June CCL: Every Good Boy Deserves Favor
Round 1 - Your Wildest Dreams
As you fall asleep after the whirlwind of discovery that kept you up until daybreak, memories of how your life used to be slowly intrude - memories you'd been trying to keep locked away to avoid succumbing to despair in the past, but now welcome as a necessary catalyst to the process you'll engage in.
And so you dream. And like most dreams, there's only a tenuous relationship between what you see and what reality is. Visions of your dead wife are the only common theme in these dreams.
You wake up as the sun's setting, refreshed yet slightly disturbed at some of the imagery you still remember. "Time to get to work," you say to yourself, and you open the book again, but one thing still sticks in your mind...
Challenge: Design a permanent card (artifact, creature, enchantment, land, planeswalker, or any combination of those) representing the disturbing object from one of the dreams that you're still remembering. The mana cost for this card, however, has three restrictions:
It can't use any of the colors from your signup card;
It has to use exactly one black mana; and
It has to have the same amount of colored mana in its mana cost as your signup card, and its converted mana cost needs to be within 1 of your signup card's.
For example, if your signup card cost 3GW, this card would cost 2~4UB or 2~4BR. (Hybrid mana is fine as long as it's not black, but apparently the forum software is having issues with hybrid mana in mana tags; not quite sure what's triggering that issue, though. (2/W) and similar are also fine; they count as colored mana and as two toward CMC for purposes of point #3.)
Round 1 cards are due Thursday, June 5, at 12:01am Pacific (just after Wednesday ends).
Round 1 critiques and rankings are due Saturday, June 7, at 12:01pm Pacific (halfway through Saturday).
Scoring - and teams - are quite a bit different this month.
Technically, there are no teams this month. There's just the 22 of you, each out for yourself alone. Each round, you'll judge six people and rank all of them, 1st through 6th. You'll also be judged by six people as a result. The scores are weighted slightly:
8 points for 1st
6 points for 2nd
4 points for 3rd
3 points for 4th
2 points for 5th
1 point for 6th
...and two points are provided for giving critiques - one if you critique at least three of your six, and a second one if you critique all of them. (If some of them don't post cards, "no card posted" or something similar is considered a valid critique for the purposes of these points. I reserve the right to withhold a point for exceptionally terse critiques.)
This totals out to 50 points per round. Top 8 will be determined after Round 3, as usual, based on total scores from among all of you.
I'll put together the judging lists either tomorrow or Tuesday, once I have time to knock something together to do it - even if that "something" is just a partial deck of cards.
Unfortunately, events have conspired to make this somewhat less interesting than it otherwise would have been. (The original plan was to build up a 22x18 board composed of random selections such that nobody was assigned a person multiple times over the rounds, nobody was assigned themselves in any round, and no pair of people judged each other in any one round. It turns out that this is not a trivial problem from a programming standpoint. If I come up with a tool that makes this feasible, I'll announce it in the discussion thread.)
For Round 1, you judge the six people whose names follow yours. If there are fewer than six names below yours, go back up to the top of the list and add enough people to make six total. (If you're the last name on the list, therefore, you judge the top six names.)
Peaceful Spirit2W
Sorcery (U)
Return target creature from your graveyard to the battlefield except it is a Spirit in addition to it's other creature types and it gains "This creature cannot attack or block". Not all things that pass back through the door have to be vengeful or fulled by hate.
Netherhound2B
Creature - Hound (C)
Netherhound can't block. To call him a guard dog is a grave mistake.
3/4
Valkyrie's Choice1RW
Instant (U)
If target creature dies this turn, return it to the battlefield at the end of turn.
Crime Against Unnature1GB
Instant (C)
Exile target artifact or enchantment. Put a 1/1 black zombie creature token onto the battlefield. “How can you zombify something that was never alive in the first place?”
False Revival2UU
Sorcery (U)
Exile target creature card in a graveyard, put a 1/1 blue illusion creature token onto the battlefield under your control. The token has all the abilities of the exiled card. "There, good as new... at least as far as anyone else is concerned."
Interesting Scoring way we are going this time... alright, Card time!
Possesed Axe1BR
Artifact — Equipment (R)
Equipped creature gets +4/+0, has trample, haste, and is a demon in addition to its other types.
Whenever equipped creature deals combat damage to a player, sacrifice it unless you pay life equal to damage dealt.
