Design a Villain Competition! (Results posted)
Alright, here we go. I haven't done a competition in a really long time, so I may be a little rusty.
The aim of this competition is simple enough. Design a villain!
Having looked at Magic villains as a whole I've come to the conclusion that while there is the occasional interesting stand-out they're mostly largely generic. This isn't necessarily bad as I'm sure it gives the writers an opportunity to create some really interesting heroes, but I feel like that needs to be made up for.
Here's what you have to do:
- Create a villain. They can be represented in a Legendary Creature or Planeswalker card..
- They can be whatever colours you like, don't be afraid to try something interesting and new.
- Provide a little backstory. This can be in the form of a written section accompanying your entry or you can put it in the flavour text of your card.
- Only one villain per entrant, so make it count. Feel free to create supporting cards representing minions, friends, signature spells, etc... Anything that adds to the identity and motivations of your character.
Tip: I say that I dislike 'generic' villains. This doesn't mean I dislike characters who are 'pure evil.' Feel free to make your villain an irredeemable monster, I just want an explanation as to why they're an irredeemable monster.
1st Place reward: seven favourites of your choice and a follow (ten favourites of your choice if I follow you already.)
2nd Place reward: five favourites of your choice.
3rd Place reward: three favourites of your choice.
Competition ends on the seventeenth of June, so you've got quite a long time.
There we go... good luck! Create an awesome villain!
The aim of this competition is simple enough. Design a villain!
Having looked at Magic villains as a whole I've come to the conclusion that while there is the occasional interesting stand-out they're mostly largely generic. This isn't necessarily bad as I'm sure it gives the writers an opportunity to create some really interesting heroes, but I feel like that needs to be made up for.
Here's what you have to do:
- Create a villain. They can be represented in a Legendary Creature or Planeswalker card..
- They can be whatever colours you like, don't be afraid to try something interesting and new.
- Provide a little backstory. This can be in the form of a written section accompanying your entry or you can put it in the flavour text of your card.
- Only one villain per entrant, so make it count. Feel free to create supporting cards representing minions, friends, signature spells, etc... Anything that adds to the identity and motivations of your character.
Tip: I say that I dislike 'generic' villains. This doesn't mean I dislike characters who are 'pure evil.' Feel free to make your villain an irredeemable monster, I just want an explanation as to why they're an irredeemable monster.
1st Place reward: seven favourites of your choice and a follow (ten favourites of your choice if I follow you already.)
2nd Place reward: five favourites of your choice.
3rd Place reward: three favourites of your choice.
Competition ends on the seventeenth of June, so you've got quite a long time.
There we go... good luck! Create an awesome villain!
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Valdra was an orc born and raised in the Iron-Skin tribe, famous for its brutality. A runt of his litter, Valdra was bullied, shunned and ostracised from the rest of the orcs. One day, however, the tribe was decimated by a necromancer who wished to force the orcs into his service. Seeing the potential in Valdra's cunning, the necromancer trained him in the dark arts of necromancy.
Eventually, Valdra betrayed and slew his master. Travelling the realms he used his powers to leech the life from others, showing them how little their strength was compared to his own arcane might. His habit of targeting powerful orcish leaders made him a mythic figure amongst orc tribes. When he eventually used the power he had gathered to ascend to godhood, he began to be worshipped by many orcs.
Hateful and paranoid, Valdra exhorts his worshippers to destroy one another and bathe the world in blood. All this is because he doesn't want anyone to grow as powerful as he and challenge his might. He has become obsessed with demonstrating his dominance.
https://mtgcardsmith.com/view/valdra-vengeful-deity
Years passed, and one day a tragedy befell her father while the knights were fighting off the rebellion from the displeased citizen and dissension at that time due to the tyrannical rule of the king. Something she didn't fully aware about it due to the knightly status of her father, since knights' families had always been had much better privileges than any regular commoners.
Embittered by the rebellion due to the loss of her father, she finally went to join herself to the rank of the Inquisition, a new special army division that simply much better than the regular soldiers. An easy task for her since the king was impressed in her leadership and swordsmanship skills that were much better than her father who was only a regular knight. And the Inquisition was acted as the right hand of the king himself.
But all in all, Evelyn was only an enforcer. A dog of the king that would follow his order no matter what, as long as it would finally bring peace and order to the kingdom that was also slowly expanding its territory to dominate the continent.
A king once, yes, but it was so long ago that people have simply started to call him by the era.
His dark power permits him to thrive off the sensations of those yet living, and his kingly armor protects him from most that would do him harm.
If it weren't for envy of those with flesh, he mightn't be a bad sort, but, as it is...
