In the first two rounds, we’ve evolved and devolved creatures. Although most people think about creatures when they think of the word “evolve”, ideas and places can easily, in their own way, evolve, too. From areas of study to places in the world, our society and the world we live in has over the last several millennia evolved in countless ways.
Challenge
Create an “evolved” non-creature, non-planeswalker card based on another one existing at common, but in a different card type.
Choose a common card that is not a creature, planeswalker, nor basic land, and link its name with the “card” tag in your reply
Create a new card inspired by the one you chose, but can’t share a card type with the original, and still can’t be a creature or planeswalker
The new card should feel “more evolved”, but evoke the same kind of effect as the original
Please put a rarity for your new card (C for Common, U for Uncommon, R for Rare or M for Mythic Rare)
Tournament legal cards only
No tribal cards, please
Cards types of the original and new card may include any combination of artifact, enchantment or land; or may be either an instant or a sorcery
The original card must have been printed at common in any set (not sure? check Gatherer)
The new card must not share the same type
You’re an idiot if you’re trying to make your new card a basic land
Technically, a new card of multiple types is OK
No other restrictions here — again, just don’t go nuts, mmmkay?
If you participated in Round 1 or Round 2, please don’t forget your critiques and rankings. (You’ll get points, and that leads to the Top 4!)
Please vote in July’s final poll. VOTING WILL END SOON!
Why is that important? Anyone who votes will receive 2 bonus points for August’s CCL!
(The extra two points will be awarded in the totals after Round 3.)
+3 points for each First Place +2 points for each Second Place +1 point for each Third Place
+1 bonus point for posting critiques +1 bonus point for posting a Top 3 ranking
The points received by each player will be added up and calculated as a percentage of the maximum points that player could have obtained, which are given by 3 ×(number of critiques received)+ 2.
The percentages will then be ordered in decreasing order and that will be the standings for the round.
The percentages from the first three rounds will be added up at the end of Round 3 to determine the Top 4 or 8, depending on the number of entrants. 2 bonus points will be awarded to anyone who voted in July’s final poll.
The same system will be used for the final round.
As usual, the final winner will be determined by a public poll.
Critiques It’s time for your critiques!
Critique the cards of the six people immediately below your name, looping to the top of the list as necessary. Then, among those six, rank what you feel are the top three. (Ranking your top 3 gets you a point, and completing critiques gets you another point.)
We have several new people here this time, so welcome!
Critiques are technically optional, but they’re one of the easiest ways to get points. And you don’t have to write very much either!
An easy way to get the six cards you are critiquing in a post is to use the Multi-quote button for each submission. Start with the first person who is below your name, look for their post, and click on the Multi-quote button. Then continue down the list. Click Reply when you have all six queued up.
After that, briefly write about what you like and don’t like on those cards. It’s totally okay to edit this in more than one sitting. Feel free to revise this as much as you like before the deadline.
You’ll also then rank them with your own “top 3.” (Usually people will wrap the critiques and the top 3 into separate spoiler tags, but however you would like to do it all is fine.)
Pack Hunting3GG
Enchantment (R)
Creatures you control get +2/+2.
When Pack Hunting enters the battlefield, for each creature you control, you may have that creature fight a creature you don’t control. (Each deals damage equal to its power to the other.)
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
MCC - Winner (6): Oct 2014, Apr Nov 2017, Jan 2018, Apr Jun 2019 || Host (15): Dec 2014, Apr Jul Aug Dec 2015, Mar Jul Aug Oct 2016, Feb Jul 2017, Jun Nov 2018, Feb Jul 2019 (last one here) || Judge (34): every month from Nov 2014 to Nov 2016 except Oct 2015, every month from Feb to Jul 2017 except Apr 2017, then Oct 2017, May Jun Nov 2018, Feb Jul 2019 (last one here) CCL - Winner (3): Jul 2016 (tied with Flatline), May 2017, Jul 2019 (last one here) || Host (5): Feb 2015, Mar Apr May Jun 2016 DCC - Winner (1): Mar 2015 (tied with Piar) || Host (3): May Oct 2015, Jan 2016
• The two public custom sets I've been part a part of the design team for: "Brotherhood of Ormos" - Blog post with all info - set thread - design skeleton / card list || "Extinctia: Homo Evanuit" - Blog post with all info - set thread - card list spreadsheet
• "The Lion's Lair", my article series about MTG and custom card design in particular. Latest article here. Here is the article index.Rather outdated by now, and based on the old MCC rubric, but I'm leaving this here for anybody that might be interested anyway.
