Welcome back! It is the moment that we have all been waiting for.

No, not time to see how maple syrup tastes on a cheeseburger..

It’s time to reveal the final results of the MDV Fit the Flavor 2008 contest!!

Who will win? We had a three way tie for first place heading into the finals, will someone slip up? Will someone choke under the pressure? Will it go into Sudden Death?

Step inside and let’s find out together!

While the contest seems destined to end with either Cashew, Azrael, or Shaky having their arm raised in victory, as they all currently hold a share of the lead, I’d like to take a moment to remind you of the strategy of Fit the Flavor 2008.

The final score will the tally of your rounds one, two, three, and four scores. The special scoring takes place once the finals are revealed. Since there are two possible scores for round four, the best score received will be placed in your round four scorecard. However, if your second round four score is better than one of your previous round scores, it will replace the lowest score available. Further, if your score in bonus round 3.5 is higher than one of the remaining scores, it will replace your lowest score, in that order.

This does two things: First it makes the judges job very time consuming and aggravating. Second, it makes it possible for pretty much anyone to win the contest out of nowhere.

Having re-visited the rules of the scorecard, let’s get on to the actual scores and judge Tynion’s First Impressions of your designs.

Judge Tynion…

Thank you, Host. You seem to be in pretty good spirits for some reason. Maybe you should try spending over a month grading cards and see how energetic you’d be… Stupid Contest… who thought of this thing anyways?!

Interesting, Cashew jumps both feet directly into the fire, perhaps calling his shot. You know that being first gets you an advantage when it comes to priority, but it also means that you are the standard bearer from here out. Being one of the guys in the lead, it will be interesting to see first how you do, and how well your score stands up to the test of time. If I am not mistaken, I think both Azrael and Shaky are near the end of the list. It makes for nice drama to have one of you three go first. So let’s see what you’ve got:

Ascend 1WW
Instant
Target creature becomes an enchantment.
“Everyone wants to go to heaven, but no one wants to die.”

FI: After referring to your card description, I am able to properly judge your card. My true First Impression was… huh? This can’t be! So I read it, and this is what Cashew said in his defense,

The more I think about it, the more I think of Star Wars, where a person becomes part of the Force like Vader did in part six. I think I can go with this design. If there were something I would question, it would be the fact that it is an Instant. Since there is no precedent, I guess I am stuck going with you, but I would think Wizards would make this a sorcery.

Score: 25
10 / 10 pts - Adherence to Flavor (How well the card fits the flavor text)
5 / 5 pts - Card Balance (proper casting cost, power level, etc)
5 / 5 pts - Design Fundamentals (color pie, tribe traits, etc)
5 / 5 pts – Creativity (Overall creativity and originality in your design)
0/ 0 pts – Rules Adherence (Minus points for not following easy rules)

Strife 3 R/G
Creature - Incarnation
Provoke
As long as Strife is in your graveyard and you and an opponent control a creature, creatures you control have provoke.
2/2
“Without him, the world would not know freedom. Without him, the world would not know war and death.” —Scroll of Beginnings

FI: While we all know that Provoke does not work, I am not here to judge the mechanic. It seems to me that the flavor here is that without a revolution there is no freedom, however in order to gain that freedom, you need a war and death follows. Pretty… very pretty. Poetic in a sense. I think I am going to cry Cashew. Congratulations on at least a share of the title.

Score: 25
10/ 10 pts - Adherence to Flavor (How well the card fits the flavor text)
5/ 5 pts - Card Balance (proper casting cost, power level, etc)
5 / 5 pts - Design Fundamentals (color pie, tribe traits, etc)
5 / 5 pts – Creativity (Overall creativity and originality in your design)
0 / 0 pts – Rules Adherence (Minus points for not following easy rules)

Rotational Existence 2UG
Enchantment
Whenever a creature you control would go to the graveyard from play, you may pay G. If you do, put that creature into play tapped under your control instead.
If a creature you control goes to the graveyard from play, you may draw two cards then discard a card.
“Everyone wants to go to heaven, but no one wants to die.”

FI: What? Where did this come from? Sure, you will get the full points for adhering to the Flavor, but look at the card! Green can hardly take a creature put into the grave back into play. Rather, it would put it either in your library or put a token into play. Further, not only can you get a card back for only G, but you also gain a card through the draw mechanic. Wow.. no sir! I have not seen Act2’s card yet, but I don’t want Wizards to hire him anymore, Hire Luther and please print this card!!! (I think if it was Black and Blue, and only one draw/one discard, that it would have worked better.)

Score: 20
10/ 10 pts - Adherence to Flavor (How well the card fits the flavor text)
3/ 5 pts - Card Balance (proper casting cost, power level, etc)
2 / 5 pts - Design Fundamentals (color pie, tribe traits, etc)
5 / 5 pts – Creativity (Overall creativity and originality in your design)
0 / 0 pts – Rules Adherence (Minus points for not following easy rules)

Divine Martyr 3WU
Creature - Human Cleric
Creatures cannot be the target of spells or abilities an opponent controls.
Sacrifice Divine Martyr: Prevent all damage that would be dealt this turn.
1/4
“Without him, the world would not know freedom. Without him, the world would not know war and death.”

FI: An interesting take on the war and death part of the Flavor. Perhaps the world cannot know it if they are dead. So in a sense, I can see this working. Might be a little overcosted, but I have always been one to complain about the water-ification of Magic, so this is most likely right on schedule for a card Wizards would produce.

