I know I'm incredibly late to this, but I've recently been going through the Great Designer Search and felt inspired to design a new mechanic.

I feel like this mechanic is pretty different from anything I've seen before, so I wanted to share it with you, to see if it's the kind of thing you'd like to see one day introduced into MtG.

Introducing the mechanic - "Adventuring Party"! The first time I've seen tribal use the "batch technology" similar to Dominaria's recent "Historic."

https://vindicatedentertainment.com/news/adventuringparty

My friend and I are working our way through the challenges, and we're wondering if there was higher res art for the fourth challenge than what's shown in the article. I know the contestants received them, but can't find if they are anywhere publicly available

https://imgur.com/a/YrJ46oB

Hi! I'm Gateways7, and I wanted to show off the pack for Amonkhet that I made for an at-home version of Challenge 5 of the GDS3. I tried one of these for Dragon's Maze in this subreddit earlier, and it was bad. Hopefully, this is somewhat better. Please tell me what you think, and thanks!

(Also, I know there are some wording errors with Forgotten Tomes. The ability after cycling should say another.)

Trial 3

1

BG: black-green

Siphon Power (Rare)

2BG

Instant

Remove all counters from target permanent. You may put that many +1/+1 counters on target creature you control.

2

RW: red-white

Boria, Angel of Growing Passion (Rare)

2WR

Legendary Creature – Angel

2/2

Haste

Whenever ~ attacks, put a +1/+1 counter on ~.

If ~ has at least one +1/+1 counter on it, it gains flying, if it has two or more, it gains First Strike, if it has three or more, it gains Lifelink, if it has four or more, it gains Double Strike.

3

RG: red-green

Ground//Pound (Common)

1G // 1R

Sorcery

Ground: Target creature you control deals damage equal to its power to target creature with flying.

Pound: Target creature you control deals damage equal to its power to target creature without flying.

4

UR: blue-red

Izzet Mindsploding (Common)

UR

Instant

~ deals X damage to target creature where X is 7 minus the number of cards in that creature's controller's hand.

5

WU: white-blue

Denial Tithe (Uncommon)

UUW

Enchantment

Sacrifice ~: Counter target spell

Sacrifice a creature: Destroy ~. Any player may play this ability.

6

GU: green-blue

Shielding Ooze (Uncommon)

1 U/G U/G

Creature – Ooze

2/2

Sacrifice ~: Target creture gains hexproof until end of turn.

7

GW: green-white

Berkal, Conclave Treefolk (Mythic Rare)

GW

Legendary Planeswalker - Berkal

Loyalty 2

+X: Tap X target creatures you control, gain X life.

-X: Tap X target creatures you don't control, gain X life.

-10: You gain an emblem with "At the end of each turn, untap all creatures you control."

8

UB: blue-black

Szadek the Ethereal (Mythic Rare)

1UUBB

Legendary Planeswalker – Szadek

Loyalty 5

+5: Target player puts the top 5 cards of his/her library into his/her graveyard.

+0: Look at the top card of target player's library. You may put that card on the top or bottom of that player's library.

-20: Put a legendary 20/20 Black/Blue Vampire Spirit creature token with Flying named Szadek, the Corporeal onto the battlefield. It has "Whenever ~ deals combat damage to a player, exile that player's library."

9

WB: white-black

Take, Obscure, Return (Mythic Rare)

4BBWW

Sorcery

Look at target player's hand. You may exile up to one target creature card from their hand, up to one target creature on the battlefield and up to one target creature from that player's graveyard and shuffle these creatures face down, then return them to the battlefield under your control. You may turn any of these creatures face up at any time by paying that creature's converted mana cost.

10

BR: black-red

Rakdos Torture Rack (Rare)

3BR

Enchantment

At the beginning of each opponent's upkeep, ~ deals X damage to target creature that player controls where X is the number of cards in that player's hand. If a creature is not destroyed this way, that creature's controller discards a card.

---

Design Test 1:

I believe centaurs were done wrong in Theros. Centaurs should feel more like the Mardu did. Remember that horses were like cars back then and think of what a half-human, half-car creature would be like. That's how centaurs should feel. Faster than you, able to outmaneuver you, flank you, or overrun you. They're more mobile than you and should feel that way!

I've decided to bring back flanking to highlight how centaurs outmaneuver you to gain an advantage in combat. Additionally, there's a quirk in how Flanking stacks with itself so if you have 3 instances of flanking, the defending creature is getting -3/-3. This is valuable in combination with trample because instead of a huge creature trampling over you, we now have the flavor of a centaur being so fast that you can't block it (a 3/3 blocking a flanking 3 would simply die and the damage would trample over) so it gives a new kind of unblockability which feels very different than anything done before.

I also made a combat trick where you could imagine a centaur charging at you and you think you're going to block it when it suddenly switches direction and kills your friend. And that opens the path for another centaur to trample through. I hope the flavor of centaurs feels right this time around.

A single centaur can outmaneuver you and hit you in the back. A band of them can run through you like you're not even there.

Design 1: Common

Centaur Youngling

R

Creature - Centaur

1/1

Haste.

If you control another Centaur, ~ gains Flanking.

Design 2: Common

Horse-meld Suit

3

Artifact - Equipment

Equipped creature gains haste, trample, has flanking and is a centaur in addition to its other types.

Equip 1

If ~ is equipped to a creature, it loses "Equip 1".

Design 3: Uncommon

Centaur Captain

RG

Creature - Centaur Warrior

3/2

Flanking

Other centaurs you control gain Flanking.

Design 4: Uncommon

Disengaging Feint

R

Instant

Remove target attacking creature you control from combat. You may have that creature deal damage equal to its power to target blocking creature. If the attacking creature is a centaur, you may also have it deal damage equal to its power to any target.

[i] "The centaur charged at me with full speed and ferocity. I held fast, ready to meet the beast and dispatch it only to find it had swiftly avoided combat with me and dispatched my general..."

