Well hello hello hello! It's that magical time of the year, butterflies and dragons flying, flowers blooming, and new magical phenomena erupting everywhere. Ahhh, truly a wonderful time of the year!
Welcome to the Card Creation League!
The Card Creation League is a monthly contest in which players compete over seven rounds. Each month has an overall theme and/or story, determined by that month's host.
Each round, the host will assign a card creation task to the players. This task may vary between teams or players.
The first three rounds are open to everyone who joined in the sign-up thread, which will be posted near the end of the previous month. After these rounds, the Top 8 players will move on to three single elimination rounds to determine a winner.
Rounds usually last three to four days for submissions and about two days for critiques, but the host has final say in making the schedule.
For the first three rounds, players are divided into teams. Four teams is standard, but there may be more or less depending on the number of players. Each team will review another team's cards during the critique period of that round.
Each player must submit a Top 3 ranking for the team he or she critiques at the end of each round. Each 1st place is worth 3 points, 2nd place 2 points, and 3rd place 1 point.
Additionally, each player can receive 2 bonus points per round. One point is awarded for posting a Top 3, and one point for providing critiques for that team's cards.
Suggested areas to critique include creativity, balance, printability, and relation to the overall theme or that player's previous cards.
Players who do not post a card or a Top 3 will be put on "probation." Top 3 violations for a round can be removed by posting or PMing the host with your Top 3 before the end of the next round. Any player that would receive a second violation is disqualified from further competition that month.
At the end of the first three rounds, the Top 8 players will be selected by points (usually the top 2 from each team). In the case of ties, there may be more than 8 players advancing. The host will determine matchups for single elimination. At the end of each elimination round, remaining players not in that matchup will choose a winner to advance. The host will break any ties.
The final round is determined by public poll.
Each round, the players have a chance of getting a total of 100 points toward their score. Each score is determined by the following equation:
The grading of 3 points for first place, 2 points for second and 1 for third still stands. This is also the case for up to 2 points for crits and Top3.
Total points of player A in round N = 100 * X/Y
Where:
X = Total number of points given by judges + Bonus points for critiques/Top3
Y = Total number of points possible (3*Number of judges + Bonus Points)
This way the grading is more streamlined in the fact that all rounds up to going to top 8 are graded equally, and there is no handicap for any team that has fewer judges.
Each player starts the next round with the score that he previously had, and another possible 100 points is given to him at the end of that round. Therefore, there is a possible 300 points before the CCL goes to top 8.
You receive one point for submitting a top 3 on time, and one additional point if you critique all of the cards you judged.
You stand in a grand hall, looking upwards to the ruler of this plane, who sits perched regally on his throne. He has sent the other two travelers away, clearly showing that you two have been selected for some special purpose. He explains that he wishes to become more closely allied with your planes, to the point where he wishes to create an interplanar embassy for you on this plane. He wishes that you create it however you will, and bestows huge tracks of land to you, as well as the magic to create. You graciously accept his offer, and when the power is bestowed upon you, you realize that it contains mana from all five colors. This leads you the realization that you can enhance and perfect your (guild/group). The instant you begin to harness all the five colors of mana, white light blinds you... you find yourself gazing upon the plane, then your vision expands and you gaze upon the multiverse itself. Your planeswalker spark has awakened. After coming to terms with your new power, you realize that you can use it to take out the competetition...
Challenge
1. Create a planeswalker card of your leader. You may use any combination of the colors of your character and your new color. (Explained in number 2)
2. Create a non-basic land that is two colors, one of which not being one of your original colors. Activated abilities are optional.
3. Create two creatures using the new color that you have chosen, one at common rarity and one at uncommon rarity.
4. Create a sorcery, instant or artifact to kill/defeat your opponent. (They are a planeswalker at this point). You may use any combination of the colors of your character and your new color.
So, join the summer frolic and fun and may the best spellslinger win! (Also, this is a flavorful month, feel free to include backstory wherever you want.)
I doubt I am going to make the 2nd. I'm going to be in Canada all weekend. I'll try to have something Monday or Tuesday.
The Endless Swarm3BG
(Hundreds of glistening beetles march forth. They can be seen eating into the walls of houses and bursting out the other side.)
Legendary Creature - Insect (R)
Insects you control get +1/+1.
