May MCC Round 4 (finals) - Family heritage

[bravelion83]

(This month's banner is my own elaboration on the art of Meeting of the Five by Dominik Mater.)


May MCC Round 4 (finals)

Family heritage

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


Main Challenge

Choose one of the five SNC families. (You can choose the same one you chose in the previous round or a different one.) If you want, you can write your choice in your submission post, especially if it's not obvious just by looking at your card. This is the only exception to the "no design notes" rule for this month. You still cannot write anything else in your submission post, just name your chosen family and post your text card with the optional render. Nothing more.

Design a common or uncommon non-legendary permanent card with mana value 5 or greater that has regular mana symbols (no hybrid, twobrid, Phyrexian, etc…, just regular WUBRG symbols) of all three colors of your chosen family in its mana cost and with no mana symbols outside of your chosen family's colors anywhere on the card.

Subchallenge 1 - Your card has at least three different evergreen keyword abilities. (Keyword actions and ability words do NOT count. Please see clarifications.)

Subchallenge 2 - Your card has flavor text that mentions or quotes a family's head OTHER THAN that of your chosen one by name (Falco Spara, Raffine, Xander, Ziatora, or Jetmir).

Clarifications

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Main Challenge

• To pass the Main Challenge, your card has to meet ALL the following requirements:

- It is a common or uncommon.
- It does NOT have the "Legendary" supertype on its type line.
- It HAS a permanent card type on its type line ("Artifact", "Creature", "Enchantment", "Land", and/or "Planeswalker").
- It has mana value 5 or greater.
- It has at least one traditional mana symbol (W, U, B, R, G) of each of all three of its colors in its mana cost. How many symbols of each color does NOT matter, all that matters is that all three colors are there in the mana cost. Those in the rules text do NOT count.
- It has no mana symbols of any colors outside those of your chosen family anywhere on the card. You CAN use colorless mana (C) and/or generic mana 0, 1, 2, 3, X, etc...).

Failing any of the above requirements will cause your card to fail the Main Challenge and thus be DQ'ed. Please don't make me do that. It's the final round, it's supposed to be difficult.


Subchallenge 1

• Your card must have the abilities itself, granting them does NOT count.

• The ones that count are the ones listed in the "abilities" section of the wiki page about evergreen keywords: https://mtg.fandom.com/wiki/Evergreen#Abilities.

• List of evergreen keyword abilities for those who might not be able to look at the wiki page:
deathtouch
defender
double strike
enchant
equip
first strike
flash
flying
haste
hexproof
indestructible
lifelink
menace
protection (all variants)
reach
trample
vigilance
ward (for mana in GWU or for life in BR)


Subchallenge 2

• Obviously, if your card doesn't even have flavor text, this Subchallenge is automatically failed.

• The name of the required character can be used in any context. As long as the exact name is there, you're fine.

• The flavor text CAN also contain the name of your chosen family's head, as long as the name of at least a different family's one is ALSO there.

• The flavor text CAN contain the name of more than one family's head that aren't that of your chosen one. You could even find a way to name all five. All that matters is that there is AT LEAST the name of a family's head that's different from your chosen one.


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

DEADLINES

Design deadline: Sunday, June 19th 23:59 EDT Monday, June 20th 23:59 EDT

Judging deadline: Thursday, June 23th 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

@kwanyeegor-ii
@RaikouRider


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.

[bravelion83]

About 12 hous to the deadline and we still have no entries. @RaikouRider @kwanyeegor-ii

[kwanyeegor-ii]

Cabaretti

Dangerscorn Aerialists 4RGW
Creature - Elf Druid Rogue Scout (Uncommon)
Flying, first strike, ward 3
1R: Dangerscorn Aerialists gets +1/+0 until end of turn.
1G: Untap Dangerscorn Aerialists.
1W: Dangerscorn Aerialists gets +0/+1 until end of turn.
Even Xander and Spara had to applaud this act.
6/3

[RaikouRider]

Oh no! I got busy with the holiday and completely forgot the deadline was yesterday. I'm sorry kwanyeegor-ii and everyone else involved.

[bravelion83]

Oh no! I got busy with the holiday and completely forgot the deadline was yesterday. I'm sorry kwanyeegor-ii and everyone else involved.

No problem, the host has the power to grant you a 24-hour extension in cases like this, and that's exaclty what I'm doing here. You have until midnight Eastern today.

[RaikouRider]

Reconstruction Crew 3BRG
Creature - Rhino Warrior {U}
Trample, haste, menace
When Reconstruction Crew dies, return up to one target permanent card with lesser mana value from your graveyard to your hand.
5/5

[bravelion83]

The round is closed. Judging may begin.

June 23rd 8:30 pm CEST - I'm sorry but I haven't been able to start judging for the last two days, I've had two... let's just say "very busy" days IRL. I don't know if I will be able to start tonight. If not, tomorrow at latest. I'm really sorry to have to break my self-established deadline but if I always say that real life always comes first, that must apply to myself too. More updates later tonight or more probably tomorrow.