• My only public attempt at being a writer: the story of my Leonin custom planeswalker Jeff Lionheart. (I have a very big one that I'm working on right now but that's private for now, and I don't know if I will ever actually publish it, and I also have ideas for multiple future ones, including one where I'm going to reprise Jeff.)
Put X time counters on target nonland permanent then if it doesn't have vanishing, it gains Vanishing. X is the converted mana cost of that card plus one.
Put X time counters on target nonland exiled face up card then if it doesn't have suspend it gains suspend. X is the converted mana cost of that card plus one.
Ashnod's Converter6
Legendary Artifact (R)
Ashnod's Converter enters the battlefield tapped. T, Sacrifice an artifact: You may put a nonartifact creature card from your hand onto the battlefield. T, Sacrifice a creature: You may put a noncreature artifact card from your hand onto the battlefield.
Subsiding Landscapes1BB
Enchantment - Aura (R)
Enchant land
When enchanted land becomes tapped, its controller sacrifices it, then returns Subsiding Landscapes to the battlefield attached to a land he or she controls.
Day of Massacre2BR
Instant (R)
Cast Day of Massacre only during combat before blockers are declared.
Until end of turn, all creatures get +2/+0 and have "When this creature dies, draw a card."
My pick has got to be Tin Street Market. Very much undervalued draft card, won me a couple of games filtering through lands in late game.
Inner Wall Market2
Artifact — Fortification (U)
Fortified land has "T, Discard a card: Draw a card."
Fortify ( : Attach to target land you control. Fortify only as a sorcery. This card enters the battlefield unattached and stays on the battlefield if the land leaves.)
From a military standpoint, the right market is as valuable as an armory.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Multiple instances of lifelink on the same creature are redundant.
Multiple instances of lifelink on the same creature are redundant.
Multiple instances of lifelink on the same creature are redundant.
—Eli Shiffrin, Rules Manager, on a design stacking lifelink instances
Petals of Purity 3
Artifact — Equipment (R)
Equipped creature gets +2/+2.
Whenever equipped creature becomes the target of a spell or ability, you may pay 2. If you do, choose new targets for that spell or ability.
Equip 1
Skirsdag Heresy1R
Enchantment (R) 2, Sacrifice an artifact: Skirsdag Heresy deals 2 damage to target player. If a nontoken artifact was sacrificed this way, Skirsdag Heresy also deals 2 damage to target creature. On that faithless night, books were burned, scrolls were scorched, and lives were lost. Ormendahl was pleased.
Critique the cards of the six people immediately below your name, looping to the top of the list as necessary. Then, among those six, rank what you feel are the top three. (Ranking your top 3 gets you a point, and completing critiques gets you another point.)
We have several new people here this time, so welcome!
Critiques are technically optional, but they’re one of the easiest ways to get points. And you don’t have to write very much either!
An easy way to get the six cards you are critiquing in a post is to use the Multi-quote button for each submission. Start with the first person who is below your name, look for their post, and click on the Multi-quote button. Then continue down the list. Click Reply when you have all six queued up.
After that, briefly write about what you like and don’t like on those cards. It’s totally okay to edit this in more than one sitting. Feel free to revise this as much as you like before the deadline.
You’ll also then rank them with your own “top 3.” (Usually people will wrap the critiques and the top 3 into separate spoiler tags, but however you would like to do it all is fine.)
Subsiding Landscapes1BB
Enchantment - Aura (R)
Enchant land
When enchanted land becomes tapped, its controller sacrifices it, then returns Subsiding Landscapes to the battlefield attached to a land he or she controls.
Theoretically, this card looks fine. However, land destruction has never been terribly fun. I think this card is of the sort that is printable while being mysteriously never able to see print.
Ashnod's Converter6
Legendary Artifact (R)
Ashnod's Converter enters the battlefield tapped. T, Sacrifice an artifact: You may put a nonartifact creature card from your hand onto the battlefield. T, Sacrifice a creature: You may put a noncreature artifact card from your hand onto the battlefield.
I am not entirely sure what this card has to do with any infernal plunge. Regardless, this is a very, very powerful effect. You could just sacrifice a token (a Clue or a 1/1), and have the Elvish Piper problem all over again, but in two different ways and for any color. Sure, this card is vulnerable to artifact removal, but I still cannot comfortably put this card in my top 3. I apologize.
