September CCL, Signups/Round 2: Champion of the Natural World

[void_nothing]

CCL September Signups/Round 2

"Champion of the Natural World"


Glissa Sunseeker, taken from MTG Art, by Brom 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 time for Elements Month to return with a vengeance! Last appearing over two years ago on MTGSalvation, this flavor-based month of challenges is a guaranteed fun, if strange, time. All will be explained below, but let's get on with the show.

The magic of the natural elements is some of the most primal and mysterious there is - simplistic though it may seem, appearances can be deceiving, and the "elements" can include more abstract and powerful forces than most mages imagine.

This month, you'll be theming design around your picks from the following lists. Choose wisely, as your picks will carry over round-to-round.

White

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Light
Grain
Moon
Energy (Static)
Sand
Holy
Metal

Blue

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Water
Wind
Time
Energy (Potential)
Ice
Mist
Thought

Black

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Darkness
Void
Disease
Energy (Negative)
Blood
Poison
Soil

Red

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Fire
Stone
Speed
Energy (Kinetic)
Lightning
Dust
Magnetism

Green

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Wood
Storms
Life
Energy (Positive)
Seasons
Flesh
Wild

Challenge

Choose one of the elements from a different list than you used in round 1, then design a monocolored legendary creature or planeswalker card themed around BOTH of your chosen elements that is not the color of either of the lists. (If you didn't participate in round 1, choose two elements from different lists in this round.)

Clarifications

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• For example, a metal and magnetism themed card can't be white or red.
• For everyone's convenience, please note both of the elements you picked in your post.
• Make sure to include a rarity.

Anyone can enter this second round! Your submissions are due Saturday, September 14th, 23:59 EST.

Schedule

• Round 1 — Open to Everyone (September 1st-7th)
• Round 2 — Open to Everyone (September 8th–14th)
• Rounds 1 and 2 Critiques (Due September 16th)
• Top 8 — Open to top 8 finishers (September 17th–20th)
• Top 8 Critiques (Due September 22nd)
• Top 4 — Open to top 4 finishers (September 23rd–26th)
• Top 4 Critiques (Due September 28th)
• Final (End of month, winner determined by public poll)

[bravelion83]

Nonblack "soil" + nonblue "mist"

Aranon, Expert Gardener 2GG
Legendary Creature — Human Druid (R)
Flash
When Aranon, Expert Gardener enters the battlefield, prevent all combat damage that would be dealt this turn.
Whenever a creature you control deals combat damage to a player, add G. Until end of turn, you don't lose this mana as steps and phases end.
"Terrains with high air humidity are perfect for the most delicate cultivations: water vapors nourish the plants while creating a nice protective fog all around them."
2/3

[Krishnath]

Elements: Sand (White, From first challenge), Dust (Red, second pick)

Rakina, Dustmother 5GG
Legendary Creature - Wurm (Mythic)
Hexproof, indestructible
Desertfall - Whenver a Desert enters the battlefield under your control, create a green 6/6 Wurm creature token with trample called "Sand Wurm"
"She was here before we settled the oasis, and she will be here long after the oasis has dried up. She is an eternal part of the desert." - Viress, Devari Elder.
8/8

[Subject16]

Dust (Red) and Flesh (Green)

Olmo, Cruel Butcher 2BB
Legendary Creature - Human Shaman (Rare)
Menace
Whenever a creature you control dies, create a Food token and put a +1/+1 counter on Olmo, Cruel Butcher.
2B, T, Remove X +1/+1 counters from Olmo: Return target creature card with converted mana cost X or less from your graveyard to the battlefield.
When she's done eating, she brings it back from the dust and starts again.
3/3

[Dragonlover]

Chosen elements: Sand (White), Time (Blue)

