October MCC Round 3 - Fork in the road

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bravelion83
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Post by bravelion83 » 4 years ago

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(This month's banner is my own elaboration on the art of the card Into the Story by Jason Rainville.)

October MCC Round 3

Fork in the road


Your adventure on Eldraine has now come to a fork in the road. Only two options remain. Which one will you choose?

Main Challenge - Choose one of the following. You cannot choose any options that you've already chosen in Rounds 1 and 2. Be careful because you will literally make your own adventure on Eldraine this month: your choices in each round will be tracked and will influence future rounds. Please see clarifications, especially the "additional rule".

Pay attention: the card types have been rotated among the different options!

Adventure - Design a noncreature artifact, or noncreature enchantment card that has an adventure.
Adamant - Design a creature card with adamant.
Food - Design a creature card that creates Food tokens or uses Food as a cost.
Knights - Design an instant or sorcery card that mechanically cares about your Knights.

Subchallenge 1 - Your card is exactly monocolored and does not share any colors with your cards from Round 1 and Round 2.

Subchallenge 2 - Your card's flavor text is a quote attributed to a character that has a legendary creature or planeswalker card in Throne of Eldraine (including the legends from the planeswalker decks and the Brawl decks, and the Buy-a-box promo).
Please see Clarifications > Subchallenge 2 for a full list of the characters that count.
Clarifications
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Main Challenge

• Yes, no players will be able to choose the "Adventure" option because they've all already chosen it in earlier rounds. I've still included it for completeness, and because it would have been that anyway this round.

You cannot mix and match the options.

You can mix and match the four referenced mechanics from Throne of Eldraine though, as long as the overall card meets one of the options.

ADDITIONAL RULE: If somehow your card meets more than one option at the same time, you MUST choose one specific option that you're going for this round and you MUST mention your chosen option in your submission post. If you don't do this, your submission will NOT count and your card DQ'ed. This rule is necessary for the proper continuation of this MCC month. Please, please, don't make me actually do this! I did say please!
If your card only meets one option, that's automatically your chosen option. You CAN mention it in your submission post, but your submission will still count if you don't.
To be sure, it's advisable that you mention your chosen option anyway. You will never be DQ'ed for that in any case, and you don't want to take the risk of not realizing that your card unwillingly meets a second option and you get DQ'ed for not mentioning which of the options you were going for, though it was obvious to you. But I and the other judges are not telepaths, we can't see what was in your mind as you designed your card, so, again, please don't make me DQ cards for this! I really don't want to!
Please note: this is a specific exception to the "don't post anything in your submission post except for the text card and an optional render" rule for this round, and counts only for mentioning the chosen option. If you post any other additional content in your submission post that is not your chosen option, normal rules apply and you WILL be penalized.

• If you're wondering, yes, the rotation among options not being perfect is intentional, and actually just due to the fact that Adventures can't be on instant and sorceries.
From discussion thread
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bravelion83 wrote:
4 years ago
Gateways7 wrote:
4 years ago
As for the balance section, I used the guidelines set by Leo in the first challenge,
I'd like to remind everyone that those are just while we wait for an official MSE Adventure frame (hopefully coming soon). And anyway, this won't be a problem anymore in the last two rounds as all the six "surviving" players have already used the Adventure option.


netn10
netn10 wrote:
4 years ago
Question: Does this card count for caring about knights you control?

Silence of the Court 2UU
Instant (Rare)
Counter target spell.
Tap four untapped Knight creatures you control: Return Silence of the Court from your graveyard to your hand.
I'm answering your question here in the discussion thread, where it belongs. I've quoted it here exactly so that you can remove it from your submission post before the design deadline. The only additional thing you can include in your submission post this round is the specific option you're choosing (no need to mention all your previous choices, I'm tracking them all in an Excel sheet, just mention what you're going for in this specific round). Any other questions, doubts, etc... go here.

Anyway, the answer to your question is yes, it counts. See this sentence from Clarification > option-specific > Knights:
bravelion83 wrote:
4 years ago
The interaction can be anything you can think of
And nowhere does it say that the tribal Knight part can't be a cost. Your card, as quoted above, passes the Main Challenge - option "Knights".
Main Challenge option-specific clarifications
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Adventure
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• Your card must NOT be a creature, tribal, or planeswalker, that is NOT have any of those card types on its type line. It must be an artifact or enchantment, that is have the "artifact" and/or "enchantment" card types on its type line. It can have other additional card types though. For example, an "Enchantment Artifact", like the weapons of the gods from original Theros, is fine.

• A creature card (that's a card that has the card type "creature" on its type line) doesn't count for this option, regardless of whether it has additional card types, or of whether it can turn into a noncreature. Notably, an "Artifact Creature" or "Enchantment Creature" does NOT count for this option.

• No, the Tribal card type is not allowed. A "Tribal Artifact – Knight" does NOT count for this option.

• Your card must have an adventure. A card that doesn't have an adventure doesn't count for this option.

• A creature card (that's a card that has the card type "creature" on its type line) doesn't count for this option, regardless of whether it can turn into a noncreature and of whether it has an adventure or not.

Q: How should I format my adventurer card?
A: Just like if it were a split card. Write the creature part as a normal text card, then add a separator below it (a double forward slash, //, is advised), and then write the Adventure part as it would be written on the left side of a real adventurer card's text box. In the Adventure part, don't forget the "Adventure" subtype and not only you can not put rarity in, but you should not. On real adventurer cards, there is no colored expansion symbol on the type line of the Adventure part.

For example, Flaxen Intruder would be written out like follows.
Flaxen Intruder G
Creature — Human Berserker (U)
Whenever Flaxen Intruder deals combat damage to a player, you may sacrifice it. When you do, destroy target artifact or enchantment.
The middle blade was just right.
1/2

//

Welcome Home 5GG
Sorcery — Adventure
Create three 2/2 green Bear creature tokens. (Then exile this card. You may cast the creature later from exile.)
Adamant
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• Your card must be a creature, that is have the "creature" card type on its type line. It can have other additional card types though. For example, an artifact creature is fine.

