December MCC Round 2 - Shocking discovery

[bravelion83]

(This month's banner is my own elaboration on the art of the card Orazca Puzzle-Door by Cristi Balanescu.)


December MCC Round 2

Shocking discovery

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

Sometimes someone wakes you up at 2 a.m., a doctor comes next to your bed and tells you the news you'd never want to hear in your life… That's what happened to me just a few days ago, and believe me, that was definitely a shocking discovery. No, this is unfortunately not a pun on Shock the card… this is just real life.


Main Challenge - Design a single-faced card that has discover (granting it doesn't count).

Subchallenge 1 - The discover value is NOT 3, 4, 10, or X (for none of the instances of discover on the card).

Subchallenge 2 - The card is multicolored (both gold and hybrid count).

Clarifications

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Main Challenge

The card has to meet two requirements:

1- It's NOT a DFC, but a regular single-faced card with a regular Magic back and a black border. No Un-cards or anything like that, just an ordinary black-bordered Magic card.

2- It has you discover as part of its own resolution or as part of the resolution of at least one of its own abilities. Granting it to other things does NOT count.

As long as your card meets these two requirements at the same time, you're good to go as far as the Main Challenge is concerned.


Subchallenge 1

The discover mechanic always has a variable associated with it, called the "discover value", most often a number but sometimes an X that is later defined in rules text. To pass this Subchallenge, the discover value canNOT be 3, 4, 10, or X. Any other natural number is fine, and this includes zero. (I don't see how you can do it with negative, irrational, or complex numbers…)

To pass this Subchallenge, if you have multiple instances of discover on your card, NONE of them can have a discover value of 3, 4, 10, or X. If even only one instance of discover has one of those discover values, this Subchallenge is NOT met, even if the other instances have discover values other than 3, 4, 10, or X.


Subchallenge 2

This should be self-explanatory. I'll just reiterate that both traditional gold and hybrid count.


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

You can also check out the MCC Guidelines and FAQ if you have the will and time. You can find it in a low size PDF version attached to this post and you can also find the link to the original higher size PDF in my signature. They are the same document, I just had to compress it more to be able to put it here as an attachment as the original file, the one linked in my signature, is too large to be attached here. 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.


DEADLINES

Design deadline: Wednesday, December 27th 2023 Thursday, December 28th 2023 at 23:59 Eastern Time

Judging deadline: Saturday, December 30th 2023 Sunday, December 31st 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

@AnotherAlias
@Caspernicus
@Freyleyes
@Komandon
@kwanyeegor-ii
@netn10
@Raptorchan
@slimytrout
@Subject16


BRACKETS

Judge: bravelion83
Komandon
netn10
slimytrout
Subject16

Judge: void_nothing
AnotherAlias
Caspernicus
Freyleyes
kwanyeegor-ii
Raptorchan

Top 3 from each bracket will advance. Judging may begin right now.

[Caspernicus]

Elani, Friendly Traveler gw
Legendary Creature — Elf Scout (M)
Vigilance
Whenever another creature enters the battlefield under your control, if it has a different name than each other creature you control, put a +1/+1 counter on that creature and you gain 2 life.
T, Remove five +1/+1 counters from among permanents you control: Discover 5. If you control ten or more creatures with different names, discover 10 instead. Activate only as a sorcery.
2/2

[Subject16]

Zoyowa's Channeler RR
Creature — Goblin Warlock (R)
Whenever you cast a spell, Goblins you control get +1/+1 until end of turn.
1R, T, Sacrifice an artifact: Discover 2. (To discover 2, exile cards from the top of your library until you exile a nonland card with mana value 2 or less. Cast it without paying its mana cost or put it into your hand. Put the rest on the bottom in a random order.)
Never underestimate a goblin with a rock.
2/2

[Freyleyes]

Larisa, Legendary Explorer {R/W}
Legendary Creature — Human Scout {M}
Whenever Larisa, Legendary Explorer deals combat damage to a player, discover 2.
Whenever you discover, put a +1/+1 counter on Larisa. Then if this is the second time you discovered this turn, create a Treasure token.
"It's time for an adventure, a legendary adventure!"
1/2

[bravelion83]

A few hours left before the deadline and we're missing submissions from most players:
@AnotherAlias
@Komandon
@kwanyeegor-ii
@netn10
@Raptorchan
@slimytrout

