April MCC, Round 4 - Pack 1, Pick 1

[void_nothing]

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April MCC, Round 4 - Pack 1, Pick 1

Welcome to the April MCC! It's Formats Month here at the MCC. For the final round, we will be exploring the primary format in which cards can directly affect drafting: Conspiracy.

Main Challenge: Design an Angel, Sphinx, Demon, Dragon, or Hydra creature card that has "conspiracy" (meaning the card type) or "draft" in its text.

Subchallenge 1: Your card has a three-colored color identity, but it is fewer than three colors. (1 point)

Subchallenge 2: Choose one or both -
• Your card has a creature type that isn't listed in the Main Challenge. (0.5 points)
• Your card has deathtouch, double strike, lifelink, trample, or vigilance or can gain one or more of those abilities through its own abilities. (0.5 points)

DEADLINES

Design deadline: Thursday, May 2nd 23:59 EDT

Judging deadline: Sunday, May 5th 23:59 EDT

If time extensions are required, they WILL eat time from the next round to realign with the calendar, so please ask them only if you really need them. This is for both players and judges.

Clarifications

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CONTESTANTS

@Lorn Asbord Schutta
@slimytrout
@Subject16

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
void_nothing
Ink-Treader

[Subject16]

Hoard Haunter 3RR
Creature — Dragon Spirit (M)
Draft Hoard Haunter face up.
As you draft an artifact card, you may remove it from the draft. (Those cards aren't in your card pool.)
Flying, trample
Whenever Hoard Haunter deals combat damage to a player, you may create a token that's a copy of a card you removed from the draft with cards named Hoard Haunter. Otherwise, create a Treasure token.
Unearth 3RWB
4/4

[void_nothing]

A quick entry reminder for @Lorn Asbord Schutta and @slimytrout.

[Lorn Asbord Schutta]

Didynamic Prophet
Creature — Sphinx Cleric (M)
Draft Didynamic Prophet face up.
As you draft a card, you may reveal it and note its name. If you note a second name this way, turn Didynamic Prophet face down.
Flying, Double Strike, Vigilance
Whenever Didynamic Prophet deals combat damage to a player, scry 2.
: Reveal a card you own from outside the game. If it is with a name you noted for cards named Didynamic Prophet, put it on top of your library. Otherwise, put it on the bottom of your library.
1/5

[slimytrout]

Sorry, spent too much time putting the May MCC together and didn't leave enough time for this -- would love 24 hours if that's okay.

[slimytrout]

Vaza, Winged Death 2BB
Legendary Creature — Demon Assassin (R)
Reveal Vaza, Winged Death as you draft it. Each other player reveals the last card they drafted. Note the name of each other creature card revealed this way.
Flying
When Vaza deals combat damage to a player, destroy target creature with a name you noted for cards named Vaza, Winged Death.
RW: Vaza gains double strike until end of turn.
4/4

[Ink-Treader]

Done.

---

Lorn Asbord Schutta

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Design
(2.5/3) Appeal - That's a lot of keywords, but the 1 power leaves Timmy a bit underwhelmed. Johnny kind of likes what it offers, especially since the tutor from outside the game is curiously functional outside of the draft. This is mostly a Spike card, though like Timmy they would like it to be a little more threatening.
(2.5/3) Elegance - Very weird, especially in that it has an actually functional outside of draft ability that cares about draft, but otherwise understandable.

Development
(2.5/3) Viability - Curiously, exactly none of the cards from Conspiracy that interact with the drafting process are mythic. I would wager this is because WotC would want to showcase these effects as much as possible in that environment. Also mythics tend to already be bombs and ideally are money cards, and draft matters does hurt that value. As well, outside of Custodi Peacekeeper being barely functional, none of those cards have those abilities function outside of the draft. But perhaps that's why it should be mythic? An interesting question to be sure. Otherwise, colors are certainly correct.
(2.5/3) Balance - Curiously, it's not quite a bomb, though very high value. It's relatively blockable for a double striker, but hard to break through. Being able to cheaply tutor what you decided you need is quite nice, but the color commitment is very heavy for all 3 colors involved. I do wonder if there's a non-Limited format where the ability to tutor from outside the game to the bottom would be valuable...

Creativity
(3/3) Uniqueness - There are existing cards that can tutor for a drafted card, but being able to 'wish' any outside card to the bottom of your library repeatedly is quite unique.
(3/3) Flavor - Didynamic is kind of a made up word, but I think people are generally familiar enough with language to see what you're going for here. The prophet part is very clear.

Polish
(2/3) Quality - 11 lines of text with 4 breaks is well beyond microtext, where the limit with 4 breaks is 9 lines, or 1 break for 11 lines. Should be "if it has" not "if it is with". For strings of keywords, only the first key word should be capitalized (Flying, double strike, vigilance)
(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?
(2/2) Subchallenges - All fulfilled.

Total: 22/25
*An entry with 0 points here is subject to disqualification.

slimytrout

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Design
(2/3) Appeal - Timmy likes a 4/4 flier with the ability to double strike just fine. Nothing for Johnny. Spike notes that there's a decent chance that this will have a lot of good targets, being a likely high pick, though it depends on the rest of the set it's in.
(2.5/3) Elegance - That's potentially quite a lot to have to track, and your opponents will have to keep this in mind more than other cards because it notes their cards. Otherwise, quite simple.

Development
(2/3) Viability - Notably, outside of Paliano, the High City, none of the draft matters cards are legendary. The primary reason I can surmise for that is Commander. The activated ability doesn't have to be both red and white, or more accurately, could have been hybrid {R/W} and still passed the subchallenge. Rare is appropriate.
(2.5/3) Balance - A good solid beater, that can occasionally negate another bomb in draft formats. It is unfortunate that stuff like hexproof blanks that ability though; it would be reasonable to deny such workarounds. Some sort of forced sacrifice to also get around indestructible, perhaps.

