MTG - You Make The Card VIII: Escape - Exile 7 MTG topics to create this thread

[ben-zayb]

Judgment time!

Spoiler: UWB Mintbase College of Business Administration

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Esesp as a T1 Thalia-lite looks fine. The card as a whole seems to lean more on Treasure as the uniting mechanic rather than life drain/gain, so Sgett's ability looks more fair and less exploitative as the UB side of Mintbase would otherwise suggest. Would it be more synergistic and advantageous if the ability bids Treasures/artifacts to sacrifice instead?

Spoiler: WUR Ojutai Monastery School of... Rebels?

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Ojutai clan is a great choice to explore W's concept of rebellion, and U's connive fits perfectly here. Nesha's triggered ability can easily get out of hand, unless you meant for the spells to be exiled after. Though I have to dock a point for bending the prompt a bit.

Spoiler: BUR Kalazet College of Engineering

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The architecture/manufacturing sellout concept is a little interesting, but I'm not really getting that theme from the mechanics. Mavash's +1 is fine and good, but the artifact reanimation and creature/vehicle buff belong more to W than B. Saheeli's +3 for 3 Treasure tokens may be too good.

Spoiler: BR School of Robotics/Cybernetics

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A BR robotics/cybernetics theme is pretty exciting since it's not really Phyrexians biotech, and having the equipment/artifact mechanics away from W or U gives it fresher design space. Xerix can be a headache to put down, with the added benefit of being able to cast Tasrelli instead later. Tasrelli's solid, but may be better served with a different evergreen ability because lifelink feels a little too tacked on.

Spoiler: WU Axhari College of Public Service

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The deans work together well, but the mechanics and themes here are a little too well-trodden. Amaran is pretty solid, not much to say. Land freeze opens up design space, but I'm not sure about giving this to U from B.

Spoiler: Honorable mention

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Personification with Chanyi, Master of the Myriad Ways // Nesha, Master of the Lost Ways

Spoiler: Winner

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Quiddle with Xerix, Dean of Construction // Tasrelli, Dean of Enhancement

[Quiddle]

Thanks for the fun prompt!

For next week I want to see cards for a Universe Beyond OOTS Commander deck. The card doesn't have to be the commander but you should make note of what the possible commander characters are and what the deck themes are.

(If the character is obscure please link a page number)

[Comissar]

Redcloak, High Priest of the Dark One - 2WB

Legendary Creature - Goblin Cleric - MR

Implosion - When Redcloak, High Priest of the Dark One enters the Battlefield, destroy up to one target creature. That creature can't be regenerated. When a creature is destroyed this way, you gain an Experience Counter.

Summon Monster VIII - {6}: Roll 1D6. Create a number of 3/3 Colourless Artifact Creature - Golem Elementals named Titanium Elemental equal to half the result, rounded up. Add 1 to the result of this roll for each Experience Counter you have.

2/2

------------

Naturally, Redcloak would play second fiddle to Xykon, with Xykon being the commander of the Team Evil Commander deck. This would be a Mardu deck built around going wide and utilising ETB effects via. graveyard reanimation. Xykon and Redcloak would be the two methods in deck of gaining Experience, but a handful of cards in the deck would have effects built around the number of experience counters you have, representing the increasing threat Team Evil pose. Being a D&D parody, the cards use the same flavour ability names as Forgotten Realms and Battle for Baldur's Gate.

As a side note, I see Xykon as having white in an activated ability rather than in his mana cost, philosophically I don't see much that's white about him, but Redcloak feels very much like a W/B character to me. Maybe Xykon has some kind of protective ability that has white in the activation cost to represent him regenerating from his Phylactery.

[Tom the Mime]

Not really a fan of universes beyond in general given how much it feels like an excuse to cash in on other franchises but:

Banjo, God of Puppets RG
Legendary Artifact Creature - God Equipment
If you don't control another creature, ~ can't attack or block.
Reconfigure 2
Whenever ~ or equipped creature attacks, for each opponent, goad up to 1 target creature they control.

Partner

3/3

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

I kind of had the opposite thought from Comissar. Xykon is a known bad leader who thinks strategy is boring and would rather steer clear of the command zone. If he were to play Magic, he'd want a Rakdos Spells deck that runs very few creatures of his own, preferring instead to wipe the board and then zombify his opponent's stuff. Playing into that:

Familicide - 1BB
The frame is divided into three panels. A forked bolt of dark energy hits a big dragon, then arcs across panels to strike a small dragon, then arcs again to a tattooed goblin who drops her hydra-burger as she keels over.
Sorcery - C
Destroy target creature, then each player reveals their hand and discards a creature card.
-
"Now THAT'S comedy."
- Xykon


...okay, yes, I know Xykon doesn't know any actual spell named Familicide, but he is a renowned murderer of families nonetheless so it still fits.

[ben-zayb]

Plot Expositor 1WW
Legendary Enchantment - Background R
Commander creatures you own have "3WW,T: Return target Saga card from a graveyard to the battlefield under your control" and "Whenever this commander gains or loses counters, you may distribute up to that many lore counters amongst any number of Sagas you control".

[Quiddle]

Spoiler: Comissar

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Redcloak, High Priest of the Dark One - 2WB

Legendary Creature - Goblin Cleric - MR

Implosion - When Redcloak, High Priest of the Dark One enters the Battlefield, destroy up to one target creature. That creature can't be regenerated. When a creature is destroyed this way, you gain an Experience Counter.

