The sun rises and sets. Moons run their route through the sky. Seasons pass. Time passes.
You are now a full-fledged member of your tribe. No longer must the elders watch vigilant over you, but rather you watch over the people. The workings of the village run smoothly, and your family is safe and happy.
But, like your ancestors before you, you are no ordinary individual. Not only have you earned your place, but you expand upon it. When a task is to be completed, you are there to help. You ensure the prosperity of your family, but other families, as well as the entire tribe. People come to you for advice, guidance, and help. You are rising among your people. You are becoming a leader.
One day, as you assist the others in the harvest, a scout rushes up to you. Panicked and out of breath, you can just barely make out her message; "Intruders." You rush to see for yourself. In the distance, the unmistakeable image of a war-party approaches. You gather as many able-bodied warriors as you can and hurry to meet them.
They have come to take your village by force, but you have acted quickly. They have come to pillage, not to engage in a fair fight. You are able to talk to them, negotiate with them, and barter for the lives of your people, for those who cannot protect themselves. Ultimately, it is decided. After the setting of the harvest moon, a champion from each of your tribes will do battle. Rather than destroy each other in brutal war, the champions shall determine the fate of their people. To the victor goes leadership of both tribes. To the loser: death.
Challenges
Design a 3/3 nonlegendary creature w/ cmc 5 or less. This creature represents your tribe member this month and your people's champion. This creature should get the full benefit from your sign-up round equipment (for example, don't give your card double strike if your equipment gives first strike).
Design a card that represents your fighting style or a particular gambit you would take against your opponent.
Entries are due by Friday, May 18th at midnight EST (when Friday becomes Saturday), at which point critiques will begin. You will critique all 7 other contestants. Critiques will end on Sunday, May 20th at midnight EST (when Sunday becomes Monday).
The Card Creation League is a monthly contest in which players compete over seven rounds. Each month has an overall theme and/or story, determined by that month's host.
Each round, the host will assign a card creation task to the players. This task may vary between teams or players.
The first three rounds are open to everyone who joined in the sign-up thread, which will be posted near the end of the previous month. After these rounds, the Top 8 players will move on to three single elimination rounds to determine a winner.
Rounds usually last three to four days for submissions and about two days for critiques, but the host has final say in making the schedule.
For the first three rounds, players are divided into teams. Four teams is standard, but there may be more or less depending on the number of players. Each team will review another team's cards during the critique period of that round.
Each player must submit a Top 3 ranking for the team he or she critiques at the end of each round. Each 1st place is worth 3 points, 2nd place 2 points, and 3rd place 1 point.
Additionally, each player can receive 2 bonus points per round. One point is awarded for posting a Top 3, and one point for providing critiques for that team's cards.
Suggested areas to critique include creativity, balance, printability, and relation to the overall theme or that player's previous cards.
Players who do not post a card or a Top 3 will be put on "probation." Top 3 violations for a round can be removed by posting or PMing the host with your Top 3 before the end of the next round. Any player that would receive a second violation is disqualified from further competition that month.
At the end of the first three rounds, the Top 8 players will be selected by points (usually the top 2 from each team). In the case of ties, there may be more than 8 players advancing. The host will determine matchups for single elimination. At the end of each elimination round, remaining players not in that matchup will choose a winner to advance. The host will break any ties.
The final round is determined by public poll.
Prior to Top 8, players have a chance of getting a total of 100 points toward their score each Scoring Round. Scores for each Round are determined by the following equation:
Total points of Player A in round N = 100 * X/Y, where:
X = Total number of Scoring Points (Judge Points + Additional Points from Top 3 & Critiques)
Y = Total number of Possible Points (3 * Number of Judges + Additional Points)
3 points are given for a First Place Top 3 finish, 2 points for a Second Place, and 1 point for a Third Place. 1 additional point is awarded if a Top 3 is submitted. 1 additional point is awarded if Critiques are given for all entries to be judged.
This way the grading is more streamlined in the fact that all rounds prior to Top 8 are graded equally, and there is no handicap for any team that has fewer judges.
Each player accumulates points from each Scoring Round until the end of Round 3.
This month's CCL brought to you by KoolKoal and yewlas.
Crafter of Fury2RR
Creature - Human Shaman (R) 2R, Discard a card: Crafter of Fury gets +X/+0 until end of turn, where X is the converted mana cost of the discarded card. Crafting takes years of training to learn but only a moment of passion to master.
3/3
(note that you can discard in response to the trigger to power up Crafter while getting the equipment bonus)
Image Split1UR
Instant (R)
Put a token onto the battlefield that's a copy of target blocked creature. That token enters the battlefield tapped and attacking. Exile it at the beginning of the next end step. Even though Izias' two daggers were brought to a halt by his opponent's blade, the third and fourth find their way into his gut.
Yeah 'technically' not the wording, but the sentence would have run on otherwise. They do do that.
Jatori Soulstealer2(B/G)(B/G)(B/G)
Creature - Human Shaman
Wither
Whenever Jatori Soulstealer deals combat damage to a creature, put a +1/+1 counter on it. The Soulstealers were a special form of Shaman that learned to not only borrow energy from nature around them, but to take it from the very foes they faced.
3/3
Honorable Act1W
Instant
Gain life equal to target tapped creatures toughness. "Fight with honor and the gods will grant you the strength to last till the end of the fight." - Razalu, Jatori Elder
Are we supposed to post a top 3 for the remaining entrants this round? All the CCL top 8s I've seen before were in single elimination brackets.
The most-used format changed at some point (I wasn't here when it did.)
I like this format better because when a team loses a lot of players and 2 people get in more easily than the others, they still have to work just as hard to advance, rather than one of them moving on automatically.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
I'll bet you wish you had a non-unglued/unhinged card that shared your first name.
Lionheart's Lineage3
Legendary Artifact - Equipment (M)
Whenever Lion's Lineage becomes attached to a creature, choose a color.
Equipped creature gets +3/+3 and has protection from the chosen color.
Equip 3 "Carry the blade with purpose my child, or not at all." - Seer Vantha
Guaroga Headhunter3B
Creature - Bat Warrior (C) "The Guaroga have been our mortal enemy since the earliest days of our tribe. Do not let their blind eyes fool you, child; their ears can hear you before you see them. Strike in silence, for this cunning hunter will not hesitate to add you to its collection." -Seer Vantha
4/1
Guaroga Boneyard
Land (R)
Whenever a creature you control dies, put a bone counter on Guaroga Boneyard. T: Add B to your mana pool. 1B,T, Remove a charge counter from Guaroga Boneyard: Target creature gets -1/-1 until end of turn. The bones of the past never forget their monstrous murderers.
Rites of the Lionheart1GG
Enchantment (R)
Whenever a creature you control attacks, put a charge counter on Rites of the Lionheart. 1GG, remove all charge counters from Rites of the Lionheart: Put a +1/+1 counter on target creatire for each charge counter removed this way. "Slaying the beast is only the first step on the path of the hunter. Becoming that which beast and man fear alike is the true goal of the Lionheart." - Seer Vantha
Entries:
Lionheart Champion2GG
Creature - Human Warrior (R)
Trample
Other Warrior creatures you control get +1/+1.
Lionheart Champion gets +1/+1 for each other Warrior creature you control. "The Lionheart Warriors share one body and mind of absolute strength. Do you think a Guaroga savage such as yourself can defeat me while my brothers watch?"
3/3
Thunderous Battle Cry4RRGG
Sorcery (R)
Creatures target player control can't block this turn.
Creatures you control get +3/+3 until end of turn. "The Guaroga can hear the beating heart of each of our hundred tribesmen. How can they defeat us when each heart thunders stronger than the storm?" -Seer Vantha
U// Sedris and the Traitor Kings U// G Seshiro, the Appointed G B// Vaevictus Asmadi - "I'm 'exy and I know it" B// W// Treva, The Renewerer W// B/ Rakdos, Lord of Grouphate B/ W//// Cromat the Charmer W////
Ooh, saved by the DQ. Advancing by the skin of my teeth.
Champion:
Revan Weaponsmaster2WWR Creature - Human Warrior (rare)
Vigilance
Revan Weaponsmaster gets +0/+1 for each equipment attached to it.
