MDV Idol 4: The Conclusion

[Tynion]

[Host] Dearest Idol fans and contestant, welcome to the Idol 4 Conclusion. It has been a long road to get to this point, and I must confess that due to time constraints on the Hosts end, I must truncate this contest.

Originally, there was to be two more rounds, but I currently have too much on my plate and must trim back my involvement in things for a while.

Therefore, I am calling the contest participation portion of Idol, and your fates now hang in the balance... held in the hands of the MDV Readers.

The polls are now open. You have four options:

Tekkactus

Spoiler:

Originally Posted by Tekkactus

The Gift Cycle

Gift of Revival W
Instant

Target opponent returns a creature card from his or her graveyard to their hand.
Whenever Gift of Revival leaves your graveyard, return target creature from your graveyard to play.


Gift of Clarity U
Instant

Target opponent draws a card.
Whenever Gift of Clarity leaves your graveyard, draw two cards.


Gift of Ambition B
Instant

Discard a card.
Whenever Gift of Ambition leaves your graveyard, target player discards 2 cards.


Gift of Vengeance R
Instant

Gift of Vengeance deals 1 damage to you.
Whenever Gift of Vengeance leaves your graveyard, it deals 3 damage to target creature or player.


Gift of Serenity G
Instant

Target opponent chooses an artifact or enchantment you control. Sacrifice that artifact or enchantment.
Whenever Gift of Serenity leaves your graveyard, destroy up to two artifacts and/or enchantments target player controls.

Flavor text and backstory forthcoming.

Azrael Subucni

Spoiler:

Originally Posted by Azrael Subucni

Treacherous Manuever - 2W
Instant
Kicker B/R
Prevent all damage that would be dealt to blocking creatures you control this turn. If you paid the kicker cost, creatures you control get +1/+0 and gain wither until end of turn.
"They say they have changed, but all I see are vampires with the cunning of beasts. However, after what happened to the elves, we may have to take their offer more seriously..." -Sarkra, Leonin Ajat

Treacherous Plot - 2U
Instant
Kicker R/G
Look at the top 4 cards of your library. Put one of them into your hand, and the rest on the bottom of your library. If you payed the kicker cost, reveal the chosen card. If it's a creature card, put it into play. That creature has haste. Sacrifice it at end of turn.
While Lulesca was visiting the elves, Karon took it upon himself to dig into the secret of her gift; figuratively and literally.

Treacherous Backlash - 2B
Instant
Kicker W/G
Treacherous Backlash deals 2 damage to target creature, and you gain 2 life. If you paid the kicker cost, you gain life equal to that creature's power.
Lulesca visited the elves personally, offering alliance. But her former friends turned her away at the gate, unsettled by the fusion of life and death that she had become.

Treacherous Assault - 2R
Instant
Kicker W/U
Treacherous Assault deals 1 damage to each creature target player controls. If you paid the kicker cost, tap those creatures.
Lulesca's envoy taught the Skull-Pit Clan the potential of joining forces... A tendency which the vedalken were more than willing to exploit.

Treacherous Might - 2G
Instant
Kicker U/B
Put 2 +1/+1 counters on target untapped creature you control. If you paid the kicker cost, sacrifice that creature, then draw cards equal to it's power.
The vampires thrived under Lulesca's influence, but they were not truly liberated. The intoxicating energy of life was like a drug, that only she could provide.


This is the Treacherous cycle. Each card becomes much more powerful, and very different, with the introduction of enemy mana. By effect they're being traitors by using enemy mana, but the flavor of each represents varying degrees of treacherous acts that are occurring in the storyline. Either betraying one's allies, or oneself.

As you can see, Lulesca's storybook attempt to free her people and make them stronger hasn't gone exactly as planned. Failing in attempts to ally with other races, due to their distrust, she's losing sight of her ideals, even lashing out against her own people (the elves, not the vampires... yet). I purposefully left several unanswered questions, so that I can address them in the remaining rounds if the opportunity presents itself.