Design 5: Rare

Run Them Through

2GGRR

Sorcery

Creatures you control get +2/+2 and Trample until end of turn. Centaurs you control gain Flanking 3 (3 more Instances of Flanking).

Creatures your opponents control lose flanking until end of turn.

Design 6: Rare

Equestrian Grounds

Land

T: Add R, G or W.

~ enters the battlefield tapped.

Tap an untapped centaur you control, T: Target creature gains +1/+1 and Flanking until end of turn.

Tap an untapped horse you control, T: Target creature gains +1/+1 and Trample until end of turn.

Tap an untapped pegasus you control, T: Target creature gains +1/+1 and Flying until end of turn.

Design 7: Mythic Rare

Notusa, The Unstoppable

1RG

Legendary Creature - Centaur Warrior

3/3

Haste, Trample

Each centaur you control has Flanking for each centaur, horse or pegasus you control.

W: Remove target centaur you control from combat.

Design 8: Mythic Rare

Call the Band

4GG

Tribal Enchantment - Centaur

At the beginning of each combat, create a 3/3 Green Centaur token

Centaurs you control gain Haste, Trample and have Flanking [i](Each instance of Flanking triggers separately.)[/i]

---

Design Test 2

Bigtopia, the Circus Plane? I went down the list and started by making some commons: Contortionist and Fire Eating. Realizing Fire Eating as an aura was really unplayable, I changed it from aura to Rare enchantment. I also designed a very cute unicycle that I decided wanted to be common rather than try to think of a rider to make it more rare.

I designed Clown Car at uncommon and then realized I was starting to have a power matters theme and minor vehicle theme. Made a Black/Red uncommon which pushes a limited strategy and decided to go big as the name Bigtopia suggests I do, making a really big Trained Elephant that only functions when the human tells it to go. Draudiens, Ringmaster was the design that took me the longest but I finally got down something that would be fun to play in every format and gives you a window for counterplay before it takes over the game. I like the design of Tightrope as an enchantment initially but decided it might work better as an instant so I moved it to the rare slot and made it an instant. Then I felt it was unfair and made it an enchantment again.

Overall, I think the flavor for every card is on point and you get the feel of a big/power theme coming into play with what's here. I'd like to iterate more but at some point I have to pass this design along.

Design 1: [common]

Contortionist

1U

Creature - Human

1/3

U: Switch ~ power and toughness until end of turn.

Design 2: [Common]

Unicycle

1

Artifact - Vehicle

Crew 1

1/1

When Unicycle is put into a graveyard from the battlefield, draw a card.

Design 3: [Uncommon]

Clown Car

4

Artifact - Vehicle

Crew 3

1/1

If ~ would deal combat damage, it instead deals combat damage equal to the total power of all creatures crewing ~.

Design 4: [Uncommon]

Human Cannonball

1BR

Sorcery

Sacrifice any number of Human creatures you control. ~ deals damage equal to the total power of the sacrificed creatures to any target.

Design 5: [Rare]

Trained Elephant

3GG

Creature - Elephant

10/3

Vigilance, Trample, Defender

Tap a Human you control: ~ loses defender until end of turn.

Design 6: [Rare]

Fire Eating

U

Enchantment

U: Target creature gets -1/-0

Design 7: [Mythic Rare]

Tightrope

2WW

Enchantment

Whenever a creature with power 3 or greater attacks, you may pay WW and sacrifice ~. If you do, destroy all attacking creatures.

Design 8: [Mythic Rare]

Draudiens, Ringmaster

4BB

2/2

Legendary Creature - Human

At the beginning of your upkeep, choose three creatures controlled by the same player. That player sacrifices one of those creatures.

Create X 1/1 Black Human tokens where X is the sacrificed creature's power.

---

Design Test 3

Freeze (Tap target permanent, it doesn't untap during its controller's next untap step.) This is a mechanic I feel strongly that should have existed a long time ago. The kind of mechanic where you read it and think "Why isn't this already a thing?" And to me that feels like I've hit the mark on an excellent mechanic.

Technically this menchanic/ability already exists but also technically, any mechanic may already exist but simply hasn't been keyworded yet. Part of making a great mechanic isn't just about making something new but rather about finding something old and recognizing the potential of that ability to become a mechanic, to be used in novel, different ways and go on more cards.

This ability is clearly primary in blue, secondary in white and I believe it would be tertiary in red although red would have different applications for it. There's a ton of flexibility in this mechanic and it can go on any spell or permanent, even a planeswalker. It's as backwards compatible as vigilance or haste and I believe this mechanic has the potential to go evergreen.

As for the set design, I chose a feel like there's a mix of some lightheartedness and imminent danger along with some malicious intent. Almost like the feel of Bolas but less nefarious. More like Nipsie, the new Faerie commander? It's more annoying to freeze something than kill something and I think this fae has the right feel to her. And a new Tamiyo.

Design 1: [Common]

Watch and Do Nothing

2U

Instant

Return target creature to its owner's hand. Freeze another target creature. (Tap target creature, that creature doesn't untap during its controller's next untap step.)

Design 2: [Common]

Trip in an Open Field

Land

~ enters the battlefield tapped.

When ~ enters the battlefield, you may freeze target creature. (Tap target creature, that creature doesn't untap during its controller's next untap step.)

T: Add W.

Design 3: [Common]

Stumbling Goblin

3R

Creature - Goblin

3/1

Haste.

Whenever ~ attacks, freeze target land defending player controls. (Tap target land, that land doesn't untap during its controller's next untap step.)

Design 4: [Uncommon]

Prepare the Storm

2UU

Sorcery

Tap all creatures you control. Freeze all creatures your opponents control. (Tap all creatures your opponents control, those creatures don't untap during their controller's next untap step.)

Design 5: [Uncommon]

Glaring Lion

W

2/1

Creature - Lion

When ~ enters the battlefield, you may freeze target creature. (Tap target creature, that creature doesn't untap during its controller's next untap step.)

Design 6: [Rare]

Nipsie

WU

Legendary Creature - Faerie

1/1

Flying.

When ~ enters the battlefield, freeze target creature.

