Pair 1: Dromar's Charm and Mortal Wound
 |  |  |
 |  |
Jay Treat: 6 (Fun: 8 Aesthetics: 7 Mechanics: 3 Bonus: 0)
Jonathan Woodward: 4
metaghost: 1
Chah: 5 (Fun: 6 Aesthetics: 4 Mechanics: 5 Bonus: 0)
Average: 4
Comments:
Jay Treat: Blessed Curse needn't be three-colors (and you'll only gain life from it once).
Chah: It would make players wish it triggered once for each time the creature died.
metaghost: Arbitrary third color? Check. Corny name? Check. Awkward use of an aura? Check.
Pair 2: Antler Skulkin and Merrow Grimeblotter
 | |  |
|  |
Jay Treat: 2 (Fun: 1 Aesthetics: 2 Mechanics: 3 Bonus: 0)
Jonathan Woodward: 3
metaghost: 4
Chah: 2.7 (Fun: 3 Aesthetics: 3 Mechanics: 2 Bonus: 0)
Average: 2.9
Comments:
Jay Treat: Pestilence Altar stalls the game out and breaks the one-counter-type-per-block rule all by itself.
Chah: The two abilities didn't feel connected enough for me. Also, a set with persist (= -1/-1 counters) can't also use -1/0 counters. Finally, I think it's too powerful and one-sided.
metaghost: I was a bit more lenient here because I could see a potential quality design buried within the morass of -1/-0 counters and I felt like distributing more fours.
Chah: The two abilities didn't feel connected enough for me. Also, a set with persist (= -1/-1 counters) can't also use -1/0 counters. Finally, I think it's too powerful and one-sided.
metaghost: I was a bit more lenient here because I could see a potential quality design buried within the morass of -1/-0 counters and I felt like distributing more fours.
Pair 3: Pestermite and Tivadar of Thorn
 | |  |
|  |
Jay Treat: 5.7 (Fun: 7 Aesthetics: 6 Mechanics: 2 Bonus: 2)
Jonathan Woodward: 5
metaghost: 0
Chah: 4.3 (Fun: 5 Aesthetics: 3 Mechanics: 5 Bonus: 0)
Average: 3.8
Comments:
Jay Treat: Jenzo is red-black, not blue-white. That said, he'd make a pretty sweet red-black legend.
Chah: It's an interesting idea - both sides will have to sacrifice something every turn. At some point, Jenzo might be forced to sac itself. But at the moment, this card feels very forced - it uses 3 abilities and makes the opponent skip blocking completely, just to make this sacrificing mini-game happen in a certain way.
metaghost: The flavor doesn't help me to understand this design, as the rules text isn't very demonstrative of a rogue and the character's name is suggestive of nothing in particular. So I'm left wondering why a blue-white creature is simultaneously instigating and punishing combat, even on its own side. A real head-scratcher.
Total for all 3 cards: 10.7
All these cards have some design issues, and I guess the author didn't submit the rarities of these cards, because they are definitely not common.
ReplyDeleteI suppose R&D could fix these issues, but the only card I could salvage from this batch is Jenzo, though its text is confusing and makes games a bit uninteractive.
I think the point against this submission is that the author ignored the hidden restrictions that magic cards have to met in order to get the seal of approval.