Welcome to the Card Creation League! This is the Top 8 and is only open to those who finished in the Top 8 from the first two rounds.
Congratulations to our Top 8 finalists!
soramaro
Legend
Raptorchan
drewdagreek
StonerOfKruphix
Flatline
Flintlock
Jimmy Groove
Theme
Ever since Mishra’s Factory, animated lands (often called “man-lands”) have been a staple in almost every block. Cards that can change permanent types become very flexible to the player, tapping for mana one turn and being combat the next. For this round, you’ll be designing a land which can turn into a creature.
Challenge
Design a non-basic land card that taps for mana and becomes a creature.
Create a new non-basic land card
It must tap for mana
Through an activated or triggered ability, it must become a creature until end of turn
Please place a rarity for your new card: (C for Common, U for Uncommon, R for Rare, or M for Mythic Rare)
Tournament legal cards only
Can’t be any other types; only a non-basic land
It does not need to, but it can have basic land types
The ability which turns the card into a creature must allow it to remain or revert to a land afterwards
Your submissions are due Thursday, October 20th 23:59 CDT.
Schedule
Round 1 — Open to Everyone (October 1st–6th)
Round 2 — Open to Everyone (October 7th–12th)
Rounds 1 and 2 Critiques (Due October 16th)
Top 8 — Open to top 8 finishers (October 17th–October 19 20th)
Top 8 Critiques (Due October 23rd 24th)
Top 4 — Open to top 4 finishers from last round (October 25th–27th)
Top 4 Critiques (Due October ~29th)
Final (End of month)
After some discussion with the CCL organizers, we are making some slight changes to the schedule.
We’ve been historically running into a scheduling problem where there just isn’t enough time to complete a CCL in a month. We’ve also been noticing that the third week has seen low participation, likely as people see they are no longer in the hunt for a Top 4 spot, or assuming it’s only for people who have finished high in the first two rounds. What we are changing is making the third round really matter, by re-instituting the Top 8, to get more people interested in later rounds, and basically shortening up the schedule a bit.
Consider this an experiment, but one that might just stay.
+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 August’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 other seven people. Then, among them, rank what you feel are the top three. (Ranking your top 3 gets you a point, and completing critiques gets you another point.)
soramaro
Legend
Raptorchan
drewdagreek
StonerOfKruphix
Flatline
Flintlock
Jimmy Groove
You have until Monday, October 24th 23:59 CDT for all critiques.
Defiled Copse
Land (R)
At the beginning of your upkeep, put a +1/+1 counter on Defiled Copse and you lose 2 life. T: Add B or G to your mana pool. 2GB: Defiled Copse becomes a 1/1 black and green spirit creature until end of turn. It is still a land.
Mishra's Tower (Rare)
Land T: Add C to your mana pool. X: Mishra's Tower becomes an X/X Assembly-Worker artifact creature until end of turn. It's still a land.
Clone Factory
Land (R)
: Add to your mana pool.
Whenever a creature enters the battlefield under your control, you may have Clone Factory becomes a copy of that creature until end of turn. It's still a land.
(22 Total) - October 2014; December 2014; January 2015; April 2015; June 2015; August 2015; September 2015; November 2015; December 2015(T); January 2016; March 2016(T); April 2016; June 2016; October 2016; December 2016(T); February 2017; April 2017; December 2017; November 2018(T); January 2019; April 2019; June 2019
(8 Total) - May 2015; May 2016; June 2016; August 2016; October 2016; December 2016; October 2017; May 2019
(7 Total) - September 2015; October 2015; January 2016; March 2016; April 2016; July 2016(T); March 2019(T)
Restless Geyser
Land (R) t: Add C to your mana pool
Whenever you cast your second spell of a turn, you may have Restless Geyser become a 4/4 elemental creature until end of turn. It's still a land.
Storm-Beaten Shore
Land (R)
~ enters the battlefield tapped. T: Add U to your mana pool. 1UU: Until end of turn, ~ becomes a 0/3 blue Elemental creature with "UU: Put this creature and each creature it's blocking on top of their owner's libraries, then those players shuffle their libraries." It's still a land.
Living Island
Land (R)
Living Island enters the battlefield tapped. t: add G or U to your mana pool. 1GU: Until end of turn, Living Island becomes a 2/2 green and blue Whale creature with "Tap another untapped land you control: Living Island gets +1/+1 until end of turn." It's still a land.
