May MCC -- Round 3 -- Future In The (Side) Cards

[netn10]

(Thanks to bravelion83 for the core set MCC logo. The art is a remix of Feed the Swarm by Andrey Kuzinskiy and Referee Squad by Steven Belledin)

May MCC Round 3
Future In The (Side) Cards

Our theme for the month of May is "nothing is impossible."

Modern Magic fearlessly embraces unconventional designs such as tracker cards. From dungeons to stickers to The Ring. These physical cards unlock fresh design possibilities and infuse the game with distinctive flavor. By leveraging tracker cards, designers expand the horizons of what can be accomplished, and seamlessly blending mechanics that would typically require online interfaces.


Main Challenge -- Design a card that uses a new "tracker card".

Subchallenge 1 -- Define what the tracker card does. It doesn't have to be a part of the submitted card itself.

Subchallenge 2 -- The tracker card is not an emblem and you don't put counters on it.

Clarifications

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Tracker cards are regular-sized cards that don't go in your deck and they don't have regular Magic card backs . They start outside the game and they are used to track what's happening in the game. The most common tracking cards are emblems.
Examples that would have satisfied the challenge if they were new: Day/Night, Dungeons, Stickers, The Ring (if it wasn't an emblem), City's Blessing and The Monarch.

Note: The finals would have 3 players this time.

DEADLINES
Design deadline: May 30th 2023 at 23:59 Eastern Time

Judging deadline: June 1st 2023 at 23:59 Eastern Time


RUBRIC

MCC Rubric

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The MCC Rubric is given below, in an easily "copy and pasted" form.

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Code: Select all

[b]Design[/b]
[b](X/3) Appeal[/b] - Do the different player psychographics (Timmy/Johhny/Spike) have a use for the card?
[b](X/3) Elegance[/b] - Is the card easily understandable at a glance? Do all the flavor and mechanics combined as a whole make sense?
 
[b]Development[/b]
[b](X/3) Viability[/b] - 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?
[b](X/3) Balance[/b] - 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?
 
[b]Creativity[/b]
[b](X/3) Uniqueness[/b] - 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"?
[b](X/3) Flavor[/b] - 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?
 
[b]Polish[/b]
[b](X/3) Quality[/b] - Points deducted for incorrect spelling, grammar, and templating.
[b](X/2) Main Challenge (*)[/b] - Was the main challenge satisfied? Was it approached in a unique or interesting way? Does the card fit the intent of the challenge?
[b](X/2) Subchallenges[/b] - One point awarded per satisfied subchallenge condition.
 
[b]Total: X/25[/b]
*An entry with 0 points here is subject to disqualification.

JUDGES

netn10
@bravelion83

PLAYERS

@kwanyeegor-ii
@Freyleyes
@Venedrex
@slimytrout
@Subject16
@void_nothing

[slimytrout]

Mindwringer 2UB
Creature - Snake Horror (U)
Whenever Mindwringer or another Horror enters the battlefield under your control, descend toward insanity. (Move your sanity marker down one level.)
1UB, Sacrifice Mindwringer: Return target creature card from your graveyard to the battlefield. Activate only if Mindwringer dealt damage to a player this turn.
"squeeze   unease   disease   please"
-Words carved into the 12,738th stair
3/4

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Sanity
Sane
Paranoid - When you reach this level, surveil 1. Up to one target creature gains menace until end of turn.
Delusional - After your draw step, mill a card. Up to one target creature gets +1/+0 and gains menace until end of turn.
Raving - After your draw step, mill two cards. Up to two target creatures each get +2/+0 and gain menace and deathtouch until end of turn.
Insane - After your draw step, mill three cards for each creature you control. Creatures you control get +3/+0 and can't be blocked until end of turn.

[Venedrex]

Fall to Darkness
Enchantment (R)
When Fall to Darkness enters the battlefield, your alignment becomes Lawful Good.
Whenever you sacrifice a creature, shift your alignment towards Chaotic Evil.
(To shift your alignment, move one space towards the stated alignment. You can move up, down, left, and right.)
, Sacrifice a creature: Draw a card. If your alignment is Good, you gain 1 life. If your alignment is Evil, each opponent loses 1 life.

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Alignment Chart:

Lawful Good --- Neutral Good --- Chaotic Good
Lawful Neutral --- True Neutral --- Chaotic Neutral
Lawful Evil --- Neutral Evil --- Chaotic Evil

[Subject16]

Master of Meditation 2UU
Creature — Human Monk (R)
Vigilance
When Master of Meditation enters the battlefield, enter guard stance. (At the beginning of each upkeep, if you cast a noncreature spell last turn, you may change stances.)
At the beginning of your end step, draw a card. Then if you're in guard stance, put a +1/+1 counter on each Monk you control.
2/3

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Stance
(If your stance changes from neutral, track your stance for the rest of the game.)
At the beginning of each upkeep, if you cast a noncreature spell last turn, you may change stances.
Strike — Neutral — Guard

[netn10]

Bump.

[kwanyeegor-ii]

Aether-Armor Saurian 3GW
Creature - Lizard (Rare)
Ward 2, vigilance
When Aether-Armor Saurian enters the battlefield, you become the summoner.
Creature tokens you control get +2/+2 and have ward 2 and vigilance.
3/3

The Summoner
At the beginning of the summoner's end step, they create a 1/1 colorless Shapeshifter creature token with changeling.
Whenever a player who isn't the summoner has a creature enter the battlefield under their control for the second time in a turn, they become the summoner.

[Freyleyes]

Peer the Cosmos 1U{U/B}{U/B}
Sorcery {M}
Insight (Move one step closer towards seeing the truth.)
Draw 3 cards, then each player discards two cards.
If the truth is revealed, create a X/X black Horror creature token, where X is the number of cards discarded this way.
Your perception is blurred by your lack of insight. Peer into the cosmos and see the truth.

Insight
Gaining insight moves the game one step closer to revealing the truth. Insight is shared by all players.
0 : You see the world as it is...
1+ : Whenever a player casts a creature spell, that player Scry 1.
2+ : Creatures have fear.
3+ : The world becomes more clear as the mind becomes distorted.
4+ : Whenever a player draws one or more cards, that player creates a 1/1 black Horror creature token.
5+ : The truth of the world is revealed to all players.

