June MCC Round 2 - A rare occurrence

[bravelion83]

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


June MCC Round 2

A rare occurrence

As is tradition by now, this month we will celebrate the latest set, in this case March of the Machine (plus The Aftermath), by exploring its mechanics and themes, as usual in this kind of MCC months.


Main Challenge

Choose one of the planes that have been represented in a battle card in March of the Machine. Please state your chosen plane in your submission post. This is a specific exception to the "no extra content" rule for this month.

Your chosen plane CANNOT share any colors in its MOM battle card with the one you chose in Round 1.

Then design a non-battle card that shares at least one color with the battle card from MOM representing your chosen plane for this round and that has the same rarity as that battle card.

You can't use any mana symbols that go outside of your chosen battle card's colors anywhere on the card.

If you choose Ravnica, that has a colorless battle card, then your card must also be colorless and must be mythic.

Note: See clarifications for a list of the 36 battle cards in MOM and their respective colors and rarities.


Subchallenge 1 - Your card doesn't share any card types with your card from Round 1.

Not relevant anymore

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EDIT - It has been brought to my attention in the discussion thread that this will be automatically met just by meeting the Main Challenge. That's true, and a mistake on my part due to a last-minute change I made to the challenges right before posting the round. Part of what's now the Main Challenge was here and I moved it there, breaking this Subchallenge in the process without even realizing it. I see no way to fix this now that isn't unfair to players who have already posted their submission under the "old" rules, so until I find a fair way to fix things, which I probably won't, I'll let everybody enjoy their free point here.

EDIT - I've proposed a new Subchallenge 1 to the two players that have already posted their submission. If I get permission from both of them, Subchallenge 1 is subject to change. If you're not one of those two players, keep that in mind, and maybe wait for updates here and in the discussion thread before posting your submission.

EDIT June 17th 10:37 Central European - I've received permission from one of those two players. Still waiting for the other to reply.

EDIT June 17th 15:50 Central European - I've received permission from both players. Implementing the change.

For both the Main Challenge and Subchallenge 1, no need to quote or mention your choice in Round 1, everything has already been tracked, though your card won't be DQ'ed if you do so. (Beware that your choice of plane in both rounds will have consequences in future rounds as well.)


Subchallenge 2 - Your card has backup, convoke, and/or incubate.

Clarifications

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Main Challenge

The Main Challenge compares the colors of your chosen battle cards from MOM for this round and the previous round, NOT those of your own cards. The part that was previously written here is not relevant anymore. It was about how the Main Challenge interacted with the old version of Subchallenge 1.