Score: 25
10 / 10 pts - Adherence to Flavor (How well the card fits the flavor text)
5 / 5 pts - Card Balance (proper casting cost, power level, etc)
5 / 5 pts - Design Fundamentals (color pie, tribe traits, etc)
5 / 5 pts – Creativity (Overall creativity and originality in your design)
0 / 0 pts – Rules Adherence (Minus points for not following easy rules)

Chorus of Souls - 2WW
Creature - Angel Spirit
Flying
If a creature you control would be put into a graveyard from play, remove that creature from the game instead.
Chorus of Souls gets +X/+X, where X is the total casting cost of all cards removed with Chorus of Souls.
1/2
"Everyone wants to go to heaven, but no one wants to die."

FI: I checked to see if you had a card defense, and saw none, so I have to go with my First Impression here. I don’t see the relevance of the Flavor to the card. I think that if I go purely by the fact that Angels are said to reside in heaven, then it really kills your creativity score, because that is very vanilla. Also, wouldn’t you agree that this feels more like a Black card than White

Score: 17
6 / 10 pts - Adherence to Flavor (How well the card fits the flavor text)
5 / 5 pts - Card Balance (proper casting cost, power level, etc)
3 / 5 pts - Design Fundamentals (color pie, tribe traits, etc)
3 / 5 pts – Creativity (Overall creativity and originality in your design)
0 / 0 pts – Rules Adherence (Minus points for not following easy rules)

Tomb of the Unknown Revolutionary - 3
Artifact
All lands have "Pay 1 life, T: Add one mana of any color to your mana pool."
All creatures have "Pay 1 life, T: This creature deals 1 damage to target creature or player."
"Without him, the world would not know freedom. Without him, the world would not know war and death."

FI: This is a very good effort Drathro. As I was reading it, it did not make sense, however once I applied the Flavor Text to it, it all came together. I think the cost is where it should be, and it feels like an artifact that needs to be Disenchanted now before things get out of hand, yet at the same time, since I can tap my creatures and lands too, it is not broken. A very nice card.

Score: 25
10 / 10 pts - Adherence to Flavor (How well the card fits the flavor text)
5 / 5 pts - Card Balance (proper casting cost, power level, etc)
5 / 5 pts - Design Fundamentals (color pie, tribe traits, etc)
5 / 5 pts – Creativity (Overall creativity and originality in your design)
0 / 0 pts – Rules Adherence (Minus points for not following easy rules)

Prenatal Judgment - 1BW
Instant
Search target player's library for a creature card and remove that card from the game. Then that player shuffles his or her library.
You gain life equal to the toughness of the removed creature.
“Everyone wants to go to heaven, but no one wants to die.”

FI: Having a one year old at home, I know all too well about ‘prenatal’ stuff. Stupid pills and missing work to take the woman to the doctor. Nightmare I tell ya. Nightmare. Anyways, trying to tip toe around abortion here… I guess the way to avoid the nasty-ness of death is to not be born at all. Black seems to be the main color source of seeking and destroying cards before they are drawn, and white does seem to be the color of gaining life for the removal of a creature, however, I think it would have made more sense for the owner of the card to gain the life, not the caster of the spell. The only knock I have for this entry

Score: 24
10 / 10 pts - Adherence to Flavor (How well the card fits the flavor text)
5 / 5 pts - Card Balance (proper casting cost, power level, etc)
4 / 5 pts - Design Fundamentals (color pie, tribe traits, etc)
5 / 5 pts – Creativity (Overall creativity and originality in your design)
0 / 0 pts – Rules Adherence (Minus points for not following easy rules)

Supreme Spirit of Passion - RRRR
Legendary Creature - Spirit
All creatures have Haste and "This creature attack each turn if able".
At the beginning of each player's upkeep flip a coin. If you win, you may gain control of target creature an opponent controls otherwise target opponent may gain control of target creature you control.
5/5
“Without him, the world would not know freedom. Without him, the world would not know war and death.”

FI: I am having a hard time with this one. Are you saying that freedom is Haste and that war and death is the random controlling of creatures? I don’t get it. I read your defense, and I think I totally disagree with your statement, and therefore I can’t comprehend what meaning you are driving at. Therefore, I feel I need to dock a few points of Flavor, however I believe the rest of the card is in perfect order

Score: 23
8 / 10 pts - Adherence to Flavor (How well the card fits the flavor text)
5 / 5 pts - Card Balance (proper casting cost, power level, etc)
5 / 5 pts - Design Fundamentals (color pie, tribe traits, etc)
5 / 5 pts – Creativity (Overall creativity and originality in your design)
0 / 0 pts – Rules Adherence (Minus points for not following easy rules)

Overflowing Cemetery 2BBB
Enchantment
All creatures have persist.
Each creature with a -1/-1 counter on it is black.
“Everyone wants to go to heaven, but no one wants to die.”

FI: Boy oh boy, I read the card name and I set my hand on the buzzer button. I thought for sure this was going to be a cheap knock off of Oversold Cemetery, instead it is just a ripped off name and new card. I am ok with that. In regards to the Flavor, I totally see where you are heading with the Persist and ‘not wanting to die’ however being Black and all creatures becoming Black hardly lends to everyone wanting to go to heaven, in reality, it almost seems to lend to the other option

Score: 22
8 / 10 pts - Adherence to Flavor (How well the card fits the flavor text)
4 / 5 pts - Card Balance (proper casting cost, power level, etc)
5 / 5 pts - Design Fundamentals (color pie, tribe traits, etc)
5 / 5 pts – Creativity (Overall creativity and originality in your design)
0 / 0 pts – Rules Adherence (Minus points for not following easy rules)

Warkeeper's Permission 3WW
Enchantment
When Warkeeper's Permission comes into play, if Warkeeper's Permission is in play, put a legendary 3/3 white Human Soldier creature token named Warkeeper into play.
If there are no creatures named Warkeeper in play, creatures can't attack.
“Without him, the world would not know freedom. Without him, the world would not know war and death.”