At the end of any turn in which a player was dealt damage by an Insect you control, that player sacrifices a permanent, then you put a 1/1 black and green Insect creature token onto the battlefield.
Sacrifice an Insect: Return The Endless Swarm from your graveyard to the battlefield.
3/3
Flesheater Queen2BB
(A small, deadly-looking wasp-like insect perches on the back of a man's neck, delicately inserting its stinger into his skin, where a lump appears.)
Creature - Insect (R)
At the beginning of your upkeep, you may put a larva counter on target creature. Then, if the number of larva counters on that creature is equal to or greater than its toughness, its controller sacrifices it and you put X 1/1 black Insect creature tokens onto the battlefield, where X is the number of larva counters on that creature.
1/3
Realm of Reclamation2BG
(Black ants larger than horses tear down charred buildings and take corpses in their mandibles as they forage through a burned city. In the distance, at the terminus of a trail of busy ants, huge lumpy spires like termite mounds rise high over the hills into the sky.)
Enchantment (R)
Whenever a permanent is put into an opponent's graveyard, you may pay 1. If you do, return a permanent card that shares a card type with that card from your graveyard to your hand. From the waste of the four-limbs's kingdoms, the insects built a realm that surpassed all others in size and complexity.
Stirring Swarm1BG
(Beetles swarm from the point where an arrow has pierced a robed figure's chest, breaking down the arrow and surging forth onto the ground.)
Instant (U)
Regenerate target creature and put X 1/1 black and green Insect creature tokens onto the battlefield, where X is that creature's toughness. The Swarm's instinctive response to danger is always the same: breed.
Axara, Rogue Drone2RG
(A large six-limbed red ant bursts out of a cocoon in a field of fire.)
Legendary Creature - Insect (R) 3R: Axara, Rogue Drone deals damage equal to its power to each creature. 1G: Regenerate Axara, then put a +1/+1 counter on Axara. Most drones are powerless without the hive. For Axara, his freedom was merely the beginning of his ascent.
2/2
Predatory GorgingRG
(A gigantic beetle explodes out of a bush, pinning down a lizard.)
Instant (C)
Target creature gets +3/+3 until end of turn. It deals damage equal to its power to target creature. That creature deals damage equal to its power to the first creature.
From the smallest insect to the largest baloth, all predators pour their ultimate strength into the moment of the catch.
Rotscuttler Nests
(A skeletal arm, smashed glass and an array of weapons and implements jut out of the hive of organic material. Bugs peek out of various nooks and crannies in the heaps.)
Land (R)
Rotscuttler Nests enters the battlefield tapped. T: Add B or G to your mana pool. If a permanent card was put into an opponent's graveyard from the battlefield this turn, add BG to your mana pool instead. The rotscuttlers' victims soon become part of their home.
Tome of Endings5
(In a dark cavern, the pages of a tome seem to be turning by themselves. From one side, flames and bursts of thick green smoke emerge, while clean beams of light streak out from the other side.)
Artifact (R) T: Each player sacrifices a nonland permanent.
When you sacrifice Tome of Endings, return it to the battlefield flipped.
// Tome of Beginnings T: Each player may return a permanent card from his or her graveyard to his or her hand.
The Endless Swarm consumed and digested the streams of raw mana that were presented to it. The distant, airy taste of blue mana was not to its liking, and was quickly discarded. It had felt the heat of red mana before in the treachery of Axara, and rejected its chaotic and unpredictable nature. That left one color with which to expand its domain. It had always relied on green and black energies, growth and destruction, but it still lacked perfect control. This white mana, though, promised order and precision. Bound with the organizing, unifying force of white mana, the cycle of life and death would become a perfect machine, allowing for the rapid expansion of the Swarm and the reshaping of planes into the hives of its insect children. All that remained was to eliminate the slippery, unshapen being that threatened to stand in its way.
The Swarm Ascendant1BGW
Planeswalker - Swarm (M)
[+1:] Each player sacrifices a permanent. You may activate The Swarm Ascendant's second ability.
[-2:] Return to the battlefield target permanent card in your graveyard that was put there from the battlefield this turn.
[-6:] You get an emblem with "Whenever you cast a permanent spell, destroy target permanent that shares a card type with that spell."
[3]
Meeting Meadow Land (R)
Meeting Meadow enters the battlefield tapped. T: Add G or W to your mana pool. If a creature entered the battlefield under your control this turn, add GW to your mana pool instead.