List of planes, colors, and rarities

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BATTLE LIST

Plane: Ravnica
Colors: colorless
Rarity: mythic

Plane: Belenon
Colors: W
Rarity: uncommon

Plane: Dominaria
Colors: W
Rarity: uncommon

Plane: Gobakhan
Colors: W
Rarity: rare

Plane: Theros
Colors: W
Rarity: rare

Plane: Kamigawa
Colors: U
Rarity: uncommon

Plane: Vryn
Colors: U
Rarity: uncommon

Plane: Arcavios
Colors: U
Rarity: rare

Plane: Segovia
Colors: U
Rarity: rare

Plane: Eldraine
Colors: B
Rarity: uncommon

Plane: Ulgrotha
Colors: B
Rarity: uncommon

Plane: Fiora
Colors: B
Rarity: rare

Plane: Innistrad
Colors: B
Rarity: rare

Plane: Mercadia
Colors: R
Rarity: uncommon

Plane: Regatha
Colors: R
Rarity: uncommon

Plane: Kaldheim
Colors: R
Rarity: rare

Plane: Karsus
Colors: R
Rarity: rare

Plane: Tarkir
Colors: R
Rarity: mythic

Plane: Muraganda
Colors: G
Rarity: uncommon

Plane: Zendikar
Colors: G
Rarity: uncommon

Plane: Ikoria
Colors: G
Rarity: rare

Plane: Ixalan
Colors: G
Rarity: rare

Plane: Shandalar
Colors: G
Rarity: mythic

Plane: New Phyrexia
Colors: WU
Rarity: mythic

Plane: Xerex
Colors: WU
Rarity: uncommon

Plane: Amonkhet
Colors: UB
Rarity: uncommon

Plane: Azgol
Colors: BR
Rarity: uncommon

Plane: Ergamon
Colors: RG
Rarity: uncommon

Plane: Moag
Colors: GW
Rarity: uncommon

Plane: (New) Capenna
Colors: WB
Rarity: uncommon

Plane: Tolvada
Colors: WB
Rarity: rare

Plane: Kaladesh
Colors: UR
Rarity: uncommon

Plane: Lorwyn
Colors: BG
Rarity: uncommon

Plane: Kylem
Colors: RW
Rarity: uncommon

Plane: Pyrulea
Colors: GU
Rarity: uncommon

Plane: Alara
Colors: WUBRG
Rarity: rare

Plane: Dominaria

Fall of Angelfire 3W
Enchantment {U}
Flash
At the beginning of the declare blockers step, if one or more creatures your opponents control are attacking, incubate 2. (Create an Incubator token with two +1/+1 counters on it and "2: Transform this artifact." It transforms into a 0/0 Phyrexian artifact creature.)
Whenever you attack with one or more Phyrexians, you may pay 2. When you do, tap target creature.
The Church of Angelfire's holy militancy became mindless relentlessness.

...Oops. (I was pretty confused by all the "must share a color" and "can't share a color"s...)

You chose Kylem in Round 1, which has a red/white battle card in MOM. For this round, start by choosing another battle card from MOM and compare it with Kylem. The two battle cards from MOM can't share any colors. In your case, Dominaria shares a color with Kylem (white), so you can't choose Dominaria for Round 2. You can choose Kamigawa though, as Kamigawa has a mono-blue battle card in MOM, so it shares no colors with Kylem. Once you've chosen a new battle card from MOM for Round 2, design a card that's not a battle and that stays within the colors of that new battle card (in this case Kamigawa). This is the Main Challenge.

The spirit is it forces you to go from a plane to a totally different one, like the Phyrexians invaded most existing planes. You see Phyrexians invading Kylem, a red/white plane, but also Kamigawa, a blue plane, and so on, all different kinds of planes with no mercy or caring about their colors or other qualities, and our focus in the set is not on any single plane rather we jump from plane to plane seeing how the Phyrexians invaded that specific plane and how its denizens defeated them, if they did. That's the idea. I recognize that the execution needs to be complex, and that's why I used underlined text to highlight the most important parts.

(The new) Subchallenge 1, at the contrary, compares card types between the card you designed this round and the one you designed in Round 1. It doesn't care about battle cards from MOM at all, it only looks at your own submissions. In your case, in Round 1 you designed a sorcery, so if you want to meet Subchallenge 1 in Round 2 you can design anything but a sorcery (and a battle, that's forbidden by the Main Challenge).

Hope this helps to clarify things a little bit more. If any of you has any more doubts, feel free to ask here.

Subchallenge 1

Subchallenge 1 only checks card types, not supertypes and subtypes.

The following are card types: artifact, battle (forbidden by the Main Challenge), creature, enchantment, instant, land, planeswalker, sorcery, and tribal.


Subchallenge 2

For Subchallenge 2, the card itself must have one of the mentioned mechanics, granting it doesn't count. You can mix-and-match the mentioned mechanics. If you want to make a card that has both convoke and incubate, for example, then go ahead.


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

DEADLINES

Design deadline: Wednesday, June 21st Thursday, June 22nd 2023 at 23:59 Eastern Time

Judging deadline: Saturday, June 24th Sunday, June 25th 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. (Courtesy of Rithaniel.)

