Dual Land Cycle Challenge! - Earn a Feature!
Custom Cards forum
Posted on March 10, 2014, 9:57 p.m. by -Logician
Hello and Welcome to the Dual Land Cycle Challenge!
You know what sounds easy, but really isn't? Coming up with what seems like the perfect dual land cycle. Not too powerful, but not too weak. Playable, but not broken. Original, but not too outlandish.
This is your chance to show off your creativity!
What's the goal?
- Come up with the best card design for a new Dual Land Cycle!
How will your submission be judged?
- Originality of land names.
- Originality of mechanics (looking for something original, but not something that is so outlandish that it could never be printed). Elegance is equally as respected as ambition.
- Power Sweetspot (not too powerful, not too underpowered). The original dual lands are very overpowered. Guildgates are underpowered. Fetch lands are very strong, and check lands from the core sets are on par. I am judging the underpoweredness and overpoweredness based on how they would feel as though they were printed alongside all other existing cards. If your cycle doesn't seem overpowered, but can be exploited by cards that currently exist, that's not a good thing.
What's in it for you?
- I will spend one feature token on the winner's deck of choice. For those of you not familiar, this will put your deck into the "featured" section for 16 hours, resulting in an influx of views, comments, and votes.
- It's possible that I will not be able to decide between two or three fantastic submissions, in which case it is possible to announce more than one winner, and each winner will receive a feature on me.
When can I submit, and how so?
- Submission are due one week from today: Monday March 17th, 11:59pm.
- I will grade them as soon as possible when all submissions have been finalized.
- You may NOT update your submission. Once you have submitted, that's it, so be careful. When you post your submission, I will only accept it as a submission if you use the phrase "Final Submission" in your post!
- I will be looking at posts in chronological order, and will grade down on your submission if I notice it is very similar to someone who posted before you. While finding inspiration is a good thing, copying a general idea is not. If two similar submissions are posted so close together chronologically that it was unavoidable, I can understand that, and thus will avoid lowing points for unoriginality.
- Your submission should include the names of each dual land in your cycle. You may either choose to do ally lands, or enemy lands. Your choice between those two may or may not play a role in the flavor of your cycle. Do not do all ten, as that is not what I'm asking for!
- The enemy colors are Orzhov, Golgari, Simic, Izzet, and Boros. The ally colors are the other five: Azorius, Dimir, Gruul, Selesnya, and Rakdos.
- The mechanics involved in your cycle should be consistent throughout. Don't make an Orzhov dual land enter the battlefield tapped, but then let the Gruul dual land enter untapped. Keep it fair and consistent between all color combinations. Notice how all shock lands require the user to pay 2 life in order for it to come into play untapped. Notice how all scry lands allow you to scry 1. It's consistent. That should be your goal.
- Use MSE or another software to create your cards and submit them as a set of images. You may use text only, but that's not recommended. You do not need graphical art to supplement your submissions. You need only a card name for each land in your cycle, the cards' types and supertypes (Legendary Enchantment Land - Plains Kithkin?), the rules text, and any other relevant information I need to know about the card. Thought it might be obvious, I just want to make it clear. You are indeed submitting as a post on this thread.
- Do not make a Legendary Enchantment Land - Plains Kithkin. Doing so might get you arrested.
Good Luck in your submissions!
- Please feel free to ask any questions here about the competition and I'll answer as best and as soon as I can.
- Posting images is done using the following template and requires that you upload your image to an image-hosting website of your choice. There are free and non-free ones.
<img src="URL_OF_IMAGE_HERE">
PS
Out of respect for Epochalyptik, he may aid me in the judging process if he wants. I understand that his schedule is tight, and he might not be able to assist. If he doesn't, that's okay. I would appreciate it if everyone else would refrain from requesting to aid me in the judging process. Thank you very much.
Thank you ThatBlueMage. That was quite a quick submission. I wasn't expecting one so soon.
March 10, 2014 11:50 p.m.
How does one post an image on tappedout? I'll hold off on showing mine until you answer.
March 10, 2014 11:57 p.m.
If you look at the original post, it says how to around the bottom under the "Good Luck in your Submissions" header.
March 11, 2014 12:11 a.m.
My Magic Card maker won't allow that, so it's text only here.
Forested Waterways
Land
Forested Waterways enters the battlefield tapped.
