Urban Evolution, taken from Pinterest, by Eytan Zana and Wizards of the Coast
Welcome to the Card Creation League! Everyone is free to participate in either or both of the first two rounds. Come join us!
Theme
It's Synergies Month! This whole month will be about positive interactions with specific cards.
Challenge
Design a card that would be ideal to play on the same turn as Urban Evolution.
Make sure to include a rarity.
Stay tuned for February's CCL Final Poll. Anyone who votes will receive 2 bonus points for March's CCL!
PLEASE NOTE: This month will NO LONGER use the "mandatory top 3" rule. Critiques and top 3s will each be worth one bonus point per round but it will be possible to score points and advance even without submitting a top 3. This will also be done on a trial basis; future months may once again require top 3s from contestants.
Anyone can enter this second round! Your submissions are due Tuesday, March 12th, 23:59 EST.
Schedule
Round 1 — Open to Everyone (March 1st-6th)
Round 2 — Open to Everyone (March 7th–12th)
Rounds 1 and 2 Critiques (Due March 15th)
Top 8 — Open to top 8 finishers (March 16th–19th)
Top 8 Critiques (Due March 22nd)
Top 4 — Open to top 4 finishers from last round (March 23rd–26th)
Top 4 Critiques (Due March 29th)
Final (End of month, winner determined by public poll)
Coastal Growths
Land {R}
Coastal Growths enters the battlefield tapped.
When Coastal Growths enters the battlefield, you gain life equal to the number of cards in your hand. T: Add G or U.
Tolarian Library (Mythic)
Legendary Land
Whenever you draw a card, you may untap Tolarian Library. t: Add C. Nowhere than here is it truer that knowledge is power.
Lich of the Dark Ways 4BBB
Creature-Zombie Wizard (M)
Deathtouch
Whenever you would draw a card, you may instead search your library for a card and put it into your hand. If you do, shuffle your library and you lose 2 life.
4/6
Ral's Masterstroke4UR
Instant (Mythic Rare)
Whenever you cast your next instant or sorcery spell this turn, copy that spell X times, where X is that spell's converted mana cost. You may choose new targets for each of those copies. Exile Ral's Masterstroke. "Project Lightning Bug was more than a beacon. It was a conduit."
Mana Reverberation4GG
Legendary Enchantment (R)
Mana Reverberation cost 4 less if you play two or more land this turn.
At the beginning of your precombat phase choose a land you control, then add X mana of any type that land produced, where X is the number of lands you control with the chosen name.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"Over time, all trips end up in the same place, at home."
Innovation Stalker4UR
Creature - Viashino Wizard (R)
Innovation Stalker costs 1 less for each card you have drawn this turn.
Flying, haste
Whenever Innovation Stalker deals combat damage to a player, draw a card. She hunts genius by scent, feeding on grand ideas and, sometimes, those who have them.
2/3
Review Session2U
Sorcery (U)
Draw cards equal to the number of cards you’ve drawn this turn.
Flashback 3UU Proctor Collette suddenly felt an urge to have a bit less knowledge in her head and a bit more tea in her stomach.
Mind Storm1BB
Sorcery (R)
Each opponent discards cards equal to the number of cards you've drawn this turn. When your enemies are at your throat, lobotomize them.
Sage of Whispers
Creature - Elf Wizard (u)
Cycling (, discard this card: Draw a card.)
Sage of Whispers enters the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter on it for each card you've drawn this turn.
0/0
District Swallower3GUU
Creature - Leviathan {R}
Flying, trample
District Swallower's base power and toughness are each equal to the number of lands you control.
Whenever a land enters the battlefield under your control, you may draw a card.
Sacrifice three lands: District Swallower gains hexproof until end of turn. */*
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
A mere ten days after the Mending, a young knight of Valeron and a young ranger of Eos made a discovery that would change Alara forever.
Spelltwined Weird2(U/R)(U/R)
Creature - Weird {R}
As an additional cost to cast Spelltwined Weird, exile a sorcery card you control from the stack.
Flash
Whenever Spelltwined Weird deals combat damage to a player, you may cast a copy of the exiled spell without paying its mana cost.
2/2
Thoughtcast Clique4U
Creature — Faerie Wizard (U)
Flash
Thoughtcast Clique cost 1 less to cast for each card you've drawn this turn.
Flying
3/3
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
(22 Total) - October 2014; December 2014; January 2015; April 2015; June 2015; August 2015; September 2015; November 2015; December 2015(T); January 2016; March 2016(T); April 2016; June 2016; October 2016; December 2016(T); February 2017; April 2017; December 2017; November 2018(T); January 2019; April 2019; June 2019
(8 Total) - May 2015; May 2016; June 2016; August 2016; October 2016; December 2016; October 2017; May 2019
(7 Total) - September 2015; October 2015; January 2016; March 2016; April 2016; July 2016(T); March 2019(T)
Gyre Clade's Project1GGU
Instant (Mythic)
Draw a card for card you drew this turn plus the number of lands entered the battlefield this turn.