Summon Monster VIII - {6}: Roll 1D6. Create a number of 3/3 Colourless Artifact Creature - Golem Elementals named Titanium Elemental equal to half the result, rounded up. Add 1 to the result of this roll for each Experience Counter you have.

2/2

Nice, the summon monster ability is quite strong maybe add a tap cost to it? I kind of expected Redcloak to be red but he makes sense as White & Black.

Spoiler: Tom the Mime

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Banjo, God of Puppets RG
Legendary Artifact Creature - God Equipment
If you don't control another creature, ~ can't attack or block.
Reconfigure 2
Whenever ~ or equipped creature attacks, for each opponent, goad up to 1 target creature they control.

Partner

3/3

Fun, I like that Banjo just sits there if you don't have another creature. I think this is the correct type line, enchantment makes it too wordy without adding much.

Spoiler: Dr Gunsforhands

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Familicide - 1BB
The frame is divided into three panels. A forked bolt of dark energy hits a big dragon, then arcs across panels to strike a small dragon, then arcs again to a tattooed goblin who drops her hydra-burger as she keels over.
Sorcery - C
Destroy target creature, then each player reveals their hand and discards a creature card.
-
"Now THAT'S comedy."
- Xykon


Pretty efficient for a common. I thought this might be too strong but you have each player do it so it forces a pretty signifigant deck building challenge if you want to not discard to your own spell.

Spoiler: ben-zayb

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Plot Expositor 1WW
Legendary Enchantment - Background R
Commander creatures you own have "3WW,T: Return target Saga card from a graveyard to the battlefield under your control" and "Whenever this commander gains or loses counters, you may distribute up to that many lore counters amongst any number of Sagas you control".

I haven't played with backgrounds so a little hard for me to evaluate. The bring back saga ability seems fine- expensive but high value in a saga deck, the blitz through sagas ability seems a little too good imo. Maybe if it was when ever you add counters you can add one lore counter instead of as many? This will also combo with sagas that add +1/+1 counters to stuff.

Spoiler: This week's winner

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Tom the Mime!

[Comissar]

So... It's been nearly a week with no word from Tom, would anyone object if I proposed a prompt in his absence? Assuming no objections, and no last minute showing from Tom, I'll put a prompt up tomorrow around this time?

[Comissar]

Well, with no objections to be heard, I guess it's time for this week's challenge;

A new limited format is nearly upon us, and I'm a big fan of both Draft and Sealed, so what I'd like to see from you all is a Sign-Post Uncommon!

Spoiler: For those unfamiliar with the term

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A Sign-Post Uncommon is a card included in a set which is intended to indicate what a given colour pair is meant to be doing within that set's limited environment. They're often, but not always, creature cards, and will usually have abilities that either set up or pay off the colour pair's draft archetype.

Some recent examples are Invigorating Hot Spring from Neon Dynasty, Balmor, Battlemage Captain from Dominaria United, and Devoted Grafkeeper from Innistrad: Midnight Hunt.

A good Sign-Post Uncommon will be able to tell a drafter what kind of deck they should aim for within a colour pair, even if the rest of the pack the card is in has no cards of those colours.

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

Thanks Comissar! Now let's see...

Nightshade Night Shade - 1BG
It's a shadowy dryad with purple tomatoes in her leaf-hair. In fact, there are tomatoes growing all over the place...
Creature - Dryad Shade U
Toxic (Damage this deals to players also causes them to get that many poison counters. A player with 10 or more poison counters loses the game.)
(b/g): Nightshade Night Shade gets +1/+1 until end of turn.
1/1

Spoiler: The Archetype

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It's black/green Infect support, but it plays more nicely with +1/+1 counters and with creatures from other archetypes. The idea is to scare your opponent with small and medium creatures that might kill them out of nowhere. Black usually combines Toxic with evasion, where green tacks it onto otherwise-fair creatures and then pumps them with combat tricks. Nightshade Night Shade's ability is supposed to feel a little like both; opponents don't like blocking things that can pump and trade up so easily, but they can't risk eating 8 poison counters at once either. I might need to nerf it to a 1/1 depending on how strong the archetype is.

[Quiddle]

Martial Mystic RG
Creature - Human Monk U
Focused(As Martial Mystic enters the battlefield you become focused.)
When Marital Mystic attacks if you are Focused it gains Double Strike until the end of the turn
2/2

Focused
As long as you are focused reveal the top card of your library. When you take 3 or more combat damage become wild and mill 1.
//
Wild
At the beginning of your upkeep mill 1. Whenever a card if put into your graveyard from anywhere, if you have 6 or more cards in your graveyard exile them, scry 1, and become focused.

[Personification]

Vanguard of New Naktamun UG
[Art: An Amonkhet warrior deftly jumping from one rocky outcropping to another. Beneath their legs you can see the grasping arms of the zombies they are avoiding.]
Creature - Human Scout U (Future Amonkhet set expansion symbol)
Whenever ~ deals combat damage to a player, draw a card.
You may exert ~ as it attacks. When you do, target creature can't be blocked this turn.
1/3
Without the protection of the Hekma, it was up to the survivors of Naktamun to find safety for themselves.

The limited archetype is UG saboteur (creatures that get extra value from hitting your opponents). Instead of the common track of going big with UG, this set would focus on smaller value creatures and tempo.

[Comissar]

Gonna be busy when it's actually 24 hours to go, so this is the 25 hours and 40 minute warning to get your submissions in and make any edits to existing submissions!

