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What is the Inventor’s Fair?

• This Tumblr is a collaborative custom card competition blog for Magic: the Gathering. Each week, one of our rotating judges creates a contest prompt, and then people submit their entries. At the end of the week, the cards are judged and winners are chosen.
• HERE is a general weekly schedule, updated for 2021.

Why is the Inventor’s Fair?

• Since perhaps the inception of the game, players have been making their own cards. The creation of the internet, fandom, and online communities have led to many people sharing those cards online. Part of the love of the game is through creating new mechanics, ideas, stories and interactions. This blog exists as a challenge space for people who enjoy sharing their ideas in a low-stakes competitive sphere.

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• The FAQ page felt a little outdated, and people were asking questions that were there, so it’s clear that not everyone is using it. This is a pinned post with all the available information, starting points, etc.

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Our runners-up this week, after much deliberation, are @izzet-always-r-versus-u, @misterstingyjack and @nine-effing-hells!

@izzet-always-r-versus-u — Together as One

It’s fascinating to envision how this works with the stack. Every single creature can either get the counter or the spirit, and you have to wait for the whole thing to resolve before you get your response. Is that functional specifically? I honestly don’t know, but like, of course it is—the intuition with enduring was a little difficult on prerelease night but folks are groking it enough. This card could also just get you a spirit for each creature you control, and on that note, I think it might be prudent to have each non-Spirit creature endure instead of just every creature. Although maybe it could be nontoken, just so you’re not entirely screwed? Chaining these things together would be so incredibly strong in limited and even constructed. I’m imagining an EOT casting of this after a huge Anim Pakal swing and boy it doesn’t look pretty. For the opponent, I mean. This is quite a strong card.

Really, the one-two punch of the flavor text is what seals the deal for me. Maybe Innistradian spirits are known for their flying, but blending some of those spiritual bonds with a world, perhaps, in which the dead are less ascending but more bound to their mortal bodies and the paths they once tread… It’s possible to find a place where the flavor makes more direct sense. Maybe this doesn’t have to be in a mainstream Innistrad set; as a Horizons one-off, I can imagine that there would be some pretty cool token/counter synergy that could justify a card where your spirits are standing their ground. Spirit and human fighters together feels awesome, this card feels like a first-pick, and I’m absolutely down for it.

@misterstingyjack — Sorrowful Singer

I have mixed feelings about this card, only because I want to justify a lot of the creative choices here when in reality I don’t have to. In the end, it’s quite powerful. Quite alone, too. The requiem, this memento mori, speaks to an aspect of black on Theros that’s not often experimented with on the canonical cards. Erebos and the Underworld being a real God and a real location, respectively, puts a lot of the ennui in a different light. And yet, grief remains steadfast. Each player suffers in the song. Then death begets the return of another song, another portent, and that portent ensures nothing but a return to the grief that begat it. Am I reading too much into this card, or is it just doing a lot of work with what you’ve been putting into it? It’s damn good, too, even if it’s missing a comma between “dies” and “you” in the first creature line.

Omens on Theros are a phenomenal idea. Portent, scrying, the future—all of that is thematically there but the introduction of scrying (and its return to evergreen!) was about as far as that went thematically. I love the notion of omens and creatures with omens interacting with each other in a similar way that Adventures did on Eldraine, except it’s less about “I’m returning from afar with newfound strength” and more “this is coming and there’s nothing any of us can do about it” synergy. Maybe that’s for the best, and maybe the mill strategy can be a little more localized into blue and black as far as archetypes go for limited. But what a way to start off this mindset, and I’m really impressed by how richly melancholy you’ve made this poor singer.

@nine-effing-hells — Augur of Emphara

Speaking of Theros, actually, here’s a card that has a pretty cool flavor base and also deals with Omens on Theros, but with a purely mechanical bend that’s really great turn one and speaks volumes about how the draft archetype wants to go later on. I love drawing cards, I love attacking with fliers, and I love a game plan where I get to swing in and, if they’re not dead afterwards, draw enough cards to absolutely slay them on the crackback. I don’t need much flavor justification to say that Ephara loves seeing into the future and also probably birds. I also don’t need to justify having blue with a flying-themed and/or scry-themed bend in it. You’ve got…probably UW Fliers as an archetype, then overlap it with UR scry and GU cares-about-omens. Boom, there’s your brew, there’s your overlap.

