March CCL, Round 2: Consider the Little Creatures

[void_nothing]

March CCL Signups/Round 2

"Consider the Little Creatures"


Enchanted Carriage, taken from EchoMTG, illustrated by Zoltan Boros

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.

For the second round, and one Standard set further in the release schedule, Bloomburrow, you will be designing cards that take into account Bloomburrow's all-animal population.

Challenge

Design a card that creates one or more 1/1 creature tokens. Those tokens must have only "real world animal" creature types.

Clarifications

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• Cards that would pass the challenge include Leonin Warleader (makes 1/1 Cat tokens) and Snake Basket (makes 1/1 Snake tokens). Cards that would fail include Vanguard of Brimaz (tokens have the Warrior type) and Howl of the Night Pack (tokens are 2/2).
• Your cards can make any number of other kinds of tokens if you so choose, as long as they make at least one token that is 1/1 and has only creature types representing kinds of animals that exist in reality.
• Make sure to include a rarity.

Anyone can enter this second round! Your submissions are due Sunday, March 17th, 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 20th - 23rd)
• Top 8 Critiques (Due March 25th)
• Top 4 — Open to top 4 finishers (March 26th - 29th)
• Top 4 Critiques (Due March 31st)
• 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]

Stinkward -- 1WB
Instant {U}
Create a 1/1 black and white Skunk creature token with "(W/B): Prevent all damage target creature would deal to this creature this turn" blocking target attacking creature.

[Raptorchan]

Snake Charmer {u/r}{b/g}
Creature — Human Shaman (U)
Prowess
When Snake Charmer enters the battlefield, create a 1/1 black Snake creature token with deathtouch.
Snakes you control have prowess.
2/1

[shullz]

Hissing Grasslands
Land — Forest Plains (Rare)
(: Add or .)
When Hissing Grasslands enters the battlefield, each opponent creates a 1/1 green Snake creature token.
"I have had it with these motherloving snakes in these motherloving plains!"

[void_nothing]

Quick bump and entry reminder for anyone interested!

[netn10]

The Nightgaurds Awaits 1U
Enchantment (Rare)
At the beginning of your upkeep, create a tapped 1/1 blue Bird Owl creature token with flying.
Owls you control doesn't untap during your untap step.
2B: It becomes night.
Daybound
///
The Nightgaurds Spread Wings
(B) Enchantment (Rare)
When this enchantment enters the battlefield or transforms into The Nightgaurds Spread Wings, put a +1/+1 counter on each Owl you control.
Owls you control have vigilance.
2U: It becomes day.
Nigthbound

[marioguy3]

Treasure Trader
Sorcery (Rare)
Sacrifice any number of treasures. Create X 1/1 red Dog tokens, where X is the number of Treasure tokens sacrificed this way. If Treasure Trader was cast from a graveyard, Dogs you control enter with an additional +1/+1 counter and gain haste.
Flashback

[Komandon]

Marine Trawler 6
Artifact — Vehicle (rare)
Affinity for Islands
Whenever Marine Trawler attacks, create a 1/1 Fish token creature and you may put a stun counter on Marine Trawler.
Whenever a stun counter is removed from Marine Trawler, create a blue 0/3 Crab token creature.
Crew 2
4/4

[AnotherAlias]

Harbinger of Pestilence
Creature — Human Cleric Minion (R)
Spark (Activate spark abilities by spending or giving yourself spark counters. Activate only one spark ability per turn, and only as a sorcery.)
+1: Create a 1/1 black Leech creature token with lifelink.
-3: Target creature you control gains infect until end of turn.
1/4

[Henlock]

Pelt of the Golden Hare 1gg
Legendary Artifact - Equipment (r)
When Pelt of the Golden Hare enters the battlefield, create a green 1/1 Rabbit creature token, then attach Pelt of the Golden Hare to it.
All creatures able to block equipped creatures do so.
Whenever a creature blocks equipped creature, create a treasure token.
Equip 1g

[void_nothing]

Okay, that will end this round. Please critique the six contestants above you on this list, looping to the bottom as necessary.