3/3
Gambit:
Disarm2(R/W) Instant (Uncommon)
If target attacking creature is blocked, unattach target attached aura or equipment from blocked creature and attach it to the blocking creature.
(To steal the attacking tribe's champion's weapon)
Bladed Tower Shield2 Artifact - Equipment (Uncommon)
When the equipped creature blocks, it gets +0/+2 until end of turn. When the equipped creature is blocked, it gets +2/+0 until end of turn.
Equip 2
Revan Land Squid2UG
Creature - Squid While it feeds on simple plants, the quantity it consumes can decimate whole nations. Its natural defenses to fend off predators just make it a pain to deal with.
2/6
Abundant Creek Bed Land (Rare)
At the beginning of each players upkeep, they may reveal the top card of their library. If it is a creature or land, they may put it in their hand. Otherwise, they put it on the bottom of their library. Just the place you'd find a giant amphibian.
Feast of Nudity2BB
Sorcery (Rare)
All creatures get -1/-1 until end of turn. If a creature would be reduced to 0 toughness this way, it gets +0/+1 until end of turn.
For each creature each player controls, that player must pay 1 or sacrifice a permanent. To prepare for the coming of age, young men must feast with their elders. This feast is enough to scare off many.
Ritual Garments1
Artifact - Equipment (Uncommon)
Equipped creature gains no benefit from other equipments or auras. Equipped creature gets -1/-1 and intimidate.
Equip 1 "You will wear this hat. All other clothes are prohibited at the Feast of Nudity."
Bewitching Flute2
Artifact - Equipment (R)
You choose if equipped creature is blocked and how it is blocked.
Equip 2 "These notes can calm a raging elemental or strike fear into the heart of a giant. Play them wisely."
-Torna Kelleron, Moonsong elder
Screaming Gnasher(B/R)(B/R)(B/R)
Creature - Elemental (C) "The dead lands beyond are filled with creatures of tooth and claw, whose horrible cries drown out even the lifesongs you have learned as a child. Return only when your voice has slain one of these unhearing monsters."
-Torna Kelleron, Moonsong elder
5/2
The Howling Scab
Land (R) T: Add 1 to your mana pool. T: The Howling Scab deals 1 damage to target creature you control. Add B or R to your mana pool.
Song of the Hunters2GG
Enchantment (R)
At end of combat, put a +1/+1 counter on each creature you control that attacked this turn. "Tonight we celebrate the hunters' gift of life. But let the hunters never forget the gifts of family and friendship, the strong bonds that we offer them in return."
-Torna Kelleron, Moonsong elder
Moonsong Chantleader3G
Creature - Elf Warrior (U)
Whenever Moonsong Chantleader becomes blocked, it gets +1/+1 until end of turn for each creature blocking it.
Whenever Moonsong Chantleader deals combat damage to a player, draw a card. The most powerful songs of the Moonsong can only be sung by those who have trained both their bodies and their minds.
3/3
LeechscreamB
Instant (U)
Kicker G(You may pay an additional G as you cast this spell.)
Choose target attacking creature. The toughness of each creature blocking that creature becomes 1 until end of turn. If Leechscream was kicked, the attacking creature gains trample until end of turn.
Delthran Champion: Alright, in a creature intensive deck, a brilliant creature, and with the equipment, it either can work to feed it, or in the right deck, gain an instant huge advantage... its a slim shot, but it would work wonderful. And Graveyard Hate can shut it down, so its now overpowered. Study Opposition: I love how it seems to want to work... but you didn't actually define X on the card, if you did, it would be perfect, as it is, it doesn't work. Synergy: Its a very limited scope where the synergy would be perfect, but in a deck built for this combo, it would be brilliant and perfect, I love it.
Lionheart Champion: Rather like him, interesting ability, though in a Warrior deck, he will get crazy powerful very quickly, makes him feel like he should be a legendary and you just cut that so he fits the rules, a decent card. Thunderous Battle Cry: Alright, feels very very powerful, maybe even a bit to much so, I mean, can't block and all your creatures get a boost? Its an instant win if you have enough creatures, at least with things like Overrun it is possible to survive, while yours can just be survived if you have a negate damage spell or a counter spell. Synergy:... your cards... work together, but each of them in such a way that they could work decently with just about anything, so they work, it just... is in a very basic way.
Revan Weaponsmaster: Though I like the idea behind it, it seems either overcosted, or underpowered, and the lack of flavor text saddens me a bit. Disarm: Won't mention that the name is taken, and the wording is a little confusing, though I do rather like how it works. Synergy: All 3 work perfectly together and I can see them all being used in a single deck, heck, even as a possible game changing move if done right.
Moonsong Chantleader: I will start with saying how I LOVE the flavor synergy you have going between this and the equipment, very well done. Its wording is spot on and it could be used very well either as a creature destroyer or as a card draw when with your equipment, that is just beautiful, and its no surprise coming from one who constantly scores high in these games. Leechscream: I rather like the card, but for what it does... it really should cost more, it seems a bit too powerful for how cheap it is and could very easily be a game ending card. Synergy: Oh, they all work perfectly together, its rare I have seen such perfect Synergy between 3 cards, bravo Gerrard's Mom, Bravo.
Asalo Transcendant: A little cheap for what it does, but honestly, that is nitpicking, I would play the card myself in a heartbeat. Ancestors' Fury: I actually would love a set like that, I can see it, though Red is usually a mass Haste color, I can see this working as an alternative red version of Valor, though it slightly goes against how the creature would work, in the right situation, I like. Synergy: At first I thought it wouldn't work due to Ancestors'... but then I saw the brilliance of it, creature and equip on the field, use enchant to send a creature to the graveyard and give your guy first strike, then exile it to equip the blade and give a boost to the creature, I love it.
Crafter of Fury: The Card itself I rather like, it, the flavor and the ability and the cost... it just doesn't seem to work too well with the equipment, I know you explained it, still seems a bit iffy to me. Image Split:... I don't think this works the way you think it does... it seems to want to give you an unblockable creature, though the timing just... doesn't feel right to me, I don't know. Synergy: They do work together, and if you can control the top of your library efficiently, the combination could easily finish the game, it just feels... too conditional to me, I'm not sure... I don't know why it feels so off to me, sorry.
Shadowform Nightblade: Wow, that is just scary and messed up, equipped with the dagger, weather or block or not... you still end up losing 2 creatures and 3 life, scary as heck and perfectly fitting for being black. Vamoose: Interesting, it seems to combine the old exile till end of turn with the newer instantaneous one now in the game, which makes it versatile and useful... I just don't see how it works with the creature and equipment. Synergy: Or at least I didn't at first... thinking about it now... attack, your creature does its damage, and then if they have something still big enough to kill it, you use your spell to save your creature. So I like, very well done.
1) Mobiusman
2) Gerrard's Mom
3) Flabort
Alright, so I kind of failed on my Tactic, but I seriously couldn't think, I had a different idea originally that would work well with first strike, that being if a creature was dealt damage, it would be unable to deal damage itself that turn, I just couldn't figure out how to word it right so it would make sense and so it would only be effective if you had a first striker or a pinger... Well... it was fun at least...
Also forgot the Rarity... why the heck do I keep doing that :(, oh well, it was a fun game while it lasted, made it further this month then any other... doubt I will get any further now...
If Emocakes submits something before the deadline and I see it, I'll add it to my critiques. I'd like to see some more submissions. Updated with Emocake's submissions.
Critiques will be on three aspects:
-Card mechanics of the individual cards
-Flavor of the individual cards.
-Overall synergy/interaction between all cards, both mechanically and flavor-wise
Jatori Soulstealer
Mechanics: Totally misread the card at first. I thought the "it" referred to the blocked creature. Not a good mistake to make! A 3/3 that might get bigger if it's blocked doesn't need to cost 5 with a triple color requirement though. Missing rarity too.
Flavor: The mechanics of the card sync up with the flavor very well. Don't fight him because he'll steal your soul!
Honorable Act
Mechanics: Seems like a fairly costed ability. Nothing too clever going on here, but it's straight to the point and simple.
Flavor: I'm not quite sure how gaining life off a tapped creature is honorable. As stand-alone flavor-text, it just seems a little clunky and quickly written.
Overall:
-No interaction between submissions. No biggie.
