Right. So, first of all, thanks so much for all your entries. There were many more people who took part than I'd anticipated which is awesome and it was great to see so many cool cards. This was my first challenge apart from the reactivation challenge and it was great to see so many cardsmiths getting involved and having faith in my judging abilities... which may be about to be called into question, haha.
I really love this card. It's been a while since we've had any 1cmc charms. I think you have to go back to Planar Chaos. Funeral Charm probably saw the most play but there are others, not that I ever really played around with them. Did you? Let me know. Anyway, what we have here is, IMO, three perfectly balanced abilities for 1 cmc. The first two are great combat tricks with -1/-0 being unassumingly useful in the right circumstances and the second ability amounting to quasi removal if you have a blocker in wait. It's a charm that certainly relies on your critters to get the most value out of it but put it in, say, a prowess deck and it could really shine. The last ability is just a filter, sure, but I've played the middle ability of Azorius Charm more times than I'd care to admit and sometimes it's all you've got to get a little manoeuvrability. At worst this replaces itself; at best it's removal. On top of that I love the art and the flavour text which hits the nail on the head of what a glamer would be and applies it to each ability. Just awesome.
So cool. Would I play this over Nature's Claim? Well, no. But I love how the 'drawback' is implemented here in terms of needing a creature in play without actually saying it. As has been commented, it's an organic drawback that's so simple and works so well with balancing it at 1 cmc. Nature's Claim may be better but I think Aspect of Vines holds its own against Naturalize. Sort of? Half the cost and with a lasting upside. Sweet, flavourful upside! Okay, it's not the most powerful but it can be relevant. And, done right, you won't suffer a two-for-one if the creature has a Ruinous Path swung at it. Taken out their Demonic Pact? Straight up two-for-two trade. Love it. And really great art choice!
Actually, the winner is Banishing Arrow but I've got a few words about Earthbind Arcanist as well.
So, is Lightning Bolt the best red card of all time? Probably. I don't know if WotC have said anything about it being reprinted any time soon - maybe it is just too powerful for a one drop. In which case what we have here is something much more balanced (yet, in a way, better?) than Lightning Bolt. It has a fantastic upside in how it gets rid of a creature, not just killing it but putting it on the bottom of the library which is great for zombies and Bloodsoaked Champions and everything else annoying (like commanders); and it balances it by restricting itself to creatures. Magma Spray and Pillar of Flame saw a fair amount of play and I think this is better than either of them - certainly better than Magma Spray, anyway. There was a comment that this feels green because of the arrow and the bottom of the library. I think things like Mardu Heart-Piercer and Arrow Storm suggest there's no problem there and putting something on the bottom of the library doesn't feel as strongly defined an action outside of Fateseal to belong to any particular part of the color pie. The art is so good and the flavour text is cool too.
And I really like Earthbind Arcanist even though I'm just a little worried that it's OP and probably should be 2 cmc. It does slow everyone down, you included, but you're the one with the creature that gets bigger the more of these you play and even more so if they use their remaining mana to do something, albeit it's temporary. What I like is how clever it is and that it makes your opponent think about whether it's worth playing that spell, a bit like Managorger Hydra. I also like how it's more dangerous against its enemy colours than ally colours since red will find it's out of burn range once it's cast its burn spell (or even before) and green will want to be tapping the mana for its big creatures, whereas white and black won't be as bothered. So, yeah, really cool. Maybe I'm wrong about it being OP. I'm certainly glad it's nothing less than rare. But anyway, included here with Banishing Arrow and a very, very cool card.
I also had a list of honourable mentions but the list was sooo long it sort of defeated the purpose - therefore pretty much everyone else is considered an honourable mention. Seriously, there were so many great cards and the winners were definitely not head and shoulders above the rest. The quality was awesome throughout, it was really close, and a different judge who actually knew what they were doing would probably have chosen three completely different cards.
