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.
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.
The Vackur were a strange race. No one knows much about them, as they were extinct ages ago, but what is known is their wine. The Vackur could make wine out of anything, anything at all. No one ever found out how the process is done, which makes the few bottles that survived the most expensive type of spirit in the world.
As you sit in your new study sipping a glass of your very own bottle of Vackurian wine one made out of the first drops of rain after a drought, the sound of laughter, the scent of the sea after a storm and the blue color of the rainbow, you can't help but smile giddily to yourself.
You've done it!
Right under Mr. Teeth's nose, you stole the greatest treasure there ever was, you've manged to escape unharmed. You've heard that, in the end, all the others that were supposed to be a part of Mr. Teeth's team had betrayed him. Serves him right, you think. At the end of a very long night, your own team as well as three others wound up reaching the treasure at the same time. You don't mind that much, though, because the sheer size of the treasure was mind-boggling. You've never seen so many riches.
Everyone grabbed all they can, and left in a hurry, but soon Mr Teeth was upon you. You didn't see exactly what was going on, but by the sound of it, not too many survived. Whoever Mr. Teeth is, he sure knows how to fight.
And now you sit at your study, in a brand new house, bought with only a small fraction of what you've managed to take with you from that place. You've spent so much, and yet there seems to be no end to it, and you are certain that you took the most valuable part of that treasure.
You know there are dangers too. Even though the authorities didn't make public the fact that the treasure was stolen, they might still be looking for you, and you can be sure Mr. Teeth would love to get back at you for cheating him of his prize.
But why worry? you've got the best defenses money could ever buy, and all you need to do now is try and think of the many ways you can enjoy your spoils...
The final Mission:
Create a total of six cards:
A land, your new home, your fortress, someplace where no one can attack you or harm you
An enchantment, which you've paid someone to cast over your new keep in order to protect your treasures from being stolen by others, and/or to ward people off your property.
Two creatures, hired/bought/created as guards to protect your treasure. They should be impossible to bribe and formidable.
An instant or sorcery card, the best money can buy, to be used as your last minute plan, in case all other protections fail.
And most importantly:
An artifact, being the treasure you stole. It needs to be worthwile and powerful, something anyone would want to have. Interpret as you will.
BlackBull and Brasil_Dude101, you will have four days to post your cards (Until midnight when December 21th becomes December 22th) and please, let's try and make it this time.
Wow, my first finals and a pretty insane challenge to boot.
Holder. Luckily my last final is tomorrow, so I should be able to meet the deadline.
The Study:
Argent Conservatory
Art: A building in esperite fashion can be seen on a cliffside. It is nighttime, and moonrays are reflecting off of the buiding's various surfaces.
Land {R}
Argent Conservatory enters the battlefield tapped.
:symtap:: Add your mana pool.
:symtap:, Reveal an artifact card from your hand: Add two mana in any combination of colors to your mana pool. Spend this mana only to cast artifact spells or activate abilities of artifacts.
The Protection:
Torpor Field3UUU
Art: A city block is surrounded by a blue bubble. A fireball, shot at the bubble, is attempting to break through, but is not able to do so.
Enchantment {R}
If another permanent would leave the battlefield, it stays on the battlefield instead.
Whenever a player casts an instant or sorcery spell, counter that spell unless that player pays "I'd prefer keeping things the way they are.""
The Servants:
Strand Weaver1UBB
Art: An man-like construct with a few insect-like features stands in a hallway. From a hole in each of it's palms, numerous wires extend. Off to the side, several bodies can be seen bound by the wires.
Artifact Creature - Construct {R}
Creatures with counters on them don't untap during their controller's untap step. BB,T: Put a -1/-1 counter on target creature. Should it ever desert its master, it's final order will be to bind itself. 2/3
Mirrordiver3UW
Art: Several mirrors are present inside a room. In the largest one, a ghastly face can be seen. A hand reaches out from a mirror beside it.