-The Soulstealer loves having your Round 0 submission. First strike to gain a counter AND wither is awesome. Also ensuring you have a target to cast Honorable Act on next turn is good too. (If they block)
-Neat: A Soulstealer who has defeated your monster from round 1 would probably have stolen its soul and thus been able to channel the soul of the beast to acquire your round 3 submission. Nice flavor link.
Delthran Champion
Mechanics: What is going on?? Is this a triggered or an activated ability? Assuming it's, "Whenever ~ attacks or blocks, you may put the top three cards from your library into your graveyard. If you do, put a +1/+1 counter on ~ for each creature card put into your graveyard this way," it's actually not too bad. Not quite playable, but definitely has that build-around-me feel that so many cards lack.
Flavor: No flavor text, d'oh. He's just a guy that might get bigger when he's in combat.
Study Opposition
Mechanics: I just think there's too much going on here. It would need to be reworded to get the point across more effectively. Drawing a bunch of cards for removing any number of +1/+1 counters seems like fun though.
Flavor: So... if you avoid combat/damage for a turn, and permanently decrease your power, you can draw cards/gain knowledge? There isn't really a huge connection between the multiple aspects of the card.
Overall:
-There's definitely some synergy between these two cards. Swing and get big. If you get into a sticky situation or just need to draw some cards, you have the ability to. Plenty of ways for these two submissions to interact.
-Ahh, now I see the inspiration for the Champion's attack trigger. Fill up the yard so your equipment can grant abilities.
-Lots of U/G graveyard/draw manipulation. I was a little disappointed to see how anti-synergistic your Round 3 entry was with your Round 0 entry. However, the Round 3 entry does let you get more chances to swing with the Champion if the game runs a bit long.
Revan Weaponmaster
Mechanics: A 3/3 vigilance for 5 that doesn't do anything unless you have another card in play. Definitely could have brought the cost down a bit, even the color requirement is too intense. However, once you suit-up your Weaponmaster, you'll have a very awesome attacker and blocker.
Flavor: Aww, no flavor text. The name "Weaponmaster" does make sense with an ability that makes him harder to kill if he's equipped though.
Disarm (heads up: Disarm already exists)
Mechanics: Wow... there has to be an easier way to word this. I had to read it a few times to understand what it was trying to do. You could probably get away with just removing the attacking/blocking requirements and make it a Magnetic Theft variant. And knowing Magnetic Theft exists, this card can probably cost 1 as it is far more prohibitive in its casting opportunity.
Flavor: No flavor text again! However, the spell's name is Disarm. And you steal an artifact (or an enchantment?) attached to that creature. Very clear flavor there.
Overall:
-A Weaponmaster that wants to disarm his opponent, and then benefits from it? Very good.
-Your Round 0 equipment submission also gives toughness. A little redundant, but you get automatic synergy from designing a champion that likes equipment
-If your Weaponmaster were to wear your "ceremonial" hat with other equipment, would he only get +0/+1?
Moonsong Chantleader
Mechanics: You want to block it, but it's hard to block effectively. Excellent. This is the reason I like Ohran Viper so much. Very green. Might be a rare just because it has a lot going on, but I could see it at uncommon.
Flavor: Maybe it's just me, but I get bugged when a word is repeated too close together in a sentence. In this case "song" and "Moonsong" just sound awkward together. Maybe you could have chosen "melody" or something similar to make the flavor-text flow better. Constructive criticism aside, you illustrate a being who is powerful in body and mind and possesses the grace to sing in battle. Very elf-like. I like it.
Leechscream
Mechanics: Very creative meshing of black and green abilities. Excellent combat trick to play on your fatty in limited. Maybe not the most card-advantageous because you're probably gonna lose the attacking creature anyway, but it's a nice way to make sure you kill all of their blockers and still get some damage through.
Flavor: That name is spine-tingling. You may have had room for flavor-text, but the card name is a home-run.
Overall
-Leechscream allows you to sneak in and draw a card off your Chantleader even if they manage to block. Also eliminates some of the card-loss. Clever.
-The Bewitching Flute on the Chanter is not only flavorful (a chantleader and her flute), but incredibly powerful. "yes please, I'll draw a card and you'll take 3"
-All music all day long. Everything has something to do with song-singing and sound. This is a well thought out group of submissions.
Asalo Transcendent
Mechanics: With a few hoops to jump through, it's a recurable 3/3. While this is usually black, I can definitely see a case being made for white. He could definitely be the solo creature in some control builds. Wipe the board, wipe the board, beat with Transcendent. (btw, Transcendent is spelled with an 'e' at the end, not an 'a')
Flavor: A monk bound to guide others to the afterlife. Bound to the point that not even death can prevent him from completing his mission. Powerful flavor.
Ancestor's Fury
Mechanics: While this is most certainly a new way to grant an ability to all of your creatures, it is incredibly clunky and requires you to build a deck that wants to play guys with first strike (to put in the 'yard), but if you do, all you achieve is giving your guys with first strike... more first strike.
Flavor: Simple flavor text that drives home the idea of ancestral pride. The idea of moving one of your creatures to the 'yard to give all of your creature its ability is cool, but it could probably be developed a little more.
Overall:
-There is actually anti-synergy between your Round 4 submissions. Casting Ancestor's Fury takes away the small advantage you would get from playing the Transcendent. If you say there is a cycle here, at least you could have made a white enchantment that searched for a vigilance creature for the yard.
-Your Transcendent LOVES your round 0 equipment. Not only can you allow him to be recastable, but he gets absolutely huge.
-Woah, casting Free the Soul on your Transcendent with nothing else in the yard is a major bomb-bo. Sweet interaction.
Crafter of Fury
Mechanics: Seems a little highly-costed, but safe. It does seem like the card that Johnny wants to break somehow. Very red too.
Flavor: Nice little play on the traditional "easy to learn, lifetime to master" phrase. A 'crafter' just sounds clunky though. Fury Crafter would have been a more elegant name. (Lord of War vs. War Lord nitpick. If you've seen Lord of War, you know what I'm talking about)
Image Split
Mechanics: I like the idea of making a quick doppleganger to get in damage. However, I'd have to do a thorough rules investigation to see if you can add another attack in AFTER blockers have been declared. Seems like a rules nightmare.
Flavor: The flavor here is awesome. Oh, you blocked by big fatty? BOOM take it! Excellent combat trick. Very blue and red. And the flavor text is awesome too. Well done.
Overall:
-No clear synergy between your two submissions. No big deal.
-You wanted to point out that you can use the Crafter's ability with your equipment's trigger on the stack. True, but there's nothing super synergistic about it.
-Lots of copy effects going on in your submissions. Copy effects are difficult to balance because doubling something in Magic is always more than twice the effect. However, I think you did a reasonably good job of balancing these effects.
Shadowform Nightblade
Mechanics: Hoo-boy, a 3/3 for 4 that can hit for 6. Probably should be rare. Very cool though. You're giving them them a lot of choices here too, which usually isn't the best, but until people learn to play around it, it would be very powerful.
Flavor: Haha, the flavor-text made me smile. Clever. This assassin is gonna be doing some work and doing it well.
Vamoose
Mechanics: A blink that can be brought back right away or at end of turn? Excellent. This solves many of the problems that other blink-effect cards run into.
Flavor: A both love and hate the name of the card. I like the word, but I'm not sure it belongs anywhere in the realm of Magic. Makes sense with the card's ability though. I wish you had added flavor-text though.
Overall:
-No clear synergy between your two submissions, but being able to save him from spot removal and board wipes, and make a surprise blocker if need be are all very good things to do with such a powerhouse of a creature.
-Dagger of Night makes your champion even HARDER to deal with in combat. Choices, choices, choices. This guy would be a nightmare to play against and an absolute house to play with.
-Cool, playable cards all around. These are the kind of cards people can build around.
Not sure if we're doing rankings/top 3, but here they are anyway:
U// Sedris and the Traitor Kings U// G Seshiro, the Appointed G B// Vaevictus Asmadi - "I'm 'exy and I know it" B// W// Treva, The Renewerer W// B/ Rakdos, Lord of Grouphate B/ W//// Cromat the Charmer W////
Since everyone seems to want my submissions anyway, here they are.
If I'm DQed it's alright.
