March CCL, Top 8 - No Keeping Them Down

[void_nothing]

March CCL Top 8/Round 3

"No Keeping Them Down"


Defy Death, taken from Art of MtG, illustrated by Karl Kopinski

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 Anticipation Month here at the CCL! We currently know an unprecedented amount about upcoming major Standard-legal Magic sets, so each round this month will be loosely inspired by one of those sets.

It's the top 8 round, and the next set up is Duskmourn, which we still know very little detail about - but things coming back from the dead will fit its horror film theme!

Challenge

Design a card that can return one or more permanent cards from a graveyard to the battlefield.

Clarifications

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• Make sure to include a rarity.

Contestants
@Henlock
@OneAndOnly
@Raptorchan
@AnotherAlias
@shullz
@Lorn Asbord Schutta
@KB52665
@Komandon

Your submissions are due Monday, March 25th, 23:59 EST.

Schedule

• Round 1 — Open to Everyone (March 3rd - 9th)
• Round 2 — Open to Everyone (March 11th - 17th)
• Rounds 1 and 2 Critiques (Due March 19th)
• Top 8 — Open to top 8 finishers (March 22nd - 25th)
• Top 8 Critiques (Due March 27th)
• Top 4 — Open to top 4 finishers (March 28th - 31st)
• Top 4 Critiques (Due April 2nd)
• Final (April, winner determined by public poll)

For this month we will continue asking first and second round contestants to evaluate six other contestants during the critique and top 3 period, in order to increase the total number of evaluations each contestant gets.

[OneAndOnly]

Inveigle the Underlord -- BBB
Sorcery {R}
Return target creature or planeswalker in your graveyard to the battlefield with two time counters on it. It becomes an enchantment with vanishing in additional to its other card types and abilities. Treat other counters on it as time counters in addition to their other types.
Menelaia's sweet melodies pleased Erebos, and allowed her love Pero to slip past back to the world of the living.

[KB52665]

Sarcophagus Salesman 1b
Creature — Zombie Citizen (C)
, : Put a coin counter on up to one tapped creature an opponent controls.
Whenever a creature dies, if it had any coin counters on it, return it to the battlefield tapped under your control.
"Buy one, get one free. Get 'em while they're hot!"
0/1

[shullz]

Cornelia, Deadwood Cultivator
Legendary Creature — Dryad (Rare)
Plants you control have ": Add ."
, : Return target creature card from a graveyard to the battlefield under your control. It's a green Plant in addition to its other colors and types and it gains defender and "If this creature would leave the battlefield, exile it instead of putting it anywhere else."
Blooming life where dreams were left to wither.

[Raptorchan]

Retell 3w
Sorcery (R)
Return target enchantment card from your graveyard to the battlefield. If that enchantment is a Saga, it gains read ahead.
It was a complex and wholesome story about noble swordsmen and their art, but listeners kept asking to jump straight to chapter XVI.

[Komandon]

Meadow of Renewal
Land — Forest (uncommon)
Meadow of Renewal enters the battlefield tapped unless you control another Forest.
T: Add g.
1, Sacrifice Meadow of Renewal: Return up to two lands cards from your graveyard to the battlefield tapped. For each Forest returned in this way, gain 1 life.

[Lorn Asbord Schutta]

Conclusion of Grandeur
Sorcery (R)
As an additional cost to cast this spell, search your library for three creature cards with the same name, exile them, then shuffle.
Return a creature card with the same name as exiled cards from your graveyard to the battlefield. It becomes legendary in addition to its other types.
There is no other like me.

[void_nothing]

Quick entry reminder for @Henlock and @AnotherAlias - I will of course extend the round if need be. Everyone else, please make sure you're satisfied with your entries of course.

[Henlock]

Hallgate of the Fallen 1w
Creature - Wall (u)
Defender
When Hallgate of the Fallen enters the battlefield,, you may return target creature card with mana value 3 or less from your graveyard to the battlefield with a finality counter on it. It is a Spirit in addition to its types.
0/3

[AnotherAlias]

Internal Organ-ized
Sorcery (Un-Mythic)
Return all Zombie creature cards from your graveyard to the battlefield in a stack. Order the stack alphabetically with "A" at the top. Whenever that stack would leave the battlefield, exile the top card of it instead. That stack gains ": Sacrifice this stack." (Only the top card of a stack is counted at any time.)

[void_nothing]

And that will do it. Round is closed - please critique all other contestants and provide a T3.

