March MCC Finals: Infinite Possibility

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Venedrex
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Post by Venedrex » 3 years ago

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Shimmer of Possibility by Volkan Baga and Wizards of the Coast. Thanks to Bravelion83 for the "core set style" MCC logo.
March MCC Round 4: Infinite Possibility.

Welcome! You may have noticed that we have gone through a Ravnica block for each round, and we're all out of Ravnica blocks. What now? I'm so glad you asked! You will be designing your own guild mechanic for a future Ravnica set! Its Ravnica Month here at the MCC, and it all ends here.

Main Challenge: Design a card that is set on the plane of Ravnica with your own custom guild mechanic from a hypothetical future Ravnica set on the card itself.
Subchallenge 1: Your card's rarity isn't uncommon.
Subchallenge 2: Your card isn't multicolored. i.e a gold card.

DEADLINES

Design deadline: Monday, April 19th 23:59 EDT

EDIT: New deadline: Wednesday, April 21st 23:59 EDT

Judging deadline: Thursday, April 22nd 23:59 EDT

EDIT: New deadline: Saturday: April 24th 23:59 EDT
Clarifications
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Main Challenge:

For your mechanics, I would suggest trying to align them with the color pie as much as possible. It may be tempting to make a mechanic that bends the pie, but I will judge based on how your mechanics correspond with what the guild colors are allowed to do within the color pie, i.e. a Gruul mechanic that involves making your opponent discard cards is a break, but a Gruul mechanic that involves you discarding cards, similar to bloodrush, is completely fine.

To clarify further, an ideal mechanic is as concise as possible, stays within the color pie as much as possible, and lines up with the flavor and mechanics of the guild while innovating. You likely know this already, but I'm mentioning it again for transparency. In general, simple mechanics such as Cycling, Kicker, Flashback, and so on, tend to do better than more complicated mechanics such as Mutate or Suspend. Your card may gain points in some areas for having a complex mechanic, but lose points in others, and vice versa for a more simple mechanic.

Needless to say, don't reuse mechanics. I am not looking for a minor variant of a mechanic in general. In other words, avoid making a version of Riot but instead of choosing between haste or a +1/+1 counter you choose between a trample counter or haste. Logically you might be asking, where do you draw the line? On a case by case basis. I won't DQ an entry for being too similar to an existing mechanic (assuming you didn't just literally copy and paste an existing mechanic) but I will dock a significant amount of points if the mechanic is too similar to something that already exists. If you're making a mechanic that is quite similar to another one, ask yourself if the differences are enough to justify it being made. Foretell has similarities to Morph, but there are enough differences to give it a reason to be made.

The whole point of this challenge is to stay faithful to what has made the guilds enduringly popular, but put a fresh spin on it. So try new things, but tie them into what you know about previous mechanics for your guild and the identity of the guild. That being said, if you make a Simic mechanic that has nothing to do with +1/+1 counters, but still feels Simic, me and the broader Magic community will thank you profusely, so don't be afraid to do something different. Just try not to go so wild with your mechanic that it doesn't have anything to do with the lore and flavor of your guild at all.

Some general themes and play styles of each guild on Ravnica are as follows:
Note: These are not set in stone, and part of this challenge is to innovate, so feel free to diverge from these examples. They are meant to serve as guidelines, not laws.

Golgari - , The farmers of Ravnica who focus on the cycle of life and death. Graveyard synergies.
Boros - , Military of Ravnica, cheap creature aggro.
Dimir - , Spies and assassins who pretend to be librarians, control.
Selesnya - , Religious guild with strong ties to nature, midrange creature beatdown.
Izzet - , Explosively spellcasting wizards who are also civil engineers and inventors. Spellslinger.
Gruul - , The jobless former guardians of nature on Ravnica who now rebel against the system and smash stuff. Midrange/Aggro
Orzhov - , The church of deals, a façade of piety shrouding corruption and greed. Slow attrition gameplay bleeding out the enemy bit by bit.
Rakdos - , Crazy murderous circus clowns who know magic and like to party. Lightning fast aggro.
Azorius - , The police, government, and lawmakers of the city who most people dislike. Control/fliers.
Simic - , The obsessed biologists determined to create the perfect lifeform. +1/+1 counters.
MCC Rubric
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MCC Rubric
Design
(X/3) Appeal - Do the different player psychographics (Timmy/Johnny/Spike) have a use for the card?
(X/3) Elegance - Is the card easily understandable at a glance? Do all the flavor and mechanics combined as a whole make sense?