Several decades ago, the world was overcast by a mighty evil that threatened to destroy life as we know it, and the world needed a hero. Lathnor rose to the challenge, slaying the ambiguous darkness. Of course, as anyone knows, the light cannot exist with the dark, and vice versa. The world needs a new danger. So he has taken the mantle of the world's new danger, in his quest to uphold balance. And the only thing that can balance saving the world... is sending it to its doom.
Edited to include a 'signature spell' of sorts, his moment as a hero.
https://mtgcardsmith.com/view/valdras-terrible-command
Fantastic entries so far!
Read the flavor text; in this case, I find the simplicity really sells it.
(Meant to be the fate reforged symbol, forgot to change it)
Every time I check up on this competition there are yet more entries and they consistently blow me away. Cliche though it may be, this is going to be a hard competition to judge.
Just because I've discovered I quite like making cards for Valdra, here's another example, this time of cultists that serve Valdra.
https://mtgcardsmith.com/view/valdras-cult
Probably shouldn't be common, but given the inspiration lore it makes sense cause this guy did a lot of damage in dwarf fortress. I might not make a minion, but some artifact creature that proved to be it's only enemy. Full on Godzilla battle to Beastie Boys intergalactic lol. Dwarf Fortress makes Magic creation so easy.
So Phorcyka (named after the Greek God Phorcys) is a simic experimenter. She combines Izzet like technology with simic genetic science to make cyborgs. I think she grew up pretty poor. I think she was also very logical. 'I need food. I can get this guy to pay me if a friend cuts his arm off and I fix it back."
I think she was in the mostly Dimir part of town in a Simic embassary or some sort of fringe housing when they approached her. They saw how her robotics could lead to power. So they took her in. She still sipped coffee with her friends and still lived life like a simic, but at night she cram studied endless books on Izzet Mechanics and Sonic Genetic studies which were stolen for her by the dimir. She saved dozens of lives with new robotic parts, making cyborgs a thing in Ravnica.
The catch was this. Her money, her fame, these came at a price. The Dimir added just a little quirk to her models. A little thing that would let Phorcykah hack into everyone she'd helped to do her, and therefore the Dimir's bidding.
Phorcy (for short) knows the business dimir have going on is shady. She knows what they're going to do, and she doesn't care. She even kinda likes being a hacker. Her life is about her, regardless of how many people become slaves for her money. Does that make her a villain? She doesn't care either way. Right and wrong are semantics to fish people.
Merfolk are something I'm really hoping for in rtrtr. I like the tap effect of vorel so I decided to do tap effects for her. Empress Gallina and Thada Adel steal stuff and are merfolks so stealing stuff makes sense to me. I thought of the story and found some art. I wanted a card that tells a story over the course of the game. The effect needed to be flashy enough to be memorable. ALL ARTIFACTS wow, but also needed to be ok enough to actually play, thus a 2 drop 1/3 that curves up at instant speed pretty nicely. Plus I mainly play commander so this card is just niche and flashy enough for some people to want to play.
Growing up, Jarina didn’t have much different of a life as any other person on Gavony. She was told to remain indoors most of the day, come home before dark, and stay out of the woods. (Following a little bit of the stereotype) This however, changed one day. One day in her home, she was awoken by a strange scuttling of claws in the living room, a sound common anywhere but houses in Innestrad. Naturally she followed her child-like instincts and ran to her parents room for safety. What she found was quite the contrary. A demon, one worshiped by the Skirsdag, had come to collect a debt from her parents that they could not pay, forcing it to collect their lives instead, leaving behind a mangled amass of body parts. When it had turned to leave, glowing red eyes and teeth as sharp as spears, it spotted Jarina crying in a heap on the floor in the doorway. Gently it cast a sleeping spell on her to take her away to their cult to worship along with everyone else.
In her new home within caves the cult used for initiates, once she had turned 16, they began to train her in the dark arts, of which she seemed strangely proficient at. Jarina climbed the ranks with due haste, learning more and more as time arose, until she was given one final task to prove herself ready for more dangerous task. She was to collect her first debt from a debtor to the demons of the cult for them. Putting on the clothes of a commoner she silently awaited night and, when the time was right, entered the home of a newly wed couple who had seemingly rather good fortune, all accordance of their demonic dealings. As to be expected they nearly screamed when she awoke them as she was a stranger in their home, though once she explained her reasons for being there, they calmed down and told her they didn’t have their payment. At this she killed them both by slitting their throats, turning around only to be met by her knew demonic commander. The same who had killed her parents. He swiftly silenced her, whispering words into her ear that calmed her down, before awarding her for her work. All his knowledge on harvesting from the living and the dead, ways to kill others, and different spells for calming others… she knew them all now. And that was his last mistake. She knew of the Skirsdag from her parents warnings and schools teachings, and knew they weren’t to be trusted, though she also knew how highly arrogant and sure of themselves the demons were, such as this fool. When he had finished delivering to her his knowledge, she turned on him in a frenzied rage, hurling everything he had taught her at him, leaving in the wake a pile of giblets and gore, as well as (given protection by one of the spells) one of his claws that she kept as an artifact to her accomplishment.
