March MCC, Round 2: Before the Beginning

[void_nothing]

Banner based on Chance Encounter by Mark Brill and Wizards of the Coast. Thanks to bravelion83 for the "Core Set Style" MCC Logo

March MCC, Round 2 - Before the Beginning

Welcome to the March MCC! It's Fortune Month here at the MCC. With the chances of March going in like a lion and out like a lamb being even, with March 17 being associated with the luck of the Irish, with Friday the 13th falling this month and many other luck-based traditions including on Annunciation, it's time to explore the role of chance in Magic!

Main Challenge: Design a card with "opening hand" or "mulligan" in its text.
Subchallenge 1: Your card is common, uncommon, or mythic rare. (I.E., it is any rarity but regular rare.)
Subchallenge 2: Your card is not an enchantment.

DEADLINES

Design deadline: Wednesday, March 18th 23:59 EDT

Judging deadline: Saturday, March 21st 23:59 EDT

Clarifications

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None yet.

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
slimytrout
Ink-Treader

Players:
@Ryder
@StonerOfKruphix
@Subject16
@jamblock
@bravelion83
@Henlock
@RaikouRider
@Stankweed Imp
@Gateways7
@netn10
@Kypster
@marioguy3

[Gateways7]

Charmcleave U
Instant (rare)
You may reveal this card from your opening hand. If you do, the first spell an opponent casts this game costs 1 more to cast.
Counter target spell unless it's controller pays 1.
"Because I said so!"

[RaikouRider]

Prismatic Gemstone 3
Artifact {U}
If Prismatic Gemstone is in your opening hand, you may begin the game with it in exile with a luck counter on it. If you do, draw a card.
T: Add C. If you own an exiled card named Prismatic Gemstone and that card has a luck counter on it, instead add one mana of any color.

[Kypster]

Inevitable Betrayal 1UUB
Sorcery (M)
If Inevitable Betrayal is in your opening hand and you own no suspended cards, you may exile it with five time counters on it.
You may cast a face-up card your opponents own from exile without paying its mana cost.
Suspend X—XUUBB. X can't be 0.
Whenever a time counter is removed from Inevitable Betrayal while it's exiled, exile the top card of each opponents library.

[netn10]

Planeswalker's Mindstone 2UU
Artifact (Mythic)
T: Mulligan (To mulligan, draw cards until you have seven cards in your hand, then put cards from your hand on bottom of your library in any order for each time you mulliganed this game. Repeat this process any number of times.)

[bravelion83]

Kefnet, God of Knowledge 3UUU
Legendary Creature — God (M)
You may reveal this card from your opening hand if you're playing first. If you do, you don't skip your draw step during your first turn.
Flying
Kefnet, God of Knowledge's power and toughness are each equal to one plus the number of cards in your hand.
Grandeur — Discard another card named Kefnet, God of Knowledge: Draw two cards.
*/*

[jamblock]

Blade from the Eternities 2
Artifact - Equipment (U)
If Blade from the Eternities is in your opening hand, you may begin the game with it in exile.
Equipped creature gets +1/+1.
Whenever a colorless creature enters the battlefield under your control, if Blade from the Eternities is in exile, put it onto the battlefield attached to that creature.
Equip 1

[Ryder]

Forgotten Ruins
Land (U)
You may discard this card from your opening hand. If you do, draw a card at the beginning of your first upkeep.
T: Add C.
"Their legacy shall die by the ray of the sun and the breath of wind, but you shall not put your finger on it."
—The Pale Seer, to King Eunar I

[Subject16]

Leylines of Ardour 2RW
Enchantment
If Leylines of Ardour is in your opening hand, you may begin the game with it on the battlefield.
Whenever you gain life, creatures you control get +1/+0 until end of turn.
2RW: Leylines of Ardour deals 2 damage to target player and you gain 2 life.
Where devotion and passion converge.

