October MCC Round 1: You Make the MCC

Locked Previous topicNext topic
slimytrout
Posts: 1906
Joined: 5 years ago
Pronoun: Unlisted

Post by slimytrout » 1 year ago

Image
(Waste Not by Matt Stewart)

October MCC Round 1

You Make the MCC
We're trying something a little unusual in the MCC this month, which I'm calling "You Make the MCC," after the You Make the Card promos Wizards ran where they solicited card designs from the public and turned them into an actual card.

The way this is going to work is that each round will have an optional prompt that you can complete. The player who has the highest score in the round will have their answer worked into the challenge for the following round (with ties going to the player who submitted their entry first -- a little added incentive to submit your entry on time). Anyway, hopefully this will all make sense as we keep going.


Main Challenge - Design a land card that is set on a new plane.

Subchallenge 1 - Your card does not have the word "life" on it.

Subchallenge 2 - Your card has a colorless or multicolored color identity.

Optional Prompt: Provide a brief (3 sentences or less) description of the plane on which this land is found. This can include story elements but does not need to.

Clarifications
Show
Hide
Main Challenge: "New" means that no existing magic card (including Planechase cards) has been set on that plane. If you want to use some random setting that Dack Fayden visited once in a novel, or a setting from Collaborative Create-a-Booster, then go right ahead.

Also, the card can be double-faced but the front face has to be a land -- the back face can be whatever you want.

Subchallenge 1: "Lifelink" also violates this challenge.

Subchallenge 2: So basically Citadel Gate violates this challenge but Mishra's Workshop or Hallowed Fountain both work.

If you have any questions, post them in the MCC discussion thread.
DEADLINES

Design deadline: Sunday, October 9th 23:59 EDT

Judging deadline: Wednesday, October 12th 23:59 EDT


RUBRIC
MCC Rubric
Show
Hide
Design
(X/3) Appeal - Do the different player psychographics (Timmy/Johnny/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

slimytrout

Judge Signup Thread -- Unsure if we'll need another, so feel free to sign up provisionally and also enter this round.

PLAYERS

Everyone can enter this round. Just reply to this thread posting a card that meets the Main Challenge and any number (that includes zero) of Subchallenges. Future rounds will only be open to those who advance. Come join us!

kwanyeegor-ii
Posts: 1959
Joined: 5 years ago
Pronoun: Unlisted

Post by kwanyeegor-ii » 1 year ago

Plaza of Altars
Land (Rare)
Plaza of Altars enters the battlefield tapped.
T: Add G or W.
T: Add BB. Plaza of Altars deals 2 damage to you. Activate only if you control an Avatar.

Dunwivar is a highly developed plane blessed by special rivers that are inundated with mana. These rivers have enabled trade, diplomacy, and advanced civilization, but its five biggest city states gained power long ago by making pacts with the five races of dangerous ancient beings that once ruled the world and then deceiving them.
畫龍點睛

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

netn10
Posts: 4116
Joined: 4 years ago
Pronoun: Unlisted

Post by netn10 » 1 year ago

Ezoderis, Realm of Nature
Legendary Land (Mythic)
Ezoderis, Realm of Nature enters the battlefield tapped.
T: Add B, R, G or W.
BGG, T: Until end of turn, each creature card in your graveyard has unearth 1GB.
RGG, T: Create a {2} artifact Totem token. (It has two toughness counters, can be attacked as though as it was a planeswalker and can block as though as it was a creature.)
GGW, T: Harmonize (To harmonize, choose target enchantment you control with harmonize and trigger each of its harmonize abilities.)

In the world of Jenaran, science and nature are always at the throat of each other. The WUBR faction, the Coltrains, rejects green mana in order to shed everything natural about them and the Ezoderis, the BRGW do the opposite.

