* Overview
* Schedule
* Challenge Rounds
* Critique Rounds
* Valid Entry Constitution
* Scoring
* Penalties
* Resources
* Credits
------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Overview
The CCL is among the more fun games on the MtGSalvation forums due to its inherent aspect of interactivity among the Leaguers (that’s you). We actively critique each other’s card designs at the end of each round, putting a more personal interest into our cards and generally making us all better designers. Typically, we build worlds more complete than many games, as each round builds on the designs and ideas of previous rounds in the month. The CCL allows for Leaguers to plumb the depths of creativity, as the point schedule aspect allows for three full rounds without fear of elimination.
* Schedule
o The CCL will run six rounds, each lasting five days.
+ Rounds 1, 2 & 3 will be free-for-alls with each leaguer fighting for the most points during critiques. At the beginning of each of these rounds. The host will divide the league members evenly into two teams and each team will be assigned their design challenge. At the challenge deadline, the round will elapse into the critique section (see Critiques below). Once the critique section ends, the host will tally points and post the next round. Team rosters are likely to change between rounds; the new rosters will be included in the initial posting for the next round.
o Each round will last five days: 3.5 to finalize designs, 1.5 for critiques.
o The schedule will usually operate according to US Easter time zone (GMT -5) We will stick to this schedule as closely as possible, adjusting as necessary.
* Challenge Rounds
o At the start of each round, the host will post the challenge for the round. This may be, at the host’s discretion, a single challenge for all leaguers, a list for each leaguer to choose from, challenges assigned to each leaguer, or other challenge variation.
o Each Leaguer will post his/her entry by the deadline, 3.5 days after the round is posted.
* Critique Rounds
o At the end of each challenge round, the host, or an individual the host designates, will officially close the round and open the forum for critiques. After this point, modifying the post containing your entry for the round will incur penalties (see Penalties section).
o Each Leaguer will thoroughly critique at least 50% of the entries given by the leaguers on the other team.
o In addition to the critiques, each Leaguer generates his/her list of the Top 3 entries for the round. The Top 3 listings are the chief source of points within the CCL and are therefore required to complete. Even if critiques are not completed, Top 3’s must be listed to avoid penalties (see Penalties for penalty schedule). Regardless of the cards actually critiqued by a given Leaguer, Top 3’s can be drawn from any valid entry of the round. Submitting Top 3’s grants one point.
o A valid critique does not need to be lengthy. A few constructive sentences will do as long as they are meaningful. Neither “Hated it,” “Too expensive,” nor “Bahhrokken!!!” are valid critiques.
Example:
The following card is submitted by Fitzgerald:
A few decent critics:
from Tiberius: Templating issue with “nonpermanent card,” it's confusing and should just read “instant or sorcery card.” And the cost seems steep: I’m giving up a mana, a card, and immediate access to the card I looked for. Creative, but not bad.
from Wilhelmina: I hate the name. Also the shuffle part should be right after removing the tutored card instead of on a separate line. Seems powerful as an instant, play it on the opponents turn and you get basically a free draw, but you get to pick it.
from Beauregard: A bit complicated for uncommon. It doesn’t go to microtext on a render (sans flavor text) but it still isn’t all that intuitive.
* Valid Entry Constitution
o A valid entry in a given round cleanly delivers all required components of the challenge. The CCL is based around card design, so each challenge will direct Leaguers to design one or more cards, but other components may be given according to the judge’s discretion. Historically, these non-card components have included such things as keyword mechanic designs, story pieces, and various ideas for the judge to incorporate into later rounds. Include only what is described by the challenge requirements, as superfluous items may sway judgings unfairly and will incur penalties.
o It is customary to include card renders in entries. This is not required. Some Leaguers may not have access to render design software and therefore will not be penalized for posting an entry without a render. However, it must be understood that a proper render is easier to judge/critique as it is more pleasing to the eye, more memorable and allows for Leaguers to judge the card by its wordiness, a very important aspect of a card’s design. Common rendering software used include Magic Set Editor (free program, the standard that most amateur designers use), PhotoShop (not free), and GIMP (free PhotoShop knockoff).