---

June 25rd 9:30 pm CEST - Judgments complete. Sorry again for the delay.

kwanyeegor-ii

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Cabaretti

Dangerscorn Aerialists 4RGW
Creature - Elf Druid Rogue Scout (Uncommon)
Flying, first strike, ward 3
1R: Dangerscorn Aerialists gets +1/+0 until end of turn.
1G: Untap Dangerscorn Aerialists.
1W: Dangerscorn Aerialists gets +0/+1 until end of turn.
Even Xander and Spara had to applaud this act.
6/3

Design
Appeal 2.5/3 - Big and evasive creature that's also very splashy and hard to kill for Timmy, he will love this! Spike doesn't really like the 3 native toughness for seven mana. At least the untap ability is very interesting to Johnny.
Elegance 3/3 - No problems here.
Development
Viability 2.5/3 - The evergreen keywords could all be in monowhite, but it was either very clever or playing to the judge on your part to put in one activated ability for each color. No problems with the red and white ones. The green one is also allowed, that's for sure, but I'm kinda getting contradicting information about that from Maro's Mechanical color pie article. Quoting from there:

Untapping creatures
Primary: Green and blue
Secondary: White
Untapping creatures used to be white's domain, but we moved individual creature untapping off to green to give it more creature answers. (...)
Untaps itself
Primary: Blue
Secondary: White
This is a creature that has an activated ability (or sometimes a triggered ability) that untaps itself. It's mostly used in blue, but occasionally in white when we want to simulate vigilance because actual vigilance is problematic due to timing.

So, green is primary in untapping creatures but only individual ones, but not itself, as it doesn't appear in that part at all? If I have a monogreen creature, it can have an ability that says "Untap target creature you control" but not one that says "Untap CARDNAME"? Let me check Gatherer as well... *checks* Devoted Druid specifically untaps itself and I don't consider that a break in any way... Locust Swarm too, but that's way too old to count as precedent for modern design... Lurking Roper untaps itself in AFR... And how could I forget Nettle Sentinel? I've played a LOT of that card... Sabertooth Mauler also untaps itself in M21... Ok, that's all I could find. I'd say that green is definitely allowed to do that and I think it should be listed as secondary under "untaps itself". It does indeed usually just untap any creature, but it can definitely untap itself. Ok, now that this is clear, let me just state that I actually see this more as a rare than an uncommon (the real reason why this is 2.5 instead of 3, while everything is simple enough and mana costs are high, there is still a lot going on here) and that there are no problems with the rules, and let's just move on.
Balance 2.5/3 - In limited you usually want to play at most a couple cards that cost this much mana, if any, but if you do play one and you're in the right colors, this looks like a very good candidate. It has evasion, it's hard to kill, and it can also block well with first strike, even if it attacked on your turn, as it will just untap itself to do so. I'd say this can qualify as a limited bomb. In constructed it's also very tempting, but I see two things against that. First, the high mana cost. Not many cards that cost seven mana see constructed play, especially the more you go farther back in time with your format of choice. An obvious comparison that immediately came to my mind in Modern, for example, is: is this better than a Titan? Is it worth the one mana cost increase and the more color-intensive mana cost? Honestly, I don't think so. The second thing is: even in Standard, which decks would want to play this? For aggro decks seven mana is a lot. For control decks this could be a good finisher but it's in the wrong colors. Midrange? Also costs too much mana. Ramp? Yeah, probably that... but maybe just that. Casual players will just play this maybe not even thinking about the mana cost. I see no problems in multiplayer.
Creativity
Uniqueness 1/3 - The whole package might be technically new, in the sense that it's never been done before, but none of its components are.
Flavor 2.5/3 - I really like this flavor text. It makes me imagine Xander and Falco Spara just hanging out and having a good time at a Cabaretti party to relax after a day of hard criminal work in the streets of New Capenna. It must not be easy to run a mobster family in a busy city. With a single sentence you evoke a whole picture in my mind, and that has to mean this flavor text is effective and well written. The name is also definitely good enough. The only thing that slightly perplexes me is the three classes in the type line. At first I thought it was to reflect the three colors of the card, but Druid and Scout are both associated primarily with green and Rogue more with blue and black actually, even if nothing prevents a creature type from appearing on a creature of an unusual color if it makes sense. Druids and Scouts are also usually connected mechanically to lands, even though not always, and that's not the case here. That's the weakest part of the flavor of this card in my opinion. I don't know what class(es) I would have given to this creature honestly. Maybe I would have looked at the performers in the Rakdos guild. Actually, I feel like there is no existing creature type that captures exactly what a performer does, and coming up with a new one, while technically allowed, would have been a very bold choice here indeed. In the end, I would have probably gone with just Rogue here, but that's just me.
Polish
Quality 3/3 - All good. Hyphen instead of em dash in the type line, but no deduction for that.
Main Challenge 2/2 - Good.
Subchallenges 2/2 - Both met.
TOTAL 21/25

RaikouRider

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Reconstruction Crew 3BRG
Creature - Rhino Warrior {U}
Trample, haste, menace
When Reconstruction Crew dies, return up to one target permanent card with lesser mana value from your graveyard to your hand.
5/5

I didn't make it mandatory to state your chosen family this round specifically because it would have been clear anyway just from satisfying the Main Challenge. The rest of this judgment assumes that you chose the Riveteers.

