Card Creation League - December Vote for the Winner!
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.
In this contest, the contestants were asked to design Magic cards based on particular elements. What kind of elements? It could be natural elements like Fire, Earth, Wind and Water. Supernatural elements like Force, Destruction, Illusion, and Space. Even elements like Time, Poison, and Restoration/Destruction are considered elements.
The reason being is because behind most Magic cards, there's more to a card than just it's color. A Blizzard Elemental is blue, sure, but it also contains the elemental property of Ice. Some cards like Quicken shout the card's element in your face (Time).
It all comes down to two contestants--Gerrard's Mom and Phyrexian Editor! In the beginning they were assigned to pick and choose thier signiture elements that they may later use, along with picking up new ones along the way. As finalists, they are the two contestants to use their elements to make brand new cards, and you, the reader, will determine which of these two finalists made the more "elemental" cards!
For reference, here was the criteria: Round Final: You are to make 5 cards. Each using one element, plus ANY other element you choose in combination with it. The combination is completely optional. The types of cards are as follows:
1) A Planeswalker card featuring your primary element + Any of your secondary elements only.
2) A Creature card (Secondary Element + Any other element)
3) Instant or Sorcery card (Unused Secondary + Any other element)
4) Artifact or Enchantment card (Unused Secondary + Any other element)
and
5)
A Plane (Planechase-Plane I mean). (Last Unused Secondary Element + Any other element.)
* If you have two primary elements, you may choose one of them for 1), and treat the other primary as a secondary element.
* In addition, the second primary element will be treated as a secondary element for the remaining tasks.
* By "Any Other Element", I mean you are free to choose any Element listed to design your card, including elements previously used. This is an option, for you are able to make a card with just the secondary element only.
* If you have more than 5 elements, you don't need to include all 6 or more in your submissions.
(Force/Mental Planeswalker) Ognir Benom2WU
Planeswalker - Ognir (M)
+1: Put a 0/2 colorless Wall creature token with defender and flying onto the battlefield.
-2: Until your next turn, whenever an opponent casts a spell, counter it unless that player pays 2.
-6: You get an emblem with "Tap four untapped Walls you control: Gain control of target permanent."
{4}
(Illusion Creature) Enveloping Dream1UU
Creature - Illusion Wall (U)
Defender
Whenever Enveloping Dream blocks a creature, you may pay U. If you do, Enveloping Dream becomes an Aura enchantment with enchant creature. Attach it to the attacking creature.
Enchanted creature doesn't untap during its controller's untap step.
0/3
(Artifice/Animation Instant) Cast Off the ShellGU
Instant (U)
As an additional cost to cast Cast Off the Shell, sacrifice an artifact or enchantment.
Search your library for a creature card with converted mana cost equal to the sacrificed permanent's converted mana cost and put that card onto the battlefield. Then shuffle your library.
(Mental Enchantment) Utter Mastery4UU
Enchantment (M)
Whenever an opponent would cast a spell from their hand, before paying any costs, that player instead exiles a card from their hand face down. Then you name a card and that player reveals the exiled card. If it is the named card, that player must pay the card's mana cost, then it is countered. Otherwise, that player may cast the card as normal.
(Light Plane) The Razor Fields
Plane - Mirrodin
Whenever an attacking creature becomes blocked, The Razor Fields deals 1 damage to that creature and 1 damage to that creature's controller.
Whenever you roll , choose target player. On that player's next turn, creatures he or she controls attack if able.
Ainn, Weaveslider2UU
Planeswalker - Ainn {MR}
<+1> Tap or untap up to two target creatures. They don't untap during their controller's next untap step.
<-3> Take an extra turn after this one. Skip the untap step of that turn.
<-7> You get an emblem with "Whenever you cast a spell, take an extra turn after this one."
[[3]]
2. Space + Force
Septon, Pacific Intercessor4UU
Legendary Creature - Elemental {R}
Flying
Other blue creatures you control have "T: Tap target permanent."
4/4 At the Deep Temple, the merfolk offer their prayers to Septon, illuminated by the emerald glow of luminescent algae.
3. Restoration/Healing + Creation
Saturnine Bloom3G
Instant {U}
Gain X life and put X 0/1 green Plant creature tokens onto the battlefield, where X is the total toughness of all creatures put into graveyards this turn. In the silent moment after wars are won and lost, new life surges forth once again.
