May MCC Round 1
Family tree
Or "family three", as in "three colors"? Ok, this joke is bad, I'm sorry.
As is tradition by now, this month we will celebrate the latest set, in this case Streets of New Capenna, by exploring its mechanics and themes, as usual in this kind of MCC months.
Main Challenge
Choose one of the five SNC families. (Your choice in this round will not influence your choices in future rounds.) If you want, you can write your choice in your submission post, especially if somehow it's not obvious just by looking at your card. This is the only exception to the "no design notes" rule for this month. You still cannot write anything else in addition to the text card and the optional render in your submission post outside of naming your chosen family.
Design a traditional multicolored (aka "gold") card that has mana symbols of exactly two of the colors of your chosen family only in its mana cost and not in its rules text, and at least one mana symbol of the third color only in your card's rules text but not in its mana cost. You canNOT use mana symbols of any colors outside of your chosen family anywhere on the card. Please see Clarifications to see what does and doesn't count.
Subchallenge 1 - Your card has your chosen family's signature mechanic... (shield counters, connive, casualty, blitz, or alliance)
EDIT - ...ON ITSELF. Granting it to other things does NOT count. It's always been in the clarifications since the very first moment, but apparentely it also needs to be mentioned here. When I say "please read clarifications" I really mean it. Often I will skip little details for the sake of brevity in the challenge statement when I think some things are obvious. For example, here I use the verb "to have", not "to use". I say "your card HAS the mechanic", not just "your card USES the mechanic". I thought that was enough to make it clear that the card has to have the mechanic on itself. Apparently, I might have been wrong, so I'm adding it here too.
Subchallenge 2 - Your card has flavor text that mentions your chosen family by name (Brokers, Obscura, Maestros, Riveteers, Cabaretti).
• The family you chose should be clear just by looking at what colors you used on your card, the two in the mana cost and the third in the rules text. That's why explicitly stating which is your chosen family is optional this round. This won't always be the case in future rounds though. In each round this month you will have to choose a family, and wherever it might not be obvious, you will be required to explicitly state it in your submission post. But that's a problem for the future. In this round it's optional but still advised.
• "Traditional multicolor" means two different regular colored mana symbols ( , , , , ) in your card's mana cost. The third symbol in the rules text also must be one of the five regular colored mana symbols.
• Other mana symbols of any kind, including hybrid mana, "twobrid" mana, Phyrexian mana both regular and hybrid, and colorless mana ( ), do NOT count towards the Main Challenge. You can still use any of those symbols in addition to the required ones though.
• Both ally and enemy color pairs are allowed in your card's mana cost.
• You're not restricted to only one symbol of each color you use. For example, say you choose the Cabaretti. Then you could make a card that costs , , , , , etc... with an ability that contains , , , etc... The number of each specific mana symbol doesn't matter, all that matters is that at least one of each required mana symbol is there and in the right position on the card.
• The Main Challenge does NOT care about the generic part of the mana costs, only the colored part. Use all the generic mana you want. Beware, I'm talking about generic mana, like , , , , etc... and NOT colorless mana ( ). If you were playing back then, as I was, Oath of the Gatewatch should have taught you the difference between those two.
• Any non-mana symbols can appear in your card, for example , , , chapter symbols if you make a Saga, starting loyalty and loyalty costs if you make a planeswalker, and so on... As long as it's NOT a MANA symbol, you're fine.
• If you use any colors of mana anywhere on the card outside of the colors of your chosen family, it's an automatic DQ for not meeting a Main Challenge requirement. Please, don't make me do that.
Subchallenge 1
• Your card has to have the ability itself. Granting it does NOT count.
• For shield counters, that means your card has to use them on itself, in any way you want, entering with them, gaining them somehow, removing them from itself as a cost, etc... but only putting them on other permanents (because, yes, according to the CR, shield counters can go on any permanent, not just creatures) or only removing them from other permanents while not also on or from itself does NOT count.
If you're curious about that CR reference, here you go (emphasis mine):
If you make a card that puts shield counters on or removes them from other things in addition to itself, that's fine, because it puts them on or removes them from itself as a part of that.CR (SNC edition) wrote:122.1c A shield counter on a permanent creates one replacement effect and one prevention effect that protect the permanent. These effects are "If this permanent would be destroyed as the result of an effect, instead remove a shield counter from it" and "If damage would be dealt to this permanent, prevent that damage and remove a shield counter from it."