CunningGabe
Posts: 452
Joined: 3 years ago
Pronoun: he / him

Post by CunningGabe » 1 year ago

Finarian Bluffs
Land (R)
Finarian Bluffs enters the battlefield tapped.
T: Add U or R.
3UR: Transform Finarian Bluffs.
////
Finarian Stormtide
(U/R) Enchantment
Whenever you cast a blue spell, tap or untap target permanent.
Whenever you cast a red spell, Finarian Stormtide deals 1 damage to any target.
Winner of August '22 DCC and September '22 NCED

Ink-Treader
Posts: 1595
Joined: 4 years ago
Pronoun: Unlisted

Post by Ink-Treader » 1 year ago

Edifice of Order
Land (R)
Edifice of Order enters the battlefield tapped.
T: Add C or W.
3CW, T: Create a 2/2 white Archon creature token with menace and "When this enters the battlefield, another target non-Archon creature you control phases out until this creature leaves the battlefield."
Safety comes from a higher power.

A mysterious power (C) has begun permeating Silumae, granting the desires of its races. Safety, knowledge, rebirth, freedom, evolution... What will happen when their desires begin to conflict?
Last edited by Ink-Treader 1 year ago, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar
Rithaniel
Posts: 2814
Joined: 5 years ago
Pronoun: he / him

Post by Rithaniel » 1 year ago

Flower-Filled Tomb
Land R
Flower-Filled Tomb enters the battlefield tapped.
: Add
, : Put a +1/+1 counter on target creature you control if it has the least power or is tied for least power among creatures you control.
"We do not know who this mausoleum was made for, but we do know they were loved."
—Uxester, Who Has Seen Ten Thousand Doors

Flavor Time
Show
Hide
Harriskane is a plane on the "edge" of the Multiverse, and one that is exceedingly unnatural. Where Ravinca is a plane of endless city, Harriskane is a plane of endless rooms, with nothing beyond their walls but more rooms. It is also a plane that is ancient beyond compare, with places within it that weren't made by mortal hands and remnants within it which are older than anything should be able to be.
Last edited by Rithaniel 1 year ago, edited 2 times in total.
And a Few Quotes
Show
Hide
"Why are numbers beautiful? It's like asking why is Beethoven's Ninth Symphony beautiful. If you don't see why, someone can't tell you. I know numbers are beautiful. If they aren't beautiful, nothing is."
― Paul Erdős

“I am, somehow, less interested in the weight and convolutions of Einstein’s brain than in the near certainty that people of equal talent have lived and died in cotton fields and sweatshops.”
― Stephen Jay Gould

marioguy3
Posts: 765
Joined: 4 years ago
Pronoun: he / him

Post by marioguy3 » 1 year ago

Aerospin, Site of Heroes
Legendary Land (Rare)
: Add .
, : Add one mana of any color.
, : Create a legendary 4/4 white, blue, red, and green creature token with haste named "Hero of the Land."
The summer is hot. The sum of sun and hot equals summer.

User avatar
MonoRedMage
Posts: 575
Joined: 4 years ago
Pronoun: they / them

Post by MonoRedMage » 1 year ago

Makhmad, the Headland Shield
Legendary Artifact Land {R}
Makhmad, the Headland Shield enters the battlefield tapped.
T: Add C.
3, T: You may put a Plains card from your hand or graveyard onto the battlefield.
3, T, Return a white artifact you control to its owner's hand: Target player on your team gains hexproof until end of turn.

The winds of change over the lands of Aloonzi, an almost deserted plane that's dominated by ancient artificial landforms, and which planeswalkers are now rediscovering as a convenient staging ground for any plans they may have concocted.

User avatar
OneAndOnly
Posts: 2477
Joined: 4 years ago
Pronoun: he / him

Post by OneAndOnly » 1 year ago

Ozomo was a self-perpetuating mechanical plane created untold eons ago by Omozo the Perpetrator. But over the course of millenia, gears gring to a halt and mechanismd break down ...

Cogwheel Workshop
Artifact Land. {R}
t: Add C.
U, T, Sacrifice an artifact: Shuffle target artifact card in a graveyard into it's owner's laboratory. Cards with that name cost 1 less to cast.

haywire
Posts: 342
Joined: 4 years ago
Pronoun: he / him

Post by haywire » 1 year ago

Pylon of the Weave
Artifact Land — Pylon {R}
Whenever you cast an instant or sorcery spell, put a charge counter on Pylon of the Weave.
: Add .
, Remove a charge counter from Pylon of the Weave: Add or .
At the beginning of your upkeep, if there are 7 or more charge counters among Pylons you control, `scry 1, then reveal the top card of your library. If it's an instant or sorcery card, put it into your hand. Pylon of the Weave deals damage equal to its mana value to target creature an opponent controls at random.
Equal parts knowledge and rage fuel the magecraft of the Weave.

