April MCC, Round 1 - Ragnarök

[void_nothing]

Banner based on Evra, Halcyon Witness, by Johannes Voss and Wizards of the Coast. Thanks to bravelion83 for the "Core Set Style" MCC Logo

April MCC, Round 1 - Ragnarök

Welcome to the April MCC! It's Divine Month here at the MCC.

Main Challenge: Design a modal double-faced card that is a legendary God on the front face and something other than that on the back face.
Subchallenge 1: Your card's front face is monocolored
Subchallenge 2: Your card's back face is one or more colors and does not share a color with its front face

DEADLINES

Design deadline: Saturday, April 9th 23:59 EDT

Judging deadline: Tuesday, April 12th 23:59 EDT

Clarifications

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MCC Rubric

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Design
(X/3) Appeal - Do the different player psychographics (Timmy/Johhny/Spike) have a use for the card?
(X/3) Elegance - Is the card easily understandable at a glance? Do all the flavor and mechanics combined as a whole make sense?

Development
(X/3) Viability - 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?
(X/3) Balance - 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?

Creativity
(X/3) Uniqueness - 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"?
(X/3) Flavor - 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?

Polish
(X/3) Quality - Points deducted for incorrect spelling, grammar, and templating.
(X/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?
(X/2) Subchallenges - One point awarded per satisfied subchallenge condition.

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

Judges:
void_nothing
Ink-Treader

If you are not interested in playing, please sign up to judge the contest!

Players:
Anyone is welcome to enter this first round!

[netn10]

Ranok, God of Speed R
Legendary Creature - God (Mythic)
All creatures have haste.
All permanents enter the battlefield untapped.
"New Capenna worships living fast and loose, and from its dream raised the happiest and most competitive fella I have even known."
- Raz, Street Racer
2/2
/// MDFC ///
She of Light of Sound WU
Legendary Artifact - Vehicle (Mythic)
Ward 1
Whenever She of Light of Sound attacks, tap all other permanents.
Crew 2
"She is a thing of beauty, a fickle one that cannot be replicated or even touched. I know no better fitting match than them both."
- Raz, Street Racer
3/3

[MonoRedMage]

Tokkur, God of Thievery 2R
Legendary Creature - God {R}
First strike
T: You gain control of each permanent you control and each permanent you own.
3RR, T: You gain control of target permanent that shares a name with a permanent you control.
2/2
/
The Honest Purse 3W
Legendary Artifact {R}
T: Each player chooses a nonlegendary, nontoken permanent they don't control and creates a token copy of it.
3W, T: Exile target token you control and target token you don't control.

[bravelion83]

Vazra, God of Health 5GG
Legendary Creature — God (M)
Trample
Each other creature you control enters the battlefield with an additional +1/+1 on it.
Whenever a creature you control with a +1/+1 counter on it deals damage to an opponent, you gain 2 life.
At the beginning of your upkeep, if you've cast a spell named Vazra's Healing this game, you may return Vazra, God of Health from your graveyard to the battlefield. If you do, it gains haste.
5/5

//

Vazra's Healing XW
Instant (M)
Prevent the next X damage that would be dealt this turn to any number of target creatures you control, divided as you choose. For each of those creatures, put a +1/+1 counter on it for each 1 damage that would have been dealt to it and was prevented this way. You gain X life. If you cast a spell named Vazra, God of Health this game, instead put twice that many +1/+1 counters on each of those creatures and you gain twice that much life.

[TheAmericanSpirit]

Renate, God of Scholars 3UU

Legendary Creature - God (R)

Ward 2

You may look at all cards that are exiled face down.

T: Draw three cards, then exile two cards from your hand face down.

"Knowledge is not merely a tool, but an end unto itself."

3/5
//
Trove of Pillaged Secrets 4BR

Legendary Enchantment (R)

At the beginning of your end step, exile the top card of target player's library face down.

Whenever a creature you control deals combat damage to an opponent, exile the top two cards of their library face down.