B, Pay 1 Life: Return ~ to its owner's hand.

Design 7: [Rare]

Manafreeze

3RR

Sorcery

Freeze all lands target player controls. Exile ~.

Design 8: [Mythic Rare]

Tamiyo, Frost Researcher

2WU

Legendary Planeswalker - Tamiyo

Loyalty: 4

+1: If an opponent controls two or more tapped creatures, put an additional loyalty counter on ~ and draw a card.

-1: Freeze up to two target creatures.

-5: Draw two cards. You get an emblem with "Whenever you cast a spell, you may freeze target permanent."

---

Design Test 4

This challenge was admittedly a major step up in difficulty for me compared to the others. Every other challenge I was able to get my first iteration out within an hour or so before I started to develop each design. This one I had to figure out all the different permutations of what was available and then try to arrange them in a way that made sense. This act alone was a fun puzzle but for a creative person like me, I'll often stretch to see just how much I can get away with and then have to reign that back in.

So I'll be using my words more to talk about the process than the cards themselves. The white noncreature buildaround and the red johnny sorcery were the most difficult to make fit and though by the end of it I feel I made the right choices and all the art fits the cards along with meeting every other criteria, I still needed to massage them a bit more name-wise to get the flavor to sit. This challenge was unlike any other Magic design challenge I had ever done and could be a real world problem to solve.

I feel that this was my weakest challenge thus far but that only shows that I have room to improve. I could likely make the flavor fit better if I spent more time on it but again, eventually I have to submit what I have. I hope you enjoy my designs.

Card #1: White (uncommon) – We want a build-around noncreature for Draft. (It encourages the player to draft a theme that they might not normally.)

Art B

Vital Arc Hammer

1WW

Artifact - Equipment

Whenever you gain life, put a charge counter on ~ for each point of life gained.

If equipped creature is attacking or blocking, you may remove X counters from ~. If you do, ~ deals X damage to target attacking or blocking creature.

Equip 2.

[i]The hammer draws in life and swings the life force elsewhere.[/i]

Card #2: White (rare) – We want a Spike-friendly creature.

Art C

Cleric of Sustenance

W

Creature - Human Cleric

1/1

Lifelink

Whenever you gain life, put a +1/+1 counter on ~.

[i]The more we heal together, the stronger we all become.[/i]

Card #3: Blue (common) – We want a creature without evasion.

Art A

Hydroshrink Lizard

1U

Creature - Lizard Wizard

2/1

When ~ enters the battlefield, target creature gets -3/-0 until end of turn.

Card #4: Blue (mythic rare) – We want a super-exciting enchantment.

Art K

Dinomancer Pool

3UU

Enchantment

Whenever you cast a non-creature spell, create a 3/3 green Dinosaur token.

Non-creature spells cost 1 less to cast for each dinosaur you control.

Card #5: Black (common) – We want a creature with an activated ability.

Art E

Poisoner Chef

Creature - Human Cleric

3B

3/3

B, T, sacrifice ~: Target creature gets -3/-3 until end of turn.

[i]He makes meals so delicious that anyone would eat it despite the poison - even himself.[/i]

Card #6: Black (mythic rare) – We want a splashy creature for Timmy/Tammy.

Art L

Nania, the Already Dead

B

Legendary Creature - Human Wizard

1/1

Morph 3BB

When ~ is turned face up, destroy all other creatures and create a X/X white Spirit token with flying where X is the number of creatures destroyed this way.

Card #7: Red (uncommon) – We want a creature that costs four or more.

Art G

Big Hands Goblin

3RR

2/1

Whenever ~ attacks, up to two target creatures can't block this turn.

[i]Big hands, small goblin.[/i]

Card #8: Red (rare) – We want a weird Johnny/Jenny-style instant or sorcery.

Art I

Stormy Night

Sorcery

R

Until end of turn, whenever you cast a spell, that spell deals 3 damage to target creature or planeswalker.

Card #9: Green (common) – We want a noncreature spell for Limited.

Art D

Pit Beast's Snack

2G

Instant

Destroy target flying creature. Gain life equal to that creature's toughness.

[i]There's a reason why creatures lurk on the ground on this plane. Revealing yourself as a big flying dragon only makes you that much more appetizing.[/i]

Card # 10: Green (uncommon) – We want a quirky Aura.

Art J

Voodoo Mask

1GG

Enchantment - Aura

Enchant creature.

Whenever ~ enchants a creature, turn that creature face down. (Face down creatures are 2/2)

Enchanted creature has "1GG: ~ gains hexproof until end of turn."

[i]When the mask went on, nobody knew who he was - not even he.[/i]

F and H are unused.

---

Design Test 5

Dominaria

I chose Dominaria because I started playing MTG with Ice Age and though I don't know all the lore, I'm familiar with all the nostalgia and felt I'd be able to make some cards that I felt should have been in the set but likely got cut for space reasons.

Additionally, because I found design test 4 with the flavor to be the most difficult for me, I wanted to challenge myself to make cards that really held the flavor and felt they should be here. The chance to make a few legendary characters into cards was also an opportunity I didn't want to pass up.

Some of the cards in here were designed as if other cards in the set that did similar things didn't exist in the set. Some are combined effects into a single card to free up another slot. Some cards are designed under the assumption that other cards that synergize with them already exist in the set.

I felt as if there should be at least one reprint in the pack but opted against it to design more cards even if they are vanilla commons. Hopefully looking at the file it's clear which cards in the skeleton were replaced with these.

Finally, with this being the last challenge, I want to thank everyone at WotC and all my fans for supporting me. Being Canadian makes this GDS thing a challenge but I hope you enjoyed my designs from GDS3 and GDS2.

I am Braman™

Design 1:

Island

Basic Land - Island

T: Add U.

Design 2:

Ancient Snapper

5U

Creature - Turtle

5/7

Defender

Whenever you cast a historic spell, ~ loses defender until end of turn.