Equip - 2
... hope I think of how to improve this before judging...
Desperate Resurrection1RW
Instant (U)
Return a creature card at random from your graveyard to the battlefield.
Deranged Horror2UB
Creature - Horror (R)
When Deranged Horror enters the battlefield, each opponent discards a card. You draw a card for each card discarded this way.
2/1 Truly conjured up by a madman.
Ghost in the Machine2U Sorcery{R}
Return target creature from your graveyard to the battlefield with X +1/+1 counters on it, where X is its power. As it enters the battlefield, it becomes an artifact in addition to its other types, becomes 0/0 and gains "At the beginning of your upkeep, remove a +1/+1 counter from this creature". There are not enough cogs and springs in the universe to replicate the inner workings of a human soul.
Soul-eating Shell2B Artifact Creature - Horror{R}
At the beginning of your upkeep, Soul-eating Shell gains all abilities of another target creature, than that creature loses all abilities. "Humanity is no more than a fluid that can be poured into a fitting vessel. The fact that she's almost complete only proves it. Although her child-like naiviety is still missing... I wonder where I can find some."
- Artificer's Log, p. 3
2/2
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Wizards can start putting booster packs inside dog poo and dog owners will still complain.
Sacred Sacrifice WWW
Sorcery (R)
As an additional cost to cast Sacred
Sacrifice, sacrifice a creature.
Return target creature card from your
graveyard to the battlefield. “A man who won’t die for something is not
fit to live. Here’s where I earn my life.”
—Ser Malwyn Skjorr
Master of the Wild Hunt 1GUB
Legendary Creature - Faerie Spirit (M)
Wither (This deals damage to creatures in
the form of -1/-1 counters.)
Whenever Master of the Wild Hunt
attacks, put two 1/1 green, blue, and
black Faerie Spirit creature tokens with
wither onto the battlefield tapped and
attacking.
3/4
Essence of SaffiGW
Instant (U)
When target creature is put into your graveyard from the battlefield this turn, return that card to the battlefield.
Gain 5 life.
Hell-spawn Devil1BR
Creature - Devil (U)
First strike, haste
Unleash (You may have this creature enter the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter on it. It can't block as long as it has a +1/+1 counter on it.) "It's an embodiment of our image." - Exava
3/1
Perfect Duplicate2UU
Sorcery (R)
Choose a creature card in your graveyard. Put a 0/0 Shapeshifter token onto the battlefield under your control that is a copy of that creature.
Doubting Horror2BR
Creature - Horror (R)
Deathtouch
At the beginning of your upkeep, discard a card or sacrifice a creature or pay 1 life. Otherwise, sacrifice Doubting Horror. When you begin to question yourself is when you begin to lose control of everything around you.
5/3
Return target creature card from your graveyard to the battlefield. If you do,
choose an aura card in your graveyard that could enchant that creature and
put it onto the battlefield attached to that creature.
Hollow Herald2UBR
Creature - Horror (R)
Haste
Whenever Hollow Herald becomes tapped, each
player discards a card, then you draw a card.
"It may appear hollow, but I must ask: If it is born
out of one's desire, ambition and emotion, then
who is really the husk? - Alan Iras
Challenge The Hellguard3WR
Sorcery (R)
Target creature you control fights target creature an opponent controls. When the creature an opponent controls dies this turn, you may return a creature card from your graveyard to the battlefield. "I'm here for my wife. And you are not going to stop me, hound."
The Unnamed Feeling3UB
Enchantment - Aura (U)
Enchant creature
At the beginning of enchanted creature's controller's upkeep, tap that creature. It's controller exiles the top X cards of his or her library, were X is that creature's power. It is the certainty you feel in a dream that a horror beyond imagination is lurking behind you, and yet you cannot help but turn to face it.
Holder Hungry Cemetery2B
Enchantment - R
Whenever a creature you control dies, you may search your library for a creature card and put it into your graveyard. If you do, shuffle your library afterwards.
Echoes from Beyond3UB
Enchantment - Aura R
Enchant creature card in a graveyard
At the beginning of your upkeep, put a creature token onto the battlefield that is a copy of enchanted creature card. Memories last forever. Especially the bad ones.
Rite of Retribution3WW
Sorcery R
Kicker 2B
Destroy all creatures. If Rite of Retribution was kicked, return a creature card from your graveyard to the battlefield. To save the one you love, no amount of sacrifice is too great.