[AnotherAlias]

Zap Dancer
Creature — Elemental Shaman (R)
Haste
Whenever Zap Dancer attacks, discover 2. If the discovered card is an instant or sorcery spell, copy it. You may choose new targets for the copy. (To discover 2, exile cards from the top of your library until you exile a nonland card with mana value 2 or less. Cast it without paying its mana cost or put it into your hand. Put the rest on the bottom in a random order.)
3/1

[netn10]

Prerequisite to Excavation 101 2
Sorcery - Prerequisite Lesson (Uncommon)
Exile target player's graveyard.
Draw a card.
/// Curriculum (You may cast either side. The non-Prerequisite side cost 2 less to cast if you cast its Prerequisite side this turn.) ///
Excavation 101 4RW
Sorcery - Lesson (Uncommon)
Discover 5 for each five cards in target player's exile.

[kwanyeegor-ii]

Envoys of the Shapers GGG
Creature - Merfolk Shaman (Rare)
Trample, ward 3
Whenever Envoys of the Shapers deals combat damage to a player, you may put a land card from your hand or graveyard onto the battlefield. When you do, if you control nine or more lands, put Envoys of the Shapers on the bottom of its owner's library, then discover 9.
3/3

[Komandon]

Feeling Lucky 3WB
Sorcery (rare)
You and target opponent each choose a different number between zero and seven. Discover 7 (Exile cards from the top of your library until you exile a nonland card with mana value 7 or less. Cast it without paying its mana cost or put it into your hand. Put the rest on the bottom in a random order.) If the discovered card's mana value is equal to the one of the chosen numbers, return Feeling Lucky to its owners hand and gain life equal to the card's mana value. Otherwise exile Feeling Lucky and lose life equal to the discovered card's mana value.

[slimytrout]

I could use a 24-hour extension if that's okay. Lost track of this with the holidays.

[Raptorchan]

Discovered Channel
Land — Cave (U)
t: Add c.
1, t: Add one mana of any color.
5, Discard Discovered Channel: Discover 5. Activate only as a sorcery. (Exile cards from the top of your library until you exile a nonland card with mana value 5 or less. Cast it without paying its mana cost or put it into your hand. Put the rest on the bottom in a random order.)

[bravelion83]

I could use a 24-hour extension if that's okay. Lost track of this with the holidays.

I expected this. Extension granted of course. New deadline is tonight December 28th at 23:59 Eastern time. Everybody can edit their submission until then. The judging deadline is also adjusted accordingly.

[slimytrout]

Urgent Excavation 5RW
Sorcery (R)
Destroy all creatures.
Discover 5. If you cast a creature spell this way, it gains haste until end of turn.
"This discovery is too important to wait for an evacuation. Start the detonation."
—Bartolomé del Presidio, director of the Queen's Bay Company

[bravelion83]

The round is closed. Brackets have been determined randomly by dice throwing.

BRACKETS

Judge: bravelion83
Komandon
netn10
slimytrout
Subject16

Judge: void_nothing
AnotherAlias
Caspernicus
Freyleyes
kwanyeegor-ii
Raptorchan

Top 3 from each bracket will advance. Judging may begin right now.

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Judgments complete. Sorry for the delay. As soon as @void_nothing posts his, the contest will move on to Round 3.

Komandon

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Feeling Lucky 3WB
Sorcery (rare)
You and target opponent each choose a different number between zero and seven. Discover 7 (Exile cards from the top of your library until you exile a nonland card with mana value 7 or less. Cast it without paying its mana cost or put it into your hand. Put the rest on the bottom in a random order.) If the discovered card's mana value is equal to the one of the chosen numbers, return Feeling Lucky to its owners hand and gain life equal to the card's mana value. Otherwise exile Feeling Lucky and lose life equal to the discovered card's mana value.