Dastan, Timelost Prince RR
Legendary Creature - Human Noble Rogue (M)
Whenever Dastan, Timelost Prince deals combat damage to a player, put a sand counter on target creature that player controls.
When Dastan dies, if a creature an opponent controls has a sand counter on it, exile Dastan and put a time counter on it. It gains suspend 1 (At the beginning of your upkeep, remove a time counter. When the last is removed, cast it without paying its mana cost. It has haste)
''No no no, that didn't happen.''
2/2

[Ink-Treader]

nonblue Ice + nongreen Storms

Rystar, Herald of Rime 2RR
Legendary Planeswalker - Rystar (M)
Whenever Rystar or a snow permanent enters the battlefield under your control, put a loyalty counter on Rystar and he deals 1 damage to each opponent.
[-2]: You may sacrifice a snow permanent. If you do, Rystar deals 4 damage to target creature. Otherwise, Rystar deals 2 damage to target creature instead.
[-X]: For each opponent, tap up to X target lands they control. Those lands don't untap during their next untap step.
<3>

Precedence

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It's not a design space they've played with much, but Chandra's Revolution and Stensia Innkeeper (were very cautious) attempts to explore this space as an alternative to blowing up lands. I also submit this admittedly old article on the color pie. https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/a ... 2017-06-05

[Jimmy Groove]

Nonblack poison meets Nonwhite holy

Lysshka, Goddess of Venoms 2GGG
Legendary Creature - God (MR)
Deathtouch
When Lysshka, Goddess of Venoms enters the battlefield, create 2 1/1 green Snake creatures with deathtouch.
Whenever a creature with deathtouch deals combat damage to a player, that player gets that many poison counters. (A player with ten or more poison counters loses the game.)
If Lysshka would die, you may put it on to of its owner's library instead.
2/3

[zdtsd]

Nonblack poison, nonwhite metal.

Glissa, Blightsteel Traitor
Legendary Artifact Creature - Elf Construct (R)
Infect
Other artifacts you control have infect.
When a player has 8 or more poison counters on them, that player loses the game.
1/3

[slimytrout]

Theme

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Storms + Darkness

Garlo, Who Blots out the Stars 1UU
Legendary Creature - Elemental
Flying, Hexproof
Garlo, Who Blots out the Stars enters the battlefield with three sleep counters on it.
Garlo can't attack or block as long as it has a sleep counter on it.
Enrage - Whenever Garlo is dealt damage, remove a sleep counter from it.
It seems like just a cloud passing overhead in the night, until you hear the booming thunder of its voice.
6/6

[Gateways7]

Previous: Seasons (green)
New: Ice (blue)

Combined my two themes and went for a winter-y card!

Aturo, the Howling Blizzard 2W
Legendary Snow Creature - Human (mythic)
Vigilance
Snowfall - Whenever this creature or another snow permanent enters the battlefield under your control, Aturo deals 2 damage to target creature you don't control if it's tapped, then tap that creature.
Aturo, the Howling Blizzard gets +1/+1 for each tapped creature you don't control.
1/1

[BeneTleilax]

Poison+Soil

Acid Sower 3R
Creature-Human Shaman {U}
When Acid Sower enters the battlefield, it deals damage to each player equal to the number of lands they control.
The druids say they want to restore the world to woodlands, Ha! I say, burn it all and restore the barren rocks! They were here before the first trees set root!
3/2

[netn10]

Round 1 - I chose Moon - White
Round 2 - I choose Blood - Black

Derex of the Moonshippers 4RR
Legendary Creature - Vampire Berserker (Mythic)
Whenever an opponent is dealt damage, put a +1/+1 counter on each creature you control.
At the end of turn, if no spells was cast this turn, Derex deals damage to any target equal to its power.
4/4

[marioguy3]

Themes: Speed (Red) and Metal (White)

Marque, Construction Apprentice
Legendary Creature — Human Artificer
Flash, split second
When Marque, Construction Apprentice enters the battlefield, create two 1/1 colorless construct artifact creature tokens.
, Tap two untapped artifact creatures you control: Return Marque, Construction Apprentice to its owner's hand.
2/3