Artifact Creature - Illusion{R}
Tap an untapped artifact you control: Exile Mirrordiver. Return it to play at the beginning of the next end step.
Tap two untapped artifacts you control: Mirrordiver is unblockable until end of turn. "Mirror, mirror on the wall. Aren't you the greatest fiend of all?" 4/4
The Ace:
Mindshift1UW
Art: The body of fallen soldier, who is mostly made of etherium, lays beside his sword. An odd purple mist surrounds his head, and trails to his sword, which is standing up on its own.
Instant {R}
As an additional cost to cast Mindshift, exile an artifact you control.
Return target artifact creature card from your graveyard to play. It has haste. "The day I ceased to be human was the day my mind was set free."
The Treasure:
Etherium Wellstone2
Art: A hand holds a small, intricately carved metal sphere. From a hole in the sphere, liquid metal appears be pouring out, streaming across all of the sphere's ridges and crevasses, before ultimately falling off.
Artifact {MR}
:symtap:: Add to your mana pool. Spend this mana only to cast artifact spells or activate abilities of artifacts. ,T: Put a copy of Etherium Wellstone into play. It is the spring from which all artifice flows.
Muscle:
Bae, the Crusher4WU
Art: A rather muscled man is punching a wall. His arms, which from the elbow down look like large turbines with hands protruding from their tip, have strands of metal attached to them. The wall, which appears to be rather thick, is crumbling like styrofoam.
Legendary Artifact Creature - Human Rogue {R}
Creatures with power less than Bae, the Crusher's power can't block it.
Tap an untapped artifact you control: Bae, the Crusher gets +2/+2 until end of turn. No one ever understood how he was able to carry those gigantic arms. 3/3
Infiltrator:
Verin the Cloaked1UBB
Art: A cloaked figure stands near a floating molten metallic mass. The person's arm, their only visible feature, is made of etherium Filigree, and is radiating magic which seems to be manipulating the metallic mass.
Legendary Artifact Creature - Vedalken Rogue {R}
:symtap:, Sacrifice an artifact: You may put an artifact card from your hand onto the battlefield. If it is a creature, it has haste. Rejecting conventional transmutation allowed for the creation of a more efficient, although more volatile method. 1/2
Mastermind:
Toth Millefiore1UWB
Art: A vedalken teacher appears to be messing with the minds of the students inside the classroom.
Legendary Artifact Creature - Vedalken Rogue {R}
:1mana::symu::symb:, :symtap:, Discard an artifact card: Search your library for an artifact card and put it into your hand. "Your ideas are shallow and scatter-brained. If you want to be a true artificer, you must be willing to focus on the task at hand." 1/3
As much as Rhoad would have enjoyed extracting every mineral from Teeth's body, he was currently not in a position to do so. And so, it appeared as though he would have to do battle with one of his own kind. He was not sure just who exactly had made it of the fray, but whomever it was, they must have been at least as strong as Rhoad himself, and would therefore not be easy to defeat.
As Rhoad rested in his cot, knowing the inevitable would eventually come, he took the opportunity to strengthen himself: he took one of his hidden ingots and began to assimilate it into his body. It was then, while the raw etherium flowed into him, that he came up with a plan. It would be costly, but if the opponent was as powerful as Rhoad feared, it would have to be done. After all, as mighty as someone is, if they're encased in metal, they're little more than a statue. And Rhoad certainly had enough metal within him to coat a person. It would most likely take months to recover the etherium he would waste, but if Rhoad were to die, then it would all be meaningless anyway.
Tendrils of Artifice2WB
Art: You can see a man, with his arm, which is being drained of metal, extended towards another. From his hand, strands of metal lead to the other man, who is horrified at the fact he is being encased in metal.
Instant{R}
As an additional cost to cast Tendrils of Artifice, sacrifice an artifact.
