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

Deputized Entries

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@arixordragc — Ominous Swell
@bread-into-toast — Brooding Imperiosaur
@cthulhusaurusrex — Cypress, Knowing Nuisance
@curiooftheheart — Runescribe Guildmage
@deg99 — Smokeshroud Infiltration
@dimestoretajic — The Council of Glen Elendra
@feyd-rautha-apologist — Bloodmire Leechfisher
@grornt — Gruesome Trawling
@harunakonomi — Forever Bound
@helloijustreadyourpost — Aggressive Rearmament
@hypexion — Mothcrafter’s Art
@i-am-the-one-who-wololoes — Rat King’s Heir
@izzet-always-r-versus-u — Crucible of Revelation
@j2miner — Crocodylidae Technician
@lanabutnotdelray — Prankster Party
@melancholia-ennui — Genesis Breeder
@milfannihilator — Telepathic Plague
@misterstingyjack — Knucklebones, Grave Gambler
@nfatcheese — Goblin Trapper
@nine-effing-hells — False Shepherd
@real-aspen-hours — Canine Patrol
@reaperfromtheabyss — Outbreak Engineer
@tanknspank — Lifecraft Adept
@wildcardgamez — Bramble Story Circle
@wizard-of-interesting-failure — Produce-a-Panda
@xenobladexfan — Powerstone Extractor
@yd12k — Glen Elendra Eductaor
@yourrightfulking — Devouring Swarm

Thank you for all your entries!

We’re going into Prerelease weekend, and I’m going to be juggling judge duties, card pricing, mechanical questions, and making sure that everyone logs into Companion. So it’s nice in the end to sit down for a few hours and pretend that I could ever get these done ahead of time and/or on time for once. But that combination of duties…doesn’t every color have a duty to itself? It’s when the landscape of those duties changes that the really weird stuff comes about.

What a forced metaphor! Anyway, strengths. The variety of cards this week was pretty much what I expected, and I’m really happy that folks took it upon themselves to examine the specific angles and to really dig into the fun of what colors might want to do together. There were a lot of scaling effects that I noticed partway through, cards that cared about numbers of other cards, and it’s a curious consideration: when is that good enough in limited to make a difference? What number might you be looking at? I think when examining these cards it’s important to see the realistic potential, and there’s a lot of potential here.

In terms of design choices I feel we should keep in mind, color pie bends/breaks weren’t actually too bad this week, although there was potential for a couple cards to do things that their colors really aren’t supposed to do. As far as context and flavor goes, though, we saw a lot of variety in how people depicted their stories. And that’s awesome! Lands matter, and what lands do matters, and feel free to read on about my thoughts on them.

I had to limit myself to four JUDGE PICKS this week, which if you’re new here are cards that I wanted to highlight for one specific reason or another. Check ‘em out.

Keep reading

Creature tokens don’t do much. Sure, there’s plenty of cards that benefit substantially from them being around, but at the end of the day a creature token’s purpose often begins and ends at its body. Whether that body is meant to attack for big numbers or be thrown into the fire, that’s about the end of it. Why should all these creatures get these fancy effects when creature tokens can’t join in on the fun?

Design a card that creates a (unique) creature token with an ability.

When I say ability, I’m not really looking for keywords. Those are a dime a dozen and don’t usually contribute towards giving a token a unique identity. Rather, it’s anything that would be in quotation marks in the parent effect. Think Pests and their “When this creature dies, gain 1 life.” Except don’t think of them, because I’m looking for a token that hasn’t previously appeared on a card.

Also, in case anyone thought to be cheeky, while tokens that are copies of creatures with abilities do technically have abilities, that’s not going to fly on its own this week. It’s specifically abilities defined by whatever effect is creating the token. Note the “on its own,” however, because a copy token that adds an ability on top of what it’s copying would absolutely work.

Good luck!
ᴳᵒᵒᵈ ˡᵘᶜᵏᵎ
—@spooky-bard

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

Our runners-up this week are @curiooftheheart, @melancholia-ennui, and @nine-effing-hells!

@curiooftheheart — Reluctant Neophyte

This week, I was a little worried about how many people were delving into color pie bends/breaks with the cards that they were submitting—but then I actually read some of the Worldwake cards that I had used as examples and I realized that maybe duals aren’t that big a worry and it’s more along the lines of what can flavorfully matter. Besides, where are you gonna get duals in limited? Two colors means that your white attacker here now wants to be blocked a whole lot less when you’re swinging in. BW aggro is an awesome archetype and I’m down for it. White vampires and the flavor text here feel really Innistradian, and lord knows that I go back to that well more than a few times. But it’s so worth it for the drama of it all.

