May MCC, Round 2 - Not Done Yet

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void_nothing
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Post by void_nothing » 2 years ago

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May MCC, Round 2 - Not Done Yet

Welcome to the May MCC! It's Graveyard Month here at the MCC.

Main Challenge: Design a card that has an activated ability that can be activated while that card is in the graveyard.
Subchallenge 1: Your card is not a creature
Subchallenge 2: Your card has one or more colored mana symbols in its mana cost and a colored mana symbol in its text that does NOT appear in its mana cost

DEADLINES

Design deadline: Wednesday, May 19th 23:59 EDT

Judging deadline: Saturday, May 22nd 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
slimytrout

Players:
@StonerOfKruphix
@Lorn Asbord Schutta
@netn10
@Riria
@Freyleyes
@bravelion83
@Legend
@kwanyeegor-ii
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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bravelion83
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Post by bravelion83 » 2 years ago

Ancestors' Boon GW
Enchantment (R)
1, Sacrifice Ancestors' Boon: Creatures you control get +1/+1 until end of turn.
4BB, Exile Ancestors' Boon from your graveyard: Return target creature card from your graveyard to the battlefield.
"Our ancestors always give us strength, sometimes by simply supporting us and other times by manifesting themselves personally."
—Masan, Abzan shaman
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).
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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

netn10
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Post by netn10 » 2 years ago

Ransack the Stash 2
Sorcery (Rare)
Target player mills ten cards.
3: Until end of turn, target player may cast aura and equipment cards from their graveyard. Activate this ability only if Ransack the Stash is in your graveyard.
Last edited by netn10 2 years ago, edited 1 time in total.

Legend
Aethernaut
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Location: Eternity

Post by Legend » 2 years ago

Erasure 4B
Instant (Uncommon)
Exile target creature.
Payback W (You may cast this card from your graveyard by paying its payback cost, exiling it, and exiling a creature card from your graveyard.)
The prayers of the dead will not go unanswered.
“Comboing in Commander is like dunking on a seven foot hoop.” – Dana Roach

“Making a deck that other people want to play against – that’s Commander.” – Gavin Duggan

"I want my brain to win games, not my cards." – Sheldon Menery

kwanyeegor-ii
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Post by kwanyeegor-ii » 2 years ago

Asteroid Fists 2G
Enchantment - Aura (Uncommon)
Enchant creature
Enchanted creature gets +2/+2 and has trample and "Whenever this creature deals combat damage to a player, put an impact counter on target noncreature permanent that player controls."
2R, Exile Asteroid Fists from your graveyard: Destroy any number of target permanents with impact counters on them.
畫龍點睛

I'm a simple Magic player since several years ago from China. Now I live in New Jersey.

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Riria
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Post by Riria » 2 years ago

Schematic of Origination 3W
Sorcery (MR)
Create a 4/4 colorless Titan artifact creature token with vigilance and ": Add R."
1U, Tap an untapped creature you control: Remember. (Return this card from your graveyard to the top of your library. Remember only whenever you could cast a sorcery and only once each turn.)
The original AI singularity.

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void_nothing
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Post by void_nothing » 2 years ago

This round is set to close tonight and the following players still haven't entered - @StonerOfKruphix @Lorn Asbord Schutta @Freyleyes
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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Freyleyes
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Post by Freyleyes » 2 years ago

Literally just got home from Mozambique 😁

Verdant Marsh GGG
Enchantment {R}
Zombie creatures you control gets +1/+1.
B, Exile target creature card from your graveyard that died this turn: Create a 1/1 black Zombie creature token. Activate this ability only if Verdant Marsh is in your graveyard.
Not all lost in the marsh stay in the marsh.

StonerOfKruphix
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Post by StonerOfKruphix » 2 years ago

Holistic Creation GU
Sorcery (R)
Create a green and blue Elemental creature token with "This creature's power and toughness are each equal to the number of different mana values among permanents you control."
BG, Exile Holistic Creation from your graveyard: Create a black and green Elemental creature token with "This creature's power and toughness are each equal to the number of different mana values among cards in your graveyard.". Activate only as a sorcery.
"Environments, past and present, are the shapers of life."
—Rumus, wetlands shaman
Last edited by StonerOfKruphix 2 years ago, edited 1 time in total.

