February MCC Round 1 - Out of nowhere

[bravelion83]

(This month's banner is my own elaboration on the art of the card Nashi, Moon Sage's Scion by Valera Lutfullina.)


February MCC Round 1

Out of nowhere

As is tradition by now, this month we will celebrate the latest set, in this case Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty, by exploring its mechanics and themes, as usual in this kind of MCC months.


Main Challenge - Design a Ninja creature card with ninjutsu.

Subchallenge 1 - Your card has a triggered ability whose trigger condition is NOT "Whenever CARDNAME deals (damage/combat damage) to a (player/opponent)".

Subchallenge 2 - Your card is NOT mono-blue, mono-black, or exactly blue-black.

Clarifications

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Main Challenge
• Your card has to be a creature card with the Ninja subtype. It can have any additional supertypes, card types, and/or subtypes.
• Your card also has to have ninjutsu. It has to be literal ninjutsu on the creature itself. Granting ninjutsu to other creature cards, like Satoru Umezawa does, doesn't count, not even if your card grants ninjutsu to itself somehow. Your card can have any abilities in addition to ninjutsu. "Commander ninjutsu" does NOT count, it's true that it's a variant of ninjutsu in the CR but we're designing for a Standard-legal set here.

Subchallenge 1
• The subchallenge only cares about that specific template. Any similar but technically different templates pass the subchallenge, such as "Whenever a Ninja you control deals combat damage to a player/opponent", "Whenever a creature you control deals combat damage to a player/opponent", "Whenever CARDNAME deals noncombat damage to a player/opponent", etc...
• Any other triggered abilities pass this subchallenge, such as "When CARDNAME (enters/leaves) the battlefield", "When CARDNAME dies", etc... In short, a triggered ability is any ability that starts with one of the words "when", "whenever", or "at". For more information, see thìs MTG Wiki page.

Subchallenge 2
• Your card can be blue, black, or blue-black if it also has additional colors. For example, a blue-red, black-green, or white-blue-black card passes this subchallenge.
• This subchallenge only checks ordinary color as determined by mana cost and color indicator, not color identity.
• This subchallenge only cares about which colors the card is, it doesn't look at the colors of the ninjutsu cost. You can have a mono-blue, mono-black, or blue-black ninjutsu cost, as long as the card itself isn't one of those specific color combinations.


If you have any questions, post them in the MCC discussion thread.

DEADLINES

Design deadline: Wednesday, February 9th 23:59 EDT Friday, February 11th 23:59 EDT

Judging deadline: Saturday, February 12th 23:59 EDT Wednesday, February 16th 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
void_nothing


PLAYERS

Everyone can enter this round. Just reply to this thread posting a card that meets the Main Challenge and any number (that includes zero) of Subchallenges. Future rounds will only be open to those who advance. Come join us!


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 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

Two brackets of four, the last one from each bracket gets eliminated. New judging deadline is Wednesday, February 16th 23:59 EDT.

Judge: bravelion83
Henlock
marioguy3
netn10
Venedrex

Judge: void_nothing
Freyleyes
kwanyeegor-ii
MonoRedMage
slimytrout

[kwanyeegor-ii]

Generous Thief W
Creature - Human Ninja (Rare)
Ninjutsu 1WW
When Generous Thief enters the battlefield from your hand, if it's attacking, each player draws two cards and you create four Food tokens.
"If you won't miss what I take, maybe poorer people ought to have it."
2/1

[netn10]

Agent of Untold Destruction 2R
Creature - Elemental Ninja (Rare)
Ninjutsu R
When Agent of Untold Destruction enters the battlefield, if you cast it from your hand, put a trample counter on it.
At the end of turn, sacrifice Agent of Untold Destruction unless it has a trample counter on it.
5/3

[slimytrout]

Leafshade Ambusher 1RG
Creature — Human Ninja (R)
Ninjutsu 1RG (1RG, Return an unblocked attacker you control to hand: Put this card onto the battlefield from your hand tapped and attacking.)
When Leafshade Ambusher enters the battlefield, it gets +X/+0 until end of turn, where X is the number of creatures you attacked with this turn. Then it deals damage equal to its power to up to one target creature or planeswalker.
2/3

[Freyleyes]

Kappa no Kapi 2GU
Creature - Turtle Ninja {R}
Ninjutsu GG (GG, Return an unblocked attacker you control to hand: Put this card onto the battlefield from your hand tapped and attacking.)
Whenever Kappa no Kapi attacks, target Vehicle becomes an artifact creature until end of turn.
GU: Unattach target equipment from target creature.
4/4