T: Add G or U to your mana pool.
2GU: Until end of turn, Forested Waterways becomes a 2/2 green and blue Merfolk creature with Islandwalk and Whenever Forested Waterways deals combat damage to a player, draw a card. Its still a land.
Bascilicas Bowels
Land
Bascilicas Bowels enters the battlefield tapped.
T: Add W or B to your mana pool.
WB: Until end of turn, Bascilicas Bowels becomes a 2/1 white and black Cleric creature with Lifelink. Its still a land.
Crusaders Outpost
Land
Crusaders Outpost enters the battlefield tapped.
T: Add R or W to your mana pool.
1RW: Until end of turn, Crusaders Outpost becomes a red and white Soldier creature with Crusaders Outposts power and toughness are each equal to the number of creatures you control. Its still a land.
Catacomb Creeper
Land
Catacomb Creeper enters the battlefield tapped.
T: Add B or G to your mana pool.
2BG: Until end of turn, Catacomb Creeper becomes a 0/1 green and black Zombie Plant creature with Catacomb Creeper gets +X/+X, where X is the number of land cards in all graveyards. Its still a land.
Rushing Waterfall
Land
Rushing Waterfall enters the battlefield tapped.
T: Add U or R to your mana pool.
1UR: Until end of turn, Rushing Waterfall becomes a 1/2 blue and red Elemental creature with Whenever you cast an instant or sorcery spell, Rushing Waterfall gets +3/+0 until end of turn. Its still a land.
March 11, 2014 12:20 a.m.
Thank you for submitting cschiller.
It is a clearly specified rule that you say the phrase "Final Submission" in your post for it to be an accepted post. This gives you a chance to make any changes that you'd like.
Alternatively, if you really want that to be your final submission, simply reply with "Final Submission."
March 11, 2014 12:36 a.m.
Forested Waterways
Land
Forested Waterways enters the battlefield tapped.
T: Add G or U to your mana pool.
2GU: Until end of turn, Forested Waterways becomes a 2/2 green and blue Merfolk creature with Islandwalk and "Whenever Forested Waterways deals combat damage to a player, draw a card." It's still a land.
Bascilica's Bowels
Land
Bascilica's Bowels enters the battlefield tapped.
T: Add W or B to your mana pool.
WB: Until end of turn, Bascilica's Bowels becomes a 2/1 white and black Cleric creature with Lifelink. It's still a land.
Crusader's Outpost
Land
Crusader's Outpost enters the battlefield tapped.
T: Add R or W to your mana pool.
1RW: Until end of turn, Crusaders Outpost becomes a red and white Soldier creature with "Crusader's Outpost's power and toughness are each equal to the number of creatures you control." It's still a land.
Catacomb Creeper
Land
Catacomb Creeper enters the battlefield tapped.
T: Add B or G to your mana pool.
2BG: Until end of turn, Catacomb Creeper becomes a 0/1 green and black Zombie Plant creature with "Catacomb Creeper gets +X/+X, where X is the number of land cards in all graveyards." It's still a land.
Rushing Waterfall
Land
Rushing Waterfall enters the battlefield tapped.
T: Add U or R to your mana pool.
1UR: Until end of turn, Rushing Waterfall becomes a 1/2 blue and red Elemental creature with "Whenever you cast an instant or sorcery spell, Rushing Waterfall gets +3/+0 until end of turn." It's still a land.
FINAL SUBMISSION
March 11, 2014 12:39 a.m.
Overflowing molten pit
Land
ETBT
T: Add B or R
1: Untap
and for the rest of the allied cycle lands.
March 11, 2014 12:45 a.m.
randomguy123 says... #10
Selesnya Garden
Land
At the beginning of your upkeep, put a charge counter on Sacred Forest.
Tap: Add Green or White to your mana pool. Activate this ability only if Sacred Forest has 2 or more charge counters on it.
Same for the other 4 guilds with names...
Azorious = Azorious Lawhouse
Gruul = Gruul Slaughterfields
Dimir = Dimir Safehouse
Rakdos = Rakdos Madhouse
Sorry for not having images, the card creator I use is down.
March 11, 2014 12:48 a.m.
randomguy123 says... #11
Selesnya Garden
Land
At the beginning of your upkeep, put a charge counter on Sacred Forest.
