This is a deckbuilding contest for a new set we will be creating (Rakper), and all players will make the cards in their deck! Over the course of 10 rounds (1 per week), you will construct your deck.
What if I Miss a Round or Start Late or Submit LateShow
DON'T WORRY!!
If you missed a round, decided to start late, or just were too late and passed the cutoff time, you can still participate!! Each round, except for the final round, is worth 10 points. The final round is worth a whopping 100!
You will still need to make up your missed work. Sadly, it won't receive a grade but, I absolutely must have a submission from you for every prior round in order to advance to the last one! But that means even if you participate in zero rounds except the last, you still have a shot at VICTORY!
Rules
At random, I have chosen a format from which to draw your starting pool of cards. I have, in a psuedo-random fashion, pre-selected 3 cards which you already have in your deck, 4 copies of each. Over the course of the contest, you will build the rest of the cards that will go into your version of this deck. Once a particular round is over, the cards you have built are frozen in place and cannot be changed.
1. Un-cards will not be considered for grading.
2. Players may be eliminated depending on how many players post. I'll wait for the conclusion of round one to update this as needed.
3. Rounds are 1 week long. Enter your submissions before exactly one week from the respective round post.
4. Once a particular round is over, the cards you have built are frozen in place and cannot be changed.
5. Keywords, keyword abilities, keyword actions, ability words etc. should be chosen from the Set Mechanics List for this set unless they are common usage or evergreen. An example of a common usage is regenerate.
6. For each round I will provide a reference to base at least one design around that reflects the concept of the set. I still recommend basing all designs in some way related to Rakper and it's influence, Bohemian Grove.
Each player will choose one of the following decks (A, B, C, or D) listed below. You will start with four of each of the three listed cards in your deck.
Each criteria receives up to 2 points per round, and I reserve the right to grant fractions of a point.
Creativity: Will I be inspired? How unique, original, or otherwise game-changing is this card? Perhaps it has a new mechanic, or a new take on an old one. Or maybe, it's just imaginitive and cool.
Balance: All cards, unless otherwise asked, are graded according to today's understanding of balance. This means power level compared to its rarity AND whether it fits in the color pie.
Synergy: How well does your card work with the rest of your deck, and how well does your card work with the pre-selected cards?
Flavor: Does your card have a cool name, awesome flavor-text, a Melvin-esque structure or a Vorthosian theme? If so, points galore! As an update to this criteria, you may substitute flavor text with an art description if you feel flavor text isn't practical for the card.
Bonus: One point here will be based on whether your card could fit in the set (i.e. creature types, mechanics, setting, etc). The other point is at my complete and total discretion.
Rounds that have multiple submissions provide a final grade that is an average of all cards submitted, based on how many are included in the deck.
1. Even though I do leave topics somewhat open to experimentation, playing the design close to the topic may help you out in grading. 2. Even though I do love big Timmy designs and cards with many options available, simplistic designs are also just as important. 3. These days, if a card costs more than 4-5 mana it better be able to have a payoff even if it dies by my next turn - or it better have a way not to die easily. 4. Lands, artifacts and planeswalkers don't get a lot of attention in YMTC. Giving love to these guys when nobody else has can pay off. 5. Research always pays off. Cards that have been made before aren't interesting unless you give them a Quentin Tarentino makeover. You can probably slip a lot of stuff by me that has been done before, but don't think the community will be as forgiving. 6. Blockers suck. If you make a card with defender that costs 2 or more mana, it should give card advantage or do something else cool that makes me feel like I didn't just throw a card away. 7. If you are referencing something in the design that may be critical in grading, please let me know in your post. 8. Rounds last a week long. If you post early, you may want to go back later for edits after your designs. 9. Having trouble wording a card? The wording thread in the YMTC forum is the place to go. 10. There's a thin line between designs that have "cursed" effects that work and that don't work. If in doubt, search for printed cards similar to your design and try to find how they are ranked.
Special thanks to FirstTurnKill for the contest idea, which I also ripped off a lot of the rules text from. Also thanks to Dudibus for the idea of basing a contest around Bohemian Grove.
1x Grove of Whispers Legendary Land (R) ~ enters the battlefield tapped. : Add or to your mana pool. , Sacrifice a creature: Search your library for a card, then shuffle your library and put that card into it third from the top. Futue events alluded to in those windowless rooms often came to pass - too often to be a mere coincidence.