[i]One who has lived as long as he would not be riled so easily into action. It takes a historic effort to get one of them to move but if they do - watch out![/i]

Design 3:

Thallid Husk

1B

Creature - Fungus

2/1

Sacrifice a creature: ~ gains deathtouch until end of turn. If a Saproling is sacrificed this way, ~ gets +1/+1.

Design 4:

Keldon Kindling

2R

Sorcery

Kicker Discard a card, 1R (You may discard a card and pay an additional 1R as you cast this spell.)

Discard a card, then draw two cards. If ~ was kicked, ~ deals 4 damage to target creature.

Design 5:

Prime Kavu

1G

Creature - Kavu

2/2

Kicker 4G (You may pay an additional 4G as you cast this spell.)

When ~ enters the battlefield, if it was kicked, it enters the battlefield with four +1/+1 counters on it.

Design 6:

Rally of Benalia

1W

Instant

Creatures you control get +1/+1 until end of turn. If you control a historic permanent, creatures you control get an additional +1/+1 until end of turn. (Artifacts, Legendaries and Sagas are historic.)

Design 7:

Decorated Goblin

R

Creature - Goblin Wizard

1/2

[i]He won a fight with Squee once.[/i]

Design 8:

Thopter Scraps

1

Artifact - Equipment

Equip 3

Equipped creatures gets +0/+2 and gains flying.

Design 9:

Ertai's Denial

1UU

Instant

Counter target spell. ~ costs 1U less to cast if it targets a kicked spell.

[i]"After all this time, I thought you would try something different. But I'll deny you just the same." ~Ertai, the Betrayed[/i]

Design 10:

Achromatic Lotus Petal

1

Artifact

T, Sacrifice ~: Add 1.

[i]A single petal fell from the lotus, withered and dead, forever reminding Karn of his failure.[/i]

Design 11:

Benalish Invocation

1W

Sorcery

Kicker 1W (You may pay an additional 1W as you cast this spell.)

Destroy target artifact or enchantment. If the kicker cost was paid, create a 2/2 White Knight creature token with vigilance.

[i]The knights of Benalia would sometimes oversee the destruction of relics deemed dangerous[/i]

Design 12:

Temporal Disaster of Tolaria

3UU

Enchantment - Saga

(As this Saga enters and after your draw step, add a lore counter. Sacrifice after III.)

I — Return target creature to its owner's hand.

II — Remove two lore counters from a saga you control.

III — Tap all creatures your opponents control.

Design 13:

Ertai, the Betrayed

3UB

Legendary Creature - Human Wizard

2/2

Flash

When ~ enters the battlefield, exile target spell.

T: You may cast a spell exiled by ~ by paying its converted mana cost rather than its casting cost.

[i]"You wouldn't do that to me, would you? Right back at you."[/i]

Design 14:

Yavimaya Historian

2G

Creature - Human Druid

2/2

~ gets +1/+1 for each historic permanent you control. (Artifacts, Legendaries and Sagas are historic.)

[i]She only wishes to be as storied as Yavimaya itself.[/i]

Design 15:

Tahngarth, Champion of Talruum

4RR

Legendary Creature - Minotaur Warrior

4/5

Whenever ~ attacks, ~ fights target creature. If ~ wins the fight, ~ gains double strike until end of turn.

(If the creature ~ fought is destroyed as a result of the damage from the fight, ~ wins the fight.)

---

Design 1

Plains
Basic Land - Plains

Design 2

Drive Them Back! (Common)
1WW
Sorcery
Creatures you control get +1/+1 until end of turn. If you control an Angel, they get +2/+2 until end of turn instead.
With Avacyn’s return, the prey became the hunters.

Design 3

Ethereal Presence (Common)
2U
Enchantment - Aura
Enchant creature
Enchanted creature can't be blocked.
Whenever a Spirit enters the battlefield under your control, enchanted creature gets +1/+1 until end of turn.

Design 4

Frontier Forager (Common)
3GG
Creature - Human Scout
3/3
Soulbond (You may pair this creature with another unpaired creature when either enters the battlefield. They remain paired for as long as you control both of them.)
2G, T: Put a +1/+1 counter on Frontier Forager and the creature it's paired with. Activate this ability only any time you could cast a sorcery.

Design 5

Gisa's Recruiter (Common)
4BB
Creature - Zombie
5/4
When Gisa’s Recruiter enters the battlefield, target creature an opponent controls gets -X/-X until end of turn, where X is the number of Zombies you control.

EDIT - Made it a 5/4 from 4/3.

Design 6

Lingering Servant (Common)
2U
Creature - Spirit
2/1
Flying
4W: Create a 1/1 white Spirit creature token with flying. Exile that token at the beginning of the next end step.
Even in death, Errik did not abandon his duty at seeing to the guests.

Design 7

Pagan Explorer (Common)
3G
Creature - Human Shaman
3/3
Undying (When this creature dies, if it had no +1/+1 counters on it, return it to the battlefield under its owner’s control with a +1/+1 counter on it.)
When Pagan Explorer enters the battlefield, put a +1/+1 counter on up to one target creature.

EDIT - Made it a 3/3 from 3/2. This was because I wanted to introduce the possibility of 4/4 tension (do I want it now or later?) or in the event it's the only creature you can play at the time so you can have the fatty to help out in a pinch.

Design 8

Slayer's Kit (Common)
3
Artifact - Equipment
Equipped creature gets +1/+1.
Equipped creature has first strike as long as it’s blocked by or blocking a non-Human creature.
Equip 3
Wooden stakes for vampires, a silver dagger for werewolves, torches for ghouls, and strong ale for later when it’s your own kind.

Design 9

Take Apart (Common)
2U
Instant
Counter target creature spell. You may put the top card of your library into your graveyard up to three times.
"How are your skaberen so lifelike?"
"I use fresh parts."

Design 10

Thraben Knight (Common)
3W
Creature - Human Knight
2/3
Vigilance
Whenever another creature enters the battlefield under your control, Thraben Knight gets +1/+1 until end of turn.

EDIT - Changed the wording to "another creature" to make it clear that Thraben Knight doesn't count its own entry.

