#mdfcs

[placesyoucallhome]

MiqoMarch #1- I have a cat problem

From left to right, Nemo, Q'ruhka, L'harir, Lark, Tristan, and Avnas

[aethernalstars]

I spent more time on this than i should have, but here, an image to summon Apollo's dodgeball upon myself!

Viz has Destroy All Humans licensed, and in the past also published the MtG art books. They also published the physical homestuck comics.

You see my vision, I needn't say more.

[markrosewater]

Before Final Fantasy previews, you were asked about MDFCs with a land on the front side and a nonland on the back side. You answered that there were play balance issues with doing this.

But now we have adventure lands, which are effectively the same thing except stronger (since if you cast the spell you get to play the land as well). Like the hypothetical land-front MDFCs, they can be fetched with land tutors.

So is your answer different now? If not, what are the play balance issues with land-front MDFCs which adventure lands don't have?

My answer hasn’t changed. Us doing something different with other cards doesn’t change how we choose to handle MDFCs.

[fleshengine]

In mtg mdfc lands are really neat because they give you more options. The command cards, charms, and seasons are all spells that give you more spells per spells. You draw it and suddenly you have a bunch of different options you can choose. They tend to run a little pricier than spells that do similar things, but the cost in mana is offset by their flexibility. You see this reflected in cards with the spree keyword, one of my favorite things to come out of OTJ. So they cost mana in favor of range and flexibility. Yeah you could get three different cheap spells for three use cases or put a single charm in your deck that does all three. Mdfc (modal dual face card) lands are effectively the same idea except instead of a spell that can do multiple things it’s a land that can be a spell. The spells are typically mid, and the lands are typically mid. But the flexibility of having something in your deck that is both land and spells is crazy. You get a good starting hand but only one land? Well one of those spells is also a land, if you don’t top deck something else by turn 2, it’s got your back. Play a lategame draw spell and it’s all land? One of those lands is a spell that has some use. It gives you the choice of “do I want a land drop or do I want this spell” and that’s awesome. And both sides being mid is good, because if you need one, you don’t feel that bad about the other.

The pathway cards are similarly useful. It’s an mdfc land that’s land on both sides. They aren’t bad lands, and they don’t do anything special. It’s just one side is say a forest and the other is a mountain. When you play it you make one decision of “do I need green or red right now?” For that reason they make wonderful manafixing. In my Animar deck, I’m very aware that my gameplan is typically to play Animar turn 3, so I need reliable manafixing. So I run a decent amount of 2 drop ramp, and mdfc lands. I don’t run them in some of my other decks, because usually I only have a couple three color cards, and I’m okay with them coming out a little behind curve in favor of more powerful lands ie. Storage and sac/bounce lands.

Mdfcs, charms, and other cards that give you more options are always really interesting to me. In my eyes, magic is about making choices. Picking your colors, commander, deck, etc. and then in game you pick what to do when. Counterspells are fun because it means every time anyone casts anything, you get a choice. One step further, any targeted interaction is a choice on your part. You’re asking yourself the question “do I want to blow that up or do I want to hold on and kill something more important?” This is why I don’t like most boardwipes. It’s just every turn a question of do I cut everyone’s gameplans off at the knees? And is trying to win this game more fun than letting my friend win and starting another?

[niuttuc]

Niuttuc's Paper Commander Decks

I've made short threads over on Bluesky about my paper commander decks at this point, so figured I would also compile a list of links to them on this blog. The link for each will point to the thread, and will also include a direct link to the decklist for each for convenience.

Barrin's Bounce and Breakfast (bottom left, dark blue deckbox), a mono-blue control deck headed by Barrin that bounces its own creatures for value and the opponent's for protection. Bracket 3. Decklist

The Graveyard Gang (bottom center, bright green deckbox), a golgari self-mill graveyard deck with ten different commanders and one companion, with only creatures and lands. The commander for the deck is selected at random before each game, and the others go in the 99. Bracket 3. Decklist

Nyx-Lit Narset (center left, clear deckbox), an Aura Voltron deck in Jeskai that uses either timeline's Narset to buff up and beat face with. The deck does not have any extra turn or extra combat effects to avoid OG Narset instantly winning the game when she attacks. Bracket 3 with OG Narset, 2 with Exile. Decklist

Hand Over the Spoons (left, starprint deckbox), a mono-black theft deck headed by Lobelia that will primarily steal cards from opponents' libraries and graveyards, but can also nab things from hands, battlefields or even command zones! Bracket 2 (technically with a Game Changer) Decklist

My Best Defense is your Best Offense (top right, orange deckbox), a Bant counter deck that aims at its own permanents, but can also manipulate combat by giving counters to other players thanks to its commander, Kros. Bracket 2. Decklist

Only Doing It For The Triggers! (Top right, purple deckbox) A four-color Yidris deck all about getting value out of combat damage triggers and attack triggers. The value is often tempting enough it's hard to resist the temptation of attacking to be able to block and not die. Bracket 2 (technically with a Game Changing Yuriko in the deck (and two other ninjas in the entire deck)). Decklist

Seeing Double? It's not the Halo (center left, red deckbox), a mono-red value deck helmed by Jaxis. It will generate value from copying creatures with enters, attack or death triggers, from dragons, titans and other artifacts. It can do very explosive things when everything lines up. Bracket 2. Decklist

Utilitown (top center, grey deckbox), a five-color deck that's really a colorless deck. It focuses on colorless utility lands, but its primary wincon is to repeatedly Door to Nothingness opponents. Led by Kyodai, mostly for the colors and to look non-threatening. It's a really weird one. Bracket 3. Decklist

Tap, Untap. Concede? (top left, purple deckbox), an esper combo deck all about tapping and untapping sweet creatures and artifacts, like its commander Merieke Ri Berit. If left alone, the deck eventually ends up generating infinite everything and winning the game. Tentative Bracket 4? Decklist

Kodama does Kodama Things (bottom right, green deckbox), a mono-Green all permanents deck that tries to exploit the already strong Kodama of the East Tree to the extreme, with an artifact token subtheme that helps Kodama get more land drops and the secondary commander Ich-Tekik be a wincon. Bracket 3. Decklist

Extus's Wonderful Adventures (center right, purple and yellow deckbox), a Mardu control deck focused on the front side of the MDFC commander that uses Adventures as both things to get back with him, and fuel for its spellslinging trigger. Bracket 2. Decklist

Rhys (2018) (center right, black and white deckbox), a nostalgic Selesnya token deck that has been kept unchanged since 2018, as a time capsule of both my deckbuilding at the time, and the format as it felt then. It is still capable of holding its own. Bracket 2. Decklist

The Bookkeeper (top center, purple deckbox), a five-color gimmick deck led by Garth One-Eye that challenges me to keep track of increasingly crazy board states with as many different named mechanics as possible. Bracket 1. Decklist

Feel free to give your thoughts on any of these, some I've already mentioned or made dedicated posts about on Tumblr in the years prior.