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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

bravelion83
@void_nothing


PLAYERS

@Henlock
@Ink-Treader
@MonoRedMage
@netn10
@Raptorchan
@Riria
@slimytrout
@StonerOfKruphix
@Subject16
@Venedrex



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

Judge: bravelion83
Henlock
MonoRedMage
StonerOfKruphix
Subject16
Venedrex

Judge: @void_nothing
Ink-Treader
netn10
Riria
slimytrout

Judging may begin right now. Top 3 from each bracket will advance to the next round.

[Venedrex]

Plane: Tarkir

Kolaghan Oilburner
Creature — Dragon (M)
Backup 1 (When this creature enters the battlefield, put a +1/+1 counter on target creature. If that's another creature, it gains the following ability until end of turn.)
Flying, haste, trample
When this creature deals combat damage to an opponent, destroy each artifact that player controls.
Even Phyrexians have nightmares.
5/5

[Subject16]

Plane: Zendikar

Leyline Devourer 3GG
Creature — Phyrexian Elemental (U)
Trample
Other Phyrexians you control have trample.
Landfall — Whenever a land enters the battlefield under your control, incubate 3. (Create an Incubator token with three +1/+1 counters on it and "2: Transform this artifact." It transforms into a 0/0 Phyrexian artifact creature.)
Zendikar faced a new sickness.
4/4

[StonerOfKruphix]

Plane: Theros

Khrusor, the Blight-Spear 1WW
Legendary Enchantment Artifact (R)
Convoke, improvise
God, Phyrexian, and battle spells you cast have convoke and improvise.
At the beginning of your end step, incubate X, where X is the number of tapped nonland permaments you control.
Ajani looked at the weapon in the hands of the compleated god. Distant memories of sadness and grief were quickly washed away by a feeling of glorious accomplishment.

[bravelion83]

To reiterate from the OP:

EDIT - I've proposed a new Subchallenge 1 to the two players that have already posted their submission. If I get permission from both of them, Subchallenge 1 is subject to change. If you're not one of those two players, keep that in mind, and maybe wait for updates here and in the discussion thread before posting your submission.

EDIT June 17th 10:37 Central European - I've received permission from one of those two players. Still waiting for the other to reply.

I'm keeping making constant updates as soon as things happen, so stay tuned and check often, both here and in the discussion thread.

June 17th 15:50 - The other permission has arrived as well. Subchallenge 1 now officially changes to care about card types instead of colors. I'm also extending both the design and judging deadline by one day to partially make up for the inconvenience, and I'm going to recheck the challenges I had planned for future rounds to make sure something like this doesn't happen again. I'm deeply sorry for what happened. Now all the players are welcome to post their submissions under the new Subchallenge 1 and the new deadlines. Let's see all the awesome designs you can come up with!

[Riria]

Plane: Vryn

Subring Capacitor 6U
Artifact (R)
Convoke (Your creatures can help cast this spell. Each creature you tap while casting this spell pays for 1 or one mana of that creature's color.)
Subring Capacitor enters the battlefield with a charge counter on it for each creature that convoked it.
Whenever an artifact you control adds mana, put a charge counter on Subring Capacitor.
Remove X charge counters from Subring Capacitor: Copy target instant or sorcery spell with mana value X or less one third X times. You may choose new targets for the copies.

[Ink-Treader]

Plane: Zendikar

Mul Daya Council 1GG
Creature - Elf Shaman (U)
Backup 1, backup 1 (When this creature enters the battlefield, put a +1/+1 counter on target creature. If that's another creature, it gains the following abilities until end of turn. Each backup ability triggers separately.)
T: Add one mana of any type that a land you control could produce.
"Zendikar is threatened once more, and all must answer its call."
1/1

[MonoRedMage]

Plane: Kamigawa

Slitherer of Oboro 2U
Creature - Phyrexian Moonfolk Ninja {U}
Whenever a creature you control attacks and isn't blocked, incubate 1. (Create an Incubator token with a +1/+1 counter on it and "2: Transform this artifact." It transforms into a 0/0 Phyrexian artifact creature.)
2U, Sacrifice an Incubator or another Phyrexian: Creatures you control get +1/+0 and gain hexproof until end of turn.
2/2