* Scoring
o The bulk of available points will be derived from Top 3 listings, as is League custom. Within each Top 3 listing, the choice for 1st place will be awarded 3 points, the choice for 2nd place will receive 2 points, and the choice for 3rd place will receive 1 point. It is common for Leaguers to post an Honorable Mention or two along with their T3 listings. Honorable Mentions are not awarded points. Posting T3s is required and awards one point for completion of the requirements. There are penalties for failure to post T3s (see Penalties section).
o Critiques are an optional aspect of the CCL, therefore no penalties are given for failure to complete critiques. Any Leaguer completing critiques for at least 50% of the other team's entries will receive 1 bonus point. An additional point will be awarded if a Leaguer critiques all valid entries in the round.
o As noted in the section on Valid Entry Constitution, entries are encouraged to contain proper card renders. Some Leaguers may not have access to render design software and will not be penalized for posting an entry without a render.
* Penalties
o Failure to post Top 3s as required during the Critique section of any round will put a Leaguer on probation. While on probation, failure to post an Top 3 in any later round will disqualify that Leaguer for the remainder of the month.
o Once a Round elapses into its critique section, any Leaguer modifying their entry after any leaguer has posted a critique, will be disqualified for the round.
o Failure to post an entry within the Challenge round will put a Leaguer on probation. While on probation, failure to post an entry in any later round will disqualify that Leaguer for the remainder of the month.
* Resources
o This is a templating guideline compiled by Kraj. It is quite concise and very useful.
o Making Magic by Mark Rosewater, current head of Magic Design at Wizards of the Coast. Making Magic is a weekly article detailing the trials, tribulations and achievements of Magic R&D in riveting prose.
o Magiccards.info is the database mtgsalvation draws upon when you use the [card] tag. The advanced search functionality is useful for searching all cards officially printed by WotC.
o Gatherer is the database maintained officially by WotC. It has slightly different functionality than magiccards.info, but the differences are too numerable to list here. (Someone should write an article about that)
o Your other Leaguers are fantastic resources. We, more than the players of other games on this forum, are a community, as can be seen by the dialogue of any CCL thread.
+ Question, consult with, challenge and encourage each other at every opportunity.
o Credits
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.
Round 5 Challenge: Do all five challenges (5) combining Zendikar's flavor and your avatar’s flavor
Challenge 1: Create a Landfall enchantment that interacts with your avatar to interact with the wild nature of the mana.
Challenge 2: Create an Ally to join your party on the quest
Challenge 3: Create a Man-land that embodies your avatar's flavor
Challenge 5: Create a 2.0 version of your original planeswalker, drawing on their experiences on this journey through Magic history.
Churning VisionsW
Enchantment (r) Landfall - Whenever a land enters the battlefield under your control, you may put a permanent from your graveyard onto the battlefield, then exile that permanent. "This plane is forever changing, but the soil beneath my feet is only the newest incarnation of this ancient world. It carries the hopes of generations long passed, if only the people here would learn to listen."
Mana Courser2UU
Creature - Illusion Ally (u)
Flying
Whenever Mana Courser or another ally you control enters the battlefield, you may return an instant or sorcery card with converted mana cost less than or equal to the number of allies you control from your graveyard to you hand.
2/2
Mirror Coast
Land (u)
Mirror Coast comes into play tapped. T: Add U to your mana pool. 1: Mirror Coast becomes copy of target creature attacking you until end of turn. "You can see your reflection in most moats, but rarely is it part of the defense!" - Grithkalik, Goblin Vault-Cracker
Indomitable Resolve2WW
Instant (r)
Gain control of each permanent that has dealt damage to you this turn. "To block or dodge is to invite another attack. Let them strike you. Let them know that they have injured you as egregiously as they can and that it will never be enough."
Kanada Sovereign2UUWW
Planeswalker - Kanada (M)
{+1} Gain 2 life for each untapped creature you don't control.
{-2} Gain control of target tapped creature.
{-8} Gain control of all creatures.