2xUtility Holdings Land (U) : Add to your mana pool. : Exchange control of ~ and target land. "The state requires you immediately relocate your family to these coordinates. Don't worry, the middle of nowhere is beautiful this time of year."
1xIrradiated Ground Land (R) ~ has all activated mana abilities of all land cards in all graveyards. Bombarded with radiation, the testing site began to emit strange energies from well below the surface. 2xDevelopment Site Land (R) : Put a charge counter on ~. : Add to your mana pool. If ~ has three or more charge counters on it, instead you may add one mana of any color to your mana pool. If ~ has seven or more charge counters on it, instead you may add three mana of any one color to your mana pool.
2xHistoric District Land (U) ~ enters the battlefield tapped. When ~ enters the battlefield, it doesn't untap during its controller's next untap step. : Add one mana of any color to your mana pool. Even when it was brand new, they did things the old way.
4 x Screamcaller Lich Creature - Zombie Wizard Champion a Zombie When Screamcaller Lich enters the battlefield, you may play cards in your graveyard for their Evoke costs until end of turn. A thousand dying servants. A million slaughtered enemies. 2/3
4x Swamp
2x Island
2xGreed-Tainted Expanse Land Greed-Tainted Expanse enters the battlefield tapped. : Add to your mana pool. , sacrifice a creature: Double the number of counters on target non-planeswalker permanent.
3 x Tamiyo, Bound in Vines Planeswalker - Tamiyo [+1]: Untap target permanent you control. [-2]: Up to three target creatures gain Defender until the beginning of your next turn. [-8]: All creatures become Forests. [3] "You may have chained me with sorcery, and the people with lies, but the world is changing Karona, and when it does, I will be there to watch you fall"
1 x Karona, Deific Planeswalker - Karona Sacrifice a creature: Put a loyalty counter on ~. [-4]: Gain control of target creature of an opponents choice that he or she controls. [-10]: Destroy all creatures, then reveal your hand. Put all creatures revealed this way into play under your control. [6] "I am the greater good."
4 x Heretic Slayer Creature - Angel Champion a creature. Flying, Annihilator 1 3/4 "The Church preaches mercy, compassion and forgiveness. They will show you none." - Chirek, Condemned Heretic
4x Forest
1x Rakper Graveyard Land : Add to your mana pool. Threshold- Creatures you control get +1/+1. "Why should death prevent duty being done?"- Ailora, Rakper Archangel
1x Hidden Temple Land , Sacrifice a nontoken creature: Add 3 mana, in any combination of or to your mana pool. "Think not of what your faith can do for you, but of what you can do for your faith" -Ailora, RakperArchangel
1x Church Gardens Land - Forest Plains Church Gardens comes into play tapped unless you discard or sacrifice a land. The Church of Angels holds such pristine beauty, bought at such high prices.
1x Grove of Wonders Legendary Land Add to your mana pool. Add to your mana pool for each enchanted permanent you control. Those with great power gather here, to eat, drink, be merry and plan world domination.
3 x Svyelun of Vodalia Planeswalker - Svyelun {+2} Each player draw two cards, then discard a card. {-1} Untap all Islands. {-6}You get an emblem with "Whenever an opponent casts a spell, counter it unless he or she pays ". [1]
1 x Hesgold, Prismarchitect Planeswalker - Hesgold Hesgold, Prismarchitect enters the battlefield with a loyalty counter for each color of mana spent to cast it and is those colors. {+1} Creature cards you cast this turn have sunburst. {-X} Add X mana in any combination of colors to your mana pool.
4 x Mental Stress Enchantment Whenever a player untaps a permanent, that player puts the top card of his or her library into his or her graveyard. ''The sinking feeling that everything is falling out of control''
1x Unstable Area Land : Add to your mana pool. , : Lands that would enter the battlefield tapped this turn enters untapped instead. , : Lands that would enter the battlefield untapped this turn enters tapped instead.
2x Serulya Beaches Land : Add to your mana pool. Remove a charge counter from Serulya Beaches: Add or to your mana pool. Whenever a land enters the battlefield, add a charge counter on Serulya Beaches.