Deepwater Coast
Land (R)
Deepwater Coast enters the battlefield tapped. T: Add C to your mana pool. UU: Deepwater Coast becomes a 5/5 blue Serpent until end of turn. Activate this ability only if you control six or more Islands.
Critique the cards of the other seven people. Then, among them, rank what you feel are the top three. (Ranking your top 3 gets you a point, and completing critiques gets you another point.)
soramaro
Legend
Raptorchan
drewdagreek
StonerOfKruphix
Flatline
Flintlock
Jimmy Groove
You have until Monday, October 24th 23:59 CDT for all critiques.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Create your own cards on MTG.Design
( ancestral on Custom Magic Discord server )
( mproud on reddit )
soramaro
Neat trap land. Not particularly exciting, but decent.
Raptorchan
I had to think about the flavor for a minute. Now that I see it, I like it a lot. It's good. Would have preferred a Turtle.
drewdagreek
Nice use of "surge". This is one I'd prefer to see as part of a horizontal cycle of dual lands that become creatures via triggers, rather than tap for colorless. Still good though.
StonerOfKruphix
I like it. It's a bit busy and wordy for a land. I think a dual manland that doesn't want dual colors to activate should (and would) use one hybrid ability instead of two monocolored abilities.
Flatline
This is busted. It basically gives your creatures haste. Certain tribes would have a field day with this, Vintage Oath, Zoo, maybe Battlebots, an auto-include in Commander, basically every deck that plays a creature wants this now. I love it!
Flintlock
Well designed. Loss of 1 life would probably be sufficient. I can't imagine this as a tight cycle so I wonder how it would (or if it could) be implemented in a set. Hmm... this kind of life loss on a land that doesn't produce B or R is a stretch in my mind, but I suppose it could be done in Return to New Phyrexia.
Jimmy Groove
Very nice. Doesn't need to etbt though. And could be uncommon.
TOP THREE
1. Flatline
2. Jimmy Groove
3. Flintlock
Defiled Copse
Land (R)
At the beginning of your upkeep, put a +1/+1 counter on Defiled Copse and you lose 2 life. T: Add B or G to your mana pool. 2GB: Defiled Copse becomes a 1/1 black and green spirit creature until end of turn. It is still a land.
A manland that kills you faster than you get real value of it - it kills fast but grows slow. Not sure if want.
Mishra's Tower (Rare)
Land T: Add C to your mana pool. X: Mishra's Tower becomes an X/X Assembly-Worker artifact creature until end of turn. It's still a land.
Pretty straightforward one - just spend X mana to get X/X... For one turn. But I don't know would it better than Endless One or not. Seems like a sort of bulk rare to me.
Clone Factory
Land (R)
: Add to your mana pool.
Whenever a creature enters the battlefield under your control, you may have Clone Factory becomes a copy of that creature until end of turn. It's still a land.
Every deck needs at least one of this, especially for creatures with tap abilities who wouldn't attack. Is this powerful? Yes. Is this balanced? Uhm, I don't even know.
Clone Garden
Land (R)
Clone Garden enters the battlefield tapped. T: Add G or U to your mana pool. 1G: Clone Garden becomes a 2/2 Elemental creature with hexproof until end of turn. It's still a land. 1U, Tap an untapped creature you control: If Clone Garden is a creature, it becomes a copy of the tapped creature until end of turn. It's still a land. "Before facing others, face yourself."
—Etching on a tree nearby the pond
Pretty wordy and complex abilities for a manland. But seems more balanced than previous one.
Restless Geyser
Land (R) t: Add C to your mana pool
Whenever you cast your second spell of a turn, you may have Restless Geyser become a 4/4 elemental creature until end of turn. It's still a land.
Nice small surge manland. If you want to attack, you need to cast two spells before first combat phase, which is fair. How about "or your teammate" part?
Storm-Beaten Shore
Land (R)
~ enters the battlefield tapped. T: Add U to your mana pool. 1UU: Until end of turn, ~ becomes a 0/3 blue Elemental creature with "UU: Put this creature and each creature it's blocking on top of their owner's libraries, then those players shuffle their libraries." It's still a land.
I've heard about one-trick ponies but this is a one-trick manland. Does 1UUUU mana worth it when Vortex Elemental does the same for U? Also this can enter the battlefield untapped, I guess.
...But at least, it can just block.
