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