Challenge Slots

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SilentKobold , with viriss coming is a very close second!

Flo00 - Okay, wow, this is a really neat design! Outlast is usually something that strikes me as a very straightfoward mechanic (MaRo said a common problem with Outlast cards is them being seen as worse than they actually are), so having an eye-popping design like this to do something fresh with them is a really great way to give them a way to do something unusual. You instantly make every Outlast card a viable consideration for decks running Vilis, Broker of Blood and similar effects just via this card alone and that's a great way to make a player enthusiastic about an effect, be it inside of Commander or outside of it. Heck, imagine Enduring Sliver with this! I would jam this card even in decks where it probably was a bad idea - this card makes you want to experiment with it despite seeming expensive and niche, and puts a fresh spin on cards that are probably sitting at the bottom of someone's storage box right now. Great card.

inferno390 - Devour has been historically noted as being very flavorful (despite having a 7 on the Storm scale) and very fun to imagine/play with (I imagine things like Prossh, Skyraider of Kher Keep took at least some inspiration from it), so an artifact that makes everyone hungry/beast-like enough to do it is a pretty cool addition on top of it all. I like that the abilities fuel each other and give this "circle of life" feel, and that you sneakily slip a bit of ritual flavor in via the ramp without making it feel like a color break. This card owns its Black mana symbol far better than Tyvar Kell did with his, basically.

viriss - Forecast to create a political commander-esque situation that acts as a sort of reverse Zedruu is very interesting in the sense that you want to keep the heat off your back while your opponents accumulate enough 'gifts' from you until you can play him out of nowhere and flip your group hug strategy on its head. While I think this is basically the only strategy he's good for (he might be an okay sideboard token 'sweeper'?) there's nothing wrong with a legendary being specifically good for a niche strategy (see Zedruu). I think the biggest concern is more how blatantly predictable he is and unlike Zedruu he can sit safely in hand instead of risking being on the board - that, and despite the fact he feels like a blatant Commander design his abilities don't work if he's the Commander. It's a good idea but I think some parts may need to be moved around a bit - either an extra ability to make the whole thing work or dropping Forecast to make it more flexible.

ameisenmeister - An unusual Jeskai weenie build-around - I like that this creature still partially functions if you're playing Boros or Azorius, making it very limited friendly and flexible as a pick. This definitely seems like one of those cards where the real advantage lies in having all the options potentially available to you at once and the vigilance to let it attack on its own (while making sure it can't manifest itself) is icing on top. Well put together!

melono - Haha, I really like the flavor and mechanics of this design! You capture the Blue/White idea of repeatable tappers very well with the repeated detain while adding a bit of Mana Leak/Tax flavor in to prevent it from being too oppressive. Straightforward but elegant - every part of this card from the flavortext to the full art is well used.


thaneofglamis - Nice highlighting of the interaction between Surge and Cascade. This seems like a primarily EDH design where you piggyback off another player's spellcasting on your turn for a mana rock and then sacrifice it later to gain some value. A perfectly good design that's easy to understand and fairly affordable to run in any strategy while benefiting specific ones more.

gamma3 - Solid design overall but I think you could've made the +1/+1 counter ability its own thing (instead of being dependent on explore) to let him fit into a wider variety of decks. Not much to say otherwise, I think you costed him fairly and unlike certain recent designs out there I'm glad you didn't go all in on making him an extremely efficient value monster.

Boogymanjunior - Renown seems like a really flexible mechanic and I could see renown tribal coming back in the future if it reappears. I think the sacrifice outlet design to show a different way to use renowned creatures is a great way to show what it can do and I like that you let the effect work to some degree on any creature as well, making this a flexible draft pick even if you aren't going for renown tribal. Bonus points for essentially being able to clear the board so that you can get more creatures renowned for future use. Nice design!

1st: Flo00 - Reinventing Outlast this way is just wild because of the sheer synergies you suddenly give to the mechanic out of nowhere. It's so simple and somehow it's just exciting to look at! I wish this card was real.
2nd: ameisenmeister - There were a lot of cards that tried to fulfill a very specific purpose or idea but I found the more a card went all-in on that idea, the more issues began to creep up with such cards. I think your card works great as a flexible draft pick and a decent weenie include in a hypothetical Standard without feeling awkward or out of place.
3rd: inferno390 / Boogymanjunior / melono - Great designs, just stiff competition. I'd want these cards printed still.