February MCC Round 2 - Story To Be Told

[Raptorchan]

(Gandalf, Friend of the Shire by Dmitry Burmak)


February MCC Round 2

Story To Be Told

Times change, and what seemed impossible yesterday is pretty much real now. So, keeping with the changes, we are making Universes Beyond MCC contest this month - here we meet characters from other universes that somehow took form of Magic cards. Magic multiverse is big - but what lies beyond its boundaries can be even bigger...


Main Challenge - Design a Saga card for your chosen IP from the first round.

Subchallenge 1 - Your card works better in multiplayer.

Subchallenge 2 - Your card has a personal name or toponym in its name.

Clarifications

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Main Challenge

We all know what a Saga is (it's an enchantment subtype). Your card must be just a Saga, not a DFC card with a Saga on one of its sides.

Subchallenge 1
Cards meant to be used in multiplayer usually benefit from having more players in game than two - for example, they can grant some bonuses when other players lose the game or simply refer to "each opponent" instead of one opponent. Examples can be Voice of Many and Share the Spoils.

Subchallenge 2
For example, both The Akroan War or Birth of the Imperium would pass because first refers to the polis of Akros and second refers to Imperium of Man. Arni Slays the Troll works too because it refers to a known character. Personal names can belong to characters or objects such as Helvault (Battle at the Helvault). Something like Waking the Trolls won't pass this challenge.


If you have any more questions, feel free to post them in the MCC discussion thread.
You can also check out the MCC Guidelines and FAQ.

DEADLINES

Design deadline: Saturday, February 17th 2024 at 23:59 Eastern Time

Judging deadline: Thursday, February 22nd 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.)

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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

Raptorchan
void_nothing


PLAYERS

@netn10 (Witcher)
@Freyleyes (Warhammer 40k)
@Caspernicus (LotR/Hobbit)
@slimytrout (Song of Ice and Fire)
@Subject16 (Song of Ice and Fire)
@AnotherAlias (D&D)
@OneAndOnly (Song of Ice and Fire)
@Komandon (LotR/Hobbit)

BRACKETS (Top 3 players from each bracket advance to Round 3)

Raptorchan

@Subject16
@AnotherAlias
@OneAndOnly
@Komandon

void_nothing

@netn10
@Freyleyes
@Caspernicus
@slimytrout

[Subject16]

The Doom of Valyria 3RR
Enchantment — Saga (R)
(As this Saga enters and after your draw step, add a lore counter. Sacrifice after III.)
I — For each opponent, create a 4/4 red Dragon creature token with flying.
II — You may return a creature you control to its owner's hand. If you do, add an amount of R equal to its power.
III — The Doom of Valyria deals 14 damage to each creature and each player.

[OneAndOnly]

Main Challenge - Design a Saga card for your chosen IP from the first round.
Subchallenge 1 - Your card works better in multiplayer.
Subchallenge 2 - Your card has a personal name or toponym in its name.

Winter Is Coming -- SSBB
Snow Enchantment - Saga
(You know how these work.)
I - Whenever a creature is damaged, destroy it.
II - Whenever a creature is damaged or targeted, destroy it.
III - Exile all creature cards in graveyards. For each card exiled this way, create a snow 2/2 black Zombie creature with decayed and wither.

[Caspernicus]

The Departure of Boromir 2bg
Enchantment — Saga (R)
(As this Saga enters and after your draw step, add a lore counter. Sacrifice after III.)
I — For each opponent, destroy target creature that player controls. The Ring tempts you.
II — Exile all cards from all opponents' graveyards. You gain 1 life for each creature card exiled this way.
III — Create a 2/2 white Human creature token, a 2/2 red Dwarf creature token, and a 2/2 green Elf creature token. They gain haste until end of turn.

[netn10]

Fall of Kaer Morhen 1WW
Enchantment - Saga (Mythic)
I — Create three 1/1 white Witcher creature tokens with prowess and ward 1.
II — For each Witcher creature you control, destroy up to one target creature with power 3 or greater.
III — Sacrifice all lands you control.
IV — Draw seven cards.

[slimytrout]

Robert's Rebellion 1RW
Enchantment — Saga (R)
(As this Saga enters and after your draw step, add a lore counter. Sacrifice after III.)
I — For each opponent, choose up to one target creature that player controls. For as long as Robert's Rebellion remains on the battlefield, gain control of those creatures and they can't attack or block.
II — Create two 1/1 red and white Soldier creature tokens with haste.
III — Robert's Rebellion deals damage to target creature equal to the number of creatures you control.