• Your card must have adamant. An card that doesn't have adamant doesn't count for this option even if it has the "creature" card type.

• A card that doesn't have the "creature" card type on its type line doesn't count for this option, regardless of whether it has adamant or not.
Food
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• Your card must be a creature, that is have the "creature" card type on its type line. It can have other additional card types though. For example, an artifact creature is fine.

• Your card must either create Food tokens as an effect or use Food as a cost. Anything else doesn't count for this option.

• "Using Food as a cost" means having to sacrifice Food as an additional or alternative cost to cast your spell, as part of an activation cost, as a cost you have to pay while a triggered ability is resolving, or anything else you can think of. Essentially, there must be the text "sacrifice N Foods" and it must be a cost.

• Your card can have both an effect that creates Food tokens and a cost that uses Food at the same time.

• It has to be a cost or effect of the card itself, not something granted to other things. For example, "Spells cost an additional 'Sacrifice a Food' to cast" doesn't count for this option because it's not a cost or effect of the card itself.

• A card that's not a creature (that is a card that doesn't have the "creature" card type on its type line) doesn't count for this option, regardless of whether it creates Food tokens/uses Food as a cost or not.
Knights
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• Your card must be an instant or sorcery, that is have the "instant" or "sorcery" card type on its type line.

• Your card must have an ability that cares about Knights you control. A card that doesn't have such an ability doesn't count for this option.

• "Caring about other Knights of yours" means interacting with one or more Knight creatures on your side of the battlefield or Knight cards you own in any zone other than the battlefield. The interaction can be anything you can think of, doesn't matter whether positive or negative, even if I don't know why you would want to interact in a negative way with your own Knights.

• The interaction, whatever it is, has to specifically include your own Knights. For example, "Knights your opponents control get -1/-1" doesn't meet this option, while "All Knights get +1/+1" does, because it includes your own Knights too. "Target Knight gets +1/+1 until end of turn" also counts, because it can target your Knights, even though it can also target other players' ones. "Search your library for a Knight card" also counts, as you're taking your own Knights out of it. You essentially have to ask yourself: "can this affect one or more of my own Knights on the battlefield or my own Knight cards anywhere else?"

• If your card grants a bonus to "target Knight", it must be able to target one or more Knights you control. All that matters is that it can target one or more Knights if there are on your side of the battlefield. Of course, you can just say "target Knight you control" and have none of these problems.
Subchallenge 1
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• Your card has to meet two conditions:
- It must be monocolored, that is have only one color of mana in its mana cost. We're looking specifically at the mana cost here, not the color identity of the card. Colorless cards and multicolored cards (both traditional gold and hybrid) automatically fail this subchallenge.
- It can't have any of the colors of your cards from Round 1 and Round 2. No need to quote your cards or chosen options from Round 1 and Round 2, I'm tracking everything myself (see the list of players below).

• If only one condition is met, the card does NOT satisfy this subchallenge. Both have to be met at the same time.

• This round, off-color symbols in rules text are allowed.

• Traditional hybrid mana (like {R/W}), anywhere on the card, automatically fails this subchallenge (it's not monocolored).

• Monocolored hybrid (so-called "two-brid", like {2/W}) passes this subchallenge, because, well... monocolored hybrid is monocolored! That's as long as you haven't already used that color in Round 1 or Round 2.
Subchallenge 2
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• This subchallenge obviously requires that flavor text is there in the first place. Cards without flavor text automatically fail this subchallenge.

• For convenience, here is the list of all legendary creatures and planeswalkers from ELD, including the main set, the planeswalker decks, the Brawl decks, and the Buy-a-box promo. Your flavor text must be a quote from one of these characters:
Will Kenrith doesn't have a card representing himself separately from his twin Rowan, but he's still represented in The Royal Scions, so you can quote him too.

• If you want to quote Garruk, you can quote him in his insane state while he was still cursed, or in his sane state after his curse is broken. Both count as quoting Garruk.

• If your chosen character is only mentioned in the flavor text, it doesn't count. It has to be a quote attributed to that character. Of course, you can still mention that or other characters in the flavor text, but all that counts is the attribution.

• And please, remember that flavor text must be in italics and that the attribution goes on a separate line, with an em dash (ALT+0151 in Windows) , not a hyphen, right before it and no spaces between the em dash and the character's name.

This is a hyphen: -
This is an em dash: — (you should also be able to copy and paste it from here if you want)

Examples follow.

These are wrong:
"This is the challenge I've created this round." - Leo, the Cowardly Lion
Attribution not on a separate line, hyphen instead of em dash, space between the dash and the name.
"This is the challenge I've created this round." -Leo, the Cowardly Lion
Attribution not on a separate line, hyphen instead of em dash.
"This is the challenge I've created this round."
- Leo, the Cowardly Lion
Hyphen instead of em dash, space between the dash and the name.
"This is the challenge I've created this round." — Leo, the Cowardly Lion
Attribution not on a separate line, space between the dash and the name.
"This is the challenge I've created this round." —Leo, the Cowardly Lion
Attribution not on a separate line.
"This is the challenge I've created this round."
— Leo, the Cowardly Lion
Space between the dash and the name.
"This is the challenge I've created this round."
—Leo, the Cowardly Lion
This would be correct if only it were in italics.


This is correct:
"This is the challenge I've created this round."
—Leo, the Cowardly Lion

• Remember that spelling and grammar do matter!

• This subchallenge only specifically looks at the flavor text. If the name of your chosen character is mentioned in the card name but not in the flavor text, it doesn't count. Of course, you can still just mention it in both.
If you have any other question that are not included in this (admittedly already long) spoiler, feel free to ask in the discussion thread.

DEADLINES

Design deadline: Wednesday, October 23th 23:59 EDT

Judging deadline: Saturday, October 26th 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
Gateways7
Blydden


PLAYERS

This is the versus round. Players will be paired against each other, with each pair judged by two judges. From each pair, the player with the highest combined score will advance to the final round.

Next to the name of each player I've reported the options available to them to pass the Main Challenge and the colors available to them to pass Subchallenge 1.