[void_nothing]

Embersteel Crimelord 2RR
Creature - Orc Rogue (R)
Whenever Embersteel Crimelord attacks, if it has a fighting style, increase its mastery of that style by 1. If it doesn't have one, its fighting style becomes Brilliant Flourish or Hidden Trick. (Fighting styles begin at 1 mastery.)
Whenever a creature with a fighting style you control deals combat damage to a player, create a Treasure token.
"Dazzle 'em with your skills or hit 'em when they don't see you, but always get paid."
4/4

Brilliant Flourish
Fighting Style
This creature has prowess.
2+> This creature has "Ward - Pay 4 life."
3+> Whenever you cast a non-copy spell that targets this creature, you may copy that spell and cast the copy. (You still pay its costs.)
4+> Whenever this creature deals combat damage to a player, you may cast an instant or sorcery card in your graveyard with mana value equal to or less than this creature's mastery of this style without paying its mana cost. Exile that spell as it resolves.

Hidden Trick
Fighting Style
Whenever this creature blocks or becomes blocked, it deals damage to each creature blocking or blocked by it equal to its mastery of this style.
2+> This creature has menace.
3+> 1: This creature gets +2/-1 or -1/+2 until end of turn. Untap it. Scry 2. Activate only once per turn.
4+> This creature has undying. When it dies, if it doesn't have a +1/+1 counter on it, draw two cards. This creature keeps this style at this level of mastery as it moves to any zone other than a player's hand or library.

[bravelion83]

The exented deadline is over, can we start judging?

[netn10]

The exented deadline is over, can we start judging?

Yes.

Subject16 vs void_nothing
slimytrout vs Venedrex
kwanyeegor-ii vs Freyleyes

[bravelion83]

June 6th 7:20 am CET - Still in progress, but I'll say this in the meantime: Polish (Quality plus Main Challenge and Subchallenges) is by far the most problematic area overall this round and there are very low scores from me there. There are a lot of deductions in that area, and there is only one single player who has none. Obviously I won't say who that is for now, but just consider this as an advanced notice. More updates to come later today.

2 pm - Judgments complete. I have no time to look for typos now so I apologize as usual if there are any here. The only player with 7/7 in Polish that I was referring to before is kwanyeegor-ii.

Subject16 vs void_nothing

Subject16

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Master of Meditation 2UU
Creature — Human Monk (R)
Vigilance
When Master of Meditation enters the battlefield, enter guard stance. (At the beginning of each upkeep, if you cast a noncreature spell last turn, you may change stances.)
At the beginning of your end step, draw a card. Then if you're in guard stance, put a +1/+1 counter on each Monk you control.
2/3

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Stance
(If your stance changes from neutral, track your stance for the rest of the game.)
At the beginning of each upkeep, if you cast a noncreature spell last turn, you may change stances.
Strike — Neutral — Guard

Design
Appeal 2.5/3 - Timmy likes the last line making all his Monks get a +1/+1 counter, but I'm not sure how he feels about the rest. Johnny and Spike can dig into their libraries, which is something both of them like but for different reasons: Johnny to look for combo pieces, and Spike for card advantage.
Elegance 3/3 - No problems here.
Development
Viability 3/3 - No problems with the color pie and rarity. I see no problems implementing this in the rules (see Subchallenges for details, I've actually written that before this.)
Balance 3/3 - Definitely playable in limited. Drawing one additional card on each of your turns, and not having to wait a whole turn cycle to do it, as the last ability is an end-step trigger and not an upkeep one, looks like it might make this card relevant in constructed formats too, especially Standard. The mana cost is probably too high for older formats but that's not a problem, not every card must be playable in Modern or Legacy. I see no problems in casual and multiplayer.
Creativity
Uniqueness 3/3 - The challenges this round just required unique designs, and this submission doesn't disappoint. I feel like I will just copy and paste this line in all judgments...
Flavor 2.5/3 - The flavor of this card is perfect even without flavor text, but MSE shows me up to two lines would have fit, and the absence of flavor text is the only reason why this is not a perfect score. I wonder how other classes and colors could use stances in a flavorful way. For example, I can see a lot of flavorful designs for red Warriors in strike stance and things like that.
Polish
Quality 3/3 - All good.
Main Challenge 2/2 - All good.
Subchallenges 1.5/2 - You've defined the tracker card, so Subchallenge 1 is met. For Subchallenge 2, stance would probably be implemented in the rules as a designation a player can have (not an emblem), that has an inherent triggered ability associated with it, the prowess-like one allowing you to change your stance, and that can only have three values that are ordered in a sequence: "strike", "neutral", and "guard", with you starting at "neutral" and the three words having no rules meaning other than that to be able to be used as a marker for other rules or abilities. Then you'd need a keyword action, "enter stance", to allow you to set your stance at a specific value, and another keyword action, "change stances", to allow you to move one step in the sequence in either direction. So far you're not using counters in the rules. Practically, how would this tracker card be printed? What would it look like? I think it would have three boxes next to each other, aligned either horizontally or vertically, each with one stance written inside it, and the general text (the first two lines here) printed above the sequence of boxes. And physically, not in the rules but practically I mean, how would you use that card? You'd pick some kind of object like a bead, a die, or a coin, and you'd place it on your current stance. I don't see any other practical way. And if you do that, you're just using a counter in practice. So I'll say that the letter of Subchallenge 2 is met, as you're not using any counters in the rules, but not the spirit, as everybody would use some counter-like object in practice to keep track of their stance. That's why I'm deducting half a point for Subchallenge 2.
TOTAL 23.5/25

void_nothing

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Embersteel Crimelord 2RR
Creature - Orc Rogue (R)
Whenever Embersteel Crimelord attacks, if it has a fighting style, increase its mastery of that style by 1. If it doesn't have one, its fighting style becomes Brilliant Flourish or Hidden Trick. (Fighting styles begin at 1 mastery.)
Whenever a creature with a fighting style you control deals combat damage to a player, create a Treasure token.
"Dazzle 'em with your skills or hit 'em when they don't see you, but always get paid."
4/4

Brilliant Flourish
Fighting Style
This creature has prowess.
2+> This creature has "Ward - Pay 4 life."
3+> Whenever you cast a non-copy spell that targets this creature, you may copy that spell and cast the copy. (You still pay its costs.)
4+> Whenever this creature deals combat damage to a player, you may cast an instant or sorcery card in your graveyard with mana value equal to or less than this creature's mastery of this style without paying its mana cost. Exile that spell as it resolves.

Hidden Trick
Fighting Style
Whenever this creature blocks or becomes blocked, it deals damage to each creature blocking or blocked by it equal to its mastery of this style.
2+> This creature has menace.
3+> 1: This creature gets +2/-1 or -1/+2 until end of turn. Untap it. Scry 2. Activate only once per turn.
4+> This creature has undying. When it dies, if it doesn't have a +1/+1 counter on it, draw two cards. This creature keeps this style at this level of mastery as it moves to any zone other than a player's hand or library.