[fnord888]

I mean, I wasn't literally claiming that spree is least "kicker" mechanic it's possible for someone to memeingly call kicker. If someone, somewhere claims "Adventures are just kicker because you can pay additional mana for an additional effect" I'm not going to stand here and say adventures are more like kicker than spree is.

But the point is, while some mechanics, like bargain, really are just kicker in the sense that you could cleanly replace them with just kicker*, spree really isn't. Even though you technically could implement it with kicker, you'd need to do add stuff like "CARDNAME must be kicked at least once" (because, as I noted, it's not optional).

*Which is, to be clear, not a criticism of the decision to keyword them separately.

so did wizards just like. flat run out of new mechanics or like. what's going on with thunder junction and all the keywords being reheated lasagna.

[inventors-fair]

In the Twilight: Lorwyn/Shadowmoor Commentary

As I was looking through some of these cards, something struck me that I wrote about in a couple particular submissions and that I want to reiterate here: a lot of folks aren't quite as intimately familiar with Lorwyn/Shadowmoor as I thought. Obviously, though, I have my biases based on personal taste and my time that I spent in the early days of Magic. One of my friends got a bulkload of Lorwyn/Shadowmoor cards in addition to random rares from a chum in high school, and on top of those cards I really dug the vibe of a non-human world that felt so unique to MTG as a whole. The twisted elementals, the fairy-tale isolation, the distinct typal theming and relationships... I didn't even know half the story at the time, but I did fall in love with the plane early on.

Which means things to note include: An overwhelming majority of inhabitants lose their memories when they transform from one side to another during the Aurora. Additionally, there are some creature types that do not exist on Lorwyn but do exist on Shadowmoor, and vice-versa. That came up a couple times.

I hope not to be too harsh here, and there were a lot of aspects of these cards that I liked a lot and I said as much when I know something deserves praise. There's always a lot of good to talk about here, and every submission is still a lot of hard work that you guys have put into these cards. I want to express my own love for the story here when I discuss lore and reasonability. Again, just my perspective, and I want to hear more about the cards if there's something you feel I glossed over or missed the point of. When we go back to Lorwyn/Shadowmoor (which, he says through gritted teeth, will be very, very soon, according to WotC), I'm curious what we'll find!

As usual, there are a few JUDGE PICKS that I wanted to point out for elucidation, illumination, and another word that fits that metrical scheme. Shine on:

@boomspoon — Sunsweet Applecart / Scumsour Applecart

Modal cards ahoy (but not the bullet-point kind). I think the parallels on front and back halves are reasonable to expect from dual sides of a world. One buffs, one debuffs—and if you happen to run the kind of deck that can use one or the other, you're all golden. I'm a little surprised that mDFCs haven't used that kind of tech as much, because the only other one that I can call to mind is one of the legends from Kaldheim? A couple of them, actually, specifically that one snow guy. Regardless, it's not that it doesn't make sense. I'm just wishing there was something more to the mechanics here? The simplicity is reasonable but it's just not the most exciting way to have shown the transformation between the worlds. Not every card has to be exciting, of course, and you need what you need in the overarching set skeleton. As a single card submission, I feel that I'm wanting a little bit more of that push.

It's an interesting kind of world parallel that you've gone for here, and I should say: I do greatly appreciate the effort that went into both of these scenes! I doubt the goblins and kithkin would get along as well in the first scene—you know what, that's kind of funny to me: both of these cards could've been just fine on the Lorwyn side. One apple cart gives goodness, and one throws crabapple fodder. Maybe that's the little halting part for me? Shadowmoor goblins are GR based, not black, and if these are indeed the same kind of denizen then there's a world disconnect for me between this depiction and established colors. If these were paired cards in isolation on Lorwyn, hey, I'd definitely be down, kind of a Hand of Honor/Hand of Cruelty situation. I'm curious about the showcase frame as well. Close to Celtic imagery, perhaps?

~

@bread-into-toast — Perfect Pulverizer / Pure Pyrelight (JUDGE PICK)

You know, there's only one printed mDFC with an instant on the backside, and I have a theory as to why. When there's an instant in your hand, you're reminded of the fact that you can react with it, that you've got some kind of answer. If it's not immediately there, does that cause the player to forget about it? I don't know, but it feels slightly trickier. Heh, it's definitely easy on digital to flip things; taking a card in and out of a sleeve is another story. All the same, Perfect Pulverizer could've been an Flame-Tongue effect, but not in white. I know the wording needs to be the way it is for the hybrid—perhaps a white creature could also deal that damage to a creature that activated an ability? I don't want to harsh the mellow too much, though. It's a perfectly reasonable effect. Mechanically, I do love me a "must be blocked" card, so Pyrelight's on-point as well.

And it's not just the art that does a good job of depicting the difference in the worlds—the whimsy of the Pulverizer's flavor text squashing the elves contrasts so strongly with the strange nuances of Pure Pyrelight's dark mystery. It's slightly uncertain if it's from a cinderfolk or an treefolk or just from the giant's destruction of the world, but it's supposed to be that way, right? Some kind of muted destruction. I feel that the Shadowmoor sensation of primal giants smashing their way through could've been slightly more on-point, but I still like the vibe that we're getting there. Reminds me of Inscyption and those campfires a bit. Vibes aside, I'm feeling the work you put in, and I'd perhaps make a couple aesthetic tweaks for a perfect match.