2x Synchronicity Waters Land - Island Synchronicity Waters enters the battlefield tapped. : Add to your mana pool. If the mana is used to add a charge counter to a card with sunburst, add 2 charge counters instead. ''The Sea of Synchronicity with its cathodic waves often proves a worthy detour for the merchants and pilgrims from the east.''
3x Uncharted Polder Land Sacrifice Uncharted Polder: Add to your mana pool, then search your library for an Island or Plains card and put it onto the battlefield tapped. Then shuffle your library.
1 x Koth, the Tainted Fist Planeswalker - Koth [+1]: put two -1/-1 counters on target creature. [-3]: Koth deals 3 damage to target player. That player discards two cards. [-7]: You get an emblem with "Whenever an opponent casts a spell, you may deal damage to target creature or player equal to that spell's converted mana cost." [4]
1 x Malhedra, Death Lord (x1) Planeswalker - Malhedra [+1]: destroy target creature then put it onto the battlefield under your control. It is a black zombie instead of its normal color and type. [-1]: sacrifice a permanent. Target player loses life and you gain life equal to its converted mana cost. [-10]: All players loses all life. Each player may sacrifice any number of permanents to prevent one point of life loss per permanent sacrificed. [7]
2 x Char'gargothicon (x2) Planeswalker - Char'gargothicon [0]: exile a creature from a graveyard. Put a loyalty counter on Char'gargothicon for each colored mana in its mana cost. (the eating of the brains). [-1]: Char'gargothicon deals 4 damage to target creature or player and 2 damage to you. (Psionic Blast ). [-8]: Each opponent reveals their hand. Put all creatures revealed this way onto the battlefield under your control. (Mind control + flavor wise the revealing of his sleeper agents.). [3]
4 x Keeper of the Word - Creature - Illithid Wizard Intimidate All graveyards are your graveyard. 5/4 History reveals only who is the best at weaving lies.
3x Slave Pits of Rakper Land When Slave Pits of Rakper enters the battlefield you may sacrifice a creature. If you don't, Slave Pits of Rakper enters the battlefield tapped. : add or to your mana pool. Subjugate the many so the few may rise.
3x Altar of Ancient Rituals Land Altar of Ancient Rituals enters the battlefield tapped unless an opponent lost life this turn. : add or to your mana pool. As our enemies weaken, so do we become strong.
2x Roost of the Great Owl Legendary Land Roost of the Great Owl enters the battlefield tapped. : add to your mana pool. : draw a card. Play this ability only if you have drawn more than one card this turn. "The Owls eyes, all seeing, its wisdom, all knowing." - cultist prayer.
4 x Kaervek, Escaped Planeswalker - Kaervek +1: ~ Deals 1 damage to each creature. -1: Return all permanents exiled by ~ to their owners control, then exile target creature or planeswalker. -7: You gain an emblem with, "Whenever a player casts a spell, you may deal damage equal to that spell's converted mana cost to target creature or player." {5}
4 x Perpexis Legendary Creature - Demon Flash, Flying Champion a Cleric Whenever a player casts an instant, you gain control of that spell and may choose new targets for it. 5/4
1x Drazkeep, the Mountain Prison Legendary Land ~ comes into play tapped. : Add to your mana pool. , , Sacrifice ~: Cast a card that you own from outside the game named Emrakul, the Aeons Torn without paying its mana cost.
3x Ghostflame Swamp Land ~ comes into play tapped. : Add or to your mana pool. Sacrifice a land: Untap ~.
3x Hag Homestead Land : Add to your mana pool. Threshold - , : Draw a card and lose two life. Activate this ability only if seven or more cards are in your graveyard.
1x Leyline Crossing Land : Add to your mana pool. Threshold - : Put a charge counter on a permanent you control. Activate this ability only if seven or more cards are in your graveyard.
