October CCL, Signups/Round 1: Fear of the Undead

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void_nothing
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Post by void_nothing » 4 years ago

CCL October Signups/Round 1

"Fear of the Undead"


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Skeletal Vampire, taken from magicthegathering.com, by Wayne Reynolds 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 October, and we all know what that means in both Custom Card Contests and out in the real world: Are you ready to get spooked? This month will be tribal themed, around the creepiest creature types Magic has to offer.

Challenge
Design a creature card with one or more of the following types on its typeline: Skeleton, Vampire, Zombie, Shade, Specter, Wraith.
Clarifications
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  • No, changeling does not count.
  • Make sure to include a rarity.
Anyone can enter this first round! Your submissions are due Monday, October 7th, 23:59 EST.
Schedule
  • Round 1 — Open to Everyone (September 30th-October 7th)
  • Round 2 — Open to Everyone (October 8th–14th)
  • Rounds 1 and 2 Critiques (Due October 16th)
  • Top 8 — Open to top 8 finishers (October 17th–20th)
  • Top 8 Critiques (Due October 22nd)
  • Top 4 — Open to top 4 finishers (Ocrober 23rd–26th)
  • Top 4 Critiques (Due October 28th)
  • Final (End of month, winner determined by public poll)
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Important Facts: Colorless is not a color, Wastes is not a land type, Changeling is not a creature type

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Gateways7
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Post by Gateways7 » 4 years ago

Ilystra of the Scarlet Order 2WB
Legendary Creature - Vampire (rare)
Lifelink, deathtouch
Whenever another creature with lifelink enters the battlefield under your control, put a +1/+1 counter on it and you gain 2 life.
Whenever another creature with deathtouch enters the battlefield under your control, you draw a card and you lose 2 life.
3/2

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Cardz5000
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Post by Cardz5000 » 4 years ago

Nullmind Vessel
1B
Creature - Zombie
When Nullmind Vessel dies, target opponent reveals their hand and you choose a nonland card from it. Exile that card until Nullmind Vessel leaves the graveyard.

When Nullmind Vessel is put into your graveyard form your library, you may put it into your hand.
2/2

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Krishnath
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Post by Krishnath » 4 years ago

Dracolich 4BBB
Creature - Dragon Skeleton (Mythic)
Flying, menace
When Dracolich dies, put Dracolich into it's owner's library third from the top.
BB: Dracolich gets +1/+1 until end of turn.
5/5


Edit: Fixed wording.

Edit 2: Forgot power/toughness, fixed now. I blame the Migraine I had when I posted it.
Last edited by Krishnath 4 years ago, edited 3 times in total.
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Post by slimytrout » 4 years ago

Subtle Shade 1B
Creature - Shade (U)
1B: Subtle Shade gets +1/+1 until end of turn.
Whenever Subtle Shade deals combat damage to a player, that player sacrifices a creature.
It seems like just a harmless shadow on the wall, until you turn away...
0/3

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Subject16
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Post by Subject16 » 4 years ago

Stensian Lich 1BBR
Creature - Zombie Wizard (Rare)
You may cast Zombie cards from your graveyard.
Whenever another Zombie enters the battlefield from your graveyard, it gets +1/+0 and gains haste until end of turn. Exile it at the beginning of the next end step.
"Sure, fire kills 'em quicker, but they're bound to do a lot more damage than the regular way, trust me."
-Rem Karolus, the Slayer

2/4
Last edited by Subject16 4 years ago, edited 1 time in total.

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bravelion83
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Post by bravelion83 » 4 years ago

Inspiration (feel free to ignore in judging)
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Ok, I'm willingly choosing to take a risk and try to play out of the box this round. I need to learn to do it more. What's the risk I'm taking here? Green vampires! It's the only color that doesn't have them: UB on Ravnica, BR on Innistrad, WB on Ixalan.
Ruthless Lymphsucker BG
Creature — Vampire (R)
2BG, T: Remove all counters from target permanent an opponent controls. Put that many +1/+1 counters on Ruthless Lymphsucker.
On the plane of Makwag, vampires don't feed on blood but on lymph. That means that humans aren't their only food source, but also all kinds of plants and animals. They're still able to feed on humans occasionally though... After all, humans also have lymph in addition to blood!
2/2
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Legend
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Post by Legend » 4 years ago