Glistening Sun-Scarabs1W
Creature - Insect (U) 2: Exile target card in an opponent's graveyard. Glittering Sun-Scarabs gains protection from each of that card's colors until end of turn.
Sun-scarabs' shells change color depending on their latest meal, allowing their camouflage to adapt quickly to any environment.
2/2
Pathcutter Ants1W
Creature - Insect (C)
Whenever Pathcutter Ants attacks, untap all other attacking creatures. "There's a forest, a river, three stone walls and a thousand men between us and the bugs. Fort Alvalune will never fall!" —Captain's journal, last entry 1/1
Weather the Storm XGGWW
Sorcery (R)
Destroy all nonland permanents with converted mana cost X or greater. It is said that the smallest creatures can survive the greatest disasters.
Monkey, my legend is blue, but has a white activation. Can my dual land be WU? Since my ally isn't strickly white, just had "white" tendencies?
PW:
Serradin, the Al'darran2WU
Planeswalker - Serradin {M}
[+1]: Target creature gets +1/+1 and has vigilance and changeling until end of turn.
[-2]: Draw a card for each Shapeshifter you control.
[-3]: Serradin becomes a copy of target creature and has "This creature gets +1/+1 for each loyalty counter on it."
[3]
When Serradin becomes a copy of a creature, he no longer is a planeswalker.
If he uses the ability when he has 3 loyalty counters, he dies to state-based effects, as the trigger goes on the stack, then sbe checks, and sees that he has 0 loyalty and is still a planeswalker, and dies.
Land:
Weathered Watermill
Land {U}
As Weathered Watermill enters the battlefield, you may pay 1. If you don't it enters the battlefield tapped. T: Add W or U to your mana pool.
Creature 1:
Highway Illusionist4WW
Creature - Shapeshifter {U}
Changeling (This card is every creature type at all times.)
Plainswalk U: Target land you control becomes the basic land type of your choice until end of turn.
4/4
Creature 2:
Essence Thief2W
Creature - Shapeshifter {C}
Flying 2U, Sacrifice Essence Thief: Target creature loses all abilities and another target creature gains those abilities until end of turn. "Our enemies are our greatest assets."
2/2
Sorcery:
Concealing Trick1WU
Tribal Sorcery - Shapeshifter {U}
Turn target permanent face down. It has changeling as long as it is face down. (It is a 2/2 creature with all creature types.) “Some enemies are unmanageable. However with a little trick, you can turn anything into a manageable pet.”
—Serradin
Face-down permanents are 2/2 creatures with no color or type.
Since this card gives the creature changing it will have all creature types until it is turned face up (assuming that occurs)
I opened one last year, got two crap worldwake packs and 8x scathe zombies, which I promptly hid around my sister's apartment for her roommates to find. But, yeah, it was a piece of crap.
You, sir, have just won the internet. Congratulations.
Good luck ohmusama! Thanks to Monkey as well, good job keeping track of everything and keeping everyone pretty much on schedule. I'd be happy to see you host again some time in the future. (Two quick things: I think ohmusama's second creature is meant to be common, following the challenge, and I voted assuming he would vote for me, so please change my vote when you count.)
It was interesting building up the insect graveyard theme. I think my cards would play pretty well with existing insects, and work well in traditional green/black attrition strategies as well. I'm thinking about building a Teneb EDH deck at the moment, so my cards this last round are designed with that sort of graveyard control theme in mind.
I opened one last year, got two crap worldwake packs and 8x scathe zombies, which I promptly hid around my sister's apartment for her roommates to find. But, yeah, it was a piece of crap.
You, sir, have just won the internet. Congratulations.
ohmusama really wowed me this round. All his cards were good. All of them. Usually, a contestant will have a bad card thrown in there but ohmusama really brought the heat this round.
Great job and I hope you win !!!
Private Mod Note
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Originally Posted by Zsehaelax:
halo hunter can never kill baneslayer angel
Originally Posted by Jace, the Mindsculptor: 2/17
Oracle Rules text on Halo hunter from Gatherer:
When Halo Hunter enters the battlefield, destroy target Angel.
BSA is an angel, is it not??