Development
(X/3) Viability - How well does the card fit into the color wheel? Does it break or bend the rules of the game? Is it the appropriate rarity?
(X/3) Balance - Does the card have a power level appropriate for contemporary constructed/limited environments without breaking them? Does it play well in casual and multiplayer formats? Does it create or fit into a deck/archetype? Does it create an oppressive environment?

Creativity
(X/3) Uniqueness - Has a card like this ever been printed before? Does it use new mechanics, ideas, or design space? Does it combine old ideas in a new way? Overall, does it feel "fresh"?
(X/3) Flavor - Does the name seem realistic for a card? Does the flavor text sound professional? Do all the flavor elements synch together to please Vorthos players?

Polish
(X/3) Quality - Points deducted for incorrect spelling, grammar, and templating.
(X/2) Main Challenge (*) - Was the main challenge satisfied? Was it approached in a unique or interesting way? Does the card fit the intent of the challenge?
(X/2) Subchallenges - One point awarded per satisfied subchallenge condition.
Total: X/25
*An entry with 0 points here is subject to disqualification.
Judges:
void_nothing
bravelion83
venedrex

Players:
@Freyleyes
@RaikouRider
@netn10
Last edited by Venedrex 2 years ago, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Freyleyes » 2 years ago

Izzet

Ultra Shock RR
Instant {R}
Ultra Shock deals 4 damage to target creature. If that creature would die this turn, draw a card.
Blitz 3 (You may cast this spell without paying its mana cost. At the begging of your next upkeep, pay RR. If you don't, sacrifice 3 permanents.)
A snap, a crackle and then a pop.
Last edited by Freyleyes 2 years ago, edited 1 time in total.

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Venedrex
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Post by Venedrex » 2 years ago

I'm going to extend this for a couple more days. Lets get those entries in!
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Post by void_nothing » 2 years ago

Paging @RaikouRider and @netn10.
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Post by netn10 » 2 years ago

Azorius Alley-Watcher 1W
Creature - Human Soldier (Common)
Crime — An opponent attacks you.
Punishment — Whenever an opponent commits a crime, untap Azorius Alley-Watcher.
"In a perfect society, you're not allowed to even think about inflicting pain. But it isn't a perfect society, that's why I'm always watching."
2/2

(Context: if you have the above card on the field, opponents attacking you will trigger each "Punishment" card you control.)

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Post by void_nothing » 2 years ago

Just waiting on @RaikouRider.
Psst, check the second page of Custom Card Contests & Games! Because of the daily contests, a lot of games fall down to there.

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Post by RaikouRider » 2 years ago

Menagerie Knight 2G
Creature - Elf Knight {C}
Trample
Menagerie - Menagerie Knight enters the battlefield with a number of +1/+1 counters on it equal to the number of other creatures you control with different creature types.
"In time, even the wildest beast can learn to accept the bridle of trust."
--Ivan of the Silverpaw

2/1

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Post by bravelion83 » 2 years ago

@Venedrex All three contestants have posted and the new judging deadline was supposed to be tonight. Can we start judging?
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Post by Venedrex » 2 years ago

bravelion83 wrote:
2 years ago
@Venedrex All three contestants have posted and the new judging deadline was supposed to be tonight. Can we start judging?
Yes we can.