{5}
Adaptive Chaos1UR {R}
Enchantment Landfall - Whenever a land enters the battlefield under your control, if it was the first land you played this turn, you may destroy target land. That land's controller reveals their library. Choose a land. That player puts the chosen land onto the battlefield tapped. "Those who adapt to the every-changing land learn to control the chaos." - Nicholas Toreth
Sight-Sage Captain1U {U}
Creature - Human Ally Wizard
Whenever Sight-Sage Captain or another ally enters the battlefield under your control, you may scry X, where X is the number of allies you control.
1/3 "I can see the mists of the future as well as our certain victory." - Ilmesh, Squad Captain
Firespout Geysers {R}
Land
Firespout Geysers enters the battlefield tapped. T: Add U or R to your mana pool. 2UR: Firespout Geysers becomes a 1/3 blue and red elemental creature until end of turn with, "T: Firespout Geysers deals 1 damage to target creature or player. Draw a card." It's still a land.
Recall to the Roil4UR {R}
Sorcery
Return all non-land permanents to their owner's hand, then each player discards their hand and draws seven cards. "When the Roil takes from the land, it always returns something new in its place." - Nicolas Toreth
Nicholas Toreth, Roilmaster3UR{M}
Planeswalker - Nicholas
[+1] Return target creature to its owner's hand
[-1] Nicholas deals X damage to target creature, where X is the number of cards in it's controller's hand.
[-8] Each player discards their hand and draws seven cards. Until end of turn, you may cast cards discarded this way without paying their mana cost.
(5)
Now I ask of you, the viewer, to judge which of these two will ascend to greatness and which will be lost in the Roil for all of eternities.
DEADLINE NOTE:
This poll will be up until the 20th!
Congratulations to the both of you for making it to this stage, and thanks to MagicProfessor28 for a great month!
Landfall - Both of you made extremely weird cards, but I suppose most of the basic landfall effects were already done. Monkey's execution is janky, but the core idea of Polymorph for lands seems better to me than whatever WT's card is supposed to do (get one more use of E/LTB effects?).
Ally - Ally is capitalized guys, c'mon. Both solid effects, but I like WT's better since it didn't have to use a not-really-evergreen mechanic.
Land - Would like to see a larger activation cost on WT's land, but this idea is much more exciting than making a land into a creature with a tap ability. It could even be a replacement to Celestial Colonnade, since the attacking restriction fits for white.
Spell - 2WW would be fine for WT's spell if it targeted one thing, and work ok in white, but to get every permanent that damaged you is crazy. This would just shut down aggro weenie sort of strategies, and it's pretty amazing even against a single mid-range or larger target. Monkey's card is priced somewhat more reasonably, although I really wish it let you draw "that many" cards, a la Tolarian Winds, instead of seven. This is the perfect chance for that since everyone is likely to have a bunch of cards.
Walkers - Something about all of WT's guy's abilities starting with "Gain" irritates me. Mostly it's the fact that the ultimate is redundant with the minus ability, so it discourages using the minus ability. Would have much rather seen something different on one of those; a minus ability that kept you from being attacked would set up a better use of the plus ability, for example. Monkey's guy is the best repeatable bounce we've seen in a while, but it's about par for a planeswalker. This one seems a little better than the random collection of red and blue abilities that the first walker was, because it has nice internal synergy in building up hand size and exploiting that. I'm not sure about the wording, took me a while to realize you could cast the opponent's discarded spells, but the idea is pretty cool.
Although I think WT has been more consistently innovative over the month, Monkey's card appealed more to me in three out of the five categories here, so he will get my vote. It was certainly close, though, and the cost on the fourth card could have swayed it WT's way. I think Monkey improved a lot this month though, moving from pretty obvious and boring red/blue combinations to things with a little more inner synergy and innovation.
MP: For future reference, these polls should be made public to prevent vote fraud. It's up to you guys if you want to restart or if it's ok, I don't suspect that either of these contestants would cheat.
MP: For future reference, these polls should be made public to prevent vote fraud. It's up to you guys if you want to restart or if it's ok, I don't suspect that either of these contestants would cheat.