[Komandon]

Elrond Deciphers Moon-letters 3UU
Enchantment — Saga (R)
(As this Saga enters and after your draw step, add a lore counter. Sacrifice after III.)
I — Whenever an opponent draws one or more cards, you may scry 1 for as long as you control Elrond Deciphers Moon-letters.
II — Until end of turn, each instant and sorcery cards in your hand have cycling 2.
III — Your may put any number of target instant and sorcery cards in your graveyard to the top of your library with total mana value of 6 or less.

[Freyleyes]

Celestine's Resurrection 2WWW
Legendary Enchantment — Saga {M}
(As this Saga enters and after your draw step, add a lore counter.)
I — You gain 1 life for each creature your opponents control.
II — Celestine's Resurrection deals X damage divided as you choose among any number of target creatures, where X is the amount of life you gained during your last turn.
III — Create Celestine, a legendary 5/5 white Angel Saint creature token with flying, first strike, vigilance, trample, and lifelink.
IV — Shuffle Celestine's Resurrection into its owner's library.

[AnotherAlias]

The War of Light and Darkness
Enchantment — Saga (M)
(As this Saga enters and after your draw step, add a lore counter. Sacrifice after III.)
I, II — Choose one —
• It becomes day. Put a +1/+1 counter on each creature you control.
• It becomes night. Put a -1/-1 counter on each creature you don't control.
III — If you control the most creatures or are tied for the most, creatures you control gain vigilance, lifelink and hexproof until end of turn. Otherwise, each opponent sacrifices half of the creatures they control, rounded up.

[Raptorchan]

Put a judging counter on each Saga in this thread!

[Raptorchan]

AnotherAlias

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Design
(3/3) Appeal - Timmy and Johnny would like to use this. Spike most likely won't.
(1/3) Elegance - This card uses night/day, +1/+1 and -1/-1 counters at the same time, counts creatures for the most and divides in half. Quite a lot is going here, not gonna lie.

Development
(3/3) Viability - This has both white and black effects in perfect harmony and feels like rare/mythic.
(2/3) Balance - Having a saga that can serve both as a buff and removal is always nice, and flexibility is welcome, but all three chapters are situational. Sometimes it can be brutal, sometimes it flops. Mostly a constructed card but the amount of value it produces can be questionable.

Creativity
(3/3) Uniqueness - Can't remember nothing similar among official cards, guess it's the first case in a long time where I can give a card full score in this section.
(3/3) Flavor - A very evocative name and flavor that can speak for itself and self-explanatory even for those who aren't versed in D&D lore at all.

Polish
(2,5/3) Quality - "Sacrifices half creatures", not "sacrifices half of the creatures".
(2/2) Main Challenge (*) - Yes.
(2/2) Subchallenges - Both satisfied. Need to mention that name of a book counts, like I explained in Discussion thread.

Total: 21,5/25
*An entry with 0 points here is subject to disqualification.

Komandon

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Design
(1/3) Appeal - Johnny can be slightly interested in this. Timmy and Spike see too low value for too high cost.
(2/3) Elegance - Quite wordy, and not elegant enough due to fist chapter, see also Quality section. Second and third chapters can be deemed elegant enough if we reword them.

Development
(3/3) Viability - Everything about it is blue. Rarity is probably okey because this is meant to be built around.
(1,5/3) Balance - It's a weak card though and though, first ability isn't something you want to get from spending 5 mana, second chapter most likely won't draw you enough cards although in some circumstances filling your graveyard can be useful, and the last ability is likely the most useful but restrictive although that's understandable. Personally I can't see it being really viable anywhere.

Creativity
(2,5/3) Uniqueness - Unique enough combination of known effects, everyone comes with a twist.
(2/3) Flavor - A well known moment from Hobbit but that's quite hard to see how exactly a scene where Elrond is deciphering the moon-letters corresponds with certain abilities of a saga.

Polish
(0/3) Quality - First ability gives the saga an ability that lasts until saga leaves the battlefield, so it must be "~ gains..." Second ability also must be "GAINS cycling", plus "each card", not "cards". Last ability must say "from your graveyard" (see Gravepurge) plus "with total mana value 6 or less" plus this sentence must come straight after "any number of cards".
(2/2) Main Challenge (*) - Met.
(2/2) Subchallenges - Both met.

Total: 16/25
*An entry with 0 points here is subject to disqualification.

