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By: Pyrosin, Matt Rossi
Jun 30 2008 9:30pm
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 June Custom Card Contest - Selling Point

The task for this month's contest was to design a splashy and exciting rare cycle that is meant to sell the set their in.  Think...

... the Dragons from Invasion,

Rith, the Awakener

... the Shocklands from Ravnica,

Overgrown Tomb

... or the Commands from Lorwyn.

Cryptic Command

Contestants would not be required to show us the entire cycle.  Instead, they were to show us one card from the cycle and then just explain what aspect of their entry would be used to tie the cycle together.

Scoring Criteria

The judges for this contest were Pyrosin, kalandine, and AJ Impy

Each entry can earn up to 10 points in each of the following categories (for a total of 50 possible points per entry):
• Originality (To score high in this catergory, the card should contain new approaches to the way the card is played or interacts with the environment.)
• Templating (To score high in this category, the card should be worded correctly. We should understand what the card is supposed to do with one reading.)
• Balance (To score high in this category, the card should be properly costed to the effect it produces. Cards that do too much for their cost, or too little, will be judged accordingly.)
• Flavor (To score high in this category, the card should reflect the expected mechanics considering color, card type, and representation.)
• Appeal (To score high in this category, not only should people want to play this card. Wizards should be able to promote this card during the set previews, and it should get people excited about the set as a whole.)

Prizes

And as always, the contestants were competing for gift certifiicates from MTGO Traders.

1st place: $10 gift certificate
2nd place: $6 gift certificate
3rd place: $4 gift certificate

Entries

ibanez_bw

Arborify

Cycle Description:

This is a loose cycle in which colors are granted typically off-color abilities due to flavor reasons. Obviously here green has a wrath variant, which is justified because A) it seems very green to turn people into trees and B) the creatures become lands, which is a kind of mana acceleration ala New Frontiers.

The cards are all one colorless mana more expensive than the cards they pay homage to, and must be an ally color to that card. (In my example, Arborify costs 1 more than Wrath of God, and green is an ally of white.)

The important part of this cycle is that the cards break a color pie rule but justify it with flavor and a twist to the card that makes it feel on-color. Imagine a black disenchant that requires you to sac a creature flavored as a ritual to abolish the magic. Perhaps a white counterspell called Censor that lets the opponent gain life or something. I don't have the whole cycle fleshed out, but that's the general idea.

Judge

Ori

Tem

Bal

Syn

App

Total

AJ_Impy

9

5

6

6

7

33

kalandine

8

10

7

5

8

38

Pyrosin

8

6

5

4

3

26

Score

8.3

7

6

5

6

32.3

AJ_Impy's Comments: Certainly original, but permanent state change effects like this that don't end at the end of turn are usually enchantments. Doing out of color things for the sake of doing out of colour things doesn't stand up as a solid justification to my eyes. Green very rarely gets outright creature removal of any sort: This is right on the edge, massively beyond Utopia Vow. Given sufficient creatures this could also be a combo piece, appealing more to Johnnies.

Arborify.jpg

 kalandine's Comments: The Flavor got knocked because giving black a disenchant seems completely outside the color wheel. Turning things into trees is very green so it is an effect that fringes on Wrath’s domain, but does it in a green way. The described black card infringes on white and green, but the sacrifice cost doesn’t really seem to be enough of a black twist to me.

Pyrosin's Comments: As AJ said, a Sorcery that grants a permanent change is weird.  There would be a lot of memory issues with this card.  Which of my creatures are creatures and which are lands, and so on...  Needs to be until end of turn, or make it an enchantment.  The "lands" is unnecessary.  And breaking the color pie for the sack of breaking it isn't an idea that gets me excited about a set. *cough*Planar Chaos*cough*

 

Tarmotog - 2nd Place

Ancient's Knowledge

Cycle Description:

This is a cycle of hybrid enemy color rares. The cycle will showcase the properties of each color that overlap which means that the other cards in the cycle can have other card types. The restriction to this cycle will be that they have no colorless requirements in their costs which would encourage playing the enemy combination, similar to the avatar cycle from Shadowmoor.

