3 games total, 1 of which against AI isn't a great sample size for final reviews - but it's all I had time for so I gotta go with what I've got. I'm sure I didn't know the way all the decks are supposed to be played, so apologies in advance to builders if I was doing it wrong.
Bant Classic record 3-0
Theme: 5/5. This is the type of flicker deck that's already well established. It is the well worn template for the theme.
Originality: 0/5. See above.
Fun Factor: 3/5. Flicker isn't played by people because it's T1, but rather because it's fun while being reasonably competitive. This was that to a T, but I didn't rank it higher than 3 because it's less fun for me now that I've seen it so much over the last few seasons. Still pretty fun, but not
Shiny and New fun.
Quality: 4.5/5. I never felt like I wasn't going to win in games I played with it. Couldn't give it a 5 because there isn't a way to fetch up wastes for Displacer, and not sure Abbeys are the best fit (tho maybe I'd feel a little different if I had ever been in a position to flip them). I believe this deck would do fairly well against better competition than what I faced, because repeatable Rec Sages.
Total: 12.5/20
Revolting Esper Record 3-0
Theme: 1.5/5. This felt like a Revolt deck, where flicker was incidental more than a key element driving the deck. If it was the 1st deck building challenge, this would have been one of my front runners - as I found it to be enjoyable to play, and a clever way to trigger revolt w/ blink. However, as fate would have it, blink barely came up during my 3 games, and only once to trigger a relevant ETB that I can recall.
Originality: 3.5/5. I would have ranked it an even 4, but it wasn't the only deck to use Revolt cards.
Fun Factor: 3/5. I'm a sucker for token decks, and this was a pretty good one. But a really wonkey game where I could only get a man-land and Harvester doing anything in a match I likely would have lost if not for AI takeover on a disconnect holds the fun score back a bit for me.
Quality: 3.5/5. There were a lot of similarities between this list and the Orzhov one, but IMHO this list was better because it had more consistent token producers, better top end cards (Unity and Demon - which I never drew, but I'm sure I would have been happy if I had), and better blink spells (flux). I suspect this deck would struggle against top shelf competition, but seemed a little better than middle of the road for these flicker lists.
Total: 11.5/20
Grixis Gearhulks Record 3-0
Theme: 3/5. More a control deck than a flicker deck, but flickering Gearhulks is a thing that is awesome and themeworthy.
Originality: 2/5. Maybe this should be higher as flicker control is fairly original, but the core of the deck is Grixis control, which isn't super original and I swear saw a similar list last season.
Fun Factor: 5/5. I had a blast with this list. My first game (AI round) I had all 3 Gearhulks and was able to absolutely abuse the
one for a ton of fun. My ladder games were both exciting and fun too, although Gearhulks didn't make the same gamebreaking appearance as the first one.
Quality: 4.5/5. I found this list to be very good quality, and one of the few that never lost a game. Crain being something I wanted to flicker often, but didn't have many things to grab is what keeps it from getting a straight 5.
Total: 14.5/20
Temur Fog Tower Record 1-2
Theme: 3/5. Fits the flicker theme, but as it wins with Towers and Fog stalls, the flickering felt like more of a sideshow and the deck might be better without those spells. The card draw might be hard to replace, but while I was really looking forward to abusing Trophy Mage w/ flickers, you already get Tower when you cast her the first time and subsequent ETB triggers have lackluster returns. Partly a function of our pool of 3cmc artifacts, but a Harvester might have been a sexy inclusion.
Originality: 5/5. This list was easily the most original take on flicker.
Fun Factor: 1.5/5. This is really a case where my limited testing drags down a score unfairly. The first match against AI was a lot of fun, but a pair of ladder games were I kept questionable 2 land hands that never developed were not fun at all.
Quality: 1.5/5. Again, I don't believe this score is fair to the deck, as other testers reported some good success - but I have to judge it based on games I played - only one of which saw the deck do anything well. I do really like what this deck is supposed to do, and the highly original take on flicker, so it got my second vote (which I gave to the the deck I thought was most clever).