Pack Hunting3GG
Enchantment (R)
Creatures you control get +2/+2.
When Pack Hunting enters the battlefield, for each creature you control, you may have that creature fight a creature you don’t control. (Each deals damage equal to its power to the other.)
I actually wanted to create a very similar card for this round, but you obviously got to it first. That said, I like it as a kind of board sweeper, although I wish this effect was a bit bigger...but, in a midrange sort of deck, this card looks useful.
Inner Wall Market2
Artifact — Fortification (U)
Fortified land has "T, Discard a card: Draw a card."
Fortify ( : Attach to target land you control. Fortify only as a sorcery. This card enters the battlefield unattached and stays on the battlefield if the land leaves.)
From a military standpoint, the right market is as valuable as an armory.
Well, this is certainly a way to reuse and recycle an old Future Sight mechanic. However, this card does not cost enough. I love hybrid mana symbols, but the fortify cost looks a little too cheap, and probably needs an extra (2/R) symbol. If that was there, this would have certainly been a contender for the top spot this round!
Day of Massacre2BR
Instant (R)
Cast Day of Massacre only during combat before blockers are declared.
Until end of turn, all creatures get +2/+0 and have "When this creature dies, draw a card."
The fact that this is a symmetrical effect is weird, and I did not notice that when I first read it. When I originally read it, I assumed it was one-sided, as it likely should be. Then, this would be a very neat combat trick.
My pick has got to be Tin Street Market. Very much undervalued draft card, won me a couple of games filtering through lands in late game.
Inner Wall Market2
Artifact — Fortification (U)
Fortified land has "T, Discard a card: Draw a card."
Fortify ( : Attach to target land you control. Fortify only as a sorcery. This card enters the battlefield unattached and stays on the battlefield if the land leaves.)
From a military standpoint, the right market is as valuable as an armory.
I like this. The idea is a bit obvious (a land Aura that becomes a Fortification), but it works. The flavor also works, and the rules text is literally the same as the original except for fortify so it's good. What doesn't convince me is the cost: the Aura version costed five mana, as a Fortification it's better than an Aura (you have no risk of 2-for-1 and you can also pass it around) and costs less... ok, there is the fortify cost to take into account too, but the steep decrease in cost leave me perplex, maybe it's fine but playtest would be needed. Also, as a consequence of the use of twobrid mana (was it really necessary? I don't know...), any color might play this, while you can only play the Aura if you're in red. Ok red and maybe blue (it's still a kind of looting after all), but a deck not playing either red or blue getting to play this feels wrong to me. In summary, I like the idea but I have a few doubts on the execution.
Day of Massacre2BR
Instant (R)
Cast Day of Massacre only during combat before blockers are declared.
Until end of turn, all creatures get +2/+0 and have "When this creature dies, draw a card."
The idea is fine and the similarities are there with the chosen card, but as I read the timing restriction I went like "why isn't this just a sorcery?" It took me a few minutes to realize that it's because this way you're also able to cast this defensively during your opponent's combat phase, which makes sense but feels a bit wrong in this colors. I really think think would have been better as a sorcery without the restriction: it reads cleaner and it encourages attacking which is always a good thing in a game like magic where the defending player has the advantage in combat. A positive thing: the addition of red to the original card makes complete sense and this effect actually looks even better to me as a black-red card rather than a monoblack one.
Izzet Charm
Zix-Ka, Kaladesh Core-Laboratory2UR
Legendery Artifact (Mythic)
At the begining of your upkeep, choose Research, Development or Protect.
Research — Noncreature spells cost 2 less to cast.
Development — Whenever a player cast a spell, that player draws a card, then discard a card.
Protect — Whenever a creature enters the battlefield, tap that creature. It deals 2 damage to itself.
Unfortunately, the chosen card is uncommon and one of the requirements of the round's challenge was the original card being common. This means this submission fails the challenge. This means that you're automatically out of my top three, but it doesn't mean you can't have feedback. The card is very original, as is often the case from you, and anchor words have only been used once ever (the Siege cycle from Fate Reforged). In FRF each card had two, while here we have three, and the effect was locked in as you only chose one when the permanent entered, while here you get a chance to change the effect once each turn cycle. The biggest strike I have against this is the very high complexity, but you can get away with this being mythic AND legendary. The name is also a bit too long and complex for my taste. Everything else looks fine enough though.
