December MCC Round 3 - Alternative fuel sources

[bravelion83]

(This month's banner is my own elaboration on the art of One with the Multiverse by Liiga Smilshkalne.)


December MCC Round 3

Alternative fuel sources

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

Taking care of the environment you live in is important, and if your environment happens to contain strange artifacts from past civilations polluting it everywhere, you have to clean those out and find some ways of recycling them... and who cares if that will increase future pollution? You're dealing with it right now, aren't you? Your world is getting cleaner now, and you have power! Problem solved! What could go wrong? And who cares about future generations anyway? Who cares if this might cause ice ages, temporal apocalypses, otherwordly invasions... It's their problem now! We are fine! It's a good life, isn't it?


Main Challenge - Design a colored instant or sorcery card that creates one or more Powerstone tokens as part of its effects.

Subchallenge 1 - Your card does NOT contain red or green in its color identity. In other words, no red and/or green mana symbols anywhere on the card.

Subchallenge 2 - All the Powerstone tokens created by your card's effects when it resolves can enter the battlefield untapped. Doing so only conditionally still counts.

Clarifications

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Main Challenge
• Your card must meet ALL the following requirements:
- It is one or more colors. This refers to actual color as determined by mana cost and color indicator, not to color identity. Colored mana symbols in the text box do NOT count.
- It has the "instant" card type or the "sorcery" card type natively in the type line of EACH of its components. You can make a split card that is an instant on one half and a sorcery on the other half, that DOES count. The same goes for aftermath cards, fuse cards, etc... An adventurer card that's a permanent that has an Adventure that's an instant or sorcery does NOT count, as the permanent part is not an instant or sorcery.
Your card CAN have any other additional card types (only tribal I guess?), supertypes and/or subtypes. If you want to make a "Legendary Sorcery — Arcane" or a "Tribal Instant — Mouse Trap", go ahead.
- It must create at least one Powerstone token as an effect or part of an effect. Here the word "effect" has its CR definition. "Powerstone token" too, it's in the predefined tokens section. Creating Powerstone tokens as a cost or anything that's not an "effect" does NOT count.

609. Effects
609.1. An effect is something that happens in the game as a result of a spell or ability. When a spell, activated ability, or triggered ability resolves, it may create one or more one-shot or continuous effects. Static abilities may create one or more continuous effects. Text itself is never an effect.

111.10. Some effects instruct a player to create a predefined token. These effects use the definition below to determine the characteristics the token is created with. The effect that creates a predefined token may also modify or add to the predefined characteristics.
(...)
111.10h A Powerstone token is a colorless Powerstone artifact token with "{T}: Add {C}. This mana can't be spent to cast a nonartifact spell."

Subchallenge 1
• Here we check color identity instead and not just actual color. The implication is right there in the text of the challenge, it should be self-explanatory, but just to reiterate: no mana symbols of ANY kind (including hybrid, "twobrid", Phyrexian, etc...) that are even partially red or green are allowed ANYWHERE on the card.

Subchallenge 2
• The challenge doesn't care that the tokens always enter untapped, just that it's possible for them to enter untapped, even if just under some conditions. That must be true for ALL the Powerstone tokens the spell creates. If even just one of the tokens always enters tapped, the Subchallenge is failed.
• Of course, entering the battlefield naturally untapped counts just fine.

@bravelion83 For December Round 3 subchallenge 2, would untapping them as part of the effect that creates them work?

No, sorry. They have to be able to enter untapped, not enter tapped and then be untapped afterwards, not even by the same effect.

i.e. "Create 2 tapped powerstone tokens. If you control 3 Ninjas and a Dog, untap them."

I would have made them 4 Turtle Ninjas and a Rat, but no, that would not count. "Create two Powerstone tokens. Those tokens enter the battlefield tapped unless you control three Ninjas and a Dog." WOULD count though. There is a subtle difference, but that difference is all that matters.

Or do they have to enter untapped to begin with?

Exactly this.

Thank you! And appreciate your dive into alternative language tenses on the previous judgement, was super interesting.

