MTG Cardsmith Community Forums
Phase Beta - Operation: Box, Contest Two
This discussion has been closed.
Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Comments
...
when's the announcement?
XD
It is time to announce the winners!
Corwinnn and I have spent a week sifting through almost 100 unique entries steadily whittling down our top entry lists and comparing them in order to find the best of the best of the best from among what was submitted. It was so difficult that we ended up adding a 4th place prize to one of the brackets! This contest was pretty open-ended. There weren't many rules or restrictions and that really shows in the submissions. Commander is a format when you can screw around, combo off like crazy or play politics and we got entries that covered the whole spectrum.Without further ado, here are the winners:
Premium/the list Bracket:
1st - Nadhil, Sultan's Merchant by @Flatfish - Prize: 1 Kaladesh booster box and a MTGCS playmat
2nd - Dordax, Herald of Deceit by @Termite1 - Prize: 1 Kaladesh bundle and a MTGCS playmat
3rd - Daedai, Who Binds Fire by @Delrethius - Prize: 8 Kaladesh packs and a MTGCS playmat
4th - Cabiri, Immaculate Law by @Beeswax - Prize: 6 Kaladesh packs
Non-Premium Bracket:
1st - Sisters of Shriveling Fate by @Gelectrode - Prize: 6 Kaladesh packs
2nd - Asper, Forced Transformation by @Death_Methods - Prize: 5 Kaladesh packs
3rd - Jaina, Harnesser of the Sea by @dashdo101 - Prize: 3 Kaladesh packs
Congratulations to our winners!
If you have won, please contact @mtgcardsmith via forum PM to organize getting your prize. If you aren't able to get your prize, in addition to the normal digital prize options, you will be able to get the rough equivalent of your prize on MTGO if that is what you want.
Notes on the winners:
NadhilSB: Nadhil is pretty interesting. He's like... Reverse group hug and taxes... I do like him though since he's essentially a more interesting and 'fair' version of Mogis. Emphasis on more interesting. He's a much better card for commander.
C: There wasn't much debate about our love of this card. This one really packs in a ton of flavor and fun in such a small space. How do you feel about your stuff, because Nadhil will punish you for not paying tribute to the Sultan. I don't know about you, but I want this guy working for me!
Dordax
SB: Dordax is cool. Honestly I'm very impressed with it. It's neat that you also put your cards in the exile pool and that the pool grows every time you activate that ability. Will of the council also is a great and clever way of mitigating what would otherwise be an overpowered ability. @Termite1 had a great showing in phase one and it paid off with a great showing in phase two.
C: The artwork catches your eye, and that's how Doedax gets you... with his trickery! First he takes something you once held dear, and then turns it against his enemy, after making them choose their own fate. If this guy isn't your Commander, it could be you!
Daedai
SB: Daedai is another great showing by @Delrethius. I'm frankly surprised his other commander wasn't so interesting since this and his other contest entries in the past have mostly won me over for their creativity and originality. This feels like a commander commander. It taxes and punishes opponents for playing their commanders, the keystone of their decks, but it doesn't disable them or lock them out like Nevermore. I think my only gripe with this is that because it is focused on instants, it should probably be blue instead of green. This was also initially a bit lower on my radar but then I realized that it was probably made specifically to play well with the fact that there are now partner commanders which make it that much more interesting and useful. The only real problem with it is the color thing which can be overlooked as a tweak but it's not quiiiiiiiiiite as interesting as it could be, preventing it from ranking higher.
C: Our third place Commander is this very sneaky Fox Cleric. Someone plays their Commander and Daedai lets you cast something for free, and as the game wears on, this can be a tremendous advantage. Where he gets really sly is the way he keeps your opponents mana in check and suppresses their ability to cast spells. If I were you, I would not want to see Daedai on the other side of the table!
Cabiri
SB: Cabiri is a lot of good ideas in a very tight package. He's like a baby Teysa with his 'things that hit me die' ability except you can pay out of it and you don't get a spirit. Forcing attacks to take advantage of that ability is great. The creature doesn't necessarily have to attack you since it is multiplayer (probably broken in 1v1). Debuffing power is a great way of causing chaos and getting rid of enemy creatures, whether they have to attack you or into the waiting arms of an opponent's blockers. The problem is that the force attack and debuff really need to be separate abilities and the debuff should probably require a tap. As-is, it can be heavily abused. Forced attack should probably also cost {1} more. Bident of Thasa would love this commander.
C: The one who sits on high and passes judgement, Cabiri has a way to punish your enemies for attacking you, and if they can't be bothered to attack, well he has a way to make them do that too, and then punish them for that as well. This commander is simple and yet packs in a ton of flavor!
Sisters
SB: It's Golgari flashback anti-mill mill with a hint of red madness and a touch of randomness. This card would lead the kind of deck with a lot of draw effects and graveyard exile and result in some frenzied games once it comes out. Forcing the negative puzzle box-like effect only on the owner's turn is a nice way to keep this from pissing too many people off while still letting it be impactful. Keep your hand small and play lots of Howling Mine-like effects and maybe a Nekusar for good measure then sit back and enjoy.
C: Oh my! At first glance, I thought, this is kinda funky, but then I saw the huge control advantage these ladies bring to the table. Being a former Permission deck junkie, this card brings a little Golgari tear to my eye.
Asper
SB: I don't know how highly I would have rated this card a month ago. I never particularly liked morph. But, a few weeks ago while playing a got wrecked by an organized morph/manifest deck in a commander match and it was fascinating to see it go off after a few turns. This card is purely an engine and that is what morph needs to keep going.
C: Serious shenanigans are about to ensue with Asper as your commander! Morphing! Manifesting! Spirits! This one just oozes with flavor and craziness, and makes good use of all four colors!
Jaina
SB: A baby Naya enabler in base Bant with a few neat tricks up her sleeve. This probably isn't the most original commander (granting trample, paying extra to give big creatures haste, generating big tokens) but this is definitely one of the cases where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. This card gives you a lot of options, even when durdling. Overall I like stompy in commander and there's a huge world of big creatures with useful abilities out there that this gives you access to with four colors.
C: I really like the way this addresses all of your creatures, giving the big ones that Trample, and allowing you to give the wee ones Haste, and to top it off, you can also make a big creature to buff your attack or rebuff your opponents invaders! A great card to build a deck around!
Wrap-Up
If anyone has any questions about their entry, feel free to PM @strongbelieves or @corwinnn.Thank you to everyone who participated. This is the first time we've tried a contest of this magnitude and the first time we've tried adding extra incentive for members who directly support the site. Giving people who can't get premium a shot at getting into the same tier also had the effect I had hoped for. These major contests can only exist because the community supports them and the community wants them.
Keep up the creativity!
For some reason every time I look at the name "Jaina, Harnesser of the Sea" I see " Jaina, Hairdresser of the Sea".
I actually won!
Thank you @mtgcardsmith for hosting this contest and a special thank you to @Corwinnn and @Strongbelieves for grading all of the entries!
xD
I think @strongbelieves deserves a prize for giving out so many prizes.
(But also proud of them and mad at myself for making cards that really need to step up their game)
Geezus I need some work.
Thanks a ton for the contest gents! Congrats winners!