January CCL Round 1: Harps and Horns

[Lorn Asbord Schutta]

CCL January Signups/Round 1

"Harps and Horns"


Springleaf Drum, by Wizards of the Coast and Seb McKinnon.

Welcome to the Card Creation League! Everyone is free to participate in either or both of the first two rounds. Come join us!

Theme

It's Artisty month here at the CCL. This month we will hopefully see beauty in many forms.

Challenge

Design an Artifact Equipment card representing a music instrument.

Clarifications

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• An Equipment card should have an ability allowing it to be attached to a creature.
• Make sure to include a rarity.

Anyone can enter this first round! Your submissions are due Sunday, January 9th, 12:00 EST.

Schedule

• Round 1 — Open to Everyone (January 2nd-10th)
• Round 2 — Open to Everyone (January 10th-18th)
• Rounds 1 and 2 Critiques (Due January 24th)
• Top 8 — Open to top 8 finishers (January 24th–27th)
• Top 8 Critiques (Due January 30th)
• Top 4 — Open to top 4 finishers (January 30th–February 3rd)
• Top 4 Critiques (Due February 6th)
• Final (February, winner determined by public poll)

Please note: For this month we will continue asking first and second round contestants to evaluate seven other contestants during the critique and top 3 period, in order to increase the total number of evaluations each contestant gets.

[void_nothing]

Ernai, the Gong of Victory 2
Legendary Artifact - Equipment (R)
Equipped creature gets +1/+0 and has ward 1 and "T: You may change the target of target spell with a single target."
Whenever equipped creature becomes the target of a spell that's not a copy, you may copy that spell and choose new targets for the copy.
Equip 3

[Pygyzy]

Weeping Vihuela
Artifact - Equipment (R)
Whenever equipped creature attacks or blocks, choose crescendo, decrescendo, staccato, or arpeggio.
Crescendo- Equipped creature gets +X/+0 until end of turn, where X is equal to it's toughness.
Decrescendo- Equipped creature gets +0/+X until end of turn, where X is equal to it's power.
Staccato- : Equipped creature gets +1/+0 or +0/+1 until end of turn.
Arpeggio- : Equipped creature gets +2/-2 or -2/+2 until end of turn.
Equip

[Apellosine]

Siren's Song Harp 2U
Artifact - Equipment (U)
When Siren's Song Harp enters the battlefield, tap target creature. It does not untap during its controller's next untap step.
Equipped creature gets "T: Tap target creature."
Equip 3

[netn10]

Arante, Zaffai's Saxophone 2UR
Legendary Artifact - Equipment (Mythic)
T: Choose one for each mana value of an instant or sorcery spell you cast this turn. If you cast all of them, untap equipped creature.
1 - Scry 1.
2 - Equipped creature deals 1 damage to each opponent.
3 - Add UR.
4 - Untap another target creature
5 - Draw a card.
6 - Create a 4/4 blue and red Elemental creature token.
Equip 4

[Subject16]

Goblin Whistle-Stick 2
Artifact — Equipment (U)
Equipped creature has haste and must be blocked if able.
2: Target creature an opponent controls blocks equipped creature this turn if able.
Equip 1
Terrible noise, but a great distraction.

[slimytrout]

Herald's Trumpet 1RW
Artifact — Equipment (U)
Whenever a legendary creature enters the battlefield under your control, put a +1/+1 counter on equipped creature.
Whenever a creature enters the battlefield under your control, that creature gets +X/+0 until end of turn, where X is equipped creature's power. That creature gains haste until end of turn if Herald's Trumpet is attached to a creature.
Equip 2

[kwanyeegor-ii]

Razorwind Viola 2
Artifact - Equipment (Uncommon)
Whenever equipped creature becomes tapped, Razorwind Viola deals 1 damage to each opponent and you draw a card.
Equip 2
The sounds of its strings are as high pitched as a hurricane, causing inspiration and madness

[Henlock]

Lyre of Epics w
Artifact - Equipment (r)
Equipped creature has ward
Whenever a lore counter is put on a Saga you control, put a +1/+1 counter on equipped creature.
Equip
Equip

[Lorn Asbord Schutta]

Extended for 24 hours, till 12:00 EST January 10th, Monday.
Get your entries in!