4. Artifice/Animation + Time
Twinning RingxWU
Enchantment {U}
Vanishing X
When Twinning Ring enters the battlefield, exile target permanent. If you do, Twinning Ring becomes a copy of that permanent, except it's still an enchantment with Vanishing, and it gains "When this permanent leaves the battlefield, return all cards exiled with it to the battlefield under their owners' control."
5. Draining + Creation
The Soulwarp
Plane - New Phyrexia
Sacrifice a creature: Add mana equal to the sacrificed creature's mana cost to your mana pool. (Mana cost includes color.) If that mana is spent to cast a creature spell, that creature has haste.
{CHAOS}: When you roll {CHAOS}, until end of turn, any time you could activate a mana ability, you may pay 1 life. If you do, add B to your mana pool.
And for reference, here is the list of elements. You may use this table to determine the flavor of the submitted cards.
Earth
Lightning
Water
Fire
Ice
Wind
Dark
Light
Space/Reality
Time
Creation
Destruction
Force
Mental
Spiritual/Aura
Restoration/Healing
Natural/Nature
Artifice/Animation
Absorption/Draining
Illusion/Mimicry
Poison/Miasma
I have also done the best I can to make an accurate ranking list for each element in correspondence to the five mana types. This may help you when you are designing cards based on my criteria. Copy/Paste/Save.
Earth
White **
Blue *
Black **
Red *****
Green ****
Water
White *
Blue *****
Black ***
Red *
Green **
Wind
White **
Blue *****
Black *
Red **
Green ****
Fire
White *
Blue *
Black ***
Red *****
Green **
Ice/Snow
White *
Blue *****
Black *
Red ***
Green **
Lightning
White ***
Blue **
Black **
Red *****
Green *
Time
White *
Blue *****
Black **
Red ***
Green *
Poison/Miasma
White *
Blue ***
Black *****
Red *
Green ****
Dark
White *
Blue *
Black *****
Red **
Green **
Light
White *****
Blue *
Black *
Red **
Green **
Absorption
White ***
Blue **
Black *****
Red *
Green ***
Metal/Artifice
White ****
Blue *****
Black **
Red ***
Green **
Space/Reality
White ***
Blue *****
Black *
Red **
Green *
Natural
White **
Blue **
Black ***
Red ***
Green *****
Healing/Restoration
White ****
Blue *
Black ***
Red *
Green *****
Aura/Spiritual
White *****
Blue **
Black *
Red **
Green ****
Mental/Psychic
White *
Blue *****
Black ***
Red ***
Green *
Force (Non-Elemental)
White **
Blue ***
Black **
Red ****
Green *****
Mimicry/Illusion
White *
Blue *****
Black ***
Red **
Green ***
Destruction
White *
Blue **
Black ****
Red *****
Green ***
Creation
White *
Blue **
Black ***
Red ****
Green *****
Putting in the gentlemom's vote for my opponent.
I can comment later, but he does have a great set! I was shooting for a defense-oriented strategy and cards that would work well together in the same deck. My original inspiration for the whole month was Illusionary Wall, Illusionary Forces and the like, invisible force magic is cool in D&D as well. I wanted a little Magic Missile but I didn't want to branch out into red here.
Utter Mastery's wording is almost certainly wrong, but hopefully you can get the gist of what it does, counter if you can name what they are going to play.
PE: I think your PW’s final reads: “You win the game.” For me, a final must clean the path to the victory, but shouldn’t walk it for you. It was a pretty smart last time move adding “up to” to your PW’s first ability. Nobody wants to face a situation in wich they wouldn’t be able to add loyalty to their walker. I really love your Twining Ring. Very clever and amusing design. Not a fan of your Opposition on legs. Also, it would have been more elegant if clariffying wich kind of permanents you want to tap (because nobody really cares about tapping planeswalkers, enchantments, or almost the equipments.) Saturnine Bloom feels overpowered to me. I’m almost sure the best way to go with this was to make the card cheaper for the first effect, or keeping the current cost for just the second effect (possibly making hard colored.) Both effects in the same card is just sick. I’m not going to talk about planes, because I still having no idea about how they work, and I’m neither interested in learning about them for now.