[Stankweed Imp]

Plague Cart 3
Artifact- Vehicle (U)
You may reveal this card from your opening hand. If you do, create a tapped 2/2 black Zombie creature token at the beginning of your first upkeep.
Deathtouch, Haste
Crew 2
4/3

[StonerOfKruphix]

Aid from the Wilds
Conspiracy (M)
(Start the game with this conspiracy face up in the command zone.)
At the beginning of your first upkeep, if you took one or more mulligans, create a 4/4 green Rhino creature token with trample.
"Life here is hard, that's why we help each other."
—Darrio, ranger of the Lowlands

[Henlock]

Bold Strategist rw
Creature - Human Soldier (u)
Haste, vigilance.
If you would put one or more cards in the bottom of your library from your opening hand, you may instead reveal Bold Strategist from your hand and put those cards on top of your library in any order.
2/2

[void_nothing]

About four hours remain to enter.

[void_nothing]

The round, by the way, is closed! Judges you know what to do. Top two per judge advance.

void_nothing:
Gateways7
netn10
bravelion83
Stankweed Imp

slimytrout:
RaikouRider
Kypster
StonerOfKruphix
Henlock

Ink-Treader:
jamblock
Ryder
Subject16

[Ink-Treader]

Judgments complete

jamblock

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Design
(2/3) Appeal - Timmy might think it's neat, but not terribly exciting. Johnny finds this potentially exciting, especially because there are other ways to get them in exile. Spike doesn't hate it, and can appreciate some of the more obvious applications.
(2.5/3) Elegance - It's fairly straightforward, but there's a lot of text that won't always be relevant.

Development
(2.5/3) Viability - It does something a bit wacky, but it otherwise seems fine as artifacts go. The rarity seems appropriate. It has a number of red flags that would prevent pushing it to common, though I could see it at common in the right format.
(2.5/3) Balance - I did some digging to see if I could break this, and it's certainly not easy. Sly Requisitioner would likely be one of the key cards though, there doesn't appear to anything else that can freely, repeatably, and otherwise unconditionally generate colorless creatures in a single turn. Toss in Planar Void to get your triggers while still exiling... of course you'd still need a sacrifice engine, but there's lots of those. Needing 4 cards to get anywhere crazy seems fine, and there seems to plenty of other things one could do with this anyway. This leaves potentially explosive aggro as the last concern, and I'm not seeing that as an issue either. Still free things always deserve some watching.

Creativity
(2.5/3) Uniqueness - The equipped bonus is nothing new, but the rest is pretty fresh.
(3/3) Flavor - The names a little on the nose for intent, but not too egregious. It seems like it could care about more than colorless creatures, but I'm not going to dock it for that. No room for flavor text, so that's fine.

Polish
(3/3) Quality - Seems fine, though in the 3rd ability, it's possible that it may have to refer to itself by name when being put onto the battlefield. I can find examples that suggest either way.
(2/2) Main Challenge (*) - Indeed!
(2/2) Subchallenges - Nonrare nonenchantment!

Total: 22/25
*An entry with 0 points here is subject to disqualification.

Ryder

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Design
(2/3) Appeal - Timmy doesn't really care. Johnny and Spike can both appreciate this for similar reasons; Johnny sees this as an easy way to start with a land in the graveyard, as well a way to thin a deck to improve the odds of having combo pieces. Spike sees this as both the latter, and a simple way to mitigate having too much land in the opening hand without having to mulligan.
(3/3) Elegance - Easy enough.

Development
(3/3) Viability - I don't see anything wrong with this. Rarity is fine.
(2.5/3) Balance - Only concern would be consistency related, but the opportunity cost is a bit high, since future ones you draw are lands that only tap for C.

Creativity
(2/3) Uniqueness - Gemstone Caverns is similar, but does something different.
(3/3) Flavor - Though there are currently 14 land cards with ruin or ruins in their name, it's not too similar in name to any of them. Flavor is nice.