Target nonartifact permanent becomes a noncreature artifact and loses all abilities.(This effect last indefinitely.)
“I would gladly lose all my etherium to see it coated upon you.”
Even with his strategy, Rhoad still felt unsure. But it wasn't about the upcoming fight. It was about Teeth. But he would do it eventually. Kill Teeth. He just needed access to him. But Teeth was as enigmatic as they come, and would most likely never reveal himself to Rhoad. Thus, Rhoad would somehow need to be able to see what Teeth was planning. And as he continued to absorb the etherium ingot, he remembered an old spell his teacher had once taught him. It had been originally devised to help create decorative mirrors, but in this case, it would do much more.
Endless Reflections1UU
Art: As a wisps of magic stream overtop various metallic surfaces, they become more and more reflective.
Enchantment{U}
Tap an untapped artifact you control: Draw a card, then discard a card. A good mirror reflects the present.
A better mirror reflects everything.
As the first guards began to pour in from left and right, Rhoad saw that there would be no easy way to escape. As fast as he was, even he could not avoid this many guards while weaving his way to the exit. And while he took a few a few seconds to ponder his next move, he felt something tugging at his leg.
He looked down to find his marionette holding onto him in fear, like a nervous child holds onto its parent.
"I don't recall giving you fear..." he muttered to himself, looking at the marionette.
However, rather than consider the small construct a failure (since it feared battle), it instead gave Rhoad a brilliant idea. He'd designed the construct to be hyper magnetic so that it would attract everything unto itself. But what if he'd done the opposite? Rhoad picked his little construct up and put it on his shoulder.
"Let's get out of here." he told the little construct.
Rhoad summoned up what mana he could and proceeded to modify the structure of both his and the marionette's etherium so that they would repel everything. However, the amount of mana necessary to maintain his bodily etherium in this configuration was not small. Rhoad knew the spell would soon wear off, but it would have to be enough.
Paramagnetize3WU
Instant {R}
Artifacts you control are indestructible and have shroud until end of turn. "Magnets both attract and repel. If you can circumvent the attraction part, what do you expect will happen?"
Rhoad, the Swiftfooted2UB
Legendary Artifact Creature - Human Rogue {R}
:2mana:: Put a 1/1 colorless Rogue artifact creature token named Afterimage onto the battlefield. It has haste and “At the beginning of the next end step, exile Afterimage.” Rhoad, the Swiftfooted gets -1/-1 until end of turn. With legs of Etherium, who can keep up? 3/3
Rhoad had never had anyone request anything of him before. At least not in regards to stealing anything. Although, that may in part have been due to the fact that all he ever stole was Etherium.
Even though he was skeptical, Rhoad had little doubts that there were, in fact, vast pockets of wealth scattered about this world. And if he was to accomplish to goal of discarding his human self, money to buy Etherium would be useful. But it would be foolhardy to jump into anything unprepared. Although he preferred extracting the Etherium and using it to replace his flesh, having it in the form of a weapon had it's own advantages. Besides, in a worst case scenario, he could ignore the associated pain and just graft it onto himself like he'd done with those Lightning Greaves all those years ago...
(In case you didn't get it, Rhoad grafted the Etherium version of some Lightning Greaves to his legs, which is why he is fast enough to leave afterimages.)
Etherium Blade2
Artifact {U}
Equipped creature gets +2/+0. Meld - :4mana:, Sacrifice Etherium Blade: Equipped creature gets +3/+2 and becomes an artifact in addition to its other types. (This effect lasts indefinitely.)
Equip “Think of the sword as an extension of yourself.”
Notes on Meld: Meld is meant to represent the fusing of a given artifact to another permanent. For example, a weapon with Meld would literally fuse to the wearer's arm. This increases the boost in power, as the weapon is now literally a part of the wielder, but removes the weapon's ability to be wielded by another person. The process of fusing with the weapon, however, also creates a vulnerability in that the weapon, which was an artifact, is now part of the wielder, and thus the wielder is now part artifact.