Each will have a different bonus for paying various amounts of the 2 colors of mana. Therefore proper planning of the lands used is going to be the key in using these cards.

Judge

Ori

Tem

Bal

Syn

App

Total

AJ_Impy

8

6

7

8

3

38

kalandine

8

10

5

8

8

39

Pyrosin

9

8

6

8

10

41

Score

8.3

8

6

8

7

39.3

 AJ_Impy's Comments: Interesting card. The potential to draw 4 cards at instant speed for 4 mana is dangerous, but using the rule of thumb of 1 coloured for 2 colorless, technically on par with Opportunity or Vigean intuition. Less powerful than Gifts Ungiven, whereas Careful Consideration can also dig four deep at instant speed for 4 mana. the Violent Eruption half is perfectly reasonable and safe. 4 damage divided as you choose is safe, deal 3 draw 1, deal 2 draw 2 are safe, compare the cheaper Electrolyze. But draw 3 deal 1 and draw 4, that's where my eyebrow is raised. Nonetheless, the card has widespread appeal. Some templating and grammatical issues: Mana is measured in amounts rather than numbers, compare Soul Burn, and Ancient's means pertaining to a specific Ancient. Plausible but not necessarily what was intended.

Ancient

 
kalandine's Comments: Drawing a card and dealing three damage spread in any desired way is on the high side of the power curve. Drawing four cards for 4 is also too powerful. I like the breakdown of overlapping card types.

Pyrosin's Comments: Very creative use of hybrid mana.  And if the other cards in this cycle are as powerful as this one, then the cycle definetly has selling power.  I'd like to playtest this, but I think it looks too powerful right now.  I believe the first part should be worded "Draw a card for each U spent to play AK."

 

Nyx_Tejas

Tamer of the Forest

Cycle Description:

This is a tight cycle of allied colors that allow for the player to take control of a creature of an enemy color. All the "Tamers" are female.

Judge

Ori

Tem

Bal

Syn

App

Total

AJ_Impy

6

9

8

5

5

33

kalandine

6

10

6

6

5

33

Pyrosin

6

10

4

4

3

27

Score

6

9.7

6

5

4.3

31

AJ_Impy's Comments: A very, very narrow effect. About the right cost for permanent control and in the right colours, but being part of a very tight cycle doesn't go with this particular effect. It is far more common for effects of this nature to be enchantments, although not unheard of, compare Evangelise and Blatant Thievery. Given that this is an enemy hoser, it is overcosted: compare Mind Harness, even accounting for the upkeep. This can't compete against Sower of Temptation, Control Magic, Persuasion, Enslave, Confiscate, Dream Leash or similar effects. The name of the card and the 'Tamers are female' line suggest creatures rather than sorceries.

kalandine's Comments: Too underpowered for the mana cost and crosses too many color pie boundaries. This card would be useless outside of a sideboard option for a very limited pool of decks.

Pyrosin's Comments: The other two said all that needs to be said here.

Tamer of the Forest

 

 

bubbacuofa - 1st Place

Flooded Forest / Peat Swamp 

Cycle Description:

Screw the whole "allied color dual land" thing. This is a cycle of ENEMY colored lands. But they don't play well with each other, so you have to pick one color or the other.

Judge

Ori

Tem

Bal

Syn

App

Total

AJ_Impy

8

7

7

6

8

36

kalandine

10

9

8

9

10

46

Pyrosin

9

7

6

10

10

42

Score

9

7.7

7

8.3

9.3

41.3

AJ_Impy's Comments: While I've never been overly fond of excessively flipping pinwheel cards, I do like the way this one has been handled. The names suggest the land types it doesn't have, compare Sapseep Forest. I like that you need to predict the mana you will need, and that if need be you can take mana burn to change it for next turn. The card would be easier to play offline than on.

kalandine's Comments: Very nice flip card. My only grudge is that I wish there wasn’t a choice to flipping it. I wish you always had to flip it when you activated it for mana. Nice card and nice variation of dual lands.

