September MCC Round 4 (finals) - Happily ever after

[bravelion83]

(This month's banner is my own elaboration on the art of the cards A Tale for the Ages by Julie Dillon and Evolving Wilds by Alayna Danner.)


September MCC Round 4

Happily ever after

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

Honestly, I don't know what more I could do. In Round 1 I've talked about my own birthday. In Round 2 I've shared publicly a piece of song lyrics I wrote for the first time in my life. In Round 3 I've shared part of the big story I wrote and that only a few people in the whole world have access to, and that story is highly autobiographical. All main characters in there, including Krest, reflect a part of me. A lot of personal things about me are known by now on this forum, but I'm absolutely fine with that. There are several other things that haven't been shared yet though, but all stories must come to an end, and so does this MCC month.

This month I've told a part of my own life story through my birthday, my lyrics, and my novel. But what about you? What's the story you want to tell right now?


Main Challenge - Design a Saga enchantment card that has exactly two colors of mana in its mana cost. Only ordinary colored mana symbols (WUBRG) are allowed in your card's mana cost, in addition to generic mana. No other kind of mana symbol is allowed in your card's mana cost.

Subchallenge 1 - Your Saga card has no abilities that aren't chapter abilities and has either less than three or more than four chapter abilities.

Subchallenge 2 - Your card is uncommon.

Clarifications

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Main Challenge

• Your card must have the "enchantment" card type and the "Saga" subtype on its own type line. It can have any additional supertypes, card types, and/or subtypes though.

• Your card can only have regular colored mana symbols (WUBRG) in its mana cost. Generic mana is also allowed, including X, but any other kind of mana symbol is not. Forbidden symbols include C, Phyrexian mana, hybrid mana, both traditional and "twobrid", and any custom variation of your own.

• Your card can have any kind of mana symbols in its rules text, even ones that are not WUBRG or generic mana. This includes all the forbidden symbols from the previous point and also any new custom ones of your own creation (in that case, please remember to add reminder text explaining how it works). The Main Challenge only cares about the card's mana cost.

• The amount of each color in your card's mana cost doesn't matter. For example, if I'm making a red-white Saga, its mana cost can include RW, RRW, RWW, RRWW, RWWW, etc... All that matters is that there are exactly two colors in the mana cost, no more and no less, not how many symbols of that color are in the mana cost for each of the two colors.


Subchallenge 1

• Your card can't have any abilities that are not chapter abilities. Currently, the only Saga cards that have an ability that is not a chapter ability are those with read ahead.

• Your card must have one, two, five, or more than five chapter abilities. It can't have three or four chapter abilities.

• According to the CR, a single ability that has more than one chapter number associated with it counts as that many separate chapter abilities. For example:

- Fall of the Thran has three chapter abilities, so it wouldn't pass this Subchallenge.

- Founding the Third Path has an ability that's not a chapter ability (read ahead), so it wouldn't pass this Subchallenge regardless of the number of chapter abilities it has. The same goes for The Phasing of Zhalfir, which has both three chapter abilities and an ability that's not a chapter ability (read ahead).

- The Triumph of Anax and Three Blind Mice have four chapter abilities, so they wouldn't pass this Subchallenge either.

- Long List of the Ents has six chapter abilities, so it would pass this Subchallenge, and if I did my research correctly, it is the ONLY existing Saga card that would pass this Subchallenge.


Subchallenge 2

• Your card has to be specifically uncommon. Common doesn't count, as do rare and mythic, obviously.



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

DEADLINES

Design deadline: Monday, October 9th 2023 at 23:59 Eastern Time

Judging deadline: Friday, October 13th 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

@kwanyeegor-ii
@Raptorchan
@slimytrout


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.

[kwanyeegor-ii]

The Every-Kitchen Raid 3GW
Enchantment - Saga (Rare)
(i) Create two 1/1 green and white Ouphe Knight creature tokens with trample, vigilance, and "Whenever you create or sacrifice a non-Ouphe token, put a +1/+1 counter on target creature."
(ii - vi) Create a Food token.

[bravelion83]

A little more than 24 hours to the deadline and we're missing submissions from @Raptorchan and @slimytrout.