Petals of Purity 3
Artifact — Equipment (R)
Equipped creature gets +2/+2.
Whenever equipped creature becomes the target of a spell or ability, you may pay 2. If you do, choose new targets for that spell or ability.
Equip 1
The name isn't bolded but it doesn't matter. Positive things: rarity, the aesthetics of the use of 3, 2, 1 in generic mana, the defensive style of play just like the chosen card. Negative things: to me, this card doesn't feel the same as the chosen card at all, it looks like a totally different and unrelated card which only shares the intended style of play. This is a problem given this round's challenge. Also as a negative: while an instant is reactive by nature, if I'm your opponent I will see this on the battlefield, so this is very easy to play around: I just won't target the equipped creature at all, especially with removal. In practice, it's just hexproof in disguise. I'm sorry, but overall I don't like this particular submission very much. Maybe it's just me, and I apologize, but I have to be honest.
Put X time counters on target nonland permanent then if it doesn't have vanishing, it gains Vanishing. X is the converted mana cost of that card plus one.
Put X time counters on target nonland exiled face up card then if it doesn't have suspend it gains suspend. X is the converted mana cost of that card plus one.
This card has very similar problems as the previous one. It just looks like a different card. To me, it looks like you just took the last mode of the charm and went on a (quite convoluted) evolution of that only. You could see an artifact gaining vanishing as the evolution of the charm's first mode, but that's quite different. The second mode just isn't there. I also think this should probably be mythic. What I like is the boldness of choosing a card from Planar Chaos, but that's not enough, I'm sorry.
Skirsdag Heresy1R
Enchantment (R) 2, Sacrifice an artifact: Skirsdag Heresy deals 2 damage to target player. If a nontoken artifact was sacrificed this way, Skirsdag Heresy also deals 2 damage to target creature. On that faithless night, books were burned, scrolls were scorched, and lives were lost. Ormendahl was pleased.
This card also feels quite different from the original, just like the previous two, but at least some more similarities are there. I would have done this as a monoblack enchantment and I would have had the effect discarding a card, with losing life as the additional effect. As is, this feels too different to me from the original card, but of all the cards that have this problem in my bracket, yours is the one that comes closest to the original, so as I need one of these last three cards for my 3rd place, you're going to make it, but only by process of elimination. Also, nice mention of Ormendahl in the flavor text, even if out of color. I like the flavor text, it feels very red even though it mentions a black character.
Top 3
1st place: doomfish (I have doubts, but it's still the card I like the most in my bracket by far)
2nd place: Raptorchan (I have a little more doubts, but it's still in the acceptable range)
3rd place: Blydden (by process of elimination)
Not a lot of cards I liked this round, I'm sorry...
MCC - Winner (6): Oct 2014, Apr Nov 2017, Jan 2018, Apr Jun 2019 || Host (15): Dec 2014, Apr Jul Aug Dec 2015, Mar Jul Aug Oct 2016, Feb Jul 2017, Jun Nov 2018, Feb Jul 2019 (last one here) || Judge (34): every month from Nov 2014 to Nov 2016 except Oct 2015, every month from Feb to Jul 2017 except Apr 2017, then Oct 2017, May Jun Nov 2018, Feb Jul 2019 (last one here) CCL - Winner (3): Jul 2016 (tied with Flatline), May 2017, Jul 2019 (last one here) || Host (5): Feb 2015, Mar Apr May Jun 2016 DCC - Winner (1): Mar 2015 (tied with Piar) || Host (3): May Oct 2015, Jan 2016
• The two public custom sets I've been part a part of the design team for: "Brotherhood of Ormos" - Blog post with all info - set thread - design skeleton / card list || "Extinctia: Homo Evanuit" - Blog post with all info - set thread - card list spreadsheet
• "The Lion's Lair", my article series about MTG and custom card design in particular. Latest article here. Here is the article index.Rather outdated by now, and based on the old MCC rubric, but I'm leaving this here for anybody that might be interested anyway.
• My only public attempt at being a writer: the story of my Leonin custom planeswalker Jeff Lionheart. (I have a very big one that I'm working on right now but that's private for now, and I don't know if I will ever actually publish it, and I also have ideas for multiple future ones, including one where I'm going to reprise Jeff.)
So, they idea is cool. Invoking a big trade party and drawing cards off it. Giving you the fuel to carry on.
But now, why make it so bad? It's not that strong, giving it two major drawbacks makes the card unplayable.