Design
Appeal 3/3 - Timmy loves both this card and the fighting style mechanic in general. Johnny likes Treasure tokens to produce and fix mana and will look for unexpected ways to manipulate mastery and fighting styles. Spike mostly sees a 4/4 for four mana with upside.
Elegance 2/3 - The text is very long, both in the card itself and the tracker cards.
Development
Viability 2.5/3 - No problems with the color pie and rarity. Implementing this in the rules looks a bit demanding but definitely doable (see Subchallenges for details, I've actually written that before this.)
Balance 3/3 - Limited bomb, and probably also playable in constructed formats. It's a 4/4 for four mana with upside, and we've seen how relevant Treasure tokens can become in Standard. The fighting styles look powerful, especially the higher abilities, so I hope it isn't too easy to gain mastery in the environment, but that's hard to judge from a single card. I can see casual players liking this a lot and I see no problems in multiplayer.
Creativity
Uniqueness 3/3 - The challenges this round just required unique designs, and this submission doesn't disappoint. I feel like I will just copy and paste this line in all judgments...
Flavor 3/3 - Flavor text is short enough to fit in the frame. We're exactly at the limit of microtext here (ten lines plus two breaks), but not over it, and that's good news. I feel like the idea of fighting styles offers a lot of different possible flavors to fit all colors and most creature types, it opens up a lot of flavorful space. Here we have just two examples that perfectly showcase the flavor potential of this mechanic.
Polish
Quality 0.5/3 - If "Fighting style" is a single thing, you would not capitalize the word "style" in the tracker card's type line. By doing so, you're making it look like "Fighting" and "Style" are two different card types, which is clearly not the case here. It's the exact same mistake essentially as writing "First Strike" instead of "First strike" in a creature card's rules text. (-0.5 twice as there are two instances of this, one in each proposed tracker card, so -1 total.) In Brilliant Flourish's 3+, "non-copy spell" is non-standard templating. I believe that would be worded as "...cast a spell that's not a copy of another spell and that targets this creature,..." (-0.5) It's also strange that you're not allowed to change the copy's targets, but that's not a functional issue, so no deduction for that. In Brilliant Flourish's 4+, you don't cast cards in your graveyard, but you cast "spells from" your graveyard (see for example Maestros Ascendancy), so this should be worded like this: "...you may cast an instant or sorcery spell with mana value equal to or less than this creature's mastery of this style from your graveyard without paying its mana cost." (-0.5) I assume the last line of Hidden Trick's 4+ would be covered by its own subrule (see Subchallenges), so I'll make no deduction for that here. In the Crimelord's type line, a hyphen is used instead of an em dash. Normally I would not make deductions for this, but here I have to as your opponent did it right instead. (-0.5)
Main Challenge 2/2 - All good.
Subchallenges 2/2 - Both met. Each fighting style would have its own tracker card, probably looking like a level up creature. In the rules, each fighting style would be defined as a designation a creature can have (not an emblem), that has a numeric value associated with it, called that creature's "mastery" of that style, and four inherent static abilities associated with it, each saying "If the creature associated with this fighting style has a mastery of this style equal to N or greater, it has (abilities)." The last line of Hidden Trick's 4+ would probably have its own subrule specifically dedicated to making it work. The first ability, the one with no number printed next to it, would be defined as "1+" in the rules, you're just not writing it. No counters are used in this implementation. In practice you will most likely use these fighting styles as Auras enchanting the creature with a four- or six-sided die placed on the tracker card to keep track of that creature's current mastery of that style. That is different from using some kind of would-be counter on the card, so Subchallenge 2 is fully met.
TOTAL 21/25

slimytrout vs Venedrex

slimytrout

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Mindwringer 2UB
Creature - Snake Horror (U)
Whenever Mindwringer or another Horror enters the battlefield under your control, descend toward insanity. (Move your sanity marker down one level.)
1UB, Sacrifice Mindwringer: Return target creature card from your graveyard to the battlefield. Activate only if Mindwringer dealt damage to a player this turn.
"squeeze   unease   disease   please"
-Words carved into the 12,738th stair
3/4

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Sanity
Sane
Paranoid - When you reach this level, surveil 1. Up to one target creature gains menace until end of turn.
Delusional - After your draw step, mill a card. Up to one target creature gets +1/+0 and gains menace until end of turn.
Raving - After your draw step, mill two cards. Up to two target creatures each get +2/+0 and gain menace and deathtouch until end of turn.
Insane - After your draw step, mill three cards for each creature you control. Creatures you control get +3/+0 and can't be blocked until end of turn.

Design
Appeal 2.5/3 - Timmy loves the flavor here and likes to reanimate his dead creatures, not minding too much that he has to attack to do that. He would attack anyway, and he also likes a lot the effects on the tracker card. Johnny likes the abilities and the self-mill on the tracker card allowing him to do tricks with his graveyard, but he doesn't like that restriction on the activated ability forcing him to attack to be able to access the effect. He will also try to find ways to manipulate sanity if they exist. Spike likes reanimation at a low activation cost and doesn't mind the restriction too much. She also likes the evasion on the tracker card.
Elegance 3/3 - No problems here.
Development
Viability 2/3 - I see no need for this card to be blue. Monoblack would work perfectly, everything this card does is doable in black, Horror-tribal feels black as most Horrors are black, and the flavor of going insane is a perfect natural fit for black. I think uncommon is acceptable. I see no problems implementing this in the rules (see Subchallenges for details, I've actually written that before this.)
Balance 3/3 - Playable in limited. Reanimation at three mana is tempting for constructed too, even if this creature has to connect to turn on that ability. The effects of the tracker card also look potentially relevant in constructed, they already give you evasion and get even better if self-mill is a viable strategy in the environment. I see no problems in casual or multiplayer.
Creativity
Uniqueness 3/3 - The challenges this round just required unique designs, and this submission doesn't disappoint. I feel like I will just copy and paste this line in all judgments...
Flavor 3/3 - No problems here. All the different elements work perfectly together to create a very flavorful card and mechanic. In the tracker card, I like how the mechanics repeat themselves going from one level to the next, only growing in size and with added effects. The progression fits very well with the flavor of a descent into madness. I'm not a fan of the horror genre at all, but I feel like the flavor of this card comes straight out of a horror movie. The feeling I get is the same, which I guess was exactly the intention. Well, it works perfectly in that.
Polish
Quality 1/3 - Hyphens instead of em dashes everywhere (type line, flavor text, and tracker card), but no deduction for that as your opponent didn't use em dashes correctly either, so I can just ignore that here. In the tracker card, the text of the abilities is not in italics, so I assume it's meant to be rules text. In that case, there is no "After your draw step" trigger condition, that should be "At the beginning of your precombat main phase". It's worded like that on Sagas for space reasons, but that's reminder text so it can be less precise. There are three instances of this (the "delusional", "raving", and "insane" abilities), so three times -0.5 makes -1.5. In the "insane" ability, "can't be blocked until end of turn" is non-standard templating, and in fact a Gatherer search for that text returns zero results. It should be worded like this: "...get +3/+0 until end of turn and can't be blocked this turn." (-0.5)
Main Challenge 2/2 - All good.
Subchallenges 1.5/2 - You've defined the tracker card, so Subchallenge 1 is met. For Subchallenge 2, sanity would probably be implemented in the rules as a designation a player can have (not an emblem), that can only have five values, necessarily called "levels" because of the paranoid ability, that are ordered in a sequence: "sane", "paranoid", "delusional", "raving", and "insane", and each level has an inherent static ability associated with it: "As long as your sanity is at least (name of the level), (effect)." Then, you have a keyword action, "descend toward insanity", that moves your sanity up (or down actually?) one level. If you set up the rules like this, you're not using any counters, that's true. But how would that tracker card be actually printed? Clearly in some way like the Ring, or the text box of planeswalkers, with different stripes containing each one ability in order from top to bottom. Really, just picture the Ring with one extra line and that's it. Physically, not in the rules but practically I mean, how would you use that card? You'd pick some kind of object like a bead, a die, or a coin, and you'd place it on your current level of sanity. You even talk about a "sanity marker" and how you're required to "move" it "down" in the creature's reminder text yourself, that's essentially acknowledging there is actually supposed to be some kind of marker acting as a counter on this tracker card. I don't see any other practical way. And if you do that, you're just using a counter in practice. So I'll say that the letter of Subchallenge 2 is met, as you're not using any counters in the rules, but not the spirit, as everybody would use some counter-like object in practice to keep track of their sanity. That's why I'm deducting half a point for Subchallenge 2.
TOTAL 21/25