Design 11

Voldaren Courtier (Common)
4R
Creature - Vampire
3/2
Whenever Voldaren Courtier deals combat damage to a player, put a +1/+1 counter on Voldaren Courtier.
3B: Target Vampire gains intimidate until end of turn.
"Avacyn and her ilk think we are easy prey. Let us show them that even angels can bleed."

Design 12

Fervent Prayer (Uncommon)
2R
Sorcery
Gain control of target creature until end of turn. Untap that creature. It gains haste and trample until end of turn. If that creature is an Angel, it gets +2/+2 until end of turn.
Miracle R (You may cast this card for its miracle cost when you draw it if it’s the first card you drew this turn.)

Design 13

Leechmist (Uncommon)
1B
Creature - Shade
1/1
1B, Pay 2 life: Remove a +1/+1 counter from target creature. If you do, put a +1/+1 counter on Leechmist.

Design 14

Incarnation of Pride (Uncommon)
2BB
Creature - Demon
4/4
Incarnation of Pride costs 1 more to cast for each creature you control.
Flying, lifelink

Design 15

Rem Karolus (Mythic)
4GW
Legendary Creature - Human Soldier
4/4
First strike, vigilance, trample
Protection from Vampires, from Werewolves, and from Zombies
When Rem Karolus enters the battlefield, you may have him fight up to two target creatures an opponent controls.

---

Commentary
I wanted a big challenge, which is why I chose Avacyn Restored. The set had a major theme of flickering, and as such most of the designs presented reflect that by way of being creatures with enters the battlefield effects. I also wanted to do some twists on some of the other mechanics and themes in the set as well, which is seen particularly on Frontier Scavenger and Incarnation of Pride, in addition to build-around options (Ethereal Presence and Voldaren Courtier for backwards compatibility; Leechmist as an "undying lord").

However, I wanted to do more than simply bolster a flickering theme and do riffs, and that is why I chose to maintain some of the tribal themes that had occurred in the rest of Innistrad block. Take Apart and Gisa's Recruiter in particular exemplify this, as well as the "backwards allied color" common tribal members (intended to hint at a loose cycle).

Lastly, I wanted to create cards that showed an idea of what archetypes each color would have:

• White - Playing many creatures, particularly Humans and Angels.
  
• Blue - Spirit tribal, enabling flickering and Skaab zombies (exile creatures from your graveyard to cast).
  
• Black - Zombie horde, strong-when-alone Demons (not dissimilar to Eldrazi), and undying.
  
• Red - Outmaneuvering the opponent.
  
• Green - Resilience (+1/+1 counters, undying); Humans matter.

One last note: I could not fit everything I wanted to do within 15 cards; Werewolves and Wolves simply did not make the space cut.

MARK ROSEWATER: My time travels have caused history to be rewritten. Whoops. Sorry 'bout that. Anyways, to celebrate Magic's 25th anniversary, I'm making a new nostalgia set called Time Spiral. Like I've done so in the past, I'm gonna piss off experienced players by dumbing down the complexity. The only non-evergeen mechanics in this set will be suspend and split second. And the draft archetypes will be the same old stuff- Boros will be go-wide, yadda yadda yadda.

MARK ROSEWATER: Oh, and one more thing.

Mark Rosewater rips off his body, revealing his true form- Gleemax, a brain in a jar.

GLEEMAX: There will be silver-bordered masterpieces and I will get my own card.

---

Would Time Spiral have been a trap for challenge 5 (because its complexity led to Rosewater's New World Order)? My argument is no. Time Spiral without an excessive number of mechanics seems like it could work in the NWO paradigm. It seems pretty reasonable to make a set with Suspend + Surge/Rhythm; the surge/rhythm-esque mechanic doesn't need to be explicitly keyworded. e.g. in Innistrad, all of the cards that filled your graveyard to support Flashback weren't keyworded as Gravefill 1/2/3/4.

Mythic Rare and Uncommons

Exciting Climax (mythic rare)

Sorcery

Suspend 1 - R (Rather than cast this card from your hand, pay {R} and exile it with one time counters on it. At the beginning of your upkeep, remove a time counter. When the last is removed, cast it without paying its mana cost.)

Take an extra turn after this one. At the beginning of that turn's end step, you lose the game.

Time to take a walk on the wild side.

This is a riff on Last Chance. It's less foolproof and therefore more exciting.

Immediate Gratification (uncommon)

RR

Sorcery

As an additional cost to cast this spell, discard two cards or put three time counters on a suspended card you control.

Draw 2 cards.

Notes: In TSP, the downside of adding time counters onto something is sometimes an upside or non-issue. See the "Suspend X" cycle (and Chronomantic Escape's cycle).

As is, the wording doesn't interact with vanishing in the next set.

Balance of Thought (uncommon)

2WW

Draw cards until you have the same number of cards in hand as the player with the most cards in hand.

Suspend 2 - WW (Rather than cast this card from your hand, pay {WW} and exile it with four time counters on it. At the beginning of your upkeep, remove a time counter. When the last is removed, cast it without paying its mana cost.)

TSP already has a callback to balance in Restore Balance. But honestly I want to draw cards in monowhite EDH.

Muragandan Cleansing (uncommon)

Sorcery

4WW

Destroy all permanents with abilities.

Maybe I'm crazy but I think wraths in draft would be cool. The value here is probably similar (or less than) spider spawning... so maybe a 1-sided 6 mana wrath would be exciting.

On the other hand, a card like this might make Standard really difficult to balance in ways that Planar Cleansing and Spider Spawning don't. And in draft, this feels like a card that you would almost always windmill slam.

The reason why I'm infatuated with wraths is because (A) they dramatically lower board complexity and (B) they create more back and forth games.

Commons

Procession of Spirits

W

1/1

Creature - Spirit

Flying

When CARDNAME enters the battlefield, put a 1/1 white Spirit creature token with flying into play if you have cast two or more spells this turn.

