April MCC Round 2 - Easter Egg

[bravelion83]

(This month's banner is my own elaboration on the art of the cards Feaster of Fools by John Severin Brassell, Roc Egg by Paul Bonner, and Work a Double by Carl Frank.)

April MCC Round 2

Easter Egg

Even if it has already passed, the second holiday in the month is Easter. A concept associated with Easter, at least here in Italy, but I think all over the world, is that of eggs. Chocolate eggs with verious surprises inside can be found (and eaten, they're very good) before and even after Easter. Real eggs are blessed in Easter religious ceremonies. And the term "Easter Egg" has come to have a meaning of its own: a hidden surprise in a story, movie, or whatever else. This is the Easter Egg for this month, one that you could have actually expected.

Main Challenge - Design a creature card with the Egg subtype and/or with the word "egg" in its name.
Subchallenge 1 - Your card is an artifact creature.
Subchallenge 2 - Your card's mana value is 4 or greater.

Clarifications

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Notice the "and/or" in the Main Challenge. You may do one, the other, or both. All options are good.

From the discussion thread:

Clarification question: If we're using Egg in the name, can it be part of a hyphenated word? I.e., "Golden-egg" or "Egg-guardian"?

Yes, I'll say you can do that. Adding this to the clarifications.

DEADLINES

Design deadline: Sunday, April 18th 23:59 EDT

Judging deadline: Wednesday, April 21th 23:59 EDT


RUBRIC

MCC Rubric

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Design
(X/3) Appeal - Do the different player psychographics (Timmy/Johhny/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

bravelion83
void_nothing
Venedrex


PLAYERS

@ahyangyi
@dangerousdice
@Flatline
@Henlock
@Ink-Treader
@kwanyeegor-ii
@Lorn Asbord Schutta
@MonoRedMage
@netn10
@slimytrout
@StonerOfKruphix


A reminder to everyone:
In the MCC, putting rarity on cards is mandatory! If you don't put a rarity on your card, expect huge deductions in both Viability AND Quality.
Please check out the MCC Guidelines and FAQ if you have the will and time. Link in my signature. Among the many things you can find there are a detailed explanation of the rubric (section 6.2) and the recommended card formatting (section 4) that you should use to format your text cards. Expect deductions in Quality otherwise.


BRACKETS

Top 2 from each bracket advance.

Judge: Venedrex
ahyangyi
dangerousdice
Flatline
Lorn Asbord Schutta

Judge: bravelion83
Henlock
MonoRedMage
netn10
slimytrout

Judge: void_nothing
Ink-Treader
kwanyeegor-ii
StonerOfKruphix

[dangerousdice]

Smoldering clutch
creature — dragon egg (uncommon)
defender
when Smoldering clutch dies, you may search your library for a dragon creature card with mana value 6 or less and put it in your hand. shuffle.
"The dragons of the howling mountains are intensely protective of their eggs, and hunt down those who break them."
1/6

[kwanyeegor-ii]

Egg of Millennia 6
Artifact Creature - Egg (Mythic)
Reach, ward 2
6, T, Sacrifice Egg of Millennia: Destroy all lands.
6, T, Sacrifice Egg of Millennia: Take an extra turn after this one.
Inside the colossal stone shell is a portal to the beginning of a world, or its end.
0/6

[Ink-Treader]

Enshelled Progress 6
Artifact Creature - Egg Construct (R)
Trample
Whenever Enshelled Progress is dealt damage, proliferate.
When Enshelled Progress dies, put a -1/-1 counter on each creature, then proliferate.
Glistening perfection is held within.
5/4

[slimytrout]

Ista, Bearer of the World-Egg 5
Legendary Artifact Creature - Golem (R)
Vigilance
When Ista enters the battlefield, create World-Egg, a legendary colorless 0/4 Egg creature token with "4, T, Sacrifice this creature: Add WUBRG. Draw twice X cards, where X is the number of incubation counters on this creature."
At the beginning of your upkeep, put an incubation counter on each Egg you control.
4/4

[netn10]

Mosaic Egg 4
Artifact Creature - Egg (Rare)
You may attach artifact cards from your hand with mana value 1 to Mosaic Egg as though as they were auras.
Mosaic Egg has all activated abilities of each artifact attached to it.
0/8

[StonerOfKruphix]

Etherium Egg 2UB
Artifact Creature — Egg Construct (R)
Defender
When Etherium Egg enters the battlefield, exile an artifact or creature card from a graveyard.
At the beginning of your end step, put a filigree counter on Etherium Egg. Then if it has three or more filigree counters on it, create a token that's a copy of the exiled card, except it's an artifact in addition to its other types, and return Etherium Egg to its owner's hand.
In Esper, everything and everyone can be remade.
0/4

