June MCC, Round 2 - Sesquipedality

[void_nothing]

Banner based on Words of Worship, by Rebecca Guay and Wizards of the Coast. Thanks to bravelion83 for the "Core Set Style" MCC Logo

June MCC, Round 2 - Sesquipedality

Welcome to the June MCC! It's Words Month here at the MCC.

Main Challenge: Design a card with four or more words in its name.
Subchallenge 1: Your card is legendary
Subchallenge 2: Your card is not a creature

DEADLINES

Design deadline: Friday, June 24th 23:59 EDT

Judging deadline: Sunday, June 26th 23:59 EDT

Clarifications

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None yet!

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
Venedrex

Players:
@slimytrout
@bravelion83
@kwanyeegor-ii
@netn10
@Henlock
@Freyleyes

[netn10]

Honden of Second Chances 1WB
Legendary Enchantment (Uncommon)
At the beginning of your upkeep, return target creature or enchantment card with mana value X or less from your graveyard to the battlefield, where X's is the number of Shrines you control.
Nice break of the day
A yellow, happy moon sings
because of the blushing sun.

[bravelion83]

Uklya, Master Kentor's Orb 3U
Legendary Artifact (R)
4U: Create a token that's a copy of target creature, except it's colorless, it's a Sculpture artifact in addition to its other types, and it's not legendary if that creature is legendary.
2U, T: Exile target nonartifact creature you control. Return it to the battlefield under its owner's control at the beginning of the next end step.
The real reasons why he needed to create a system to store all the souls of the world in his hall are a mystery as incomprehensible as life itself.

[Freyleyes]

The Sands of Time W
Legendary Artifact {R}
Indestructible
Whenever you lose life, put that many time counters on The Sands of Time.
Exile The Sands of Time: If The Sands of Time had 20 or more time counters on it, take an extra turn after this one.
A twice in a lifetime event.

[slimytrout]

Kaito, the Emperor's Shadow 2UB
Legendary Planeswalker - Kaito (M)
Whenever a creature you control deals combat damage to an opponent, put a loyalty counter on Kaito, the Emperor's Shadow.
0: Until end of turn, Kaito becomes a 3/3 Human Ninja creature with indestructible that can't be blocked.
-1: Target opponent may sacrifice a creature. If they don't, they discard a card and Kaito phases out at the beginning of the next end step.
-7: For each nonlegendary creature you control, create a token that's a copy of that creature except it has "This creature can't be blocked."
3

[kwanyeegor-ii]

Sanctum of the Memory Priest
Legendary Land (Mythic)
T: Add W or U.
At the beginning of your upkeep, sacrifice Sanctum of the Memory Priest unless you put a safekeeping counter on a creature you control without one on it. That creature can't attack or block and is a Clue artifact in addition to its other types with "2, Sacrifice this artifact: Draw a card" for as long as it has a safekeeping counter on it.
At the beginning of each opponent's end step, if you control two or more Clue creatures, you may pay 2WU. If you do, transform Sanctum of the Memory Priest.
/DFC/
Thalrai, the Memory Priest
{WU} Legendary Creature - Elemental Cleric (Mythic)
Double strike, hexproof
When this permanent transforms into Thalrai, the Memory Priest, remove all safekeeping counters from permanents you control. Put a +1/+1 counter on each creature you control for each counter removed this way.
1/1

[void_nothing]

Just waiting on @Henlock - I'll give until 23:59 Eastern Monday as an extension.

[Henlock]

The Harder They Fall 2wb
Instant (u)
Destroy target creature an opponent controls. Tap all creatures that player controls with power equal or less than the exiled creature's power.
Battle dinosaurs were used sparingly once it was realized the commotion they caused to the lines when taken down.

[void_nothing]

And that will do it for the round. Let's judge -

void_nothing:
netn10
bravelion83
slimytrout

Venedrex:
Freyleyes
kwanyeegor-ii
Henlock

The top two scorers per judge will move on to round 3. @Venedrex Let's aim to have these finished by the 30th?