Paying five mana for a 2/4 that maybe draws you some cards won’t see people defending it in their decks. People won’t understand the strength of omens and scrying until it’s too late. Casting an omen and then scrying into other omens feels so awesome when those creatures finally come down, and I think the mechanics of how this card wants to work on board speak to that. This flocking is indeed auspicious, because you’ve got a 1/1 flier on board that’s going to be drawing and pinging and doing great things overall. Multiple copies means that you’re in for a wild ride… The more I talk about this card, the further I get from the flavor of it, and you know what, this card doesn’t need to display anything that’s not already on screen, and good for you in that regard. I think the card strength and the immediate draw to limited without having to think about flavor is a strength in and of itself sometimes, especially because bird portents just make sense. They do to me, anyway, but I also talk to animals, so I’m a little biased.

It’s a long road to judge picks, commentary, notes and beyond. I’ll keep everyone updates as I chip away, and once again, thank you so much for your entries, patience, and love of the game. TDM is a rockin’ set and I’m glad to share it with all of you.

@abelzumi

Our winners for this week are @bergdg, @teaxch, and @yd12k!

@bergdg — It That Breaks

I didn’t actually think that that was the wording for Scions, but wow, turns out… So part of what I really love about this card is how generally well-put-together it feels. The themes are there, the rarity is there, repeatable Scion generation (repeatable-ish) feels super powerful, and the return of the Eldrazi with omens is a great match. I don’t know what the hell is going on with the fonts there but that’s just for the card design creator; I just think it’s kinda funny, nothing to do with the card itself. It’s curious how the omens change the color identity, yeah? And the decks that would make sense for it. But in limited, there’s super cool usage for both sides of these. Looping even two Scion Swarms in a game means that It That Breaks will be that much more powerful later, assuming you’re not ramping into anything larger.

Or, if you’re in a colorless-themed deck that doesn’t play green, you can still use It That Breaks and generate value from sacrificing other cards along the same vein. Imagine, for example, that there’s also a RB Eldrazi shell and a BX sacrifice shell for limited. If you’re RG Eldrazi ramp, then you can use this card to get yourself up to speed, and in those other two shells you have a massive top end for one and a great sac synergy outlet for the other. Jund Eldrazi is the vision I have right now, but why stop there? GW tokens, boom. GU ramp, there you go. I think my singular gripe is the name, just because of meter. “It That Sunders” scans better, or something along those lines; “breaks” is a wee bit simple. I suppose I shouldn’t be that pedantic when I’m staring down a giant Eldrazi, though.

@teaxch — Ice-Vein Draugr

I think it’s been long enough—especially with an unexpected entry such as this—that I’m happy to put you up here. Besides, this card’s quite a fun design and the only Flurry entry for this contest. I think you hit the sweet spot where you reminded me that Kaldheim had a second-spell-being-cast theme on top of a snow pun that works with a just-recently established mechanic, and now here we are, with the coolest possible idea to come from that confluence. Whether or not foretell would be in this theoretical return doesn’t matter, because the idea of a “flurry” as a returning snowfall and not as a “flurry of blows” feels sensible for a card such as this. Aggressive zombies are just what black needs here, in addition to the tie-ins with RB berserkers, UB zombies, and WB spells; GB elves are the only Kaldheim faction that couldn’t really do much with it, and hey, you can’t win ‘em all, unless you’re a graveyard deck on top of it.

It’s a really interesting flavor profile you’ve got going on here, if I can use that term for a moment. The feeling of a zombie cracking out of the ice seems like it would be the most difficult, but then you have that snow affinity, like the snow itself is what’s calling the Draugr out from their rest. I admittedly don’t know much about the Draugr on Kaldheim, but I can make my zombie-themed assumptions and I’ll be happy not trying to look through the corners of every wiki to make or break a case. Snow means zombies because zombies here like the magical snow. It’s in-world sensible, and it makes mechanical sense too with how you’ve themed flurry. It just tickles me how neatly you’ve packaged this card up and brought these ideas to presentation! Perfect in all the strangest ways. Perhaps in contemporary MTG this would be a 3/1 but that’s play balance for you.

@yd12k — Tribute Band / Heartfelt Homage

Let’s pause for a second. Firstly, you really should’ve had reminder text for harmonize on the side of Heartfelt Homage, considering that it’s a returning expert-level mechanic. It’s a bit of text, but I did finagle with it by adjusting the font size, and it would look fine. Aside from that, though: this card made me laugh aloud. Sincerely and fully, I laughed at the whole card together, the flavor text, everything about it. What a lovely card overall. I think that there’s something to be said for Strixhaven that, despite the warring history and the nature of MTG to have some pretty horrific things happening on the cards, the world felt light enough that we could get some levity contrasted with the larger Multiverse. Of course we want to follow characters and have our conflict, because that’s how stories work—why not have some college interaction while we’re at it? What delightfully pithy and condescending sophomore English-major newspaper language you’ve channeled there. That smug critique is so Silverquill and I’m in for it.