Oh, true, its just that when I checked April's (It was the first I could find in the searches lol), it was private.
Usually it's not a problem, there were issues one time. Also, if anyone ever needs to look at past CCLs, my sig has a link to the discussion thread, and the first post has links to the final round of every CCL since we got trophy status (March 2009). I'll add this round as well when it finishes.
Are we restarting this as public or continuing? (I too wish to know who crazy voted for...)
If we aren't, I think the fairest way to go about us voting is for both of us to vote for ourselves. That way if one of us has already cheated, it won't matter. (I don't believe that either of us have cheated, and I haven't voted yet).
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
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.
Are we restarting this as public or continuing? (I too wish to know who crazy voted for...)
If we aren't, I think the fairest way to go about us voting is for both of us to vote for ourselves. That way if one of us has already cheated, it won't matter. (I don't believe that either of us have cheated, and I haven't voted yet).
I think you guys can both vote for yourselves... I dont think anyone cheated and I would rather not cut too far into September's CCL. If you guys want me to make a new poll, I can do so, but it is up to both of you...
I think you guys can both vote for yourselves... I dont think anyone cheated and I would rather not cut too far into September's CCL. If you guys want me to make a new poll, I can do so, but it is up to both of you...
I'm perfectly fine with this. WhisperedThunder?
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
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.
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.
Congrats to MonkeyPlayingMTG! Your walker survives the ordeal and goes on to open a school to teach future generations of walkers to hone their skills! You may claim your award by posting in the CCL Discussion thread, where you will be added to the list of names awaiting their trophies. (Maybe GM can answer a little more about that)
Nicely done Monkey! I'll link this up and put you on the list, every once in a while I send PMs to the mods here and a couple of random admins trying to get the CCL trophies distributed, but I've never gotten an answer as to what the real process is. Occasionally they appear.
Congratulations to MTG, although I didn't vote for you.
Actually, it does frustrate me a bit that Crazy says he voted for the guy with the most consistent entries, but we don't know who he voted for :-P
I'm one of those three guys (the 4th vote is from yourself) that vote for you. I didn't know that the votes are hidden for the last part.
Here is my good suggestion. I hope for the month of October, the votes should be hidden like in the finals to avoid manipulation and tactics if both were present.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
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Special Thanks to
SGT Chubbz from Kracked Graphics for the awesome banner!
Custom Card League Rules Compendium
* Overview
* Schedule
* Challenge Rounds
* Critique Rounds
* Valid Entry Constitution
* Scoring
* Penalties
* Resources
* Credits
------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Overview
The CCL is among the more fun games on the MtGSalvation forums due to its inherent aspect of interactivity among the Leaguers (that’s you). We actively critique each other’s card designs at the end of each round, putting a more personal interest into our cards and generally making us all better designers. Typically, we build worlds more complete than many games, as each round builds on the designs and ideas of previous rounds in the month. The CCL allows for Leaguers to plumb the depths of creativity, as the point schedule aspect allows for three full rounds without fear of elimination.
* Schedule
o The CCL will run six rounds, each lasting five days.
+ Rounds 1, 2 & 3 will be free-for-alls with each leaguer fighting for the most points during critiques. At the beginning of each of these rounds. The host will divide the league members evenly into two teams and each team will be assigned their design challenge. At the challenge deadline, the round will elapse into the critique section (see Critiques below). Once the critique section ends, the host will tally points and post the next round. Team rosters are likely to change between rounds; the new rosters will be included in the initial posting for the next round.
o Each round will last five days: 3.5 to finalize designs, 1.5 for critiques.
o The schedule will usually operate according to US Easter time zone (GMT -5) We will stick to this schedule as closely as possible, adjusting as necessary.
* Challenge Rounds
o At the start of each round, the host will post the challenge for the round. This may be, at the host’s discretion, a single challenge for all leaguers, a list for each leaguer to choose from, challenges assigned to each leaguer, or other challenge variation.
o Each Leaguer will post his/her entry by the deadline, 3.5 days after the round is posted.
