July CCL Signups/Round 1: Then There Were 6

[slimytrout]

CCL July Signups/Round 1

"Then There Were 6"


Keiga, the Tide Star, by Ittoku 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 Cycles Month here at the CCL! Horizontal, vertical, existing, new -- we're going to go make them all.

Challenge

Design a colorless card that adds onto an existing five-card cycle

Clarifications

Show

Hide

• The existing cycle can be made up of monocolored or multicolored cards (or other colorless cards, I suppose).
• Feel free to make clear what cycle you are adding onto if you're not sure if other contestants will recognize it.
• Make sure to include a rarity.

Anyone can enter this first round! Your submissions are due Thursday, July 8th, 23:59 EST.

Schedule

• Round 1 — Open to Everyone (July 1st-July 8th)
• Round 2 — Open to Everyone (July 9th-16th)
• Rounds 1 and 2 Critiques (Due July 18th)
• Top 8 — Open to top 8 finishers (July 19th–22nd)
• Top 8 Critiques (Due July 24th)
• Top 4 — Open to top 4 finishers (July 25th–28th)
• Top 4 Critiques (Due July 30th)
• Final (August, 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.

[dangerousdice]

shattered wasteland
land - wastes (c)
(: add .)
shattered wasteland enters the battlefield tapped unless you control three or more other wastes.
When shattered wasteland enters the battlefield untapped, exile the top card of target player's library.

[Ink-Treader]

An addition to the 1 CMC Instants using '3' cycle from the very beginning. (Healing Salve, Ancestral Recall, Dark Ritual, Lightning Bolt, Giant Growth)

Entropic Energies C
Instant (C)
Until end of turn, the next noncreature spell or activated ability that isn't a mana ability costs 3 more to cast or activate.
Strange disruptions in the aether still occur where the Eye of Ugin once was sealed, the lingering evidence of the Eldrazi Titans' terrible power.

[RaikouRider]

M11 Titan Cycle (Sun Titan, etc)

Eldritch Titan 4CC
Creature - Eldrazi Giant Processor (M)
Ward CC
Whenever Eldritch Titan enters the battlefield or attacks, you may put target card an opponent owns in exile into their graveyard. Until the end of your next turn, you may play that card, and you may spend C as though it were mana of any color to cast that spell.
A dreadful nightmare that never ends.
6/6

[netn10]

Shadomoor's lost brother to the Morningtide's Bramblewood Paragon, Cenn's Tactician, Oona's Blackguard, Rage Forger and Sage of Fables.

Reaper's Second Hand 3
Artifact Creature - Scarecrow (Uncommon)
Each other Scarecrow creature you control enters the battlefield with an additional -1/-1 counter on it.
Creatures you control have "4, , Remove a -1/-1 counter from this creature: Destroy target permanent."
2/2

[marioguy3]

Cycle: Command Cycle from Lorwyn:

Metallic Command
Sorcery (Rare)
Choose two —
• Create two 2/2 colorless Golem Cat artifact creature tokens.
• Destroy target creature or planeswalker with mana value 5 or greater.
• Draw a card and reveal it. Create an X/X colorless Golem Cat artifact creature token, where X is the mana value of the revealed card.
• Sacrifice three artifacts, then draw three cards.

[Subject16]

Adding one more to the Epic cycle (Enduring Ideal, Eternal Dominion, Neverending Torment, Undying Flames, Endless Swarm)

Infinite Void 5CC
Sorcery (Rare)
Target player exiles cards from the top of their library until they've exiled cards with total mana value X or more, where X is the number of cards in your hand.
Epic (For the rest of the game, you can't cast spells. At the beginning of each of your upkeeps, copy this spell except for its epic ability.)

[bravelion83]

MMM cycle from Dominaria (Benalish Marshal, Tempest Djinn, Dread Shade, Goblin Chainwhirler, Steel Leaf Champion)

Wastelands Overlord CCC
Creature — Horror (R)
When Wastelands Overlord enters the battlefield, search your library, hand, and/or graveyard for a nonland colorless card, reveal it, and exile it. If you searched your library this way, shuffle. You may cast the exiled card for as long as it remains exiled. (You still pay its costs.)
Whenever you cast a colorless spell, you gain 1 life.
3/3

[Legend]

The Theros god cycle Heliod, God of the Sun, Thassa, God of the Sea, Erebos, God of the Dead, Purphoros, God of the Forge, Nylea, God of the Hunt.

