NEXUS FLAMINGO ☆ Exclusively For Custom Card Connoisseurs and Gnomes

[OneAndOnly]

Oh, boo. Megiddo, I LOVE your card, and especially that you wrote the ability text in verse. I'd already finished writing my response when you submitted your card, though.

[Megiddo]

i was too slow... sad!

edit (just saw your reply): I'm glad you liked it though

[OneAndOnly]

But I lovelovelove your card. Really well done!

[Krishnath]

I'm feeling a bit insulted. I was skipped during the judging. People posting both before and after my entries were judged, but not me. :/

[Sporegorger_Dragon]

Oich. This becomes 10 power for 6 mana -- or, at a minimum, crews itself the turn it enters play. A little overpowered.

snip

I like and fully endorse this concept. Dragons have historically been construed as a means of criticizing economic systems -- the accumulation and consolidation of wealth in feudal times -- but I could get behind seeing them as emblems of competing civic interests in a fictional municipal setting. Would these be red dragons, breathing out fumes that set rat-trap housing on fire (which fire departments of the 1800s were accused of), or ice-dragons that would assist in putting out conflagrations? Or would the dragons be so muzzled that they could only look at the flames and dream, and remember?

snip

Nicol Bolas' last name is pronounced "bow-liss" -- I have it on word from the tyrant himself. How did he wind up with 1 toughness?

1-The Vehicle doesn't have haste, so at best you get a hasty 4/4 flyer or a 6/6 blocker.

2-"Pyre" means a heap of combustible material, like for burning a dead body, so these would be the traditional fire-breathing kind that occasionally breaks out of its harness and causes more work for everyone.

3-Bolas hasn't been well lately. Despark, Prison Realm

[OneAndOnly]

Ack. Krishnath, I'm sorry. Please don't take it personally. I deleted a lot of the back-and-forth between you and Cythare, and those two cards were caufght in the crossfire.

Zero to Hero was really great, and I like the use of ability counters, but overall the card feels a little cluttered. I would suggest streamlining it to one ability that adds your choice of counter from a platter being offered (including +1/+1 counters) and then give the card multikicker.

Regal Eagle was also good -- simple and straightforward. The jokey flavor text draws it down a bit in my eyes.

[Krishnath]

Ack. Krishnath, I'm sorry. Please don't take it personally. I deleted a lot of the back-and-forth between you and Cythare, and those two cards were caufght in the crossfire.

Don't worry to much about it, these things happen after all.

[Megiddo]

Current challenge is FIREWORKS, in case anybody gets to this page and isn't clear what's going on.

Hanabi Cannon 3
Artifact {R}
R, T, Discard a card at random: Hanabi Cannon deals 2 damage to any target.

IIW: Fine artistry

[Krishnath]

Dwarven Pyrotechnician 3R
Creature - Dwarf Artist (U)
When Dwarven Pyrotechnician enters the battlefield, create two fireworks tokens (they're artifacts with "2, T, Sacrifice this artifact: Deal 1 damage to target creature.")
2R, T: Create a fireworks token.
"Take a step back kid, these things are dangerous."
2/2

IIW: Superheroes and Supervillains.

[Megiddo]

oh, final soapbox thought on the previous challenge: I always think of card design* as its own form of poetry. In the way that poetry plays with language to create a transcendent and evocative work, Magic card designs play with the defined gameplay language—including its strict vocabulary—to create a transcendent and evocative card. When you factor in the card's name and flavor text on top of just the rules text, you can really pack an enormous amount of punch into a few lines.

What I enjoy most is seeing how everybody injects their own personality and influences into their cards: For example, I like to borrow heavily from the past with my designs. I prioritize economy and elegance over other factors. Sets like Time Spiral and Modern Horizons are my favorites across all of Magic, and I'm often looking to emulate the "better" cards from those sets** when I make things here.

So, it was fun to have some literal poetry as an exercise in the thread!

*individual cards only... designing mechanics, sets, or environments is a different beast with different needs and different skills required. Maybe i'll take another crack at a bigger design project someday... but I'm happy just writing these little "poems" from time to time these days.

**This is subjective, of course, but I mean less Ichor Slick and more Stormcloud Djinn.

[Sporegorger_Dragon]

What I enjoy most is seeing how everybody injects their own personality and influences into their cards

Don't mean to butt in, but similarly what is equally fascinating is how each IIW and subsequent judging gives us a little insight into that poster's other special interests.

[Megiddo]

What I enjoy most is seeing how everybody injects their own personality and influences into their cards

Don't mean to butt in, but similarly what is equally fascinating is how each IIW and subsequent judging gives us a little insight into that poster's other special interests.

Yes, this too! It's great. I look forward to everybody's judging for this reason. Plus, we sometimes get what I like to call HIGH EFFORT judging, which is always a treat.