GM: I was playing around the concept in Utter Mastery, and couldn’t get a shorter and clear text for it. It sounds fun, but it is just too way complicated for being able to turn into an elegant design. I’m surprised you decided to use this particular design in your final pool. Very nice PW concept. I like the flavor behind it, and the way it works. Would really liked to play test with it. I just want to mention that you missed to clarify at wich exactly point of your next turn the second ability’s effect ends. Cast of the Shell definitly shouldn’t be an instant. It is just too versatile to play at that level. Beside that, pretty clever design. I’m wondering what prevented you from givin’ flying to Enveloping Dream. Now it feels very nice, but a little lowpow.ç The same about your plane as said to PE.
To be honest, I feel like choosing the less worst one, instead of the best one of your entries. I’m not a fan of any of your card sets. Instead of that, I’m a fan of just one card from each, and the rest just doesn’t ring my bell.
I think I must choose a potential winner, uh? Well, since I’m not convinced about to wich entry give my vote, I’m not going to vote this time. I feel that voting in the two possible ways would be pottentially unjust for any of you.
I hope my short review helps you in someway, and good luck for both.
I was more focused on fitting the individual elements than creating around a theme, although Ainn was a "Weaveborn" character I was building up in flavor text in my previous cards. Since I'm working on my own set for the first time, centered on "divine magic," I am trying to balance to rarity more than I normally do, and Septon is going to be part of a cycle in that set. I hope Ainn will appear in it too.
I love taking extra turns, which is why I chose Time as my primary element, and I think there are fun interactions built into Ainn. For example, you can play him, lock down your opponent with his +1 while you play a couple of guys, then use his -3, attack, then on the extra turn use his +1 on your own guys and get in another combat phase. Perhaps the ultimate should cost more, but I wanted to push the power level and then reel it back in a bit later if I had to.
On GM's side, my favorite is definitely Enveloping Dream, which solves so many of the problems with that kind of no-untap enchantment. Obviously you have been as disappointed by Bonds of Quicksilver as I was.
I invite everyone to post your thoughts in detail if you have time. (Even just your quick impressions would be welcome.)
EDIT: Thanks, Blackbull, for your comments. Perhaps I undervalue lifegain, but gaining back some life and some 0/1s doesn't seem too overpowered to me when we have Blunt the Assault at the same cost in the most recent set... and it is still too underpowered to see much play.
I've been thinking about Utter Mastery too and I think it can be made to work. Maybe like this?
Enchantment
If an opponent would cast a spell from his or her hand, instead he or she exiles a card from his or her hand face down. Then you name a card and that player reveals the exiled card. If it is the named card, that player must cast it, then it is countered. Otherwise, that player may cast the card.
This doesn't loop infinitely because the card is ultimately cast from exile, not the opponent's hand. Though I'm not sure it captures the "no-cost-paying" part. Maybe this?
Opponents can't cast spells.
Exile a card from your hand face down: Target player names a card, then the exiled card is revealed. If it is the named card, you must cast it, then it is countered. Otherwise, you may cast the card. Only any opponent may activate this ability.
"Until your next turn" is fine according to Chronomantic Escape. Utter Mastery has some problems with non-mana casting costs at the moment, not really sure how to fix it though. Again, will try to comment more later but I'm pretty busy this week.
This poll is supposed to be public, but in this case I actually know my opponent and I'm not worried about cheating.
Gerrard, I wonder if you could clear this up for me:
Utter Mastery4UU
Enchantment (M)
Whenever an opponent would cast a spell from their hand, before paying any costs, that player instead exiles a card from their hand face down. Then you name a card and that player reveals the exiled card. If it is the named card, that player must pay the card's mana cost, then it is countered. Otherwise, that player may cast the card as normal.
The way this currently worded, I'm having trouble understanding the sequence of plays. What I'm having trouble understanding is the following:
Assuming you guess right, which spell is paid for and countered? The original spell that would've been cast, or the exiled spell? (Because with the current wording, those two can be mutually exclusive since it says to "exile a card".)
On a related note, if you guess wrong, upon the resolution of the triggered ability, "that player may cast the card as normal." What spell is this referring to?
The intention is for them to exile the spell they are going to cast, then if you guess the name they have to pay for it and it is canceled. This is hard to execute because you have to guess before they actually announce the spell, since it would be revealed then.
So:
Player A wants to play a spell, exiles card face down.
Player B (controller of Utter Mastery) guesses the card is a Doom Blade.