[OneAndOnly]

Ratings WIP

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Sarcophagus Salesman 1b
Creature — Zombie Citizen (C)
, : Put a coin counter on up to one tapped creature an opponent controls.
Whenever a creature dies, if it had any coin counters on it, return it to the battlefield tapped under your control.
"Buy one, get one free. Get 'em while they're hot!"
0/1

An interesting twist on Athreos, Shroud-Veiled. It's a little odd to see such a powerful effect on such an inexpensive creature, and one that's not legendary. Limiting it to only an opponent's creatures makes the ability feel like a Control Magic with rather many hoops to jump through.

Cornelia, Deadwood Cultivator
Legendary Creature — Dryad (Rare)
Plants you control have ": Add ."
, : Return target creature card from a graveyard to the battlefield under your control. It's a green Plant in addition to its other colors and types and it gains defender and "If this creature would leave the battlefield, exile it instead of putting it anywhere else."
Blooming life where dreams were left to wither.

You could replace that last clause with a finality counter. That feels a little less green and does open up the possibility of shenanigans (Solemnity, perhaps).

This feels like a fairer reanimation ability but -- to what end? You can get some ETB effects, and perhaps shut down an opponent's own reanimation strategy but it doesn't really get you closer to ending the game yourself.

You're missing power and toughness.

Retell 3w
Sorcery (R)
Return target enchantment card from your graveyard to the battlefield. If that enchantment is a Saga, it gains read ahead.
It was a complex and wholesome story about noble swordsmen and their art, but listeners kept asking to jump straight to chapter XVI.

Straightforward and simple. I'm sure there's a Saga that breaks this, but nothing comes to mind. It took me a moment to think about enchantments that might bust this wide open too.

The flavor text does push it heavily toward Sagas, and it's a little silly for my tastes ... and aren't a lot of takes of "noble" swordsmen anything but complex and wholesome? You might be able to work in some number-punny joke in terms of which chapter readers jump to ... Chapter XXXIV? LXIX? CDXX?

Meadow of Renewal
Land — Forest (uncommon)
Meadow of Renewal enters the battlefield tapped unless you control another Forest.
T: Add g.
1, Sacrifice Meadow of Renewal: Return up to two lands cards from your graveyard to the battlefield tapped. For each Forest returned in this way, gain 1 life.

A fetchland, except it fetches from the graveyard. Kinda cool! It feels like it could be streamlined ,,, maybe make it a standard ETBT clause, or lose the lifegain clause (though I see how it inverts the typical "pay 1 life" fetchlands require,)

Conclusion of Grandeur
Sorcery (R)
As an additional cost to cast this spell, search your library for three creature cards with the same name, exile them, then shuffle.
Return a creature card with the same name as exiled cards from your graveyard to the battlefield. It becomes legendary in addition to its other types.
There is no other like me.

At first I though the added cost would take it out of EDH, but m-a-y-b-e it's just a way to make Relentless Rats your stealth commander. IIRC the legendary rules don't handle non-legendary creatures becoming legendary very well, since the legendary rule checks for other legendary creatures with the same name, not merely other creatures that share the same name. So becoming legendary isn't really a drawback here. And for other rule-of-4 creatures, not a hindrance either.

The name's very witty -- extra points for that!

Hallgate of the Fallen 1w
Creature - Wall (u)
Defender
When Hallgate of the Fallen enters the battlefield,, you may return target creature card with mana value 3 or less from your graveyard to the battlefield with a finality counter on it. It is a Spirit in addition to its types.
0/3

Interesting, but it oddly doesn't stand out. There are quite a few other white effects that reanimate weenies, but Spirit isn't a terribly strong tribe, and the finality counter limits its utility.

Also -- Hallgate? Hellgate?

Internal Organ-ized
Sorcery (Un-Mythic)
Return all Zombie creature cards from your graveyard to the battlefield in a stack. Order the stack alphabetically with "A" at the top. Whenever that stack would leave the battlefield, exile the top card of it instead. That stack gains ": Sacrifice this stack." (Only the top card of a stack is counted at any time.)

The stack thing seems a little weakly phrased. Maybe use mutate tech? "Sacrifice the stack" would make me think all creatures in the stack are sac'ed; perhaps "sacrifice the top card of this stack" -- or just straight up "exile the top card of this stack" since that's what'll happen instead?

