Fireball, taken from magicthegathering.com, by Dave Dorman and Wizards of the Coast
Welcome to the Card Creation League! Everyone is free to participate in either or both of the first two rounds. Come join us!
Theme
This month will be a loving tribute to the most important BBcode tags in this forum: the venerable [mana][/mana] tag.
Challenge
Design a card with X in its mana cost.
Make sure to include a rarity.
PLEASE NOTE: This month will NO LONGER use the "mandatory top 3" rule. Critiques and top 3s will each be worth one bonus point per round but it will be possible to score points and advance even without submitting a top 3. This will also be done on a trial basis; future months may once again require top 3s from contestants.
Anyone can enter this first round! Your submissions are due Friday, July 5th, 23:59 EST.
Schedule
Round 1 — Open to Everyone (July 1st-5th)
Round 2 — Open to Everyone (July 6th–10th)
Rounds 1 and 2 Critiques (Due July 13th)
Top 6 — Open to top 6 finishers (July 14th–17th)
Top 6 Critiques (Due July 20th)
Final (End of month, winner determined by public poll)
IMPORTANT NOTE: This will be a shortened CCL month as it is - now for sure - the last one that will be officially supported on MTGSalvation. For that reason, deadlines will be strictly enforced, aiming to be absolutely finished before 7/31. MTGNexus is complete and will open to public in mid-July. As of August, the home of the CCL will be MTGNexus.
Ok, for the last one I'll be back here as well after a nine-month hiatus from the CCL. One of the few good things about being unemployed again: I have all the free time I need to host one contest and participate in the other two. The last month on MTGS deserves that.
Hakolp, Woods AwakenedXGUR
Legendary Creature — Elemental Hydra (M)
Hakolp, Woods Awakened enters the battlefield with twice X +1/+1 counters on it. 1, Remove a +1/+1 counter from Hakolp: It gets your choice of flying, haste, or trample until end of turn.
Whenever Hakolp deals combat damage to an opponent, put two +1/+1 counters on it. A water body, air wings, tree trunks as necks, and mountain peaks as teeth.
0/0
MCC - Winner (6): Oct 2014, Apr Nov 2017, Jan 2018, Apr Jun 2019 || Host (15): Dec 2014, Apr Jul Aug Dec 2015, Mar Jul Aug Oct 2016, Feb Jul 2017, Jun Nov 2018, Feb Jul 2019 (last one here) || Judge (34): every month from Nov 2014 to Nov 2016 except Oct 2015, every month from Feb to Jul 2017 except Apr 2017, then Oct 2017, May Jun Nov 2018, Feb Jul 2019 (last one here) CCL - Winner (3): Jul 2016 (tied with Flatline), May 2017, Jul 2019 (last one here) || Host (5): Feb 2015, Mar Apr May Jun 2016 DCC - Winner (1): Mar 2015 (tied with Piar) || Host (3): May Oct 2015, Jan 2016
• The two public custom sets I've been part a part of the design team for: "Brotherhood of Ormos" - Blog post with all info - set thread - design skeleton / card list || "Extinctia: Homo Evanuit" - Blog post with all info - set thread - card list spreadsheet
• "The Lion's Lair", my article series about MTG and custom card design in particular. Latest article here. Here is the article index.Rather outdated by now, and based on the old MCC rubric, but I'm leaving this here for anybody that might be interested anyway.
• My only public attempt at being a writer: the story of my Leonin custom planeswalker Jeff Lionheart. (I have a very big one that I'm working on right now but that's private for now, and I don't know if I will ever actually publish it, and I also have ideas for multiple future ones, including one where I'm going to reprise Jeff.)
Infiltrated RebellionXUR
Sorcery (MR)
Target opponent creates X 1/1 red and blue Rogue creature tokens named Embedded Agent with "This creature attacks each turn if able." and "Whenever this creature deals combat damage to an opponent, that opponent draws a card." Every great leader has to face resistance. The wise makes sure that the control that resistance even more strongly than they control their own empire.
Azologtep, Who ConsumesXXBBB
Legendary Creature - Demon (M)
Flying, trample
Devour X
When you cast Azologtep, each opponent sacrifices X creatures. It enters the battlefield with an additional +1/+1 counter on it for each creature sacrificed this way.
1/0
Familiar FacesXXUUBB
Sorcery (Rare)
Choose X target creatures you control from your graveyard and/or from the battlefield, then create a token that's a copy of each of them.
Increasing TerrorXBR
Sorcery (Rare)
Target opponent discards X cards. If Increasing Terror was cast from a graveyard, repeat this process for each other opponent. Increasing Terror deals damage to each player who discarded a card this way equal to the greatest converted mana cost among those cards.
Flashback XXBR
Spontaneous RevelationX(U/R)(U/R)(U/R)
Instant R
Draw twice X cards, then discard X cards at random. "The answer came to me in an instant. Like a lightning strike in the dead of night, all the details thrown into sharp contrast for a single heartbeat."
—Academy Director Royan Shole
Earthquake Ariser X(R/G)
Creature--Hellion Hydra (Rare)
As an additional cost to cast this spell, sacrifice a land
Earthquake Ariser enters the battlefield with X +1/+1 counters on it
Whenever Earthquake Ariser deals combat damage to a player, you may activate activated abilities of land cards in your graveyard as though they were on the battlefield that many times this turn. Exile those land cards instead of paying T in those abilities' costs in this way
0/0
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你好 have you eaten?
I'm a simple Magic player since 1 year ago from China. Now I live in New Jersey.
Hollowing ShoalXCC
Instant - Arcane (R)
You may exile a colorless card with converted mana cost X from your hand rather than pay this spell’s mana cost.
Exile target nonland permanent with converted mana cost X.
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May your games be chaotic and your decks be Rogue.
bravelion83: Hydra mana sink that has trouble getting incrementally bigger.
Jimmy Groove: So you want an opponent to hit you so you can draw cards? Why are you giving an opponent an army that has to attack you?