Each judge will judge each entry like the previous round.
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Post by bravelion83 » 2 years ago

done
Freyleyes
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Freyleyes wrote:
2 years ago
Izzet

Ultra Shock RR
Instant {R}
Ultra Shock deals 4 damage to target creature. If that creature would die this turn, draw a card.
Blitz 3 (You may cast this spell without paying its mana cost. At the begging of your next upkeep, pay RR. If you don't, sacrifice 3 permanents.)
A snap, a crackle and then a pop.
Design
Appeal 2.5/3 - Timmy likes to deal significant damage, but doesn't like to sacrifice permanents. I don't see much for Johnny to do, but he could use a "free" spell for decks like, say, Storm. Spike likes blitz, as it lets her potentially circumvent the mana cost of her spells, and also likes drawing cards.
Elegance 2/3 - Not too long and easy to understand. There is the classic "is this a triggered ability or a replacement effect?" ambiguity though (see Quality).
Development
Viability 2/3 - Red is allowed to have cantrips, like all colors, and this could be seen as a conditional cantrip. I'm not sure if it's too close to card advantage for red though: if the opponent's creature dies, they're down a card while you're technically at card parity, with one card spent (this spell) and one drawn. No problems with rarity or the rules.
Balance 3/3 - Certainly playable in limited. I could see this getting some play in Standard: removal with the potential to be free (you won't pay the blitz cost if you win the turn you cast this) and to draw cards looks interesting there. I see no problems in casual or multiplayer.
Creativity
Uniqueness 1.5/3 - Blitz is nothing more than an echo variant, only for spells instead of permanents. Also a variant of the Pacts in Future Sight, which we know are in turn inspired by super haste in Un-sets.
Flavor 1.5/3 - The name feels uninspired to me, it's clearly piggybacking on Shock. Blitz is a good name for a mechanic, I'm not sure how much Izzet it feels though. The flavor text fits the concept of an Izzet experiment gone wrong, but it's rather generic and based on a very well known English saying.
Polish
Quality 0.5/3 - The Izzet mention outside the card is extra text, not allowed by the rules of the contest. Here it's just a declaration of which guild you chose, not really a design note, so -0.5 is enough here. The guild should have been clear with only the card itself though.
"If that creature would die this turn" is the beginning of a replacement effect, not of a triggered ability. It should be either "When that creature dies this turn" if it's supposed to be a triggered ability, or you should add the word "instead" after "draw a card" if it's supposed to be a replacement effect. Anyway, it's half one and half the other here, so -1 for functional mistake.
"At the begging" is a clear typo in the reminder text for blitz. (-0.5)
In "sacrifice 3 permanents", the number should be written out: "sacrifice three permanents", even if it's reminder text. (-0.5)
Main Challenge 2/2 - Good.
Subchallenges 2/2 - Both met.
TOTAL 17/25
netn10
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netn10 wrote:
2 years ago
Azorius Alley-Watcher 1W
Creature - Human Soldier (Common)
Crime — An opponent attacks you.
Punishment — Whenever an opponent commits a crime, untap Azorius Alley-Watcher.
"In a perfect society, you're not allowed to even think about inflicting pain. But it isn't a perfect society, that's why I'm always watching."
2/2