Asking out a girl is like trying to cast a first turn Necropotence. Sometimes the other player will have the Force of Will to say no. You shouldn't let that stop you from trying it.
Unfinished Business2GG
Sorcery (U)
Return target creature card from your graveyard to the battlefield. That creature fights target creature an opponent controls. "Round two."
Cursed Roulette1B
Enchantment (R)
At the beginning of your upkeep, choose a number. Then, reveal the top card of your library. If the revealed card's converted mana cost is the same as the chosen number, put that card into your hand. Otherwise, exile it and lose 2 life.
Life Sentence2WU
Instant (U)
Return target creature in an opponent's graveyard to play under your control. It gains Defender. "In these dark times, the grave is no longer a secure prison. I put far more trust in manacles and our wardens." - Magistrate Vetrim
Soul Gourmand2RB
Creature - Demon (R)
Haste, Trample
Whenever a creature dealt combat damage by ~ dies, exile it.
At the end of your turn, if no creatures were exiled by ~ this turn, exile another creature you control. If you can't, ~ deals 5 damage to you.
5/5
Waking Terror3BB
Creature - Nightmare (R)
Waking Terror's power and toughness are equal to the number of swamps you control plus the number of nightmares you control.
*/*
Haunting Presence1BB
Creature - Nightmare Spirit (R)
Flying
At the beginning of each player's upkeep, he or she looks at the top two cards of his or her library and exiles one of them.
2/3 The warrior could no longer sleep, constantly tormented by visions of what might have been.
We're sitting about 4 1/2 hours from when entries close, and turnout for this round is... somewhat spotty (18 posts, plus one card posted from someone who didn't have a signup card posted when Round 1 started - Antny, I'm looking at you - but four of those 18 are just placeholders without a card).
If we're going to suffer this kind of attrition in Round 1, I may cut to Top 8 a lot faster than would normally happen - like, a round early. 14 people isn't going to cut it, folks.
Thunderous Revival4RR
Sorcery (R)
Return target creature card from your graveyard to the battlefield. It deals damage equal to its power to each other creature.
Voices of the Lost3UB
Enchantment (R)
At the beginning of each opponent's upkeep, that player puts the top X cards of his or her library into his or her graveyard, where X is the number of creature cards in his or her graveyard.
Round 1 - Your Wildest Dreams
As you fall asleep after the whirlwind of discovery that kept you up until daybreak, memories of how your life used to be slowly intrude - memories you'd been trying to keep locked away to avoid succumbing to despair in the past, but now welcome as a necessary catalyst to the process you'll engage in.
And so you dream. And like most dreams, there's only a tenuous relationship between what you see and what reality is. Visions of your dead wife are the only common theme in these dreams.
You wake up as the sun's setting, refreshed yet slightly disturbed at some of the imagery you still remember. "Time to get to work," you say to yourself, and you open the book again, but one thing still sticks in your mind...
Challenge: Design a permanent card (artifact, creature, enchantment, land, planeswalker, or any combination of those) representing the disturbing object from one of the dreams that you're still remembering. The mana cost for this card, however, has three restrictions:
Round 1 cards are due Thursday, June 5, at 12:01am Pacific (just after Wednesday ends).
Round 1 critiques and rankings are due Saturday, June 7, at 12:01pm Pacific (halfway through Saturday).
Technically, there are no teams this month. There's just the 22 of you, each out for yourself alone. Each round, you'll judge six people and rank all of them, 1st through 6th. You'll also be judged by six people as a result. The scores are weighted slightly:
This totals out to 50 points per round. Top 8 will be determined after Round 3, as usual, based on total scores from among all of you.
I'll put together the judging lists either tomorrow or Tuesday, once I have time to knock something together to do it - even if that "something" is just a partial deck of cards.
For Round 1, you judge the six people whose names follow yours. If there are fewer than six names below yours, go back up to the top of the list and add enough people to make six total. (If you're the last name on the list, therefore, you judge the top six names.)
SelesnyaNewLife
GG Crono
Raikou Rider
Doombringer
Egak
Jimmy Groove
TacticalCelebrant
aftermarketradio
Moss_Elemental
willows
Zoomba
Vertain
Am Shegar
Arcel
GameWorldLeader
Covert Corsair
Prophylaxis
The1AndOnlyAGar
Koopa
Dragoon
(nameless one)
Flintlock
(Probably NSFW) So you may have heard I'm trying to write a TV series...
