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Post by 4d20 on Jun 9, 2022 1:02:18 GMT
Didn't have time to find art for a token, so apologies. Also the word behind her head is Partisan, didn't realize so much of it was covered up at first. Obvious AU where instead of escaping the underworld like she did in canon, Elspeth either A) escaped in another way that caused her to change, maybe losing her memories or B) stayed in the underworld, choosing not to leave. Either way, she now spends her time helping others escape the same fate that had befallen her. She also rages against the heavens, denouncing all of the gods and spreading the truth of how Theros's pantheon works to anyone she meets. The time spent in a death realm would shift her from white to black mana. |
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pernicious
8/8 Octopus
Posts: 440
Favorite Card: Mistmeadow Skulk
Favorite Set: Shadowmoor block
Color Alignment: Red
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Post by pernicious on Jun 9, 2022 11:10:40 GMT
This Jace comes from a timeline where, while he still had innate talent for mind magic, he didn't have (for reasons unknown: indolence? different genes? different influences during childhood?) his signature knack for academics and his typical "think first-act later" disposition. The result is a brutal kind of mind mage that can only "sear" the minds of his targets with currents of red mana. Alhammarret still recruited this Jace and used him as an assassin that left the corpses of his strategical targets smoking from nose, ears, mouth and sometimes even from the eyesockets, after their eyes had melted away. Unfortunately for the sphinx, Jace confronted him in this timeline as well and the result was the same as the timeline we know: Alhamarret dead and Jace accidentally planeswalked away without memories of his home. Without his studies and with a different disposition towards life, this Jace grew impulsive and generally uncaring of others' tribulations . He lives only in search of "the next high" to experience.
The multiverse of this timeline is quite more catastrophic: Without a calm and prepared Jace, the Eldrazi have consumed Innistrad and Zendikar while Nicol Bolas has restored his immense oldwalker powers in Ravnica.
One could see this Jace as a metaphor of the butterfly effect and of what the effort you invest in improving yourself can accomplish.
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Post by Idea on Jun 11, 2022 22:21:31 GMT
A little later than I'd hoped, but it's time to find our winner! Sanfonier of the Night {Spoiler}I'mma be honest, I'm not a big fan of this design. I think it's clever the way you made Ugin become 5 colors, shifting into the opposite of colorless in a way, but protection from all colors isn't exactly an interactive mechanic and slapping it on a planeswalker... Eh, I just can't see that being fun. Two proliferates is in effect a +2 for the planeswalker, making them pretty sturdy on top of how card to hit they already are, and the copy ability alone could be busted when there are no ways to really respond to this short of your deck mainly consisting of run of the mill artifact creatures (as opposed to, say, colored artifact creatures). Overall cool idea, but I just really can't see this being fun in practice, as one player would be out of options and the other would be pushing a button every turn without having to do much for it or be concerned something might happen to it. serraphim{Spoiler}The twist on Sorrin is a bit on the standard side, but it's definitely welcome that you gave that bit of backstory! It was definitely very well written to say the least. Now, as for the card itself I don't think costing that much mana was necessary, it definitely feels like more of a four mana or pushing it maybe even three mana as a walker (though getting a +2 and which could potentially ultimate while surviving after two uses of that does make it more questionable, but even so something around that range). Also +1/+1 counters are kind of universal, sure green cares more about them than most but seeing as we're talking vampires here anyway (who get +1/+1 counters in both red and black regularly) I don't see the need for green in the card.
Complaints aside, the design is definitely quite interesting, and I feel it shows the flavor of a Sorin that can't help himself going around, making more vampires and maddeningly attacking people. Daij_Djan{Spoiler}Very interesting static. To me the idea of "ice burns" didn't really come to mind so much as a half-frozen creature, struggling to pull itself out partly because it's weakened by the cold, partially because they are somewhat frozen solid. Keeping the commonalities between blue and red in the design was a neat idea as well, and I think one very appropriate for any kind of shifting challenge like this. However, I also feel this card would be, albeit probably strong on grounds of the static alone (which has this side of defense for the planeswalker), comes across a bit disappointing due to the lack of an ultimate. Not every planeswalker needs one, but at 5 mana and being mythic rare, you either need to be doing very quirky and specific (something like Guideon becoming a creature every turn and you not losing the game while he is around) I certainly think an ultimate would be expected. 4d20{Spoiler}Hey, look at that, Elspeth committed to white. Fun contrast knowing now there's a white phyrexian coming for her. Sidenote, no need to worry about token art, that's a bonus.