~

@corporalotherbear — Traitorous Eyeblight / Safehold Traitor

This is going to be a little bit more of a macroscopic view for this first section, but I don't think I get the flavor philosophy when it comes to this kind of card from a prompt standpoint. Perhaps it's a subversion of established roles, or the standpoint of adding variety when it comes to the lore of Lorwyn/Shadowmoor? Either way—a character that reverses the lore of the world, with a prompt that's ostensibly based on the lore of the world, proves difficult for discussion. I'm thinking of Rhys as a fair example, kind of? But Rhys did have a specific arc set out for him, and the other eyeblight elves are few and far between, even rarer (if at all) with the Wilt-Leaf. The exemplary models of the world are based on the establishment, and while alternating aspects could make for interesting characterization, I'd rather see the strength that comes from the world as-is.

I'm honestly not sure if this card was top-down or bottom-up based on that because despite my wishy-washiness on the flavor front, the mechanics of this card make a lot of sense. There's definitely a complicated infinite sacrifice combo in here, but as far as I can tell it would take Ornithopter and whole lot of weird stuff to make that go down where you probably don't need it. Recursion of any creature is awesome, and the transformation to hold up certain spells that change your play patterns is pretty cool as well. I can imagine flashing in a non-Elf creature to get the Eyeblight to transform, do some combat trickery, and blow up a Springleaf Drum or what have you. This feels like interesting glue for multi-typal synergies for sure and a boon for limited. The lore just isn't doing this card any favors.

~

@curiooftheheart — River Guide's Advice / River Cutthroat's Ultimatum (JUDGE PICK)

I want to start with the little tweaks, because as far as I can tell I'd only change two things on this card for presentation's sake. Number one, small thing: The name on the backside is weirdly cramped up there. I know you were probably going for a full parallel, but this card really didn't need it because the strength of what you're showing here as the change between worlds is already super strong. "Cutthroat's Ultimatum" is a punchy enough name for me and conveys exactly what you're trying to (Lorwyn bubbliness on one side, Shadowmoor extortion/threats on the other). Number two, just a little bigger: even though there was no flavor text on the front, I'd love to see some on the back. A single quote, worldbuilding line, piece of a short story—just a bit to get that space there and really get things to sink in, no pun intended. Aside from that, this card is a pretty solid mDFC!

Having two attack triggers—one for aggro protection and the other for more midrange-oriented control—feels great mechanically, especially because independent of each other they feel like completely different cards despite the parallels. The colorless is a nice touch, and I don't know if this was your intention but I want to know if you were thinking of scarecrows when you added that in. The Ultimatum's discard is a little more direct, of course. You know, I wonder if the blue symbols could be replaced with hybrids for the same color as the front face? Like the Advice as {2}{W}{W/U} instead, for limited flexibility—unless hybrid would cause more problems, of course, and I didn't draft enough Shadowmoor to really know. All the same, I do really like what you did with the card and wanted to commend it here. Just gotta polish the little things.

~

@dimestoretajic — Kindle, Flamekin Beacon / The Extinguished One

Bringing legendary creatures to an old-school Lorwyn/Shadowmoor contest straddles the line between bold and reasonable here. There were a lot of significant legends in the old story, but plenty of new characters who didn't get their time in the sun as well. Metaphorically, I mean. So the flavorful mechanics here can be touched upon first, and I'm not sure the glue holds for me personally. The flavor text on Kindle's front face is a little generic, but not too bad. I think the flavor on the backside is...interesting? Once more, I'm really not sure how much of this implies that they retained their memories, which isn't how the Aurora works. If they're remembering from a zillion years ago, then maybe Cinders live longer than I thought. Or not, I'm not sure what the thought process was there. The Extinguished One doesn't feel as strong as it could be, though—all of the Cinders are 'extinguished,' as it were. I'm not feeling that uniqueness.

A death-to-transformation mechanical bend, though, feels totally reasonable. With literally any sacrifice outlet, though, you've turned this into something along the lines of Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite for limited, in essentially mono-red, for two mana. Your opponent would have to spend two removal spells to get through this thing, one of which has to take out a 5/5, and they're not able to make any profitable attacks or blocks in the meantime. The efficiency there for this cost is totally unbalanced. There are options for upping the cost or the transformation, and/or tweaking the numbers there. To me, this current iteration is far too strong.

~

@dphkraken — Perennial Cultivator / Gnarl-torn Oaks

Ah, day and night. I was wondering how many folks were going to be using that one. A wildly unpopular and memed-on mechanic...that I happen to actually like! That doesn't make it good, of course, and I honestly don't think we'll be seeing it come back to standard anytime soon, but that doesn't change the fact that it does indeed feel useful for Lorwyn/Shadowmoor vibes. What's more mechanically wobbly is the lifegain there. If you're running any kind of green-based deck, then the Cultivator is gaining you 2-3 life per upkeep; that's just not feasibly fair in any format. Also, is it each Forest and/or Treefolk? Or do you have to choose? Your wording isn't clear there. On the backside, I think the Oaks are interesting, although a) you do need to capitalize the "T" in "torn," and b) tapping comes before paying life in a cost—see Mana Confluence.

Backing up, though—the art here is very fun and I'm immensely proud of you for making your own pieces for this. I'm a huge advocate of that. The names and the flavor text that you picked out are absolutely stellar. It's a cool depiction for the transformation between the planter and the grove as well, and that kind of dichotomy really makes the Oaks that much more disturbing as part of the shadow world. I'll give some kudos to artistic liberties, since the trees don't have any actual leaves that I can see and I'm picturing more of a canopy, but the flavor text on Gnarl-Torn Oaks? Phenomenal. Shadowmoor doesn't have sun, true—so honestly, it's more just the poetics of the concept—but damn if it's not well-written. I want to see more of your creative work on future cards, and I also suggest getting some wording/balance checks so the mechanics of your future designs matches the artistic strength.

~

@fluffycattens — Kinsbaile Jackherd / Kinscaer Goatweft

I wrote this mechanical section out before you changed the mechanics of aspect, so let's look again! I'm curious if there could be other aspects, but I will definitely say that the backside would need reminder text for dusk aspect, even if it's grokable on the frontside; this is one of those "trust me, I've had to explain things even to veteran MTG players" moments. I do like this iteration a bit better than the explanation you had before, so that's a plus. I do think it should be a trigger, though? Something like: "At the beginning of combat on your turn, you may switch your aspect. Then transform this permanent if its aspect is different than yours." And even then, how does one begin dawn/dusk? The thing about day/night is that it started from a day/night permanent entering. Maybe that's a new inherent, but... No, yeah, that reminder text would be WAY too much. I almost respect it more for NOT having it here, heh. ... Almost.

