In the case of the former, its because the best choices vary not only by color identity, but often by specific deck building limitations: Seismic Assault and many other red effects want you to play an extra-high land count, while a black deck with reanimation and Tortured Existence obviously cares about discarding creatures
Rare Cards This is where things get interesting, because theyre easier to see at first glance as theyll have a foil treatment, along with the R in the bottom right to denote its rarity
Gyre Sage gains +1/+1 every time a creature you control enters the battlefield
Once transformed into its nightbound form, the Wildsong Howler, it's power and toughness increase to 4/4 and its controller is able to look at the top six cards of their library, putting a creature found this way into their hand
At the end of the contest, 23 illustrator cards were given out in total: 20 to Excellence Award winners, and another three to the Best Award winners