February CCL, Signups/Round 2: Tread Carefully

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void_nothing
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Post by void_nothing » 4 years ago

CCL February Signups/Round 2

"Tread Carefully"


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Lavaball Trap, taken from echomtg.com, by Zoltan Boros & Gabor Szikszai 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 Classic Zendikar month in the CCL - a new Zendikar set will be released much later this year, which most everyone is excited for but which we know nothing (save for the name Zendikar Rising) about yet. So this month will be about the already established history and lore of Zendikar.

Challenge
Design an Instant - Trap.
Clarifications
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  • Traps have a mechanical theme of cost reductions based on opponents' actions. Feel free to search for the subtype Trap on your favorite card database to find out how this generally works if you're unfamiliar.
  • Make sure to include a rarity.
Anyone can enter this second round! Your submissions are due Friday, February 14th, 23:59 EST.
Schedule
  • Round 1 — Open to Everyone (February 1st–7th)
  • Round 2 — Open to Everyone (February 8th–14th)
  • Rounds 1 and 2 Critiques (Due February 17th)
  • Top 8 — Open to top 8 finishers (February 18th–21st)
  • Top 8 Critiques (Due February 23rd)
  • Top 4 — Open to top 4 finishers (February 24th–27th)
  • Top 4 Critiques (Due February 29th)
  • Final (March, winner determined by public poll)
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

netn10
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Post by netn10 » 4 years ago

Bureaucratic Trap 6WU
Instant (Rare)
If an opponent drew two or more cards this turn, cast three or more spells or attacked with four or more creatures, you may pay 2WU rater than paying this card's mana cost.
Choose one:
* Draw four cards.
* Your opponents can't cast spells until your next turn.
* Destroy all creatures.

slimytrout
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Post by slimytrout » 4 years ago

Snapjaw Trap GG
Instant - Trap (R)
If an opponent controls five or more creatures, you may pay 4G rather than pay this spell's mana cost.
Converge - Target creature you control deals damage equal to its power to X target creatures you don't control, where X is the number of colors of mana spent to cast this spell.
Last edited by slimytrout 4 years ago, edited 1 time in total.

kwanyeegor-ii
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Post by kwanyeegor-ii » 4 years ago

Elvish Guerrilla Trap XXGG
Instant--Trap (Rare)
X can't be zero.
If an opponent cast a spell with X in its mana cost this turn, you may pay XG rather than pay this spell's mana cost.
Create X 1/1 green Elf Warrior creature tokens and you gain X life. Then draw cards equal to half the number of Elf tokens you control, rounded down.
畫龍點睛

I'm a simple Magic player since several years ago from China. Now I live in New Jersey.

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Subject16
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Post by Subject16 » 4 years ago

Entangling Trap 3WW
Instant — Trap (Uncommon)
If an opponent controls a creature with power 4 or greater, you may pay 1W rather than pay this spell's mana cost.
Exile target creature.
"I'd never dreamt we could defeat an Eldrazi with zero casualties."
—Munda, Ambush Leader

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folding_music
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Post by folding_music » 4 years ago

Mechanical Hitch 2r
Instant - Trap (U)
If any of your opponents control at least three artifacts, you may pay rather than pay this spell's mana cost.
Counter target activated ability from an artifact source. Mechanical Hitch deals 2 damage to that ability's controller.

jamblock
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Post by jamblock » 4 years ago

Reclamation Trap 2{g/w}{g/w}
Instant - Trap (U)
If an opponent attacked with an enchanted or equipped creature this turn, you may pay 1{G/W} rather than this spell's mana cost.
Destroy up to two target artifacts and/or enchantments.

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RaikouRider
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Post by RaikouRider » 4 years ago

Annihilation Trap 3WW
Instant - Trap {R}
If all creatures an opponent controls that could attack this turn did so, you may pay 1WW rather than paying this spell's mana cost.
Remove from combat target attacking creature of an opponent's choice they control, then destroy all other attacking creatures that player controls.

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spacemonaut
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Post by spacemonaut » 4 years ago

Overwhelming Barrage XRRW
Instant — Trap (R)
If an opponent is attacking with four or more creatures, this spell has convoke. (Your creatures can help cast this spell. Each creature you tap while casting this spell pays for or one mana of that creature's color.)
Overwhelming Barrage deals X damage to each attacking creature.
"Now's our time! Release until not a single arrow is left!"

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

Stillmagic Trap UU
Instant - Trap (R)
If two or more abilities from artifact and/or enchantment sources were activated and/or triggered this turn, You may pay 0 rather that pay this spell's mana cost.
Counter each activated or triggered ability from an artifact or enchantment source. Until your next turn, activated abilities of artifacts and enchantments can't be activated, and their abilities can't be triggered.