If your card puts shield counters on or removes them from other things but not on or from itself, or if it can put shield counters on or remove them from other things while also not putting them on or removing them from itself at the same time, that does NOT count.
For example:
"CARDNAME enters the battlefield with a shield counter on it", "put a shield counter on CARDNAME", and "put a shield counter on each creature you control" are all fine.
"MANA: put a shield counter on target creature" does NOT count, as you're not forced to put it on the permanent itself.
"MANA: put a shield counter on CARDNAME and up to one other permanent" is good, because it puts the shield counter on itself as part of the process.
"Remove a shield counter from CARDNAME: [do something]" is fine, it's removing the counters from itself.
"Remove a shield counter from a creature you control: [do something]" is NOT fine, it can remove the counters from itself but it doesn't have to, it can also just remove them from other things instead of itself.
In short, ask yourself: when I use this card, do I have to put or remove a shield counter on or from this card itself as part of whatever else it might do? If the answer is yes, this Subchallenge is met. If the answer is no, this Subchallenge is failed.
• For connive, casualty, and blitz it's similar. Your card must have the ability itself. It can also grant it to other things, but only as long as it also has it itself.
• Alliance is an ability word, so it can't be granted, and so if your card has it, this Subchallenge will be automatically met.
Subchallenge 2
• It should be self-explanatory. Another thing which will make your choice of family evident if you do it.
• Your chosen family's name can be used in any context. As long as the word is there, you're fine.
• Obviously, if your card doesn't even have flavor text, this Subchallenge is automatically failed.
If you have any more questions, post them in the MCC discussion thread.
DEADLINES
Design deadline: Monday, May 9th 23:59 EDT
Judging deadline: Thursday, May 12th 23:59 EDT
RUBRIC
(X/3) Appeal - Do the different player psychographics (Timmy/Johhny/Spike) have a use for the card?
(X/3) Elegance - Is the card easily understandable at a glance? Do all the flavor and mechanics combined as a whole make sense?
Development
(X/3) Viability - How well does the card fit into the color wheel? Does it break or bend the rules of the game? Is it the appropriate rarity?
(X/3) Balance - Does the card have a power level appropriate for contemporary constructed/limited environments without breaking them? Does it play well in casual and multiplayer formats? Does it create or fit into a deck/archetype? Does it create an oppressive environment?
Creativity
(X/3) Uniqueness - Has a card like this ever been printed before? Does it use new mechanics, ideas, or design space? Does it combine old ideas in a new way? Overall, does it feel "fresh"?
(X/3) Flavor - Does the name seem realistic for a card? Does the flavor text sound professional? Do all the flavor elements synch together to please Vorthos players?
Polish
(X/3) Quality - Points deducted for incorrect spelling, grammar, and templating.
(X/2) Main Challenge (*) - Was the main challenge satisfied? Was it approached in a unique or interesting way? Does the card fit the intent of the challenge?
(X/2) Subchallenges - One point awarded per satisfied subchallenge condition.
Total: X/25
*An entry with 0 points here is subject to disqualification.
JUDGES
bravelion83
void_nothing
PLAYERS
Everyone can enter this round. Just reply to this thread posting a card that meets the Main Challenge and any number (that includes zero) of Subchallenges. Future rounds will only be open to those who advance. Come join us!
A reminder to everyone:
In the MCC, putting rarity on cards is mandatory! If you don't put a rarity on your card, expect huge deductions in both Viability AND Quality.
Please check out the MCC Guidelines and FAQ if you have the will and time. Link in my signature. Among the many things you can find there are a detailed explanation of the rubric (section 6.2) and the recommended card formatting (section 4) that you should use to format your text cards. Expect deductions in Quality otherwise.
BRACKETS
Judge: bravelion83
Henlock
Jimmy Groove
kwanyeegor-ii
MonoRedMage
slimytrout
Judge: void_nothing
haywire
Ink-Treader
netn10
Pygyzy
RaikouRider
Venedrex
Top 4 from each bracket advance.