Flatline
Available options: Adamant, Food
Available colors: URG

Henlock
Available options: Adamant, Knights
Available colors: UBR

netn10
Available options:Adamant, Knights
Available colors: UBR

Subject16
Available options: Adamant, Food
Available colors: WBG

The_Hittite
Available options: Adamant, Food
Available colors: WUG

void_nothing
Available options: Food, Knights
Available colors: WUB


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 here and 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

Judge: bravelion83
Flatline vs. Henlock
netn10 vs. void_nothing

Judge: Blydden
netn10 vs. void_nothing
Subject16 vs. The_Hittite

Judge: Gateways7
Subject16 vs. The_Hittite
Flatline vs. Henlock
Last edited by bravelion83 4 years ago, edited 4 times in total.
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).
After I'm done republishing my articles I want to reprise the series focusing it more on editing, wording, and templating. Suggest potential future article topics here.
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MCC - Winner (9): Oct 2014, Apr Nov 2017, Jan 2018, Apr Jun 2019, Jan Mar 2022, Apr 2023 || Host (30): Dec 2014, Apr Jul Aug Dec 2015, Mar Jul Aug Oct 2016, Feb Jul 2017, Jun Nov 2018, Feb Jul 2019 (last on MTGS), Aug 2019 (first on MTGN) Oct 2019, Jan Jun 2020 Apr Oct 2021, Feb May Sep Dec 2022, Mar Jun Sep Dec 2023, Mar 2024 || Judge (58): every month from Nov 2014 to Nov 2016 except Oct 2015, every month from Feb to Jul 2017 except Apr 2017, then Oct 2017, May Jun Nov 2018, Feb Jul 2019 (last on MTGS), every month from Aug 2019 (first on MTGN) to Feb 2020, May Jun 2020, Mar Apr Sep Oct 2021, Feb May Sep Dec 2022, Mar May Jun Sep Dec 2023, Jan Mar 2024
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The_Hittite
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Post by The_Hittite » 4 years ago

Adamant

Labyrinth Guides 2U
Creature — Faerie (U)
Flying
Adamant — If at least three blue mana was spent to cast this spell, create a 1/1 red Goblin creature token.
"One will lead you to your goal, the other will lead you to your doom. Make your choice."
—Oko, the Trickster

1/2
Last edited by The_Hittite 4 years ago, edited 1 time in total.

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Subject16
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Post by Subject16 » 4 years ago

Red Adventure
Blue Knights
Green Food

Korvold's Hydra XGG
Creature — Turtle Hydra (Rare)
Korvold's Hydra enters the battlefield with X +1/+1 counters on it.
If a source would deal damage to Korvold's Hydra while it has a +1/+1 counter on it, prevent that damage, remove that many +1/+1 counters from it, and create that many Food tokens.
2, Sacrifice another creature or a Food: Put two +1/+1 counters on Korvold's Hydra.
"Stay. We would love to have you for dinner."
—Korvold, Fae-Cursed King

0/0
Last edited by Subject16 4 years ago, edited 3 times in total.

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Flatline
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Post by Flatline » 4 years ago

Faren's Familiar gg
Creature — Bear (R)
When Faren's Familiar enters the battlefield, sacrifice a Food. If you can't, return Faren's Familiar to your hand and create a Food token. (It's an artifact with "2 , Sacrifice this artifact: You gain 3 life.")
"A well fed beast makes for a faithful friend."
—Syr Faren, the Hengehammer

4/4
Last edited by Flatline 4 years ago, edited 6 times in total.
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netn10
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Post by netn10 » 4 years ago

Blue - Knights

Silence of the Court 2UU
Instant (Rare)
Counter target spell.
Tap four untapped Knight creatures you control: Return Silence of the Court from your graveyard to your hand.
"By the power vested in us, we shall cast you out!"
- Syr Elenora, the Discerning

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void_nothing
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Post by void_nothing » 4 years ago

Return in Glory 2W
Instant (R)
Return target nonland permanent card with converted mana cost X or less from your graveyard to the battlefield, where X is the number of non-Knight creatures you control plus twice the number of Knights you control.
"All quests must end, but thankfully some end with rejoicing." - Syr Gwyn, Hero of Ashvale
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Post by Henlock » 4 years ago

Sorcery, Knights

Merciless Grimblade 3b
Creature - Human Knight (u)
When Merciless Grimblade enters the battlefield, destroy target creature an opponent controls that was dealt damage this turn.
3/2
//
Punish the Unworthy 2b
Sorcery
Punish the Unworthy deals 1 damage to each non-Knight creature.

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bravelion83
MKM MCC going on now
Posts: 4039
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Post by bravelion83 » 4 years ago

The round is closed. Brackets are as follows.


BRACKETS

Judge: bravelion83
Flatline vs. Henlock
netn10 vs. void_nothing

Judge: Blydden
netn10 vs. void_nothing
Subject16 vs. The_Hittite

Judge: Gateways7
Subject16 vs. The_Hittite
Flatline vs. Henlock


Good work to my fellow judges! Let's do our thing!



Judgments complete.
Flatline
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Flatline wrote:
4 years ago
Faren's Familiar gg
Creature — Bear (R)
When Faren's Familiar enters the battlefield, sacrifice a Food. If you can't, return Faren's Familiar to your hand and create a Food token. (It's an artifact with "2 , Sacrifice this artifact: You gain 3 life.")
"A well fed beast makes for a faithful friend."
—Syr Faren, the Hengehammer