Delthran Champion :3mana::symu::symg:
Creature - Human Warrior {R}
Whenever Delthran Champion attacks or blocks, put the top three cards from your library into your graveyard: Put a +1/+1 counter on Delthran Champion for each creature put into your graveyard this way.
3/3
-------------------
Study Opposition :1mana::symug:
Instant {U}
Remove X +1/+1 counters from target creature you control and prevent all combat damage that would be dealt to or by that creature this turn.
I'm still a little fuzzy on the details of how critiques and advancement work from here on out.
So... We judge everyone now, and do we still post a top 3? We don't judge ourselves, though, right?
I didn't really expect to get into the top 8. And I can't find rules concerning this section of the contest.
Edit: Saw the conversation above. derp.
Edit2: Judgings!
Judging individual cards by Balance, Coolness (that's flavor, and how much I like it), Cards in Deck (How many cards I'd put in a casual deck) out of 4 each. Judging the group by Synergy (how much they help eachother) and Potential (how strong they are individually) for BothCards+Equipment out of 3 each.
Mobiusman (26/30)
Transcendant (11/12):
This is a neat one, but how often, in white, will you have a CMC 3 in the GY and not various 1/1s and other CMC 1s? White is known for it's Weenies, after all. However, quite clever. Rarity is nice, but it could possibly get off at uncommon.
Balance: 4/4
Coolness: 3/4
Cards in Deck: 4/4
Fury (10/12):
At first I thought, you're looking for this and putting it on the battlefield. But it doesn't have first strike. So I was going to dock you. But then I saw that you were channeling the power of the ancestor that you were putting into the graveyard, to give your transcendent first strike. Nice. Just include 1 or 2 critters with FS, mull if you draw one, use the fury to give all your creatures it, without having some redundant FSers.
Balance: 3/4
Coolness: 4/4
Cards in Deck: 3/4
you could have worded your equipment slightly different. You could have said "Imprinted" cards, rather than exiled. I would have realized it was an imprint card sooner. Fury can provide Fodder for your blade, the transcendent can wield it. And the blade can clear out the GY for the transcendent to get out, nice.
Synergy: 3/3
Potential: 2/3
Ninja Caterpie (24/30)
Crafter (10/12):
Pay 3 to get anywhere from 1... to 15, if you draw Emrakul. Why is it he's always the center of crafty cheating combos? It's not bad; rather nice, really.
Balance: 2/4
Coolness: 4/4
Cards in Deck: 4/4
Split (10/12):
So, you're attacking, the opponent blocks, say, with a 3/3. You now have a 3/3 that's bypassing any blockers. Cool, if the opponent knows you have that, you can scare him into not blocking with any of his amazing fatties. I'm not sold on the balance level of that, but it's very nice.
Balance: 2/4
Coolness: 4/4
Cards in Deck: 4/4
Sneaky way of getting the Equipment to function with the crafter. Fortunately, there aren't many shamans with bigger/better than 3/3, and only some humans.
Synergy: 3/3
Potential: 1/3
Ced395 (24/30)
Nightblade (9/12):
Deathtouch, plus SacOrLoseLife? This thing, at CMC 4, can do 6 damage in one turn, or destroy 2 creatures... even if they're 15/15s or 1/1s. I would raise it's rarity or it's cost, Uncommon is too common.
Balance: 2/4
Coolness: 3/4
Cards in Deck: 4/4
Vamoose (11/12):
Flicker, a bit more costly than normal. However, the flick might last a bit longer, so it's worth it. Can be used to avoid your night-blade being destroyed, if you activate it as damage is being applied. Price at common is just fine.
Balance: 4/4
Coolness: 3/4
Cards in Deck: 4/4
dagger of Night can be used to make sure the assassin always gets his man, which is neat. Vamoose doesn't do so much for the artifact, just for the assassin.
Synergy: 2/3
Potential: 2/3
Arcel (23/30)
Soulstealer (9/12):
Card uses both -1/-1 and +1/+1 counters. I see nothing wrong with that, personally, but a heads up. Cost is just fine. You forgot rarity. Nice catch, putting "combat damage", rather than just damage.
Balance: 3/4
Coolness: 4/4
Cards in Deck: 2/4
Honor (11/12):
It always comes back to Emrakul, doesn't it? Attacking with the monster then casting this would get you 15 life! Glad that it's hard to get him out on turn 1 or 2.
Ignoring combos (WHAAH! IGNORING COMBOS?!), this seems pretty nice. A few pseudo-walls, and it would be REALLY nice.
Balance: 3/4
Coolness: 4/4
Cards in Deck: 4/4
The bow can be used by the stealer to tap down a big blocker, then you can honor that blocker and gain large life. The soul stealer doesn't really synergize with the other two, except as a warm body.
Synergy: 1/3
Potential: 2/3
Queensauce (23/30)
Lionheart (9/12):
Warrior lord, and gets stronger the more it lords over. Two of these, and you'd have 2 5/5s. A third, they are all 7/7s. A fourth, and you have 4 9/9s. These really want you to play Warrior Tribal. Like, badly. Trample, and a low low cost for a lord that big, and this would turn formats upside down - though not in an original way.
Balance: 2/4
Coolness: 3/4
Cards in Deck: 100/4 4/4
Battle cry (10/12)
Totally lets you overwhelm the opponent. This is definitely a finisher... and in green, so it's competitively priced. This might be better as a mythic.
Balance: 3/4
Coolness: 3/4
Cards in Deck: 2/4 (+2 bonus for being a finisher)
You really like the number 3, besides being the required P/T. Even with just these three, you have a 9/9. Add in more champions, and you have P/T out of this world. I'm starting to get tired of comparing or trying to pair cards with Emrakul, but these three cards could definitely rival him. Easy.
Oh, you don't synergize much beyond just pumping P/T. Really high.
Synergy: 1/3
Potential: 3/3
Gerrard's Mom (23/30)
Chantleader (9/12):
It likes to be blocked by large groups, eh? Or to get through. Either or, but not both, usually. Seems a bit unfocused.
Balance: 3/4
Coolness: 3/4
Cards in Deck: 3/4
Leechscream (8/12):
Not a fan of the flavor. You scream to weaken your enemies? I'll admit it has nice synergy with the Chantleader, but he wasn't very focused either.
Balance: 3/4
Coolness: 2/4
Cards in deck: 3/4
I'm not entirely certain that the flute would work as intended, but all three together make a creature that completely wipes the board, deals 2 damage to the opponent, and then gets you a card.
Synergy 3/3
Potential 3/3
Emocakes (26/30)
Delthran (11/12):
Mill yourself to death or to victory. With any luck to the latter.
Balance: 3/4
Coolness: 4/4
Cards in Deck: 4/4
Study (11/12):
Don't use X when there's no X cost or definition for X. In this case, say "remove any number of +1/+1 counters...", rather than "remove X +1/+1 counters". Drawing cards to... not cripple, but basically draining the life out of your own creatures to draw more. This goes well with the Champion, and with hydras. I'm almost thinking of this guy as some sort of hydra-totem berserker now.
Balance: 3/4
Coolness: 4/4
Cards in Deck: 4/4
Your equipment brought your champ indestructibility and hexproof, as it was milling creatures into the yard anyways. Study made Mr. Delthran really smart, and while the gambit and the artifact didn't synergize with each-other, they synergized with the champion quite well.
Synergy: 2/3
Potential: 2/3
Order (including tie-breaker "meh, I like this one better"s):
I'm out as well. I'll be right up to time, they may be very short critiques.
Here they is! Mobiusman - Great synergy between your creature and the equipment. I love the flavor there. I'm not a fan of the enchantment. It synergizes, but feels forced and clunky
Ninja Caterpie - I don't see the synergy here at all. Good solid designs, but they only work together in a very round about way.
ced395 - Good synergy here. I like the design, it's a solid uncommon. Browbeat effects are generally weak but that's another story entirely. I don't really like the name of the combat trick. Also it's very generic and doesn't mesh with your other cards at all.
Arcel - Good synergy between the critter and equipment. The fighting style/gambit card doesn't feel like that at all. It has synergy but doesn't fit flavorfully.
queensauce - I'm not seeing any synergy between these cards at all. Lionheart champion feels a little too powerful. Ember Gale + Overrun is basically game over, but it's pricey so it's alright. It's just not terribly original.
