September MCC, Finals: Absolute Darkness

[void_nothing]

Banner based on Yawgmoth's Vile Offering by Noah Bradley and Wizards of the Coast. Thanks to bravelion83 for the "Core Set Style" MCC Logo

September MCC, Round 4 - Absolute Darkness

Welcome to the September MCC! It's Phyrexian Month here at the MCC and by the end of it compleation will fall over this website...

Main Challenge: Design a card whose mana cost includes four or more black mana symbols.
Subchallenge 1: Your card is not a creature.
Subchallenge 2: Your card's mana cost also includes one or more mana symbols of a different color.

DEADLINES

Design deadline: Thursday, October 3rd 23:59 EDT

Judging deadline: Sunday, October 6th 23:59 EDT

Clarifications

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Main challenge - Even though the challenge has Phyrexian flavor the card need not. Your entry can be as non-Phyrexian as "Lim-Dûl's Delicious Fudge" or as Phyrexian as "Recipe Book of the Seventh Sphere", so to speak.

Main challenge - Your card's mana cost must include four mana symbols that are either a B or a hybrid symbol that includes black. You may have any amount of generic mana in the cost.

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:
void_nothing
bravelion83
slimytrout

Players:
Sagharri
SecretInfiltrator
barbecube
Rithaniel

[Sagharri]

Final Cleave 2BBBB
Sorcery (R)
Target player loses half their life, rounded down. Distribute X -1/-1 counter amongs any number of target creatures that player controls, where X is equal to the life lost by that player this turn.

[SecretInfiltrator]

Grasp for Past Glory {b/r}{b/g}{w/b}{u/b}
Sorcery (R)
Choose up to one target instant or sorcery card, up to one target creature card, up to one target enchantment card and up to one target artifact in your graveyard. Return those cards to your hand. You lose 4 life.
Exile Grasp for Past Glory.
The exiled prince dreamed of the days when there was but one realm and his ancestors used to rule it all.

[Rithaniel]

Pitiless Dictum
Sorcery R
Choose one—

• Each opponent loses 5 life and you gain 10 life.
• Each opponent discards a card at random. Return target card from your graveyard to your hand.
• Exile target creature. Create three 1/1 black Snake creature tokens with deathtouch.

[barbecube]

Gorgon's Reclamation BBBBGG
Instant (R)
Destroy all attacking or blocking creatures you don't control. If any creatures were destroyed this way, you may choose a creature card in each graveyard and return them to the battlefield under your control.

[void_nothing]

Round is closed! Judges you know the drill.

[bravelion83]

Judgments complete. All typos should have been fixed.

Sagharri

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Final Cleave 2BBBB
Sorcery (R)
Target player loses half their life, rounded down. Distribute X -1/-1 counter amongs any number of target creatures that player controls, where X is equal to the life lost by that player this turn.