Subject16

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Design
(1,5/3) Appeal - Splashy card for Timmy but at the same he doesn't want to accidentally lose with it and doesn't want to lose his guys. Spike will find a way to make sure he won't be hurt by this unlike opponent. Spike deems this too risky.
(3/3) Elegance - It's perfectly clear what the card does.

Development
(3/3) Viability - As red as it gets, can be either mythic or rare.
(1,5/3) Balance - The card has big and scary effects, but the problem is - it's risky, I mean, TOO risky. It can be fine in Commander and works better in multiplayer, which is the intent, but in versus game it will lead to draws too many time. Even Commander is not completely safe from such risk, although I appreciate the intent to kill your opponents faster than they will kill you - very red.

Creativity
(2/3) Uniqueness - A bunch of known effects on chapters 1 and 3, although immense amount of damage to players is quite rare to see. Second effect adds more to uniqueness - red sometimes returns its creatures to hand, but mana acceleration from it is new.
(3/3) Flavor - Fantastic flavor, makes total sense. And 14 damage representing the Fourteen Flames is a chef's kiss.

Polish
(3/3) Quality - All looks good.
(2/2) Main Challenge (*) - Satisfied.
(2/2) Subchallenges - Both yes.

Total: 21/25
*An entry with 0 points here is subject to disqualification.

OneAndOnly

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Design
(2/3) Appeal - Timmy would like to play this hoping to achieve a big effect in the end. Johnny, same but with ensuring he gets what he wants. Spike doesn't care much.
(2/3) Elegance - The first and second abilities can be confusing because they are improperly worded (see Quality section). The last one is understandable enough.

Development
(3/3) Viability - I see no problems with this, except for the fact that rarity is missing (see Quality section).
(2/3) Balance - The first two abilities resemble Death Pits of Rath very much, less costly but more mana restrictive. The last one is very situational and tokens it creates are also fragile, so I doubt this card can actually shine anywhere outside of Limited.

Creativity
(2/3) Uniqueness - This card, like I said before, represents Death Pits of Rath quite a lot but in unique way with a conclusion.
(3/3) Flavor - This works, I guess. Two first chapters represent Winter coming, last one represents White Walkers. Snow subtype is also a nice touch.

Polish
(0/3) Quality - Multiple issues here. Dashes between card name and mana cost (why?) Missing rarity. Saga reminder text comes straight from silver bordered set and isn't acceptable in black border. First and second abilities look like they came from a Class and work like static abilities, not triggered ones - they must be either "Until end of turn..." or "This Saga gains..." if you want them to last for as long as this Saga remains on the battlefield. "Damaged" must be "dealt damage", "targeted" must be "becomes a target of a spell or ability". Exiling ability must be worded as "Exile all creature cards from all graveyards." Tokens created by this ability lack the token subtype. "Snow" must come after "Zombie".
(2/2) Main Challenge (*) - Was the main challenge satisfied? Was it approached in a unique or interesting way? Does the card fit the intent of the challenge?
(1/2) Subchallenges - The card name doesn't have a toponym or personal name in it.

Total: 17/25
*An entry with 0 points here is subject to disqualification.

Results

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AnotherAlias 21,5
Subject16 21
OneAndOnly 17
Komandon 16

[void_nothing]

netn10

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Design
(2.5/3) Appeal - Txmmy loves the huge effects and an army of prowess tokens. Jxnny has plenty of ways to make this all-upside, no-drawback. Spike certainly wants to draw seven cards in white but is displeased by that third chapter.
(2.5/3) Elegance - Mostly easy to understand, very direct effects. Multiple tokens with triggered abilities (as prowess and ward are) might add to tracking complexity though.

Development
(2.5/3) Viability - Definitely a mythic rare. For this to be a monowhite card, though, I have to be in an old-school mindset that allows white to refill a hand after some kind of supreme sacrifice, as in Pursuit of Knowledge.
(2.5/3) Balance - I don't think this card is overpowered by any means, but it IS swingy - it has just as much potential to win you the game as lose it, and while that doesn't disqualify the design from being printed it's worth taking a playtesting look at.

Creativity
(2/3) Uniqueness - All these effects are familiar - even the unique Witcher tokens use existing keywords - but the combination is quite new.
(2.5/3) Flavor - If this card is about the battle of Kaer Morhen as depicted in The Witcher 3, I will not the fortress doesn't really "fall" then, but the chapters are a good depiction of the events.