(Context: if you have the above card on the field, opponents attacking you will trigger each "Punishment" card you control.)
Design
Appeal 2.5/3 - I think Timmy likes to put himself in the role of a cop and watch out for crimes to trigger his punishments. Johnny could use the untap in a tap/untap combo, but he doesn't like that his ability to do so depends on what his opponents do. Spike likes bears with upside, at least in limited.
Elegance 3/3 - Not too long and easy to understand.
Development
Viability 3/3 - No problems with the color pie or the rules. I'm glad that this can only affect itself with the punishment effect. All commons with crime/punishment should only affect themselves probably.
Balance 2/3 - As I said, bears with upside are playable in limited. I'm not sure about constructed, I don't think it would see Standard play. I don't know. I find the crime/punishment mechanic very hard to judge there. What I do know is that this card has been built with multiplayer in mind, "an opponent" tells me so. You could attack on your turn, be attacked by the next player, tap this to some other effects after untapping, repeat for the next opponent and so on for the whole turn cycle. I don't think your opponents will be happy to attack you if it triggers all your punishments though. I see no problems in casual.
Creativity
Uniqueness 3/3 - Ok, the crime/punishment mechanic is new and very original.
Flavor 3/3 - Very good work. The name and flavor text reinforce each other, and the concept of crime and punishment is a home run for the Azorius.
Polish
Quality 1/3 - I remember taking a look at this thread a few days ago, and I clearly remember the "crime" word rightly not italicized. Now you went ahead and italicized it, turning it from a keyword ability that can be referenced in the "punishment" part into an ability word that has no rules meaning, so now it doesn't work anymore. Now you can't say "when an opponent commits a crime", because crime can't be referenced if it's an ability word. -1 for functional mistake. No problem with punishment being an ability word for abilities that reference crimes.
The "context" part is extra text in the submission, that's not allowed (-1). The cards are supposed to explain themselves. If you felt it wasn't clear, you should have added reminder text to the card, not add a design note.
You clearly know about em dashes, you used them for both crime and punishment, why not in the type line too? No deduction, but it's a technical mistake.
Main Challenge 2/2 - Good.
Subchallenges 2/2 - Both met.
TOTAL 21.5/25
RaikouRider
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RaikouRider wrote:
2 years ago
Menagerie Knight 2G
Creature - Elf Knight {C}
Trample
Menagerie - Menagerie Knight enters the battlefield with a number of +1/+1 counters on it equal to the number of other creatures you control with different creature types.
"In time, even the wildest beast can learn to accept the bridle of trust."
--Ivan of the Silverpaw

2/1
Design
Appeal 3/3 - Timmy likes a potentially big creature with trample. Johnny could use the counters somehow, and also build his deck accordingly to the menagerie restriction. Spike mostly agrees with Timmy here.
Elegance 2/3 - Not too long and easy to understand. There is an ambiguity in the text though (see Quality).
Development
Viability 2/3 - I'm not sure how happy I am with this being common. In a go wide deck, this could enter with many +1/+1 counters, and it also has trample. I think I would either make this uncommon, or remove trample. No problems with the color pie. As for the rules, you should clarify the ambiguity in the text to have it work (see Quality).
Balance 2.5/3 - Probably playable in limited, and maybe in Standard too if you manage to make this get at least a couple +1/+1 counters. I think you'd already be happy with a three-mana 4/3, even though not with a three-mana 2/1, despite trample. No problems in casual or multiplayer.
Creativity
Uniqueness 2.5/3 - Menagerie is similar, though not identical, to a mechanic in my own custom set, the one associated with the very long story that I've written, but you couldn't have known that. It just means that to me the mechanic probably feels less new than to everybody else. Checking creature types is something that has been done on single cards, but never as a whole mechanic.
Flavor 2.5/3 - The name and flavor text are both very good. My only remark is that I would have tried to name the ability word differently, not because the name doesn't fit the concept, it does, but because "Menagerie — Menagerie" feels very bad in reading to me.
Polish
Quality 2.5/3 - An ambiguity in the text: is an "Elf Warrior", for example, considered to have different creature types from an "Elf Knight"? Is a changeling different? You should reword the ability to make this clear, but I don't know how. (-0.5) Probably something like "other creatures you control that don't share a creature type with Menagerie Knight"?
Both in the type line and after the ability word, the hyphens should be em dashes, no deduction.
Main Challenge 2/2 - Good.
Subchallenges 2/2 - Both met.
TOTAL 21/25
Results
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netn10: 21.5
RaikouRider: 21
Freyleyes: 17
Author of the MCC Guidelines and FAQ. | For my projects, including Jeff Lionheart, my murder mystery story "One pierced heart, two mindful horns", and republished articles from my series "The Lion's Lair", see Leo's content index (Last updated on March 24th 2024 - Added OPHTMH Episode 4).
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Post by void_nothing » 2 years ago

Freyleyes
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Design
(2/3) Appeal - Not quite bit enough for Txmmy, but Jxnny and Spike are both looking into how to not pay for cards like this and get away scot-free.
(2/3) Elegance - The Pact drawback is inelegant both for the (short-term) memory issue and for the play patterns it creates.