[Henlock]

Plane: Theros

Artful Decoy 1w
Artifact - Incubator (r)
1w: Transform this artifact.
Backup 2 (When this permanent enters the battlefield, put two +1/+1 counters on target creature. If that's another creature, it gains the following abilities until end of turn.)
Indestructible.
//
Men of Many Devices
Creature - Human Soldier ()
Men of Many Devices can't be blocked by Phyrexians.
2/2

[netn10]

Plane: Arcavios

Perfected Sequence 5UU
Sorcery (Rare)
For each "_", choose a number between 1 and 4, inclusive. You can't choose the same number more than once.
Scry _ twice, then draw _ cards.
Incubate _ _ times.
"Phyrexia was perfect before my mind was clouded by the illusions of the flesh, but that fact was subjective, axiomatic. Now, let us delve into the depths of the undeniable proof that will Compleat our understanding of what is One."
— Axial, Former Quandrix Teacher

[bravelion83]

Less than 22 hours to the design deadline. We're missing submissions from the following players:

@Raptorchan - You choose Alara in Round 1, so here you're forced to choose Ravnica and make a card with no colored mana symbols anywhere in it.
@slimytrout - You chose Innistrad in Round 1, so here you can choose any battle card from MOM that's not even partially black.

I will also mention that @netn10 chose Moag in Round 1, so here they can't choose any battle cards from MOM that are even partially green or white, and Xerex is partially white so it's not a valid choice for the Main Challenge. Normally I wouldn't point out things like this until the judgments, but given what happened before with Subchallenge 1, I want to make it extremely clear now.

All the other players are fine as far as the Main Challenge is concerned with their current submissions, but of course can still edit them until the deadline.

[slimytrout]

Arcavios

Tainted Transcription 2UU
Sorcery (R)
Create a token that's a copy of target creature you control. Incubate X, where X is that creature's power. (To incubate X, create an Incubator token with X +1/+1 counters on it and "2: Transform this artifact." It transforms into a 0/0 Phyrexian artifact creature.)
"Your fractals are all hideous. Keep trying until you get it right."
-Imbraham, Quandrix Dean

[bravelion83]

As Raptorchan chose to drop (see discussion thread) and all submissions are in and good, the round is closed.

BRACKETS

Judge: bravelion83
Henlock
MonoRedMage
StonerOfKruphix
Subject16
Venedrex

Judge: @void_nothing
Ink-Treader
netn10
Riria
slimytrout

Judging may begin right now. Top 3 from each bracket will advance to the next round.

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June 23rd 11 am CET - I'm doing something unusual. The only thing I've written so far is the Polish section for all entries in my bracket. I'm going to post that section by itself immediately right now, to show exactly how the Main Challenge works. Make sure you have understood it correctly for the remaining rounds.

Judgments complete. As usual, sorry for any unintended typos.

Henlock

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Plane: Theros

Artful Decoy 1w
Artifact - Incubator (r)
1w: Transform this artifact.
Backup 2 (When this permanent enters the battlefield, put two +1/+1 counters on target creature. If that's another creature, it gains the following abilities until end of turn.)
Indestructible.
//
Men of Many Devices
Creature - Human Soldier ()
Men of Many Devices can't be blocked by Phyrexians.
2/2