You may look at and cast spells that are exiled face down and you may spend mana as though it were mana of any type to cast those spells.

"Pursue it at all costs, by whatever means necessary."

[slimytrout]

Elthur, God of Joy 2W
Legendary Creature — God (R)
Lifelink
Whenever Elthur, God of Joy or another nontoken creature enters the battlefield under your control, create a Food token.
Whenever you gain life for the first time each turn, create a 1/1 white Cleric creature token.
In these merry halls, seats and bellies are always full.
3/3
/// (MDFC) ///
Funeral of Elthur XBB
Sorcery (R)
As an additional cost to cast this spell, sacrifice X nonland permanents and pay X life.
Destroy X target creatures.
In these muted halls, only sorrow remains.

[marioguy3]

Goldenrod, Dog of Power
Legendary Creature - God (Mythic Rare)
Flying
Whenever you cast a noncreature spell with mana value five or greater, double the power of each creature you control until end of turn.
5/5

//

Goldenrod's Sledgehammer
Sorcery (Mythic Rare)
Each opponent sacrifices a creature, an artifact, and an enchantment with mana value four or less. You gain 1 life for each permanent sacrificed this way.

[Henlock]

Alda, Godess of Austerity 2w
Legendary Creature - God (r)
At the beginning of your upkeep, draw a card if you control three or less lands.
Return a land you control to its owner's hand: Gain 1 life.
3/3
//
Staff of Shepherds 1g
Legendary Artifact (r)
, , Discard X cards. Create a green X/X Flock creature token with ", Sacrifice this creature: Put an amount of +1/+1 counters on target Flock equal to this creature's power." If all cards discarded this way are land cards, create two of those tokens instead.

[kwanyeegor-ii]

Egon, Patron of Karfell 2B
Legendary Snow Creature - God (mythic)
Haste
At the beginning of your upkeep, sacrifice another snow permanent. If you can't, sacrifice Egon and return another target creature card from your graveyard to your hand
5/5
/MDFC/
Crown of the Marn 3U
Legenary Snow Artifact (Mythic)
All snow permanents you control have "This permanent enters the battlefield tapped" and "When this permanent enters the battlefield, draw a card." (Including this permanent.)
T: Tap target nonsnow permanent.

[void_nothing]

Going to leave this open for one more day - until 23:59 Eastern on the 11th - for any last-minute entries.

[Freyleyes]

Hestal, God of Order 3W
Legendary Creature - God {R}
First strike
At the beginning of each end step, shuffle your hand into your library, then draw three cards.
All must follow the order of will.
3/3
//
Hestal's Fury R
Instant {R}
Hestal's Fury deals 2 damage to any target. If you control a card named Hestal, God of Order, Hestal's Fury deals an additional 2 damage to that target.
Do not stray from the order of will, or you will encounter her fury.

[void_nothing]

And that'll do it for the round - @Ink-Treader let's judge. The top three contestants per judge will move on to the next round.

void_nothing:
netn10
bravelion83
TheAmericanSpirit
marioguy3
Henlock

Ink-Treader:
MonoRedMage
slimytrout
kwanyeegor-ii
Freyleyes

[Ink-Treader]

And Done!

MonoRedMage

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Design
(1.5/3) Appeal - God: Timmy doesn't find the stats terribly impressive, but getting back things that player took is nice. Johnny can find plenty for this to do. Spike finds it a bit niche, but being able to render Threaten effects permanent is interesting.
Backside: Timmy might enjoy getting someone else's impressive permanent, but might not like sharing their own. Johnny is again intrigued. Spike notes that if everything they control is a token or legendary, then it can become quite one-sided, but is it worth it? Probably would have to accept giving free lands at least.
(2/3) Elegance - There's enough repetition to require a second glance I feel, and both sides are a little weird in functionality.

