January MCC, Round 2 - Retrieve From the Past

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void_nothing
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Post by void_nothing » 3 years ago

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Banner based on Aeon Chronicler by Dan Dos Santos and Wizards of the Coast. Thanks to bravelion83 for the "Core Set Style" MCC Logo
January MCC, Round 2 - Retrieve From the Past

Welcome to the January MCC! It's Hand Month here at the MCC.

Main Challenge: Design a card that can return one or more cards from a graveyard to their owners' hands.
Subchallenge 1: Your card has an alternate cost
Subchallenge 2: Your card has an odd converted mana cost

DEADLINES

Design deadline: Friday, January 22nd 23:59 EDT

Judging deadline: Sunday, January 24th 23:59 EDT

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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

Players:
@Pygyzy
@Sagharri
@Lorn Asbord Schutta
@slimytrout
@netn10
@Subject16
@Riria
@marioguy3
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Riria
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Post by Riria » 3 years ago

Calm Before 2U
Sorcery (U)
Stormladder U (Once each turn, you may cast one spell for its Stormladder cost if at least two other spells were previously cast that turn.)
Return target instant or sorcery card not named Calm Before from your graveyard to your hand. The next instant or sorcery spell you cast this turn costs 1 less to cast.

Pygyzy
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Post by Pygyzy » 3 years ago

Cycle of Renewal 1GG
Sorcery (R)
Target player returns up to three target land cards from their graveyard to their hand.
If you cast Cycle of Renewal for it's esoteric cost, that player shuffles their graveyard into their library.
Esoteric 0 (If you mill this card, exile it. When you do, you may cast it for it's esoteric cost.)
As the Multiverse, so the Soul.
Last edited by Pygyzy 3 years ago, edited 7 times in total.

slimytrout
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Post by slimytrout » 3 years ago

Grinning Tombler 3BB
Creature - Skeleton Rogue (U)
Spectacle 4BB (You may cast this spell for its spectacle cost rather than its mana cost if an opponent lost life this turn.)
When Grinning Tombler enters the battlefield, return target creature card from your graveyard to your hand. If Grinning Tombler's spectacle cost was paid, return that card to the battlefield instead.
3/3
Last edited by slimytrout 3 years ago, edited 1 time in total.

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Sagharri
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Post by Sagharri » 3 years ago

Forbidden Passage {w/b}
Sorcery (U)
Return target creature card from your graveyard to your hand. If you've cast a card named Forbidden Passage three or more times this turn, you may destroy target creature.
Escape — WB, Exile four other cards from your graveyard.
Each bark in the Underworld brings closer inevictable doom.
Last edited by Sagharri 3 years ago, edited 4 times in total.

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OneAndOnly
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Post by OneAndOnly » 3 years ago

Lady Dhorma's Shroud -- 1WW
Enchantment - Aura {R}
Enchant creature card in a graveyard
Whenever you gain life, you may return enchanted creature card to its owner's hand. If you do, spells that share a name with that card cost 1WW less to play this turn.
Lady Dhorma lay in state for six days, her husband grieving all the while. But on the seventh day, when he turned to kiss his bride farewell, he found the corpse was gone.
Last edited by OneAndOnly 3 years ago, edited 1 time in total.

marioguy3
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Post by marioguy3 » 3 years ago

Spellshaper's Trap
Instant (Rare)
You may pay rather than pay this spell's converted mana cost if a source an opponent controls caused you to discard two or more cards this turn.
Return up to two target instant, sorcery, and/or artifact cards from your graveyard to your hand. If you return one or fewer cards this way, create a 1/1 blue Wizard creature token. Exile Spellshaper's Trap.
The summer is hot. The sum of sun and hot equals summer.

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void_nothing
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Post by void_nothing » 3 years ago

Giving this a bump for visibility. A couple of days remain in this round.
Psst, check the second page of Custom Card Contests & Games! Because of the daily contests, a lot of games fall down to there.

The greatest (fake) pro wrestling on the internet - Collaborative Create-A-Booster - My random creations (updated regularly)

Important Facts: Colorless is not a color, Wastes is not a land type, Changeling is not a creature type

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Subject16
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Post by Subject16 » 3 years ago

Hellkite Arcanist 3RR
Creature — Dragon Wizard (Mythic)
Flying, haste
Whenever Hellkite Arcanist deals combat damage to a player, return target instant or sorcery card from your graveyard to your hand. If that spell's converted mana cost is equal or less than the amount of damage dealt this way, you may cast that card without paying its mana cost instead. If you do, exile that card as it resolves.
Morph 3R (You may cast this card as a face down 2/2 creature for 3. Turn it face up at any time for its morph cost.)
Some dragons hoard gold. Others hoard secrets.
4/4

netn10
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Post by netn10 » 3 years ago

Remind the Past 5GG
Instant (Mythic)
Last-Ditch 2W (You may cast this spell for its Last-Ditch cost. If you do, you lose the game at the end of turn.)
Target player returns up to four cards from their graveyard to their hand. If you targeted an opponent this way, you don't lose the game at the end of turn.
"Try to remember, we weren't always enemies..."