[Raptorchan]

Riddle of the Pixie 1ub
Enchantment — Saga (U)
(As this Saga enters and after your draw step, add a lore counter. Sacrifice after V.)
I, II, III — You lose 1 life and create a Treasure token.
IV — Exile the top three cards of your library face down, then choose up to three card names and reveal the exiled cards. Put each card that has the chosen name into your hand.
V — If there are no cards exiled with Riddle of the Pixie, exile up to one target creature.

[slimytrout]

Princesses in the Well 1GW
Enchantment — Saga (R)
I-IV — Exile up to one target creature with mana value less than or equal to the number of lore counters on Princesses in the Well until Princesses in the Well leaves the battlefield.
V — Until end of turn, creatures you control get +1/+1 for each card exiled with Princesses in the Well and gain trample.

[bravelion83]

The round is close. Judging may begin.

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Judgments complete, now final after review. As usual, I apologize for any typos that I might have not caught.

kwanyeegor-ii

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The Every-Kitchen Raid 3GW
Enchantment - Saga (Rare)
(i) Create two 1/1 green and white Ouphe Knight creature tokens with trample, vigilance, and "Whenever you create or sacrifice a non-Ouphe token, put a +1/+1 counter on target creature."
(ii - vi) Create a Food token.

Design
Appeal 3/3 - Timmy loves this: he immediately gets two tokens that will do nothing but growing in the next five turns, all by itself and quite fast! Johnny can manipulate the two different kinds of tokens (Ouphe and Food) in various possibly unintended ways. He will also enjoy pairing this with other cards that create or sacrifice essentially any kind of tokens, and there a lot of such cards in the history of Magic, I'd say the combinations are almost endless so he will definitely get to have some fun here. Spike might be the least interested of the three psychographics, but there are things here that she can like too.
Elegance 3/3 - The text is easy enough to understand and there is a very nice synergy between chapter one and the rest.
Development
Viability 2.5/3 - Green has already access to vigilance, +1/+1 counters, and life gain (from the Food tokens), so there's no real need for this card to be white, but it works absolutely just fine in GW too. Given how fast the two Ouphe tokens can grow, I'd say making this a rare and giving up Subchallenge 2 was the right choice here. I see no problems with the rules.
Balance 2.5/3 - What catches my attention the most here is the rate of growth of the Ouphe tokens. Creating and sacrificing tokens is very easy to do, and Food tokens allow you to do both at the same time, as do Clue tokens, Blood tokens, and most of all Treasure tokens, which abound in recent Magic. Creating one such token and then sacrificing it will give two +1/+1 counters to each of the two Ouphe tokens. Just with progressing with this Saga, each Ouphe token will get at the very least five +1/+1 counters, making it a 6/6 by the time you sacrifice the Saga. And if you sacrifice all those Food tokens for life gain, that's five additional counters, making each of them an 11/11 when you're done with the Saga. And this is without getting into account any other token creating effects. Generic token sacrifice is less frequent though, but I don't think you need it to make the Ouphe tokens grow very large very fast. And they also have vigilance and most of all trample, so chump blocking those huge tokens will not work either. I'd say this is already pushed at five mana, maybe it's too much for that cost. I can easily see a need to increase the cost after playtesting. As is, definitely playable in limited and I can see it in Standard too relatively easily. Might it even find a home in token decks in older formats? I'm not sure the colors are right (I'm thinking about things like the WB token deck that abused Intangible Virtue and Lingering Souls), but I can see it being considered even there in a deck based on tokens. No problems in casual or multiplayer.
Creativity
Uniqueness 2.5/3 - As I often say, old well-known elements mixed together in a technically new way. The line "whenever you create or sacrifice" is actually new though.
Flavor 3/3 - Ouphe are invading every kitchen at the same time, an infestation of Kitchen Finks! And what's in every kitchen? Food of course! Yes, it works.
Polish
Quality 2/3 - Hyphen instead of em dash in the type line. I'm deducting points here for this because both your opponents did it right. (-0.5) All existing Saga cards have the reminder text for the Saga subtype, which is missing here. (-0.5)
Main Challenge 2/2 - Good.
Subchallenges 1/2 - More than four chapter abilities, but not uncommon.
TOTAL 21.5/25

Raptorchan (reviewed)

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Riddle of the Pixie 1ub
Enchantment — Saga (U)
(As this Saga enters and after your draw step, add a lore counter. Sacrifice after V.)
I, II, III — You lose 1 life and create a Treasure token.
IV — Exile the top three cards of your library face down, then choose up to three card names and reveal the exiled cards. Put each card that has the chosen name into your hand.
V — If there are no cards exiled with Riddle of the Pixie, exile up to one target creature.