Flabort - Seems good. Probably would've gotten away with this creature at 1WWR or 2WR even. Like the design and flavor of the gambit, even if it could be worded better.
Gerrard's Mom - Good solid combat synergy here. Leechscream feels strong, but not so strong it's broken. The creature feels odd being a 3/3 elf.
Mobiusman
3/3 for 3 seems on the large side for white, but within reason. Works well to receive your equipment, sure. I'm not sure that Entombing a guy is really an additional cost when you can put Akroma or whatever into the yard and get a discount Knighthood. It would have made most sense to me from a flavor perspective if it just gave your guys first strike if there was a guy with first strike in the yard.
Ninja Caterpie
Kind of like a Pyromancy dude, or I guess Blazing Shoal. I guess the idea here is that you double into an unblockable dude and activate the ability to deal a lot of damage. Wish it had something to do with the equipment. I would like the instant more if you could just double any attacking creature for a turn, and maybe if it was hybrid.
ced395
I don't think 4 and uncommon is enough for a guy that either swings for 6, kills two creatures, or splits those effects. I went through the trouble of looking it up, so I'll let you know that the last sentence should be "that player loses..." a la Power Sink. Vamoose is a really silly name, but the choice of instant or delayed blink is cool.
Arcel
Forgetting rarity is bad. The guy is fine and works pretty well with the equipment, as most Sengir style guys are, he is a better defender than attacker. The Honorable Act is a last pick card, something that would be bad even at one mana.
queensauce
Lords that improve themselves along with their followers are pretty cool. This is a simple execution of it, but it works with warriors and in green. I like the super Overrun, although I really wish it was "creatures controlled by opponents can't block" to make it the EDH game finisher it wants to be at 8 mana.
Flabort Loxodon Punisher basically just did this schtick a lot more elegantly and more powerfully. The only thing yours had going for it is vigilance, but the whole idea of "suit me up" guys is that they can probably get abilities from the equipment, so they don't usually need them. Other than the name thing, the trick is ok, but the wording is really confusing. It's interesting that effects that shouldn't be that hard to do like this are pretty hard to word since they really require three targets.
Emocakes
This guy would be fun in the UGSplinterfright decks around right now. Not quite as explosive as Kessig Cagebreakers, but it is a good enabler. The fog effect on the trick is a little weird, I think paying counters for cards is a great concept on its own and didn't need to be cluttered up by that. I think it would be ok taking counters from any creatures you control, not just one.
The sun rises and sets. Moons run their route through the sky. Seasons pass. Time passes.
You are now a full-fledged member of your tribe. No longer must the elders watch vigilant over you, but rather you watch over the people. The workings of the village run smoothly, and your family is safe and happy.
But, like your ancestors before you, you are no ordinary individual. Not only have you earned your place, but you expand upon it. When a task is to be completed, you are there to help. You ensure the prosperity of your family, but other families, as well as the entire tribe. People come to you for advice, guidance, and help. You are rising among your people. You are becoming a leader.
One day, as you assist the others in the harvest, a scout rushes up to you. Panicked and out of breath, you can just barely make out her message; "Intruders." You rush to see for yourself. In the distance, the unmistakeable image of a war-party approaches. You gather as many able-bodied warriors as you can and hurry to meet them.
They have come to take your village by force, but you have acted quickly. They have come to pillage, not to engage in a fair fight. You are able to talk to them, negotiate with them, and barter for the lives of your people, for those who cannot protect themselves. Ultimately, it is decided. After the setting of the harvest moon, a champion from each of your tribes will do battle. Rather than destroy each other in brutal war, the champions shall determine the fate of their people. To the victor goes leadership of both tribes. To the loser: death.
Emocakes
queensauce
Flabort
Gerrard's Mom
Mobiusman
Ninja Caterpie
ced395
Signup Round
Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Whitemage57 41
Emocakes 122
Arcel 188
Vertain 118
Tribe Revoza
GideonJur@ 87
CrustaceanCrusader 83
Flabort 99
Atogaholic 78
silence_dais 38
Koopa99 [x2 top 3 probation DQ]queensauce 179
Tribe Asalo
KHANanaphone 99
Eskimo_Rage 76
Mobiusman 131
MDenham 99
Ixias 97
void_nothing 54
Gerrard's Mom 144
Random_Nation 49
Tribe Oorsprag
ced395 118
jwanders 63
Komachi 69
Thelas 44
Ninja Caterpie 140
vito653 9
Cypher28 73
Lordschuft 91
Y = Total number of Possible Points (3 * Number of Judges + Additional Points)
Crafter of Fury 2RR
Creature - Human Shaman (R)
2R, Discard a card: Crafter of Fury gets +X/+0 until end of turn, where X is the converted mana cost of the discarded card.
Crafting takes years of training to learn but only a moment of passion to master.
3/3
(note that you can discard in response to the trigger to power up Crafter while getting the equipment bonus)
Image Split 1UR
Instant (R)
Put a token onto the battlefield that's a copy of target blocked creature. That token enters the battlefield tapped and attacking. Exile it at the beginning of the next end step.
Even though Izias' two daggers were brought to a halt by his opponent's blade, the third and fourth find their way into his gut.
Yeah 'technically' not the wording, but the sentence would have run on otherwise. They do do that.
You got 99 attackers but I'm blocking with 1.
The Winner is Judge | 7
This Winner is Also Judge | 6
Club Flamingo | Lots
Also, CURSES! I thought the Critiquing for round 3 ended Thursday, not Tuesday, oh well, my mistake
Round 0
Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Creature - Human Shaman
Wither
Whenever Jatori Soulstealer deals combat damage to a creature, put a +1/+1 counter on it.
The Soulstealers were a special form of Shaman that learned to not only borrow energy from nature around them, but to take it from the very foes they faced.
3/3
Instant
Gain life equal to target tapped creatures toughness.
"Fight with honor and the gods will grant you the strength to last till the end of the fight." - Razalu, Jatori Elder
Artist: //gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Search/Default.aspx?action=advanced&artist=[%22Daniel%20Ljunggren%22">"]Daniel Ljunggren
I like this format better because when a team loses a lot of players and 2 people get in more easily than the others, they still have to work just as hard to advance, rather than one of them moving on automatically.
Lionheart Champion 2GG
Creature - Human Warrior (R)
Trample
Other Warrior creatures you control get +1/+1.
Lionheart Champion gets +1/+1 for each other Warrior creature you control.
"The Lionheart Warriors share one body and mind of absolute strength. Do you think a Guaroga savage such as yourself can defeat me while my brothers watch?"
3/3
Thunderous Battle Cry 4RRGG
Sorcery (R)
Creatures target player control can't block this turn.
Creatures you control get +3/+3 until end of turn.
"The Guaroga can hear the beating heart of each of our hundred tribesmen. How can they defeat us when each heart thunders stronger than the storm?" -Seer Vantha
Custom Race: Guaroga
G Seshiro, the Appointed G
B// Vaevictus Asmadi - "I'm 'exy and I know it" B//
W// Treva, The Renewerer W//
B/ Rakdos, Lord of Grouphate B/
W//// Cromat the Charmer W////
To follow-up with what KoolKoal said, I personally like having all rounds of the CCL use the same Top 3 system, if for no other reason than symmetry.
Ha. You said "do do." Like a poop.
Work is making me lose my mind.
Mechanic Creator's Contest III- Winner
[Clan Flamingo]
This is now the last day and we're still missing three people :o.
You got 99 attackers but I'm blocking with 1.
The Winner is Judge | 7
This Winner is Also Judge | 6
Club Flamingo | Lots
Revan Weaponsmaster 2WWR
Creature - Human Warrior (rare)
Vigilance
Revan Weaponsmaster gets +0/+1 for each equipment attached to it.
3/3
Gambit:
Disarm 2(R/W)
Instant (Uncommon)
If target attacking creature is blocked, unattach target attached aura or equipment from blocked creature and attach it to the blocking creature.
(To steal the attacking tribe's champion's weapon)
Round 1 (Forgot Rarity :embarrass:):
Round 2:
Round 3:
Ashamed of posts from years ago.
Artifact - Equipment (R)
You choose if equipped creature is blocked and how it is blocked.
Equip 2
"These notes can calm a raging elemental or strike fear into the heart of a giant. Play them wisely."
