August CCL, Signups/Round 1: Seen When Snorkeling

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void_nothing
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Post by void_nothing » 3 years ago

CCL August Signups/Round 1

"Seen When Snorkeling"


Image
Crystalline Nautilus, taken from Art of MtG, by Brad Rigney 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 Unusual Subtypes Month here in the CCL! Every subtype featured in challenges this month has not appeared on many cards.

Challenge
Design a rare or mythic Nautilus, Sponge, or Starfish creature card.
Clarifications
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  • Make sure to include a rarity.
Anyone can enter this first round! Your submissions are due Friday, August 7th, 23:59 EST.
Schedule
  • Round 1 — Open to Everyone (August 1st–7th)
  • Round 2 — Open to Everyone (August 8th–14th)
  • Rounds 1 and 2 Critiques (Due August 17th)
  • Top 8 — Open to top 8 finishers (August 18th–21st)
  • Top 8 Critiques (Due August 23rd)
  • Top 4 — Open to top 4 finishers (August 24th–27th)
  • Top 4 Critiques (Due August 29th)
  • Final (August, 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)

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

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BeneTleilax
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Post by BeneTleilax » 3 years ago

Spiralling Nautilus 1UGG
Creature-Nautilus R
1: Gain 1 life.
1: Put a +1/+1 counter on Spiralling Nautilus. Activate this ability only if you gained life this turn.
2: Scry 2. Activate this ability only if Spiralling Nautilus had a counter placed on it this turn.
3: Create a 3/3 blue Squid. Activate this ability only if you scried this turn.
5/5

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Subject16
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Post by Subject16 » 3 years ago

Oh boy, marine biology and MtG, two of my favourite things!

Grasping Crown-of-Thorns 3UUB
Creature — Starfish (M)
Your opponents can't untap more than one creature during their untap steps.
At the beginning of each opponent's end step, that player sacrifices a tapped creature.
1UB, T: Tap target creature. Draw a card.
To the homarid, a falling star is nothing to celebrate.
3/7

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MonoRedMage
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Post by MonoRedMage » 3 years ago

Lava Sponge 3RR
Creature - Elemental Sponge {R}
Menace
Play with your hand revealed.
Lava Sponge gets +1/+1 for each Mountain card in your hand and in your graveyard.
RRRR, Discard two cards: Mill two cards, then draw two cards.
2/2

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RaikouRider
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Post by RaikouRider » 3 years ago

Jewel of Jwar Isle 5UU
Creature - Starfish {M}
When Jewel of Jwar Isle enters the battlefield, for each color, tap up to one target creature of that color an opponent controls. Those creatures can't become untapped for as long as Jewel of Jwar Isle remains on the battlefield.
5/5

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Jimmy Groove
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Post by Jimmy Groove » 3 years ago

The Patient Thing UU
Legendary Creature - Sponge (MR)
Defender
Whenever a player casts a non-creature spell, put a +1/+1 counter on the Patient Thing.
The Patient Thing has hexproof and trample, loses defender, and is a Kraken in addition to its other types as long as it has four or more +1/+1 counters on it.
In the depths lie horrors...
0/2

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Sojourner Dusk
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Post by Sojourner Dusk » 3 years ago

Tidehollow Starfish
Artifact Creature — Starfish (R)
Tidehollow Starfish gets +1/+1 for each other Starfish you control.
If Tidehollow Starfish would die, instead create two tokens that are copies of Tidehollow Starfish, then sacrifice it.
The first was a curiosity. The thousandth was a vexation.
0/2
May your games be chaotic and your decks be rogue.



UBR Nekusar (EDH)
RGW Mayael, Naturally (EDH)

netn10
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Post by netn10 » 3 years ago

Mana Sponge 2U
Creature - Sponge (Rare)
Whenever you cast a noncreature spell, counter that spell. Put X +1/+1 counters on Mana Sponge, where X is that spell's conveted mana cost.
1/1

slimytrout
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Post by slimytrout » 3 years ago

Vivid Sea Star 1UG
Creature - Starfish (M)
For each color, the first time you cast a spell of that color on each of your turns, put a +1/+1 counter on Vivid Sea Star and draw a card.
"Bury your sword where stars glitter in the sunlight. Only then will you find the peace you seek."
-Pasha, Oracle at Valeron's Ruin

2/2

marioguy3
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Post by marioguy3 » 3 years ago

Spongeman, Sea Recruiter
Legendary Creature - Sponge (Mythic Rare)
At the beginning of your upkeep, create a 1/1 blue starfish creature token, a 2/2 green squirrel creature token, a 2/1 red squid creature token, and a 1/1 white human creature token.
: Creature tokens you control get +1/+1 and gain flying and haste until end of turn.
"Fighting your enemies is as easy as bringing your friends along for the battle."
2/2
The summer is hot. The sum of sun and hot equals summer.

kwanyeegor-ii
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Post by kwanyeegor-ii » 3 years ago

Isleshell Nautilus 5UU
Creature--Nautilus Kraken (Mythic)
Islandwalk
Whenever Isleshell Nautilus deals combat damage to an opponent, draw a card.
T: Put a shell counter on target Island you control and tap it. It becomes a copy of Isleshell Nautilus as long as it has a shell counter on it.
5/5
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I'm a simple Magic player since several years ago from China. Now I live in New Jersey.