World Description:
Kordal is a plane where greed drives a population of warring factions. Not content with natural sources of mana, the various factions have developed massive devices known as pylons to mine the leylines for mana directly, not caring that mining the leylines makes natural mana even scarcer and so perpetuates the vicious resource war. The factions are each comprised of internally warring principles, such as the Weave, whose endless study of knowledge is matched only by a wanton desire for destruction.

Henlock
Posts: 1564
Joined: 5 years ago
Pronoun: Unlisted
Contact:

Post by Henlock » 1 year ago

Reconnaisance Cloud
Artifact Land - Vehicle (r)
Flying
Reconnaisance Cloud can only block creatures with flying.
: Add
Crew 2
In Pardia, even the sky has ears.
1/4

A diplomatic mission has been sent to the other side of Pardia, in order to stop the exploitation tecniques in Sola's Realm that have imbalanced natural and spiritual life in the whole plane. It is believed that King Sola is. in the best case, being unlawfully controlled by the corporations, that deploy their instruments of greed, spionage and sabotage to defend their interests at all cost.

Legend
Aethernaut
Posts: 1672
Joined: 5 years ago
Pronoun: he / him
Location: Eternity

Post by Legend » 1 year ago

Elderon: A subterranean plane where time and space overlap and there's no colored mana.

Caverns of Time (Rare)
Legendary Land
t: Add c.
1, t: Exile the top card of your library. You may play that card this turn. Activate only as a sorcery.
“Comboing in Commander is like dunking on a seven foot hoop.” – Dana Roach

“Making a deck that other people want to play against – that’s Commander.” – Gavin Duggan

"I want my brain to win games, not my cards." – Sheldon Menery

slimytrout
Posts: 1906
Joined: 5 years ago
Pronoun: Unlisted

Post by slimytrout » 1 year ago

Less than 24 hours remain to enter!

User avatar
Freyleyes
Posts: 100
Joined: 4 years ago
Pronoun: Unlisted

Post by Freyleyes » 1 year ago

Bileblight Swarmer
Creature Land - Swarm Drone {R}
T: Add B or G.
1: Swarm creatures you control get +1/+1 until end of turn. Activate only once each turn.
Reports have come in of organic material sightings, further investigation required.
0/1

Artezia, a plane built entirely of metal, with no sights of organic live for millennia.

User avatar
Lorn Asbord Schutta
Posts: 1109
Joined: 4 years ago
Pronoun: he / him

Post by Lorn Asbord Schutta » 1 year ago

Derelict Stone Circle
Land (U)
: Add . If you control a sorcery spell, add one mana of any color instead.
At the beginning of your end step, if Derelict Stone Circle is tapped, it deals 1 damage to you.
The circles mark where to puncture land with words of power. But mana no longer bleeds from those wounds. It suppurates.

Peruna is a plane where civilizations tampered with leylines, untethering many of them and causing a plane-wide calamity. Now the plane is wracked with a freakish storms and haunted by arcane horrors. The apocalypse was survived only by a handful of former wizards that roam the land to this day, some in search of meaning, other seeking redemption, most waiting for their end.

slimytrout
Posts: 1906
Joined: 5 years ago
Pronoun: Unlisted

Post by slimytrout » 1 year ago

Ok, round is closed! Judging details will be posted shortly.

slimytrout
Posts: 1906
Joined: 5 years ago
Pronoun: Unlisted

Post by slimytrout » 1 year ago

Judging time! (Sorry for the delay, got home from traveling and immediately started feeling sick...)

slimytrout:
Lorn Asbord Schutta
Henlock
MonoRedMage
Ink-Treader
CunningGabe
haywire
marioguy3

@void_nothing:
Rithaniel
OneAndOnly
Legend
Freyleyes
kwanyeegor-ii
netn10

Top four from each bracket will advance, and the best scorer (overall, not from each bracket) will have their flavor submission (if they provided one) incorporated into the round.

slimytrout
Posts: 1906
Joined: 5 years ago
Pronoun: Unlisted

Post by slimytrout » 1 year ago

Lorn Asbord Schutta
Show
Hide
Derelict Stone Circle
Land (U)
: Add . If you control a sorcery spell, add one mana of any color instead.
At the beginning of your end step, if Derelict Stone Circle is tapped, it deals 1 damage to you.
The circles mark where to puncture land with words of power. But mana no longer bleeds from those wounds. It suppurates.