Naturally though, all of this had a toll on her, namely her sanity. From seeing her parents ripped apart to the whispers of demons throughout her childhood, all that truely remained in her mind was what she had been taught, and the memory of her mother and father's fate. Carrying this with her she fled, fleeing to the woods of the Ulvenwald to live away from society and the demons, hoping to never see them again whilst also believing all people were cruel and uncaring, thinking no-one who was alive cared about anyone, even their children. As her parents death taught her, one’s personal wealth is more important than what could happen to one’s family as a result. Keeping this as her motif, and the powers as her method of living, she killed all who crossed her path in the already deadly forest of the Ulvenwald, whether on paths or lost in the winding woods, harvesting from them flesh to eat, bones for tools, clothes to wear, and souls… souls she would eventually use to sustain her life for near-immortality. All having begun due to her parents decision to make a deal with a devil. At least, so she thought…
Later, much much later, the Eldrazi happened. The forest she hid in began to turn on her, and it became increasingly difficult to harvest from those she killed, as they had turned into twisted abominations without many human features. When she had enough of this she took her staff and hood and traveled back to the nearby town… a town of which was under assault by a massive eldrazi titan as she arrived. Seeing more of the horrid beings she couldn’t scavenge from she attempted to run, but was quickly spotted and surrounded. As they closed in she thought she was doomed for sure… but something happened. Something horridly amazing. Zombies began to rise from everywhere, lunging at and decimating the vastly outnumbered tentacle beast. Looking around she noticed the source; a ghoulcaller and her brother, one becoming her over as they fought of the enemy. As she made her way over, assisting in keeping them alive, the women told her that she was Gissa and her Brother was Geralf, and how she had heard of the ‘Harvester of the wild’, who never let people leave the forest alive. They began to talk with smiles on their faces as they fought the horrors, going on like this until suddenly it all stopped… the titan seemed to almost instantly be shot to the moon, and the eldrazi all dropped dead, whilst others reverted back to their original forms. When this happened, the woman known as Gissa laughed, shouting in triumph as she hit her brother across the head with a shovel caked in blood, before taking Jarina’s hand and running off into the woods. There she spoke with her for a rather long time as she took her to a cemetery, asking her many questions, many about the legend of her being the ‘Harvester of the Lost’. Eventually Jarina grew to like this woman, and asked her own questions, many about her and many about the magic she used. During the rest of the day they shared stories and spells and magical tricks, improving upon each of their own respective crafts. Alas it did have to end eventually, Gissa leaving her to go harass her brother and Jarina staying behind to practice these new crafts. Eventually she had become comfortable with both her harvesting magic and necromancy, combining the two in her own mystical way, before expanding her horizons. Now, she wasn’t only the ‘harvester of the lost’. She was a Harvester of the innocent.
'._.
I didn't fully read all others before making mine. I just realized, I'm not the only skirsdag cult-born villain maker here! That is awsome, as is your card and character!
Over a century ago, a king of light sent conquerors over the sea to the east, where he could expand his kingdom. One of the leaders was Merikh, a young man skilled with the sword and the art of war. He was forced to go and leave his dear betrothed back at the kingdom.
They found a land, where humans haven't been before. In that land dwelt unprecedented animals and the ancient tribes of merfolk and elves. As they explored the rocky shores and dense forests, they found natural riches, which were considered sacred by these tribes. When the humans wanted to make use of these riches, the tribes stopped them, claiming that it would be blasphemous for their gods. But the king of these humans didn't listen to these people, which he deemed inferior. He ordered his soldiers to take the riches to their capital across the sea and slaughter anyone who would dare to stand in their way.
And the natives did try to stop them. But Merikh had no other choice except to kill them. He was told that if the journey wouldn't bring fortune for the kingdom, his betrothed would be executed. After numerous battles, Merikh had killed hundreds of beings on a foreign land where he did not belong. His sword was stained by their blood and his soul was soaked by darkness.
Eventually, he was defeated in battle and the kingdom lost a legion of men for his mistake. The natives had one victory, but their doom was still imminent.
Merikh survived, but he was in a coma for months. When he awoke, he was in the kingdom's capital, and put immediately into chains. The praised king told him about the cost of his foolishness, and made him watch as his betrothed was executed before him. This opened the door to abyss within Merikh. Once a proud knight, he broke free from his prison with the powers he had gotten in the distant land's war, killed the king's guards, but was not able to murder the king. For his own safety, Merikh left the city, and has gathered powers during these long years.