Flooded Forest/Peat Swamp

 Pyrosin's Comments: When evaluating non-basic lands, you always have to ask, "Is this strictly better than a basic?" And in this case, that answer is "Yes."  So that means its too powerful,  I could play four of these as Forests and it would make no difference in my deck.  They have to at least come into play tapped.  But besides that, I think what you did with the flip card is really great.  I don't agree with kalandine, in that if you had to flip it every time you used it, then you'd have to remember which side you just used.  Giving you the option every turn to choose the side removes any and all memory issues.  I think the ability should read, "When Flooded Forest untaps, you may choose to flip it."  The "which way" just doesn't sound correct.

 

verbage2

Waterflame Candle

Cycle Description:

This will be a tight 5 card cycle of Artifacts. Each will have a cost of 5 colorless mana. They will all have Soulbound and give protection from a single magic color, covering all 5 colors. Each player will only be allowed to have 1 such Soulbound card in play at anytime, limiting its usage and preventing its abuse. If the artifact is removed, the controller of the artifact may destroy all creatures of the protected color. A stronger version of the old Circle of Protections, with obvious restrictions.

Judge

Ori

Tem

Bal

Syn

App

Total

AJ_Impy

7

6

4

6

8

31

kalandine

9

10

1

7

7

34

Pyrosin

8

8

1

8

6

31

Score

8

8

2

7

7

32

AJ_Impy's Comments: Soulbound is a one-sided revamp of world enchantment, very narrow and parasitic. The card protects itself, unusual for cards of this type, examples include Akroma's Memorial, Tranquil Grove, Priveledged Position, Absolute Law, Seht's Tiger. Exception, the 9-mana Darksteel Forge. Giving every color a potential 5-mana Perish for any color seems like a fundamentally bad idea. If this effect were to see print, I'd expect it to be white and to cost an awful lot more.

kalandine's Comments: Way too powerful of a sideboard card. Anything this powerful should not be available to all colors. Plus, too many colors would have no way of dealing with this, eliminating colors from competitive play as single color decks.

Waterflame Candle

Pyrosin's Comments: Like the other guys said, WAY too powerful.  Monocolor decks would no longer exist, and that's bad.

 

vantar

Interment

Cycle Description:

This part of a tight cycle of spells that can be pay for with either 6 colorless mana or 1C.

Judge

Ori

Tem

Bal

Syn

App

Total

AJ_Impy

3

9

5

6

9

32

kalandine

4

10

5

4

4

27

Pyrosin

2

10

5

5

5

27

Score

3

9.7

5

5

6

28.7

AJ_Impy's Comments: This is Entomb. An increase of 1 mana really isn't enough to differentiate it from a card presently banned in Ext. I like the idea behind the cycle, cheap for one color, expensive for others, but the execution here needed to be much more original.

kalandine's Comments: This card is an overcosted Entomb and the potential of casting it without black comes with far too high of a converted mana cost. There isn’t enough description to judge how this would work as a cycle.

Pyrosin's Comments: It's the same idea as the Shadowmoor cycle of hybrids.  I don't think you'd want to do too many of these because each time it dilutes the color pie.

Interment

 

 

rushmore111

Cracked

Cycle Description:

This is a tight cycle of mono-colored enchantments that cost 3 of the chosen color of mana and X. The enchantment can have an affect when it comes into play according to what X designates. The enchantment can also be sacrificed to provided a certain affect. The X effect and the sacrifice effect will have a certain tension between the effects that should not allow the player to get the best of both abilities.