[Lorn Asbord Schutta]

Homunculus Egg
Artifact Creature — Homunculus Egg (U)
Defender
, Sacrifice Homunculus Egg: Create a 0/1 blue Homunculus artifact creature token.
, Sacrifice an artifact: Return Homunculus Egg from your graveyard to your hand.
Breeding homunculus is tedious and prone to mishaps. If it couldn't be redone countless times without wasting etherium, Esperites would forsake the practice long ago.
0/1

[Flatline]

Fractal Egg 2
Artifact Creature — Egg (U)
Magecraft — Whenever you cast or copy an instant or sorcery spell, put a hatchling counter on Fractal Egg.
3, Sacrifice Fractal Egg: Create a 0/0 green and blue Fractal creature token. Put X +1/+1 counters on it, where X is the numbers of hatchling counters on Fractal Egg.
0/3

[ahyangyi]

Egg of Prose
Artifact Creature - Egg (U)
Defender
When Egg of Prose dies, create a 2/1 white and black Inkling creature token with flying, put a +1/+1 counter on it for each instant and sorcery spell you've cast this turn, then learn.
0/3
"Don't rush your essay. Give it some time to hatch." -- Shaile Talonrook

[MonoRedMage]

Gearworks Dragonforge RR
Artifact Creature - Egg Construct {R}
RR: Gearworks Dragonforge gets +1/+0 and gains menace until end of turn.
Whenever Gearworks Dragonforge deals combat damage to a player, put that many build counters on Gearworks Dragonforge.
Remove X build counters from Gearworks Dragonforge: You may choose a Dragon you control with mana value X or less. If you do, create a token that's a copy of that Dragon. Otherwise, create an X/X colorless Dragon artifact creature token with flying. The token gains haste. Sacrifice it at end of turn. X can't be 0.
1. Wind up the egg. 2. Release the egg. 3. Get far away from the dragon.
2/2

[Henlock]

Marbling Egg 1w
Creature - Egg (u)
Defender
When Marbling Egg dies, you may search your library for a white creature card with flying with mana value 2 or less and put it onto the battlefield. If you do, shuffle.
The strange egg became the talk of the village, and quickly a battle.of bets for griffins and pegasi ensued.
0/2

[bravelion83]

The round is closed.

BRACKETS

Top 2 from each bracket advance.

Judge: Venedrex
ahyangyi
dangerousdice
Flatline
Lorn Asbord Schutta

Judge: bravelion83
Henlock
MonoRedMage
netn10
slimytrout

Judge: void_nothing
Ink-Treader
kwanyeegor-ii
StonerOfKruphix

---

done

Henlock

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Marbling Egg 1w
Creature - Egg (u)
Defender
When Marbling Egg dies, you may search your library for a white creature card with flying with mana value 2 or less and put it onto the battlefield. If you do, shuffle.
The strange egg became the talk of the village, and quickly a battle.of bets for griffins and pegasi ensued.
0/2

Design
Appeal 2/3 - Too small for Timmy to really care, both the base creature and the tutored one. Johnny can probably do something with the triggered ability. Spike loves good tutors, and while this is narrow, I and she still expect it to be able to find something useful.
Elegance 3/3 - No problems here.
Development
Viability 3/3 - White can tutor for small creatures. No problems with rarity or the rules.
Balance 3/3 - In limited, if you're in white you probably have two-mana fliers. If you don't, you could play this anyway to bluff, but most probably not. In constructed, I don't know if getting a Squadron Hawk with this and then casting it and getting all of its companions is enough. Might a white weenie deck with a flying subtheme want this, even in Modern? Maybe that's too much, but the possibility for card advantage is there if you build your deck accordingly to what this card wants. Overall, I think this is a well balanced card. No problems in casual or multiplayer.
Creativity
Uniqueness 1/3 - Nothing new here.
Flavor 3/3 - The name is fine, and the flavor text is very good. I really like it, and I could easily see it being printed as is.
Polish
Quality 2.5/3 - A typo: there is a point in the flavor text between the words "battle" and "of". (-0.5)
Main Challenge 2/2 - Good.
Subchallenges 0/2 - Not an artifact creature, mana value less than 4.
TOTAL 19.5/25