IcariiFA: Devour X is undefined here. It isn't implicitly tied to the casting cost. With Thromok the Insatiable, the value of X is only defined after you choose how many creatures to sacrifice. For the casting cost, this feels incredibly underwhelming.
netn10: On the battlefield, they are creatures. In the graveyard, they are creature cards. Expensive token generation otherwise that needs 8+ mana to be worthwhile.
Subject16: I understand where this card was trying to go, but the wording is a mess. With the CMC matters aspect to the pain, this seems like it could be a signature spell for Kaervek.
Mr. Rithaniel: The first value for X where I'm not finding this to be worth the casting cost is 5, where I'm drawing ten and pitching five at random for 8 mana. 8 mana to net 5 is where it starts to find value. It needs to drop a colored mana to be con
Top 3
3. Mr. Rithaniel
2. bravelion83
1. Subject16
Infiltrated RebellionXUR
Sorcery (MR)
Target opponent creates X 1/1 red and blue Rogue creature tokens named Embedded Agent with "This creature attacks each turn if able." and "Whenever this creature deals combat damage to an opponent, that opponent draws a card." Every great leader has to face resistance. The wise makes sure that the control that resistance even more strongly than they control their own empire.
I like the flavor text very much, but there is a typo in it: "The wise make sure that they control...", and I also think that the first period shouldn't be there in the rules text. As for the card itself, it's very complicated but at least it does work as intended. This is certainly supposed to be a mythic.
Azologtep, Who ConsumesXXBBB
Legendary Creature - Demon (M)
Flying, trample
Devour X
When you cast Azologtep, each opponent sacrifices X creatures. It enters the battlefield with an additional +1/+1 counter on it for each creature sacrificed this way.
1/0
At the very least, reminder text is required for devour, as any non-evergreen keyword, even though on a mythic you can leave it off if there's no room, but MSE shows me there is room here, so it should have it. I also have a few doubts whether this actually works as intended in the rules. With devour not being a triggered ability, but an "as this enters" ability (that is, a static ability that modifies how this enters the battlefield), the value of X you declare when you cast this might actually be seen by devour, even though I'm not sure, I'd need to check the order of the various steps of casting a spell in the CR. What I know is that if devour actually was a triggered ability, it wouldn't work. In those cases, specific rules exception as needed (see Polukranos, World Eater and monstrosity for example).
Oh, I hadn't read the triggered ability yet. That is a perfect example of the value of X not passing from the mana cost to a triggered ETB ability. As written, this doesn't work in the rules. It would be easy enough to tweak it to work, but as is it doesn't. I'm sorry.
Familiar FacesXXUUBB
Sorcery (Rare)
Choose X target creatures you control from your graveyard and/or from the battlefield, then create a token that's a copy of each of them.
I like the effect but I'm almost certain that the wording is wrong: something like "...then, for each of them, create a token that's a copy of it" would very probably be much closer to how this would be if it were printed for real. I have nothing else to say about this card, but I will admit that I would have liked to see some flavor text. There's plenty of room for it here.
Increasing TerrorXBR
Sorcery (Rare)
Target opponent discards X cards. If Increasing Terror was cast from a graveyard, repeat this process for each other opponent. Increasing Terror deals damage to each player who discarded a card this way equal to the greatest converted mana cost among those cards.
Flashback XXBR
Overall, I like this enough, and the piggybacking on the Increasing cycle from Innistrad works very well, but I do have a couple remarks. First, a rules doubt: I hope that repeating the process doesn't interfere with targeting rules, I'd need to check the CR. Second, an ambiguity in the text: if you're flashing this back, so you're making all opponents discard, do I look for the greatest CMC among all cards discarded and then all opponents take that same amount of damage, or do I check for each player singularly the greatest CMC among the cards that were specifically discarded by them? Does "among these cards" at the end refer to all discarded cards regardless of their owner (so the answer is the former) or to each player singularly (so the answer is the latter)? With the wording you used it's not clear. Still, there are cards with worse problems or that I like less in my bracket, so you might end up in the top 3 anyway.
Spontaneous RevelationX(U/R)(U/R)(U/R)
Instant R
Draw twice X cards, then discard X cards at random. "The answer came to me in an instant. Like a lightning strike in the dead of night, all the details thrown into sharp contrast for a single heartbeat."
—Academy Director Royan Shole
There's nothing wrong about this card design-wise or flavor-wise, but it's just not my style of card as a player, for just one reason: the words "at random" being there. I would never play it just for that reason. But as Maro often reminds us, if I don't like this kind of cards, it just means it's not for me. I'm sure there will certainly be people who like this effect. I'm just not among those people.
Earthquake Ariser X(R/G)
Creature--Hellion Hydra (Rare)
As an additional cost to cast this spell, sacrifice a land
Earthquake Ariser enters the battlefield with X +1/+1 counters on it
Whenever Earthquake Ariser deals combat damage to a player, you may activate activated abilities of land cards in your graveyard as though they were on the battlefield that many times this turn. Exile those land cards instead of paying T in those abilities' costs in this way
0/0
There is a reason why I advised you to keep an eye on the formatting of your cards yesterday in the DCC. If we were in the MCC, this would just get a full zero in Quality. Name not bolded, double line in the type line (I understand that you wanted to represent an em dash, but you can just make one in several ways if you're in Windows, I'm sure there are ways in other OS's too, and if you use MSE it automatically uses it when you export the card as a text card for MTGS, that's what I do all the time with all my cards in all the contests I'm in, included Hapolk here), three periods missing at the end of each ability, and I'm also not sure about the wording of the last ability. Anyway, even if all those Quality mistakes were fixed, this card would still be just too complicated for my taste, again, especially because of the last ability. I'm sorry.