Design
Appeal 3/3 - Timmy likes how this affects the board. Resolving this should be exciting to him. Johnny is already looking for a way to cast this on himself. Spike is looking to do the same but to her opponents.
Elegance 3/3 - Not too long and easy to understand, and makes a lot of sense as a whole holistically. Definitely good enough to me.
Development
Viability 3/3 - No problems with the color pie or rarity.
Balance 3/3 - I think the rate is fine here. The problem will be casting this in limited, but that's true of most cards this round, and it's not your fault, it's just due essentially to the challenge requirements, so this round I'll be more lenient than usual about that. You essentially have to build a monocolor deck in limited, which isn't impossible, but very very difficult. In constructed, I can definitely see this getting play in mono black control decks, provided they are viable in the specific format. I don't think any decks other than mono black would play this, again because of the mana cost that the challenge required. I also notice a tension between wanting to play this as early as possible, to make your opponent lose the highest amount of life and consequently distribute more -1/-1 counters but among less creatures, and wanting to play this late, to maximize the number of creatures you put the counters on, even if you might put less of them overall. I think the side that will win most of the time is the former. In multiplayer, politics will be involved in the choice of which player to target, and this might be good to players who like that (not me, but some are definitely there). I don't see any particular problems in casual.
Creativity
Uniqueness 3/3 - There are no precedents for caring about the life any player lost this turn, or at least if there are I haven't been able to find them. In real Magic, it's always been either you or your opponents, never any player. A few more precedents for players losing half their life, but not too many and it's usually rounded up. Distributing X counters has only a single precedent: Spoils of War, but it's from like twenty years ago and those are +1/+1 counters anyway. The most similar thing to distributing X -1/-1 counters that I can think of is Incremental Blight. A strange thing happened here: with each review, I kept going up and up in score here. I started like "something similar has to exist", then I started making research and I went through a progression going like "this is just old elements put together in a new way but only technically", then "maybe this is actually just similar to Smallpox", then "really? There are so few cards that do this?", and finally "ok, this is definitely original even if I didn't expect it, I have to admit it". This progression ends with just giving you full points here.
Flavor 2/3 - I have no problems with the name. Plenty of room here for flavor text (up to three lines in the MSE M15 frame for sure, four could still fit, only at five lines it starts looking bad on the card), so its absence is also a problem.
Polish
Quality 1.5/3 - "X +1/+1 counters" (the "s" is missing, -0.5), but... oh, look where it actually is! In "amongs"! (-0.5) Finally, it should say "...the life that player lost this turn" (see Archfiend of Despair, -0.5).
Main Challenge 2/2 - Good.
Subchallenges 1/2 - Not a creature, but also has no mana symbols of a different color in the mana cost.
TOTAL 21.5/25

SecretInfiltrator

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Grasp for Past Glory {b/r}{b/g}{w/b}{u/b}
Sorcery (R)
Choose up to one target instant or sorcery card, up to one target creature card, up to one target enchantment card and up to one target artifact in your graveyard. Return those cards to your hand. You lose 4 life.
Exile Grasp for Past Glory.
The exiled prince dreamed of the days when there was but one realm and his ancestors used to rule it all.