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Lorn Asbord Schutta
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Post by Lorn Asbord Schutta » 2 years ago

Overthinking
Sorcery (U)
Scry 4.
At the beginning of your end step, put Overthinking from your graveyard on top of your library.
: Exile Overthinking from your graveyard.
Mages who try to control everything never know when to let go.

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void_nothing
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Post by void_nothing » 2 years ago

And the round is closed. The top two contestants per judge will advance to Round 3. Here are the judging assignments:

void_nothing:
netn10
kwanyeegor-ii
Riria
StonerOfKruphix

slimytrout:
bravelion83
Legend
Freyleyes
Lorn Asbord Schutta
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

slimytrout
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Post by slimytrout » 2 years ago

bravelion83
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Ancestors' Boon GW
Enchantment (R)
1, Sacrifice Ancestors' Boon: Creatures you control get +1/+1 until end of turn.
4BB, Exile Ancestors' Boon from your graveyard: Return target creature card from your graveyard to the battlefield.
"Our ancestors always give us strength, sometimes by simply supporting us and other times by manifesting themselves personally."
—Masan, Abzan shaman
Design
(1.5/3) Appeal – Timmy is on board for this – win a combat early in the game, then get back a big creature later on. Spike likes the value of having two spells in one, but would prefer if this were an instant rather than an on-board trick. Johnny doesn't really see any reason to want these particular effects stapled together.
(2.5/3) Elegance – The fact that the second ability can be activated at instant speed from the graveyard would definitely result in some feel-bad moments (less so on MTGA where I assume it would have a little pop-out, but it's important to consider all formats). Otherwise, no complaints.

Development
(2/3) Viability – Rare doesn't feel particularly necessary for this – the first ability goes on commons, and the second ability goes on uncommons, and neither side is pushed enough to make the full package rare.
(1.5/3) Balance – Pretty weak – Front side is almost always worse than Charge, which saw basically zero play, second side is much more expensive than Unburial Rites (although admittedly uncounterable and at instant speed), and the two don't have particular synergy. Would maybe see limited play (but not guaranteed) and almost certainly wouldn't see any constructed play.

Creativity
(1.5/3) UniquenessSelfless Cathar has the first ability, and Unburial Rites is very similar to the second ability. The combination is new, but that only gets you so far given the lack of synergy.
(2.5/3) Flavor – The flavor text has a lot of work to do to get the card to make sense, and while it does accomplish that, it ends up being a bit stilted.

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

Total: 18.5/25
Legend
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Erasure 4B
Instant (Uncommon)
Exile target creature.
Payback W (You may cast this card from your graveyard by paying its payback cost, exiling it, and exiling a creature card from your graveyard.)
The prayers of the dead will not go unanswered.
Design
(1.5/3) Appeal – Spike loves it. Timmy is fine with it. Johnny has no interest.
(3/3) Elegance – I mean, it looks simple enough – the fact that the reminder text doesn't actually make sense is more in viability than elegance.

Development
(2/3) Viability – Reminder text doesn't work – it should be like flashback: "You may cast this card from your graveyard by paying its payback cost and exiling a creature card from your graveyard. Then exile it." It doesn't make any sense to exile the card as part of the cost, since casting a card means putting it on the stack, so what matters is what zone it goes to afterward, not before.
(1.5/3) Balance – Really good, whether you're using it fairly or unfairly. If you're using it fairly, it's a double instant-speed removal spell with a pretty low setup cost (get a single creature card in your graveyard) and an extremely low mana cost (only 6 mana between both modes). If you're abusing it in some kind of dredge deck, it's also insane – better than Swords to Plowshares. Either way, it's busted.

Creativity
(1.5/3) Uniqueness – I mean, the effect has been done a million times. The Payback cost is new, but it's pretty clearly a mix of Flashback and Escape.
(2.5/3) Flavor – There's already been two different cards named Erase, so not sure they'd use the name Erasure.

