NOTE FROM STREETZ: Please accept my sincerest apologies with regard to the delay of this article.  Chris Newton submitted this to me on 12/24/08 and it is my fault this hasn't been posted until now.  This was supposed to be the first thing I posted when I came back after my vacation from MDV which ended just over two weeks ago.

It is time once again to say good bye to a few contestants and see who is left standing in MDV Idol. In case you did not know, this was the final week for the contest, so that can mean only one thing…

The last known survivor will be your MDV Idol!

Let’s find out who it is shall we!?

We had to cut the contest a little short due to time constraints, but that did not stop the remaining four contestants from bringing a strong effort into the last round, even though they did not know it was going to be the last round.

Just to let you know, this round was putting the designers into a spot where they needed to design five cards – not one – that would serve as a cycle of spell effects that all related to their Revolutionary.

Curiosity may be getting to you as to what was to come had we not needed to cut the contest short.

There were two more rounds planned. In the first of those rounds, the contestants would have been asked to design a home base for the Revolutionary. It would have been a land card that related to him in a certain way that made it believable that he would reside there.

The following, and final round, would have been to design the Revolutionary’s strongest form. Just like any movie, when a bad guy comes to power, he is normally just figuring out what he can or cannot do. By the time the hero gets to defeat the villain, he is much stronger and has a much more diverse set of abilities in which he can try to use in order to survive against the hero.

Alas, those rounds will have to wait for another day. Perhaps even for another contest.

For now, we need to take a look at the entries for this contest’s conclusion (in order of submission):

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.

(Note that Tekk did not provide a single flavor text for any of his cards. Will this hurt his chances?)

Treacherous Maneuver - 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.

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

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 monstrous appearance (like a huge, aggressive 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

Various dragons inhabit Lithia, but they rarely visit the forests where they can't easily maneuver. 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 successful hunting. Therefore, they take upon the role of apex predator in the woods. They retain the ability to breathe fire, particularly useful when large areas 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

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.

Note that Mad Mat went out of his way to offer insight into his design and ensure that you understand the story behind his cycle. Is this overkill, or just what the crown needed to push Mat over the top and into the winners circle?

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.

There you have it. All of the contestants have taken different approaches at earning the big nod and cheer from the audience. Before we reveal the results, let me take a moment to offer thanks to several people who made this contest both successful and rewarding.

First, Mr. John Streetz for making this site a place where a knucklehead like me can mimic someone else’s work and get some praise for it. Thanks John.

….

Sorry for chopping you up into bits by the way.

Next I’d like to thank Jason Clark, Tresserhorn in the forums, for sponsoring the contest and providing the illustrious prize card. DA Gaming came in and stepped their game up in order to offer the card for the Idol winner with no request for compensation. I encourage you guys to all stop in at his MDV Bazaar booth and patronize his business and tell him thank you for giving us a chance to reward our reader base with a prize for the contest.

I’d like to also thank the MDV Reader base for continuing to support Idol, the Writer’s Guild, and MDV in general. Without you guys continuing to frequent this place, we would not need to have events like this. Thank you.

Finally, I’d like to thank the Idol contestants for being brave enough to step and have your cards abused verbally by the Judges. I hope that no one took the barrage personal, as I can assure you that the Judges of this contest really are jerks, but they love you regardless. No, seriously, they are nice guys who were playing out a part.

ENOUGH@! No more sad sob-sob non-sense. It is time to get to the business at hand. We have a winner.

After receiving 50% of the votes, and out distancing himself from the runner up on the final day of voting, this person has won the MDV Idol: The New Blood grand prize of an autographed All Hallow’s Eve…

*** Drum Roll Please ***

Relentless Poker!!!

… got one vote.

*** Keep Rolling the Drum ***

MAD MAAATTTT!!!

… got three votes.

*** Keep it Going ***

TEKKKACTUS!!!

… received 15 votes.

*** One More I Swear ***

AZZZZZZZZZZZZZREAL!

… got 11 votes! Meaning…!!

TEKKACTUS is your NEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeW! MDV Idol!!

*Balloons begin dropping from the rafters* Come on up Tekk! It is time to realize your victory!