FI: LOL, the one big complaint I always have about Magic cards is that they absolutely butcher English grammar. They are terrible when it comes to adjective placement, comma use, etc. Obviously it only bugs me because I am a writer, and I do see why they need to use a more legalistic approach when it comes to card descriptions, but think about when you are reading out-loud and you know that when a comma approaches, you are pausing for inflection, but also so you can catch your breath. Now try reading this out-loud…

‘When Warkeeper's Permission comes into play, if Warkeeper's Permission is in play, put a legendary 3/3 white Human Soldier creature token named Warkeeper into play.’

Talk about a mouthful! *ehem* anyways, I thought it was funny. In regards to the card it is very well mated to the Flavor. And… that is it. You do know that your card is the same exact color as the best creature removal color in the game right? Every single block has a ‘Destroy all creatures’ spell. So for five mana, you put this into play and then you follow that up with a Wrath effect and then just counter anything targeting this enchantment or your face and win the game. It is almost a one card lock, as all I have to do is block a creature, let my 3/3 guy die and then draw, go you to death.

Score: 20
10 / 10 pts - Adherence to Flavor (How well the card fits the flavor text)
2 / 5 pts - Card Balance (proper casting cost, power level, etc)
3 / 5 pts - Design Fundamentals (color pie, tribe traits, etc)
5 / 5 pts – Creativity (Overall creativity and originality in your design)
0 / 0 pts – Rules Adherence (Minus points for not following easy rules)

Sanctuary of the False Martyr-
Legendary Land
{T}: add W to your mana pool.
W{T}: remove a creature you control from the game and prevent all combat damage dealt this turn.
When ~ leaves play, return to play all creatures removed from the game with ~.
“Everyone wants to go to heaven, but no one wants to die.”

Every time I read the name of the next entrant, and I see hamsandwich, I get a mental image of a smiley smoking a joint and I can’t stop laughing. Dude, coleslaw is good and all, but it certainly does not go well with everything. Just as your cousin, PB & J sandwich.

Now I will read your card …

FI: Interesting, interesting… First thought.. ouch! False Martyr. So I sacrifice myself and its false! Wowsers! I think I can see where you are going with it. Mechanically, it does act like a Safe Haven, protecting your guys from utter demise. It is fogging every dog gone turn, which will aggravate your buddy who likes to send 4 Cloudscrapers at your head every turn. You know what, that point alone encourages me to give you mad props. I hate guys who ramp up to 15 mana on turn three, cast their entire hand, making the table nearly flip over on top of him with all the fat meaty monsters on his side. I hate it even more when I Wrath next turn and they call me cheap and under-handed. What? Am I supposed to not defend myself? Should I just cast a Savannah Lion and chump block one of your three Verdant Forces?

Thanks hammy, I really like this card now. *remembers that you are the guy I am describing and smiles

Score:
10 / 10 pts - Adherence to Flavor (How well the card fits the flavor text)
5 / 5 pts - Card Balance (proper casting cost, power level, etc)
5 / 5 pts - Design Fundamentals (color pie, tribe traits, etc)
5 / 5 pts – Creativity (Overall creativity and originality in your design)
0 / 0 pts – Rules Adherence (Minus points for not following easy rules)

Havoc 3RW
Creature- Incarnation
Flying
Other creatures have double strike.
If ~ is in your graveyard, creatures can't attack.
4/6
- “Without him, the world would not know freedom. Without him, the world would not know war and death.”

FI: Wow, talk about your all time GOTCHA!’s. Yea, your guys could rend my flesh quite easily, but I could just discard this guy and you’ll never see the light of day. By the way ham… did you happen to read the review of previous guy’s entry? Yea, he did pretty close to the same thing in that all you need to do is get this guy to die then you can draw, go me to death. That’s gonna cost you

Score: 21
10 / 10 pts - Adherence to Flavor (How well the card fits the flavor text)
4 / 5 pts - Card Balance (proper casting cost, power level, etc)
4 / 5 pts - Design Fundamentals (color pie, tribe traits, etc)
3 / 5 pts – Creativity (Overall creativity and originality in your design)
0 / 0 pts – Rules Adherence (Minus points for not following easy rules)

Fleeting atonement
Cost: 2 WWW
Type:enchantment
Effect: All creatures are Indestructible
At the end of each player's turn remove all creatures from play
when CARD NAME is destroyed return all creatures removed from play
under their owners control
Flavor text: “Everyone wants to go to heaven, but no one wants to die.”
-Arch Bishop Praetorius

I decided to leave the descriptions on here so you can see what I am talking about in the Rules penalty below. I have to erase all of that to format it like everyone else's cards. Yea, doing just your card is fine, but in Round 3 when I implemented the rule, I spent 45 minutes formatting all of your cards. That is not happening again… Also note the lack of caps, proper spaces and CARD NAME instead of ~.

FI: Why are the Indestructible if they are planning to jet at the end of the turn? Your problem is that you did this card after ham did his land (see above). The basic concept is the same, and my principle is to dock creativity if this is the case. Moral of the story, I promote free thinking, researching the contest, and strategy when it comes to your place in the contest. Otherwise I think the card is fine

Score: 20
10 / 10 pts - Adherence to Flavor (How well the card fits the flavor text)
4 / 5 pts - Card Balance (proper casting cost, power level, etc)
4 / 5 pts - Design Fundamentals (color pie, tribe traits, etc)
3 / 5 pts – Creativity (Overall creativity and originality in your design)
-1/ 0 pts – Rules Adherence (Minus points for not following easy rules, Don’t place labels in card description, we understand.)

Name: Azure Knight / Garnet Knight
Cost: W/U W/U / B/R B/R
Rarity: uncommon
Type: Creature (I know its not an official type but it is a split card) Human Knight /Zombie Knight
Effect: First strike, Protection from black and red
First strike, Protection from White and Blue
Power/Toughness: 2/2 same for both sides
Flavor text: (azure knight) “Without him, the world would not know freedom."
Flavor text: (Garnet knight) Without him, the world would not know war and death.”