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void_nothing
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Post by void_nothing » 3 years ago

The round is closed! Please critique and provide a top 3 for the seven contestants below you on this list, looping to the top as necessary.

BeneTleilax
Subject16
MonoRedMage
RaikouRider
Jimmy Groove
Sojourner Dusk
netn10
slimytrout
marioguy3
kwanyeegor-ii
Psst, check the second page of Custom Card Contests & Games! Because of the daily contests, a lot of games fall down to there.

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

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Sojourner Dusk
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Post by Sojourner Dusk » 3 years ago

BeneTleilax: A Trading Post mana sink, except much more grokkable due to a lack of tapping. The first two abilities together effectively read: ": Gain 1 life. Put X +1/+1 counters on CARDNAME."

Subject16: A better Smoke with a variant of Sheoldred's trigger? Is it sad to think that this - to many people - would be too slow, rather than being somewhat pushed?

MonoRedMage: Red doesn't Mill, except to deal a random amount of damage. This would be better as a 2 or 3 CMC creature.

netn10: Dovescape effects should be global. I'd rather have card draw and counters than a growth spell.

slimytrout: Might need some polish on the text. Would have been better represented as a Sponge than Starfish,

marioguy3: Where's the Crab token creature?

kwanyeegor-ii: Very mythic in feel, Islandwalk is an interesting throwback addition.

Top 3
3. slimytrout
2. kwanyeegor-ii
1. Subject16
Last edited by Sojourner Dusk 3 years ago, edited 2 times in total.
May your games be chaotic and your decks be rogue.



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RGW Mayael, Naturally (EDH)

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MonoRedMage
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Post by MonoRedMage » 3 years ago

RaikouRider - Definitely looks like a big deal in Commander! You can take out everyone's best creatures with this at the EDH table. I like the connotation of star/five sides/five colors. And it's a 5/5. Makes a lot of sense.

Jimmy Groove - Thing in the Ice // Awoken Horror inspired I guess? I'm not sure what a Sponge Kraken would look like but the super prowess looks fun.

Sojourner Dusk - I'm pretty sure this still goes infinite with sacrifice effects but amazing idea. Full of flavor. Kinda like Sprouting Phytohydra.

netn10 - Another version of super prowess I guess but I don't like this one as much. I don't wanna lose all my spells just to get a huge creature that later gets removed.

slimytrout - Another five color themed Starfish huh? I like this one a lot too. I think Ramos, Dragon Engine decks would want it.

marioguy3 - So this is Spongebob obviously, and the tokens are Patrick, Sandy, Squidward... who's the human? Shouldn't it be Mr. Krabs? Interesting ideas but really doesn't fit Magic's flavor.

kwanyeegor-ii - This looks really unique and interesting but I think it might be too powerful, turning all of your Islands into copies in time.

Top 3
1. RaikouRider
2. Sojourner Dusk
3. slimytrout

slimytrout
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Post by slimytrout » 3 years ago

marioguy3
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I mean, I get it but also I don't get it. The character colors are all off (Squidward is not very red, and Patrick is *definitely* not blue), plus who's the human? Is that supposed to be the audience? Also way too powerful: it makes 6 power worth of tokens every upkeep no questions asked and that's before taking into account the activated ability.
kwanyeegor-ii
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The last ability is a really fun idea, but the execution has a bunch of problems: islandwalk is deprecated, 5/5 is too big, and the Curiosity ability would get out of control. I think if this were a 3-mana 2/2 with the ability to turn your islands into it and a Looter il-Kor ability, that would be much more fun.
BeneTleilax
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Another very fun idea with a bit of an execution problem: it's a 4-mana 5/5 with "1X: Put X +1/+1 counters on Spiraling Nautilus. Gain 1 life." That's busted right off the bat. Plus you can get a ton of scries or even a ton of surprise squids, if you have an Opt.
Subject16
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Brutal card, but the 6 casting cost does help. Might be better if it had a bit less toughness -- as is, it's basically a hard counter for mono-red, which is a little cheap even at 6 mana. Overall, very cool card though.
MonoRedMage
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Red typically only gets self-mill to determine an effect (Combustible Gearhulk, Heretic's Punishment) but it's a minor bend. I don't love the idea of "play with your hand revealed" -- I feel like it would be more fun if it started a bit bigger and just looked in the graveyard -- that way the "discard 2, mill 2" could have the potential to be a really big blowout, which is what a 5-mana 2/2 rare kinda needs.
RaikouRider
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Man, I love this -- not a surprise, considering my head went to the same place yours did (5 colors, five arms, etc.). Feel like this could be smaller and cheaper, though -- at this cost, it's impossible to play in constructed and only mediocre in limited. Obviously it would be even better in Commander if it got cheaper, but that's the one format that can absorb busted cards the easiest (plus that starfish would have a huge target on its back).
Jimmy Groove
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Very reminiscent of Thing in the Ice. Not sure I love the fact that it triggers off your opponent's stuff as well - means that it has hexproof from everything but Ravenous Chupacabra as soon as it has 3 counters on it, and also that it would almost certainly break a bunch of eternal formats.
T3
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1. RaikouRider
2. Subject16
3. MonoRedMage

