March CCL, Top 8 - No Keeping Them Down

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void_nothing
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Post by void_nothing » 5 days ago

March CCL Top 8/Round 3

"No Keeping Them Down"


Image
Defy Death, taken from Art of MtG, illustrated by Karl Kopinski
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 Anticipation Month here at the CCL! We currently know an unprecedented amount about upcoming major Standard-legal Magic sets, so each round this month will be loosely inspired by one of those sets.

It's the top 8 round, and the next set up is Duskmourn, which we still know very little detail about - but things coming back from the dead will fit its horror film theme!

Challenge
Design a card that can return one or more permanent cards from a graveyard to the battlefield.
Clarifications
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  • Make sure to include a rarity.
Contestants
@Henlock
@OneAndOnly
@Raptorchan
@AnotherAlias
@shullz
@Lorn Asbord Schutta
@KB52665
@Komandon
Your submissions are due Monday, March 25th, 23:59 EST.
Schedule
  • Round 1 — Open to Everyone (March 3rd - 9th)
  • Round 2 — Open to Everyone (March 11th - 17th)
  • Rounds 1 and 2 Critiques (Due March 19th)
  • Top 8 — Open to top 8 finishers (March 22nd - 25th)
  • Top 8 Critiques (Due March 27th)
  • Top 4 — Open to top 4 finishers (March 28th - 31st)
  • Top 4 Critiques (Due April 2nd)
  • Final (April, winner determined by public poll)
For this month we will continue asking first and second round contestants to evaluate six other contestants during the critique and top 3 period, in order to increase the total number of evaluations each contestant gets.
Psst, check the second page of Custom Card Contests & Games! Because of the daily contests, a lot of games fall down to there.

The greatest (fake) pro wrestling on the internet - Collaborative Create-A-Booster - My random creations (updated regularly)

Important Facts: Colorless is not a color, Wastes is not a land type, Changeling is not a creature type

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OneAndOnly
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Post by OneAndOnly » 5 days ago

Inveigle the Underlord -- BBB
Sorcery {R}
Return target creature or planeswalker in your graveyard to the battlefield with two time counters on it. It becomes an enchantment with vanishing in additional to its other card types and abilities. Treat other counters on it as time counters in addition to their other types.
Menelaia's sweet melodies pleased Erebos, and allowed her love Pero to slip past back to the world of the living.
Last edited by OneAndOnly 2 days ago, edited 1 time in total.

KB52665
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Post by KB52665 » 3 days ago

Sarcophagus Salesman 1b
Creature — Zombie Citizen (C)
, : Put a coin counter on up to one tapped creature an opponent controls.
Whenever a creature dies, if it had any coin counters on it, return it to the battlefield tapped under your control.
"Buy one, get one free. Get 'em while they're hot!"
0/1

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shullz
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Post by shullz » 3 days ago

Cornelia, Deadwood Cultivator
Legendary Creature — Dryad (Rare)
Plants you control have ": Add ."
, : Return target creature card from a graveyard to the battlefield under your control. It's a green Plant in addition to its other colors and types and it gains defender and "If this creature would leave the battlefield, exile it instead of putting it anywhere else."
Blooming life where dreams were left to wither.

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Raptorchan
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Post by Raptorchan » 3 days ago

Retell 3w
Sorcery (R)
Return target enchantment card from your graveyard to the battlefield. If that enchantment is a Saga, it gains read ahead.
It was a complex and wholesome story about noble swordsmen and their art, but listeners kept asking to jump straight to chapter XVI.

Komandon
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Post by Komandon » 3 days ago

Meadow of Renewal
Land — Forest (uncommon)
Meadow of Renewal enters the battlefield tapped unless you control another Forest.
T: Add g.
1, Sacrifice Meadow of Renewal: Return up to two lands cards from your graveyard to the battlefield tapped. For each Forest returned in this way, gain 1 life.