Polish
(2/3) Quality – Reminder text is quite wrong.
(0/2) Main Challenge (*) – No, and this earns a disqualification. There were multiple warnings in the discussion thread about making sure you weren't just using an alternate cost from the graveyard, because it's not an activated ability and therefore fails to meet the challenge.
(2/2) Subchallenges – Yep yep.

Total: DQ
Freyleyes
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Verdant Marsh GGG
Enchantment {R}
Zombie creatures you control gets +1/+1.
B, Exile target creature card from your graveyard that died this turn: Create a 1/1 black Zombie creature token. Activate this ability only if Verdant Marsh is in your graveyard.
Not all lost in the marsh stay in the marsh.
Design
(1.5/3) Appeal – Spike sees difficult-to-remove value if used properly, but hates the fact that it's probably a dead card in your hand. It's weird enough for Johnny to be interested, but the fact that the ceiling is several 1/1's per turn is a bit off-putting. Timmy sees the potential for an army, but doesn't like that their creatures have to die first.
(3/3) Elegance – I mean, it's unusual, but I think it's easy enough to get what's going on.
Development
(2.5/3) Viability – Pretty weird for green to get a card that pumps another color's iconic creature type. Otherwise fine though.
(2/3) Balance – Feels a bit underpowered. The best place for it is obviously a sacrifice deck where you can turn each of your dead creatures into another creature (and then hopefully recur them somehow) but those decks aren't generally also self-mill and/or self-discard decks, so how are they getting this in the graveyard? Certainly not by paying triple green and then sacrificing it. Obviously the intended play pattern is to get one in the graveyard and all the rest on the battlefield (since multiples in the graveyard do nothing) but the fact that it's so unnecessarily hard to cast makes that much more difficult.

Creativity
(2.5/3) Uniqueness – Has some Rise of the Dread Marn vibes, but otherwise pretty much its own thing.
(2/3) FlavorMarshes are lands, not enchantments.

Polish
(2.5/3) Quality – I believe it should be "that was put there from the battlefield this turn" – the card itself didn't die, the creature did. (As an example, what if it had been under a Song of the Dryads – very confusing if the wording is off.)
(2/2) Main Challenge (*) – Yep.
(2/2) Subchallenges – Yep yep.

Total: 20/25
Lorn Asbord Schutta
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Overthinking
Sorcery (U)
Scry 4.
At the beginning of your end step, put Overthinking from your graveyard on top of your library.
: Exile Overthinking from your graveyard.
Mages who try to control everything never know when to let go.
Design
(2/3) Appeal – Spike likes scrying large numbers – lots of decision points. Johnny likes how weird this card is, and can definitely figure out some way to abuse a guaranteed cheap spell every turn. Timmy has literally no interest.
(3/3) Elegance – Definitely makes you do a double take, but once you get it it's very elegant.
Development
(3/3) Viability – The repeatability means it can't be a common, but it's not powerful enough to be a rare. Definitely blue.
(2.5/3) Balance – Base case of 1U for scry 4 is a bit weak. The fact that you don't actually get the card back means it's not great in the early game when both lands and spells are useful. But the more common use case, where you're playing it in a spellslinger deck to get repeated value every turn, probably makes up for the weakness of the front end.

Creativity
(3/3) Uniqueness – Feels really cool and new. I like it.
(3/3) Flavor – Flavor text is nice and clean and not too long – good job not overthinking it. ;)

Polish
(3/3) Quality – Looks good.
(2/2) Main Challenge (*) – Yep.
(1/2) Subchallenges – No different color.

Total: 22.5/25
Results
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Lorn Asbord Schutta: 22.5
Freyleyes: 20

bravelion83: 18.5
Legend: DQ

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void_nothing
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Post by void_nothing » 2 years ago

netn10
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Design
(3/3) Appeal - Txmmy wants to play all their Voltron cards from the graveyard. Jxnny's deckbuilding gears are turning from this card alone. Spike loves powerful effects like Glimpse the Unthinkable and repeatable recursion.
(2/3) Elegance - Kind of busy mana-wise and involves some tracking and repetitive and potentially time-consuming gameplay.