[Henlock]

Initiate of Mannichi's Way 1r
Creature - Human Ninja (c)
Ninjutsu (, Return an unblocked attacker you control to hand: Put this card onto the battlefield from your hand tapped and attacking.)
When Initiate of Mannichi's Way enters the battlefield, switch target creature's power and toughness until end of turn.
1/3

[MonoRedMage]

High-Priced Hitforce 4RR
Creature - Ogre Ninja {R}
Ninjutsu 2RR
First strike
Whenever one or more attacking or blocking creatures die, reveal that many cards from the top of your library. For each of those creatures, you may put an artifact card with equal or lesser mana value revealed this way onto the battlefield. Then put the rest on the bottom of your library in any order.
4/4

[marioguy3]

Super Cat Ninja
Creature - Cat Ninja (Rare)
Haste
Ninjutsu ( , Return an unblocked attacker you control to hand: Put this card onto the battlefield from your hand tapped and attacking.)
When Super Cat Ninja dies, create a token that's a copy of target land you control.
4/2

[bravelion83]

I will keep this open for at least one more day to allow for some more entries, hopefully at least three more. For those who already posted, you can still edit your submission until I close the round.

[Venedrex]

Swift Reclaimer
Artifact Creature — Human Ninja (U)
Ninjutsu (, Return an unblocked attacker you control to hand: Put this card onto the battlefield from your hand tapped and attacking.)
When Swift Reclaimer enters the battlefield from your hand, if its attacking, you may return target artifact or enchantment card from your graveyard to your hand.
He finds strength from each fragment he collects.
2/2

[bravelion83]

I will leave this open for another day. If by tomorrow we don't have any more entries, I and void_nothing will each get a bracket of four players and the last one from each bracket will be eliminated. You still have until I post tomorrow to edit your submissions if you have already submitted one, or enter one if you haven't yet.

[bravelion83]

Ok, I'm closing the round. Two brackets of four, the last one from each bracket gets eliminated. New judging deadline is Wednesday, February 16th 23:59 EDT.

BRACKETS

Judge: bravelion83
Henlock
marioguy3
netn10
Venedrex

Judge: void_nothing
Freyleyes
kwanyeegor-ii
MonoRedMage
slimytrout

---

Judgments complete.

Henlock

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Initiate of Mannichi's Way 1r
Creature - Human Ninja (c)
Ninjutsu (, Return an unblocked attacker you control to hand: Put this card onto the battlefield from your hand tapped and attacking.)
When Initiate of Mannichi's Way enters the battlefield, switch target creature's power and toughness until end of turn.
1/3

Design
Appeal 2/3 - I don't see much for Timmy here. Johnny loves this, I can definitely see some tricks he can do with this. Spike likes the mana efficiency of this when ninjutsu'ed but she would never want to cast this for its normal mana cost.
Elegance 3/3 - This has the good kind of complexity, the strategic one. To a less experienced player this would read just fine but maybe they wouldn't immediately realize the true purpose of this card: switching its own P/T when ninjutsu'ed in (see Balance). A new player is also less likely to know the details of the CR, and layers in particular, while experienced ones will know that P/T switching always applies last (layer 7d, the last sublayer in layer 7, the P/T changing one) and so there are definitely obscure tricks to be done if you have that knowledge. A less experienced player is very likely to just not know, so they wouldn't waste mental energy thinking about it. This reads differently the more experienced you are as a player. I think it's a good example of lenticular design, hiding the complexity away from less experienced players but not removing it for the more experienced ones. Good job.
Development
Viability 2.5/3 - No problems with the color pie or the rules. This reads easy enough to be probably acceptable as a common. It could also probably have been uncommon. A factor pushing this towards uncommon is that, as it is, it's able to target other creatures with its ETB ability. If it only affected itself it would have definitely been fine at common.
Balance 2.5/3 - At first I wished the switching were optional, but then I realize the true reason why it's here: if you ninjutsu this then it means it's unblocked, so you will most likely use the switching ability on itself to make your opponent take 3 damage instead of 1. The ninjutsu cost look quite strong: it's like a one mana 3/1 with haste that can't be blocked the turn it enters. The normal stats are a bit more underwhelming but that's fair. I'd play this in limited. Not sure about constructed. No problems in casual or multiplayer, actually it's a noticeable fact that you're allowed to target another player's creature with the ETB if you have a good reason to do so.
Creativity
Uniqueness 2/3 - Red Ninjas are new. P/T switching not really, but this is a common after all, it's hard to do splashy new thing at common.
Flavor 2.5/3 - I didn't know what or who Mannichi was so I googled it, and I discovered that it's a character from original Kamigawa that I didn't remember and that this card is actually a reference to it, even mechanically. Now it all makes perfect sense, and I really like it. I only wish there were some flavor text, possibly also referencing the one from the Mannichi card. MSE shows me a couple lines could have fit.
Polish
Quality 3/3 - The hyphen in the type line should be an em dash, but no deduction for that. All the rest looks good.
Main Challenge 2/2 - Good.
Subchallenges 2/2 - Both met.
TOTAL 21.5/25