Ratings WIP

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1. Raptorchan's Retell
2. Komandon's Meadow of Renewal
3. Lorn Asbord Schutta's Conclusion of Grandeur
4. Henlock's Hallgate of the Fallen
5. KB52665's Sarcophagus Salesman
6. AnotherAlias' Internal Organ-ized
7. shullz' Cornelia, Deadwood Cultivator

[Raptorchan]

Crits

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Henlock
Not a very dangerous card and totally harmless on their own, but an ability to bring back a more expensive creature that the wall itself makes it worth considering.
OneAndOnly
A bit complicated, but mostly fair. Don't think reanimation with downside for 3 mana can be problematic anywhere.
AnotherAlias
A bit messy even for an Un-card, it creates some uncertainty about how the "stack" works. A fun cadr in theory, but needs some reworking.
shullz
Don't know much about balance, probably fine. I also suggest using finality counters to save a lot of text box space. But where is P/T?
Lorn Asbord Schutta
A rather fair cheap reanimation spell with a steep additional cost and flavorful reference to an old mechanic. The only problem is - it doesn't work if you have at least one copy of the creature card in hand which limits it and brings an element of uncertainty.
KB52665
A rather dangerous card for 2 mana. Plus there is no way for this to be common. At least a rare, it may be weaker than Athreos but also way cheaper.
Komandon
Broken for a land. You basically put a green ability on a colorless card with colorless activation cost. Must be more expensive and must have some green in the cost.

Top

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1) OneAndOnly
2) Henlock
3) Lorn Asbord Schutta

[AnotherAlias]

Ratings

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Henlock — I feel like this is just better than Extraction Specialist. Also, that "it is" on your card should be the contraction "it's". Also, you have a double comma.
OneAndOnly — A bit confusing on first read. Not like I'm one to talk though. Interesting concept. Let's see, text errors: Should be: "...return target creature or planeswalker card from your graveyard to the battlefield…" Also, I'm not really completely sure how his works with planeswalkers. From what I can decipher: After the two given time counters are removed, one removes loyalty, yes?
Raptorchan — I think it needs to enter the battlefield with read ahead, yes? Other than that, it seems OK. This really seems like it wants Sagas, but also I can think of some non-Saga enchantments that are also completely broken with this, so.
shullz — Okay, so, this doesn't seem to have p/t. I don't really have much to say about this card.
Lorn Asbord Schutta — Yes, but what if you draw even one of the other copies? What if you are playing edh?
KB52665 — Nice callback to Athreos. Actually, this effect doesn't really seem common. Also, limited to opposing creatures. And, this card really isn't good, so 3rd.
Komandon — Nissa, Resurgent Animist|MAT. This should be tap to activate return ability. All Forests have : Add , so having that at the top in brackets is the regular formatting. Meadow is more Plains than Forest.

Top 3

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Top 3:
3rd: KB52665
2nd: Komandon
1st: OneAndOnly

[void_nothing]

@Henlock
@shullz
@Lorn Asbord Schutta
@KB52665
@Komandon

Quick reminder to these contestants to post at least a top 3. You have until 23:59 Eastern US time on March 29th.

[Lorn Asbord Schutta]

Hallgate of the Fallen 1w
Creature - Wall (u)
Defender
When Hallgate of the Fallen enters the battlefield,, you may return target creature card with mana value 3 or less from your graveyard to the battlefield with a finality counter on it. It is a Spirit in addition to its types.
0/3

"Hallgate" and "Hellgate" look awfully similiar, so I had to take double take. But that's my only nitpick. This is Unearth, more to cast, but can be flickered; no cycling and can't return the same creature over and over barring shenanigas, but gives you a blocker. I like it overall.

Internal Organ-ized
Sorcery (Un-Mythic)
Return all Zombie creature cards from your graveyard to the battlefield in a stack. Order the stack alphabetically with "A" at the top. Whenever that stack would leave the battlefield, exile the top card of it instead. That stack gains ": Sacrifice this stack." (Only the top card of a stack is counted at any time.)

Accursed Centaur and Acererak the Archlich is a simple combo that may not be even that effective - I recall Acererak mostly as an infinite venturing to dungeons other then Tomb of Annihilation with Aluren - but it hints at some possible ideas. But this is an un-card! I probably shouldn't fret about powerlevel here, so the above combo potential is mostly net positive. The whole package seems like a gimmick or a joke, while still allowing for the interesting cards' interactions that are Magic's strength.