Top 3
1st place: netn10
2nd place: Jimmy Groove
3rd place: Subject16
MCC - Winner (6): Oct 2014, Apr Nov 2017, Jan 2018, Apr Jun 2019 || Host (15): Dec 2014, Apr Jul Aug Dec 2015, Mar Jul Aug Oct 2016, Feb Jul 2017, Jun Nov 2018, Feb Jul 2019 (last one here) || Judge (34): every month from Nov 2014 to Nov 2016 except Oct 2015, every month from Feb to Jul 2017 except Apr 2017, then Oct 2017, May Jun Nov 2018, Feb Jul 2019 (last one here) CCL - Winner (3): Jul 2016 (tied with Flatline), May 2017, Jul 2019 (last one here) || Host (5): Feb 2015, Mar Apr May Jun 2016 DCC - Winner (1): Mar 2015 (tied with Piar) || Host (3): May Oct 2015, Jan 2016
• The two public custom sets I've been part a part of the design team for: "Brotherhood of Ormos" - Blog post with all info - set thread - design skeleton / card list || "Extinctia: Homo Evanuit" - Blog post with all info - set thread - card list spreadsheet
• "The Lion's Lair", my article series about MTG and custom card design in particular. Latest article here. Here is the article index.Rather outdated by now, and based on the old MCC rubric, but I'm leaving this here for anybody that might be interested anyway.
• My only public attempt at being a writer: the story of my Leonin custom planeswalker Jeff Lionheart. (I have a very big one that I'm working on right now but that's private for now, and I don't know if I will ever actually publish it, and I also have ideas for multiple future ones, including one where I'm going to reprise Jeff.)
Eventide Sojourner- nice addition to the shoal cycle however at instant this effect feels way too powerful to be free
bravelion83- Wow twice X and adding two counters per hit? Gets really big I like that and I wanna give it double strike lol
Jimmy Groove- Seems pretty risky considering the tokens can easily be sacrificed and useless if you have a planeswalker out. but actually playing with it seems really cool like a game of "chicken"
IcariiFA- The math of finding x for the final number of +1/+1 counters seems pretty confusing. but the card is actually really cool and feels like a totally destructive demon
netn10- not sure if this is too weak or too strong haha. seems like a total dimir trick
Subject16- I liked the increasing cycle but don't like this too much, too multiplayer focused imo and the wording feels confusing
1 icarii
2 jimmy groove
3 bravelion
Private Mod Note
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你好 have you eaten?
I'm a simple Magic player since 1 year ago from China. Now I live in New Jersey.
Concept (1/2): So, I believe the idea behind this is that Hakolp is an elemental which takes the form of an immense hydra? That is what I get from the type line, colors, and flavor text, at least. The title "Woods Awakened" throws me off a little bit, however. Is Hakolp more of a giant wood elemental or a mixture of different elements? Could be a little bit more cohesive. (Also, the mental image of a head containing mountain ranges for teeth being supported by a tiny tree trunk made me laugh a little.)
Design (1/2): I like the power to cost ratios you've establish. Four mana for a 2/2, five mana for a 4/4, six mana for a 6/6, etcetera. The only cost where you might argue that it's power and toughness are too low is when it would be a 2/2 for four mana. Aside from that, all potential cost-to-power-and-toughness ratios seem to be on-point. However, overall, I believe this design is underpowered. The culprit of that is the cost of 1 in the activated ability. Compare to Falkenrath Marauders, a disposable rare from Innistrad. For Hakolp to be a 2/2 with flying and haste the turn it hits the field, it would cost 4GUR overall. Granted, Hakolp can come into play even bigger, but that costs even more mana. If there wasn't a mana cost in the activated ability, it could be much more versitile. As is, Hakolp doesn't strike me as a very powerful creature. It's also not the weakest creature, of course, so there's some saving grace there.
Execution (0/2): "It gets" should be "Hakolp gains." Also, this doesn't feel like a super-impressive mythic, to me. The flavor is there, in a nebulous form, but the mechanics don't really speak to the power of this incredibly awesome, giant, hydra-elemental creature. Like, why does it have to sacrifice it's strength to fly or to trample? Why are we using that particular list of keywords?
Overall: 2/6
Concept (2/2): An extension of the shoal cycle from Betrayers? That's a cool concept. I assume the flavor here is that the eldrazi have begun to invade Kamigawa and they're destroying the world of the kami first, leading to even more bizarre spirits than what is normal on Kamigawa. If that was your intention, it's executed quite well with only context clues (judging from the fact that I picked up on it). I'll give credit for it even though I can't confirm that was the real intention.
Design (2/2): The closest card to this design is Disrupting Shoal, for sure. Comparing pros and cons: The two biggest pros I can think of are, first, that Hollowing Shoal can deal with nonland permanents after they've resolved, so it can be more useful as a top deck, and, second, that it exiles when Disrupting just counters. The cons are that Hollowing can't do anything in regards to instant and sorceries, and, also, it will likely be more difficult to cast for it's alternate cost that Disrupting, because colorless cards are fewer and farther between. So, in light of this, I think this design's balance is right on par with that of Disrupting, which I think makes it just right.
Execution (1/2): The mechanics make sense and work well with the flavor that I have inferred from the design. The only thing that I can't say for sure is whether the flavor I have inferred is actually the intended flavor. That gap could be bridged by a slightly different name, perhaps, such as "Oblivating Shoal" or "Deadening Shoal." It could also be bridged by flavor text.
Overall: 5/6
Concept (1/2): Alright, this is pretty clear. It's a big demon who eats anything and everything that there is to eat, and who grows big and terrifying in the process. It's a concept that is conveyed well with the card. I feel like I've seen this before, however. Demon of Death's Gate and Feaster of Fools come to mind as examples.