It was just one of my usual digressions, I do them all the time about all kinds of different subjects, it just comes natural to me, but if somebody actually likes them I guess that's even better. Thank you. Don't worry. More will surely come.

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

DEADLINES

Design deadline: Friday, December 30th, 2022 23:59 EST

Judging deadline: Tuesday, January 3rd, 2023 23:59 EST May the third time be the charm? Maybe this time I will actually do it on time. It's strange to set up deadlines just for yourself, you know?


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


PLAYERS

@slimytrout
@Subject16
@void_nothing
@marioguy3
@haywire
@Legend


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

slimytrout vs. haywire
Legend vs. void_nothing
Subject16 vs. marioguy3

[Legend]

Transmute to Stone b
Instant (Uncommon)
Exile target creature. Its controller creates a Powerstone token. (It's an artifact with "t: Add c. This mana can't be spent to cast a nonartifact spell.")
The other gorgons of Phyrexia avoided Venaxis when they could and adored her when they couldn't, from fear of being petrified by her gaze.

[Subject16]

Disassemble 1B
Sorcery (U)
As an additional cost to cast this spell, sacrifice an artifact or creature.
You draw two cards and create X tapped powerstone tokens, where X is the sacrificed permanent's mana value. If the sacrificed permanent was legendary, those tokens enter the battlefield untapped instead. (The tokens are artifacts with "T: Add C. This mana can't be spent to cast a nonartifact spell.")
Gix needs no servants. He only needs parts.

[slimytrout]

Supercharge XUUU
Sorcery (R)
Create a Powerstone token. (It's an artifact with "{T}: Add {C}. This mana can't be spent to cast a nonartifact spell.")
Put X +1/+1 counters on each noncreature artifact you control. They become 0/0 artifact creatures.
The hum of the powerstone became a scream as objects sprung into battle of their own accord.

[void_nothing]

Evra's Testimony 5WWWW
Sorcery (M)
Choose one -
• Create a number of Powerstone tokens equal to your life total.
• Quadruple your life total. Until your next turn, your life total can't change, you can't lose the game, and your opponents can't cast spells or win the game.
Moving unchanged through untold eons, the silent chronicler of Thran glory finally spoke the truth.

[marioguy3]

Quick Recharge
Instant (Rare)
Create two Powerstone tokens. If you control fewer than two vehicles, those tokens enter tapped. (The tokens are artifacts with "{T}: Add . This mana can't be spent to cast a nonartifact spell.")
Retrace (You may cast this card from your graveyard by discarding a land card as an additional cost to cast it.)

[haywire]

Urza's Obsession 1UU
Sorcery {R}
As long as Urza's Obsession is in your graveyard and you control one or more Powerstones, you may cast Urza's Obsession from your graveyard, and you may not cast nonartifact spells not named Urza's Obsession.
Choose one —

• Mill X cards, then create X Powerstone tokens, where X is the number of Powerstones you control. These tokens enter the battlefield tapped unless X is eight or more.
• Search your library and/or graveyard for an artifact card with mana value 8 or greater and exile it. You may cast that card this turn. Exile Urza's Obsession.

Urza's obsession with the Thran would end only in insurmountable success or total ruin.

[bravelion83]

Sorry, I've forgotten to write it here but the round is obviously closed and I've already started looking at the cards yesterday. As I hadn't written anything, I will accept all edits that have been done until now and I will judge the cards as they are in this very moment. These are the brackets:

slimytrout vs. haywire
Legend vs. void_nothing
Subject16 vs. marioguy3

My apologies again. I'll try my best to make it within the original judging deadline tomorrow.

---

And this time I did it! Finally! I've met my own self-imposed deadline, and despite my own delay! I spent all night writing these, but I did it! Enjoy! Final round coming as soon as I can.

EDIT - I've fixed all typos I could find. I apologize if there are any more that I didn't catch.

slimytrout vs. haywire

slimytrout (EDITED)

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Supercharge XUUU
Sorcery (R)
Create a Powerstone token. (It's an artifact with "{T}: Add {C}. This mana can't be spent to cast a nonartifact spell.")
Put X +1/+1 counters on each noncreature artifact you control. They become 0/0 artifact creatures.
The hum of the powerstone became a scream as objects sprung into battle of their own accord.

