December CCL Round 1: Seek and You Shall Find

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slimytrout
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Post by slimytrout » 1 year ago

CCL December Signups/Round 1

"Seek and You Shall Find"


"Image"
Seek New Knowledge, by Dave Greco 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 Digital Magic Month here at the CCL. I know this will be a bit of a controversial topic, since not everyone approves of cards that don't function in tabletop magic, but I also know that there's a lot of open design space yet to be explored in the digital-only realm, so I think it will be a fun chance to push the boundaries of what Magic can do.

Challenge
Design a card that can seek a card from your library.
Clarifications
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  • The "seek" keyword means to randomly choose a card meeting the specified criteria from your library and put it into your hand.
  • The card can allow your opponent to seek, but there must be a way for you to seek as well (this could work either as both of you getting to seek a la Manor Guardian, or as something that could happen to any player a la Obscura Polymorphist).
  • Make sure to include a rarity.
Anyone can enter this first round! Your submissions are due Thursday, December 8th, 23:59 EST.
Schedule
  • Round 1 — Open to Everyone (December 1st-8th)
  • Round 2 — Open to Everyone (December 9th-16th)
  • Rounds 1 and 2 Critiques (Due December 18th)
  • Top 8 — Open to top 8 finishers (December 19th–22nd)
  • Top 8 Critiques (Due December 24th)
  • Top 4 — Open to top 4 finishers (December 25th–28th)
  • Top 4 Critiques (Due December 30th)
  • Final (January, 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.

netn10
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Post by netn10 » 1 year ago

Gather the Heroes 2W
Sorcery (Rare)
Seek each unique legendary creature.

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MonoRedMage
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Post by MonoRedMage » 1 year ago

Forked-Horn Archmage 3R
Creature - Minotaur Wizard {R}
When Forked-Horn Archmage enters the battlefield, seek an instant, sorcery, or Wizard card.
Whenever you cast an instant or sorcery spell, Wizards you control get +2/+0 until end of turn.
Whenever you seek a card or put a card into your hand after searching your library, conjure a duplicate of that card into your hand.
"Like other places in Akoum, these rock formations have strange effects on magic. Let me show you."
2/4

marioguy3
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Post by marioguy3 » 1 year ago

Calculate for Everything
Sorcery (Rare)
Discard your hand, then seek an artifact, creature, enchantment, land, planeswalker, insant, and sorcery card. You gain X life, where X is the greatest mana cost among cards put into your hand this way. Exile Calculate for Everything.
The summer is hot. The sum of sun and hot equals summer.

kwanyeegor-ii
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Post by kwanyeegor-ii » 1 year ago

Davriel's Contract Ledger 2BB
Legendary Artifact (Mythic)
At the beginning of your upkeep, seek a Demon card with a different name than cards you've already sought with this ability. If you can't, you lose the game.
Creatures you control have lifelink.
Demons you control get +1/+1.
Whenever you're dealt damage, mill that many cards.
畫龍點睛

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

slimytrout
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Post by slimytrout » 1 year ago

Bumping this! Just over a day left and would love to get more entries!

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Subject16
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Post by Subject16 » 1 year ago

Gleaming Horde 2RR
Enchantment (R)
At the beginning of your end step, you may seek a Dragon card. If you don't, create a tapped Treasure token.
Dragon spells you cast have Affinity for Treasures. (They cost 1 less to cast for each Treasure you control.)

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void_nothing
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Post by void_nothing » 1 year ago

Skruzro Perfectwork 3B
Legendary Creature - Orc Artificer (M)
Whenever an artifact or enchantment card is put into your graveyard from anywhere, you may sacrifice another nonartifact, nonenchantment creature and pay life equal to that card's mana value. If you do, that card perpetually gains "At the beginning of your upkeep, return this card from your graveyard to the battlefield."
R, T: Seek an Equipment card.
W, T: Seek an Aura card.
"None of the Mardu must ever go unarmed."
3/3
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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Lorn Asbord Schutta
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Post by Lorn Asbord Schutta » 1 year ago

Output Forces
Sorcery (R)
Seek a creature card. Then reduce X by that card's toughness and if X is greater then 0, repeat this process. (For each repeat use the X after substraction.)
Antikyther values equilibrium above all. Since materializing ideas gives negative feedback to excess mana, any wealthy mage can ask It for an army.

slimytrout
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Post by slimytrout » 1 year ago

I'm gonna leave this open for one more day in case we get more entries, but also going to post round 2 shortly so people can get started on that.

slimytrout
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Post by slimytrout » 1 year ago

Ok, closing the round! Please post a critique of each other contestant and (more importantly) put them into a top 3.