[Cythare]

Goblin Firefighter 2R
Creature — Goblin Shaman (U)
When Goblin Firefighter enters the battlefield, create two Sparkler tokens. (They're artifacts with 2, T, Sacrifice this artifact: Sparkler deals 1 damage to any target.)
2/1

IIW: Book jocks

[OneAndOnly]

What I enjoy most is seeing how everybody injects their own personality and influences into their cards

Don't mean to butt in, but similarly what is equally fascinating is how each IIW and subsequent judging gives us a little insight into that poster's other special interests.

Yes, this too! It's great. I look forward to everybody's judging for this reason. Plus, we sometimes get what I like to call HIGH EFFORT judging, which is always a treat.

Out of curiosity, what previous rounds in this thread (or other contests) do you think best represent that?

[Megiddo]

Out of curiosity, what previous rounds in this thread (or other contests) do you think best represent that?

The recent fake Mark Rosewater judging Melli did would be a good example of what I mean. Something fun, entertaining, and usually a bit out there. This may be some ROSE COLORED GLASSES/inaccurate memory but I think people used to do them more often "back in the day." I certainly did, but I was sinking more time into the forum at that time.

[NinjaCaterpie]

This may be some ROSE COLORED GLASSES/inaccurate memory but I think people used to do them more often "back in the day." I certainly did, but I was sinking more time into the forum at that time.

I think people are doing it more now; I remember people taking it a bit more seriously and doing High Effort Judging rather than HIGH EFFORT JUDGING.

[jamblock]

Precarious Skycandles {2/R}{2/W}
Artifact (U)
2, T: Creatures you control get +1/+1 until end of turn. Flip a coin. If you lose the flip, Precarious Skycandles deals 4 damage to you.
Inspiring when they light up the sky, painful when they light up your robes.

IIW: I've fallen and I can't get up OR I've fallen and I can't be redeemed

[Ulka]

Vedalken Pyroalchemist 3UR
Creature - Veldaken Wizard (U)
Whenever a creature is deal 4 or more damage by Vedalken Pyromancer, draw a card.
When Vedalken Pyroalchemist enters the battlefield, put 4 finger counters on it.
Remove a finger counter: Vedalken Pyroalchemist deals 4 damage divided as you choose among any number of targets. Activate this ability only once per turn at sorcery speed.
Raised by goblins, he lost fingers like he lost cousins.
2/2


IIW: Cehpalids Reimagined

[Mergatroid_Jones]

Sparklesticks 0
Artifact-Equipment (C)
Equip 0
Equipped creature can't be blocked unless the defending player pays 1.

IIW: A common from Modern Horizons 2.

[mellifluoresce]

Out of curiosity, what previous rounds in this thread (or other contests) do you think best represent that?

The recent fake Mark Rosewater judging Melli did would be a good example of what I mean. Something fun, entertaining, and usually a bit out there. This may be some ROSE COLORED GLASSES/inaccurate memory but I think people used to do them more often "back in the day." I certainly did, but I was sinking more time into the forum at that time.

throwback to the controversy caused when I judged a round entirely in GIF form, the judgment made up of quotes from the internet, and the one which was My Immortal processed through Google Translate a hundred times

[avatarz]

Black didn't always get 2/2s for 2, but the past year or so have really pushed creature stats.

Uhm, I'm sorry?

Celebrative Mortars 4R
Sorcery (U)
Add WUBRG, then you may pay up to five mana. For each mana of different colors spent this way, ~ deals 1 damage to any target.
"It makes wow, but also makes ouch!" — Puddli, goblin artificer

IIW: unusual artifacts

[Flatline]

Inspiring Display. rw
Instant (U)
Inspiring Display deals 1 damage to each creature your opponents control. Creatures you control get +1/+1 until end of turn.
"...and the rockets red glare!"

IIW: Mount as an ability. Like a rider would mount a horse.

[Mergatroid_Jones]

Mercadian Spectacle 2W
Enchantment- Saga (U)
1-2: Put a Dazzle counter on target creature. That creature can't attack for as long as it has a dazzle counter on it.
3: Remove all Dazzle counters from all creatures. Put a +1/+1 counter on each of them, and each player gains 3 life.


IIW: Gnat, Mosquito, Dragonfly

[NinjaCaterpie]

As we should all know, the only thing fire means in the context of Magic the Gathering is the F.I.R.E design pattern - cards should be Fun, Inviting, Replayable and Exciting. This challenge thus, obviously, will be measured based on how FIRE something is and also whether it WORKS.

SPOILER

Show

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Current challenge is FIREWORKS, in case anybody gets to this page and isn't clear what's going on.

Hanabi Cannon 3
Artifact {R}
R, T, Discard a card at random: Hanabi Cannon deals 2 damage to any target.