You have no maximum hand size and you may play an additional land each turn for the rest of the game.
Psionic Ichor2BB
Sorcery (Uncommon)
Target opponent discards a card for each card you've drawn this turn. Cleansing one's gear of the miasmic sludge does little to dampen its effects on the psyche.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Top 16 - 2012 Indiana State Championships Currently Playing: GBStandard - Golgari Safari MidrangeBG RBWModern - Mardu PyromancerWBR RLegacy - Good Old Fashioned BurnR
RaikouRider
Typical Simic creature. Though I think it benefits from Urban Evolution only a little - well, at least it's far from ideal to be cast on the same turn. The land effect is nice and all but there is another effect which was implied to be much more prominent because if you divide Urban Evolution to two spells, draw part will be much more expensive. And for the effects - I've seen similar cards before. Not really sold.
netn10
The effect is cool. Not too cool but comborific which is required. On a dark side, I am not a fan of instant/sorcery cards that have permanent effects without any visual reminders. Even though I know instant/sorcery spells are not supposed to create emblems.
Subject16
That's like Storm on steroids. Even though you shoud save some insane amount of mana to truly benefit from it. Well, it virtually allows you to draw 18 cards and play six additional lands. I hope you have enough cards in your deck - and six land cards in your hand which is indeed tricky.
TheDrB
Nice and simple. Even though we may expect some problems with casting another mana intense spell in totally different color on the same turn as Simic spell.
willows
Designing a land for this contest is outstanding move. But making balanced lands is actually the hardest challenge, because no land supposed to be more powerful in vacuum than any basic land because lands are free (well, Alpha duals and snow-covered basics are technically better than basics, but still...) Now let's see what we have here. Your land has no downsides, only upsides. It doubles your mana on the turn you play it (see it? You tap all of your lands, play Final Gate and tap all of your land again to drop any mana heavy bomb you can pull out twice faster than any opponent can do). Aaaand you can make some combos here and there with returning it to your hand (Kefnet, Moonfolks). So this is just a free 100% ramp for everyone. Even though it produces only colorless mana and is legendary, I think your card is broken. But the synergy isn't that great (see RaikouRider critiques).
Jimmy Groove
Well... This is probably something I could design as well. Even though the CMC is intense (but it usually will be 5, not 6), it's playable. Because everyone likes drawing cards with an evasive haste creature. And it benefits from Urban Evolution for sure, especially if we keep in mind that Urban Evolution is not cheap too).
Hemlock - I love this, but I think it is undercosted, especially given how much cycling usually adds to base cost.
Cardz5000 - Without evasion, this seems a bit rough. Having to flash it in on your turn, and then wait until you can attack to get the effect makes it seem tricky to get through. Maybe if it was Instant or Sorcery.
Legend - This seems great to me. I am having a flavor mismatch error, as a library giving you more mana as opposed to cards seems off.
RaikouRider - This has a lot going on. I would have liked to see this as a simpler construct overall.
netn10 - I feel like this should be structured as a 'pre-draw' spell as it feels off now. Especially with the permanent effects.
Subject16 - Way too OP. It seems really unrealistic.
Artorias - awesome but broken
Algernone25 - drop a B and it’s playable
mirrodin71 - build-around, pay-off goodness
Flatline - not bad for a rookie
Hemlock - cycling really says a lot here.
Cardz5000 - a clever card that lives up to its race’s namesake
“Built a City”
Urban Evolution, taken from Pinterest, by Eytan Zana and Wizards of the Coast
Theme
It's Synergies Month! This whole month will be about positive interactions with specific cards.
Challenge
Stay tuned for February's CCL Final Poll. Anyone who votes will receive 2 bonus points for March's CCL!
PLEASE NOTE: This month will NO LONGER use the "mandatory top 3" rule. Critiques and top 3s will each be worth one bonus point per round but it will be possible to score points and advance even without submitting a top 3. This will also be done on a trial basis; future months may once again require top 3s from contestants.
Schedule
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝
Land {R}
Coastal Growths enters the battlefield tapped.
When Coastal Growths enters the battlefield, you gain life equal to the number of cards in your hand.
T: Add G or U.
Legendary Land
Whenever you draw a card, you may untap Tolarian Library.
t: Add C.
Nowhere than here is it truer that knowledge is power.
Creature-Zombie Wizard (M)
Deathtouch
Whenever you would draw a card, you may instead search your library for a card and put it into your hand. If you do, shuffle your library and you lose 2 life.