Henlock
Design
Appeal 1.5/3 - Timmy likes to grant indestructible to his creatures, but I can't see him being interested in the rest. The back face is too small to catch his interest. Johnny might use this with transformation-matter cards from MOM? But it's in the wrong colors (that archetype is GU in the set), so he will have to make a three-colored deck, not that's a problem to him... he might also want to use the artifact for unintended artifact combos/interactions that are clearly not the purpose of this card. Spike likes how backup and incubate work together on this card, even though all in all she might just see this as a bear with upside, or even worse, a four-mana bear with upside.
Elegance 2.5/3 - No mechanical problems here. There is a flavor disconnect in my opinion which doesn't help here either, but we'll talk more about that in Flavor.
Development
Viability 2/3 - If you consider Phyrexians as primary black, then it feels right to have an ability like the one on the back face in one of black's enemy colors, green or white. Both have access to indestructible anyway, but the idea of a colored Incubator feels much more white than green to me, so I agree with your choice of color. I think this might also work as an uncommon, I don't see anything complex or splashy enough to make this card worth of a rare slot, and I don't think it would cause problems in limited at uncommon. No problems with the rules.
Balance 2/3 - Costs look fine to me. Two mana to transform, even though one colored, is a must, but you could have played with the other numbers. In the end, you're paying two mana to put two +1/+1 counters and give indestructible until end of turn to a creature, and that looks fine. I'd certainly play that as a combat trick in limited. Then, when it's most convenient to you, you pay two more mana to have a 2/2 that's unblockable by Phyrexians. Four mana to get the looks like a lot, and I think is overall on the weak side. It you take that into account, it makes the front face much more interesting than the back face for value. Maybe the back face could have been a little bit bigger, maybe a 3/3? Anyway, the total mana to get to the back face looks like too much for competitive constructed to me. It looks weak enough to not cause any problems in casual. I can't see any problems in multiplayer either.
Creativity
Uniqueness 3/3 - A non-token Incubator, and also colored. That's new.
Flavor 1/3 - It feels wrong having an Incubator that not only transforms into something that's not Phyrexian, but that actively works against Phyrexians. I'm also not a big fan of the name of the back face: it doesn't sound like a Magic name to me, and it's plural ("men"), while the card represents a single thing. Maybe more than one human beings exit from the Incubator, but then why is the back face only a 2/2? That's about the size of a single human. Overall, I see several things that don't work in this card's flavor, at least to me.
Polish
Quality 2/3 - A hyphen instead of an em dash in the type line. I normally don't apply any deductions for this unless other players in the same bracket did it right, and this is unfortunately the case here. (-0.5) There should be no period/full stop after indestructible as it's a keyword on its own line. (-0.5)
Main Challenge 2/2 - You had chosen Ulgrotha (B) in Round 1 so Theros (W) is a valid choice of plane here. Invasion of Theros is rare and this is also a rare, so everything's good.
Subchallenges 2/2 - You had designed an enchantment in Round 1 and this is not an enchantment, so Subchallenge 1 is met. This card has backup, so Subchallenge 2 is also met.
TOTAL 18/25

MonoRedMage

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Plane: Kamigawa

Slitherer of Oboro 2U
Creature - Phyrexian Moonfolk Ninja {U}
Whenever a creature you control attacks and isn't blocked, incubate 1. (Create an Incubator token with a +1/+1 counter on it and "2: Transform this artifact." It transforms into a 0/0 Phyrexian artifact creature.)
2U, Sacrifice an Incubator or another Phyrexian: Creatures you control get +1/+0 and gain hexproof until end of turn.
2/2