Development
(2/3) Viability - The God's second activate ability feels a bit bendy, and more at home in blue. The Purse has a similar issue with its first activated ability also feeling blue, and more so. Rare seems fine.
(2.5/3) Balance - Both sides feel like build-arounds, with the Purse more likely to end of standing alone. The Purse does pair nicely with Tokkur's second activated ability, if you can get both out. These are weird enough that I'm not sure how they should be costed, but I will say the second activated abilities on both might be able to be a smidge cheaper.

Creativity
(3/3) Uniqueness - I'd say these are both quite unique. There's some cards with similar effects, but not in this style.
(2.5/3) Flavor - Flavor text would be nice, and there's some room for it. Tokkur seems an unusual type of thief god. The Purse is neat flavor wise though.

Polish
(3/3) Quality - Looks good
(2/2) Main Challenge (*) - Fits the prompt.
(2/2) Subchallenges - Each side meets a requirement.

Total: 20.5/25

slimytrout

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Design
(2/3) Appeal - God: Timmy should enjoy this just fine, as will Johnny, though they probably wish the second trigger was limited in a different way. The rates pretty good for Spike, and there's plenty of potential value.
Backside: Timmy is put off by the cost, and Johnny doesn't find it particularly interesting beyond being a payoff of sorts. Spike likes this quite a bit though.
(2.5/3) Elegance - Front side is a bit wordy, but the backside is nice and simple.

Development
(3/3) Viability - Elthur is definitely white, the funeral is definitely black. Rare seems appropriate.
(2.5/3) Balance - That's a lot of potential Food, and bodies, so this might be quite annoying to deal with, but it's got no protection at least. The sorcery seems balanced well enough.

Creativity
(1.5/3) Uniqueness - Gyome, Master Chef has something similar the God's first triggered, and Eliminate the Competition is similar to the backside. Both go about it differently at least.
(3/3) Flavor - Baldr analogue, I presume? Hits all the right notes without feeling too derivative.

Polish
(3/3) Quality - Looks good
(2/2) Main Challenge (*) - All good
(2/2) Subchallenges - All good here too

Total: 21.5/25

kwanyeegor-ii

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Design
(2/3) Appeal - God: Timmy likes big creatures, sure, but the downside is a bit much for them. Johnny doesn't really care. Spike can appreciate a cheap beater, but does wish the Raise Dead effect was tied to it dying at all.
Backside: Now this is fun for all three. Can't go wrong with a card draw engine with a minor drawback.
(2.5/3) Elegance - Don't see much of an issue here, though the formatting for the Crown's first ability is a bit atypical I feel (It think both would normally be split up as abilities of the Crown, and there's not a space issue).

Development
(2.5/3) Viability - Both sides for their colors well. Egon feels like he'd be more at home at rare however, while Mythic does feel appropriate for the Crown. Obviously both have to share a rarity.
(2/3) Balance - I do believe Egon could reasonably have Raise Dead as a general death trigger, perhaps with a non-God clause to prevent Egon loops. The Crown of the other hand is a very powerful build around, and is on the cheaper end of this style of triggered card draw, that even replaces itself, and has extra utility in the tap effect. Thankfully there isn't currently much in the way of snow token generation to really get it out of hand.

Creativity
(1/3) Uniqueness - Nothing too new here, Card draw from snow is surprisingly not a thing it looks like, but that kind of support as noted isn't terribly novel.
(2/3) Flavor - Egon feels kind of generic in a way, and could have flavor text to help. The Crown though definitely resonates in its own right.

Polish
(2.5/3) Quality - As mentioned in Elegance, the Crown's first ability would probably be split up. As is, 'All' isn't necessary at the beginning. The reminder text also isn't necessary.
(2/2) Main Challenge (*) - Fits
(2/2) Subchallenges - Fits these too.

Total: 18.5/25

Freyleyes

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Design
(1.5/3) Appeal - God: Timmy isn't too excited by the creature combat, and as cool as the triggered ability is, seeing what you drew on your end step go away on the opponent's end step could feel frustrating. Johnny and Spike like this fine though.
Backside: Unappealing to Timmy and Johnny. Spike can appreciate an occasionally better Shock.
(3/3) Elegance - Front face is very simple. Backside isn't much more complicated.

