July MCC, Round 1 - Devoted to the Machine

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void_nothing
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Post by void_nothing » 1 year ago

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July MCC, Round 1 - Devoted to the Machine

Welcome to the July MCC! It's Technology Month here at the MCC.

Main Challenge: Design an artifact card that is NOT a creature, an Equipment, or a Vehicle.
Subchallenge 1: Your card is one or more colors
Subchallenge 2: Your card does not have T in its text

DEADLINES

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

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

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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

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

Players:
Anyone is welcome to enter this first round
Psst, check the second page of Custom Card Contests & Games! Because of the daily contests, a lot of games fall down to there.

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void_nothing
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Post by void_nothing » 1 year ago

Visibility bump!
Psst, check the second page of Custom Card Contests & Games! Because of the daily contests, a lot of games fall down to there.

The greatest (fake) pro wrestling on the internet - Collaborative Create-A-Booster - My random creations (updated regularly)

Important Facts: Colorless is not a color, Wastes is not a land type, Changeling is not a creature type

kwanyeegor-ii
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Post by kwanyeegor-ii » 1 year ago

The Pillars of Stonedawn 2GW
Legendary Enchantment Artifact (Rare)
Other artifacts and enchantments you control have ward 2.
Whenever an artifact creature you control deals combat damage to a player, put a +1/+1 counter on that creature.
Enchantment spells you cast cost 1 less to cast.
畫龍點睛

I'm a simple Magic player since several years ago from China. Now I live in New Jersey.

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bravelion83
MKM MCC going on now
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Post by bravelion83 » 1 year ago

Mysterious Book U
Artifact — Clue (R)
You may look at the top card of your library any time.
XX: Scry X. Activate only during your turn.
2, Sacrifice Mysterious Book: Draw a card.
You turn to a book in search of answers, but each one you find poses even more questions.
Author of the MCC Guidelines and FAQ. | For my projects, including Jeff Lionheart, my murder mystery story "One pierced heart, two mindful horns", and republished articles from my series "The Lion's Lair", see Leo's content index (Last updated on March 24th 2024 - Added OPHTMH Episode 4).
After I'm done republishing my articles I want to reprise the series focusing it more on editing, wording, and templating. Suggest potential future article topics here.
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Henlock
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Post by Henlock » 1 year ago

Carta Maiora www
Legendary Artifact {m}
Convoke (Your creatures can help cast this spell. Each creature you tap while casting this spell pays for or one mana of that creature's color.)
Spells cost 1 more to cast.
All spells have convoke.
Sacrifice Carta Maiora: Untap all creatures you control.

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Freyleyes
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Post by Freyleyes » 1 year ago

Mishra's Saga UBR
(As this Saga enters and after your draw step, add a lore counter. Sacrifice after III.)
I - Search your library for an artifact card, reveal it, put it into your hand, then shuffle.
II - Add CCC. Spend this mana only to cast artifact spells.
III - Create a token that's a copy of another target artifact.
Legendary Artifact - Mishra's Saga {R}

haywire
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Post by haywire » 1 year ago

Pylons of Rage
Artifact {R}
Whenever a creature attacks, put a rage counter on it.
Each creature with one or more rage counters on it gets +X/+0 and is goaded, where X is the number of rage counters on that creature. (They attack each combat if able and attack a player other than you if able.)
Whenever an attacking creature would die, instead exile it. When you do, Pylons of Rage deals 2 damage to that creature's controller.
Endless struggle in life; endless torment in death. That was the purpose of the rods driven deep into the earth by a spurned god.

netn10
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Post by netn10 » 1 year ago

Destructive Saxophone 2RR
Artifact (Rare)
Harmonic - At the end of turn, if you cast two or more spells with consecutive mana values, discard a card, then draw two cards, then destroy target land.
"Nothing smooth about this case."
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void_nothing
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Post by void_nothing » 1 year ago

Leaving this open until 23:59 Eastern on 7/12.
Psst, check the second page of Custom Card Contests & Games! Because of the daily contests, a lot of games fall down to there.