[barbecube]

nonblue wind, nonred dust

Edha, the Desert Wind 2WW
Legendary Creature — Elemental Shaman (R)
Whenever Edha, the Desert Wind attacks, for each creature defending player controls, they pay 1 or tap it.
When Edha dies, you may destroy target artifact.
3/3

[Henlock]

Grain and Seasons

Wickerheart, Greeted at Autumn 2bb
Legendary Creature - Scarecrow Avatar (m)
When Wickerheart, Greeted at Autumn attacks, you may search your library for a basic swamp card and put it onto the battlefield tapped under defending player's control, then shuffle your library. If you do, destroy target land that player controls.
Wickerheart has +4/+4 as long as there are seven or more basic swamps.on the battlefield.
4/4

[RaikouRider]

R1: Non-black Blood

R2: Non-red Stone + Non-green Flesh

Mergo the Stonegrafter 2WW
Legendary Creature - Kor Artificer {R}
At the beginning of your upkeep, you may put a petrification counter on target non-artifact creature.
Creatures with petrification counters on them are indestructible, can't attack or block, and their abilities can't be activated.
When Mergo the Stonegrafter leaves the battlefield, remove all petrification counters from all creatures.
3/3

[kwanyeegor-ii]

Nonblue ice
Nonred energy (kinetic)

Raghort, the Rolling Avalanche 3GG
Legendary Snow Creature--Giant Barbarian (Mythic)
Trample
At the beginning of your upkeep, choose one -
• Put a +1/+1 counter on Raghort for each snow creature you control
• Put a +1/+1 counter on each snow creature you control
3/3

[kateodonnell]

Wind (Nonblue) + Soil (Nonblack)

Merki, Bane of the Sky
Legendary Creature - Giant Druid (Rare)
Reach
XG: Monstrosity X.
When Merki, Bane of the Sky becomes monstrous Merki, Bane of the Sky deals X damage to each creature with flying, where X is Merki's Power. Whenever a creature deal damage this way dies this turn, search your library for a forest card and put it onto the battlefield, then shuffle your library.

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The beasts of the sky will now feed the soil
4/6

[void_nothing]

Round is closed. Please critique and make a top 3 for the six contestants above you on this list, looping to the bottom as necessary.

bravelion83
Krishnath
Subject16
Dragonlover
Ink-Treader
Jimmy Groove
zdtsd
slimytrout
Gateways7
BeneTleilax
netn10
marioguy3
barbecube
Henlock
RaikouRider
kwanyeegor-ii
kateodonnell

[kateodonnell]

I'm assuming based on the last one I'm meant to post this here

1. Henlock with Wickerheart (I probably read too much into this one)
2. Kwaneegor with Raghort
3. Barbecube with Edha

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netn10
No spells is a moon kinda thing, on Innistrad at least.
Another Innistrad thing is vampires getting +1/+1 counters when they deal damage to players.
Moon and Blood working together when you don't cast spells is quite nice.
Would like clarification on whether or not its each turn or just yours.

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marioguy3
Flash AND Split Second, Wow that's FAST!
Seems quite a slow, grindy card. Not that fast. That says going Fast in blue is a bold move and I commend you as such
7 mana for two constructs is not a very good rate.
Artifacts are generally metallic, so that's nice.

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barbecube
Taping things is quite desert-y, so is taxing.
Sand is basically dust, I'm glad someone recognized it.
I'd give it flying, winds normally can fly.
Not sure what blowing up an artifact does for the flavor.