Whelp, I’d like to thank you for saving me a few minutes here. As stated in the rules, the card must be something that would be printed in today’s standards, not something that you think would be cool. Actually, you are one contest late, as we did this in MDV Idol 3.

Faltering Paladin - 2W
Creature – Human Knight
Vigilance
Whenever a red or black creature blocks Faltering Paladin, tap Faltering Paladin and remove it from combat.
2/3
“Everyone wants to go to heaven, but no one wants to die.”

FI: Oh, now here is an interesting look at it. Instead of grouping every creature into the same basket, FP is concentrating on one guy. I think you did an excellent job here. The paladin is the best example of a ‘holy roller’. They typically are holy to a fault and display a huge amount of faith and religion. In the card, the paladin decides he really does not want to chance his faith by dying, therefore he bails out of combat. Great job.

Score: 25
10 / 10 pts - Adherence to Flavor (How well the card fits the flavor text)
5 / 5 pts - Card Balance (proper casting cost, power level, etc)
5 / 5 pts - Design Fundamentals (color pie, tribe traits, etc)
5 / 5 pts – Creativity (Overall creativity and originality in your design)
0 / 0 pts – Rules Adherence (Minus points for not following easy rules)

Cho Manno, Anarchist 2RR
Legendary Creature - Human Rebel
If damage would be dealt to a creature, that creature's controller may chose to deal that damage to another target creature he or she controls instead.
2/2
“Without him, the world would not know freedom. Without him, the world would not know war and death.”
-1 Rules. Card descriptions or defenses are ok, but as stated when I started doing this points subtraction two rounds ago, you can put this: “How's that for a fate-shifted card?” in the discussion thread.

FI: I must admit, I really had to sit and think about this one. The only way I can get it to work in my head is if I say, “No! Don’t hit me! That guy did it! He is the rebel!!” Then I get to live for another few days. Even then, it is really a stretch. Redirecting damage has always been a White ability too

Score: 19
8 / 10 pts - Adherence to Flavor (How well the card fits the flavor text)
5 / 5 pts - Card Balance (proper casting cost, power level, etc)
3 / 5 pts - Design Fundamentals (color pie, tribe traits, etc)
4 / 5 pts – Creativity (Overall creativity and originality in your design)
-1 / 0 pts – Rules Adherence (Minus points for not following easy rules)

Winds of Fate 5WW
Sorcery
Remove all creatures from the game with 3 time counters, those creatures gain suspend.
For every creature removed from play with ~ that has not dealt damage to any creature or player this game its controller puts a 3/3 white angel creature token named Spirit of Heaven with flying, Fading 2 and "Whenever another creature comes into play, if it's name is not Spirit of Heaven, destroy it."
“Everyone wants to go to heaven, but no one wants to die.”

FI: Wow. Umm this is take the very literal perspective of the flavor. I can’t really grade against it, as it is exactly what the flavor says. Cost seems fitting, and it feels like a White card, so I offer congratulations on a perfect score

Score: 25
10 / 10 pts - Adherence to Flavor (How well the card fits the flavor text)
5 / 5 pts - Card Balance (proper casting cost, power level, etc)
5 / 5 pts - Design Fundamentals (color pie, tribe traits, etc)
5 / 5 pts – Creativity (Overall creativity and originality in your design)
0 / 0 pts – Rules Adherence (Minus points for not following easy rules)

Krynon, the Enrager 4RB
Legendary Creature - Human Necromancer
When ~ comes into play, if ~ is the only creature you control and there are 5 or more creatures in your graveyard, return all creatures from your graveyard to play with a rage counter on them.
Creatures with rage counters on them get -2/-1, gains "Whenever this creature attacks or blocks, put a rage counter on it, when this creature has 3 or more rage counters on it, sacrifice it at the end of combat" and must attack each turn if able.
- “Without him, the world would not know freedom. Without him, the world would not know war and death.”

FI: Overboard!! When I began reading the card, I thought, “This guy is the most literal guy in the contest.” The card began off heading towards a 25, but then you kept talking. Something my wife keeps trying to tell me is that sometimes talking less is more. I never will believe that, but I guess there is an exception to every rule. Had you stopped with putting all creatures into play with a -2/-1 rage counter, you had me. But then you just kept going and going. Ahh… so close.

Score: 23
10 / 10 pts - Adherence to Flavor (How well the card fits the flavor text)
4 / 5 pts - Card Balance (proper casting cost, power level, etc)
5 / 5 pts - Design Fundamentals (color pie, tribe traits, etc)
4 / 5 pts – Creativity (Overall creativity and originality in your design)
0 / 0 pts – Rules Adherence (Minus points for not following easy rules)

Savior's Calling - 2 W/G W/G
Instant
Until end of turn, all creatures gain "Q: Regenerate target creature."
“Everyone wants to go to heaven, but no one wants to die.”

FI: Simplicity FTW!

Score:
10 / 10 pts - Adherence to Flavor (How well the card fits the flavor text)
5 / 5 pts - Card Balance (proper casting cost, power level, etc)
5 / 5 pts - Design Fundamentals (color pie, tribe traits, etc)
5 / 5 pts – Creativity (Overall creativity and originality in your design)
0 / 0 pts – Rules Adherence (Minus points for not following easy rules)

Raynakh's Rebellion
Sorcery
Each creature deals damage equal to its power to another target creature chosen by its controller.
“Without him, the world would not know freedom. Without him, the world would not know war and death.”