4/4
Design
Appeal 3/3 - A big creature for Timmy, undercosted for Spike. Johnny could use this as a Food generator: create a Food token, use the token for some other purposes, and then do it again.
Elegance 3/3 - No problems here.
Development
Viability 3/3 - No problems with the color pie, rarity, or the rules.
Balance 3/3 - The main problem here is whether the drawback is worth the two-mana discount. Comparing this to Greenbelt Rampager, it probably is. That's a one-mana 3/4, this is a two-mana 4/4. One more point of power for one more mana and a very similar drawback. I feel like if the Rampager saw print, this could too without any big problems. Must-play in limited, and I could also see this having some Standard implications, again, like the Rampager did at the time of Kaladesh. No problems in casual or multiplayer.
Creativity
Uniqueness 1/3 - Greenbelt Rampager immediately came to mind without even searching Gatherer (I only did to find the card's name, but I remembered everything else by myself). This is just a Food version of it. It works, but it's just too similar to the Rampager to get high points here.
Flavor 3/3 - I see no problems here. Good name, good concept (Faren feeds the Food to his bear), and very good flavor text that puts it all together. I feel like you couldn't have done better in this area.
Polish
Quality 3/3 - All good.
Main Challenge 2/2 - Good.
Subchallenges 2/2 - Both met.
TOTAL 23/25
Henlock
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Henlock wrote:
4 years ago
Sorcery, Knights

Merciless Grimblade 3b
Creature - Human Knight (u)
When Merciless Grimblade enters the battlefield, destroy target creature an opponent controls that was dealt damage this turn.
3/2
//
Punish the Unworthy 2b
Sorcery
Punish the Unworthy deals 1 damage to each non-Knight creature.
Design
Appeal 2/3 - Timmy likes to kill opposing creatures, but not to damage his own. Johnny could probably do something with this and recursion, but I'm not sure. Spike likes removal, but to her this card just reads as Murder but for seven mana instead of three. Way too overcosted for her taste.
Elegance 3/3 - No problems here.
Development
Viability 2/3 - All the precedents that I've been able to find for the Pestilence effect in black always say "1 damage to each creature and each player". All other variations are red. Maybe Punish the Unworthy could have been a bend and say "1 damage to each non-Knight creature and each player", but as is, I'd say it should be red. I have no problems with rarity.
Balance 2/3 - Assuming this is an adventurer card (see Quality), I think the costs are correct if you compare them to other similar existing cards. I can easily see this card getting limited play, but very hardly in constructed. Maybe at most as a sideboard card against token decks? No problems in casual. Obviously, "each non-Knight creature" is relevant in multiplayer.
Creativity
Uniqueness 1/3 - A smaller colorshifted Fiery Cannonade that turns into a Fathom Fleet Cutthroat. If Adventures had been in Ixalan as a mechanic, this card could just have come from there instead of Eldraine. There are also plenty of other cards doing either half, too many to be listed here.
Flavor 2.5/3 - No problems with the names. Using the guidelines about Adventures that I've posted last round (and that I wanted to post again here, but I just honestly forgot, so my bad there), a short flavor text could have fit, something like the one sentence of Flaxen Intruder.
Polish
Quality 1/3 - If I pay extra attention to the proper use of dashes in flavor text this round, I have to do it for the other parts of a card too. The hyphen between the card type and the subtypes should be an em dash (ALT+0151 in Windows. This: —, not this: -) (-0.5). Check Clarifications > Subchallenge2 to see more about the difference between them. Also, I suppose this is meant to be an adventurer card, but it doesn't have the Adventure subtype on the sorcery! As is, this doesn't even work as an adventurer card (functional mistake, -1). Supposing this is meant to be an adventurer card, reminder text for the adventure mechanic should also be there on the (again, supposed) Adventure part (-0.5).
Main Challenge 1/2 - This technically passes the "Knights" option, but only in letter and not in spirit. Yes, assuming that it's an adventurer card (see Quality), it's a card that you can cast as a sorcery and the sorcery has an effect that cares about Knights, but there are problems here:
1. It's not always a sorcery. It is only if it's on the stack AND if it's been cast as an Adventure. Those are very specific circumstances. In any other zone, and at any other time, this card doesn't even have the sorcery card type. The spirit of the challenge was that your card had to be an instant or sorcery all the time, and specifically, that it had to have one of those two card types on its "main" type line.
2. This is not an interaction with your Knights, but with creatures that are not Knights. It's not the same thing. Interacting in a negative way with non-Knights is not the same thing as interacting in a positive way with Knights. The challenge asked for the latter, but you did the former.
For these reasons, I'm only giving you half points here.
Subchallenges 1/2 - Subchallenge 1 is met. No flavor text, so Subchallenge 2 is automatically failed.
TOTAL 15.5/25



netn10
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netn10 wrote:
4 years ago
Blue - Knights