-Torna Kelleron, Moonsong elder
Screaming Gnasher (B/R)(B/R)(B/R)
Creature - Elemental (C)
"The dead lands beyond are filled with creatures of tooth and claw, whose horrible cries drown out even the lifesongs you have learned as a child. Return only when your voice has slain one of these unhearing monsters."
-Torna Kelleron, Moonsong elder
5/2
The Howling Scab
Land (R)
T: Add 1 to your mana pool.
T: The Howling Scab deals 1 damage to target creature you control. Add B or R to your mana pool.
Song of the Hunters 2GG
Enchantment (R)
At end of combat, put a +1/+1 counter on each creature you control that attacked this turn.
"Tonight we celebrate the hunters' gift of life. But let the hunters never forget the gifts of family and friendship, the strong bonds that we offer them in return."
-Torna Kelleron, Moonsong elder
Creature - Elf Warrior (U)
Whenever Moonsong Chantleader becomes blocked, it gets +1/+1 until end of turn for each creature blocking it.
Whenever Moonsong Chantleader deals combat damage to a player, draw a card.
The most powerful songs of the Moonsong can only be sung by those who have trained both their bodies and their minds.
3/3
Leechscream B
Instant (U)
Kicker G (You may pay an additional G as you cast this spell.)
Choose target attacking creature. The toughness of each creature blocking that creature becomes 1 until end of turn. If Leechscream was kicked, the attacking creature gains trample until end of turn.
Study Opposition: I love how it seems to want to work... but you didn't actually define X on the card, if you did, it would be perfect, as it is, it doesn't work.
Synergy: Its a very limited scope where the synergy would be perfect, but in a deck built for this combo, it would be brilliant and perfect, I love it.
Thunderous Battle Cry: Alright, feels very very powerful, maybe even a bit to much so, I mean, can't block and all your creatures get a boost? Its an instant win if you have enough creatures, at least with things like Overrun it is possible to survive, while yours can just be survived if you have a negate damage spell or a counter spell.
Synergy:... your cards... work together, but each of them in such a way that they could work decently with just about anything, so they work, it just... is in a very basic way.
Disarm: Won't mention that the name is taken, and the wording is a little confusing, though I do rather like how it works.
Synergy: All 3 work perfectly together and I can see them all being used in a single deck, heck, even as a possible game changing move if done right.
Leechscream: I rather like the card, but for what it does... it really should cost more, it seems a bit too powerful for how cheap it is and could very easily be a game ending card.
Synergy: Oh, they all work perfectly together, its rare I have seen such perfect Synergy between 3 cards, bravo Gerrard's Mom, Bravo.
Ancestors' Fury: I actually would love a set like that, I can see it, though Red is usually a mass Haste color, I can see this working as an alternative red version of Valor, though it slightly goes against how the creature would work, in the right situation, I like.
Synergy: At first I thought it wouldn't work due to Ancestors'... but then I saw the brilliance of it, creature and equip on the field, use enchant to send a creature to the graveyard and give your guy first strike, then exile it to equip the blade and give a boost to the creature, I love it.
Image Split:... I don't think this works the way you think it does... it seems to want to give you an unblockable creature, though the timing just... doesn't feel right to me, I don't know.
Synergy: They do work together, and if you can control the top of your library efficiently, the combination could easily finish the game, it just feels... too conditional to me, I'm not sure... I don't know why it feels so off to me, sorry.
Vamoose: Interesting, it seems to combine the old exile till end of turn with the newer instantaneous one now in the game, which makes it versatile and useful... I just don't see how it works with the creature and equipment.
Synergy: Or at least I didn't at first... thinking about it now... attack, your creature does its damage, and then if they have something still big enough to kill it, you use your spell to save your creature. So I like, very well done.
2) Gerrard's Mom
3) Flabort
Also forgot the Rarity... why the heck do I keep doing that :(, oh well, it was a fun game while it lasted, made it further this month then any other... doubt I will get any further now...
Artist: //gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Search/Default.aspx?action=advanced&artist=[%22Daniel%20Ljunggren%22">"]Daniel Ljunggren
GG everyone...
Sig & Avvy by Disappointing Signets Inc.
CCC&G BRAGGING RIGHTS
Mafia Statistics
I collect pacifism: 228
If Emocakes submits something before the deadline and I see it, I'll add it to my critiques. I'd like to see some more submissions.Updated with Emocake's submissions.
Critiques will be on three aspects:
-Card mechanics of the individual cards
-Flavor of the individual cards.
-Overall synergy/interaction between all cards, both mechanically and flavor-wise
Submissions
Jatori Soulstealer
Mechanics: Totally misread the card at first. I thought the "it" referred to the blocked creature. Not a good mistake to make! A 3/3 that might get bigger if it's blocked doesn't need to cost 5 with a triple color requirement though. Missing rarity too.
Flavor: The mechanics of the card sync up with the flavor very well. Don't fight him because he'll steal your soul!
Honorable Act
Mechanics: Seems like a fairly costed ability. Nothing too clever going on here, but it's straight to the point and simple.
Flavor: I'm not quite sure how gaining life off a tapped creature is honorable. As stand-alone flavor-text, it just seems a little clunky and quickly written.
Overall:
-No interaction between submissions. No biggie.
-The Soulstealer loves having your Round 0 submission. First strike to gain a counter AND wither is awesome. Also ensuring you have a target to cast Honorable Act on next turn is good too. (If they block)
-Neat: A Soulstealer who has defeated your monster from round 1 would probably have stolen its soul and thus been able to channel the soul of the beast to acquire your round 3 submission. Nice flavor link.
Submissions (late)
Delthran Champion
Mechanics: What is going on?? Is this a triggered or an activated ability? Assuming it's, "Whenever ~ attacks or blocks, you may put the top three cards from your library into your graveyard. If you do, put a +1/+1 counter on ~ for each creature card put into your graveyard this way," it's actually not too bad. Not quite playable, but definitely has that build-around-me feel that so many cards lack.
Flavor: No flavor text, d'oh. He's just a guy that might get bigger when he's in combat.
Study Opposition
Mechanics: I just think there's too much going on here. It would need to be reworded to get the point across more effectively. Drawing a bunch of cards for removing any number of +1/+1 counters seems like fun though.
Flavor: So... if you avoid combat/damage for a turn, and permanently decrease your power, you can draw cards/gain knowledge? There isn't really a huge connection between the multiple aspects of the card.
Overall:
-There's definitely some synergy between these two cards. Swing and get big. If you get into a sticky situation or just need to draw some cards, you have the ability to. Plenty of ways for these two submissions to interact.
-Ahh, now I see the inspiration for the Champion's attack trigger. Fill up the yard so your equipment can grant abilities.
-Lots of U/G graveyard/draw manipulation. I was a little disappointed to see how anti-synergistic your Round 3 entry was with your Round 0 entry. However, the Round 3 entry does let you get more chances to swing with the Champion if the game runs a bit long.
Submissions
Revan Weaponmaster
Mechanics: A 3/3 vigilance for 5 that doesn't do anything unless you have another card in play. Definitely could have brought the cost down a bit, even the color requirement is too intense. However, once you suit-up your Weaponmaster, you'll have a very awesome attacker and blocker.
Flavor: Aww, no flavor text. The name "Weaponmaster" does make sense with an ability that makes him harder to kill if he's equipped though.
Disarm (heads up: Disarm already exists)
Mechanics: Wow... there has to be an easier way to word this. I had to read it a few times to understand what it was trying to do. You could probably get away with just removing the attacking/blocking requirements and make it a Magnetic Theft variant. And knowing Magnetic Theft exists, this card can probably cost 1 as it is far more prohibitive in its casting opportunity.
Flavor: No flavor text again! However, the spell's name is Disarm. And you steal an artifact (or an enchantment?) attached to that creature. Very clear flavor there.
Overall:
-A Weaponmaster that wants to disarm his opponent, and then benefits from it? Very good.
-Your Round 0 equipment submission also gives toughness. A little redundant, but you get automatic synergy from designing a champion that likes equipment
-If your Weaponmaster were to wear your "ceremonial" hat with other equipment, would he only get +0/+1?
