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[inventors-fair]

Predicting Prehistory

I've wanted to do a contest like this for a long while, where I pick a setting and have y'all design cards for it. Now seemed like as good a time as any, so let's do it!

Make a Card Set on the Prehistoric-Themed World of Muraganda (that isn't vanilla matters)

Here's a list of every existing Muraganda card. Bonus points if your card isn't green. I'm requesting your card isn't "vanilla matters" because that's the mechanical theme a lot of people jump to and even ignoring the problems that theme has, I want this to be more a flavor based contest and not a vanilla matters contest. You're definitely allowed to make up a new keyword if you like, but it isn't required.

Submissions are due by this Friday, May 3rd at noon.

Submit >>HERE<<

Join our discord for feedback >>HERE<<

[inventors-fair]

Castaways: Cast Trigger Commentary

I'm honestly a little surprised at all the cards that we got this week, and I'm overall quite happy with the variety of the cards that I saw and the range of strategies employed. It was hard to choose winners and runners from this mix, and the commentary was quite thought-provoking. Overall, I'd say that with much of these cards, complexity had to be tempered in order to get the most powerful results.

Cast triggers are nuts. The ability to have an uncounterable effect (sort of) that uses the stack can lead to some strange encounters, and there are still some folks learning MTG that have difficulty understanding what it means to "cast" a spell. Lord knows that explaining it to my students can be quite strange, and they're used to things being played just by themselves. When does this happen? How can I respond? What are the best responses? And it's not just about the responses, but how the cards interact on board that shows their design chops. Lots of cards this week made me want to brew, and I love contests like these.

There are quite a few Judge Picks this week. These cards have specific aspects I want to highlight for some reason or other, so pay close attention. With this many contenders of this strength, choosing the top cards was incredibly difficult, as I'm sure you can imagine. Read on!

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@aethernalstars — Ash-Cannon Goblin

I think my favorite part about this card is the flavor text. It doesn't grok perfectly, but it's playful and enjoyably goblinesque. As far the card idea, the idea is solid enough. What's bugging me is the fact that this is essentially kickerless kicker. The cost is an optional part of casting, and yet the trigger is also part of the casting. There would be no need for this kind of wording unless this started as a kicker idea and was shifted into a cast trigger, which it honestly doesn't need.

As an ETB effect, I would've liked this card a lot better. The cast trigger here isn't doing anything that an ETB couldn't or wouldn't do, if that makes sense. If you want to keep this design, I think that spending your graveyard to smack face/creature/planeswalker is totally fine; honestly, this could be a decent uncommon, because it's a single-use kind of card. Graveyards are great resources and limited resources. For this specific contest, examining the 'why' of cast triggers may have led to other considerations. At it stands, I still like this card and would suggest a couple wording revisions, perhaps. Also make sure that you avoid run-on sentences!

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@brookeuwo — Spitefellows (JUDGE PICK)

You've got a Horizons-y mindset here, don't you? Bet you think you're clever? Well, you are, and I initially was going to be wishy-washy on this card for the name being a reference but that's what a good chunk of Horizons cards are sometimes. And you know what, I'm down for it. The trick is making the homage feel like an homage, and in that I think you succeeded. In terms of power, this card's also got a lot going for it. As much as I worry about the power of cast triggers, this card's got decent power going for it.

Most importantly, it's a blowout that's pretty much only a blowout in limited. It's a five-mana 2/2, which is...very bad comparatively, even if you get two of them. So essentially you're making two bodies, right, but then the evoke cost is where the blowout removal happens; I'd say that nine times out of ten you're just going to clear a board with this card, or at least make an incredible impact. You're clogging MODO with triggers, but I mean, high complexity is fine if it's warranted. I think that as a Lorwyn callback and a Horizons power-level card, this is pushing it but not so much that you'd have problems except at really high-skill levels. Phenomenally fun card and a great idea overall.

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@cthulusaurusrex — Wavebringer (JUDGE PICK)

Attaching the cast trigger inside is an interesting move, and ultimately, I think it works quite well here! The lord-body is one of those ones that can go into any Elemental deck, but the callback to Master of Waves has not gone unnoticed. It's also interesting how you've made it so that this card wants more of a spellslinging deck whereas the Master wanted a permanents-matter deck. Could you run them both? Well, perhaps, if you managed to get them on board and then start slinging like nobody's business. What I'd want to do is play this card with Quasiduplicate effects and then really get things going.

What I'm trying to say in the end is that this kind of card is the kind that makes me want to play it and makes me understand why it exists. I don't know if it's necessarily breaking new ground, being a callback, but it's doing a number of things differently, and I think that if absolutely nothing else that this card is overwhelmingly good. The chops are there and the rationale is there and the play style—you guessed it, it's there. If I have any reservations, I suppose I'd like an inch of flavor text, but even then, is that necessary? Arguably, doesn't have to be there; the AD makes it pretty clear what the coming storm would be. So maybe all that good stuff is worth commending on its own, you know?

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@curiooftheheart — Bellowing Boars (JUDGE PICK)

I really want to like this card's power level, because it's actually quite striking. A late-game ramp deck that can get eight or even twelve lands can absolutely run away with this card. On turn four, getting two 3/2s with trample and haste isn't anything to shake a stick at, and the ability on turn eight to get three of those AND have four mana left over, potentially, is fascinating. It makes one focused on the late-game potential of stompy decks, and that's pretty darn cool overall. The more I think about this card, the more I find the design tech actually really great for limited.