Deepwater Coast
Land (R)
Deepwater Coast enters the battlefield tapped. T: Add C to your mana pool. UU: Deepwater Coast becomes a 5/5 blue Serpent until end of turn. Activate this ability only if you control six or more Islands.
A manland that HEAVILY requires monoblue. "ETBT" is too much and ability can require just six lands (you still need blue mana, of course) or P/T can be bigger.
Mishra's Tower (Rare)
Land T: Add C to your mana pool. X: Mishra's Tower becomes an X/X Assembly-Worker artifact creature until end of turn. It's still a land.
Though there's definitely a elegant simplicity to this, I feel as though it may be more than a little overpowered, considering how man lands have been statted recently; 4 for a 4/4 seems more in line with original Zendikar lands. Chimeric Staff was a card that cost 4 and I don't think that's a completely unsuitable cost, even now.
Clone Factory
Land (R)
: Add to your mana pool.
Whenever a creature enters the battlefield under your control, you may have Clone Factory becomes a copy of that creature until end of turn. It's still a land.
Unless you're playing on curve, or you can't afford to potentially lose a land, this seems more than a little above what can be considered 'fair'. I sense there's some broken combo that goes with this, though I can't put my finger on what it'd be.
Clone Garden
Land (R)
Clone Garden enters the battlefield tapped. T: Add G or U to your mana pool. 1G: Clone Garden becomes a 2/2 Elemental creature with hexproof until end of turn. It's still a land. 1U, Tap an untapped creature you control: If Clone Garden is a creature, it becomes a copy of the tapped creature until end of turn. It's still a land. "Before facing others, face yourself."
—Etching on a tree nearby the pond
Though I don't think there's anything wrong with the card on a balance level, I feel like the card's a little overly cluttered. The first transformation effect feels unnecessary to the card, actually. If it were simply 'Mana + tap a creature to become a copy of that creature', then I think it'd feel less over-designed.
Restless Geyser
Land (R) t: Add C to your mana pool
Whenever you cast your second spell of a turn, you may have Restless Geyser become a 4/4 elemental creature until end of turn. It's still a land.
There's something rather satisfying about a land called 'Restless Geyser' with pseudo-Surge. I'm not certain how potent it'd be naturally, but the restriction on animating it seems like it'd be difficult to control early (which is probably when it'd be most dangerous). Not sure what else to say; good, simple card.
Storm-Beaten Shore
Land (R)
~ enters the battlefield tapped. T: Add U to your mana pool. 1UU: Until end of turn, ~ becomes a 0/3 blue Elemental creature with "UU: Put this creature and each creature it's blocking on top of their owner's libraries, then those players shuffle their libraries." It's still a land.
Activating this card is prohibitively expensive; assuming you're using a fair deck, you're going to need 5 untapped lands (including this one), with three blue sources (not including this card itself). I feel like that's more than-
I'm going to leave the first part of my initial critique here, unaltered up to the point where I realised the main strength of this land is to present a bluff/mana sink for blue decks in order to cover up counter spell or 'End of opponent's turn - draw cards'. With that in mind, this becomes a lot more palatable. By leaving mana up for activating this effect, it forces your opponent to question whether you're just going to Time Ebb his creature, or you're holding up counters.
Living Island
Land (R)
Living Island enters the battlefield tapped. t: add G or U to your mana pool. 1GU: Until end of turn, Living Island becomes a 2/2 green and blue Whale creature with "Tap another untapped land you control: Living Island gets +1/+1 until end of turn." It's still a land.
Maybe it's just me, but I feel there's something fundamentally wrong about a whale that can be mistaken for an island, yet is still only a 2/2 naturally. I also don't entirely see the reason why it
Deepwater Coast
Land (R)
Deepwater Coast enters the battlefield tapped. T: Add C to your mana pool. UU: Deepwater Coast becomes a 5/5 blue Serpent until end of turn. Activate this ability only if you control six or more Islands.
I really like this card and I can't quite put my finger on why I like it more than some of the other simpler lands. If you have a deck with lots of islands, this becomes an amazing finisher, since you can drop it early and it'll win you the game eventually. Maybe it's a little over-powered, I find the card really evocative of the kind of old, truly abysmal blue creatures like Sea Serpent and similar cards... But since it's a land, it's actually pretty good.