Design
Appeal 2.5/3 - Timmy just loves the mini-game he gets to play here. Johnny can try to manipulate the result of the discovery in his favor somehow. Spike likes cards like Fact or Fiction that let her play mind games with her opponent, and she also doesn't mind drawbacks, but this card might feel a little too random to her.
Elegance 2.5/3 - The text is long, almost microtext but still within limits, and still easy enough to understand at the first reading despite its length.
Development
Viability 2/3 - I understand why you made this card white-black (white for the self-bounce and the life gain, black for the life loss), but overall this card feels red to me. I would see this perfectly as one of the classic "play a mini-game with a random unknown outcome" red cards. Maybe not mono-red, as red by itself can't gain life, so probably more red-white, but I feel like some red just has to be there. The life loss wouldn't be a problem in red as part of the mini-game, but you could change it to damage to make it more clearly red if you want, or even make the card full-Mardu. Anyway, this card screams red to me, and red is not there. No problems with rarity or the rules.
Balance 3/3 - It's guaranteed that you will get to discover at least once, so this will never be a dead card in your hand. Having a base effect that happens regardless of the outcome of the mini-game feels very nice. Getting a free spell that might potentially be a 7-drop feels powerful even if you get to do it once at five mana, let alone if you get to do it multiple times, so some kind of drawback is needed, and the potential to lose both the mini-game and consequently a bunch of life is exactly that. I wonder which number are strategically the best to choose both from your side and your opponent's one, it's not obvious and that's a good thing, it gives the card more strategic depth. In constructed, you can build your deck to try to optimize this. In limited, you'd probably prefer removal and/or combat tricks for your noncreature nonland slots, but if you have to play a card that's neither of those, this looks like a pretty good candidate, as it can give you potentially multiple free spells that are worth up to seven mana and that also looks powerful. Casual players will love the mini-game. I see no problems in multiplayer.
Creativity
Uniqueness 3/3 - Very original, unique, and memorable card.
Flavor 2/3 - The card name is good but it only makes the red feeling that I mentioned in Viability even stronger. It just evokes randomness, gambling, and such, all red things. No real room for flavor text, and that's correct. It would have been a mistake including it.
Polish
Quality 0/3 - Discover is a keyword action, so it's part of the flow of the sentence. In this case, a period/full stop is missing right after it (it should be "Discover 7." and then the reminder text, -0.5). In the bounce effect, the eternal struggle between the possessive adjective "its" (without the apostrophe) and the verbal contraction "it's" (with the apostrophe), and also between the plural "s" (without the apostrophe) and the Saxon genitive "'s" (with the apostrophe, and I've also verified it's called Saxon genitive in English grammar too, not just as a teaching tool here in Italy) strikes again: in "its owners hand", the first word ("its") is correct, but the apostrophe in "owners" is missing. As written, it's the plural of the word "owner", not a possessive form expressing something that belongs to that "owner". This is a serious grammar mistake, because it changes the actual meaning of the word, so -1 for that. A "you" is missing right before "gain life equal to..." (see Enter the God-Eternals for example, -0.5). A comma is missing between the words "Otherwise" and "exile" (see the Oracle text of Search for Survivors or, much more recently, Heaven Sent, which is in a Universes Beyond product, but even in Universes Beyond the unwritten rules of Magic templating are still valid, unlike in silver border/acorn, -0.5). Analogue to the missing "you" from before, another "you" is missing right before "lose life equal to..." (-0.5). That adds up to a full zero here. I'm sorry.
Main Challenge 2/2 - Good.
Subchallenges 2/2 - Both met.
TOTAL 19/25

netn10

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Prerequisite to Excavation 101 2
Sorcery - Prerequisite Lesson (Uncommon)
Exile target player's graveyard.
Draw a card.
/// Curriculum (You may cast either side. The non-Prerequisite side cost 2 less to cast if you cast its Prerequisite side this turn.) ///
Excavation 101 4RW
Sorcery - Lesson (Uncommon)
Discover 5 for each five cards in target player's exile.