1 x Arcanis Enigma Planeswalker - Arcanis +2: Put the top two cards of your library into your graveyard. Add to your mana pool. -3: Draw four cards. -8: Return all non-land permanents target player controls to their owner's hand. 4
3 x Dalthos, Service Bound Planeswalker - Althos +1: Tap two target permanents. -2: You gain 3 life and draw a card. -6: You gain an emblem with "Whenever an opponent casts a spell, they may pay . If they don't, counter it." 2
4 x The Devourer Of Thought Creature - Eldrazi Your opponents can't sacrifice tapped permanents unless they control no other permanents. (They must still sacrifice untapped permanents first.) Annihilator 3 (Whenever this creature attacks, defending player sacrifices three permanents.) "Journal Entry 21: This specimen seems to only devour those with active minds. Perhaps it desires a challenge, or finds witty minds tasty. Either way, it will be dangerous for us all if our binding wards fail." -Cultist Research Notes 8/8
4x Plains
2x Island
1x Hidden Chamber Land : Add to your mana pool. : Exile the top card of your library face down. You may look at it while it's in exile. : Put a card exiled with Hidden Chamber into your hand. The first rule of any scheme is to keep everything incriminating somewhere safe until you need it. Papers, plans, vocal companions...
1x Eldrazi Summoning Circle Land : Add to your mana pool. , Sacrifice a Wizard or Cleric: Add to your mana pool. Use this mana only to cast colorless Eldrazi spells. "The blood of our weaker stomached kin is a small price to pay for absolute power." -Olthin, Eldrazi Cultist
4x Farseer's Tower Land : add to your mana pool. , reveal a land card from your hand: Add to your mana pool one mana of any type that land could produce.
2x Slave Pits Land : Add to your mana pool. , sacrifice a creature: Add one mana of any color to your mana pool.
2x Den of Spies Land ~ comes into play tapped : Add or to your mana pool. , :Look at target player's hand and the top 4 cards of their library.
1 x Romulus, Rising| Planeswalker – Romulus (Mythic Rare) [+1] Put a 0/2 black Minion creature token with defender onto the battlefield. [0] Sacrifice a land. If you do, During target opponent's next turn, creatures that player controls cannot attack ~. [-8] Target opponent sacrifices all permanents they control and discards their hand, exchange control of all but one of the permanents you control with that player. [4]
1 x Tibalt, Master of Pain | Planeswalker – Tibalt (Mythic Rare) [+1] Discard a card at random. If it was a red card, draw a card. If it was a land card, ~ deals 2 damage to target creature or player. [-3] Destroy target artifact or land. [-6] Creatures your opponents control fight each other creature that player controls. [3]
2 x Lenoih, Devourer of Mana| Planeswalker – Lenoih (Mythic Rare) Green mana doesn't empty from your mana pool as steps and phases end. Put a loyalty counter on ~. [-3] Add to your mana pool. [-6] You may search your library for a green card with converted mana cost 6 or greater and cast it without paying its mana cost, if you do shuffle your library. [2]
4 x Koba, Descendant of Gray | Legendary Creature – Human Barbarian (Mythic Rare) Trample, ~ must attack each turn if able. ~ gets -X/-X where X is the highest number of lands controlled by a single opponent amongst your opponents. 10/10 “It’s understandable why The Genesis Natives want Rapker to return to Genesis, things were a lot simpler back then, …plus all their enemies are a lot easier to kill.” – Troy, Captain to the Illuminated Elite
2x Eldrazi Tomb Land (Rare) ~ enters the battlefield tapped, when it does search your library for an Eldrazi card and exile it face down. Add to your mana pool. You may play the exiled card without paying its mana cost if an opponent has sacrificed two or more permanents this turn. Activate this ability only any time you could cast a sorcery. "If someone told you that there was nothing to fear in the ground of Rapker, they were lying..."
2x Unstable Ground Land (Mythic Rare) Choose one - ~ becomes a Plains, Gain 1 life; ~ becomes an Island, Look at the top card of your library; ~ becomes a Swamp, Target opponent loses 1 life; ~ becomes a Mountain, Sacrifice a land: Deal two damage to target creature; ~ becomes a 1/1 Green Forest Land Creature; ~ becomes a colourless Artifact Land.
4x Bloody Altar Land (Uncommon) Add to your mana pool. Sacrifice a creature, Discard a card at random, Target opponent may search the top five cards of thier library for a card [and put that card into his or her hand], if they do, that player shuffles his or her library. Draw three cards. "Power, at any cost." - Etched onto the side of the Altar.
You need to fill 8 slots of the 48 remaining of the 60 cards in your deck. You have two options for each of the 8 slots:
You can fill it with any basic land, or
You can fill it with a non-basic land (any rarity) of your own design.
