Welcome to the Card Creation League! This Round is for the Top 4 Only. Feel free to watch and comment in the CCL Discussion thread!
Our Top 4:
Cardz5000
netn10
FreshMeat
IcariiFA
Theme
This month we'll be unleashing our imaginations to make the familiar unfamiliar, the old new, the antiquated fresh. In the spirt of Apuleius, in this round we'll be exploring ways to allow players to take on a new form and play the game in unconventional ways.
Challenge
Challenge 1 -Design an enchantment "Form of the X" card that is not Red.
Challenge 2 - Design a blackbordered card that contains one of the following pieces of rules text:
(i)"You win the game."
(ii)"...lose(s) the game."
(iii)"Restart the game."
(iv) "...play a Magic subgame."
For Challenge 2, you can design a card for print in a Standard set, Conspiracy set, or Battlebond set.
For Challenge 2, avoid the Platinum Angel and Abyssal Persecutor clauses. Those aren't in keeping with the spirit of the challenge.
PLEASE NOTE: This month will continue the use of the "Mandatory Top 3 Rule." For this month, you must submit a Top 3 during a round's critique period in order to receive any points for the round. Submitting critiques as well will be worth 2 bonus points in the round.
Your submissions are due Saturday, February 24th, 23:59 PST.
Schedule
Round 1 — Open to Everyone (January 31st-February 6th)
Round 2 — Open to Everyone (February 5th–10th)
Rounds 1 and 2 Critiques (Due February 12th)
Top 8 — Open to top 8 finishers (February 13th–17th)
Top 8 Critiques (Due February 20th)
Top 4 — Open to top 4 finishers from last round (February 20th–24th)
Top 4 Critiques (Due February 26th)
Final (End of month, winner determined by public poll)
Form of the Eldrazi8CC
Legendary Enchantment (M)
When you cast Form of the Eldrazi, take an extra turn after this one.
When Form of the Eldrazi enters the battlefield, your life total becomes 15 and you draw 4 cards.
At the beginning of your upkeep, destroy target permanent.
Indecision Instiller2UU
Creature - Spirit (M)
Flying
Whenever Indecision Instiller deals combat damage to a player, that player draws 4 cards.
At the beginning of your upkeep, each opponent whose life total is less than the number of cards in his or her hand loses the game.
4/4
Form of the False God3WB
Enchantment (Mythic)
When Form of the False God enters the battlefield, create five 1/1 white and black Cleric creature tokens and your life total becomes 0.
As long as you control a Cleric, you can't lose the game and your opponents can't win the game.
Tap five untapped Clerics you control: Target player loses 5 life and you gain 5 life.
Straight Hand5RR
Sorcery (Mythic)
Reveal your hand. If you have exactly seven cards in your hand of each converted mana cost from 0 to 6, you win the game. Suddenly, the gambling hall fell silent. The Mahamoti Djinn lost to a poor-looking human with no name. The djinn was compelled to bestow that human a name - Fast-Hand, the Great Trickster
Form of the Sprite3UU
Enchantment {R}
When Form of the Sprite enters the battlefield your life total becomes 1. U, Discard a card: You may choose new targets for target spell or ability that targets you.
No more than one creature can attack you each combat.
Creatures without flying can’t attack you.
Five-Finger Discount
Conspiracy {R}
Hidden agenda (Start the game with this conspiracy face down in the command zone and secretly name a card. You may turn this conspiracy face up any time and reveal the chosen name.)
At the beginning of each end step, if you control more than five copies of the named card, and the named card isn’t a basic land, you win the game.
Form of the Octopus3UUU
Enchantment (R)
When Form of the Octopus enters the battlefield, your life total becomes 8.
At the beginning of each opponent's upkeep, tap up to X target permanents that player controls, where X is your life total.
Soul-Link Mirror6
Artifact (M)
At the beginning of your end step, if you have the same number of cards in your hand as a teammate has in their graveyard and the same number of cards in your graveyard as a teammate has in their hand, you win the game. T: Exile target card from a graveyard. T: Target player puts the top card of their library into their graveyard. Opposites attract.
EDIT: Minor edit to fix a wording mix-up with kjsharp's permission
netn10: 1) The concept behind your enchantment is quite good. Having a bunch of clerics/worshipers to give you immortality as a "god" makes sense. Similar to form of the squirrel in the token sense. This is very powerful for 5 mana, as its an immediate "unblockable" 10 point swing, regardless of what was played before. There is a signifcant amount of risk, but I don't think it outweighs the gain. You play this turn 5 and odds are turn 6 your opponent is dead as soon as you untap. 2) While not printed in MTG yet, this seems to be a card idea I've seen a lot on the boards. Your version is very narrow and hard to execute all while on a sorcery that does nothing else. It would feel better if it did something to aid its goal like Approach of the Second Sun.