Design
Appeal 2/3 - Nothing for Timmy here. Johnny can maximize chapter four by manipulating the top cards of his library. Spike loves everything on this card.
Elegance 2/3 - No problems with the first three chapters. You have to read the riddle (chapter four) carefully to do it right and that will require some focus. It took a little time for me to get how chapters four and five are connected, it wasn't instantaneous, and I've been a Magic player continuously since 2005. That "if there are no cards exiled with this" confused me at first for a little bit, and if it took a few seconds for me to get the connection, I can only imagine new or less experienced players getting it at all. EDIT - Of course, this is now it appears to one that didn't get the reference. If you do know the reference, the connection is much clearer. That helps here. You still have to keep in mind how the card reads to somebody that doesn't know or doesn't get the reference though.
Development
Viability 2/3 - Treasure tokens being in blue and black was part of the Pirate theme in original Ixalan, but it's at the very least a bend. Neither blue nor especially black are good at producing mana, and when blue does, it's most often with some restriction tied to artifacts. Treasure tokens belong in red and green, the two colors associated with mana production (red temporary and green permanent). Chapter four is blue and chapter five is black, so no problems with those. I can see this at uncommon, it's not that easy to get all three card names right and thus get the removal from chapter five. Creating three free Treasure tokens in three turns is something that might be stronger than it looks, but I don't think it's too much for uncommon, and all rarities need some good cards. No problems with the rules. The cards that aren't put into your hand with chapter four simply stay in exile forever.
Balance 2.5/3 - As you play this for three mana, you will immediately get a Treasure and then another one on your next turn, effectively bringing you from three to six mana on turn four if you miss no land drops. I'd say this costing three mana is the right place given that. Now, ignore what I wrote in Viability and tell me what color would you say the card is only from the description I've just given. I bet you will say green. And you would be correct, that kind of mana acceleration belongs in green, and this only reinforces what I've just said in Viability. Anyway, getting back to Balance, the mana acceleration looks very relevant. I think most of the power of the card is actually hidden there, in the first three chapters. Then you get your riddle, that's actually not that easy unless you know the top three cards of your library via scry or something like that. Then, finally, you get to removal but only after five turns and only if you managed to completely solve the riddle by putting all three cards into your hand on the previous turn, which again, I think it's harder than it looks. Playable in both limited and maybe Standard, but that's mostly for the repeated Treasure generation more than the riddle and the possible (not even certain) removal. The flavor draws your attention to the bottom of the card, while I think most of the power is at the top. I see no problems in casual or multiplayer.
Creativity
Uniqueness 3/3 - I can't remember any existing card working like chapter four.