marioguy3

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Super Cat Ninja
Creature - Cat Ninja (Rare)
Haste
Ninjutsu ( , Return an unblocked attacker you control to hand: Put this card onto the battlefield from your hand tapped and attacking.)
When Super Cat Ninja dies, create a token that's a copy of target land you control.
4/2

Design
Appeal 2/3 - Timmy likes the image of a *SUPER* Cat Ninja, this is not just any ordinary Cat Ninja, but a *SUPER* one! He also likes a high-power creature that can attack immediately and give him a nice ramp bonus if it dies, which is relatively easy with a relatively low toughness. Johnny can probably do something with land tokens. To Spike, the mana cost is probably a bit too high. She will always prefer to just ninjutsu this onto the battlefield.
Elegance 1/3 - While apparently easy enough to understand, there are multiple issues I can see. For example, haste doesn't really interact with ninjutsu the way some less experienced players might think. It's not the haste that allows this to attack immediately via ninjutsu, unlike what those players might think. Also, land tokens are known to have issues, like you can't easily say whether they are tapped or untapped, Maro said that multiple times. I think this reads well at first glance but it's really a quite complex card in disguise, with logistic issues on top of that.
Development
Viability 2/3 - Haste is in both red and green, no problem with that, but copying lands feels way more green than red to me. While the card is green, you can also put it onto the battlefield (I'm not saying "cast" or "play" because ninjutsu isn't either of those) with only red mana, so it's like hybrid mana, it has to be something that makes sense as a monocolor effect in both colors. While red can make mana, it's usually a one-shot effect, but here it's a permanent token, if you excuse the pun. "Permanent" both in the sense that it's something that stays on the battlefield and that it's not temporary. I think this is a bend in red. I would have probably made the ninjutsu cost also monogreen. With only 2 toughness at five mana this card could maybe be uncommon, but it's also true that you don't want to potentially gum the board with land tokens in limited. I think the rules have no problems with land tokens, after all you can already make a token copy of Dryad Arbor with any of the several cards that create a token that's a copy of a creature (for example Cackling Counterpart).
Balance 2/3 - Haste is fine if you cast the card normally but it's essentially useless if the creature is ninjutsu'ed in. In a sense, if the creature enters via ninjutsu it already has pseudo-haste, as it's put onto the battlefield attacking immediately. I also see anti-synergy between ninjutsu and death triggers, because the creature won't even die or trade in combat the turn you ninjutsu it in, as it takes the place of an unblocked creature so there is no way it will take damage from a blocking creature that turn. Of course the death trigger will do its thing if this gets shocked, but this happens regardless of ninjutsu. The ninjutsu cost looks fine, I'd say even quite good, but I'm not sure about the normal mana cost. Five mana looks like it might be a lot for a creature with only 2 toughness. Anyway, I think this is playable in limited, and maybe also in constructed: haste gives this creature an immediate impact even if you cast it normally, and it will also give you something even if it gets removed (yes, except if it's exiled, returned to hand, etc... I mean ordinary creature removal, effects that say "destroy"). Except for the logistical issues with land tokens, I see no problems in casual, and also multiplayer.
Creativity
Uniqueness 2.5/3 - I can't remember or find any existing cards with an off-color ninjutsu cost. Land tokens are also technically new, but as I've already said they have some issues. There are reasons they haven't been done yet, and I doubt they will ever be.
Flavor 1/3 - I don't really like the name, to me it feels like it could be the design name of the card, but not the real name. I know we've just had card names like You Are Already Dead and Enourmous Energy Blade in NEO, but it still doesn't convince me. I also don't understand from a flavor perspective why a ninja would essentially turn into a land when they die. Did they have a special connection to their homeland or to nature in general? Finally, two lines of flavor text would have fit here according to MSE, maybe even three. I would have liked to see some, to better explain that connection to nature I was just talking about.
Polish
Quality 2.5/3 - The hyphen in the type line should be an em dash, but no deduction for that. An unneeded space right before the mana cost in the ninjutsu reminder text (-0.5).
Main Challenge 2/2 - Good.
Subchallenges 2/2 - Both met.
TOTAL 17/25

netn10

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Agent of Untold Destruction 2R
Creature - Elemental Ninja (Rare)
Ninjutsu R
When Agent of Untold Destruction enters the battlefield, if you cast it from your hand, put a trample counter on it.
At the end of turn, sacrifice Agent of Untold Destruction unless it has a trample counter on it.
5/3