Design
Appeal 2/3 - I can't see Timmy caring too much. Johnny is intrigued by the mana cost and all the recursion going on. Spike also appreciates that.
Elegance 1/3 - While I have no problems personally with such a mana cost, we know that mana costs like that in Crystallization are already confusing to some players, especially less experienced ones. I can't even imagine those players having to deal with this mana cost. The symbols being just all the two-color combinations that include black and the repetition of the number 4 (four mana symbols, four "modes", 4 life lost) help a little for aesthetic reasons, but not a lot. And yes, I know that the Reaper King exists, but I think that one half of the mana symbols being generic makes it easier to process compared to this card.
Development
Viability 0.5/3 - That mana cost would never be printed as is, and that's even before analyzing this card from a color pie point of view. You need four abilities, which you have, that must each make sense in each color of one of the hybrid mana symbols. So, let's go! Regrowing instants and sorceries? Certainly blue, maybe red, certainly not black. That's bad. No Izzet hybrid symbol, and none of the ones actually there can do it, as they all contain black. Creatures? White and black. Good. An Orzhov symbol is there and this accounts for that. Enchantments? White for sure, black maybe now that it got non-targeted enchantment interaction, even if it got it as tertiary. That could also fall under the Orzhov symbol, I guess. Artifacts? Blue for sure, maybe red. Again, no Izzet symbol and black can't do that in the modern color pie. The fact that green can just regrow any card doesn't really help. It could make the Golgari symbol count for creatures, but the Rakdos and Dimir symbols are still unaccounted for (also in flavor, see Flavor). Yet one more reason why this card is just unprintable as is. Rare is the very least this can be, but I actually have an easier time picturing this at mythic, even just for the mana cost. That's not something you see every day.
Balance 2/3 - In limited, you can play this in any combination that includes black, and you probably would. In constructed, I think that where this can shine is combo decks based on recursion, possibly also involving delirium. The power is there, returning four cards from your graveyard to your hand can be quite powerful. But you will feel bad if you can only return one or two of the four, especially if you're a Spike. Thankfully you don't need to have all four targets in order to cast this in the first place, courtesy of the "up to one" wording. In casual, the potential confusion caused by the mana cost (see Elegance) can be a problem. I don't see anything changing if you consider multiplayer instead of 1-vs-1.
Creativity
Uniqueness 3/3 - The mana cost by itself deserves full points here. The card could just do whatever. I will mention that it vaguely reminds me of Enter the God-Eternals though, probably for the same repetition of the number 4 that I have already mentioned in Elegance. In all the rest, they're totally different cards.
Flavor 1.5/3 - The flavor of this card apparently works just fine. Name, flavor text, and card concept make sense together. It's clear that the "one realm" represents all mana symbols sharing black. I perceive a very clear Golgari aftertaste though. The focus on the "past" and the "ancestor" feels green to me. Glory can be a black concept, as is someone being in exile. Maybe the last one could also be white? Anyway, Abzan at most. I don't really see any blue or red represented flavorfully on this card. And look, it just so happens that those two are also the colors of the pairs not represented mechanically (see Viability). This card just wants to actually cost 2{W/B}{U/R}.
Polish
Quality 2.5/3 - You rightfully repeat the word "card" after each card type, well, except for artifact... You should have done that there too (-0.5). I'm also not sure whether you have to repeat "in your graveyard" each time, but as I'm not sure, no point deduction for that.
Main Challenge 2/2 - Good. All those hybrid symbols are technically black.
Subchallenges 1.5/2 - Not a creature, that's fine. I totally feel like you met the letter of Subchallenge 2 (all the symbols in the mana cost actually include other colors), but not the spirit, and that's why I'm only giving you 0.5 for that. As I interpret it, the spirit of the challenge was to force you to make a card that's not playable in a monoblack deck, to force you to have to splash another color. This is just playable in a monoblack deck without any problem, just choose to pay all symbols with black mana. The intended difficulty, in my interpretation of the challenge, was to force you to design a gold card with four mana symbols of the same color, which is difficult. As you did it, it's way too easy, and to me it doesn't feel clever but almost like cheating the challenge. I'm sorry.
TOTAL 16/25

Rithaniel

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Pitiless Dictum
Sorcery R
Choose one—

• Each opponent loses 5 life and you gain 10 life.
• Each opponent discards a card at random. Return target card from your graveyard to your hand.
• Exile target creature. Create three 1/1 black Snake creature tokens with deathtouch.

Design
Appeal 2.5/3 - The only part that Timmy might have some problems with is the random discard mode played against him, but he likes all the rest. Johnny can definitely use the recursion and the tokens, or find a way to copy the first mode four times, or something like that. Spike loves the high flexibility of charms, and this is no exception.
Elegance 3/3 - I see no big problems here.
Development
Viability 3/3 - Ok, black is in all three modes and is the prevalent color on this card, which is coherent with the mana cost. The Regrowth effect for any card in the second mode is green, and one could see "exile target creature" as the white part in the last mode, even if black could also just do it by itself. No problems with rarity.
Balance 2/3 - The problem will be casting this in limited, but that's true of most cards this round, and it's not your fault, it's just due essentially to the challenge requirements, so this round I'll be more lenient than usual about that. Still, you need a deck that is three-colored AND can pay a quadruple mana of one single color among those at the same time. I think that's almost impossible to do in limited, and also still very hard in constructed. Even in the latter, you essentially need to be in a format that supports three-colored decks and pushes towards monocolor at the same time. The rules text of the card is perfectly fine, and I have absolutely no problems with it, but I have a very hard time picturing this card's mana cost being payable in anything but the most dedicated decks, with mana bases at the very least like the fetch plus shocklands of Modern, or even the original duals plus Moxen of Legacy and Vintage. In a normal Standard format, I don't think that's payable, not even in a Tarkir-like format. As long as you're able to pay the mana cost, I see no problems in casual. Hitting "each opponent" is obviously interesting in multiplayer.
Creativity
Uniqueness 1/3 - Just old elements put together in a technically new way. I feel like this sentence is quickly becoming a classic of mine... The part that feels the most original to me is the mana cost, but that was just required by the round challenges. Putting those effects in a charm does help a little but not too much.
Flavor 2/3 - No problems with the name. MSE shows me some short flavor text could fit on the card, a couple lines for sure, maybe even three.
Polish
Quality 2.5/3 - There should be a space between "Choose one" and the em dash (see every modal card, -0.5). No deduction for the extra space between that "Choose one" and the modes, as it's clearly just due to the fact that you used the bulleted list tag instead of in-line bullet characters (•).
Main Challenge 2/2 - Good.
Subchallenges 2/2 - Both met. Now this is how Subchallenge 2 was meant to be executed in my opinion.
TOTAL 20/25