Development
(3/3) Viability - Definitely red and rare.
(1/3) Balance - A whole mechanic of Pacts seems - at least - like a development concern. You'd have to be very careful about what effects you put on blitz cards, because otherwise the optimal strategy is just "dump them all out of your hand for free once you've done whatever setup you need and win that turn." Even playing this card "fairly" it's unbelievably strong removal for what it costs - it's almost guaranteed to kill most creatures AND replace itself.

Creativity
(1.5/3) Uniqueness - This mechanic is basically spell echo/Pacts, as noted before. The actual base effect hasn't been done in that exact form but it's hard to innovate regular-type burn spells.
(1.5/3) Flavor - "Ultra Shock" sounds like a development name, and referencing Rice Krispies of all things in the flavor text seems... silly.

Polish
(1.5/3) Quality - "When that creature dies this turn...", "beginning" is misspelled, and it's "three" permanents, not the numeral 3.
(2/2) Main Challenge (*) - Done.
(2/2) Subchallenges - And done.

Total: 16.5/25
netn10
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Design
(2/3) Appeal - Small and subtle, so probably not Txmmy's thing, but Jxnny and Spike both look to the other crime/punishment cards and see that this is two mana to add a pretty important crime.
(3/3) Elegance - Very grokkable.

Development
(3/3) Viability - No complaints whatsoever about the color or rarity, and kudos for doing a common.
(3/3) Balance - Perfectly fine in a vacuum. I'm sure it would be an important part of an unbreakable pillowfort in the dedicated crime and punishment deck.

Creativity
(2/3) Uniqueness - The "base" card is mostly just a vigilance creature; the mechanic, however, is very innovative - I've seen it done in custom cards before (I think the first time was by Pharmalade way back in the beginning days of MTGSalvation) and it seems like such an obvious concept, but R&D hasn't touched it yet.
(3/3) Flavor - I can get behind this.

Polish
(2.5/3) Quality - As odd as it sounds, to work properly "crime" and "punishment" can't be italicized. Italic text has no rules meaning, but unitalicized, they allow the mechanic to define what a crime is simply by that.
(2/2) Main Challenge (*) - Done.
(2/2) Subchallenges - And done.

Total: 22.5/25
RaikouRider
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Design
(2.5/3) Appeal - Mostly a Txmmy/Spike card, particularly for Limited. Jxnny finds it a blunt instrument but ultimately is intrigued by putting wacky types together.
(2/3) Elegance - That one little word, "different," will prompt a million judge questions: "Are Goblin Assassin and Goblin Wizard different creature types because they only have one type in common?" "What about changelings?" "Does that mean each creature is a different type or different from this creature's types?"

Development
(3/3) Viability - Green and common are both totally fine.
(2.5/3) Balance - Maybe slightly too efficient for Limited? Otherwise fine. Can easily get big on your own but you have the deckbuilding restriction of all those different creature types.

Creativity
(1.5/3) Uniqueness - In the end this is a virtual French vanilla but looking for different creature types rather than the same is a newish wrinkle (that has also been used in custom cards a lot for years).
(2.5/3) Flavor - My only complaint is that using "Menagerie" in both the name of the card and as the ability word feels like phoning it in.

Polish
(3/3) Quality - Looks good.
(2/2) Main Challenge (*) - Done.
(2/2) Subchallenges - And done.

