What the Flavor?

Note that Eternalized creatures would get afflict from this guy due to being 4/4s, and the token made from existing amasses would get pumped as well. And new amasses after this guy has been in play for some time would give more targets than the generally 1 Army you'd normally have.

Flo00


hydraheadhunter


vizionarius



Winner

Yea, the name was a joke. Mainly because I just couldn't come up with a propper name.

Congrats to vizionarius for the win!

Initially I was going to make a Sultai elder dragon, but after reading Merrevia Sal's little story blip I was just hit with the inspiration, so here we are. For the most part, all that's needed to know about her lore is what's written in the link, she was an elder dragon, and she died before the war because she was killed by presumably human hunters very soon after hatching, which was kind of the idea I envisioned very soon, of this naive and curious little elder dragon (something of a contradiction in terms I admit, but in Dominaria at least an elder dragon seems to be more of a species thing than age), friendlier than most of her siblings/cousins, curiously walking up to other races and exchanging knowledge and items and such, ultimately doomed to be the first to die. Perhaps the early, helpless death of a being such as an elder dragon spurred others to their own goals, but such is left to speculation.

Mardu colors seemed just perfect for this elder dragon's personality, and they don't seem to have much in common card-wise aside from flying, being mythic rare elder dragons, and their general body shape for those in Dominaria. But hopefully, this one fits in well:

Just gonna quickly point out you might wanna change the name, as the instructions said: "There are 4 named dragons that do not have cards, and I feel it's too convenient that there are also 4 color combinations missing, so use one of the following names, and place them in the colors you think it would fit: Merrevia Sal, Rubra, Ravus, and Lividus."

I'm glad the learning part got across well! As for colors, I guess I had more of a mono-color approach, green first, blue second and red third. I also wanted a repeatable but escalating effect and figured life gain was both thematically green and disposable enough that I could put it in there as the free trigger without making the card excessive.

Whatever the case though, thank you for the win!

Now I need to think of the next challenge...

Alright folks, apologies for the delay, but here is the next challenge:

So it's no secret that MTG's planes directly borrow from a pop culture understanding of things from Earth. Theros, Amonkhet and Khaldheim with Greek, Egyptian and Norse mythologies, New Capenna with I think 1920s, Kagigawa with traditional japanese mythology and more recently a cyberpunk flavor, Eldraine with fairy tales...

Of course, we could chalk it up to mere coincidence, but that's no fun. So let's come up with an explanation, and make some cards showcasing that reasoning!

serraphim



vizionarius



gluestick248



Winner

Not too many things are known about the Eldrazi, but a few are. They are beings from the blind eternities and far mightier and more powerful even than they appear as Eldrazi Titans (which was a little undercut in certain events, but I'll leave that disappointment aside for now), with Ugin comparing the titans to a fisherman putting their land in a lake and getting bit by fish. They are drawn by and consume a seemingly endless amount of mana and terraform the drained land in the process. They are capable of generating a brood. We know at least one of them seems to have some kind of true intellect and schemes, arranging for being sealed in Innistrad's moon for an unknown purpose. We know that it's often mentioned that the philosophy behind Eldrazi art direction and card design is on the idea of "something that is/feels wrong".

I think the part about being from the blind eternities warrants special focus here. Aside from a few, unexplained creatures from Ikoria, every non-artifact colorless lifeform seems to be in some way connected to the blind eternities, whether directly like the Eldrazi, or through a form of magic like the case of Ugin and those tied to him (Ugin's magic is a result of his studies about the blind eternities, granting knowledge on the transformation of energy into matter). Furthermore, the blind eternities have one additional property, the daamage they do to beings that try to traverse it without a planeswalker spark. Even with something like the planar bridge, Phyrexian flesh is still destroyed in the process of their transport, leaving only their metal components on the other side. Notice though, that it was easier to find a way to transport metal over flesh. The connection is a little weak, but maybe it's meaningful. After all, mana seems to be the one common component across the planes, and a key source to not only the nature of the things within them but also to their very existence.


