Beacon of Creation

Buggy big bugs! We asked for your 6/3 insects with some sort of design flaw. We got a swarm of submissions, so Tim’s friends joined Hayley as a guest! The “bugs” in each card are each their own little puzzle and it’s fun to dig into the rules.

The Challenge: Design an Insect, Pest, or Spider

Markus’s Bonus Points: Give the card an interesting ‘bug’, like Oblivion Ring or Shuriken.

Tim’s Bonus Point: Make it a 6/3 for Tim’s birthday.

Submissions:

KuyashiiPlays Submission (1:36)

Earworm 1UB

Enchantment – Saga Curse (R)

When Earworm enters the battlefield, an opponent gains control of it

I,II,III: Mill two cards

IV: Exile this Saga, then return it to the battlefield transformed under its owner’s control.

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Engorged Worm

[U/B] Creature – Worm

Ward – Mill six cards.

When Engorged Worm attacks, exile a nonland card from defending player’s graveyard. You may cast a copy of that card this turn, and you may spend mana as though it were mana of any color to cast that copy.

6/3

Comments: This is almost like a sneaky suspend spell that mills your opponent every time you remove a time counter. The bug here is that you are the one that controls the first chapter of the ability and therefore the controller will always mill two cards.

jamesGover’s Submission (5:52)

Spell Resistant Specimen GB

Creature – Pest

T: Add {G}, each player with a noncreature card in their graveyard loses one life.

Delerium — If you control four or more card types in your graveyard and Spell Resistant Specimen is tapped, non creature spells cost 1 more to cast.

2/1

Comments: The first half of this card feels like a natural fit in Golgari colors. The bug is in the Delerium cost. The bug here is that the tax will not impact the spell you cast when you tap this for mana.

Card References:

Dillon’s Submission (10:42)

Deathmolt Mantis 4G

Creature – Insect (U)

Whenever Deathmolt Mantis becomes the target of a spell or ability, create a token copy of it with decayed. (It can’t block. When it attacks, sacrifice it at end of combat.)

For unknown reasons, the Curse of Wandering is known to give one last spurt of life to the shed skins of these insects.

6/3

Comments: A solid card that could be a fun limited build around. Attacking with a 6/3 decay doesn’t sound like a bad deal! The bug here is the synergy with 0 cost activated abilities like those in the Cephalid Breakfast Combo.

Card References: Strive, Nomad en-Kor, Shuko

Other References: Decayed animation arena

Redbay’s Submission (16:20)

Comments: The bug here is pretty easy to spot — Vigilance and untapping don’t work to well together. The 6/3 body hurts this card that’s looking to fight but might not survive for a second round

Card References: The last time we saw the untap symbol was on Farmstead Gleaner.

SillyPhilly’s Submission (18:12)

Comments: NEW SUMBITTER! This is a really cool frame design with a unique artwork style for magic as well. The bug here is deathtouch and trample pairing together for some weird combats. While this card seems fairly costed, deathtouch and trample don’t go on the same card.

Card References: There are some interesting cards that have worked hard to avoid the deathtouch trample combo.

Other References: The art comes from Konami — the company behind Yugioh

Ash’s Submission (20:33)

Comments: This is a six mana card that comes with a lot of value and a cool Johnny mechanic. The flavor isn’t perfect as Blex waits for the pests to die before lashing out. Would it be better if this card was a 6/3 so it would die and be reanimated?

Card References:

Eshlelim’s Submission (24:12)

Comments: A six mana 6/3 with menace is an on rate body before looking at the abilities. The abilities are pretty powerful, and they get even stronger when paired with cards like Rest in Peace to mill your opponent out. Seems like it could be a strong commander card.

Card References: Balustrade Spy works with Rest In Peace and is also powerful in the Oops All Spells! Legacy archetype.

Sunsmithereens’s Submission (28:34)

Comments: NEW SUBMITTER! Sunsmithereens came out of the gates hot. For commander players who hate when their opponents concede at instant speed, this is the answer. It’s a funny card, but maybe not practical. The bug is clearly you can’t prevent a player from conceding.

Monowhiteborder’s Submission (33:45)

Comments: A big bug that is nice to turn sideways. When it dies you can hopefully trade and exile something else with the exoskeleton. With white cards like Brought Back you can even have the Cicada enter a second time before you create your exoskeleton token (the judges didn’t get that but benefits of writing the show notes).

Card References:

Crafterlavaistrue’s Submission (36:24)

Hiveguard 2BG/W

Creature – Alien Insect
XBG/W, put X -1/-1 counters on Hiveguard: Create an X/X green insect creature token.
Whenever another insect you control dies, you may move a counter from Hiveguard onto another creature.
6/3

Comments: This card is a little fiddly, but it can do a lot. You want to have another insect and get some counters on this to start trying to pick off little creatures. Once you have some counters you can pay X equal zero to move counters for cheap.

Bradley Rose’s Submission (41:40)

The Juiced Queen GGG

Legendary Creature – Insect
The Juiced Queen costs 1 less to cast for each time it was cast from the command zone.
The Juiced Queen gets -X toughness, where X is your starting hand size plus your starting life total.
6/30

Comments: A commander that’s not very strong in commander! In sixty card formats, this is a 6/3 to meet the challenge requirements. The big question — is this card juiced?

Card References: The hosts tried really hard to find something that combos with this card. Here’s a couple that came close but don’t quite work.

Wobbles’ Submission (45:15)

Terapede 4R/GR/G

Creature – Insect (U)
Haste, Trample
If Terapede would be put into a graveyard from anywhere except the battlefield, reveal terapede and put it onto the top of its owner’s library instead.
6/3

Comments: A 6/3 that just keeps coming back. This is pretty scary on its own, but with something like Grist, the game will go on forever.

Card References:

Garduu’s Submission (51:17)

Comments: NEW SUBMITTER! A flavor blast from the past this is quite the callback! This card tries to tell a very complex story. Some parts of that story come through clearer than others.

Card References:

Crypt Rat’s Submission (56:15)

Comments: This card connects two permanents types that share some commonality. There are some questions whether creatures attacking this stay attacking it when it transforms but it seem plausible. The play pattern of this card seems really captivating.

Other References: Wilds of Eldraine releases September 8th.

Sage B’s Submission (1:02:11)

Comments: This is a unique spin on an anti-life gain card that plays in an interesting design space. The pieces of this card are interesting to explore, but this package might not be the most cohesive version of them. The bug here might be that this is a creature with wings that doesn’t have flying.

Occam’s Razorback’s Submission (1:05:42)

Comments: NEW SUBMITTER! This card is an interesting combination of tapping and flickering. The ability offers a lot of versatility allowing the user to play defense, enable an enters the battlefield trigger, or get an attack in. Flash and reach add additional value.

Favorites

Hayley: Deathmolt Mantis and Blex, Pest Savior

Tim: Detritus Devourer

Next month’s challenge asks for some unique tokens, so get your scryfall searches going. Find out more on our Discord: https://discord.gg/t88Vpwh

Hayley’s Steam Game of the Month, Mechabellum, can be found here.