CCL October, Top 8 - Show Me What You've Got

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void_nothing
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Post by void_nothing » 2 years ago

CCL October Top 8/Round 3

"Show Me What You've Got"


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Telepathic Spies, taken from EchoMTG, by Jim Nelson 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

It's Minor Effects month here at the CCL. We'll be doing big things with things that are small.

Challenge
Design a card that causes one or more players to reveal their hands, or cards from their hands.
Clarifications
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  • Make sure to include a rarity.
Your submissions are due Monday, October 25th, 23:59 EST.
Contestants:
@RaikouRider
@slimytrout
@Ink-Treader
@Henlock
@marioguy3
@Apellosine
@Lorn Asbord Schutta
@bravelion83

Schedule
  • Round 1 — Open to Everyone (October 1st-8th)
  • Round 2 — Open to Everyone (October 11th-18th)
  • Rounds 1 and 2 Critiques (Due October 20th)
  • Top 8 — Open to top 8 finishers (October 21st–25th)
  • Top 8 Critiques (Due October 27th)
  • Top 4 — Open to top 4 finishers (October 29th–31st)
  • Top 4 Critiques (Due November 2nd)
  • Final (November, 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.
Psst, check the second page of Custom Card Contests & Games! Because of the daily contests, a lot of games fall down to there.

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slimytrout
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Post by slimytrout » 2 years ago

Ishor, Dark Vizier 3BB
Legendary Creature - Demon Advisor (R)
Menace
At the beginning of each opponent's upkeep, that player reveals one or more cards from their hand. You may pay X life, where X is twice the number of cards revealed this way. If you do, you choose one of those cards. That player discards that card.
4/4

Ink-Treader
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Post by Ink-Treader » 2 years ago

Psychic Annihilation BB
Sorcery (R)
Multikicker - 2, Pay 1 life
Draw a card for each time Psychic Annihilation was kicked, then target opponent reveals their hand. For each nonland card revealed this way, you may discard a card with the same mana value to have that player discard that card.
Last edited by Ink-Treader 2 years ago, edited 3 times in total.

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bravelion83
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Post by bravelion83 » 2 years ago

Constriction XXB
Sorcery (U)
Target opponent reveals their hand. You choose up to X cards from it. That player discards those cards.
Author of the MCC Guidelines and FAQ. | For my projects, including Jeff Lionheart, my murder mystery story "One pierced heart, two mindful horns", and republished articles from my series "The Lion's Lair", see Leo's content index (Last updated on March 24th 2024 - Added OPHTMH Episode 4).
After I'm done republishing my articles I want to reprise the series focusing it more on editing, wording, and templating. Suggest potential future article topics here.
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MCC - Winner (9): Oct 2014, Apr Nov 2017, Jan 2018, Apr Jun 2019, Jan Mar 2022, Apr 2023 || Host (30): Dec 2014, Apr Jul Aug Dec 2015, Mar Jul Aug Oct 2016, Feb Jul 2017, Jun Nov 2018, Feb Jul 2019 (last on MTGS), Aug 2019 (first on MTGN) Oct 2019, Jan Jun 2020 Apr Oct 2021, Feb May Sep Dec 2022, Mar Jun Sep Dec 2023, Mar 2024 || Judge (58): 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 on MTGS), every month from Aug 2019 (first on MTGN) to Feb 2020, May Jun 2020, Mar Apr Sep Oct 2021, Feb May Sep Dec 2022, Mar May Jun Sep Dec 2023, Jan Mar 2024
CCL - Winner (4): Jul 2016 (tied with Flatline), May 2017, Jul 2019 (last on MTGS), Jun 2021 (tied with slimytrout) || Host (5): Feb 2015, Mar Apr May Jun 2016
DCC - Winner (3): Mar 2015 (tied with Piar), Feb Apr 2022 || Host (12): May Oct 2015, Jan 2016, Jun Sep Dec 2021, Mar Jun Sep Dec 2022, Mar Jun 2023

marioguy3
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Post by marioguy3 » 2 years ago

Stakor, the Multitalented
Legendary Creature — Shapeshifter (Rare)
When Stakor, the Multitalented enters the battlefield, each player reveals their hand. Put a +1/+1 counter on Stakor, the Multitalented for each creature card revealed this way. Then choose any number of creature types from among them. Stakor, the Multitalented becomes each of the chosen creature types.
, Reveal your hand: Put a +1/+1 counter on Stakor, the Multitalented. You may choose any number of creature types for cards revealed this way. If you do, Stakor, the Multitalented becomes each of the chosen types.
1/1
Last edited by marioguy3 2 years ago, edited 2 times in total.
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RaikouRider
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Post by RaikouRider » 2 years ago

