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Previous installments in this series, taking on the Great Designer Search are here, here and here. Card designs are after the jump.

This week’s challenge was to follow up on some designs deemed promising in previous challenges; the judges were trying to gauge applicants’ ability to build on existing work. We were given eight cards, and eight sets of designer notes (check out the article for the details) indicating the direction that a hypothetical development team would provide for additional cards. I’ll present my work in the order that the challenge asks for, and add my comments to each card in green.

Activate Abilities! 1W Instant (U) When you play Activate Abilities!, untap target creature. Untap target creature. What archer would scorn a second shot before the charge? What healer a second chance to save a wounded hero?

This card does the same thing twice, but sideways. Cool interactions of tap-activated abilities and weird combat tricks lie this way!

Skritano Charger 3R Creature - Human Nomad Barbarian (C) 2/1 Whenever you play an instant or sorcery spell, for each red mana spent on that spell, Skritano Charger gets +1/+0 and haste until end of turn. The magefire in the sky speaks to the fire in his battle-mad heart.

Nifty linear-design feel comes to common. I like that this guy can still be relevant when you topdeck him on turn ten of a draft game. This mechanic screams “build-around.”

Bad Pants W Enchantment - Aura (C) Enchant creature Enchanted creature can’t attack or block, and its activated abilities can’t be played. Whenever a creature comes into play under the control of enchanted creature’s controller, attach Bad Pants to that creature.

I have a standing discussion with my friend John about how little Pacifisms can cost. We must have designed a dozen one-mana ones… but this one is new and has a novel drawback, as suggested by the (slightly incoherent, to be honest) developer comments.

Alurenize 1G Instant (U) While Alurenize is on the stack, creature cards you own have flash and cost up to 1G less to play. “Look out! A bear! And a spider!”

I’ve got two combo-riffic Green submissions, each a nod to a beloved enabler of years past (in this case, Aluren). My card, an uncommon, is nowhere near as powerful, but is bait for budget Johnnies. It could be pretty awesome in Limited, too, being at worst a green Flash. As compensation for using the dreaded word “stack,” I’ve kept it as intuitive and simple as possible.

Eurekisko 1G Sorcery (R) Each player searches his or her library for an artifact, creature, enchantment, or land card and removes it from the game face down. Then reveal all cards removed in this way. Put each card with the lowest casting cost into play and the rest into their owners’ hands.

The second Green combo enabler is my nod to the beloved, yet unplayable, Eureka. Your opponent’s role in this little mini-game is to second-guess you - are you Tinkering, are you Tutoring, or are you just playing a really bad Rampant Growth? The color I’m still a little unsure about, but I’ll take Eureka as my precedent, I guess. As a bonus, this card is unplayable in Vintage, thanks to its color, and so doesn’t accelerate the coming Doom of Too Many Tutors.

Burninate 8R Sorcery (U) Pyre 2 (You may remove 2 cards in your graveyard from the game any number of times. For each time you do, reduce this spell’s cost by up to 1.) Burninate deals X damage to target creature or player, where X is the number of cards in your graveyard.

I know that “tension” is the most over- and misused word in design. I also think that this card actually exhibits it. It also has a bad case of “Build around me!”, as requested - you’ll start taking cards that go to your yard as part of your game plan, hoping to maximize Burninate’s value as a finisher.

Fiendish Stacker 2BB Creature - Minor Horror (R) 1/1 At the beginning of each player’s upkeep, that player sacrifices a creature, land, or artifact. 1B: Fiendish Stacker becomes an enchantment with “Creatures you control are copies of Fiendish Stacker.” (It’s no longer a creature. This effect doesn’t end at end of turn.)

My goal was to use the enchantment side of this to make all of your creatures into some iconic black guy. Spirit of the Night - too hard, not black enough… Avatar of Woe, broken… Braids, just right. This card seems like it would be really hard to play correctly, the kind of challenge Johnny and Spike will love. Note that although you can “ramp down” the sacrifice requirement, it requires mana (which may be in short supply) and then you can’t really do anything with your inert enchantments - not even sac them!

Inspired Armorer 1W 2/2 Creature - Human Soldier (U) Whenever a card leaves a graveyard, put a +1/+1 counter on target creature. Wisps of magic leap to her anvil, where she forges the perfect armor.

No mention of “Auratide” or “enchantment”: check. This might even be printable as a common if there’s a mood for pushing the Auratide mechanic.