Total: 11/20
Grixis Fireweaver Record 2-1
Theme: 4/5. This deck doesn't win without flicker. 5 quasi-flicker spells adds to the feel of the theme without directly qualifying as such.
Originality: 4.5/5. As reflected by early voting that occurred before testing, repeating ETB on thopter/servo generators to profit with Fireweavers and Abbey is a pretty innovative take on flicker.
Fun Factor: 3/5. Deck is hella fun when it works, but the score is dragged down by its clunky early game that often doesn't allow time for the fun to kick in. 2 of my 3 games were actually fun and the deck did more or less what it was supposed to, but my single loss with it was VERY unfun and revealed some of the early game struggles other testers mentioned. Plus its competition wasn't very fierce in the games it worked.
Quality: 0.5/5. See above. Seems like the builder had to submit the list before having enough time to iron out all the wrinkles. I'm curious to see end of challenge improvement suggestions (like Maggit is doing) that might improve this decks playability. Against top shelf competition, this deck would likely lose 90+% of its games before it can go off.
Total: 12/20
Orzhov Tokens Control Record 2-1
Theme: 2/5. I was inclined to rank this a bit higher because it runs 2 Displacers and 4 Maneuvers for plenty of flicker, but it doesn't run enough targets IMHO and didn't feel very much like a flicker deck in games I played.
Originality: 2/5. The other deck with a revolt subtheme, which is fairly original. But flicker just didn't seem very relevant here. This felt like a standard Orzhov Control deck that traded out its bombs for lackluster flicker payoffs and married itself to a standard Orzhov token deck.
Fun Factor: 2/5. First round vs AI was pretty fun when I went wide w/ servos (sucker for token decks) and flipped Abbey FTW, but the ladder games were both pretty lackluster. One mostly due to a terrible opps deck (easily the worst deck I faced, and I got matched up against a lot of law ranked xboners), and the other due to a 3cmc log jam. Might have been another victim of circumstance, similar to Fog Tower.
Quality: 2/5. See comments in above categories. Unfortunately, this was my least favorite list. As with all lists, my limited sample size may have given an unfair impression (especially as it's currently tied for 2nd most votes so I feel I must be missing something here), but I gotta work with what I experienced in testing.
Total: 8/20
Bant Human Flicker Record 2-1
Theme: 4/5. Similar to the Bant Classic list, this deck fit the theme pretty exactly. It's inclusion of several creatures that don't offer profit with flicker keeps it from a 5.
Originality: 2/5. The human twist was more original than Bant Classic, and Willbreaker subtwist was original even if it wasn't particularly relevant to the flicker theme (just a bit with Reflector Mages). In the end I didn't rate it higher because Bant Human Flicker is fairly obvious, even if this list did have several interesting twists.
Fun Factor: 4/5. I had a good deal of fun with this list. I really enjoyed flickering Thalia's Lieutenants, and my last game was a blast frustrating the hell out of my opponent, even tho I lost in the end. Probably my most enjoyable loss of the challenge.
Quality: 3/5. In games I played the deck worked pretty well. My only loss was featured an absolutely terrible keep during mulligans, and despite the huge setback it put up a pretty good fight. Tempted to give it a 4, but quality of opponents was poor except for the game it lost, and I believe it would have struggled more against better competition (control decks in general, creatureless control that blanks Reflector Mages and turns Willbreaker into a vanilla 2/3 for 5 mana in particular).
Total: 13/20.
Score winner: Grixis Gearhulks.
Most cever deck: Temur Fog Tower.
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for Baral's Expertise, but it was one card too late (drew it with a clue on my last turn, but had already played a land for the turn to get the clue in the 1st place). This game actually ended up being pretty fun and entertaining, as I did a lot of ducking and weaving with Fluxes and Blossomings to keep my Tracker on the board, clearly frustrating my opp and making them paranoid. On their last turn when they had me dead to rights, they were letting their entire timer run down, presumably fearing what other tricks I might have up my sleeve. In the end it wasn't too shabby considering my awful starting hand.