Although the greaves grafted to Rhoad's legs made him fast enough to avoid most spells, if this was going to be dangerous and difficult enough to warrant this many thieves, he figured he'd need some other distraction to keep him safe. But rather than find some poor fool who would hopefully get in the way on time, Rhoad chose to create an interference who, if needed, could follow orders. Although it pained him grreatly to do so, he extracted some etherium from his own body, and proceeded to craft it into the shape of a small creature. He soon brought it to life, but not before modifying its composition so as to give it magnetic properties. Now, if he ever fell prey to a spell, he could just toss this construct aside, and in theory, the spell would switch targets. Rhoad was hoping he would not have to make more than one of them though, as the pain associated with extracting etherium was even greater than that of grafting it onto one's self. However, if push came to shove, he'd make the sacrifice to stay alive.
Magnetic Marionette3
Artifact Creature - Construct{U}
You may cast Magnetic Marionette any time you could cast an instant by sacrificing an artifact in addition to its other costs.
When Magnetic Marionette enters the battlefield, change the target of target spell that targets only a single creature or artifact to Magnetic Marionette. 2/2
First of all, it was a pleasure to compete along the month with all of you. Also, I'm grateful and feel proud for making the cut into the finals in my first CCL. Thanks to all of you who made me reach this point.
The second thing I want to do mention is about my designs for this round. I decided to don't try to follow the simple and conservative design style that's usual in me. Instead of that, I tried to play with the posibilities and made cards for a variated number of mtg players' psychographics (even so, I still being not a fan of mixing keywords for flashy effects. Sorry for that.) Hope you like them!
PS: I had a lack of time for making flavor texts, but I think that I made my cards enough flavourful to be clear without necessarily needing one of those (I hope :p)
Liquimetal Stronghold Land R T: Add 1 to your mana pool. 5, T: Put a creature token that's a copy of target nonlengendary attacking creature an opponent controls onto the battlefield, except it’s an artifact in addition to its other types and has no abilities. Exile the token at the beginning of the next end step.
The enchantment trick:
Malicious Projection2BB
Enchantment R XB, Discard a card with converted mana cost X: target creature gets -X/-X until end of turn. If that creature is put into a graveyard this way, you gain X life.
Lackey A:
Abyssal Monstrosity2BBB Creature – Horror R Flying When Abyssal Monstrosity enters the battlefield, destroy target creature. Pay half of your life, rounded up: Return Abyssal Monstrosity to its owner’s hand. 4/3
Lackey B:
Skinwearer1UB Creature – Shapeshifter Assassin R Flying, shroud Whenever a nontoken creature blocks or become blocked by Skinwearer, you may pay X, where X is that creature’s converted mana cost. If you do, destroy that creature. Skinwearer becomes a copy of that creature. (This effect lasts indefinetly.) 2/1
The ace up one's sleeve:
Arrogant Rebuttal3UUB Sorcery R Return target permanent an opponent controls to its owner’s hand. Draw cards equal to that permanent’s converted mana cost unless its controller discards his or her hand.
The almighty treasure:
Minaroo7
Legendary Artifact M
Minaroo is indestructible. T: Add one mana of any color to your mana pool for each card type among permanents you control. (Artifact, creature, enchantment, land, planeswalker, and tribal are types of permanent.)
yeah. As I've expected, Teod became a paranoid, bad boy.
This challenge in particular just so happens to be clearly defined. I mean, asking for "Two creatures ... impossible to bribe and formidable" makes it pretty clear.
@As: Will the deadline be strictly respected, or we will have time to make the last touches to oure entries tonight? (Even past midnight. Now, here it is 7:40 pm, and I'll be at my place at 12.00 my time.) Just to know.
EDIT: If I'm getting this correctly you're both done? I'll give you 12 hours for last minute changes and then post the poll.