[mystic1110]

Helix-Shaped Aurora WR
Enchantment (U)
Lifelink
Whenever another enchantment enters the battlefield under your control, Helix-Shaped Aurora deals 1 damage to each opponent.
[5], Exile an aura from your graveyard: Create 2 tapped 2/2 red and white elemental creature tokens.

[TiaC]

Inspired Crusader 1GW
Creature - Human Knight U
Trample
Whenever Inspired Crusader deals combat damage to a player, investigate.
Whenever you sacrifice a Clue, put a +1/+1 counter on target creature you control.
3/2


G/W is a solid midrange draft archetype. Its curve is strongest in the 3-5 CMC range. It represents a benevolent theocracy, and the set's only Gods are in those colors. Clues are flavored as divine inspiration, and are a common rider on otherwise slightly overcosted cards. It has a few cards that make Clues cheaper, gain additional value when they are sacrificed, or allow you to sacrifice them for other effects. It's a bit bigger and slower than most G/W archetypes, and the Clues give it more late-game gas.

[Comissar]

Alright folks, submissions are now closed! Judgement to follow soon!

[Comissar]

It's evalutation time! I'm mostly going to be looking at the following for these;

1 - How clearly does the card communicate the draft archetype it represents? If someone is new to drafting, does this card tell you what the colour pair ought to be doing?

2 - How does the card stand on its own? The card needs to not be format warping, but also shouldn't be unplayable. Sign-post uncommons should basically always make the cut if you're in the colours for them in a draft, even if they don't see play outside of limited.

3 - What kind of deck would this card need in order to function well and how easy would such a deck be to construct within a draft? This will largely be determined by considering what would hypothetically need to be printed at common/uncommon in order to support the archetype.

The comments I'm making are intended to be constructive, and anxiety brain is helpfully pointing out to me that they're longer than what has usually been provided, so hopefully you guys enjoy seeing my thought processes on the cards themselves and don't take them as overly critical >_>

I've genuinely enjoyed seeing all of these and especially enjoyed trying to puzzle out how they would work in limited.

Spoiler: Nightshade Night Shade

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Thanks Comissar! Now let's see...

Nightshade Night Shade - 1BG
It's a shadowy dryad with purple tomatoes in her leaf-hair. In fact, there are tomatoes growing all over the place...
Creature - Dryad Shade U
Toxic (Damage this deals to players also causes them to get that many poison counters. A player with 10 or more poison counters loses the game.)
(b/g): Nightshade Night Shade gets +1/+1 until end of turn.
1/1

Spoiler: The Archetype

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It's black/green Infect support, but it plays more nicely with +1/+1 counters and with creatures from other archetypes. The idea is to scare your opponent with small and medium creatures that might kill them out of nowhere. Black usually combines Toxic with evasion, where green tacks it onto otherwise-fair creatures and then pumps them with combat tricks. Nightshade Night Shade's ability is supposed to feel a little like both; opponents don't like blocking things that can pump and trade up so easily, but they can't risk eating 8 poison counters at once either. I might need to nerf it to a 1/1 depending on how strong the archetype is.

The name is fun, as is the confusion I imagine some will feel at seeing tomatoes involved in the art. On a flavour note, needs more potatoes

So, looking at the mechanics only, B/G wants to win by poisoning. The shade ability makes me think there may be some kind've relatively common ramp within the format as well. Having it be a hybrid activation helps to make the Shade more splashable while still being strongest within a B/G deck. On a personal note, I'm not a huge fan of poison as a mechanic, but that's from a constructed perspective as I've not been playing long enough to have seen Poison in limited, and it might be more fun to fool around with there. (Kaldheim doesn't count, nor does Dominaria United, it's not a factor in the vast majority of games there).

As a standalone card, I don't know how I'd feel about using this. A 3 mana 1/1 is obviously an awful rate, so the question is do the abilities make up for it? If you play it on curve, it dies to anything, but that's often the case with creatures that give themselves a temporary buff for mana. The shade ability lets the Night Shade stay relevant throughout the game, albeit usually by threat of activation. It makes for a good late game mana sink and, if the game goes long enough, is a must block thanks to Toxic, and even early chip damage will cause pause for thought. Poison's not removable, after all. Even if you're not a poison deck, the way Toxic works means you can still make use of it as a normal shade without having to worry about splitting your deck across two different damage tracks, getting around the parasitic nature of Infect.

I think this'd be strong in both ramp and aggro decks. Aggro decks can use a bunch of combat tricks to pull surprise wins from time to time, and the threat of activation is also very real. Ramp decks, more straightforwardly, can just pump a tonne of mana in and go crazy. Aggro is often a relatively easy archetype to pull together in limited with many different common combat tricks, though it's not typically B/G. Red would likely be involved in some way to pull that together, but Green does get its fair share of tricks. A ramp deck would usually be harder to pull together. Playable ramp in Limited is usually at Uncommon or higher outside of dedicated battlecruiser sets, so you won't see it that often, but mana dorks could help allieviate that. Looking beyond this specific card and more at the archetype, you mention Black Toxic creatures tending toward evasion, I imagine they'd tend to be the ones you value taking more than Green Toxic creatures, but a big dumb trampling Toxic creature could be scary.

Spoiler: Martial Mystic

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Martial Mystic RG
Creature - Human Monk U
Focused(As Martial Mystic enters the battlefield you become focused.)
When Marital Mystic attacks if you are Focused it gains Double Strike until the end of the turn
2/2

Focused
As long as you are focused reveal the top card of your library. When you take 3 or more combat damage become wild and mill 1.
//
Wild
At the beginning of your upkeep mill 1. Whenever a card if put into your graveyard from anywhere, if you have 6 or more cards in your graveyard exile them, scry 1, and become focused.

