Magic Deck Vortex: MDV Idol 3: A Mysterious Twist.

You have waited a long time for this. Your time of waiting has come to and end.

Many creature mechanics have come and gone over the years. Some have been really good like haste and flanking, while others have been not so good, like provoke and amplify. While these mechanics have made creatures interesting and sometimes brutally powerful, none have been as mysterious as morph.

A creature with morph could be anything. It could be a flying creature, it could be a dragon, or it could be a fluffy bunny. Who knows what it could be!

Oh wait, that's right, an intelligent player has always been able to figure out what the morphed creature is based on the decks design and theme. It really takes away from the overall theme of morph if the disguised creature's identity is plainly visible. I mean, why bother putting the creature into play upside down if everyone knows what the creature is.

Of course there are the creatures with abilities that trigger upon the morph cost being paid and the creature turning face up that throws a monkey wrench into my lead-in, but you understand where I am coming from.

With that thought in mind, the judges have come up with an idea for the contest that should prove to very challenging to you as a designer.

Are you ready for the contest? We will tell you all about it, right after this.

...COMMERCIAL BREAK...

The wind blew, and the ocean responded with a crash upon the shores. The darkness of the sky was pierced by a slowly rotating light, which shone like a beacon of hope in that darkness. The light of hope illuminated the beach and on that beach was found a small flower, isolated from its neighbors by dry sand. How that flower survived, only it knew. How long it would survive, only God knew. All that was important at that moment was that it survived, and as long as it was illuminated, it had hope that someone would see it and help it.

Slowly the light rotated away, and the light left the flower in darkness again.

Thankfully, life is cyclical, and that light will return soon, and with it, a renewed sense of hope.

Hope - By Ralph LePerfume

Welcome back to MDV Idol. We left off talking about the morph mechanic, and how the judges have sparked an idea to challenge you.

That idea comes from the fact that it bothered one of the judges in particular, *cough Tynion cough* when players would watch you play a face down creature, and then play the game according to the creature being face up. It is therefore his intention that we fix this problem. How can we do this though, as a veteran player will be able to figure out that a player playing a creature face down, and is playing a White deck, just set an Exalted Angel down in morph mode.

You are to design a creature with morph. Simple right? Well, we added a twist to it. The creature is to be a split card.

Let's quickly discuss the rules of both morph and split cards for a moment. Here are the official rules for morph:

502.26 - Morph

502.26a - Morph is a static ability that functions in any zone from which you could play the card it's on, and the morph effect works any time the card is face down. "Morph [cost]" means "You may play this card as a 2/2 face-down creature, with no text, no name, no subtypes, no expansion symbol, and a mana cost of {0} by paying {3} rather than its mana cost." Any time you could play an instant, you may show all players the morph cost for any face-down permanent you control, pay that cost, then turn the permanent face up. This action does not use the stack. (See Rule 504, "Face-Down Spells and Permanents.") [CompRules 2004/10/01]
502.26b - To play a card using its morph ability, turn it face down. It becomes a 2/2 face-down creature card, with no text, no name, no subtypes, no expansion symbol, and a mana cost of {0}. These values are the copiable values of that object's characteristics. (See Rule 418.5, "Interaction of Continuous Effects," and Rule 503, "Copying Objects.") Put it onto the stack (as a face-down spell with the same characteristics), and pay {3} rather than pay its mana cost. This follows the rules for paying alternative costs. You can use morph to play a card from any zone from which you could normally play it. When the spell resolves, it comes into play with the same characteristics the spell had. The morph effect applies to the face-down object wherever it is, and it ends when the permanent is turned face up. [CompRules 2003/07/01]
502.26c - You can't play a card face down if it doesn't have morph. [CompRules 2003/07/01]
502.26d - Any time you could play an instant, you may turn a face-down permanent you control face up. To do this, show all players what the permanent's morph cost will be when the effect ends, pay that cost, then turn the permanent face up. The morph effect on it ends, and it regains its normal characteristics. Any abilities relating to the permanent coming into play don't trigger when it's turned face up and don't have any effect, because the permanent has already come into play. [CompRules 2003/07/01]
502.26e - If a face-up permanent is turned face down by a spell or ability, it becomes a 2/2 face-down creature, with no text, no name, no subtypes, no expansion symbol, and a mana cost of {0}. These values are the copiable values of that object's characteristics. (See Rule 418.5, "Interaction of Continuous Effects," and Rule 503, "Copying Objects.") The rules for morph and face-down permanents apply to it normally. [CompRules 2003/12/01]
502.26f - See Rule 504, "Face-Down Spells and Permanents," for more information on how to play cards with morph. [CompRules 2003/07/01]
502.26.Ruling.1 - The one exception to Rule 502.26c is that Illusionary Mask can put a card into play face down even if it does not have Morph. [D'Angelo 2003/09/08]
502.26.Ruling.2 - When playing a card using Morph, it goes on the stack face down and then enters play face down. You cannot turn the card face up while it is on the stack. [Onslaught Rules 2002/09/15] The other players don't even get to see the card before it gets put on the stack (unless it came from a zone where it was revealed to begin with). [DeLaney 2002/09/20]
502.26.Ruling.3 - Some cards have an ability that triggers when the card is turned face up. These can trigger due to the Morph ability being used or by any other effect that turns them face up. They do not trigger from leaving play or being revealed. [Legions FAQ 2003/01/23]
502.26.Ruling.4 - The alternate cost of Morph cannot be combined with other alternate costs, such as Aluren. [Jordan 2002/09/07]
502.26.Ruling.5 - Because the act of turning a card face up does not go on the stack, it cannot be countered or prevented. [Onslaught Rules 2002/09/15]
502.26.Ruling.6 - You cannot pay the Morph cost for a card that is already face-up. The Morph cost can only be paid when the card is face down. [D'Angelo 2003/02/16]
502.26.Ruling.7 - If Humility is in play, it is not possible to turn the face-down card face up using the morph ability. Humility removes the morph cost when it removes the Morph ability. [WotC Rules Team 2003/12/01]
Note - Also see Rule G13.16, "Morph".