Submissions
Moonsong Chantleader
Mechanics: You want to block it, but it's hard to block effectively. Excellent. This is the reason I like Ohran Viper so much. Very green. Might be a rare just because it has a lot going on, but I could see it at uncommon.
Flavor: Maybe it's just me, but I get bugged when a word is repeated too close together in a sentence. In this case "song" and "Moonsong" just sound awkward together. Maybe you could have chosen "melody" or something similar to make the flavor-text flow better. Constructive criticism aside, you illustrate a being who is powerful in body and mind and possesses the grace to sing in battle. Very elf-like. I like it.
Leechscream
Mechanics: Very creative meshing of black and green abilities. Excellent combat trick to play on your fatty in limited. Maybe not the most card-advantageous because you're probably gonna lose the attacking creature anyway, but it's a nice way to make sure you kill all of their blockers and still get some damage through.
Flavor: That name is spine-tingling. You may have had room for flavor-text, but the card name is a home-run.
Overall
-Leechscream allows you to sneak in and draw a card off your Chantleader even if they manage to block. Also eliminates some of the card-loss. Clever.
-The Bewitching Flute on the Chanter is not only flavorful (a chantleader and her flute), but incredibly powerful. "yes please, I'll draw a card and you'll take 3"
-All music all day long. Everything has something to do with song-singing and sound. This is a well thought out group of submissions.
Submissions
Asalo Transcendent
Mechanics: With a few hoops to jump through, it's a recurable 3/3. While this is usually black, I can definitely see a case being made for white. He could definitely be the solo creature in some control builds. Wipe the board, wipe the board, beat with Transcendent. (btw, Transcendent is spelled with an 'e' at the end, not an 'a')
Flavor: A monk bound to guide others to the afterlife. Bound to the point that not even death can prevent him from completing his mission. Powerful flavor.
Ancestor's Fury
Mechanics: While this is most certainly a new way to grant an ability to all of your creatures, it is incredibly clunky and requires you to build a deck that wants to play guys with first strike (to put in the 'yard), but if you do, all you achieve is giving your guys with first strike... more first strike.
Flavor: Simple flavor text that drives home the idea of ancestral pride. The idea of moving one of your creatures to the 'yard to give all of your creature its ability is cool, but it could probably be developed a little more.
Overall:
-There is actually anti-synergy between your Round 4 submissions. Casting Ancestor's Fury takes away the small advantage you would get from playing the Transcendent. If you say there is a cycle here, at least you could have made a white enchantment that searched for a vigilance creature for the yard.
-Your Transcendent LOVES your round 0 equipment. Not only can you allow him to be recastable, but he gets absolutely huge.
-Woah, casting Free the Soul on your Transcendent with nothing else in the yard is a major bomb-bo. Sweet interaction.
Submissions
Crafter of Fury
Mechanics: Seems a little highly-costed, but safe. It does seem like the card that Johnny wants to break somehow. Very red too.
Flavor: Nice little play on the traditional "easy to learn, lifetime to master" phrase. A 'crafter' just sounds clunky though. Fury Crafter would have been a more elegant name. (Lord of War vs. War Lord nitpick. If you've seen Lord of War, you know what I'm talking about)
Image Split
Mechanics: I like the idea of making a quick doppleganger to get in damage. However, I'd have to do a thorough rules investigation to see if you can add another attack in AFTER blockers have been declared. Seems like a rules nightmare.
Flavor: The flavor here is awesome. Oh, you blocked by big fatty? BOOM take it! Excellent combat trick. Very blue and red. And the flavor text is awesome too. Well done.
Overall:
-No clear synergy between your two submissions. No big deal.
-You wanted to point out that you can use the Crafter's ability with your equipment's trigger on the stack. True, but there's nothing super synergistic about it.
-Lots of copy effects going on in your submissions. Copy effects are difficult to balance because doubling something in Magic is always more than twice the effect. However, I think you did a reasonably good job of balancing these effects.
Submissions
Shadowform Nightblade
Mechanics: Hoo-boy, a 3/3 for 4 that can hit for 6. Probably should be rare. Very cool though. You're giving them them a lot of choices here too, which usually isn't the best, but until people learn to play around it, it would be very powerful.
Flavor: Haha, the flavor-text made me smile. Clever. This assassin is gonna be doing some work and doing it well.
Vamoose
Mechanics: A blink that can be brought back right away or at end of turn? Excellent. This solves many of the problems that other blink-effect cards run into.
Flavor: A both love and hate the name of the card. I like the word, but I'm not sure it belongs anywhere in the realm of Magic. Makes sense with the card's ability though. I wish you had added flavor-text though.
Overall:
-No clear synergy between your two submissions, but being able to save him from spot removal and board wipes, and make a surprise blocker if need be are all very good things to do with such a powerhouse of a creature.
-Dagger of Night makes your champion even HARDER to deal with in combat. Choices, choices, choices. This guy would be a nightmare to play against and an absolute house to play with.
-Cool, playable cards all around. These are the kind of cards people can build around.
Not sure if we're doing rankings/top 3, but here they are anyway:
1. Gerrard's Mom
2. ced395
3. Ninja Caterpie
4. Flabort
5. Arcel
6. Mobiusman
7. Emocakes
Custom Race: Guaroga
G Seshiro, the Appointed G
B// Vaevictus Asmadi - "I'm 'exy and I know it" B//
W// Treva, The Renewerer W//
B/ Rakdos, Lord of Grouphate B/
W//// Cromat the Charmer W////
If I'm DQed it's alright.
Delthran Champion :3mana::symu::symg:
Creature - Human Warrior {R}
Whenever Delthran Champion attacks or blocks, put the top three cards from your library into your graveyard: Put a +1/+1 counter on Delthran Champion for each creature put into your graveyard this way.
3/3
-------------------
Study Opposition :1mana::symug:
Instant {U}
Remove X +1/+1 counters from target creature you control and prevent all combat damage that would be dealt to or by that creature this turn.
Draw a card for each counter removed this way.
Sig & Avvy by Disappointing Signets Inc.
CCC&G BRAGGING RIGHTS
Mafia Statistics
I collect pacifism: 228
I'm still a little fuzzy on the details of how critiques and advancement work from here on out.So... We judge everyone now, and do we still post a top 3? We don't judge ourselves, though, right?
I didn't really expect to get into the top 8. And I can't find rules concerning this section of the contest.
Edit: Saw the conversation above. derp.
Edit2: Judgings!
Judging individual cards by Balance, Coolness (that's flavor, and how much I like it), Cards in Deck (How many cards I'd put in a casual deck) out of 4 each. Judging the group by Synergy (how much they help eachother) and Potential (how strong they are individually) for BothCards+Equipment out of 3 each.
Mobiusman (26/30)
This is a neat one, but how often, in white, will you have a CMC 3 in the GY and not various 1/1s and other CMC 1s? White is known for it's Weenies, after all. However, quite clever. Rarity is nice, but it could possibly get off at uncommon.
Balance: 4/4
Coolness: 3/4
Cards in Deck: 4/4
Fury (10/12):
At first I thought, you're looking for this and putting it on the battlefield. But it doesn't have first strike. So I was going to dock you. But then I saw that you were channeling the power of the ancestor that you were putting into the graveyard, to give your transcendent first strike. Nice. Just include 1 or 2 critters with FS, mull if you draw one, use the fury to give all your creatures it, without having some redundant FSers.
Balance: 3/4
Coolness: 4/4
Cards in Deck: 3/4
you could have worded your equipment slightly different. You could have said "Imprinted" cards, rather than exiled. I would have realized it was an imprint card sooner. Fury can provide Fodder for your blade, the transcendent can wield it. And the blade can clear out the GY for the transcendent to get out, nice.
Synergy: 3/3
Potential: 2/3
Ninja Caterpie (24/30)
Pay 3 to get anywhere from 1... to 15, if you draw Emrakul. Why is it he's always the center of crafty cheating combos? It's not bad; rather nice, really.
Balance: 2/4
Coolness: 4/4
Cards in Deck: 4/4
Split (10/12):
So, you're attacking, the opponent blocks, say, with a 3/3. You now have a 3/3 that's bypassing any blockers. Cool, if the opponent knows you have that, you can scare him into not blocking with any of his amazing fatties. I'm not sold on the balance level of that, but it's very nice.
