MSE Survivor S6: June Highlights

Written by CanterburyEgg

Welcome back to the fourth month of MSE Survivor! This month featured three new challenges, taking us all the way up through the quarterfinals! As usual, I'll present each challenge and the highest-scoring entries from the week. Without further ado ...

Survivor Season 6 Round 9: MEGAMECHANIC ROUND

The challenges get more challenging as you Survivors advance further into the competition. In this Round you will face what many designers dread—mechanic design. You've had a taste of it in the Team Round, now prepare for more.

The submission guidelines is as follows:

• Must showcase 3 newly created mechanics.

• Each mechanic should be used on 3 cards each, for a total of 9 cards.

• All cards within a group must be from the same hypothetical set, and each group must be a different set from the other groups.

• Within each group of 3, you must have at least one card aimed for Limited, and one card aimed for Constructed. To denote this, put LIMITED or CONSTRUCTED on the space above the artist credit.

• Across the 9 cards you will be designing, ALL 5 colors must be represented, as well as ALL Rarities.

Highest-scoring entry

Epictoast

SURVIVOR SEASON 6 ROUND 10: PARTNER WITH FRIENDS FOREVER

(This round saw our remaining ten contestants partnered off into five pairs, with the lowest-scoring pair being eliminated.)

The challenge: RETURN TO A CUSTOM PLANE

• 20 Total cards

• 10 Archetype Uncommon Signposts

• 5 Rares and/or Mythics

• 5 Cards of any rarity that are all in a Horizontal Cycle

• At least one card must be a returning named character (either one that also had a card in the original set or was mentioned in flavor text)

Highest-scoring team: VEREAUX: NEW DAWN

bancrabs & cool_beens

To see this team's full entry, click here.

SURVIVOR SEASON 6 ROUND 11: TIME AFTER TIME

The competition heats up further as we inch closer to the finals! For this Round, each Survivor Contestant must submit 9 CARDS, divided into PAST, PRESENT, and FUTURE. Details for each slot is as follows:

PAST

Cards for the PAST category aim to capitalize on nostalgia without falling into the shortcomings of outdated design sensibilities. Wording must be contemporary.

1. Design a card that riffs on or references a card from Alpha. Any of the Power 9 and the Boon Cycle CANNOT be chosen. Put the name of the Alpha card on the space above the artist credit.

2. Design a card that uses a named, non-evergreen, non-deciduous mechanic introduced from Scourge or an earlier set.

3. Design a card that would go into the main deck of one of the decks listed in the article: Top 10 Extended Decks of All Time. Put the name of the deck on the space above the artist credit.

PRESENT

Cards for the PRESENT category aim to be designed as though they would be injected into current Standard.

1. Design a nonlegendary mythic rare card meant for Foundations.

2. Design a Case for MKM, OR a Class for BLB, OR a Room for DSK.

3. Design a card for Tarkir: Dragonstorm, showcasing a new Clan mechanic of your own design, meant to replace what was used for that Clan in the set. Put the name of the replaced Clan mechanic on the space above the artist credit.

FUTURE

Cards for the FUTURE category aim to showcase new directions Magic will take in the coming years.

1. Design a creature card for a brand new plane of your own invention. It must have at least one new creature subtype and a new named mechanic.

2. Design a card for a new kind of an "innovation" product or supplemental set. Put the name of this product/set on the space above artist credit.

3. Design a Story Spotlight showing the climax of a future story arc. It must feature an existing canon character. Put the name of the canon character on the space above the artist credit.

Highest-scoring entry

Gateways7

The semifinals are currently underway, with the finals in tow shortly after. Who will be the ultimate MSE Survivor Season 6 Champion? Only time will tell ... Follow along in real time in the events channel of the MSE Discord!