Mad Mat

Spoiler:

Originally Posted by Mad Mat

This is the pet cycle. Given the nature of my revolutionary, white and blue are unfitting colors. White focuses on selflessness and order, which contradicts the impulsiveness and de facto hedonism of Arkan, who is more to the red side of green than to the white side. This ruthlessness also gives him more affinity to black than usually expected from green. Blue is about advancement, technology and the suppression of impulses and hence completely out of the question.

The cycle deals with some of the animals Arkan 'enlisted' for his campaign. They were all wild animals with no noteworthy intellect. Now they fight for him against his former kin, driven by their wild instincts, triggered by Arkan's special ability:

Marsh Sarcophil 2B
Creature - Beast
Whenever ~ deals combat damage to a player, that player sacrifices a creature unless he or she discards a card.
"I'd rather pet a Sarcophil." - Lithian elaborate way of saying no
3/1

Spoiler:

Sarcophils are boar-sized black-furred predators living in the marshes. Their claws are sharp and contaminated with various pathogens, rendering them capable of causing fatal infections in their surviving victims. The same goes for the teeth in their powerful jaws. Due to their habit of swimming around in the muddy wetlands, their fur is always filthy and untidy. The combination of their infection risk, vicious reactions to any perceived threat, sharp teeth and claws, and monsterous appearance (like a huge, agressive sewer rat) makes them greatly feared among the elves. On his wanderings, Arkan noted them in the swamps and understood their potential for his campaign.

Rotwing Dragon 4R
Creature - Dragon
Whenever ~ deals combat damage to a player, it deals 2 damage to each creature that player controls.
"I like them better when they have wings." - Garfed, Hunter Novice
4/3

Spoiler:

Various dragons inhabit Lithia, but they rarely visit the forests where they can't easily manoeuvre. But those that were affected by the horrible childhood disease known as Rotwing have little other choice. In the open mountains, they are sitting ducks for their bigger kin and have little opportunity for succesfull hunting. Therefore, they take upon the role of apex predator in the woods. They retain the ability to breathe fire, particularly useful when large area's of impermeable forest needs to be removed. The cooked but unburnt animals deceased in the process are considered delicacies (which does not contradict their unsapient nature, all animals have a favored food). Arkan couldn't not encounter them as they were one of the main threats he had to combat (though rarely, as the dragons preferred to stay away from the only present species capable of harming them) during his tenure as a hunter.

Mother Bear 2G
Creature - Bear
Whenever ~ deals combat damage to a player, you may regenerate target other creature you control.
"Snarling and clawing, Mother Bear positioned herself between the hunting party and the infant wingrot dragon - three times her size." - Tale of Mother Bear
3/2

Spoiler:

Not much to say. Just a bear, there are lots of them.

All three have only one colored mana in their CC, reflecting the disdain of Arkan for nonbasic (dual) lands and mana fixing creatures. They all have one ability triggering upon combat damage and have more power than toughness.

Relentless Poker

Spoiler:

Originally Posted by Relentless Poker

Repulsive cycle
Because repulsive is similar to recursive. And bugs are both those.


Repulsive Response - 3WW
Instant
Destroy target attacking creature.
Whenever an Insect you control attacks, you may return Repulsive Response from your graveyard to your hand.
Sabyid realized too late entering the bugs' nest wasn't such a good idea.

Repulsive Snatch - 3UU
Instant
Return target permanent to its owner's hand.
Whenever an Insect you control deals damage to an opponent, you may return Repulsive Snatch from your graveyard to your hand.
Bugs are small enough to creep into all kinds of places, and witty enough to make disappear all kinds of objects.

Repulsive Clatter - 2BB
Sorcery
Target opponent discards two cards.
Whenever an Insect comes into play under your control, you may return Repulsive Clatter from your graveyard to your hand.
A bug's buzzing is irritating. A million bugs' buzzing is maddening.

Repulsive Assault - RR
Sorcery
Repulsive Assault deals 2 damage to target creature or player.
Whenever an Insect you control deals damage to a creature, you may return Repulsive Assault from your graveyard to your hand.
A bug's bite is frequently followed by an even bigger bug's bite.