[marioguy3]

Living Banjo
Artifact - Equipment (Rare)
When Living Banjo enters the battlefield it becomes a 2/2 white Elemental creature token with haste until end of turn.
Equipped creature gets +2/+2, is white, and is an Elemental in addition to its other types.
: Exile Living Banjo, then return it to the battlefield under its owner's control.
Equip

[MonoRedMage]

Battle Drum R
Artifact - Equipment {U}
Equipped creature has "T: Other creatures you control get +1/+0 and gain menace until end of turn."
Equip 1

[Lorn Asbord Schutta]

Very well, the round is closed.

void_nothing
Pygyzy
Apellosine
netn10
Subject16
slimytrout
kwanyeegor-ii
Henlock
marioguy3
MonoRedMage

Please make a critiques and a top 3 out of 7 contestants below you, looping if nescessary.
The Critique Period, as of now, will last till the January 20th.

[kwanyeegor-ii]

crits

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Lyre of Epics w
Artifact - Equipment (r)
Equipped creature has ward
Whenever a lore counter is put on a Saga you control, put a +1/+1 counter on equipped creature.
Equip
Equip

Nice, good flavor and works well in the right deck... 2 equip costs looks unnecessary tho, no one will ever pay the 3 mana cost

Living Banjo
Artifact - Equipment (Rare)
When Living Banjo enters the battlefield it becomes a 2/2 white Elemental creature token with haste until end of turn.
Equipped creature gets +2/+2, is white, and is an Elemental in addition to its other types.
: Exile Living Banjo, then return it to the battlefield under its owner's control.
Equip

Don't really get the flavor and haste is out of color for white

Battle Drum R
Artifact - Equipment {U}
Equipped creature has "T: Other creatures you control get +1/+0 and gain menace until end of turn."
Equip 1

Nice, simple and powerful. might be too strong though

Ernai, the Gong of Victory 2
Legendary Artifact - Equipment (R)
Equipped creature gets +1/+0 and has ward 1 and "T: You may change the target of target spell with a single target."
Whenever equipped creature becomes the target of a spell that's not a copy, you may copy that spell and choose new targets for the copy.
Equip 3

Copying is fun but it seems like this card has too much text

Weeping Vihuela
Artifact - Equipment (R)
Whenever equipped creature attacks or blocks, choose crescendo, decrescendo, staccato, or arpeggio.
Crescendo- Equipped creature gets +X/+0 until end of turn, where X is equal to it's toughness.
Decrescendo- Equipped creature gets +0/+X until end of turn, where X is equal to it's power.
Staccato- : Equipped creature gets +1/+0 or +0/+1 until end of turn.
Arpeggio- : Equipped creature gets +2/-2 or -2/+2 until end of turn.
Equip

This was hard to read lol. I guess it would be really fun with high toughness creatures

Siren's Song Harp 2U
Artifact - Equipment (U)
When Siren's Song Harp enters the battlefield, tap target creature. It does not untap during its controller's next untap step.
Equipped creature gets "T: Tap target creature."
Equip 3

Flavor is perfect. really feels like a hypnotic harp

Arante, Zaffai's Saxophone 2UR
Legendary Artifact - Equipment (Mythic)
T: Choose one for each mana value of an instant or sorcery spell you cast this turn. If you cast all of them, untap equipped creature.
1 - Scry 1.
2 - Equipped creature deals 1 damage to each opponent.
3 - Add UR.
4 - Untap another target creature
5 - Draw a card.
6 - Create a 4/4 blue and red Elemental creature token.
Equip 4

Another card with too much text. is it supposed to be an infinite comob if you cast all 6?

t3

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1 apellosine
2 henlock
3 monoredmage

[Pygyzy]