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Henlock
In terms of the name autumn is a season and the grain makes sense as its havest time etc.
Scarecrows are autumn-y things
Nice representation of the transition from summer to winter in the first ability, Swamps are kinda muddy so turning other landscapes into swamps is pretty cool
The longer Wickerheart gets to do its thing the more powerful it becomes nicely represents going into autumn,
However as the season progresses pass seven swamps, which I'm going to assume is a week, Wickerheart reaches the peak of their power, this is about a week before the equinox, where you'd expect a avatar of autumn to be strongest flavor I'd rather a smoother "+1/+1 for each basic swamp your opponents control but you own", as it is hard to mechanically represent leaving autumn and moving to winter.
In addition if you are playing basic swamps in order to cast Wickerheart that puts it at one attack for the power-up (4 swamps on cast, +1 per turn). Which in my opinion doesn't capture the avatar of a season growing in power the further into said season you are.
Also would have liked a food token when the land is destroyed, to symbolize the harvest of grain.
The first ability on Wickerheart could lead to some quite unfun games if someone was stumbling on mana and you just convert their lands into swamps, Ouch
The second ability on Wickerheart nicely gets them into the big creature zone, shouldn't have too much trouble finding someone to attack.
Wow that's a lot of flavor, In summary:
The first ability is top notch flavor wise, but could end up with unfun games.
The second ability works with the first to contribute to a growing in power feel, but doesn't capture the seasonal change well enough. Does avoid the "I can't attack with my creature designed for attacking!" without being too big compared to mana cost.
Pretty cool card.

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RaikouRider
I'm not sure but I think you were supposed to go Blood + One other? Tell me if I'm wrong
I think this is for Non-Red Stone + Non-green Flesh so that's how I'm interpreting it.

Can't petrify artifacts, nice touch.
I'd prefer "Lose all abilities" I don't see how Stone Kess can cast spells from your graveyard.
I wish this was EtB and Upkeep, proactive hate is interesting but this seems like you play it once the big beater has turned their attention towards you.
Also this seems really good, but a massive lightning rod. So you can't really rely on it.

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kwanyeegor-ii
Avalanches are ice-y and have a lot of knetic energy.
I can only assume the name is metaphorical, as Raghort isn't an Elemental.
I like the quadratic scaling of the damage, Similar to how adding kinetic energy to an object works.
Trample matches the avalanche aesthetic quite well.
Often P/T of a creature is talked about in terms of size, and an avalanche growing as it goes feels right, not sure if it is accurate though.
Doesn't grow from lands, probably best power level wise, but yk.

Also this card has good math. 1/2(x+3)(x), so elegant, would be better if twice the number of counters where placed, x²+3x. I can see why you wouldn't do that, as that would be very powerful. Good math nonetheless.

Note: What's up with superscript? Please fix so I don't have to change the size manually

[Dragonlover]

Subject 16

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Dust (Red) and Flesh (Green)

Olmo, Cruel Butcher 2bb
Legendary Creature - Human Shaman (Rare)
Menace
Whenever a creature you control dies, create a Food token and put a +1/+1 counter on Olmo, Cruel Butcher.
2b, t, Remove X +1/+1 counters from Olmo: Return target creature card with converted mana cost X or less from your graveyard to the battlefield.
When she's done eating, she brings it back from the dust and starts again.
3/3

Card's fine overall, I think the dust aspect is a bit tenuous though. I like the use of Food in such a different context to how it's been shown off so far as well.

Krishnath

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Sand (White, From first challenge), Dust (Red, second pick)

Rakina, Dustmother 5gg
Legendary Creature - Wurm (Mythic)
Hexproof, indestructible
Desertfall - Whenever a Desert enters the battlefield under your control, create a green 6/6 Wurm creature token with trample called "Sand Wurm"
"She was here before we settled the oasis, and she will be here long after the oasis has dried up. She is an eternal part of the desert." - Viress, Devari Elder.
8/8

So I checked, and there are currently 12 Deserts you could put in a Commander deck helmed by this card, which seems reasonable. Both parts of the challenge are represented nicely, card looks good in general.

bravelion83

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Nonblack "soil" + nonblue "mist"

Aranon, Expert Gardener 2gg
Legendary Creature — Human Druid (R)
Flash
When Aranon, Expert Gardener enters the battlefield, prevent all combat damage that would be dealt this turn.
Whenever a creature you control deals combat damage to a player, add g. Until end of turn, you don't lose this mana as steps and phases end.
"Terrains with high air humidity are perfect for the most delicate cultivations: water vapors nourish the plants while creating a nice protective fog all around them."
2/3