About the lore you gave her, I'll leave aside the matter of the mask and the underworld being Erebo's dominion so continually helping things escape probably wouldn't be sustainable aside, I don't think Elspeth knows the true nature of the Pantheon? I might be misremembering though, but I think the only time that's really mentioned is in a conversation Kruphix has with an oracle of his.
Well, that's neither here nor there though. I like the first ability of the card, definitely very strong but not unreasonably so. It's a good defense and if you don't need much defense you can buff up your life total, which is something Elspeth definitely likes to do. As for her second ability though, it feels a bit weak for a planeswalker minus, it's only affecting life total and it needs you to build up a board state first. Still, again, not unreasonable. Ultimate seems very interesting, however while I can see why thematically you might give those creatures escape, I feel you could easily have worded it more simply if the emblem just said you can cast creatures from your graveyard by exiling three other cards in addition to paying that creature's mana cost. Probably not a huge change overall, but it's still like half a line that's unnecessary text I think. pernicious{Spoiler}Hmmmm... I can't decide if that ultimate is clever and fitting for a planeswalker's ultimate, or if it is something that shouldn't be allowed in standard magic (partially because of time and partially because you get to see your opponent's entire deck, a big advantages in other games in the match). Balance wise I think the card is fair for the cost, though the first ability should probably be backwards since this is a red card and red usually discards first. It's a bit of a flavor fail for a shift into red to not have a mechanic with a very explicit difference in approach on the prior to the current color be shown on the card itself, if you're going to have that type of mechanic in.
Speaking of flavor though, loved the backstory and context you gave for this card. I'm not a huge fan of Jace (or the gatewatch in general) but it's definitely interesting seeing the spin you gave on his story while still keeping many hallmarks. Winner {Spoiler}I'll give this victory to serraphim , with 4d20 as the runner up, though it was a tough decision and I ended up writing and rewriting this comment as I went back and forth. Both had cards that were cleverly designed, and had a neat backstory whose flavor was very well conveyed in the card. 4d20's had some things I felt were a bit out of balance, but in net effect I felt they pretty much balanced out, and there was a bit wording I felt was ultimately redundant, whereas serraphim's I felt is a little overpriced and green is not very necessary. On these grounds alone, 4d20 would have an ever so slight edge, but both still roughly equal. Ultimately what tipped over the scales was the difference in the two bits of context. Serraphim's made more sense and was written out in a way I very much appreciated reading. As a rule of thumb of course the merit of the card design is above the rest, but in a race this close I think it's fair for the bonus points to have a say.  So long story short: Congrats on the win serraphim |
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Post by Daij_Djan on Jun 12, 2022 0:08:14 GMT
Congratz to our winner!
@ Idea : Big thanks for the feedback. My blue Chandra actually went through quite a few iterations (some of whom did in fact have ultimates), but each of them including the version I settled on in the end sadly had its issues. Small changes aside, the  and the  were pretty easy to settle on, but I never really was happy with the third ability - and then just stopped after splitting it into two  |
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Post by serraphim on Jun 13, 2022 2:21:14 GMT
Thank you Idea! Looking back on it, I think you're right that the green is unnecessary.
Every good hero needs a good sidekick. This week, choose a mythic rarity planeswalker. Then design an original planeswalker at uncommon rarity with abilities that complement the mythic's. It should have no more than 2 activated abilities and up to 1 passive.
Also, I love lore. It won't be worth any points this time but give me some background on your new character if you'd like.