Player A reveals the card - if it is Doom Blade, he pays 1B but it is countered. If it is Terror (or anything else), he pays the cost as normal and puts the spell on the stack.
Does that make sense? You can't exile one card and then cast something else from your hand instead; that should trigger the Utter Mastery again. That's why it works around exiling the card temporarily, otherwise you could just say you are going to cast one of the spells in your hand and play the one that they don't guess.
Why not just skip the whole deal about exiling it before the cost is paid? Yes, it makes it easier to guess the card, but it makes the enchantment more elegant.
Zzapper - :symur::symur:
Instant (R)
Destroy target permanent with a Z in its name. I'm the Z zapper. I zap Z's. I really don't like Z's. I just don't. I mean, who needs them? Z's. pfffft.
Yup, I'm online at all hours, I'm an insomniac, what of it?
Is that your tie-breaking vote as host? Unfortunately we can't check the votes, but I'm ok with a host decision. It's cool that it was this close, and that's a decent turnout.
I think Phyrexian Editor's planeswalker is probably too good, although maybe mine is too boring, I just had a cool image of four walls making a cage to get stuff. Twinning Ring is pretty great out of his set, and the legend is more exciting than my creature, although I think mine is fine for what it wants to do. The planes are pretty much a wash, maybe I should have just made mine trigger on attacks, not blocks.
EDIT: That's weird, it definitely appeared to be 8-8 with the poll closed last time I looked...
Is that your tie-breaking vote as host? Unfortunately we can't check the votes, but I'm ok with a host decision. It's cool that it was this close, and that's a decent turnout.
I think Phyrexian Editor's planeswalker is probably too good, although maybe mine is too boring, I just had a cool image of four walls making a cage to get stuff. Twinning Ring is pretty great out of his set, and the legend is more exciting than my creature, although I think mine is fine for what it wants to do. The planes are pretty much a wash, maybe I should have just made mine trigger on attacks, not blocks.
EDIT: That's weird, it definitely appeared to be 8-8 with the poll closed last time I looked...
It was 8-6 when I made the decision and when it hit Sunday Morning, 12:05 AM. I didn't even cast a vote at all.
Except for maybe a couple of instances, Gerrard's cards seem to flow a bit better to me than Phyrexian's. Don't get me wrong, I like both sides and concepts, but I especially like the plane for Gerrard's and that was pretty much my deciding factor.
Thanks everyone, it's nice to see a large number of votes and a close race. Phyrexian Editor is actually a good RL friend of mine from studying in Japan, and I think I got him started here, so it was a lot of fun to compete against him in a final.
Thanks ImpulsiveKnowledge also for the interesting month, dividing by elements and not colors or card types was cool. The only thing I would have done would be to maybe hold people a little more closely to their original elements, it seemed like every round we were using something totally new so it was a little hard to build up a theme. It was good to try out a lot of different things though, and it made me try some types of cards I hadn't done much of before, so no real complaints
Yup, you showed me this site back in Wakayama on one of my visits out from Korea.
Congrats, sir! Losing to you is nothing to be ashamed of. I agree that my planeswalker was probably too good. I definitely fell in love with your wall of quicksilver, which is a great, great idea. The flavor of your PW is very cool too. I hope to get another shot at you in the future!
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Vote for the Winner!
* 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.
Sign-ups
Round 1
Round 2
Round 4
Round 5
In this contest, the contestants were asked to design Magic cards based on particular elements. What kind of elements? It could be natural elements like Fire, Earth, Wind and Water. Supernatural elements like Force, Destruction, Illusion, and Space. Even elements like Time, Poison, and Restoration/Destruction are considered elements.
The reason being is because behind most Magic cards, there's more to a card than just it's color. A Blizzard Elemental is blue, sure, but it also contains the elemental property of Ice. Some cards like Quicken shout the card's element in your face (Time).
It all comes down to two contestants--Gerrard's Mom and Phyrexian Editor! In the beginning they were assigned to pick and choose thier signiture elements that they may later use, along with picking up new ones along the way. As finalists, they are the two contestants to use their elements to make brand new cards, and you, the reader, will determine which of these two finalists made the more "elemental" cards!
For reference, here was the criteria:
Round Final: You are to make 5 cards. Each using one element, plus ANY other element you choose in combination with it. The combination is completely optional. The types of cards are as follows:
1) A Planeswalker card featuring your primary element + Any of your secondary elements only.