Silence of the Court 2UU
Instant (Rare)
Counter target spell.
Tap four untapped Knight creatures you control: Return Silence of the Court from your graveyard to your hand.
"By the power vested in us, we shall cast you out!"
- Syr Elenora, the Discerning
Design
Appeal 2/3 - Timmy doesn't care and actively hates this card when played against him. The recursion aspect could be appealing to Johnny. Spike is just in love with this card. A potentially repeatable counterspell? Sign her up! The only problem to her is that it competes (and loses) against Cryptic Command at four mana in older formats.
Elegance 3/3 - No problems here.
Development
Viability 3/3 - No problems with the color pie, rarity, or the rules.
Balance 2/3 - This is the only area that slightly worries me. A potentially repeatable counterspell, despite being what Spike loves, looks like a very unfun card for most other players to play against. Luckily there are hoops to jump through to get this back: tapping four Knights in a color that's not one of the primary Knight colors in ELD is a pretty steep cost. This being four mana instead of the three mana of Cancel, sometimes even with upside, also helps. You might play this in limited but it's not a given. In ELD, most Knights are in other colors and this isn't really splashable. I can see cases where you'd play this, but I can also see this being one of your cuts. In constructed, any control deck that can somehow afford to have four Knights will play this, but to decks that can't take advantage of the built-in recursion, this is just an even more unplayable Cancel. I see no problems in casual or multiplayer.
Creativity
Uniqueness 1/3 - Just another counterspell with upside. We've seen a lot of those.
Flavor 3/3 - No problems here. Name, flavor text, and card concept are all good and work very well with each other.
Polish
Quality 2/3 - With a subchallenge caring about flavor text, I will have to pay particular attention to it (the rest of the card is all good). The attribution should use an em dash (ALT+0151 in Windows) instead of a hyphen (-0.5), and have no space between the dash and the name of the character (-0.5). See the examples I purposefully made in the Clarification spoiler, under "Subchallenge 2". Those have been there since I first created this thread.
Main Challenge 2/2 - Good.
Subchallenges 1.5/2 - Subchallenge 1 is met. As for Subchallenge 2, the flavor text is a quote and the quoted character has a card in ELD, but it's formatted wrongly. See Quality, and also see the examples I purposefully made in the Clarification spoiler, under "Subchallenge 2". Those have been there since I first created this thread.
TOTAL 19.5/25
void_nothing
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void_nothing wrote:
4 years ago
Return in Glory 2W
Instant (R)
Return target nonland permanent card with converted mana cost X or less from your graveyard to the battlefield, where X is the number of non-Knight creatures you control plus twice the number of Knights you control.
"All quests must end, but thankfully some end with rejoicing." - Syr Gwyn, Hero of Ashvale
Design
Appeal 2.5/3 - Timmy already likes this card in a vacuum, but he especially likes it in a tribal Knight deck. Johnny could try to do something with the reanimation, but I'm not sure if he will succeed. Spike always likes reanimation at a reasonable cost.
Elegance 2/3 - Not a problem for me personally, but this is a card that requires math, and that will be a problem to some players.
Development
Viability 2/3 - So, let's talk about white reanimation. First, what does W reanimate? "Nonland permanent card" means artifacts, enchantments, creatures, and planeswalkers. No problems with the first two, but W can only reanimate small creatures (and probably, by extension, planeswalkers), so having an upper limit of CMC is correct. I have one remark about this, but it belongs more in Balance, so more on that in just a moment. In a vacuum, I could even see something like this at uncommon, but seeing how powerful it is in a Knight tribal deck, putting it at rare is probably the right choice.
Balance 1/3 - So, what was my remark? That the upper limit has too high variance: rightly restrictive but maybe even a bit too low in non-Knights decks, and so high that it might as well just not be there in Knight tribal decks. There, if you have three Knights out, which is a rather easy thing to do for a Knight tribal deck, even just in ELD limited, let alone constructed, this reads "return a six-drop for three mana". At that point, first, the power level is just too high, second, again, the limitation might just as well not be there, and third, that isn't exactly "reanimating small things", so it belongs in black and not in white (this is why I was also mentioning this in Viability). And that only gets worse if you imagine a situation where you have even more Knights on your side of the battlefield. I don't like this gap in power between Knight and non-Knight decks very much. As a result of that, this card would see a lot of play in Knight tribal decks, but not as much, if any, in other decks, and this is true both in limited and constructed. If we were in the real R&D and I was an editor for this card you designed, I'd probably write you a note saying: Might we want to consider just saying "where X is the number of Knights you control?" Yes, you'd lose a lot in Uniqueness, but you'd very probably gain that back and even more in Viability and Balance. No need to mention specific formats, as these considerations are valid in any and all of them.
Creativity
Uniqueness 2.5/3 - We've seen white reanimating things before, but that last sentence ("where X is...") is something that I can't remember ever seeing before.
Flavor 3/3 - No problems here. Name, flavor text, and card concept are all good and work very well with each other.
Polish
Quality 1.5/3 - With a subchallenge caring about flavor text, I will have to pay particular attention to it (the rest of the card is all good). The attribution should be on its own line (-0.5), with an em dash (ALT+0151 in Windows) instead of a hyphen (-0.5), and with no space between the dash and the name of the character (-0.5). See the examples I purposefully made in the Clarification spoiler, under "Subchallenge 2". Those have been there since I first created this thread.
Main Challenge 2/2 - Good.
Subchallenges 1.5/2 - Subchallenge 1 is met. As for Subchallenge 2, the flavor text is a quote and the quoted character has a card in ELD, but it's formatted wrongly. See Quality, and also see again the examples I purposefully made in the Clarification spoiler, under "Subchallenge 2". Those have been there since I first created this thread.
TOTAL 18/25



Results
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Flatline: 23
Henlock: 15.5

netn10: 19.5
void_nothing: 18
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).
After I'm done republishing my articles I want to reprise the series focusing it more on editing, wording, and templating. Suggest potential future article topics here.
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MCC - Winner (9): Oct 2014, Apr Nov 2017, Jan 2018, Apr Jun 2019, Jan Mar 2022, Apr 2023 || Host (30): Dec 2014, Apr Jul Aug Dec 2015, Mar Jul Aug Oct 2016, Feb Jul 2017, Jun Nov 2018, Feb Jul 2019 (last on MTGS), Aug 2019 (first on MTGN) Oct 2019, Jan Jun 2020 Apr Oct 2021, Feb May Sep Dec 2022, Mar Jun Sep Dec 2023, Mar 2024 || Judge (58): every month from Nov 2014 to Nov 2016 except Oct 2015, every month from Feb to Jul 2017 except Apr 2017, then Oct 2017, May Jun Nov 2018, Feb Jul 2019 (last on MTGS), every month from Aug 2019 (first on MTGN) to Feb 2020, May Jun 2020, Mar Apr Sep Oct 2021, Feb May Sep Dec 2022, Mar May Jun Sep Dec 2023, Jan Mar 2024
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Blydden
Philosophical Crusader
Posts: 30
Joined: 4 years ago
Pronoun: he / him

Post by Blydden » 4 years ago

(holder) All done!
netn10
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netn10 wrote:
4 years ago
Silence of the Court 2UU
Instant (Rare)
Counter target spell.
Tap four untapped Knight creatures you control: Return Silence of the Court from your graveyard to your hand.
"By the power vested in us, we shall cast you out!"
- Syr Elenora, the Discerning
Design -
(2/3) Appeal: Timmy hates counterspells, but Johnny and Spike both like them. This card is efficiently recursive for both Johnny and Spike as well.
(2.5/3) Elegance: This graveyard interaction constitutes a minor elegance, because this spell may still require the opponent's attention post-resolution as well.

Development -
(2.5/3) Viability: This card is both Blue and Rare. However, I would consider a recursive counterspell to be a viability bend. It could very not fun to force an opponent to play around this spell.
(2/3) Balance: This card is difficult to splash since the Knight colors are RWB.
Nonetheless, it is not nearly as hard to build a , a Bant (GWU), or an Esper (WUB) Knight deck.
I don't believe this card would be an issue in Throne of Eldraine Limited or in the current Standard environment. On the other hand, this card could be very not fun to play against in casual as well as the new format, Pioneer.