Originally Posted by Zsehaelax:
Oracle Rules text on Baneslayer Angel:
"Protection from Demons" means the following:
Baneslayer Angel can't be targeted by abilities from sources with the creature type Demon"
I voted for Gerrard's Mom, mainly due to the fact that his walker has such a neat first ability, tying into the second. The rest of his cards were highly intuative flavor wise and made for a very interesting read. OM's cards were equally awesome, but there was nothing that seemed to stand out in particular from other things I have seen on this forum or in discussion with other designers. Great job to both participants
Close race so far.
ohmusama has some great ideas as always, but I have a few critiques as well.
Planeswalker: The final ability is cool, but I wish it stayed a planeswalker so it could buff itself later. I don't like the second ability since it is entirely dependent on other cards, I know Nissa has an elf ability but she can produce elves on her own. I'm not sure why vigilance is needed in the first ability. I think you missed some chances to do a cool and more coherent shapeshifting planeswalker, though; copying activated abilities would be cool, or at least if the first ability made permanent Shapeshifters it would help your second ability.
Land: I think this is the most printable card in your set, allowing you either to tap it or tap another land on the turn it comes out if you need one of the colors. Might be printable at uncommon in the right block.
Highway Illusionist: The plainswalk is totally random, but more than that, the creature is awfully large for a white uncommon. 4 power is only seen once or twice a block. It's also weirdly powerful fixing for white(/blue), as every other card that changes basic land type requires tapping. I think this creature would have been cool if it changed a land type and gave a creature landwalk of that type at the same time, but there's no real reason for it to be white then. Vigilance, landwalk, and type changing would have worked as well.
Essence Thief: Losing abilities has been done once before at common, on Snakeform. AFAIK, gaining abilities has only been done on Skill Borrower, Experiment Kraj, and Quicksilver Elemental, meaning rare and limited to activated abilities. The rules complications of both gaining and losing abilities are not something that should really appear on common, and I'm pretty sure there is a reason static and triggered abilities haven't been copied before. I know you had originally designed this at rare, and I understand it is hard to give up an interesting idea, but I don't think this card is printable with that ability, and certainly not at that rarity.
Concealing Trick: Crib Swap, that hits non-creatures and makes a bigger token. I think Ixidron is the only thing that can turn non-morphers face down. The idea is good anyway, but it seems out of place in a set of cards that don't have morph.
Lol, yeah, I had the rare card, that I had to quickly change to a common, so I just slammed it together.
Here is how Highway Illusionist came to be:
1. "What would Harbor Serpent look like color shifted to white, but instead as an uncommon?
2. Why not convert an islandwalk to plainswalk (yes I know Harbor Serpent has no islandwalk, but most of these islandhome-esk cards do)
3. White doesn't get bigger creatures, so I knock back the PT to 4/4.
4. It needs an ability, Initially it was 2U: Target land becomes a basic land type of your choice until end of turn" But that read, 2U: This is unblockable this turn." So I nerfted it to only hit your lands, but reduced the cost. It then became a blue "fixer" for 5 color control?
5. Add changling for flavor.
This is the usual process for making cards. Continuing on...
Process for Essence Thief
1. Loved the card Rappelling Scouts from back in the day, and thought it needed an allusion too.
2. Created a similar cost, and copied the PT and the flying ability.
3. Then for obvious reasons, changed its protection from color, to, steal abilities, which fits my vorthos theme
4. THEN realize it should be a common, and swap it to a one time sacrifice activation, reducing its cost and PT to an expensive bear.
In retrospect, what I should have done, was reduced the potency of Highway Illusionist, and made it a common, then let Essence Thief be my uncommon.
Planewalker:Your planeswalker is very subtle in it's applications, especially when it comes to your interaction with the first and second abilities of your walker. (its basically -1: each opponent sacrifices a permanent.) It may be a little powerful for a 4cc walker, but it is 3 colors, so..... not sure. The -6 ability costs 4 turns and 3 permanents to get to at minimum, which is fine for the power level. Land: Not much difference from your other land you created last round, but this one may be a little more powerful, as the drawback you need to achieve is so easy to achieve. Its a dual land that gives you 3 mana on turn 2. All you need is a 1cmc mana dork or something like that, and you get that mana back. Creature1 (Common): The mana trick may be too powerful on a common 2cmc creature. Probably uncommon. Creature2 (Uncommon): A bear with Relic of progenitus effect and it gains protection from the exiled colors. Uncommon? Yes. Power level? Probably on par, since you actually have to have a card in a graveyard for it to be anything other than a bear. Spell: So you created a 4cmc board wipe that gets rid of everything from creatures to planeswalkers. That right there, even if it costs 4 colored mana, is on the cusp of being broken. Add the fact that you can add more mana into it to make it better for you is very powerful.