FI: Your wording is not the best here. If there is a precedent, then I would tell you that its wording is jacked up too. This is not to say the card is bad, I just think that there had to be a better way to word it

Score:
10 / 10 pts - Adherence to Flavor (How well the card fits the flavor text)
5 / 5 pts - Card Balance (proper casting cost, power level, etc)
5 / 5 pts - Design Fundamentals (color pie, tribe traits, etc)
5 / 5 pts – Creativity (Overall creativity and originality in your design)
0 / 0 pts – Rules Adherence (Minus points for not following easy rules)

Way to get back into the contest Mal, I was beginning to think you were about to fade into the darkness, then you recovered this round.

Hypocritical Zealot 4B
Creature — Human Cleric
Sacrifice a Cleric creature other than Hypocritical Zealot: Target player loses life equal to the sacrificed creature's toughness. You gain life equal to the life lost this way.
W, Sacrifice a Cleric: Regenerate Hypocritical Zealot.
2/2
"Everyone wants to go to heaven, but no one wants to die."
—Teysa, Orzhov Scion

FI: I don’t get it. Maybe it is the imaginary blonde streaks in my hair or something, but I don’t see the relevance of the card to the flavor text. The card feels like something out of the Onslaught block though

Score: 19
6 / 10 pts - Adherence to Flavor (How well the card fits the flavor text)
3 / 5 pts - Card Balance (proper casting cost, power level, etc)
5 / 5 pts - Design Fundamentals (color pie, tribe traits, etc)
5 / 5 pts – Creativity (Overall creativity and originality in your design)
0 / 0 pts – Rules Adherence (Minus points for not following easy rules)

Yosei's Progeny 1WW
Legendary Creature — Dragon Spirit
Flying
If Yosei's Progeny would leave play, instead flip it.
2/2
---
Monument to Yosei's Progeny
Legendary Tribal Enchantment — Spirit Shrine
Players skip their untap steps.
Sacrifice a Spirit creature: Untap all permanents. Any player may play this ability. Each player may play this ability no more than once per turn.
“Without him, the world would not know freedom. Without him, the world would not know war and death.”
—Rune-Tail, Kitsune Ascendant

FI: Its hurting my head trying to figure out how to abuse this card. Obviously the fact that my opponent is most likely not playing Spirit cards makes for an easy one card lock, which as two previous contestants found out, that is not a good thing. I think your concept is good, but not well executed. In the current wording, I could just bounce Yosei and it would flip instead. Further, untapping your permanents has traditionally been a Blue and Green ability, White

Score: 19
6 / 10 pts - Adherence to Flavor (How well the card fits the flavor text)
5 / 5 pts - Card Balance (proper casting cost, power level, etc)
3 / 5 pts - Design Fundamentals (color pie, tribe traits, etc)
5 / 5 pts – Creativity (Overall creativity and originality in your design)
0 / 0 pts – Rules Adherence (Minus points for not following easy rules)

Stairway to Heaven 6
Artifact
Remove a creature you control from the game: Put a 2/2 white Angel creature token with flying into play.
“Everyone wants to go to heaven, but no one wants to die.”

FI: See, it again goes to show that it is easier to get a perfect score with a simple design than a long winded one. How come I never figured that out when I enter these contests

Score: 25
10 / 10 pts - Adherence to Flavor (How well the card fits the flavor text)
5 / 5 pts - Card Balance (proper casting cost, power level, etc)
5 / 5 pts - Design Fundamentals (color pie, tribe traits, etc)
5 / 5 pts – Creativity (Overall creativity and originality in your design)
0 / 0 pts – Rules Adherence (Minus points for not following easy rules)

Ravidel the Wild 3RW
Planeswalker
+1: Prevent all damage done to creatures until your next turn.
-2: Target creature gains double strike until end of turn.
-6: Destroy all creatures and other planeswalkers.
3
“Without him, the world would not know freedom. Without him, the world would not know war and death.”

FI: I think tfp is feeling it this week. Very well done. Both of your cards seem well thought out, balanced properly, and seem like they belong in actual printed sets. Great job tfp. From dfl (dead freaking last) to first this week. Heck of a turn around

Score: 25
10 / 10 pts - Adherence to Flavor (How well the card fits the flavor text)
5 / 5 pts - Card Balance (proper casting cost, power level, etc)
5 / 5 pts - Design Fundamentals (color pie, tribe traits, etc)
5 / 5 pts – Creativity (Overall creativity and originality in your design)
0 / 0 pts – Rules Adherence (Minus points for not following easy rules)

Alright, now we get to a couple of the big dogs in the competition. Let’s see how these go…

Daring Escape - 2 U/R U/R
Enchantment
If a creature would be destroyed, instead return that creature to its owner's hand.
“Everyone wants to go to heaven, but no one wants to die.”

FI: Why Red? Planar Chaos is the only thing I can think of. The card feels to me like it wants to be hybrid W/U, as the card is preventing death or regenerating a creature the best way Blue can offer

Score: 24
10 / 10 pts - Adherence to Flavor (How well the card fits the flavor text)
5 / 5 pts - Card Balance (proper casting cost, power level, etc)
4 / 5 pts - Design Fundamentals (color pie, tribe traits, etc)
5 / 5 pts – Creativity (Overall creativity and originality in your design)
0 / 0 pts – Rules Adherence (Minus points for not following easy rules)

Warbringer - RRRRRR
Creature - Avatar
When Warbringer comes into play, each creature deals damage equal to its power divided as its controller chooses among any number of creatures. The damage can't be prevented.
5/5
“Without him, the world would not know freedom. Without him, the world would not know war and death.”