Unfortunately, I... don't know what this archetype is aiming for. There seems to be some kind've Night/Day inspired mechanic in Focused/Wild, but I'm not sure how this would apply to an entire draft archetype? Presumably it'd be creatures that care about which state you're in, but is the mechanic solely located within R/G? If it isn't, how do you differentiate between how the colours interat with Focused/Wild? Given the Monk gains Double Strike when attacking, presumably R/G rewards you with buffed attackers provided you're in the right state? Focused/Wild also seems like a very memory intensive mechanic to have as a constant state for the game. Other game state mechanics (Night/Day and the City's Blessing being the ones that spring to mind) typically have very little mechanical weight on their own, and instead other cards care about them in a binary fashion (is it Night or Day? Do I have the City's Blessing?). Even Dungeons, a more complex mechanic, are only cared about in a very small number of ways outside of their own room effects (Which Dungeon are you starting? Which room do you progress to? Have you completed a Dungeon?) and they will only impact the game if you actively force them to by Venturing, an active action rather than a passive recurring action.

As a standalone, the Mystic's stats are passable to underwhelming. Bears are slowly getting crept out at this point in Magic's development, ideally you don't want to be playing a 2/2 that doesn't do anything, even if you play it on curve you'll find it rapidly outclassed. So how do its abilities hold up? A 2/2 Double Strike for 2 would be pretty good, being able to trade with an X/4 and outright stopping X/2's is a good ability, and it's a natural home for buff spells and Auras/Equipments. This is only a 2/2 Double Strike on the swing, so you won't get to choose what creatures it interacts with, which still leaves it as a reasonable early-mid game attacker, except you only get that if you're in the right state (and you can't control when you leave Focused), and you have the added drawback of having your opponent know what your next draw will be (on a formatting note, Focused should read '... play with the top card of your library revealed'). The Wild part of Focused/Wild feels a bit contradictory too. Milling consistently would be great for a graveyard deck, except you periodically lose your graveyard and can't force yourself to return to Wild. I think I'd have liked to have seen the Mystic have an ability that would be active in the Wild state to help keep it relevant on the ground when you're not Focused. On a colour pie note, Double Strike very rarely appears in green. There's a total of 22 cards in Green that can gain/grant Double Strike. Of those, only 9 are uncommon or below, and all of them require another colour to grant them Double Strike. Double Strike is very common in White, however, and I think it'd make a lot more sense as a W/R card.

The Mystic very clearly wants to be in an aggro deck. It's as cheap as a gold card can be without being hybrid costed, and will situationally have a very aggressively focused ability on it too. Outside of the usual aggro staples, though, I'm not entirely sure what the deck would want. Presumably there would be commons that set you to Focused or Wild on ETB, but I don't know that I would want to be making use of the effect. Focused feels like it's mostly downside, even taking into account the creature-based buffs, and while self-mill would be nice with Wild, as previously stated, it doesn't play very nicely with a dedicated self-mill deck, and you also can't deliberately go Wild with the mechanic as-is.

Spoiler: Vanguard of New Naktamun

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Vanguard of New Naktamun UG
[Art: An Amonkhet warrior deftly jumping from one rocky outcropping to another. Beneath their legs you can see the grasping arms of the zombies they are avoiding.]
Creature - Human Scout U (Future Amonkhet set expansion symbol)
Whenever ~ deals combat damage to a player, draw a card.
You may exert ~ as it attacks. When you do, target creature can't be blocked this turn.
1/3
Without the protection of the Hekma, it was up to the survivors of Naktamun to find safety for themselves.

The limited archetype is UG saboteur (creatures that get extra value from hitting your opponents). Instead of the common track of going big with UG, this set would focus on smaller value creatures and tempo.

The Vanguard communicates very cleanly what it wants you to do. Swing and make contact, draw cards. I'd expect this to be an archetype with a lot of evasion or tempo plays to enable that style of play. It'd obviously be insane if every creature drew you cards on contact, so presumably the commons for the archetype would have weaker effects on making contact, or give you ways of setting up a swing. It'd probably be pretty frustrating to play against

2 mana is about what you'd expect to be paying for a gold 1/3. It's not something you'd want to pay for if that's all it was, even 1 mana 1/3's aren't usually worth it, but this does come with some pretty strong upside. Repeatable card draw is very strong, and this is especially true for Limited, where you and your opponent can both easily end up in top deck mode toward the late game. Admittedly, you'll only be drawing every other turn off this by the time you reach that point, but being able to go unblockable also makes the Vanguard a good candidate for Auras and Equipment. The card draw effect also lets you off-set some of the risk of auras. If you play an aura that lets your Vanguard get through when it otherwise wouldn't have been able to, you're rewarded with a draw. If anything, I'd be concerned this might be a bit too strong as a one-card engine and suggest it change to Loot rather than straight up Draw, though I'm not confident enough on that assessment given it'd only be able to attack every turn in the extreme early game, or if you've built a strong tempo deck around it.

I've already said it, this'd go well in a tempo deck. It gives you gas to keep going and can get around the card disadvantage of bounce/freeze spells. It could also go nicely in control decks as it stays relevant throughout the game thanks to its exert ability and, importantly for Control, can serve as an early blocker if needed while still giving value in the later game. Tempo cards are frequently printed at common, so support for the Vanguard would also be easy to come by.