4/6
Deal with it.
Instant (Mythic Rare)
Whenever you cast your next instant or sorcery spell this turn, copy that spell X times, where X is that spell's converted mana cost. You may choose new targets for each of those copies. Exile Ral's Masterstroke.
"Project Lightning Bug was more than a beacon. It was a conduit."
Legendary Enchantment (R)
Mana Reverberation cost 4 less if you play two or more land this turn.
At the beginning of your precombat phase choose a land you control, then add X mana of any type that land produced, where X is the number of lands you control with the chosen name.
Creature - Viashino Wizard (R)
Innovation Stalker costs 1 less for each card you have drawn this turn.
Flying, haste
Whenever Innovation Stalker deals combat damage to a player, draw a card.
She hunts genius by scent, feeding on grand ideas and, sometimes, those who have them.
2/3
Sorcery (U)
Draw cards equal to the number of cards you’ve drawn this turn.
Flashback 3UU
Proctor Collette suddenly felt an urge to have a bit less knowledge in her head and a bit more tea in her stomach.
Sorcery (R)
Each opponent discards cards equal to the number of cards you've drawn this turn.
When your enemies are at your throat, lobotomize them.
Creature - Elf Wizard (u)
Cycling ( , discard this card: Draw a card.)
Sage of Whispers enters the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter on it for each card you've drawn this turn.
0/0
Creature - Leviathan {R}
Flying, trample
District Swallower's base power and toughness are each equal to the number of lands you control.
Whenever a land enters the battlefield under your control, you may draw a card.
Sacrifice three lands: District Swallower gains hexproof until end of turn.
*/*
Emille, Seven-Sting Dancer Shalin Nariya
Legendary Land — Gate (M)
When The Final Gate enters the battlefield, untap all lands you control.
T: Add C.
Creature - Weird {R}
As an additional cost to cast Spelltwined Weird, exile a sorcery card you control from the stack.
Flash
Whenever Spelltwined Weird deals combat damage to a player, you may cast a copy of the exiled spell without paying its mana cost.
2/2
Creature — Faerie Wizard (U)
Flash
Thoughtcast Clique cost 1 less to cast for each card you've drawn this turn.
Flying
3/3
Instant (Mythic)
Draw a card for card you drew this turn plus the number of lands entered the battlefield this turn.
You have no maximum hand size and you may play an additional land each turn for the rest of the game.
Psionic Ichor 2BB
Sorcery (Uncommon)
Target opponent discards a card for each card you've drawn this turn.
Cleansing one's gear of the miasmic sludge does little to dampen its effects on the psyche.
Currently Playing:
GBStandard - Golgari Safari MidrangeBG
RBWModern - Mardu PyromancerWBR
RLegacy - Good Old Fashioned BurnR
Clan Contest 3 Mafia - Mafia Co-MVP
RaikouRider
netn10
Subject16
TheDrB
willows
Jimmy Groove
Raptorchan
zdtsd
Artorias
Algernone25
mirrodin71
Flatline
Hemlock
Cardz5000
Legend
I̟̥͍̠ͅn̩͉̣͍̬͚ͅ ̬̬͖t̯̹̞̺͖͓̯̤h̘͍̬e͙̯͈̖̼̮ ̭̬f̺̲̲̪i͙͉̟̩̰r̪̝͚͈̝̥͍̝̲s̼̻͇̘̳͔ͅt̲̺̳̗̜̪̙ ̳̺̥̻͚̗ͅm̜̜̟̰͈͓͎͇o̝̖̮̝͇m̯̻̞̼̫̗͓̤e̩̯̬̮̩n͎̱̪̲̹͖t͇̖s̰̮ͅ,̤̲͙̻̭̻̯̹̰ ̖t̫̙̺̯͖͚̯ͅh͙̯̦̳̗̰̟e͖̪͉̼̯ ̪͕g̞̣͔a̗̦t̬̬͓͙̫̖̭̻e̩̻̯ ̜̖̦̖̤̭͙̬t̞̹̥̪͎͉ͅo͕͚͍͇̲͇͓̺ ̭̬͙͈̣̻t͈͍͙͓̫̖͙̩h̪̬̖̙e̗͈ ̗̬̟̞̺̤͉̯ͅa̦̯͚̙̜̮f͉͙̲̣̞̼t̪̤̞̣͚e̲͉̳̥r͇̪̙͚͓l̥̞̞͎̹̯̹ͅi͓̬f̮̥̬̞͈ͅe͎ ̟̩̤̳̠̯̩̯o̮̘̲p̟͚̣̞͉͓e͍̩̣n͔̼͕͚̜e̬̱d̼̘͎̖̹͍̮̠,͖̺̭̱̮ ̣̲͖̬̪̭̥a̪͚n̟̲̝̤̤̞̗d̘̱̗͇̮͕̳͕͔ ͖̞͉͎t̹̙͎h̰̱͉̗e̪̞̱̝̹̩ͅ ̠̱̩̭̦p̯̙e͓o̳͚̰̯̺̱̰͔̘p̬͎̱̣̼̩͇l̗̟̖͚̠e̱͉͔̱̦̬̟̙ ̖͚̪͔̼̦w̺̖̤̱e͖̗̻̦͓̖̘̜r̭̥e͔̹̫̱͕̦̰͕ ̗͔̠p̠̗͍͍̱̳̠r̰͔͎̰o͉̥͓̰͚̥s̟͚̹̱͔̣t͉̙̳̖͖̪̮r̥̘̥͙̹a͉̟̫̟̳̠̟̭t͈̜̰͈͎e̞̣̭̲̬ ͚̗̯̟͙i͍͖̰̘̦͖͉ṇ̮̻̯̦̲̩͍ ̦̮͚̫̤t͉͖̫͕ͅͅh͙̮̻̘̣̮̼e͕̺ ͙l͕̠͎̰̥i̲͓͉̲g̫̳̟͈͇̖h̠̦̖t͓̯͎̗ ̳̪̘̟̙̩̦o̫̲f̙͔̰̙̠ ̹̪̗͇̯t͖̼̼͉͖̬h̹͇̩e͚̖̺̤͉̹͕̪ ͚͓̭̝̺G͎̗̯̩o̫̯̮̟̮̳̘d̜̲͙̠-̩̳̯̲̗̜P̹̘̥͉̝h͍͈̗̖̝ͅa͍̗̮̼̗r̜̖͇̙̺a̭̺͔̞̳͈o̪̣͓̯̬͙̯̰̗h̖̦͈̥̯͔.͇̣̙̝