I do have a couple of extra winners because I felt like it (each gets 1 fav):
Comments
So the winners are:
Third place
Glamer Charm by @lookingupanddown
http://mtgcardsmith.com/view/glamer-charm?list=user
I really love this card. It's been a while since we've had any 1cmc charms. I think you have to go back to Planar Chaos. Funeral Charm probably saw the most play but there are others, not that I ever really played around with them. Did you? Let me know. Anyway, what we have here is, IMO, three perfectly balanced abilities for 1 cmc. The first two are great combat tricks with -1/-0 being unassumingly useful in the right circumstances and the second ability amounting to quasi removal if you have a blocker in wait. It's a charm that certainly relies on your critters to get the most value out of it but put it in, say, a prowess deck and it could really shine. The last ability is just a filter, sure, but I've played the middle ability of Azorius Charm more times than I'd care to admit and sometimes it's all you've got to get a little manoeuvrability. At worst this replaces itself; at best it's removal. On top of that I love the art and the flavour text which hits the nail on the head of what a glamer would be and applies it to each ability. Just awesome.
Second place
Aspect of Vines by @MrRansom
http://mtgcardsmith.com/view/aspect-of-vines-1?list=set&set=3649
So cool. Would I play this over Nature's Claim? Well, no. But I love how the 'drawback' is implemented here in terms of needing a creature in play without actually saying it. As has been commented, it's an organic drawback that's so simple and works so well with balancing it at 1 cmc. Nature's Claim may be better but I think Aspect of Vines holds its own against Naturalize. Sort of? Half the cost and with a lasting upside. Sweet, flavourful upside! Okay, it's not the most powerful but it can be relevant. And, done right, you won't suffer a two-for-one if the creature has a Ruinous Path swung at it. Taken out their Demonic Pact? Straight up two-for-two trade. Love it. And really great art choice!
First place
Banishing Arrow and Earthbind Arcanist by @seaspray4TF3
http://mtgcardsmith.com/view/banishing-arrow-1
http://mtgcardsmith.com/view/earthbind-arcanist-1?list=user
Actually, the winner is Banishing Arrow but I've got a few words about Earthbind Arcanist as well.
So, is Lightning Bolt the best red card of all time? Probably. I don't know if WotC have said anything about it being reprinted any time soon - maybe it is just too powerful for a one drop. In which case what we have here is something much more balanced (yet, in a way, better?) than Lightning Bolt. It has a fantastic upside in how it gets rid of a creature, not just killing it but putting it on the bottom of the library which is great for zombies and Bloodsoaked Champions and everything else annoying (like commanders); and it balances it by restricting itself to creatures. Magma Spray and Pillar of Flame saw a fair amount of play and I think this is better than either of them - certainly better than Magma Spray, anyway. There was a comment that this feels green because of the arrow and the bottom of the library. I think things like Mardu Heart-Piercer and Arrow Storm suggest there's no problem there and putting something on the bottom of the library doesn't feel as strongly defined an action outside of Fateseal to belong to any particular part of the color pie. The art is so good and the flavour text is cool too.
And I really like Earthbind Arcanist even though I'm just a little worried that it's OP and probably should be 2 cmc. It does slow everyone down, you included, but you're the one with the creature that gets bigger the more of these you play and even more so if they use their remaining mana to do something, albeit it's temporary. What I like is how clever it is and that it makes your opponent think about whether it's worth playing that spell, a bit like Managorger Hydra. I also like how it's more dangerous against its enemy colours than ally colours since red will find it's out of burn range once it's cast its burn spell (or even before) and green will want to be tapping the mana for its big creatures, whereas white and black won't be as bothered. So, yeah, really cool. Maybe I'm wrong about it being OP. I'm certainly glad it's nothing less than rare. But anyway, included here with Banishing Arrow and a very, very cool card.
I also had a list of honourable mentions but the list was sooo long it sort of defeated the purpose - therefore pretty much everyone else is considered an honourable mention. Seriously, there were so many great cards and the winners were definitely not head and shoulders above the rest. The quality was awesome throughout, it was really close, and a different judge who actually knew what they were doing would probably have chosen three completely different cards.
I do have a couple of extra winners because I felt like it (each gets 1 fav):
Art Award
Wingmill by @Corwinn
http://mtgcardsmith.com/view/wingmill?list=user
Flavour Award
Solace by @Tomigon
http://mtgcardsmith.com/view/solace-9?list=set&set=3762
That's it! Thanks again. Can all the winners please message me regarding favourites.
Thanks Animist for this challenge!
This discussion is closed.