Most Nominated for Random Categories, 2013
Peaceful Spirit 2W
Sorcery (U)
Return target creature from your graveyard to the battlefield except it is a Spirit in addition to it's other creature types and it gains "This creature cannot attack or block".
Not all things that pass back through the door have to be vengeful or fulled by hate.
Netherhound 2B
Creature - Hound (C)
Netherhound can't block.
To call him a guard dog is a grave mistake.
3/4
BGStandard Green AggroGB
UWRGModern Saheeli CobraGRWU
UBRGLegacy StormGRBU
Wizards Certified Rules Advisor
Instant (U)
If target creature dies this turn, return it to the battlefield at the end of turn.
Instant (C)
Exile target artifact or enchantment. Put a 1/1 black zombie creature token onto the battlefield.
“How can you zombify something that was never alive in the first place?”
False Revival 2UU
Sorcery (U)
Exile target creature card in a graveyard, put a 1/1 blue illusion creature token onto the battlefield under your control. The token has all the abilities of the exiled card.
"There, good as new... at least as far as anyone else is concerned."
Interesting Scoring way we are going this time... alright, Card time!
Possesed Axe 1BR
Artifact — Equipment (R)
Equipped creature gets +4/+0, has trample, haste, and is a demon in addition to its other types.
Whenever equipped creature deals combat damage to a player, sacrifice it unless you pay life equal to damage dealt.
Equip - 2
... hope I think of how to improve this before judging...
Artist: //gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Search/Default.aspx?action=advanced&artist=[%22Daniel%20Ljunggren%22">"]Daniel Ljunggren
Instant (U)
Return a creature card at random from your graveyard to the battlefield.
Creature - Horror (R)
When Deranged Horror enters the battlefield, each opponent discards a card. You draw a card for each card discarded this way.
2/1
Truly conjured up by a madman.
Sorcery {R}
Return target creature from your graveyard to the battlefield with X +1/+1 counters on it, where X is its power. As it enters the battlefield, it becomes an artifact in addition to its other types, becomes 0/0 and gains "At the beginning of your upkeep, remove a +1/+1 counter from this creature".
There are not enough cogs and springs in the universe to replicate the inner workings of a human soul.
Artifact Creature - Horror {R}
At the beginning of your upkeep, Soul-eating Shell gains all abilities of another target creature, than that creature loses all abilities.
"Humanity is no more than a fluid that can be poured into a fitting vessel. The fact that she's almost complete only proves it. Although her child-like naiviety is still missing... I wonder where I can find some."
- Artificer's Log, p. 3
2/2
Master of the Wild Hunt 1GUB
Legendary Creature - Faerie Spirit (M)
Wither (This deals damage to creatures in
the form of -1/-1 counters.)
Whenever Master of the Wild Hunt
attacks, put two 1/1 green, blue, and
black Faerie Spirit creature tokens with
wither onto the battlefield tapped and
attacking.
3/4
Essence of Saffi GW
Instant (U)
When target creature is put into your graveyard from the battlefield this turn, return that card to the battlefield.
Gain 5 life.
Hell-spawn Devil 1BR
Creature - Devil (U)
First strike, haste
Unleash (You may have this creature enter the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter on it. It can't block as long as it has a +1/+1 counter on it.)
"It's an embodiment of our image." - Exava
3/1
MCC March 2014 - 1st Round (17th-24th)
MCC April 2014 - 1st Round (17th-32nd)
MCC May 2014 - 1st Round (17th-32nd)
MCC June 2014 - Judge
MCC July 2014 - Host
MCC August 2014 - 1st Round (17th-31st)
MCC August 2015 - 1st Round (21st-36th)
MCC September 2015 - 1st Round (22nd-39th)
MCC October 2015 - 1st Round (13th-20th)
CCL May 2014 - Score: 29/36 (10th)
CCL June 2014 - Score: 86/150 (10th)
CCL July 2014 - Score:36/50 (6th T)
CCL August 2015 - Score: 14 (5th T)
CCL September 2015 - Score: 3 (5th)
CCL October 2015 - Host
DCC October 2015 - Score: 46 (8th-T)
Doubting Horror 2BR
Creature - Horror (R)
Deathtouch
At the beginning of your upkeep, discard a card or sacrifice a creature or pay 1 life. Otherwise, sacrifice Doubting Horror.