Venedrex

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Fall to Darkness
Enchantment (R)
When Fall to Darkness enters the battlefield, your alignment becomes Lawful Good.
Whenever you sacrifice a creature, shift your alignment towards Chaotic Evil.
(To shift your alignment, move one space towards the stated alignment. You can move up, down, left, and right.)
, Sacrifice a creature: Draw a card. If your alignment is Good, you gain 1 life. If your alignment is Evil, each opponent loses 1 life.

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Alignment Chart:

Lawful Good --- Neutral Good --- Chaotic Good
Lawful Neutral --- True Neutral --- Chaotic Neutral
Lawful Evil --- Neutral Evil --- Chaotic Evil

Design
Appeal 2/3 - Timmy likes the idea of alignments in a vacuum, but I'm not sure how well he likes this specific card. He doesn't like to sacrifice his own creatures. Johnny, at the contrary, sees that sacrifice cost as an opportunity for graveyard combos. Spike will try to get to Evil alignment in all possible ways as she likes her opponent losing life much more than gaining life herself.
Elegance 3/3 - No problems here.
Development
Viability 3/3 - No problems with the color pie and rarity. I see no problems implementing this in the rules (see Subchallenges for details, I've actually written that before this.)
Balance 2/3 - I'm not sure how playable this is in limited, where you want most of your nonland, noncreature slots to be either removal or combat tricks. The most appealing thing this has towards that end is the life loss in the last ability, and that's honestly not much. It's also true in both limited and constructed that the playability of this card heavily depends on how relevant alignments are in the environment. The potential for sacrifice combos is obvious. Casual players will love to play with alignments and I see no particular problems in multiplayer.
Creativity
Uniqueness 3/3 - The challenges this round just required unique designs, and this submission doesn't disappoint. I feel like I will just copy and paste this line in all judgments...
Flavor 3/3 - MSE shows me flavor text doesn't fit here, so the lack of it is not only not a problem but it's correct. The idea of essentially stealing D&D alignments for Magic is very good and I feel like this implementation is particularly flavorful. I can see this being a real mechanic in a D&D set like AFR and CLB. This specific card showcases the flavor potential very well: you start as lawful good and slowly move to the dark side. It works perfectly.
Polish
Quality 2.5/3 - You can't use a colon at the end of the tracker card's title, that has a specific meaning in Magic (identifying activated abilities). If that colon had been in rules text, this would have been a functional mistake, but as it's in the card name, whose only rules function is to work as a card's ID essentially with no other functionality, a simple -0.5 deduction feels appropriate to me for this. No deductions for capitalizing alignments. See Subchallenges for more details about that.
Main Challenge 2/2 - All good.
Subchallenges 1.5/2 - You've defined the tracker card, so Subchallenge 1 is met. The problem is in Subchallenge 2. Technically you could (and would in my opinion) implement alignment in the rules as a designation a player can have and that can change in defined ways, plus a keyword action ("shift") that makes the appropriate change when invoked. As for capitalization, alignments are a new concept in Magic, so we can decide whether they should be capitalized in rules text (like subtypes for examples) or not (like supertypes for example). If we decide that they are always capitalized, then you're fine in that regard. Apparently you don't use counters, but if I imagine that alignment chart being printed, it would probably look like a 3x3 table, and how do you keep track physically of your alignment? You would put some kind of object on your current alignment, something like a bead, a coin, or a die, and you would move it as your alignment changes. Well, doesn't that behave exactly as a counter? You're effectively using a counter even if that counter itself has no rules meaning. So the letter of Subchallenge 2 is met, as you're not using counters in the rules, but not the spirit, as in practice everybody would use what's essentially functionally a counter to track their alignment. I can't imagine anybody not doing that, that's by far the easiest way to do it and everybody would do that. That's why I'm deducting half a point for Subchallenge 2.
TOTAL 22/25

kwanyeegor-ii vs Freyleyes

kwanyeegor-ii

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Aether-Armor Saurian 3GW
Creature - Lizard (Rare)
Ward 2, vigilance
When Aether-Armor Saurian enters the battlefield, you become the summoner.
Creature tokens you control get +2/+2 and have ward 2 and vigilance.
3/3

The Summoner
At the beginning of the summoner's end step, they create a 1/1 colorless Shapeshifter creature token with changeling.
Whenever a player who isn't the summoner has a creature enter the battlefield under their control for the second time in a turn, they become the summoner.