MonoRedMage

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Gearworks Dragonforge RR
Artifact Creature - Egg Construct {R}
RR: Gearworks Dragonforge gets +1/+0 and gains menace until end of turn.
Whenever Gearworks Dragonforge deals combat damage to a player, put that many build counters on Gearworks Dragonforge.
Remove X build counters from Gearworks Dragonforge: You may choose a Dragon you control with mana value X or less. If you do, create a token that's a copy of that Dragon. Otherwise, create an X/X colorless Dragon artifact creature token with flying. The token gains haste. Sacrifice it at end of turn. X can't be 0.
1. Wind up the egg. 2. Release the egg. 3. Get far away from the dragon.
2/2

Design
Appeal 2/3 - Timmy likes to create copies of Dragons or Dragon tokens. That "X can't be zero" isn't good for Johnny, but probably necessary. He could still find something to do. Probably too slow for Spike: first you have to accumulate counters, and then only when there are enough counters it gets to do its own thing.
Elegance 0.5/3 - The text is way too long and convoluted enough to confuse even a 15-year player like me. I've had to read this multiple times to fully understand it. I can only imagine a less experienced player having to deal with such a wall of text. Even without flavor text, the rules text is eleven lines and two breaks in the MSE M15 frame. Worse than Animate Dead, which I consider to be the limit (ten lines plus two breaks).
Development
Viability 3/3 - I wouldn't want to see this at less than rare, so that's good. Red can do everything here. No problems with the rules.
Balance 2/3 - So, let's try to summarize this: this can get hard to block, and when it connects it gets counters. Then you use the counters to copy a Dragon with mana value equal to the number of removed counters, or make a flying token that big with haste that gets sacrificed at end of turn. Wow, even the summary is long. But I've already talked about that. You could probably use this card in limited, even if you won't see it too often as it's a rare. In constructed, it has no immediate impact, and at the contrary, it's quite slow and it has to connect probably multiple times to even do something. I can't see it in competitive formats. Maybe in casual, but there the comprehension problem is more relevant. I see no problems in multiplayer.
Creativity
Uniqueness 1.5/3 - Nothing really new here, just known elements mixed together in a technically new way.
Flavor 1.5/3 - Despite it being quite good, the flavor text doesn't fit here. The rules text is already microtext by itself. No problems with the name or the card concept.
Polish
Quality 2/3 - "...that's a copy of the Dragon" should be "that's a copy of that creature". (Example: Bramble Sovereign, -0.5) "...at end of turn" should be "at the beginning of the next end step". (-0.5)
Main Challenge 2/2 - Good.
Subchallenges 1/2 - An artifact creature, but mana value is less then 4.
TOTAL 15.5/25

netn10

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Mosaic Egg 4
Artifact Creature - Egg (Rare)
You may attach artifact cards from your hand with mana value 1 to Mosaic Egg as though as they were auras.
Mosaic Egg has all activated abilities of each artifact attached to it.
0/8

Design
Appeal 2/3 - Timmy doesn't care, and he actually hates an 8-toughness wall to be played against him. Johnny absolutely loves this card. He probably wishes that the mana value could be 1 or less, there are a lot of zero-mana-value artifacts that he might want to attach. Spike also likes this.
Elegance 3/3 - Even though the rules text is new, it's very easy to understand and not too long.
Development
Viability 3/3 - I have no problem with this effect being colorless, as it interacts with artifacts that are (mostly) colorless. No problems with rarity or the rules either.
Balance 2.5/3 - I think this is a card for constructed. Rares tend to be anyway, as you won't see them too often in limited, and that's good in this case. I'm not sure you'd play this in limited anyway, you have to have enough small artifacts to make it worthy, and in limited it's very hard to do. In constructed, you could use this in an artifact deck. Such decks even exist in older formats, and actually I think this might be even better in those formats than Standard. You don't have enough good small artifacts in Standard, while you have many more in older formats. It'relevant to see how this doesn't say "mana value 1 or less", so you can't attach all the overpowered zero-mana artifacts from the beginning of Magic that see plenty of play in, say, Legacy. I know very little about Commander, it should be known by now that it's a format I really do not like personally, but if I'm not mistaken one of the most played cards there is Sol Ring, which conveniently can be attached to this so that you can have a big-toughness creature to defend yourself on the ground from multiple opponents and that can also make you ramp. That looks relevant. I see no problems in casual and traditional multiplayer.
Creativity
Uniqueness 3/3 - Attaching cards "as though they were Auras" is new and deserves full points here all by itself.
Flavor 1.5/3 - The name is good and fits the concept well. MSE shows me that up to four lines of flavor text could fit, so I would have liked to see some here.
Polish
Quality 2.5/3 - No precedent for the wording, but it looks plausible enough to me. In "as though they were auras", the word "aura" should be capitalized, as it's a subtype. (-0.5)
Main Challenge 2/2 - Good.
Subchallenges 2/2 - Both met.
TOTAL 21.5/25

slimytrout

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Ista, Bearer of the World-Egg 5
Legendary Artifact Creature - Golem (R)
Vigilance
When Ista enters the battlefield, create World-Egg, a legendary colorless 0/4 Egg creature token with "4, T, Sacrifice this creature: Add WUBRG. Draw twice X cards, where X is the number of incubation counters on this creature."
At the beginning of your upkeep, put an incubation counter on each Egg you control.
4/4