Tap: Add 1 colorless mana to your mana pool.
Tap: Add Green or White to your mana pool. Activate this ability only if Sacred Forest has 1 or more charge counters on it.
Same for the other 4 guilds with names...
Azorious = Azorious Lawhouse
Gruul = Gruul Slaughterfields
Dimir = Dimir Safehouse
Rakdos = Rakdos Madhouse
Sorry for not having images, the card creator I use is down.
And do not use my previous one
March 11, 2014 12:51 a.m.
Final Submission
The image below shows the first in my dual land cycle design, and the rest can be found here. They are a modernized, two-color version of the old depletion lands like Peat Bog
and friends. Instead of only being able to tap for a two of a single color through the removal of depletion counters, this dual land is similar to many previous lands in that it is a Coastal Tower
++, having an extra effect beyond mana duality. The ability to play a bigger spell earlier in the game is offset by the fact that it is a one-time use that costs you that land permanently, balancing power with a drawback. The lands are very obviously playable in Commander, but I think it is also fair and balanced for Modern play or even a Standard block that could feature them.
![](http://i.imgur.com/zQtJmsc.jpg")
March 11, 2014 12:53 a.m.
NobodyPicksBulbasaur says... #13
Other ally land names:
Charred Tomb (B/R)
Fertile Ash (G/R)
Cloudy Lagoon (U/W)
Murky Depths (U/B)
All "duals" fetch for either basic land in their cycle. Because basic lands are less powerful than revised duals or shocklands, there is no need to pay 1 life.
Final Submission
March 11, 2014 1:01 a.m.
NobodyPicksBulbasaur, currently your land is a repeatable search engine because you forgot to put "Sacrifice CARDNAME:" after the tap symbol.
I think there's no need to say how overpowered that is.
March 11, 2014 1:28 a.m.
NobodyPicksBulbasaur says... #15
hehe. OP. I did definitely forget that line of text. I did type final submission, so it will have to stand.
If someone wants to piggyback off my idea and fix it, they can feel free to use it as their submission.
March 11, 2014 3:35 a.m.
I've got a couple of ideas. Can i submit 2 cycles?
House of Slaughter: T: add 1 to your mana pool.
T: Add B to your mana pool, activate this ability only if your devotion to red is at least 1
T: Add R to your mana pool, activate this ability only if your devotion to black is at least 1.
Other names are: Ruins of Revels (g/r), Academy of the Polis (u/w), Fields of Harvest (g/w) and Tomb of Deception (u/b).
My other cycle:
Cleansing Spring: T: Add 1 to your mana pool
T: Add U or W to your mana pool, activate this ability only if you control two or more basic lands.
Other names are: Shrouded Cove (u/b), Overgrown Peaks (g/r), Molten Pit (b/r), and Bounteous Meadow (g/w).
March 11, 2014 4:07 a.m.
FINAL SUBMISSION(Magic Set Editor doesn't work on my Mac so I'll have to do text if that's ok).
Stormblown PlainsT: Add W or U to your mana pool. Your opponent puts a 1/1 Elemental token with lifelink and flying into play.
Underwater GraveyardT: Add U or B to your mana pool. Your opponent puts a 1/1 Elemental token with flying and deathtouch into play.
Volcanic DungeonT: Add B or R to your mana pool. Your opponent puts a 1/1 Elemental token with deathtouch and first strike into play.
Highland WoodsT: Add R or G to your mana pool. Your opponent puts a 1/1 Elemental token with first strike and hexproof into play.
Fertile FarmlandT: Add G or W to your mana pool. Your opponent puts a 1/1 Elemental token with hexproof and lifelink into play.
March 11, 2014 6:39 a.m.
nighthawk101 says... #18
Definently entering :) I just need to get a good idea...
March 11, 2014 6:59 a.m.
There's a lot of people that are submitting without fully reading the original post. You must use the phrase "Final Submission" to lock in your submission.
jonhydude You need the names for all of your lands in the cycle. Also, alongside cards like Verdant Haven , you create an infinite mana of any color loop. Seems very broken.
randomguy123 your card "Selesnya Garden" doesn't make sense in its rules text because it references "Sacred Forest."
Jimhawk Thank you for your submission.