I’ve said it before with some of these submissions, but I do thoroughly enjoy when people lean into the cards that tell a story with implications beyond the surface. We don’t need art direction to feel some of the genuine longing in the speaker’s voice. We know who they’re talking to, and we know that bad things are about to go down. And maybe it’s not like the land itself is corrupting them, but every time they lunge, they feel the power of black mana making them more aggressive. I think I read the flavor text as pseudo-sarcastic, or at least… There’s a word I’m looking for that I can’t bring to mind, but it’s like, we know that the speaker’s about to turn and their sincerity is perhaps not as sincere as it might seem on the surface. That dramatic twist, that grand old trope. Yes, yes, bears attacking are great in limited, but it’s a feeling thing for this, y'know? Anyway, gold star.

@melancholia-ennui — Coastal Expedition

I…love how this card feels. I can’t fully explain it. But I love how it feels. This is what really messes me up, right? I’m gonna ramble here and it’s gonna make no sense but dammit, it’s a feeling. Green and blue are a lot closer than I think people give them credit for, at least from an elemental standpoint. Yeah, there’s wizardry vs. nature, and perfectionism vs. letting things be, but we’re talking about pure, unbound elements. Water IS nature. The ocean and the land, lakes and forests—they vibe with each other. You know? Jace and company can talk about intellect and illusion and whatever all they want. I contend that, as this card represents, the ease of water and the paths of nature are one and the same. With the context of an expedition, the human heart can allow itself to journey with that same ease. I stand by that.

Anyway. Card’s deec, too. There’s the smallish issue of kicker and “choosing” as an additional cost, and maybe that’s possible, but I think you might have overlooked a simpler solution. You know the Dragon-revealing stuff that happened throughout DTK? Silumgar’s Scorn and that cycle. The idea of optional additional costs doesn’t have to be kicker. Draconic Roar and those kinds of cards. Looking at these cards, I can see how choosing works (Dragon’s Fire, funnily enough), but I feel this card could’ve been cleaner without it. Just like, “you may reveal an Island card from your hand” and then you can play an additional land if you did OR if you control an Island as you cast it. But that’s just the polish on a card that’s 98% of the way there already, so please take my first paragraph’s praise as the main commentary here. 

@nine-effing-hells — Drown

In a lot of cases, Defile will be better than Disfigure, given the right circumstances. A card like this (one-mana black instant removal starting with “D”, as is custom) is still pretty darn great and only sometimes better than the other cards in its family! I really wanna know what you envisioned for art direction this week, but we’ll get to that in a second. Powerful one-mana removal kinda speaks for itself here. The efficiency is limited to the colors that you’re running but it’s almost always going to be good enough to run as it is. Disfigure was a relevant card even in BRO, which was a grindfest of a time if you weren’t running RB aggro-sacrifice. The flexibility of this card allows you to kinda…ignore the part of it that’s relevant to this contest. -2/-2 with upside is a strict upgrade to Disfigure in the UB decks that would’ve run it regardless, yeah? But that’s only Pauper relevance, and as an uncommon… I’m thinking lots of thoughts, none of them fully relevant, so do excuse me.

Flavor text! This is definitely one of the best ones in a vacuum this year, and that’s what I’m always happy to see. Context can make flavor text relevant, but when you’ve got this plane-specific image here… I just wanna say, for this card I’m getting the sense that this card could be reprinted anywhere and it would just manifest here as an evil river. Which is cool! Flexibility is important and you’re centering this version on Innistrad. The average person will take a second to think about river mouths, chuckle at the pun, and then slam this card down to kill someone’s human. But like, come on, what’re you thinking for AD? The water grips a bystander on the bank, maybe, or they’re already underwater getting dragged towards a grotto, or spirits beneath the current are surrounding a screaming face… Very flexible, very fun. Not for the subject, but.

It was really hard to pick the podium this week, and you’ll hear more about it later in the commentary! There were a lot more entries than expected, but we’ll get to them in time.
@abelzumi

Our winners this week are @deg99, @izzet-always-r-versus-u and @misterstingyjack!

@deg99 — Riverbed Lurker

For a blue card, I wish I could be warier, but then I remembered that they printed Twisted Reflection, and my heart groans a little bit. Thank goodness for footnotes on individual cards. So yes, this card does everything that it’s allowed to do, and everything that it’s supposed to do. And now that I’m off my high horse I can say that this card is…really good, actually. For a limited card, I mean, but also perhaps for Standard flash? There’s possibilities! I don’t think I’d first-pick this card but if I found myself in blue/black at all, I’d definitely go for it. You can switch the Lurker’s own P/T as well to give it a three-powered block if need be, but just complicating a single combat with double effects is really fun.