Design
Appeal 3/3 - Timmy likes this card and loves the Summoner as a mechanic. Johnny can do tricks with tokens. Spike also likes tokens, especially when they enter the battlefield as 3/3 with ward and vigilance.
Elegance 3/3 - No problems here.
Development
Viability 2.5/3 - I feel like this could be monogreen, even though I admit that the last ability caring about tokens does push it towards white. Green could probably still do that though. No problems with rarity. I see no problems implementing this in the rules (see Subchallenges for details, I've actually written that before this.)
Balance 2/3 - Playable in limited, but five mana is probably a bit too much for constructed. To me, this card looks like it has high variance, in the sense that there is a lot of space between the best and worst-case scenarios. Having filled up your side of the battlefield with an army of 3/3s with ward and vigilance looks quite powerful, but when somebody else becomes the Summoner and your tokens suddenly drop to vanilla 1/1s it won't feel good. Casual players like to play with creatures and tokens, so they will almost certainly like this card. The Summoner being a title that all players have to fight for, as there can only be one at a time, looks obviously relevant in multiplayer, in similar ways as the Monarch or the Initiative.
Creativity
Uniqueness 2.5/3 - The challenges this round just required unique designs, and this submission doesn't disappoint. I feel like I will just copy and paste this line in all judgments... But here I have to mention again that this feels a little too similar to the Monarch and the Initiative to me.
Flavor 2/3 - The only problem here is the lack of flavor text. MSE shows me that there is plenty of room for it here (up to four lines). All the rest (name and creature types/mechanical flavor) works perfectly, it's just that one element out of three is missing.
Polish
Quality 3/3 - Vance's Blasting Cannons says the "in a turn" wording is correct. The rest is all good with no doubts.
Main Challenge 2/2 - All good.
Subchallenges 2/2 - Both met. This is very easy to implement in the rules, just make a copy/paste of the rules for the Monarch just changing the abilities. Not an emblem and doesn't use counters.
TOTAL 22/25

Freyleyes

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Peer the Cosmos 1U{U/B}{U/B}
Sorcery {M}
Insight (Move one step closer towards seeing the truth.)
Draw 3 cards, then each player discards two cards.
If the truth is revealed, create a X/X black Horror creature token, where X is the number of cards discarded this way.
Your perception is blurred by your lack of insight. Peer into the cosmos and see the truth.

Insight
Gaining insight moves the game one step closer to revealing the truth. Insight is shared by all players.
0 : You see the world as it is...
1+ : Whenever a player casts a creature spell, that player Scry 1.
2+ : Creatures have fear.
3+ : The world becomes more clear as the mind becomes distorted.
4+ : Whenever a player draws one or more cards, that player creates a 1/1 black Horror creature token.
5+ : The truth of the world is revealed to all players.

Design
Appeal 2.5/3 - Timmy likes the token and loves the flavor, but he doesn't care too much about the rest of the card. Johnny can do a lot of different kinds of tricks with both the main card and the abilities of the tracker card. Spike just see huge card advantage here and doesn't care about the rest, that's already enough to her.
Elegance 2.5/3 - The text is a bit long, both in the card itself and the tracker card.
Development
Viability 1/3 - Drawing three cards probably requires that monoblue pip in the mana cost. The rest honestly feels more monoblack than UB hybrid to me: having all players discard and creating Horror tokens feel a lot more black than blue. I think this should have been a UB gold card and not hybrid. It took quite some time for me to realize this is mythic and not regular rare. My mind just assumed it was a rare and when I noticed it was actually mythic I went like: "Wait, this is a mythic? Why? Maybe for flavor?" I think this would work just fine as a regular rare, the mana cost looks restrictive enough to me. I see no big problems implementing this mechanic in the rules, but some refining is definitely required (see Subchallenges for details, I've actually written that before this.)
Balance 2.5/3 - I'm happy with this card having a lot of colored mana symbols in its mana cost. It's quite a lot of card advantage. It coming with a token body is the key part in making this playable in limited, as you can essentially count it as a creature there. A 2/2 creature with an ETB that lets you draw three cards and then discard two while making other players only discard two cards definitely looks playable in limited and maybe constructed too. Being on the receiving end of this might not be that fun to casual players. "Each player" discarding and the Horror token getting bigger the more players there are in the game as more cards will be discarded is obviously relevant in multiplayer.
Creativity
Uniqueness 3/3 - The challenges this round just required unique designs, and this submission doesn't disappoint. I feel like I will just copy and paste this line in all judgments...
Flavor 3/3 - No problems here. Name, flavor text and rules text work together to create a very flavorful card and mechanic.
Polish
Quality 0/3 - See Subchallenges for how I believe insight would be implemented in the rules. The problem here is that the same word "insight" would need to have two different meanings: both the numerical value itself, and the keyword action that changes it. Either one of those need to change. Even just writing "You gain insight." instead of just "Insight" in the sorcery's first line of rules text would have fixed the issue, as you could define "gain insight" as the keyword action and only "insight" as the numerical value. This is a functional issue, so -1. For card drawing, the number of cards drawn is always spelled out as a number word ("draw three cards", -0.5). Interestingly, you got it right in that same line for discarding instead. Given that the "if the truth is revealed" sentence refers to the number of cards "discarded this way", I believe it would be a single line together with the "draw, then discard" one. (-0.5) Two big functional mistakes in the tracker card: first, you cannot use colons like that. Colons are what defines activated abilities. Here, you're saying that each line is an activated ability with a cost of "0", "1+", "2+", etc... and the part after the colon as that activated ability's effect, which honestly makes no sense. You should have used literally any other character except for colons. (-1) Second, if the last line in the tracker card is flavor text, which it is as it is in italics, then "the truth is revealed" is not defined and you can't reference it in the sorcery card. I believe the 5+ ability on the tracker card should not be in italics, and this is one of those details that look small but make a functional difference, so -1. The total deduction here is far more than -3, so this is a full zero in this area. This card and this tracker card would both need a lot of editing work for them to be actually printable. I'm sorry.
Main Challenge 2/2 - All good.
Subchallenges 2/2 - Both met. Insight could be implemented as a numeric designation the game can have in the rules (not an emblem), with five inherent static abilities associated with the game's insight, each saying "If the game's insight is (value) or more, (effect)." No counters are used in this implementation. In practice you will most likely use a six-sided die placed on the tracker card, and that is different from using some kind of would-be counter on the card, so Subchallenge 2 is fully met.
TOTAL 18.5/25

Results

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Subject16: 23.5
void_nothing: 21

slimytrout: 21
Venedrex: 22

kwanyeegor-ii: 22
Freyleyes: 18.5

[netn10]

Subject16

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Master of Meditation 2UU
Creature — Human Monk (R)
Vigilance
When Master of Meditation enters the battlefield, enter guard stance. (At the beginning of each upkeep, if you cast a noncreature spell last turn, you may change stances.)
At the beginning of your end step, draw a card. Then if you're in guard stance, put a +1/+1 counter on each Monk you control.
2/3

----

Stance
(If your stance changes from neutral, track your stance for the rest of the game.)
At the beginning of each upkeep, if you cast a noncreature spell last turn, you may change stances.
Strike — Neutral — Guard

Design
(1/3) Appeal - Johnny is intrigued, not by this card, but by Stance in general. Is there a card that rewards me for constantly changing stances and reaping infinite rewards? Spike doesn't like a 2/3 for 4, but they might appreciate a highly potent lord that draws cards and permanently boosts the entire team. When combined with counterspells, it could be very effective, but its efficacy depends on the other Monks in the format. Timmy sees a 2/3 for 4 and shrugs. It's too much effort to make it significantly larger.