To be honest, after reading my entire entry with a critic eye, I don't feel good with the whole thing, and would like to make some changes on it. I hope to be able when I get back home. :/ (if not, well. That's fine too.)
BB, I really rather not extend the deadline. No offense, but if I do this contest might slip through to January, and that seems to me like it's too much of a delay.
If it makes you feel any better, I didn't feel good about the cards I submitted for the finals I won, so maybe that is a sign that victory is eminent :).
I've been fine with my stuff ever since I submit it. I'm not entirely confident in my cards, but I doubt I could produce anything better in the given time frame, so I guess it's up to the poll now. G'luck. (I hope Teeth doesn't eat us. >_>)
Thanks to Lanxal for the gorgeous banner!
Card Creation League
* 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
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.
Signups
Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Round 4
Semifinals
The Vackur were a strange race. No one knows much about them, as they were extinct ages ago, but what is known is their wine. The Vackur could make wine out of anything, anything at all. No one ever found out how the process is done, which makes the few bottles that survived the most expensive type of spirit in the world.
As you sit in your new study sipping a glass of your very own bottle of Vackurian wine one made out of the first drops of rain after a drought, the sound of laughter, the scent of the sea after a storm and the blue color of the rainbow, you can't help but smile giddily to yourself.
You've done it!
Right under Mr. Teeth's nose, you stole the greatest treasure there ever was, you've manged to escape unharmed. You've heard that, in the end, all the others that were supposed to be a part of Mr. Teeth's team had betrayed him. Serves him right, you think. At the end of a very long night, your own team as well as three others wound up reaching the treasure at the same time. You don't mind that much, though, because the sheer size of the treasure was mind-boggling. You've never seen so many riches.
Everyone grabbed all they can, and left in a hurry, but soon Mr Teeth was upon you. You didn't see exactly what was going on, but by the sound of it, not too many survived. Whoever Mr. Teeth is, he sure knows how to fight.
And now you sit at your study, in a brand new house, bought with only a small fraction of what you've managed to take with you from that place. You've spent so much, and yet there seems to be no end to it, and you are certain that you took the most valuable part of that treasure.
You know there are dangers too. Even though the authorities didn't make public the fact that the treasure was stolen, they might still be looking for you, and you can be sure Mr. Teeth would love to get back at you for cheating him of his prize.
But why worry? you've got the best defenses money could ever buy, and all you need to do now is try and think of the many ways you can enjoy your spoils...
The final Mission:
Create a total of six cards:
A land, your new home, your fortress, someplace where no one can attack you or harm you
An enchantment, which you've paid someone to cast over your new keep in order to protect your treasures from being stolen by others, and/or to ward people off your property.
Two creatures, hired/bought/created as guards to protect your treasure. They should be impossible to bribe and formidable.
An instant or sorcery card, the best money can buy, to be used as your last minute plan, in case all other protections fail.
And most importantly:
An artifact, being the treasure you stole. It needs to be worthwile and powerful, something anyone would want to have. Interpret as you will.
BlackBull and Brasil_Dude101, you will have four days to post your cards (Until midnight when December 21th becomes December 22th) and please, let's try and make it this time.
Good luck!
Host, December 2015: A Winter Wonderland? - R1|R2|R3|Top 8|Semifinals|Finals|Poll
Host, CCL April 2014: A Game of Fate - Signup|R1|R2|R3|Top 8|Semifinal|Finals|Poll
Host, CCL December 2012: Spy Games - Signup|R1|R2|R3|Top 8|Semifinals|Finals|Poll
Host, CCL November 2010: The Perfect Crime - Signup|R1|R2|R3|Top 8|Semifinals|Finals|Poll
Host, CCL August 2009: A Commander's Journey: Signups|R1|R2|R3|Top 8|Semifinals|Finals|Poll
I've got tons of art from the web. Want art for a render? PM me! Want to create your own collection? Start here!