Cyclopean Mass (Rare)
4bb
Creature - Zombie Elemental
8/4
Trample
Whenever Cyclopean Mass deals combat damage to a player, target land that player controls becomes a Swamp until Cyclopean Mass leaves the battlefield. When Cyclopean Mass dies, exile it.
Last edited by Legend 4 years ago, edited 2 times in total.
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Cow31337Killer
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Post by Cow31337Killer » 4 years ago

Krishnath wrote:
4 years ago
Dracolich 4BBB
Creature - Dragon Skeleton (Mythic)
Flying, menace
When Dracolich dies, put Dracolich into it's owner's library third from the top.
BB: Dracolich gets +1/+1 until end of turn.

Edit: Fixed wording.
Power and Toughness?

marioguy3
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Post by marioguy3 » 4 years ago

Barabar, Human Bloodseeker
Legendary Creature - Zombie Skeleton
Other black creatures you control get +1/+0 and gain lifelink.
Other red creatures you control get +1/+0 and gain first strike.
Whenever Barabar, Human Bloodseeker deals damage to a human, destroy that creature, then create a 2/2 black zombie creature token.
4/2
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Krishnath
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Post by Krishnath » 4 years ago

Cow31337Killer wrote:
4 years ago

Power and Toughness?
It's supposed to be a 5/5, I had a migraine when I posted it, so I just forgot. I just fixed it. Thanks. :)
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Post by netn10 » 4 years ago

Thoughts Cleanser 1WW
Creature - Specter (Rare)
Flying
Whenever Thoughts Cleanser deals combat damage to a player, that player exiles two cards from their hand. At the end of that player's next turn, that player return the exiled cards to their hand.
The clerics of Ashenmoth willingly submit their minds to it in hope to be pure.
2/2

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Raptorchan
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Post by Raptorchan » 4 years ago

Spooky Visitor 3{u/b}
Creature - Zombie (U)
Spooky Visitor can't be blocked by creatures controlled by enchanted players.
You have to learn the difference between being cursed, being damned and being doomed.
3/3

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barbecube
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Post by barbecube » 4 years ago

Crooked Sommelier bb
Creature — Vampire (R)
When Crooked Sommelier enters the battlefield, target opponent gains control of it.
At the beginning of your upkeep, if you don't own Crooked Sommelier, put a +1/+1 counter on it.
Damage dealt by Crooked Sommelier also causes its owner to gain that much life.
3/3
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Jimmy Groove
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Post by Jimmy Groove » 4 years ago

Fresh Cadaver 1B
Creature - Zombie (U)
Fresh Cadaver is a Skeleton as long as there is a -1/-1 counter on it.
1B, put a -1/-1 counter on Fresh Cadaver: Create a Food token.
"I only need the skeleton. Don't let the meat go to waste."
2/2

Henlock
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Post by Henlock » 4 years ago

Ufurutehp IV, Sovereign of Eternity 1ww
Legendary Creature - Zombie Noble (m)
White creature cards in your graveyard with converted mana cost 2 or less have "Eternalize 3ww.".
Eternalize 3ww.
As long as this creature is a token and Ufurutehp IV is your commander, combat damage dealt by this creature counts as commander damage dealt by Ufurutehp IV.
1/3

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spacemonaut
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Post by spacemonaut » 4 years ago

Malam, the Gravelord 3BB
Legendary Creature — Skeleton Giant (M)
Menace
Malam, the Gravelord enters the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter for each creature card in your graveyard.
Whenever another nontoken creature you control dies, put a +1/+1 counter on Malam.
When Malam dies, create a number of 1/1 black Skeleton creature tokens equal to its power. Then exile Malam from your graveyard.
0/0
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I wanted to make sure the text would fit into the textbox properly so I rendered it on MTG.Design. If it's shifted up very slightly (to bring "Menace" closer to the type line) it fits in well.
Malam, the Gravelord.jpg

Ink-Treader
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Post by Ink-Treader » 4 years ago

Steward of the Cycle 1BG
Creature - Zombie Druid (R)
If a permanent would be put into your graveyard from the battlefield, you may exile it instead. If you do, you may search your library for a card with the same name as that permanent, reveal it, and put it into your hand. Then, shuffle your library.
"As empires rise and fall, so too does life blossom and decay, ever onwards."
2/3
Last edited by Ink-Treader 4 years ago, edited 2 times in total.