barbecube

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Gorgon's Reclamation BBBBGG
Instant (R)
Destroy all attacking or blocking creatures you don't control. If any creatures were destroyed this way, you may choose a creature card in each graveyard and return them to the battlefield under your control.

Design
Appeal 2.5/3 - Timmy really like this, he can save his own creatures while getting even more of them from the graveyard. I feel like Johnny cares way more about the reanimation than the pseudo-Wrath effect. Spike likes everything about this card, she just wishes the mana cost weren't so restrictive.
Elegance 3/3 - I see no big problems here.
Development
Viability 2/3 - I don't see any green here. Actually, I can see some white in "attacking or blocking creatures". All the rest is things that black can just do by itself: mass removal (even though that's another thing pushing this card further into white) and reanimation (white can also technically do that too, while green only can do it as an ability of the creature itself, like Vengevine). In my opinion, from a purely mechanical point of view, this card should be Orzhov, not Golgari. Rarity is clearly right, and there are no problems from a rules point of view.
Balance 2.5/3 - The problem will be casting this in limited, but that's true of most cards this round, and it's not your fault, it's just due essentially to the challenge requirements, so this round I'll be more lenient than usual about that. At least, this is just two colors, so a primary black Golgari deck could still realistically cast this eventually, and that's actually true in constructed too. Obviously, the bigger the format the easier will be to actually pay this mana cost. Mana bases at the very least like the fetch plus shocklands of Modern, or even the original duals plus Moxen of Legacy and Vintage, are required. In a normal Standard format, it's probably only payable in multicolored formats, like Ravnica blocks and sets, because you will need powerful dual lands to cast this. As long as you're able to pay the mana cost, I see no problems in casual. Hitting "each opponent" is obviously very relevant in multiplayer. The fact that you can wait for the creatures to be destroyed to choose which one to reanimate, because the reanimation part of the effect uses the word "choose" and not "target", is clever and very interesting.
Creativity
Uniqueness 2/3 - This is the last variation on a very long line of Wrath effects. This time it's one-sided and hits only attacking and blocking creatures, with an added touch of reanimation. At least all those differences make this card feel different from most other Wraths.
Flavor 1.5/3 - Flavor is the only thing making this card Golgari (see Viability), but I'm convinced you could also find a way to flavor this in Orzhov, the guild this card should belong to. In a vacuum, I have no problems with the name. Plenty of room here for flavor text (up to three lines in the MSE M15 frame for sure, four could still fit, only at five lines it starts looking bad on the card), so its absence is also a problem.
Polish
Quality 2/3 The words "if any creatures" are only found in the reminder text for banding. Not the best premise. In fact, Noxious Gearhulk tells me that it should be "If a creature was destroyed this way..." (-0.5). Then Brought Back takes the floor and tells me that "Return them to the battlefield..." should be its own separate sentence (-0.5).
Main Challenge 2/2 - Good.
Subchallenges 2/2 - Both met. Again, this is how Subchallenge 2 was meant to be executed in my opinion.
TOTAL 19.5/25

Results

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Sagharri: 21.5
SecretInfiltrator: 16
Rithaniel: 20
barbecube: 19.5

[slimytrout]

Sagharri

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Final Cleave 2BBBB
Sorcery (R)
Target player loses half their life, rounded down. Distribute X -1/-1 counter amongs any number of target creatures that player controls, where X is equal to the life lost by that player this turn.