Defiled Copse
Land (R)
At the beginning of your upkeep, put a +1/+1 counter on Defiled Copse and you lose 2 life. T: Add B or G to your mana pool. 2GB: Defiled Copse becomes a 1/1 black and green spirit creature until end of turn. It is still a land.
I like the flavor of a land that slowly drains you. However, I think there should be a way to "turn it off". Maybe having the effects trigger on tapping the land for mana? Also, all the manlands so far have been entering the battlefield tapped and I don't think Wizards would print manlans that didn't.
Mishra's Tower (Rare)
Land T: Add C to your mana pool. X: Mishra's Tower becomes an X/X Assembly-Worker artifact creature until end of turn. It's still a land.
Chimeric Staff as a land. Honestly, I think it's a bit too strong, since you can turn it into a pretty big creature during the lategame. Probably should enter tapped or have some other drawback.
Clone Factory
Land (R)
: Add to your mana pool.
Whenever a creature enters the battlefield under your control, you may have Clone Factory becomes a copy of that creature until end of turn. It's still a land.
The fact that it copies the creature without any cost (well, it virtually costs one mana if you want to attack) and gives it pseudo-haste makes this really strong.
Clone Garden
Land (R)
Clone Garden enters the battlefield tapped. T: Add G or U to your mana pool. 1G: Clone Garden becomes a 2/2 Elemental creature with hexproof until end of turn. It's still a land. 1U, Tap an untapped creature you control: If Clone Garden is a creature, it becomes a copy of the tapped creature until end of turn. It's still a land. "Before facing others, face yourself."
—Etching on a tree nearby the pond
The name is a bit uninspired, but I like it. Having to tap the creature you want to copy keeps the power level down. The manland seems fine, considering Mutavault.
Restless Geyser
Land (R) t: Add C to your mana pool
Whenever you cast your second spell of a turn, you may have Restless Geyser become a 4/4 elemental creature until end of turn. It's still a land.
Nice design and nice flavor - if you channel too much mana through your lands, it erupts. You don't have to pay for the animation, but you have to spend at least 2 cards in order to get it moving, so it also seems fine power-wise.
Living Island
Land (R)
Living Island enters the battlefield tapped. t: add G or U to your mana pool. 1GU: Until end of turn, Living Island becomes a 2/2 green and blue Whale creature with "Tap another untapped land you control: Living Island gets +1/+1 until end of turn." It's still a land.
A 2/2 Whale is kind of odd, especially if it's supposed to depict a "living island". I'm probably just missing something here, but I don't really get why tapping other lands would make the whale stronger.
Deepwater Coast
Land (R)
Deepwater Coast enters the battlefield tapped. T: Add C to your mana pool. UU: Deepwater Coast becomes a 5/5 blue Serpent until end of turn. Activate this ability only if you control six or more Islands.
Reminds me of Emeria, the Sky Ruin in that it rewards you for playing monocolor. The card is fine flavor-wise and provides a nice finisher option for a mono blue decks that consist mostly of spells.
Defiled Copse
Land (R)
At the beginning of your upkeep, put a +1/+1 counter on Defiled Copse and you lose 2 life. T: Add B or G to your mana pool. 2GB: Defiled Copse becomes a 1/1 black and green spirit creature until end of turn. It is still a land.
Mishra's Tower (Rare)
Land T: Add C to your mana pool. X: Mishra's Tower becomes an X/X Assembly-Worker artifact creature until end of turn. It's still a land.
Clone Factory
Land (R)
: Add to your mana pool.
Whenever a creature enters the battlefield under your control, you may have Clone Factory becomes a copy of that creature until end of turn. It's still a land.
Its really too difficult to judge this fells like it opens the door to so much Shenangigans. Maybe too much
Clone Garden
Land (R)
Clone Garden enters the battlefield tapped. T: Add G or U to your mana pool. 1G: Clone Garden becomes a 2/2 Elemental creature with hexproof until end of turn. It's still a land. 1U, Tap an untapped creature you control: If Clone Garden is a creature, it becomes a copy of the tapped creature until end of turn. It's still a land. "Before facing others, face yourself."
—Etching on a tree nearby the pond
Storm-Beaten Shore
Land (R)
~ enters the battlefield tapped. T: Add U to your mana pool. 1UU: Until end of turn, ~ becomes a 0/3 blue Elemental creature with "UU: Put this creature and each creature it's blocking on top of their owner's libraries, then those players shuffle their libraries." It's still a land.