Design
Appeal 3/3 - Timmy sees a high-power creature that can trample over his opponents. Spike also sees that but what she really likes is the rather low mana costs and the versatility of what's essentially a modal card (more on this later, see Balance). Johnny could probably manipulate the counters to his advantage somehow? Even though multiple trample counters are just redundant, maybe he can find a way to exploit them, like removing them as a cost to get some effect, or proliferating them for some obscure purpose. If this were a real card in NEO, the trample counter would also make this count as a modified creature, maybe he could also pair this with cards that care about modified creatures.
Elegance 3/3 - Very easy to understand. No problems here.
Development
Viability 3/3 - No problems with the color pie, red is secondary in trample and the sacrifice ability feels very red. At this rate I'd say this card just has to be a rare, at a weaker rate I think it might have been fine as an uncommon or maybe even a common, these are very simple effects after all. The rules are also perfectly fine with this card.
Balance 2.5/3 - Ninjutsu is not casting, so if this is ninjutsu'ed in it won't get the counter and will get sacrificed at end of turn. This is like a modal card: you can choose between a one-turn vanilla 5/3 that's attacking and automatically going to the face, acting like a burn spell that reads "this deals 5 damage to target player" and that costs only one mana plus the additional cost of having an unblocked attacking creature to return to its owner's hand, or a permanent (in the sense that you get to keep it indefinitely) 5/3 trample for three mana. It looks quite strong either way, maybe even a little bit too much? Given these costs, I think this could see play in both limited and constructed, at least Standard. I see no problems in casual or multiplayer.
Creativity
Uniqueness 2.5/3 - Red Ninjas are new, but keyword counters are deciduous by now. I like the use you've done of them here though.
Flavor 1.5/3 - Despite your best efforts, the name still sounds Dimir to me. We've also never seen Elementals on Kamigawa before. I tried searching Scryfall (not Gatherer because NEO isn't there yet) for the Elemental subtype in all four Kamigawa sets (the original three-set block plus NEO). I don't think there are Elementals on Kamigawa. Even the Kami are Spirits, not Elementals, and I don't think we've ever seen a Kami that's a Ninja. On the good side, MSE shows me flavor text doesn't really fit here if you include the ninjutsu reminder text, as you should have probably done, so its absence is not really a problem in this case.
Polish
Quality 2/3 - The hyphen in the type line should be an em dash, but no deduction for that. Reminder text for ninjutsu is missing, but on a rare or mythic without room that's allowed. The question is whether there would have been room for it here, and MSE says yes, even if shrinking the font but still well within microtext limits. So I would have put it in here (-0.5). "At the end of turn", which anyway should have been "at end of turn", is obsolete templating. Nowadays it is "at the beginning of the next end step" (-0.5).
Main Challenge 2/2 - Good.
Subchallenges 2/2 - Both met.
TOTAL 21.5/25

Venedrex

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Swift Reclaimer
Artifact Creature — Human Ninja (U)
Ninjutsu (, Return an unblocked attacker you control to hand: Put this card onto the battlefield from your hand tapped and attacking.)
When Swift Reclaimer enters the battlefield from your hand, if its attacking, you may return target artifact or enchantment card from your graveyard to your hand.
He finds strength from each fragment he collects.
2/2