Design
Appeal 3/3 - Timmy likes this creature, it's big enough to be relevant by itself and it even creates a legendary token! (I'm trying to convey how excited Timmy is.) Johnny could probably find some unintended way to use the token. Spike likes a 4/8 total for five mana that comes with a relevant token.
Elegance 2.5/3 - The text is a bit long (eight lines in MSE), but still easy to understand.
Development
Viability 3/3 - No problems with the color pie, rarity, or the rules.
Balance 2.5/3 - A five-mana colorless 4/4 with vigilance is already playable by itself in limited, and this has additional upside. I'm not sure about constructed. There is an immediate impact in creating the token, but you can't use the token immediately. Ok, technically you could, but X is zero if you do. You have to wait to use the token, and the more you wait, the better it is. Actually, even with X equal to one, you draw two cards, which is a nice prize for just waiting one turn. Drawing four card after two turns is even better, and so on. It's a balance between how long you can wait and the amount of cards you get. Anyway, as I was mentioning, with X equal to one it's already card advantage. Someone might try it in constructed after all, the potential is probably there. No problems in casual and multiplayer.
Creativity
Uniqueness 2/3 - No single element is really new here if you take it by itself, but the whole package does feel fresh and like it has its own identity.
Flavor 2.5/3 - I really like how the name and rules text manage to convey the intented flavor despite there being no real room for flavor text. Good work.
Polish
Quality 3/3 - All good.
Main Challenge 2/2 - Good.
Subchallenges 2/2 - Both met.
TOTAL 22.5/25

Results (bold advance)

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slimytrout: 22.5
netn10: 21.5
Henlock: 19.5
MonoRedMage: 15.5

[Venedrex]

ahyangi

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Design
(1/3) Appeal - Timmy likes big creatures, but isn't a fan of having to jump through the hoops to get the big inkling from this. Johnny doesn't see many opportunities for shenanigans with this, and Spike is mostly uninterested.
(3/3) Elegance - The card is fairly easy to understand.

Development
(3/3) Viability - Magecraft and +1/+1 counters are OK in any color, and so is learn.
(1/3) Balance - This seems fairly underpowered. Learning is good, but having to cast instant and sorceries on the same turn your egg dies to get a big inkling seems tricky to pull off consistently in a game. No constructed applications for this, but maybe someone plays it in Limited.

Creativity

(3/3) Uniqueness - An egg that learns and makes inklings is new,
(1.5/3) Flavor - I don't know if it works for me personally. It feels like something of an odd mashup to have a egg that represents a project made by a Silverquill Student. I guess I would imagine that the Witherbloom would be more likely to have their work come from eggs than the faction of word magic.

Polish
(3/3) Quality - Good
(2/2) Main Challenge (*) – Met
(2/2) Subchallenges - Met

Total: 19.5/25

dangerousdice

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Design
(1.5/3) Appeal – Timmy likes the flavor and idea of grabbing a big dragon to your hand, Johnny is a little unimpressed, and Spike might like this in a sacrifice matters limited archetype.
(3/3) Elegance – Pretty clean.

Development
(3/3) Viability – Tutoring a Dragon to hand is fine for Red in my opinion.
(2/3) Balance – It may be a little too weak for limited, and it wouldn't see constructed play. A four mana 1/6 is so so, but tutoring a dragon could be useful in draft or sealed if the set has good dragons.

Creativity
(2.5/3) Uniqueness – We haven't seen an egg actually tutor a Dragon before, but the basic idea is pretty universal.
(3/3) Flavor – I like it quite a bit. I assume the 1 power is because the egg is so hot to touch.

Polish
(2/3) Quality – Docking a full point for not capitalizing a lot of words in the text such as Dragon, Egg, etc etc.
(2/2) Main Challenge (*) - Good
(1/2) Subchallenges - Not an artifact, but mana value 4 or greater.

Total: 20/25

Flatline

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Design
(2.5/3) Appeal – Timmy likes an ever growing creature, Spike sees this as a good option for limited, and Johnny sees some potential to combo this with doubling effects.
(3/3) Elegance – Quite clean.