As for the flavor of this, though, that's where I'm much iffier on the groking. Is the thoughtweft something that can be strong or weak? Or is it something inherent to the kithkin, as I had been understanding? If the former, then I don't see that reflected in the cards; I believe it to be the latter, and in that case I don't think this card really fits with the flavor of the kithkin. I don't hate the notion of a character who is specifically attuned to springjacks in one world that becomes entrenched with their herd in another. Mindweft/thoughtweft are involuntarily and inherent characteristics of kithkin that I don't feel are depicted accurately on this card. As much as I love flooding the board with goats, this isn't quite accurate to those concepts.

~ 

@harunakonomi — Noggle Trashcaptain / Noggle Spilthlord

Noggles are endemic to Shadowmoor and do not exist on Lorwyn. Let's put that aside for a moment and talk instead about the ambitions of this card. Noggle noble is a funny typeline for sure, and I think if I'm taking anything away from this card, it's that you're the world's current #1 Noggle fan, and I appreciate that greatly! They were a weird little bunch. Now, as a matter of personal taste, I'm mixed on the hybrid costs being a Lorwyn thing to start off with; hybrid wasn't a thing there until Shadowmoor, and Morningtide didn't even have multicolored cards as such. You're not alone in using that, though, so I honestly wonder what the next printed set is going to look like regarding multicolor.

Regarding rummaging, though—that's a unique beast in addition to the Noggling that's happening here. I'm sort of on the fence about it? Rummaging is one of those things where it seems okay to leave not as a keyword. Even though it's central to this card, adding it as a fully new mechanic—and as a Noggle-based keyword—makes me want to see more of a payoff for its introduction here; this iteration makes it feel more like a love letter to Noggles than a true mechanical payoff. Man, it's really hard not to see the love here, though. These are adorable illustrations and I actually didn't expect any Noggles in this contest at all. I do love seeing your work here! This particular contest might just not have been right for this card.

~

@hypexion — Shadow-Draped Woods / Star-Dappled Grove (JUDGE PICK)

Simple, powerful, effective. This is definitely one of those cards that would be really hard to explain to new Commander players, and trust me, I've had to explain a lot of things to a lot of new players. There's really not much to say about this card that's not already evident, but dual-faced dual lands is a remarkably strong idea. Tying it to creature types is definitely a Lorwyn/Shadowmoor only thing (unless I'm misremembering, which I probably am), in a throwback to Murmuring Bosk—was that intentional? The cycle of lands here would probably have people asking for more, and the folks who play the three-color Commanders would beg for more of the cycle. RB/RG for Shattergang players comes to mind, although, hm... It'd be hard for the other types considering the variety of color changes. There's no Esper merfolk, which is weird.

The flavor is really interesting, too, and the dual flavor text is beautifully written. I know that flavor text has been a bit of a bugbear sometimes and I harp on it a lot when it's not up to my totally attainable and definitely-not-overbearing standards—trust me when I say that I really like what you've done here. The perfectly insidious nature of eyeblight culling in the depths of the forest comes across in the front face, and the quiet hope of Safeholds evokes the mood of respite from the nightmares. You know, I totally forgot that this card uses Behold. Consider adding reminder text for that just 'cause, but aside from that, yeah, no, this is a simple and effective mDFC that I want to commend here.

~

@izzet-always-r-versus-u — Duergar Gemsmith / Duergar Troveguard

Just like Noggles as written above, the Duergar do not exist on Lorwyn, only Shadowmoor. It's a really weird time for everyone involved. I'm just gonna take a second here to say something I'll repeat again in the general commentary: it's evident now that with its age, a lot of the lore depth of Lorwyn/Shadowmoor isn't common knowledge. I would suggest that folks do a little plane-based study for other future contests. No matter, though. This card's feeling a lot more like a bottom-up artifact-based rare, and on that merit I can dig it for sure. Jeskai Gnomes, that's a fun one to think about. Regardless of Commander appeal, this thing feels like a beast in limited and even constructed with a control shell.

It's interesting, even though RW by itself doesn't get counterspells, the front face makes it not a break since it's the only castable one, and the flavor of the guard feels appropriate for having a defensive mechanic tied to it. I think I'd make a separate sentence after "2 damage to them" and have that ability read: "...2 damage to them. Then transform this creature." It just groks a little better to me. Getting fodder for impulse draws and counterspells AND damage WITH additional Dwarf kindred support/synergy... Like, from that perspective, I do love this card. It would be right at home on Eldraine, IMO, if you kept it all-dwarfy. For a plane-based contest, this isn't quite what Lorwyn/Shadowmoor can use... Unless your intent was to show something more ambiguous post-Aurora? See, now I'm not certain about my judgement there. If that was your intent, then I apologize, and if not, then I can stand by my current take. I gotta go with history for now, though.

~

@j2miner — Cloudgoat Tender / Cloudgoat Butcher

I never considered that there would be Cloudgoats as such on Shadowmoor, but I suppose it's not unreasonable. The giants there would definitely not be as friendly and those poor Cloudgoats might themselves be an unintentional menace with their sheer size. Who knows how they get twisted? So as far as the flavor goes, Lorwyn shepherd-type turning into a meat-crazed wanderer feels perfectly appropriate. Mechanics are a little weirder here, but not bad. Spells to tokens is interesting, and the means to make Kithkin soldiers means that you're going to flood the board handily if this is your top end and you're chaining together a few cheap spells. The transformation trigger, however, does need to be a trigger. The "if" there isn't actually telling the player when to transform the card. Is it when the fifth creature dies immediately? Would it be at the end step? It's unclear.