Flavor 3/3 - The real riddle is chapter four, but you did use the singular form in the card name though. There is only one riddle, it's not like every chapter is supposed to represent a different riddle, that would be "Riddles of the Pixie", plural. If you answered the one riddle correctly (aka if you managed to put all three cards into your hand), then you get your prize (exiling a creature). That part works. The part I don't really get is what the first three chapters are supposed to represent flavorfully, especially the Treasure tokens. EDIT - Ok, this is the tale of Rumpelstiltskin (hoping I wrote it right). It's one of those that I know the least, also because it's not actually that famous in Italy, it's probably more well-known in the northern part of Europe. Here in Italy, the only time I've ever interacted with that tale was in a cartoon meant for children a few years ago based on that story. I went back and managed to find it in my old folders, and I watched it again. In that cartoon, he is called Strepitolino in Italian, and that's the name I was relatively familiar with, but on the internet I've discovered that in other Italian works he's called Tremotino. Both names that have absolutely nothing in common with his English name, unlike tales like Snow White for example, in Italian "Biancaneve", a fusion of the words "bianca" (white) and "neve" (snow), so if hear "this is Snow White" in English, I immediately know which tale you're talking about. The opposite is true with this other one. The names "Strepitolino", from the cartoon I remembered, and "Tremotino" have absolutely nothing to do with the English name of "Rumpelstiltskin", so it you talk to me about that tale, that I'm already less familiar with to begin with, with its English name, it won't evoke anything to my mind, unlike "Snow White". I actually thought this card was meant to represent a generic Pixie making riddles, I had not recognized the reference in any way. Actually, even in Italian, if you had talked to me about "Tremotino" it would have been the same thing, because that cartoon where he's called "Strepitolino" (and he's a troll) is the only interaction I've ever had with that story in my life. Now that I've rewatched that cartoon I do recognize that story in this card, and it's actually a very good depiction. For three times the girl is asked to turn hay into gold (aka turn 1 life into a Treasure token), and the troll (in that cartoon version, I don't know if he was depicted as being of other races in other versions of the tale, but for me he's a troll) helps her, asking in return for her ring the first time, her necklace the second time, and her future firstborn child the third time. Reluctantly, the girl agrees every time. Then, after the girl married the king and had their firstborn child, the troll came back asking for the child (is this also where Claim the Firstborn comes from? I guess so.), and the girl, now queen, refuses. The troll proposes an agreement: she will get to keep her child if she guesses his name correctly within a time of three nights, because his name is one of the best kept secrets in the realm. Somebody (the two main characters in the cartoon series I watched, a member of the court in other version I've read on the internet) overhears he saying his own name himself while dancing around the fire in his own forest, and tells the queen barely on time. When the third night is almost over, the queen asks the troll is she can make a last attempt, to which the troll replied: "sure", and the queen told him his true name (getting to keep her child with that act). In the cartoon version I watched, at this point the troll accuses the girl and says the only the devil could have told her before running away, never to be seen again. I found that other versions have different endings though, even if this is the one I'm familiar with. So the troll helps the girl turning hay into gold (life into Trasure tokens) for three times, then makes a riddle to the girl (guessing his own name), and when the girl manages to do it, she gets to keep her prize (her child in the tale, exiling a creature here). The depiction is perfect if you know the details of the story. Treasure tokens are still supposed not to be in these colors, but that's a matter I've already discussed in Viability, and it's not a flavor problem in any way.
Polish
Quality 3/3 - All good.
Main Challenge 2/2 - Good.
Subchallenges 2/2 - Both met.
TOTAL 21.5/25