Design
Appeal 1/3 - Timmy likes the random part of discover, getting to physically manipulate his deck with an unknown outcome. He doesn't care about the Prerequisite half though. Johnny feels similarly, he likes the deckbuilding challenge of optimizing discover, but I don't see much use for the Prerequisite from his point of view. Spike wants something game-winning for six mana, and I don't think the Excavation effect is enough from her point of view, and she sees the Prerequisite as sideboard material at best, so overall she's not really interested in this card.
Elegance 2.5/3 - I feel like each line of text is very easily understandable but the resulting card might be a bit too complex in gameplay. Hard to say that for sure without playtest though.
Development
Viability 0.5/3 - All colors can discover, so the second half can be red-white, but could probably be any color or combination of colors, it doesn't need to be two colors and it doesn't need those two colors to be specifically red and white. What's true is that white is the first color at interacting with the exile zone, so I can see why that half of the card is white. I don't see the red though. Mechanically I mean, flavorfully I do, but that's not enough here. Most color pie bends and breaks could be justified with flavor, flavor is just much more flexible than mechanics. I see no problem with a colorless spell exiling graveyards, most colors can do it, maybe all except red ironically, and there are existing colorless artifacts that do that. I can see this card as an uncommon, that's not a problem, actually the only point with no problems in this area out of the three (color pie, rarity, rules). Fully hitting only a single one out of the three isn't good. The curriculum mechanic looks like it works just fine in the rules, but there is another HUGE rules problem here: "target player's exile." There is no such thing. The exile zone is a single one shared by all players, like the battlefield. It's not like each player has their own exile zone. What does exist are "cards" owned by players "in exile". This is a fundamental mistake that makes that half not functional. It just doesn't work at all because the place where it would look for the "each five cards" doesn't exist, or is undefined, feel free to choose which way to say it you prefer as they are both true. Given that this single mistake takes away all the card's functionality, making it not work, and that it shows a fundamental misunderstanding of how exile works as a game zone, it's worth of a very big deduction here. This is the main reason for this very low score in this area, with the color pie reasons I detailed above only making it worse. For the record, for this card to work as intended the correct wording would be "for each five cards target player owns in exile."
Balance 1.5/3 - Curriculum looks like a very interesting mechanic with potential constructed implications, like most cost reduction mechanics. The Prerequisite costing exactly as much as the cost reduction from curriculum makes it so that the total cost doesn't change, you get essentially to cast two spells for the cost of one. I don't know if that's intentional, but it feels nice. I wonder if it would feel the same for cards where the Prerequisite costs more. Not sure about the playability in limited, you will usually prefer removal and combat tricks for your noncreature nonland slots, and this is neither. While the Prerequisite feeds the Excavation by putting cards into the exile zone (which again is a single one shared by all players), it's not a given that it puts all five cards you need in exile for the Excavation to do anything at all. You might need some external help, especially if you want to cast the Excavation as early as possible, and that requires even more deck slots that you might prefer to dedicate to other things. It would be nice for the Excavation to have some kind of base effect, even just something very small, that happens if you don't own enough cards in exile to discover not even a single time. As is, this might be a dead card in your hand sometimes, and that will generate feel-bad moments. Imagine for example this is the card you draw for the turn when the total number of cards you already own in exile and cards in your opponent's graveyard that you can exile is less than five. In that case, it will be a dead draw. If there were some little base effect for the Excavation, at least you could get that anyway and it would feel less bad. I see no problems in casual or multiplayer.
Creativity
Uniqueness 3/3 - Very interesting and original twist on the Lesson/learn mechanic from Strixhaven, we might actually see something like this in Yachting, the return to Arcavios that has already been announced as the set right before the big finale (Ziplining) of the current three-year story arc (Metronome).
Flavor 3/3 - All the flavor elements on this card work perfectly together, making this a card that feels perfectly at home in the setting of Strixhaven. If this is meant to be a DFC rather than a split card (see Quality), then there would be a lot of room for flavor text in the second half of this card (what would be the back face), but the flavor is already perfect even without flavor text. If this is a split card instead, no flavor text would fit and not having it here would be the right call.
Polish
Quality 1.5/3 - Hyphen instead of em dash in both type lines. Two of your opponents in this bracket got it right instead, so a -0.5 for each instance applies here (-1 total). This is an uncommon so it must have reminder text for a set keyword like discover, and here it's missing. (-0.5) You can only remove it for lack of room at rare or mythic, not at common or uncommon.
Main Challenge 2/2 - Good.
Subchallenges 1.5/2 - The discover value is good. It's not clear if this is a split card or a DFC, especially given that MDFCs were already in the original Strixhaven set, and this makes a huge difference for Subchallenge 2. The slashes and the word "side" instead of "face" in the reminder text suggest this is supposed to be a split card and not a DFC, with curriculum formatted like fuse on the printed card, but I feel like that's more of an educated guess on my part rather than a certainty. If it's a split card, the card is indeed multicolored, but if it's a DFC then it's NOT multicolored, it's colorless. To be more specific, it would be a colorless card with a multicolored back face, but in every zone other than the stack it would just be colorless, as only the characteristics of the front face are considered. You can't really say a card is multicolored if it is only in a specific game zone and even then, only if you chose to cast the back face. What is indeed multicolored is this card's color identity, but that wasn't specified in Subchallenge 2, so what counts is actual color and not color identity. As Subchallenge 2 would be met if this is a split card but not if it's a DFC and it's not 100% clear which of the two it is, at least to me, I'm giving you half points for Subchallenge 2.
TOTAL 16.5/25