Design
Appeal 3/3 - Big hard beater for Timmy that also lets him get his other dead creatures back. The death trigger is highly appealing to Johnny. Spike likes this as a finisher that also provides recursion.
Elegance 3/3 - No problems here.
Development
Viability 2.5/3 - The last ability is just green and while trample and haste can both be green, menace is not, unlike its predecessor intimidate, so this card must indeed be multicolored. With menace being black and red, you could have gone with either color as the second one. The third one isn't really needed, this could work as both a black-green or red-green card. This is not a break in any way, everything is in color here, it's just that this card doesn't need to be three-colored, and if you read my previous judgments this month, this shouldn't be new. It's where I personally disagree with the real R&D about three-colored cards. Like the other card this round, I also see this one more as a rare than an uncommon. These cards are quite similar in that regard: a lot of simple pieces and high mana cost, but a lot going on on the card overall. No problems with the rules.
Balance 2.5/3 - Again, rather similar to the previous card. Justified but high mana cost that might hinder the playability of this card in constructed formats, especially older ones. Limited bomb if you're in the right colors. Casual players won't even care about the high mana cost and I see no problems in multiplayer. Really, I feel like I could just copy and paste the Balance section of the previous judgment here, so I won't repeat that. You can just check that out and apply it here too as is, obviously changing the "seven" mana cost to "six" and ignoring the part about first strike, but those are the only real differences.
Creativity
Uniqueness 1/3 - The whole package might be technically new, in the sense that it's never been done before, but none of its components are.
Flavor 2/3 - The name fits both the mechanics of the card and the flavor of the Riveteers very well. Too bad there is no flavor text here. I didn't really need it here but I checked on MSE anyway just to be sure and yes, there is plenty of room for flavor text here, even five lines could have fit in the frame while still not being microtext.
Polish
Quality 3/3 - All good. Hyphen instead of em dash in the type line, but no deduction for that.
Main Challenge 2/2 - Good.
Subchallenges 1/2 - No flavor text so Subchallenge 2 is not met.
TOTAL 20/25

Results

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kwanyeegor-ii: 21
RaikouRider: 20

[void_nothing]

kwanyeegor-ii

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Design
(2.5/3) Appeal - Based mostly on a Limited standpoint (this IS an uncommon), Txmmy is just plain excited, Jxnny wants to draft something to cheat this out, and Spike likes a resilient, evasive bomb but is leery of the small toughness without using the pump ability.
(2.5/3) Elegance - A bit text-heavy, but each ability is simple.

Development
(2.5/3) Viability - This quantity of abilities kind of pushes the boundaries of uncommon, but each ability is pretty simple. A classic combination-platter multicolor card; all the colors are represented.
(3/3) Balance - Put this card's picture next to "Limited bomb" in the dictionary. For Constructed, much less relevant. It's definitely worth the seven mana in Draft, when you can cast it that is.

Creativity
(1/3) Uniqueness - It's a keyword salad card, which, hey, you do well. A lot like Hellkite Overlord in feel, only downgraded and, well, done differently. The four creature types (one class per performer I guess?) are kinda neat.
(3/3) Flavor - That is SOME effective flavor text. And the name makes me wonder: Just how crazy dangerous is the act? Definitely justifies a bunch of elves having iconic-creature stats.

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

Total: 21.5/25

RaikouRider

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Design
(2.5/3) Appeal - Again looking from a Limited perspective, anyone could get into this, although Jxnny is the least excited. It's a nice beater that's not all that costly to play considering you get at least something back - most likely the next-biggest creature you control that has died - when this dies.
(2.5/3) Elegance - Mostly fine, but the triggered ability is relatively long in terms of text - still definitely within the uncommon level of complexity, but slightly wordy - and trample and menace feel sort of redundant, although I guess the point is you can't chump block this while multiblocking?

Development
(3/3) Viability - Colors and rarity look right.
(3/3) Balance - Don't really see an issue - this is exactly what it needs to be in its niche.

Creativity
(1.5/3) Uniqueness - Mostly a big multikeyword beater, but that dies trigger has not been done in this exact form before.
(2/3) Flavor - A bit bland, but the name, types, and abilities all work together.

Polish
(2.5/3) Quality - Minor points: Haste should in all likelihood go last in the keyword list, because it's simply listed that way for convention; that ability should probably just say "with mana value 5 or less" for ease of comprehension, although obviously this changes the function if something else gains that ability somehow.
(2/2) Main Challenge (*) - Done.
(1/2) Subchallenges - No flavor text.

Total: 20/25

[bravelion83]

Final scores.

kwanyeegor-ii: 21 + 21.5 = 42.5
RaikouRider: 20 + 20 = 40

kwanyeegor-ii is the winner of the May MCC. Congratulations!