Design
Appeal 2/3 - Timmy likes to protect his own big creatures by giving them hexproof at instant speed but this isn't big enough itself for him to care too much. He likes playing with Incubator tokens though, as does Johnny, who can exploit them in unintended ways. Spike might be intrigued by this card but she doesn't immediately fall in love with it.
Elegance 3/3 - No problems here.
Development
Viability 3/3 - The +1/+0 bonus feels more red than blue, but it's certainly not a break. All the rest is fine in blue. I agree with this being an uncommon and I see no problems with the rules.
Balance 3/3 - I like the fact that this gives itself sacrifice food. You don't even need to transform the Incubator token first before being able to sacrifice it to the last ability. Abilities that trigger in the declare blockers step (as "attacks and isn't blocked" does) might not be the most intuitive gameplay but they are perfectly fine. I think this card is playable in limited and the fact that it gives itself the tokens it needs, and can do so repeatedly, might be interesting for constructed, though I'm not sure this will make the cut. Some players might try that though. No problems in casual or multiplayer.
Creativity
Uniqueness 2.5/3 - There are cards with "Sacrifice a Phyrexian: (effect)" in MOM, but I haven't been able to find any with "Sacrifice an Incubator or Phyrexian: (effect)". Having incubate on an attack triggered ability is only found in Blight Titan, that's in the Commander part of the set and it only cares about itself attacking, not any creatures. These are innovations compared to what we saw in MOM, but they're all in the small details. There is nothing groundbreaking here.
Flavor 3/3 - The type line is very strange and very interesting at the same time, which is a good place to be. The first ability feels right for a Phyrexian Ninja, even though it's a little strange to see a Ninja without ninjutsu. The name puts together the Moonfolk and Ninja parts of the card very well. According to MSE, up to two lines would technically fit here, but I admit that the card looks much better without flavor text. The flavor text is already enough to fill the text box.
Polish
Quality 2.5/3 - A hyphen instead of an em dash in the type line. I normally don't apply any deductions for this unless other players in the same bracket did it right, and this is unfortunately the case here. (-0.5)
Main Challenge 2/2 - You had chosen Kylem (RW) in Round 1 so Kamigawa (U) is a valid choice of plane here. Invasion of Kamigawa is an uncommon and this is also an uncommon, so everything's good.
Subchallenges 2/2 - You had designed a sorcery in Round 1 and this is not a sorcery, so Subchallenge 1 is met. This card has incubate, so Subchallenge 2 is also met.
TOTAL 23/25

StonerOfKruphix

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Plane: Theros

Khrusor, the Blight-Spear 1WW
Legendary Enchantment Artifact (R)
Convoke, improvise
God, Phyrexian, and battle spells you cast have convoke and improvise.
At the beginning of your end step, incubate X, where X is the number of tapped nonland permaments you control.
Ajani looked at the weapon in the hands of the compleated god. Distant memories of sadness and grief were quickly washed away by a feeling of glorious accomplishment.

Design
Appeal 3/3 - Timmy would just play this for the flavor, to be able to say he's playing with the compleated weapon of the compleated god. He also likes convoke and improvise allowing him to play his big creatures in an easier way. Johnny is intrigued by the last ability especially, and wants to use it in unintended ways. Spike sees convoke and improvise as kind of ramp and she likes them. She also likes that she can just attack to get to incubate at end of turn, she doesn't need to use convoke or improvise at all if she has no creatures or artifacts to tap or no God, Phyrexian, or battle cards in hand.
Elegance 2/3 - The text is a bit long and requires a little focus to play properly. You have to remember about some spells of yours having convoke and improvise and the rest not.
Development
Viability 3/3 - The only minor remark I have is that battle interaction feels more red and green than white, at least for how it has been defined in MOM, but I can see white doing this without any problems. I could see this as a mythic, but it also works as a regular rare. No problems with the rules.
Balance 2.5/3 - This isn't a creature but makes creatures while making Phyrexian spells easier to cast, so I think you'd play it anyway in the WB Phyrexian MOM limited archetype. I can see this being tried in constructed, it's tempting there in several ways, but it has no real immediate impact, and that hurts in constructed. I can see this being a casual favorite. No problems in multiplayer.
Creativity
Uniqueness 3/3 - Combining convoke and improvise is something so obvious that I honestly never thought about it before, and that's good. The interaction with battles is also new, as is the way incubate is used here, encouraging you to actually use convoke and improvise by caring about tapped permanents.
Flavor 3/3 - Perfect. If Heliod has been compleated, his weapon has been too. The flavor text feels like a blow to me, given that Ajani WAS my favorite planeswalker before being compleated, and I keep saying that things will never be the same even if he was healed, but I recognize that it's very well written and gives a perfect description of the feelings his compleated self must have had while doing what he did on Theros. That flavor text really feels like Phyrexian Ajani.
Polish
Quality 2.5/3 - A typo: "permaments". (-0.5) All the rest is good.
Main Challenge 2/2 - You had chosen Kaladesh (UR) in Round 1 so Theros (W) is a valid choice of plane here. Invasion of Theros is rare and this is also a rare, so everything's good.
Subchallenges 2/2 - You had designed a creature in Round 1 and this is not a creature, so Subchallenge 1 is met. This card has convoke, so Subchallenge 2 is also met.
TOTAL 23/25