Development
(2.5/3) Viability - The activated ability allowing you to pay red mana to cast Auras is questionable pie-wise. Otherwise, all checks out.
(2.5/3) Balance - Potentially strong but only if you're willing and able to spend a BUNCH of mana.

Creativity
(2/3) Uniqueness - It's a GtU riff, but the crosscutting hybrid symbols and the Auras and Equipment from the 'yard are both rather unique ideas.
(3/3) Flavor - Name works for me to describe both the main spell text and the activated ability - which, honestly, is all I can ask.

Polish
(2/3) Quality - Being subtypes, Aura and Equipment get capitalized. Also, timing restrictions on activated abilities now just say "activate only", dropping "this ability".
(2/2) Main Challenge (*) - Done.
(2/2) Subchallenges - And done.

Total: 21/25
kwanyeegor-ii
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Design
(2/3) Appeal - Txmmy likes pump and blowing things up. This is odd enough for Jxnny to do some stuff with it. Spike considers this, but ultimately it's rather slow and unreliable - hardly the best MLD out there.
(2/3) Elegance - Involves a lot of tracking - like Tetzimoc, Primal Death in reverse order.

Development
(2.5/3) Viability - A red activated ability destroying enchantments (and planeswalkers) is kinda suspect, but that is helped by the fact that you MUST use the part of this card that costs green mana beforehand.
(2.5/3) Balance - Not unbalanced per se but swingy. Worst case, its graveyard ability is totally irrelevant. Best case, it can partly lock an opponent out of the (late) game by destroying a bunch of their lands.

Creativity
(1.5/3) Uniqueness - Clearly a Rancor riff crossed with, again, a Tetzimoc riff. However, those are two things that have never been put together before.
(2/3) Flavor - I feel like this would have been better served with a name conveying bombs or something of the sort: why are the asteroids only hitting after the fists are off?

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

Total: 19.5/25
Riria
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Design
(3/3) Appeal - Txmmy wants to have a BUNCH of Titan tokens. Jxnny wants to go infinite. Spike likes the sheer power and repeatability.
(2.5/3) Elegance - A card with a bunch of unusual ideas - so many that it requires a good couple of reads to get.

Development
(2.5/3) Viability - The mana ability of the token is slightly off given the colors involved but that's forgivable with a wild card like this.
(1/3) Balance - One word: abusable. There are so, so many infinites with the Titan token and its activated ability, such that a top tier combo deck could be made with the sheer redundancy available. Even not going infinite, you can just keep tapping the tokens themselves in order to recur the sorcery and constantly pop out Titans to take over the board barring mass removal.

Creativity
(2.5/3) Uniqueness - A whole bunch of surprising features here, including a new keyword (action), but there's no one big "new thing" here that pops out to make it a fully unique card.
(1.5/3) Flavor - The flavor is new and relatively cohesive, but might be too non-MtG for a mainstream set? Also, I'm not sure why the Titan produces red mana in the first place; are we supposed to imagine venting heat, something like that?

Polish
(2.5/3) Quality - You "put" cards on top of your library, you don't "return" them there.
(2/2) Main Challenge (*) - Done.
(2/2) Subchallenges - And done.

Total: 19.5/25
StonerOfKruphix
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Design
(3/3) Appeal - Txmmy likes the huge tokens. Jxnny wants to optimize the sizes. Spike likes the efficiency and pseudo-flashback.
(2.5/3) Elegance - A bit of tracking, but otherwise understandable.

Development
(3/3) Viability - Looks totally fine.
(2.5/3) Balance - Both tokens can get very big for their costs, but require work to get there.

Creativity
(2/3) Uniqueness - Nothing all that out-there, but the closest direct precedent I can think of is Kianne, Dean of Substance - "different mana values" is relatively recently opened territory.
(3/3) Flavor - Sure. Very nice, polished, and well-written.

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

Total: 23/25
Totals (Bold advance)
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StonerOfKruphix 23
netn10 21

kwanyeegor-ii 19.5
Riria 19.5
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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