Morpheon, God of Change
4C
Enchantment Creature - God
5/5
Indestructible
As long as your devotion to colorless is less than five, Morpheon isn't a creature. (Each C in the mana costs of permanents you control counts toward your devotion to colorless.)
Whenever a creature you control deals combat damage to a player, they exile that many cards from the top of their library.
C, Put a card an opponent owns from exile into that player's graveyard: The next spell you cast this turn becomes a copy of that card.

[Apellosine]

The original Judgement uncommon Incarnation cycle, Valor, Wonder, Filth, Anger, Brawn.

Emptiness 3C
Creature - Incarnation (U)
As long as Emptiness is in your graveyard, permanents and spells you control are colorless.
3/3

[void_nothing]

Zurfik, Voice of Silver 5
Legendary Artifact Creature - Spellshaper (R)
5, T, Discard two cards: You may put an artifact card from your hand, your graveyard, or that you own in exile onto the battlefield.
"In some sense, the metal vizier at Zhalfir and I are brothers." - Karn
3/3

[kwanyeegor-ii]

Bivonis, Flowstone Remnant 6
Legendary Artifact Creature - Soldier (Rare)
Bivonis can't be blocked except by artifact creatures and Walls.
1: Bivonis gets +2/-2 or -2/+2 until end of turn.
One of the most unique fighters in the Cabal pits, a survivor from the Phyrexian invasion.
5/5

[Henlock]

Feast of Ingestion (2/c)(2/c)(2/c)
Sorcery (u)
Exile the top two cards from target player's library, then create a colorless X/X Eldrazi creature token, where X is equal to the total mana cost of cards exiled this way.

[slimytrout]

Sorry folks! Was traveling and had trouble getting good internet. The round is closed, please critique the seven contestants below you on this list, looping to the top as necessary.

dangerousdice
Ink-Treader
RaikouRider
netn10
marioguy3
Subject16
bravelion83
Legend
Apellosine
void_nothing
kwanyeegor-ii
Henlock

[bravelion83]

Critiques (done)

Show

Hide

The Theros god cycle Heliod, God of the Sun, Thassa, God of the Sea, Erebos, God of the Dead, Purphoros, God of the Forge, Nylea, God of the Hunt.

Morpheon, God of Change
4C
Enchantment Creature - God
5/5
Indestructible
As long as your devotion to colorless is less than five, Morpheon isn't a creature. (Each C in the mana costs of permanents you control counts toward your devotion to colorless.)
Whenever a creature you control deals combat damage to a player, they exile that many cards from the top of their library.
C, Put a card an opponent owns from exile into that player's graveyard: The next spell you cast this turn becomes a copy of that card.

Missing rarity. It fits well into the cycle. The last ability feels like it should be on an Eldrazi Processor. I'm not sure how much I like the milling plan, you'll probably win with damage way before milling your opponent's full deck.

The original Judgement uncommon Incarnation cycle, Valor, Wonder, Filth, Anger, Brawn.

Emptiness 3C
Creature - Incarnation (U)
As long as Emptiness is in your graveyard, permanents and spells you control are colorless.
3/3

The effect feels narrow to me, and it's really half of the cycle. I would have put a keyword and granted that keyword from the graveyard in place of making things colorless. Maybe menace?

Zurfik, Voice of Silver 5
Legendary Artifact Creature - Spellshaper (R)
5, T, Discard two cards: You may put an artifact card from your hand, your graveyard, or that you own in exile onto the battlefield.
"In some sense, the metal vizier at Zhalfir and I are brothers." - Karn
3/3

The card is fine but I don't recognize the cycle. I'm also not sure of the wording, but I have no problem with the effect. I think I don't recognize the cycle because it's too old for me, which is also the reason why I don't fully understand the flavor text. Is the sense because they have both been created and not technically born? I guess.

Bivonis, Flowstone Remnant 6
Legendary Artifact Creature - Soldier (Rare)
Bivonis can't be blocked except by artifact creatures and Walls.
1: Bivonis gets +2/-2 or -2/+2 until end of turn.
One of the most unique fighters in the Cabal pits, a survivor from the Phyrexian invasion.
5/5

I don't recognize this cycle either. The +2/-2 or -2/+2 part reminds me of the Morphling mega-cycle but I don't think that's it, it lacks all the rest of a Morphling. My critique of this card is essentially the same as the previous one: it's fine, but I don't really understand the cycle probably because it's too old for me. The mention of the Phyrexian invasion of Dominaria does nothing but confirm that it's too old for me. When Invasion came out I still didn't know what Magic was. I've only seen the Cabal in Dominaria, the set.