Design (1/2): So, there are a few gauges that can be turned on this card. Though, devour always makes things difficult to predict, seeing as even devour 1 can provide you with a giant creature, assuming you have the correct board state to fuel the ability. That being said, devour 3 is better than devour 2, and I think your costing of "two mana for +1 to the devour ability" is appropriate. The ability which makes opponents sacrifice creatures, meanwhile, is the main appeal of the card. Being able to thin out the opponents side of the board while growing your own creature larger is something a player would naturally want. I personally think that the ability is overcosted, though. I mean, for nine mana, I don't want to get only three creatures and a 4/3. For five mana I don't want to get one creature and a 2/1. How you rebalance the ability, I don't know. Granted, this changes in multiplayer, but that's an entirely different can of worms to consider. However, one last detail to consider is that, without creatures for this guy to eat, he's a dead card to draw. He would have benefited from having higher base power and toughness.
Execution (1/2): The fact that devour and this guy's other ability work in wildly different ways make it potentially difficult to understand the card at a glance, or difficult to explain to another player. Also, the power and toughness of 1/0 isn't a good look. Not many creatures have 0 toughness and greater than 0 power at the same time. Also, the +1/+0 doesn't really improve the card all that much. Though, all the abilities do work well together to convey the flavor of the card.
Overall: 3/6
Concept (2/2): A card that makes legitimate sleeper agents. That is a very cool idea. I can't think of any cards that do things quite like this. There are cards like Akroan Horse or Jinxed Idol, but none flavored around the idea of controlling a rebellion from the inside. The mechanics are also fairly unique, with the only card with even remotely the same kind of game impact being Humble Defector, as far as I know.
Design (0/2): So, this effect boils down into a sorcery which generates X Phyrexian Arenas which your opponents can make decisions about. On top of this, you can potentially block or destroy the 1/1 Rogues so that you don't have to take the 1 damage on a particular turn. Obviously, this is a massively powerful effect, as you can pay five mana and get to draw three cards each turn for the rest of the game. There is a bit of additional downside, in that your opponent could use the creatures for other purposes, but not many decks are going to be able to take great advantage of a generic 1/1 at a moment's notice. So, that downside isn't as large as it could be. Now, if these Rogues were 2/2s or 2/1s, it'd be a different matter, but as it is, I think this card is far too powerful.
Execution (2/2): Everything on the card comes together to express the concept very well. I like the added touch of giving the tokens a name. It's a nice thing to differentiate them from normal Rogues. Moving on, the card is powerful enough to feel mythic and is on-color. Perhaps the name could use a little work, to make it slightly more clear or "punchy," but that's a minor issue, if it's an issue at all. Really, this is a very well-executed card.
Overall: 4/6
Concept (1/2): So, this is meant to be a hydra where each individual head is a hellion? Kind of like Ulasht, the Hate Seed? Also, since it's name mentions earthquakes and has multiple abilities dealing with lands, I am getting a sense that this is meant to be a creature which causes massive tectonic upheaval as it moves through the world. If that's the case, then yeah, the flavor comes through, but it takes a bit of thought to piece it together, for me, at least. On the mechanics side, I don't think I've ever seen a card that has quite these abilities, so credit for that.
Design (1/2): This feels underpowered. Compare to Mistcutter Hydra, which comes into play with X counters and then has three strictly positive abilities on top of that. This costs a hybrid mana, which is a benefit, to be sure, but also requires a land to be sacrificed, and then it has a second ability which I would describe as "neutral" in terms of power (It triggers on combat damage, which is a decent hoop to jump through, and, after that trigger, in my opinion, it has a completely fair cost-to-benefit balance). Honestly, I'd probably put this card as being on-par with Ivy Elemental more than anything. Perhaps the added complexity of the second ability makes it worthy of the uncommon rarity, even, though I wouldn't put it at rare.
Execution (0/2): So, I'm not sure about the motivation for the "sacrifice a land" cost. Was that to fuel the ability which triggers on combat damage? If so, then the benefit isn't too amazing, and it'd be fine to remove that line. Also, the combat damage ability is very awkwardly worded (Not only that but it's a difficult ability to exactly parse). I personally think it would be better to write it as "Whenever Earthquake Ariser deals combat damage to a player, that many land cards in your graveyard gain 'Exile this card from your graveyard: Add one mana of any color.' until end of turn." Further, I'm not sure that the concept you had in mind for this card came together very well.
Overall: 2/6
Concept (1/2): Unfortunately, this is a fairly generic concept. A spell that allows you to make tokens that are copies of other creatures. Some flavor text or a more evocative name might have helped. Mechanically, this is unique enough, being the only card I've seen which can freely copy both creatures on the battlefield and creature cards in graveyards.
Design (2/2): I take it that this is mechanically inspired by Hour of Eternity. Comparing the two, I'd say that Familiar Faces is the stronger one. The three benefits this card has, in my opinion, out-balance the increased difficulty to cast. First, there is the obvious benefit that is the ability to make copies of creatures on the battlefield. Second, you have the ability to leave a copied creature card in the graveyard instead of exiling it. Third, you don't have to make the tokens be 4/4. So, I'd argue that Familiar Faces is a step above Hour of Eternity, being more on par with Mass Manipulation, as a result. This is actually good, as Hour of Eternity was a little underpowered. I think the balance of this card is right where it needs to be.
Execution (1/2): I believe that this should be worded as "Choose X target creatures or creature cards in graveyards. For each creature or creature card, create a token that's a copy of that creature or creature card." So, there is a point off for that. Beyond this, things look fine. Even if this is just a generic mirror world/necromancy spell, it is a well-executed mirror world/necromancy spell.
Mr. Rithaniel: This could be both very powerful but also very dangerous. In fact I feel the greater the mana investment the more risky this card becomes. You would have to fit it into a deck that can make use of cards in your graveyard, but I can see this being a fair card.
kwanyeegor: So this card is the lands equivalent of Past in Flames and it's very odd, especially with lands like Evolving Wilds that sacrifice themselves from the graveyard - would that not be possible then? - I like the idea behind it but you may need a different way to go about making it more functional.