Score: +0.5 (planeswalker is fine) + 0.5 (land is nice but powerful) - 1 (Common creature not common) + 1 (Uncommon creature is nicely done) - 1 (Spell is too powerful) = +0
Planewalker: "... and gains vigilance and...." Besides minor templating issues, this is not that bad, perhaps even weak for a 2 color 4cmc planeswalker. The first ability requires a creature on your part, as well as the second. Land: Similar to Rupture spire in it's drawback, but you forsake 3 colors (green, black and red) for the opportunity for it coming into play untapped. Definitely uncommon, since the land itself doesn't do anything to boost your mana count the turn it is played. Maybe a bit weak... Creature1 (common): This is basically wild griffin with a very good ability, but because of the ability, it is already out of common range and into uncommon. That being said, the one-shot ability is interesting if used correctly, but because it just says abilities, you can target darksteel colossus, or better yet, emrakul, and you can have wierd shenanigans. Definitely not common. Creature2 (uncommon): A 6cc 4/4 with plainswalk that is essentially a 5 turn clock, because all you have to do is turn one of their lands into plains... seems uncommon, except that the activated ability can be used more than once, which means you have an endless supply of convincing mirage for 1 blue mana, effectively shutting down decks like jund or bant which rely on specific colors. Or permenantly shut down man-lands.... seems too powerful for uncommon, but not yet rare.... not sure. Seems blue to me too. Spell: Basically crib swap that can work on permanents...., isn't an instant, and has a more constrictive mana cost, and gives your opponent a bigger body for their permanent.... and they can still get if back if they bounce it back to their hand, etc.... seems really weak for a removal spell, imo, but it is an uncommon.
Score: +0.5 (planeswalker is fine, maybe weak) + 0.5 (land is weak even for uncommon) - 1 (common creature is not common) - 0.5 (uncommon creature is little powerful.) +0 (Spell is weak) = -0.5
Both people have their faults in their submissions, mainly in design of the cards. However, from my anaylsis, I think Gerrard's mom created slightly more streamlined cards.
And Gerrard's Mom is the winner! Thanks to all for an excellent month, and conqratulations Ohmusama for making it to the final round! GM, is there anything else I should do this month?
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Winner of the August CCL '10
Host of the July CCL '10, Host of the March CCL '11
I opened one last year, got two crap worldwake packs and 8x scathe zombies, which I promptly hid around my sister's apartment for her roommates to find. But, yeah, it was a piece of crap.
You, sir, have just won the internet. Congratulations.
The poll is still open for 12 hours, you never know. Anyhow, I will update the CCL Discussion Thread that has the hall of fame when I get around to it. There are a number of people who haven't gotten trophies as well.
Thanks again Monkey for hosting, and ohmusama for a great final showing, however it ends up!
Well hello hello hello! It's that magical time of the year, butterflies and dragons flying, flowers blooming, and new magical phenomena erupting everywhere. Ahhh, truly a wonderful time of the year!
The grading of 3 points for first place, 2 points for second and 1 for third still stands. This is also the case for up to 2 points for crits and Top3.
Total points of player A in round N = 100 * X/Y
Where:
X = Total number of points given by judges + Bonus points for critiques/Top3
Y = Total number of points possible (3*Number of judges + Bonus Points)
This way the grading is more streamlined in the fact that all rounds up to going to top 8 are graded equally, and there is no handicap for any team that has fewer judges.
Each player starts the next round with the score that he previously had, and another possible 100 points is given to him at the end of that round. Therefore, there is a possible 300 points before the CCL goes to top 8.
You receive one point for submitting a top 3 on time, and one additional point if you critique all of the cards you judged.