Design
Appeal 2/3 - Timmy is not particularly excited by bears, but he does like to bring back to his hand things that have died, especially if they happen to be creatures, like artifact creatures and enchantment creatures. Johnny also likes to bring back things from his graveyard to his hand, and could easily build some kind of combo with this. He wishes that ability had a little less restrictions though. Spike sees this as just a bear with relatively minor upside.
Elegance 3/3 - Very easy to understand. I see no problems here.
Development
Viability 3/3 - No problems with the color pie, rarity, or the rules.
Balance 2.5/3 - The triggered ability is essentially "when you ninjutsu this in", so it makes sense that the ninjutsu cost is greater than the mana cost, because if you cast this normally it's just a vanilla bear, while with ninjutsu you get the additional upside. Also notable is the fact that the triggered ability it essentially white card advantage, and it fits with the recent philosophy of white being allowed to draw extra cards, but only one per turn. I like this card in limited, especially NEO limited, which is filled with artifact creatures and enchantment creatures to be returned to hand. I'm not sure this is enough for competitive constructed though, I'm leaning towards no. I see no problems in casual or multiplayer.
Creativity
Uniqueness 2/3 - White Ninjas are kinda new, there is only one in NEO (Blade-Blizzard Kitsune) that also happens to be the only white Ninja in the history of MTG. The rest is nothing new.
Flavor 2.5/3 - The name is maybe a bit generic but it does fit well the mechanical flavor of the card, as does the flavor text, which, by the way, fits perfectly in the M15 frame, as MSE shows me.
Polish
Quality 0/3 - Name not bolded (-1). Reminder text for ninjutsu is not in italics (-1). "its" is a verb here and not a possessive adjective, so it lacks the apostrophe (-1). All are well known facts and very easy to correct, thus the -1 for each of them. I'll say I appreciate the correct use of the em dash on the type line, the only card in my bracket to do so.
Main Challenge 2/2 - Good.
Subchallenges 2/2 - Both met.
TOTAL 19/25

Results (bold advance)

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Henlock: 21.5
netn10: 21.5
Venedrex: 19
marioguy3: 17

[void_nothing]

Freyleyes

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Design
(2/3) Appeal - Txmmy would like the Vehicle animation ability if it functioned correctly. Odd enough for Jxnny. Spike doesn't care.
(1/3) Elegance - Taking a big hit for an ability that, if I'm assuming correctly, does not function how you intend it - the triggered ability should read "and becomes tapped and attacking" or similar at the end if you want a usable Vehicle.

Development
(2/3) Viability - Probably a rare. Not sure if the colors are quite right. I could see UR or WU.
(3/3) Balance - Cheap ninjutsu makes this worthwhile despite the less useful abilities.

Creativity
(1.5/3) Uniqueness - Nothing completely unprecedented but some unique elements.
(0/3) Flavor - I'm not sure I get it. Is the name supposed to be a meaningful phrase in Japanese? What's the connection with the abilities? Totally puzzled.

Polish
(2.5/3) Quality - "Equipment" should be capitlaized.
(2/2) Main Challenge (*) - Done.
(2/2) Subchallenges - And done.

Total: 16/25

kwanyeegor-ii

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Design
(3/3) Appeal - Txmmy likes throwing a feast and gaining all that life. Jxnny senses plenty of things to do here. Spike likes an upside Savannah Lions.
(2.5/3) Elegance - Creates a fair number of tokens to keep track of.

Development
(2.5/3) Viability - White has gotten "everyone draws" for a couple of years now but I still feel like this is a boundary-pushing, WU card. Rare is right however.
(2.5/3) Balance - The ninjutsu does a lot here, and four Foods is a lot of life - but involves substantial mana investment.

Creativity
(2/3) Uniqueness - No one element is new, but a lot of new interplay.
(3/3) Flavor - Good matchup between the name, abilities, and flavor text.

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

Total: 22.5/25

MonoRedMage

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Design
(2/3) Appeal - Txmmy and Jxnny both adore this but it's too much mana for too much uncertainty for Spike.
(2/3) Elegance - Marquee triggered ability that is both wordy and relatively time-consuming to execute - nothing that's impossible to understand, however.

Development
(2.5/3) Viability - Rarity's right. Color's… right-ish, although some white or blue would make sense in there.
(3/3) Balance - Sure - it's a big, splashy card that could lead to blowouts or could never have its ability be relevant.

Creativity
(2/3) Uniqueness - A pretty new take on "get stuff out from library."
(3/3) Flavor - Name's pretty resonant with the abilities.

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

Total: 21.5/25

slimytrout

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Design
(3/3) Appeal - Txmmy likes the big damage. Jxnny has triggers to play around with. Spike likes a potentially massive shot to the face AND removal.
(2.5/3) Elegance - "creatures you attacked with this turn" is necessary but awkward phrasing.

Development
(3/3) Viability - Colors and rarity look right.
(3/3) Balance - Sure, strong but fair.

Creativity
(2/3) Uniqueness - Reminds me of a new take on something of a pet card of mine, Kraul Harpoonist.
(3/3) Flavor - Name rolls off the tongue. Feels like an attempt to get Konoha into Magic though.

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

Total: 23.5/25

Totals (Bold advance)

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slimytrout 23.5
kwanyeegor-ii 22.5
MonoRedMage 21.5
Freyleyes 16