Spoiler: Helix-Shaped Aurora

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Helix-Shaped Aurora WR
Enchantment (U)
Lifelink
Whenever another enchantment enters the battlefield under your control, Helix-Shaped Aurora deals 1 damage to each opponent.
[5], Exile an aura from your graveyard: Create 2 tapped 2/2 red and white elemental creature tokens.

Before getting into the card itself, it's strange to see Lifelink on something that isn't a Creature. It's something that is allowed, there've been a handful of cards in the past that give Instants/Sorceries Lifelink, but there's no non-creature cards that natively have Lifelink or can gain it (with the exception of the odd Vehicle). I'd probably just remove Lifelink and add 'You gain life equal to the damage dealt this way' for the sake of consistency with other cards, but it's not a huge issue.

The Aurora wants you to be in an Enchantment deck. Specifically, it wants you to be in a deck with a lot of Auras. You'd need a set built around Enchantments for this to work, but we've been to Theros a couple of times now, so Enchantment sets aren't off the cards or anything. Given the activated ability works off cards in the graveyard, I'd expect there to be some kind've self-mill subtheme within W/R. While odd for W/R, we've seen that work well before in Strixhaven, so it's also not unprecedented. Overall, the Aurora pretty cleanly communicates the kind've deck you want for it.

For just 2 mana, you can get away with the Aurora not doing anything the turn you play it. Ideally, you'd want the format to be a slower one so that you don't get penalised if you play it on curve, but given it isn't a creature, you also don't need to play it on curve. Pinging your opponent for 1 and gaining 1 when doing so is a little underwhelming as an ability. It doesn't impact the board and the lifegain is neither significant or consistent enough to make a big difference in any but the longest of games. The activated ability has a very strong payoff. Two bodies for 5 mana at instant speed is very good. It's smart to have the tokens enter tapped, having them come in untapped would cause a lot of board stall situations. The activation cost of exiling an aura seems challenging to achieve for reasons I'll get into in the next section. I'd be tempted to suggest having the tokens be Enchantment Creatures, when I first read it I assumed they were. It'd help the Aurora maintain later game relevance when top deck mode becomes engaged as it can trigger itself and help you close the game out.

You kind've want to be looking at 'Aura Tribal' with the Aurora. The trouble with trying to play Aura Tribal is that you open yourself up for two for one's and, unless you see the Aurora, you won't necessarily be able to take advantage of the Auras in your graveyard. You'd also need a good concentration of Auras to ensure you'd get consistent activations of the Aurora, we're talking 5-6 Auras in your deck. This number comes down a little if there's also a self-mill theme as you'll more naturally load your graveyard, but each Aura in your deck needs to be better than just having another creature, and you don't always get that at common.

Spoiler: Inspired Crusader

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Inspired Crusader 1GW
Creature - Human Knight U
Trample
Whenever Inspired Crusader deals combat damage to a player, investigate.
Whenever you sacrifice a Clue, put a +1/+1 counter on target creature you control.
3/2


G/W is a solid midrange draft archetype. Its curve is strongest in the 3-5 CMC range. It represents a benevolent theocracy, and the set's only Gods are in those colors. Clues are flavored as divine inspiration, and are a common rider on otherwise slightly overcosted cards. It has a few cards that make Clues cheaper, gain additional value when they are sacrificed, or allow you to sacrifice them for other effects. It's a bit bigger and slower than most G/W archetypes, and the Clues give it more late-game gas.

The clue theme is pretty clear here with the payoff of saccing Clues being independant of the combat trigger. Having to pay 2 to cash the clues in slow the archetype down somewhat, but not so much that it'd be unworkable, and offering an additional incentive to pay the 2 is nice too, especially as it could serve as a combat trick if the opponent is unwary.

A 3/2 for 3 is ok. A 3/2 trampler is better, and a 3/2 trampler that also gives you a clue on contact is a nice little card. Adding the +1 counter upside helps to maintain the Crusader's relevance if a game goes long. On its own, if you got the Crusader late you'd probably struggle to get the engine going without a combat trick or removal, later game boards can get very locked down on the ground. Ideally you'd want to have some Clues to hand already if you're not able to play the Crusader on curve. That said, you probably still play the Crusader even if it's your only Clue generator. With enough ways of making Clues, this is just a better Tireless Tracker, which is very strong company to keep.

You'd want a lot of ways to make Clues in the deck to make the Crusader shine. The good news is, Clues help you find more things that make Clues. Commons for the archetype would likely just have one and done generation, either an ETB or stapled onto a spell effect, but that'd be enough support to set the deck up. The main thing you'd have to watch out for are more aggro decks taking you down before you could get your feet under you as Clue value should be enough to help you to push through against Control.

Spoiler: Ok, but who won?

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Spoiler: Third Place

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Nightshade Night Shade by Dr.Gunsforhands.

The Shade looks solid, Toxic seems like a decent fix to the parasitic nature of Infect, but I'm not sure how well the Shade communicates the archetype beyond 'play Toxic cards'. That said, it's a good late game sink and can remain relevant through the game while also demanding it be blocked, potentially allowing it to take out multiple creatures over a game.

Spoiler: Second Place

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Vanguard of New Naktamun by Personification.

This was very nearly first place and it basically boiled down to a gut choice. Honestly, on a different day I might've chosen differently. The Vanguard is a really nice Uncommon that stays relevant throughout the game while also playing very well in both Tempo and Control shells. It's very cool!

Spoiler: First Place

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Inspired Crusader by TiaC.

Very close competition, but Inspired Crusader feels like the cleanest design to me. It communicates very clearly what kind've deck it wants you to make around it, it gives set up and payoff, and the rate you pay feels about right for what you get. Well done!

