November CCL, Top 4 - Noticeable Activity

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void_nothing
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Post by void_nothing » 1 year ago

CCL November Top 4

"Noticeable Activity"


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Fateful Absence, taken from Art of MtG, by Eric Deschamps 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 Predefined Tokens Month here at the CCL. There's a lot I can say about how R&D uses these tokens - Food, Clues, Treasures, and their various ilk - as a design tool they've leaned heavily on in recent years, for both good and ill. I do hope we can spark some discussion. For now, let's just see what WE can do with them.

Challenge
Design a card that can cause its controller's opponents to investigate.
Clarifications
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  • The card can cause its controller to investigate as well, but it must at least have the possibility of causing an opponent to investigate through its own effect.
  • Make sure to include a rarity.
Contestants:
@marioguy3
@slimytrout
@netn10
@MonoRedMage
Your submissions are due Saturday, December 3rd, 23:59 EST.
Schedule
  • Round 1 — Open to Everyone (November 1st-8th)
  • Round 2 — Open to Everyone (November 14th-20th)
  • Rounds 1 and 2 Critiques (Due November 22nd)
  • Top 4 — Open to top 4 finishers (November 29th–December 3rd)
  • Top 4 Critiques (Due December 6th)
  • Final (December, 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.
Psst, check the second page of Custom Card Contests & Games! Because of the daily contests, a lot of games fall down to there.

The greatest (fake) pro wrestling on the internet - Collaborative Create-A-Booster - My random creations (updated regularly)

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marioguy3
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Post by marioguy3 » 1 year ago

Sparrow, the Instigator
Legendary Creature - Bird (Rare)
Flying
Whenever Sparrow, the Instigator becomes the target of a spell or ability, that spell or ability's controller investigates.
Whenever Sparrow, the Instigator becomes blocked, you and each opponent who is blocking Sparrow investigates.
3/2
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netn10
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Post by netn10 » 1 year ago

Obscura Sleeper Agent W
Creature - Human Rogue (Rare)
When Obscura Sleeper Agent enters the battlefield, target opponent gains control of it.
If you would draw a card, instead investigate.
At the beginning of your upkeep, Obscura Sleeper Agent connives.
2/1

slimytrout
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Post by slimytrout » 1 year ago

Vortex of Suspicions UR
Enchantment (R)
At the beginning of each player's upkeep, that player investigates, then Vortex of Suspicions deals damage to that player equal to the number of artifacts they control.
When Variana saw the sooty footprint, she knew that Threxon must be the double agent. Which was confusing since she also had conclusive evidence pointing to Melliflor and to Guriella.

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MonoRedMage
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Post by MonoRedMage » 1 year ago

Unmistakable Hellkite 2R
Creature - Dragon {R}
Flying, ward - Sacrifice three artifacts
Whenever Unmistakable Hellkite attacks, defending player investigates a number of times equal to its power.
Whenever Unmistakable Hellkite blocks, attacking player investigates a number of times equal to its power.
6/6

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void_nothing
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Post by void_nothing » 1 year ago

And that will do it for the round - please critique all the other contestants and organize them into a top 3!

Tagging in order to get everyone's attention:

@marioguy3
@slimytrout
@netn10
@MonoRedMage
Psst, check the second page of Custom Card Contests & Games! Because of the daily contests, a lot of games fall down to there.

The greatest (fake) pro wrestling on the internet - Collaborative Create-A-Booster - My random creations (updated regularly)

Important Facts: Colorless is not a color, Wastes is not a land type, Changeling is not a creature type

marioguy3
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Post by marioguy3 » 1 year ago

netn10: This seems too oppressive. It's a lockdown tool from the moment this enters the battlefield. I'd like it better if it didn't stop your opponents from drawing the first card. If the opponent has no removal or only one mana source, it completely locks them down. This would be fun at three mana though. I'd laugh if this card gets shut down by the white leyline that gives hexproof though... Or even better a hexproof instant to make you get the creature.

slimytrout: Now this is the fun type of punisher card because it affects everyone equally and at a decent (probably a bit low by no more than one mana) cost. I like this as a treasure punisher, but it's cool that it creates a puzzle; Do I sacrifice my treasures to draw cards, and as such, stop some damage. The tension is there.

MonoRedMage: A fiery dragon that creates ton of artifacts, for your opponents, but packs quite the punch. Another card with certain tension involved with "who do I attack here?" I like that the ward cost involves sacrificing any artifact instead of just clues. This probably needs to have lower toughness though.

Votes: 3rd place: netn10
2nd place: MonoRedMage
1st place: slimytrout
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slimytrout
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Post by slimytrout » 1 year ago

marioguy3
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I like the basic concept here, my only notes are 1) I think the text of the last ability could be cleaned up a bit and 2) if the idea is that you want it to get blocked so you can investigate, I wonder if it wouldn't be better as a larger creature without evasion rather than a smaller flier.
netn10
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This is brutally oppressive. Yes, the opponent gets to make lots of clues, but unless they have removal in hand there's no way for them to crack the clues since they can't draw cards, and meanwhile they're discarding a card every turn. And it's only 1 mana! This into Pacifism is often just game-winning on turn 2, which is waaaay too good.
MonoRedMage
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This is also costed very aggressively. Yes, it could easily backfire to give your opponents six clues a turn, but you could also just win the game in three attacks. It might be more reasonable in EDH where giving people this many clues is borderline suicidal, but I honestly would be worried about this as the top end of a burn deck in eternal play even if it were printed in a commander product.
T3
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1. marioguy3
2. MonoRedMage
3. netn10

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MonoRedMage
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Post by MonoRedMage » 1 year ago

1 - slimytrout
2 - netn10
3 - marioguy3

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void_nothing
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Post by void_nothing » 1 year ago

And our finalists are marioguy3 and slimytrout! Thanks as always to all other contestants. Final round to come soon...
Psst, check the second page of Custom Card Contests & Games! Because of the daily contests, a lot of games fall down to there.

The greatest (fake) pro wrestling on the internet - Collaborative Create-A-Booster - My random creations (updated regularly)

Important Facts: Colorless is not a color, Wastes is not a land type, Changeling is not a creature type

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