(2/3) Elegance - The card itself is not complicated at all. Vigilance, enters-the-battlefield effect, payoff - all good. As for Stance, this is the first helper card that starts in the game - the Neutral stance. I'm not sure if "Neutral" should be part of the stances, as it can confuse players.

Development
(3/3) Viability - No problems here. It's certainly a rare blue card. It could have been white, but blue makes sense. I can imagine Stance appearing in all rarities and all colors, mainly Jeskai with a dash of green and black for fighting classes.
(3/3) Balance - For limited, you would probably need a critical mass of Monks in order to utilize this card. As for constructed, it really depends on the format and the viability of Monk tribal. However, I doubt this card alone single-handedly makes it viable. I can see some kitchen table and EDH decks playing this as a cool lord.

Creativity
(1.5/3) Uniqueness - The card itself doesn't introduce anything new, as Stance is essentially a repackaging of the "Day/Night" mechanic, taken a step further by providing more control and affecting each player individually.
(2/3) Flavor - "Master of Meditation" is quite a generic name, and I don't sense the essence of "meditation" in this Monk, who appears to be rather aggressive, potentially training their pupil for war. The Guard stance, which grants +1/+1 to each Monk, feels a bit odd. It would make more sense if the Strike stance was used to enhance the army's size and attacking capabilities. The concept of changing stances while the Monk fulfills the role represented by the stance feels like a flavor mismatch, at least in my opinion. Stance itself is a highly flavorful concept, but I believe it could benefit from some refinement.

Polish
(2.5/3) Quality - "change stances", as you always change one stance.
(2/2) Main Challenge (*) - All good.
(1/1) Subchallenge 1 - All good.
(1/1) Subchallenge 2 - All good.
Total: 19/25

void_nothing

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Embersteel Crimelord 2RR
Creature - Orc Rogue (R)
Whenever Embersteel Crimelord attacks, if it has a fighting style, increase its mastery of that style by 1. If it doesn't have one, its fighting style becomes Brilliant Flourish or Hidden Trick. (Fighting styles begin at 1 mastery.)
Whenever a creature with a fighting style you control deals combat damage to a player, create a Treasure token.
"Dazzle 'em with your skills or hit 'em when they don't see you, but always get paid."
4/4

Brilliant Flourish
Fighting Style
This creature has prowess.
2+> This creature has "Ward - Pay 4 life."
3+> Whenever you cast a non-copy spell that targets this creature, you may copy that spell and cast the copy. (You still pay its costs.)
4+> Whenever this creature deals combat damage to a player, you may cast an instant or sorcery card in your graveyard with mana value equal to or less than this creature's mastery of this style without paying its mana cost. Exile that spell as it resolves.

Hidden Trick
Fighting Style
Whenever this creature blocks or becomes blocked, it deals damage to each creature blocking or blocked by it equal to its mastery of this style.
2+> This creature has menace.
3+> 1: This creature gets +2/-1 or -1/+2 until end of turn. Untap it. Scry 2. Activate only once per turn.
4+> This creature has undying. When it dies, if it doesn't have a +1/+1 counter on it, draw two cards. This creature keeps this style at this level of mastery as it moves to any zone other than a player's hand or library.

Design
(3/3) Appeal - Johnny wants to play this and get its mastery to +4 as soon as possible. Spike would first-pick this in limited, and they might include it as a curve topper in Mono Red or in a Fighting Style deck. Timmy enjoys a 4/4 for 4 that can become even larger with customized, unique, and wild abilities.
(2/3) Elegance - The card itself has an attack trigger and a "pseudo-lord" effect. Nothing too complicated. The wording "... a fighting style you control deals..." is technically correct, but the effect can be reversed for clarity - this wording makes it so you can put a Fighting Style on an opponent's creature and you will get the treasure when it deals combat damage to any player. As for the Fighting Styles, the best comparison we have is dungeon. Although they both have a lot of text, the only choice you have is initially choose the dungeon/fighting style, but unlike dungeons, you can always "go up", so Fighting Styles have less mental load. I imagine the Fighting Style cards physically going under the creature just like auras, but they are not real cards - this might get confusing to new players who will try to "disenchant" them and will just put the physical cards in their graveyard when the creature dies, not treating them as tokens.

Development
(2/3) Viability - No problems here. It's certainly a rare red card. I can see Fighting Styles appear in all colors, but not all Fighting Styles belong to all colors. Some abilities of these styles are color-banded (Ward - 4 life for blue), with letting white copy spells (Brilliant Flourish's +3 and +4) being breaks. Going back to Dungeons, color breaks are fine-ish if you treat them as artifacts (MaRo talked about it here) and if Fighting Styles don't let you easily reach to the banding and breaking parts, they might be ok.
(2.5/3) Balance - In limited, you will probably first-pick this card more often than not, and it would be one of the better bombs in your deck. In constructed, it may be slightly less viable, but I can envision it working wonders in a dedicated deck. Fighting Styles might be too complex for the average kitchen table player, but more experienced players would love to at least try building a dedicated Fighting Style commander deck.

Creativity
(2.5/3) Uniqueness - The card itself doesn't introduce anything new. Fighting Styles are distant relatives of The Ring, although they are quite distant. The phrase "noncopy-spell" is a novelty. Hidden Trick's +4 ability is entirely unique. There are no other existing cards that utilize +2/-1, and only two cards from 1996 and 1997 have -1/+2, but Hidden Trick allows you to alternate between them.
(2/3) Flavor - Crimelord makes sense - it has a "lord" effect, and getting paid by hitting people can be considered a crime. Embersteel could refer to a place or the Orc's weapon. The flavor text combined with choosing "Brilliant Flourish or Hidden Trick" tells a good story of "are we using more brain or more brown? Doesn't matter, you will get a treasure either way" and it helps sell the card effectively. The styles themselves confuse me a little bit. Both Brilliant Flourish and Hidden Trick have a focus on trickery, with Brilliant Flourish enhancing the creature's agility (prowess), resilience (ward), and adding magical enchantments (+3 and +4). I would have liked to see some abilities that emphasize "brute strength" to differentiate the styles more.

Polish
(2.5/3) Quality - Brilliant Flourish > "instant or sorcery card in your graveyard" should be "from". "Exile that spell as it resolves" - see flashback.
(2/2) Main Challenge (*) - All good.
(1/1) Subchallenge 1 - All good.
(1/1) Subchallenge 2 - All good.
Total: 20.5/25

Venedrex

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Fall to Darkness
Enchantment (R)
When Fall to Darkness enters the battlefield, your alignment becomes Lawful Good.
Whenever you sacrifice a creature, shift your alignment towards Chaotic Evil.
(To shift your alignment, move one space towards the stated alignment. You can move up, down, left, and right.)
, Sacrifice a creature: Draw a card. If your alignment is Good, you gain 1 life. If your alignment is Evil, each opponent loses 1 life.