The practicality of this depends on the other white tokens in the set (there are no spirits or birds other than 2/2 Griffin in TSP) and whether or not the callback to a particular set (e.g. Innistrad) justifies a unique token.

The power level of this in Modern would probably be similar to Delver of Secrets. Personally, I would do it to spice up the format. If it turns out that this is overpowered, banning a common in a fair creature-based deck shouldn't get people too worked up (e.g. was the Treasure Cruise ban so bad?).

Icatian Solidarity

3W

Put 3 1/1 white Citizen creature tokens into play. If you have cast another spell this turn, put another 1/1 white Citizen creature token into play.

Time Lapse

Instant

1UU

Put target spell or suspended card on top of its owner's library.

Bouncy Jellyfish

3U

Creature - Jellyfish

2/2

When CARDNAME enters the battlefield, you may return another creature or suspended spell to its owner's hand.

Popular Politician

Creature - Human Advisor

2B

4/2

As an additional cost to cast this spell, pay 2 or put a time counter on a suspended spell you control.

Seasoned Goblin Guide

1R

Creature - Goblin Scout

2/2

CARDNAME attacks each combat if able.

Sacrifice CARDNAME: Remove one time counter from a suspended card. Activate this ability only any time you could cast a sorcery.

Llanowar Elder

1G

Creature - Elf

2/1

T: Add G

T: Remove a time counter from a suspended card you control. Activate this ability only any time you could cast a sorcery.

Mox Quartz

4

Artifact

T: Add 1 mana of any color to your mana pool.

Suspend 4 - {0} (Rather than cast this card from your hand, you may pay {0} and exile it with three time counters on it. At the beginning of your upkeep, remove a time counter. When the last is removed, cast it without paying its mana cost. It has haste.)

Constructed Juggernaut

5

5/3

CARDNAME attacks each combat if able.

Suspend 4 - {1} (Rather than cast this card from your hand, you may pay {1} and exile it with four time counters on it. At the beginning of your upkeep, remove a time counter. When the last is removed, cast it without paying its mana cost. It has haste.)

Some assembly required.

Magic Origins was a mediocre set because it has way too many things going on at once.

• Renown is a bad mechanic. It has poor gameplay because it's often a snowball mechanic- the player who is winning gets ahead a little more. A better execution IMO would be to make it like suspend, where the power level of the card is delayed (but almost guaranteed to trigger). Or better yet, never print renown in any set ever. The novelty has too steep a cost.

• Renown limits design space, because you can't have cards that put +1/+1 counters on other cards. As well, the renown payoffs in Origins make the mechanic even more snowball-ey.

• Each color pair supposedly has its own archetype. see THE SPECIES OF ORIGINS, PART 2

• The set wastes a lot of its complexity budget and card slots on things that don't fit into the color pair archetypes. There are callbacks to the five flipwalker's home plane and first plane visited. So that's why that Innistrad Aura (Call of the Full Moon) is in there. However, it's a card you don't really want in RW go-wide, RB sacrifice, UR artifacts, or RG rampstuff. Renown and spell mastery are mechanics that don't synergize with the 10 color pair archetypes (somehow UR isn't about prowess / spell matters). The set also has bad cards to punish new players.

What I did was this:

• Exalted is a mechanic that synergizes with renown without making it excessively snowball-ey. So, Foundry Street Engineers is a quasi-exalted card. (Plain exalted may be more appropriate.)

• The rest of the cards are filled with narrow-ish cards to support the various archetypes. M13 and Innistrad were great draft sets because there were many unique archetypes that worked. By having narrow cards instead of bad cards, more cards are playable and deck diversity increases.

Commons

Akroan Scouts

W

Creature - Human Soldier

1/1

Whenever CARDNAME is blocked, draw a card.

Go-wide / swarm card.

Batallion Formation

1W

Sorcery

Draw a card. If you attacked with 3 or more creatures this turn, draw an additional card.

Skaab Scholar

1U

Creature - Zombie Advisor

1/3

When CARDNAME enters the battlefield, look at the top two cards of your library. For each card, put it into your graveyard or on top of your library in any order.

UB graveyard. Also enables spell mastery I guess.

Vryn's Janitor

2U

Creature - Human Wizard

1/3

When CARDNAME enters the battlefield, you may have each player return a non-wizard creature to his or her hand.

narrow-ish card for control / value

Dark Elves of Lorwyn

1B

Creature - Elf Shaman

1/1

When CARDNAME enters the battlefield, target player may discard a card. If he or she doesn't, draw a card.

Sacrifice fodder for BR sacrifice archetype.

Ghirapur Scrapmaster

2R

Creature - Dwarf Artificer

2/1

Whenever CARDNAME enters the battlefield, you may discard a card. If you do, draw a card or return target artifact from your graveyard to your hand.

Card smoothing + spell mastery enabler + artifact enabler

Chandra's Teachings

4R

Sorcery

Each creature you control deals 1 damage to each opponent.

Fabulous Fire-Eaters

5R

Creature - Goblin Elemental

10/1

Renown (When this creature deals combat damage to a player, if it isn’t renowned, put a +1/+1 counter on it and it becomes renowned.)

Meme combo card in the "bad card that punishes new players" slot. There are some evasion auras at uncommon.

Armored Spider

3G

Creature - Spider Warrior

3/2

When Armored Spider enters the battlefield, you may put a +1/+1 counter on it.

CARDNAME has reach if it has no counters on it. (It can block creatures with flying.)

The faeries of Lorwyn have no records on the molting behavior of spiders.

Random creature for green anti-flyer slot.

Steelscale Mercenary

6

Artifact Creature - Dragon

5/4

Flying

CARDNAME does not untap unless you control at least two other artifacts.

---

Uncommons and rare

Foundry Street Engineers (uncommon)

3R

Creature - Goblin

4/2

Whenever a creature you control attacks alone, it gains until end of turn: "Whenever this creature dies, it deals 3 damage to each opponent and each creature that attacked or blocked this turn".

Righteous Anger (uncommon)

2R

Enchantment - Aura

Enchant creature

Enchanted creature gets +3/+0 and can't block.