The greatest (fake) pro wrestling on the internet - Collaborative Create-A-Booster - My random creations (updated regularly)

Important Facts: Colorless is not a color, Wastes is not a land type, Changeling is not a creature type

slimytrout
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Post by slimytrout » 1 year ago

Entering because there are not many entries, but also willing to judge if needed.

Pilot Program W
Artifact (C)
A deck can have any number of cards named Pilot Program.
When Pilot Program enters the battlefield, create a 1/1 colorless Thopter artifact creature token with flying.
As long as you control five or more artifacts named Pilot Program, artifact creatures you control have lifelink, vigilance, and first strike.

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OneAndOnly
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Post by OneAndOnly » 1 year ago

Dacantal's Prism -- 2G
Artifact {R}
The first time each turn you would add mana, add an equal amount of mana of a color of your choice instead.
Though blind from toiling in the darkness of his laboratory, Dacantal finally saw the light.

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MonoRedMage
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Post by MonoRedMage » 1 year ago

Helltinder, the Charred Gallows RR
Legendary Artifact {R}
Helltinder, the Charred Gallows enters the battlefield tapped.
X, T: Helltinder deals X damage to target creature. When that creature dies this turn, you gain control of each Equipment attached to it and turn each card exiled with that creature face up. You may cast any number of those exiled cards without paying their mana costs. Helltinder doesn't untap during your next untap step. Activate only as a sorcery.
The executioner always finds a way to take a fee.

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void_nothing
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Post by void_nothing » 1 year ago

And the round is closed! There are few enough entries that I feel comfortable judging myself this month - the top six from this round will move on to round 2.
Psst, check the second page of Custom Card Contests & Games! Because of the daily contests, a lot of games fall down to there.

The greatest (fake) pro wrestling on the internet - Collaborative Create-A-Booster - My random creations (updated regularly)

Important Facts: Colorless is not a color, Wastes is not a land type, Changeling is not a creature type

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void_nothing
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Post by void_nothing » 1 year ago

kwanyeegor-ii
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Design
(3/3) Appeal - Txmmy likes what's going on here, from helping to ramp out big enchantments to growing artifact beaters. Jxnny could build around this - Hammer of Purphoros anyone? Spike likes how much this does - they're a fan of Mirari's Wake-type cards.
(2/3) Elegance - A bit of a The Immortal Sun situation - a bunch of abilities, relatively simple on their own, but only tangentially related.

Development
(3/3) Viability - Definitely GW, definitely rare.
(3/3) Balance - Looks reasonably costed - each of those abilities is powerful but niche. And the ward ability doesn't protect this card itself.

Creativity
(1.5/3) Uniqueness - Very much a mashup of old elements, but the whole package feels fairly new.
(2.5/3) Flavor - Name's pretty nice, but there's clearly some worldbuilding I have no access to going on. Short flavor text would have been good.

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

Total: 22/25
bravelion83
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Design
(2/3) Appeal - Jxnny and Spike have plenty of tricks and thoughts about this, but Txmmy isn't all that interested in a card that doesn't directly help them win the game.
(1.5/3) Elegance - All that top card looking and deciding whether to scry could take up a lot of time over the game.

Development
(3/3) Viability - That's a blue rare.
(3/3) Balance - Sure - those abilities are about worth U and a card. Very low-impact in terms of immediate game changes and you have to spend a significant amount of mana to stack your draws how you want.

Creativity
(1.5/3) Uniqueness - Interesting combination of somewhat-old library manip abilities. The XX cost is funky and I get a Soothsaying vibe.
(3/3) Flavor - Sure - simple, solid, mechanics really fit the flavor.