Feast of Ingestion (2/c)(2/c)(2/c)
Sorcery (u)
Exile the top two cards from target player's library, then create a colorless X/X Eldrazi creature token, where X is equal to the total mana cost of cards exiled this way.

This is a cycle I recognize even if you don't mention it, the two-brid cycle from Shadowmoor. The card fits the cycle well, but I'm not a big fan of the Eldrazi flavor. The only known surviving Eldrazi is Emrakul and she's in the moon of Innistrad (we better see her influence in the coming Innistrad sets by the way, or at least get to know if she's still in the moon). As far as I know, Eldrazi have never been to Shadowmoor, or Lorwyn by the way. I would have liked to see some flavor text, but I have no problems with the mechanical side of this card.

shattered wasteland
land - wastes (c)
(: add .)
shattered wasteland enters the battlefield tapped unless you control three or more other wastes.
When shattered wasteland enters the battlefield untapped, exile the top card of target player's library.

Name not bolded. Reminder text not italicized. Missing capitalization of the card names in the rules text. The land type Wastes doesn't exist (the card Wastes has no land type). All these Quality issues, as they would be called in the MCC, are too many for me to ignore them. I think I recognize the cycle though, it's the common land cycle from Eldraine.

An addition to the 1 CMC Instants using '3' cycle from the very beginning. (Healing Salve, Ancestral Recall, Dark Ritual, Lightning Bolt, Giant Growth)

Entropic Energies C
Instant (C)
Until end of turn, the next noncreature spell or activated ability that isn't a mana ability costs 3 more to cast or activate.
Strange disruptions in the aether still occur where the Eye of Ugin once was sealed, the lingering evidence of the Eldrazi Titans' terrible power.

I'm not sure if it's intentional, but this doesn't work like taxing. You can't respond to an opponent's spell or activated ability with this and have them pay three mana more if they can. They have already cast the spell or activated the ability and they have already paid the costs before you can even respond in the first place. You have to cast this preemptively, and this makes it much weaker and less intuitive than it looks like. Of course, if this is intentional, ignore all of this. I really like the flavor text though.

Top 3

1st place: Henlock
2nd place: Ink-Treader
3rd place: Apellosine

[Ink-Treader]

RaikouRider

Show

Hide

I dislike how the creatures nonETB/Attack trigger ability is just a strictly better version of Frost Titan's. The ETB/Attack trigger ability is fun though, and feels in line with the stronger titans.

netn10

Show

Hide

Interesting choice here. Feels a little disjointed due to not focusing on a 'class' creature type. The activated ability it grants is pretty strong, but Scarecrows aren't quite a mighty tribe, outside of some interesting outliers, so that's fine. The -1/-1 counter should probably optional, so that multiples of this don't feel bad.

marioguy3

Show

Hide

The last choice works oddly as written; if you don't have any artifacts to sacrifice, you still get the 3 cards. The second choice requiring such a high mana value is a bit odd. It could come down to 4 or higher without issue I feel.

Subject16

Show

Hide

A bold cycle to choose, considering how maligned the Epic mechanic is. I suspect more often then not I'd rather make use of Neverending Torment compared to this card. While your card here can potentially nail more cards with a lucky run of lands, Torment allows the player to specifically remove potential problems from that library.

bravelion83

Show

Hide

This feels pretty good. It tutors, which is always handy, and incidental life gain can always be nice to have. Not terribly powerful in combat for its cost, but it does plenty already.

Legend

Show

Hide

That activated ability can do some very silly things. The static ability gives some Phenax, God of Deception vibes, but its different enough.[/card]

Apellosine

Show

Hide

I am unsure what the best choice would be for a colorless creature in that cycle, but turning everything colorless is quite underwhelming compared to the rest of the cycle. Requiring a land named Wastes would have been a nice touch, regardless.

Top 3

Show

Hide

1. bravelion83
2. Legend
3. RaikouRider

[void_nothing]

Critiques

Show

Hide

dangerousdice - Couple of things wrong with this card. First is that Wastes is not a land type, which can easily be seen just by looking at the card Wastes: It is a typeless basic land. The other thing is that the bonus ETB effect, compared to the Eldraine ETBland cycle, is horrendously underpowered: not just in comparison to an OP Pauper card like Mystic Sanctuary but to all of them.

Ink-Treader - Actually feels like a fine addition to the boons cycle! Doesn't really fit in Alpha obviously, and perhaps it's a bit narrow, but otherwise nothing to complain about here.