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Post by Idea on Jun 13, 2022 12:18:09 GMT
This lil sidekick here is for a Nicol Bolas planeswalker. It works with all of them, but probably works best with Nicol Bolas the Arisen, Nicol Bolas the Deceiver or Nicol Bolas Dragon-god. The way this card supports those I feel is obvious. Firstly it lets you directly fetch your Nicol Bolas's, from the deck or from the grave, but even without the ultimate you can search for them using the trigger to loot. The planeswalker can also act as a defender and mana generator, both for Nicol Bolas himself and for other cards drawn with Nicol Bolas. This isn't as much of an interaction with the abilities of the planeswalkers in question because I feel they don't need it, Nicol Bolas is powerful enough by himself. He doesn't need sidekicks who have his back, he needs someone who will lay down the red carpet for his grand entrance, and a back up plan just in case. Lastly, it should be noted Argur here has a color identity of Grixis and is a legendary creature in front. With this, you can use it as a commander, though we all know who's really in charge in such a deck.  Argur was a researcher in a plane where the land is covered in huge chasms, with ethereal fumes at the bottom that light up the night and prevent anyone from seeing what is at the bottom. Even if one is sent to investigate, inhaling those fumes leads to loss of memory, madness or both. However, even if one never goes to them on purpose, whispers can be heard from the chasms, getting into people's heads. One can fight them off, but if even for a moment you listen to the whispers and let their words into your thoughts, the seeds of doubt, envy, anger... You'll enter a sort of trance. Ultimately, this trance will dominate your mind, and you'll end up throwing yourself into the chasm, yet even before getting to that point you'll find yourself doing a lot of things you might have regretted if you were in control of yourself. Many have tried and failed to fix the problem of the whispers. Argur, in particular, grew obsessed with it, becoming known as a maddened mage and going so far as to transform his body into a zombified state in order to conduct experiments on himself with a more resilient and disposable body. He still took the time to hide it for appearances-sake, but nonwithstanding he was starting to hear the whispers of despair... And then, salvation (or perhaps what he mistook for salvation) arrived. Nicol Bolas had contingency plans to prepare. Alternate ways to gather power, or perhaps to travel the multiverse. Argur's research into his spark as a means of fighting the Whispers caught Nicol Bola's eyes, who would provide knowledge, power and guidance in return for Argur's loyalty. Unknownst to Argur, Nicol Bolas also twisted the whispers around him with a curse, making the whispers force into his mind and increasing devotion towards the dragon. Argur continued his research, plunging into a darker and darker path. He believed he needed more room and resources to continue his research, he needed power and authority, and thus began scheming to get it. One day, he would find the fruits of his labor realized, and when that time came, his master would come for him, to save his world and claim the prize for doing so: The creation of an artificial spark. |
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Post by serraphim on Jun 20, 2022 22:43:29 GMT
I'll wait til Wednesday to judge. I hope to see some more challengers.
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Post by lordpat on Jun 20, 2022 23:44:24 GMT
Rhan-Gus, the Artifical Spark    Legendary Planeswalker - Rhan-Gus   , tap two untapped artifacts you control: Draw a card and lose 1 life.  : Mill three cards, then return target artefact card from your graveyard to your hand.  Rhan-Gus is Tezzeret's creation to aid him in his quests throughout the multiverse. Using inventions from kaladesh he was able to create an artificial spark which he placed inside a mechanical shell. Originally it had no soul or motivations other than to please its creations, but as time has passed the being has started to have objectives of his own, much to his master's dismay. Still, they are allies and traverse the planes together. He might be the only thing that Tezzeret might care about other than himself. Activated abilities on PW do not count as loyalty abilities if they don't have a loyalty cost assigned, can be activated at instant speed and as many times per turn as desired. (They are treated as if they were on any other permanent) |
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Post by serraphim on Jun 23, 2022 2:37:14 GMT
Idea: He feels rather difficult to transform. Having to discard either 3 or 4 cards, no more or no less, before having The Neverending Seeker deal damage almost always limits you to discarding the cards prior to combat, which burns up a lot of your gas for the turn and still leaves you praying he survives for the trigger. That being said, though, if you manage to pull it off, having a free lightning bolt that can produce mana is pretty mean. Also, being able to use him as a commander gives a useful reason to run all those crazy expensive planeswalkers in a deck.
As for your flavor. I love the story! The images in my head are somewhere I want MTG to go. I want to know what's at the bottom of those chasms and Bolas taking advantage of a feature of the plane itself to manipulate the Seeker feels perfect. I've been a Grixis player since Alara came out and the world you describe sounds like Grixis' own hell.
Lordpat: Rhan-Gus feels like a mini Tezzeret, and works really well with Tezzeret, the Seeker. Honestly, it never crossed my mind when I said activated ability that it might not be a loyalty ability, I found that clever. The fact that he dies if you choose to use it the second time really adds to the greedy aspect of Tez.