Design
Appeal 3/3 - Timmy likes turning all his artifacts into potentially huge creatures. Johnny can use the token or the counters in unexpected ways, or he could even cast this for zero if he needs a way for all his own artifacts to die in a single blow, maybe to get a bunch of death triggers or something like that. He also has the deckbuilding challenge of pairing this with the best low-cost artifacts he can think of. If in that context "best" means "most powerful", then Spike will be very interested in hearing the results of Johnny's researches...
Elegance 3/3 - No problems here.
Development
Viability 3/3 - Blue is the first color in positive artifact interactions, it can animate them and it can make mana to spend only on artifacts, so it getting Powerstones is at most a slight bend in my opinion and totally acceptable. Rarity looks appropriate and I see no problems with the rules.
Balance 3/3 - I really like the way you managed to not have the token enter tapped but still not allowing you to use it for mana on the turn you play it for balance: just turn it into a creature so that it has summoning sickness! Very clever, and I love it. The triple colored mana cost might be a little hard, especially in limited, but I can see it. In constructed, depending on the format, you could pair this with all kinds of artifact tokens, and we have quite a few of them by now, and also mana rocks, and generally useful low-MV artifacts. I see no problems in casual or multiplayer.
Creativity
Uniqueness 3/3 - I'm giving you full points here mainly for the unique way in which this card works, by taking advantage of summoning sickness in a way I can't remember any existing cards doing.
Flavor 3/3 - No problems here. Having a one-word card name that works is always nice to see and hard to do, the flavor text is very good in my opinion and the card concept works to actually make this card feel like a whole.
Polish
Quality 3/3 - The animation effect has no duration. Those kind of effects usually have the reminder text "This effect lasts indefinitely." I expected it to be here too. (-0.5) See discussion thread. This hasn't been true in a very long time and there are several counterexamples. The Quality of this card is all good.
Main Challenge 2/2 - Good.
Subchallenges 2/2 - Both met.
TOTAL 25/25

Final comment: I like this card a lot and I actually wanted to give it a perfect score. Too bad for that lack of reminder text, but just know that if that reminder text was there, then this card would have very likely gotten a 25/25 from me, and I can remember only a handful of times that I've given that perfect score as a judge in several years of MCC judging by now. Well, this has just turned into a "congratulations for a perfect score", I guess?

haywire

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Urza's Obsession 1UU
Sorcery {R}
As long as Urza's Obsession is in your graveyard and you control one or more Powerstones, you may cast Urza's Obsession from your graveyard, and you may not cast nonartifact spells not named Urza's Obsession.
Choose one —

• Mill X cards, then create X Powerstone tokens, where X is the number of Powerstones you control. These tokens enter the battlefield tapped unless X is eight or more.
• Search your library and/or graveyard for an artifact card with mana value 8 or greater and exile it. You may cast that card this turn. Exile Urza's Obsession.

Urza's obsession with the Thran would end only in insurmountable success or total ruin.