And I mean, I have to assume that all that thought went into this when you designed this card, because it's actually completely unique as far as I can tell from a cursory search. The only real grumbling I have is in the overwrought flavor text. Paring that down to maybe two lines would've suited the rest of this card's strengths well. Does it have a specific setting, something that Vivien observes that's fascinating for her? A lot of adjectives hamper down the writing here and I do wish I could be less of an expletive—but it's honestly really distracting. Look: this is ultimately a card design contest wherein presentation matters. This card is substantially well-made for the nature of this contest and everything else is a me problem. Where is this going? I swear I had a point what wasn't a half-assed pseudo-apology. Ah well. Damn boars, running through my consciousness.

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@dabudder — Gracie, Substitute Teacher

This is definitely a commander-oriented card. I'm looking at its applications, and honestly, I'm not sure I'm convinced I see the upside? Drawing into cards would be nice, but the benefit of casting one spell into another feels a bit wonky. That said, there are mechanics like Escape that make the benefits fun, and with prowess you've got a bit of a nice beater sometimes. What's the shell that really wants this card, though? I can imagine that you could have fun with Suspend cards... Ooh, actually, imagine: turn 2-3, plot a couple cards, then turn 4 play Gracie and cast some stuff from exile. Trigger, cast Ancestral Vision/Profane Tutor, etc.

So it's not that I don't see the combo appeal! I think this card isn't a card for me specifically. Getting cards back from wherever you're casting them can be fun—command zone as well, considering you can get your commander to hand fairly easily. In limited, I think building around this card would be weird, and explaining that the initial spell getting cast wouldn't resolve is also weird, but hey, it's what it is. I feel that this card has strong "fun" application. Practically, this is a card for someone who's not me, in a format that's probably not a premier set. But who knows? As a side note, I think you also captured a lighthearted Strixhaven feel quite well. I substitute myself and lemme tell you, it's not half as magical...

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@feyd-rautha-apologist — Demon of Final Moments

As a small note, I recommend in your art direction that you have the focus on the demon, because I totally was digging the focus on the mage until I actually saw what the card was. That said, damn effective work there. As for the card, you are looking at some weird weird weird stuff here. By "weird" I mean that this card is a combo piece whereupon you cast it and win the game. how so? Let us count the heckin' ways. Thassa's Oracle is the most obvious one, but Laboratory Maniac plus any draw effect is there, as is an Inexorable Tide with exiling extra turn effects like Karn's Temporal Sundering and the lot. Cast this spell and you win—there really isn't any other reason to play this card.

In limited, I wouldn't imagine that this card does much good if the removal in the set is worth its salt. Play it and bam, it's removed, you lose instantly. There are so many ways that you lose with this card, especially if it gets countered; it's fragile as all get-out. A design that either wins instantly or makes you lose just as fast is... Well, not exactly what I'd call good gameplay, I'll say that much. Additionally, if you cheat this card out, you have the situation where you can just play the game normally and encounter loops with said extra turn shenanigans (assuming proliferation of time counters). I'm afraid this one goes into the "busted" pile. Side note: I feel that the flavor text could have been one sentence with "his last" coming after a colon, but I'm down with the concept.

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@fractured-infinity — Curse's End

Reading up on what the Curse of Wandering was/is on Amonkhet, I'm uncertain that this card is vibing with that flavor. The Curse is an aspect of the plane, and so is this card saying that the whole shebang is now over? What had caused it in the first place? If it predated Bolas, what's going on with the mystery? I feel that this card is saying that the Curse is an actual curse with a source and a way to end it, which... Eh, I don't feel the meshing, but regardless. the card itself is a great mythic with only a couple minor issues.

Firstly, there's the question of how this card would function if this contest didn't have a cast trigger. I would imagine that instead of a cast trigger, the better design would just be to exile all creatures and all creature cards from graveyards. While this does have the benefit of putting a bunch of ETB triggers on the stack, there are better ways to go about the exact execution. Besides, why not have a deck that uses this cast trigger then counters the actual spell itself? That kind of defeats the purpose of the card, I think, a little cheatsy-shenanigans that feels like a workaround rather than a function of the card itself. Maybe if there was an additional cost or caveat, I would buy it, but I'm not convinced at this iteration.

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@greensunzenith — Swarm Vanguard

The short answer is that this card is funny, funky, and probably not that broken. As for whether or not it's common, that's a rough one. Cast triggers at common are...odd, too. The best one I can see is, oddly enough, Supernatural Rescue (as a rarity-to-complexity comparison). I think this should probably be an uncommon, because copies of permanent spells becoming tokens doesn't exactly grok as well as we'd think, especially when you consider that you're going to have many, MANY copies of this card in your deck. After a point, how easy/hard would it be to keep track of on paper? Probably easy if you used things that didn't resemble actual copies of the Vanguard, but whatever. At least it's a vanilla creature.

When you have an effect like this, one must ask: would this have been more easily grokable as an ETB trigger? Honestly, I think the answer is yes, and it's unfortunate with a design that tries to go for this amount of elegance at common. Entering and making an insect token for each card with the name Swarm Vanguard in your graveyard would've probably been fine and scalable without the casting complexity. Flavor's nice, though, and the concept is solid.