FI: Yep, here is the one I probably would have noodled out. I am actually surprised that it took 13 people to get to this one. However it is a boon to YWN that it fell into his lap, lucky dog

Score: 25
10 / 10 pts - Adherence to Flavor (How well the card fits the flavor text)
5 / 5 pts - Card Balance (proper casting cost, power level, etc)
5 / 5 pts - Design Fundamentals (color pie, tribe traits, etc)
5 / 5 pts – Creativity (Overall creativity and originality in your design)
0 / 0 pts – Rules Adherence (Minus points for not following easy rules)

Pure Ascend 1WWW
Enchantment - Aura
Enchanted creature gets +1/+1 and gains flying and vigilance.
When enchanted creature would be destroyed, destroy Pure Ascend instead.
“Everyone wants to go to heaven, but no one wants to die.”

FI: Shaky, are you trying to win this contest? Because it certainly looks like it. What a twist on the flavor. I like it. It almost makes me want to play an aura not named Armadillo Cloak or Elephant Guide. (Still trying to forget Rancor…)

Score: 25
10 / 10 pts - Adherence to Flavor (How well the card fits the flavor text)
5 / 5 pts - Card Balance (proper casting cost, power level, etc)
5 / 5 pts - Design Fundamentals (color pie, tribe traits, etc)
5 / 5 pts – Creativity (Overall creativity and originality in your design)
0 / 0 pts – Rules Adherence (Minus points for not following easy rules)

Mankos, the Warmonger 2RB
Legendary creature - Elemental
Mankos, the Warmonger can't attack or block.
Each creature must attack and block each turn, if able.
Whenever a creature would be put into a graveyard from play, remove it from the game instead.
3/3
“Without him, the world would not know freedom. Without him, the world would not know war and death.”

FI: Eish… I think you may have gotten chatter-y in your pressure filled entry here. I don’t see the relevance or the need to remove the creatures from the grave. Also, I am getting a 3/3 body that can’t attack or block with an additional ability for 4. Yes, the built in Pacifism is normally a penalty, however in this case, the ability is actually protecting Mankos, so it would seem logical to count it as a benefit instead. I see that he is Legendary, but I still think he is slightly undercosted according to Wizards watered down standards. I am not sold on it being a Black card, however the graveyard ability lends to that direction, so I will look beyond that. It does Fit the Flavor very nicely though

Score: 24
10 / 10 pts - Adherence to Flavor (How well the card fits the flavor text)
4 / 5 pts - Card Balance (proper casting cost, power level, etc)
5 / 5 pts - Design Fundamentals (color pie, tribe traits, etc)
5 / 5 pts – Creativity (Overall creativity and originality in your design)
0 / 0 pts – Rules Adherence (Minus points for not following easy rules)

Veeral, Grexian Assassin 2BB
Legendary Creature- Human Assassin
1GB, T: Destroy target creature. Creatures destroyed this way cannot be removed from their owner's graveyards until end of turn.
2/1
"Everyone wants to go to heaven, but no one wants to die."

FI: Huh? I am thinking that you are trying to block persist with this card. My eyes are continually drawn to that single point of Green on the card, Why Green? And why would you be blocking a card going to heaven, which seems to defeat the flavor

Score: 18
5 / 10 pts - Adherence to Flavor (How well the card fits the flavor text)
3 / 5 pts - Card Balance (proper casting cost, power level, etc)
5 / 5 pts - Design Fundamentals (color pie, tribe traits, etc)
5 / 5 pts – Creativity (Overall creativity and originality in your design)
0 / 0 pts – Rules Adherence (Minus points for not following easy rules)

Joarg, Hero of the Revolution
2RW
Legendary Creature- Human Soldier
Creatures you control attack each turn if able.
As long as ~ is in your graveyard, creatures you control have flying.
2/3
“Without him, the world would not know freedom. Without him, the world would not know war and death.”

FI: Why do they get flying? He is a human soldier. Does the picture show a bird in it or something? Does flying represent freedom?

Score: 23
8 / 10 pts - Adherence to Flavor (How well the card fits the flavor text)
5 / 5 pts - Card Balance (proper casting cost, power level, etc)
5 / 5 pts - Design Fundamentals (color pie, tribe traits, etc)
5 / 5 pts – Creativity (Overall creativity and originality in your design)
0 / 0 pts – Rules Adherence (Minus points for not following easy rules)

Bargain for Eternity - 2WB
Enchantment
At the beginning of your upkeep, if twenty or more cards are removed from the game, you win the game.
“Everyone wants to go to heaven, but no one wants to die.”

FI: Oh.. I like this card, and so does Psychatog!! I don’t think they do enough with alternate win cards, and I think this one seems to be a good concept to explore. I do think that 20 cards is a bit low considering that I really have no options available to me to break up that number.

Score: 24
10 / 10 pts - Adherence to Flavor (How well the card fits the flavor text)
5 / 5 pts - Card Balance (proper casting cost, power level, etc)
4 / 5 pts - Design Fundamentals (color pie, tribe traits, etc)
5 / 5 pts – Creativity (Overall creativity and originality in your design)
0 / 0 pts – Rules Adherence (Minus points for not following easy rules)

Humble Blacksmith - 1WW
Creature - Human Artificer
T, Discard a card: Put a Sword token into play. Treat this token as an artifact equipment with "Equipped creature gets +2/+0." and "Equip 1".
T, Discard a card: Put a Shield token into play. Treat this token as an artifact equipment with "Equipped creature gets +0/+2." and "Equip 1".
1/3
“Without him, the world would not know freedom. Without him, the world would not know war and death.”

FI: Very well done! Had you given me twenty years I don’t think I would have thought of this. Great job

Score: 25
10 / 10 pts - Adherence to Flavor (How well the card fits the flavor text)
5 / 5 pts - Card Balance (proper casting cost, power level, etc)
5 / 5 pts - Design Fundamentals (color pie, tribe traits, etc)
5 / 5 pts – Creativity (Overall creativity and originality in your design)
0 / 0 pts – Rules Adherence (Minus points for not following easy rules)

Ritual of the Lost 3W
Sorcery
Play Ritual of the Lost any time you could play an Instant. Suspend any number of creatures and put 2 time counters on each of them, -also lose 1 life for each creature suspended this way.
“Everyone wants to go to heaven, but no one wants to die.”