Development
(1.5/3) Viability - Hestal isn't a white card. Red would fit, though the triggered ability feels a little more blue. Even symmetrical this would hold true. I Think this would work as a splashy Mythic over rare, if it weren't for the backside. Which is definitely red. Also that much shuffling isn't something that I think WotC would want to print.
(1.5/3) Balance - What Hestul does is very powerful at that cost, and can make it tricky to deal with. No innate protections, but hand restocking can function as such. Strictly better Shock is a bit less of an issue by comparison, but still noteworthy.

Creativity
(1.5/3) Uniqueness - The hand restocking is more notable for the color, though this style of getting a set number of cards back after shuffling is new. The Fury is very comparable to Galvanic Blast, if narrower in condition.
(1/3) Flavor - Hestul doesn't feel orderly at all. Shuffling like that has a chaotic connotation. The Fury doesn't really connect flavorfully to me. I would prefer the condition to have some connection to what the God does, rather than its mere presence.

Polish
(2/3) Quality - Should be "Shuffle the cards from your hand into your library". Galvanic Blast suggests that the extra damage should be templated as a replacement effect "deals 4 damage instead"
(2/2) Main Challenge (*) - Indeed
(2/2) Subchallenges - And all good here too.

Total: 16/25

Scores (bold advance)

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slimytrout 21.5
MonoRedMage 20.5
kwanyeegor-ii 18.5
Freyleyes 16

[void_nothing]

netn10

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Design
(3/3) Appeal - Literally no one doesn't want to go GAS GAS I'M GONNA STEP ON THE GAS
(2/3) Elegance - Nothing totally incomprehensible, but both sides are a little busy.

Development
(3/3) Viability - Colors and rarity look right - it's unclear what color "ETB untapped instead of tapped" really is, since Archelos, Lagoon Mystic and Amulet of Vigor are almost the only precedent, but what the heck, give it to red.
(0.5/3) Balance - Both sides are kind of nuts - Concordant Crossroads as a commander is really amazingly good even if it weren't a 2/2 and didn't have the Amulet of Vigor ability, and She of Light of Sound is OP in that it makes all your creatures unblockable simply by attacking.

Creativity
(2/3) Uniqueness - Ranok is kind of a fusion of Urabrask the Hidden and Archelos that plays differently than either, and She of Light of Sound feels relatively new.
(2/3) Flavor - Mostly fine, but an enemy-tricolor Kaldheim-style god on New Capenna throws me off pretty heavily.

Polish
(2.5/3) Quality - First flavor text should probably say "...from its dream rose…"
(2/2) Main Challenge (*) - Done.
(2/2) Subchallenges - And done.

Total: 19/25

bravelion83

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Design
(3/3) Appeal - Everybody's into this one.
(1/3) Elegance - Both sides are really really wordy and have a lot going on. Vazra's Healing especially approaches microtext with the addition of the bonus clause for having cast Vazra this game.

Development
(3/3) Viability - Colors and rarity look right. (Putting +1/+1 counters on creatures that enter the battlefield after a seven-mana creature comes off as kind of win-more, but that's outside the scope of this category per se, and there's a MUCH bigger balance issue.)
(0/3) Balance - There is, I'm pretty sure, a genuine development problem with this card: If you cast Vazra's Healing for X=0 on your first turn, you can return Vazra (the card as it appears in your graveyard, being the front face) to the battlefield on your second upkeep, then continue to return it every time it gets destroyed for the rest of the game.

Creativity
(2/3) Uniqueness - Quite a few new ideas on both sides, but no fully new functionality.
(2/3) Flavor - "Health" is a workable concept here, but feels a bit generic.

Polish
(2.5/3) Quality - I don't think the back face needs the phrase "that would have been dealt to it and was" - Test of Faith, for example, uses a much shorter template.
(2/2) Main Challenge (*) - Done.
(2/2) Subchallenges - And done.