Total: 21/25
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Post by Venedrex » 2 years ago

netn10
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Design
(2/3) Appeal - Spike is not super excited by this for the most part, Johnny might like this in a deck built around crime and punishment, and Timmy loves the flavor but is a little unimpressed by the effect.
(3/3) Elegance - Quite clean.

Development
(3/3) Viability - Well within white's slice of the color pie.
(2/3) Balance - A little on the weak side, but might be alright in limited.

Creativity
(3/3) Uniqueness - Brand new, and something that makes me wonder why I didn't think of it before.
(3/3) Flavor - Deliciously flavorful and fun enough to make people want to play an Azorius deck

Polish
(1/3) Quality - As bravelion pointed out, crime and punishment being italicized stops the mechanic from working as intended. Additionally, providing context through design notes is against the rules of the challenge.
(2/2) Main Challenge (*) – Both met.
(2/2) Subchallenges - Done.

Total: 21/25
Freyleyes
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Design
(2.5/3) Appeal - Well this appeals to Spikes as a solid removal spell for Standard and limited, Johnny might see some way to abuse the cost of this by building a deck with ways to make tokens or some other method, and Timmy likes the name and concept, but not saccing permanents.
(3/3) Elegance - Pretty easy to understand.

Development
(2/3) Viability - I agree with bravelion that a red card drawing a card if it kills a creature is shying a little too close to being a color pie issue. Overall OK though.
(2.5/3) Balance - Paying for this in two installments is interesting, and I would argue this is decently balanced, but it being a "free" spell might be a little dangerous. I appreciate the fact that you can't just shirk paying the cost entirely.

Creativity
(1.5/3) Uniqueness - All in all this is not exactly new ground. It feels a lot like a watered down version of the Pact of the Titan cycle and or echo.
(1.5/3) Flavor - OK, but not mind blowing. I would have also liked to see a slightly more interesting name than "Ultra Shock".

Polish
(0.5/3) Quality - Your card shouldn't have mentioned the guild you chose as extra text, and as bravelion said, you felt the need to do so because the card didn't feel particularly Izzet. As bravelion stated, the draw trigger is worded incorrectly. "At the begging" is a typo, and "sacrifice 3 permanents" should be written as: "sacrifice three permanents".

(2/2) Main Challenge (*) – Met.
(2/2) Subchallenges - Both met.

Total: 17.5/25
RaikouRider
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Design
(3/3) Appeal - Johnny likes the idea of building a deck around this, Spike sees this as a nice brute for limited, and Timmy likes making a big creature that gets better the bigger their board is.
(2.5/3) Elegance - Slightly hard to understand what Menagerie cares about in terms of creature types and subtypes.

Development
(2/3) Viability - Well within the color pie for green, but feels more uncommon in terms of power level and effect.
(2.5/3) Balance - This could be too strong for limited due to the potential for it to enter with several counters, but doesn't ridiculously broken or underpowered.

Creativity
(2.5/3) Uniqueness - Believe it or not, I had a similar idea for a mechanic in a zoo style custom set idea, similar to what bravelion mentioned. But the mechanic itself hasn't actually been done before, even if some custom designers are thinking about it.
(2.5/3) Flavor - Using the word Menagerie twice is a little off putting.

Polish
(2.5/3) Quality - As bravelion pointed out, it is hard to distinguish what the mechanic cares about specifically in terms of the difference between Goblin Warrior or Goblin Rogue.
(2/2) Main Challenge (*) – Done.
(2/2) Subchallenges - Both met.

Total: 21.5/25
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RaikouRider: 21.5
netn10: 21
Freyleyes 16.5
Epicurean, EDH without Universes Beyond.

http://nxs.wf/np748831

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Venedrex
Wait, we can have titles?
Posts: 1411
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Answers: 2
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Post by Venedrex » 2 years ago

Congrats to @netn10 for winning the March MCC!
Epicurean, EDH without Universes Beyond.

http://nxs.wf/np748831

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