You stand in a grand hall, looking upwards to the ruler of this plane, who sits perched regally on his throne. He has sent the other two travelers away, clearly showing that you two have been selected for some special purpose. He explains that he wishes to become more closely allied with your planes, to the point where he wishes to create an interplanar embassy for you on this plane. He wishes that you create it however you will, and bestows huge tracks of land to you, as well as the magic to create. You graciously accept his offer, and when the power is bestowed upon you, you realize that it contains mana from all five colors. This leads you the realization that you can enhance and perfect your (guild/group). The instant you begin to harness all the five colors of mana, white light blinds you... you find yourself gazing upon the plane, then your vision expands and you gaze upon the multiverse itself. Your planeswalker spark has awakened. After coming to terms with your new power, you realize that you can use it to take out the competetition...
Challenge
1. Create a planeswalker card of your leader. You may use any combination of the colors of your character and your new color. (Explained in number 2)
2. Create a non-basic land that is two colors, one of which not being one of your original colors. Activated abilities are optional.
3. Create two creatures using the new color that you have chosen, one at common rarity and one at uncommon rarity.
4. Create a sorcery, instant or artifact to kill/defeat your opponent. (They are a planeswalker at this point). You may use any combination of the colors of your character and your new color.
So, join the summer frolic and fun and may the best spellslinger win! (Also, this is a flavorful month, feel free to include backstory wherever you want.)
Gerrard's Mom vs. ohmusama
Useful Links
Signup Thread, Round One, Round 2. Round 3, Round 4, Round 5, Final Round.
Look at that Awesome Banner given to us by SGTChubbz from Kracked Graphics...
Host of the July CCL '10, Host of the March CCL '11
It was interesting building up the insect graveyard theme. I think my cards would play pretty well with existing insects, and work well in traditional green/black attrition strategies as well. I'm thinking about building a Teneb EDH deck at the moment, so my cards this last round are designed with that sort of graveyard control theme in mind.
Yes my second creature is supposed to be common, you must have gotten an old copy
As per vote swap, I would have done so had I gotten a message as such. I did that for the survivor fiinale
Also, people, When you vote please leave feedback! Also, I'll update it and try to change the second creature.
Edit: Ohmusama, you just forgot to change the rarity when you remade the card.
Host of the July CCL '10, Host of the March CCL '11
Great job and I hope you win !!!
halo hunter can never kill baneslayer angel
Originally Posted by Jace, the Mindsculptor: 2/17
Oracle Rules text on Halo hunter from Gatherer:
When Halo Hunter enters the battlefield, destroy target Angel.
BSA is an angel, is it not??
Originally Posted by Zsehaelax:
Oracle Rules text on Baneslayer Angel:
"Protection from Demons" means the following:
Baneslayer Angel can't be targeted by abilities from sources with the creature type Demon"
pwnt
Ooops, will you change that for me!! The render is a "common"
Edit: I see you already did, thanks a lot!
ohmusama has some great ideas as always, but I have a few critiques as well.
Planeswalker: The final ability is cool, but I wish it stayed a planeswalker so it could buff itself later. I don't like the second ability since it is entirely dependent on other cards, I know Nissa has an elf ability but she can produce elves on her own. I'm not sure why vigilance is needed in the first ability. I think you missed some chances to do a cool and more coherent shapeshifting planeswalker, though; copying activated abilities would be cool, or at least if the first ability made permanent Shapeshifters it would help your second ability.
Land: I think this is the most printable card in your set, allowing you either to tap it or tap another land on the turn it comes out if you need one of the colors. Might be printable at uncommon in the right block.
Highway Illusionist: The plainswalk is totally random, but more than that, the creature is awfully large for a white uncommon. 4 power is only seen once or twice a block. It's also weirdly powerful fixing for white(/blue), as every other card that changes basic land type requires tapping. I think this creature would have been cool if it changed a land type and gave a creature landwalk of that type at the same time, but there's no real reason for it to be white then. Vigilance, landwalk, and type changing would have worked as well.
Essence Thief: Losing abilities has been done once before at common, on Snakeform. AFAIK, gaining abilities has only been done on Skill Borrower, Experiment Kraj, and Quicksilver Elemental, meaning rare and limited to activated abilities. The rules complications of both gaining and losing abilities are not something that should really appear on common, and I'm pretty sure there is a reason static and triggered abilities haven't been copied before. I know you had originally designed this at rare, and I understand it is hard to give up an interesting idea, but I don't think this card is printable with that ability, and certainly not at that rarity.
Concealing Trick: Crib Swap, that hits non-creatures and makes a bigger token. I think Ixidron is the only thing that can turn non-morphers face down. The idea is good anyway, but it seems out of place in a set of cards that don't have morph.