Judge

Ori

Tem

Bal

Syn

App

Total

AJ_Impy

8

7

7

6

7

35

kalandine

7

10

7

6

8

38

Pyrosin

9

7

7

3

6

32

Score

8

8

7

5

7

35

AJ_Impy's Comments: I like the versatility aspect. Can be played as a Stone Rain, can generate a large but fragile horde of Goblin tokens. Vulnerable to fetches. Fairly costed, compare Goblin Offensive and Supply/Demand. Some templating issues: might be better to have the remove from game trigger be attached to the Goblin tokens. I'm not big on the flavor of the card: the elements don't mesh all that well.

kalandine's Comments: I like the contrast in abilities. I am not sure of the link in flavor between the abilities of the sample card however.

Cracked

Pyrosin's Comments: As the other two said, the two abilities don't really have any synergy here, which makes the card confusing.  Both abilities really belong as Sorceries.  I understand the functionality of what you're trying to do, but the execution feels strained with this templating.

 

Lythand

Spitefire

Cycle Description:

This cycle will represent an enchantment of each color. Each enchantment will have a casting cost of 2 and one of the color it represents. Each ability will be one of the color it represents, discard a card of that color: resulting in an action that color would represent.

The other colors will have the following abilities.

G: Discard a green card from your hand: Target creature Gains trample until the end of turn
B: Discard a black card from your hand: Put a 2/2 zombie creature into play.
W: Discard a white card from your hand: CHoose a color. Target permenant gains protection of that color until the end of turn.
U: Discard a blue card: Return target Permenant to it's owner's hand.

Judge

Ori

Tem

Bal

Syn

App

Total

AJ_Impy

5

6

8

7

8

34

kalandine

6

10

5

7

8

36

Pyrosin

4

8

1

7

8

28

Score

5

8

4.7

7

8

32.7

AJ_Impy's Comments: Very similar to Pyromania, with a tighter limitation but more damage. Also similar to Knollspine Invocation, Seismic Assault, Narcissism, Stormbind, Meteor Storm, Blood Rites, Deadapult, Ion Storm, Lightning Rift and Words of War. Given all that, definitely fairly costed and not gamebreaking, and at the right rarity. Not too original. Combos well with madness. Spitefire or spitfire? If you mean Latulla, Keldon Overseer, always keep an eye on spelling. The rest of the cycle as typed up is badly unbalanced, but since the exact design of the other cards is tangential to the contest, moot.

Spitefire

 kalandine's Comments: The sample card is a way too powerful version of Stormbind (lower trigger cost and not a random discard).

Pyrosin's Comments: The contest was to design a splashy rare cycle; you made a common cycle.

 

Barroom Hero - 3rd Place

Daroon of the Swamp

Cycle Description:

This Is part of a tight five card cycle. all would be incarnations costing 1CCC with colors key combat ability and a CCC ability that gives a strong sense of the colors motivation and personality.

Judge

Ori

Tem

Bal

Syn

App

Total

AJ_Impy

7

6

8

8

7

36

kalandine

7

10

8

8

7

40

Pyrosin

7

8

9

9

7

40

Score

7

8

8.3

8.3

7

38.7

AJ_Impy's Comments: Doesn't really feel all that legendary, but certainly fairly costed, compare Shambling Swarm. The -1/-1 counter ability seems reasonable, compare Consumptive Goo and any number of pingers. A good, solid card, loses a point for the misplaced apostrophe.

kalandine's Comments: This cycle would seem to push mono-colored decks. The appeal took a bit of a hit because I would not want to find one of these in my pool for a league or sealed deck. Draft they might work, but constructed they could become staples.

Pyrosin's Comments: Very mana-intensely costed.  It's very fairly costed, but because of that, I don't know if I'd want to play it outside of a casual monocolor deck.

Daroon of the Swamp

 

 

MechtaK

Blessings of Orzhova

Cycle Description:

This is a cycle of rare creature enchantments from opposing colors with CCcc casting cost (CC first color, cc second color). Each creature enchantment will have a strong ability associated with its color, and will have a triggering effect based on both colors when the creature is the target of a spell or ability (from any source). Thus, these would be easy to combo out of. Without further ado, I give you my entry.