OneAndOnly
Raptorchan
shullz
netn10
marioguy3
Komandon
AnotherAlias
Henlock

[shullz]

Crits

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Snake Charmer {u/r}{b/g}
Creature — Human Shaman (U)
Prowess
When Snake Charmer enters the battlefield, create a 1/1 black Snake creature token with deathtouch.
Snakes you control have prowess.
2/1

I'm not sure about the connection between snake charming and prowess, especially as those are in completely separate parts of the color pie. I guess the snake is charmed by magic? The color identity fits the abilities, although with the 4-color hybrid mana it feels a bit indecisive.

Stinkward -- 1WB
Instant {U}
Create a 1/1 black and white Skunk creature token with "(W/B): Prevent all damage target creature would deal to this creature this turn" blocking target attacking creature.

Stinkward sounds like it could be an ability keyword in an Un-Set. Feels similar to Flash Foliage, but with a new twist in its stinky defense. Compared to that card it may be a bit overcosted, with it being dual color. I don't think pseudo-regeneration is worth more than an extra card. But I like the flavor and the creature type is something completely new (I think).

Pelt of the Golden Hare 1gg
Legendary Artifact - Equipment (r)
When Pelt of the Golden Hare enters the battlefield, create a green 1/1 Rabbit creature token, then attach Pelt of the Golden Hare to it.
All creatures able to block equipped creatures do so.
Whenever a creature blocks equipped creature, create a treasure token.
Equip 1g

Basically Nemesis Mask with living weapon and treasure generation. Combined with the lure ability, this card can potentially create a ton of treasures. But like all lure effects it's quite situational, depending on the opponent's board.

Harbinger of Pestilence
Creature — Human Cleric Minion (R)
Spark (Activate spark abilities by spending or giving yourself spark counters. Activate only one spark ability per turn, and only as a sorcery.)
+1: Create a 1/1 black Leech creature token with lifelink.
-3: Target creature you control gains infect until end of turn.
1/4

So this is basically a planeswalker in creature form, if I understand this correctly. I think this design is better used in planeswalkers and could just be formatted as tap abilities instead, which is probably why it was never printed on an actual card. The free token generation seems powerful. You can even activate it in the same turn it enters the battlefield. So you get 2/5 on the board in the turn it drops for two mana, with future upside. The temporary infect ability would feel a bit underwhelming on a planeswalker, but here you don't lose anything by lowering the number of spark counters.

Marine Trawler 6
Artifact — Vehicle (rare)
Affinity for Islands
Whenever Marine Trawler attacks, create a 1/1 Fish token creature and you may put a stun counter on Marine Trawler.
Whenever a stun counter is removed from Marine Trawler, create a blue 0/3 Crab token creature.
Crew 2
4/4

This design just makes sense, although the crab creation isn't worth it at all. It may also be a little bit too expensive, because even with affinity, the earliest you could cast this, is when you are at 3 mana.

Treasure Trader
Sorcery (Rare)
Sacrifice any number of treasures. Create X 1/1 red Dog tokens, where X is the number of Treasure tokens sacrificed this way. If Treasure Trader was cast from a graveyard, Dogs you control enter with an additional +1/+1 counter and gain haste.
Flashback

I don't think this is worth it, because you basically pay with a very restrictive cost for X 1/1 creatures. Cast from the graveyard the tokens become stronger, but it's also really expensive. "Dogs you control enter with an additional +1/+1 counter and gain haste." also reads more like a static ability of a permanent.