---

Alignment Chart:

Lawful Good --- Neutral Good --- Chaotic Good
Lawful Neutral --- True Neutral --- Chaotic Neutral
Lawful Evil --- Neutral Evil --- Chaotic Evil

Design
(2/3) Appeal - Johnny wants to use this card as a combo piece and for card draw. Spike has turned Mayhem Devil into a legitimate deck, at least in Magic Arena, and this card would fit right in and could potentially create a new WB-based sacrifice-aristocrats deck. Timmy doesn't even consider this card, as it isn't a large creature and sacrificing their own creatures for marginal effects is not something they are willing to do.
(2.5/3) Elegance - The card isn't wordy at all, and much of its elegance is conveyed through the flavor. It is neatly divided in the middle with "this is good alignment, this is bad alignment." Good means gaining life, while bad means losing life. The Alignment Chart concept makes sense to both D&D players and non-D&D players because the flavor is strong (more on that in the Flavor section).

Development
(3/3) Viability - No issues here. It's a rare WB card that could potentially function as an uncommon signpost card. As for the Alignment Chart, it can be utilized in all rarities and colors, with WB being the primary colors and the other colors incorporating it sparingly while their alignments span across the spectrum.
(2/3) Balance - 1 and not being restricted to once per turn to draw a card and gain/lose life at instant speed is likely too cheap, but not game-breaking. In limited, it's not always the correct choice to first-pick a 3-mana enchantment that doesn't impact the board. When it works well, it will probably be the best card in your deck, but you'll need a good number of creatures for it to shine. In constructed, this card would find its place in sacrifice/aristocrats decks and serve as a valuable sideboard option against control, allowing you to ping the last few points of life and draw cards in response to board wipes. Casual players may not appreciate sacrificing creatures for "marginal effects," but EDH enthusiasts would include this card in any tokens deck and/or D&D-themed deck.

Creativity
(2.5/3) Uniqueness - The card itself may not introduce entirely new concepts, but it approaches them in a unique manner. The Alignment Chart is highly distinctive, creating a profound tension of choosing between actions that align with goodness or actions that align with wickedness. It also presents the dilemma of which effects to avoid if you wish to maintain your current alignment. Importantly, it doesn't restrict you to a specific deck archetype. Some decks may strive to align as good as possible, others as bad, and some may embrace a combination of both alignments. Consequently, these decks would play out in drastically different ways. This mechanic genuinely feels like a rich gold mine of potential.
(3/3) Flavor - "Fall to Darkness" is a generic name that can evoke various stories and concepts. The concept you've chosen is intriguing—you start as "Lawful Good" and by performing the act of sacrificing creatures, you transition to the side of evil. It's a simple yet effective story-telling tool. Combined with the Alignment Chart, you can explore countless flavorful narratives. Some gods might not turn into creatures if you are not aligned with them, some planewalkers would be stronger if you and them shares morals, some dark effects can turn you evil, and some can turn you good, and some will want you to be as neutral as possible. The narrative isn't locked on D&D and the possibilities are truly endless.

Polish
(3/3) Quality - All good.
(2/2) Main Challenge (*) - All good.
(1/1) Subchallenge 1 - All good.
(1/1) Subchallenge 2 - All good.
Total: 22/25

slimytrout

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Mindwringer 2UB
Creature - Snake Horror (U)
Whenever Mindwringer or another Horror enters the battlefield under your control, descend toward insanity. (Move your sanity marker down one level.)
1UB, Sacrifice Mindwringer: Return target creature card from your graveyard to the battlefield. Activate only if Mindwringer dealt damage to a player this turn.
"squeeze   unease   disease   please"
-Words carved into the 12,738th stair
3/4

---

Sanity
Sane
Paranoid - When you reach this level, surveil 1. Up to one target creature gains menace until end of turn.
Delusional - After your draw step, mill a card. Up to one target creature gets +1/+0 and gains menace until end of turn.
Raving - After your draw step, mill two cards. Up to two target creatures each get +2/+0 and gain menace and deathtouch until end of turn.
Insane - After your draw step, mill three cards for each creature you control. Creatures you control get +3/+0 and can't be blocked until end of turn.

Design
(2/3) Appeal - Johnny wants to fulfill the dream (or nightmare) of descending into insanity as quickly as possible and then launch an all-out assault. Spike would include this card in their limited deck, but probably not constructed. Timmy fails to appreciate the value of a 3/4 creature for 4 mana, and while pumping the entire team with +3 is appealing, it requires too much effort for their taste.
(2/3) Elegance - The card features a horror tribal theme with a nice upside. The reminder text is concise, which is good. "Descend toward insanity" is a cumulative process where you need to read it once to understand that milling results in pumping and granting evasion to the same number of creatures. There is a fair amount of word repetition, and I wonder if it could have been phrased using "and also" wording. The card does not specify if the marker starts at "sane" and moves to "paranoid," or if it starts outside the helper card and then progresses to "sane." Usually, with helper cards (and level up cards), the former is true, but in this case, both options seem plausible. This ambiguity could lead to confusion.

Development
(2/3) Viability - Regarding the card itself, there are no issues. This card could have been designed as a mono-black card and/or as a rare, but it being UB and uncommon indicates that it serves as a signpost uncommon. I can see Sanity appearing in all rarities, with Black being the primary color, if not the sole color, for the majority of cards. Menace is a band for blue, although a (very) small amount of it could be acceptable but deathtouch is a break. Fear is a deprecated keyword.
(2/3) Balance - In limited, the effectiveness of the card will depend on the number of Horrors available in the format and how easily one can descend toward insanity. In constructed, it might find a place as a high-cost finisher in Horror decks, although 4 mana could be considered too expensive. Its viability will heavily rely on the other cards that interact with the "descend toward insanity" mechanic. The second ability of the snake is enticing on its own, making it worth trying even without a fully dedicated Sanity deck. However, self-milling is generally not favored in casual play, while EDH players would greatly appreciate this card in a horror-themed deck.