Doubling the power to add to the Butcher feels really strong, and I think it might be unintentionally confusing if folks overlook that. Just having it be the sacrificed creature's power is strong enough, I think, especially because you're already (in theory) losing a lot of creatures in order to transform this guy somehow. Hm, I'm curious about the persisting part of it. Persist isn't really a Lorwyn mechanic, and as much as I get the duality you're going for, I don't think it's necessary for the Tender. Wither on the Butcher feels like a great mechanical part, so I'm down for that, but perhaps there could be a way to tap creatures and give the Tender some kind of protection instead. Small notes: don't capitalize Spell or Creature unless they're at the beginning of a sentence, and you can also check the MSE Discord or website for the means to get your MSE fonts in order (Beleren and Beleren Small Caps, FWIW).

~

@misterstingyjack — Kinsbaile Troopers / Kinsbaile Trespassers

So I want to know more about the flavor that you're going for in the second face of this card. Are these kithkin thieves? From whom are they stealing? There are some problems with this depiction of kithkin as sneakier and conniving. Is the flavor text supposed to be alluding to these kithkin as trying to sneak goods for their own personal gain? There isn't much of a "oneself" in the Shadowmoor kithkin because of the mindweft, so honestly, I don't know what the trespassers are up to on the second side. Maybe there's some kind of nuance that I'm missing here, but in the perpetual twilight of the blue/white paranoia brigade, this kind of theft doesn't make sense to me.

That said, the mechanics are pretty reasonable here. Get some bodies on the front half, and the back half makes all your little guys more evasive with extra draw power. The Disturb cost being blue is a good signal and I can see creature type cycles with various ins and outs regarding identity and draft signals. I especially like how the body you make can swing in the turn that you disturb this creature (assuming it's stuck around) so that you get your value straight away, and also how the discard can fuel further disturb spells and mechanically relevant cards of that ilk. Bottom-up, this card's pretty excellent! It's the whole confusion about the back depiction that's got me scratching my head.

~

@real-aspen-hours — Knollridge Retreat / Rockspine Wyrm (JUDGE PICK)

So weird that Hideaway is what it is now... Anyway, I've already talked about that. So, this card! Hidden landscapes into emergent creatures is a part of the world, and I talked about it before as well but I do like that part of Lorwyn/Shadowmoor with the whole island-to-kraken, bridge-to-troll, etc. cycle. It's a simple approach to the flavor of the world, and I kinda wish there was some flavor text on the backside here just to add a little punch since there are so few dragons on the plane—literally just the one, actually, and we know absolutely nothing about it except for the fact that it's a dragon. And this one is definitely different than the one depicted! I think it would've been fun, and I do want to hear your take on potential dragons from this plane.

Mechanical transformations, though... I wanted to highlight this card because it's a really cool way of utilizing hideaway tech and a complex method of transformation-to-cast to use the card. You want to get your 4/3 flier, and you want to cast the spell, and you can get the best of both worlds by being hellbent, which in turn gives you an additional card you can cast when you swing with this thing in addition to the card you're going to draw after the upkeep that the Retreat transforms. Like, I think that the potential confusion of transforming/leaving that comes from new players is still with it, just because I really dig what you're doing with the bottom-up aspects here. Just change "it's" to "its" in the second face, add a little lore, and you're golden. Pretty cool stuff!

~

@reaperfromtheabyss — Venturelure Wisp / Splendid Hopeseed

I'm not sure about this one. Like, let's back up here and do a little more meta stuff for the contest. From a perspective of story-based pragmaticism, why does this card need to be a Glimmer? I did read the intent and justification, but is there a reason that this card couldn't have been one of the primal elementals? Or why Lorwyn might need enchantment creatures? The thing is, none of this card speaks Lorwyn/Shadowmoor to me. The colors are pretty strictly tied to either the creature types of this world (especially multicolor identities) or to the lives, tropes, and lore of the plane itself. I feel disconnected from the world-based intent that this contest was looking for.

Now on a purely mechanical standpoint, you shouldn't be surprised to hear that this card's a really excellent rare. Good on you for the "Whenever" on the front face transforming clause, too, because I wanted to correct it to a "when" but that's actually incorrect on my part! It's a highly aggressive flier that can make your other creatures permanently evasive, and then get back your other aggressive creatures on the flip side. The self-mill is a little off-putting, especially in limited, but it gets you closer to the board, and it takes a skilled player to fully utilize it and make this card worth one's while. And then this thing gets bigger, so—yeah, if you've got the aggro deck, this card wins games. Lot of text, but it wins games. I still just don't feel the plane in question here, and that's really its downfall.

~

@velexiraptor — Gnarlbark Grove / Gnarlbark Avenger

What a nice little story you've got going on here. Well, "nice," but it's a self-contained piece that feels overall quite clean. The gnarled treefolk gets revenge on the boggart loggers during the Great Aurora, which brings the boughs to life so it can actually enact that vengeance. It's a curiosity that there are some non-sentient trees that gain life when one plane shifts to another. Could there be a Lorwyn treefolk that turns into a plain old tree when the worlds shift? It's not certain. I know that lands turning into creatures was kind of a thing on the hideaway cards. Are those canonically the same place? The world may never know, i.e. it's probably confirmed but I'm too lazy to look up a source.

Dusk and Dawn are quite interesting here. It incentivises an odd kind of play where you may or may not want to tap things, which means various activations and attacks are strategically more nuanced, perhaps to the point of ill-advised attacks. But maybe not, depending on what other cards might appear in the set. I can see a higher rate of alternative tapping costs, with things like enlist and conspire, convoke/improvise, etc. Maybe. As it stands, this wording ensures that dawn and dusk permanents mostly stay on the same side, and I like how it tracks individually. Land creatures are weird, but something that turns into one from a land? It groks a little better, I suppose. Both triggers should say "At the beginning of your end step" and it should say "this permanent" instead of the name. Aside from that, it's not bad, IMO.

~

@xenobladexfan — River Docent / Rapids Drowner

Aggro scrying clashing merfolk? You can sure sing that to the TMNT theme song. In all seriousness, this is a curious card in a good way. The merrow directorial vibe is really cute, and I liked the whole teacherly feeling that some of the Lorwyn merfolk had. You bring that across on the front face quite well. An attacking bear in UW is always pretty good, too, even if clashing is something that's not as likely to return. Additional future clashes—and the fact that it transforms into the Drowner on the backside while still attacking—means that you're going to be cycling through for your best cards and they're staving off some aggro really early. Maybe that's intentional for the archetype and maybe not, but they're gonna have to decide whether or not the milling is worth it. It's a solid uncommon. Not kill-on-sight, but still solid!