Polish
(3/3) Quality - Looks good.
(2/2) Main Challenge (*) - Sure, not the most obvious Witcher event for a Saga but a key one nonetheless.
(2/2) Subchallenges - I will say it's at least probable that there will be more creatures to destroy in a multiplayer game, so I'll give you both.

Total: 21.5/25

Freyleyes

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Design
(2.5/3) Appeal - Txmmy obviously wants that token. Plenty of moving parts for Jxnny to play with here. Spike, while liking the board wipe potential of the second chapter, is maybe leery of the mana cost.
(2/3) Elegance - Definitely a wordy card, especially given the limitations of the Saga frame.

Development
(2.5/3) Viability - Definitely feels mythic. The second chapter ability is nevertheless going a bit too far for white as it stands today: White's direct damage to non-attacking or blocking creatures is only in the specific form of "equal to the number of creatures you control" at this stage. Still, I can see this evolution happening in a couple of years.
(3/3) Balance - Sure - this card's got a relatively high cost especially given the triple white mana requirement, but the damage and Celestine token are plenty powerful enough to justify that. Obviously works better with other lifegain cards, so it should be built around...

Creativity
(3/3) Uniqueness - No single thing here is totally unique, but there is an accretion of enough unusual things - that form of direct damage, legendary token, recurring Saga - that this deserves full marks.
(2.5/3) Flavor - Celestine's typing is a bit off: She's not an angel per se, she's still a human, just with extraordinary powers. (In fact, angels probably don't exist in 40k? They certainly have the concept of angels given the number of Space Marine chapters with the word in their name, but...) Celestine, the Living Saint shows that. Human Warrior or Human Cleric would be the types to use.

Polish
(3/3) Quality - Looks okay to me.
(2/2) Main Challenge (*) - Yup, Celestine dies and gets resurrected a lot but the process by which she does it is detailed in the lore.
(2/2) Subchallenges - The first chapter is likely better in multicolor, and it has a person's name.

Total: 22.5/25

Caspernicus

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Design
(2/3) Appeal - Maybe not much of a Txmmy card because all of the effects are decently-sized but none is huge. Jxnny likes the variation between the effects and Ring-tempts shenanigans. Spike likes that it involves immediate removal and is basically full of other useful stuff.
(3/3) Elegance - Absolutely nothing objectionable here.

Development
(3/3) Viability - Colors and rarity are spot-on.
(2.5/3) Balance - Not OP, but certainly a bit pushed. That first chapter is POWERFUL - but it'd make you a target at the EDH table.

Creativity
(1.5/3) Uniqueness - Mostly quite familiar effects with a few new ideas sprinkled in.
(2.5/3) Flavor - Please tell me that you have this in mind for Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli being granted haste. Mostly great flavor, just a bit more abstract than some of the other entries imo.

Polish
(3/3) Quality - Looks good.
(2/2) Main Challenge (*) - Perfect choice of an event for a Saga card.
(2/2) Subchallenges - Multiplayer means you get to destroy more creatures for that first chapter, and it has someone's name in the title.

Total: 21.5/25

slimytrout

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Design
(2.5/3) Appeal - Everybody is down to abduct some Starks with that first ability, but there's a bit less Txmmy appeal from the later abilities even though Jxnny and Spike are still on board.
(2.5/3) Elegance - That first chapter ability is the one minor source of inelegance, adding a bit of tracking complexity.

Development
(3/3) Viability - No issues with color or rarity here.
(3/3) Balance - No problems here either - It can take multiple creatures out of commission, sure, but mostly temporarily, and the two 1/1 tokens aren't going to completely take over the board.

Creativity
(1/3) Uniqueness - Kind of reminds me of a The Akroan War remix, but as far as cards mashing up effects go - and that's certainly a very valid design type for Sagas - this at least looks like it has a fun play pattern.
(3/3) Flavor - Definitely captures the flavor of this event. I have no qualms with this.

Polish
(3/3) Quality - No issues here.
(1.5/2) Main Challenge (*) - Obviously a super pivotal event, but one of the more obvious choices from ASOIAF.
(2/2) Subchallenges - Pretty clear how this one is better in multiplayer, and yes, "Robert's" is a personal name possessive form.

Total: 21.5/25

Totals (Bold advance)

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Freyleyes 22.5
netn10 21.5
Caspernicus 21.5
slimytrout 21.5

Yes, thanks to a three-way tie, everyone is moving on!