[void_nothing]

netn10

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Design
(3/3) Appeal - Txmmy and Jxnny particularly are interested in building a Shrine tribal deck, and Spike is also keen on repeatable reanimation.
(2.5/3) Elegance - Pretty easy to understand, but of course this card can contribute to repetitive game states as well.

Development
(2.5/3) Viability - Colors look right. I know these things are usually part of uncommon cycles, but this effect in particular looks like it'd be more appropriate if a rare cycle of Shrines were made.
(2.5/3) Balance - Maybe not all that bad in a vacuum, but ultimately getting something from the graveyard to the battlefield every turn for so little mana seems ripe for combo abuse.

Creativity
(1/3) Uniqueness - Ultimately there's not that much you can do with the Shrine concept anymore that feels too original, but this does have a bit of interest in being able to target enchantments as well as creatures.
(2.5/3) Flavor - The flavor text is supposed to be a haiku, but it goes 5/7/7 instead of 5/7/5!

Polish
(2/3) Quality - Missing the Shrine subtype in the type line, and it says "X's is" instead of just "X is".
(2/2) Main Challenge (*) - Done.
(2/2) Subchallenges - And done.

Total: 20/25

bravelion83

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Design
(2/3) Appeal - Txmmy wants a clone army, Jxnny has plenty to do with copy creation and blink - the whole package is too expensive for Spike though.
(1.5/3) Elegance - Two abilities that don't directly relate, only one of which has a tap in the cost and the other of which creates a bunch of token copies with alterations...

Development
(3/3) Viability - That is definitely a blue rare!
(3/3) Balance - Sure - the token creation ability is powerful, but the card itself costs four mana and then the tokens are five mana a pop. Is it a Palinchron infinite? Sure, but that's a club with probably hundreds of members.

Creativity
(2/3) Uniqueness - Cloning and blinking are well-worn effects, but there is something new here in the execution.
(2/3) Flavor - I do remember the character of Kentor. But good lord, this flavor text threw me. An exposition dump at the beginning of the sentence and what looks like a connection to the revised Eldrazi Titans at the end?

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

Total: 20.5/25

slimytrout

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Design
(3/3) Appeal - Many planeswalkers have crossover appeal but this one nails it. Beats for Txmmy, wacky interactions and a truly crazy ultimate for Jxnny, and the raw power of a tough-to-beat attacker for Spike.
(2/3) Elegance - A lot of these abilities are quite wordy, and the ultimate involves... well, what it does... but each individual ability is understandable.

Development
(3/3) Viability - Very UB, very mythic, very Kaito.
(2.5/3) Balance - This does a lot and can gain loyalty fast, but ultimately Kaito's best way to protect himself, the -1, gets in the way of him using his other strong abilities.

Creativity
(3/3) Uniqueness - There is a lot new going on here even if plenty of planeswalkers (yes, mostly Gideons) have turned into creatures before.
(3/3) Flavor - Nice name getting his relationship with the Wanderer across.

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

Total: 23.5/25

Totals (Bold advance)

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slimytrout 23.5
bravelion83 20.5
netn10 20

[Venedrex]

Henlock

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Design
(2/3) Appeal –Spike likes this for limited, with some cool applications. Tapping an opponents boardstate seems useful both on offense or on defense, and this could lead to blowouts big enough to get Txmmy interested. Jxnny doesn't see much in this though.
(1/3) Elegance – While the intended idea of this card is clean, the reality of the quality issues make it confusing to understand and causes one to do a double, or even a triple take.

Development
(3/3) Viability – Rarity is pretty good, colors are perfect. Bend or break the rules of the game? Not at all.
(2/3) Balance – As previously stated, good in limited. Probably wouldn't see any constructed play, but that's all right. Of course, I'm not sure whether this card exiles or destroys the creature, but four mana single target removal spells don't seem to be strong enough for standard anymore by and large.

Creativity
(2/3) Uniqueness – A kill spell with gravy is not the most original thing in the world, but this combination is new to me.
(3/3) Flavor – Bang on.