Holder. Luckily my last final is tomorrow, so I should be able to meet the deadline.
Argent Conservatory enters the battlefield tapped.
:symtap:: Add your mana pool.
:symtap:, Reveal an artifact card from your hand: Add two mana in any combination of colors to your mana pool. Spend this mana only to cast artifact spells or activate abilities of artifacts.
The Protection:
If another permanent would leave the battlefield, it stays on the battlefield instead.
Whenever a player casts an instant or sorcery spell, counter that spell unless that player pays
"I'd prefer keeping things the way they are.""
The Servants:
Creatures with counters on them don't untap during their controller's untap step.
BB,T: Put a -1/-1 counter on target creature.
Should it ever desert its master, it's final order will be to bind itself.
2/3
Tap an untapped artifact you control: Exile Mirrordiver. Return it to play at the beginning of the next end step.
Tap two untapped artifacts you control: Mirrordiver is unblockable until end of turn.
"Mirror, mirror on the wall. Aren't you the greatest fiend of all?"
4/4
As an additional cost to cast Mindshift, exile an artifact you control.
Return target artifact creature card from your graveyard to play. It has haste.
"The day I ceased to be human was the day my mind was set free."
:symtap:: Add to your mana pool. Spend this mana only to cast artifact spells or activate abilities of artifacts.
,T: Put a copy of Etherium Wellstone into play.
It is the spring from which all artifice flows.
Creatures with power less than Bae, the Crusher's power can't block it.
Tap an untapped artifact you control: Bae, the Crusher gets +2/+2 until end of turn.
No one ever understood how he was able to carry those gigantic arms.
3/3
:symtap:, Sacrifice an artifact: You may put an artifact card from your hand onto the battlefield. If it is a creature, it has haste.
Rejecting conventional transmutation allowed for the creation of a more efficient, although more volatile method.
1/2
:1mana::symu::symb:, :symtap:, Discard an artifact card: Search your library for an artifact card and put it into your hand.
"Your ideas are shallow and scatter-brained. If you want to be a true artificer, you must be willing to focus on the task at hand."
1/3
As much as Rhoad would have enjoyed extracting every mineral from Teeth's body, he was currently not in a position to do so. And so, it appeared as though he would have to do battle with one of his own kind. He was not sure just who exactly had made it of the fray, but whomever it was, they must have been at least as strong as Rhoad himself, and would therefore not be easy to defeat.
As Rhoad rested in his cot, knowing the inevitable would eventually come, he took the opportunity to strengthen himself: he took one of his hidden ingots and began to assimilate it into his body. It was then, while the raw etherium flowed into him, that he came up with a plan. It would be costly, but if the opponent was as powerful as Rhoad feared, it would have to be done. After all, as mighty as someone is, if they're encased in metal, they're little more than a statue. And Rhoad certainly had enough metal within him to coat a person. It would most likely take months to recover the etherium he would waste, but if Rhoad were to die, then it would all be meaningless anyway.
As an additional cost to cast Tendrils of Artifice, sacrifice an artifact.
Target nonartifact permanent becomes a noncreature artifact and loses all abilities.(This effect last indefinitely.)
“I would gladly lose all my etherium to see it coated upon you.”
Tap an untapped artifact you control: Draw a card, then discard a card.
A good mirror reflects the present.
A better mirror reflects everything.
He looked down to find his marionette holding onto him in fear, like a nervous child holds onto its parent.
"I don't recall giving you fear..." he muttered to himself, looking at the marionette.
However, rather than consider the small construct a failure (since it feared battle), it instead gave Rhoad a brilliant idea. He'd designed the construct to be hyper magnetic so that it would attract everything unto itself. But what if he'd done the opposite? Rhoad picked his little construct up and put it on his shoulder.
"Let's get out of here." he told the little construct.
