HYBRIDS! And Not The Simic Kind! (Sponsored by Murkletins)

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Comments

  • TenebrisNemoTenebrisNemo
    I edited my previous comment where all my entries are by removing an old card and putting a new card in its place.
  • RanshiRanshi
    We are now closed for judging!
  • TemurzoaTemurzoa
    edited September 2020
    Womp womp.

    At Her Majestys Behest
  • RanshiRanshi
    @Temurzoa, you missed the deadline with that one.
  • Ral1000Ral1000
    Ah, just coming to submit a card... Oh well.
  • ObidiahObidiah
    Sorrel and Minerva Vortal

    Tactics are what this card is for, whenever you attack it opens up mana for instants, and mills your opponent.
  • RanshiRanshi
    @Obidiah, you missed the deadline.
  • JamesLucrativeJamesLucrative
    edited September 2020
    Gonna use this as an opportunity to learn how to post images and make a solid pauper hybrid.

    <img src="https://mtgcardsmith.com/view/dishonored-knight"/>

    In case it does not work ill probably attempt a few edits
    https://mtgcardsmith.com/view/dishonored-knight
  • RanshiRanshi
    @JamesLucrative, this contest has been closed for judging for a while now, sorry.
  • CorwinnnCorwinnn
    @JamesLucrative - https://forums.mtgcardsmith.com/discussion/809/tutorial-forum-post-coding
  • murkletinsmurkletins
    Updated Sponsorship Prizes: (From @murkletins)

    1st place: 1 month of premium subscription + A playmat of your choice from the mtgcardsmith store
    2nd place: 1 month of premium subscription
    3rd place: 1 month of premium subscription

    Please give leeway time for the shipping of 1st place's playmat, as I have to transfer the funds to mtgcardsmith first.

    Thanks everybody!

    Sincerely,

    Mercy
  • RanshiRanshi
    (We promise we're judging. We have just been struggling to find time when we're both available. Hopefully, in the next week we'll be done.)
  • RevanRevan
    No biggie
  • shadow123shadow123
    no problem! take your time!
  • RanshiRanshi
    Alright, everyone, sorry for the delay. It took Ranshi and Arceus a while to find times where they could get together to discuss the contest. Entries overall were stronger than either of them expected, which is great! What they were looking for in each hybrid design was whether or not the design could fit into each of the hybrid's colors as a monocolor effect. Essentially, a hybrid design needs to work in either of its two colors whereas gold designs just need the design to fit both of the two colors together. It took both Arceus and Ranshi years after they first started cardsmithing to learn this philosophy for designing hybrid cards, and they wanted to see how many other designers on MTGCS were aware of it and knew how to push and play into it. There were a lot of really strong entries, and it was particularly difficult and painful to cut down the top entries and order the top three. Ranshi and Arceus would like to thank you all for participating and sharing so many awesome, interesting designs.

    Feedback Document:
    https://docs.google.com/document/d/1HwU6-9RKT-t_u3CCpzSGrxT7I3jNDWzOectdbWDPUac/edit?usp=sharing


    The Top Cut
    - Golgari Bonereader by @Memoryhead
    - Maintain Order by @Animist
    - Lovers' Bond by @Animist
    - Mourning Veteran by @TenebrisNemo
    - Among the Stars by @Shadow123
    - Shiftscale Sidewinder by @DomriKade
    - Paladin of the Northern Reach by @DomriKade
    - Thoughtweft Owl by @Corwinnn

