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May CCL, Top 9/Round 3: A Sudden End

Posted: Mon May 24, 2021 2:40 am
by void_nothing
CCL May Top 9/Round 3

"A Sudden End"


Image
Rout, taken from Art of MtG, by Igor Kieryluk 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 Instant Month here in the CCL - this month will be all about various things done at instant speed.

Challenge
Design an instant card or a card with flash that has "destroy" in its rules text.
Clarifications
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  • Make sure to include a rarity.
Contestants:
@slimytrout
@kwanyeegor-ii
@Flatline
@bravelion83
@Venedrex
@Ink-Treader
@dangerousdice
@netn10
@RaikouRider
Your submissions are due Wednesday, May 26th, 23:59 EST.
Schedule
  • Round 1 — Open to Everyone (April 30th-May 7th)
  • Round 2 — Open to Everyone (May 8th-15th)
  • Rounds 1 and 2 Critiques (Due May 17th)
  • Top 8 — Open to top 8 finishers (May 23rd–26th)
  • Top 8 Critiques (Due May 28th)
  • Top 4 — Open to top 4 finishers (May 29th–June 1st)
  • Top 4 Critiques (Due June 3rd)
  • Final (June, 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.

Re: May CCl., Top 9/Round 3: A Sudden End

Posted: Mon May 24, 2021 3:27 am
by RaikouRider
Reduce to Sand WBG
Instant {R}
Destroy target permanent. If that permanent is a land, its controller creates Wastes, a basic land token with "T: Add C" .

Re: May CCl., Top 9/Round 3: A Sudden End

Posted: Mon May 24, 2021 12:59 pm
by bravelion83
Dragons' Decree 2WB
Instant (R)
Destroy target nonland permanent. If it was exactly three colors, exile it instead.
The Khans surrendered their clans to the dragons. The dragons banished the clans and their names.

Re: May CCl., Top 9/Round 3: A Sudden End

Posted: Mon May 24, 2021 3:53 pm
by slimytrout
Cull the Herd BG
Instant (U)
Destroy target creature that doesn't have the greatest power among creatures on the battlefield.
"Killing the weak strengthens the herd -- more resources for the strong to become stronger, and the frail do not pass their frailty on to their descendants."
-Sinvar, Game Warden

Re: May CCL, Top 9/Round 3: A Sudden End

Posted: Mon May 24, 2021 11:15 pm
by Flatline
Angelic Light 1w
Instant (U)
Target attacking or blocking creature gets +2/+2 and gains indestructible until end of turn as long as it's Human. Otherwise, destroy it.
"How will you be seen when Our Lady shines her light upon you?"

Re: May CCL, Top 9/Round 3: A Sudden End

Posted: Tue May 25, 2021 3:44 am
by kwanyeegor-ii
Free All Within 3GWU
Instant (Rare)
Destroy target noncreature permanent. Draw X cards and create an X/X green, white, and blue Spirit creature token with flying, where X is that permanent's mana value.

Re: May CCL, Top 9/Round 3: A Sudden End

Posted: Wed May 26, 2021 8:39 am
by Ink-Treader
Polish Off WB
Instant (U)
Destroy target enchanted permanent or permanent with one or more counters on it.
Cleaner.

Re: May CCL, Top 9/Round 3: A Sudden End

Posted: Wed May 26, 2021 11:22 am
by netn10
Severed Timeline
Instant (Mythic)
Destroy target nonland permanent an opponent controls. You may put a permanent card with the same mana value as the destroyed permanent from your hand onto the battlefield under that opponent's control. If you don't, you lose the game.

Re: May CCL, Top 9/Round 3: A Sudden End

Posted: Wed May 26, 2021 8:47 pm
by Venedrex
Vampiric Execution
Instant (R)
Destroy target non-Human creature.
"Make sure not to harm our food supply when you secure the grounds." — Runo Stromkirk

Re: May CCL, Top 9/Round 3: A Sudden End

Posted: Thu May 27, 2021 3:59 am
by void_nothing
And the round is closed. Please critique everyone else.