Peruna is a plane where civilizations tampered with leylines, untethering many of them and causing a plane-wide calamity. Now the plane is wracked with a freakish storms and haunted by arcane horrors. The apocalypse was survived only by a handful of former wizards that roam the land to this day, some in search of meaning, other seeking redemption, most waiting for their end.
Design
(1/3) Appeal – Timmy is not that interested – it's too fiddly and doesn't have a big payoff. Spike is moderately interested – it's kind of like a Mana Confluence in the right deck but not as reliable. Johnny is also moderately interested – it's a weird land but ultimately its ceiling isn't that high.
(1.5/3) Elegance – Here's where we run into a tough rules issue. The way the rules work, as soon as you begin casting a spell you "declare" it and put it on the stack, which means that Derelict Stone Circle can add mana of any color to cast a sorcery spell even if you don't have one on the stack (see CR 601.2a for details). This is a rules interaction that I suspect >90% of players would not understand and which is pretty important to how the card works, so that's a big hit. I don't know whether you were aware of this when designing it, but I have to judge the card as written.

Development
(2.5/3) Viability – Uncommon doesn't feel quite right for this – the uncommon cards that add one mana of any color tend to be things like Base Camp or Mech Hangar that play very strongly into the set's themes, and sorceries is a bit broad for that. I don't think it's impossible, just a bit of a stretch.
(3/3) Balance – I would say on average it's good bit weaker than Mana Confluence but that's a strong card and it's not a strict downgrade so I think it's fine.

Creativity
(2.5/3) Uniqueness – There are some new aspects to this, but one of them (making different mana based on spells on the stack) is pretty confusing territory so I'm not giving full credit for that.
(3/3) Flavor – Feels weird and wrong, which goes with your proposed flavor nicely. Plus I just love the word "suppurating."

Polish
(3/3) Quality – Looks good.
(2/2) Main Challenge (*) – Yep.
(2/2) Subchallenges – Yep yep.

Total: 20.5/25
Henlock
Show
Hide
Reconnaisance Cloud
Artifact Land - Vehicle (r)
Flying
Reconnaisance Cloud can only block creatures with flying.
: Add
Crew 2
In Pardia, even the sky has ears.
1/4

A diplomatic mission has been sent to the other side of Pardia, in order to stop the exploitation tecniques in Sola's Realm that have imbalanced natural and spiritual life in the whole plane. It is believed that King Sola is. in the best case, being unlawfully controlled by the corporations, that deploy their instruments of greed, spionage and sabotage to defend their interests at all cost.
Design
(2/3) Appeal – Johnny is generally interested in artifact lands, and a vehicle land is definitely weird enough for them. Spike doesn't love the idea of (effectively) tapping two power of creatures and mana per turn just to do one damage, but the option to do so is definitely worth the slot in an artifact deck. Timmy definitely likes manlands, but would prefer paying mana for a larger one over having to tap creatures.
(3/3) Elegance – Very simple and elegant.
Development
(3/3) Viability – Nicely dodges the rules issues that plague Dryad Arbor, and definitely something that artifacts can do. Definitely appropriate to be rare like every manland since Worldwake.

(3/3) Balance – Looks appropriate – if anything, a little weak, but that's probably an appropriate place to start with something like this. You start with (almost) a Darksteel Citadel and then add on the ability to turn a 2/2 into a 1/4 flying and get something that looks like a reasonable card.

Creativity
(2.5/3) Uniqueness – This is not a crazy idea, since manlands already exist, but the vehicle part is quite novel so I'll give nearly full points.
(2.5/3) Flavor – I'm not exactly sure how you can ride in a cloud, but otherwise a very cool concept.

Polish
(2.5/3) Quality – Slight typo in the spelling of "reconnaissance."
(2/2) Main Challenge (*) – Yep.
(2/2) Subchallenges – Yep yep.