Design
Appeal 2/3 - Timmy likes this card – domes the opponent *and* kills their stuff. Johnny isn't a fan – doesn't let you hit any of your stuff for combos, and the (life loss) effect diminishes as the opponent gets closer to 0 life, so copying it only lets you kill more things. Spike likes it well enough, since distributing the counters properly is a real challenge, and there's some real tension with casting this pre- or post-combat.
Elegance 2.5/3 – It's very easy to gloss the last clause as "where X is equal to the life lost this way," but that is *definitely* not what it says. People would misread it a lot, so in my mind that diminishes the elegance.
Development
Viability 3/3 – Yeah, black can make people lose life in basically any quantity, and it can put -1/-1 counters on things. Rare is correct.
Balance 3/3 – Can definitely see this getting some Cube/Commander play. Quite good in limited (although tough to cast before it's potentially irrelevant), probably not good enough for standard since the type of decks that really want their wraths to be one-sided are probably putting pressure on their opponent's life total, and the types of decks that have opponents sitting at 20 life would prefer not to have to pay 6 mana for a wipe.
Creativity
Uniqueness 3/3 – The first part is very close to Blood Tribute, but the second is totally new.
Flavor 2/3 – Flavor text would be nice, and would definitely fit. Also, name is "Final Cleave," but the card is incapable of killing your opponent, so a bit of a fail there.
Polish
Quality 2.5/3 – The "s" that should be on the end of counters ended up on the end of among instead – I'm going to assume that's just a single typo (-0.5).
Main Challenge 2/2 - Met.
Subchallenges 1/2 – No other color.
TOTAL 21/25

SecretInfiltrator

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Grasp for Past Glory {b/r}{b/g}{w/b}{u/b}
Sorcery (R)
Choose up to one target instant or sorcery card, up to one target creature card, up to one target enchantment card and up to one target artifact in your graveyard. Return those cards to your hand. You lose 4 life.
Exile Grasp for Past Glory.
The exiled prince dreamed of the days when there was but one realm and his ancestors used to rule it all.

Design
Appeal 3/3 – This was a tricky one, but I think it hits everyone. Timmy is very down to get things back, and this has a big enough effect that they don't mind that the cards go to hand rather than being cast/going to the battlefield. Johnny wants to recur things for combos, and this does enough that they can live with the exile clause. Spike loves the choices, both in deckbuilding and in play, that allow them to get the most value from this card.
Elegance 3/3 – Black is the biggest graveyard color, but each color is getting something back that it cares about. Excellent.
Development
Viability 2.5/3 – It's not easy to make a card with four different hybrid mana work, but the fact that they're all black and you can add in some life loss really helps. (This is the approach that I initially thought of when I saw this challenge, for full disclosure, but I'm trying not to let that bias me.) I'm taking off half a point because I think this should be mythic, given its 5-color identity, its straightforward text, and its splashy effect.
Balance 3/3 – Very strong in heavy black decks, but requires some really unusual deckbuilding choices to make it really pay off, so pretty hard to abuse. Since you can't usually get back all four types, it's often a 4-mana draw-3 with substantial life loss, which isn't busted but is very playable.
Creativity
Uniqueness 2/3 – The cost alone qualifies it for a fairly high score here. Otherwise, we've had some recent cards (like Deliver Unto Evil) that have similar effects, minus the fact that you're choosing different types, and each of the types has been done individually.
Flavor 3/3 – Great.
Polish
Quality 2.5/3 – You were so close – "instant or sorcery card," "creature card," "enchantment card," and then simply "artifact" (-0.5).
Main Challenge 2/2 - Good.
Subchallenges 2/2 – Yep.
TOTAL 23/25

Rithaniel

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Pitiless Dictum
Sorcery R
Choose one—

• Each opponent loses 5 life and you gain 10 life.
• Each opponent discards a card at random. Return target card from your graveyard to your hand.
• Exile target creature. Create three 1/1 black Snake creature tokens with deathtouch.