I think one of the important things to keep in mind with the transformation between Lorwyn and Shadowmoor is the fact that most of the inhabitants lose their memories of their lives as Lorwynian denizens. The twisted horror of the merfolk is one that's especially insidious, what with their leeches and black-finned gangly limbs. The flavor text on the back being ramped-up character development of the front face is... Well, just kinda wrong here to me? The intent perhaps is that they're drowning a victim, and they're telling them to stay; it reads like they transformed from "good director" to "evil director" instead, and that's a little too whimsical for the vibe of the Dark Meanders. Maybe degrees of whimsy are a matter of opinion, but the read that the character retains a core aspect of their memories runs countermand to Shadowmoor's inherent traits.

~

@yd12k — Boggart Auntie / Boggart Mother

Yes, aunties are quite important to the goblins. Considering that it's already Wort's subtitle on her Lorwyn legendary face, my immediate first take is that both of these names could've been a little bit more unique. Still, wow, the double-nature of these mechanics is...well, it's asking a lot, but that's not to say that they're not doing a lot. The question is: do you need both of these mechanics on here, or could this card have just been a mDFC that also happens to transform?... Wait, huh. That's weird. Can...can you have a mDFC that transforms? I don't think there's anything in the rules that says you can't. Maybe that would've been better, who knows. I will say that I like Aurora's Calling a lot, though. It helps to build multicolored complexity and utilize potential hybrid costs.

I think that the Mother side's transformation is...hm. The sacrifice and damage clause feels like it should be a "when you do" after the "If you do, sacrifice a creature" part. Which, by the way, should be "sacrifice a creature of your choice" now, not "sacrifice a creature you control," because players literally can't sacrifice permanents that they don't control so the wording is currently redundant. I think I like both sides of this, honestly, and I feel the way that the aurora's transformation is changing them both. The mechanical wonkiness feels like it could've used a little bit more tweaking, and there are a few options there, but it's not a bad base to start off with. The names could still use some workshopping, though.

~

Thanks again for your patience with this one. It's been a wild time for sure, and this one was a particularly long stretch of busywork.

@abelzumi

[dailymtgflavortext]

I had to search stores all over the country, but I completed my set of Modern Horizons 3 MDFC lands!

Look, I love the idea of MDFC lands. I think they're really cool, and having a slightly sub-par spell on one side of a slightly sub-par land leads to some interesting deck decisions. But some of these ones seem a little too good. Especially since the mono-colored ones can come in untapped by paying life (previously a feature of the mythic rare cycle). There's not a whole lot of reason not to play these.

Like, a lot of these are removal. Or card-draw. Or recursion. Really good effects! Why wouldn't you want them stapled to a land just in case?

Maybe worth noting, I'm speaking purely from the perspective of someone who plays Commander. Y'know, the target audience of Modern Horizons 3.

[bayesic-bitch]

A while ago spike had this collector's cage/windbrisk heights build based on small creature aggro into using these hideaway cards to cast moonshaker cavalry for free. This is an iteration of a similar idea, but abusing abundant harvest.

The idea is that

1) this deck wants to play lots of big MDFC lands because they make your hideaway cards better.

2) The two best are Emerias Call (W) and Turntimber symbiosis (G)

3) If you have all MDFC lands except for windbrisk heights, then Abundant Harvest always finds it, because it doesn't count the MDFCs as lands

So this gives you 4 zero mana, 4 one mana, and 4 two mana hideaway cards. Hopefully this drops the mana curve and makes you more consistent. I'm interested in feedback and suggestions if you have them

[goqmir]

(trying to explain plurality to a magic player) okay so like if i was a card i'd be a MDFC

have we ever explored the idea that these two bitches inhabit the same body ...

[kwaggysshardmindemporium]

Figured I'd share some MtG customs I made for my friends on Discord while we were chatting about YGO:

Yugi Moto, Honest Duelist 3WU

Legendary Creature - Human

Players can't search libraries, scry, surveil, or cast spells without paying their costs.

If a player would draw two or more cards, they draw one card instead.

2/2

//MDFC

Yami, the King of Games 4UB

Legendary Creature - Human Noble

If a spell or ability you control would cause you to shuffle your library, you may choose not to. (If a card would be shuffled into your library, put it into your library a random number of cards down.)

5/5

I enjoyed this one a lot because it was a fun thought exercise to go "okay how can I have Yami cheat so egregiously that no other card in the game has ever done this?"

Kaiba, the Richest Duelist 1WUB

Legendary Creature - Human Advisor

Sacrifice ten treasures: Gain control of target artifact, creature, or land. (This effect doesn't end at end of turn.) Its controller makes ten treasure tokens.

You cannot be the target of spells or abilities if mana from a treasure token was spent to cast or activate them.

Creatures cannit attack you unless the attacking player sacrifices a treasure for each creature attacking you.

3/3

Kaiba buys your cards and if you ain't got any money he doesn't give a shit about you.

One more that might be my magnum opus below the cut:

Tristan, Also Here 1

Legendary Creature - Human (W)

Before you draw your opening hand, if Tristan is your commander, you lose the game.

1/1

[onlyfoils]

Beyond The Template: Building Decks That Defy Expectations

Hello fellow Commander enthusiasts! As a seasoned player with a rather... extensive collection of 70+ active Commander decks, I've learned a few things about defying conventional wisdom and embracing the chaos that makes this format so exhilarating. Today, I'm here to share my personal approach to deckbuilding, one that prioritises fun and variety over rigid guidelines.

The Goblin Brain and the Land Dilemma:

Let's address the elephant in the room: my land count. I typically run 34-35 lands, a far cry from the recommended 38. Yes, I'm fully aware of the increased risk of mana screw. But, my "goblin brain" craves more "fun" cards, and sacrificing a few lands is a trade-off I'm willing to make.

To mitigate this risk, I focus on a few key strategies:

* Lower Mana Curve: A lower average mana cost means I can function more effectively with fewer lands.

* Prioritised Ramp: Early ramp is crucial. I focus on low-cost mana rocks and efficient land ramp spells.