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@i-am-the-one-who-wololoes — Zarderek, the Folkslinger

I am willing to meet you halfway on some of this. Having a spellslinging GW commander isn't exactly on-flavor, but they've had Magecraft across colors before. Technically, I don't think there's anything out-of-pie that excludes it. But you have to roll with me and agree that it feels a little off to have GW be the one for Magecrafting without naming it? You know what, I'll insert an honorary piece of trinket text in front of that trigger just for my own peace of mind.

As it stands the card would play pretty normally and would make limited decks pretty nasty. Having a protective backup spell to get more bodies and get more counters would allow for Zarderek to run away with games quite easily but not without too much power by itself. I think that it does just what the colors want to do and, without feeling too weird, is a reasonable card. I don't think you could've made it any other way; RW would've been the next-best choice, I believe. Perhaps the flavor could've spoken to the world on which we see this character, something about why GW has this kind of magical expansion? Looking pretty generic for the moment, captain.

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@khyrberos — Atraxa's Command

This card probably functions exactly how it's intended to function. I think the possibility of having a card where the modes function in this manner is pretty cool and, depending on the life paid, would make for an interesting setup. It's reasonable to assume that swinging in would get you all that life back, too, but regardless: this card doesn't really function as a command, or at least not in the way that commands are meant to function. This card is essentially a one-off that feels like a one-off, a function of itself that has no bearing on the rest of a set. What environment would be able to play this card, or want to? What limited environment could spawn it? Honestly, what preconstructed environment would have it, either?

Commands function on their versatility, and this card has none—which is fine if it wasn't technically a command, kind of? Even then, it doesn't have the "command" feel, and turning all your creatures into Atraxa for free is... I'm not gonna say that it's not fun in concept, but for lack of a better term, this card feels like it was designed for itself without a greater reach in mind. Even a five-color command with an Obelisk of Alara feel could've done the job as a "Praetor's Command" with different modes. That said, playing with Phyrexian mana is playing with fire as-is.

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@misterstingyjack — Facesnatcher Ghoul (JUDGE PICK)

I think this card is doing everything it needs to do, and it's doing it quite well. Exiling and/or returning creatures will turn it on, and those are the most common ways to interact with creatures in graveyards at lower rarities. I love the notion that you can drop an Emrakul and then instant-speed exile it to turn the Ghoul on, but that's not happening in limited; most likely, you'll have a couple moments where you'll cast return spells and you'll be doing just fine. This card is for sure a constructed card.

And again, constructed cards are fine, because we need cards of every rarity to make things work! When I look at submissions, the first thing I think is what would happen if I opened this out of a booster pack while drafting, or something to that effect. ... Maybe it's not the first thing, but it's one of the things I think about for sure. And this card would be quite fun to build around if you can make it work, but more likely than not it's going to be a pet card, and that's perfectly fine. Targeting cards in graveyards with spells is one of those very specific things that you can't repeat much. Honestly I think "cast a spell or activate an ability" would be better for gameplay. Did you think about that and relegate it to casting because of the contest? If so, I get it, and if not, I honestly think that that would've been acceptable, just because the card itself is so tightly designed.

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@nine-effing-hells — Panoptic Predator (JUDGE PICK)

Was this an intentional callback to Hydroid Krasis? I mean, I can imagine so, because it's got similar-ish casting capabilities, but the bodies that it can make are really nasty. I think getting a bunch of fliers can be extremely rough for limited, but it is a mythic, and getting bodies isn't the worst thing in the world. Drawing cards as well is a nasty little thing. The whole notion of perfection and eyes feels like it fits well, and ultimately the question of whether the cast trigger is necessary is pretty reasonable, because, well, it wouldn't be very strong otherwise. Five mana for, say, two 1/1 fliers and a 3/3 on the ground? Yeah, mythic-worthy, and upping that cost if pretty strong itself!

What I like about this card is the fact that it doesn't get continuously stronger. Once you cast it, that's it. There's no flickering shenanigans, there's no proliferation or +1/+1 synergy—what you see is what you get. The self-balancing aspect means that the really horrible part of going against this card is the draw power that you get after being pinged in the air a lot. But, they are only 1/1s, and those little eyes squish pretty easily. Honestly, I thought that this thing itself had flying, and the fact that it doesn't makes me feel better. Overall I'm a fan! We need more eyes in the world. The flavor of Phyrexia being gross and all-encompassing checks out too.

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@real-aspen-hours — Tachyon Blast (JUDGE PICK)

This is a weird little idea and I have to commend it for how strange the interactions must be. I think that it has to be appropriately costed with that cast trigger, because the uncounterable Shock ain't worth nothing. What a strange little card! I feel that, in a limited game, this would be a pretty worthwhile removal spell, but the cost is somewhat prohibitive. Comparing it to cards like Trick Shot, I feel that this could've been a four-mana Instant spell that did double Shocks instead.

Well, even then, "double Shock" is a bit of a misnomer. Triggering and then shocking is pretty strange; targets being chosen on cast plus a trigger that also targets would mean that there would be a lot of rough interactions when it came to protecting and hexproof-ing. But hell, now you can take out that two-toughness Goyf without worrying about too much, right? There's a lot of thought that went into making this spell as simple as possible, and I appreciate that. The flavor is pretty neat as well, and checks out with how the Izzet work. Honestly, the flavor feels so on-point that it's almost hard to comment on, and that's a good thing. You've blended it in to the world quite well.