Inveigle the Underlord -- BBB
Sorcery {R}
Return target creature or planeswalker in your graveyard to the battlefield with two time counters on it. It becomes an enchantment with vanishing in additional to its other card types and abilities. Treat other counters on it as time counters in addition to their other types.
Menelaia's sweet melodies pleased Erebos, and allowed her love Pero to slip past back to the world of the living.

Had to look up that word. This looks fine, with the most interesting part being the "treat other counters on it as time counters". I tried to find some cute synergies for this. The War Doctor with Clara Oswald on black looks interesting, even if they could have problems to get three . There could be some other interesting interactions with other cards from that set. Beyond UB, Hydras look promising as a bunch of cards, that could take advantage of this seemingly trinket text. And obviously the planswalker part of the reanimation ties into this part, with their loyalty counters being treated as time counters as well.

Sarcophagus Salesman 1b
Creature — Zombie Citizen (C)
, : Put a coin counter on up to one tapped creature an opponent controls.
Whenever a creature dies, if it had any coin counters on it, return it to the battlefield tapped under your control.
"Buy one, get one free. Get 'em while they're hot!"
0/1

Unhallowed Pact and its variants seem like the cards that are a proper comparison. This is more restricted, but repeatable. If you kill Salesman the coin counters do nothing and creature removal is more widespread then enchantment's one. But I still think this does a lot for a common. Also, since the triggered ability is worded the way it is, players will get confused if they both have a Salesman on the battlefield. Same goes for Athreos, Shroud-Veiled on the opposing side.

Cornelia, Deadwood Cultivator
Legendary Creature — Dryad (Rare)
Plants you control have ": Add ."
, : Return target creature card from a graveyard to the battlefield under your control. It's a green Plant in addition to its other colors and types and it gains defender and "If this creature would leave the battlefield, exile it instead of putting it anywhere else."
Blooming life where dreams were left to wither.

Why not finality counter? And furthermore no power/toughness. It's nice, with lord ability that works on its own, but could be made even more relevant in the right deck. You probably want to reanimate utility creatures more, so there could be little incentive to target opponents' graveyards, but between being a mana dork and other options even plantified beaters could be useful.

Retell 3w
Sorcery (R)
Return target enchantment card from your graveyard to the battlefield. If that enchantment is a Saga, it gains read ahead.
It was a complex and wholesome story about noble swordsmen and their art, but listeners kept asking to jump straight to chapter XVI.

I wonder if this could be uncommon. Compare Repair and Recharge. The read ahead is the main draw here, but for most Sagas is actually quite tame. Otherwise nice and clean.

Meadow of Renewal
Land — Forest (uncommon)
Meadow of Renewal enters the battlefield tapped unless you control another Forest.
T: Add g.
1, Sacrifice Meadow of Renewal: Return up to two lands cards from your graveyard to the battlefield tapped. For each Forest returned in this way, gain 1 life.

It is interesting that this can pay for its own ability if needed, so the second ability is more accessible then you may expect on land. The whole package in itself might be too accessible, since you don't need to have any other Forest in your deck to use the sacrifice ability - no - but as many land cycles and artifacts shown us, some rather basic things that can be done sometimes are colorless.

TOP 3
1. Henlock
2. AnotherAlias
3. OneAndOnly

[Komandon]

Critiques

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Inveigle the Underlord -- BBB
Sorcery {R}
Return target creature or planeswalker in your graveyard to the battlefield with two time counters on it. It becomes an enchantment with vanishing in additional to its other card types and abilities. Treat other counters on it as time counters in addition to their other types.
Menelaia's sweet melodies pleased Erebos, and allowed her love Pero to slip past back to the world of the living.

The counters being in addition to other types seems like a rules nightmare. Sorry.

Sarcophagus Salesman 1b
Creature — Zombie Citizen (C)
, : Put a coin counter on up to one tapped creature an opponent controls.
Whenever a creature dies, if it had any coin counters on it, return it to the battlefield tapped under your control.
"Buy one, get one free. Get 'em while they're hot!"
0/1

Ok except for the coin counter interaction issue with Athreos, Shroud-Veiled and the coin in mythology only being Greco-Roman. But that's a minor criticism.

Cornelia, Deadwood Cultivator
Legendary Creature — Dryad (Rare)
Plants you control have ": Add ."
, : Return target creature card from a graveyard to the battlefield under your control. It's a green Plant in addition to its other colors and types and it gains defender and "If this creature would leave the battlefield, exile it instead of putting it anywhere else."
Blooming life where dreams were left to wither.