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Lorn Asbord Schutta
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Post by Lorn Asbord Schutta » 3 years ago

Incentive
Instant (U)
Return X target cards from other players' graveyards to their owners' hands.
"Battle is not over! Gather your strength and go back to fight...
///
Cynicism
Instant (U)
Until end of your next turn, whenever a player discards a card, that player loses 2 life.
...so I don't have to."
Fuse (You may cast one or both halves of this card from your hand.)

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void_nothing
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Post by void_nothing » 3 years ago

The round is closed; OneAndOnly did not qualify for this round so I'm just going to skip over their submission.
Psst, check the second page of Custom Card Contests & Games! Because of the daily contests, a lot of games fall down to there.

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Important Facts: Colorless is not a color, Wastes is not a land type, Changeling is not a creature type

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void_nothing
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Post by void_nothing » 3 years ago

Bumping this so I can judge and post round 3 tomorrow.
Psst, check the second page of Custom Card Contests & Games! Because of the daily contests, a lot of games fall down to there.

The greatest (fake) pro wrestling on the internet - Collaborative Create-A-Booster - My random creations (updated regularly)

Important Facts: Colorless is not a color, Wastes is not a land type, Changeling is not a creature type

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void_nothing
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Post by void_nothing » 3 years ago

Riria
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Design
(2/3) Appeal - Essentially a combo/competitive oriented card for storm-type decks. Jxnny and Spike each have some use for it, Txmmy does not really care.
(2.5/3) Elegance - "Not named" wordings are always a bit awkward.

Development
(3/3) Viability - Color and rarity both fine.
(1.5/3) Balance - Call to Mind is the floor - essential piece to a degenerate(?) Standard storm deck is the ceiling. A recursion card that pays for itself has the potential to get very crazy.

Creativity
(1/3) Uniqueness - Stormladder is a lot like surge but not exactly the same. Plenty of instorcery recursion cards already exist though.
(2/3) Flavor - The name IS clever - but possibly too clever by half. Stormladder is an awkward name for a keyword.

Polish
(2/3) Quality - The reminder text is worded in a less-than-Magicese way (although that's never as precise as rules text) and keywords are not capitalized in the middle of a sentence.
(2/2) Main Challenge (*) - Done.
(2/2) Subchallenges - Done.

Total: 18/25
Pygyzy
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Design
(2/3) Appeal - Basically a Jxnny/Spike card for dredge-type decks.
(2/3) Elegance - Has an odd new keyword and it involves shuffling.

Development
(3/3) Viability - Correct color and rarity imo.
(2.5/3) Balance - Nothing wrong here unless what surrounds it is VERY degenerate. The esoteric extra effect is actually quite the safety valve against graveyard filling.

Creativity
(1.5/3) Uniqueness - Esoteric is basically a madness variant and this card's a Life from the Loam/Gaea's Blessing riff.
(3/3) Flavor - I really dig this. Quite mystical.

Polish
(2.5/3) Quality - It's versus its confusion.
(2/2) Main Challenge (*) - Done.
(2/2) Subchallenges - And done.

Total: 20.5/25
slimytrout
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Design
(2/3) Appeal - Txmmy likes reanimation and Spike thinks this could be a great thing in Limited. Jxnny doesn't like that you can't repeat the reanimation by blinking it.
(3/3) Elegance - Really quite simple stuff.

Development
(3/3) Viability - Black uncommon is spot-on.
(3/3) Balance - A more expensive spectacle cost for a bigger effect - and neither mode is costed unfairly.

Creativity
(1/3) Uniqueness - Basically a Gravedigger variant, although there's nothing wrong with that.
(2.5/3) Flavor - A name combining "Tomb" and "Tumbler" (and possibly "Tummler"?) is apropos for the Rakdos guild but is a bit awkward to say.

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

Total: 21.5/25
Sagharri
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Design
(2.5/3) Appeal - Txmmy likes spending lots of mana but gets less out of the payoff than the others. Jxnny and Spike both have reasons to enjoy this though.
(2/3) Elegance - The "count the number of casts" thing is a bit much in terms of tracking, plus this card as worded puts you in the awkward position of always having to target a creature on the battlefield. If that was your intention (as a slight drawback), I would word it to be clearer. Otherwise an "up to one" template would be best.

Development
(2.5/3) Viability - Certainly leans more black than white.
(2.5/3) Balance - Better than Raise Dead in so many ways - while Raise is not a powerful card and it's not wrong per se to make a strictly better one, this card can be an engine, and, once you've made those four casts, a machine gun. I initially misread this card as a Yidaro, Wandering Monster type of thing instead of four casts in a turn - and it's a relief to see that it's not quite that easy - but it still looks potentially strong in both Limited and Constructed.