*The crowd of 30 people cheers as loud as 30 people can cheer. The balloons begin to pop all around, and from each balloon comes a fleet of scurrying little insects. The crowd begins to scream and panic.* People! Don’t panic! Don’t push; remain calm in your seats!

*The people do the exact opposite and begin to panic even further*

*People dash to and fro, looking for an escape from the innocent insects just walking around onstage. Both Host and Tekk stand in complete astonishment as the crowd begins to brutalize each other, trying to escape from the ravenous, innocent insects that are not bothering anyone.*

*Just then! From above a set of steel shrunkens lands loudly on the stage, killing numerous scores of the innocent insects who had not bothered a single person. The camera pans to its source and reveals a single man standing up in the rafters. He salutes the camera and pulls from behind him a long cloth which he then releases. As it flutters to the ground, it unfolds and reveals itself to be a British flag. The man then lunges from the rafters, and as he falls, he throws more shruikens at the insects on stage, but then also throws what appears to be some sort of bags at the crowd.*

*As the bags hit the ground, and sometimes a person’s head, they burst open and begin to send billowing smoke into the surrounding air, causing more confusion and chaos. He lands with the grace of a cat, and begins slitting people’s throats haphazardly, with no regard for human life. He kills every last screaming person in the crowd, then approaches the stage with a purpose.*

[The British Ninja] That is my prize Tekk. You only won because I was away. Now step aside and give me my prize.

[Tekk] …. *is scared*

… * is still evil and could careless who wins the prize (see article one where Streetz was cut into pieces)

[Ryuzaki, Reigning MDV Idol and British Ninja turned sycopath] Where is the card? *he sticks out his bloody dagger menacingly towards Host and Tekk.* Give me the card and no one gets hurt… except those guys in the crowd back there… and those insects I hit with shruikens… and the janitors who need to clean this mess… *a crunching sound is heard from underfoot as he accidently steps on a bug* … and that bug.

*A long standoff occurs. Everyone standing on stage is waiting for something or someone. But who?! But What?!*

[Ryu, the crazy, bitter Ninja] Alright, I guess I will just slit Tekk’s throat to show you that I mean business! *He approaches Tekk with an angry glimmer in his eye. The camera zooms in and gets very close to his face. There we can see the crazed glaze a sinister evil guy has the instant before death happens.*

*Then it happens. From out of thin air, or maybe because the camera was so close to Ryu’s face that we could not see anything else, MZ walks up behind Ryu and snaps his neck with a heart rending pop*

*pop!*

*Releasing Ryu’s head, the now dead ninja falls to the floor, joining all the other dead people and insects. MZ smiles ever so slightly, that only a still zoomed in camera would notice*

[smiling juuuuuuust barely] Man I love being Simon. *he turns and heads off stage*

…. *Breaks the eire silence* … and your winner is Tekk! *turning to the now white Tekk, he hands the grand prize card to him.

[finally realizing that his throat is not going to be slit] Uhh.. YEA@!!! Woooo hoo!!! I told you that I was going to win! I told…. *realizes that everyone is dead and that Host has left the stage and is sipping a cup of coffee at the back of the room with Cashew and Luther, foot up in a dead guys head*

*Looking around, Tekk realizes that all of his competition has fallen, and that he now stands alone, victorious. In his hand sits the grand prize, and on his mantle now sits the title, MDV Idol. Something that nothing can ever take away from him, not even a slit throat.

Tekkactus, MDV Idol!

You can discuss this article in the MDV forums here.
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Articles Spotlights from 2009:
Magus of the Bazaar – Merchant Magic
Parasitism: The Devolution of Magic Players. - by Kozy
Mechanic Week: Kicking a Bad Habit - by Streetz
MTG Theory: Card Design 101 . - by Cashew
Potatobrain's Guide to Token Decks. - by Potatobrain
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Memories of an Old Magic Player: Recrossing the River Jordan. - by Chris Newton
Mechanic Week: Offering Up Mechanic Week. - by Dan Wright (Drathro)

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The Apprentice Magician - Part Six.
Design on a Dime: The Lunch Meat Edition!
Fit the Flavor 2008 - FINALE!
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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.