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Post by kwanyeegor-ii » 4 years ago

Civic Wraith 2BB
Creature--Wraith (Uncommon)
Nonbasic landwalk
Whenever Civic Wraith deals combat damage to a player, that player may sacrifice a nonbasic land. If they don't, they lose life equal to the number of nonbasic lands they control and you gain that much life.
2/3
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BeneTleilax
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Post by BeneTleilax » 4 years ago

Graveyard Shade 1BB
Creature-Shade R
B: Graveyard Shade gets +1/+1 until end of turn
When Graveyard Shade dies, you may return target creature with converted mana cost less than Graveyard Shade's power from your graveyard to play. If you do, exile Graveyard Shade.
1/4

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void_nothing
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Post by void_nothing » 4 years ago

The round is closed. Please critique and make a top 3 of the six contestants on this list below you, looping to the top as necessary.

Gateways7
Cardz5000
Krishnath
slimytrout
Subject16
bravelion83
Legend
marioguy3
netn10
Raptorchan
barbecube
Jimmy Groove
Henlock
spacemonaut
Ink-Treader
kwanyeegor-ii
BeneTleilax
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Post by slimytrout » 4 years ago

Subject16: Stensian Lich - Liliana, Untouched by Death's -3 meets Kragma Warcaller -- fun concept. Unfortunately, I think it would be very confusing to players, since I believe it wouldn't actually work as intended: when you cast the zombies from your graveyard, they go on the stack, so they're not actually entering from the graveyard. Only things like Prized Amalgam would trigger the second ability.

bravelion83: Ruthless Lymphsucker - The flavor text is a bit overlong and forced -- the card ends up almost having microtext because it has six lines of flavor. The concept itself is quite interesting though, even if I suspect it would lead to unfun play patterns: if it's a set with +1/+1 counter themes (as I imagine it would be if this card were included), then players wouldn't want to play their cool cards into this for fear of having the counters stolen.

Legend: Cyclopean Mass - Unusual formatting, but nbd. Really not sure I understand the flavor though. It's a Zombie Elemental, which makes me think that it's some kind of giant collection of dead matter -- but it's cyclopean, so it's got one giant eye? Also why isn't it a Cyclops? And why does it make things into swamps? As for the card itself, it's definitely unusual and has some memory issues (should probably employ counters of some kind to make it easier to track the affected lands), but otherwise works.

EDIT: Flavor explained - wasn't familiar enough with the older cards to get the reference. Still think the card is a bit confusing though, both because of the lack of counters and because of the ambiguity in the final sentence.

marioguy3: Barabar, Human Bloodseeker - Name is kinda confusing: is he a human himself (but then why is he a zombie skeleton?) or is he seeking human blood (probably this one, but that's not really how English works)? Otherwise fine, although a little on the weak side and needs a rarity.

netn10: Thoughts Cleanser - Yeah, white can't do this. It could prevent the player from casting those two spells until end of turn, but it can't exile them - hand interaction is nowhere close to it's color pie. In fact, only black could do this, which is why all specters so far have been black.

Raptorchan: Spooky Visitor - Love it. Definitely a card that's either amazing or unplayable depending on whether you have curses in your deck, but the flavor is great.

1: Raptorchan
2: bravelion83
3: marioguy3
Last edited by slimytrout 4 years ago, edited 1 time in total.

Ink-Treader
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Post by Ink-Treader » 4 years ago

BeneTleilax
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Straightforward and pretty cool. I do wonder if it needs the self exile clause though.
kwanyeegor-ii
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Part of me really wants this to cost 1 less. That being said, it's undoubtedly very strong in certain formats.
Gateways7
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Some nice pay offs for running the fan favorite keyword combo. Seems balanced. Could probably make her a 3/3 safely.
Cardz5000
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Hm. An interesting twist on cards like Tidehollow Sculler. I like the concept.
Krishnath
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It's simple and decently strong. Probably could get away with rare, though perhaps it's problematic in Limited
slimytrout
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I feel like this might be more fun at B to activate, with some tweaks to casting cost to compensate.
Top 3
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1. Cardz5000
2. Gateways7
3. BeneTleilax
Last edited by Ink-Treader 4 years ago, edited 1 time in total.