    The Thought Process
    Arceus: Alright, let's figure out which of Kade's and Animist's entries we prefer first, so everyone only has one entry in the top cut (since people can't win more than one top spot).
    Arceus: Let's start with Animist. Do we cut Lovers' Bond or Maintain Oder.
    Ranshi: That's tough, I can't really decide. I'm leaning toward Lovers' Bond.
    Arceus: I think Lovers' Bond is more flavorful, but Maintain Order is more mechanically interesting, and our own judging criteria values mechanics higher than flavor.
    Ranshi: So we're going to put Maintain Order through, then?
    Arceus: I think so. Now, let's move on to DomriKade's two. 
    Ranshi: I think the Sidewinder should go through. I value that Kade very much knew the mechanical and color pie implications with Paladin of the Northern Reach, but the lack of a creature type makes it feel a little sloppy.
    Arceus: I think I can get behind the sidewinder. I do really like it's an indirect spoof on Fathom Mage. Alright, so Lovers' Bond and Paladin of the Northern Reach are both out. Each creator only has one entry in the top cut, it's time to start cutting down to the top 3.
    Ranshi: I think we need to be hyper-critical now. 
    Ranshi: I think Thoughtweft Owl will probably be an honorable mention.
    Arceus: Yeah, I can agree. It's a pretty strong card and fits its identity, but it's a tad lackluster compared to some of the other entries and isn't as risky a choice of design space.
    Ranshi: I also think Golgari Bonereader probably gets cut to Honorable Mentions here, which is a bit tough to consider.
    Arceus: I think Bonereader feels a little bland, and we are trying to reward more interesting mechanical designs and successfully taken design risks. I feel bad about cutting it given how strong an entry it is, but I think the others are just a little bit stronger. What's left after that?
    Ranshi: Maintain Order, Among the Stars, Mourning Veteran, and Shiftscale Sidewinder.
    Arceus: So we need to cut one to get to the top three?
    Ranshi: Yeah.
    Arceus: So where should we start?
    Arceus: Hmmm. I think Among the Stars and Maintain Order are definitely in the top three. They're the more risky designs among these four and both happen to have a lot of flavorful resonance to them, so let's set those aside for now.
    Ranshi: Right.
    Arceus: So that brings us down to Shiftscale Sidewinder or Mourning Veteran as the last honorable mention.
    Arceus: I think I'm leaning more toward cutting Shiftscale Sidewinder, since I think they're equally as interesting mechanically, but Mourning Veteran has stronger flavor surrounding it.
    Ranshi: Yeah, alright, sounds goods.
    Arceus: Man cuts for this contest have been hard, but I guess that gives us our top three (in no specific order):
    - Mourning Veteran by @TenebrisNemo
    - Maintain Order by @Animist
    - Among the Stars by @ Shadow123
    Arceus: Now we have to rank them.
    Ranshi: I'm of the opinion Among the Stars is the clear number 1. It's so creative and it has a really strong flavor to it.
    Arceus: I'm inclined to agree with that. So we just need to decide our second and third places.
    Arceus: This is a tough debate. Maintain order is a bigger design risk since it taps into space in W that has hardly been explored, and it's questionable how well that risk paid off, while Mourning Veteran is the safer design with more resonant flavor, but isn't really pushing either color's space much.
    Ranshi: I think that even though we think Maintain order fits W space, I'm not sure how much the rest of MTGCS would agree with it.
    Arceus: It's certainly a decisive card and one that would ruffle some feathers if it got officially printed. I also think it probably needs to be uncommon. It's a nitpick, but I think it's just enough to put it below Mourning Veteran.
    Ranshi: Yeah probably.
    Arceus: Alright, that's our top three ranked, then.


    (Post was too big, please wait a moment for the final standings.)
  • RanshiRanshi
    Honorable Mentions:

    Golgari Bonereader by @MemoryHead
    Shiftscale Sidewinder by @DomriKade
    Thoughtweft Owl by @Corwinnn
    We were originally going to write something about each, but then as it became time to write, it felt difficult to find the right tone. We couldn't strike the balance between praise and criticism, that felt right for an honorable mention, so it is what it says on the tin: a mention, honorable, though it may be.

    Top 3:
    Third Place: Maintain Order by @Animist
    image
    Maintain Order takes a pretty noticeable design risk and pushes what white can do in the color pie. That being said, both Ranshi and Arceus are advocates for exploring counterspells in white, and Maintain Order's restriction of only being able to counter spells cast on your turn fits into an established white theme with cards such as Grand Abolisher. While it would ruffle some feathers if it were released in an official MTG set, we both agree this is a bold entry worth a top spot.