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

Total: 21/25
Henlock
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Design
(3/3) Appeal - The line "All spells have convoke" is about enough to make anybody fall out of their chair, and Spike is excited for the extra hoser utility against creature-light decks.
(2.5/3) Elegance - This does a lot, but not anything that's too hard to deal with (other than remembering to add 1 to the number of creatures you have to convoke with).

Development
(3/3) Viability - Oh yeah, that's a white mythic - one could argue that this should be part green but I don't see that.
(2.5/3) Balance - Cards like this always seem worrisome, but the symmetry makes this mostly fine - concerned that final activated ability makes this ripe for abuse, though.

Creativity
(2.5/3) Uniqueness - A lot of neat stuff going on here.
(3/3) Flavor - No flavor text, but knowing my Latin makes me able to suss out what's going on here from the name.

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

Total: 23.5/25
Freyleyes
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Design
(3/3) Appeal - Txmmy, Jxnny, and Spike all want to tutor broken artifacts, ramp into them, and then copy them.
(2.5/3) Elegance - About as text-heavy as the average Saga.

Development
(1/3) Viability - So basically this card does not work: Saga is an enchantment subtype. It simply can't go on cards that are not enchantments; if this typeline had said "Enchantment Artifact - Mishra's Saga" with Mishra's presumably being an artifact type, no issue (other than complexity). But as written, this is not a printable card.
(2/3) Balance - This looks at least extremely strong - while Urza's Saga is as powerful as it is because it's a land, this makes up for being a more conventional Saga by having a first chapter that's worth three mana in and of itself and having later chapters that are just as powerful.

Creativity
(1.5/3) Uniqueness - Naturally draws on existing cards, but the chapters all play interestingly together.
(2/3) Flavor - This doesn't quite work as well for me as it could because, well, Mishra never had a Saga. He was the losing brother, he fell to Phyrexian corruption, and it was Urza, not he, who became one of the most powerful planeswalkers of all time and proceeded to wage a ruthless centuries-long campaign against Yawgmoth, who was to that time the greatest villain ever known in the multiverse. If this is a "what if" scenario, I can appreciate that, but I inherently don't have that context. This is not to denigrate how well the chapters are put together; the references to Mishra's Workshop and at least spiritually to Mishra, Artificer Prodigy himself are pretty nice.

Polish
(2.5/3) Quality - That middle chapter ability should probably have a "you don't lose this mana..." clause.
(2/2) Main Challenge (*) - Done.
(2/2) Subchallenges - And done.

Total: 18.5/25
haywire
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Design
(3/3) Appeal - Pretty much everyone wants this in a multiplayer game.
(1.5/3) Elegance - A fair degree of complexity here, particularly with that final ability. The goading might be hard for new players to wrap their heads around.

Development
(3/3) Viability - Definitely red, definitely rare.
(2.5/3) Balance - The addition of goad makes this potentially a bit much in EDH, but overall this seems relatively fine since it's very symmetrical.

Creativity
(2.5/3) Uniqueness - "Everything that attacks keeps getting stronger, but also has to keep attacking" is a pretty interesting card concept. Doesn't do any one thing that's unprecedented, but still pretty cool.
(3/3) Flavor - Sure - I wasn't sold on the final ability but the flavor text justified this for me. Interesting worldbuilding.

Polish
(2.5/3) Quality - Replacement effects begin with "if" and not "whenever".
(2/2) Main Challenge (*) - Done.
(2/2) Subchallenges - And done.

Total: 22/25
netn10
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Design
(3/3) Appeal - Txmmy likes blowing things up and chaining spells together, Jxnny wants to look for ways to abuse this, Spike is happy if this manages to trigger even twice.
(2.5/3) Elegance - Does two unrelated things with its triggered ability and counts something new to trigger it.

Development
(3/3) Viability - Definitely a red rare.
(2/3) Balance - The fact that this card refills your hand makes it strike me as too easy to destroy lands with over multiple turns in a row. Still, consecutive mana values are hardly a guaranteed thing.