Top 3

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1. Henlock
2. OneAndOnly
3. Komandon

[OneAndOnly]

Ratings

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Snake Charmer {u/r}{b/g}
Creature — Human Shaman (U)
Prowess
When Snake Charmer enters the battlefield, create a 1/1 black Snake creature token with deathtouch.
Snakes you control have prowess.
2/1

I think the prowess puts this a little over the top. Plus, I think of prowess as very much a UR mechanic, when this could be other color pair combinations. Deathtouch + prowess is quite the combination, especially since you're in spellslinger and card draw colors.

For such a colorful card, it feels odd that the Snake it creates is monocolor.

Hissing Grasslands
Land — Forest Plains (Rare)
(: Add or .)
When Hissing Grasslands enters the battlefield, each opponent creates a 1/1 green Snake creature token.
"I have had it with these motherloving snakes in these motherloving plains!"

...does it have deathtouch too? I jest. But it's a little funny to see two snakes in a row!

It reminds me a lot of Forbidden Orchard. The variances all make it rather hard to judge power level -- this one will always create a creature, but only one creature per opponent, which isn't much of a detriment. Only tapping for GW rather than all five colors is only an impediment to deck-building. Overall that makes me think the power level needs to be adjusted.

Make it a tapland of sorts? "You may have HG enter untapped. If you do, each opponent creates a ... creature token."

The Nightgaurds Awaits 1U
Enchantment (Rare)
At the beginning of your upkeep, create a tapped 1/1 blue Bird Owl creature token with flying.
Owls you control doesn't untap during your untap step.
2B: It becomes night.
Daybound
///
The Nightgaurds Spread Wings
(B) Enchantment (Rare)
When this enchantment enters the battlefield or transforms into The Nightgaurds Spread Wings, put a +1/+1 counter on each Owl you control.
Owls you control have vigilance.
2U: It becomes day.
Nigthbound

Nightgaurds" (rather than "guards") feels like a type. There are some additional types in the titles and text of the card as well. (Also, a "nightguard" is a medical device to prevent people from e..g. grinding their teeth while they sleep.)

As to the cards themselves -- I like them, and having one side of the card set up something for the other side to take advantage of provides interesting gameplay. I'm not very big on the daybound/nightbound mechanic, but other players might like it.

Treasure Trader
Sorcery (Rare)
Sacrifice any number of treasures. Create X 1/1 red Dog tokens, where X is the number of Treasure tokens sacrificed this way. If Treasure Trader was cast from a graveyard, Dogs you control enter with an additional +1/+1 counter and gain haste.
Flashback

The noun "Treasure Trader" made be think this was going to be a creature (a la Bazaar Trader). The rules text seems a little off ... "For each Treasure sacrificed this way, create a 1/1 red Dog creature token. If ~ was cast from a graveyard, until the end of turn, Dogs you control enter with an additional ...." seems a tighter and righter.

Marine Trawler 6
Artifact — Vehicle (rare)
Affinity for Islands
Whenever Marine Trawler attacks, create a 1/1 Fish token creature and you may put a stun counter on Marine Trawler.
Whenever a stun counter is removed from Marine Trawler, create a blue 0/3 Crab token creature.
Crew 2
4/4

How I wish this created a Ship token from an earlier round!

But a 4/4 for 6 isn't a terribly great prize (even with a likely cost reduction) and the two types of creature tokens it creates aren't terribly powerful, either. Maybe if the Fish or the Crabs got some sort of bonus.

Harbinger of Pestilence
Creature — Human Cleric Minion (R)
Spark (Activate spark abilities by spending or giving yourself spark counters. Activate only one spark ability per turn, and only as a sorcery.)
+1: Create a 1/1 black Leech creature token with lifelink.
-3: Target creature you control gains infect until end of turn.
1/4

Hmm. Is it "only one spark ability of this permanent" or "only one spark ability amongst all permanents you control" or "only one spark ability amongst all permanents"? The confusion in wording makes it difficult to judge appropriately. Assuming the kindest (you can only trigger one of this creature's two abilities per turn), it seems a little meh: it takes a little too long to reach the -3 ability, and it doesn't quite do enough to make it worth the pay-off. Creating a 1/1 with an ability each turn, though, usually costs a lot more.