Rhoad summoned up what mana he could and proceeded to modify the structure of both his and the marionette's etherium so that they would repel everything. However, the amount of mana necessary to maintain his bodily etherium in this configuration was not small. Rhoad knew the spell would soon wear off, but it would have to be enough.
Instant {R}
Artifacts you control are indestructible and have shroud until end of turn.
"Magnets both attract and repel. If you can circumvent the attraction part, what do you expect will happen?"
Legendary Artifact Creature - Human Rogue {R}
:2mana:: Put a 1/1 colorless Rogue artifact creature token named Afterimage onto the battlefield. It has haste and “At the beginning of the next end step, exile Afterimage.” Rhoad, the Swiftfooted gets -1/-1 until end of turn.
With legs of Etherium, who can keep up?
3/3
Rhoad had never had anyone request anything of him before. At least not in regards to stealing anything. Although, that may in part have been due to the fact that all he ever stole was Etherium.
Even though he was skeptical, Rhoad had little doubts that there were, in fact, vast pockets of wealth scattered about this world. And if he was to accomplish to goal of discarding his human self, money to buy Etherium would be useful. But it would be foolhardy to jump into anything unprepared. Although he preferred extracting the Etherium and using it to replace his flesh, having it in the form of a weapon had it's own advantages. Besides, in a worst case scenario, he could ignore the associated pain and just graft it onto himself like he'd done with those Lightning Greaves all those years ago...
(In case you didn't get it, Rhoad grafted the Etherium version of some Lightning Greaves to his legs, which is why he is fast enough to leave afterimages.)
Artifact {U}
Equipped creature gets +2/+0.
Meld - :4mana:, Sacrifice Etherium Blade: Equipped creature gets +3/+2 and becomes an artifact in addition to its other types. (This effect lasts indefinitely.)
Equip
“Think of the sword as an extension of yourself.”
Artifact Creature - Construct{U}
You may cast Magnetic Marionette any time you could cast an instant by sacrificing an artifact in addition to its other costs.
When Magnetic Marionette enters the battlefield, change the target of target spell that targets only a single creature or artifact to Magnetic Marionette.
2/2
First of all, it was a pleasure to compete along the month with all of you. Also, I'm grateful and feel proud for making the cut into the finals in my first CCL. Thanks to all of you who made me reach this point.
The second thing I want to do mention is about my designs for this round. I decided to don't try to follow the simple and conservative design style that's usual in me. Instead of that, I tried to play with the posibilities and made cards for a variated number of mtg players' psychographics (even so, I still being not a fan of mixing keywords for flashy effects. Sorry for that.) Hope you like them!
PS: I had a lack of time for making flavor texts, but I think that I made my cards enough flavourful to be clear without necessarily needing one of those (I hope :p)
The story so far...
The fortress:
Liquimetal Stronghold
Land R
T: Add 1 to your mana pool.
5, T: Put a creature token that's a copy of target nonlengendary attacking creature an opponent controls onto the battlefield, except it’s an artifact in addition to its other types and has no abilities. Exile the token at the beginning of the next end step.
The enchantment trick:
Malicious Projection 2BB
Enchantment R
XB, Discard a card with converted mana cost X: target creature gets -X/-X until end of turn. If that creature is put into a graveyard this way, you gain X life.
Lackey A:
Abyssal Monstrosity 2BBB
Creature – Horror R
Flying
When Abyssal Monstrosity enters the battlefield, destroy target creature.
Pay half of your life, rounded up: Return Abyssal Monstrosity to its owner’s hand.
4/3
Lackey B:
Skinwearer 1UB
Creature – Shapeshifter Assassin R
Flying, shroud
Whenever a nontoken creature blocks or become blocked by Skinwearer, you may pay X, where X is that creature’s converted mana cost. If you do, destroy that creature. Skinwearer becomes a copy of that creature. (This effect lasts indefinetly.)
2/1
The ace up one's sleeve:
Arrogant Rebuttal 3UUB
Sorcery R
Return target permanent an opponent controls to its owner’s hand. Draw cards equal to that permanent’s converted mana cost unless its controller discards his or her hand.