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Raptorchan
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Post by Raptorchan » 4 years ago

Crits
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barbecube
Crooked Sommelier - a neat concept for multiplayer politics. Good thing it can't hurt you, bad thing it still can prevent you from hitting your opponent and kill your attackers.

Jimmy Groove
Fresh Cadaver - I wanted to like it more but you made two mistakes here - first, the Skeleton part doesn't do any iconic skeleton things, second - you still can put a -1/-1 counter on a skeleton yo eat it.

Henlock
Ufurutehp IV, Sovereign of Eternity - yeah, I know Eternalize existed in White but honestly I wpuld prefer to see Embalm here instead, right now you made it look like weaker version of Scarab God. Also you included a big piece of text that explains how commander damage works with this one, which in my opinion makes the card far less elegant even though it's easy to understand that you aimed for Commander.

spacemonaut
Malam, the Gravelord - as I said before, your Skeleton tokens don't feel really skeleton because they don't have indestructible/regeneration but at the very least Malam itself barely passes this requirement. And I actually like the idea of a big skeleton that consists of many small skeletons. Good job.

Ink-Treader
Steward of the Cycle - Zombie Druid is cool but and colors are on spot. Permanent recursion fits the flavor just nice and I am almost surprised it wasn't done before.

kwanyeegor-ii
Civic Wraith - Nice card overall though nothing groundbreaking (but I want to say I started to like your recent designs a bit more than before). Also, is nonbasic land hate in black really necessary?..
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2) spacemonaut
3) barbecube

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Krishnath
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Post by Krishnath » 4 years ago

Time for Critiques and comments. Alrighty then.
slimytrout
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A really nasty Shade. The cost of the activated ability seems fair compared to the CC, although the toughness seems a little high. The second ability however feels like a double punishment for the defending player. They're already going to take a metric buttload of damage, and then a forced sacrifice in addition to that really seems like overkill, particularly at Uncommon. Even at rare I would be hesitant to include it due to its low CC. It's the only real issue I have with the card, and could easily be rectified with a higher CC.
Subject16
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I like this design, the only real issue I have with it is the CC. Why red? Black already has access to haste, particularly when paired with unearth effects such as those granted by the card. Red really isn't necessary for the card and really breaks with the flavor of Innistradi Zombies. Card could easily have costed 3BB and been just fine.
bravelion83
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I am really digging the flavor here. But damn that ability is powerful. It's basically a repeatable Vampire Hexmage without the sacrifice clause. With one of these out, you are basically shutting down all your opponents from ever playing a card that relies on counters. Planeswalkers, creatures, artifacts, enchantments, land, lympsucker don't care, it'll eat it. The only thing that doesn't break it completely is that it can't hit your own permanents, but I don't think that is much of a drawback, particularly not when it grows larger each time it eats. But still, flavor is top notch.
Legend
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Only issue I have with this card, and it is a really minor one to be honest, is the creature types. It feels more like a Zombie Horror than a Zombie Elemental. But that is probably just the mythos fanboy in me speaking. >.<
Still, a solid and balanced card. Not sure that it needs to be exiled upon death though.
marioguy3
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A card that can be cast with only red mana granting lifelink, yeah, no. I am going to be entirely and brutally honest here, I loathe colorpie breaking. I have no issue with colors exploring new things, as long as it is in flavor for that color, but a card that can be cast with just red mana granting lifelink is not it. Also, an I will be honest, this is a minor issue. How can something be both a Zombie and a Skeleton, that doesn't make sense. Both have very clear visual cues that they need to fulfill in their art, and due to their nature, they can't have both. Just, how?
netn10
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I will be honest, I was about to yell at you for white "discard", but then I read the affected player gets the cards back at the beginning of their next turn and they get to chose what they "discard" and later get back, and I realized it hit all of whites flavor in a new and innovative way. Temporarily denying a resource for an opponent (In this case, usually for only for a turn in the average duel) is right up white's alley. There is also the novelty of a specter in white, but since the color already gets Vampires, Zombies, and the occasional Shade so I don't really have an issue with that either. Let's be honest, if your opponent was saving a combat trick, they'd have used it before the Shade dealt damage. All in all, I like the design, it's interesting and doesn't do anything that white should not do. It's basically a flicker effect for cards in hand. I feel the CC should be a tad higher, but that is at most, a minor issue.
Votes:

#1: Legend
#2: netn10
#3: Subject16
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