Apellosine

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Siren's Song Harp 2U
Artifact - Equipment (U)
When Siren's Song Harp enters the battlefield, tap target creature. It does not untap during its controller's next untap step.
Equipped creature gets "T: Tap target creature."
Equip 3

Very flavorful. A solid card for casual play and also well balanced. Definitely see something like this being printed someday although it feels WU.

netn10

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Arante, Zaffai's Saxophone 2UR
Legendary Artifact - Equipment (Mythic)
T: Choose one for each mana value of an instant or sorcery spell you cast this turn. If you cast all of them, untap equipped creature.
1 - Scry 1.
2 - Equipped creature deals 1 damage to each opponent.
3 - Add UR.
4 - Untap another target creature
5 - Draw a card.
6 - Create a 4/4 blue and red Elemental creature token.
Equip 4

21 mana to win the game seems about right but of course that will never happen. This will be a lot of fun though for deck building and will be a blast to play.

Subject16

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Goblin Whistle-Stick 2
Artifact — Equipment (U)
Equipped creature has haste and must be blocked if able.
2: Target creature an opponent controls blocks equipped creature this turn if able.
Equip 1
Terrible noise, but a great distraction.

The goblin is playing the flute with it's nose, right? Hilarious card and will be a serious nusiance. I could see this finding a home in some decks because of it's cheapness.

slimytrout

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Herald's Trumpet 1RW
Artifact — Equipment (U)
Whenever a legendary creature enters the battlefield under your control, put a +1/+1 counter on equipped creature.
Whenever a creature enters the battlefield under your control, that creature gets +X/+0 until end of turn, where X is equipped creature's power. That creature gains haste until end of turn if Herald's Trumpet is attached to a creature.
Equip 2

Seems quite strong, Could make some pretty swingy plays turn 4 but I don't think it's really OP. I would hate to see this on the other side of the field tho.

kwanyeegor-ii

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Razorwind Viola 2
Artifact - Equipment (Uncommon)
Whenever equipped creature becomes tapped, Razorwind Viola deals 1 damage to each opponent and you draw a card.
Equip 2
The sounds of its strings are as high pitched as a hurricane, causing inspiration and madness

Seems a tad undercosted but the hoops to make it payoff are significant. Instant win with 2 untappers could be problematic however.

Henlock

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Lyre of Epics w
Artifact - Equipment (r)
Equipped creature has ward
Whenever a lore counter is put on a Saga you control, put a +1/+1 counter on equipped creature.
Equip
Equip

Love this card. Anything that makes you pull out your old cards to try to find a new use for is great IMO.

marioguy3

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Living Banjo
Artifact - Equipment (Rare)
When Living Banjo enters the battlefield it becomes a 2/2 white Elemental creature token with haste until end of turn.
Equipped creature gets +2/+2, is white, and is an Elemental in addition to its other types.
: Exile Living Banjo, then return it to the battlefield under its owner's control.
Equip

This is really cool conceptually. White doesn't usually get haste afaik except by sharing it however I'm personally ok with allowing some haste in white.

T3

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1. Netn10
2. Slimytrout
3. Henlock

[slimytrout]

kwanyeegor-ii

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Nice and simple, but not terribly revolutionary. It also doesn't feel that much like a musical instrument, although it's not that far off either.

Henlock

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Flavor is very fun! Elegant card, except for the double equip cost, which is totally unnecessary, especially since 98% of the time people will just pay the cheaper one.

marioguy3

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I don't really get the flavor. This seems like a fun idea for an animated armor card (although maybe should be r/w to allow it to have haste) but it seems pretty weird as a living banjo.

MonoRedMage

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Nice and clean, although I'd love either a one mana cost on that activated ability or making it sorcery speed, just to tone it down a little.

void_nothing

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Huh. I had to read this over a couple times just to get what's happening. This would probably lead to some fun and kooky stuff happening, but I think it's just a little too hard to understand.