Having to play it preemtively is already a big hit. Your opponent gets to decide what damage to take and how many cards you draw.
That's cool, it gives your opponent a choice but is still all upside for you.
But why give them the bonus too? That's making it a feel-bad card when it benefits your opponent. Symmetric effects like that weird players out and should be stayed away from.
It doesn't add that much to the card anyway. Either it doesn't matter, because your opponent couldn't keep up with your creature spamming or you just don't play it, which feels bad.
Cut that and it's an interesting design.
Are those permanent? Why do I have to choose a mode? It doesn't affect the card. Could just say choose one. That sounds REALLY hard to keep track of.
Other than that it's a fascinating concept. Stacking boni every turn and getting to choose between them. If only you could make sure there's a way to keep track of them.
But lingering effects. I don't think that's going to happen anytime soon. It's weird how you can't remove them either. They'll just stick around.
That has nothing to do with the linked card. I mean sure, it's still helping against targeted removal, but in a completely different way.
The ability to bypass blockers is a large part of what protection does. The ability to fizzle spells at instant speed, without the opponent seeing it coming is also important.
That being said, the card is kinda cool. It may seem like a hexproof variant, but it's fun how the opponent still has the option to burn through your mana by using two spells, losing their own creature in the process.
A bit expensive maybe. But once it's out on the field it's pretty good.
So, that's a whole lot of mana to kill a Tarmogoyf in 3 rounds. I doubt that first option will ever be useful.
The second ability meddles with something MaRo keeps insisting shouldn't be done. When cards are exiled they are supposed to stay there, otherwise the Exile zone will just become a second graveyard.
But while it's a thing one should stay away from, it takes a rather long time to get the card back and it does so in a cool way. I like that.
To me, your card has very little to do with the scroll. The scroll was about discarding, losing life and demon tribal. Your card has none of that. Well, it's as close to losing life as red will ever get.
That being said, it is a cool sacrifice outlet. Shocking a creature and a player is pretty strong, but it's not easy to fuel the card with tokens. So that's good development there.
I like how it still allows tokens and can finish the game with them.
Uuh, land destruction at 3 mana. We don't do that! However, it's not thaaaat bad. If all else fails, you can at least use the land once. Even if that costs you another land. Not ideal.
Maybe the saving grace here is that it can be destroyed before having any effect, but I still don't think something like this would see print these days.
1. Raptorchan
2. Blydden
3. netn10
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Multiple instances of lifelink on the same creature are redundant.
Multiple instances of lifelink on the same creature are redundant.
Multiple instances of lifelink on the same creature are redundant.
—Eli Shiffrin, Rules Manager, on a design stacking lifelink instances
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“Supplant Form”
Welcome to the Card Creation League! In the first three rounds, entry is free for anyone. Come join us!
by Adam Paquette, from Art of Magic: The Gathering and Wizards of the Coast
In the first two rounds, we’ve evolved and devolved creatures. Although most people think about creatures when they think of the word “evolve”, ideas and places can easily, in their own way, evolve, too. From areas of study to places in the world, our society and the world we live in has over the last several millennia evolved in countless ways.
Challenge
Create an “evolved” non-creature, non-planeswalker card based on another one existing at common, but in a different card type.
If you participated in Round 1 or Round 2, please don’t forget your critiques and rankings. (You’ll get points, and that leads to the Top 4!)
+3 points for each First Place
+2 points for each Second Place
+1 point for each Third Place
+1 bonus point for posting critiques
+1 bonus point for posting a Top 3 ranking
The points received by each player will be added up and calculated as a percentage of the maximum points that player could have obtained, which are given by 3 × (number of critiques received) + 2.
The percentages will then be ordered in decreasing order and that will be the standings for the round.
The percentages from the first three rounds will be added up at the end of Round 3 to determine the Top 4 or 8, depending on the number of entrants. 2 bonus points will be awarded to anyone who voted in July’s final poll.
The same system will be used for the final round.
As usual, the final winner will be determined by a public poll.
Critiques
It’s time for your critiques!
Critique the cards of the six people immediately below your name, looping to the top of the list as necessary. Then, among those six, rank what you feel are the top three. (Ranking your top 3 gets you a point, and completing critiques gets you another point.)
void_nothing
bravelion83
doomfish
Raptorchan
netn10
willows
mirrordin71
Blydden
Voxzorz
Critiques are technically optional, but they’re one of the easiest ways to get points. And you don’t have to write very much either!