Reapings of Golgari, BBGG: Deathtouch and Trample; Whenever enchanted creature is the target of a spell or ability, you may put a +1/+1 counter on enchanted creature and target player loses 1 life.

Revelations of Simic, GGUU: Flying and Trample; Whenever enchanted creature is the target of a spell or ability, you may put a +1/+1 counter on enchanted creature and you may draw a card.

Consumptions of Izzet, UURR: First Strike and Flying; Whenever enchanted creature is the target of a spell or ability, it deals 1 damage to target creature and you may draw a card.

Ravages of Boros, RRWW: First Strike and Lifelink; Whenever enchanted creature is the target of a spell or ability, it deals 1 damage to target creature and you gain 1 life.

Judge

Ori

Tem

Bal

Syn

App

Total

AJ_Impy

8

8

6

7

7

36

kalandine

8

10

6

9

5

38

Pyrosin

8

9

3

8

6

34

Score

8

9

5

8

6

36

Blessings of Orzhova

AJ_Impy's Comments: Nicely concepted cycle, but it feels weak for the manacost and rarity. Needs a heavy commitment to both colors: This one shares a mana cost (and half a name) with the Ghost Council of Orzhova, and those are heavy boots to fill. Mechanically very nice. The izzet and boros ones are able to self-trigger which may be a concern, but those are part of the cycle at large so don't impact this card.

kalandine's Comments: These would be a nightmare to cast in most decks and creature enchantments are extremely frail for a 4 mana investment.

Pyrosin's Comments: They don't really feel rare.  I'd say they're very similar to the Steel of the Godhead type cycle from Shadowmoor.

 

papajohns

Molten Flow

Cycle Description:

basically your 5 card land cycle. its the same behavior for each of the color manas.

Judge

Ori

Tem

Bal

Syn

App

Total

AJ_Impy

7

9

4

6

9

35

kalandine

8

10

4

4

9

35

Pyrosin

9

5

4

5

9

32

Score

8

8

4

5

9

34

AJ_Impy's Comments: Combos perhaps too well with lands like Cabal Coffers, Gaea's Cradle, Tolarian Academy or the Dreadship Reef cycle, and accelerates Dragonstorm-style decks by a frightening amount. It doesn't matter if you lose 5 if it causes your opponent to lose 20. Assuming no other acceleration and hitting the land drop each turn in a monocoloured deck, 2 mana turn 2, 4 mana turn 3, 6 mana turn 4, 8 mana turn 5. With acceleration, hazardous. Combo will love this.

kalandine's Comments: This is too much mana acceleration for blue. It works fine for green and o.k. for red, but is completely off the color chart for white and blue.

Pyrosin's Comments: Need colon after tap symbol.  And as the other guys said, this is just way too much mana acceleration across the board.  These would speed games up by multiple turns.

 

Molten Flow

 

 

dragonmage65

Jaelen Roth

Cycle Description:

Jaelen Roth is one of five cards in a sweet legendary creature cycle. Each one in the cycle has an enemy color pair (not necessarily with a CC of 3, though), and each one has a devastating sacrifice ability...unless your opponent chooses to pays up. This particular card was designed with the preferences of Johnnies and Spikes in mind. Other cards in the cycle will appeal to Timmy, so he doesn't ultimately feel left out.

Judge

Ori

Tem

Bal

Syn

App

Total

AJ_Impy

8

8

6

7

7

36

kalandine

9

10

5

7

9

40

Pyrosin

10

9

7

4

8

38

Score

9

9

6

6

8

38

AJ_Impy's Comments: I don't think the card needs both to be legendary and have the upkeep cost: For the mana paid, a hasty grey ogre with a unique ability is fine. The flavour text doesn't really work and isn't cohesive with the card: Very, very few legends have generic flavor text. The ability is original and on-colour. Fun rattlesnake possibilities in multiplayer.This card could most definitely by the focus of a deck. I don’t see how taking extra turns relates to red. The card could very easily work in a counterspell deck. This may be too powerful, but would slow down an opponent’s use of their mana.

kalandine's Comments: This card could most definitely by the focus of a deck. I don’t see how taking extra turns relates to red. The card could very easily work in a counterspell deck. This may be too powerful, but would slow down an opponent’s use of their mana.