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Lorn Asbord Schutta
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Post by Lorn Asbord Schutta » 2 days ago

Conclusion of Grandeur
Sorcery (R)
As an additional cost to cast this spell, search your library for three creature cards with the same name, exile them, then shuffle.
Return a creature card with the same name as exiled cards from your graveyard to the battlefield. It becomes legendary in addition to its other types.
There is no other like me.

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void_nothing
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Post by void_nothing » 2 days ago

Quick entry reminder for @Henlock and @AnotherAlias - I will of course extend the round if need be. Everyone else, please make sure you're satisfied with your entries of course.
Psst, check the second page of Custom Card Contests & Games! Because of the daily contests, a lot of games fall down to there.

The greatest (fake) pro wrestling on the internet - Collaborative Create-A-Booster - My random creations (updated regularly)

Important Facts: Colorless is not a color, Wastes is not a land type, Changeling is not a creature type

Henlock
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Post by Henlock » 2 days ago

Hallgate of the Fallen 1w
Creature - Wall (u)
Defender
When Hallgate of the Fallen enters the battlefield,, you may return target creature card with mana value 3 or less from your graveyard to the battlefield with a finality counter on it. It is a Spirit in addition to its types.
0/3

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AnotherAlias
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Post by AnotherAlias » 2 days ago

Internal Organ-ized
Sorcery (Un-Mythic)
Return all Zombie creature cards from your graveyard to the battlefield in a stack. Order the stack alphabetically with "A" at the top. Whenever that stack would leave the battlefield, exile the top card of it instead. That stack gains ": Sacrifice this stack." (Only the top card of a stack is counted at any time.)

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void_nothing
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Post by void_nothing » 2 days ago

And that will do it. Round is closed - please critique all other contestants and provide a T3.
Psst, check the second page of Custom Card Contests & Games! Because of the daily contests, a lot of games fall down to there.

The greatest (fake) pro wrestling on the internet - Collaborative Create-A-Booster - My random creations (updated regularly)

Important Facts: Colorless is not a color, Wastes is not a land type, Changeling is not a creature type

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OneAndOnly
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Post by OneAndOnly » 2 days ago

Ratings WIP
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KB52665 wrote:
3 days ago
Sarcophagus Salesman 1b
Creature — Zombie Citizen (C)
, : Put a coin counter on up to one tapped creature an opponent controls.
Whenever a creature dies, if it had any coin counters on it, return it to the battlefield tapped under your control.
"Buy one, get one free. Get 'em while they're hot!"
0/1
An interesting twist on Athreos, Shroud-Veiled. It's a little odd to see such a powerful effect on such an inexpensive creature, and one that's not legendary. Limiting it to only an opponent's creatures makes the ability feel like a Control Magic with rather many hoops to jump through.

shullz wrote:
3 days ago
Cornelia, Deadwood Cultivator
Legendary Creature — Dryad (Rare)
Plants you control have ": Add ."
, : Return target creature card from a graveyard to the battlefield under your control. It's a green Plant in addition to its other colors and types and it gains defender and "If this creature would leave the battlefield, exile it instead of putting it anywhere else."
Blooming life where dreams were left to wither.
You could replace that last clause with a finality counter. That feels a little less green and does open up the possibility of shenanigans (Solemnity, perhaps).

This feels like a fairer reanimation ability but -- to what end? You can get some ETB effects, and perhaps shut down an opponent's own reanimation strategy but it doesn't really get you closer to ending the game yourself.

You're missing power and toughness.

Raptorchan wrote:
3 days ago
Retell 3w
Sorcery (R)
Return target enchantment card from your graveyard to the battlefield. If that enchantment is a Saga, it gains read ahead.
It was a complex and wholesome story about noble swordsmen and their art, but listeners kept asking to jump straight to chapter XVI.
Straightforward and simple. I'm sure there's a Saga that breaks this, but nothing comes to mind. It took me a moment to think about enchantments that might bust this wide open too.

The flavor text does push it heavily toward Sagas, and it's a little silly for my tastes ... and aren't a lot of takes of "noble" swordsmen anything but complex and wholesome? You might be able to work in some number-punny joke in terms of which chapter readers jump to ... Chapter XXXIV? LXIX? CDXX?