Creativity
(3/3) Uniqueness - Definitely a lot of new stuff going on here.
(2.5/3) Flavor - A bit silly, but I like that flavor text.

Polish
(2.5/3) Quality - Missing a "this turn" in there.
(2/2) Main Challenge (*) - Done.
(2/2) Subchallenges - And done.

Total: 22.5/25
slimytrout
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Design
(2/3) Appeal - Mostly a Txmmy/Jxnny card - Spike's hardly going to make an artifact creature tribal deck that relies on spending WWWWW and five cards on something.
(3/3) Elegance - Actually a pretty simple card in execution.

Development
(3/3) Viability - Definitely white and cards like this benefit from being common.
(3/3) Balance - Sure - the base rate is Suntail Hawk. You can do things with bouncing or blinking this but ultimately 1/1 flyers are hardly the most degenerate ETB combo and the bonus for having a bunch of these out, while good in combat terms, is hardly overwhelming.

Creativity
(2/3) Uniqueness - Nothing unprecedented, but does several new things with design space that has been explored a few times before.
(2.5/3) Flavor - That name is clever enough that it almost becomes silly, and it feels too abstracted for an artifact. Still, I do like this.

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

Total: 22.5/25
OneAndOnly
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Design
(0.5/3) Appeal - Really hard to say who this card is for - Maybe Jxnny has something to do with it with some odd interactions? The card is basically not high-impact enough in any sense for Txmmy or Spike.
(3/3) Elegance - Sure, this feels alright.

Development
(2/3) Viability - Green, yes, but I absolutely can't see this at rare - uncommon at highest imho.
(0.5/3) Balance - This is on par with very old, very bad mana "rocks" like North Star rather than the modern expectation for a rare mana artifact - especially one that requires green mana to cast. Since most mana sources add mana one at a time (i.e. mana abilities of most lands/mana ability creatures/mana rocks), this will probably let you get one mana of a different color at best, and even decks that do play things like Seething Song usually have no reason to get a different color.

Creativity
(1/3) Uniqueness - There's plenty of mana filtering that already exists. This does do it in a somewhat different way though.
(3/3) Flavor - I really like that flavor text. It's a succinct character moment and I want to know more about Dacantal now.

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

Total: 17/25
MonoRedMage
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Design
(2.5/3) Appeal - Txmmy wants to burn opposing creatures and steal their stuff. This has enough unusual clauses to get Jxnny salivating. Spike appreciates resilient repeatable removal with a cheap startup cost no matter the restrictions and extra bonuses - but that not untapping is rough.
(1/3) Elegance - I understand what this activated ability is doing, but for the execution (heh) that you wanted, the wording had to be startingly complex.

Development
(3/3) Viability - That is a red rare alright.
(2.5/3) Balance - Looks good to me - this seems restricted enough that it's never going to lock anyone out of creatures altogether but situationally interesting enough to produce some fun stories about winning a game off an activation. If anything, this is TOO restricted, making it overbalanced.

Creativity
(2.5/3) Uniqueness - That "steal exiled cards" clause is really unique.
(3/3) Flavor - Sure, I like this. Nice pithy flavor text.

Polish
(3/3) Quality - Looks good.
(2/2) Main Challenge (*) - Done.
(1/2) Subchallenges - There is a tap symbol in there.

Total: 20.5/25
Totals (Bold advance)
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Henlock 23.5
netn10 22.5
slimytrout 22.5
kwanyeegor-ii 22
haywire 22
bravelion83 21

MonoRedMage 20.5
Freyleyes 18.5
OneAndOnly 17
Psst, check the second page of Custom Card Contests & Games! Because of the daily contests, a lot of games fall down to there.

The greatest (fake) pro wrestling on the internet - Collaborative Create-A-Booster - My random creations (updated regularly)

Important Facts: Colorless is not a color, Wastes is not a land type, Changeling is not a creature type

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