You can use any of your own designs to fill up to 4 card slots (per design) and you must tell me how many copies of each of your designs you are including in your deck. You MUST design at least 1 non-basic land card, even if you only use 1 copy in your deck, in order to receive a grade. If you are daring, you can actually design 8 different non-basic lands, including 1 copy of each in these 8 slots.
*At least one land must contain the word sacrifice(s). The refernce for this design is Bohemian Grove.
*Also, remember to tell me which Starting Deck you are going with from the list below. If you do not, I will give 2 hours to update this after the end of round one before I choose your starting deck at random.
Each player will choose one of the following decks (A, B, C, or D) listed below. You will start with four of each of the three listed cards in your deck.
*All entrants also should choose a prexisting game mechanic for this set along with their cards (affinity not allowed). The keyword should NOT be included in any of the cards designed this round. The winner of this round with the highest points will have their chosen keyword added to this set as a prize for 1st place..
The winner of round one will have their game mechanic included in the acceptable mechanics from all rounds going forward, so this is an excellent chance for some strategy.
Grove of Whispers Legendary Land (R) ~ enters the battlefield tapped. : Add or to your mana pool. , Sacrifice a creature: Search your library for a card, then shuffle your library and put that card into it third from the top. Futue events alluded to in those windowless rooms often came to pass - too often to be a mere coincidence.
Utility Holdings Land (U) : Add to your mana pool. : Exchange control of ~ and target land. "The state requires you immediately relocate your family to these coordinates. Don't worry, the middle of nowhere is beautiful this time of year."
Irradiated Ground Land (R) ~ has all activated mana abilities of all land cards in all graveyards. Bombarded with radiation, the testing site began to emit strange energies from well below the surface.
Development Site Land (R) : Put a charge counter on ~. : Add to your mana pool. If ~ has three or more charge counters on it, instead you may add one mana of any color to your mana pool. If ~ has seven or more charge counters on it, instead you may add three mana of any one color to your mana pool.
Historic District Land (U) ~ enters the battlefield tapped. When ~ enters the battlefield, it doesn't untap during its controller's next untap step. : Add one mana of any color to your mana pool. Even when it was brand new, they did things the old way.
..."window.parent.tinyMCE.get('post_content').onLoad.dispatch();" contenteditable="true" />Before I assign my lands to my deck, will I be able to add some basic lands later? In case I want to design cards that interact with basic lands, I want to know that I can get some in my deck.
.......
My land counts are as follows:
1x Grove of Whispers 2x Utility Holdings 1x Irradiated Ground 2x Industrial Fixer-Upper 2x Historic District
Greed-Tainted Expanse Land Greed-Tainted Expanse enters the battlefield tapped. : Add to your mana pool. , sacrifice a creature: Double the number of counters on target non-planeswalker permanent.
CKY and magicpablo666 combined ingenuity and silliness to win a Summer fUn contest each! vlord beat the rest to become the architect of a better tomorrow in Build it and they will come! CityofAs pranced masterfully to victory in Skipping Merrily! ConfusedAsUsual conquered both tropes and opponents ascend in Metafiction! FirstTurnKill condensed Success into Art form in Summing it Up!
Unstable Area Land : Add to your mana pool. , : Lands that would enter the battlefield tapped this turn enters untapped instead. , : Lands that would enter the battlefield untapped this turn enters tapped instead.
Serulya Beaches Land : Add to your mana pool. Remove a charge counter from Serulya Beaches: Add or to your mana pool. Whenever a land enters the battlefield, add a charge counter on Serulya Beaches.
Synchronicity Waters Land - Island Synchronicity Waters enters the battlefield tapped. : Add to your mana pool. If the mana is used to add a charge counter to a card with sunburst, add 2 charge counters instead. ''The Sea of Synchronicity with its cathodic waves often proves a worthy detour for the merchants and pilgrims from the east.''
Uncharted Polder Land Sacrifice Uncharted Polder: Add to your mana pool, then search your library for an Island or Plains card and put it onto the battlefield tapped. Then shuffle your library.
Uncharted Polder is from the Uncharted cycle (5 different lands. One of each allied colors).
Also, wishing I'll be able to add more of these lands. Seems like the deck could afford more of each.