And frankly the card’s really good too. I think the major strength is taking direct tropes and translating them in a way that feels both original to the world, magical to the senses, and thematically resonant on the cards. The band literally transforms into that which it tributes, and the homage (probably a solo, if we’re being honest about what the art would have to display) may not be good but it’s an effective callback to the “song”/spell that the creature is performing. The wit in this card is genuinely lovely. Which side would one play in the end? I think both have their merits, and chaining together some sick Bard combo where you cast cantrips to turn an evasive creature into a big body is fun indeed. Surprisingly strong in the hands of the right limited player, as are Snapcaster-style effects—especially if we have more returning spells like the Archive. Simple, pleasant, and worldly. What a great submission.

Unfortunately, I’m a little behind today and so runners-up will be posted in the evening after work. All said, though, this was a painfully strong week for submissions, and I’m really impressed with what folks put in here. I’ll have more to talk about as things go by.

@abelzumi

TDM Mechanic entries!
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@bergdg — It That Breaks
@bread-into-toast — Nahiris’s Vanguard
@corporalotherbear — Resonant Howl
@curiooftheheart — Tintown Wind-Up Master
@deg99 — Fervent Intimidator
@dimestoretajic — Sniper’s Distraction
@fluffycattens — Critterwave Captain
@genericaura — Birdwatch
@grornt — God-Pharaoh’s Harbinger
@hanavesinauttija — Duskmantle Haunt
@harunakonomi — Boros Conscription
@helloijustreadyourpost — Sheoldred, The Corruptor
@hypexion — The Eclipse Serpent
@i-am-the-one-who-wololoes — Welcoming Fanfare
@izzet-always-r-versus-u — Together as One
@lanabutnotdelray — Runo, Priest of Krothuss
@misterstingyjack — Sorrowful Singer
@nine-effing-hells — Augur of Ephara
@piccadilly-blue — Deliverance from the Dark
@reaperfromtheabyss — Boggart Bumrush
@sparkyyoungupstart — Ghoulcaller’s Threnody
@stareyedesper — Deepwater Revelation
@tanknspank — Danger Detector
@teaxch — Ice-Vein Draugr
@wildcardgamez — Najeela’s Last Stand
@xenobladexfan — Yidaro, Inevitable Beast
@yd12k — Tribute Band / Heartfelt Homage
@yourrightfulking — Kai, Timelost Researcher

Wow, lots of awesome entries here. Thank you all for your submissions!
@abelzumi

Can be in terms of design space, flavor, or playability. Just gotta pick one.

Dragons, dragons, everywhere! Or at least a lot of places. And they’re spreading throughout the multiverse!

But yeah, TDM having a new mechanic/ability for each clan plus a new shuffling mechanic PLUS a little flavorful action keyword is…a lot. Explaining them to prerelease players took a long while, but they got them all, even with the weird stuff regarding triggers and timing. Everyone had a blast! Everyone who was playing, anyway, but I got to run through the LGS taking judge calls so, y'know, stimulation.

Now that prerelease is officially over…guess what kind of contest we’re doing now? … Oh no, not that. I’ve got something else in mind.

Design a card using a new mechanic* from Tarkir: Dragonstorm on a plane that is NOT Tarkir.

*For the purposes of this contest: twobrid and surveil as mentioned in this article are not considered new mechanics.

First and foremost: I want you to design a cool mechanical card using the tools given to you in TDM.

On top of that: whatever plane you choose should reflect a way that the mechanic you’re using could fit into the world of that plane. And no, you’re not depicting a character from Tarkir who used an Omenpath to go somewhere else—I want a view of that plane and its characters on their own merit.

Last general note: I’m looking for the mechanics in as normal a form as they appear, no major tweaks or changes. Whether you go for top-down or bottom-up is up to you, but the fundament and spirit of this contest is to use one of the mechanics as it would appear normally. Because they’re fun!

I can’t wait to play with this set myself. Have fun!
@abelzumi

>> Desktop Submissions
>> Mobile Submissions/Asks
>> IF Discord Server

Our runners up this week are @feyd-rautha-apologist, @helloijustreadyourpost, and @nine-effing-hells!

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@feyd-rautha-apologist — Bloodmire Leechfisher

Probably the only time I’d want to find my socks full of leeches, honestly. I really like everything going on with this card, honestly. It feels very much like a collection of moving parts working in harmony. Plus, although it’s definitely got a bit of “feedback loop” to it, that’s diminished by the fact that the card is physically unable to get the loop going by itself. Even once you’ve found a source of lifegain, it’s tricky to find ways to get the Leeches tapped down until you hit the magic number of 3. There likely won’t be many opportunities to attack with their fragile selves, after all. Plus, I’ll openly admit that I’m a sucker (pun not intended) for any time vampires get associated with a bloodsucker besides bats. Big fan of what this card is putting down, essentially.