Typical Simic creature. Though I think it benefits from Urban Evolution only a little - well, at least it's far from ideal to be cast on the same turn. The land effect is nice and all but there is another effect which was implied to be much more prominent because if you divide Urban Evolution to two spells, draw part will be much more expensive. And for the effects - I've seen similar cards before. Not really sold.
netn10
The effect is cool. Not too cool but comborific which is required. On a dark side, I am not a fan of instant/sorcery cards that have permanent effects without any visual reminders. Even though I know instant/sorcery spells are not supposed to create emblems.
Subject16
That's like Storm on steroids. Even though you shoud save some insane amount of mana to truly benefit from it. Well, it virtually allows you to draw 18 cards and play six additional lands. I hope you have enough cards in your deck - and six land cards in your hand which is indeed tricky.
TheDrB
Nice and simple. Even though we may expect some problems with casting another mana intense spell in totally different color on the same turn as Simic spell.
willows
Designing a land for this contest is outstanding move. But making balanced lands is actually the hardest challenge, because no land supposed to be more powerful in vacuum than any basic land because lands are free (well, Alpha duals and snow-covered basics are technically better than basics, but still...) Now let's see what we have here. Your land has no downsides, only upsides. It doubles your mana on the turn you play it (see it? You tap all of your lands, play Final Gate and tap all of your land again to drop any mana heavy bomb you can pull out twice faster than any opponent can do). Aaaand you can make some combos here and there with returning it to your hand (Kefnet, Moonfolks). So this is just a free 100% ramp for everyone. Even though it produces only colorless mana and is legendary, I think your card is broken. But the synergy isn't that great (see RaikouRider critiques).
Jimmy Groove
Well... This is probably something I could design as well. Even though the CMC is intense (but it usually will be 5, not 6), it's playable. Because everyone likes drawing cards with an evasive haste creature. And it benefits from Urban Evolution for sure, especially if we keep in mind that Urban Evolution is not cheap too).
2) TheDrB
3) Subject16
Cardz5000 - Without evasion, this seems a bit rough. Having to flash it in on your turn, and then wait until you can attack to get the effect makes it seem tricky to get through. Maybe if it was Instant or Sorcery.
Legend - This seems great to me. I am having a flavor mismatch error, as a library giving you more mana as opposed to cards seems off.
RaikouRider - This has a lot going on. I would have liked to see this as a simpler construct overall.
netn10 - I feel like this should be structured as a 'pre-draw' spell as it feels off now. Especially with the permanent effects.
Subject16 - Way too OP. It seems really unrealistic.
Top 3:
1. Legend
2. Hemlock
3. RaikouRider
Algernone25 - drop a B and it’s playable
mirrodin71 - build-around, pay-off goodness
Flatline - not bad for a rookie
Hemlock - cycling really says a lot here.
Cardz5000 - a clever card that lives up to its race’s namesake
1 card
2 hem
3 flat
I really liked them all.