IIW: Fine artistry

Fire: Players dislike random discard because it hurts their feelings. IRE/FIRE
Works: Yes.

Dwarven Pyrotechnician 3R
Creature - Dwarf Artist (U)
When Dwarven Pyrotechnician enters the battlefield, create two fireworks tokens (they're artifacts with "2, T, Sacrifice this artifact: Deal 1 damage to target creature.")
2R, T: Create a fireworks token.
"Take a step back kid, these things are dangerous."
2/2

IIW: Superheroes and Supervillains.

Fire: We love limited environments with no X/1s, and Fireworks tokens certainly do that. FIE/FIRE
Works: Yes.

Goblin Firefighter 2R
Creature — Goblin Shaman (U)
When Goblin Firefighter enters the battlefield, create two Sparkler tokens. (They're artifacts with 2, T, Sacrifice this artifact: Sparkler deals 1 damage to any target.)
2/1

IIW: Book jocks

Fire: We love limited environments with no X/1s, and Fireworks Sparkler tokens certainly do that. FIE/FIRE
Works: Yes.

Precarious Skycandles {2/R}{2/W}
Artifact (U)
2, T: Creatures you control get +1/+1 until end of turn. Flip a coin. If you lose the flip, Precarious Skycandles deals 4 damage to you.
Inspiring when they light up the sky, painful when they light up your robes.

IIW: I've fallen and I can't get up OR I've fallen and I can't be redeemed

Fire: FIRE/FIRE
Works: 2R? Not really

Vedalken Pyroalchemist 3UR
Creature - Veldaken Wizard (U)
Whenever a creature is deal 4 or more damage by Vedalken Pyromancer, draw a card.
When Vedalken Pyroalchemist enters the battlefield, put 4 finger counters on it.
Remove a finger counter: Vedalken Pyroalchemist deals 4 damage divided as you choose among any number of targets. Activate this ability only once per turn at sorcery speed.
Raised by goblins, he lost fingers like he lost cousins.
2/2


IIW: Cehpalids Reimagined

Fire: This is very visceral and very impactful for the opponent on landing. IRE/FIRE
Works: Yes.

Sparklesticks 0
Artifact-Equipment (C)
Equip 0
Equipped creature can't be blocked unless the defending player pays 1.

IIW: A common from Modern Horizons 2.

Fire: Players dislike taxing effects because it makes them think about resource management, even if this card doesn't really do anything. IR/FIRE
Works: Yes.

Black didn't always get 2/2s for 2, but the past year or so have really pushed creature stats.

Uhm, I'm sorry?

Celebrative Mortars 4R
Sorcery (U)
Add WUBRG, then you may pay up to five mana. For each mana of different colors spent this way, ~ deals 1 damage to any target.
"It makes wow, but also makes ouch!" — Puddli, goblin artificer

IIW: unusual artifacts

Fire: FIRE/FIRE
Works: Yes.

Inspiring Display. rw
Instant (U)
Inspiring Display deals 1 damage to each creature your opponents control. Creatures you control get +1/+1 until end of turn.
"...and the rockets red glare!"

IIW: Mount as an ability. Like a rider would mount a horse.

Fire: A very safe two-ability multi-color card. FIR/FIRE
Works: Yes.

Mercadian Spectacle 2W
Enchantment- Saga (U)
1-2: Put a Dazzle counter on target creature. That creature can't attack for as long as it has a dazzle counter on it.
3: Remove all Dazzle counters from all creatures. Put a +1/+1 counter on each of them, and each player gains 3 life.


IIW: Gnat, Mosquito, Dragonfly

Fire: This card is a bit multifaceted and may confuse players who won't be able to tell when to use it. FRE/FIRE
Works: Yes.

Winner is avatarz.
Next: Unusual Artifacts

ps. it's a big struggle trying to word awful and facetious judgings that also try to say something meaningful.

[Krishnath]

Birthday Cake 1
Artifact - Food
2, T, Sacrifice Birthday Cake: Gain 3 life.
When Birthday Cake leaves the battlefield, each player gets a food token (It's a colorless artifact with "2, T, Sacrifice this artifact: Gain 3 life.")
"On this day, everyone gets a piece of cake."

I might come up with more later, but i dunno.

Edit: I came up with something!

Pizza 1
Artifact - Food
2, T, Sacrifice Pizza: Gain 3 life.
When Pizza leaves the battlefield, you may put a +1/+1 counter on target Ninja, Rat, or Turtle creature you control.
"It's Pizza Time, Dude!"

Edit2: Another idea just hit me like a brick wrapped in a lemon wedge.

Limited Edition Booster 1
Artifact - Treasure
T, Sacrifice Limited Edition Booster: Add one mana of any color.
When Limited Edition Booster leaves the battlefield, scry 1, then draw a card.
"Unopened and in mint condition."

IIW: Superheroes and Supervillains.