Komandon wrote:
3 days ago
Meadow of Renewal
Land — Forest (uncommon)
Meadow of Renewal enters the battlefield tapped unless you control another Forest.
T: Add g.
1, Sacrifice Meadow of Renewal: Return up to two lands cards from your graveyard to the battlefield tapped. For each Forest returned in this way, gain 1 life.
A fetchland, except it fetches from the graveyard. Kinda cool! It feels like it could be streamlined ,,, maybe make it a standard ETBT clause, or lose the lifegain clause (though I see how it inverts the typical "pay 1 life" fetchlands require,)

Lorn Asbord Schutta wrote:
2 days ago
Conclusion of Grandeur
Sorcery (R)
As an additional cost to cast this spell, search your library for three creature cards with the same name, exile them, then shuffle.
Return a creature card with the same name as exiled cards from your graveyard to the battlefield. It becomes legendary in addition to its other types.
There is no other like me.
At first I though the added cost would take it out of EDH, but m-a-y-b-e it's just a way to make Relentless Rats your stealth commander. IIRC the legendary rules don't handle non-legendary creatures becoming legendary very well, since the legendary rule checks for other legendary creatures with the same name, not merely other creatures that share the same name. So becoming legendary isn't really a drawback here. And for other rule-of-4 creatures, not a hindrance either.

The name's very witty -- extra points for that!

Henlock wrote:
2 days ago
Hallgate of the Fallen 1w
Creature - Wall (u)
Defender
When Hallgate of the Fallen enters the battlefield,, you may return target creature card with mana value 3 or less from your graveyard to the battlefield with a finality counter on it. It is a Spirit in addition to its types.
0/3
Interesting, but it oddly doesn't stand out. There are quite a few other white effects that reanimate weenies, but Spirit isn't a terribly strong tribe, and the finality counter limits its utility.

Also -- Hallgate? Hellgate?

AnotherAlias wrote:
2 days ago
Internal Organ-ized
Sorcery (Un-Mythic)
Return all Zombie creature cards from your graveyard to the battlefield in a stack. Order the stack alphabetically with "A" at the top. Whenever that stack would leave the battlefield, exile the top card of it instead. That stack gains ": Sacrifice this stack." (Only the top card of a stack is counted at any time.)
The stack thing seems a little weakly phrased. Maybe use mutate tech? "Sacrifice the stack" would make me think all creatures in the stack are sac'ed; perhaps "sacrifice the top card of this stack" -- or just straight up "exile the top card of this stack" since that's what'll happen instead?
Ratings WIP
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1. Raptorchan's Retell
2. Komandon's Meadow of Renewal
3. Lorn Asbord Schutta's Conclusion of Grandeur
4. Henlock's Hallgate of the Fallen
5. KB52665's Sarcophagus Salesman
6. AnotherAlias' Internal Organ-ized
7. shullz' Cornelia, Deadwood Cultivator

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Raptorchan
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Post by Raptorchan » 1 day ago

Crits
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Henlock
Not a very dangerous card and totally harmless on their own, but an ability to bring back a more expensive creature that the wall itself makes it worth considering.
OneAndOnly
A bit complicated, but mostly fair. Don't think reanimation with downside for 3 mana can be problematic anywhere.
AnotherAlias
A bit messy even for an Un-card, it creates some uncertainty about how the "stack" works. A fun cadr in theory, but needs some reworking.
shullz
Don't know much about balance, probably fine. I also suggest using finality counters to save a lot of text box space. But where is P/T?
Lorn Asbord Schutta
A rather fair cheap reanimation spell with a steep additional cost and flavorful reference to an old mechanic. The only problem is - it doesn't work if you have at least one copy of the creature card in hand which limits it and brings an element of uncertainty.
KB52665
A rather dangerous card for 2 mana. Plus there is no way for this to be common. At least a rare, it may be weaker than Athreos but also way cheaper.
Komandon
Broken for a land. You basically put a green ability on a colorless card with colorless activation cost. Must be more expensive and must have some green in the cost.
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