Re: May CCL, Top 9/Round 3: A Sudden End

Posted: Fri May 28, 2021 1:15 pm
by bravelion83
Critiques (done)
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RaikouRider wrote:
3 years ago
Reduce to Sand WBG
Instant {R}
Destroy target permanent. If that permanent is a land, its controller creates Wastes, a basic land token with "T: Add C" .
No, why did you have to change this? I was in love with the previous version, and I was about to praise it in all possible ways! It was clean, elegant, in color ("destroy target permanent" is BG or WB, we know it), and original (an instant Vindicate for a more restrictive mana cost). I was looking forward to give you my first place. I had actually already decided that I would have given this my first place days ago, even before all submissions were in. Now that you added the Wastes part, it reads much worse to me, and it might not even make my top 3. Not because it doesn't work or anything like that, it does, but because I still have in mind the previous version, and in my opinion, the new one doesn't compare. I'm sorry.
slimytrout wrote:
3 years ago
Cull the Herd BG
Instant (U)
Destroy target creature that doesn't have the greatest power among creatures on the battlefield.
"Killing the weak strengthens the herd -- more resources for the strong to become stronger, and the frail do not pass their frailty on to their descendants."
-Sinvar, Game Warden
This is good, I like it. Very good flavor (mind the em dashes!) and mechanics. What's not to like about this card? I have a feeling this will be in my top 3 for sure, we'll see at which place. I have nothing else to say, so let's just move on.
Flatline wrote:
3 years ago
Angelic Light 1w
Instant (U)
Target attacking or blocking creature gets +2/+2 and gains indestructible until end of turn as long as it's Human. Otherwise, destroy it.
"How will you be seen when Our Lady shines her light upon you?"
This immediately reminded me of Bonds of Faith, the idea is very similar. This doesn't mean it's bad though. I could see this printed for real, probably in an Innistrad set. Again, it's probably going straight in my top 3 and I have nothing else to say, so let's move on.
kwanyeegor-ii wrote:
3 years ago
Free All Within 3GWU
Instant (Rare)
Destroy target noncreature permanent. Draw X cards and create an X/X green, white, and blue Spirit creature token with flying, where X is that permanent's mana value.
I like how all three colors are represented: "destroy target noncreature permanent" is green, drawing cards blue, and the flying token is white. Caring about the destroyed card's mana value ties it all together. This is how I like three-colored cards. Nice design, but overall I like it slightly less than the previous two cards, but it's just my personal taste though. At least, I would have liked to see some flavor text.
Ink-Treader wrote:
3 years ago
Polish Off WB
Instant (U)
Destroy target enchanted permanent or permanent with one or more counters on it.
Cleaner.
Ironically, reading "permanent or permanent" is not really "cleaner". I would have probably said "target permanent that's enchanted or that has one or more counters on it". Anyway, the card is fine: take two sets of targets, one white (enchanted permanents) and one black (permanents with counters) and put them together. That's fine. It's very relevant that this can automatically destroy planeswalkers, as they are permanents with (loyalty) counters.
netn10 wrote:
3 years ago
Severed Timeline
Instant (Mythic)
Destroy target nonland permanent an opponent controls. You may put a permanent card with the same mana value as the destroyed permanent from your hand onto the battlefield under that opponent's control. If you don't, you lose the game.
White can destroy and give you some partial refund, and blue can do transformation, even though I've never liked it, as it's too close to real hard removal in blue in my opinion. It feels a little strage to me that you put your own cards onto the battlefield under an opponent's control, but I get why. Also, losing the game feels a bit too much to me, even if I get why that's there too.
Venedrex wrote:
3 years ago
Vampiric Execution
Instant (R)
Destroy target non-Human creature.
"Make sure not to harm our food supply when you secure the grounds." — Runo Stromkirk
Ok, this is what I was looking for this round: a nice effect with just a single sentence of rules text. I really like this. I've always been a fan of good and effective two-mana removal, and we see too little of it this days in my opinion. I think I would have put this at uncommon personally, but yes, today it would probably be rare. The flavor text feels more like Sorin than Runo to me.
Top 3