slimytrout (reviewed)

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Princesses in the Well 1GW
Enchantment — Saga (R)
I-IV — Exile up to one target creature with mana value less than or equal to the number of lore counters on Princesses in the Well until Princesses in the Well leaves the battlefield.
V — Until end of turn, creatures you control get +1/+1 for each card exiled with Princesses in the Well and gain trample.

Design
Appeal 1.5/3 - Timmy likes chapter five but he doesn't like to wait five turns to give his creatures +1/+1 and trample. Not sure how Johnny could use this. Spike loves this card as she loves most removal spells: in this case, she will get to exile up to four creatures, and those creatures will never come back if she wins the game before getting to chapter five, which she will aim to do.
Elegance 2/3 - The text is easy to understand but there might be unintuitive rules consequences (see Viability).
Development
Viability 2.5/3 - No problems with the color pie (even if the only green part is trample in chapter five, this card is much more white than green) or rarity. I have remarks about how this works in the rules though. The short answer is that the creatures exiled with the first four chapters will NOT get the bonus from chapter five when they return. I don't know whether this was the intent, but I have my doubts. I think the intent here was for those creatures to get the bonus, but that's not what happens. EDIT - It turns out that was exactly the design intent. Ok, if that was the intent, you did it right, so I'm giving you back a point. It still might not be that intuitive to some players though. Given that, I could cut the rest of this section and call it a day. I will leave it though, for two reasons: first, it took me quite some time to write, and I don't want it to be wasted. Second, an in-depth explanation might still be interesting to those who have a lower rules knowledge. So, if this is enough for you, you can just move on to the next section. For those still interested instead, now I'll give the long answer and I will do it by walking through it step by step, starting with you having already exiled up to four creatures with the first four chapters. Those creatures are in exile now, and they will stay in exile until the Saga leaves the battlefield (remember this). You put the fifth lore counter on the Saga. That triggers chapter five, which goes on the stack. Now it would be the time when you choose targets for chapter five if there were any, but here there are none. Assume all players pass priority, so the topmost object on the stack resolves, and that's chapter five, so chapter five starts resolving. It sets up a continuous effect giving +1/+1 and trample to "creatures you control". According to rule 611.2c in the CR (WOE edition), "If a continuous effect generated by the resolution of a spell or ability modifies the characteristics or changes the controller of any objects, the set of objects it affects is determined when that continuous effect begins. After that point, the set won't change." That means that the set of creatures that will get +1/+1 and trample is determined when the continuous effect starts, which is as chapter five resolves. At that time, the Saga is still on the battlefield, because it's the source of an ability (chapter five) that hasn't left the stack yet, so the creatures that have been "O-ring"'d are still in exile, because the Saga is still there, and they will return only once it leaves the battlefield (this is the thing I told you to remember). This means that the "O-ring"'d creatures are NOT included in the set of creatures that will get +1/+1 and trample. The other creatures you control at this time, if any, will be in that set. So, now that the set of objects it will apply to has been determined, the continuous effect set up by the resolution of chapter five starts to apply. It's only now that chapter five has finished resolving and would be put into the graveyard from the stack if it were a spell. Being an ability, it simply ceases to exist. Now the Saga is no longer the source of an ability on the stack, but is not yet sacrificed. That's an SBA and it will happen the next time SBAs are checked. An ability has just resolved, so the active player is supposed to get priority. A player is about to get priority, so before they get priority the game has to first check SBAs in loop until there are none and then put on the stack all the triggered abilities that have triggered and are waiting to be put on the stack, and only after that the active player will actually get priority. So let's check SBAs. Notice that chapter five has finished resolving a long time ago by now, and the "O-ring"'d creatures are still in exile and the Saga still on the battlefield. It's now that the game sees a Saga with a number of lore counters on it equal to its final chapter number and that's not the source of a triggered ability on the stack, so that SBA applies and NOW the Saga is sacrificed and leaves the battlefield. Now the Saga has left the battlefield, so the "O-ring"'d creatures return because the effect exiling them ends, but it's too late for them to enter the set of creatures that get +1/+1 and trample, that's been determined a long time ago by now. So those creatures will reenter the battlefield, but will NOT get the bonuses. Then the check for SBAs is repeated, let's say there are no other ones to apply, then we put on the stack all triggered abilities that are waiting to be put on the stack, let's say there are none of those, and now finally the active player gets priority. This is how this Saga would work currently, and I'm not sure this is EDIT - was indeed both the intent of the design but I'm not sure it's the intuitive way that most players would expect it to work.
Balance 2.5/3 - I think the mana cost is correct, as this is essentially a Banishing Light variant and those tend to cost three mana. There are several advantages and disadvantages of this vs. the Light that overall check each other out in my opinion, so I believe the cost is right. Playable in limited as relatively good removal, as three and four mana tend to be the top of the curve for most limited decks, and this hits them. The same could be true for Standard, but where this card can shine in my opinion is older formats, where mana curves are lower and there are more playable creatures that cost less than four mana the further back you go in time with the format. I wonder if casual players would play this right (see Viability), and I think some, maybe even most, would not. I see no problems in multiplayer.
Creativity
Uniqueness 2/3 - Another one in the long line of Banishing Light variants. Comparing the mana value to the number of lore counters on the Saga does feel like a variation that might not be so obvious though.
Flavor 3/3 - No problems here. The creatures getting exiled represent the princesses getting trapped in a well, and them coming back after this has left the battlefield represents them being saved. Saving princesses in peril is a trope that feels right at home in Eldraine.
Polish
Quality 2.5/3 - All existing Saga cards have the reminder text for the Saga subtype, which is missing here. (-0.5)
Main Challenge 2/2 - Good.
Subchallenges 1/2 - More than four chapter abilities, but not uncommon.
TOTAL 19/25