Cardz5000: 1) Form of the sprite again has a good flavor concept here and plays the tricky fairy concept well. The suite of abilities it has are very powerful, but I'm not sure its worth the risk of goign to 1 life against most decks. It feels like a casual card, which isn't automatically a bad thing, but I think it lacks appeal in the catagory too. The discard effect is nice, but the other effects make it a little too uninteractive. This card sits firmiliar between form of the squirrel and form of the dragon in ideas. 2) making your card a conspiracy technically fits the black bordered challenge, but I think isn't in the spirit of it. The win condition on this card has been done in black border though, so its not really far fetched. The name is too real world/unglued, especially for black border.
FreshMeat: 1) I think everyone nailed the flavor/narrative on their form enchantments, and yours certainly ties in well there too. Tying this card to you life total is interesting, pulling the card into ways to circumvent it as an enchantment as well as a way to abuse it. However, I feel it's undercosted. For 6 mana, i get to tap out my opponent lands every turn in a phase where floating mana doesn't matter. That's too good. Resolving this against many decks would be game over with no counterplayer. If it was simply nonland permanents I think this would be a balanced card. 2) This card would of been a lot simpler if it wanted to match hand to hand and graveyard to graveyard instead of intermixing the two. The idea of caring about a teammate makes it a neat casual format card. I think it's a fair card too with a good narrative concept. Soul linking with someone does make me want to match life totals.
This was a tough one to sort, as I think each entry had solid ideas and points of merit in spite of the tone of my critiques. However,
my top 3 is:
I'm not feeling a "Form of the" card here, apart from setting your life total there's no mechanical link between the abilities, it's purely thematic to the point that it feels a little ham-fisted.
An interesting punisher design, my mind immediately starts thinking of ways to break it but I think most of its play would be in Commander. Biggest criticism is that 4 cards seems like too many, but it seems like too many both as a draw back and an upside, so it's probably just right.
I love this card from a flavor perspective, although I would've changed the name when I changed the colors, as a purely BW card being themed after Karona is a little jarring. I worry that it would lead to unfun gameplay as it demands an immediate removal spell from the opponent for them to not just lose while also encouraging the person who cast it to stop playing the game and do nothing but tap their clerics.
This is way too much work for a 7 mana sorcery, even if it wins you the game, I can't imagine any game where I manage to sculpt the perfect hand while also not just dying.
I like Form of the Sprite, it creates such a delicate balance of gameplay where you could die at any moment. My only complaint is that it only sets your life total once when it enters and if you can gain a bit of life you're suddenly miles ahead.
Five-Finger Discount is interesting, it encourages you to warp your draft if you get it early but I think that I'd probably pass it even if I opened it in pack 1 as there's too much chance of it just being a dead card. Even if you do manage to draft 5 copies of the same card, getting all 5 of them in play at once will almost never happen.
Form of the Sprite3UU
Enchantment {R}
When Form of the Sprite enters the battlefield your life total becomes 1. U, Discard a card: You may choose new targets for target spell or ability that targets you.
No more than one creature can attack you each combat.
Creatures without flying can’t attack you.
I like the feel of it. You become small but a master of mischief and trickery. This card is a challanging one, it locks hard your opponents but at the same time, it makes you vulnerable. It is fun and printable.
Five-Finger Discount
Conspiracy {R}
Hidden agenda (Start the game with this conspiracy face down in the command zone and secretly name a card. You may turn this conspiracy face up any time and reveal the chosen name.)
At the beginning of each end step, if you control more than five copies of the named card, and the named card isn’t a basic land, you win the game.
There is a card in Unstable with this name and I don't get the flavor of this one. The challange is really interesting and making it Hidden agenda is pretty creative.
Form of the Octopus3UUU
Enchantment (R)
When Form of the Octopus enters the battlefield, your life total becomes 8.
At the beginning of each opponent's upkeep, tap up to X target permanents that player controls, where X is your life total.
Funny, the first thing that jumped into my mind when I read the challange was "Form of Octopus" and it had abilities very similar to yours The card itself does exacly what you expect it to do, and all the "eights" in it makes it very elegant.