Balance: 2/4
Coolness: 4/4
Cards in Deck: 4/4
Sneaky way of getting the Equipment to function with the crafter. Fortunately, there aren't many shamans with bigger/better than 3/3, and only some humans.
Synergy: 3/3
Potential: 1/3
Ced395 (24/30)
Deathtouch, plus SacOrLoseLife? This thing, at CMC 4, can do 6 damage in one turn, or destroy 2 creatures... even if they're 15/15s or 1/1s. I would raise it's rarity or it's cost, Uncommon is too common.
Balance: 2/4
Coolness: 3/4
Cards in Deck: 4/4
Vamoose (11/12):
Flicker, a bit more costly than normal. However, the flick might last a bit longer, so it's worth it. Can be used to avoid your night-blade being destroyed, if you activate it as damage is being applied. Price at common is just fine.
Balance: 4/4
Coolness: 3/4
Cards in Deck: 4/4
dagger of Night can be used to make sure the assassin always gets his man, which is neat. Vamoose doesn't do so much for the artifact, just for the assassin.
Synergy: 2/3
Potential: 2/3
Arcel (23/30)
Card uses both -1/-1 and +1/+1 counters. I see nothing wrong with that, personally, but a heads up. Cost is just fine. You forgot rarity. Nice catch, putting "combat damage", rather than just damage.
Balance: 3/4
Coolness: 4/4
Cards in Deck: 2/4
Honor (11/12):
It always comes back to Emrakul, doesn't it? Attacking with the monster then casting this would get you 15 life! Glad that it's hard to get him out on turn 1 or 2.
Ignoring combos (WHAAH! IGNORING COMBOS?!), this seems pretty nice. A few pseudo-walls, and it would be REALLY nice.
Balance: 3/4
Coolness: 4/4
Cards in Deck: 4/4
The bow can be used by the stealer to tap down a big blocker, then you can honor that blocker and gain large life. The soul stealer doesn't really synergize with the other two, except as a warm body.
Synergy: 1/3
Potential: 2/3
Queensauce (23/30)
Warrior lord, and gets stronger the more it lords over. Two of these, and you'd have 2 5/5s. A third, they are all 7/7s. A fourth, and you have 4 9/9s. These really want you to play Warrior Tribal. Like, badly. Trample, and a low low cost for a lord that big, and this would turn formats upside down - though not in an original way.
Balance: 2/4
Coolness: 3/4
Cards in Deck:
100/44/4Battle cry (10/12)
Totally lets you overwhelm the opponent. This is definitely a finisher... and in green, so it's competitively priced. This might be better as a mythic.
Balance: 3/4
Coolness: 3/4
Cards in Deck: 2/4 (+2 bonus for being a finisher)
You really like the number 3, besides being the required P/T. Even with just these three, you have a 9/9. Add in more champions, and you have P/T out of this world. I'm starting to get tired of comparing or trying to pair cards with Emrakul, but these three cards could definitely rival him. Easy.
Oh, you don't synergize much beyond just pumping P/T. Really high.
Synergy: 1/3
Potential: 3/3
Gerrard's Mom (23/30)
It likes to be blocked by large groups, eh? Or to get through. Either or, but not both, usually. Seems a bit unfocused.
Balance: 3/4
Coolness: 3/4
Cards in Deck: 3/4
Leechscream (8/12):
Not a fan of the flavor. You scream to weaken your enemies? I'll admit it has nice synergy with the Chantleader, but he wasn't very focused either.
Balance: 3/4
Coolness: 2/4
Cards in deck: 3/4
I'm not entirely certain that the flute would work as intended, but all three together make a creature that completely wipes the board, deals 2 damage to the opponent, and then gets you a card.
Synergy 3/3
Potential 3/3
Emocakes (26/30)
Mill yourself to death or to victory. With any luck to the latter.
Balance: 3/4
Coolness: 4/4
Cards in Deck: 4/4
Study (11/12):
Don't use X when there's no X cost or definition for X. In this case, say "remove any number of +1/+1 counters...", rather than "remove X +1/+1 counters". Drawing cards to... not cripple, but basically draining the life out of your own creatures to draw more. This goes well with the Champion, and with hydras. I'm almost thinking of this guy as some sort of hydra-totem berserker now.
Balance: 3/4
Coolness: 4/4
Cards in Deck: 4/4
Your equipment brought your champ indestructibility and hexproof, as it was milling creatures into the yard anyways. Study made Mr. Delthran really smart, and while the gambit and the artifact didn't synergize with each-other, they synergized with the champion quite well.
Synergy: 2/3
Potential: 2/3
Order (including tie-breaker "meh, I like this one better"s):
2. Emocakes
3. Ninja Caterpie
4. Ced395
5. Arcel
6. Gerard's Mom
7. Queensauce
Ashamed of posts from years ago.
Ashamed of posts from years ago.
Here they is!
Mobiusman - Great synergy between your creature and the equipment. I love the flavor there. I'm not a fan of the enchantment. It synergizes, but feels forced and clunky
Ninja Caterpie - I don't see the synergy here at all. Good solid designs, but they only work together in a very round about way.
ced395 - Good synergy here. I like the design, it's a solid uncommon. Browbeat effects are generally weak but that's another story entirely. I don't really like the name of the combat trick. Also it's very generic and doesn't mesh with your other cards at all.
Arcel - Good synergy between the critter and equipment. The fighting style/gambit card doesn't feel like that at all. It has synergy but doesn't fit flavorfully.
queensauce - I'm not seeing any synergy between these cards at all. Lionheart champion feels a little too powerful. Ember Gale + Overrun is basically game over, but it's pricey so it's alright. It's just not terribly original.
Flabort - Seems good. Probably would've gotten away with this creature at 1WWR or 2WR even. Like the design and flavor of the gambit, even if it could be worded better.
Gerrard's Mom - Good solid combat synergy here. Leechscream feels strong, but not so strong it's broken. The creature feels odd being a 3/3 elf.
Top 3
2. Mobiusman
3. Flabort
Sig & Avvy by Disappointing Signets Inc.
CCC&G BRAGGING RIGHTS
Mafia Statistics
I collect pacifism: 228
3/3 for 3 seems on the large side for white, but within reason. Works well to receive your equipment, sure. I'm not sure that Entombing a guy is really an additional cost when you can put Akroma or whatever into the yard and get a discount Knighthood. It would have made most sense to me from a flavor perspective if it just gave your guys first strike if there was a guy with first strike in the yard.
Ninja Caterpie
Kind of like a Pyromancy dude, or I guess Blazing Shoal. I guess the idea here is that you double into an unblockable dude and activate the ability to deal a lot of damage. Wish it had something to do with the equipment. I would like the instant more if you could just double any attacking creature for a turn, and maybe if it was hybrid.
ced395
I don't think 4 and uncommon is enough for a guy that either swings for 6, kills two creatures, or splits those effects. I went through the trouble of looking it up, so I'll let you know that the last sentence should be "that player loses..." a la Power Sink. Vamoose is a really silly name, but the choice of instant or delayed blink is cool.
Arcel
Forgetting rarity is bad. The guy is fine and works pretty well with the equipment, as most Sengir style guys are, he is a better defender than attacker. The Honorable Act is a last pick card, something that would be bad even at one mana.
queensauce
Lords that improve themselves along with their followers are pretty cool. This is a simple execution of it, but it works with warriors and in green. I like the super Overrun, although I really wish it was "creatures controlled by opponents can't block" to make it the EDH game finisher it wants to be at 8 mana.
Flabort
Loxodon Punisher basically just did this schtick a lot more elegantly and more powerfully. The only thing yours had going for it is vigilance, but the whole idea of "suit me up" guys is that they can probably get abilities from the equipment, so they don't usually need them. Other than the name thing, the trick is ok, but the wording is really confusing. It's interesting that effects that shouldn't be that hard to do like this are pretty hard to word since they really require three targets.
Emocakes
This guy would be fun in the UG Splinterfright decks around right now. Not quite as explosive as Kessig Cagebreakers, but it is a good enabler. The fog effect on the trick is a little weird, I think paying counters for cards is a great concept on its own and didn't need to be cluttered up by that. I think it would be ok taking counters from any creatures you control, not just one.
2. Ninja Caterpie
3. Emocakes
Congrats to those moving on, and congrats on a well played game for those who lost here.