Design
Appeal 2.5/3 - Very splashy for Timmy. Weird restrictions, card fetching, and a card that feels quite strange, different, and unique, just like Johnny likes. Spike would just always play this for the second mode fetching a card that she can cheat into play somehow.
Elegance 0.5/3 - The triple negation is functional but honestly horrible to read. Also, this is already microtext without flavor text (11 lines and 3 breaks in MSE's M15 frame), and I'm honestly kinda afraid to try to add that flavor text in MSE... Ok, I did it anyway. 13 lines and 4 breaks. No doubts about it, if there even were doubts in the first place. The font is way too small, you can see it even with just your bare naked eye. It would be unprintable even without flavor text. It's also a very complicated card, way too complex to easily understand it at first glance. I'll be honest: I've considered giving this card a full zero here. In the end, I've decided against that because that's reserved for even more egregious things, this has big problems but I can see even worse things in this area and I want to save it for those. Also, remember what I always say here: we're judging cards here, not people. The world would just be a much better place if nobody ever judged other people on who they are but only on what they do. There is a huge difference between who a person is in the freedom of their conscience, self-determination, and identity, and what a person does, how they act in their professional activity, whether they do a good or bad job on a practical level. And this is true regardless of your religious faith, if you have one (it's totally in your own right not to have one or to choose whichever one you want, and we also should not judge each other on that), political or ethical beliefs, or anything really. It's just part of our human nature, that we should always respect and accept each other as human beings first and foremost. Unfortunately, it's also part of human nature that it's a principle that's quite hard to put into practice, especially for some people. I'm convinced of one thing: that if we all did that, at the very least things like wars would have no reason to exist anymore, and trust me, that's a hot topic here in Europe right now. Do you know how I actually like to spend my own new year's night? Sending my thoughts to the people who can't celebrate, to the workers, the sick, the poor, those who don't have a place to call home and live on the streets, those who have pets who, trust me, I've had a canine brother for seven years before he passed away a little more than 4 years ago, don't like at all hearing those war-like sounds of (fake?) celebration coming from outside the windows. He was just trembling on those nights. I used to follow him all around the house all night long. Wherever he went, I followed him. He was my dog, but I was his watchdog in those moments, and I wanted to be. I would have let nothing ever disturb him. Ever! Now I can just remember him, wherever he might be. My brother, because that's who you were, I will never forget you. Just know that I'm in tears right now as I'm writing this. I know you like my digressions, and I wanted to make another one for you but I didn't know where to put it. Well, it just came naturally, as they are supposed to happen. So there you go. I hope you've enjoyed another wild journey in my company. If you haven't, I apologize and please, just bear with me. And most of all, please don't judge me. I will never judge you. I'm only judging a custom card you made. I would never dare to judge you, even if I don't know you personally. I'll never dare.
Development
Viability 2.5/3 - I see no problems with the color pie, blue can absolutely do everything here. I could see this as a mythic rather easily, it just feels like a mythic to me, but I guess it's also fine at regular rare. I've reread this card multiple times just to make sure, but I can't think of any rules problems.
Balance 2/3 - You're essentially locking yourself out of casting other spells until you cast this for its second mode, that will break the cycle by exiling itself, thus disabling the static ability. That doesn't look like the most fun thing to do, and that's relevant especially in casual. Luckily, at least you still have to pay the costs for the card you fetch with the second mode... In BRO limited, if you play this, it will probably be to fetch some prototype that you may cast for its cheaper prototype cost afterwards (you will be able to do so because this card will be in exile by then). The first mode just looks too hard to achieve in limited, at least for its full value. Controlling eight Powerstones as this resolves doesn't look like the easiest thing to do. Easier in constructed, as you're able to build your whole deck around it, but still hard. Yes, it needs some drawbacks to be able to be this cheap, but I think you might actually have made it a little too hard to play around those. Maybe it would have been better with easier drawbacks but at a higher mana cost? Maybe. I don't know. I see no problems in multiplayer.
Creativity
Uniqueness 3/3 - I don't even feel like I have to justify the full points here. Just get them. Especially for the static ability, but also for the whole package.
Flavor 2/3 - As I've already said, there is no realistic way flavor text fits on this card. The name and concept are fine, and the flavor text is good in a vacuum, but it just doesn't fit. Not having any flavor text would be the first step in making this card actually printable, but even that wouldn't be enough by itself (see Elegance).
Polish
Quality 1.5/3 - No deduction for this, but you can avoid the gap between the modes and both the rest of the rules text and the flavor text by using in-line bullet points (•, ALT+7 on the numpad if you're in Windows and you have a numpad) instead of list tags. "These tokens" should be "The tokens". (-0.5, see for example Life of the Party) "...X is eight or more" should be "...X is 8 or more", with a numeral. (-0.5, see Shatterskull Smashing from ZNR, Silver Scrutiny from DMU, and the Finale cycle from WAR for recent examples) Interestingly, you do use a numeral later in the rules text when you check the mana value in the second mode. That's correct, but you should have done that with the check on the value of X in the first mode too. This card goes well beyond the limits of microtext, and that impacts here too. (-0.5, see Elegance)
Main Challenge 2/2 - Good.
Subchallenges 2/2 - Both met.
TOTAL 18/25

Legend vs. void_nothing

Legend

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Transmute to Stone b
Instant (Uncommon)
Exile target creature. Its controller creates a Powerstone token. (It's an artifact with "t: Add c. This mana can't be spent to cast a nonartifact spell.")
The other gorgons of Phyrexia avoided Venaxis when they could and adored her when they couldn't, from fear of being petrified by her gaze.