What is it about Islands and Swamps that seem to have such good flavor synergy? Obviously the answer is wetlands, even if you live in a place where there aren’t as many wetlands. If you do, then you know that there’s a sense of life and goopiness in like kind, and as such we get these dark and murky waters where anything can happen, especially getting ganked by a man-sized salamander. With this art and what have you, I think this card is definitely more of a mechanical bottom-up concept, and I’ll concede the point that there’s a little less direct flavor in what you’re doing. To make some sense of it, perhaps it’s saying that when the salamander has darker waters, it’s more effective at its roguish attacks. But it doesn’t have to say that when you’ve got the strength in the card already, with the double-blue pip to make it just a little bit harder to pull off such a strong limited effect.

@izzet-always-r-versus-u — Rugged Prospector

On-curve rare body? Check. Mana-ramp with a strict requirement that doesn’t specifically break pie because it’s happening in a land type outside this creature’s colors? Check. Possibility for this card to have some horrific combo unintentionally because of type-changing effects? Oh, big fat check right there. But not in a bad way. Lemme think… My first thought is that Prismatic Omen would be fun with this, or the TBD Dryad, or Leyline of the Guildpact. Enough to be a problem? Probably not. This card feels more like a Boros Artifact card anyway, and I appreciate the intent that you’re going for. Scrap for sacrifice could be just as good as Treasures in the right limited environment, and for Dwarves, I can see the way that kindred limited stuff would dig that. No pun intended.

Weirdly enough, even though RW Dwarves are a Kaldheim/Avishkar thing, I find myself picturing a typical D&D-style dwarf moreso. A gruff individual, eyeing the viewer, maybe with a raised eyebrow and a minor frown. This flavor text really is something, isn’t it? They’re a professional! They’re an expert. They’re establishing their role in a way that makes sense flavorfully and mechanically. Give them a mountain, and they’ll find the treasure in it. This really is a delightful little card and I’m really happy to see these kinds of strengths. Nuance, that’s the real key here. The character that you’re portraying isn’t just the character from an outside, but you’re establishing all these little connections through type, action, and the choice of where dialogue goes. Very impressive all around. Can’t wait to play this in my Boros Caretaker’s deck and make people mad (in an alternate universe where this card is in paper).

@misterstingyjack — Jwar Isle Kraken

Weirdly enough, for such a Commander-y card, I’m getting the sense that this is more of a limited beater and casual constructed all-star. You’ve got the blue-black mill decks that would certainly like to experiment with it, but more than that, it’s a big body that’s not designed to swing in for a zillion damage. It’s all about the milling and thrilling. Honestly, it might just be that I’ve been playing with and against a lot of cards that utilize this kind of ability, but stealing with Swamps edges this part of blue’s old color pie into a sensible manner of theft, encouraging a multicolor build and breaking the mold of modernity. It’s all the things that have been done decently, but with a twist that appeals to the players who already love to do the things that this card is doing.

The only minor wording nitpick is the last ability should be worded like Covetous Urge—easy fix. I wonder about the milling and effects like Leyline of the Void. Should it account specifically for cards put into a graveyard? I dunno, there are small things to consider, but that’s all post-production. My gut says that this card’s done its homework. You’ve got the Jwar Isle sensation of things lurking in the currents, the big unknowns in Zendikar’s seas, the callback to allied lands in the Worldwake cards but caring about the reverse pair, and you’ve got the crab callback! Honestly, the thing I like most about this card right now is the fact that it’s so definitively Zendikari. All the notes are checked and the boxes are ticked. I’d hate to play against this card, but I’d love to see what it can do.

Runners up and coming!
@abelzumi

Basically Everyone: Entries!
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@bergdg — Drown
@bread-into-toast — Circling Scavengers
@corporalotherbear — Lost in the Wilderness
@curiooftheheart — Reluctant Neophyte
@dabudder — Stack of Kindling
@deg99 — Riverbed Lurker
@dimestoretajic — Seabound Ricochet
@grornt — Peak Seeker
@harunakonomi — Dust Storm
@helloijustreadyourpost — Boil Over
@hypexion — Atropa, Dark Seedling
@izzet-always-r-versus-u — Rugged Prospector
@j2miner — Tumblestone Kavu
@lanabutnotdelray — Rising Wildfire
@melancholia-ennui — Coastal Expedition
@misterstingyjack — Jwar Isle Kraken
@nfatcheese — Fiery Bear
@nine-effing-hells — Drown
@piccadilly-blue — Brushfire
@reaperfromtheabyss — Castles In the Air
@sparkyyoungupstart — Tidy Up the Crater
@stareyedesper — Standsteppe Lagac
@taigadecorationno6 — Rapid Urbanization
@tanknspank — Morass Hydra
@wildcardgamez — Merfolk of the Floodplains
@wizard-of-interesting-failure — Flood the Realm
@xenobladexfan — Peaktop Goat
@yd12k — Nile’s Insight
@yourrightfulking — Igneous Rebirth

Wow, popular one this week. Thank you all for your entries!