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@reaperfromtheabyss — Phyrexian Glutton (JUDGE PICK)

How much consideration was given to Phyrexian Ingester when it came to this card? That said, I actually see where you wanted to make this one distinguished. I feel that you should have actually blended the first and second abilities into one paragraph. Looking into similar effects, I think someone's first notion would've been to have this be an "As ~ enters the battlefield" effect, and yet, I can see why that would've been the wrong choice with flicker effects. Man, this is a tricky one! You mitigated a lot of the ways in which this card could've been broken. One other thing I like about it is that it's not an optional ability, so you'd have to exile one of your own creatures and/or planeswalkers if there were no other options.

As a control card, or even a midrange anti-control card, I like it a lot. The way that it's both a removal spell and a finisher is pretty strong without being overwhelmingly annoying. It enters without the ability to Shock it, which is nasty as well. And yet, on-board, it's not the hardest to chump. It sure as hell ain't the easiest, but it's designed to be difficult without being impossible to deal with. Certainly a contender, and I'm a fan! What's with folks and designing Phyrexians this week? I'm not complaining, but hey, it's something curious to note.

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@ship-of-skitties — Machi Avel, Master Planner

When we have references in real life, I think Magic's rule of thumb is to have a pseudonym of some kind instead of... Well, "parody" is the best name for it, but this card feels like an homage way more than that. I'm not the biggest fan of the name, but you have the plot and you've not lost it, that's for sure! This card's a strange one but you have all the pieces. Plotting plus the trigger is obvious but you can also cast cards with impulse draws and t works like the Aftermath Pia Nalaar, which checks out! I love the "this turn" on the middle ability; I originally felt that you could've put the two together, but actually, the third ability works with cards that just have plot naturally, so I get why you separated them.

Man, ultimately this card is just a crazy engine, and I respect it. Plotting forces a long game when you consider that you can't plot and cast cards in the same turn. I want to point out that the flavor text is a little squished in there and that "nonland" is one word, but besides those two things and the name, you've made a pretty gnarly card and I respect it immensely. Plotting has proven to be really fun for gameplay and this card's doing it quite well. Yeah, little to no notes otherwise! Good job.

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@sombramainexe — The First Stone

Don't forget that when you submit a card via text or via an editor that doesn't have a specific rarity indicator, you need to note a card's rarity. I wouldn't worry about that for the moment, though, because we should talk about this card first. I know where the name is coming from, and yes, the concept of casting the first stone and all that is theoretically funny. Functionally, this card's pretty middling, because in an interactive game you can have only one that you'll maybe use assuming you've not interacted beforehand, or it will literally be a dead draw. A single removal spell that only works if you haven't performed a set-specific game action just isn't the kind of card that stands up to scrutiny.

That's not to say that we don't appreciate seeing funny cards here from time to time, and I do assume that to some degree this card was supposed to be humorous. (BTW, for everyone else reading that doesn't understand the joke, it's based off John 8:7, a Biblical reference that's entered the common lexicon). With that said a degree of functionality is still preferred to go along with it. This card is probably narrower than you might think at first glance.

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@stupidstupidratcreatures — Biogenesis

There are quite a few options on this card. I think that the fact that you have to choose between counters and life is pretty bunk, and I actually thought before rereading that you would get both counters and life. If the second part of the card was "You gain 1 life and draw a card. Put a +1/+1 counter on up to one target creature you control." would've been just fine to me. There are plenty of effects like this in green and there's no shame in pushing it just a little bit.

Is this a cast trigger, though? I suppose in a roundabout way it is, so I'll let it skirt the contest a little bit, but this is very technically a trigger on the sacrifice rather than the actual cast. At the same time, it's important to make that distinction because it shows the complexity of a card's internals. The trigger wouldn't be possible without the cast, so there's all that, but no matter, the card's perfectly reasonable as is. I think the generic name/implied flavor isn't pushing me into any particular direction, but I'll commend this card regardless for being more in the realm of Plumb the Forbidden rather than the other green cards in the Greater Good variety that we see riffs on.

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@tanknspank — Kami of Impending Victory (JUDGE PICK)

So this would trigger off itself, right? Six power for six mana is a good start. I like the idea that you can ramp up to a couple more bodies just by itself, and a six-mana 4/4 in white is still pretty good. I know in your notes you mentioned storm and stormlike capabilities, and honestly, I wouldn't worry about that. The ability to look at other cast spells and to make something based on those spells is reasonable for the trigger without being too powerful. What's there to say otherwise? I dunno, this card feels just plain great in limited and decent-ish in commander; bodies are bodies, no matter the format.

Victory, well—that's an odd one, but I suppose the flavor is justified if something terrible happens, and lemme just check the wiki real quick... Oh wow. I actually had no idea that that happened in the story. WELL then. I guess that places the timeline now, doesn't it. Yeah, this card checks out on all fronts. White doesn't usually get the storm capabilities, but ramping up to a multi-spell turn would be pretty fun, and even then you get to play some fun tide-turning power on turn six regardless. Overall, it's solid! It's not breaking any new ground but it's doing all the work that it wants to do fairly and firmly. I do like the fact that it'll get you a Samurai even if it gets countered. Feels important for some reason.

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Whew. Well, that's all set and settled. Thank you for all your entries, and see y'all next week. @abelzumi

[inventors-fair]

Second Spellings: Runners-Up ~

Our runners-up this week are @bergdg, @helloijustreadyourpost, and @hypexion!