Design
Appeal 3/3 - Timmy likes removal and I don't think he worries too much about giving his opponent ramp in return. Johnny could do things like using this on his own creature (perhaps a little token?) just to get the Powerstone if he needs it for some of his purposes. Spike is absolutely in love with removal as good as this.
Elegance 3/3 - No problems here. It would be hard to do better than this in this area.
Development
Viability 2/3 - While black is king of creature removal and can do it in practically any way you could think of, removal with compensation is actually more white than black. In the latest mechanical color pie article, "Destroy target creature. Its controller gets compensation." is even listed as just primary white and black isn't even mentioned. I see this effect much better on a white card rather than a black one, though I don't see it as a break. You'd just have to rework the flavor as Gorgons aren't really white, but flavor is just more flexible than mechanics. No problems with rarity or the rules.
Balance 2.5/3 - If this is meant to be the black version of Swords to Plowshares and Path to Exile, we're certainly talking about a very powerful card, not so much that it needs to be banned, but definitely enough to be very relevant in practically all formats you could think of, regardless of distinctions like limited vs. constructed or competitive vs. casual, or duel vs. multiplayer. Difficult to say without playtest, but this might be a little too pushed. It's certainly a card that would catch my attention if I was a play designer and I saw it in the file of a set in the works that I have to playtest. It would be one of the first cards that I would want to playtest, that's for sure.
Creativity
Uniqueness 2/3 - Its inspiration is very clear: cards like Swords to Plowshares and Path to Exile, just in a different color and with a different compensation. Nice piggybacking, but just too evident to get full points here.
Flavor 2.5/3 - I haven't been able to find Gorgons on Phyrexia. According to the Wiki page they are found only on Dominaria, Ravnica, Shandalar, and Theros. It does mention a Gorgon from an unknown plane (Damia), but there is no proof of her being from Phyrexia. I found no mentions of Gorgons on New Phyrexia (even under its old names as Mirrodin and Argentum), and also in old Phyrexia (Yawgmoth's one from before I started playing) if I did my research right. The name Venaxis does sound Phyrexian enough to me though. I've got absolutely no problems with the card name, it works very well with the mechanics and the overall Gorgon flavor.
Polish
Quality 3/3 - All good.
Main Challenge 2/2 - Good.
Subchallenges 2/2 - Both met.
TOTAL 22/25

void_nothing

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Evra's Testimony 5WWWW
Sorcery (M)
Choose one -
• Create a number of Powerstone tokens equal to your life total.
• Quadruple your life total. Until your next turn, your life total can't change, you can't lose the game, and your opponents can't cast spells or win the game.
Moving unchanged through untold eons, the silent chronicler of Thran glory finally spoke the truth.