* Critique Rounds
o At the end of each challenge round, the host, or an individual the host designates, will officially close the round and open the forum for critiques. After this point, modifying the post containing your entry for the round will incur penalties (see Penalties section).
o Each Leaguer will thoroughly critique at least 50% of the entries given by the leaguers on the other team.
o In addition to the critiques, each Leaguer generates his/her list of the Top 3 entries for the round. The Top 3 listings are the chief source of points within the CCL and are therefore required to complete. Even if critiques are not completed, Top 3’s must be listed to avoid penalties (see Penalties for penalty schedule). Regardless of the cards actually critiqued by a given Leaguer, Top 3’s can be drawn from any valid entry of the round. Submitting Top 3’s grants one point.
o A valid critique does not need to be lengthy. A few constructive sentences will do as long as they are meaningful. Neither “Hated it,” “Too expensive,” nor “Bahhrokken!!!” are valid critiques.
Example:
The following card is submitted by Fitzgerald:
A few decent critics:
from Tiberius: Templating issue with “nonpermanent card,” it's confusing and should just read “instant or sorcery card.” And the cost seems steep: I’m giving up a mana, a card, and immediate access to the card I looked for. Creative, but not bad.
from Wilhelmina: I hate the name. Also the shuffle part should be right after removing the tutored card instead of on a separate line. Seems powerful as an instant, play it on the opponents turn and you get basically a free draw, but you get to pick it.
from Beauregard: A bit complicated for uncommon. It doesn’t go to microtext on a render (sans flavor text) but it still isn’t all that intuitive.
* Valid Entry Constitution
o A valid entry in a given round cleanly delivers all required components of the challenge. The CCL is based around card design, so each challenge will direct Leaguers to design one or more cards, but other components may be given according to the judge’s discretion. Historically, these non-card components have included such things as keyword mechanic designs, story pieces, and various ideas for the judge to incorporate into later rounds. Include only what is described by the challenge requirements, as superfluous items may sway judgings unfairly and will incur penalties.
o It is customary to include card renders in entries. This is not required. Some Leaguers may not have access to render design software and therefore will not be penalized for posting an entry without a render. However, it must be understood that a proper render is easier to judge/critique as it is more pleasing to the eye, more memorable and allows for Leaguers to judge the card by its wordiness, a very important aspect of a card’s design. Common rendering software used include Magic Set Editor (free program, the standard that most amateur designers use), PhotoShop (not free), and GIMP (free PhotoShop knockoff).
* Scoring
o The bulk of available points will be derived from Top 3 listings, as is League custom. Within each Top 3 listing, the choice for 1st place will be awarded 3 points, the choice for 2nd place will receive 2 points, and the choice for 3rd place will receive 1 point. It is common for Leaguers to post an Honorable Mention or two along with their T3 listings. Honorable Mentions are not awarded points. Posting T3s is required and awards one point for completion of the requirements. There are penalties for failure to post T3s (see Penalties section).
o Critiques are an optional aspect of the CCL, therefore no penalties are given for failure to complete critiques. Any Leaguer completing critiques for at least 50% of the other team's entries will receive 1 bonus point. An additional point will be awarded if a Leaguer critiques all valid entries in the round.
o As noted in the section on Valid Entry Constitution, entries are encouraged to contain proper card renders. Some Leaguers may not have access to render design software and will not be penalized for posting an entry without a render.
* Penalties
o Failure to post Top 3s as required during the Critique section of any round will put a Leaguer on probation. While on probation, failure to post an Top 3 in any later round will disqualify that Leaguer for the remainder of the month.
o Once a Round elapses into its critique section, any Leaguer modifying their entry after any leaguer has posted a critique, will be disqualified for the round.
o Failure to post an entry within the Challenge round will put a Leaguer on probation. While on probation, failure to post an entry in any later round will disqualify that Leaguer for the remainder of the month.