2) A Creature card (Secondary Element + Any other element)
3) Instant or Sorcery card (Unused Secondary + Any other element)
4) Artifact or Enchantment card (Unused Secondary + Any other element)
and
5)
A Plane (Planechase-Plane I mean). (Last Unused Secondary Element + Any other element.)
* If you have two primary elements, you may choose one of them for 1), and treat the other primary as a secondary element.
* In addition, the second primary element will be treated as a secondary element for the remaining tasks.
* By "Any Other Element", I mean you are free to choose any Element listed to design your card, including elements previously used. This is an option, for you are able to make a card with just the secondary element only.
* If you have more than 5 elements, you don't need to include all 6 or more in your submissions.
Gerrards Mom
Primary Elements: Force, Artifice/Animation
Secondary: Mental, Light, Illusion
Ognir Benom 2WU
Planeswalker - Ognir (M)
+1: Put a 0/2 colorless Wall creature token with defender and flying onto the battlefield.
-2: Until your next turn, whenever an opponent casts a spell, counter it unless that player pays 2.
-6: You get an emblem with "Tap four untapped Walls you control: Gain control of target permanent."
{4}
(Illusion Creature)
Enveloping Dream 1UU
Creature - Illusion Wall (U)
Defender
Whenever Enveloping Dream blocks a creature, you may pay U. If you do, Enveloping Dream becomes an Aura enchantment with enchant creature. Attach it to the attacking creature.
Enchanted creature doesn't untap during its controller's untap step.
0/3
(Artifice/Animation Instant)
Cast Off the Shell GU
Instant (U)
As an additional cost to cast Cast Off the Shell, sacrifice an artifact or enchantment.
Search your library for a creature card with converted mana cost equal to the sacrificed permanent's converted mana cost and put that card onto the battlefield. Then shuffle your library.
(Mental Enchantment)
Utter Mastery 4UU
Enchantment (M)
Whenever an opponent would cast a spell from their hand, before paying any costs, that player instead exiles a card from their hand face down. Then you name a card and that player reveals the exiled card. If it is the named card, that player must pay the card's mana cost, then it is countered. Otherwise, that player may cast the card as normal.
(Light Plane)
The Razor Fields
Plane - Mirrodin
Whenever an attacking creature becomes blocked, The Razor Fields deals 1 damage to that creature and 1 damage to that creature's controller.
Whenever you roll
VS.
Phyrexian Editor
Primary Elements: Time
Secondary Elements: Space, Light, Artifice, Draining, Restoration
1. Time + Light
Ainn, Weaveslider 2UU
Planeswalker - Ainn {MR}
<+1> Tap or untap up to two target creatures. They don't untap during their controller's next untap step.
<-3> Take an extra turn after this one. Skip the untap step of that turn.
<-7> You get an emblem with "Whenever you cast a spell, take an extra turn after this one."
[[3]]
2. Space + Force
Septon, Pacific Intercessor 4UU
Legendary Creature - Elemental {R}
Flying
Other blue creatures you control have "T: Tap target permanent."
4/4
At the Deep Temple, the merfolk offer their prayers to Septon, illuminated by the emerald glow of luminescent algae.
3. Restoration/Healing + Creation
Saturnine Bloom 3G
Instant {U}
Gain X life and put X 0/1 green Plant creature tokens onto the battlefield, where X is the total toughness of all creatures put into graveyards this turn.
In the silent moment after wars are won and lost, new life surges forth once again.
4. Artifice/Animation + Time
Twinning Ring xWU
Enchantment {U}
Vanishing X
When Twinning Ring enters the battlefield, exile target permanent. If you do, Twinning Ring becomes a copy of that permanent, except it's still an enchantment with Vanishing, and it gains "When this permanent leaves the battlefield, return all cards exiled with it to the battlefield under their owners' control."
5. Draining + Creation
The Soulwarp
Plane - New Phyrexia
Sacrifice a creature: Add mana equal to the sacrificed creature's mana cost to your mana pool. (Mana cost includes color.) If that mana is spent to cast a creature spell, that creature has haste.
{CHAOS}: When you roll {CHAOS}, until end of turn, any time you could activate a mana ability, you may pay 1 life. If you do, add B to your mana pool.
And for reference, here is the list of elements. You may use this table to determine the flavor of the submitted cards.