Repulsive Spawning - 1GG
Sorcery
Put two 1/1 green Insect creature tokens into play.
Whenever an Insect is put into your graveyard from play, you may return Repulsive Spawning from your graveyard to your hand.
The thing about bugs is, no matter how many you squash, just as many will always arrive to avenge their fallen comrades.

It is on you now MDV. Who is your NEXT! MDV Idol?

[boobers]

I had to vote for Relentless Poker just for having a card called "Repulsive Snatch." The flavor was nice on that one too...

[Cashew]

Came down to Tekk or Azareal for me. Tekk had a wonderful set of cards I'd actually play, Azareal went on a stretch and made mono-colored cards with hybrid kickers. I carefully analyzed the color patterns on Az's set and came to the conclusion he pretty much stayed in the correct boundaries. The most questionable thing he did was to make the W/G kicker effect: you gain life equal to that creature's power - I'd have done it toughness since it is W/G.

Regardless both players cycles were very well made and interesting.

[Azrael Subucni]

Originally Posted by Cashew

The most questionable thing he did was to make the W/G kicker effect: you gain life equal to that creature's power - I'd have done it toughness since it is W/G.

I considered toughness, because it would be more color appropriate, but decided against it because the damage would decrease the toughness first. 2 life isn't much, but it made power better from a design perspective.

[Tekkactus]

Let me explain to all of you why my cards are the best designs.

1. Longevity

In all of my submissions, I have only used one keyword, and that one keyword (Shroud) was evergreen. My submissions could easily be reprinted in any set.

2. Theme

You may not have noticed, but when I decided to use Cephalids I made the decision to specifically tailor my submissions to be cards that one might find in Odyssey Block. Not only do the cards play well with each other, but they also have interesting interactions with Threshold and cards like this. Any of these could theoretically been printed there.

3. Consistency

How do any of the other players' cycles mechanically help their Revolutionary? All four rounds I have created an intricate web of combos and synergies; you could put all 8 in a deck and it would not only be playable, but would probably win quite a few games.

These points don't even take into account the specific criticisms of the other entries I have. Obviously, I am the best choice for winning this contest.

[death by aggro]

This is all true, but your cycle lacks the key element of flavor necessary in this contest. By your very logic that your cards are reusable and stand out, they also gain a sort of separate presence from your Cephalid leader and his actions.

To those reading, please don't take this like I'm putting down Tekk. Out of all the cycles, his is the one I would most want to see actually printed and one I would definetely play with as to me it's the most fun and versitale. I'm simply giving constructed criticism for the sake of both the contest and to be a good sport to Tekk.

[Azrael Subucni]

Well, I'm not going to tell you why to vote for my cards. I'm going to let them speak for themselves.

I will say that my only regret is not having a chance to expand on the design concepts I came up with. I can think of several ideas for these smaller vampires, with their counter theme. Counter expending cards like Karon, or ones that get abilities if they have +1/+1 counters. Maybe a WB one that gets Lifelink as long as there's a +1/+1 counter on it... or maybe even something like "[Name] gets +1/+1 for each +1/+1 counter on it.".

[Tekkactus]

Originally Posted by death by aggro

This is all true, but your cycle lacks the key element of flavor necessary in this contest. By your very logic that your cards are reusable and stand out, they also gain a sort of separate presence from your Cephalid leader and his actions.

Either you misunderstand me or I misunderstand you. My cards may be easily reprintable, but they also play nice with my Revolutionary mechnically, which none of the other contestants' entries do.

Well, I'm not going to tell you why to vote for my cards. I'm going to let them speak for themselves.

They speak for themselves, alright. They say "YAWN".

[ThunderHog]

Tekk gets my vote based on versatility and that fact that you can actually avoid the 'gift'. Spellshapers all over the world are smiling.

[Tekkactus]

For Chrissakes, where do you people keep coming from?!

[Tynion]

More voters than contestants already.

[guest1234]

strangely enough that's also true of American Idol. Go figure.

[Tynion]

Someone please break the tie!!!!!!!

[guest1234]

Let's see a face-off!

[Tekkactus]

Originally Posted by Tynion

Someone please break the tie!!!!!!!

I'm actually curious what would happen in the event of a tie. Would Tress cut the card in half?