slimytrout

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Urgent Excavation 5RW
Sorcery (R)
Destroy all creatures.
Discover 5. If you cast a creature spell this way, it gains haste until end of turn.
"This discovery is too important to wait for an evacuation. Start the detonation."
—Bartolomé del Presidio, director of the Queen's Bay Company

Design
Appeal 2.5/3 - Timmy likes to have a Wrath when he's behind on the board and get rid of all the opposing creatures in a single blow. He doesn't like having to give up his own creatures to do that though. He also likes the random component of discover and giving haste to the discovered card if it's a creature. Johnny might use this to gain time to assemble his combo, or might use the discover mechanic in some kind of combo. Spike likes Wrath effects a lot, but at seven mana, this is just too costly for her.
Elegance 3/3 - No problems here.
Development
Viability 3/3 - No problems with the color pie or rarity. I do have a remark about the rules though. One could notice that you're actually giving haste to the creature spell, NOT to the creature permanent on the battlefield. They could think that once that spell that has gained haste resolves and becomes a creature permanent on the battlefield, it changes zones (from the stack to the battlefield), so it's a new object with no relation to, or memory of its previous existence according to rule 400.7 (note: all rules numbers here are from the CR as of LCI), so the creature on the battlefield has no memory that it had haste while on the stack, so it loses haste when it changes zones and ends up NOT having haste on the battlefield, which is where it matters. This would be correct if the rule ended there. There is a whole list of exceptions to this rule though, and luckily for you, one of them covers exactly cases like this. It's the very first one (rule 400.7a): "Effects from spells, activated abilities, and triggered abilities that change the characteristics or controller of a permanent spell on the stack continue to apply to the permanent that spell becomes." Here, haste is granted by the effects of a spell that's resolving, so the "effects from spells" part applies here, and granting haste does indeed count as "changing the characteristics ... of a permanent spell", the "permanent spell" being the discovered creature card that you cast for free while it's on the stack. In fact, which things count as "characteristics" of an object is defined by the list in rule 109.3, and abilities, such as haste, are included in that list. All of this allows the card to actually work as clearly intended, with the creature permanent on the battlefield retaining the haste ability that it has been given while on the stack and thus being able to attack and T immediately, as most players would instinctively assume, so no deduction here. I just wanted to show to people that might be less familiar with the rules what's going on behind the scenes and why this card actually works as intended, which is actually not a given in a vacuum.
Balance 2.5/3 - A Wrath effect by itself on a sorcery costs between four and five mana, we know that. That means the rest of the effects should be worth roughly three to four mana, and when you consider that discover gives you a free spell and here there is also additional upside on top of that, that feels about right to me, especially when you consider that you get the free spell right after wiping the board, which helps you to recover tempo immediately. Of course you can't just make the sum of the mana values of the effects like this, but I feel like it gives a good enough estimate in this specific case. Playable in limited but too costly for constructed probably. No problems in casual or multiplayer.
Creativity
Uniqueness 1.5/3 - Wrath effects are nothing new, even though there aren't that many in Boros colors. Having an additional effect depending on the discovered card's type is a nice twist on a set mechanic, but nothing more than that.
Flavor 3/3 - No problems here. The flavor of a detonation is perfect for a Wrath effect, and all the rest is perfect for the discover part. The sense of urgency also feels very good with this card being partly red.
Polish
Quality 3/3 - All good.
Main Challenge 2/2 - Good.
Subchallenges 2/2 - Both met.
TOTAL 22.5/25