Development
(3/3) Viability – Seems fine for colorless to do.
(2.5/3) Balance – At two mana you can get it down early and have it grow, it might be a little worse in some ways than Crystalline Giant, but I'd wager it is fairly well balanced for limited when you include the cost of paying three mana to sac it. No play in Standard or other formats I would imagine.

Creativity
(1.5/3) Uniqueness – This type of effect has been done before, nothing groundbreaking.
(1.5/3) Flavor – OK, but pretty generic.

Polish
(3/3) Quality – All good.
(2/2) Main Challenge (*) - Done
(2/2) Subchallenges - Good

Total: 21/25

Lorn Asbord Schutta

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Design
(1/3) Appeal – Timmy might like the flavor, but getting such a small creature is disappointing. Spike is uninterested, but Johnny is already debating whether this a new piece in a Thopter Foundry style combo.
(3/3) Elegance – Fine.

Development
(3/3) Viability – No problems.
(1/3) Balance – Maybe I'm missing something key, but to me, slowly turning your artifacts into 0/1's is not particularly powerful outside of a combo style interaction. I have a difficult time seeing this having a home in limited or constructed outside of very specific archetypes. Perhaps using it to get triggers or mess with your artifacts could be useful? It can recur itself over and over again, but without an external piece there seems to be a lack of use for this in general.

Creativity
(3/3) Uniqueness – It is unique.
(2/3) Flavor – I understand it, but it feels strange that you mention that the process can be done without wasting etherium, but as far I understand it the goal of breeding the homunculi would be to produce more of them, not just make one new homunculi over and over like a phoenix. So unless you use another artifact, it would appear that etherium is being used if you want to expand your numbers.

Polish
(3/3) Quality – Good
(2/2) Main Challenge (*) - Met
(1/2) Subchallenges - Artifact creature, but mana value not 4 or greater.

Total: 19/25

Results (bold advance)

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Flatline 21
dangerousdice 20
ahyangi 19.5
Lorn Asbord Schutta 19

[void_nothing]

Ink-Treader

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Design
(3/3) Appeal - A home run! Txmmy likes the size and all the counters. Jxnny has a million combos here. Spike actually loves proliferate for decks like Dice Factory.
(2.5/3) Elegance - Proliferate is a complicated mechanic, and this throws a lot of triggers around.

Development
(3/3) Viability - Definitely feels like a rare artifact.
(2.5/3) Balance - A -1/-1 counter on everything AND proliferate is a super powerful combination, but hey, it's the death trigger of a six-mana creature. Those are often strong.

Creativity
(2/3) Uniqueness - Proliferate is a mechanic used in multiple sets now but this is a new way of doing it. Feels vaguely like Roalesk, Apex Hybrid.
(3/3) Flavor - Great Phyrexian-themed name and flavor text.

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

Total: 23/25

kwanyeegor-ii

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Design
(1.5/3) Appeal - Half points all around - from Txmmy, as they like the huge splashy activated abilities but not the 0 power for six mana, from Jxnny, who sees some potential as a combo piece but nothing that couldn't be done with other means, and from Spike, who loves instant-speed Time Walk and Armageddon but not the amount of mana that's required.
(3/3) Elegance - Pretty easy to understand.

Development
(3/3) Viability - Mythic artifact for sure.
(2.5/3) Balance - Actually a bit disappointing for a mythic - the problem is the 6 startup cost. The activated ability costs are fair, it's just that such effects are better suited to coming out early and sitting around like doomsday devices, especially since this card has ward.

Creativity
(1.5/3) Uniqueness - Just a combination of very old elements that have never been used together before.
(3/3) Flavor - Flavor text actually ties the seemingly unrelated activated abilities together very well.

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

Total: 21.5/25

StonerOfKruphix

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Design
(2.5/3) Appeal - Mostly a Txmmy/Jxnny card. Spike likes reanimating things over and over but this is a bit slow for them.
(2.5/3) Elegance - Slightly wordy, but mostly alright.

Development
(3/3) Viability - Colors and rarity look good.
(3/3) Balance - Some solid repeatable reanimation that can be a LOT of fun with things like populate.

Creativity
(2.5/3) Uniqueness - A surprising number of new and newish wrinkles here make this card feel much fresher than it might otherwise have. Kudos.
(3/3) Flavor - Perfect in every way. If only I could give 4 out of 3 points here.

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

Total: 23.5/25

Totals (Bold advance)

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StonerOfKruphix 23.5
Ink-Treader 23
kwanyeegor-ii 21.5

What a great round. Loved every single card here.