1st place: Venedrex
2nd place: slimytrout
3rd place: Flatline

Re: May CCL, Top 9/Round 3: A Sudden End

Posted: Fri May 28, 2021 8:33 pm
by Ink-Treader
slimytrout
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Nice and flavorful package. No complaints.
kwanyeegor-ii
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Very swingy. I find cards like this tricky to evaluate. Could probably make its way into Commander and some control decks in slower formats.
Flatline
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Cheaper than Farm, but it does miss the most common creature type. WW might be safe. The bonus for Humans seems fair.
bravelion83
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Cute bit of trinket text. Not technically worse than Utter End, but I can't think of too many occasions where the destruction is handier.
Venedrex
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I feel this should be costed BB like Victim of Night. And it certainly doesn't need to be rare.
dangerousdice
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No entry
netn10
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Can do some cute things with this, but it's tricky to plan around. I think offering it the flexibility of destroying your own stuff as well would be fine.
RaikouRider
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Add G to Vindicate for Instant speed (and a minor drawback)? Sure. Quite frankly, I think it could be changed to only give the land token if it was a basic land.
Top 3
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1. slimytrout
2. RaikouRider
3. bravelion83

Re: May CCL, Top 9/Round 3: A Sudden End

Posted: Fri May 28, 2021 10:36 pm
by slimytrout
RaikouRider
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See, I like the change from your original design. Vindicate is just so oppressive (especially at instant speed), even if it is tough to cast, precisely because it can take out your lands if you stumble. This card at least gives your opponent the mana back if you do that. Could use flavor text though.
bravelion83
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Fun! The second sentence feels a *little* like trinket text given that 3-color permanents aren't that common and >50% of the time it doesn't matter much if a permanent is destroyed or exiled, but it's still a cool idea.
Flatline
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This sort of thing has been done before on enchantments, but never on an instant. The non-human effect is a little undercosted, but not absurd.
kwanyeegor-ii
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This is quite swingy -- either it has no good targets, or it's going to be a N-for-1, where N is usually at least 3. Would also prefer it if it were a sorcery, to allow more counterplay and force you to tap out.
Ink-Treader
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Not sure I fully get the flavor text, although of course sometimes the art is crucial so not a big problem. I really like the card, even if the wording is a bit clunky.
netn10
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Oh, wow. That's splashy, but... pretty limiting. Unless you're giving them something bad, it's an automatic 3-for-1 in their favor, and if you're giving them something bad then it means you filled your deck with bad things on the off chance you could make this card work. Seems amazing in Donate decks but pretty bad otherwise.
Venedrex
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Flavor seems a little off to me, as much as the flavor text tries to justify it -- Vampires kill humans all the time, so it's weird for them to now be sparing them. Definitely doesn't need to be rare -- black kill spells are only rare if there is added value and/or flexibility. Fun card, but also feels like it's just a flipping of Victim of Night.
T3
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1. Ink-Treader
2. bravelion83
3. RaikouRider

Re: May CCL, Top 9/Round 3: A Sudden End

Posted: Sun May 30, 2021 3:41 am
by void_nothing
Going to keep the critiques period open for another 24 hours.

Re: May CCL, Top 9/Round 3: A Sudden End

Posted: Sun May 30, 2021 4:57 am
by Flatline
Crits
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RaikouRider - I'm not sure this is worded correctly, but I like it. It's playable, and makes sense in its colors. The flavor is good, although it could certainly use some flavor text.

bravelion83 - This feels like it costs too much, but considering cards like Anguished Unmaking, it probably needs to cost what it does. Still, it seems a bit underwhelming at 1 more than the afore mentioned card. I wish the check trigger did something splashier, or maybe was just easier to trigger. The trigger restriction lends very well to the overall flavor of the card though, which is very good.

slimytrout - Really strong design all the way around. Especially if you're playing big monsters. Good stuff.

kwanyeegor-ii - Well this is certainly splashy card. It has the potential to be a major swing in your favor, but it also might not do anything at all. I'm not sure the colors really mkae sense either. G/W flying spirits are certainly different.

Ink-Treader - Seems like some solid sideboard fodder. It may even be main-deckable in the right format. I'm usually a fan of short and sweet flavor text, but this isn't my favorite. It's better than no flavor text though.