@helloijustreadyourpost — Aggressive Rearmament

I think the first thing I want to address here is the choice of creature type. It’s interesting that you went with Construct when the Brother’s War more typically dealt in Soldier tokens. It could be passed off as simply wanting to make the tokens with an ability distinct from those without, but I feel like there’s a bit more to interpret. I like Construct here as evidence of Urza’s personal touch, in a sort of parallel to the perennial Karnstruct token. The flavor text has him, in essence, talk about prioritizing both form and function, so it makes sense that they’d have a bit of a flair to them, if that makes sense. Anyway, the actual gameplay of the card is good. I kind of find myself wishing it was an instant, because flashing these in as blockers makes for a very fun swing, but I can understand the hesitation. Still, it’s a bit of a do-anything card with a lot of applications, and I can’t ask for much more in a common.

@nine-effing-hells — False Shepherd

“Not-quite-dead demon subtly influences the living to engineer its resurrection” is a tried and true trope, but it’s also one I’m a very big fan of, so you score points there. Cards that accrue value from the graveyard are always fascinating to me. The mana cost here does a lot, as while just getting a free token every turn from turn 1 if you can entomb it is a bit much, having to pay a bit each turn makes it enough of a commitment. The sherpherd is certainly an impressive body, but I enjoy how the tokens have the ability to resurrect any old demon you might have in your graveyard, especially when those demons are much more tempting to get onto the battlefield on the cheap (Valgavoth, anyone?). Plus, that way the shepherd can stay put in the yard building up a flock again. If anything, resurrecting the card itself comes off as more of a Plan B, which is a teensy bit incongruent with the flavor, but it makes the gameplay flow so much smoother that I struggle to get hung up on it.

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And now it’s all over. After a bit of a hiatus, though, I’m back on my regularly scheduled on-the-Discord-for-the-rest-of-the-day-taking-commentary-requests business, so don’t be shy and come on down!
—@spooky-bard

Our winners this week are @arixordragc, @deg99, and @tanknspank!

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@arixordragc — Ominous Swell

Sea monsters are alive and well, though in perhaps a bit of an unusual form. The progression between Tentacle and Octopus is great, going from something little that’s great for stopping attacks early game—by tap or by chump—to a huge threat that impacts the board like a tidal wave. Plus, Octopuses insisting on stuffing their cards full of eights is always charming. Instant speed is doing a lot of the work here, but I mean that in a good way. It’s all around very versatile. My one issue is that I do kind of worry it does too much if you can kind a cheaper way to cast it from the graveyard than the gigantic flashback. Like, dropping an 8/8 on turn 4 with a Snapcaster sounds strong, but I couldn’t tell you if that’s broken strong or cool strong. While the token is just a big vanilla, you’d be able to tap down their entire land base. Skipping a turn and developing a threat it pretty brutal, and could maybe warrant some tweaking, but I won’t dismiss it out of hand.

@deg99 — Smokeshroud Infiltration

Futzing around with the specifics of cost is always a tricky proposition, although I can say with a reasonable amount of confidence that this should work. Probably. That aside, though, I adore the concept this was going for. This sort of etb enchantment with a mechanism to return to hand for more value is something we’ve seen before conceptually, but this is definitely a new way to go about it. Plus, in the context of Ninjas, this fundamentally changes the dynamic of ninjutsu—namely, that you can use it to actually widen the board. An unblockable token makes the activation very easy, and the ability also serves as a fun way to make tokens more acceptable targets for ninjutsu. I also like how the replacement effect is specifically Ninjas being bounced, because a lot of the classic ninjutsu activators actually aren’t Ninjas, which forces a degree of different deckbuilding to better meet the requirement.

@tanknspank — Lifecraft Adept

A token with reconfigure already has me suitably intrigued, but it coming pre-attached as part of the creature’s stat pool is what really gets the neurons firing. In a lot of ways it’s sort of a reverse of living weapon, with the wielder being the printed card rather than the weapon. The card’s a house, too. No keywords in sight, but a 4 mana 5/5 that leaves behind a 4/4 is no laughing matter even when the 4/4 doesn’t have additional lategame utility. Ultimately not a whole lot to say here other than “I like it,” but I hope I’ve sufficiently gotten that part across.

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As always, stay tuned for the runners up!
—@spooky-bard