NobodyPicksBulbasaur The "Final Submission" rule is set in place so that people don't get an idea and change their's entirely. That gets sketchy. Since this rule was not set in place to screw over people in this situation, I will allow you to update your post.
KingSorin You may only submit one cycle.
Crymson Thank you for your submission.
williamgp99 I appreciate that you're taking your time. Looking forward to your ideas.
March 11, 2014 9:02 a.m.
Bromjunaar says... #20
Final Submission:
This is an enemy cycle of lands that give a colored mana bonus once you have enough devotion. The reason Alter is a subtype for the land is because there is/could be a land that grants a significant mana bonus once you control a number of shrines with different names (somewhat similar to the Urza Tron lands). The amount of Devotion needed for the cycle could probably be lowered by this is a first run of them.
The other names of cards in the cycle are:
Alter of the Priest
Alter of the Returned
Alter of the Scholar
Alter of the Soldier
They can be found here.
While not up for submission, I made a similar cycle of Allied lands (that can be found here ) and a cycle of mono colored lands and the Alter that cares about other Alters (they can be found here ).
March 11, 2014 2:36 p.m.
blackmarker90 says... #21
@ Bromjunaar did you mean Altar such as Altar of Bone the alter you used means to change.
March 11, 2014 2:41 p.m.
Bromjunaar says... #23
@blackmarker90: AGH! I knew I was going to mess something up... Yes, that is how it is meant to be.
March 11, 2014 4:45 p.m.
Bromjunaar I'll give you the benefit of the doubt, so don't worry about that.
March 11, 2014 5:04 p.m.
jmarlowe216 says... #26
This is my FINAL SUBMISSION:
These lands are loosely based on the hideaway ability, with some extra goodies. They may be a bit OP but i think the ETBT effect and the mana cost of the abilities makes it viable.
[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/Lv5E7rc.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/rOPZM5j.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/o0U2Tbq.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/k8MuQK4.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/9DlMlTD.jpg[/IMG]
March 11, 2014 7:51 p.m.
jmarlowe216 says... #27
My apologies, I copied the wrong link to generate the pictures. Here are the corrected ones with the pictures available.
Sorry for the mess up and hope you accept the second entry.
March 11, 2014 7:54 p.m.
randomguy123 says... #28
Selesnya Garden
Land
At the beginning of your upkeep, put a charge counter on Selesnya Garden.
Tap: Add 1 colorless mana to your mana pool.
Tap: Add Green or White to your mana pool. Activate this ability only if Selesnya Garden has 1 or more charge counters on it.
Same for the other 4 guilds with names...
Azorious = Azorious Lawhouse
Gruul = Gruul Slaughterfields
Dimir = Dimir Safehouse
Rakdos = Rakdos Madhouse
Sorry for not having images, the card creator I use is down.
FINAL SUBMISSION
March 11, 2014 8:37 p.m.
Servo_Token says... #29
I'm not understanding some of your abilities from a rules standpoint. Say, the first card. You are paying mana and choosing one, thus activating an ability, but your activated abilities are triggered abilities.
I'm next to certain that you either need to have one or the other, you cannot have an activated ability that is also a static triggered ability. If you want some of those to work, you need to have "2R (t): Choose one: Until the end of the turn, whenever XXX do YYY; or Until the end of the turn, whenever ZZZ, draw a card" (fill in your effects accordingly)
The way that you have it worded now, the effects last as long as the card is out, and that isn't a correct formatting.
March 12, 2014 12:18 a.m.
jmarlowe216 says... #30
I get what you are saying. Yeah it is not meant to be a game lasting effect, just a once per turn thing. Would you accept corrected versions?
March 12, 2014 12:43 a.m.
blackmarker90 says... #31
It's a triggered ability that you can pay the mana for. Kin of like the inspired triggers on Aerie Worshippers
March 12, 2014 1:03 a.m.
jmarlowe216 says... #32
blackmarker90 That is exactly what I was going for but what ThatBlueMage is saying is that the way they are worded it leaves it open to trigger every time XX happens and not just the next instance of XX happening, which makes the cards way too broken. I made the changes to try to fix the issue, just waiting to see if I can re-enter to corrected versions.
March 12, 2014 1:08 a.m.
jmarlowe216 At this point, I can't even see what you are submitting.
Let the next post you make be your absolute final submission. No images allowed. Make it all text to ensure that it submits successful.