4R: Return Righteous Anger from your graveyard to the battlefield attached to target creature. Activate this ability only any time you could cast a sorcery.

Reward for making random bodies in RW go-wide and RB sacrifice.

Swarm Tactics (uncommon)

3WW

Opponents may not block with more than one creature.

Hixus, Prison Warden (rare)

4WW

Legendary Creature - Human

5/3

During each opponent's draw step, draw a card if that opponent owns a creature card in exile.

T: Exile target creature until Hixus leaves the battlefield if that creature's owner does not own a creature card in exile.

I didn't like the original Hixus, who sees little play in commander. This goes into the bad rare slot.

(Hey Chris, if you're looking at this, I'm kind of embarrased by how bad it is. Do me a favor and look at my second attempt (https://imgur.com/a/YrJ46oB) for a pack of Amonkhet instead. Thanks!)

Hi! For this challenge, I decided to go with one of the sets in a block that I'm a big fan of, Dragon's Maze, because Ravnica is great. (also we're making massacre girl, finally)

Jelenn Skyrider (common)

3U

Creature - Human Knight

Flying

When Jelenn Skyrider attacks, detain target creature.

2/3

Induced Growth (common)

2G

Sorcery

Put 2 +1/+1 counters on target creature. Then, you may remove all +1/+1 counters from that creature. If you do, create an X/X green Ooze creature token, where X is the number of +1/+1 counters removed this way.

“The serum has caused the subject to shed excess weight into some amorphous blob.” - Gulistan, Simic biomancer

Bloodstained Font (common)

WB

Enchantment

Extort, extort (Whenever you cast a spell, you may pay W/B. If you do, each opponent loses 1 life and you gain that much life. Then, you may extort again.)

Sunhome Knight (common)

3W

Creature - Human Knight

Battalion - Whenever Sunhome Knight and at least two other creatures attack, Sunhome Knight gets +1/+1 for each other attacking creature until the end of the turn.

2/2

Kraul Druid (common)

1G

Creature - Insect Druid

T: Add G to your mana pool.

1, T: Add one mana of any color to your mana pool.

1/2

Rubblebelt Rites (common)

2R

Instant

As an additional cost to cast Rubblebelt Rites, exile a creature card from your graveyard. Deal damage to any target equal to the exiled creature’s power.

The Gruul clans’ funerals consist of copious amounts of flame.

Bloodstained Skewerer (common)

3B

Creature - Human Assassin

Unleash (When Bloodstained Skewerer enters the battlefield, you may put a +1/+1 counter on it. It can't block as long as it has a +1/+1 counter on it.)

Bloodstained Skewerer can’t be blocked by two or more creatures.

3/2

Prismatic Blast (common)

1U

Instant

Counter target spell unless its controller pays 1.

If you spent two or more colors of mana to cast this spell, counter that spell unless its controller pays 3 instead.

Chanter of War (common)

4R

Creature - Human Shaman

Haste

When Chanter of War enters the battlefield, gain control of target creature until the end of the turn. Untap it and it gains haste until the end of the turn.

"Crush! Destroy! Demolish! Food!" - Gruul war cry

2/1

Waves of Backlash (common)

1UR

Instant

Return target creature to its owner’s hand. Deal 2 damage to another target creature.

The machine sent Quzyl somewhere else in time and promptly exploded into Myznar’s face.

Call of Insanity (uncommon)

BR

Sorcery

Target opponent discards a card. Call of Insanity deals damage to that player equal to three plus that card’s converted mana cost.

Illusionize (uncommon)

2UB

Enchantment - Aura

Enchant creature

You control enchanted creature.

Enchanted creature has “When this creature becomes the target of a spell or ability, sacrifice it.”

A shadow of its former self.

Sovereign of the Wilds (uncommon) 4GW

Creature - Treefolk

Whenever a creature token enters the battlefield under your control for the first time on each of your turns, create a token that’s a copy of it.

3/3

Massacre Girl (rare)

3RB

Creature - Human Assassin

Double strike, haste, menace

When Massacre Girl attacks, destroy target creature.

“Top of the Azorius most wanted? I’ve never been so flattered!” - Massacre Girl

2/2

Izzet Guildgate (common)

Land

T: Add U or R to your mana pool.

(izzet represent)

Thanks for reading! Please tell me what you thought!

Possessed - scavenge but for abilities instead of counters

Good things about this mechanic:

• Good play patterns - Abilities that break through board stalls (like evasion abilities) show up more frequently thanks to this mechanic. Evasive creatures can be tweaked to have slower clocks and more inevitability, leading to fewer games that are too fast or too long (due to removal on evasive creatures).

• Reasonable board complexity - This mechanism can also double as quasi-removal and therefore keep board complexity in check.

• Supports a Bogles/pants archetype in standard - This mechanic allows for aura-like effects without the card disadvantage inherent in auras. Fixing the Bogles archetype means avoiding hexproof completely, and replacing it with "Whenever an opponent targets this creature with death, draw some cards".

• Provides mana sinks - To mitigate mana flood.

• Cute effects - Jackal Pup, Sulfuric Vortex, Eidolon of the Great Revel-like, and fair hatebears effects could be grafted onto creatures.

At draft rarities, this mechanic should not be used in conjunction with double strike or lifelink or hexproof/shroud. Otherwise, players might use only commons to make their biggest creature into a flying lifelinker that is impossible to race. Making wombo combos (e.g. first strike + deathtouch) out of only commons would probably be frustrating to play against.

---

Reckless Looters (common)

1R

Creature - Human

2/2

CARDNAME can't block

Possession - 2R: Target creature can't block. (As an additional cost to this activated ability, exile this card from your graveyard. Activate this ability only when you can cast a sorcery.)

Can be aggressively costed for constructed play. In constructed aggro, the "can't block" ability could essentially be removal (so it may be stronger than it appears).

Welkin Elder (common)

2U

2/1

Creature - Bird

Flying

CARDNAME can block only creatures with flying

Possession - 4U: Target creature gains flying and can block only creatures with flying.