Undercity Bodysnatcher 2UB
Creature - Shapeshifter {R}
As Undercity Bodysnatcher enters the battlefield, you may have any number of players reveal their hands. Choose a creature card revealed this way. That player discards that card, then Undercity Bodysnatcher enters the battlefield as a copy of that card.
0/0

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void_nothing
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Post by void_nothing » 2 years ago

@Lorn Asbord Schutta @Henlock @Apellosine I'll grant a 24-hour extension by default - if anyone needs longer than that please let me know. Otherwise I will close the round tomorrow.
Psst, check the second page of Custom Card Contests & Games! Because of the daily contests, a lot of games fall down to there.

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Post by Lorn Asbord Schutta » 2 years ago

Mind Twitch
Instant (U)
Target player reveals their hand and the top card of their library. You may exchange a card from their hand with the top card of their library.
Draw a card.
"I... Forgot."

Henlock
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Post by Henlock » 2 years ago

Eidolon of Talents ww
Enchantment Creature - Spirit (r)
Play with your hand revealed.
Eidolon of Talents has flying as long as a creature with flying is in your hand. The same is true for first strike, double strike, protection, lifelink and vigilance.
2/2

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Post by void_nothing » 2 years ago

Okay, round is closed! Please critique and provide a top 3 for all other contestants. You can have until the 29th.
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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Post by marioguy3 » 2 years ago

RaikouRider: I always love the clone design, and this one doesn't disappoint. I like that it can take from any player's hand, including yours! It creates some fun self-sustaining synergies with madness creatures.

Ink-Treader: Unique design for sure with the staple of card draw attached. And it is cool that the kicker works in conjunction with the main ability.

Henlock: Interesting card that allows abilities from hands to function. Allows some cool deck designs. I also like that it's an enchantment creature.

slimytrout: I appreciate the creature type, Demon Advisor, as it is flavorful. As for the design, it is quite balanced for standard play. It at least has menace which is a small plus.

Lorn Asbord Schutta: Dang this card would be pretty annoying to play against. Not only can it reveal and draw, but now it can provide a pseudo Thoughtseize effect if you cast this in response to a fetch land activation. All for one mana. This probably needed to be a sorcery.

bravelion83: This card is okay. There are a number of cards already existing that do similar things with more efficiency. The name is a smart choice though.

Top 3:

3rd place: Henlock
2nd place: Ink-Treader
1st place: RaikouRider
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Post by bravelion83 » 2 years ago