Subject16

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Plane: Zendikar

Leyline Devourer 3GG
Creature — Phyrexian Elemental (U)
Trample
Other Phyrexians you control have trample.
Landfall — Whenever a land enters the battlefield under your control, incubate 3. (Create an Incubator token with three +1/+1 counters on it and "2: Transform this artifact." It transforms into a 0/0 Phyrexian artifact creature.)
Zendikar faced a new sickness.
4/4

Design
Appeal 3/3 - Big creature for Timmy, a relevant and open-ended trigger for Johnny (landfall), and an overall efficient package for Spike.
Elegance 3/3 - No problems here.
Development
Viability 2/3 - No problems with the color pie or the rules. This feels like a rare to me, and I was actually surprised when I read uncommon. I think the landfall ability heavily pushes towards rare, because of how easy it is to trigger paired with a high incubate value.
Balance 2.5/3 - Definitely playable in limited. The landfall ability might be fine for Standard, but it worries me a little bit in bigger formats with fetches and good ramp. Getting a free 3/3 (the two mana to transform it is just a mana sink, in the late game it will almost be free) each time a land enters feels like a bit too much to me in those formats. No problems in casual or multiplayer.
Creativity
Uniqueness 1.5/3 - The most innovative thing here is pairing landfall with incubate, which is something, but honestly not much.
Flavor 3/3 - How to compare the Phyrexian to the Eldrazi without mentioning either in flavor text. Very clever and concise. The name and card concept are also good.
Polish
Quality 3/3 - All good. Perfect use of dashes.
Main Challenge 2/2 - You had chosen (New) Capenna (BW) in Round 1 so Zendikar (G) is a valid choice of plane here. Invasion of Zendikar is an uncommon and this is also an uncommon, so everything's good.
Subchallenges 2/2 - You had designed a sorcery in Round 1 and this is not a sorcery, so Subchallenge 1 is met. This card has incubate, so Subchallenge 2 is also met.
TOTAL 22/25

Venedrex

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Plane: Tarkir

Kolaghan Oilburner
Creature — Dragon (M)
Backup 1 (When this creature enters the battlefield, put a +1/+1 counter on target creature. If that's another creature, it gains the following ability until end of turn.)
Flying, haste, trample
When this creature deals combat damage to an opponent, destroy each artifact that player controls.
Even Phyrexians have nightmares.
5/5