Polish
(3/3) Quality - I won't penalize for this since I have no precedent, but I strongly suspect it should be "start the game with it in your graveyard", not discard it.
(2/2) Main Challenge (*) - Indeed!
(2/2) Subchallenges - Nonrare nonenchantment!

Total: 22.5/25
*An entry with 0 points here is subject to disqualification.

Subject16

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Design
(2.5/3) Appeal - Gain life, and you'll make your creatures bigger too? Seems cool to Timmy. Johnny would also be trying to break this wide open. Spike is a little less impressed considering how well life gain tends to work out, but it does at least provide a nice mana sink that triggers its effect.
(3/3) Elegance - Texty, but nothing egregious.

Development
(2.5/3) Viability - Definitely in color, and relatively narrow as a leyline should be. Lacks a rarity, but would almost certainly be rare like the others.
(2.5/3) Balance - The reward is quite strong when built around... key words being "when built around". Can enable itself at least, and in fact gives quite a bit of reach. Also decent enough in multiples.

Creativity
(1.5/3) Uniqueness - White has quite a few aggressively inclined life gain rewards, but RW only has Searing Meditation, oddly enough. That being said, this is merely a combination of existing components.
(3/3) Flavor - Good flavor all around. No complaints!

Polish
(2/3) Quality - This card lacks a rarity, which is rather important.
(2/2) Main Challenge (*) - Indeed!
(0/2) Subchallenges - It's an enchantment, and the lack of a rarity does not make it common, uncommon, or mythic rare.

Total: 19/25
*An entry with 0 points here is subject to disqualification.

Bold Advances

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Ryder: 22.5
jamblock: 22
Subject16: 19

[slimytrout]

RaikouRider

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Prismatic Gemstone 3
Artifact {U}
If Prismatic Gemstone is in your opening hand, you may begin the game with it in exile with a luck counter on it. If you do, draw a card.
T: Add C. If you own an exiled card named Prismatic Gemstone and that card has a luck counter on it, instead add one mana of any color.

Design
(1/3) Appeal – Johnny sees this as a bad manalith and isn't interested. Timmy also sees this as a bad manalith, but he doesn't mind that so much. Spike notices that this has cycling 0 if it's in your opening hand, which appeals to him a bit.
(2.5/3) Elegance – The awkward phrasing of the second ability makes it a little hard to understand at first, but otherwise fine.

Development
(2.5/3) Viability – Very weak for an uncommon mana rock, but a lot of text on it for a common, so half a point off for making a card that doesn't fit in either category properly. Otherwise fine.
(2/3) Balance – Definitely won't be played in constructed, even though it is possible to get multiples, and in limited you're less likely to get multiples so it also probably won't get played - after all, manalith is usually not a hot commodity and this is mostly worse.

Creativity
(2/3) Uniqueness – The fact that you can exile it from your opening hand to power up future versions is definitely new, but it just powers up into an existing card.
(3/3) Flavor – The luck counter is definitely a reference to Gemstone Caverns, which I like. Otherwise not very noteworthy, but nothing wrong with it either.

Polish
(2.5/3) Quality – The language in the first ability should be "If ~ is in your opening hand, you may exile it." (-0.5). I sort of think the second ability ("If you own an exiled card named Prismatic Gemstone and that card has a luck counter on it") should be phrased differently but I can't find anything to back that up so I won't deduct anything.
(2/2) Main Challenge – Yep.
(2/2) Subchallenges – Double yep.

Total: 19.5/25

Kypster

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Inevitable Betrayal 1UUB
Sorcery (M)
If Inevitable Betrayal is in your opening hand and you own no suspended cards, you may exile it with five time counters on it.
You may cast a face-up card your opponents own from exile without paying its mana cost.
Suspend X—XUUBB. X can't be 0.
Whenever a time counter is removed from Inevitable Betrayal while it's exiled, exile the top card of each opponents library.