Eventide Sojourner: I think it's interesting that you allowed this card to exile lands if you want to hit something with 0 cmc. And yet I think it's a good card that makes me think of the Blue Shoal in terms of power level.
bravelion83: This does quite a lot when you think about it. Being able to give itself trample makes connecting with an opponent all the more easy, and if you don't need to fly past your opponent then you're getting even bigger as time goes by. I think this sets itself ideally as a five mana 4/4 or a six mana 6/6. Any less than that and you're risking it dying before it gets big, and any bigger than that is worth keeping one mana up for haste instead. It's very powerful that's for sure.
Jimmy Groove: It's interesting to give creatures to your opponents as a way to draw cards for yourself. I'm not sure exactly what kind of deck would want to play this card, but I'd be interested to see what can be done with it.
IcariiFA: Now this does an interesting thing of devouring your opponent's creatures before devouring your own. After all, Devour is a "may sacrifice", meaning with enough mana this guy can just eat up all your opponent's creatures and then leave all yours to attack an empty board. This can also hurt people's brains with all the math it's doing, especially when you start devouring your own creatures too.
netn10: Could be a Mythic. Control wording feels weird when citing the graveyard. OVerall a very cool effect that seems costed right. Tokens get the johnny working overtime.
Subject16: Neat idea. Fiddly wording. May not of even needed the damage clause for elegance sake and stuck to mono black.
Mr. Rithaniel: This feels very authentic. Elegant and fresh.
kwanyeegor: Interesting combination of creature types, but the main meat of abilities there will have a lot of players scratching their heads. Could be simplified be removing the multi triggering at least.
Eventide Sojourner: Single target Celestial Kirin, the colorless(?) shoal! A neat idea to add to the cycle, but inadvertently(?) referencing another colored card while doing so kinda makes me feel this was the wrong design space for the ability. Probably to much utility to give any color access to any kind of destruction with alternate and colorless casting options. The Vorthos in me feels off on it too.
bravelion83: A lot of solid, well balanced abilities that makes a new-ish feeling hydra. People would enjoy playing this casually and it has spike potential too thanks to the haste. Modest on the exciting side. However, I think the only weak aspect is the flavor text.
1st: Mr. Rithaniel2
2nd: bravelion83
3rd: netn10
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“Weight on the Scales”
Fireball, taken from magicthegathering.com, by Dave Dorman and Wizards of the Coast
Theme
This month will be a loving tribute to the most important BBcode tags in this forum: the venerable [mana][/mana] tag.
Challenge
PLEASE NOTE: This month will NO LONGER use the "mandatory top 3" rule. Critiques and top 3s will each be worth one bonus point per round but it will be possible to score points and advance even without submitting a top 3. This will also be done on a trial basis; future months may once again require top 3s from contestants.
Schedule
IMPORTANT NOTE: This will be a shortened CCL month as it is - now for sure - the last one that will be officially supported on MTGSalvation. For that reason, deadlines will be strictly enforced, aiming to be absolutely finished before 7/31. MTGNexus is complete and will open to public in mid-July. As of August, the home of the CCL will be MTGNexus.
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝
Hakolp, Woods Awakened XGUR
Legendary Creature — Elemental Hydra (M)
Hakolp, Woods Awakened enters the battlefield with twice X +1/+1 counters on it.
1, Remove a +1/+1 counter from Hakolp: It gets your choice of flying, haste, or trample until end of turn.
Whenever Hakolp deals combat damage to an opponent, put two +1/+1 counters on it.
A water body, air wings, tree trunks as necks, and mountain peaks as teeth.
0/0
MCC - Winner (6): Oct 2014, Apr Nov 2017, Jan 2018, Apr Jun 2019 || Host (15): Dec 2014, Apr Jul Aug Dec 2015, Mar Jul Aug Oct 2016, Feb Jul 2017, Jun Nov 2018, Feb Jul 2019 (last one here) || Judge (34): every month from Nov 2014 to Nov 2016 except Oct 2015, every month from Feb to Jul 2017 except Apr 2017, then Oct 2017, May Jun Nov 2018, Feb Jul 2019 (last one here)
CCL - Winner (3): Jul 2016 (tied with Flatline), May 2017, Jul 2019 (last one here) || Host (5): Feb 2015, Mar Apr May Jun 2016
DCC - Winner (1): Mar 2015 (tied with Piar) || Host (3): May Oct 2015, Jan 2016
• The two public custom sets I've been part a part of the design team for:
"Brotherhood of Ormos" - Blog post with all info - set thread - design skeleton / card list || "Extinctia: Homo Evanuit" - Blog post with all info - set thread - card list spreadsheet
• "The Lion's Lair", my article series about MTG and custom card design in particular. Latest article here. Here is the article index. Rather outdated by now, and based on the old MCC rubric, but I'm leaving this here for anybody that might be interested anyway.
• My only public attempt at being a writer: the story of my Leonin custom planeswalker Jeff Lionheart. (I have a very big one that I'm working on right now but that's private for now, and I don't know if I will ever actually publish it, and I also have ideas for multiple future ones, including one where I'm going to reprise Jeff.)
Sorcery (MR)
Target opponent creates X 1/1 red and blue Rogue creature tokens named Embedded Agent with "This creature attacks each turn if able." and "Whenever this creature deals combat damage to an opponent, that opponent draws a card."
Every great leader has to face resistance. The wise makes sure that the control that resistance even more strongly than they control their own empire.
Legendary Creature - Demon (M)
Flying, trample
Devour X
When you cast Azologtep, each opponent sacrifices X creatures. It enters the battlefield with an additional +1/+1 counter on it for each creature sacrificed this way.
1/0
Sorcery (Rare)
Choose X target creatures you control from your graveyard and/or from the battlefield, then create a token that's a copy of each of them.
Sorcery (Rare)
Target opponent discards X cards. If Increasing Terror was cast from a graveyard, repeat this process for each other opponent. Increasing Terror deals damage to each player who discarded a card this way equal to the greatest converted mana cost among those cards.
Flashback XXBR
Instant R
Draw twice X cards, then discard X cards at random.
"The answer came to me in an instant. Like a lightning strike in the dead of night, all the details thrown into sharp contrast for a single heartbeat."