Earth
Lightning
Water
Fire
Ice
Wind
Dark
Light
Space/Reality
Time
Creation
Destruction
Force
Mental
Spiritual/Aura
Restoration/Healing
Natural/Nature
Artifice/Animation
Absorption/Draining
Illusion/Mimicry
Poison/Miasma
I have also done the best I can to make an accurate ranking list for each element in correspondence to the five mana types. This may help you when you are designing cards based on my criteria. Copy/Paste/Save.
Earth
White **
Blue *
Black **
Red *****
Green ****
Water
White *
Blue *****
Black ***
Red *
Green **
Wind
White **
Blue *****
Black *
Red **
Green ****
Fire
White *
Blue *
Black ***
Red *****
Green **
Ice/Snow
White *
Blue *****
Black *
Red ***
Green **
Lightning
White ***
Blue **
Black **
Red *****
Green *
Time
White *
Blue *****
Black **
Red ***
Green *
Poison/Miasma
White *
Blue ***
Black *****
Red *
Green ****
Dark
White *
Blue *
Black *****
Red **
Green **
Light
White *****
Blue *
Black *
Red **
Green **
Absorption
White ***
Blue **
Black *****
Red *
Green ***
Metal/Artifice
White ****
Blue *****
Black **
Red ***
Green **
Space/Reality
White ***
Blue *****
Black *
Red **
Green *
Natural
White **
Blue **
Black ***
Red ***
Green *****
Healing/Restoration
White ****
Blue *
Black ***
Red *
Green *****
Aura/Spiritual
White *****
Blue **
Black *
Red **
Green ****
Mental/Psychic
White *
Blue *****
Black ***
Red ***
Green *
Force (Non-Elemental)
White **
Blue ***
Black **
Red ****
Green *****
Mimicry/Illusion
White *
Blue *****
Black ***
Red **
Green ***
Destruction
White *
Blue **
Black ****
Red *****
Green ***
Creation
White *
Blue **
Black ***
Red ****
Green *****
The polls with close on January 16th, Sunday.
I can comment later, but he does have a great set! I was shooting for a defense-oriented strategy and cards that would work well together in the same deck. My original inspiration for the whole month was Illusionary Wall, Illusionary Forces and the like, invisible force magic is cool in D&D as well. I wanted a little Magic Missile but I didn't want to branch out into red here.
Utter Mastery's wording is almost certainly wrong, but hopefully you can get the gist of what it does, counter if you can name what they are going to play.
I really love your Twining Ring. Very clever and amusing design.
Not a fan of your Opposition on legs. Also, it would have been more elegant if clariffying wich kind of permanents you want to tap (because nobody really cares about tapping planeswalkers, enchantments, or almost the equipments.)
Saturnine Bloom feels overpowered to me. I’m almost sure the best way to go with this was to make the card cheaper for the first effect, or keeping the current cost for just the second effect (possibly making hard colored.) Both effects in the same card is just sick.
I’m not going to talk about planes, because I still having no idea about how they work, and I’m neither interested in learning about them for now.
GM: I was playing around the concept in Utter Mastery, and couldn’t get a shorter and clear text for it. It sounds fun, but it is just too way complicated for being able to turn into an elegant design. I’m surprised you decided to use this particular design in your final pool.
Very nice PW concept. I like the flavor behind it, and the way it works. Would really liked to play test with it. I just want to mention that you missed to clarify at wich exactly point of your next turn the second ability’s effect ends.
Cast of the Shell definitly shouldn’t be an instant. It is just too versatile to play at that level. Beside that, pretty clever design.
I’m wondering what prevented you from givin’ flying to Enveloping Dream. Now it feels very nice, but a little lowpow.ç
The same about your plane as said to PE.
To be honest, I feel like choosing the less worst one, instead of the best one of your entries. I’m not a fan of any of your card sets. Instead of that, I’m a fan of just one card from each, and the rest just doesn’t ring my bell.
I think I must choose a potential winner, uh? Well, since I’m not convinced about to wich entry give my vote, I’m not going to vote this time. I feel that voting in the two possible ways would be pottentially unjust for any of you.
I hope my short review helps you in someway, and good luck for both.