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void_nothing
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Post by void_nothing » 1 year ago

Critiques
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netn10 - I of course understand what this card is meant to do, but I'm not sure this is the templating that would be used. In a deck built on "legendary tribal" this card would basically set up game-ending plays reliably - a white Wheel of Fortune or Timetwister - so the mana cost is probably WAY too low, but I love the idea of the design, the flavor, and the overall fun factor.

MonoRedMage - Hey, Wizard tribal in Zendikar Rising was fun! This is really wordy but that matters less in digital-only cards. That last triggered looks unique and fun but, again, too powerful, considering it means that this card gives you two cards in hand just for getting it on the battlefield and then quickly pumps up ALL your Wizards - it's basically a self-contained engine as long as you build around its tribe.

marioguy3 - Neat - the fact that there are seven "normal" card types makes this very satisfying to Mel because it's similar to a "discard hand, draw seven" type thing, which is very iconic in this game. The lifegain seems... pretty tacked on and odd, and doesn't really make sense with the card's flavor, or indeed the fact that it's five colors. It's just plain throwing me.

kwanyeegor-ii - Ah, yes, a card that lets you RP as Davriel staying ahead of his demon creditors! He seems better at it than Liliana at least. Cards like these are legitimately really hard to figure out balancewise - the most accurate thing I can say is "swingy". Hard to predict when this would lead to an insta-loss...

Subject16 - So, "how does affinity interact with Treasures' mana ability" has a straightforward answer, but at the same time is bound to confuse people. And the word in this sense is "hoard" - Dragons have hoards, it's the Mardu that have a horde. These couple of technical issues aside, I love the flavor and sheer fun factor of this card. Magda, Brazen Outlaw Historic Alchemy Brawl for me please.

Lorn Asbord Schutta - Is this a card that flavorfully represents ordering creatures online from a superintelligent magical computer? I love that idea so much, as much as my little Mel heart loves repeating processes. This card is very elegant in its own way - You get at least X toughness worth of creatures - and I can't help but smile at it.
Top 3
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1. Lorn Asbord Schutta
2. netn10
3. Subject16
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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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 » 1 year ago