—Academy Director Royan Shole
Creature--Hellion Hydra (Rare)
As an additional cost to cast this spell, sacrifice a land
Earthquake Ariser enters the battlefield with X +1/+1 counters on it
Whenever Earthquake Ariser deals combat damage to a player, you may activate activated abilities of land cards in your graveyard as though they were on the battlefield that many times this turn. Exile those land cards instead of paying T in those abilities' costs in this way
0/0
I'm a simple Magic player since 1 year ago from China. Now I live in New Jersey.
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝
Instant - Arcane (R)
You may exile a colorless card with converted mana cost X from your hand rather than pay this spell’s mana cost.
Exile target nonland permanent with converted mana cost X.
bravelion83
Jimmy Groove
IcariiFA
netn10
Subject16
Mr. Rithaniel
kwanyeegor
Eventide Sojourner
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝
Jimmy Groove: So you want an opponent to hit you so you can draw cards? Why are you giving an opponent an army that has to attack you?
IcariiFA: Devour X is undefined here. It isn't implicitly tied to the casting cost. With Thromok the Insatiable, the value of X is only defined after you choose how many creatures to sacrifice. For the casting cost, this feels incredibly underwhelming.
netn10: On the battlefield, they are creatures. In the graveyard, they are creature cards. Expensive token generation otherwise that needs 8+ mana to be worthwhile.
Subject16: I understand where this card was trying to go, but the wording is a mess. With the CMC matters aspect to the pain, this seems like it could be a signature spell for Kaervek.
Mr. Rithaniel: The first value for X where I'm not finding this to be worth the casting cost is 5, where I'm drawing ten and pitching five at random for 8 mana. 8 mana to net 5 is where it starts to find value. It needs to drop a colored mana to be con
Top 3
3. Mr. Rithaniel
2. bravelion83
1. Subject16
Sorcery (MR)
Target opponent creates X 1/1 red and blue Rogue creature tokens named Embedded Agent with "This creature attacks each turn if able." and "Whenever this creature deals combat damage to an opponent, that opponent draws a card."
Every great leader has to face resistance. The wise makes sure that the control that resistance even more strongly than they control their own empire.
I like the flavor text very much, but there is a typo in it: "The wise make sure that they control...", and I also think that the first period shouldn't be there in the rules text. As for the card itself, it's very complicated but at least it does work as intended. This is certainly supposed to be a mythic.
Legendary Creature - Demon (M)
Flying, trample
Devour X
When you cast Azologtep, each opponent sacrifices X creatures. It enters the battlefield with an additional +1/+1 counter on it for each creature sacrificed this way.
1/0
At the very least, reminder text is required for devour, as any non-evergreen keyword, even though on a mythic you can leave it off if there's no room, but MSE shows me there is room here, so it should have it. I also have a few doubts whether this actually works as intended in the rules. With devour not being a triggered ability, but an "as this enters" ability (that is, a static ability that modifies how this enters the battlefield), the value of X you declare when you cast this might actually be seen by devour, even though I'm not sure, I'd need to check the order of the various steps of casting a spell in the CR. What I know is that if devour actually was a triggered ability, it wouldn't work. In those cases, specific rules exception as needed (see Polukranos, World Eater and monstrosity for example).
Oh, I hadn't read the triggered ability yet. That is a perfect example of the value of X not passing from the mana cost to a triggered ETB ability. As written, this doesn't work in the rules. It would be easy enough to tweak it to work, but as is it doesn't. I'm sorry.
Sorcery (Rare)
Choose X target creatures you control from your graveyard and/or from the battlefield, then create a token that's a copy of each of them.
I like the effect but I'm almost certain that the wording is wrong: something like "...then, for each of them, create a token that's a copy of it" would very probably be much closer to how this would be if it were printed for real. I have nothing else to say about this card, but I will admit that I would have liked to see some flavor text. There's plenty of room for it here.
Sorcery (Rare)
Target opponent discards X cards. If Increasing Terror was cast from a graveyard, repeat this process for each other opponent. Increasing Terror deals damage to each player who discarded a card this way equal to the greatest converted mana cost among those cards.
Flashback XXBR
Overall, I like this enough, and the piggybacking on the Increasing cycle from Innistrad works very well, but I do have a couple remarks. First, a rules doubt: I hope that repeating the process doesn't interfere with targeting rules, I'd need to check the CR. Second, an ambiguity in the text: if you're flashing this back, so you're making all opponents discard, do I look for the greatest CMC among all cards discarded and then all opponents take that same amount of damage, or do I check for each player singularly the greatest CMC among the cards that were specifically discarded by them? Does "among these cards" at the end refer to all discarded cards regardless of their owner (so the answer is the former) or to each player singularly (so the answer is the latter)? With the wording you used it's not clear. Still, there are cards with worse problems or that I like less in my bracket, so you might end up in the top 3 anyway.
Instant R
Draw twice X cards, then discard X cards at random.
"The answer came to me in an instant. Like a lightning strike in the dead of night, all the details thrown into sharp contrast for a single heartbeat."
—Academy Director Royan Shole
There's nothing wrong about this card design-wise or flavor-wise, but it's just not my style of card as a player, for just one reason: the words "at random" being there. I would never play it just for that reason. But as Maro often reminds us, if I don't like this kind of cards, it just means it's not for me. I'm sure there will certainly be people who like this effect. I'm just not among those people.
Creature--Hellion Hydra (Rare)
As an additional cost to cast this spell, sacrifice a land
Earthquake Ariser enters the battlefield with X +1/+1 counters on it
Whenever Earthquake Ariser deals combat damage to a player, you may activate activated abilities of land cards in your graveyard as though they were on the battlefield that many times this turn. Exile those land cards instead of paying T in those abilities' costs in this way
0/0
There is a reason why I advised you to keep an eye on the formatting of your cards yesterday in the DCC. If we were in the MCC, this would just get a full zero in Quality. Name not bolded, double line in the type line (I understand that you wanted to represent an em dash, but you can just make one in several ways if you're in Windows, I'm sure there are ways in other OS's too, and if you use MSE it automatically uses it when you export the card as a text card for MTGS, that's what I do all the time with all my cards in all the contests I'm in, included Hapolk here), three periods missing at the end of each ability, and I'm also not sure about the wording of the last ability. Anyway, even if all those Quality mistakes were fixed, this card would still be just too complicated for my taste, again, especially because of the last ability. I'm sorry.