Creativity
(2/3) Uniqueness - An old effect with a couple new wrinkles.
(2.5/3) Flavor - Subtle Kunoros, Hound of Athreos reference. Nice. Slightly dampened by the fact that Kunoros prevents escape.

Polish
(2/3) Quality - "Cast a spell", "inevitable".
(2/2) Main Challenge (*) - Done.
(2/2) Subchallenges - And done.

Total: 20/25
marioguy3
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Design
(1.5/3) Appeal - Mostly a Spike card for its hoser properties. Jxnny might be slightly interested but the exile clause prevents it from being as potent an engine as it could be.
(2/3) Elegance - A relatively wordy card with several extra complications.

Development
(2.5/3) Viability - Punishing discard is not really a blue effect - yes it was just seen on Orvar, the All-Form, but before that the last blue card to have it was Psychic Purge, which nobody would argue is in-color pie. I think this effect should almost never be out of green and white.
(2.5/3) Balance - Rather swingy and disappointing in an odd way - the 1/1 token is a paltry reward for missing out on a recurred card.

Creativity
(1.5/3) Uniqueness - Very old effects, but the "do something different if you do less than the max" is a newish concept.
(1.5/3) Flavor - I get the Spellshaper/discard connection, but this doesn't really feel like a Zendikar card, and that's the only setting with Traps so far.

Polish
(1.5/3) Quality - Clearly meant to be a Trap but lacks the subtype. You pay spells' mana costs, not their converted mana costs. "Spells and abilities" opponents control cause you to discard, not "sources."
(2/2) Main Challenge (*) - Done.
(2/2) Subchallenges - And done.

Total: 17/25
Subject16
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Design
(3/3) Appeal - I would say this is an all-rounder. Big splashy Dragon with an interesting and powerful saboteur ability and good keywords.
(2.5/3) Elegance - It's a bit wordy and mathy but ultimately pretty easy to understand.

Development
(3/3) Viability - Definitely want this at mythic for Limited. Definitely super red.
(2.5/3) Balance - Really strong, pushed stuff, but not truly broken imho.

Creativity
(1.5/3) Uniqueness - Reminds me of Backdraft Hellkite.
(3/3) Flavor - This works very well. I can see it on Otaria, a setting that even had Dragon Mage.

Polish
(2.5/3) Quality - "Spell" at the beginning of the second sentence of the saboteur ability should be "card."
(2/2) Main Challenge (*) - Done.
(2/2) Subchallenges - And done.

Total: 22/25
netn10
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Design
(3/3) Appeal - There's something a little thrilling about the all-or-nothing approach isn't there?
(2.5/3) Elegance - A pretty complicated card, at least psychologically, but the base effect is quite simple.

Development
(2.5/3) Viability - I'm not THAT sure about the white alt cost, but the altruism flavor is there.
(2.5/3) Balance - This is… hard to judge. This card could be fair or it could do unusual things in Commander.

Creativity
(2.5/3) Uniqueness - A lot that's new about this card even though the basic recursion is a simple effect.
(3/3) Flavor - I think that's absolutely perfect mechanical/flavor synch-up. Really brilliant stuff.

Polish
(2.5/3) Quality - Hyphenated keywords don't have capitalization after the hyphen - see jump-start - and alongside that, keywords aren't capitalized in the middle of a sentence.
(2/2) Main Challenge (*) - Done.
(2/2) Subchallenges - And done.

Total: 22.5/25
Lorn Asbord Schutta
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Design
(1.5/3) Appeal - Jxnny and Jxnnyish Txmmies are this card's audience imho.
(2.5/3) Elegance - Not inelegant per se but it takes a second to get: very few cards rely on maximum hand size existing in order for them to function as intended.

Development
(1.5/3) Viability - I'm not sure WHAT color Incentive should be, but I think recur-anything is green even if it's being done for opponents. Also, uncommon is borderline - I feel like this card should perhaps be rare.
(2.5/3) Balance - This is narrow enough to never be objectionable, or almost never. Probably mostly usable for EDH. Only ever a concern in 2HG or other team formats.

Creativity
(2/3) Uniqueness - This is the strangest Megrim variant I've personally seen...
(2/3) Flavor - "Incentive" and "Cynicism" aren't really a matched pair (and split cards don't get flavor text). The general flavor, however, works fine.

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

Total: 19/25
Totals (Bold advance)
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netn10 22.5
Subject16 22
slimytrout 21.5
Pygyzy 20.5

Sagharri 20
Lorn Asbord Schutta 19
Riria 18
marioguy3 17
Psst, check the second page of Custom Card Contests & Games! Because of the daily contests, a lot of games fall down to there.

The greatest (fake) pro wrestling on the internet - Collaborative Create-A-Booster - My random creations (updated regularly)

Important Facts: Colorless is not a color, Wastes is not a land type, Changeling is not a creature type

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