I love taking extra turns, which is why I chose Time as my primary element, and I think there are fun interactions built into Ainn. For example, you can play him, lock down your opponent with his +1 while you play a couple of guys, then use his -3, attack, then on the extra turn use his +1 on your own guys and get in another combat phase. Perhaps the ultimate should cost more, but I wanted to push the power level and then reel it back in a bit later if I had to.
On GM's side, my favorite is definitely Enveloping Dream, which solves so many of the problems with that kind of no-untap enchantment. Obviously you have been as disappointed by Bonds of Quicksilver as I was.
I invite everyone to post your thoughts in detail if you have time. (Even just your quick impressions would be welcome.)
Signature spell
About the weaveborn and Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Round 4
Round 5
EDIT: Thanks, Blackbull, for your comments. Perhaps I undervalue lifegain, but gaining back some life and some 0/1s doesn't seem too overpowered to me when we have Blunt the Assault at the same cost in the most recent set... and it is still too underpowered to see much play.
I've been thinking about Utter Mastery too and I think it can be made to work. Maybe like this?
Enchantment
If an opponent would cast a spell from his or her hand, instead he or she exiles a card from his or her hand face down. Then you name a card and that player reveals the exiled card. If it is the named card, that player must cast it, then it is countered. Otherwise, that player may cast the card.
This doesn't loop infinitely because the card is ultimately cast from exile, not the opponent's hand. Though I'm not sure it captures the "no-cost-paying" part. Maybe this?
Opponents can't cast spells.
Exile a card from your hand face down: Target player names a card, then the exiled card is revealed. If it is the named card, you must cast it, then it is countered. Otherwise, you may cast the card. Only any opponent may activate this ability.
It's a toughie.
This poll is supposed to be public, but in this case I actually know my opponent and I'm not worried about cheating.
Enchantment (M)
Whenever an opponent would cast a spell from their hand, before paying any costs, that player instead exiles a card from their hand face down. Then you name a card and that player reveals the exiled card. If it is the named card, that player must pay the card's mana cost, then it is countered. Otherwise, that player may cast the card as normal.
Assuming you guess right, which spell is paid for and countered? The original spell that would've been cast, or the exiled spell? (Because with the current wording, those two can be mutually exclusive since it says to "exile a card".)
On a related note, if you guess wrong, upon the resolution of the triggered ability, "that player may cast the card as normal." What spell is this referring to?
So:
Player A wants to play a spell, exiles card face down.
Player B (controller of Utter Mastery) guesses the card is a Doom Blade.
Player A reveals the card - if it is Doom Blade, he pays 1B but it is countered. If it is Terror (or anything else), he pays the cost as normal and puts the spell on the stack.
Does that make sense? You can't exile one card and then cast something else from your hand instead; that should trigger the Utter Mastery again. That's why it works around exiling the card temporarily, otherwise you could just say you are going to cast one of the spells in your hand and play the one that they don't guess.
Specifically bumping to remind three more people to vote for me.
Mwah ha ha ha, mwah ha ha, ha.
I think Phyrexian Editor's planeswalker is probably too good, although maybe mine is too boring, I just had a cool image of four walls making a cage to get stuff. Twinning Ring is pretty great out of his set, and the legend is more exciting than my creature, although I think mine is fine for what it wants to do. The planes are pretty much a wash, maybe I should have just made mine trigger on attacks, not blocks.
EDIT: That's weird, it definitely appeared to be 8-8 with the poll closed last time I looked...
It was 8-6 when I made the decision and when it hit Sunday Morning, 12:05 AM. I didn't even cast a vote at all.
--
Winner of the 2nd Design Survivor Contest
Creator of the Vorthos Card Contest
Winner of 12th and the 18th Short Story Contests
Creator of the Vs. Tournament.
--Runner of the Superhero Vs. Tounrament
--Runner of the Villian Vs. Tournament.
WTG Gerrard's Mom!
And well done to you as well PE!
Thanks ImpulsiveKnowledge also for the interesting month, dividing by elements and not colors or card types was cool. The only thing I would have done would be to maybe hold people a little more closely to their original elements, it seemed like every round we were using something totally new so it was a little hard to build up a theme. It was good to try out a lot of different things though, and it made me try some types of cards I hadn't done much of before, so no real complaints
Congrats, sir! Losing to you is nothing to be ashamed of. I agree that my planeswalker was probably too good. I definitely fell in love with your wall of quicksilver, which is a great, great idea. The flavor of your PW is very cool too. I hope to get another shot at you in the future!