Top 3
1st place: netn10
2nd place: Jimmy Groove
3rd place: Subject16
MCC - Winner (6): Oct 2014, Apr Nov 2017, Jan 2018, Apr Jun 2019 || Host (15): Dec 2014, Apr Jul Aug Dec 2015, Mar Jul Aug Oct 2016, Feb Jul 2017, Jun Nov 2018, Feb Jul 2019 (last one here) || Judge (34): every month from Nov 2014 to Nov 2016 except Oct 2015, every month from Feb to Jul 2017 except Apr 2017, then Oct 2017, May Jun Nov 2018, Feb Jul 2019 (last one here)
CCL - Winner (3): Jul 2016 (tied with Flatline), May 2017, Jul 2019 (last one here) || Host (5): Feb 2015, Mar Apr May Jun 2016
DCC - Winner (1): Mar 2015 (tied with Piar) || Host (3): May Oct 2015, Jan 2016
• The two public custom sets I've been part a part of the design team for:
"Brotherhood of Ormos" - Blog post with all info - set thread - design skeleton / card list || "Extinctia: Homo Evanuit" - Blog post with all info - set thread - card list spreadsheet
• "The Lion's Lair", my article series about MTG and custom card design in particular. Latest article here. Here is the article index. Rather outdated by now, and based on the old MCC rubric, but I'm leaving this here for anybody that might be interested anyway.
• My only public attempt at being a writer: the story of my Leonin custom planeswalker Jeff Lionheart. (I have a very big one that I'm working on right now but that's private for now, and I don't know if I will ever actually publish it, and I also have ideas for multiple future ones, including one where I'm going to reprise Jeff.)
bravelion83- Wow twice X and adding two counters per hit? Gets really big I like that and I wanna give it double strike lol
Jimmy Groove- Seems pretty risky considering the tokens can easily be sacrificed and useless if you have a planeswalker out. but actually playing with it seems really cool like a game of "chicken"
IcariiFA- The math of finding x for the final number of +1/+1 counters seems pretty confusing. but the card is actually really cool and feels like a totally destructive demon
netn10- not sure if this is too weak or too strong haha. seems like a total dimir trick
Subject16- I liked the increasing cycle but don't like this too much, too multiplayer focused imo and the wording feels confusing
1 icarii
2 jimmy groove
3 bravelion
I'm a simple Magic player since 1 year ago from China. Now I live in New Jersey.
Design (1/2): I like the power to cost ratios you've establish. Four mana for a 2/2, five mana for a 4/4, six mana for a 6/6, etcetera. The only cost where you might argue that it's power and toughness are too low is when it would be a 2/2 for four mana. Aside from that, all potential cost-to-power-and-toughness ratios seem to be on-point. However, overall, I believe this design is underpowered. The culprit of that is the cost of 1 in the activated ability. Compare to Falkenrath Marauders, a disposable rare from Innistrad. For Hakolp to be a 2/2 with flying and haste the turn it hits the field, it would cost 4GUR overall. Granted, Hakolp can come into play even bigger, but that costs even more mana. If there wasn't a mana cost in the activated ability, it could be much more versitile. As is, Hakolp doesn't strike me as a very powerful creature. It's also not the weakest creature, of course, so there's some saving grace there.
Execution (0/2): "It gets" should be "Hakolp gains." Also, this doesn't feel like a super-impressive mythic, to me. The flavor is there, in a nebulous form, but the mechanics don't really speak to the power of this incredibly awesome, giant, hydra-elemental creature. Like, why does it have to sacrifice it's strength to fly or to trample? Why are we using that particular list of keywords?
Overall: 2/6
Design (2/2): The closest card to this design is Disrupting Shoal, for sure. Comparing pros and cons: The two biggest pros I can think of are, first, that Hollowing Shoal can deal with nonland permanents after they've resolved, so it can be more useful as a top deck, and, second, that it exiles when Disrupting just counters. The cons are that Hollowing can't do anything in regards to instant and sorceries, and, also, it will likely be more difficult to cast for it's alternate cost that Disrupting, because colorless cards are fewer and farther between. So, in light of this, I think this design's balance is right on par with that of Disrupting, which I think makes it just right.
Execution (1/2): The mechanics make sense and work well with the flavor that I have inferred from the design. The only thing that I can't say for sure is whether the flavor I have inferred is actually the intended flavor. That gap could be bridged by a slightly different name, perhaps, such as "Oblivating Shoal" or "Deadening Shoal." It could also be bridged by flavor text.
Overall: 5/6
Design (1/2): So, there are a few gauges that can be turned on this card. Though, devour always makes things difficult to predict, seeing as even devour 1 can provide you with a giant creature, assuming you have the correct board state to fuel the ability. That being said, devour 3 is better than devour 2, and I think your costing of "two mana for +1 to the devour ability" is appropriate. The ability which makes opponents sacrifice creatures, meanwhile, is the main appeal of the card. Being able to thin out the opponents side of the board while growing your own creature larger is something a player would naturally want. I personally think that the ability is overcosted, though. I mean, for nine mana, I don't want to get only three creatures and a 4/3. For five mana I don't want to get one creature and a 2/1. How you rebalance the ability, I don't know. Granted, this changes in multiplayer, but that's an entirely different can of worms to consider. However, one last detail to consider is that, without creatures for this guy to eat, he's a dead card to draw. He would have benefited from having higher base power and toughness.