Not bad, but it seems like alot of stuff to do and many hoops to go through.
Living Island
Land (R)
Living Island enters the battlefield tapped. t: add G or U to your mana pool. 1GU: Until end of turn, Living Island becomes a 2/2 green and blue Whale creature with "Tap another untapped land you control: Living Island gets +1/+1 until end of turn." It's still a land.
Kinda small for a whale, but tha'ts the only issue
Deepwater Coast
Land (R)
Deepwater Coast enters the battlefield tapped. T: Add C to your mana pool. UU: Deepwater Coast becomes a 5/5 blue Serpent until end of turn. Activate this ability only if you control six or more Islands.
Nice, though it is heavy, heavy monoblue. Seems like a finisher for some heavy control decks.
Sorry this is last minute. I've been super busy lately, and I worked 12 hours today. I wish I could have taken a bit more time on them....
Flintlock - This seems really painful and slow. Shocking yourself every turn just to potentially get a 4/4 attacker on the fourth turn (if you play this 1st turn) seems weak to me, even considering it is an untapped dual land.
Legend - This seems pretty cool. It's quite powerful (I'd squeeze some into my Modern Affinity deck), but it seems pretty well balanced. The only problem I have is that it doesn't really work all that well in multiples, since they steal from each other's power. Also, some flavor text would've been nice.
StonerOfKruphix - I feel like the first transformation is unneccesary. It just clutters up the card. I think the second ability would be fine as it is.
drewdagreek - I like this, but might be a little too easy to get a second turn 4/4 attacker out of it, but it's probably fine. It does set up an interesting decision. Do I hold this spell until next turn so I can turn on my manland? Or do I cast it now? Could use some flavor text.
soramaro - A Gomozoa manland huh? Seems ok, although it's a bit mana intesive. I'd rock it in some EDH.
Raptorchan - a 2/2 island-sized whale seems weird to me. Also, the ability reminds a bit of a Shade creature, although it is certainly fine in green. Is there precedence for this in blue?
Jimmy Groove - This is a solid design. It might even be playable if it didn't enter tapped. It's excellently blue.
1st: Legend
2nd: drewdagreek
3rd: Jimmy Groove
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
(22 Total) - October 2014; December 2014; January 2015; April 2015; June 2015; August 2015; September 2015; November 2015; December 2015(T); January 2016; March 2016(T); April 2016; June 2016; October 2016; December 2016(T); February 2017; April 2017; December 2017; November 2018(T); January 2019; April 2019; June 2019
(8 Total) - May 2015; May 2016; June 2016; August 2016; October 2016; December 2016; October 2017; May 2019
(7 Total) - September 2015; October 2015; January 2016; March 2016; April 2016; July 2016(T); March 2019(T)
“Unstable Frontier”
Part the Waterveil, taken from MTG Art, by Titus Lunter and Wizards of the Coast
Theme
Ever since Mishra’s Factory, animated lands (often called “man-lands”) have been a staple in almost every block. Cards that can change permanent types become very flexible to the player, tapping for mana one turn and being combat the next. For this round, you’ll be designing a land which can turn into a creature.
Challenge
Schedule
1920th)23rd24th)After some discussion with the CCL organizers, we are making some slight changes to the schedule.
We’ve been historically running into a scheduling problem where there just isn’t enough time to complete a CCL in a month. We’ve also been noticing that the third week has seen low participation, likely as people see they are no longer in the hunt for a Top 4 spot, or assuming it’s only for people who have finished high in the first two rounds. What we are changing is making the third round really matter, by re-instituting the Top 8, to get more people interested in later rounds, and basically shortening up the schedule a bit.
Consider this an experiment, but one that might just stay.
+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 August’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 other seven people. Then, among them, rank what you feel are the top three. (Ranking your top 3 gets you a point, and completing critiques gets you another point.)
You have until Monday, October 24th 23:59 CDT for all critiques.
( ancestral on Custom Magic Discord server )
( mproud on reddit )
Land (R)
At the beginning of your upkeep, put a +1/+1 counter on Defiled Copse and you lose 2 life.
T: Add B or G to your mana pool.
2GB: Defiled Copse becomes a 1/1 black and green spirit creature until end of turn. It is still a land.
Land
T: Add C to your mana pool.
X: Mishra's Tower becomes an X/X Assembly-Worker artifact creature until end of turn. It's still a land.
Land (R)
: Add to your mana pool.