Henlock
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Post by Henlock » 4 years ago

Misguidance Trap 3b
Instant - Trap (r)
If an opponent scried this turn and you control a swamp, you may pay 2 life rather than paying Misguidance Trap's mana cost.
Exile the top two cards of target opponent's library. Then search that player's library for any number of nonland cards with the same name as the cards exiled this way and exile them. That player shuffles his or her library.

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void_nothing
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Post by void_nothing » 4 years ago

Under twelve hours left to enter!
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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void_nothing
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Post by void_nothing » 4 years ago

Round is closed! Please critique the six contestants ABOVE you on this list, looping to the bottom as necessary.

netn10
slimytrout
kwanyeegor-ii
Subject16
folding_music
jamblock
RaikouRider
spacemonaut
Ink-Treader
Henlock
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

slimytrout
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Post by slimytrout » 4 years ago

netn10
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Bureaucratic Trap: Cryptic Trap might be a better name here - there is *so* much to keep track of on this card, to the point that it's almost impossible to play around, which kind of negates the whole point of traps. Maybe would work better if just the spell effect was modal, and not the trap effect.
Henlock
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Misguidance Trap: Not sure why the swamp is necessary -- there are plenty of traps that have 0 as their trap cost. Also incredibly weak, as the effect seems barely worth a card even at just two life (compare to Surgical Extraction, where you actually know what you're getting), and is absolutely unplayable at 4 mana.
Ink-Treader
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Stillmagic Trap: Honestly, might be good in vintage, but the effect is pretty fiddly and narrow. Also shutting off triggers for free could be pretty busted with, say, Phyrexian Dreadnought. Overall seems like a pretty high-risk low-reward card to print.
spacemonaut
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Overwhelming Barrage: Really like the idea of the cost-reduction feature being convoke, although it might be a little confusing to attach it to a X spell. Also feel like the Trap naming convention is worth keeping, so I'd prefer this as Barrage Trap. But overall like it a lot.
RaikouRider
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Annihilation Trap: Because it's removing from combat, it shouldn't say "other attacking creatures," since the creature that's removed from combat is no longer attacking. Also I'm pretty sure there are some confusing corner cases with the "all creatures that could attack" text, but I like the idea.
jamblock
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Reclamation Trap: Great card, no notes.
1. jamblock
2. spacemonaut
3. RaikouRider

kwanyeegor-ii
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Post by kwanyeegor-ii » 4 years ago

netn10 - This is pretty complicated but all the modes have something to do with one of the conditions which is cool

slimytrout - Completely awesome and I love how converge is used here

RaikouRider - Unique trigger condition and giving the opp a slight out is fair

spacemonaut - Totally feels like this could be monowhite. Add convoke is very clever tho

Ink-Treader - Pretty narrow stuff huh? I guess this is meant to hose a specific deck lol

Henlock - Interesting version of extraction type effects but overall kinda weak

1. raikourider
2. slimytrout
3. spacemonaut
Last edited by kwanyeegor-ii 4 years ago, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Ink-Treader » 4 years ago

Judgments Done
kwanyeegor-ii
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I see why X can't be 0. It seems reasonable, though I may be underestimating just how many ways there are to make Elf tokens.
Subject16
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An entangling trap exiling is weird flavor, but the card is solid.
folding_music
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This is a color pie bleed I'm okay with. That being said, I think it's too narrow. If it also destroyed the artifact (and could also hit triggered abilities) I think it'd be perfect.
jamblock
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A solid trap.
RaikouRider
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Interesting trap. It's a nice boardwipe that's not too cruel, and reasonably costed on both sides
spacemonaut
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A unique twist on the trap mechanic. This seems fine.
Top 3
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1. spacemonaut
2. jamblock
3. RaikouRider

jamblock
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Post by jamblock » 4 years ago

folding_music: A fun effect, but narrow. I'm not sure if a sideboard wants this more than it just wants artifact destruction.
subject16: It seems a bit off that the trap doesn't have to target the powerful creature but can still be cheapened, but I like the card just on balance.
kwanyeegor: A somewhat strange trap, that feels pretty bad unless you already have a ton of elf tokens, and a weird thing to sideboard against… X decks?
slimy trout: A very interesting mix of effects. I get the trap component but boy do I just with this were a card that costed X1G and weren't a trap. Very cool idea though.
netn10: This is a tough one, it does so many things and the trap conditions are so odd. It seems like a powerful draw engine against any deck that also likes to draw cards, but is just tough to evaluate.
Henlock: This is very neat and very brutal, possibly. I like that it is swingy UNLESS the trap condition is triggered. Seems like if you have this in your 75 your opponent just can play around it okay, at least the trap part.