Creativity -
(1.5/3) Uniqueness: The upside to this Cancel is pretty unique, though it somewhat reminds me of Fervent Denial as well.
(3/3) Flavor: I love the name and like the flavor text. Mechanically, this seems like something Blue Knights would go to the effort of doing to protect their castle. Well done.

Polish -
(2/3) Quality: I did not notice any qualitative errors aside from the incorrect flavor text (minus one point).
[The flavor text was super easy to get right this round. bravelion83 already did all the hard work and even went to the effort of clarifying it perfectly as well.]
(2/2) Main Challenge: Knightly!
(1.5/2) Subchallenges: Subchallenge 1 met!
Regarding Subchallenge 2, the spirit of it was met, but the letter of it was not due to the flavor text's qualitative errors.

Total: 19/25
Final thought: That flavor text was awfully loud for a card with "Silence" in its name!
VS
void_nothing
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void_nothing wrote:
4 years ago
Return in Glory 2W
Instant (R)
Return target nonland permanent card with converted mana cost X or less from your graveyard to the battlefield, where X is the number of non-Knight creatures you control plus twice the number of Knights you control.
"All quests must end, but thankfully some end with rejoicing." - Syr Gwyn, Hero of Ashvale
Design -
(3/3) Appeal: Timmy loves potentially big effects like this. This is a card that Johnny could easily fit into one of his decks as well. Spike like this card for its efficiency and ability to close out a game while ahead.
(1.5/3) Elegance: Wow this card is at least as mathematical as Fireball.
I mean, at least Fireball|BTD had the mercy of being a Sorcery; requiring this kind of math be done on an Instant is one heck of an elegance break!

Development -
(2/3) Viability: This card is exactly both White and Rare.
White can only reanimate small creatures and hasn't reanimated planeswalkers yet, although it probably could. I would say this card is a major viability bend, but it could have the potential to be a break at worst.
(0.5/3) Balance: bravelion83 wrote a fine thesis on the balance of this card, and I mostly agree with it, but it missed that this is an Instant and not a Sorcery. This card is not only more reliable as an Instant, but it can act as a soft counter to the broad clearing spells that should be good against this sort of reanimation strategy.

Creativity -
(3/3) Uniqueness: I think this card is clever! White reanimating any small nonland permanent hasn't exactly been done yet, but I would definitely call that unique.
(2/3) Flavor: I like the card name, and the mechanical flavor is great despite being complicated. The flavor text reads as forced and dour to me, so I would rather it seem more glorious and celebratory.

Polish -
(1.5/3) Quality: I did not notice any qualitative errors aside from the butchered flavor text (minus one and a half points).
[The flavor text was super easy to get right this round. bravelion83 already did all the hard work and even went to the effort of clarifying it perfectly as well.]
(2/2) Main Challenge: Knightly!
(1.5/2) Subchallenges: Subchallenge 1 met!
Regarding Subchallenge 2, the spirit of it was met, but the letter of it was not due to the flavor text's qualitative errors.

Total: 17/25
Final thought: I wonder if the Knights of the Round Table had to do calculus to ensure that the chairs around the literal Round Table were all evenly spaced.



Subject16
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Subject16 wrote:
4 years ago
Korvold's Hydra XGG
Creature — Turtle Hydra (Rare)
Korvold's Hydra enters the battlefield with X +1/+1 counters on it.
If a source would deal damage to Korvold's Hydra while it has a +1/+1 counter on it, prevent that damage, remove that many +1/+1 counters from it, and create that many Food tokens.
2, Sacrifice another creature or a Food: Put two +1/+1 counters on Korvold's Hydra.
"Stay. We would love to have you for dinner."
—Korvold, Fae-Cursed King

0/0
Design -
(3/3) Appeal: Timmy loves hydras. The ability to create so much Food all at once also creates an engine for Johnny to do stuff with. Spike likes this hydra in particular for its efficiency and flexibility.
(2/3) Elegance: This card is overly wordy, counting up to 10 lines of rules text once rendered.

Development -
(2/3) Viability: This card is indeed Rare, but sacrificing creatures in the way that this creature does is Black, not Green. Let me stress that this does constitute a color break.
My fellow judge mentioned Ambush Commander, but that card is far too old to be considered precedent in my opinion.
(2/3) Balance: This card absolutely should cost XBG. As a mono-Green card, it is too easy to cast and use as a Food engine in almost any Green deck. Many Green decks are already splashing Blue for Oko, Thief of Crowns.

Creativity -
(2.5/3) Uniqueness: None of these lines of rules text are truly novel, but this card reinvigorates all three of them with uniqueness.
(2.5/3) Flavor: The flavor text is great and the mechanics of this card are great as well. I would have enjoyed another pun in the card's name because I think it is somewhat lacking as-is.

Polish -
(3/3) Quality: Perfect!
(2/2) Main Challenge: Delicious!
(2/2) Subchallenges: Both subchallenges met!

Total: 21/25
Final thought: I'm not too sure why Throne of Eldraine printed more turtle hydras than turtles?
VS
The_Hittite
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The_Hittite wrote:
4 years ago
Labyrinth Guides 2U
Creature — Faerie (U)
Flying
Adamant — If at least three blue mana was spent to cast this spell, create a 1/1 red Goblin creature token.
"One will lead you to your goal, the other will lead you to your doom. Make your choice."
—Oko, the Trickster

1/2
Design -
(0/3) Appeal: This is disappointing draft fodder, especially at Uncommon.
(2.5/3) Elegance: Off-color token creation constitutes a minor inelegance.