An easy way to get the six cards you are critiquing in a post is to use the Multi-quote button for each submission. Start with the first person who is below your name, look for their post, and click on the Multi-quote button. Then continue down the list. Click Reply when you have all six queued up.
After that, briefly write about what you like and don’t like on those cards. It’s totally okay to edit this in more than one sitting. Feel free to revise this as much as you like before the deadline.
You’ll also then rank them with your own “top 3.” (Usually people will wrap the critiques and the top 3 into separate spoiler tags, but however you would like to do it all is fine.)
Lastly, if you vote in July’s final poll, you’ll get two bonus points at the end of Round 3, so please go do that too if you can.
( ancestral on Custom Magic Discord server )
( mproud on reddit )
Pack Hunting 3GG
Enchantment (R)
Creatures you control get +2/+2.
When Pack Hunting enters the battlefield, for each creature you control, you may have that creature fight a creature you don’t control. (Each deals damage equal to its power to the other.)
MCC - Winner (6): Oct 2014, Apr Nov 2017, Jan 2018, Apr Jun 2019 || Host (15): Dec 2014, Apr Jul Aug Dec 2015, Mar Jul Aug Oct 2016, Feb Jul 2017, Jun Nov 2018, Feb Jul 2019 (last one here) || Judge (34): every month from Nov 2014 to Nov 2016 except Oct 2015, every month from Feb to Jul 2017 except Apr 2017, then Oct 2017, May Jun Nov 2018, Feb Jul 2019 (last one here)
CCL - Winner (3): Jul 2016 (tied with Flatline), May 2017, Jul 2019 (last one here) || Host (5): Feb 2015, Mar Apr May Jun 2016
DCC - Winner (1): Mar 2015 (tied with Piar) || Host (3): May Oct 2015, Jan 2016
• The two public custom sets I've been part a part of the design team for:
"Brotherhood of Ormos" - Blog post with all info - set thread - design skeleton / card list || "Extinctia: Homo Evanuit" - Blog post with all info - set thread - card list spreadsheet
• "The Lion's Lair", my article series about MTG and custom card design in particular. Latest article here. Here is the article index. Rather outdated by now, and based on the old MCC rubric, but I'm leaving this here for anybody that might be interested anyway.
• My only public attempt at being a writer: the story of my Leonin custom planeswalker Jeff Lionheart. (I have a very big one that I'm working on right now but that's private for now, and I don't know if I will ever actually publish it, and I also have ideas for multiple future ones, including one where I'm going to reprise Jeff.)
Sand Timer 4
Legendary Artifact (R)
4,T, Choose one:
Image link
Ashnod's Converter 6
Legendary Artifact (R)
Ashnod's Converter enters the battlefield tapped.
T, Sacrifice an artifact: You may put a nonartifact creature card from your hand onto the battlefield.
T, Sacrifice a creature: You may put a noncreature artifact card from your hand onto the battlefield.
Skull of Orm
Karametra's Will W
Sorcery (M)
Until end of turn, you may cast enchantment cards from your graveyard.
"Again may this polis be blessed."
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝
Subsiding Landscapes 1BB
Enchantment - Aura (R)
Enchant land
When enchanted land becomes tapped, its controller sacrifices it, then returns Subsiding Landscapes to the battlefield attached to a land he or she controls.
Day of Massacre 2BR
Instant (R)
Cast Day of Massacre only during combat before blockers are declared.
Until end of turn, all creatures get +2/+0 and have "When this creature dies, draw a card."
Inner Wall Market 2
Artifact — Fortification (U)
Fortified land has "T, Discard a card: Draw a card."
Fortify ( : Attach to target land you control. Fortify only as a sorcery. This card enters the battlefield unattached and stays on the battlefield if the land leaves.)
From a military standpoint, the right market is as valuable as an armory.
Multiple instances of lifelink on the same creature are redundant.
Multiple instances of lifelink on the same creature are redundant.
—Eli Shiffrin, Rules Manager, on a design stacking lifelink instances
Zix-Ka, Kaladesh Core-Laboratory 2UR
Legendery Artifact (Mythic)
At the begining of your upkeep, choose Research, Development or Protect.
Petals of Purity 3
Artifact — Equipment (R)
Equipped creature gets +2/+2.
Whenever equipped creature becomes the target of a spell or ability, you may pay 2. If you do, choose new targets for that spell or ability.