Subject16

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Zoyowa's Channeler RR
Creature — Goblin Warlock (R)
Whenever you cast a spell, Goblins you control get +1/+1 until end of turn.
1R, T, Sacrifice an artifact: Discover 2. (To discover 2, exile cards from the top of your library until you exile a nonland card with mana value 2 or less. Cast it without paying its mana cost or put it into your hand. Put the rest on the bottom in a random order.)
Never underestimate a goblin with a rock.
2/2

Design
Appeal 3/3 - Timmy loves Goblins already, and especially when they pump the whole team. He also likes the random part of discover. Johnny could use both abilities in some kind of combo, especially the activated one. Sacrificing an artifact might be an upside to him rather than a cost. Spike likes an efficient 2-drop with a very relevant creature type and set of abilities.
Elegance 3/3 - No problems here.
Development
Viability 3/3 - No problems with the color pie, rarity, or the rules.
Balance 3/3 - Bears with upside are a classic design by now, and here the upside can be pretty big. The first ability triggering on any spell you cast is very relevant, in a low-curve Goblin deck that can easily cast multiple spells in a turn, the bonus will stack up quickly, possibly allowing you a winning alpha strike. The activated ability can be very relevant too: it turns on revolt and things like that in older formats, it allows you to sacrifice some artifact that you might want to sacrifice, for example if it has some kind of leaves-the-battlefield triggered ability or if its "death" (in quotation marks because in the rules "dies" is a term that only applies to creatures and planeswalkers) triggers abilities of other permanents you control, and finally it allows you to discover for a low value, which might actually be more powerful than doing so for a high value, because it restricts what you can find making the mechanic less random, which is a good thing in competitive constructed, where you want the variance of your deck to be as low as possible. Conveniently, if you're playing a Goblin typal deck, a lot of your spells will cost two mana or less, which is also very relevant. This is obviously very playable in limited too, especially in an environment where artifacts abound, just like LCI. Goblins are a fan favorite, and casual players will love this card. I see no problems in multiplayer.
Creativity
Uniqueness 1.5/3 - As I often say, old and well-known elements put together in a technically new way.
Flavor 3/3 - Zoyowa is an established character in LCI, and this is some very good piggybacking on that. The flavor text is just perfect, there is no other word to define it. It would deserve full points already by itself in my opinion.
Polish
Quality 3/3 - All good.
Main Challenge 2/2 - Good.
Subchallenges 1/2 - The discover value is good, but the card is not multicolored. This is a perfect example of how you can actually gain points by giving up a Subchallenge if you have a good design that will give you more points in other areas than the one point you're losing here, ending up actually increasing your final score. This is exactly the reason why Subchallenges are optional in the MCC. Never consider them as a must, but as a bonus. You can give up one or both of them, and sometimes, like in this case, that's the correct strategic choice.
TOTAL 22.5/25

Results (bold advance)

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Subject16: 22.5
slimytrout: 22.5
Komandon: 19
netn10: 16.5

[void_nothing]

AnotherAlias

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Design
(3/3) Appeal - Txmmy, Jxnny, and Spike enjoy this card's haste plus high-impact attack trigger for similar yet different reasons.
(2/3) Elegance - Repeated discover involves a lot of flipping cards off the top, variance, and randomization, and the copying ability adds another layer of complexity.

Development
(3/3) Viability - An extremely red card in stats and abilities, and yes this is rare although it could also even be mythic.
(1/3) Balance - In a fair environment, this card is reasonable and fun. Firing off double burn spells from a fragile attacker is a cool glass-cannon play. Unfortunately, in Eternal formats one can't assume a fair environment. The paradox of discover and cascade is doing it for lower numbers is actually more rife with abuse due to Crashing Footfalls and its ilk. This card would mostly be used in combo decks that cast no-mana-cost suspend cards for free, and it would do it extremely well due to the low range of its discover ability. Footfalls, just as an example, would result in 16 extra power on the board, whereas Ancestral Vision would allow drawing six cards, among others.

Creativity
(2/3) Uniqueness - Caparocti Sunborn already does discover on attack, but interacting with the discovered cards themselves is new space which I like.
(3/3) Flavor - Nice name, could maybe have short flavor text but not needed per se.

Polish
(2.5/3) Quality - Rather than "If the discovered card" I feel like that second clause of the triggered ability should begin "If you cast an instant or sorcery spell this way..."
(2/2) Main Challenge (*) - Done.
(1/2) Subchallenges - Monocolored.