Winner: Lordpat, congratulations! |
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Post by lordpat on Jun 25, 2022 16:34:24 GMT
Thanks for the win!
I have a simple one for yall. Design a Planeswalker called "Wrenn and Eight"".
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Post by Idea on Jun 26, 2022 1:14:04 GMT
 Seems like Wrenn went onto the wrong tree, or the wrong Ent to be more precise. Welp. Just to make sure it's properly readable, here's in text format: Wrenn and Eight    Legendary Planeswalker - Wrenn  Add one to the number on this planeswalker’s name. Exile any number of lands from any graveyard and from your hand. Put up to X land cards in exile onto the battlefield tapped under your control, where X is a third of the number on this planeswalker’s name rounded down.  Add Y mana of any color to your mana pool, where Y is half the number on this planeswalker’s name rounded down.  Create Z 2/2 green and white Treant creature tokens with reach where Z is the number on this planeswalker’s name.  You gain an emblem with “Creatures and planeswalkers in your graveyard have escape.Their escape cost is their mana cost plus exiling eight cards minus the highest number on their name.”  (Silver Bordered) Also, note on last ability, if you the exiling cost would be negative, this just means you don't exile anything for the escape. |
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Post by serraphim on Jun 26, 2022 2:59:35 GMT
Wrenn found her newest host following her arrival on Kaldheim. The booming song of the World Tree beckoned her. Wrenn fused with the great tree, gaining insight and access to all life and mana on the ten realms. The sap that flowed through its trunk imbued her magic with a level of power that rivaled Kaldheim's gods.  |
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Post by Idea on Jul 12, 2022 20:26:08 GMT
Thanks for the win! I have a simple one for yall. Design a Planeswalker called "Wrenn and Eight"".Reminder for bump or maybe even close the contest! |
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Post by lordpat on Jul 24, 2022 1:56:54 GMT
Sorry, I'm here and I'm here to judge. Idea: this card is very very odd, but on purpose. There are a couple of issues with this card, even for white border. There is a minor memory issue, but I think that's a lesser evil. The main problem is that this card will be "create eight 2/2 with reach" and try to do it again. That is bonkers, even for six mana. The two +1s are pretty slow and considering that the idea is that the number on Wrenn keeps rising, I feel these should be combined to make the selling point of this card the most powerful thing to do with it. The 0 is also strange, because it does something very similar to the +1s while not gaining loyalty. The ult is very strange, it could also have localization issues (with one word meaning also a number in some language). I think the concept is intresting but the card is bloated and unbalanced. Serraphim: This is also an odd card. The main problem I have is that the +2 is better than the -1 and the -5. It should also shuffle afterwards. The -1 is really weak too, lasting only until end of turn makes it only good offensively. The -5 is also rather weak but I don't hate the concept, there is something there. I don't think it should be the ult of a walker though. Generally not a huge fan of at the beginning of each main phase because they require you to track something even when you don't attack. Winner: serraphim |
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raphiezar
1/1 Squirrel
Posts: 71
Favorite Card: Rite of Replication
Color Alignment: Blue, Red, Green
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Post by raphiezar on Sept 3, 2022 8:32:03 GMT
Should we give the win to Idea? It's been over a month.
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Bouncearama
3/3 Beast
Posts: 174
Formerly Known As: pistonsmcgraw
Favorite Card: Davriel, Soul Broker
Favorite Set: Unstable
Color Alignment: Blue, Black, Red
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Post by Bouncearama on Oct 23, 2022 18:29:07 GMT
I think so.