 

Jaelen Roth

Pyrosin's Comments: I agree with kalandine; other than the haste, there's nothing really Red about this card.  The sacrifice ability should be an ability that fits with the colors its on.

Well that does it for this month's contest.  Thanks to all those that entered and thanks to the judges for getting their scores and comments in early.  So time to get the forums and design a card for next month's contest.  Good Luck!

14 Comments

For Pyrosin by Lythand at Fri, 07/04/2008 - 19:47
Lythand's picture

Just a comment for Pyrosin...

Quote "

Pyrosin's Comments: The contest was to design a splashy rare cycle; you made a common cycle." End Quote

Although I may of not read the rules correctly, That is an Uncommon symbol, not common. If unsure about the something a card has, I believe the judges should ask before making a final judgement. That is not a common symbol.

Crap, sorry about the double post... by MechtaK at Thu, 07/03/2008 - 00:23
MechtaK's picture

delete one please, nt

On my card... by MechtaK at Thu, 07/03/2008 - 00:21
MechtaK's picture

I designed my card the night Sunday before this was all due.  I simply just couldn't think of a good cycle of rares that I thought were worthy of the contest and just went with something off the top of my head.  That said, the idea was that if an infinite targeting effect could be set up, then these cards would indeed need to be rare due to their passive activations.  For example, Grafted Wargear targets a creature for 0 mana, and if you have 2 creatures in play... well, you get the idea.  The same could be done with all the other En-Kor creatures, several Equipment cards, and a few enchantments.  Even some of the one mana activaters would make it pretty strong.

AJ, right you are, in looking at it, I should have made it "another target creature" instead.  Good catch.

In any case, I knew my entry was pretty weak and was pretty sure it wasn't quite rare for the contest, but it was all I could manage at the time.  Thanks for running th contest guys and congratulations to all the winners.  As for May's contest, I never got any comments and so I decided to forego the article for it, plus I really didn't have much time to get it done anyhow, sorry guys.

On a side note, the CCC has inspired me so much that I designed a block set based on my D&D campaign I run.  It's not quite finished, but I'm pushing to get it done by this weekend (been working on it for about 6 months).  I'll provide a link when I can.

On my card... by MechtaK at Thu, 07/03/2008 - 00:21
MechtaK's picture

I designed my card the night Sunday before this was all due.  I simply just couldn't think of a good cycle of rares that I thought were worthy of the contest and just went with something off the top of my head.  That said, the idea was that if an infinite targeting effect could be set up, then these cards would indeed need to be rare due to their passive activations.  For example, Grafted Wargear targets a creature for 0 mana, and if you have 2 creatures in play... well, you get the idea.  The same could be done with all the other En-Kor creatures, several Equipment cards, and a few enchantments.  Even some of the one mana activaters would make it pretty strong.

AJ, right you are, in looking at it, I should have made it "another target creature" instead.  Good catch.

In any case, I knew my entry was pretty weak and was pretty sure it wasn't quite rare for the contest, but it was all I could manage at the time.  Thanks for running th contest guys and congratulations to all the winners.  As for May's contest, I never got any comments and so I decided to forego the article for it, plus I really didn't have much time to get it done anyhow, sorry guys.

On a side note, the CCC has inspired me so much that I designed a block set based on my D&D campaign I run.  It's not quite finished, but I'm pushing to get it done by this weekend (been working on it for about 6 months).  I'll provide a link when I can.

by Anonymous (Unregistered) 72.40.160.205 (not verified) at Tue, 07/01/2008 - 18:13
Anonymous (Unregistered) 72.40.160.205's picture

Three quick notes -

I am really lax on scoring for templatung, so look to AJ_Impy and Pyrosin for more accurate scores in that category.