Development -
(1/3) Viability: This card fits better into White since it creates a creature token and not a Food token.
The chosen rarity of Uncommon is incorrect; this card follows New World Order and fits much better as a Common.
Creating an off-color token can also be a viability issue. Furthermore, in Throne of Eldraine, there are 1/1 white Humans, 1/1 white Mice, 1/1 black Rats, and 1/1 red Dwarves. There are no Goblin tokens in Throne of Eldraine; I am positive that the token would be re-typed during development.
(0.5/3) Balance: This card costs 1 mana more than Storm Crow, a card that is already overcosted. By contrast, Rustwing Falcon was a suitably playable card in Limited.
But, this card is at least playable in mono-Blue in Limited. It is a decent 3-drop for UUU, but I'd much rather have a good 3-drop for 2U. Especially since this is an Uncommon.

Creativity -
(1/3) Uniqueness: So far, Adamant cards have mostly created Food tokens rather than creature tokens.
(1/3) Flavor: I like this card's name alright. Otherwise I do not believe that the flavor text and the rules text of this card properly mesh.
Oko is , so creating a Red creature token instead of a Food token or at least a Blue or Green creature token seems odd. Moreover, is the token a worthy goal? It makes more sense to be doom, but creating a creature token is strictly good for the player's board state.

Polish -
(3/3) Quality: Perfect!
(2/2) Main Challenge: Adamant!
(2/2) Subchallenges: Both subchallenges met!

Total: 13/25
Final thoughts: I do have to admit that Throne of Eldraine might have benefited from more Redcaps. Go go Redcaps!



Results!
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netn10 - 19
void_nothing - 17

Subject16 - 21
The_Hittite - 13
Last edited by Blydden 4 years ago, edited 4 times in total.

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Gateways7
Posts: 151
Joined: 4 years ago
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Post by Gateways7 » 4 years ago

subject16
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Design
(3/3) Appeal - Do the different player psychographics (Timmy/Johnny/Spike) have a use for the card?

I think that Johnny is a fan of hydras that can be as big as you want them to be, and the ability to put so many +1/+1 counters on it is appealing. Johnny and Spike both like this in an Eldraine context for one reason - the ability to combo exceptionally well with Cauldron Familiar - two mana for one point of drain that can be infinitely repeated with +1/+1 counter upside is very strong, and it can likely end games very quickly.

(2/3) Elegance - Is the card easily understandable at a glance? Do all the flavor and mechanics combined as a whole make sense?
Cool abilities that pair really well together, and the flavor works to give you an idea of how those two things connect. However, my problem is that it has so much text (10 lines with 3 line breaks in MSE) that it ends up feeling squished and like too much.

Development
(2.5/3) 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?

Sacrificing creatures for +1/+1 counters is very black (although there is some precedent), but there are not bent or broken rules and the rarity is fine.

(2/3) 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?
I think this is a little too powerful in conjunction with Cauldron Familiar and Oko. However, without the context of those cards, I think this is excellent in casual play, and I don't think this would create an oppressive environment.

Creativity
(2.5/3) 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"?

Obviously, some of this has been re-used (Protean Hydra is the obvious comparison), but I think the "create that many Food tokens" is a very interesting new development, especially since it comboes with itself. I think it's pretty fresh!

(3/3) 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?
The name is pretty reasonable, the flavor text is a great pun, and I think that it all fits together to work excellently.

Polish
(2.5/3) Quality - Points deducted for incorrect spelling, grammar, and templating.

The half point here is for the overuse of wording, but everything else looks fine to me - good job on the templating of the flavor text, not many got it right.

(2/2) 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?
That does make food, and in a pretty interesting way!

(2/2) Subchallenges - One point awarded per satisfied subchallenge condition.
The flavor text is attributed to Korvold, a legendary in the set, and it's mono-green. Good job!

Total: 21/25
The_Hittite
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Design
(0.5/3) Appeal - Do the different player psychographics (Timmy/Johnny/Spike) have a use for the card?

I don't think this really appeals to anyone - this isn't a big smashy creature for Timmy to use, there isn't much synergy Johnny can really pull of with it, and the reward of Aviation Pioneer for UUU is not worth it for Spike.

(2.5/3) Elegance - Is the card easily understandable at a glance? Do all the flavor and mechanics combined as a whole make sense?
I think that the card is understandable and seems to convey the flavor you're going for. I do think it is a little weird that when you cast a blue card for three blue mana, your reward is a 1/1 red creature, though - seems like you could have just gone for another faerie.

Development
(2/3) 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?

This is fine for the color pie, fine in the rules, but I think this is absolutely a common, both in power level and complexity.

(2.5/3) 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?
This doesn't really have any balance issues - it's incredibly underpowered if anything.

Creativity
(1.5/3) 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"?

This is just reverse Aviation Pioneer, but harder to cast. That said, adamant bonuses have never made creatures, so this isn't too similar to old cards.

(2/3) 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?
The flavor is a bit weird to me (why does making this adamant lead you to the choice between goal and doom) and also, neither of the creatures themselves really relate to choice or doom. It feels a bit off to me.

Polish
(3/3) Quality - Points deducted for incorrect spelling, grammar, and templating.

Everything here looks good to me!

(2/2) 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?
This is an adamant creature, and it uses an interesting reward for adamant we haven't seen before.

(2/2) Subchallenges - One point awarded per satisfied subchallenge condition.
The flavor attribution is good, and you haven't used mono-blue yet.

Total: 18/25
Flatline
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Design
(3/3) Appeal - Do the different player psychographics (Timmy/Johnny/Spike) have a use for the card?

This is a decently large creature for Timmy, a great way to run out Food tribal for Johnny, and really undercosted for Spike. Great job!

(3/3) Elegance - Is the card easily understandable at a glance? Do all the flavor and mechanics combined as a whole make sense?
This is a very clean design, and I think that it's very clear what it intends to do.

Development
(3/3) 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?

Color pie is fine, no rules are bent, and this fits at rare.

(2.5/3) 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?
Maybe a little pushed, but I think it would probably be fine for a Standard environment. This seems like it would play really interestingly in a casual format, and I think that a more aggressive/midrange-y Food deck would be really fun.

Creativity
(1.5/3) 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"?

While this is an interesting take on Greenbelt Rampager, it is still Greenbelt Rampager.

(3/3) 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?
The name is familiar and evocative of a fairy tale set, the flavor text works well especially compared to the mechanics, and I think overall it's a good take.

