Hello, and welcome back to Beacon of Creation’s Design League – Season 2! We’ve finished our second Qualifier and had yet another wonderful group of submissions to review. Let’s take a look at the challenge.
Qualifier 2 – Collect ‘Em All
Design a common card where the player would hope to draft multiple copies, like Kindle or Timberwatch Wolf.
Restrictions:
- Commons only.
- One card submission.
- Limited/Draft/Sealed focus.
- Retail Set/Standard power level.
- No card type restrictions.
Tim: I’m looking forward to innovations on how to scale creatures one after the other and I’m hoping we’ll see a few novel submissions that do something beyond +1/+1 or one extra damage.
Redbay: I think the best designs for this challenge will acknowledge making the card look a bit weaker on first impression, which will make the dream of collecting them all more of a reality in a draft.
If you’d like to skip the article, you can find the full comments file here.
Qualifier 2 – Runners Up
Daring Acrobats by CryptRat
Tim: Flavor hits, power level is nice. Doesn’t scale beyond the first buddy but still does incentivize having extras. Not quite as “live the dream” as other entries. Solid early blocker for stereotypical blue-white fliers; my Wind Drake appreciates this holding down the fort for me. It wouldn’t fit the challenge but I wish this cared about other Performers rather than the specific name.
Kayiu: I like the balance here between the base case and the “active” case here. I think that it ends up in a weird spot where even as a not-collect-em-all, it’s a reasonably overstatted for cost defender/attacker if you curve out with it, so it feels less like a collect-em-all and more of a “this card is fine filler and then if you get more copies well its gravy.” I think there not being a scaling factor also affects this.
Bloodpact ritualist by platypeople
Redbay: This is my pick for “definitely a common card” out of all the submissions. Appreciate the direct scaling without the use of “another,” “other,” or the like. I don’t think many drafters are going to be interested in this as the floor is kind of low, but the ceiling isn’t crazy high either.
Kayiu: Simple, but effective. Reminds of the party creature that did a similar thing, but with less potential for high-value swings just from drafting it with Set Theme, which I think is a good theme. These sorts of life swings can be dangerous, but having to explicitly telegraph it and draft it as a side-strat makes a it a lot more satisfying to play with and against. I do think that despite me liking this design, this is the second round in the row where I’m itching for a “spark” with your cards; give me something to be excited about!
Titanoth pup by craftedlavaistrue
Tim: Feels good to draft four since you cycle the first one, play the second, maybe later draw a third. I don’t totally want to cycle these since they’re just 6 mana, but that’s maybe some nice tension. Matches Titanoth Rex well and the flavor feels good.
Redbay: This one reminds me of the cycle in Dominaria: United. Tolarian Terror was a particularly fun reward for jumping through its hoop. I think this is a smaller hoop to jump through to get that double-top-end spell feel, so I think the floor is low enough that you could draft multiple copies; that being said, cycling brings the floor up a lot, so I’d be worried about other players sniping it as a hedge.
Kayiu: I think this is a simple and heads-up way to do a high MV collect-em-all. If you draw it early, you can cycle it away, resting easy that doing so puts you closer to drawing another, cheaper copy. I’m a little uncertain of the numbers on this, but not so much that it wouldn’t be a “let’s leave it for playtesting” moment. Not much to say, just clean.
Network mech by ludosgd
Tim: This is neat! Self-enabling like Glinthawk Idol! Reasonable size. It’s a little weird the crew is so low when the goal is a draft-around. Maybe fine though!
Redbay: Love seeing a self-made sketch in the art. I’m curious if some aggro decks wouldn’t mind having just one of these as a three mana 3/3 haste, though needing a crew investment each subsequent turn does make this less attractive. I like the game state where you’re hoping to draw your third Network Mech to activate your first two for a big attack.
Kayiu: I think Vehicles are a really heads-up choice here, given they’re normally a permanent type that not every deck wants or can afford to run. I do think the numbers here are potentially worrisome, in that it’s a colorless 3/3 for 3 with haste that also is pretty easy to crew. I think the crew cost should’ve been higher to emphasize the animation that comes from playing multiples.
Qualifier 2 Winner:
Divine harbinger by sage B
Tim: Emphasizes wanting to draft a lot of them. Power level feels bad solo but adds a nice dream once you do it twice or even three times. I like how draws you into more of them. Flavor doesn’t make a ton of sense.
Redbay: This card reminds me of Shipwreck Sifters from Midnight Hunt, which tended to be a psuedo-Collect-’em-all. I think you nailed the lower-power requirements to get this card to wheel at a table. Minor knit pick that flavor text for Connive would have been appreciated.
Kayiu: I think this perfectly nails the challenge. 3 is the exact MV that’s cheap enough to curve into other copies without being difficult to make unattractive like MV2. Connive is a great payoff for both scaling your board and finding additional copies. The starting stats are a good balance between acknowledging the scaling potential and keeping it playable. Overall, not much to say, great job!
Congratulations, Sage B! You’ve earned the second tournament slot alongside NorthernGun.
Judge Vote Update
The 8th Qualifier slot is reserved for the designer that has accrued the most judge votes but otherwise hasn’t won a qualifier. Currently, we have a tie for first place at the end of Qualifer 2, though it’s anybody’s slot this early in the Design League.
| Designer | Judge Votes |
| platypeople | 4 |
| LudosGD | 4 |
| perryk | 3 |
| MonoWhiteBorder | 3 |
| Craftedlavaistrue | 3 |
| Grrrbear | 2 |
| CryptRat | 2 |
| Bradley Rose | 1 |
| kuyashiiPlays | 1 |
| Larcent | 1 |
Watch the design-league channel in the Beacon of Creation Discord for the start of Qualifer 3!