FI: Why wouldn’t this just be an instant? The wording mechanics of the card are very bad. English translation issues perhaps? And why are they losing life for the creatures? Other than those questions, I think it Fits…

Score: 22
10 / 10 pts - Adherence to Flavor (How well the card fits the flavor text)
4 / 5 pts - Card Balance (proper casting cost, power level, etc)
3 / 5 pts - Design Fundamentals (color pie, tribe traits, etc)
5 / 5 pts – Creativity (Overall creativity and originality in your design)
0 / 0 pts – Rules Adherence (Minus points for not following easy rules)

This could be the last hope to dethrone Cashew, let’s see how it goes…

Forced Ascension - W
Instant
Remove target Shade, Skeleton, Vampire, or Zombie from the game.
“Everyone wants to go to heaven, but no one wants to die.”

FI: Damn, I wish I could think like Azrael. No joke, every time I read his entries I stop breathing for a second and think… what the hell… this guy is waaaaay to creative for his own good. I wonder if he knows of his mental talent

Score: 25
10 / 10 pts - Adherence to Flavor (How well the card fits the flavor text)
5 / 5 pts - Card Balance (proper casting cost, power level, etc)
5 / 5 pts - Design Fundamentals (color pie, tribe traits, etc)
5 / 5 pts – Creativity (Overall creativity and originality in your design)
0 / 0 pts – Rules Adherence (Minus points for not following easy rules)

Master of the Game - 1UG
Creature - Human Wizard
Shroud, Shadow
Master of the Game is indestructible.
If a player would draw a card, he or she may instead search their library for a legendary creature card, reveal it, and put it into their hand.
0/1
“Without him, the world would not know freedom. Without him, the world would not know war and death.”

FI: Come on Azrael, how are you going to let me pump you up like that then make me look like a crazy person? *wink* For three mana I get a 0/1 body that no one can reach, target, or Pyroclasm; further, I get a Black ability on a Blue/Green creature. How the heck am I supposed to get great drama and ratings out of that? This was supposed to go into overtime with me grading all of your cards versus all of Cashew’s cards. I even read the script before starting. It was carved in stone. I mean… I would have fully expected Cashew to melt under pressure before you would (No offense to Cashew, Azrael is just winning every contest so I assumed…). Perhaps that is a testament to how well you have done in the MSS thus far. Maybe I set your standard too high for you. I apologize; I will give you back your bar and let you set it where you want it. Great job in the contest overall though, you made it very interesting to the very end

Score: 20
8 / 10 pts - Adherence to Flavor (How well the card fits the flavor text)
4 / 5 pts - Card Balance (proper casting cost, power level, etc)
3 / 5 pts - Design Fundamentals (color pie, tribe traits, etc)
5 / 5 pts – Creativity (Overall creativity and originality in your design)
0 / 0 pts – Rules Adherence (Minus points for not following easy rules)

Righteous Calling 2WWW
Enchantment
When Righteous Calling comes into play, sacrifice any number of creatures.
Put a 1/1 white spirit token with flying into play for each creature sacrificed in this way.
White creatures you control have +1/+1 and Vigilance.
"Everyone wants to go to Heaven, but no one wants to die."

FI: The only way I can see it is that since you don’t want to die, I can sacrifice you for you… is that it

Score: 22
8 / 10 pts - Adherence to Flavor (How well the card fits the flavor text)
4 / 5 pts - Card Balance (proper casting cost, power level, etc)
5 / 5 pts - Design Fundamentals (color pie, tribe traits, etc)
5 / 5 pts – Creativity (Overall creativity and originality in your design)
0 / 0 pts – Rules Adherence (Minus points for not following easy rules)

Keldon Inciter 1RR
Creature-Human Barbarian
Flash
When Keldon Inciter comes into play, other creatures you control get +1/+0 until end of turn. When you deal 8 or more points of combat damage to an opponent
1/1
///FLIP///
Daramus, Keldon Emperor
Legendary Creature- Human Barbarian
1R: Other creatures you control get +1/+0 until end of turn.
2RR: Untap all creatures who attacked this turn, after this main phase there is an additional combat phase followed by an additional main phase.
3/3
"Without him, the world would not know freedom. Without him, the world would not know war and death."

FI: I can see the card in print. It is very well designed. The only issue I would have is that the freedom portion of the card does not seem to be addressed unless it is implied that freedom comes after the razing of your neighbors house

Score: 24
9 / 10 pts - Adherence to Flavor (How well the card fits the flavor text)
5 / 5 pts - Card Balance (proper casting cost, power level, etc)
5 / 5 pts - Design Fundamentals (color pie, tribe traits, etc)
5 / 5 pts – Creativity (Overall creativity and originality in your design)
0 / 0 pts – Rules Adherence (Minus points for not following easy rules)

Pearly Gates - 3W
Enchantment
If a creature would be put into a graveyard from play, remove it from the game instead.
Prevent all damage that would be dealt to creatures.
“Everyone wants to go to heaven, but no one wants to die.”

FI: I am not certain that I like the card all that well, but I cannot deny that it is well designed for this round. As much as I want to dock points, I can’t because of that reason

Score: 25
10 / 10 pts - Adherence to Flavor (How well the card fits the flavor text)
5 / 5 pts - Card Balance (proper casting cost, power level, etc)
5 / 5 pts - Design Fundamentals (color pie, tribe traits, etc)
5 / 5 pts – Creativity (Overall creativity and originality in your design)
0 / 0 pts – Rules Adherence (Minus points for not following easy rules)

Commander Zhao, the Liberator - 4RR
Legendary Creature - Human Warrior
Creatures you control have haste.
Creatures you control attack each turn if able.
Whenever a creature you control attacks, it gets +2/+0 until end of turn.
4/4
“Without him, the world would not know freedom. Without him, the world would not know war and death.”