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BeneTleilax
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Post by BeneTleilax » 3 years ago

Subject16
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A decent control piece, if annoying to play against. The flavor is solid, and it manages to make a starfish epic, which is cool. Against a lot of decks, particularly in EDH, which is where this seems aimed, it's just going to grind the game to halt until someone removes it. In other Constructed formats, it's just far too vulnerable to be an endgame, and too slow to be a stabilizing card in the kinds of control decks it seems aimed at.
MonoRedMage
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A clever little design, and plays nicely off red's land-in-graveyard themes. However, revealing your hand is a steeper drawback then you seem to account for here, and even in principle it tends to reduce strategic depth while adding information to track. Also, the creature type feels tacked on here, which normally wouldn't be a problem, but it's the nature of the challenge.

RaikouRider
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Good job on the flavor, this absolutely seems like the sort of thing you'd find on Zendikar. Beyond that, it seems like a decent, if fragile, removal piece for casual multiplayer. The theme of fives is also well executed here.
Jimmy Groove
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A nice ominous threat. Even the name seems like something out of Lovecraft. Four seems like a bit of a low threshold, but overall this is a nice marriage of flavor and mechanics. I like that it protects itself once it's metamorphosed.
Sojourner Dusk
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This is a cool idea, but it really needs to create the tokens at end of turn so it doesn't go infinite off any free sac. Even then, it's probably overpowered at three, see Pack Rat.
Netn10
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It's an interesting concept, and it certainly feels like a sponge, but I can't imagine playing it except as a particularly obnoxious Zedruu gift. At the end of the day, it's forcing you to throw away cards to power up an unprotected, unevasive beater. If you were just discarding the spells, it could be something like a blue Lotleth Troll for a spell recursion setup, but the fact that it gives you no choice, forces you to spend mana, and still abides by the timing restrictions of the spells you cast.
Slimytrout
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This feels at least two mana too cheap for the amount of card advantage it offers. The fact that it doubles as a decent ground beater only exacerbates this. It feels like your opponent would need to answer this within the turn or be seriously behind on cards, even if you haven't built around it at all, which isn't a good place for a three mana creature.
Top 3
1 Jimmy Groove
2 Raikou Rider
3 Subject16

kwanyeegor-ii
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Post by kwanyeegor-ii » 3 years ago

BeneTleilax - Really powerful, probably op. But I get it, it makes a spiral. I really love the idea

Subject16 - This has a bunch of powerful abilities yet they all go together. p/t seems too big for a starfish

MonoRedMage - Interesting, I was wondering how you'd make a red sea creature lol. I like the mini game of getting as many mountains as you can

RaikouRider - Cool, but not especially good vs. monocolor decks

Jimmy Groove - Feels like it's too easy to get this to be hexproof and then it easily takes over the game

Sojourner Dusk - Too many infinite combos with this but the tribal part is cool with Spiny Starfish lol

netn10 - Risky but cool ability. I like it

Top 3
1 netn10
2 Benetleilax
3 subject16
畫龍點睛

I'm a simple Magic player since several years ago from China. Now I live in New Jersey.

marioguy3
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Post by marioguy3 » 3 years ago

Replies are short due to time:

kwanyeegor-ii: I love clone cards, and this is an interesting take on the cloning mechanic.

BeneTleilax: Seems like a list of abilities. It does list off the things that are right about the card. Would it fit a card print without text being too small? Possibly, but I don't have Magic Set Editor to verify. Neat design nonetheless.

Subject16: Long sea name, interesting card with a tinge of implications for an unfortunate opponent.

MonoRedMage: We all love powered Sponges of fiery proportions.

RaikouRider: Fair, but could probably be set for regular rare. The ability can be stallbreaking in limited, so that's a plus for design.

Jimmy Groove: Odd name for a card. The abilities seem like it would want to be a simic card though.

Sojourner Dusk: Starfish Army Creator! Starfish Clone! Watch out, because limbs grow back! I think it's an All-Star card!

Top 3:

3rd: kwanyeegor-ii
2nd: MonoRedMage
1st: Sojourner Dusk
The summer is hot. The sum of sun and hot equals summer.

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RaikouRider
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Post by RaikouRider » 3 years ago

Completely forgot I hadn't done this round too!

1) netn10
2) slimytrout
3_ Sojourner Dusk

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