Critiques (done)
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slimytrout wrote:
2 years ago
Ishor, Dark Vizier 3BB
Legendary Creature - Demon Advisor (R)
Menace
At the beginning of each opponent's upkeep, that player reveals one or more cards from their hand. You may pay X life, where X is twice the number of cards revealed this way. If you do, you choose one of those cards. That player discards that card.
4/4
I like the balance here: the more cards they reveal, and the more information you get, the more life it costs you to make them discard one card. A 4/4 menace for five mana is already good, at least in limited, and this has additional upside. I wouldn't be surprised to see this card in Standard.
Ink-Treader wrote:
2 years ago
Psychic Annihilation BB
Sorcery (R)
Multikicker - 2, Pay 1 life
Draw a card for each time Psychic Annihilation was kicked, then target opponent reveals their hand. For each nonland card revealed this way, you may discard a card with the same mana value to have that player discard that card.
The wording of the last sentence feels like I'm reading an old Magic card, from before modern templating, with sentences like "do this to do that" that actually are activated abilities written without a colon. In Oracle, those have all been reworded to include the colon. Here I can't see a way to do that, but the wording you used still feels wrong to me, even though it's very easy to understand. It's not like you can't understand the designer's intent, that's clear. Having to discard a card with the same mana value as the card you want to make them discard is a good restriction. Drawing cards for life is at home in black.
marioguy3 wrote:
2 years ago
Stakor, the Multitalented
Legendary Creature — Shapeshifter (Rare)
When Stakor, the Multitalented enters the battlefield, each player reveals their hand. Put a +1/+1 counter on Stakor, the Multitalented for each creature card revealed this way. Then choose any number of creature types from among them. Stakor, the Multitalented becomes each of the chosen creature types.
, Reveal your hand: Put a +1/+1 counter on Stakor, the Multitalented. You may choose any number of creature types for cards revealed this way. If you do, Stakor, the Multitalented becomes each of the chosen types.
1/1
The text is quite long, and I can see memory issues arising with remembering which creature types this has. You will have to use pen and paper to write them down. No problems with the color pie: putting +1/+1 counters is green, revealing hands and copying creature types are blue.
RaikouRider wrote:
2 years ago
Undercity Bodysnatcher 2UB
Creature - Shapeshifter {R}
As Undercity Bodysnatcher enters the battlefield, you may have any number of players reveal their hands. Choose a creature card revealed this way. That player discards that card, then Undercity Bodysnatcher enters the battlefield as a copy of that card.
0/0
Interesting that you can do this on yourself. I don't know why you would do that, but you can, and Johnny loves that. Perfectly in color: discarding the card is black, copying it is blue. I really appreciate the wording: an "as" ability and then an etb that takes the restult of the "as". Using "when" instead of "as" would have been wrong and a functional mistake, but as is it's perfect. I don't have much more to say, I like this.
Lorn Asbord Schutta wrote:
2 years ago
Mind Twitch
Instant (U)
Target player reveals their hand and the top card of their library. You may exchange a card from their hand with the top card of their library.
Draw a card.
"I... Forgot."
Here "target player" could just be "target opponent" as if you do it on yourself you'll draw the card you exchanged to be on top, so effectively it's just "draw a card". So let's imagine the opponent's point of view. From there, it doesn't look that fun, a card that I want going back on top. It has a taste of fateseal, not as bad but not that fun either. And this without mentioning this being an instant. Playing this in response to a shuffle effect is definitely not fun for the opponent. This should have probably been a sorcery.
Henlock wrote:
2 years ago
Eidolon of Talents ww
Enchantment Creature - Spirit (r)
Play with your hand revealed.
Eidolon of Talents has flying as long as a creature with flying is in your hand. The same is true for first strike, double strike, protection, lifelink and vigilance.
2/2
What I don't like here is how this pushes you towards keeping the cards in your hand, which slows the game. If you have a creature with one of those abilities in your hand, you want to keep it there to give the Eidolon flying. I don't see a good play pattern here.
Top 3

1st place: RaikouRider
2nd place: slimytrout
3rd place: Ink-Treader
Last edited by bravelion83 2 years ago, edited 1 time in total.
Author of the MCC Guidelines and FAQ. | For my projects, including Jeff Lionheart, my murder mystery story "One pierced heart, two mindful horns", and republished articles from my series "The Lion's Lair", see Leo's content index (Last updated on March 24th 2024 - Added OPHTMH Episode 4).
After I'm done republishing my articles I want to reprise the series focusing it more on editing, wording, and templating. Suggest potential future article topics here.
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MCC - Winner (9): Oct 2014, Apr Nov 2017, Jan 2018, Apr Jun 2019, Jan Mar 2022, Apr 2023 || Host (30): Dec 2014, Apr Jul Aug Dec 2015, Mar Jul Aug Oct 2016, Feb Jul 2017, Jun Nov 2018, Feb Jul 2019 (last on MTGS), Aug 2019 (first on MTGN) Oct 2019, Jan Jun 2020 Apr Oct 2021, Feb May Sep Dec 2022, Mar Jun Sep Dec 2023, Mar 2024 || Judge (58): 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 on MTGS), every month from Aug 2019 (first on MTGN) to Feb 2020, May Jun 2020, Mar Apr Sep Oct 2021, Feb May Sep Dec 2022, Mar May Jun Sep Dec 2023, Jan Mar 2024
CCL - Winner (4): Jul 2016 (tied with Flatline), May 2017, Jul 2019 (last on MTGS), Jun 2021 (tied with slimytrout) || Host (5): Feb 2015, Mar Apr May Jun 2016
DCC - Winner (3): Mar 2015 (tied with Piar), Feb Apr 2022 || Host (12): May Oct 2015, Jan 2016, Jun Sep Dec 2021, Mar Jun Sep Dec 2022, Mar Jun 2023

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Post by Ink-Treader » 2 years ago