Whenever a creature enters the battlefield under your control, you may have Clone Factory becomes a copy of that creature until end of turn. It's still a land.
Land (R)
t: Add C to your mana pool
Whenever you cast your second spell of a turn, you may have Restless Geyser become a 4/4 elemental creature until end of turn. It's still a land.
Land (R)
~ enters the battlefield tapped.
T: Add U to your mana pool.
1UU: Until end of turn, ~ becomes a 0/3 blue Elemental creature with "UU: Put this creature and each creature it's blocking on top of their owner's libraries, then those players shuffle their libraries." It's still a land.
Land (R)
Living Island enters the battlefield tapped.
t: add G or U to your mana pool.
1GU: Until end of turn, Living Island becomes a 2/2 green and blue Whale creature with "Tap another untapped land you control: Living Island gets +1/+1 until end of turn." It's still a land.
Land (R)
Deepwater Coast enters the battlefield tapped.
T: Add C to your mana pool.
UU: Deepwater Coast becomes a 5/5 blue Serpent until end of turn. Activate this ability only if you control six or more Islands.
It’s time for your critiques!
Critique the cards of the other seven people. Then, among them, rank what you feel are the top three. (Ranking your top 3 gets you a point, and completing critiques gets you another point.)
You have until Monday, October 24th 23:59 CDT for all critiques.
( ancestral on Custom Magic Discord server )
( mproud on reddit )
Neat trap land. Not particularly exciting, but decent.
Raptorchan
I had to think about the flavor for a minute. Now that I see it, I like it a lot. It's good. Would have preferred a Turtle.
drewdagreek
Nice use of "surge". This is one I'd prefer to see as part of a horizontal cycle of dual lands that become creatures via triggers, rather than tap for colorless. Still good though.
StonerOfKruphix
I like it. It's a bit busy and wordy for a land. I think a dual manland that doesn't want dual colors to activate should (and would) use one hybrid ability instead of two monocolored abilities.
Flatline
This is busted. It basically gives your creatures haste. Certain tribes would have a field day with this, Vintage Oath, Zoo, maybe Battlebots, an auto-include in Commander, basically every deck that plays a creature wants this now. I love it!
Flintlock
Well designed. Loss of 1 life would probably be sufficient. I can't imagine this as a tight cycle so I wonder how it would (or if it could) be implemented in a set. Hmm... this kind of life loss on a land that doesn't produce B or R is a stretch in my mind, but I suppose it could be done in Return to New Phyrexia.
Jimmy Groove
Very nice. Doesn't need to etbt though. And could be uncommon.
TOP THREE
1. Flatline
2. Jimmy Groove
3. Flintlock
Land (R)
At the beginning of your upkeep, put a +1/+1 counter on Defiled Copse and you lose 2 life.
T: Add B or G to your mana pool.
2GB: Defiled Copse becomes a 1/1 black and green spirit creature until end of turn. It is still a land.
A manland that kills you faster than you get real value of it - it kills fast but grows slow. Not sure if want.
Land
T: Add C to your mana pool.
X: Mishra's Tower becomes an X/X Assembly-Worker artifact creature until end of turn. It's still a land.
Pretty straightforward one - just spend X mana to get X/X... For one turn. But I don't know would it better than Endless One or not. Seems like a sort of bulk rare to me.
Land (R)
: Add to your mana pool.
Whenever a creature enters the battlefield under your control, you may have Clone Factory becomes a copy of that creature until end of turn. It's still a land.
Every deck needs at least one of this, especially for creatures with tap abilities who wouldn't attack. Is this powerful? Yes. Is this balanced? Uhm, I don't even know.
Land (R)
Clone Garden enters the battlefield tapped.
T: Add G or U to your mana pool.
1G: Clone Garden becomes a 2/2 Elemental creature with hexproof until end of turn. It's still a land.
1U, Tap an untapped creature you control: If Clone Garden is a creature, it becomes a copy of the tapped creature until end of turn. It's still a land.
"Before facing others, face yourself."
—Etching on a tree nearby the pond
Pretty wordy and complex abilities for a manland. But seems more balanced than previous one.
Land (R)
t: Add C to your mana pool
Whenever you cast your second spell of a turn, you may have Restless Geyser become a 4/4 elemental creature until end of turn. It's still a land.
Nice small surge manland. If you want to attack, you need to cast two spells before first combat phase, which is fair. How about "or your teammate" part?