Pelt of the Golden Hare 1gg
Legendary Artifact - Equipment (r)
When Pelt of the Golden Hare enters the battlefield, create a green 1/1 Rabbit creature token, then attach Pelt of the Golden Hare to it.
All creatures able to block equipped creatures do so.
Whenever a creature blocks equipped creature, create a treasure token.
Equip 1g

Very Theros-y, assuming my reading of it as a version of the Golden Fleece (of Jason and the Argonauts) is correct.

Green rabbits seems a little strange (except to old-school Star Wars fans and a few [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jazz_Jackrabbit]othersp/url].) The lure-for-Treasure is interesting, and I get the "keep the fleece" bit, but it seems a little underwhelming.

Rankings

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1. Henlock
2. Shullz
3. AnotherAlias
4. Netn10
5. marioguy3
6. Komandon
HM. Raptorchan

[Raptorchan]

Crits

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OneAndOnly
Seems better than the earlier version of this card. Annoying, but probably not broken at all.

netn10
Quite complicated card, must be tough to evaluate. Seems balanced from the first glance. And the drawback is naturally avoidable. Not a fan of making Owls their own creature type tho.

marioguy3
Very weak card, and the graveyard bonus still doesn't make it worth playing at all. Three 1/1 tokens is not something you want to get from spending SIX mana where half of that mana is from treasures. Plus, it simply can't do anything on its own which is unacceptable. Makes it a very sad rare.

Komandon
Affinity is what makes it really good, on the same level with good old Mirrodin cards. Token generating abilities may be useful but mostly for flavor. Fishes riding the ship is still ridiculously funny tho.

AnotherAlias
Interesting mechanic. Seems maybe a bit more pushed than it shall be considering Bitterblossom and similar designs.

Henlock
"Equipped creatures" makes it confusing - it works both ways, on all of your equipped creatures and opponent's equipped creatures as well. Other than that, no issues.

Top

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1) OneAndOnly
2) AnotherAlias
3) Komandon

[marioguy3]

netn10: A decently paced enchantment that can create tapped owls. I think the tapped part makes it slightly more difficult to get them into combat. Not broken because of that. The night side boosting owls is cool to test.

shullz: This is still quite a strong land. Always entering untapped is still a significant upside over those that only sometimes enter tapped. There are even synergies to be made with the opponent having the Snake!

Raptorchan: The "Rise of the Intelligent Snakes" play will be a big hit among players.

OneAndOnly: This one's tough to decide if it's close to strong enough. One shock or Bolt to the token and that's three mana spent on a minor inconvenience card. If this created two of those tokens, then this card would be fun to play around with.

Henlock: A very fair creature lure treasure token making equipment. The costs seem appropriately balanced.

Another Alias: Okay card.

Top 3:

3rd: Henlock
2nd netn10
1st: Raptorchan

[Henlock]

Quick Crits

@Raptorchan Strangely, I can see this work not only mechanically but also flavorfully in every possible combination. This is really hard to use in commander, so as an uncommon it should fit into a limited enviroment and I think it would work better as a 1/1.

@AnotherAlias ok, this is intriguing. It feels like this guy helps you channel your inner spark and opens some interesting possibilities. On the card, I think that swapping the abilities will go a long way in balancing.

@marioguy3 This gave me the image of a guy buying a bunch of dogs XD This needs to be tweaked so as to be more efficient at making doggies.

@Komandon This can be very efficient to cast but the fact that it creates tokens that can't crew it, while flavorfully neat, is mechanically odd.

@netn10 Interesting. The fact that it uses day and night keeps it in a not-completely-in-your-control territory that seems that would give way to interesting play patterns if you dropped the ability to change day and night.