Execution (1/2): The fact that devour and this guy's other ability work in wildly different ways make it potentially difficult to understand the card at a glance, or difficult to explain to another player. Also, the power and toughness of 1/0 isn't a good look. Not many creatures have 0 toughness and greater than 0 power at the same time. Also, the +1/+0 doesn't really improve the card all that much. Though, all the abilities do work well together to convey the flavor of the card.
Overall: 3/6
Design (0/2): So, this effect boils down into a sorcery which generates X Phyrexian Arenas which your opponents can make decisions about. On top of this, you can potentially block or destroy the 1/1 Rogues so that you don't have to take the 1 damage on a particular turn. Obviously, this is a massively powerful effect, as you can pay five mana and get to draw three cards each turn for the rest of the game. There is a bit of additional downside, in that your opponent could use the creatures for other purposes, but not many decks are going to be able to take great advantage of a generic 1/1 at a moment's notice. So, that downside isn't as large as it could be. Now, if these Rogues were 2/2s or 2/1s, it'd be a different matter, but as it is, I think this card is far too powerful.
Execution (2/2): Everything on the card comes together to express the concept very well. I like the added touch of giving the tokens a name. It's a nice thing to differentiate them from normal Rogues. Moving on, the card is powerful enough to feel mythic and is on-color. Perhaps the name could use a little work, to make it slightly more clear or "punchy," but that's a minor issue, if it's an issue at all. Really, this is a very well-executed card.
Overall: 4/6
Design (1/2): This feels underpowered. Compare to Mistcutter Hydra, which comes into play with X counters and then has three strictly positive abilities on top of that. This costs a hybrid mana, which is a benefit, to be sure, but also requires a land to be sacrificed, and then it has a second ability which I would describe as "neutral" in terms of power (It triggers on combat damage, which is a decent hoop to jump through, and, after that trigger, in my opinion, it has a completely fair cost-to-benefit balance). Honestly, I'd probably put this card as being on-par with Ivy Elemental more than anything. Perhaps the added complexity of the second ability makes it worthy of the uncommon rarity, even, though I wouldn't put it at rare.
Execution (0/2): So, I'm not sure about the motivation for the "sacrifice a land" cost. Was that to fuel the ability which triggers on combat damage? If so, then the benefit isn't too amazing, and it'd be fine to remove that line. Also, the combat damage ability is very awkwardly worded (Not only that but it's a difficult ability to exactly parse). I personally think it would be better to write it as "Whenever Earthquake Ariser deals combat damage to a player, that many land cards in your graveyard gain 'Exile this card from your graveyard: Add one mana of any color.' until end of turn." Further, I'm not sure that the concept you had in mind for this card came together very well.
Overall: 2/6
Design (2/2): I take it that this is mechanically inspired by Hour of Eternity. Comparing the two, I'd say that Familiar Faces is the stronger one. The three benefits this card has, in my opinion, out-balance the increased difficulty to cast. First, there is the obvious benefit that is the ability to make copies of creatures on the battlefield. Second, you have the ability to leave a copied creature card in the graveyard instead of exiling it. Third, you don't have to make the tokens be 4/4. So, I'd argue that Familiar Faces is a step above Hour of Eternity, being more on par with Mass Manipulation, as a result. This is actually good, as Hour of Eternity was a little underpowered. I think the balance of this card is right where it needs to be.
Execution (1/2): I believe that this should be worded as "Choose X target creatures or creature cards in graveyards. For each creature or creature card, create a token that's a copy of that creature or creature card." So, there is a point off for that. Beyond this, things look fine. Even if this is just a generic mirror world/necromancy spell, it is a well-executed mirror world/necromancy spell.
Overall: 4/6
kwanyeegor: So this card is the lands equivalent of Past in Flames and it's very odd, especially with lands like Evolving Wilds that sacrifice themselves from the graveyard - would that not be possible then? - I like the idea behind it but you may need a different way to go about making it more functional.
Eventide Sojourner: I think it's interesting that you allowed this card to exile lands if you want to hit something with 0 cmc. And yet I think it's a good card that makes me think of the Blue Shoal in terms of power level.
bravelion83: This does quite a lot when you think about it. Being able to give itself trample makes connecting with an opponent all the more easy, and if you don't need to fly past your opponent then you're getting even bigger as time goes by. I think this sets itself ideally as a five mana 4/4 or a six mana 6/6. Any less than that and you're risking it dying before it gets big, and any bigger than that is worth keeping one mana up for haste instead. It's very powerful that's for sure.
Jimmy Groove: It's interesting to give creatures to your opponents as a way to draw cards for yourself. I'm not sure exactly what kind of deck would want to play this card, but I'd be interested to see what can be done with it.
IcariiFA: Now this does an interesting thing of devouring your opponent's creatures before devouring your own. After all, Devour is a "may sacrifice", meaning with enough mana this guy can just eat up all your opponent's creatures and then leave all yours to attack an empty board. This can also hurt people's brains with all the math it's doing, especially when you start devouring your own creatures too.
Top 3
3: kwanyeegor
2: IcariiFA
1: bravelion83
Subject16: Neat idea. Fiddly wording. May not of even needed the damage clause for elegance sake and stuck to mono black.
Mr. Rithaniel: This feels very authentic. Elegant and fresh.
kwanyeegor: Interesting combination of creature types, but the main meat of abilities there will have a lot of players scratching their heads. Could be simplified be removing the multi triggering at least.
Eventide Sojourner: Single target Celestial Kirin, the colorless(?) shoal! A neat idea to add to the cycle, but inadvertently(?) referencing another colored card while doing so kinda makes me feel this was the wrong design space for the ability. Probably to much utility to give any color access to any kind of destruction with alternate and colorless casting options. The Vorthos in me feels off on it too.
bravelion83: A lot of solid, well balanced abilities that makes a new-ish feeling hydra. People would enjoy playing this casually and it has spike potential too thanks to the haste. Modest on the exciting side. However, I think the only weak aspect is the flavor text.
1st: Mr. Rithaniel2
2nd: bravelion83
3rd: netn10