Design
Appeal 2/3 - Timmy loves cards as splashy as this one. Johnny could do something strange with the tokens, and anyway locking his opponents out of the game for one turn so that they can't mess with his combo as he goes off certainly catches his attention. Spike just looks at the mana cost, immediately turns her back and walks away.
Elegance 3/3 - Very easy to understand and very splashy. No real problems here. Also, having a quadruple-colored mana cost on a card that uses the verb "quadruple" feels very nice and satisfying from an aesthetic point of view.
Development
Viability 2.5/3 - If I've ever seen a card that deserves to be mythic, this is it. I see no big problems with the color pie, maybe Powerstones are a slight bend for W, as it usually doesn't ramp and when it does it's usually by fetching Plains, but connecting the amount of tokens to your life total does feel very white to me. I only see one remark rules-wise, that the term "quadruple" would need to be technically defined in the CR like doubling is, meaning that what happens actually is you gaining or losing as much of that thing as needed for you to reach an amount that's four times the original one. Or just say that you double twice. Anyway, that would be a very easy thing to do, so that's not a real problem.
Balance 2.5/3 - I'm very happy this card costs as much as it does. By the time you're able to cast this, your life total should be low enough under ordinary circumstances to allow this card to not be too backbreaking for your opponents. It's true though that seeing one of your opponents suddenly quadrupling their life total while also locking you out of the game for a turn cycle doesn't look like the most fun thing to happen to you... I can see that being relevant in both casual, where the fun factor is more important, and multiplayer, where you will be locked out of the game for a longer time because turn cycles are longer. I think it's known by now that I don't play Commander and I just don't like it that much, to put it as nicely as I can (it's just my own personal opinion though of course, if you like it and it's fun for you, I'm happy and more power to you!), but I can just imagine what this could be in a format that starts at double the normal life total, that's multiplayer, where games go naturally long so card with higher mana value are more important and easier to cast, and that it's essentially advertised as the format where that fun and casual factor that I was just talking about is more relevant than in any other format... Oh, and I forgot: that apparently is the most popular format in Magic as a whole right now...
Creativity
Uniqueness 3/3 - Well, that "quadruple your life total" deserves full points here by itself. I think we have seen tripling before, but quadrupling absolutely feels like pushing into new territory to me. It's also very splashy, maybe one of the splashiest (is that a word?) cards that I've ever seen around here.
Flavor 3/3 - No problems here. Not much to say, it just works perfectly. Name, flavor text, and card concept are all very realistic to me, I could easily see these being the actual flavor elements if this card was to be printed for real.
Polish
Quality 3/3 - The dash after "choose one" should be a long one but no deduction for that. MSE shows me this is already 9 lines and 3 breaks so reminder text for Powerstone tokens doesn't indeed fit on the card, so no deduction for its absence either. All the rest is good.
Main Challenge 2/2 - Good.
Subchallenges 2/2 - Both met.
TOTAL 23/25

Subject16 vs. marioguy3

Subject16

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Disassemble 1B
Sorcery (U)
As an additional cost to cast this spell, sacrifice an artifact or creature.
You draw two cards and create X tapped powerstone tokens, where X is the sacrificed permanent's mana value. If the sacrificed permanent was legendary, those tokens enter the battlefield untapped instead. (The tokens are artifacts with "T: Add C. This mana can't be spent to cast a nonartifact spell.")
Gix needs no servants. He only needs parts.

Design
Appeal 2.5/3 - Timmy likes ramping but not so much if he has to sacrifice his own stuff. Johnny can abuse death triggers and such in an Aristocrats-style deck. Spike likes the card advantage.
Elegance 2.5/3 - Non-standard templating but still easy to understand.
Development
Viability 2/3 - There is no actual functional difference, but as I've just said, this is non-standard templating. That would be creating the tokens and having them enter tapped conditionally. Something like: "You draw two cards and create X Powerstone tokens, where X is... If the sacrificed permanent wasn't legendary, those tokens enter the battlefield tapped." In that case, the rules wouldn't even need the word "instead" to be there for it to work. "...(something) enters the battlefield..." is already defined as a replacement effect (rule 614.1d in the BRO edition of the CR), replacing the event of that thing entering the battlefield with it still entering but tapped.

614.1d Continuous effects that read "[This permanent] enters the battlefield..." or "[Objects] enter the battlefield..." are replacement effects.