Soul-Link Mirror6
Artifact (M)
At the beginning of your end step, if you have the same number of cards in your hand as a teammate has in their graveyard and the same number of cards in your graveyard as a teammate has in their hand, you win the game. T: Exile target card from a graveyard. T: Target player puts the top card of their library into their graveyard. Opposites attract.
Wow this card is confusing as all hell, but the abilities makes sense. You slowly grind with it and manipulate graveyards and hands until the goals are achieved. Looks fun in commander.
[quote from="IcariiFA »" url="/forums/magic-fundamentals/custom-card-creation/custom-card-contests-and-games/789627-ccl-round-4-the-golden-ass?comment=2"]Form of the Eldrazi8CC
Legendary Enchantment (M)
When you cast Form of the Eldrazi, take an extra turn after this one.
When Form of the Eldrazi enters the battlefield, your life total becomes 15 and you draw 4 cards.
At the beginning of your upkeep, destroy target permanent.
Wow I'm in love. You become all the big Eldrazis! This card is so powerful but it is not broken, and also it is so flavorful and fun. I want it in so many of my commanders and it really evokes the "I'm the archenemy now" feel. Good job!
Indecision Instiller2UU
Creature - Spirit (M)
Flying
Whenever Indecision Instiller deals combat damage to a player, that player draws 4 cards.
At the beginning of your upkeep, each opponent whose life total is less than the number of cards in his or her hand loses the game.
4/4
Well, that's somthing else. A Indecision Instiller indeed. It makes a fun mini-game with your opponents and that's awesome. I like it alot.
FreshMeat: I really want Form of the Octopus to cost 8, and if its not going to be restricted to non-land cards it probably should honestly. Soul-Link Mirror is kind of funny because in addition to giving you an alternate target to aim for, it also gives you some nice tools that can be used to disrupt some niche combos your opponents might be trying to pull off, which is probably good for a 6 mana artifact.
netn10: False God immediately drags my mind to Korona, but this card doesn't make me feel like korona. I'm also not a fan of immediately being able to negate most of the risk of going to 0 by gaining 5 life. Straight Hand flavor-wise makes sense in red, but is probably one of the worst colors to try to actually put this together in (white is probably the only worse color.)
IcariiFA: Form of the Eldrazi feels off to me, mostly because half the card just feels like a sorcery, mechanically, I wish this had some other way of making you feel big. Indecision Instiller feels hilarious to me, I want to strap an Assault Suit on it and unleash it on a multiplayer game. I could easly see this becoming a staple in most blue EDH decks.
art by Carl Critchlow
February CCL 2018 Round 4 - The Golden Ass
Welcome to the Card Creation League! This Round is for the Top 4 Only. Feel free to watch and comment in the CCL Discussion thread!
Our Top 4:
Cardz5000
netn10
FreshMeat
IcariiFA
Theme
This month we'll be unleashing our imaginations to make the familiar unfamiliar, the old new, the antiquated fresh. In the spirt of Apuleius, in this round we'll be exploring ways to allow players to take on a new form and play the game in unconventional ways.
Challenge
PLEASE NOTE: This month will continue the use of the "Mandatory Top 3 Rule." For this month, you must submit a Top 3 during a round's critique period in order to receive any points for the round. Submitting critiques as well will be worth 2 bonus points in the round.
Schedule
Legendary Enchantment (M)
When you cast Form of the Eldrazi, take an extra turn after this one.
When Form of the Eldrazi enters the battlefield, your life total becomes 15 and you draw 4 cards.
At the beginning of your upkeep, destroy target permanent.
Indecision Instiller 2UU
Creature - Spirit (M)
Flying
Whenever Indecision Instiller deals combat damage to a player, that player draws 4 cards.
At the beginning of your upkeep, each opponent whose life total is less than the number of cards in his or her hand loses the game.
4/4
Enchantment (Mythic)
When Form of the False God enters the battlefield, create five 1/1 white and black Cleric creature tokens and your life total becomes 0.
As long as you control a Cleric, you can't lose the game and your opponents can't win the game.
Tap five untapped Clerics you control: Target player loses 5 life and you gain 5 life.
Straight Hand 5RR
Sorcery (Mythic)
Reveal your hand. If you have exactly seven cards in your hand of each converted mana cost from 0 to 6, you win the game.
Suddenly, the gambling hall fell silent. The Mahamoti Djinn lost to a poor-looking human with no name. The djinn was compelled to bestow that human a name - Fast-Hand, the Great Trickster
Enchantment {R}
When Form of the Sprite enters the battlefield your life total becomes 1.
U, Discard a card: You may choose new targets for target spell or ability that targets you.