@bergdg — The Great Conjuration

I don't really know where blue and green became the shapeshifteryest of shapeshifter colors (or rather, I get the gist because blue = mutability and green = nature). When you have these together, though, you get a card like this which is really damn sweet. This card obviously puts a massive target on your back, but if you go fast enough, you can ensure that the power behind your creatures can swing fully and completely. Or rather, that you have at least one explosive turn. Having all the cards be exiled can be a feel-bad, but there are great ways to exploit this and even better ways that this card is just plain fun.

For example: naming Eldrazi allows you to cast Emrakul off a Blisterpod. Honestly, do I need to name any other examples after that? I think that the only major revision I would make would be for the last ability to say "You may cast any number of cards exiled with ~ this turn without paying their mana costs." I'm not sure where you got the "one or more" wording from, but hey, that's a small issue for such a fun card. It's extremely narrow and more often than not feels like it would be a glass cannon—so yeah, perfectly reasonable for what the conjuration is implying, right? Side note: amazing art skills there. The mood conveys the gist conveys the extremity.

@helloijustreadyourpost — Sky Dancer

I like the Shakespeare reference in the flavor text, and I think it speaks to some kind of faerie perspective that's not quite translatable to human thought—or at least that feels like the intention, the way that the fae see the world. That is to say, I like both the simplicity and the ambiguity. It's actually tied with the effect for the card, which is a potentially quite powerful effect at common! I can't think of any specific effects with which it's broken, at least not at the moment.

So what you have is the ability to swing in with your fliers and then be on the defense, plus if you have any flash synergy you can utilize that to make combat harder for your opponents. All checks out. Cast triggers at common aren't the easiest to grok, but at the same time, this effect doesn't use too much complex space because of no inherent tap ability; I'm thinking of how my students sometimes get juked out with weird Thermo-Alchemist triggers, y'know. By itself, it's a card that does just what Faeries want to do at common, and I think that the only possible change I'd make would be to make it a 1/2, and even that's negligible. Solid common design!

@hypexion — Distortion Skitterer

As an uncommon? You're treading hazardous ground... But, it's a seven-mana 4/4 so that's honestly not so bad. Making additional 4/4s with trample is pretty nasty and you do get one on cast, but holy crap, that's still really fun to play, and fairly limiting all things considered. The amount of times that this would've come up in OGW limited would be pretty little, which is reasonable, but getting two of them or getting just one trigger off would be pretty nasty. Considering that MH3 is going to have even more? Wow. I think that the double-C is quite reasonable for the setup.

Honestly this card speaks for itself—the power level is comparable to the more powerful uncommons of its era, it's an Eldrazi that makes more Eldrazi, and you've got a pretty reasonable wording to show how nuts it can be. FYI, the cast trigger for other spells would actually be its own thing, e.g. "When you cast this spell and whenever you cast a spell with {C} in its mana cost..." I believe you don't have to specify "on the battlefield" because, like Cityscape Leveler, it implies the zone with the wording on the trigger. That said, it's fairly complex, so I understand if things got finicky. Flavor text is a solid B+, too! Just remember to put the period inside the quotation marks. I guess a runner-up flavor would've been Zurdi saying that they missed the scute bugs.

Commentary soon! @abelzumi

[inventors-fair]

Trigger Happy Casters: Winners! ~

Congratulations to @corporalotherbear, @izzet-always-r-versus-u and @wildcardgamez for winning this week's contest!

@corporalotherbear — Keranos's Conduit

I was really hoping for weird cards like this, and boy howdy is this card weird without actually being weird. I think that because I get exactly how the name, setting and ability come together, this is one of those cards where the mood presupposes the vibe even without a visual. Kinda funny because you're using stormless storm with the God of Storms, right? Heh. Anyway, though, this card can swing games like nobody's business. Limited means your Auras and "heroic" triggers—and also Constellation triggers!—become that much more radical. It makes having a lot of bodies and limited Auras so much better.

In terms of random constructed thoughts, can you imagine this with something like Etali's Favor? Because it's a cast trigger, you'll discover so much that you can hit and cast all the smaller Auras, which will get all of those other triggers if they got 'em, and so on and so forth. Sage of Mysteries, major mill? Wicked Visitor end step triggers? There are lots of ways to make this card fun and brewable and I'm really impressed by how much this card can be fun at the helm of its own deck. What a rockin' card and what a cool idea.

@izzet-always-r-versus-u — The Cozen, Syndicate Enforcer

PUNISHMENT. I love punishment! I love punishing people for their crimes of free-casting! Being symmetrical is kinda funny but at the same time reasonable for the colors. I'm thinking of cost reductions, Omniscience punishing, Force punishing, Elemental punishing—hm. I do actually wish this wasn't fully symmetrical but it don't matter because hnnnnng. Having this be so situational probably means that it's not going to have a massive effect on the various limited formats. Are there any common ways to reduce costs? Hm... Affinity, Convoke, Cascade and Discover, Cipher, Delve... Heh heh heh. Okay, it's environment-dependent, but still. Oh gosh, and Plot too.

I was also shocked that this specific flavor text hasn't been used because I could have SWORN that I've read it before. But you know, taking a character from flavor text and turning them into an actual card is one of my personal favorite things that people pull out from time to time—if done properly—and a debt collector punishing people for not paying their costs is pretty perfect. I honestly think this card is missing flash, though, and I don't know if that's negligible. It would make such a massive difference, and yeah, the body or cost would have to change, but having that kind of interaction almost feels necessary for the environment in which this card needs to be. Almost. I'm willing to hear arguments against it, though, so you know—invitation to discussion and all that.