FI: I think this is what Kinghonkey was driving at, but the major difference is that this card’s title is ‘the Liberator’, versus Honkey’s guy who is a barbarian. I hope that makes sense outside of my head.

Score: 25
10 / 10 pts - Adherence to Flavor (How well the card fits the flavor text)
5 / 5 pts - Card Balance (proper casting cost, power level, etc)
5 / 5 pts - Design Fundamentals (color pie, tribe traits, etc)
5 / 5 pts – Creativity (Overall creativity and originality in your design)
0 / 0 pts – Rules Adherence (Minus points for not following easy rules)

Shield of Body and Soul 3
Legendary Artifact - Equipment
Equipped creature is indestructible.
Whenever ~ becomes unattached from a permanent, sacrifice that permanent. Put a 1/1 colorless Spirit creature token with flying and shroud into play.
Equip 4
“Everyone wants to go to heaven, but no one wants to die.”

FI: Last but certainly not least *smiles* A different perspective on avoiding death and getting a second chance. A nice effort too I might add

Score: 25
10 / 10 pts - Adherence to Flavor (How well the card fits the flavor text)
5 / 5 pts - Card Balance (proper casting cost, power level, etc)
5 / 5 pts - Design Fundamentals (color pie, tribe traits, etc)
5 / 5 pts – Creativity (Overall creativity and originality in your design)
0 / 0 pts – Rules Adherence (Minus points for not following easy rules)

Bogardan, Lord of Chaos 3 2/R 2/R
Legendary Creature - Spirit Berserk
~ is red.
~'s power and toughness are equal to the number of creatures in play.
2/R 2/R T: Untap each creature. Until end of turn, each creature gains haste and "T: This creature deals damage equal to its toughness to target creature and damage equal to its power to his or her controller".
*/*
“Without him, the world would not know freedom. Without him, the world would not know war and death.”

FI: I Berserk a legal creature type? I’m not so sure without doing the leg work. While I am docking you the point for that mishap, I am giving you a point for taking a chance here. Being able to play this strong character with straight colorless mana is an interesting risk, and it pays off.

Score: 23
8 / 10 pts - Adherence to Flavor (How well the card fits the flavor text)
5 / 5 pts - Card Balance (proper casting cost, power level, etc)
5 / 5 pts - Design Fundamentals (color pie, tribe traits, etc)
5 / 5 pts – Creativity (Overall creativity and originality in your design)
0 / 0 pts – Rules Adherence (Minus points for not following easy rules)

Now that you know the scores, let’s move right in to the Round Four standings:

Finally, after much ado, we have your final Fit the Flavor 2008 results. But first, I want to make two points. First, in order to not pull my hair out trying to get Excel to do what I wanted it to do, I modified the scoring a slight but by removing the order of the rounds and just putting your scores in order from highest to lowest. Then I sorted the scores by three columns, Four Best Scores, Five Best Scores, and Six Best Scores. These allowed for tie breakers, and as you will note, there was a tie after the first set of scores, and thus the first tie breaker score was needed to break it up. … Ah screw it, here are the numbers…

Last but not least, here are your earned points for the MSS…

Before I go doing any congratulating, let me give you my second point to be made:

That quote was made on June 23, 2008. It was the very first post after Streetz began the thread for this contest. Knowing me a little bit, you probably know how much I wanted to make certain that Cashew ate his words, however, a little over a month later, I must be the first one to say…

CONGRATULATIONS!

You have won the Grand Prize of the Fit the Flavor 2008 – Major Contest Cashew!!

*Pixie Dust and Confetti falls from the rafters above. The pixie dust begins to land on the rabid, applauding fans and they begin glowing… some even begin floating. The confetti falls harmlessly (a little anticlimactically) to the floor.*

Finally, Finally: Fit the Flavor 2008 Bonus Round Results are also in. I took the liberty of grading these casually and simply gave a 10 point scale for the cards. Unfortunately, half of you got 10’s because I though that everyone did a really good job. So I ended up just putting them in order based on my ‘prettiness’ factor.

Here are your results and MSS points:

Tfp, had YWN not had the best art every, you would have walked away with this contest, as I thought your was the best looking card, but like I said… YWN chose the best art in the world for his entry. I hate when people do that to me.

Last thing, thank you to everyone who made this an enjoyable contest to admin. It took a ton of time to conduct the entire thing, but I enjoyed watching the scores tally and people changing places (except for Cashew who ruined everything by always being on top).

I am planning to do MDV Idol 4 in late October, so be prepared, and heaven’s sake tell your friends, because I will be working the phones and trying to make this the biggest contest MDV has ever seen. Hopefully, I can tick Streetz off by getting too many people for the server can handle.

…Coming in October...

See you then…

*Lights Dim and the screen shows Death_By_Beebles face*

You're going to need more than a doctor Streetz, when I rearrange your face for all this crap you're spouting.

*Sound of record being scratched and the light fade, leaving only darkness behind*

-cpn

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Articles Spotlights from 2008:
A Fresh Perspective: Stasis - Part One.
The Apprentice Magician - Part Six.
Design on a Dime: The Lunch Meat Edition!
Fit the Flavor 2008 - FINALE!
The Games People Play - Market & EDH.
Sarpadian Empires, Vol VII: Foreword.
More Evil Than Evil.
Pauper Chronicles: Top O' the Morningtide to You!
Words from the Streetz: Uncommon and Common Magical Treasures.
The Writers Guild: The Inside Scoop.