Spotlight Challenge 5 Initial Review—Zefferal

Here's the challenge Zefferal is taking lead on:

Design 8 'big' commons that will help break stalemates. Design at least one for each color. They needn't relate to each other, or even belong to the same set.

Giantweft Kithkin {3}{W}{W}
Creature - Kithkin Soldier
When ~ enters the battlefield, if you control a Giant, target creature you control gets +2/+2 and gains flying until end of turn.
2/2

 A 2/2 for five bombs the vanilla test, so we can bet our ability will be worth 3+ mana… and it's a conditional Mighty Leap. I'd expect a creature like this to cost 3 or 4, but we're concerned with Design not Development. Mighty Leap is similar to Lava Axe in its ability to end games that have stalled out, so that effect is welcome here. This ability would be fine without the 'if' so why is it here?

Clearly we're revisting Lorwyn and this card is rewarding giant-tribal via a non-giant card, ala Kithkin Greatheart. There's also some nice flavor in that giants are known to throw creatures. Where does the Giantweft Kithkin come into that story? Well, it's not getting thrown, since it doesn't have haste. I guess it's telling the giant to throw someone. Hmm.

If we can't make this combo with the giant by itself, or tighten up the story, I'd prefer Battleflight Eagle.

Dreamwalking Merrow {2}{U}
Dreamer — Whenever ~ becomes tapped, you may exile it. If you do, target creature you control can't be blocked this turn. Return ~ to the battlefield at the beginning of your next upkeep.
1/1

Flavorwise, Dreamers enter an alternate reality when they try to attack (or after tapping some other way), which grants you some effect—probably all ethereal effects, like making another creature unblockable. They return a full round later (generally) and require another round to properly wake up before they're ready to do it again.

Dreamwalking Merrow is a lot like Distortion Strike, but much slower, albeit more repeatable. That can help end a stalemate, but the sorcery version does it more simply and draws it out less. I'm not sold on dreamer in general—Inspired seems like the more interactive execution.

Bloodcurl Goblin {1}{B}
Creature - Goblin
Whenever a goblin you control dies, each opponent loses 1 life.
1/1

Here's a Zulaport Cutthroat that forgets about life gain and only counts goblin deaths. You might play it early, eking out incremental advantage as your goblins rush your opponent, or you might play it onto a stalled board, allowing you to alpha strike with your out-classed goblin army, but kill your opponent either way.

Or you might not have any other goblins, and it'll just be a Mogg Fanatic pointed at your opponent.

Bloodcurling Belch {2}{B}{B}
Sorcery
Target player sacrifices a creature she controls with the greatest toughness among creatures she controls.

This Cruel Edict variant can kill a Darksteel Colossus or even an Emrakul, the Aeons Torn. Not many removal spells can boast that. That it will sometimes just hit a Siege Mastodon or River Kaijin… well, every removal has to have a weak point. I like that this reads weak but has real potential to save you from a desperate situation.

Dawnglare Incantation {R}
Sorcery
As an additional cost to cast ~, sacrifice up to two elemental creatures you control.
~ deals X damage to target creature or player, where X is the total power among creatures sacrificed this way.

Elementals tend to be 3/1 or enormous. Either way, sacrificing two of them could put an opponent out of their misery. Dawnglare Incantation is even more tribal than Goblin Grenade because it requires two of its kind to be better than Lava Spike. It also can't help you if you're behind or low on elementals.

Caterwauling Giant {6}{R}{R}
Menace
6/4

Now here's a big common that could end a stalemate. At least, it could with some burn or tricks to lure your opponent into a two-for-one that leaves your giant standing. Even on its own, it requires two blockers and that might be enough of a swing to make an alpha strike possible.

Saproling Mentor {6}{G}
Creature - Treefolk Shaman
Whenever a forest enters the battlefield under your control, ~ gets +2/+2 and gains trample until end of turn.
5/5

Saproling Mentor will crash in a 7/7 trampler, and that should be enough to break a fair number of stalemates.

Luring Scarecrow {6}
Artifact Creature - Scarecrow
5G: All creatures able to block ~ this turn do so.
5/3

Lure is a great finisher effect, allowing any sizeable strike to finish the game. Scarecrow gives your opponent a turn to do something beforehand, perhaps forcing you to trade your 5/3; either way something dramatic will push the game forward.

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I enjoyed Lorwyn and I'd like to believe they'll return one day. Do you know it's the only plane we visited without humans? It's fun to take a look at what returning there might look like.

It's also very tricky. Lorwyn and Time Spiral are the two blocks that finally revealed the need for New World Order (but apart from dreamer, I have no concerns about this submissions' complexity), and the former has been described as tribal-on-rails. When Wizards returns, it'll have to be more friendly to new players, and we can expect a more flexible spin on tribal mechanics. I'd say Bloodcurl Goblin and Giantweft Kithkin are both defensible (though it would help if they were playable on their own) but that Dawnglare Invocation is just too narrow. (Good job on names and flavor, btw. Very Lorwyn.)

The last 3 cards are fairly big, in cost, in size, and in potential impact on the game. The first 5 are small in cost and/or size, and their impact is either very conditional, or too gradual. I'd like to see some bigger numbers and effects that drafters will value for their ability to close out games. Having said that, credit is due that all the cards presented absolutely could end some kind of stalemate, and for keeping cognizant of the fact that being in a stalemate means neither side is lacking for bodies.

You've got until 4/12 for your final submission, Zefferal and team.