[TiaC]

I'm glad you liked it! I was a little worried I was too close to Tireless Tracker.

For this week, Take a mechanic that was that was only used on a small number of cards and do something new with it.

If you look at the pages for Keyword abilities, Keyword actions, and Ability words, you can see how many times they have appeared on cards. This should be no greater than 25 for the mechanic you pick, and preferably much less.

As to "do something new", use the mechanic in a way that doesn't feel like previous uses. These small mechanics are often only used in one way, and there's more design space available. For example, you could make a Pack Tactics card that applied a drawback instead of a benefit when the condition is met or a Spectacle card with a non-mana Spectacle cost, or one that's an instant that would really benefit from off-turn Spectacle activation.

I was thinking about the development of cycling with this challenge. When it first appeared, it always cost 2, and pretty much nothing interacted with it. Then it came back, and it had other costs and you saw "when you cycle [this]" abilities. (Also landcycling, but that's a different mechanic) Then it came back again, and it had a few cards with non-mana costs. They keep bringing it back with more "when you cycle [this]" or "when you cycle a card" cards, Yidaro has another twist, and there's still a ton of things they haven't done with it.

[Bucky]

Top down design using Absorb:

Paladin's Broadshield 2
Artifact - Equipment
Equipped creature has Ward {2} (Whenever it becomes the target of a spell or ability an opponent controls, counter that spell or ability unless that player pays {2}) and Absorb 2 (If a source would deal damage to it, prevent 2 of that damage).

Equipped creature can block an additional creature each combat.

Equip {2}

[mystic1110]

Hive Gestationer 2G
Creature - Insect (U)
Ripple 4 - Creature with converted mana cost equal to 1 (When you cast this spell, you may reveal the top four cards of your library. You may cast spells with the same name as this spell or any creature with converted mana cost equal to 1 from among those cards without paying their mana costs. Put the rest on the bottom of your library.)
1/1

[ben-zayb]

Arcbound Siegebreaker W
{image: a tank with arcbound aesthetics}
Artifact - Vehicle U
Modular defender, 2 +1/+1 (This enters the battlefield with a defender counter and 2 +1/+1 counters on it. When it is put into a graveyard from the battlefield, you may put its counters on target artifact or creature.)
Crew 1
One part armory, one part prison.
1/1

Spoiler

Show

Modular would be changed to include keyword counters, -1/-1 counters, and charge counters. It follows the format "Modular <N> <counter kind a>, <O> <counter kind b>, and so on, except the format now omits "1" if N=1.

Modular would be set to appear on non-creature artifacts, so the counters can now be added to either artifact or creature.

[Tom the Mime]

Let's go for a little used Kamigawa one and switch things up for Ravnica.

Run through the Districts 2G
Sorcery - R
Sweep - Return any number of gates you control to their owners hand. Search your library for that many land cards, put them onto the battlefield tapped, then shuffle your library.

Like a slightly cheaper scapeshift but you're limited to gates and they bounce instead of sacrifice. Doesn't put you behind on land like the few other sweep spells.

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

Contracted Channeler - W
Creature - Human Cleric C (Comes in a Ravnica-themed Jumpstart pack, then is reprinted in an Innistrad set)
As long as Contracted Channeler is haunted, it gets +2/+1 and has flying.
1/2

Spoiler: Not good enough

Show

Enlightened One - 1W
Creature - Human Cleric R
Haunt, Lifelink
The creature Saint Traft haunts gets +2/+2 and has lifelink. If you don't control it, it can't attack or block.
2/2

Did you know that Haunt was only printed on ten cards, and that only two of those were ever reprinted? It always does the same thing, too - it comes with a spell or ETB effect, and repeats that effect when the creature it haunts dies. You'd think they'd have given it the cycling treatment in Innistrad at some point, with all of its spirit and sacrifice themes, but nope.

[somethingrandom]

Grug-greg Goblin King 3R
Creature - Legendary Goblin R
Haste
Amplify 1 (As this creature enters the battlefield, put 1 +1/+1 counter on it for each Goblin card you reveal in your hand.)
When ~ Enters the battlefield put a +1/+1 counter on it for each Goblin you control
Sacrifice ~:Create X 1/1 Goblin creature tokens with "This creature attacks each turn if able where X is the number of +1/+1 counter on ~
1/1

[Comissar]

Haktos, Rage of Akros - 2RG
Legendary Creature - Human Warrior MR

Trample
Rampage X (Whenever this creature becomes blocked, it gets +X/+X until end of turn for each creature blocking it beyond the first where X is the number of creatures blocking it beyond the first.)
All creatures able to block Haktos, Rage of Akros do so.

3/3

Mighty Haktos fell into a deep rage at the loss of Perynes. Driven by vengeance, he stalked the battlefield and sought to drown his woes in blood.

Spoiler: Design Note

Show

Forcing blocks leads to Haktos growing exponentially stronger against busy boards, encouraging board stalls to break while also helping to get around one of the biggest downsides of Rampage, that being that people can opt to just not block with more than one or two creatures. If blocked by two creatures, Haktos gets +1/+1. If blocked by three, he gets +4/+4. Four give +9/+9, and so on. Against a token strategy, he could be pretty scary.

[Personification]

In the return to Eldraine they will fight Elsa!

Herald of the Snow Queen 3
Snow Artifact Creature - Golem (U)
Adamant - When ~ enters the battlefield, if at least three Snow mana was spent to cast it, tap target creature an opponent controls and put a stun counter on it.
3/3
"You will bow before your queen."