Design
Appeal 2.5/3 – Timmy likes it – a menu of big effects to choose from. Johnny is lukewarm, since all of the choices are generally strong on their face but not particularly easy to build around. Spike loves it, since they have to pick the best thing to do with it in the moment.
Elegance 3/3 – Some nice (anti)symmetry going on.
Development
Viability 3/3 – Hmmm, none of these are really effects that black couldn't do, but then again, it is a mostly black card. I'll let it slide, since I can certainly see where the green and white come in.
Balance 3/3 – Not easy to cast, but woah do you get rewarded when you do. Hard to imagine a situation where you can't use one of these effects to swing a game.
Creativity
Uniqueness 2/3 – Seems to be taking a cue from Cruel Ultimatum, but the effects are very different. I don't think I've ever seen these particular effects combined, but they're all pretty standard fare so you're not going to get full points.
Flavor 2.5/3 – I don't know that you could really have fit flavor text, but here's where I'm going to deduct from the displeasing fact that this is a charm that doesn't have "charm" in its name. It's close enough to universal (damn you, Angrath's Rampage!) that the convention ought to be respected.
Polish
Quality 3/3 – Yep.
Main Challenge 2/2 - Met.
Subchallenges 2/2 – Both met.
TOTAL 23/25

barbecube

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Gorgon's Reclamation BBBBGG
Instant (R)
Destroy all attacking or blocking creatures you don't control. If any creatures were destroyed this way, you may choose a creature card in each graveyard and return them to the battlefield under your control.

Design
Appeal 1.5/3 - Timmy likes it – it's likely a massive blowout and gives them back two potentially huge creatures. Johnny isn't a fan, since using the spell depends on the opponent making a choice that they can't really control. Spike is okay with it, since it does require some choice about when to use it and what to get back, but holding up 6 mana and depending on your opponent to do something to make your spell work isn't their favorite.
Elegance 3/3 – Doesn't have the inherent elegance of some of the earlier entries, but nothing particularly inelegant about it so I'll give full points.
Development
Viability 3/3 – Nothing particularly green about this other than the flavor, but sometimes that's enough. Rarity is correct.
Balance 2.5/3 – I'm not sure this is even very good. In limited it's very difficult to cast, and while it is potentially a lot of card advantage you'll often just be dead by the time you can use it. In constructed formats, people generally don't want to hold up 6-mana spells that can only be cast if your opponents do the right thing. Maybe in commander it would be good if you could blow out an opponent's combat step where multiple players are attacking and blocking and you get 4 creatures back instead of two, but still, 6 specific mana is no joke.
Creativity
Uniqueness 3/3 – Very unusual – obviously has parallels with Settle the Wreckage, but it can be used on blocks as well as on attacks. And the second clause seems to be totally novel – can't find another card that gets you a creature from each graveyard.
Flavor 2/3 – Could really use some flavor text to illuminate a name that is at once straightforward and confusing. Obviously this unnamed gorgon is killing some people, but then she's bringing other people back to life? Not really a gorgon-y thing in general.
Polish
Quality 2.5/3 – I could be wrong about this, in which case I'll revise this to give you full points, but I think the templating (following, say Blood for Bones) should be "return up to one creature card from each graveyard to the battlefield under your control."
Main Challenge 2/2 - Good.
Subchallenges 2/2 – Yep.
TOTAL 21.5/25

Scores

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SecretInfiltrator=23
Rithaniel=23
barbecube=21.5
sagharri=21

[void_nothing]

Sagharri

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Design
(2.5/3) Appeal - Mostly a Txmmy/Spike card for being a huge and bomby effect; Jxnny finds it a bit unsubtle and a blunt instrument but they may have a specifically -1/-1 counter based deck using something like Nest of Scarabs and Necroskitter.
(2.5/3) Elegance - A bit math and tracking-heavy.