March 12, 2014 12:12 p.m.
Final Submission
Here is the link to my set of enemy-colored dual lands: Fortification Lands
They can come in tapped so that you can use them for either color, or you can have them tap for a colorless the turn you play them. I did not intend them to be super powerful, but instead more functionally playable. They give you the option of having that extra mana you may need for a spell that turn or they allow you to get your colors for next turn. Here is an example of one of them:
March 12, 2014 4:27 p.m.
I present to you, Flash Lands!
The functional use it self ramping lands. Turn 1 play your normal land, Opponents turn play another land. You can still only play 1 land per turn as to the rules and only when you receive priority so it would need to be in response to their actions. Another use would be to flash land in a green source and then Fog . They are Legendary so you can only have one out.
The art was take from the Return to Ravnica Fankit provided by WOTC. There wasn't really a lot of art that fit the flavor of the cards which is being a special building to that guild that can be called upon at any time.
This is my FINAL SUBMISSION.
March 13, 2014 12:50 p.m.
Also, I realize that they enter the battlefield untapped but this is also due to being Legendary. Maybe that doesn't outweigh the required tap clause but again they are flavorfully meant to be able to be called upon whenever the guild is in need.
March 13, 2014 12:51 p.m.
Um.
305.3. A player can't play a land, for any reason, if it isn't his or her turn. Ignore any part of an effect that instructs a player to do so.
March 13, 2014 6:31 p.m.
Rewrite the rules then. The ammend stuff all the time :P.
March 13, 2014 6:49 p.m.
nighthawk101 says... #42
The Golden Rule (of Magic):
If the card is different then the rules, use the card.
March 13, 2014 7:15 p.m.
psychoza Thank you for your submission. I'm going to look into the rules a bit and determine whether or not that idea is even plausible (tomorrow though, it's really late right now), which I don't think it is. Part of the judging process is judging the possibility that WotC would even consider printing your cycle. If your cycle doesn't make sense with the rules of the game, then you can expect that they will probably not be winning this contest.
March 14, 2014 3:32 a.m.
Let me save you some time http://markrosewater.tumblr.com/post/78147141374/would-a-land-with-flash-be-possible-if-it-had-a
March 14, 2014 3:54 a.m.
Servo_Token says... #46
No, the flash land idea does not work. the clause in the lands rule supersedes the clause that errata supersedes rules.
March 14, 2014 11:24 a.m.
Either way that's my submission. Rules regardless as I said before the rules change with each new set mechanic and when their development team comes up with new ideas that need the rules to be tweaked to work, it happens.
Maybe this land rule is so special that Flash Lands will never happen. If that's the case, I'm okay with that. I just thought it was a cool concept. If that disqualifies my submission then best of luck to all of the other participants.
I personally like ryuzaki32667's Ramp Lands so far. :D
March 14, 2014 11:32 a.m.
Servo_Token says... #48
If your lands had the text: "If this card came into play on an opponent's turn, you cannot play a land next turn" They'd be a lot more plausible. At the moment, they're super OP. You'll be able to have 3 untapped lands on turn 2 if you're on the play, and 4 if on the draw. That's actually better than Black Lotus .
March 14, 2014 12:07 p.m.
ThatBlueMage I disagree that it is better than Black Lotus because Black Lotus provides 3 mana in one card, and what you're proposing is 3 mana in 3 cards.
Don't get me wrong, his cycle is very OP...
psychoza I will not deny you the ability to submit. Submission accepted.
March 14, 2014 1:01 p.m.
Servo_Token says... #50
Black lotus happens once, whereas with this he will always have significantly more mana than an opponent that doesn't have them. Recosidering, it's probably just as powerful as the lotus, but still, that's a bit too high.
Servo_Token says... #2
Here's my final submission:
http://imgur.com/a/Dwp19
If that link doesn't work, I can provide another.
Land names: - BackWood Bog, Burning Isle, Duskfall Field, Nature's Spring, and Sunswept Valley. If it isn't obvious, I did Enemy colors.
My cycle is definitely very budget player oriented, basically giving something to the people who cannot afford their 8-12 fetches, etc. Hopefully I made my post correctly...
Thanks for the cool contest, and good luck to everyone else.
March 10, 2014 11:42 p.m.