RaikouRider
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I rather like this, though I suspect it might need different wording to function.
slimytrout
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I like the tension here for the controller and the opponent. An opponent who's short on cards probably won't enjoy dealing with this, but they still get their draw step at least.
Henlock
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I appreciate the attention to detail in avoiding nonwhite keywords since this could technically be used with cards you can't cast. That being said, there are plenty of cards like this that don't worry about such, so I wonder if this would be safe to do so, with perhaps a cost increase to compensate.
marioguy3
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It's a cute virtual vanilla beater with trinket text, trinket text that would be rather annoying to track. Is a plausible 5/5+ for 3 mana a problem? Maybe. It gets significantly worse against certain kinds of decks and in the late game.
Lorn Asbord Schutta
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That's kind of cute. I almost wonder if this would be printed as a sorcery though, since the effect feels just good enough to be too good. Peek isn't an awful cantrip, and this is a notable improvement.
bravelion83
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It's strictly better than Coercion, but that doesn't seem like it'd be too much of a problem. The mana needed to actually do more can come pretty late.
Top 3
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1. RaikouRider
2. slimytrout
3. Henlock

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Post by RaikouRider » 2 years ago

slimytrout: I like the mind games this causes. How much does the opponent want to make you pay to protect their cards? Is it worth paying lots of life to take out their best card? Triggering on each opponent's upkeep is quite a lot though.

Ink-Treader: This should probably go card neutral by default. I like the idea, but not going card neutral when unkicked makes me not want to play it. If you have a large hand going into casting it, you can just win the game, but I'm unsure if it's worth the -1 for base value.

bravelion83: This needs flavor text of some kind, what with being 2-3 lines of rules text. This is correctly costed, but I'm uncertain how good of a Mind Sludge variant this is.

marioguy3: This gets...very large very quickly, particularly in a deck with mostly creatures (which is what this would be built around). The ability to sink mana to grow into it can make this challenging to deal with. Ultimately I think it's correctly costed. I can't vote for this for one reason, though: this is ten lines of rules text, which is too much. Modern cards cap out at nine.

Lorn Asbord Schutta: Wow this is a strong cantrip, both against discard and in tempo decks. Cast this during their upkeep and you can not only get full hand knowledge, but also delay their best spell for a turn. Might be too good.

Henlock: Interesting that this shares only white keywords when other keyword-sharing cards share nonwhite ones. Certainly a different way to use a revealed hand, but I think this needs an extra point of power or a little more oomph of some kind. I like the idea of a 2/1 for W.

1) bravelion83
2) slimytrout
3) Ink-Treader

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Post by slimytrout » 2 years ago

Ink-Treader
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This is the sort of card that feels like it's not quite good enough in almost all situations, even if it's a fun idea. In the early game you can cast it for two and try to nuke the opponent's hand, but then you end up down a card. You can make up for this by building your deck with cards that like being discarded, but then it's going to be harder to have the right mana values to hit your opponent's cards. In the late game you can kick it a couple times to mitigate the card disadvantage, but then your opponent's hand is going to be nearly empty, and it's typically going to be harder to match up with expensive cards just because of what mana curves look like. Also pretty terrible in multiplayer.
bravelion83
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This is a card that isn't quite as flexible as it looks. Its best mode is Coercion which is typically not quite good enough. Once you're casting it for five mana, your opponent has probably already dumped a lot of their hand so you might not even be able to get two cards. And as a 1 mana quasi-Peek it's card disadvantage.
marioguy3
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A lot of text here, some of it kind of hard to understand. There's a fun idea here, but it got a bit smothered by the wordiness.
RaikouRider
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You can tell that I'm going to like this card because I submitted a very similar one to the MCC finals earlier in the week. My biggest quibble is that it lets you hit yourself, so you can have it act as a kind of one-sided Show and Tell, which is not ideal.
Lorn Asbord Schutta
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Would have like this a lot more if it were a sorcery, which would still allow it to get your opponent's counterspell/combat trick out of their hand without the annoying thing of doing this on their draw step and making them put it back.
Henlock
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I like it. Would be a little annoying to have to read the card constantly to double check which keywords it can gain, but still a very fun idea.
T3
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1. Henlock
2. RaikouRider
3. bravelion83

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

Top 3:

1. Henlock
2. slimytrout
3. RaikouRider

Henlock
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Post by Henlock » 2 years ago

T3

1. slimytrout
2.RaikouRaider
3.Ink Treader

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void_nothing
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Post by void_nothing » 2 years ago

And your top 4 -

RaikouRider
slimytrout
Henlock
Ink-Treader

Next round to come no later than tomorrow.
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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