Total: 22.5/25
MonoRedMage
Show
Hide
Makhmad, the Headland Shield
Legendary Artifact Land {R}
Makhmad, the Headland Shield enters the battlefield tapped.
T: Add C.
3, T: You may put a Plains card from your hand or graveyard onto the battlefield.
3, T, Return a white artifact you control to its owner's hand: Target player on your team gains hexproof until end of turn.

The winds of change over the lands of Aloonzi, an almost deserted plane that's dominated by ancient artificial landforms, and which planeswalkers are now rediscovering as a convenient staging ground for any plans they may have concocted.
Design
(1.5/3) Appeal – Johnny is over the moon about this – they love niche abilties for a low cost. Spike is moderately interested – they don't the base rate of a colorless land that comes into play tapped, but the ability to pull Plains out of the graveyard is a potential value engine in the right deck. Timmy does not want to spend their entire turn to get an extra land drop or give themselves hexproof, so they're out.
(2/3) Elegance – "Target player on your team" is a bit odd (why not just leave off "on your team" and then it can also be used for politics in commander?) but otherwise it's fine. Also I tend to ding legendary lands here because it's so easy to accidentally play a second one and then have to sacrifice.
Development
(2.5/3) Viability – I mean, colorless has Crucible of Worlds and Witchbane Orb so this all seems doable. Rare is right.
(3/3) Balance – Probably in about the right spot – honestly hard to find any good comparisons to know exactly how good this is. My suspicion is it's a little weak, but since lands are so hard to remove it's much better to miss low rather than high.

Creativity
(3/3) Uniqueness – Yeah, never seen a card like this before.
(2.5/3) Flavor – When I think of "headland" it has to do with the coast, so it's a little odd to have this name associated with what's clearly the white member of the cycle.

Polish
(3/3) Quality – Sure, looks good.
(2/2) Main Challenge (*) – Yep.
(2/2) Subchallenges – Yep yep.

Total: 22/25
Ink-Treader
Show
Hide
Edifice of Order
Land (R)
Edifice of Order enters the battlefield tapped.
T: Add C or W.
3CW, T: Create a 2/2 white Archon creature token with menace and "When this enters the battlefield, another target non-Archon creature you control phases out until this creature leaves the battlefield."
Safety comes from a higher power.

A mysterious power (C) has begun permeating Silumae, granting the desires of its races. Safety, knowledge, rebirth, freedom, evolution... What will happen when their desires begin to conflict?
Design
(2.5/3) Appeal – Definitely weird enough for Johnny. Spike is interested in the value provided by a land that spits out tokens, even if it causes a tempo loss in phasing out other creatures. Timmy also likes spitting out tokens, but doesn't want to give up their other creatures to do so.
(2.5/3) Elegance – Takes a second to understand, especially with the non-Archon clause, but not too bad.
Development
(2.5/3) Viability – This is mostly ok? The boundaries of colorless mana are hard to pin down, so I'd say everything seems doable except for the menace, which is a bit of a bend on what's clearly a white-identified card. Definitely rare.
(3/3) Balance – I think this is fine, with the phasing requirement being a crucial aspect of that.

Creativity
(2/3) Uniqueness – The base card looks a lot like Castle Ardenvale but the colorless aspects are new.
(3/3) Flavor – Yeah, seems cool. Archons are weird, and I like that this leans into that.

Polish
(3/3) Quality – Looks good.
(2/2) Main Challenge (*) – Yep.
(1/2) Subchallenges – Mono-white color identity.

Total: 21.5/25
CunningGabe
Show
Hide
Finarian Bluffs
Land (R)
Finarian Bluffs enters the battlefield tapped.
T: Add U or R.
3UR: Transform Finarian Bluffs.
////
Finarian Stormtide
(U/R) Enchantment
Whenever you cast a blue spell, tap or untap target permanent.
Whenever you cast a red spell, Finarian Stormtide deals 1 damage to any target.
Design
(2.5/3) Appeal – Johnny likes the untapping, and Spike likes a dual land with lots of potential value. Timmy finds it a little bit fiddly given the amount of mana they have to invest, but is still interested in a land that "does stuff."
(3/3) Elegance – Very clean.
Development
(3/3) Viability – Both abilities are squarely in color pie, and you need those colors to flip it so it all works out. Definitely rare.
(2.5/3) Balance – Maybe a little bit strong? The opportunity cost of entering as a Highland Lake is not that high, and while 5 mana is a lot, it's not unreasonable to reach in Standard, so I imagine this cycle would be insta-includes in all but the most aggressive decks. The biggest thing saving it is that the backside is an enchantment, which is much more removable than a land.