505 - Split Cards

505.1 - Split cards have two card faces on a single card. The back of a split card is the normal Magic: The Gathering card back. [CompRules 2003/07/01]
505.2 - In every zone except the stack, split cards have two sets of characteristics. As long as a split card is a spell on the stack, only the characteristics of the half being played exist. The other half's characteristics are treated as though they didn't exist. [CompRules 2003/07/01]
505.3 - Because every split card consists of two halves with different colored mana symbols in their mana costs, each split card is a multicolored card except while it's a spell on the stack. While it's a spell on the stack, it's only the color of the half being played. [CompRules 2003/07/01]
505.4 - Although split cards have two playable halves, each split card is only one card. For example, a player who has drawn or discarded a split card has drawn or discarded one card, not two. [CompRules 2003/07/01]
505.5 - Effects that ask for a particular characteristic of a split card while it's in a zone other than the stack get an answer that consists of a combination of the split card's two halves.
Example: Infernal Genesis has an ability that reads, "At the beginning of each player's upkeep, that player puts the top card from his or her library into his or her graveyard. He or she then puts X 1/1 black Minion creature tokens into play, where X is that card's converted mana cost." If the top card of your library is Assault (Assault/Battery) when this ability resolves, you get five 1/1 creature tokens because Assault's converted mana cost is 1 and Battery's is 4, for a total of 5. [CompRules 2003/07/01]
505.6 - Effects that ask if a split card's characteristic (in any zone other than the stack) matches a given value get only one answer. This answer is "yes" if either side of the split card matches the given value. [CompRules 2003/07/01]
Example: Void reads, "Choose a number. Destroy all artifacts and creatures with converted mana cost equal to that number. Then target player reveals his or her hand and discards all nonland cards with converted mana cost equal to the number." If a player plays Void and chooses 1 or 4, his or her opponent would discard Assault (Assault/Battery). If the player chooses 5, Assault/Battery would be unaffected, because neither half has a converted mana cost of 5. [CompRules 2004/10/01]
505.7 - If an effect instructs a player to name a card and the player wants to name a split card, the player must name both halves of the split card. [CompRules 2003/07/01]

For the purpose of this contest, we will be augmenting the floor rules slightly by adding a couple hybrid rules:

What this means is that you are designing a creature with two sides (imagining Fire//Ice, and not to be confused with a flip card). If you were to cast the spell, you choose which side to play, exactly like a Fire//Ice. Once the creature is in morph mode, you then choose which side of the card you wish to reveal the creature as.

Following the pattern set before us by Wizards, your creature must have pairing names. Here is an example for you:

Well, just like any other MDV Idol contest, we like to challenge you, and we will do that by putting your design into a situation, and you must figure out a how your design will best survive that situation.

...COMMERCIAL BREAK...

A funny thing happened when we switched the web link from MDV to Starcity Games.

"I was logging into the net. I decided to stop by MDV to see what was new, and I found myself shifted over to Starcity Games. I said, 'What the [Censored for your viewing pleasure]? Where is MDV at?' So I hit the back button, and I was back at Yahoo! again! I pulled up my bookmarks, and power clicked MDV one more time and 'BAM!' back to Starcity I went again."

And then...

"I like found MDV one night while clicking a few links on another site. I found the link under 'Casual Sites.' And like, I really like Casual Gaming, so I like decided to follow the link and check it out. I like really liked MDV and even bookmarked it ya know. So I decide to check the deck database so I could totally wreck my friends evening when I dropped an elbow on them with a totally disastrous combo ya know! So I like clicked the bookmark and was all, 'Far out! I was sent to Starcity Games! Dude! I totally don't want Starcity Games man.' So I like, hit the back button, then quick smacked the forward button and there it was again! 'What the [censorship, brought to you by Hope - By Ralph LePerfume] man! I want my Comboes!'"

Then there was...

"I only like MDV contests. This was not an MDV contest. It was a [Censored one more time to spare you a bloody ear drum] Starcity Games article and vendor site. I don't want to [oops, one more that almost slipped by] buy a card! I want a CONTEST! Get me a CONTEST!"

People freaked out.

"Get me a CONTEST!"

Welcome back to MDV Idol. Before the break, I covered the twist - if you will - of the contest being that you must design your card to be a creature with morph, yet is a split card. So if you close your eyes for a moment and imagine...

...nope that won't work, you need to be able to read. Just imagine if you will, a card that has the normal Magic back and on the front, a spit card with two separate creatures on it, both with morph. What? You can't visualize it? Let me show you another example..

Now that you know the contest outline and you want to get going with your design, let me step aside and allow you access to the forums. But first, let's quickly take a look at the contest official rules:

Remember, it only takes a few moments to register yourself for the forums. Click here to get yourself a user name and password, and then get your card registered in the Design Thread provided for this contest.

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