Equip 1
Skirsdag Heresy 1R
Enchantment (R)
2, Sacrifice an artifact: Skirsdag Heresy deals 2 damage to target player. If a nontoken artifact was sacrificed this way, Skirsdag Heresy also deals 2 damage to target creature.
On that faithless night, books were burned, scrolls were scorched, and lives were lost. Ormendahl was pleased.
It’s time for your critiques!
Critique the cards of the six people immediately below your name, looping to the top of the list as necessary. Then, among those six, rank what you feel are the top three. (Ranking your top 3 gets you a point, and completing critiques gets you another point.)
void_nothing
bravelion83
doomfish
Raptorchan
netn10
willows
mirrordin71
Blydden
Voxzorz
Critiques are technically optional, but they’re one of the easiest ways to get points. And you don’t have to write very much either!
An easy way to get the six cards you are critiquing in a post is to use the Multi-quote button for each submission. Start with the first person who is below your name, look for their post, and click on the Multi-quote button. Then continue down the list. Click Reply when you have all six queued up.
After that, briefly write about what you like and don’t like on those cards. It’s totally okay to edit this in more than one sitting. Feel free to revise this as much as you like before the deadline.
You’ll also then rank them with your own “top 3.” (Usually people will wrap the critiques and the top 3 into separate spoiler tags, but however you would like to do it all is fine.)
Lastly, if you vote in July’s final poll, you’ll get two bonus points at the end of Round 3, so please go do that too if you can.
( ancestral on Custom Magic Discord server )
( mproud on reddit )
doomfish
Voxzorz
I like this. The idea is a bit obvious (a land Aura that becomes a Fortification), but it works. The flavor also works, and the rules text is literally the same as the original except for fortify so it's good. What doesn't convince me is the cost: the Aura version costed five mana, as a Fortification it's better than an Aura (you have no risk of 2-for-1 and you can also pass it around) and costs less... ok, there is the fortify cost to take into account too, but the steep decrease in cost leave me perplex, maybe it's fine but playtest would be needed. Also, as a consequence of the use of twobrid mana (was it really necessary? I don't know...), any color might play this, while you can only play the Aura if you're in red. Ok red and maybe blue (it's still a kind of looting after all), but a deck not playing either red or blue getting to play this feels wrong to me. In summary, I like the idea but I have a few doubts on the execution.
The idea is fine and the similarities are there with the chosen card, but as I read the timing restriction I went like "why isn't this just a sorcery?" It took me a few minutes to realize that it's because this way you're also able to cast this defensively during your opponent's combat phase, which makes sense but feels a bit wrong in this colors. I really think think would have been better as a sorcery without the restriction: it reads cleaner and it encourages attacking which is always a good thing in a game like magic where the defending player has the advantage in combat. A positive thing: the addition of red to the original card makes complete sense and this effect actually looks even better to me as a black-red card rather than a monoblack one.
Unfortunately, the chosen card is uncommon and one of the requirements of the round's challenge was the original card being common. This means this submission fails the challenge. This means that you're automatically out of my top three, but it doesn't mean you can't have feedback. The card is very original, as is often the case from you, and anchor words have only been used once ever (the Siege cycle from Fate Reforged). In FRF each card had two, while here we have three, and the effect was locked in as you only chose one when the permanent entered, while here you get a chance to change the effect once each turn cycle. The biggest strike I have against this is the very high complexity, but you can get away with this being mythic AND legendary. The name is also a bit too long and complex for my taste. Everything else looks fine enough though.
The name isn't bolded but it doesn't matter. Positive things: rarity, the aesthetics of the use of 3, 2, 1 in generic mana, the defensive style of play just like the chosen card. Negative things: to me, this card doesn't feel the same as the chosen card at all, it looks like a totally different and unrelated card which only shares the intended style of play. This is a problem given this round's challenge. Also as a negative: while an instant is reactive by nature, if I'm your opponent I will see this on the battlefield, so this is very easy to play around: I just won't target the equipped creature at all, especially with removal. In practice, it's just hexproof in disguise. I'm sorry, but overall I don't like this particular submission very much. Maybe it's just me, and I apologize, but I have to be honest.
This card has very similar problems as the previous one. It just looks like a different card. To me, it looks like you just took the last mode of the charm and went on a (quite convoluted) evolution of that only. You could see an artifact gaining vanishing as the evolution of the charm's first mode, but that's quite different. The second mode just isn't there. I also think this should probably be mythic. What I like is the boldness of choosing a card from Planar Chaos, but that's not enough, I'm sorry.