Creativity
(2/3) Uniqueness – Basically Fable of Wolf and Owl stapled to the backside of a Highland Lake, which is a new combination but not wildly innovative.
(2/3) Flavor – Definitely room for flavor text on both sides, and especially since there's no additional explanation it ends up feeling pretty generic.

Polish
(3/3) Quality – Looks good.
(2/2) Main Challenge (*) – Yep.
(2/2) Subchallenges – Yep yep.

Total: 22/25
haywire
Show
Hide
Pylon of the Weave
Artifact Land — Pylon {R}
Whenever you cast an instant or sorcery spell, put a charge counter on Pylon of the Weave.
: Add .
, Remove a charge counter from Pylon of the Weave: Add or .
At the beginning of your upkeep, if there are 7 or more charge counters among Pylons you control, `scry 1, then reveal the top card of your library. If it's an instant or sorcery card, put it into your hand. Pylon of the Weave deals damage equal to its mana value to target creature an opponent controls at random.
Equal parts knowledge and rage fuel the magecraft of the Weave.

World Description:
Kordal is a plane where greed drives a population of warring factions. Not content with natural sources of mana, the various factions have developed massive devices known as pylons to mine the leylines for mana directly, not caring that mining the leylines makes natural mana even scarcer and so perpetuates the vicious resource war. The factions are each comprised of internally warring principles, such as the Weave, whose endless study of knowledge is matched only by a wanton desire for destruction.
[/quote]

Note: I'm going to be judging this card as if it said "…deals damage equal to the revealed card's mana value…" since it makes no sense to have something that's designed to repeatedly deal 0 damage, and then I'll deduct in Quality.

Design
(2.5/3) Appeal – Johnny loves a card like this that rewards crazy deckbuilding. Timmy loves a card that wants you to have haymakers on top of your library. Spike loves the repeated value, but is a bit turned off by the "random" part that will sometimes throw a Shock at a 3-toughness creature.
(1.5/3) Elegance – If I use the correct text, I get 12 lines with four line breaks, which is extreme microtext (even with the original text it's way too long). There's definitely not room for flavor text, but even without it the text is way too long.
Development
(3/3) Viability – Rare is definitely fine, and I think that this is something colorless (leaning r/u) can do without too much trouble.
(2/3) Balance – This is considerably too strong in a spellslinger deck. It doesn't help you cast your first instant or sorcery, but if you need fixing for any spell after that it works just fine. Meanwhile, if you don't need help with fixing it just accumulates counters for free, at which point you start potentially getting 2-for-0's off your land! If this ability required removing charge counters then it would be closer to being okay, but as-is if you manage to get multiple of these out then your opponent basically has no way to interact other than burning you out.

Creativity
(2.5/3) Uniqueness – The parts have mostly been used before, but not in this way.
(3/3) Flavor – Fun! No complaints here.

Polish
(1.5/3) Quality – Big deduction for the wording problem mentioned above, and smaller deduction because it should be "chosen at random."
(2/2) Main Challenge (*) – Yep.
(2/2) Subchallenges – Yep yep.

Total: 20/25
marioguy3
Show
Hide
Aerospin, Site of Heroes
Legendary Land (Rare)
: Add .
, : Add one mana of any color.
, : Create a legendary 4/4 white, blue, red, and green creature token with haste named "Hero of the Land."
Design
(2/3) Appeal – Johnny isn't really interested in a card this straightforward, but Spike and Timmy both like a land that can fix and also spit out a creature at a great (if color-intensive) rate.
(2.5/3) Elegance – Very easy to understand, but I do tend to ding legendary lands here because it's so easy to mistakenly play a second one and have to sacrifice.
Development
(2/3) Viability – If you have a four-color card, which this (effectively) is, then it tends to be defined by the color it isn't, but I'm not at all sure why the anti-black keyword is haste, so it feels like a miss on the color identity. Rarity is fine.
(2.5/3) Balance – I mean, it's pushed, but the fact that the hero is legendary helps a good amount, as does the challenging mana requirement. I think it's a little strong, especially since lands are so hard to remove, but not wildly so.