Solid card. I like that both aspects revolve around combat damage and again, both elements are covered.

kateodonnell

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Wind (Nonblue) + Soil (Nonblack)

Merki, Bane of the Sky 4gg
Legendary Creature - Giant Druid (Rare)
Reach
XG: Monstrosity X.
When Merki, Bane of the Sky becomes monstrous Merki, Bane of the Sky deals X damage to each creature with flying, where X is Merki's Power. Whenever a creature deal damage this way dies this turn, search your library for a forest card and put it onto the battlefield, then shuffle your library.
The beasts of the sky will now feed the soil
4/6

I'm not 100% sure this works in the rules because there's two separate 'X' values being referenced. Assuming it does, 2 mana for 5 damage to all
flying creatures seems a bit strong, I'd tie the damage to the amount of +1/+1 counters. Both elements are represented well.

kwanyeegor-ii

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Nonblue ice
Nonred energy (kinetic)

Raghort, the Rolling Avalanche 3gg
Legendary Snow Creature--Giant Barbarian (Mythic)
Trample
At the beginning of your upkeep, choose one -
• Put a +1/+1 counter on Raghort for each snow creature you control
• Put a +1/+1 counter on each snow creature you control
3/3

I like that if this is your only snow creature both abilities do exactly the same thing. Captures the flavour of an avalanche really well too, as well as actually representing kinetic energy.

RaikouRider

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R1: Non-black Blood

R2: Non-red Stone + Non-green Flesh

Mergo the Stonegrafter 2ww
Legendary Creature - Kor Artificer {R}
At the beginning of your upkeep, you may put a petrification counter on target non-artifact creature.
Creatures with petrification counters on them are indestructible, can't attack or block, and their abilities can't be activated.
When Mergo the Stonegrafter leaves the battlefield, remove all petrification counters from all creatures.
3/3

It doesn't meet the challenge, but it's a very cool card and the flavour is on point.

Top 3

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1: Krishnath
2: bravelion83
3: kwanyeegor-ii

Dragonlover

[slimytrout]

Krishnath - Rakina, Dustmother: I'm a PhD student in an earth sciences department, so I can tell you this confidently: dust is not the same thing as sand. In fact, while this card is very sand-flavored, I'm not sure what it has to do with dust, which is a fine powder that arises when things are ground down, decayed, or otherwise destroyed. Obviously wouldn't be a big deal, except for the fact that this is specifically a flavor-based challenge. Also, I felt like it was a little bit of a flavor-fail that the tokens had trample, while the Dustmother didn't. And the token creation should have just been templated "create a 6/6 green Sand Wurm creature token with trample" -- sand is already a creature type due to the nephilim, so no need to beat around the bush.
Subject16 - Olmo, Cruel Butcher: I totally see the dust aspect on this one, and the flavor text disgustingly reinforces it. A lot of dust ultimately came from organic matter, and Olmo reanimates that dust to make more food. However, I thought it was a little weird that you get the +1/+1 counter and the food -- I think it would be cleaner if it said "whenever you sacrifice a Food, put a +1/+1 counter on Olmo," so that it would be a little more synergistic.
Dragonlover - Dastan, Timelost Prince: I would love this card *if* it removed the sand counters (or at least 1 sand counter) when it went into exile. Still a fun card, though, and I certainly wouldn't say that it's overpowered as is.
Ink-Treader - Rystar, Herald of Rime: I really don't like the way it triggers its own first ability. It would be way cleaner if it just entered with 4 loyalty, and it also creates additional weird rules interactions the way you do it: not only does it allow them to bolt it right off the bat, but the trigger going off actually allows all sorts of instant-speed interaction before you get to use the abilities, which creates a kind of a feel-bad moment. The first minus ability is fun, but WotC has actually backed off the -X effect, despite the precedent you set, because people kept conveniently "forgetting" that their lands weren't untapping. Especially true in this case, where there are a potentially a ton of things being frozen, it's very easy to forget exactly which lands shouldn't untap.
Jimmy Groove - Lysshka, Goddess of Venoms: This would be a *massive* bomb in limited, and I think people would learn to just scoop once it hits the battlefield. It comes with a ton of immediate value: against anything but flyers you're very likely to get a 3 for 1. Kill spells - or even sweepers - are actively bad against it, since it can be immediately replayed for more deathtouchers. Not only do the deathtouchers hit for poison, they also deal their normal combat damage, so they're just strictly better. Overall, I think this card could have been toned down a lot, and it would have been substantially more fun. (Minor note: should be "two 1/1 green...")
zdtsd - Glissa, Blightsteel Traitor: I like calling back to a known legend, but it comes with a few problems. For one, it's hard to imagine what happened to make Glissa less black since the last time we saw her. Moreover, this card really seems like it should cost BG, just given how it interacts with losing the game (a very black thing). Speaking of which, while I like her giving artifacts infect, I just don't think you need that final effect, especially since it's pretty weird: one of the distinctive things about poison is already that you need less of it to kill your opponent, so what's the point of reducing it even further? And to 8, of all numbers?

