Booster Pack Game

this is so sad alexa

A Crack Through The Seal

Legendary Enchantment

Whenever you cast another spell from anywhere but your hand, create a 4/4 black Demon creature token with flying. It has "Whenever this creature deals combat damage to a player, you may pay 4 life. If you do, draw 4 cards."

EDIT - Removing flavour text for text length concerns. Was:

Judging time! I'll be judging on an entrant basis, with entrants with multiple cards having their cards judged as one single entity.

Waffle : Cunning Renegade's effect (repeatable permanent artifact control) is far from common level, and statting it lower doesn't help that much. The flavour also leaves something to be desired, being a rather generic thief-type person that doesn't really tie to the plane at all. 1/5. While I won't take off points from most typos, Hardened Fortifications' ability, as written, gives the P/T boost permanently, which, again, isn't common in the slightest. At least the flavour is better this time. 2/5. Total score: 1.5/5

gateways7 : Cutthroat Champion boasts an interesting style of evasion and is, I believe, properly balanced around it; while repeatable discard is suspect at common level, this kind can, perhaps, be called an acceptable red flag. The flavour is succinct, yet thematically resonant. 4/5. Accolades for the Soul's design purpose of fitting in with pre-established mechanical themes goes much appreciated, and the idea of making renown creatures less appealing to block through +1/+1 counters is an interesting design philosophy. The flavour is a bit disjointed; the card represents accolades for the soul, yet the flavour text indicates the card to be an act of acknowledgement from the soul. 3/5. Total score: 3.5/5

viriss : The introduction of clash in Ambitious Gamble suits the world well, and it being one of my favourite underappreciated mechanics increases the entry's appeal. A simple and clean common, altough the flavour text feels like it needs some quote marks around it. 4/5. Initiate of Vasille introduces the implication of a religion centered around the soul of the world; I appreciate this entry for expanding the flavour blurb beyond what I initially provided. The card itself, however, is a bit less pleasing: why would I ever, even in Limited, play a 1GG 2/3 creature that can only attack under highly specific conditions when I could play either a stronger defender or a stronger attacker? An effect this complex is hard to accept as a common, either. 2/5. War Table Plans has a versatile hoop for its effect, lending it a good gameplay dimension. The flavour, however, leaves something to be desired; war against whom? 3/5. Total score: 3/5

Fermat : The invocation of the Lorwyn elves' hate against unequal power and toughness in a world likewise obsessed with perfection in Disdainful Dismissal is a subtle reference I can appreciate; the card itself is also a simple and clean package, even if slightly veering towards uncommon territory with its potential effectiveness. 4/5. Fortifications are an unexpected, but not unwelcome, addition to the whole; however, repeatable damage to attacking creatures is iffy enough at common that I can't help but let it detract from the score. 2/5. Protracted Pursuit makes me realize that Origins could've done more with its renown interactions, and thus hits a welcome spot. The effect is balanced enough, but the flavour is the strong suit of this entry, expressing the darker side of a fame-driven world. 4/5. Final score: 3.33333333.../5

bagz : Blind Swordsman, while a cool trope to express, is mechanically... far less cool. A creature with renown that can only become renowned through either outside help or its 2UU activated ability has no right to cost as much as 2U, given how its combat damage effect is a measly scry 1. The fact that it only becomes 2/3 through its so hard-to-reach renown trigger is the cherry on top. 1/5. (If you want to evoke the drawback of blindness, perhaps make a creature with power and toughness above what it'd regularly possess, but with some kind of drawback like "can't attack alone"?)

Neottolemo : Kudos for finally representing one of the flavour hooks of the prompt; I thought that one would go ignored. As an entry, A Crack Through the Seal deserves its legendary status with an effect that would be devastating in multiples and a flavour implication that would surely shake the status quo of a potential Vasille block. Making the demons a kind of mini-Griselbrand is a nice touch that sets the tokens apart from the kind of generic big fliers other cards would produce. The card could perhaps be 2BB, though. 4/5

EDIT:

Fleur: Although Persecuted Plaguemaw's "big thing with drawback" archetype is one I appreciate, its drawback is too incidental to justify its large life swing at common. 2/5.

The winner is Neottolemo, followed by gateways7.

Thanks for the win. But I'm sorry, I haven't got a clue what set concept to pick. Let's pick a few words instead. Anguish, cold, cliffs, political divisions (a splintered land: some conspire for unification; they want to be united, but who gets to rule?; no one has experimented with democracy there yet, it's a foreign art). As for the inhabitants, there are more than just humans. Scuttling scarab people which are hunted down for sport, antelope people from the desert far South that worship a cult of retribution - they send their ambassadors to the Northern petty kings, and do not complain about the cold; sentient monkeys in the ever snowy peaks that can steal your senses - but have so much wealth and so much knowledge - they say that they borrowed it, too, but the sources got lost: something about the wind, the mud, the depths of the ocean. Something lives in the dephts as well - but no one has ever seen it and survived, none of the kings know anything, though some conspirers are interested - would it help? Doubtful, but it's in their nature to be curious - they've never been in power, they're scrounging for ideas, not sitting still peacefully. The situation is bound to change at any time now - but in what direction?

First common (nine commons, three uncommons, and one rare/mythic remain):

Instant

Tap up to two target creatures. If a creature died this turn, they don't untap during their controller's next untap step.

Draw a card.