@wildcardgamez — Galazeth's Whelp

You know, what I like about this card is that functionally you can pay the mana and get a Treasure regardless of whether or not the spell resolves, and that works similarly to the pitch cards from Prismari that would help you get to those massive spells eventually. People...definitely cast those. For sure. Anyway. I'm curious about if the dragons on Arcavios actually could have offspring, but I guess this card is the answer to that, right? Or maybe this is just a manifestation, or a dragon in the same clan, or whatever. Doesn't matter—this card is a functional card that does a LOT of work. I absolutely love how well this card functions in a spellslinging deck.

My Magical Christmas Land scenario would be to chain together spells like Sudden Breakthrough and Ancestor's Aid, deal an insane amount of damage, draw cards if you have cards like Flick a Coin, etc. I think it might be too slow for prowess-style decks but in terms of just Izzet Spells, this card's a limited bomb and a constructed possibility. Magecraft to damage is an awesome combo and this card does all those little pieces right. Sometimes the right combination can make some wonderful work happen. Flavorfully, too, it's all the best parts of artifacts and spellslinging together. Great job overall, I'd say! ... Just capitalize "Treasure" in the future, comrade.

Runners comin' up soon. @abelzumi

[inventors-fair]

Casting your Entries, 17-24 of 24 ~

@nine-effing-hells — Panoptic Predator @real-aspen-hours — Tachyon Blast @reaperfromtheabyss — Phyrexian Glutton @ship-of-skitties — Machi Avel, Master Planner @sombramainexe — The First Stone @stupidstupidratcreatures — Biogenesis @tanknspank — Kami of Impending Victory @wildcardgamez — Galazeth's Whelp

Whew! Lots of contenders this week. Thank you all for your entries!

[inventors-fair]

Casting your Entries, 9-16 of 24 ~

@fractured-identity — Curse's End @greensunzenith — Swarm Vanguard @helloijustreadyourpost — Sky Dancer @hypexion — Distortion Skitterer @i-am-the-one-who-wololoes — Zarderek, the Folkslinger @izzet-always-r-versus-u — The Cozen, Syndicate Enforcer @khyrberos — Atraxa's Command @misterstingyjack — Facesnatcher Ghoul

[inventors-fair]

Casting your Entries, 1-8 of 24 ~

@aethernalstars — Ash-Cannon Goblin @bergdg — The Great Conjuration @brookeuwo — Spitefellows @corporalotherbear — Keranos's Conduit @cthulusaurusrex — Wavebringer @curiooftheheart — Bellowing Boars @dabudder — Gracie, Substitute Teacher @feyd-rautha-apologist — Demon of Final Moments

[inventors-fair]

Entries for this week are CLOSED

This post will be queued for every Friday in 2024. Thank you for your participation in the Inventor's Fair!

If you have any questions about this or any other contest, you can message the judge for this week's contest and/or @ a "judge" role in the Discord server.

[inventors-fair]

24-Hour Warning!

Time's almost up! Have you submitted a card this week?

This post will be queued every week of 2024 as a reminder to get your submissions in! 24 hours from this being posted, the inbox will “close” and entries after that point will not be accepted for the current contest.

Keep in mind that, despite the weekly schedule, judges may live in different time zones and, as such, this post may not appear at the expected time for you. 

Check the previous post on the Inventor’s Fair blog to see what the contest is, and if you’d like, we recommend turning on posting notifications for additional reminders. We want to be as helpful as we can on here and in Discord to ensure that everyone knows when we’re posting. Ultimately, you the contestant are responsible for getting your card submitted properly and on time, so pick the reminders that work best for you.

[inventors-fair]

The Wonderful Thing about Triggers

Wow, I kinda see this art from afar, but looking up close, Cityscape Leveler really is a terrifying card. Seriously, how did they make the production for that beast? Jeez. Anyway.

One of the things I love about playing Leveler is the fact that it's got a trigger that doesn't get countered if the creature itself gets countered. You have this with the Eldrazi titans, with Hydroid Krasis when that card dominated Standard—you get the idea. And there's also the cards like Young Pyromancer and Thermo-Alchemist that force your opponents to think about spells and their triggers as well! And there are cards like the Storm cycle from C18 that double themselves from casting, too.

I think you know where I'm going with this, right?

Design a card with a cool "cast" trigger!

It can trigger off of itself being cast, it can trigger off of another thing being cast, it doesn't matter what kind of card it is—all that matters is that it looks at something that's being cast.

Don't @ me this week. Seriously, what that means is that you should be using "when" and "whenever," not "at" for your triggers, because the only thing I can think of that could use an "at" is a conditional "if," and that's not what I'm looking for; the card must trigger as soon as something is cast. But that doesn't feel like too hard an ask, right?

You know what we're usually after here. I wanna see cards that are pushing the envelope a little bit. Or, like, really effectively flavorful cast triggers can be fun too! Just remember that your cards don't exist in a vacuum, you have many options and worlds at your fingertips, you're cleverer than you think, etc.

G'luck, h'fun, b'well! — @abelzumi

Cast into our inbox >> HERE Trigger Discord notifications >> HERE

[inventors-fair]

Trivia Tuesday: Abili-Tea

[inventors-fair]

The Art of Art: What works for contests?

