December MCC Round 3
Ingenious Crafting
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.
Sorry for the uninspired round title, but I needed one and this one was the first that came to my mind, you all will have to make do. Just like that, I have no intro paragraph this round, so let's go straight to the interesting part: the challenges.
Main Challenge - Design a DFC with craft on the front face.
Subchallenge 1 - The craft materials canNOT include objects with the artifact card type in the type line. Restrictions not based on card types are allowed even if they can include artifacts.
(This forbids not just "craft with artifact" but anything that might include an object that has the artifact card type as part of the materials, like for example "craft with a permanent", "craft with Golem", of "craft with land". Again, this only matters for restrictions based on card types in the type line, so things like "craft with a card with mana value 4 or less" are allowed even if artifacts with such mana value exist. Restrictions based on card types that have never included artifacts are also fine, like "craft with a Planeswalker". See clarifications for more examples.)
Subchallenge 2 - The mana component of the craft cost and the card's mana cost do NOT share any colors.
VERY IMPORTANT NOTE: In January we are trying some changes. Those do NOT apply here for December, but there is one, and only one of them, that I've decided we're going to try already in this round: the pairings for Round 3 keeping into account the scores from the previous two rounds. As I post the pairings at the end of the design phase, I will post the combined scores of all players from the first two rounds, and the pairings will be 1st vs. 6th, 2nd vs. 5th, and 3rd vs. 4th. Yes, this implies you already know who you will be up against if you want to make the math work yourself before I officially post it when the design deadline for this round comes. I'm just not telling it officially until then.
Clarifications
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Main Challenge
Should be self-explanatory enough.
There are two requirements that have to be met at the same time:
1. The card is a DFC (of the transforming kind, otherwise there is no point in it having craft).
2. The card has the craft mechanic printed on its front face.
As long as there is the craft mechanic on the front face, both the rest of the front face and the back face can be and do whatever you want.
As for the scores, this kind of Main Challenge is essentially binary: it's either fully met (both the above requirements are met at the same time, 2/2), or not met at all (either one or both of the requirements are not met, that's a 0/2 and a DQ). There is no middle ground here, so the MC score should always be either 2/2 or 0/2 (with consequent DQ in this last case).
Subchallenge 1
Subchallenge 2
This should also be self-explanatory enough. The craft mechanic always has a mana component associated to it and printed on the card. Take that mana component and compare it with the card's mana cost. The two costs can't share any colors.
Generic, colorless, and nonexistent mana costs can't share any colors because they have none. Remember the usual adage: "colorless is not a color". You can't share the lack of something with anything by definition.
If you have any more questions, feel free to post them in the MCC discussion thread.
Should be self-explanatory enough.
There are two requirements that have to be met at the same time:
1. The card is a DFC (of the transforming kind, otherwise there is no point in it having craft).
2. The card has the craft mechanic printed on its front face.
As long as there is the craft mechanic on the front face, both the rest of the front face and the back face can be and do whatever you want.
As for the scores, this kind of Main Challenge is essentially binary: it's either fully met (both the above requirements are met at the same time, 2/2), or not met at all (either one or both of the requirements are not met, that's a 0/2 and a DQ). There is no middle ground here, so the MC score should always be either 2/2 or 0/2 (with consequent DQ in this last case).
Subchallenge 1
bravelion83 wrote: ↑5 months agoCorrect, but that matters only for restrictions based on card types. If the restriction is based on something other than card types, then it's allowed, like for example:Raptorchan wrote: ↑5 months ago@bravelion83
"Subchallenge 1 - The craft materials canNOT include artifacts. (This forbids not just "craft with artifact" but anything that might include an artifact as part of the materials, like for example "craft with a permanent".)"
I'd like to clarify something. If "craft with a permanent" doesn't satisfy the subchallenge because it can include artifact, the same is true for "craft with one or more nonlands", "craft with creature", "craft with land" and even "craft with enchantment", because artifact creatures/lands/enchantments also exist, right?