Surprised magic didn't make dryads have a relation with plants or treefolk before. Adding black makes this make more sense and if treefolk and plants can be black and green why not dryads. You did forget the power and toughness.

Retell 3w
Sorcery (R)
Return target enchantment card from your graveyard to the battlefield. If that enchantment is a Saga, it gains read ahead.
It was a complex and wholesome story about noble swordsmen and their art, but listeners kept asking to jump straight to chapter XVI.

Ok. This works very well. A nice take on bring back enchantments.

Conclusion of Grandeur
Sorcery (R)
As an additional cost to cast this spell, search your library for three creature cards with the same name, exile them, then shuffle.
Return a creature card with the same name as exiled cards from your graveyard to the battlefield. It becomes legendary in addition to its other types.
There is no other like me.

At first I thought it was overpowered but I understand it now. You need a play set unless it's like Persistent Petitioners. And can't work with too powerful creatures like Blightsteel Colossus due to its shuffling ability.

Hallgate of the Fallen 1w
Creature - Wall (u)
Defender
When Hallgate of the Fallen enters the battlefield,, you may return target creature card with mana value 3 or less from your graveyard to the battlefield with a finality counter on it. It is a Spirit in addition to its types.
0/3

Seem right. Helping Hand as a creature and you can blink it.

Internal Organ-ized
Sorcery (Un-Mythic)
Return all Zombie creature cards from your graveyard to the battlefield in a stack. Order the stack alphabetically with "A" at the top. Whenever that stack would leave the battlefield, exile the top card of it instead. That stack gains ": Sacrifice this stack." (Only the top card of a stack is counted at any time.)

Even if it didn't seem like an Un card a house rule would be needed to other languages.

Top 3

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1st: Raptorchan
2nd: Henlock
3rd: Lorn Asbord Schutta

[Henlock]

Quick crits


@OneAndOnly First thing that comes to mind is the interaction with this and proliferate. A planeswalker would then have loyalty-time counters and plain time counters and I'm not sure wether you would be able to.proleiferate a time counter and a loyalty counter (that will become time anyways in addition once placed) or a loyalty-time and a plain time counter. Not big deal, just a thought. This looks neat with planeswalkers that will be able to last longer on the field and with creatures that already enter the battlefield with counters. Triple black seems a bit hard, since time-counters shenanigans are in other colors.

@KB52665 Rarity needs to be upped here. A common with this effect feels too dramatic for any limited environment and I am pretty sure repeatable control in uncommon is also something to pay a lot of attention too.

@shullz no P/T but for some reason I imagine it as a 2/4. I like how this invites to recover utility creatures or hatebears rather than big monsters and the ability to add mana looks solid. You could have used finality counters and.probably you could have gotten away with making it an uncommon.

@Raptorchan An enchantment Refurbish with extra spice. It is simple and elegant. i like it.

@Lorn Asbord Schutta I feel this one is pretty unwieldy outside of creatures you could have any number of but all of those fall into Unearth. I wold hate to have drawn a copy of what I/d like to return, so I think adding your hand as a place to exile from is needed.

@Komandon I am not sure if the unless clause would result in untapping this if gotten from the graveyard. With one forest and two of these you can get lands from your graveyard foe cheap and Crumbling Vestige feels like it can get nasty.

@AnotherAlias Alright, this is too funny. The name, the image of an unorganized mass of zombies. i like this. This might work like mutate I assume so there's probably the need of cleaning the sacrifice ability ruleswise.


1. Raptorchan
2. AnotherAlias
3. shullz

[KB52665]

My wife spent the day in the hospital, so I was not able to give critique. Life is complicated sometimes. Anyway, here's my picks.

Top 3

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1. OneAndOnly
2. Henlock
3. Lorn Asborn Schutta

[Henlock]

@KB52665 Hope everything's ok!

@OneAndOnly On the finality counter, I chose to use it to avoid two of these walls cycling infinitely with a sac outlet. Now that I think of, probably a "Non-wall creature" clause would have been the way to go as in Restoration Angel.

[void_nothing]

And as we have a tie for 4th place, we have a top five:

OneAndOnly
Henlock
Raptorchan
AnotherAlias
Lorn Asbord Schutta

Congratulations to all these contestants and the next round will be posted shortly!