Top 3:
1. slimy trout
2. Henlock
3. netn10

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RaikouRider
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Post by RaikouRider » 4 years ago

I have a lot going on tonight so only a top 3, sorry

1) slimytrout
2) jamblock
3) kwanyeegor-ii

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spacemonaut
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Post by spacemonaut » 4 years ago

The most fun part of traps is, I think: if the trap is good, what does it mean people can't really afford to do, lest they give you a super good cheap effect?
Also important: would I still be happy to cast this for its non-trap cost?
Critiques
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RaikouRider wrote:
4 years ago
Annihilation Trap 3WW
Instant - Trap {R}
If all creatures an opponent controls that could attack this turn did so, you may pay 1WW rather than paying this spell's mana cost.
Remove from combat target attacking creature of an opponent's choice they control, then destroy all other attacking creatures that player controls.
That one guy is Leeroy.

I like this, but it also seems super easy to thwart. Still, it encourages a meta of holding back just a bit, which is neat.
jamblock wrote:
4 years ago
Reclamation Trap 2{g/w}{g/w}
Instant - Trap (U)
If an opponent attacked with an enchanted or equipped creature this turn, you may pay 1{G/W} rather than this spell's mana cost.
Destroy up to two target artifacts and/or enchantments.
Oh, man. I love this. That's a nice spell and a really flavorful and appropriate trap condition.
folding_music wrote:
4 years ago
Mechanical Hitch 2r
Instant - Trap (U)
If any of your opponents control at least three artifacts, you may pay rather than pay this spell's mana cost.
Counter target activated ability from an artifact source. Mechanical Hitch deals 2 damage to that ability's controller.
Interesting. I like the variety of hate going on here.

I think this card would make the red & blue members of the council of colors visibly perspire. I think it does need to cost blue, but we can bump that up to 1RU for the cost, RU for the trap, and 3 damage for the burn.
Subject16 wrote:
4 years ago
Entangling Trap 3WW
Instant — Trap (Uncommon)
If an opponent controls a creature with power 4 or greater, you may pay 1W rather than pay this spell's mana cost.
Exile target creature.
"I'd never dreamt we could defeat an Eldrazi with zero casualties."
—Munda, Ambush Leader
Munda's hard work and practice is beginning to pay off. That does seem genuinely impossible though in light of BFZ era, so I'm going to choose to interpret that this is a Zendikar where there's still Eldrazi but they're phenomenally weakened—they're like gangrenous parts of the corpses that are Kozilek and Ulamog, still barely functioning, and that's pretty compelling to think about.

Anyway: the condition itself is so guaranteed I'm not sure it should cost as little as 1W. It is basically Bring to Trial for 1W, with an optional more expensive mode for smaller creatures oddly enough. Maybe 2W? Traps are hard.
kwanyeegor-ii wrote:
4 years ago
Elvish Guerrilla Trap XXGG
Instant--Trap (Rare)
X can't be zero.
If an opponent cast a spell with X in its mana cost this turn, you may pay XG rather than pay this spell's mana cost.
Create X 1/1 green Elf Warrior creature tokens and you gain X life. Then draw cards equal to half the number of Elf tokens you control, rounded down.
That is a lot! I guess it costs a lot too though, and asks me to keep mana open in response, and has a very specific trap condition. It's going to be make-or-break based on whether there's a good X spell in the same meta. This one's virtually guaranteed for elf decks in Commander for example. We're overlapping here with Hydroid Krasis, Explosion, and Sphinx's Revelation territory though. I suspect this might need to be Mythic Rare.
slimytrout wrote:
4 years ago
Snapjaw Trap GG
Instant - Trap (R)
If an opponent controls five or more creatures, you may pay 4G rather than pay this spell's mana cost.
Converge - Target creature you control deals damage equal to its power to X target creatures you don't control, where X is the number of colors of mana spent to cast this spell.
This needs "up to X" or it might be hard to successfully cast this sometimes in some unusual edge cases. (E.g.: I have three types of basic lands and no other mana sources, but you have only two creatures: I don't have three legal targets.)
This one's difficult to gauge since its power varies so wildly between the three modes, from Rabit Bite to a green sorta-sweeper for CMC 5. The flavor's hard to connect, but it is pretty neat mechanically.
Top 3
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1. jamblock
2. folding_music
3. slimytrout

Henlock
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Post by Henlock » 4 years ago

Top 3 this time.only,

jamblock
subject16
spacemonaut

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void_nothing
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Post by void_nothing » 4 years ago

The Top 8 is in!

jamblock
slimytrout
spacemonaut
Ink-Treader
Subject16
netn10
Henlock
RaikouRider

Round to come shortly.
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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