Results

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kwanyeegor-ii: 21.5
Raptorchan: 21.5
slimytrout: 19

[void_nothing]

kwanyeegor-ii

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Design
(2/3) Appeal - Txmmy likes beaters that will keep growing. Jxnny has plenty of moving parts to play with. Spike is very skeptical about paying five mana for this.
(1.5/3) Elegance - The tokens generated by the first ability having triggered abilities that can go off any time and place +1/+1 counters on anything definitely makes combat math a lot more difficult. Also, imo, the more chapters a Saga has the more complex it gets, even if five of those chapters do the same thing in this case.

Development
(3/3) Viability - Colors and rarity look right.
(3/3) Balance - This is a card that can easily get out of hand - but only if the tokens created by the first ability are not answered. All in all, probably mostly a Limited bomb.

Creativity
(1/3) Uniqueness - The Ouphe Knight tokens are basically a more powerful riff on Rosie Cotton of South Lane, and we've seen plenty of Sagas that make Food.
(3/3) Flavor - Evocative name, and I get a sense of the story here.

Polish
(3/3) Quality - Good.
(2/2) Main Challenge (*) - Done.
(1/2) Subchallenges - Has six chapters, but is rare.

Total: 19.5/25

Raptorchan

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Design
(1.5/3) Appeal - Not much of a Txmmy card but Jxnny and to some degree Spike would both like this, although Spike would not enjoy the unreliability of the chapter IV ability.
(2.5/3) Elegance - The processes in this card can get a bit complicated, but it's also easy to understand. For both flavor and functional reasons, I would argue that the IV ability should exile up to three cards - you should be able to get the creature removal effect without three correct guesses if you get one name, for example, imo.

Development
(3/3) Viability - Fits the colors and rarity very well.
(3/3) Balance - No complaints here.

Creativity
(1.5/3) Uniqueness - All old effects, but put together in interesting ways.
(3/3) Flavor - Of course, this is Rumpelstiltskin. The Enchanting Tales version of Smothering Tithe has the same flavor, but that's just fine.

Polish
(3/3) Quality - Looks good.
(2/2) Main Challenge (*) - Done.
(2/2) Subchallenges - Both met.

Total: 21.5/25

slimytrout

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Design
(3/3) Appeal - Something for Txmmy (that fifth chapter!), Jxnny (copy the triggered abilities, exile your opponents' boards, and make the pump even bigger!) and Spike (removal plus finisher!) here.
(2.5/3) Elegance - Not too inelegant, but at the same time, there might be a lot of creature cards placed underneath this.

Development
(3/3) Viability - Very much feels like a GW rare.
(2/3) Balance - So if all goes well, this card removes (at least temporarily) four of your opponents' creatures, and then after you develop your board presence with those not threatening you, explodes into an Overrun effect, probably allowing you to attack for the win. Obviously, that is not always going to happen, but the ceiling on this card is SUPER high even though, being a Saga, it takes a while for all of its effects.

Creativity
(2/3) Uniqueness - Nothing too groundbreaking here, but this is both a new way to do prison-exile and a new way to do mass trample pump.
(3/3) Flavor - Not sure if this refers to a real-world fairy tale? Regardless, the flavor of princesses being kidnapped and imprisoned (in, I suppose, a well), then released by an outraged mob, is clear.

Polish
(3/3) Quality - No issues.
(2/2) Main Challenge (*) - Looks good.
(1/2) Subchallenges - Has five chapters, but is rare.

Total: 21.5/25

[bravelion83]

Final results

kwanyeegor-ii: 21.5 + 19.5 = 41
Raptorchan: 21.5 + 21.5 = 43
slimytrout: 19 + 21.5 = 40.5

@Raptorchan is our MCC champion for September. Congratulations!

And this is it for September. If everything goes according to my plans, we'll meet again (with me hosting, I'll still be there as a player in the meantime) in December for the MCC month dedicated to The Lost Caverns of Ixalan. See you all then.