Creativity
(1.5/3) Uniqueness – A Shimmering Grotto with a souped-up Castle Ardenvale on top. Only new part is the legendary token.
(3/3) Flavor – Yeah, seems cool. Archons are weird, and I like that this leans into that.

Polish
(3/3) Quality – Looks good.
(2/2) Main Challenge (*) – Yep.
(2/2) Subchallenges – Yep yep.

Total: 20.5/25
Rankings
Show
Hide
A lot of strong submissions this round, but some folks have to be eliminated.
Henlock: 22.5
CunningGabe: 22
MonoRedMage: 22
Ink-Treader: 21.5

marioguy3: 20.5
Lorn Asbord Schutta: 20.5
haywire: 20

User avatar
void_nothing
Undersea Emperor
Posts: 15440
Joined: 5 years ago
Answers: 127
Pronoun: he / him
Location: Lodrux, Arakanta

Post by void_nothing » 1 year ago

Rithaniel
Show
Hide
Design
(3/3) Appeal - Txmmy wants to throw those +1/+1 counters around. Jxnny has things to manipulate here and plans for specific small creatures to be made large. Spike likes having that extra mana-sinky ability that's ALWAYS useful even if you only have one creature.
(2.5/3) Elegance - That bolster-ish clause is always a mouthful to write out.

Development
(3/3) Viability - Sure - definitely rare, activated ability is the hybridized enemy colors of the central color and fits in those colors. Checks out.
(2/3) Balance - Putting on a +1/+1 counter EVERY turn looks strong - but things like Oran-Rief, the Vastwood exist without completely breaking formats. I think on the whole this is slow enough to be largely fine.

Creativity
(1.5/3) Uniqueness - Some new thinking here with the hybrid activation cost, but ultimately a number of lands already place +1/+1 counters and even the condition is basically a mirror of bolster.
(3/3) Flavor - Very sweet and moving. This works well for me.

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

Total: 22/25
OneAndOnly
Show
Hide
Design
(2/3) Appeal - Utility ability is a bit small-scale for Txmmy, but Jxnny and Spike would probably want to repeatedly use it and break it.
(1.5/3) Elegance - Even not taking into account my confusion in the Balance section (see below), this is a very fiddly activated ability that this card has.

Development
(3/3) Viability - Rare seems good, and this is definitely a blue activated ability.
(0/3) Balance - There are two Quality mistakes(?) here that prevent me from evaluating this card's power level basically at all. One, I assume "laboratory" is meant to be "library", but in context I feel as though it could very well be some other kind of zone introduced by a set mechanic and that I know nothing about. Secondly... how long does that cost reduction last? Until end of turn? Indefinitely? By default, it appears to be indefinitely.

Creativity
(2.5/3) Uniqueness - That activated ability is a unique idea for sure - an artifact land with a utility ability of a kind that hasn't been seen on a land before.
(2/3) Flavor - Name is pretty generic and doesn't give me the sense of recycling that the activated ability seems to be conveying.

Polish
(1/3) Quality - Typeline has a superfluous period at the end of it. That should say "ITS owner's library(?)" (scalawag). Finally... references an unexplained "laboratory" and has an unlimited-duration effect with no reminder text.
(2/2) Main Challenge (*) - Done.
(1/2) Subchallenges - Color identity is monocolored.

Total: 15/25
Legend
Show
Hide
Design
(2/3) Appeal - While Txmmy and Spike have plenty of reason to like a land that gives pure card advantage, Jxnny is not necessarily a fan because of just how generically strong it is.
(3/3) Elegance - Very comprehensible, no issues here.

Development
(2.5/3) Viability - Color's not relevant obviously, so I suppose rare is fine but honestly this feels like a mythic - my assumption is that it's an important location in the flavor.
(0/3) Balance - Impulsive draw is an efficient ability - in the right deck it's all the same as drawing a card. Being able to do it on each of your turns for just 1 and tapping a land puts this near the power level of Library of Alexandria. Legendary is not enough of a drawback here.

Creativity
(1/3) Uniqueness - Numerous colorless card draw lands exist, and this is just the same concept swapped out for the now-familiar impulsive draw.
(1.5/3) Flavor - Short rules text, but no flavor text. What gives? I would certainly like to know some more info given how generic the name is.