Design
(1.5/3) Appeal – Johnny is the most interested in this, since they're thinking of ways to combine it with other exile effects. Spike likes the many different options this will give them, but ultimately it's just a slow and uncertain 1-for-1. Timmy doesn't like waiting for something that might not even pay off, and they especially hate the "you own no suspended cards" clause, since they'd love to have two of these in their opening hand and have them help each other.
(1.5/3) Elegance – So much complicated rules text and riders, and that's without even including the suspend reminder text (not that you should have). Took me multiple tries to fully understand what was going on.

Development
(2/3) Viability – Multiple problems here. First, it doesn't work, because the first ability doesn't actually suspend it, it just puts time counters on it, and those don't have any inherent rules baggage – you need an extra sentence saying "It gains suspend." Second, this definitely shouldn't be mythic – it's not so strong in limited that it's needs to be upshifted, and it has a ton of text on it so it's not very splashy. Colors are fine. EDIT: see MCC Discussion thread.
(1/3) Balance – I don't think this would see play anywhere. The best-case scenario is that you exile it from your opening hand and get a free huge spell on turn 5, but even then it's just a 1-for-1 with some tempo advantage. If you don't have it in your opener you have to spend at least 4 mana, so the spell you get isn't even really free, and it has a substantial risk of being a completely dead card if you're not playing other exile. Even the mill decks aren't interested, since you're at best getting 1 card per turn. Even limited decks aren't likely to want this, since you're most likely going to just hit a mediocre 3-drop.

Creativity
(2.5/3) Uniqueness – Stolen Goods meets Aeon Chronicler is the closest I can come, but it's definitely pretty out there.
(3/3) Flavor – Definitely no room for flavor text, but the name does a good enough job.

Polish
(2/3) Quality – Should be "an opponent owns" in the second line since a single card can't be owned by multiple players (-0.5), and missing an apostrophe in "opponent's library" (-0.5).
(2/2) Main Challenge – Yep.
(1.5/2) Subchallenges – Should have been a regular rare not a mythic, which would have failed Subchallenge 1.

Total: 17/25

StonerOfKruphix

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Aid from the Wilds
Conspiracy (M)
(Start the game with this conspiracy face up in the command zone.)
At the beginning of your first upkeep, if you took one or more mulligans, create a 4/4 green Rhino creature token with trample.
"Life here is hard, that's why we help each other."
—Darrio, ranger of the Lowlands

Design
(1/3) Appeal – Spike truly despises it – if they have it it will always be correct for them to mulligan to get their Rhino, and they'll hate playing against it when they just get rolled. Johnny has no use for it. Timmy absolutely adores it, but that's still only worth one point.
(3/3) Elegance – It is simple, I'll give it that.

Development
(2/3) Viability – Obviously a green effect, but since it's a conspiracy anyone can play it, which means that the blue mage gets a 4/4 with trample on turn 1 – definitely a color pie break. This is why the common conspiracies in Take the Throne had color requirements, to make them easier to keep within pie. On the other hand, mythic is absolutely correct.
(0/3) Balance – Obviously conspiracies are inherently unbalanced, which is why they're banned in all tournament play. But even by that standard, this is ridiculously broken. You can basically think of it as having a 0-mana 4/4 in your hand at the start of every game – sometimes it's worse (when you mulligan a good hand to get the rhino and then are forced to mulligan further as a result), but sometimes it's better (when you would have had to mulligan anyway) and they should more or less balance out. Compare this to the most similar exisiting conspiracy, which gave you a 1/1 defender, and you can see how truly busted this is.

Creativity
(1.5/3) Uniqueness – Sentinel Dispatch already did the token-making conspiracy, and plenty of others had various rules-setting downsides for your deck. The fact that it checks if you've mulliganed is novel, though.
(3/3) Flavor – Yeah, works for me.

Polish
(3/3) Quality – Looks good to me.
(2/2) Main Challenge – Yep.
(2/2) Subchallenges – Double yep.