Creativity
(1.5/3) Uniqueness - The Horrors archetype has been briefly explored in two commanders, Captain N'ghathrod and Umbris, Fear Manifest. There is still much to be explored within this archetype. Sanity, on the other hand, functions similarly to a "Dungeon," but with a single path and a more cohesive experience. The flavor words in a helper card is a unique touch.
(3/3) Flavor - Honestly? If I could give this a rating of 10 out of 3, I would. Mindwringer is a fairly unique name. This mechanic truly captures the essence of descending into madness tropes, with the player assuming the role of a gradually unraveling mad individual, witnessing increasingly horrifying sights (some of which may not even be real). The concept of a sanity meter is a familiar element in many horror video games, making it resonate strongly with fans of the genre. This mechanic would fit seamlessly in the next Innistrad set or perhaps in another plane that explores the horror genre in an even more mature manner. The spacing between words in the flavor text is a good touch.

Polish
(3/3) Quality - All good.
(2/2) Main Challenge (*) - All good.
(1/1) Subchallenge 1 - All good.
(1/1) Subchallenge 2 - All good.
Total: 19.5/25

kwanyeegor-ii

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Aether-Armor Saurian 3GW
Creature - Lizard (Rare)
Ward 2, vigilance
When Aether-Armor Saurian enters the battlefield, you become the summoner.
Creature tokens you control get +2/+2 and have ward 2 and vigilance.
3/3

The Summoner
At the beginning of the summoner's end step, they create a 1/1 colorless Shapeshifter creature token with changeling.
Whenever a player who isn't the summoner has a creature enter the battlefield under their control for the second time in a turn, they become the summoner.

Design
(1/3) Appeal - Johnny is hard-pressed to find anything breakable here. Spike can do better than a 3GW mana 3/3, but they would play it in limited, and Timmy doesn't like the expensive 3/3 but they do appreciate the fact that it pumps up their token army by a lot.
(3/3) Elegance - The card itself is a simple beater, and the helper card is also very simple. Any player who's familiar with The Monarch would understand the gist of it in no time.

Development
(3/3) Viability - No problems here. It's a Green-White rare creature through and through. The Summoner could appear in any rarity and any color, but probably not on one drops, at least not without a good drawback.
(2/3) Balance - You will 1st pick this in limited more often than not, but it's not an A-Tier bomb, just a very solid beater. After all, it's two 3/3s at least for 5 mana. In constructed, there are just many other creatures that have better evasion or enter the battlefield abilities. Token decks aren't starving for this kind of "anthem" effect, an effect that on creature could be problematic since this creature can be removed mid-combat for maximum blow out. Casual and commander players love tokens, and this will slot nicely in any Selesnya tokens deck.
Creativity
(1/3) Uniqueness - The creature itself doesn't do anything unique. The Summoner is mechanically very adjacent to the Monarch.
(1/3) Flavor - Aether-Armor Saurian is a simple name. "Ward" = "Aether-Armor" and "Saurian" = "Lizard". The thing is, the name doesn't reflect the "pump your army" and "aggressive" and "lord-esque" natures of this creature. Saurian is more Dinosaur than Lizard, but both can work. The flavor of the summoner is confusing - are you the summoner, or is it the changeling? Why my Lizard arriving makes me the summoner and takes the "privilege" off the opponents? What's the deal the "second creature entering" that suddenly makes me the summoner? Why changeling?

Polish
(2/3) Quality - Ward and vigilance should be switched both in the first line and the third line. "for the second time in a turn" - "in" should be "this" (Sizzling Soloist).
(2/2) Main Challenge (*) - All good.
(1/1) Subchallenge 1 - All good.
(1/1) Subchallenge 2 - All good.
Total: 17/25

Freyleyes

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Peer the Cosmos 1U{U/B}{U/B}
Sorcery {M}
Insight (Move one step closer towards seeing the truth.)
Draw 3 cards, then each player discards two cards.
If the truth is revealed, create a X/X black Horror creature token, where X is the number of cards discarded this way.
Your perception is blurred by your lack of insight. Peer into the cosmos and see the truth.

Insight
Gaining insight moves the game one step closer to revealing the truth. Insight is shared by all players.
0 : You see the world as it is...
1+ : Whenever a player casts a creature spell, that player Scry 1.
2+ : Creatures have fear.
3+ : The world becomes more clear as the mind becomes distorted.
4+ : Whenever a player draws one or more cards, that player creates a 1/1 black Horror creature token.
5+ : The truth of the world is revealed to all players.

Design
(1/3) Appeal - Johnny might use this as a card draw for the other combo pieces, and also as a way to gain Insight. Spike doesn't like 4 mana sorcery that just draw some cards, but if there's a strong Insight deck in the format, this would fit right in. Timmy shrugs this off - it's not creating a big creature and it doesn't do anything flashy.
(3/3) Elegance - The card cost 4, you draw 3, players discards 2, you get 1 token. Clean. The effects of Insight are easy to grasp.

Development
(1/3) Viability - This card is essentially a mono blue discard - a big no for blue. Giving fear to your creatures is a smaller no. The card doesn't feel mythic, as it's a simple draw spell. An uncommon might be more appropriate. I can see Insight appearing in all rarities, with Black being the primary color, if not the sole color.
(3/3) Balance - In limited, there may be instances where you would consider first-picking this card, although not necessarily over a strong removal spell. In constructed, unless Insight becomes a dominant force in the metagame, there are likely to be more powerful options available than a 4-mana sorcery that draws three cards, discards two, and creates a token. However, this card could find some play in kitchen table, as well as in Commander decks built around the theme of Insight for fun, rather than for competitive play.

Creativity
(3/3) Uniqueness - We have seen these effects before, but not like this. 1U{U/B}{U/B} is certainly a unique mana cost, and this is the first usage of flavor words in a helper card. Tracker card that incentivizes both players to work together is not only new, but a unique take as the opposite of the "selfish" The Ring and Dungeons and the Monarch.
(2/3) Flavor - "Peer the Cosmos" is an epic concept that can be represented in various ways, and your approach is commendable. The idea of gaining knowledge and experiencing an overwhelming mental load that necessitates forgetting certain things is well captured. However, the tension between only you drawing and only the opponents discarding feels a little out of place. Gaining insight is an experience shared by all players, so why the difference? The notion of gaining insight doesn't quite align with the idea of all creatures becoming more intimidating. Nonetheless, the phrase "Gaining insight moves the game one step closer to revealing the truth" is a wonderfully evocative sentence for a Magic card, and I absolutely adore it. It exudes a remarkable amount of flavor, and the flavor words are the icing on the cake.

Polish
(1.5/3) Quality - "Draw 3 cards" - "3" should be "three". The word "all" is missing from "Creatures have fear." and "Scry" should be "scry".
(2/2) Main Challenge (*) - All good.
(1/1) Subchallenge 1 - All good.
(1/1) Subchallenge 2 - All good.
Total: 18.5/25

Top 3

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Subject16 (19) vs void_nothing (20.5)
Venedrex (22) vs slimytrout (20.5)
kwanyeegor-ii (17) vs Freyleyes (18.5)