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[RESULTS] Trial of the Missing Mechanic - Hour of Devastation
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Worthy {cost} -- effect ({cost}, Exile [this creature] from your graveyard: Effect. Activate this ability only if [this creature] died in combat.)
Of course, everyone on Amonkhet just goes on and on and on..... "May his return come quickly, and may we be found worthy!" So, here you go! I feel like this was the obvious choice, so I'm surprise nobody had taken it already. Maybe it was TOO obvious o_O.
The quote on Catacombs of the Reborn is from the Amonkhet Story Article The Writing on the Wall by Alison Luhrs (http://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/magic-story/writing-wall-2017-04-12)
Gloryseeker: https://mtgcardsmith.com/view/gloryseeker
Rhet-Crop Deathwielder: https://mtgcardsmith.com/view/rhet-crop-deathwielder?list=user
Catacombs of the Reborn: https://mtgcardsmith.com/view/catacombs-of-the-reborn?list=user
Thank you @ningyounk for this great contest!
THE JUDGING PHASE IS NOW OPEN, NO MORE ENTRY WILL BE ACCEPTED FROM THIS POINT.
Due to the three last minute entry, judging may take a day or two ^^
— by @MrRansom
I think the biggest strength of this mechanic is its cleverness. It is this kind of mechanic that feels like it was there the whole time, yet if you look at it closely there is actually nothing like it in the game. Each of your three cards is of high quality, highlighting in a different way the depth of your mechanic. It can inscribe on different triggers, it can inscribe different types of cards in different zones, and cards can care about what is inscribed. Possibilities are endless, and the mechanic per se is a very relevant card flow mechanic. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if this was used in the real game some day, because it's just an excellent idea.
I see you went through different versions of the reminder text, an effort I especially appreciate. I do think the final version goes through some unnecessary loops though, and things are missing. Based on Dredge, this is the version I think would have been correct: "Exile that card. As long as it is exiled, whenever you draw your first card during each of your draw step, instead you may return an inscribed card you own from exile to your hand."
Concerning the point of the challenge, I think you did a wonderful job at replacing cycling by using the same colours and card flow spirit. You didn't mention what happens to all the cards caring about discard in the previous set though. Also, your mechanic really feel like a hit in Amonkhet but, despite your explanation on the supposed Bolas theme, I'm not sure it feels enough like the flavour is transitioning from Amonkhet to Hour of Devastation. Nevertheless, I can see you really thought the mechanic thoroughly, and what I'm really keeping from this is the depths, the originality, and the exciting cleverness of Inscribe.
For its astonishing depth and mechanical elegance, Inscribe receive the Cartouche of Ingenuity!
— by @Lujikul
I think the biggest strength of this mechanic is how surprising its direction was. While taxes have existed since the beginning of Magic, they have never been used in this way to constantly harass the opponent. This feel like an excellent flavour hit for the Bolas theme of Hour of Devastation, and I think this is the kind of mechanic that really screams "We changed set." Also, hats off for making a UW mechanic work with a Bolas flavour =D
It has a number of little issues though: it would be very demanding from players to constantly monitor how many lands to let untapped, the use of "N" is unnecessary as it could simply have been "Enforce two times" when needed, and the synergy with other Standard mechanic is a bit low.
There are also two bigger issues tied to the theme of the contest for me. First, by placing this exclusively in UW, it violently competes with Embalm for the same colour slot. Second, while Phregoth and Vizier of Law are excellent card, you struggled to make your mechanic relevant at lower rarities. A card like Duty to Uphold that ask you to pay 4 AND tap a creature to make your opponent pay 1 OR tap a permanent really make the mechanic feels like a terrible deal. As-is the role of Enforce in the mechanical Amonkhet ecosystem is hard to perceive, though I definitely think there is a way of making that mechanic work with the right triggers, as it stays a very unique and flavourful mechanic overall.
For its never-seen-before mechanical direction and bold but very well-used choice of colours, Enforce receives the Cartouche of Originality!
— by @koover
I think the biggest strength of this mechanic is how well it fits the already existing mechanics of Standard. It so brilliantly synergizes with things like Cycling or Clue tokens I wouldn't be totally surprised if this actually happened in the real game. On top of that, the mechanic is a flavour hit, as you can hardly make something more Bolas-themed than a mechanic called Scheming rewarding you for getting more cards.
Choosing to put it un UB without removing Cycling creates some friction though, but the mechanics synergize so well and Cycling bleeds so loosely in other colours, it's not that big of an issue. Additionally, the design space is so huge I would have love to hear how you would restrain the possibilities in a flavourful way. What I mean is that your Scheming bonus shouldn't be any kind of bonus, it should probably always feel ruthless.