* Resources
o This is a templating guideline compiled by Kraj. It is quite concise and very useful.
o Making Magic by Mark Rosewater, current head of Magic Design at Wizards of the Coast. Making Magic is a weekly article detailing the trials, tribulations and achievements of Magic R&D in riveting prose.
o Magiccards.info is the database mtgsalvation draws upon when you use the [card] tag. The advanced search functionality is useful for searching all cards officially printed by WotC.
o Gatherer is the database maintained officially by WotC. It has slightly different functionality than magiccards.info, but the differences are too numerable to list here. (Someone should write an article about that)
o Your other Leaguers are fantastic resources. We, more than the players of other games on this forum, are a community, as can be seen by the dialogue of any CCL thread.
+ Question, consult with, challenge and encourage each other at every opportunity.
o Credits
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.
Round 5 Challenge: Do all five challenges (5) combining Zendikar's flavor and your avatar’s flavor
Challenge 1: Create a Landfall enchantment that interacts with your avatar to interact with the wild nature of the mana.
Challenge 2: Create an Ally to join your party on the quest
Challenge 3: Create a Man-land that embodies your avatar's flavor
Challenge 4: Create an ultimate spell your avatar uses to defeat Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
Challenge 5: Create a 2.0 version of your original planeswalker, drawing on their experiences on this journey through Magic history.
Churning Visions W
Enchantment (r)
Landfall - Whenever a land enters the battlefield under your control, you may put a permanent from your graveyard onto the battlefield, then exile that permanent.
"This plane is forever changing, but the soil beneath my feet is only the newest incarnation of this ancient world. It carries the hopes of generations long passed, if only the people here would learn to listen."
Mana Courser 2UU
Creature - Illusion Ally (u)
Flying
Whenever Mana Courser or another ally you control enters the battlefield, you may return an instant or sorcery card with converted mana cost less than or equal to the number of allies you control from your graveyard to you hand.
2/2
Mirror Coast
Land (u)
Mirror Coast comes into play tapped.
T: Add U to your mana pool.
1: Mirror Coast becomes copy of target creature attacking you until end of turn.
"You can see your reflection in most moats, but rarely is it part of the defense!"
- Grithkalik, Goblin Vault-Cracker
Indomitable Resolve 2WW
Instant (r)
Gain control of each permanent that has dealt damage to you this turn.
"To block or dodge is to invite another attack. Let them strike you. Let them know that they have injured you as egregiously as they can and that it will never be enough."
Kanada Sovereign 2UUWW
Planeswalker - Kanada (M)
{+1} Gain 2 life for each untapped creature you don't control.
{-2} Gain control of target tapped creature.
{-8} Gain control of all creatures.
{5}
To read his commentary go here:
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showpost.php?p=5802107&postcount=2 ( I highly recommend it )
Adaptive Chaos 1UR {R}
Enchantment
Landfall - Whenever a land enters the battlefield under your control, if it was the first land you played this turn, you may destroy target land. That land's controller reveals their library. Choose a land. That player puts the chosen land onto the battlefield tapped.
"Those who adapt to the every-changing land learn to control the chaos." - Nicholas Toreth
Sight-Sage Captain 1U {U}
Creature - Human Ally Wizard
Whenever Sight-Sage Captain or another ally enters the battlefield under your control, you may scry X, where X is the number of allies you control.
1/3
"I can see the mists of the future as well as our certain victory." - Ilmesh, Squad Captain
Firespout Geysers {R}
Land
Firespout Geysers enters the battlefield tapped.
T: Add U or R to your mana pool.
2UR: Firespout Geysers becomes a 1/3 blue and red elemental creature until end of turn with, "T: Firespout Geysers deals 1 damage to target creature or player. Draw a card." It's still a land.
Recall to the Roil 4UR {R}
Sorcery
Return all non-land permanents to their owner's hand, then each player discards their hand and draws seven cards.
"When the Roil takes from the land, it always returns something new in its place." - Nicolas Toreth
Nicholas Toreth, Roilmaster 3UR{M}
Planeswalker - Nicholas
[+1] Return target creature to its owner's hand
[-1] Nicholas deals X damage to target creature, where X is the number of cards in it's controller's hand.