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

Total: 17/25
Freyleyes
Show
Hide
Design
(3/3) Appeal - Everybody would at least want to give this a try - Txmmy and Jxnny with Swarms.dek, Spike just to try out a potentially powerful new land creature option.
(3/3) Elegance - Simultaneously an unusual concept and a very easy-to-figure-out one.

Development
(3/3) Viability - Complex enough (and land creatures have a variety of issues on their own) to be a rare. This fits as a BG member of presumably a tight cycle; all bicolor combinations could get this exact card just because the pump ability is universal enough.
(3/3) Balance - A 0/1 is very fragile. On the flip side, with multiple copies/other members of this dual land cycle, you could easily have an army with substantial P/T numbers in reserve to close out the game. Thankfully no basic land types.

Creativity
(2.5/3) Uniqueness - Obviously owes a debt to both Dryad Arbor and Mishra's Factory, but beyond that there's a surprising amount of new thinking in this short text.
(2.5/3) Flavor - While the flavor text is sort of generic, I love the picture painted here of a strange truly-inorganic world.

Polish
(2.5/3) Quality - Typeline should say "land creature."
(2/2) Main Challenge (*) - Looks good.
(2/2) Subchallenges - And done.

Total: 23.5/25
kwanyeegor-ii
Show
Hide
Design
(3/3) Appeal - Big mana from big creatures: Something Txmmy, Jxnny, and Spike can all appreciate.
(3/3) Elegance - Nothing too hard to understand here. A normal mana ability and a stronger one gated behind controlling a specific creature type and with a damage hit.

Development
(3/3) Viability - Sure. Feels like a rare dual and Avatars, if they were going to be a tribe, are a fitting enough type for a WBG faction.
(2.5/3) Balance - Adding two mana is always a bit worrisome but this has enough conditions that it seems to be safe... BUT it's also a triland, so that level of versatility puts it on the edge.

Creativity
(1.5/3) Uniqueness - Interesting enough take on dual lands that's a clear tribute to Ancient Tomb. Maybe I'd have given this more points if it were a different creature type?
(1.5/3) Flavor - Name's sort of generic AND abstract. Altars to sacrifice to the Avatars on? It's a stretch.

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

Total: 21.5/25
netn10
Show
Hide
Design
(3/3) Appeal - Everyone would want to give this card a try: Txmmy for the unearth mostly, Jxnny for the wacky combination of activated abilities, Spike for the mana ability.
(0.5/3) Elegance - If this card were printed, it would be one of the most monstrously complex land cards - maybe cards in general - ever printed. Possibly THE most complicated land ever. Three different utility activated abilities that involve set mechanics... one of which could have any number of effects depending on what enchantments you have with a particular type of triggered ability.

Development
(3/3) Viability - I can't argue that the various activated ability costs aren't fitting, and this card does go through a lot to justify it being part of the BRGW faction and mythic.
(1/3) Balance - So normally a land that can tap for four(!) colors and that has three(!) utility abilities would be on the edge of completely broken JUST for that versatility. But those three abilities in question are not that concerning. The pseudo-Sedris, the Traitor King BGG one is possibly the scariest, but at least it takes six mana just to get the first creature out. The RGG one doesn't look that good - these Totems look like a bad 0/2 defender, but I guess it could cause board stalls. Finally, the GGW one is totally parasitic. However, this card is basically worth playing for being an ETBT land that taps for almost anything.

Creativity
(3/3) Uniqueness - Hard to argue with this card being unique.
(2/3) Flavor - Some of the flavor here is kind of abstract and I'm not sure why a faction has three different keywords. Also, this sounds like a whole nation from your flavor description: that's sort of too big to make a land card of, and is more fitting of a Planechase plane card.

Polish
(2.5/3) Quality - Some inaccurate reminder text.
(2/2) Main Challenge (*) - Done.
(2/2) Subchallenges - And done.

Total: 19/25
Totals
Show
Hide
Freyleyes 23.5
Rithaniel 22
kwanyeegor-ii 21.5
netn10 19

Legend 17
OneAndOnly 15
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

Locked Previous topicNext topic

Return to “Contest Archives”