Development
(2.5/3) Viability - Very black but if this isn't a mythic rare I don't know what is.
(1.5/3) Balance - A tremendously powerful effect for six mana. This is multicreature removal - possibly even a one-sided board wipe - attached to halving the opponent's life. The color requirement is theoretically difficult but if a monoblack deck is well-supported in any environment this card would be in, that's trouble.

Creativity
(2/3) Uniqueness - Some precedent from general life halving effects but turning that into -1/-1 counters is unique.
(2/3) Flavor - I think short flavor text would have helped this; it's "cleaving" because it hits a player and multiple creatures but it'll never be "final" because it'll always leave the victim with at least 1 life due to rounding down.

Polish
(2.5/3) Quality - "counters" and "among".
(2/2) Main Challenge (*) - Done.
(1/2) Subchallenges - The only colored mana symbols are black.

Total: 18.5/25

SecretInfiltrator

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Design
(2.5/3) Appeal - Potentially four-card recursion is something that anyone can potentially be a fan of, although Txmmy might prefer more straightforward versions of this and pulling off the full version feels like something of a Jxnny dream.
(2.5/3) Elegance - By necessity has to get kind of long-winded with all of those "up to one"s, plus an exile clause.

Development
(2.5/3) Viability - Something about this being castable for monoblack feels slightly off even though the flavor of the mana cost is wonderful.
(2.5/3) Balance - I would at least be wary of this card - four mana for four cards back is no joke at all - but it's hard to set up the full thing and there is the (possibly marginal) drawback of the life loss.

Creativity
(2.5/3) Uniqueness - Spiritually kind of similar to Creeping Renaissance and Muldrotha, the Gravetide. However, even the mana cost of this card is unique.
(3/3) Flavor - Really dig it. Even explains the five-color-hybrid in the flavor text.

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

Total: 22.5/25

Rithaniel

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Design
(2/3) Appeal - Mostly a Txmmy (BIG STUFF!)/Spike (VERSATILE STUFF!) thing - Jxnny doesn't see any particularly interesting interactions.
(2.5/3) Elegance - Three effects, two semi-wordy, but none of them specifically is inelegant.

Development
(3/3) Viability - Colors and rarity look right.
(3/3) Balance - Choice of one of three powerful effects, but the mana cost is hard even with the greatest three-color mana bases and none of them feels like too much for six mana.

Creativity
(2.5/3) Uniqueness - Unique in a modal-mashup sense.
(1.5/3) Flavor - Very abstract, although all the modes do feel somehow "pitiless" - I suppose I should be imagining Dictums as an Ultimatum riff where they're all supercharged Charms and have wedge mana costs in parallel to this one, but without that context I can't say much about the flavor.

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

Total: 21.5/25

barbecube

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Design
(2.5/3) Appeal - Mostly a Txmmy/Spike thing - Jxnny finds it overly straightforward but might want to do something with the reanimation part.
(3/3) Elegance - Pretty straightforward.

Development
(1.5/3) Viability - "Gorgon" in the name or no, this feels one heck of a lot more WB than BG. From the destroying attacking and blocking creatures rider, which is white, to the creature recursion to battlefield, which is WB... yeah, I see nothing much green about this card.
(2/3) Balance - One-sided mass removal plus creature reanimation is very strong, and although the mana cost is difficult here I feel like six mana is slightly too little.

Creativity
(2/3) Uniqueness - Feels like the Mighty Morphin' Magic Card randomed up Fight to the Death and Sorin, Lord of Innistrad.
(2/3) Flavor - The Gorgon flavor is evocative but I wish I knew whether the Gorgon in question was Vraska or some other character. Without art, of course, that's difficult to tell.

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

Total: 20/25

[void_nothing]

Sagharri 21.5 + 21 + 18.5 = 61
SecretInfiltrator 16 + 23 + 22.5 = 61.5
Rithaniel 20 + 23 + 21.5 = 64.5
barbecube 19.5 + 21.5 + 20 = 61

Congratulations to Rithaniel for winning September's MCC!