@shullz This is the kind of card that needs to be tested. As a drawback, giving an opponent a creature can be huge, but I would like to delve into the possibilities that giving a creature to an opponent can have in your own game plan.


Top3

1. AnotherAlias
2. Raptorcham
3. Schullz

[Komandon]

Removed to edit later. Saved on a note file on my phone. I looped incorrectly

(Shoot. I thought it was due on Sunday the 24th. Only change is adding Henlock critique and removing AnotherAlias since I looped wrong.)

Critiques

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Stinkward -- 1WB
Instant {U}
Create a 1/1 black and white Skunk creature token with "(W/B): Prevent all damage target creature would deal to this creature this turn" blocking target attacking creature.

Saw Skunk and thought of toxic fumes but then remember they are using that as a defense. So good on that part except the black identify doesn't fit the mechanic and its ability to repeat for so low a cost makes one skunk token too powerful.

Snake Charmer {u/r}{b/g}
Creature — Human Shaman (U)
Prowess
When Snake Charmer enters the battlefield, create a 1/1 black Snake creature token with deathtouch.
Snakes you control have prowess.
2/1

Odd cast cost. Black and green I understand is for the deathtouch token snake. But just don't see it fitting in most decks. A prowess or non creature spell deck normally wouldn't use snakes nor be black/green.

Hissing Grasslands
Land — Forest Plains (Rare)
(: Add or .)
When Hissing Grasslands enters the battlefield, each opponent creates a 1/1 green Snake creature token.
"I have had it with these motherloving snakes in these motherloving plains!"

Man that hate confused for Lawrence Fishburne I think would approve. I could see a cycle for this. Another maybe gives food, clues, devils, etc. 👍

The Nightgaurds Awaits 1U
Enchantment (Rare)
At the beginning of your upkeep, create a tapped 1/1 blue Bird Owl creature token with flying.
Owls you control doesn't untap during your untap step.
2B: It becomes night.
Daybound
///
The Nightgaurds Spread Wings
(B) Enchantment (Rare)
When this enchantment enters the battlefield or transforms into The Nightgaurds Spread Wings, put a +1/+1 counter on each Owl you control.
Owls you control have vigilance.
2U: It becomes day.
Nigthbound

The subtype owl is the only issues I have are. Maybe if it just made a token called owl or and existing create that is an owl. Then make reference to that card name. And the ease of making it night. But it's It's casting cost is blue and ability is black so that does even out. So that due to your color picks is almost a non-issue.
Otherwise it's good.

Treasure Trader
Sorcery (Rare)
Sacrifice any number of treasures. Create X 1/1 red Dog tokens, where X is the number of Treasure tokens sacrificed this way. If Treasure Trader was cast from a graveyard, Dogs you control enter with an additional +1/+1 counter and gain haste.
Flashback

If you have no treasures it doesn't work. If you do you are not using them for mana. If it was create dogs equal to the number of treasures you sacrificed thus turn, would be better. Use three treasures to casts, get three dogs. Or go a route similar to Dargo, the Shipwrecker except not cost reduction but helps the effect.



Oh. So an ability with the favor of a Planswalker but worked like energy. Nice mix.

Pelt of the Golden Hare 1gg
Legendary Artifact - Equipment (r)
When Pelt of the Golden Hare enters the battlefield, create a green 1/1 Rabbit creature token, then attach Pelt of the Golden Hare to it.
All creatures able to block equipped creatures do so.
Whenever a creature blocks equipped creature, create a treasure token.
Equip 1g

A lure effect. I don't know of other equipment that have that. It's one of those abilities I wish would just get a name. Maybe not evergreen but on the level of provoke and ingest.

Top 3

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1st: shullz
2nd: Henlock
3rd: netn10

[void_nothing]

And our top 8 contestants:

Henlock
OneAndOnly
Raptorchan
AnotherAlias
shullz
Lorn Asbord Schutta
KB52665
Komandon

Round to be posted soon.