Most of us are not visual artists—or at least I assume. What I also assume is that in the early days of card design, most new designers have visions for their cards but not the specific art to execute them. And so, we trawl the internet, put some "placeholder" art, and the cards rest in peace in our MSE folders from there on out.

In order to avoid any possibilities of uncredited art, fair use issues, etc., it still remains best practice to do everything as originally as possible. That does indeed include what art appears on a card. And yes, like I said, most of us aren't visual artists, but there are other approaches that will work best. For example:

1. Art Direction!

Here are two winning examples from previous contests, from @hiygamer and @starch255. A written scene can demonstrate the card in the same manner that art direction is given to the actual artists who create pieces for Wizards of the Coast. Clear action, simple direction, and a feeling for the mood are all that's needed to convey what you want.

The most important thing about art descriptions is to keep them brief and specific! If you can't clearly describe what's happening in the scene, then the jumbled elements feel disconnected from the card. If the art description is too detailed, then it can sometimes get in the way of the actual mechanics being judged.

One more thing to note is that, like in these examples, it's helpful to put the art description where the card's actual art would be. This way, anyone looking at your card can see what they're supposed to at first glance.

2. Sketches!

On the left, here's some previous contest art from @bread-into-toast, and on the right—art from me! You don't have to have access to much to draw the outline of what you'd like, and you can get across what you want to without worrying about judgement on that front.

Drawing your own pieces is both fun and functional. Once you have an idea of what you'd like, it doesn't matter what it looks like on paper, because it's entirely your own creation through and through. We can extrapolate even more about intent from it, and as Magic players, we know what truly professional/polished art looks like. Taking that imaginative step is easy and fun!

And yes, you have to credit the artist at all times, even when it's yourself. Who are you to deny your own greatness?

3. A combination of both?

@deg99 won the most recent contest with Bone Fetcher, and I won absolutely nothing with this old example card for a contest that I don't even remember what it was about. So let's look at Bone Fetcher instead. What does having both elements to for this card?

If just the dog and the skeleton were there, that would be wonderful, but then we'd miss out on the precise tone of the piece. With just the text, we'd get a good description, but the arm in the foreground shows the dramatic tilt of the camera that I'm assuming Deg intended here. You get the best of both worlds!

And sometimes one or the other is good enough. Which is fine! Maybe a little art direction can help with a rough sketch, maybe it can assume some positioning for you, etc.

I'll say this: there was one piece I can't find where a bunch of stick figures were placed around a crude torch, and the art description turned those little MS Paint dudes into a dramatic, heartfelt scene that still jars me even to this day. I've almost cried at the depiction of a ghost-laded squiggle-guy whose card told a full story about his impending death.

We don't need a massive budget to make the cards come alive visually. Words and sketches are all that we require, and it helps to ensure that you follow the best ethical practices for your cards. Don't like the MSE backgrounds? Zoom in on a piece until you only see pixels, or use a solid color! Don't have a steady hand? Show us the unsteady vision! There are many options available, and we accept all of them, just like we accept you.

@abelzumi

[inventors-fair]

The Wonderful Thing about Triggers

Wow, I kinda see this art from afar, but looking up close, Cityscape Leveler really is a terrifying card. Seriously, how did they make the production for that beast? Jeez. Anyway.

One of the things I love about playing Leveler is the fact that it's got a trigger that doesn't get countered if the creature itself gets countered. You have this with the Eldrazi titans, with Hydroid Krasis when that card dominated Standard—you get the idea. And there's also the cards like Young Pyromancer and Thermo-Alchemist that force your opponents to think about spells and their triggers as well! And there are cards like the Storm cycle from C18 that double themselves from casting, too.

I think you know where I'm going with this, right?

Design a card with a cool "cast" trigger!

It can trigger off of itself being cast, it can trigger off of another thing being cast, it doesn't matter what kind of card it is—all that matters is that it looks at something that's being cast.

Don't @ me this week. Seriously, what that means is that you should be using "when" and "whenever," not "at" for your triggers, because the only thing I can think of that could use an "at" is a conditional "if," and that's not what I'm looking for; the card must trigger as soon as something is cast. But that doesn't feel like too hard an ask, right?

You know what we're usually after here. I wanna see cards that are pushing the envelope a little bit. Or, like, really effectively flavorful cast triggers can be fun too! Just remember that your cards don't exist in a vacuum, you have many options and worlds at your fingertips, you're cleverer than you think, etc.

G'luck, h'fun, b'well! — @abelzumi

Cast into our inbox >> HERE Trigger Discord notifications >> HERE

[inventors-fair]

Extended Family: Unlikely Allies Runners-Up ~

Our runners-up this week are @aethernalstars, @nine-effing-hells, and @reaperfromtheabyss!

@aethernalstars — Durkrun, Stampede Inciter

First off, just to be clear: this card's not finished. It's missing a power and toughness, and the X is the active ability is undefined. That said, I liked the concept so much that I felt like I still had to give it some sort of accolade! "Ungulate typal" definitely wins the award for most creative combination right out of the gate. Slightly odd that the card doesn't support other Minotaurs given their behoofedness, but it's a relatively minor criticism. Maybe they're a loner? Ultimately, I can't really judge much about this card, and the abilities seem more on the straightforward side, but I still had to give credit where it's due for the positively stellar concept.