[Quiddle]

Blimpo, The Traveling Circus 2
Legendary Artifact MR
At the beginning of your upkeep return ~ to your hand unless you pay {1}.
You may play non-land cards with circus counters on them from exile.
Forecast 1 - Reveal ~ from your hand, exile the top two cards of your library with a circus counter on them. (Activate this ability only during your upkeep and only once each turn.)
"Come one! Come all!"

[ben-zayb]

Nevermind. Brain fart.

[TiaC]

Spoiler: Paladin's Broadshield

Show

Top down design using Absorb:

Paladin's Broadshield 2
Artifact - Equipment
Equipped creature has Ward {2} (Whenever it becomes the target of a spell or ability an opponent controls, counter that spell or ability unless that player pays {2}) and Absorb 2 (If a source would deal damage to it, prevent 2 of that damage).

Equipped creature can block an additional creature each combat.

Equip {2}

Absorb has only been on one card, so anything you do with it is a new thing. The additional block distinguishes this from just giving +0/+2, and it also beats Deathtouch a lot of the time. I think it could be a bit stronger, maybe it could cost 1. There's no rarity, which makes it hard to say where this fits in limited. The pieces all fit together well. I like this card, but I don't know how much more design space is opened up for new Absorb cards.

Spoiler: Hive Gestationer

Show

Hive Gestationer 2G
Creature - Insect (U)
Ripple 4 - Creature with converted mana cost equal to 1 (When you cast this spell, you may reveal the top four cards of your library. You may cast spells with the same name as this spell or any creature with converted mana cost equal to 1 from among those cards without paying their mana costs. Put the rest on the bottom of your library.)
1/1

Ripple has been on 6 cards. This changes the templating a bit, but the old cards still work the same way, which I like. I'm really unsure how strong it is. One hit will be a bit weak, unless it's another Hive Gestationer. Two hits will be pretty good, and if there's an effective weenie deck in the format, this could be a big boost to it. A complete miss is going to suck, and most CMC 1 card won't be great on turn 3. Probably could be a 2/1 or even a 2/2. The change to Ripple means that cards with it are going to feel like Companions. They ask you to build your deck in a certain way, but give a large payoff for doing so. You could make a cycle for the limited archetypes of a set, and they'd probably still see play in constructed. The wording is a little awkward, playing the cards for free means the CMC limit will usually be needed. Really interesting direction to go with this.

Spoiler: Arcbound Siegebreaker

Show

Arcbound Siegebreaker W
{image: a tank with arcbound aesthetics}
Artifact - Vehicle U
Modular defender, 2 +1/+1 (This enters the battlefield with a defender counter and 2 +1/+1 counters on it. When it is put into a graveyard from the battlefield, you may put its counters on target artifact or creature.)
Crew 1
One part armory, one part prison.
1/1

Spoiler

Show

Modular would be changed to include keyword counters, -1/-1 counters, and charge counters. It follows the format "Modular <N> <counter kind a>, <O> <counter kind b>, and so on, except the format now omits "1" if N=1.

Modular is on 24 cards, and they've played around with it a bit. Modular would be set to appear on non-creature artifacts, so the counters can now be added to either artifact or creature.

This card is doing a lot that's different. You made a change to modular that will impact previous cards, which is inelegant. However, I think this would be the right way to do modular, with it affecting all counters, and going to any artifact or creature. (Creature or vehicle might be better, but it doesn't matter) You can do a ton with new Modular, it's going to be Mutate-like and that's fun. I think the wording is confusing, and it might be better as either Modular 2, Defender and say that multiple counters are only for +1/+1, or flip them to Modular 2 +1/+1, defender. I don't know how strong it is. W for a 3/3 Defender is fine. However, this both needs another creature to work, and turns into a removal spell (or, rarely, a buff) when it dies. This kills ground strategies in limited, and can easily be a 2 for 1 eventually. Really nice mechanic, but I don't know if defender on a vehicle was the best demonstration, it's complicated.

Spoiler: Run through the Districts

Show

Let's go for a little used Kamigawa one and switch things up for Ravnica.

Run through the Districts 2G
Sorcery - R
Sweep - Return any number of gates you control to their owners hand. Search your library for that many land cards, put them onto the battlefield tapped, then shuffle your library.

Like a slightly cheaper scapeshift but you're limited to gates and they bounce instead of sacrifice. Doesn't put you behind on land like the few other sweep spells.

Sweep has only been on 4 cards, and they weren't good. Opening it up to non-basics is interesting, and having the lands replace themselves deals with the main problem of Sweep. I think the ability to search for a bunch of non-basics could be too strong in some format. Also gets crazy with landfall. The Johnny in me thinks there are cool decks to be made with this. I'm not sure what other Sweep cards you could make. It's still bouncing a lot of land, and that's a big cost for anything that doesn't replace the land.

Spoiler: Contracted Channeler

Show

Contracted Channeler - W
Creature - Human Cleric C (Comes in a Ravnica-themed Jumpstart pack, then is reprinted in an Innistrad set)
As long as Contracted Channeler is haunted, it gets +2/+1 and has flying.
1/2

Spoiler: Not good enough

Show

Enlightened One - 1W
Creature - Human Cleric R
Haunt, Lifelink
The creature Saint Traft haunts gets +2/+2 and has lifelink. If you don't control it, it can't attack or block.
2/2

Did you know that Haunt was only printed on ten cards, and that only two of those were ever reprinted? It always does the same thing, too - it comes with a spell or ETB effect, and repeats that effect when the creature it haunts dies. You'd think they'd have given it the cycling treatment in Innistrad at some point, with all of its spirit and sacrifice themes, but nope.