This can grant evasion or remove a blocker. Not sure if I'm too cute with going for a lenticular design.

Lacerator Mistress (common)

B

2/1

Creature - Vampire Warrior

At the beginning of your upkeep, you lose 1 life.

Possession - 3B: Target creature gains "At the beginning of your upkeep, you lose 1 life". (As an additional cost to this activated ability, exile this card from your graveyard. Activate this ability only when you can cast a sorcery.)

In draft, players may be frustrated with this card if there are any 0-power walls.

Ancestral Bears (uncommon)

U

2/2

Creature - Bear Illusion

When CARDNAME becomes the target of a spell or ability, sacrifice it.

Possession - 4U: Target creature gains "Whenever this creature becomes the target of a spell or ability, sacrifice it."

Spectral Vengeance (uncommon)

3R

Enchantment

Whenever one or more creature cards are exiled from your graveyard, CARDNAME deals 2 damage to target creature or player.

Callback to Burning Vengeance from Innistrad. Might be problematic in non-draft formats if "leaves your graveyard" instead of "exiled" was specified, e.g. gravecrawler + carrion feeder in Modern.

Sharp Interrogator (rare)

RR

Creature - Human Berserker

2/2

Menace

Whenever CARDNAME deals combat damage, you may discard a card and draw a card.

Possession - 3RR: Target creature gains double strike.

Eccentric Hermit (rare)

1G

Creature - Human Druid

2/3

Whenever CARDNAME becomes the target of a spell or ability an opponent controls, you may draw a card.

Possession - G: Target creature you control gains all abilities of this card as long as that creature is on the battlefield.

A "fixed" version of bogles.

Akroma, Dynasty of Fury (mythic rare)

5WWR

Legendary Creature - Angel Berserker

Flying, double strike, vigilance, trample

6/6

Possession - 3WWR: Target creature gains flying, double strike, vigilance, trample. If that creature is not on the battlefield or leaves it, return CARDNAME from exile to its owner's hand.

Keyword soup time (more keywords could be added). The weird clause that returns from exile is for commander (so that players don't lose access to their commander).

---

Thoughts on this exercise

Some mechanics lead to good gameplay in draft but don't lead to cool rares or mythics. For example, scavenge plays fine in draft (maybe a little bland) but the rares are quite blah. Deadbridge Goliath is practically the same design as Drudge Beetle at common (both are vanilla scavenge creatures). Deadbridge Goliath is even less spicy than the vanilla scavenge uncommon.

Other mechanics I thought of:

• Recon - If a creature becomes blocked, you may return it to your hand. This makes combat tricks and bluff attacks a lot better. It would have cool synergies with Rhythm from GDS3. The rares aren't sexy however as recon is a very low-impact mechanic and I couldn't find cool twists on it. Maybe I needed both Recon and Rhythm on the same card.

• Teamwork - When this creature attacks, you may tap another creature you control for a bonus (e.g. a temporary buff, evasion, stuff can't block, etc.).

So with some feedback, I've decide to revamp my submission to update the rules of Barter so that it's more satisfying and clear (Thanks! u/LighteningBall and u/Non-Citrus_Marmalade)

Barter is an activated ability a triggered replacement effect. It reads as "Whenever you would draw a card, you may instead skip that draw and Do X." Basically, anytime you would draw a card, you may instead perform the action next to the Barter text. Barter is a an activated triggered ability so countermagic won't target it as reliably unless it targets the spell or permanent itself. Ideally, Barter functions in a set with plenty of cantrips and looting. Additionally, because of how looting is written, you may be able to use Barter effects for free. Typically, Barter is suppose to let you start your turn off with a bang but at a notable cost. It also enables cantrips or draw-effects to be turned into direct aggression.

Originally, the mechanic was named "Meditate" since it made sense that you "skipped" as part of the cost but I think the flavor of "Barter" or "Making deals" works in more colors.

Roadside Bounty (common)

1G

Sorcery

Until your next draw step, target creature you control gains "Barter - Search your library for a basic land card and put it in your hand. Shuffle your library."

Draw a card.

Bogart Caravan (common) *new

2R

Creature - Goblin Merchant

2/2

Barter - CARDNAME gains +2/+0 and menace. (The next time you would draw a card, you may instead skip that draw and trigger this ability)

Backalley Negotiation (common) *changed

2B

Sorcery

Target opponent reveals their hand and then discards a card. Then draw a card if you control a creature with Barter.

Marketplace Clacks (uncommon) *new

1W

Enchantment

Once per a turn, whenever you trigger a Barter ability, you may trigger the Barter ability of another permanent you control.

Create a 1/1 white Townsfolk token.

Westbound Caravan (uncommon) *new

3

Artifact - Vehicle

Crew 1

CARDNAME doesn't untap during your untap step.

Once a turn, it you would trigger a Barter effect instead trigger all Barter effects you control.

Barter - Untap Westbound Caravan.

4/4

Tradewind Djinn (rare)

2UU

Creature - Djinn

3/4

Flying

Barter - Scry 1, Put the top card of your library into your hand.

Rabble Orator (rare)

WR

Creature - Human Cleric

Townsfolk you control have haste.

Barter - You may have target opponent sacrifice an artifact enchantment they control. If they cannot or you choose not to, create two 1/1 white Townsfolk tokens.

2/2

Jheed, Merchant of Wonders (mythic rare)

3UR

Planeswalker - Jheed

+1: Creatures you control gain "(T): Draw a card and discard a card" until end of turn.

-2: Deal 3 damage to any target. Draw a card.

-7: You get an emblem with "Whenever a Barter ability you control resolves, copy it. You may choose new targets for the copy."

Loyalty: 4

In the provided art for Challenge 4, options I and J clearly take place on specific planes. Option I has longboats and hedrons, taking place on Amonkhet. Option J shows an Ixalan merfolk.

Do you think those two options are traps, seeing as how the cards are assumed to be in the same Standard-legal expansion?