A man with nothing to lose, he lives unnaturally until the kingdom's brainwashing beliefs are put to eternal darkness. Soon, his long journey and plan would be complete...
So my entry has a bit of a story. I was playing in a game of DnD and Logan here was just an NPC we were friendly with. He was a cleric with no god. After my character died the only sensible way for me to rejoin the partt was to take over the NPC. So I gained control of a midlevel 100 year old human with no redeeming qualities. I tried to make him a battlefield control style caster but that didn't work out, due to a high level of optimization from the other party members. So i focused him instead of making magic items while fearing my impending death from old age. I turned him into a dry lich (desert themed lich) and things were better, I finally had more hit points that I had levels ( 4 CON is a bitch) and had some neat abilities to use. My item crafting was coming along nicely. Due to some feats I had I was able to craft certain thing significantly cheaper than normal and I was offering my services to the party and using the profits to craft my own items. After some adventures in the underdark and fun with drow we got ambushed by a death squad and a DMPC that was described in excruciating detail, so this was the rocks falls everyone dies moment. Instead my character one shots the DMPC and after that cleanup was easy. Side note my DM (being the asshat he was) assumed I cheated so I had to go over the logs I kept on all details related to my character. Took me about a half hour to explain it to him. We didn't game together after that (he was almost equivelent to the DM from Old Man Henderson).
Fast forward a couple years and some coworkers want me to run a DnD campaign. Spend a bit crafting the basics and unleash them on my world. They ended up working for an old cleric named Logan (yes him) and he was seemingly sending them around to solve various problems. After about a year and a half his plan comes to fruition. He had the PC's unwittingly set into motion a demon invasion via tricking the norse pantheon of gods and several artifacts. The demons then tried to cast a hogh level ritual spell that would have devastated everything in a 200 mile radius, but the PC's stopped it before the damage was too severe. Unfortunately the spell terraformed that area into a desert, and still did significant damage to the cities in the area. The PC's were hailed as heroes (although some blamed them for not stopping it sooner) and returned back to Logan. One of the party finally pieced together all the clues I been leaving like breadcrumbs over the last year and a half and realized it was Logan behind all this.
That Logan was responsible for the death of his brother (another PC)
That Logan was responsible for the demon invasion.
That Logan was responsible for his falling from faith.
That Logan was responsible for countless deaths of friends and family during their time together.
All so that Logan could have a desert.
Dry Liches are motivated by their desire to preserve, and deserts are the ultimate example of preservation in their mind so they seek to expand deserts. Since he was in the middle of what is basically western canada he needed to get a desert.
So then they spend the next year trying to track down his phylacteries and destroy them and disrupt his plans. They finally knocked him out and the players were incredibly satisfied with that outcome. He haunted their dreams lol.
3rd place: https://mtgcardsmith.com/view/merikh-emissary-of-the-abyss
What really jumps out to me from this card is the fact that it must be blocked. Just a small detail on the card speaks volumes about who this character is. The idea of a knight torn apart by grief and rage, who becomes a relentless avenger of his sweetheart's death appeals to me. I also love that flavour text.
2nd place: https://mtgcardsmith.com/view/sylvia-of-the-last-bloom
To me, the design of the card tells a story all by itself which is just added to by the lore. Importantly it seems like a fun build around card and I'd want to make a casual deck with this as a centrepiece. Perhaps with goblins... all those expendable tokens could produce a lot of mana to cast some gigantic spell.
1st place: https://mtgcardsmith.com/view/phorcykah-bioroboticist
This card alongside the description seems to all come together really nicely. The idea of a character fraternising with three of Ravnica's guilds at once really creates the sense that this is someone utterly self-serving, which I like a lot. The design synchronises perfectly with the storyline. Plus, I like cyborgs, what can I say?
So, that's that. I hoped you enjoyed participating in this contest as much as I enjoyed making it, even if you didn't get a place. @TenebrisNemo, @bnew07 and @brcien, please name which favourites you'd like and I'll favourite them. @brcien, the follow is yours.
Well done everyone!
As for you @Undead... Lovely challenge. Though I got no prize, I did get to Mae some fun cards, a storie, and a character I'm now unable to resist making cards around. I hope to see more.challenges from you later. And hey, maybe we could co-op on a challenge when I come back from the camp I'm going to in a week.
Can you please fave:
https://mtgcardsmith.com/view/razorfang-hydra?list=set&set=30793
https://mtgcardsmith.com/view/duplicating-gyrotor?list=set&set=30793
https://mtgcardsmith.com/view/shardik-fevered-guardian?list=set&set=30793
https://mtgcardsmith.com/view/duplicitous-confidant?list=set&set=30793
https://mtgcardsmith.com/view/craven-thunderfoot?list=set&set=30793
Post it here and I'll almost certainly favourite it. If there's one thing I love its flavourful villainous characters.