• "craft with a card with mana value 3 or greater" (even if there are existing artifacts with such mana value, but what matters is the mana value and not it being an artifact)
• "craft with one or more red cards" (even if there are existing red artifacts, but again, what matters here is the color, not the artifact card type)
Even restriction based on card types are allowed if they can't possibly include an artifact considering only real Magic cards, like the following:
• "craft with planeswalker" (there are no existing planeswalkers that have the artifact card type in addition to the planeswalker one)
• "craft with Aura" (as far as I know there are no existing "Artifact Enchantment — Aura")
• "craft with Saproling" (there are no existing "Artifact Creature — Saproling", neither card nor token)
• "craft with Squirrel" (there are no existing "Artifact Creature — Squirrel" in black border, again, as far as I know, the only one is Steel Squirrel but it's silver border so it doesn't count)
I still have to write the clarifications spoiler, sorry about that, but this post goes straight into it.
bravelion83 wrote: ↑5 months agoI'm sorry but I can't understand the question here. There is no problem with one or both faces being an artifact and/or creature. That Subchallenge only cares about what you're using to craft, not the characteristics of either face. I hope to have involuntarily answered this way, but if that's not the answer, could you please reformulate your question? Thanks.
I feel like I've explained it enough in the above posts quoted from the discussion thread, and also by slightly rewording the challenge in a nonfunctional way. If you have more questions after reading the posts above and the reworded version of the challenge, feel free to ask in the discussion thread.bravelion83 wrote: ↑5 months agoThe latter, "historic" is just a shorthand for a batch of things that are found on the type line, so it counts as "a restriction based on card types", that means one that do NOT count for Subchallenge 1. If you're doing anything based on things found on the type line, then Subchallenge 1 isn't met. You have to care about things other than what is found on the type line.Subject16 wrote: ↑5 months agoWould something like "craft with a historic permanent" fall under this category? Or does historic being intrinsically tied to types/subtypes/supertypes (one of which being specifically artifacts) make it incompatible with the subchallenge?bravelion83 wrote: ↑5 months agofor example:
• "craft with a card with mana value 3 or greater" (even if there are existing artifacts with such mana value, but what matters is the mana value and not it being an artifact)
• "craft with one or more red cards" (even if there are existing red artifacts, but again, what matters here is the color, not the artifact card type)
Subchallenge 2
This should also be self-explanatory enough. The craft mechanic always has a mana component associated to it and printed on the card. Take that mana component and compare it with the card's mana cost. The two costs can't share any colors.
Generic, colorless, and nonexistent mana costs can't share any colors because they have none. Remember the usual adage: "colorless is not a color". You can't share the lack of something with anything by definition.
If you have any more questions, feel free to post them in the MCC discussion thread.
DEADLINES
Design deadline: Wednesday, January 10th 2024 at 23:59 Eastern Time
Judging deadline: Sunday, January 14th 2024 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.)
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
@Caspernicus
@Komandon
@kwanyeegor-ii
@Raptorchan
@slimytrout
@Subject16
EDITS
January 7th - Slight rewording of Subchallenge 1 for clarity. Also, added Raptorchan's question and my answer in the clarifications spoiler.
January 8th - Added Komandon's and Subject16's questions and my answers in the clarifications spoiler. Also, the rest of the clarification spoiler has been written as well. Sorry for the delay in doing that. I usually do it before posting the round, but as you probably know if you've followed my recent posts, there are other things IRL in this period also requiring my attention...
BRACKETS
Total scores of the first two rounds:
slimytrout: 23 + 22.5 = 45.5
kwanyeegor-ii: 22.5 + 21.5 = 44
Subject16: 21 + 22.5 = 43.5
Caspernicus: 21 + 21.5 = 42.5
Raptorchan: 21 + 21 = 42
Komandon: 21.5 + 19 = 40.5
This means that this round's pairings are:
slimytrout vs. Komandon
kwanyeegor-ii vs. Raptorchan
Subject16 vs. Caspernicus
Both judges will judge all cards. The player with the highest combined score in this round will advance to the final round. Judging may begin right now.