While I really like the idea of the mechanic in general, the card you chose to showcase has a few issues on my opinion. First, the two abilities are mechanically disconnected, they don't synergize in any way which feels especially off considering the flavour. Second, it's a mix of a lot of colour bends and breaks. Looking at an opponent's hand just for information is more blue than black, preventing the opponent from casting stuff during his turn is more white and blue, preventing the same thing during your turn is more green and white. Finally, it's probably a bit too strong, as Silence lets you activate abilities and doesn't last several turns. Nevertheless, I feel you succesfully nailed the mechanical and flavourful aspect of Scheming, and while I'm critic about Mental Distortion it actually wouldn't take much to make it absolutely exceptional
For its excellent reading of the mechanical environment and themes required from Hour of Devastation, Scheming receives the Cartouche of Rightness
— by @Beydin13
I think the biggest strength of this mechanic is its flavour. It represents how Bolas thinks ahead in a very ruthless way. You get ahead in terms of strength while playing a graveyard theme that plays well with the theme of Amonkhet and also represents how Bolas could kill anything to get his ways. It certainly does a wonderful job at making you feel like you're entering the Hour of Devastation set.
Unfortunately, there are some major power concerns with this mechanic. The graveyard-filling aspect is probably as broken as Dredge, while the mana reduction aspect is probably as broken as Delve, two mechanics that have been deemed immensely problematic from a balance perspective. Skipping multiple draw steps is also too much of a drawback to be at common.
Finally there are some other less important details that need fixing. A memory issue where you have to remember for a lot of turns how many draw steps you have to skip. A hole where if you commit the same number of cards with multiple cards on the same turn, you skip the same number of turns as if you played only one of those cards. And the reminder text that doesn't work. The first half should read "Each card you put from the top of your library into your graveyard while casting this spell pays for {1}." and the second half just skip multiple times your next draw step which means you still just skip one draw step. So in the end, the mechanic is not ready and needs to be rethought, but I appreciate the effort on the flavour aspect as the concept does fit Hour of Devastation super well and a milling mechanic would play wonderfully with the previous set indeed ^^
For its excellent depiction of the ruthlessness of hour of Devastation and the plane of Amonkhet in general, Commit receives the Cartouche of Cruelty.
—by @MagicChess
I think the biggest strength of this mechanic is how perfectly it translates the story of Amonkhet. We know Bolas yields soldiers in the afterlife to serve some mysterious purpose. Worthy gives you an immediate understanding of what's happening in the story and wonderfully transitions from the Amonkhet Trials to the Afterlife of Hour of Devastation. On top of that, the "died in combat" restriction is especially flavourful, and once again perfectly fits the story.
There are a couple of templating issues though. The mechanic oscillates between a keyword ability and an ability word which shouldn't happen. Also, the restriction causes huge memory issues (how do I remember if my creature died in combat eleven turns later?) Without entering the memory issue problem, I think this should have been a keyword ability like Exploit separating the exiling ability and the effect in two abilities.
The ability plays very well with other themes currently in Amonkhet Standard, pushes you to break board stall, and respect the use of graveyard in Amonkhet as a ressource and not a measure device. The problem is it's very similar to Embalm and Aftermath, I think having too much stuff to track in your graveyard is bad for the complexity of the game, and this does hurt how well games would read I think. But the idea works very well in a vacuum if you refine it a little and find a way to remove the memory issue, and I think the story aspect of it is quite unique and work so great I wouldn't be surprised to see a similar theme for the real Hour of Devasation mechanic.
For its vibrant depiction of the story of Amonkhet and unique Vorthos approach, Worthy receives the Cartouche of Cohesion!
THIRD PLACE: @Lujikul with Enforce (I will favourite ONE card of your choice =D)
SECOND PLACE: @koover with Scheming (I will favourite THREE cards of your choice =D)
FIRST PLACE: @MrRansom with Inscribe (I will favourite FIVE cards of your choice =D)
Congratulations to everyone and thank you so much for entering, it was really fun to judge! x)
Also, thanks to @Beeswax for helping with the mechanic when I sought aid. Cheers, mate!
HUZZAH!!!
"I'd love to see how you would implement the mechanic on a design of your own?"
So I created a creature based on Soulfayer ( http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?printed=true&multiverseid=392668 ) because I love the deck building implications of cards like this:
This challenge is now part of the Hidden Circuit Challenge: You all get surprise circuit points for participating
First=1cp
Second=3/4cp
Third=1/2cp
HM=1/4cp
Thank you @Corwinnn
wow, that's an awesome feedback, thanks for hosting this challenge!
Now I wish that I hadn't "rushed" to create the card, I just found the artwork with the mechanic already in mind and tried to match it, all before the deadline, but you're arguments are all very valid
Since I really like this mechanic (and as you mentioned, it has a great design space), I'll definetly will create more cards with it
For the favorites, you can pick any three cards you like from my collection. But if you want some personal choices, here are three "options" for you
https://mtgcardsmith.com/view/madcap-aeronaut
https://mtgcardsmith.com/view/captivating-lunacy
https://mtgcardsmith.com/view/larsa-ravishing-beauty
Congrats to @everyone, all these mechanics are very intruiging and I'm pretty excited if anyone somehow "predicted" one of the mechanics of Hour of Devastation
And circuit points too, that's amazing. Maybe I'll have a shot this time around ;D Thanks @Corwinnn
Thanks, @Corwinnn