* MDFC Lands: The new Modal Double-Faced Cards from Modern Horizons 3 have been a game-changer. The ability to play them as lands or spells provides much-needed flexibility.

Repeatable Draw Over Single-Use Spells:

Instead of packing my decks with numerous single-use draw spells, I prioritise repeatable card draw options. This allows me to dedicate fewer card slots to draw, while still maintaining a steady flow of resources. Enchantments, creatures, and even some artifacts that provide consistent card advantage are my go-to choices. This also allows me to fill my deck with cards that do multiple jobs.

Interaction: The Key to Engagement:

I've consciously trimmed down my "game plan" card slots to maximise interaction. I've found that being an active participant in the game, disrupting opponents' plans and responding to threats, is far more enjoyable than passively waiting for my combo to assemble. This increased interaction has also honed my ability to discern when to react and when to hold back.

Budget and the Joy of Discovery:

With 70+ decks, I've accumulated a vast collection of cards. I prefer variety over homogeneity, which has led me to explore the depths of Magic's history. While I wholeheartedly endorse the use of proxies when budget is a concern, I also encourage players to delve into the game's rich card history. You might be surprised by the hidden gems you uncover.

* Embrace Alternatives: Look for budget-friendly alternatives to popular staples. Many older cards offer similar functionality at a fraction of the cost.

* Explore Niche Cards: Discover cards that synergise with your commander's unique abilities.

* Trading and Community: Engage with your local game store and online communities to trade and discover new cards.

Is 70+ Decks Too Many?

The short answer is yes. The long answer is also yes, but with caveats. I revel in the deckbuilding process, and having a diverse collection means I can always find a deck to suit my mood. Furthermore, the constant stream of new sets from Wizards of the Coast keeps my decks fresh and exciting. With 30-50% of my decks receiving updates with each new release, I'm constantly experiencing new and dynamic gameplay.

* Variety is Key: Having a large collection allows me to tailor my play experience to the specific group I'm playing with.

* Constant Evolution: New sets provide a constant source of inspiration and innovation.

* Deckbuilding as a Hobby: For me, deckbuilding is as much a part of the game as playing.

Key Takeaways:

* Don't be afraid to deviate from conventional deckbuilding guidelines.

* Prioritise repeatable card draw and efficient ramp.

* Embrace interaction as a means of active engagement.

* Explore Magic's rich card history to find budget-friendly alternatives.

* Enjoy the deckbuilding process as much as the gameplay.

Ultimately, Commander is about having fun. Build decks that reflect your personality and playstyle, and don't be afraid to experiment. After all, it's a game, and games are meant to be enjoyed. Now go forth and build something wild!

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Let’s keep the magic alive!

[danco110]

“Needledeep! What are you doing!”

“Just giving a practical demonstration of my final project, Dean Imbraham!”

“On the QUAD?”

“On the…oh.”

The treefolk student looked around sheepishly at the trampled turf of the once-pristine field. Turning back, he glanced past his towering fractal in the shape of a boar, and gave the owlin Quandrix dean an apologetic grin.

“Ah, sir, I can explain.”

“There’s nothing to explain,” Imbraham hooted furiously. “Dispel it at once.”

“Not so fast!”

Imbraham and Needledeep looked over to see a smirking elf in teacher’s robes sauntering towards them. Imbraham’s expression brightened immediately, while Needledeep’s soured.

“Ah, Dean Kianne!” Imbraham grinned. “Glad you’re here to assist me. Needledeep here has just-”

“That was quite an impressive display!” Kianne chimed to the treefolk. Needledeep and Imbraham quickly swapped expressions.

“Well, yeah! I told you my final project would be my biggest one yet!”

“That you did…” Kianne’s smirk grew conspiratorial, and she leaned in to whisper. “Say, how would you like to test its combat capabilities, for some bonus points?”

“Yeah, count me in!” Needledeep nodded. Meanwhile, Imbraham, who had overheard the whispering with his sharp senses, gasped in horror and protest.

“Kianne! You’re a nature mage!”

“The grass will grow back!” laughed the other dean. “Besides, the field’s already torn to shreds. What’s a few more divots?”

Though grumbling, Imbraham reluctantly flew off to the side.

“All right,” Kianne nodded. “Now, like I said, prove your project can fight.”

“Sure…! Against who?”

“Why, my summon, of course!”

Kianne waved her hand, raising a second mana construct across the quad from Needledeep’s fractal. Papers and scrolls swirled around the new arrival as it flourished its many arms at the fractal.

“Ready?”

“Yeah, for sure!”

The sound of the constructs’ clashing, and the cheers from the students that had gathered to watch, easily drowned out Imbraham’s disgruntled muttering.

[Headcanon: being both flipsides of MDFC’s and enemy colors, the two deans of each Strixhaven college butt heads all the time. Embrose and Shaile are almost certainly the worst offenders, but they all still manage to keep Strixhaven running.]

[markrosewater]

why are mdfc lands always on the back? is it just convention or are there serious balance/rules concerns with putting a land on the front of an mdfc?

It’s a play balance issue.

[sombramainexe]

Woe, custom magic cards be upon ye. Im not sure how much I'll do this, or how much I'll show of the custom frames I've developed (I actually made stuff like MDFC Frames and Adventure frames for when I use those.)

As for the card, it basically says symmetrically no instant speed interaction, unless you have basics. Probably too strong at one mana, but for a playtest card I thought the idea was interesting enough to write out.

Let me know your thoughts, I'm a massive nerd about this stuff so I'd love to hear about how this accidentally goes infinite in commander with 7 other cards.

[niuttuc]

My Favorite Cards of 2024: Modern Horizons 3

The year is pretty close to over, so let’s go back over the sets released this year (with new cards at least), and go through a few of my favorite cards from that release. I’ll group together stuff released together, in this case it’ll be Modern Horizons 3 and its commander cards. I’ll probably go through one set a day for the next week, though I might skip some days for personal reasons.

With Modern Horizons 3 being as pushed and full of sweet designs as it is, this will be a long post, I apologize in advance.

To get them out of the way: Yes, more MDFC lands is very nice. We got some pretty universal ones in this batch of them, as well as some more niche, but all of them give more options for manabase and allow decks to comfortably go up to 40 lands or more while maintaining a good amount of action.