@nine-effing-hells — Seasoned Ranchhand

Wasting no time in jumping on top of Mounts—which is suppose is kind of the point—this card's here to make up for the severe lack of Rangers in Outlaws of Thunder Junction. We already caught a glimpse of Mount typal there, and this definitely picks up where that left off, but seeing Horses and Oxen highlighted as the archetypal "mount" types feels very fitting and does a good job of keeping this feeling more versatile. It's also great to see the Pilot effect applied to Mounts, and you even thought to decrease the bonus to account for Mounts' generally lower saddle costs compared to crew costs. It's nothing mind-blowing, but it's a solid, thematically resonant package that feels like an incredibly natural extension of a brand-new archetype. Very cool!

@reaperfromtheabyss — Expedition Leader

Speaking of Rangers, actually! Rangers and Scouts have increasingly felt like siblings from different mothers, and while they've flirted with the idea of lumping them together, nothing's really come of it. Until now, that is! Landfall feels like the perfect thematic fit, and there's already plenty of creatures in both types who deal in lands. I also adore the bonus condition for similar reasons. While vigilance is less powerful than the blanket counters and feels more like the cherry on top than anything you should be bending over backwards to accomplish, it just feels so right. An explorer should never be satisfied unless they're in uncharted territory, after all. That sort of condition on a monocolored creature is an interesting bit of tension, too, as often the easiest way to have more unique lands is to play more colors. In turn, this encourages you to integrate the many Rangers and Scouts outside of green, and open-endedness in a typal strategy always feels good.

~

That's about it! I've finally gotten a feel for when I can reasonably expect myself to write commentary by, so the rest of it should be up within a few days. Please look forward to it! @spooky-bard

[inventors-fair]

Best Types Forever: Unlikely Allies Winners ~

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

@deg99 — Bone Fetcher

Love it, love it, love! This card is the perfect intersection of simply adorably and deeply compelling, and I'm all over it. First of all, it's really funny, pairing up Dogs and Skeletons just to make a fetch joke. Beyond that, it's not all that hard to imagine a more serious explanation thanks to the inclusion of Zombie, like a necromancer with a trained squad of zombified dogs to plunder graveyards for their bones. It also does an excellent job of identifying what each type wants to do, and thus serves as a pretty seamless bridge between the two. Dogs want to be attacking, and Skeletons are more than happy to be sacrificed and/or sit in the graveyard. This card forms a really cool feedback loop that still feels like you need to put in proper effort to keep the metaphorical wheel spinning, and I think it's pretty neat.

@izzet-always-r-versus-u — Blood in the Water

I admit, this one got an actual chuckle out of me on first look. The combination here is very much leaning on pop culture, but I think that actually makes the conceit of the card that much more interesting. After all, we in the audience know why these two would be paired up, but in-universe, what sort of conditions could have resulted in this partnership. A society of aquatic vampires who train sharks like bloodhounds? A shadowy organization of vampires and anthropomorphic shark people? There's a lot of directions to go here, and I find it fascinating. Mechanically it's very solid too. Conditional flash is something I always find interesting just for how many options it opens up while still giving your opponent a degree of predictability as to what you'll do and when. Tying it to sacrificing a permanent is smart too, as even though the card makes acquiring a Blood simple enough, the need to commit to the sacrifice gives your opponent a sort of warning light that something's about to happen.

@ship-of-skitties — Granthim, Overtaken Hive

What did Squirrel ever do to get kicked out of the Swarmyard Crew, anyway? Mind you, I don't particularly mind Frog as a replacement even though it's a much less supported type. "Critter" is a pretty fun term for this grouping. While I'd imagine there's probably a more evocative umbrella term, I can't actually think of any besides "pest," and well, y'know. On-cast reanimation is a bit unusual, and I'm intrigued by the fact that it can target non-critters (oh, and quick note, it should be "target creature card") for reanimation. It has the quirk where whatever you revive actually arrives before the critter, which can lead to some fun setups. But it's ultimately balanced by the lower mana value restriction paired with the fact that the five types in question aren't really known for their high-cost creatures. The mill, then, serves as a great way to fill up the graveyard and rewards you for being on a sufficiently high density of critters. After all, you have to have several on board to attack with, and then another in hand to cast. It also makes sure critter tokens aren't left behind, which is important given how token-heavy these types (sans Frog) tend to be. Neat!

~

Next up, runners up! @spooky-bard

[inventors-fair]

Unlikely Allies Entries (10-18 of 18) ~

@milfannihilator — Nightgorger Mass @misterstingyjack — Undead Dawn @nine-effing-hells — Seasoned Ranchhand @piccadilly-blue — Armed Battlements @reaperfromtheabyss — Expedition Leader @ship-of-skitties — Granthim, Overtaken Hive @sombramainexe — Gravebound Alliance @wildcardgamez — Indatha's Blessing @feyd-rautha-apologist — Heavenly Truce

Thank you for all your entries!

[inventors-fair]

Unlikely Allies Entries (1-9 of 18) ~

@aethernalstars — Durkrun, Stampede Inciter @bergdg — Campaign Veteran @corporalotherbear — Peer Review @deg99 — Bone Fetcher @dimestoretajic — Tumultuous Waters @helloijustreadyourpost — Granary Raiders @hypexion — Scion of Nethroi @i-am-the-one-who-wololoes — Avus Chief Artificer @izzet-always-r-versus-u — Blood in the Water