MonoRedMage
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MonoRedMage wrote:
1 year ago
Forked-Horn Archmage 3R
Creature - Minotaur Wizard {R}
When Forked-Horn Archmage enters the battlefield, seek an instant, sorcery, or Wizard card.
Whenever you cast an instant or sorcery spell, Wizards you control get +2/+0 until end of turn.
Whenever you seek a card or put a card into your hand after searching your library, conjure a duplicate of that card into your hand.
"Like other places in Akoum, these rock formations have strange effects on magic. Let me show you."
2/4
I love the "instant, sorcery, or Wizard" theme of Zendikar Rising, as it is a cool take on an old archetype. Combining "seek matter" with "tutor matter" is such a cool idea. The card itself looks very powerful in the right deck, but spellslinger decks don't really look for 4 drops - but if you untap with it and have a small army of wizards, it's probably over.
marioguy3
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marioguy3 wrote:
1 year ago
Calculate for Everything
Sorcery (Rare)
Discard your hand, then seek an artifact, creature, enchantment, land, planeswalker, insant, and sorcery card. You gain X life, where X is the greatest mana cost among cards put into your hand this way. Exile Calculate for Everything.
Any MTGArena Niv deck would love this. The card is a good take of something that could be paper but probably shouldn't, and the "gain life" ability is a good idea for a card that is very slow and for a slow deck. Looks solid to me and a fun build around.
kwanyeegor-ii
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kwanyeegor-ii wrote:
1 year ago
Davriel's Contract Ledger 2BB
Legendary Artifact (Mythic)
At the beginning of your upkeep, seek a Demon card with a different name than cards you've already sought with this ability. If you can't, you lose the game.
Creatures you control have lifelink.
Demons you control get +1/+1.
Whenever you're dealt damage, mill that many cards.
The "sought" threw me off a little bit. This is a pretty unique take on the "Leech" or the Demonic Pact cards, opting for you to play a tribe that isn't known for "play as many as you can of me". Anthem demons while giving lifelink to all creatures you control and not just demons is a little weird to me, and I guess the mill ability is supposed to be a drawback for the first ability.
Subject16
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Subject16 wrote:
1 year ago
Gleaming Horde 2RR
Enchantment (R)
At the beginning of your end step, you may seek a Dragon card. If you don't, create a tapped Treasure token.
Dragon spells you cast have Affinity for Treasures. (They cost 1 less to cast for each Treasure you control.)
The "Affinity for Treasures" made me chuckle! I love this card, and it gives you a meaningful choice between getting your big drops or getting your means for playing the big drops. This is such a fun idea.
void_nothing
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void_nothing wrote:
1 year ago
Skruzro Perfectwork 3B
Legendary Creature - Orc Artificer (M)
Whenever an artifact or enchantment card is put into your graveyard from anywhere, you may sacrifice another nonartifact, nonenchantment creature and pay life equal to that card's mana value. If you do, that card perpetually gains "At the beginning of your upkeep, return this card from your graveyard to the battlefield."
R, T: Seek an Equipment card.
W, T: Seek an Aura card.
"None of the Mardu must ever go unarmed."
3/3
This card is a value machine, by far the most playable of the bunch. This card alone can create a new archetype that cares about all three types. The only problems: Returning the same permanent over and over again might be way too good, especially because it's perpetual, and also Mardu doesn't care about artifacts and enchantments.
Lorn Asbord Schutta
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Lorn Asbord Schutta wrote:
1 year ago
Output Forces
Sorcery (R)
Seek a creature card. Then reduce X by that card's toughness and if X is greater then 0, repeat this process. (For each repeat use the X after substraction.)
Antikyther values equilibrium above all. Since materializing ideas gives negative feedback to excess mana, any wealthy mage can ask It for an army.
What a weird card, in a good way. Let the client handle math. It's very bold, instead of the usual "seek as a shortcut to a regular tutor". The card itself looks either broken or unplayable, and it's a little confusing. Full points on uniqeness, that's for sure.
Top 3
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1st: Subject16
2nd: MonoRedMage
3rd: Lorn Asbord Schutta

marioguy3
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Post by marioguy3 » 1 year ago

netn10: This seems quite powerful in the right decks and do nothing in decks that don't build around it. Three mana is a low cost for an each effect but not too bad. Could possibly use some reminder text to mention if you grab each copy of a legend or just one copy of a legend.

MonoRedMage: I'm sure there is some infinite combo potential with the third ability; otherwise, this is a fun card for spellslinger decks.

kwanyeegor-ii: This is the ultimate risk, reward card for seek decks. It's got enough drawbacks to not be powerful. It's entirely dependent on the demons in the set though and if you can offset milling by recycling cards.

Subject 16: This is a simple yet fun card. Tapped treasure at the end of each turn does add up to an eventual big play.

void_nothing: This is not the most elegant card on this list. It does appear to have some nice applications in each format its in once its owner knows exactly what it can do.

Lord Asborn Schutta: Complicated card that requires several readings but a fair card nonetheless. Grab all the zero toughness creatures!

Top 3
3rd place: Lord Asborn Schutta
2nd place: MonoRedMage
1st place: Subject 16
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slimytrout
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Post by slimytrout » 1 year ago

At noon ET tomorrow I'm going to cut to a T4 regardless of number of critiques, so get them in if you can.

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Lorn Asbord Schutta
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Post by Lorn Asbord Schutta » 1 year ago

1. kwanyeegor-ii
2. marioguy3
3. void_nothing

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