March CCL, Top 6 - The Score of a Lifetime

[void_nothing]

CCL March Top 6/Round 3

"The Score of a Lifetime"


Protean Raider, taken from here on MTGNexus, by Izzy 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 Threats to the Multiverse Month here in the CCL. The month is dedicated to the villains and dark forces that have menaced Magic's past, and perhaps some original ones as well...

Challenge

Design a multicolored Assassin or Pirate creature card flavorfully representing a member of a new evil faction of interplanar criminals.

Clarifications

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• Make sure to include a rarity.

Contestants:
@slimytrout
@Henlock
@kwanyeegor-ii
@netn10
@Subject16
@OneAndOnly

Your submissions are due Friday, March 24th, 23:59 EST.

Schedule

• Round 1 — Open to Everyone (March 1st-8th)
• Round 2 — Open to Everyone (March 9th-15th)
• Rounds 1 and 2 Critiques (Due March 17th)
• Top 6 — Open to top 6 finishers (March 21st–24th)
• Top 6 Critiques (Due March 26th)
• Top 4 — Open to top 4 finishers (March 27th–30th)
• Top 4 Critiques (Due April 2nd)
• Final (April, 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.

[OneAndOnly]

Challenge: Design a multicolored Assassin or Pirate creature card flavorfully representing a member of a new evil faction of interplanar criminals.
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Charingate Buccaneer -- 1UR
Creature - Pirate Lizard
Whenever Charingate Buccaneer deals combat damage to a player, plunder that player's graveyard. (Exile the top card of that player's graveyard. If you exile an artifact or enchantment card this way, create a Treasure; if you exile an instant or sorcery card, create a Food; if you exile a creature card this way, put a +1/+1 counter on this creature. Otherwise untap it.)
2/2

[void_nothing]

Bump and a reminder that you don't have quite as much time for a top 6 round as for a signup round!

[Subject16]

Cruxwind Ransomer 2UR
Creature — Orc Pirate (R)
When Realmflag Cannoneer enters the battlefield, gain control of target tapped creature an opponent controls for as long as Cruxwind Ransomer remains on the battlefield. Untap that creature. It gains haste until end of turn.
Forecast — , Cruxwind Ransomer from your hand: Tap target untapped creature. (Activate this ability only during your upkeep and only once each turn.)
3/3

[netn10]

Kestrel Contractor BR
Creature - Shapeshifter Assassin (Mythic)
Ward - Plot two cards. (To plot, draw a card, then exile a card from your hand face-down into the plot exile zone)
Whenever a creature dies, you may plot.
2W, Turn a face-down plotted card face-up: Destroy target creature with the same mana value as the plotted card.
2U, Turn a face-down plotted card face-up: If the plotted card is a creature card, Kestrel Contractor becomes a copy of it until end of turn.
2/2

[slimytrout]

@netn10 be careful -- challenge says "multicolored" not "multicolored color identity"

Marov, Chronoklept Killer 2UUBB
Legendary Creature - Human Assassin (M)
Flash
When Marov, Chronoklept Killer enters the battlefield, destroy another target creature that entered the battlefield this turn. End the turn.
"Only brutes kill with a blade. My weapon is the most deadly of all: time."
4/4

[kwanyeegor-ii]

Deathlimn Usher RGW
Creature - Spirit Assassin (Rare)
Vigilance
If another creature would die, exile it instead.
RGW, T: Destroy target artifact creature or enchantment creature.
"Mortality is the only acceptable condition. This is the word of Lady Ulvaulla."
3/3

[OneAndOnly]

Reviews

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Subject16

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Cruxwind Ransomer 2UR
Creature — Orc Pirate (R)
When Realmflag Cannoneer enters the battlefield, gain control of target tapped creature an opponent controls for as long as Cruxwind Ransomer remains on the battlefield. Untap that creature. It gains haste until end of turn.
Forecast — , Cruxwind Ransomer from your hand: Tap target untapped creature. (Activate this ability only during your upkeep and only once each turn.)
3/3

Okay, pirates and kidnapping go hook-in-hook, so this makes flavorful sense. I'm a little less certain about the "ransom" part; I expected some form of payment (mana, or Treasure). The link between the foretell ability and the etb ability is clear, though I wish their order was reversed. The overall cost to snag a creature seems a little high.