Creativity
(2.5/3) Uniqueness - None of the existing draft cards note cards your opponents have drafted, so that's quite fresh. Seems fairly familiar for black otherwise.
(2.5/3) Flavor - The title is a bit generic, but it works.

Polish
(2.5/3) Quality - Seeing as that damage trigger very reasonably can trigger multiple times, it would be "whenever" over "when".
(2/2) Main Challenge (*) - Indeed.
(2/2) Subchallenges - All fulfilled.

Total: 20.5/25
*An entry with 0 points here is subject to disqualification.

Subject16

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Design
(2/3) Appeal - Timmy does find this a bit weird, but it's a dragon. Johnny likes copying well enough. Spike finds this a bit enigmatic, as they have to give up cards that could be in their deck just to potentially get them out with this. Spike probably appreciates the consideration the most, but is it worth it?
(3/3) Elegance - Elegant enough.

Development
(1.5/3) Viability - None of the existing draft matters cards are mythic, presumably for reasons related to trying to give mythics value. The extra colors on the unearth are superfluous. I do suspect the Caller of the Untamed type of ability would be used over Animus of Predation.
(3/3) Balance - Certainly a mighty beater. Reasonable outside of draft too, though nothing particularly exciting.

Creativity
(2.5/3) Uniqueness - Animus of Predation is the only other card that interacts with the draft like that, and this does do something different with it. The rest of the package does feel rather familiar though.
(3/3) Flavor - Quite evocative, I'd say.

Polish
(2.5/3) Quality - On the cusp of microtext, but not quite. It does however, need to specify cards are removed from the "draft face up", as the Animus does.
(2/2) Main Challenge (*) - Indeed.
(2/2) Subchallenges - All fulfilled.

Total: 21.5/25
*An entry with 0 points here is subject to disqualification.

Scores

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Lorn Asbord Schutta 22
Subject16 21.5
slimytrout 20.5

[void_nothing]

I imagine it's time for judging, so here's my judge holder.

That it is - let us judge.

[void_nothing]

Subject16

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Design
(2.5/3) Appeal - Txmmy and Jxnny both like this for what should be obvious reasons (beater that makes free stuff and can do crazy combos), and Spike likes the high ceiling but not the unreliability.
(1/3) Elegance - While the function of this card is pretty straightforward once you read it, it does involve a lot of words and also a lot of tracking (between removing artifacts from your draft pool and making multiple token copies).

Development
(2.75/3) Viability - Main card is red for sure, feels like a mythic... one minor quibble is that the third color of the unearth ability might feel more sensible as blue than black.
(3/3) Balance - While this can do crazy things, it can only do so unless there are crazy artifacts you remove from the draft pool. Otherwise, this is a beater that makes Treasure tokens.

Creativity
(2.5/3) Uniqueness - The artifact copy ability is highly unique, and the tricolor unearth is also an interesting addition. The rest of the card resembles a few existing Dragons, such as Decadent Dragon // Expensive Taste.
(3/3) Flavor - Love the name - great use of alliteration. And the flavor-to-function match is very strong.

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

Total: 21.75/25

Lorn Asbord Schutta

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Design
(2.5/3) Appeal - Definitely a Jxnny-Spike card with the kind of tutoring this card can enable - Txmmy doesn't like the smallish size for the cost, but they do like all the keywords.
(1.5/3) Elegance - Ironically the biggest elegance problem might be in kitchen-table casual games, with repeated activations of the ability putting an annoyingly large number of cards into the library straight out of the collection. In its intended draft use, the mid-draft setup is the most complicated part.

Development
(3/3) Viability - Definitely WU, and the activated ability is black being an unrestricted tutor of sorts. Mythic is also right.
(2.5/3) Balance - A powerful but situational tutor for pulling specific cards out of the draft pool, I would say - the bottom-of-library use of the activated ability is even more niche, and the scrying is a powerful support ability but not OP.

Creativity
(3/3) Uniqueness - This version of a wish ability is very unique.
(3/3) Flavor - Nice five-dollar word in the name. I like Sphinxes that have some kind of flavor connection with prophecy.

Polish
(2.5/3) Quality - The names of evergreen keywords after the first one should not be capitalized.
(2/2) Main Challenge (*) - Done.
(2/2) Subchallenges - And done.

Total: 22/25

slimytrout

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Design
(1.5/3) Appeal - Mostly a Txmmy and partial Spike card. A bit straightforward for Jxnny, and Spike sees the marquee ability as somewhat unreliable (but the floor of a 4/4 flying double striker is still good).
(2.5/3) Elegance - Some busywork involved in setting this card up, but otherwise probably the most elegant card of this round.

Development
(3/3) Viability - Main part of the card is definitely black, activated ability is definitely RW, and rare feels okay.
(3/3) Balance - Sure - the body might be a bit pushed if you're using the activated ability but it's a legendary (effectively) tricolor rare with little removal defense.

Creativity
(1.5/3) Uniqueness - This is a new package, but no specific single aspect of it is all that unique.
(2.5/3) Flavor - Definitely feels like both a Demon and an Assassin, but the name is slightly generic.

Polish
(3/3) Quality - Fine.
(2/2) Main Challenge (*) - Looks good.
(2/2) Subchallenges - And done.

Total: 21/25

[void_nothing]

Lorn Asbord Schutta 22 + 22 = 44
Subject16 21.5 + 21.75 = 43.25
slimytrout 20.5 + 21 = 41.5

@Lorn Asbord Schutta wins the April MCC - congratulations!