See for example the Shocklands, compare their original printing in the original Ravnica block with their subsequent reprints in RTR block, GNR and RNA, and even Unfinity if you count that. I can't remember if a rules change has occurred in the meantime or if they just realized that word wasn't actually needed, but notice how the word "instead" is there only in the first printing and not in the current Oracle text. At the very least, this card would need some editing work before being able to be sent to the printers. I see no problems with the color pie and rarity.
Balance 2/3 - Comparing this with other cards that say "you draw two cards and you lose 2 life" (there are a lot of them, too many to be listed here now but I've made my research, trust me), it might be a little too cheap in my opinion. I could see this card costing 2B. It's true that Night's Whisper exists, but it's the only one for two mana at sorcery speed, and I think this card is overall comparable, you still get to draw two cards with a drawback, just the sacrificing part as an additional cost instead of losing 2 life, but with additional upside in the form of the potentially untapped Powerstone tokens. All the cards from the above search that say "draw two cards and lose 2 life" but with additional upside cost three mana, and I agree that's probably what this card needs to cost. Of course, this is just my own theoretical opinion, playtest could easily prove me wrong. I think this is viable in limited and some players might also consider this card for constructed, especially at this cost. I see no particular problems in casual or multiplayer.
Creativity
Uniqueness 2.5/3 - Old well-known elements mixed together in a technically new package, walking the thin line between familiar and original.
Flavor 3/3 - It's very hard to find unused one-word card names that work with the card concept and that don't feel forced. This card manages to do exactly that. The flavor text is very nice and I could absolutely see it printed for real on a real card.
Polish
Quality 2.5/3 - In "X tapped powerstone tokens", the word "Powerstone" should be capitalized as it's a subtype. (-0.5)
Main Challenge 2/2 - Good.
Subchallenges 2/2 - Both met.
TOTAL 21/25

marioguy3

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Quick Recharge
Instant (Rare)
Create two Powerstone tokens. If you control fewer than two vehicles, those tokens enter tapped. (The tokens are artifacts with "{T}: Add . This mana can't be spent to cast a nonartifact spell.")
Retrace (You may cast this card from your graveyard by discarding a land card as an additional cost to cast it.)

Design
Appeal 3/3 - Timmy likes ramping and Vehicles. Johnny can use the tokens in unexpected ways or find the strangest possible Vehicles to pair this card with. Spike likes retrace a lot, she always likes being able to cast her relatively cheap spells multiple times for value.
Elegance 3/3 - As short as possible and as simple as possible. Very easy to understand at first glance.
Development
Viability 3/3 - I can see this in U, it has artifact synergies, it has had Treasures in the past as mana-producing tokens, and it can make mana that you can only use to cast or activate artifacts. Being able to cast it multiple times is what makes this card worthy of being a rare in my opinion. No problems with the rules.
Balance 3/3 - Other than a dedicated Vehicle deck, the restriction to have the tokens enter untapped feels appropriately hard. You just can't throw in two random Vehicles in your deck and expect to have this card create untapped tokens reliably, which is nice. Retrace is also very nice as a design tool in my opinion as it gives you something to do in the late game if you're mana flooded. The fact that the Powerstone tokens you create the first time you cast this cannot help you cast it again via retrace also feels nice balance-wise. I think this could see both limited and constructed play, at least potentially. I see no problems in casual or multiplayer.
Creativity
Uniqueness 3/3 - The restriction on the number of Vehicles is new. The addition of retrace is also very nice, it makes for a mix-and-match card that would be impossible to make in the BRO main set. Maybe you could see something like this in the Commander set, but not in the main set. And there are a lot (too many in my opinion) of very interesting designs in the Commander part of recent sets that would have deserved to be in the main set. This card feels like one of those to me.
Flavor 2/3 - MSE shows me at least two lines of flavor text would have fit here with the card still looking fine overall. The name works very well with the mechanics and the overall card concept.
Polish
Quality 1.5/3 - In "fewer than two vehicles", the word "Vehicles" should be capitalized as it's a subtype. (-0.5) While I think it would be reasonable to shortcut "enter the battlefield" to just "enter", they haven't done it yet, so you should still say "those tokens enter the battlefield tapped." The words "the battlefield" are missing. (-0.5) In the reminder text, the tap symbol should be formatted properly, just like you did with the colorless mana symbol right afterwards. (-0.5)
Main Challenge 2/2 - Good.
Subchallenges 2/2 - Both met.
TOTAL 22.5/25

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slimytrout: 25
haywire: 18

Legend: 22
void_nothing: 23

Subject16: 21
marioguy3: 22.5