There's a big mismatch in names ("Realmflag Cannoneer" and "Cruxwind Ransomer"), which takes away a lot of points from what would otherwise be a great card.

netn10

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Kestrel Contractor BR
Creature - Shapeshifter Assassin (Mythic)
Ward - Plot two cards. (To plot, draw a card, then exile a card from your hand face-down into the plot exile zone)
Whenever a creature dies, you may plot.
2W, Turn a face-down plotted card face-up: Destroy target creature with the same mana value as the plotted card.
2U, Turn a face-down plotted card face-up: If the plotted card is a creature card, Kestrel Contractor becomes a copy of it until end of turn.
2/2

The white activated ability feels like it should be black.

"The plot exile zone" seems a little complicated. I get that you don't want Processors and other cards to interact with plots, but its not like cards with suspect or foretell need their own special zone. I'm guessing that de-plotting (?) cards leaves them exiled, so it's an interesting use of cards, but it seems like a lot of hoops to go through. I'm glad you can plot cards yourself, because otherwise using the activated abilities seems very hit-or-miss. As it is, there will be some plotted cards I can look at while face-down, and some I can't. If the mechanic is more widespread (ie, a tentpole mechanic for a set), you end up with large batches of cards plotted, which means much of the time spent playing the game is actually spent dealing with cards in exile, rather than cards on the battlefield, which to me seems like a big miss.

slimytrout

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Marov, Chronoklept Killer 2UUBB
Legendary Creature - Human Assassin (M)
Flash
When Marov, Chronoklept Killer enters the battlefield, destroy another target creature that entered the battlefield this turn. End the turn.
"Only brutes kill with a blade. My weapon is the most deadly of all: time."
4/4

Ah, this is pretty cool! It's a little overly expensive for everything (given that it's baseline is just Nekrataal), but would have fit well in OG Ravnica.

kwanyeegor-ii

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Deathlimn Usher RGW
Creature - Spirit Assassin (Rare)
Vigilance
If another creature would die, exile it instead.
RGW, T: Destroy target artifact creature or enchantment creature.
"Mortality is the only acceptable condition. This is the word of Lady Ulvaulla."
3/3

Cool how the activated ability interacts with the replacement effect, though some other interactions (like regenerating an artifact) become a little less transparent.

The vigilance + activated ability + high stats make it feel a little pushed.

Henlock

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Interplanar Hit-Agent
Creature - Elemental Assassin (r)
Haste, protection from planeswalkers
Interplannar Hit-Agent cannot be blocked if it's attacking a planeswalker.
3/1

The flavor is a little bland, but for dedicated anti-PW tech this guy is right on. I'm not certain their really *needs* to be this much anti-PW tech on a creature, and "can't be blocked" might work better overall (though it would make it more blue).

There's a slight type in the text box ("Interplannar").

Ratings

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1. slimytrout
2. kwanyeegor-ii
3. Henlock
4. Subject16
5. netn10

[Henlock]

Interplanar Hit-Agent br
Creature - Elemental Assassin (r)
Haste, protection from planeswalkers
Interplannar Hit-Agent cannot be blocked if it's attacking a planeswalker.
3/1

[void_nothing]

Okay, with everyone entered the round is now closed. Please critique all other contestants and post a top 3.

[netn10]

OneAndOnly

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Plunder is very flavorful, and very pirate-like. However, I can't imagine a whole set around it or as a faction mechanic. It gives blue/red lifegain (with food) and it's very wordy. Also order of graveyard, while VERY flavorful for this mechanic - is deprecated and pretty unfun.