When you begin to question yourself is when you begin to lose control of everything around you.
5/3
Currently working on Nations of Pentys, my first custom set and the first set in the Pentys block. (52/250)
Sorcery (R)
Return target creature card from your graveyard to the battlefield. If you do,
choose an aura card in your graveyard that could enchant that creature and
put it onto the battlefield attached to that creature.
Creature - Horror (R)
Haste
Whenever Hollow Herald becomes tapped, each
player discards a card, then you draw a card.
"It may appear hollow, but I must ask: If it is born
out of one's desire, ambition and emotion, then
who is really the husk? - Alan Iras
5/4
Sorcery (R)
Target creature you control fights target creature an opponent controls. When the creature an opponent controls dies this turn, you may return a creature card from your graveyard to the battlefield.
"I'm here for my wife. And you are not going to stop me, hound."
The Unnamed Feeling 3UB
Enchantment - Aura (U)
Enchant creature
At the beginning of enchanted creature's controller's upkeep, tap that creature. It's controller exiles the top X cards of his or her library, were X is that creature's power.
It is the certainty you feel in a dream that a horror beyond imagination is lurking behind you, and yet you cannot help but turn to face it.
Creature - Zombie {U}
Whenever Masked Ghoul becomes blocked, put a +1/+1 counter on it and it gains intimidate.
2/1
Are you designing commons? Check out my primer on NWO.
Interested in making a custom set? Check out my Set skeleton and archetype primer.
I also write articles about getting started with custom card creation.
Go and PLAYTEST your designs, you will learn more in a single playtests than a dozen discussions.
My custom sets:
Dreamscape
Coins of Mercalis [COMPLETE]
Exodus of Zendikar - ON HOLD
Hungry Cemetery 2B
Enchantment - R
Whenever a creature you control dies, you may search your library for a creature card and put it into your graveyard. If you do, shuffle your library afterwards.
Enchantment - Aura R
Enchant creature card in a graveyard
At the beginning of your upkeep, put a creature token onto the battlefield that is a copy of enchanted creature card.
Memories last forever. Especially the bad ones.
Sorcery R
Kicker 2B
Destroy all creatures. If Rite of Retribution was kicked, return a creature card from your graveyard to the battlefield.
To save the one you love, no amount of sacrifice is too great.
Level 1 DCI Judge
Check out my Commons Cube.
Sorcery (U)
Return target creature card from your graveyard to the battlefield. That creature fights target creature an opponent controls.
"Round two."
Cursed Roulette 1B
Enchantment (R)
At the beginning of your upkeep, choose a number. Then, reveal the top card of your library. If the revealed card's converted mana cost is the same as the chosen number, put that card into your hand. Otherwise, exile it and lose 2 life.
Memento Mori, if the nineth lion ate the sun.
Instant (U)
Return target creature in an opponent's graveyard to play under your control. It gains Defender.
"In these dark times, the grave is no longer a secure prison. I put far more trust in manacles and our wardens." - Magistrate Vetrim
Soul Gourmand 2RB
Creature - Demon (R)
Haste, Trample
Whenever a creature dealt combat damage by ~ dies, exile it.
At the end of your turn, if no creatures were exiled by ~ this turn, exile another creature you control. If you can't, ~ deals 5 damage to you.
5/5
Creature - Nightmare (R)
Waking Terror's power and toughness are equal to the number of swamps you control plus the number of nightmares you control.
*/*
Creature - Nightmare Spirit (R)
Flying
At the beginning of each player's upkeep, he or she looks at the top two cards of his or her library and exiles one of them.
2/3
The warrior could no longer sleep, constantly tormented by visions of what might have been.
If we're going to suffer this kind of attrition in Round 1, I may cut to Top 8 a lot faster than would normally happen - like, a round early. 14 people isn't going to cut it, folks.
(Probably NSFW) So you may have heard I'm trying to write a TV series...
Most Nominated for Random Categories, 2013
Sorcery (R)
Return target creature card from your graveyard to the battlefield. It deals damage equal to its power to each other creature.
Enchantment (R)
At the beginning of each opponent's upkeep, that player puts the top X cards of his or her library into his or her graveyard, where X is the number of creature cards in his or her graveyard.