Polish
(3/3) Quality - Points deducted for incorrect spelling, grammar, and templating.

No problem here!

(2/2) 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?
This is a Food-making creature.

(2/2) Subchallenges - One point awarded per satisfied subchallenge condition.
This is mono-green, doesn't share colors with your old cards, and the flavor text looks good to me.

Total: 23/25
Henlock
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Design
(2/3) Appeal - Do the different player psychographics (Timmy/Johnny/Spike) have a use for the card?

Timmy is probably fine with this creature, Johnny likes the ability of both halves of the card to combo together for a synergistic bonus, and Spike is fine with this as a semi-"upgrade" of Fathom Fleet Cutthroat.

(3/3) Elegance - Is the card easily understandable at a glance? Do all the flavor and mechanics combined as a whole make sense?
The inherent synergy of the card is pretty clean, and I think the flavor pairs with that very well.

Development
(3/3) 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?

This doesn't break pie (black can deal 1 damage to all creatures and players and this is a downgrade of that), fine in the rules, and fits well at uncommon.

(3/3) 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?
I think this is at a very good point of balance as a creature in Limited, compared to the aforementioned Fathom Fleet Cutthroat, and although it's not good for Constructed, not all cards have to be. I think this is solid.

Creativity
(2/3) 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"?

I think that although we've obviously seen both effects of these cards before (I've already linked Fathom and Pestilence), combining them together is a really interesting take on the idea, and gives it a lot more intrigue as a mechanical idea.

(3/3) 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?
I think that you did a good job on the flavor here, as it's clear that this is an interesting story that uses mechanical justification to work really well. The names work well as your flavor text, giving the reader a clear idea of what's going on.

Polish
(1.5/3) Quality - Points deducted for incorrect spelling, grammar, and templating.

You're missing the adventure subtype and the exile clause on your sorcery half of the card,

(2/2) 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?
I've talked with bravelion about the grade for this challenge (given your card is only "technically" a sorcery), and I'm coming to a different conclusion than he did. This card has a sorcery as a part of it's text, and you can cast it the same way you can cast any other nonpermanent spell - from your hand - it's just that there's additional upside in that you can play it as a creature later. Brave also made a point about the "intent" of the challenge, but I think that that's hard to track from the perspective of someone doing the challenge, and personally, I don't feel like this violates the intent of creating a sorcery. Finally, I think that this is perfectly serviceable Knight tribal, as it rewards you for playing a lot of Knights while also having use if you're not playing them. Overall, I think that this is a stretch, but it doesn't violate the rules that were set.

(1/2) Subchallenges - One point awarded per satisfied subchallenge condition.
It is mono-black, but you didn't put any flavor text at all.

Total: 21.5/25
Results!
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subject16: 21.5/25
The_Hittite: 18/25

Flatline: 23/25
Henlock: 21.5/25

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bravelion83
MKM MCC going on now
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Post by bravelion83 » 4 years ago

All results are in several hours before the deadline! Again! I can only keep complimenting my judges this month for that! This is how things are supposed to go! While judges can technically still make last minute adjustments until the deadline (five more hours), I'd say the scores are already very well defined (bold advances):

Flatline: 23 + 23 = 46
Henlock: 15.5 + 21.5 = 37

netn10: 19 + 19.5 = 38.5
void_nothing: 17 + 18 = 35

Subject16: 21 + 21 = 42
The_Hittite: 18 + 13 = 31

So the finalists this month are Flatline, netn10, and Subject16. Now, a strange thing happens. The last round would have obviously said "choose the one option you haven't chosen yet this month", and that option is the "Adamant" one for all three finalists. There will be other restraints, that were already supposed to be there anyway, but what I meant to be a "choose your own adventure" month essentially turned into "everybody chose the same adventure". Not exactly the ending that I was hoping for, but that's what it is. If there are no big score changes (and again, I don't anticipate being any with such big point differences), the final round will be posted right after the judging deadline, that is in five hours. I think I will only post the Adamant option, putting what the other three would have been in a spoiler.

EDIT: I've found a way to solve this problem in-story. And it's the best ending I could have come up with! You'll read it in just three hours!

EDIT: Ok, it's been four hours instead of three, but here it is. Totally unexpected on my part, but now I really can't picture the story of this month having any other ending. It's like we all know that GTA V has only one real ending: Option C - Deathwish.
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).
After I'm done republishing my articles I want to reprise the series focusing it more on editing, wording, and templating. Suggest potential future article topics here.
My CCCG Resume (Updated on February 27th 2024)
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Blue = MTGSalvation Green = MTGNexus
MCC - Winner (9): Oct 2014, Apr Nov 2017, Jan 2018, Apr Jun 2019, Jan Mar 2022, Apr 2023 || Host (30): Dec 2014, Apr Jul Aug Dec 2015, Mar Jul Aug Oct 2016, Feb Jul 2017, Jun Nov 2018, Feb Jul 2019 (last on MTGS), Aug 2019 (first on MTGN) Oct 2019, Jan Jun 2020 Apr Oct 2021, Feb May Sep Dec 2022, Mar Jun Sep Dec 2023, Mar 2024 || Judge (58): every month from Nov 2014 to Nov 2016 except Oct 2015, every month from Feb to Jul 2017 except Apr 2017, then Oct 2017, May Jun Nov 2018, Feb Jul 2019 (last on MTGS), every month from Aug 2019 (first on MTGN) to Feb 2020, May Jun 2020, Mar Apr Sep Oct 2021, Feb May Sep Dec 2022, Mar May Jun Sep Dec 2023, Jan Mar 2024
CCL - Winner (4): Jul 2016 (tied with Flatline), May 2017, Jul 2019 (last on MTGS), Jun 2021 (tied with slimytrout) || Host (5): Feb 2015, Mar Apr May Jun 2016
DCC - Winner (3): Mar 2015 (tied with Piar), Feb Apr 2022 || Host (12): May Oct 2015, Jan 2016, Jun Sep Dec 2021, Mar Jun Sep Dec 2022, Mar Jun 2023

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