Subject16

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While I love forecast and I think it's very under-appreciated and has a lot of design space, I don't feel it as a pirate mechanic. Your card is a classic "forecast as a set up for the main mechanic" and I think it's neat.

slimytrout

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The flavor text is sick, and the abilities are very unique. Blinking this is disgusting, I would've added "if you cast this card from your hand" to the etb. The faction is a standard "Dimir" doing in the shadow stuff but with a twist of using time magic. I'm intrigued. I wish this card had a faction mechanic though, but the card is very splashy in colors that usually don't get this treatment.

kwanyeegor-ii

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Naya colors for this challenge is unique and I think you nailed it. The flavor text is absolute sick, it makes me want to know much more about the setting and the factions, vigilance with tap ability with extra hate is neat, and the idea of intraplanar assassins extracting contracts upon the artificial is so cool!

Henlock

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Nothing too fancy here. Not a lot of Rakdos planeswalkers hate exists, interestingly. The card is good, possibly the most playable of the bunch outside of commander, but really - nothing too fancy. The flavor is also pretty generic.

Top 3

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1st: kwanyeegor-ii
2nd: slimytrout
3rd: OneAndOnly

[slimytrout]

OneAndOnly

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Hmm, plunder is super flavorful, but graveyard order is just such an unfun mechanic and I don't think it'll ever be printed again. Would have much preferred it if it just targeted a card in that player's graveyard.

Subject16

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Interesting. I wouldn't have picked forecast -- previously an Azorius mechanic -- as a possible pirate mechanic, but it does make me interested to learn more about these guys. My biggest complaint is that red doesn't really get tapping abilities so the forecast ability is a medium-sized bend, prevented from being a major bend only because you can only do it on your turn so its not useful as a defensive ability.

netn10

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I'm a little confused by this, because the ward ability is something that your opponent will have to do, but plot seems like almost entirely upside so it's basically rewarding you for targeting it. Also I think the activated abilities needs to say "plotted card you own" because it won't work to turn your opponent's plotted cards face up (just because of how paying for costs work it would be really weird to have hidden information be part of a payment).

P.S. good catch on my card needing an "if you cast it" clause -- purely an oversight on my part.

kwanyeegor-ii

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Hm, the flavor is super fun but the card is very swingy. Against most decks it looks like a harder-to-cast Dawnhart Wardens, but in the right matchup it's repeatable removal. I wish you'd figured out a way to make it slightly less narrow while keeping the awesome flavor.

Henlock

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Basically a Spike Jester with some incidental planeswalker hate stapled on. Solid card but doesn't excite me.

T3

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1. Subject16
2. kwanyeegor-ii
3. Henlock

[Henlock]

Oneandonly - I think this mechanic needs to be tweaked a bit, since caring bout top card of the graveyard is not something that happens anymore. (Maybe exiling top from library?)

Subject16- Forecast looks odd in red, but the utility of removing blockers is, at the same time, very at home. Compared to [card]Mind Flayer[/mana], this does a lot more for less mana, so some balancing might be needed.

Netn10- you'll need to rephrase the ward to "Have Kestrel Contractor' controller plot twice". I really like this ability as it opens up a lot of things to be done with it and has looting utility as a floor.

Slimytrout- Pretty dramatic and opens some timing decisions. I would keep this from being abused with blink.

Kwanyegorii- Odd choice of colors. At first I didn't quite like it but the idea of a more otherworldly agenda sunk in. I think that in this colors you can expand it to land creatures too.

Top
1. Slimytrout
2. Netn10
3. Kwanyegor

[kwanyeegor-ii]

1 - slimytrout
2 - oneandonly
3 - henlock

[void_nothing]

And our top 4 contestants are:

slimytrout
kwanyeegor-ii
Henlock
OneAndOnly

Round to come soon!