Land (R)
~ enters the battlefield tapped.
T: Add U to your mana pool.
1UU: Until end of turn, ~ becomes a 0/3 blue Elemental creature with "UU: Put this creature and each creature it's blocking on top of their owner's libraries, then those players shuffle their libraries." It's still a land.
I've heard about one-trick ponies but this is a one-trick manland. Does 1UUUU mana worth it when Vortex Elemental does the same for U? Also this can enter the battlefield untapped, I guess.
...But at least, it can just block.
Land (R)
Deepwater Coast enters the battlefield tapped.
T: Add C to your mana pool.
UU: Deepwater Coast becomes a 5/5 blue Serpent until end of turn. Activate this ability only if you control six or more Islands.
A manland that HEAVILY requires monoblue. "ETBT" is too much and ability can require just six lands (you still need blue mana, of course) or P/T can be bigger.
1. drewdagreek
2. Jimmy Groove
3. Legend
I'm going to leave the first part of my initial critique here, unaltered up to the point where I realised the main strength of this land is to present a bluff/mana sink for blue decks in order to cover up counter spell or 'End of opponent's turn - draw cards'. With that in mind, this becomes a lot more palatable. By leaving mana up for activating this effect, it forces your opponent to question whether you're just going to Time Ebb his creature, or you're holding up counters.
That's brilliant. Maybe it's just me, but I feel there's something fundamentally wrong about a whale that can be mistaken for an island, yet is still only a 2/2 naturally. I also don't entirely see the reason why it I really like this card and I can't quite put my finger on why I like it more than some of the other simpler lands. If you have a deck with lots of islands, this becomes an amazing finisher, since you can drop it early and it'll win you the game eventually. Maybe it's a little over-powered, I find the card really evocative of the kind of old, truly abysmal blue creatures like Sea Serpent and similar cards... But since it's a land, it's actually pretty good.
2. drewdagreek
3. Soramaro
I like the flavor of a land that slowly drains you. However, I think there should be a way to "turn it off". Maybe having the effects trigger on tapping the land for mana? Also, all the manlands so far have been entering the battlefield tapped and I don't think Wizards would print manlans that didn't.
Chimeric Staff as a land. Honestly, I think it's a bit too strong, since you can turn it into a pretty big creature during the lategame. Probably should enter tapped or have some other drawback.
The fact that it copies the creature without any cost (well, it virtually costs one mana if you want to attack) and gives it pseudo-haste makes this really strong.
The name is a bit uninspired, but I like it. Having to tap the creature you want to copy keeps the power level down. The manland seems fine, considering Mutavault.
Nice design and nice flavor - if you channel too much mana through your lands, it erupts. You don't have to pay for the animation, but you have to spend at least 2 cards in order to get it moving, so it also seems fine power-wise.
A 2/2 Whale is kind of odd, especially if it's supposed to depict a "living island". I'm probably just missing something here, but I don't really get why tapping other lands would make the whale stronger.
Reminds me of Emeria, the Sky Ruin in that it rewards you for playing monocolor. The card is fine flavor-wise and provides a nice finisher option for a mono blue decks that consist mostly of spells.
2. StonerOfKruphix
1. drewdagreek
Top 3:
1. Legend
2. Raptorchan
3. Jimmygroove
Legend - This seems pretty cool. It's quite powerful (I'd squeeze some into my Modern Affinity deck), but it seems pretty well balanced. The only problem I have is that it doesn't really work all that well in multiples, since they steal from each other's power. Also, some flavor text would've been nice.
StonerOfKruphix - I feel like the first transformation is unneccesary. It just clutters up the card. I think the second ability would be fine as it is.
drewdagreek - I like this, but might be a little too easy to get a second turn 4/4 attacker out of it, but it's probably fine. It does set up an interesting decision. Do I hold this spell until next turn so I can turn on my manland? Or do I cast it now? Could use some flavor text.
soramaro - A Gomozoa manland huh? Seems ok, although it's a bit mana intesive. I'd rock it in some EDH.
Raptorchan - a 2/2 island-sized whale seems weird to me. Also, the ability reminds a bit of a Shade creature, although it is certainly fine in green. Is there precedence for this in blue?
Jimmy Groove - This is a solid design. It might even be playable if it didn't enter tapped. It's excellently blue.
2nd: drewdagreek
3rd: Jimmy Groove
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