Pygyzy

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I really wish this were just on attacking, since that way you'd have to choose a mode before your opponent blocks. As is, it makes attacking into this pretty miserable since you have to consider what would happen with each of the modes. Moreover, since this grants triggered/activated abilities and not stats, it would be very common to move this over from a tapped to an untapped creature after combat so it can pull double duty.

Apellosine

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Nice! I like it a lot. No notes.

T3

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1. Apellosine
2. Henlock
3. MonoRedMage

[void_nothing]

Critiques

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Pygyzy - As much as I like the flavor here, there are way too many similar abilities and way too much calculation here.

Apellosine - Just about perfect. Not the most exciting card but perfect flavor and mechanics and a great fit for the challenge.

netn10 - Fun but confusing! Needed to read this card multiple times. Not sure about the power level. Also, Zaffai strikes me as an ex-string player, not a brass section guy.

Subject16 - "Must be blocked if able" and a specific creature blocking if able is an odd juxtaposition, but otherwise this card looks good.

slimytrout - This looks like a rare rather than an uncommon, but otherwise seems fun, even if it might get out of hand. Play the king's fanfare!

kwanyeegor-ii - The idea of playing the viola as you charge into battle is amusing. Decent mechanically but it's just not fully clicking for me.

Henlock - Ah the flavor! Two equip costs is definitely superfluous though.

Top 3

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1. Apellosine
2. Henlock
3. Subject16

[Henlock]

monoredmage- Very red. Orcish Oriflamme and Goblin War Drums effects are classic, and the need to tap a creature can actually be quite steep for aggro strategies. I would.cost it a bit more somewhere so as to balance it foe limited.

marioguy- This looks quite complex. I think something like "This is a so/so creature as long as it is not attached to a creature." and an unattach cost might have done quite similarñy as what you intended and look.way more.clean. Haste is.off-color,.but you could get away with flash. I like the idea of an equipment creature, bodies are crucial.for equipment decks and something that can fullfill both roles can be very valuable.

suject16- I.personally dislike the "must be blocked if able"= Somerimes you just want to.bluff a response.ormpunish your.opponent for not using their important creatures to chumpblock. Adding provoke to the mix makes it better and a really powerful tool in limited.

netn10- I don"t see why this needs to be an.equipment. Even if you meant the creature to tap,.I think.it is an.extra cost this effect doesn:t need. This can be just an artifact.

Apellosine- Nice upgrade to Siren Song Lyre. The ETB ensures you immediate utility which is a plus in this kins.of effect.

Pygzy-I think Last two options are.really hard to.choose. I think this design would.work veey well.in its most simplified version.

voidnotjing-this soes.many things: It hits.. disrupts and gives you card advantage through copies.

Top3

[Lorn Asbord Schutta]

Remember to put critiques ant top 3!

[marioguy3]

MonoRedMage: A simple card that does the job menacingly well.

void_nothing: This is one powerful gong that showers power onto the copying of volleying.

Pygyzy: There is a lot of text on the card. I'd imagine it creates complex board states by itself. I like the creativeness of the card and Izzet is always fun,

Apellosine: The harp is a cool instrument; this one seems normally okay and doesn't stand out too much mechanically.

netn10: This card needs a few readings to understand at first. I don't think it's the most intuitive design for that reason, but it is fantastically unique.

Subject16: This is probably the winner for the best name of the instrument. Also wins best prize for flavor text as well, which will carry it into my T3. I think this card is slightly undercosted though. Maybe make the equip cost 2 generic as well.

slimytrout: It seems like a decently powerful design and the text does match the flavor. I'd probably take away the "if attached to a creature" line for simplicity's sake.

Top 3:

3rd place: MonoRedMage
2nd place: Pygyzy
1st place: Subject16

[Lorn Asbord Schutta]

Since the other round gets extended critique period, this one gets it as well.
If you cannot make a critique, make at least top 3!

[Lorn Asbord Schutta]

The round is closed.
The contestants that will pass to another round are:

Subject16
slimytrout
Henlock
Apellosine
void_nothing
Pygyzy
MonoRedMage
kwanyeegor-ii

Thank you for participating.