Total: 17.5/25

Henlock

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Bold Strategist rw
Creature - Human Soldier (u)
Haste, vigilance.
If you would put one or more cards in the bottom of your library from your opening hand, you may instead reveal Bold Strategist from your hand and put those cards on top of your library in any order.
2/2

Design
(2/3) Appeal – Spike likes it the most, since it allows for more interesting decisions and also comes stapled to a good body. Timmy is fine with it, since the body does pack a punch even if they don't particularly care about the ability. Johnny is fine with it for the opposite reason: they like the ability to keep a combo piece on top of their library to protect it from discard instead of bottoming it, but they don't really care about the 2/2 part.
(3/3) Elegance – Yeah, reads nicely even though it's a good amount of words. Immediately understood what it was doing.

Development
(2.5/3) Viability – We've never quite had an effect like this before, so I wrestled with this one a bit. Rarity is probably fine, but I went back and forth on color. On the one hand, this sort of library manipulation feels very blue, but on the other hand it's very red to say, "I want this now!" Ended up deciding that RW is fine, since I don't have anything that says it isn't. The only thing I'm dinging you for is that this is a rules space that has seen a lot of change recently (Paris Mulligan->Vancouver Mulligan->London Mulligan) so it's definitely possible that in a few years this card no longer works as intended.
(3/3) Balance – Seems fine. Tenth District Legionnaire saw standard play at a similar rate, although I suspect that because this card is less focused it would probably fall a bit short. The ability to hide cards from T1 discard becomes more relevant in older formats, but at that point a 2/2 for 2 is probably not making the cut. Still, would definitely be played in limited.

Creativity
(3/3) Uniqueness – I can't think of anything like the mulligan replacement effect, so this is an unusual card in earning a perfect score in both balance and uniqueness (although the fact that it has a decent body definitely helped).
(2.5/3) Flavor – Could have fit a short bit of flavor text which would have helped give it some "oomph," but largely okay without it.

Polish
(1/3) Quality – No period after vigilance because it's not a sentence (-0.5), and should be "On the bottom of your hand" (-0.5). EDIT: It's been pointed out to me that this is not the correct use of "opening hand," since the rules say "To take a mulligan, a player shuffles the cards in their hand back into their library, draws a new hand of cards equal to their starting hand size, then puts a number of those cards equal to the number of times that player has taken a mulligan on the bottom of their library in any order. Once a player chooses not to take a mulligan, the remaining cards become that player's opening hand." So putting cards on the bottom happens before it "becomes" your opening hand. However, this could be fixed by saying "If you would put one or more cards on the bottom of your library as part of taking a mulligan," which would still meet the challenge, so not a grave mistake (-1).
(2/2) Main Challenge – Yep.
(2/2) Subchallenges – Double yep

Total: 21/25

Results (bold advance)

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Some trouble with balance this round -- scores did a perfect countdown 3, 2, 1, 0.
Henlock=21
RaikouRider=19
StonerOfKruphix=17.5
Kypster=17

[void_nothing]

Gateways7

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Design
(1/3) Appeal - This is a Spike and Spike-only card through and through.
(3/3) Elegance - Yep, elegant stuff.

Development
(3/3) Viability - Color and rarity look right.
(1.5/3) Balance - Force Spike on its own is a not-for-Standard card, regardless of rarity, at present. With the Chancellor of the Annex ability alone it would still be too strong (especially on a one-mana card, which means there is very rarely a "drawback" to keeping it in your opening hand as opposed to the seven-mana Chancellors), but the ability as written is arguably better; the Chancellor gives an out if you can't or won't pay, and does nothing to uncounterable spells, whereas this ability sets back your opponent by at least one turn in 1v1, which is a problem in multiples - if you reveal two or more of these, it quickly becomes crippling.

Creativity
(1/3) Uniqueness - Pretty much a mashup of the aforementioned cards; although it doesn't function exactly the same as CotA, as mentioned, it's still very similar.
(1.5/3) Flavor - Perfectly acceptable, but the name and the flavor text alike are super "generic counterspell" with nothing that really indicates the actual mechanics here.