Venedrex - This should probably be an UC, or maybe even cost bb and be a common. A fine card other than the rarity though. I'm surprised it doesn't exist.
Top 3
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1 - slimytrout
2 - RaikouRider
3 - bravelion83

Re: May CCL, Top 9/Round 3: A Sudden End

Posted: Mon May 31, 2021 2:30 am
by RaikouRider
bravelion83: This can probably be three mana, given that it can't target lands. Utter End already unconditionally exiles - it seems like this is just worse. The flavor is on point, though, and the only thing keeping the card in contention.

slimytrout: This feels fair, given that it can kill anything except the biggest creature on the board. Very strong at dealing with utility creatures. A welcome option for decks that don't have access to Terminate.

Flatline: Man this is puuuuuuuushed. Feels like a Modern Horizons card. I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with this, but it's more pushed than other two mana white removal in any other set.

kwanyeegor-ii: Reminds me of Overwhelming Intellect. I can see why you made this card blue, but this is completely fine in Selesnya colors. I can see a lot of decks that would want this type of effect, but the color identity is so restrictive.

Ink-Treader: This feels a little too narrow, what with these colors not typically putting counters on opponent's things. I'd feel a lot better playing this at 3 mana and cantrip.

netn10: I'm not sure how I feel about this being hybrid. The flavor is amazing - destroying something by altering the timeline seems very Time Spiral. I just think this is a massive break in mono-blue.

Venedrex: Do you secretly have access to the Innistrad: Crimson Vow godbook? This looks like a card straight out of that set. This kind of effect is uncommon; other than that, amazing.

1) Venedrex
2) Flatline
3) slimytrout

Re: May CCL, Top 9/Round 3: A Sudden End

Posted: Mon May 31, 2021 2:58 am
by Venedrex
Crits
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RaikouRider: I like this a lot, because Assassin's Trophy exists, and this feels like a nice way to avoid people getting land screwed by giving your opponent a Waste if you do use it on a land. Reminds me of Mythos of Nethroi, so seems good to me.

bravelion83: Hmm, a worse Vindicate for the most part, but that may be a good thing for Standard, and I appreciate tying the flavor into the exile effect due to the focus on wiping out all memory of the old clans, but I think the chance of it being relevant is quite low in most games. Although, if this was in a Tarkir set, there would be more three colored permanents.

slimytrout: I dislike the wording, but I'll accept it because I'm betting there isn't a better way to make this effect work in the rules, and that is more of an issue for Wotc to solve than a custom card designer. Reminds me of the Food vs Foods thing that had some people up in arms (Didn't really bother me much).

Additionally, I'm not sure I like this costing two colors of mana for a worse Heartless Act variant. I think this could have been mono colored, and reflavored as culling the weak in general. For me, multicolored cards in general should be usually stronger than comparable mono colored cards.

Flatline:This is pretty cool flavor wise, but I can't help but wonder why a card called Angelic Light would destroy angels. That seems like a bit of a flavor fail to me, but I think I understand where you're coming from, with angels looking out for humans on Innistrad. However, I just realized I'm a big fat hypocrite because my card is literally called Vampiric Execution and it can kill vampires. So scratch what I just said.

kwanyeegor-ii: Neat way of making tokens, but makes for a slightly odd card overall. I think the spirits could have just been white, blue, or white blue instead of needing to be green as well.

Ink-Treader: I think this is a little too situational. As I stated before with Cull the Herd, I think multicolored spells can/should be stronger on average than mono colored spells, and to me this is a worse version of similar effects, even ones with the same casting cost. I think most players would rather play removal with less restrictions.

netn10: This reminds me of Divine Gambit. I'm not sure the lose the game trigger makes for good game play. I also don't know if I like this being played in a mono blue deck, even with the massive downside.
Top 3
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1. RaikouRider
2. bravelion83
3. slimytrout

Re: May CCL, Top 9/Round 3: A Sudden End

Posted: Mon May 31, 2021 3:50 am
by kwanyeegor-ii
1 netn10
2 raikourider
3 flatline

Re: May CCL, Top 9/Round 3: A Sudden End

Posted: Mon May 31, 2021 4:06 am
by void_nothing
And your top 4 -

@slimytrout
@RaikouRider
@bravelion83
@Venedrex

Round to come soon.