Polish
(0/3) Quality – Less than or equal to. Most crucially, you began the card stating, "Destroy target creature", then later referenced "the exiled creature". As it stands, the card contradicts itself and doesn't work within the rules.
(2/2) Main Challenge (*) – The harder they fall. Good.
(2/2) Subchallenges – Not a creature.

Total: 17/25

kwanyeegor-ii

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Design
(1.5/3) Appeal – Txmmy doesn't see a lot to be excited about this card, Jxnny sees some potential for shenanigans, but not as many as they would like, and Spike is underwhelmed.
(1/3) Elegance – I will continue to beat the dead horse of animate dead, and point out that this card appears to have around nine lines of text. Quite a lot to take in and not particularly clean to read.

Development
(3/3) Viability – Rarity is fine, every effect of this is in the right colors, no problems here. We've seen clue creatures before, so no breaking the rules of the game.
(1.5/3) Balance – This is difficult to say, but playing this on turn one is just about impossible practically, and playing this on turn two is also problematic. While generating clues is nice, having to feed your landbase a creature every upkeep strikes me as more downside than upside. Perhaps as a late game way to convert weaker creatures into cards, but I have a difficult time seeing this as an early play or a powerful land. Getting a big team and a big double striker is cute, but I suspect the game might have already drawn to a close before that becomes too relevant, at least outside of limited.

Creativity
(3/3) Uniqueness – Parcel Myr exists, but the combination of effects on this card is certainly novel.
(3/3) Flavor – I buy it. The tales of creatures are recorded in a temple then later restored to their original form by its caretaker. Nice. You didn't have room for flavor text but the name and effect are enough to convey the meaning.

Polish
(3/3) Quality – All fine.
(2/2) Main Challenge (*) – Sanctum of the Memory Priest. Good.
(2/2) Subchallenges – Creature on the backside, but it starts as a land so technically not a creature. I'll give the points.

Total: 20/25

Freyleyes

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Design
(2/3) Appeal – Txmmy quite appreciates a flavorful and epic way to snag an extra turn but might not like the idea of having to get beat up to do it. Jxnny loves this. Spike has little use for this.
(3/3) Elegance – Clean and simple, it works well as a package.

Development
(0/3) Viability – Let's see. White has no extra turn spells, or permanents that can produce such an effect. The only color that doesn't have one in fact. Now, I could just say, color pie break, the end. However, recently a Blogatog poster asked about white not having extra turn spells. Maro's answer was not a straight never ever, but rather, doubtful but maybe. That gives this card an iota of a chance that it could exist and not be just a mistake from the color pie standpoint. However, despite this, I cannot in good conscience say this isn't a break in the color pie when there is no precedence to go off of, or even any strong indication for a shift in the pie. As far as the rules of the game are concerned, nothing is really being broken outside the color pie. I do believe this should be mythic however, perhaps with a power level increase. The only color that doesn't already have it getting one of the most powerful and splashy effects in the game on a legendary artifact? Feels mythic to me.

(1.5/3) Balance – You can't even get the extra turn without the use of lifegain in most formats. Even if you do have a consistent way of making this work in a lifegain shell, the payoff doesn't seem quite worth the effort most of the time. I do appreciate that this card is a roundabout way of mono white gaining life to get an extra turn, which is supremely fitting from both a gameplay and flavor perspective. This doesn't appear to be a particularly strong or overpowered card, and it may even be a weak card. It's good to be cautious with extra turns in design, but this seems a little too underpowered for me personally.

Creativity
(3/3) Uniqueness - Yeah, the only one of its kind. This is unique.
(3/3) Flavor – Delectable.

Polish
(3/3) Quality – Looks good.
(2/2) Main Challenge (*) – The Sands of Time. Good.
(2/2) Subchallenges – Is legendary. Not a creature. Good.

Total: 19.5/25

Totals (Bold advance)

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kwanyeegor-ii: 20
Freyleyes: 19.5
Henlock: 17