Design
Appeal 2/3 - Timmy wants as many of these as he can get. I don't see much for Johnny here except for granting haste to some creature he needs to tap that's summoning sick in some kind of combo. There must be better ways to do that though. For six mana, Spike wants a creature that can end the game by itself, and this might just do it, especially if she puts the +1/+1 on the dragon itself, as I think she would almost always do.
Elegance 3/3 - No problems here.
Development
Viability 3/3 - I see no problems with the color pie, rarity, or the rules.
Balance 3/3 - Very good finisher in general. In MOM limited, the fact that it can destroy all of your opponent's Incubator tokens at once will be very relevant, and being able to grant that ability for a turn to another creature is too. In constructed there are all kinds of artifacts to be destroyed similarly, but what makes it relevant for competitive constructed is the immediate impact of haste, especially if you put the +1/+1 counter on itself. I can definitely see this in Standard as the end goal of ramp and reanimator strategies. I think this will be a casual favorite. I see no problems in multiplayer.
Creativity
Uniqueness 1/3 - Not much here unfortunately. Having backup grant a bunch of abilities isn't enough.
Flavor 3/3 - I really like this. A dragon burning their glistening oil to nothing is definitely a nightmare for Phyrexians, who rely on it to work and spread. The association with Kolaghan feels more random, like if it was there only to make this particular dragon feel like it comes from Tarkir, but it works.
Polish
Quality 2/3 - In the reminder text, the word "ability" should be "abilities" as there are four of them. Check out any backup card from MOM that grants more than one ability for examples. (-0.5) The order of keywords is wrong, see for example: Darigaaz Reincarnated, Hellkite Overlord, and Lightning Shrieker. (-0.5) Perfect use of dashes.
Main Challenge 2/2 - You had chosen Lorwyn (BG) in Round 1 so Tarkir (R) is a valid choice of plane here. Invasion of Tarkir is a mythic and this is also a mythic, so everything's good.
Subchallenges 2/2 - You had designed an enchantment in Round 1 and this is not an enchantment, so Subchallenge 1 is met. This card has backup, so Subchallenge 2 is also met.
TOTAL 21/25

Results (bold advance)

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MonoRedMage: 23
StonerOfKruphix: 23
Subject16: 22
Venedrex: 21
Henlock: 18

[bravelion83]

As requested by void_nothing in the discussion thread, I'm also taking over his bracket for this round. He will return to judge Rounds 3 and 4.

In progress...

EDIT - The first thing I always write in my judgments is Main Challenge/Subchallenges. While doing that, I realized that Riria's card doesn't meet the Main Challenge and so unfortunately I have to issue a DQ. They chose an uncommon MOM battle card (Vryn) and designed a rare card, while the Main Challenge required the rarity to be the same. As this is a bracket of 4 and the top 3 advance, this means the other three players in this bracket automatically advance. To keep the contest going, I will post Round 3 right now and then I will come back and finish writing judgments for all cards anyway, including Riria's.

Ink-Treader

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Plane: Zendikar

Mul Daya Council 1GG
Creature - Elf Shaman (U)
Backup 1, backup 1 (When this creature enters the battlefield, put a +1/+1 counter on target creature. If that's another creature, it gains the following abilities until end of turn. Each backup ability triggers separately.)
T: Add one mana of any type that a land you control could produce.
"Zendikar is threatened once more, and all must answer its call."
1/1

netn10

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Plane: Arcavios

Perfected Sequence 5UU
Sorcery (Rare)
For each "_", choose a number between 1 and 4, inclusive. You can't choose the same number more than once.
Scry _ twice, then draw _ cards.
Incubate _ _ times.
"Phyrexia was perfect before my mind was clouded by the illusions of the flesh, but that fact was subjective, axiomatic. Now, let us delve into the depths of the undeniable proof that will Compleat our understanding of what is One."
— Axial, Former Quandrix Teacher

Riria (DQ)

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Plane: Vryn

Subring Capacitor 6U
Artifact (R)
Convoke (Your creatures can help cast this spell. Each creature you tap while casting this spell pays for 1 or one mana of that creature's color.)
Subring Capacitor enters the battlefield with a charge counter on it for each creature that convoked it.
Whenever an artifact you control adds mana, put a charge counter on Subring Capacitor.
Remove X charge counters from Subring Capacitor: Copy target instant or sorcery spell with mana value X or less one third X times. You may choose new targets for the copies.

slimytrout

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Arcavios

Tainted Transcription 2UU
Sorcery (R)
Create a token that's a copy of target creature you control. Incubate X, where X is that creature's power. (To incubate X, create an Incubator token with X +1/+1 counters on it and "2: Transform this artifact." It transforms into a 0/0 Phyrexian artifact creature.)
"Your fractals are all hideous. Keep trying until you get it right."
-Imbraham, Quandrix Dean

Results (bold advance)

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Riria: DQ

The rest of the scores still TBD.