The almighty treasure:
Minaroo 7
Legendary Artifact M
Minaroo is indestructible.
T: Add one mana of any color to your mana pool for each card type among permanents you control. (Artifact, creature, enchantment, land, planeswalker, and tribal are types of permanent.)
Good luck, BrasilDude!
Host, December 2015: A Winter Wonderland? - R1|R2|R3|Top 8|Semifinals|Finals|Poll
Host, CCL April 2014: A Game of Fate - Signup|R1|R2|R3|Top 8|Semifinal|Finals|Poll
Host, CCL December 2012: Spy Games - Signup|R1|R2|R3|Top 8|Semifinals|Finals|Poll
Host, CCL November 2010: The Perfect Crime - Signup|R1|R2|R3|Top 8|Semifinals|Finals|Poll
Host, CCL August 2009: A Commander's Journey: Signups|R1|R2|R3|Top 8|Semifinals|Finals|Poll
I've got tons of art from the web. Want art for a render? PM me! Want to create your own collection? Start here!
EDIT: If I'm getting this correctly you're both done? I'll give you 12 hours for last minute changes and then post the poll.
Host, December 2015: A Winter Wonderland? - R1|R2|R3|Top 8|Semifinals|Finals|Poll
Host, CCL April 2014: A Game of Fate - Signup|R1|R2|R3|Top 8|Semifinal|Finals|Poll
Host, CCL December 2012: Spy Games - Signup|R1|R2|R3|Top 8|Semifinals|Finals|Poll
Host, CCL November 2010: The Perfect Crime - Signup|R1|R2|R3|Top 8|Semifinals|Finals|Poll
Host, CCL August 2009: A Commander's Journey: Signups|R1|R2|R3|Top 8|Semifinals|Finals|Poll
I've got tons of art from the web. Want art for a render? PM me! Want to create your own collection? Start here!
Edit: To be honest, after reading my entire entry with a critic eye, I don't feel good with the whole thing, and would like to make some changes on it. I hope to be able when I get back home. :/ (if not, well. That's fine too.)
EDIT2: I think I'm done. *crossing fingers*
If it makes you feel any better, I didn't feel good about the cards I submitted for the finals I won, so maybe that is a sign that victory is eminent :).
Host, December 2015: A Winter Wonderland? - R1|R2|R3|Top 8|Semifinals|Finals|Poll
Host, CCL April 2014: A Game of Fate - Signup|R1|R2|R3|Top 8|Semifinal|Finals|Poll
Host, CCL December 2012: Spy Games - Signup|R1|R2|R3|Top 8|Semifinals|Finals|Poll
Host, CCL November 2010: The Perfect Crime - Signup|R1|R2|R3|Top 8|Semifinals|Finals|Poll
Host, CCL August 2009: A Commander's Journey: Signups|R1|R2|R3|Top 8|Semifinals|Finals|Poll
I've got tons of art from the web. Want art for a render? PM me! Want to create your own collection? Start here!
Are you done, BDude? I can't wait to see what happens in the poll and to see others' feedback about our cards.
Host, December 2015: A Winter Wonderland? - R1|R2|R3|Top 8|Semifinals|Finals|Poll
Host, CCL April 2014: A Game of Fate - Signup|R1|R2|R3|Top 8|Semifinal|Finals|Poll
Host, CCL December 2012: Spy Games - Signup|R1|R2|R3|Top 8|Semifinals|Finals|Poll
Host, CCL November 2010: The Perfect Crime - Signup|R1|R2|R3|Top 8|Semifinals|Finals|Poll
Host, CCL August 2009: A Commander's Journey: Signups|R1|R2|R3|Top 8|Semifinals|Finals|Poll
I've got tons of art from the web. Want art for a render? PM me! Want to create your own collection? Start here!