    Second Place: Mourning Veteran by @TenebrisNemo
    image
    What Maintain Order has in bold and color-pushing design, Mourning Veteran has in resonant flavor and fitting mechanics. The card appeals to an overlap of white and black that official hybrid designs haven't touched upon, and has the potential to be quite a strong 1-drop in standard and limited. The flavor is also spot-on, with excellent flavor text, great art, and even a fitting set symbol.

    First Place: Among the Stars by @Shadow123
    There was very little debate between Arceus and Ranshi as to whether or not this card would be the top spot. It, to the two of them, takes a similar mechanical risk to Maintain Order, but to a less controversial and more impactful payoff, all while having a similar flavorful resonance to Mourning Veteran. The effect is really cool and both Arceus and Ranshi would love to try playing with it in various formats, especially limited, standard, and EDH. This card is a showcase that just because hybrid design space is limited, doesn't mean interesting hybrid designs can't exist.
  • RanshiRanshi
    Now for Prizes!!!

    @shadow123 (1st place): 1 month of premium subscription + A playmat of your choice from the mtgcardsmith store + 3 Favorites of your choice from both @Arceus8523 and @Ranshi.

    @TenebrisNemo (2nd place): 1 month of premium subscription + 2 Favorites of your choice from both @Arceus8523 and @Ranshi.

    @Animist (3rd place):     1 month of premium subscription + 1 Favorite of your choice from both @Arceus8523 and @Ranshi

    HMs:     You each get a favorite of @Arceus8523's choice and of @Ranshi's choice.
  • shadow123shadow123
    I-I...um....wow!

    The entries in this contest were so amazing! I had sort of accepted that I wouldn't be in the top three for this. Thank you so much for liking my card!

    Congrats to all the other winners and HM's! This contest was truly super fun to participate in!!

    Could you just fave anything you like from this set:
    https://mtgcardsmith.com/user/shadow123/sets/46215

    Thank you so much for hosting such a wonderful contest!
  • MemoryHeadMemoryHead
    Hey, that's nice. Thanks for the contest and for the honorable mention. Of course, congratulations to all of the winners, and especially to shadow123 on the win.
  • CorwinnnCorwinnn
    edited October 2020
    Awesome! My design space was to try and fit into three different challenges, one of which was create a common (which I overshot btw) so I'm happy just to be mentioned in this challenge! Congrats to all the winners and other mentionables!
  • TenebrisNemoTenebrisNemo
    Congratulations to other winners and honorable mentions! Thank you for hosting, @Ranshi and @Arceus8523!

    I would like to have the month of premium added to my account and the favorites added onto these two cards of mine:
    https://mtgcardsmith.com/view/petal-mail-faerie
    https://mtgcardsmith.com/view/ivory-warden
  • Faiths_GuideFaiths_Guide
    A little sad that mine weren't even considered (and got no feedback) :neutral:
  • RanshiRanshi
    @Faiths_Guide, on behalf of @Arceus8523 and myself, I'd like to apologize. Neither of us had noticed your entries, for have grown so accustomed to looking for images, the links went unnoticed. We briefly discussed the idea of re-judging but were unsure how that would interfere with the distribution of prizes, and Mercy had already been informed of the original standings. We could offer you some consolatory favorites if you'd wish it.
  • Faiths_GuideFaiths_Guide
    edited October 2020
    No need for faves, but I'd love feedback :)
  • Faiths_GuideFaiths_Guide
    edited November 2020
    Any chance that feedback for my submissions could be added to the google doc? Maybe you could also tell me if one or more would've made the "top cut?"
  • RanshiRanshi
    We are trying to find a time when we can talk. Also, yes, at least one of the cards would've probably made the top cut. Sorry, again... :(
  • Faiths_GuideFaiths_Guide
    No worries ;)
  • RanshiRanshi
    @Faiths_Guide, we have provided feedback at the bottom of the document.
This discussion has been closed.