Non-basic lands do not have to be strictly less powerful than basic lands.  Pendlehaven is an example of a card that can replace a forest in a deck at any point.

Props to the other two judges.  I think the commentary was very good and I think everyone did a good job explaining how they were going to score entries early in the contest.

It didnt say basic land by Anonymous (Unregistered) 72.45.105.123 (not verified) at Wed, 07/02/2008 - 08:14
Anonymous (Unregistered) 72.45.105.123's picture

Seriously, it doesn't say basic land: forest, or swamp

by Pyrosin at Wed, 07/02/2008 - 17:33
Pyrosin's picture

No, that's not what "Strictly better" means for a basic land, and I quote MaRo: "The ramification of the “strictly better” rule is that we cannot design lands that tap for a colored mana without having some kind of drawback. The nonbasic land status, incidentally, is not considered by R&D to be enough of a drawback. While there are spells that hose nonbasic lands (like Price of Progress), there are also spells that hose specific basic lands (like Boil) that do not affect nonbasic lands (other than the original dual lands). As such, we consider the ability to be a slight negative but not enough to avoid the “strictly better” problem."

It was his article entitled This Land is My Land
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=mtgcom/daily/mr65

So this non-basic is strictly better than a basic land because it can tap for colored mana every turn without a drawback.

AJ_Impy's picture

The reading comprehensibility of the flavor text is where you lost it with me, principally the second sentence. I do not think it means what you think it means.

The flavor in cracked by AJ_Impy at Tue, 07/01/2008 - 11:01
AJ_Impy's picture

To put it bluntly, I didn't buy the flavor. Yes, the ground is cracked, the goblins die. But why were the Goblins there in the first place? Just because it's in the flavor text doesn't mean that flavor text is convincing or is successful at telling its story. I liked the card, but it didn't explain why it did what it did to my satisfaction, recognising that effort was made in that direction.

Good Recap by dragonmage65 at Mon, 06/30/2008 - 23:43
dragonmage65's picture

Just curious, why didn't I get full marks for templating? I don't see any errors on my card.

Good job overall, congrats to the winners.

by Anonymous (Unregistered) 24.224.101.114 (not verified) at Tue, 07/01/2008 - 01:08
Anonymous (Unregistered) 24.224.101.114's picture

ibanez_bw seriously dude...that is like the must disgusting pic ever i dont know what it is maybe im seeing it wrong but the chick look like she has some weird flesh disease like the tumor people you see on ripley's  just a bad pic im sick right now lol

 On topic though i like the cards overall.  Tarmatogs are amazing in my opinion and i just feel duallands arent really too original though i DO love the way they were done i like that better than the normal oh ill just tap for whatever the fact that these lands require planning make them nice.  You could even make them uncommon by making the flipping automatic i think.

by Pyrosin at Tue, 07/01/2008 - 04:21
Pyrosin's picture

There's no templating errors on your card, but part of the scoring in that category is, "We should understand what the card is supposed to do with one reading."  I found the upkeep cost and sacrifice ability disjoined and a little confusing.  I was expecting them to tie together somehow, so that's why I gave it a 9 in templating, and a lower synergy score.

I would have given it a higher score if it was something like:

Cumulative Upkeep: U/R
When JR is put into a graveyard from play, target player skips his next turn unless he pays 1 for each age counter on JR.

That way the two abilities are linked.

Once again by walkerdog at Tue, 07/01/2008 - 07:10
walkerdog's picture

Pyrosin
"Strictly better than a basic" means better in every way.  That land was not non-basic, so it suffers from non-basic land hate, making it not strictly better.  Almost strictly better less.  Small nit-pick.

Cracked by Stu Benedict at Tue, 07/01/2008 - 07:28
Stu Benedict's picture

I was just wondering why everyone was questioning the link in flavor for the card "Cracked" ... I thought the flavor text made it very apparent.

All the goblins die when the earth underneath them is destroyed. I designed the card around the flavor. That is why I am questioning this.