This card also feels quite different from the original, just like the previous two, but at least some more similarities are there. I would have done this as a monoblack enchantment and I would have had the effect discarding a card, with losing life as the additional effect. As is, this feels too different to me from the original card, but of all the cards that have this problem in my bracket, yours is the one that comes closest to the original, so as I need one of these last three cards for my 3rd place, you're going to make it, but only by process of elimination. Also, nice mention of Ormendahl in the flavor text, even if out of color. I like the flavor text, it feels very red even though it mentions a black character.
Top 3
1st place: doomfish (I have doubts, but it's still the card I like the most in my bracket by far)
2nd place: Raptorchan (I have a little more doubts, but it's still in the acceptable range)
3rd place: Blydden (by process of elimination)
Not a lot of cards I liked this round, I'm sorry...
MCC - Winner (6): Oct 2014, Apr Nov 2017, Jan 2018, Apr Jun 2019 || Host (15): Dec 2014, Apr Jul Aug Dec 2015, Mar Jul Aug Oct 2016, Feb Jul 2017, Jun Nov 2018, Feb Jul 2019 (last one here) || Judge (34): every month from Nov 2014 to Nov 2016 except Oct 2015, every month from Feb to Jul 2017 except Apr 2017, then Oct 2017, May Jun Nov 2018, Feb Jul 2019 (last one here)
CCL - Winner (3): Jul 2016 (tied with Flatline), May 2017, Jul 2019 (last one here) || Host (5): Feb 2015, Mar Apr May Jun 2016
DCC - Winner (1): Mar 2015 (tied with Piar) || Host (3): May Oct 2015, Jan 2016
• The two public custom sets I've been part a part of the design team for:
"Brotherhood of Ormos" - Blog post with all info - set thread - design skeleton / card list || "Extinctia: Homo Evanuit" - Blog post with all info - set thread - card list spreadsheet
• "The Lion's Lair", my article series about MTG and custom card design in particular. Latest article here. Here is the article index. Rather outdated by now, and based on the old MCC rubric, but I'm leaving this here for anybody that might be interested anyway.
• My only public attempt at being a writer: the story of my Leonin custom planeswalker Jeff Lionheart. (I have a very big one that I'm working on right now but that's private for now, and I don't know if I will ever actually publish it, and I also have ideas for multiple future ones, including one where I'm going to reprise Jeff.)
But now, why make it so bad? It's not that strong, giving it two major drawbacks makes the card unplayable.
Having to play it preemtively is already a big hit. Your opponent gets to decide what damage to take and how many cards you draw.
That's cool, it gives your opponent a choice but is still all upside for you.
But why give them the bonus too? That's making it a feel-bad card when it benefits your opponent. Symmetric effects like that weird players out and should be stayed away from.
It doesn't add that much to the card anyway. Either it doesn't matter, because your opponent couldn't keep up with your creature spamming or you just don't play it, which feels bad.
Cut that and it's an interesting design.
Other than that it's a fascinating concept. Stacking boni every turn and getting to choose between them. If only you could make sure there's a way to keep track of them.
But lingering effects. I don't think that's going to happen anytime soon. It's weird how you can't remove them either. They'll just stick around.
The ability to bypass blockers is a large part of what protection does. The ability to fizzle spells at instant speed, without the opponent seeing it coming is also important.
That being said, the card is kinda cool. It may seem like a hexproof variant, but it's fun how the opponent still has the option to burn through your mana by using two spells, losing their own creature in the process.
A bit expensive maybe. But once it's out on the field it's pretty good.
The second ability meddles with something MaRo keeps insisting shouldn't be done. When cards are exiled they are supposed to stay there, otherwise the Exile zone will just become a second graveyard.
But while it's a thing one should stay away from, it takes a rather long time to get the card back and it does so in a cool way. I like that.
That being said, it is a cool sacrifice outlet. Shocking a creature and a player is pretty strong, but it's not easy to fuel the card with tokens. So that's good development there.
I like how it still allows tokens and can finish the game with them.
Maybe the saving grace here is that it can be destroyed before having any effect, but I still don't think something like this would see print these days.
2. Blydden
3. netn10
Multiple instances of lifelink on the same creature are redundant.
Multiple instances of lifelink on the same creature are redundant.
—Eli Shiffrin, Rules Manager, on a design stacking lifelink instances