RaikouRider - I know it's necessary for the Processor part of the card, but putting an exiled card into a graveyard and then getting to cast it is at least counterintuitive. Plus ward CC is probably too restrictive of a ward cost - mostly it'd end up just being hexproof. Anyway, not sure about the flavor here either. It's a good base idea but I'd personally have made a colorless Titan that wasn't bogged down by the requirements of being an Eldrazi Processor too.

netn10 - Deep cut! There's, like, three different Shadowmoor themes on this card, and it's probably both wacky and splashy enough to be rare, but something about it is pretty satisfying.

marioguy3 - The original Commands didn't necessarily have a unifying theme for their effects but these feel quite random. Why CMC 5 or greater? Why two different... Golem Cat tokens? Why is the third mode worse the more artifacts you have (it's a straight-up draw three cards if you just can't sacrifice any)?

kwanyeegor-ii - For a legend, this is both generic and pushed - which makes it just like the original pit fighter legends (at least for their own time), anyhow. I was young when Onslaught came out and putting a pair of Heroic Pants on this and pumping it as far as the new toughness can go is exactly the kind of combo that feels like being a child and playing Magic.

Henlock - Not sure I like the idea of colorless monohybrid mana. The central idea of a big token from combined mana values is cool but could so easily whiff on two lands.

Top 3

Show

Hide

1. netn10
2. kwanyeegor-ii
3. Ink-Treader

[marioguy3]

Subject16: A bit of a weak card to start, but gets better the more cards you have. Cycle understood and fits the cycle.
bravelion83: A solid card that fits within a cycle. I like the casting from exile part quite a bit.
Legend: Ingest on coffee is quite the beast of a card. Fair card.
Apellosine: Like the card's power, feels a bit on the "empty" side.
void_nothing: Powerful ability with generally conservative costs, albeit not too hard to reach in the right deck.
kwanyeegor-ii: Not sure the cycle, though the card is interesting.
Henlock: This is probably the most powerful and exciting designed card of the group I reviewed.

Top 3:
3rd: Legend
2nd: bravelion83
1st: Henlock

[slimytrout]

I'd love to get 1 or 2 more critiques for this round before moving on, so I'm leaving it open at least until midnight ET tonight -- hopefully that's enough time.

[Henlock]

will try to get my crits up

holder

[Henlock]

dangerousdice: So, this would be the colorless one for the cyclw of Eldrain lands. Given that lands that tap for tend to already have some nice abilities, you should have gone up in power level here. About the land type, well, wastes were done typeless.so as to not shake thigs that care about basic land types much.

Ink Treader- I really like this type of effect and althoughtnI feel this looks like a white effect. it does have the funkyness and limitations that colorloss spells bring with them.

RaikouRaider- The ward cost is very restrictive but considering that the triggers have a chance to do.nothing, maybe plain ingest would have been the way to go.

netn10: This feels.very much like a missing card from a cycle. I like that you chose a more flexible cycle to work qith. The ability.is.powerful but with enough hoops to be kept honest.

marioguy- I:ve been combining the effects in my head and I don't feel any of the combinations is worth the 6 mana on a rare. Drawing 4 cards with the last two can be nice if you have no artifacts, but there's some.antisyneegy here that makes the card a bit unwieldy.

Subject16- I think this is a bit too unreliable for a Epic spell.

Bravelion- Tutors are always nice, and this one can be quite malignant if you ask me. The last ability seems too much considering the degeneracies artfact decks can do.


Top

1. Netn10
2. inktreader
3. bravelion

[RaikouRider]

netn10: Love the callback to Shadowmoor's -1/-1 counter theme here. Might be a little too strong at uncommon, but it fits the cycle well.
marioguy3: Colorless command indeed. Looks like something I would play in just about every colorless Commander deck, though I don't see it as strong enough for Constructed formats.
Subject16: This feels really weak compared to the rest of the cycle. I was expecting this to let you put one onto the battlefield, but this leaves you totally defenseless after playing it. Good effort, but I can't see myself wanting to play this in anything.
bravelion83: Would play this in every colorless deck. Quite strong and appropriately costed at CCC.
Legend: Very cool colorless devotion concept, but needs sufficient support to be able to turn this into a creature easily. Assuming that support is there, this seems very good. I like the combo potential of the last ability, too.
Apellosine: Flavor is on point, but I think this kind of effect is too gimmicky to want to be played in anything.
void_nothing: This the Prophecy double-pitch spellshaper cycle featuring Greel, Mind Raker? Can't believe I recognized that. I like the nod to mirroring the power level of the original cycle's member, and this ultimately got you my 3rd place vote.

1) bravelion83
2) Legend
3) void_nothing