wrong, but shouldn't there be another judge for my match?

Also, thanks WT for my perfect score!

[WhisperedThunder]

Originally Posted by Asrama

Um, correct me if I'm wrong, but shouldn't there be another judge for my match?

Yea, it should be krynthe, but my sneaky way of slipping him into it apparently went unnoticed. I hope Vexhel doesn't terribly mind, but I suspect the 7-point difference in my score wouldn't be reversed in a second judging, so I'm not too worried about it.

[Mobiusman]

That reminds me, could an organiser do that awesome thing where they give us a rough schedule for the month's rounds and deadlines? Thanks in advance!

EDIT: Don't worry about it, I'm pretty sure I won't be able to play or judge this month. I'll be cheering you guys on though!

[Harbinger_]

Agustust Judge Signup

Is that a new month? Lol

[WhisperedThunder]

Originally Posted by Harbinger_

Agustust Judge Signup

Is that a new month? Lol

Yep, it comes right between the months of 'Oops' and 'Shut Up Harbinger'

[MCC Hammer]

Round 4 is up. I think we're going to have to just accept that July is being a tough month in terms of judges disappearing on exotic vacations and such. Every pairing for Round 3 had at least one judge reporting in and none of the pairs with only one were especially close, so I feel like moving on to Round 4 is ok.

[adhuin]

Um... me and The letter 3 are Dead tied currently with 0 vs 0 scores.
neither of our judges have done judging yet.

[The letter 3]

I hope some one will be able to judge our group as soon as possible.

[WhisperedThunder]

Oh god, is that true?! Sorry, I recorded all the scores and...well, you get the idea. I'll do something about that immediately.

Edit: Done.

I'm rather tired, but I didn't want to keep you two waiting. Feel free to PM me, I'll try to get back to you as quickly a I can.

[krynthe]

Originally Posted by WhisperedThunder

Yea, it should be krynthe, but my sneaky way of slipping him into it apparently went unnoticed. I hope Vexhel doesn't terribly mind, but I suspect the 7-point difference in my score wouldn't be reversed in a second judging, so I'm not too worried about it.

Wait, what? I've been packing and moving and basically haven't checked in since I posted my judgings, so sorry to vex and asrama. My only personal computer right now is an iPod.

I can do them tomorrow during lunch at work if you want to wait...