Polish
(3/3) Quality - Fine.
(2/2) Main Challenge (*) - Done.
(1/2) Subchallenges - Is regular rare.

Total: 17/25

netn10

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Design
(2/3) Appeal - Serious Jxnny/Spike card that Txmmy is less interested in.
(1/3) Elegance - Allowing players to mull midgame takes up a lot of time, and not helping matters is that the reminder text doesn't really describe the current, London mulligan (shuffle cards in, draw equal to starting hand size, then put cards on the bottom equal to the number of mulligans you've taken), nor is mulligan currently an actual keyword action because it's not undertaken during the game.

Development
(3/3) Viability - Definitely blue and DEFINITELY mythic.
(1.5/3) Balance - Some concerns here ranging from the relative ease of drawing your entire combo to infinite "whenever you draw a card" triggers.

Creativity
(2.5/3) Uniqueness - Yes, card draw artifacts are a dime a dozen, yet letting players mulligan in the middle of the game is some really out-of-the-box stuff.
(2.5/3) Flavor - Mentioning something as "outside-the-gamey" as mulliganing on Serum Powder is one thing and turning it into a keyword action you can do within the game is another. Otherwise, this works for me.

Polish
(2/3) Quality - Should be a period after "mulligan" if it's meant to be a keyword action here and the reminder text is, well, ungrammatical.
(2/2) Main Challenge (*) - Done.
(2/2) Subchallenges - And done.

Total: 18.5/25

bravelion83

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Design
(3/3) Appeal - Everybody's into it. Txmmy likes the SIZE and turning every extra copy into two free cards, Jxnny has lots to play with and Spike would very much like to draw when playing first, thank you.
(2.5/3) Elegance - The whole thing's a bit wordy but it works.

Development
(3/3) Viability - This is a blue mythic alright.
(3/3) Balance - Large, flying Maro with a fairly good grandeur bonus is balanced, even slightly overcosted, at 3UUU. The advantage of taking your first draw step even when playing first is strong but more or less incremental and not game-breaking, and it requires you to let a six-mana card sit in your hand on turn 1.

Creativity
(2.5/3) Uniqueness - Pulls a lot of old elements for sure but grandeur sure needs more explanation (and fits for the Amonkhetu Gods whose own master considers them somewhat expendable tools). And I'm in love with that bonus draw step deal.
(2.5/3) Flavor - Feels like the Kefnet we know, the only issue being the extremely generic title "God of Knowledge."

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

Total: 23.5/25

Stankweed Imp

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Design
(3/3) Appeal - An all-rounder, in that everyone would like the free token and Txmmy and Spike are interested in the stats of the Vehicle itself.
(3/3) Elegance - Ahh, the way the Zombie token is exactly enough to crew the Vehicle when it comes along... *chef kiss*.

Development
(2/3) Viability - A Vehicle is a Vehicle but I'd much prefer this be a rare than an uncommon, and I'll have to downgrade a full point since avoiding rare specifically was a subchallenge.
(1.5/3) Balance - Super super strong stuff; a free 2/2 is nothing to sniff at and the Vehicle itself is certainly not something you'd be sad at seeing in your hand in the early turns. And if you have four in hand, things could get crazy. A terror in Limited and possibly a big deal in Standard.

Creativity
(2/3) Uniqueness - Nicely unique, although drawing a little from Chancellor of the Forge I suppose.
(3/3) Flavor - Doesn't need flavor text for me to appreciate it.

Polish
(1/3) Quality - Couple of minor mistakes and one major one here. One, no space between the card type and the dash. Two, haste being capitalized even after deathtouch in a line (only the first keyword of the line gets the capital letter). Three... The crew cost has a mana symbol! It's not a cost that consists of mana.
(2/2) Main Challenge (*) - Done.
(2/2) Subchallenges - And done.

Total: 19.5/25

Totals (Bold advance)

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bravelion83 23.5
Stankweed Imp 19.5
netn10 18.5
Gateways7 17