Here is how Highway Illusionist came to be:
1. "What would Harbor Serpent look like color shifted to white, but instead as an uncommon?
2. Why not convert an islandwalk to plainswalk (yes I know Harbor Serpent has no islandwalk, but most of these islandhome-esk cards do)
3. White doesn't get bigger creatures, so I knock back the PT to 4/4.
4. It needs an ability, Initially it was 2U: Target land becomes a basic land type of your choice until end of turn" But that read, 2U: This is unblockable this turn." So I nerfted it to only hit your lands, but reduced the cost. It then became a blue "fixer" for 5 color control?
5. Add changling for flavor.
This is the usual process for making cards. Continuing on...
Process for Essence Thief
1. Loved the card Rappelling Scouts from back in the day, and thought it needed an allusion too.
2. Created a similar cost, and copied the PT and the flying ability.
3. Then for obvious reasons, changed its protection from color, to, steal abilities, which fits my vorthos theme
4. THEN realize it should be a common, and swap it to a one time sacrifice activation, reducing its cost and PT to an expensive bear.
In retrospect, what I should have done, was reduced the potency of Highway Illusionist, and made it a common, then let Essence Thief be my uncommon.
Planewalker:Your planeswalker is very subtle in it's applications, especially when it comes to your interaction with the first and second abilities of your walker. (its basically -1: each opponent sacrifices a permanent.) It may be a little powerful for a 4cc walker, but it is 3 colors, so..... not sure. The -6 ability costs 4 turns and 3 permanents to get to at minimum, which is fine for the power level.
Land: Not much difference from your other land you created last round, but this one may be a little more powerful, as the drawback you need to achieve is so easy to achieve. Its a dual land that gives you 3 mana on turn 2. All you need is a 1cmc mana dork or something like that, and you get that mana back.
Creature1 (Common): The mana trick may be too powerful on a common 2cmc creature. Probably uncommon.
Creature2 (Uncommon): A bear with Relic of progenitus effect and it gains protection from the exiled colors. Uncommon? Yes. Power level? Probably on par, since you actually have to have a card in a graveyard for it to be anything other than a bear.
Spell: So you created a 4cmc board wipe that gets rid of everything from creatures to planeswalkers. That right there, even if it costs 4 colored mana, is on the cusp of being broken. Add the fact that you can add more mana into it to make it better for you is very powerful.
Planewalker: "... and gains vigilance and...." Besides minor templating issues, this is not that bad, perhaps even weak for a 2 color 4cmc planeswalker. The first ability requires a creature on your part, as well as the second.
Land: Similar to Rupture spire in it's drawback, but you forsake 3 colors (green, black and red) for the opportunity for it coming into play untapped. Definitely uncommon, since the land itself doesn't do anything to boost your mana count the turn it is played. Maybe a bit weak...
Creature1 (common): This is basically wild griffin with a very good ability, but because of the ability, it is already out of common range and into uncommon. That being said, the one-shot ability is interesting if used correctly, but because it just says abilities, you can target darksteel colossus, or better yet, emrakul, and you can have wierd shenanigans. Definitely not common.
Creature2 (uncommon): A 6cc 4/4 with plainswalk that is essentially a 5 turn clock, because all you have to do is turn one of their lands into plains... seems uncommon, except that the activated ability can be used more than once, which means you have an endless supply of convincing mirage for 1 blue mana, effectively shutting down decks like jund or bant which rely on specific colors. Or permenantly shut down man-lands.... seems too powerful for uncommon, but not yet rare.... not sure. Seems blue to me too.
Spell: Basically crib swap that can work on permanents...., isn't an instant, and has a more constrictive mana cost, and gives your opponent a bigger body for their permanent.... and they can still get if back if they bounce it back to their hand, etc.... seems really weak for a removal spell, imo, but it is an uncommon.
Both people have their faults in their submissions, mainly in design of the cards. However, from my anaylsis, I think Gerrard's mom created slightly more streamlined cards.
Take a mechanic from the pre-mirrodin era, and a mechanic after the mirrodin era, and create a card that flavorfully melds both mechanics.
Host of the July CCL '10, Host of the March CCL '11
Thanks again Monkey for hosting, and ohmusama for a great final showing, however it ends up!