Total: 19.5/25

Caspernicus

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Design
(3/3) Appeal - Everyone can get behind this - Txmmy for the +1/+1 counters and discover 10, Jxnny for all the possible interactions and combos, Spike for the efficiency.
(2/3) Elegance - Multiple abilities that are slightly wordy and require name checks.

Development
(3/3) Viability - Definitely correct colors and rarity.
(2.5/3) Balance - Sure, maybe lightly pushed but we get a lot of efficiency out of two-mana GW legendaries these days. The triggered ability essentially works every time in Commander but doesn't work with token spam, and the value engine activated ability is somewhat costly and overall fair. All in all, not much to complain about, particularly compared to some existing egregious legends.

Creativity
(2/3) Uniqueness - While this is in fitting with some existing legendaries of its colors, it also does things and cares about things in a new way.
(3/3) Flavor - Definitely feels legendary and has a fitting name that matches with its mechanics.

Polish
(3/3) Quality - Good.
(2/2) Main Challenge (*) - Done.
(1/2) Subchallenges - Does use discover 10.

Total: 21.5/25

Freyleyes

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Design
(3/3) Appeal - All-over appeal, with growth potential, variance, and sheer power.
(2/3) Elegance - The second ability here adds multiple levels of tracking complexity, and of course repeated discover adds some complication as well.

Development
(3/3) Viability - Colors are fine (although it could probably be a number of other hybrid combinations as well, funnily enough). Definitely a mythic.
(0.5/3) Balance - At one mana this card is EXTREMELY dangerous given the problems with discover at a low number like 2 and its easy ability to cast no-mana-cost cards. This card actually reminds me of Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer, and it actually has the ability to grow, making it super efficient even if not used for broken combos, casting 2 CMC spells every turn while getting bigger.

Creativity
(2/3) Uniqueness - While this doesn't do any one thing particularly new, the "discover matters" ability is interesting.
(3/3) Flavor - Enthusiasm gets you everywhere it seems!

Polish
(2.5/3) Quality - Second clause of the second ability should say "Then, if it was the second time you discovered this turn..."
(2/2) Main Challenge (*) - Done.
(2/2) Subchallenges - And done.

Total: 20/25

kwanyeegor-ii

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Design
(3/3) Appeal - Txmmy likes the trampling, warded body as well as discover 9. Jxnny prefers the land dropping shenanigans to the discovering but will still take that. Spike sees a body that's not THAT efficient for green but has an interesting triggered ability and some prize keywords.
(2/3) Elegance - That triggered ability is relatively wordy and complicated.

Development
(3/3) Viability - Feels green, rare, and River Heralds-y.
(3/3) Balance - Sure - the land ability might be good with the likes of Terramorphic Expanse a la Deeproot Wayfinder. but this is hardly OP or overly efficient.

Creativity
(1.5/3) Uniqueness - Feels like a mashup definitely taking inspo from older cards.
(3/3) Flavor - Discover 9 for nine rivers/Shapers. Nice one.

Polish
(3/3) Quality - Looks okay.
(2/2) Main Challenge (*) - Done.
(1/2) Subchallenges - Monocolored.

Total: 21.5/25

Raptorchan

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Design
(2/3) Appeal - Utility lands like this are mostly Spike fodder. Half a point each for Txmmy (relatively high discover value) and Jxnny (discard shenanigans).
(3/3) Elegance - Hard to argue with this!

Development
(3/3) Viability - Feels like a colorless uncommon land.
(3/3) Balance - Sure, probably comparable to Hidden Courtyard and its cycle. Good for fixing mana in the early game and has utility in the late game. A good Limited pick for sure that would also have some Constructed use.

Creativity
(1/3) Uniqueness - Basically this card is Unknown Shores, with an extra ability and the Cave type.
(3/3) Flavor - Very simple but effective name, and good use of LCI's own land subtype.

Polish
(3/3) Quality - Looks fine.
(2/2) Main Challenge (*) - Good.
(1/2) Subchallenges - Is colorless (not mutlicolored).

Total: 21/25

Totals (Bold advance)

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Caspernicus 21.5
kwanyeegor-ii 21.5
Raptorchan 21
Freyleyes 20
AnotherAlias 19.5