Total: 17.5/25

TheAmericanSpirit

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Design
(3/3) Appeal - Txmmy wants a big hoard of everyone's cards. Jxnny loves how lenticular the all-face-down-exiled-cards idea is. Spike likes both faces.
(2/3) Elegance - A concept that takes a lot of bookkeeping, but ultimately is understandable. Just keep in mind that things might get kind of odd in the unusual case in which multiple players controlled a Trove of Pillaged Secrets.

Development
(3/3) Viability - Spot-on with colors and rarity.
(1.5/3) Balance - Renate looks strong - Trove of Pillaged Secrets looks REALLY strong. Six mana is high, but "draw a card from your opponent ever turn, plus two every time one of your creatures hits them" is a really really powerful effect.

Creativity
(2.5/3) Uniqueness - Renate's Brainstorm homage is clever! Ultimately, a lot here is new, despite also relying on older concepts.
(3/3) Flavor - I really like the flavor text of the front face continuing on the back. A very nice touch.

Polish
(2.5/3) Quality - It's ward 2, because ward is written with a cost. Also worth nothing is that single-spaced cards tend to be easier to read.
(2/2) Main Challenge (*) - Done.
(2/2) Subchallenges - And done.

Total: 21.5/25

marioguy3

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Design
(2.5/3) Appeal - Txmmy is all over the front half. The card is flexible enough for Spike, and Jxnny finds it a bit blunt but is still interested in how to cast 5cmc cards for less than that in order to get the bonuses.
(2.5/3) Elegance - Nothing overly complicated, aside from maybe tracking the mass power doubling, but this card feels kind of directionless.

Development
(1/3) Viability - Rarity's fine - but both halves have color pie issues. Front half is basically not at all white; RG is where this would go. Back half is more BR than anything.
(2.5/3) Balance - While mass doubling is a LOT, so is the requirement. This wouldn't be objectionable if it didn't count itself - becoming a 10/5 flyer is probably too good. Back half is good if you hit everything on the list, but that's not all that likely - it'll probably usually be two sacrifices per opponent at most, which is still fine, but only about on-rate, not OP.

Creativity
(2/3) Uniqueness - Front half is somewhat new with mass power doubling but otherwise is basically a beefed-up Soulblade Djinn. Back half is sort of Decimate-y.
(1/3) Flavor - Basically incoherent, and there's something subtly infuriating about the sorcery half not meeting the condition of the creature half.

Polish
(2.5/3) Quality - Mana value are written as numerals, not number words.
(2/2) Main Challenge (*) - Both done.
(0/2) Subchallenges - Neither.

Total: 16/25

Henlock

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Design
(3/3) Appeal - Txmmy mostly wants to do the Flocks thing. Jxnny has plenty to play with. Spike wants the challenge of playing entirely within Alda's rules.
(2.5/3) Elegance - A wordy card on the whole, but also ultimately pretty easy to understand and use.

Development
(3/3) Viability - Colors and rarity look good - I'm totally willing to buy white card draw with that particular condition as it blends in white's classic "catchup" land ramp.
(2/3) Balance - Staff of Shepherds looks totally fine - the price of Flocks is steep even if you're letting them graze on lands exclusively. Alda herself, meanwhile, is very strong; both abilities of hers have a lot of potential. Thankfully, three lands pens the would-be control player into a fairly tight spot.

Creativity
(3/3) Uniqueness - A lot of new ideas here - the Flock tokens are a fun variation on amass!
(3/3) Flavor - Thoroughly dig the idea of a shepherd goddess of a humble lifestyle.

Polish
(2/3) Quality - Even I struggle with this one sometimes: It's "three or fewer" lands, not "three or less." Also, "Goddess" is misspelled - and Magic uses the gender neutral word "God" for deities of every gender.
(2/2) Main Challenge (*) - Done.
(2/2) Subchallenges - and done.

Total: 22.5/25

Totals (Bold advance)

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Henlock 22.5
TheAmericanSpirit 21.5
netn10 19
bravelion83 17.5
marioguy3 16