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Post by ZephyrPhantom on Oct 25, 2022 3:12:07 GMT
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Post by Idea on Oct 25, 2022 7:15:55 GMT
So am being given the win? I saw it being discussed but it wasn't ever made official so I ended up just waiting. |
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Post by Daij_Djan on Oct 25, 2022 10:24:08 GMT
@ Idea: Feel free to offer a new challenge. serraphim is still the previous round's winner, but if they don't start a new round, the runner-up may go next after a while  |
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Post by Idea on Oct 25, 2022 11:22:05 GMT
@ Idea: Feel free to offer a new challenge. serraphim is still the previous round's winner, but if they don't start a new round, the runner-up may go next after a while Ah, got it, got it. Alright, so the next challenge. Make a card that transforms into a planeswalker. It can't be: -A creature or saga -A planeswalker on both sides |
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Post by Flo00 on Oct 25, 2022 19:07:40 GMT
Underworld Chase Sorcery Choose target creature card in your graveyard. Any player may pay X life and exile X cards from their graveyard, where X is its mana value. If no one does, return it to the battlefield. Escape , Exile five other cards from your graveyard. (You may cast this card from your graveyard for its escape cost.)This card escapes transformed. ------------- Geoz, the Haunted  Legendary Planeswalker - Geoz : Target opponent discards two cards, then creates a 1/1 white Spirit creature token with flying.  : Target player sacrifices two creatures and a noncreature permanent, then creates a 2/2 black Zombie creature token.  : Gain control of all tokens and untap them, then destroy all nontoken creatures.  |
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Post by emberfire17 on Oct 25, 2022 19:21:16 GMT
 This one was really fun to make. |
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Post by Idea on Dec 15, 2022 3:30:03 GMT
Extremely sorry for the delay, I must confess I forgot about this challenge!
Since I'm planning to review other contests I'm working on tomorrow or the day after, I'll set my review of this one for then as well
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Post by Idea on Dec 16, 2022 14:24:30 GMT
Flo00 I very much like the way the flavor is conveyed here, this person being chased as they try to escape the underworld, and even after they’ve succeeded them dead just keep coming. Ultimately turning it around by taking control of the tokens is an interesting mechanical dynamic as well, that fits the build up of the planeswalker, though there is some disconnect between the front face and back face mechanics. emberfire17 I love the creative idea you had here and the reward planeswalker after the transformation is awesome, just the thought of potentially triggering that ability multiple times is so exciting. Another nice thing is how while the enchantment offers protection is doesn’t guard against one of the main ways to remove planeswalker (creatures) and even effects can be overcome since it’s just ward. The weakness I feel is that the flavor doesn’t make a lot of sense but the idea is still cool nonetheless. I am glad you had fun with the prompt! Hard to pick, but ultimately I think victory should go to Flo00 for the card with best flavor and internal build up. While Ember’s card has plenty of synergy, it mostly pertains to the fact everything works around planeswalker’s, so I think flo00’s makes for a more interesting dynamic and functionally interesting card.
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Post by Flo00 on Dec 18, 2022 0:43:57 GMT
Thanks for the win Idea! Next challenge: Look around you and choose one object you can see. Your planeswalker has a very personal connection to this item and carries it with them wherever they go.The object can be anything, even a living being. |
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Post by Idea on Dec 18, 2022 23:16:45 GMT
I was originally planning to go with a laptop, but after failing to find art for it I decided to go with a little souvenir that caught my eye, a 50 year calendar.  Flo00 edited, thanks for the advice |
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Post by emberfire17 on Dec 19, 2022 2:39:52 GMT
  Katya is a young girl who loves her stuffed fox, Aleandra, dearly. So it makes sense that her spark related to her love of foxes. |
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Post by Flo00 on Dec 19, 2022 18:55:48 GMT
Idea is it on purpose that the first ability doesn't grant suspend? So it won't do any good (aside from deck thinning) unless the card has suspend itself or you already got the emblem. emberfire17 because I'm stupidly nitpicky with templating sometimes: • Creature types are usually capitalized. • When you search your library, it's a Fox creature card.
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Post by Idea on Dec 19, 2022 19:50:19 GMT
Idea is it on purpose that the first ability doesn't grant suspend? So it won't do any good (aside from deck thinning) unless the card has suspend itself or you already got the emblem. Yeah it was on purpose (because suspend would remove the counters and I don't want those counters removed other than by his ability until you get the emblem). Though now that I think about it, I should probably make it so the second ability lets you cast the card if they got 0 time counters. |
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Post by emberfire17 on Dec 20, 2022 15:48:16 GMT
emberfire17 because I'm stupidly nitpicky with templating sometimes: • Creature types are usually capitalized. • When you search your library, it's a Fox creature card. Thanks for the formatting advice! I also rebalanced it, I initially thought searching for a fox was pretty tame because there aren't a lot of great foxes out there, but then I remembered that Maskwood Nexus exists. |
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"When in doubt, do a common." 