I like that you put thought into how this would be printed, and I like the addition of haunted as a condition. Haunt was always used as a weird rebound-like effect. This makes the choice of what to haunt have more to it than "is this going to die when I want it to?". It opens up more design space. I don't know if making haunt work like your original attempt is a good idea. That feels like it would be easier to do as a Double-faced card that turns into an enchantment when it dies. So, then the question becomes what can you do with haunt that isn't better done with double-faced cards. Haunted as a condition is a good place to go with it, I think. The card might be too strong, depending on the haunt cards in the set. Drop it on turn 1, play an instant/sorcery with haunt on turn 2, and you have a 3/3 flying attacking on the second turn with no card disadvantage. Even if the haunt cards are just like Cry of Contrition, that's a strong start, especially in limited. Very interesting.

Spoiler: Grug-greg Goblin King

Show

Grug-greg Goblin King 3R
Creature - Legendary Goblin R
Haste
Amplify 1 (As this creature enters the battlefield, put 1 +1/+1 counter on it for each Goblin card you reveal in your hand.)
When ~ Enters the battlefield put a +1/+1 counter on it for each Goblin you control
Sacrifice ~:Create X 1/1 Goblin creature tokens with "This creature attacks each turn if able where X is the number of +1/+1 counter on ~
1/1

Amplify has been on 9 cards. 4 of those cards do something for each +1/+1 counter on them, so this isn't doing much new with it. It's a nice Goblin design, a sort of reverse lord that's resistant to removal. I don't think the tokens need attacks each turn if able and it could have trample or menace or something. It's a nice way to put a bit of body in a Goblin deck, but it's not too different from other amplify cards.

Spoiler: Haktos, Rage of Akros

Show

Haktos, Rage of Akros - 2RG
Legendary Creature - Human Warrior MR

Trample
Rampage X (Whenever this creature becomes blocked, it gets +X/+X until end of turn for each creature blocking it beyond the first where X is the number of creatures blocking it beyond the first.)
All creatures able to block Haktos, Rage of Akros do so.

3/3

Mighty Haktos fell into a deep rage at the loss of Perynes. Driven by vengeance, he stalked the battlefield and sought to drown his woes in blood.

Spoiler: Design Note

Show

Forcing blocks leads to Haktos growing exponentially stronger against busy boards, encouraging board stalls to break while also helping to get around one of the biggest downsides of Rampage, that being that people can opt to just not block with more than one or two creatures. If blocked by two creatures, Haktos gets +1/+1. If blocked by three, he gets +4/+4. Four give +9/+9, and so on. Against a token strategy, he could be pretty scary.

The card we always wanted out of Rampage. I remember playing Lure and Gorilla Berserkers together when I was a kid. Rampage has been on 13 cards, but it was way overcosted on all of them. This is a massive threat on a crowded board, but is only decent if your opponent has 1 or 2 untapped creatures. Combining Rampage with Lure and Rampage X are both new things that work well on this card, but that's about all you can do with them. I really like this card, it feels elegantly put together. The most damming thing I can say about it is that I don't know if the keyword works better than just writing out the ability.

Spoiler: Herald of the Snow Queen

Show

In the return to Eldraine they will fight Elsa!

Herald of the Snow Queen 3
Snow Artifact Creature - Golem (U)
Adamant - When ~ enters the battlefield, if at least three Snow mana was spent to cast it, tap target creature an opponent controls and put a stun counter on it.
3/3
"You will bow before your queen."

Adamant has been on 17 cards and has always been 3 colored mana. Snow Adamant is new, and a nice way of encouraging use of snow mana for a future snow set. 3 snow is going to be hard to pull off in limited, and this could be a limited card. In constructed, I like that this costs 3, because it's easy to make all your basics snow lands, but you could still miss this if you had any non-basics. Nice card for the next snow set, I think it's in a great spot power-wise and elegant.

Spoiler: Blimpo, The Traveling Circus

Show

Blimpo, The Traveling Circus 2
Legendary Artifact MR
At the beginning of your upkeep return ~ to your hand unless you pay {1}.
You may play non-land cards with circus counters on them from exile.
Forecast 1 - Reveal ~ from your hand, exile the top two cards of your library with a circus counter on them. (Activate this ability only during your upkeep and only once each turn.)
"Come one! Come all!"

Forecast is on 11 cards. Because it triggers during your upkeep, you don't know what you will draw. The thing where the Forecast does nothing until you play it is new, as is the self-bounce. I think this is very powerful. 1 mana a turn as an optional payment is almost nothing for most decks, and when you play it it can easily be a draw 6 that will go back to your hand and draw more later. Because you bounce it at the beginning of your upkeep, I think you can play it every turn, let it bounce, and then forecast it every turn. Basically, paying 3 to draw two each turn. It's a new use of Forecast, and you could make some cards with it, Forecast remains confusing, but I think this card is too powerful.

Spoiler: Winner

Show

Bunch of great card this week, and really creative work all around. I think I have to give it to mystic1110 with Hive Gestationer It opened up the Ripple mechanic very well. Congratulations!

There was more to say about every card and I could keep going wants to say anything about them or my judgement.

[mystic1110]

Thank you for the Win!

In honor of Bank of America (BofA) double-downgrading Wizards of the Coast's parent company Hasbro's (HAS) stock because the company "is hurting the long-term value of Magic: The Gathering by overproducing cards" lets make a card that used the word "Investor" in the card title