Commander Game

Judging. Incredibly sorry for the delay. I would like to thank everyone for their entries and patience.

Jartis - As I said, the creature is basically a bomb. The advantage to cumulative upkeep over simply a "at the start of your upkeep, put an X counter on N" clause is that paying upkeep is voluntary, and includes a built-in "if you do not pay destroy this creature" clause. So, it's essentially a text saving way to say that you choose each turn whether the effect gets bigger, or goes off. P/T matters for the sake of other card effects, even though it cannot attack normally - for instance cards with a "fights" effect, and various forms of removal. Cost is important, as players will have to build around it to get it out in a reasonable time frame, and be encouraged to make an effort to keep it out before using its effect, as opposed to tactics where one would want to cast it repeatedly.

As for World, the rules regarding it can be found here. Basically, only one World permanent of any name can be on the battlefield at a time. It's still in the official rules, because World Enchantments still exist in formats that use older cards, and I noticed that nowhere in the Comprehensive Rules does it ever say that only enchantments can be World (in fact, despite no other types of World permanent ever being printed, the opposite is indicated). In that regard, Jörmungandr is something of...I suppose the best way to put it would be "inside out" design? I started by deciding that I wanted to make a World Creature card, then came up with the idea of using the mythical "world serpent" as that creature, and from there built abilities that would do three things;

1. Feel appropriate to the legend. (A massive creature which poisons the world.)
   
2. Interact with the mechanics of the World supertype in a complimentary way. (Firstly in that it benefits from dying, and secondly in that playing a second World spell would feel like a worthwhile form of removal.)
   
3. Be sufficiently game-changing to warrant an "only one card of this kind may be on the battlefield at once" clause. (Serving as an alternate win condition and/or the key card to one or more combos.)
   

How about a love story?

 

Edit / Author's Note: Something I feel like I might as well include as a point of interest is that I actually gave a fair amount of consideration to whether Painted Vale should be a Legendary Enchantment, or a World Enchantment. In the context of the card the word vale is being used with the definition "the world, or mortal or earthly life", as opposed to the more common use as a synonym for valley. So in that respect, it feels thematically appropriate for the "painted world" to be a World spell. I'm also just a big fan of the World supertype in general, and feel it lends cards a sense of added grandeur - a "beyond Legendary" status. However, I've had issues with trying to reintroduce World cards in the past. Understandable, since it's an old and obscure rule that's only still on the books for the sake of legacy cards. So, for the sake of this challenge, I went with Legendary, as it's the easiest to understand and judge in a vacuum. On the other hand, I think if I were going to make a set that included commanders (or other Legendary permanents) melding to make their creations as a major theme, I probably would go ahead and make all the melded cards World permanents, as that would lend an interesting mechanic, with only one player able to control a "great work" at a time.

sdfkjgh... that isn't a Commander.

Withengar, Traft's Bane
Legendary Creature - Demon
Flying, trample
At the beginning of your upkeep and whenever Withengar, Traft's Bane attacks, sacrifice another creature.
When Withengar, Traft's Bane dies, return it to the battlefield transformed.
13/13

Withengar's Essence
Legendary Enchantment
Withengar's Essence enters the battlefield with thirteen blood counters.
At the beginning of your upkeep and whenever a creature you control dies, remove a blood counter from Withengar's Essence.
Whenever the last blood counter is removed from Withengar's Essence, transform it.


I'm not sure why the symbols aren't rendering; I formatted them properly.
Edit: Fixed it. Stupid permissions.

Because I was having trouble finding an example 🤔, thanks! 😁

Soul Seizer existing and me forgetting it existing kind of invalidates any originality in my design, so I'll just delete the card and work on something else.

FLAREdirector Doesn't fit the challenge requirements.

24 hours or so until judging!

kefke: The concept and flavor are a big hit. The massive rules text needed for meld makes Orsal's semi-vanilla status make sense, and Princess Leonette's ability makes sense standing alone. Painted Vale feels like it should be green, though, with the mana doubling and changing colorless mana to all-color mana.

ladymapi: I love werewolves, but this one feels a little confusing to play, and slightly overpowered. Werewolves transform frequently, so we get some cards that allow them to transform themselves, but other transform cards have hoops to jump through. No controller restriction also turns this into a repeatable kill on sparker DFC.

thaneofglamis: Clean abilities that reference each other on either face, and the option to use the dead guy as a mana rock if your creatures are getting through. Very nice. The threat of the second ability makes blocking a serious consideration.

sdfkjgh: I get that planeswalker ultimates are supposed to be powerful, but this one turns your commander into a command zone entity that might as well say "I win". I get what you're trying to accomplish here, but WOW.

Xenozfan2: 13 CMC, 13/13, 13 blood counters. I like it. Having a massive, difficult to remove threat like this is a good reward for thirteen mana, and crazy in reanimator. A clause to prevent reanimation cheating might have been good here.

wapulatus: I'm imagining the back face of this card as this massive conglomeration of artifacts melded into a blob of flesh. Disgusting and brilliant. Sell-mill ahoy!

Tesagk: Solid abilities that build on each other. The "you may return it to the command zone" clause on the back face is a little unnecessary and technically allows you to shove this card into the command zone while it's not your commander.

Flo00: Nonpermanent back-face! Wow! It doesn't exactly work as written, since the back face doesn't have the keeping counters ability too, but I get where you were aiming. The instant getting harder to cast as it gets more powerful is a plus, too. Also, a perfect opportunity to make the back face legendary, I think.

ZephyrPhantom: Very flavorful, with the identity of the creature being passed down and getting stronger as time passes. The last ability of the mask doesn't need the word "would" as it turns it into a replacement effect.

Winner:

Flo00, if wapulatus doesn't show, you're up

Noting my two random cards: Omenspeaker & Copy Artifact. Well, this could have been worse xD