Back story involving the pre-selected cards: Spoiler:Show
The worshipers of the Great Owl believe that knowledge is paramount above all else, regardless of how this knowledge is obtained or at what cost. It has spies everywhere, constantly infiltrating even the highest levels of the other orders in Rakper. The leaders of the cult have discovered an ancient spell that can bring back warriors from the cults past, great leaders that had carved the path of the Great Owl throughout Rakper's bloody past. Using the supply of bodies they obtain from the Slave Pits, they have been experimenting with the spell, trying to bring back these Crypt Champion s to guide them. But something was missing. The leaders of the past could be brought over the threshold of death, but they were unstable and quickly passed back into what lies beyond. But recently, ritual sacrifices allowing communion with the dead have revealed that there are ancient artifacts scattered throughout Rakper that contain an energy that can feed these warriors and sustain them in this world. Scouring the land for them, most of the ones they had discovered were burnt out, their magic gone. But recently, Pentad Prism s had been discovered that still held mana from a time long past. Thrumming with energy, they were what the Worshipers of the Great Owl had been looking for. When the spell was cast with the magic of the prisms, the champions were anchored in this world. So great however was this ancient magic, that the tear made between the veil that separates the living and the dead was more like a broken mirror that could not be healed. Soon, other monsters began to rise from the other side, creatures that were not all under the control of the Worshipers. But with the added guidance of these risen champions, the cult was flush with new purpose. Soon, their enemies would fall, and Rakper could be transformed into a paradise where all others came under the sway of the Owl's Gaze, and peace would reign.
Slave Pits of Rakper (x3) Land When Slave Pits of Rakper enters the battlefield you may sacrifice a creature. If you don't, Slave Pits of Rakper enters the battlefield tapped. : add or to your mana pool. Subjugate the many so the few may rise.
Altar of Ancient Rituals (x3) Land Altar of Ancient Rituals enters the battlefield tapped unless an opponent lost life this turn. : add or to your mana pool. As our enemies weaken, so do we become strong.
Roost of the Great Owl (x2) Legendary Land Roost of the Great Owl enters the battlefield tapped. : add to your mana pool. : draw a card. Play this ability only if you have drawn more than one card this turn. "The Owls eyes, all seeing, its wisdom, all knowing." - cultist prayer.
Perfect originality is overrated and often ugly. The best and most beautiful cards I've ever seen were clearly inspired by something else.
Cards are not entirely unlike living organisms in this regard. All the good ones are a result of long evolution; the 'original' ones are either monocellular or mutant aberrations.
Graveborn are strictly better than Zombies. I mean, look at that wicked beard . You try growing that when your dead. And I know aging fellows who are suffering from Male Pattern Baldness, who would kill for a Mop like Ribsy's over there.
This deck is called "Rakper Cabal". It's a group of dark wizards and clerics that are trying desperately to awaken the sleeping Eldrazi and bind them as their servants and learn the secrets of their power. The deck will (probably) have a number of early aggressive creatures and spells as well as the ability to make sacrifices to summon an Eldrazi to finish the Cabal's work. It also has a minor charge counter theme.
Singleton: Drazkeep, the Mountain Prison Legendary Land ~ comes into play tapped. : Add to your mana pool. , , Sacrifice ~: Cast a card that you own from outside the game named Emrakul, the Aeons Torn without paying its mana cost.
Three of: Ghostflame Swamp Land ~ comes into play tapped. : Add or to your mana pool. Sacrifice a land: Untap ~.
Three of: Hag Homestead Land : Add to your mana pool. Threshold - , : Draw a card and lose two life. Activate this ability only if seven or more cards are in your graveyard.
Singleton: Leyline Crossing Land : Add to your mana pool. Threshold - : Put a charge counter on a permanent you control. Activate this ability only if seven or more cards are in your graveyard.
Before I assign my lands to my deck, will I be able to add some basic lands later? In case I want to design cards that interact with basic lands, I want to know that I can get some in my deck.
Yes, there will be a chance to add basic lands later.
Before I assign my lands to my deck, will I be able to add some basic lands later? In case I want to design cards that interact with basic lands, I want to know that I can get some in my deck.
Yes, there will be a chance to add basic lands later.
to your mana pool for each enchanted permanent you control.
". 
: Add 