[-8] Each player discards their hand and draws seven cards. Until end of turn, you may cast cards discarded this way without paying their mana cost.
(5)
Now I ask of you, the viewer, to judge which of these two will ascend to greatness and which will be lost in the Roil for all of eternities.
DEADLINE NOTE:
This poll will be up until the 20th!
Useful Links:
Sign-Up Thread
Round 1: The Brother’s War
Round 2: The Phyrexian Invasion
Round 3: The False God
Round 4: The Metallic World
Round 5: The City of Guilds (Top 4)
Final Round: The Living Plane (Top 2)
Best of Luck to each player!
Let the Games Begin,
MagicProfessor28
Landfall - Both of you made extremely weird cards, but I suppose most of the basic landfall effects were already done. Monkey's execution is janky, but the core idea of Polymorph for lands seems better to me than whatever WT's card is supposed to do (get one more use of E/LTB effects?).
Ally - Ally is capitalized guys, c'mon. Both solid effects, but I like WT's better since it didn't have to use a not-really-evergreen mechanic.
Land - Would like to see a larger activation cost on WT's land, but this idea is much more exciting than making a land into a creature with a tap ability. It could even be a replacement to Celestial Colonnade, since the attacking restriction fits for white.
Spell - 2WW would be fine for WT's spell if it targeted one thing, and work ok in white, but to get every permanent that damaged you is crazy. This would just shut down aggro weenie sort of strategies, and it's pretty amazing even against a single mid-range or larger target. Monkey's card is priced somewhat more reasonably, although I really wish it let you draw "that many" cards, a la Tolarian Winds, instead of seven. This is the perfect chance for that since everyone is likely to have a bunch of cards.
Walkers - Something about all of WT's guy's abilities starting with "Gain" irritates me. Mostly it's the fact that the ultimate is redundant with the minus ability, so it discourages using the minus ability. Would have much rather seen something different on one of those; a minus ability that kept you from being attacked would set up a better use of the plus ability, for example. Monkey's guy is the best repeatable bounce we've seen in a while, but it's about par for a planeswalker. This one seems a little better than the random collection of red and blue abilities that the first walker was, because it has nice internal synergy in building up hand size and exploiting that. I'm not sure about the wording, took me a while to realize you could cast the opponent's discarded spells, but the idea is pretty cool.
Although I think WT has been more consistently innovative over the month, Monkey's card appealed more to me in three out of the five categories here, so he will get my vote. It was certainly close, though, and the cost on the fourth card could have swayed it WT's way. I think Monkey improved a lot this month though, moving from pretty obvious and boring red/blue combinations to things with a little more inner synergy and innovation.
Oh, true, its just that when I checked April's (It was the first I could find in the searches lol), it was private.
If we aren't, I think the fairest way to go about us voting is for both of us to vote for ourselves. That way if one of us has already cheated, it won't matter. (I don't believe that either of us have cheated, and I haven't voted yet).
Host of the July CCL '10, Host of the March CCL '11
I think you guys can both vote for yourselves... I dont think anyone cheated and I would rather not cut too far into September's CCL. If you guys want me to make a new poll, I can do so, but it is up to both of you...
I'm perfectly fine with this. WhisperedThunder?
Host of the July CCL '10, Host of the March CCL '11
Thank you for both that and an excellent month! It was so much fun to compete against and critique your flavorful and excellent cards!
Host of the July CCL '10, Host of the March CCL '11
Congrats to MonkeyPlayingMTG! Your walker survives the ordeal and goes on to open a school to teach future generations of walkers to hone their skills! You may claim your award by posting in the CCL Discussion thread, where you will be added to the list of names awaiting their trophies. (Maybe GM can answer a little more about that)
Best Regards and congrats to both our finalists!
Thanks for a great month everyone!
Best Regards,
MagicProfessor28
I'm one of those three guys (the 4th vote is from yourself) that vote for you. I didn't know that the votes are hidden for the last part.
Here is my good suggestion. I hope for the month of October, the votes should be hidden like in the finals to avoid manipulation and tactics if both were present.