No more than one creature can attack you each combat.
Creatures without flying can’t attack you.
Five-Finger Discount
Conspiracy {R}
Hidden agenda (Start the game with this conspiracy face down in the command zone and secretly name a card. You may turn this conspiracy face up any time and reveal the chosen name.)
At the beginning of each end step, if you control more than five copies of the named card, and the named card isn’t a basic land, you win the game.
Enchantment (R)
When Form of the Octopus enters the battlefield, your life total becomes 8.
At the beginning of each opponent's upkeep, tap up to X target permanents that player controls, where X is your life total.
Soul-Link Mirror 6
Artifact (M)
At the beginning of your end step, if you have the same number of cards in your hand as a teammate has in their graveyard and the same number of cards in your graveyard as a teammate has in their hand, you win the game.
T: Exile target card from a graveyard.
T: Target player puts the top card of their library into their graveyard.
Opposites attract.
EDIT: Minor edit to fix a wording mix-up with kjsharp's permission
Cardz5000: 1) Form of the sprite again has a good flavor concept here and plays the tricky fairy concept well. The suite of abilities it has are very powerful, but I'm not sure its worth the risk of goign to 1 life against most decks. It feels like a casual card, which isn't automatically a bad thing, but I think it lacks appeal in the catagory too. The discard effect is nice, but the other effects make it a little too uninteractive. This card sits firmiliar between form of the squirrel and form of the dragon in ideas. 2) making your card a conspiracy technically fits the black bordered challenge, but I think isn't in the spirit of it. The win condition on this card has been done in black border though, so its not really far fetched. The name is too real world/unglued, especially for black border.
FreshMeat: 1) I think everyone nailed the flavor/narrative on their form enchantments, and yours certainly ties in well there too. Tying this card to you life total is interesting, pulling the card into ways to circumvent it as an enchantment as well as a way to abuse it. However, I feel it's undercosted. For 6 mana, i get to tap out my opponent lands every turn in a phase where floating mana doesn't matter. That's too good. Resolving this against many decks would be game over with no counterplayer. If it was simply nonland permanents I think this would be a balanced card. 2) This card would of been a lot simpler if it wanted to match hand to hand and graveyard to graveyard instead of intermixing the two. The idea of caring about a teammate makes it a neat casual format card. I think it's a fair card too with a good narrative concept. Soul linking with someone does make me want to match life totals.
my top 3 is:
1st: netn10
2nd: FreshMeat
3rd: Cardz5000
An interesting punisher design, my mind immediately starts thinking of ways to break it but I think most of its play would be in Commander. Biggest criticism is that 4 cards seems like too many, but it seems like too many both as a draw back and an upside, so it's probably just right.
This is way too much work for a 7 mana sorcery, even if it wins you the game, I can't imagine any game where I manage to sculpt the perfect hand while also not just dying.
Five-Finger Discount is interesting, it encourages you to warp your draft if you get it early but I think that I'd probably pass it even if I opened it in pack 1 as there's too much chance of it just being a dead card. Even if you do manage to draft 5 copies of the same card, getting all 5 of them in play at once will almost never happen.
2. IcariiFA
3. netn10
Well, that's somthing else. A Indecision Instiller indeed. It makes a fun mini-game with your opponents and that's awesome. I like it alot.
1st: IcariiFA
2nd: FreshMeat
3rd: Cardz5000
FreshMeat: I really want Form of the Octopus to cost 8, and if its not going to be restricted to non-land cards it probably should honestly. Soul-Link Mirror is kind of funny because in addition to giving you an alternate target to aim for, it also gives you some nice tools that can be used to disrupt some niche combos your opponents might be trying to pull off, which is probably good for a 6 mana artifact.
netn10: False God immediately drags my mind to Korona, but this card doesn't make me feel like korona. I'm also not a fan of immediately being able to negate most of the risk of going to 0 by gaining 5 life. Straight Hand flavor-wise makes sense in red, but is probably one of the worst colors to try to actually put this together in (white is probably the only worse color.)
IcariiFA: Form of the Eldrazi feels off to me, mostly because half the card just feels like a sorcery, mechanically, I wish this had some other way of making you feel big. Indecision Instiller feels hilarious to me, I want to strap an Assault Suit on it and unleash it on a multiplayer game. I could easly see this becoming a staple in most blue EDH decks.
1: FreshMeat
2: IcariiFA
3: netn10
Our two finalists are FreshMeat and IcariiFA. Goodluck to you both, and I hope y'all enjoy the final round.