I recommend Chthonian Nightmare for basically every black deck with creatures in commander at this point. It's a powerful card and a fun card all in one, and it fixes the most egregious parts of Recurring Nightmare, the uninteractability first among them. I love Chthonian Nightmare and hope it remains reprinted and cheap forever.

Phelia is a good dog! The ability to blink away blockers, your own cards every turn on a two drop, any nonland, or to politic by giving an opponent an etb trigger again, all of that in one package with flash, makes this card both very powerful and very versatile. I love having options, and Phelia comes with a bunch of them.

In a format like commander where the vast majority of the Commanders decks are built around are multicolored, giving Null Elemental Blast to every deck that'll reliably have colorless mana is pretty great! Allows some stack interaction to mostly monocolor decks that wouldn't have it, or efficient removal of commanders. Beyond that, it's a good option to exist, even though other formats don't have multicolored cards as everpresent.

Six has made its way into many of my green commander decks since MH3 released. The ability to reuse permanents infinitely as long as you have lands, on a card that fills the graveyard and digs for lands, is just very good for three mana. Yet it doesn't seem to bring too much anger from a table when it is around, at least compared to other powerful cards in the format.

Phlage had a really difficult job, to live up to Kroxa and Uro but without breaking everything. For now, it seems to have succeeded. Maybe a bit too well, it might yet get to the "breaking everything" part in Modern as it's seeing a LOT of play, but it's for the most part a fair card even if it's powerful.

Repeatable ramp for free on three mana is excellent, and Rampant Frogantua provides just that. It's a bit higher variance and slower than something like a Wood Elves, you do need to untap with it and mill lands, but three cards is enough that it typically works out, and it doesn't take much for this to outperform those. I will say, despite putting it in several decks, I've yet to see it in action much because I simply haven't drawn it most games. We'll see longer term!

Proliferating is one of the most versatile mechanics in Magic, and Metastatic Evangel completes the trio of creatures that allow you to proliferate easily, in green, blue and now white. Doing counter stuff is generally very fun! And the nontoken restriction ensure it doesn't go infinite trivially (it can go infinite, but you need to put in some effort.)

Speaking of going infinite with Metastatic Evangel! In the proud lineage of Eternal Witness, Evolution Witness is pretty low, only getting permanents and requiring five mana to do so. That is, in any deck that doesn't have synergy with it! If you are a deck that cares or can manipulate counters, suddenly Evolution Witness becomes an engine by itself. Great cards at common that only power up select archetypes are a great place to be.

Overlapping a bit with Six, and Frogantua, and Evolution Witness, and... But Barrowgoyf stands on its own as a great creature from its body alone, often being a three mana 4/5 deathtouch lifelink. And then it starts drawing you a card every turn while fueling any graveyard card. This one is VERY powerful and has shown up in competitive formats it's legal in as well! Getting more variations on Tarmogoyf was a fun thing in that deck.

Some cards are just here because they're funny. Is Hope-Ender Coatl the best counterspell, or even the best counterspell on a body? Definitely not. But the Force Spike text is always entertaining because it finds somewhere to work and makes the opponent feel very silly for lacking that one precious mana.

Also a very powerful card across format, Springheart Nantuko is not just a very efficient version of the landfall token effect, but also a way to create token copies of a creature at a playable rate! Copies are always fun to play with, and that lets me overlook all the Nadu crimes this Nantuko has wrought. Let's be honest, it's Nadu's fault.

Of this entire land cycle, Arena of Glory is my favorite. Getting haste at no immediate mana cost on anything you want from the mana base on a land that'll usually enter untapped is just excellent, and allows "slower" effects like attack triggers and tap abilities to be viable in a world of ETBs and required immediate Value. Using it to escape Phlage in Modern is the cherry on top.

Of all the Flares, Flare of Malice gets my top spot (followed closely by Flare of Duplication). Free spells that are powerful but not cheesy or oppressive are hard to do, and Flare of Malice is the one that takes advantage of its alternate cost the best. Not only is black the color that will mind saccing a creature the least, but since this Flare is an instant, you can negate that cost even further by saccing a creature an opponent just tried to remove in response to their removal, making flare essentially completely free by negating the card disadvantage from the sacrifice. Flare of Duplication can also do something similar by saccing to copy said removal, but it's dependent on it being an instant or sorcery removal. Blue and White flares do it less well, given that you ideally want them to protect what you're doing, so there's more of a cost to giving up the thing you'd want to protect, and the green one is a sorcery.

Notably, all the flares except the blue ones are currently available at around $1 or $2, and that's pretty sweet for free spells.

Neither a Birthing Pod nor a bad card, Birthing Ritual just gets you a bit of free value every turn. Or if it doesn't, it doesn't cost you anything. It's a sweet card to play around with in creature decks, and after the initial hype, it fell down to reasonable prices, which is always a plus.

I was waiting for them to release a colored 3 mana rock in white that was exciting, and this one I've found myself going back to a few times since. It's just a nice bit of late game upside in basically any deck, and doesn't require much effort to use. It's not an all time high mana rock for me, because it's a pretty bad draw late in the game, but it's solid enough to get onto this list!

Wight of the Reliquary is both a neat callback and a really good card. Free ramp every turn as long as you have fodder would already be absurdly good on a two drop, but it's ALSO a giant threat with vigilance AND it tutors your deck for nonbasic lands, not just basics. This is a bit too much if you ask me, and it should have been three mana like its counterpart. But it hasn't broken anything yet, so I give it a pass for now, and a spot in basically all my decks that can run it.

Finally, some reprints I loved to see in the set. Cursed Mirror is my favorite red card in commander period, and even if it wasn't expensive or anything, I always love to see it in more places, and this introduced it to Modern and Arena. It always has something good to do, and it's always something different.

Recruiter of the Guard was in dire need of a reprint, and this one did its job, crashing its price by over three quarters to under $5. It's also a really fun card to play in any creatury deck in white, even if you don't specifically build around it, be it to use once, blink, reanimate with a sun titan or more. It's also in a better color for it in competitive formats than the red of Imperial Recruiter, so adding it to Modern alongside Imperial Recruiter adds a new fun option for the format for white creature decks.