Top 3:
1) Dragonlover
2) Subject16
3) Jimmy Groove

[Ink-Treader]

kwanyeegor-ii

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Seems to fit the chosen elements well enough. Seems like a pretty potent pay off for a dedicated snow deck.

kateodonnell

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Works with its elements. Seems very strong against the right deck. The Forests should probably come in tapped.

bravelion83

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It kind of bothers me that the fog effect interferes with the mana generation ability, especially since it's plausible to want the mana generation to be a surprise.

Krishnath

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Seems rather powerful. Hexproof and indestructible on the same body is a very dangerous combination.

Subject16

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The power of this is highly reliant on food payoffs, but the food payoffs already known seem potent with an engine like this. I wonder if it could be slightly cheaper and count only nontoken creatures instead.

Dragonlover

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I wish this had some form of evasion. It's not even particularly hard to kill even if it gets set up.

Top 3

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1. kwanyeegor-ii
2. Subject16
3. bravelion83

[marioguy3]

Jimmy Groove (Lysshka, Goddess of Venoms) This card sounds fun to play and not so fun to play against. That said, Lysshka is balanced and allows each creature with deathtouch to jump on the infect bandwagon. I really like that the infect boost is only given to combat damage rather than any old kind of damage.

zdtsd (Glissa, Blightsteel Traitor) This card is close to busted. A two mana enabler of an archetype that doesn't need help killing players early is a major red flag.

slimytrout (Garlo, Who Blots out the Stars) This card is fine and flavorfully fitting. That incoming storm if you mess with it creates a tense mood.

Gateways7 (Aturo, the Howling Blizzard) It's odd that this creature taps a creature that's already tapped. But the flavor here is pretty epic. The synergistic design choices make for a competitive card.

BeneTleilax (Acid Sower) A very acidic card that does the job well.

netn10 (Derex of the Moonshippers) I like the flavor and the execution of the card. This is one powerful finisher in red decks, which bode well for vampires. The execution matches the flavor of the themes. Perfect.

Top 3:
3 Jimmy Groove (Lysshka, Goddess of Venoms)
2 BeneTleilax (Acid Sower)
1 netn10 (Derex of the Moonshippers)

[kwanyeegor-ii]

BeneTleilax - decent hoser card but it isn't legendary

netn10 - great bomb card that evolves the moon mechanic on innistrad to vampires, I like it

marioguy3 - definitely fits the theme well and is powerful but seems sort of bland, all it really does is make lots of tokens

barbecube - really nice first ability but a random seeming second one

Henlock - a unique and freaky card, wanna play swampwalk tribal with it lol

RaikouRider - flavorful but maybe too cheap for multi use removal

1. netn10
2. Henlock
3. marioguy3