So here's the theory (the lore theory): What if the Eldrazi don't simply inhabit the blind eternities? What if they are the blind eternities, or at least some component of them? In a sense, the way beings are harmed when travelling the blind eternities appears to be an unmaking of their very being, not unlike the way things are unmade before the Eldrazi as they consume the mana. What if the eldrazi, as the blind eternities, consume mana even there?





(Additional note: Although I omitted the reminder text, the rule still applies, you can only cast legendary sorceries if you control a legendary creature or planeswalker)


How would this even work though? What do they want? Well, my idea here is that the eldrazi, the true eldrazi, aren't real beings. A walking paradox that is without existing, a will detached of a being. Colorless mana would be nothing short of akin to the energy of the blind eternities, but like any color of mana there is a nature associated with it, a way of being. This way of being, this nature would work as a compulsion and a will. It is not a desire, nor a goal, nor a plan... It would simply be something that is in the nature of the mana.

If this sounds confusing, it's because I'm talking of something pretty abstract and a bit paradoxical, but then again I don't think anything that isn't would really fit the eldrazi's true being. But, to make a long story short, I think they in a sense are the walking embodiment of the nature of colorless mana/energy, with one simple objective they don't so much desire but seek only because that is their nature: To exist. To come into being, and manifest as planes do. They are the manifested will of the blind eternities seeking to come into existence in material form, beings that shouldn't exist yet strive to become, and to do this, they need the very thing that fuels existence, mana, and they need it in droves.





The various names and aspects of the Eldrazi would merely be a particular manifestation of this will. There might be many Eldrazi, or one, but as beings that don't truly exist, the difference, there is no group or individuals, but rather the nature of the Eldrazi and how it manifests. Therefore nothing can truly stop, an Eldrazi. Not anything that does not fundamentally change how the multiverse works.


But there was something like that, wasn't there? The mending. And now, millenia after being sealed, one of the Eldrazi titans has begun to change tactics, to try schemes and different tactics, detaching itself from the seemingly mindless drive to consume. Perhaps the Eldrazi were affected by the mending, perhaps it expanded the influence of their will on the blind eternities. And hence, they wanted, or needed, a new approach.






Still, even an Eldrazi Titan can consume worlds, and they are but a small fraction of what one might call a true Eldrazi. Perhaps one has attempted to come into being before... with terrible consequences... and been forced to revise it's tactics back then as well.






In any case, that's my attempt for this. Had to rush a little at the end since I have to wake up early tomorrow, but I wanted to get this out at least. Hope ya like it!

poke at serraphim

well, let's ping one then. Daij_Djan

Thanks for the win! My aim with these design-wise was to make of effects you'd normally not see or distortions of more common effect, in an effort to capture that "wrongness" that is so characteristic of the Eldrazi. So I can see why the designs would end on thin ice regarding being 'janky'.

---

Let's talk about one of the greatest MTG mysteries: The player. You are a planeswalker. You use your mana some theorize to create a copy of creatures and spells, hence being able to conjure living things that are very plane-specific. All good so far. However, you are also simultaneously also one of the most powerful and well-connected yet detached and limited beings in the blind eternities. You can conjure forth armies and gods, as well as other powerful beings some of which have long since died, you can repeatedly cast some of the most powerful spells in existence, you can simultaneously ally yourself with mortal enemy planeswalkers, even some which only existed for very brief periods of MTG lore, and yet they all have this extremely selective amnesia pertaining to your presence. There's also no mention of you, your actions or intentions in any major event in MTG. For all your power, you never seem to have any lasting impression, let alone impact.

So, this is a pretty open-ended prompt to make some cards which attempt to address this matter, this mysterious entity known as "you".

Oh, I like that!! You are always there, but you are not self-aware of it until you are directly called out about your existence.