MTG Cardsmith Community Forums
Phase Alpha - Operation: Box, Contest One
Intro
Ok, folks, it's time to get this party started. As I said here this is going to be the first contest in a two-part bonanza we're having to celebrate creativity, promote support of MTGCS and hand out some sweet goodies. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, please read this link: http://forums.mtgcardsmith.com/discussion/2060/phase-alpha-operation-box-preparation-stage
Rules
1. Entries must be 'realistic' magic cards. No 'un' cards, no pokemon, no yigioh, no transformers, etc.
2. Entries must be balanced and viable for modern or commander play. If you need help with this part, be sure to ask your fellow cardsmiths for input and support.
3. Each user is allowed two (2) entries. These entries may be changed any time before the contest's end date. If you change your card(s), please make a new post saying so.
4. Each entry must be an originally designed card for this contest, no old cards or previous creations.
5. Each entry must have the artwork with a proper credit. There may be exceptions made but using art sources that allow you to credit the creator (such as deviantart or artist websites/tumblrs) is highly suggested.
Entry Rules
With the next commander sets coming out soon after Kaladesh, we thought it would be a lot of fun to have the first half of the contest be cards that will actually be usable with these new commanders. What is so interesting about the new commanders? They will be the first ever four-color legendary creatures!
For this contest, we want you to make a 'charm' for the four color combination of your choice. A charm is an instant that allows you to pick between three modes for which ability you want to use. Some real examples are:
Trickery Charm
Boros Charm
Abzan Charm
Notice how the cards that require more colors and more mana tend to have more powerful effects? A 4cmc instant that requires 4 colors should allow any participant a vast number of possibilities. The requirements for your entry are:
1. Your card must be an instant (not tribal)
2. Your card must use four colored mana symbols in its casting cost and nothing else (includes no phyrexian mana, no hybrid mana and no colorless mana). For example, {w}{u}{b}{r} is an acceptable cost
3. Your card must have three modes to choose from
Prizes
As stated in the previous post, the prize for winning this contest will be getting your name on The List. If you are a premium member, and you are selected, you will be allowed to nominate someone for The List pending judge approval. By being on The List or being a premium member, you will be eligible to win the largest prizes in the second half of this contest, including a booster box of Kaladesh. This is an opportunity for those of you that can't afford to donate to the site/become premium members or can't due to other reasons to get in on prizes that would otherwise only be available to premium members.
The minimum number of winners will be five. Depending on the number of entries, this could increase greatly.
Judging
Cards will be judged by myself and Corwinnn with possible input from MTGCS as well. They will be judged based on creativity first and foremost and balance second. Spelling, formatting and MTG standardization will not be judged since we understand some cardsmiths are new to designing cards and some don't speak English as a first language but please do your best to keep it understandable.
End Date
The contest will end around September 25th. Winners will be announced shortly after.
If you have any other questions, feel free to ask.
Ok, folks, it's time to get this party started. As I said here this is going to be the first contest in a two-part bonanza we're having to celebrate creativity, promote support of MTGCS and hand out some sweet goodies. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, please read this link: http://forums.mtgcardsmith.com/discussion/2060/phase-alpha-operation-box-preparation-stage
Rules
1. Entries must be 'realistic' magic cards. No 'un' cards, no pokemon, no yigioh, no transformers, etc.
2. Entries must be balanced and viable for modern or commander play. If you need help with this part, be sure to ask your fellow cardsmiths for input and support.
3. Each user is allowed two (2) entries. These entries may be changed any time before the contest's end date. If you change your card(s), please make a new post saying so.
4. Each entry must be an originally designed card for this contest, no old cards or previous creations.
5. Each entry must have the artwork with a proper credit. There may be exceptions made but using art sources that allow you to credit the creator (such as deviantart or artist websites/tumblrs) is highly suggested.
Entry Rules
With the next commander sets coming out soon after Kaladesh, we thought it would be a lot of fun to have the first half of the contest be cards that will actually be usable with these new commanders. What is so interesting about the new commanders? They will be the first ever four-color legendary creatures!
For this contest, we want you to make a 'charm' for the four color combination of your choice. A charm is an instant that allows you to pick between three modes for which ability you want to use. Some real examples are:
Trickery Charm
Boros Charm
Abzan Charm
Notice how the cards that require more colors and more mana tend to have more powerful effects? A 4cmc instant that requires 4 colors should allow any participant a vast number of possibilities. The requirements for your entry are:
1. Your card must be an instant (not tribal)
2. Your card must use four colored mana symbols in its casting cost and nothing else (includes no phyrexian mana, no hybrid mana and no colorless mana). For example, {w}{u}{b}{r} is an acceptable cost
3. Your card must have three modes to choose from
Prizes
As stated in the previous post, the prize for winning this contest will be getting your name on The List. If you are a premium member, and you are selected, you will be allowed to nominate someone for The List pending judge approval. By being on The List or being a premium member, you will be eligible to win the largest prizes in the second half of this contest, including a booster box of Kaladesh. This is an opportunity for those of you that can't afford to donate to the site/become premium members or can't due to other reasons to get in on prizes that would otherwise only be available to premium members.
The minimum number of winners will be five. Depending on the number of entries, this could increase greatly.
Judging
Cards will be judged by myself and Corwinnn with possible input from MTGCS as well. They will be judged based on creativity first and foremost and balance second. Spelling, formatting and MTG standardization will not be judged since we understand some cardsmiths are new to designing cards and some don't speak English as a first language but please do your best to keep it understandable.
End Date
The contest will end around September 25th. Winners will be announced shortly after.
If you have any other questions, feel free to ask.
This discussion has been closed.
Comments
Everything but black
Maybe I'll make a whole cycle anyway and then choose the two I like the most as entries.
I'm guessing it's to ease up on the judging phase. If you have 12 people enter, you'd have to judge 60 cards if you had everyone do five entries. With doing two, the judges would only have to judge 24 which is a lot more manageable. Plus, since this contest has a pretty big prize, there will be a ton of people entering.
Anyways, here's my first entry:
I went with wbrg and envisioned it as just plain old brutality of the elements, and tried to build it around that.
I updated the card a little
For example, would you prefer " - ", " * ", " o " (like @seaspray4TF3 does), or maybe, since we don't have access to actual bullet points, we could just use old fashioned "...; or..."? Thoughts on that @stongbelieves, @Corwinnn, and/or @mtgcardsmith?
I hope this is okay...
http://mtgcardsmith.com/view/zoylaw-charm
Exitia Charm: http://mtgcardsmith.com/view/exitia-charm?list=user
@strongbelieves When you said no colorless, I assume you only meant the colorless symbol, not generic colorless. There are two charms that use generic mana in their costs to my knowledge.
Also hope the Modern frame does the trick! Haha.
Yeah, I know WHY they're doing it, but I can still it's weird. ;P
And I think the second option of your card is very weak. One +1/+1 (or -1/-1) counter for four (different!) mana and only conditional (if combat damage has been dealt). Could easily be two, maybe even three counters.
Thanks for the input. Personally, I had thought if anything it was overpowered. I had just imagined like swinging with 10 creatures and being blocked b 10 creatures and suddenly you have 10 creatures with +1/+1 in colors that have all of the abzan +1/+1 counter buffs. But I also had it marked as an uncommon, so I think it's appropriate. If I decide to upgrade to rare I'll probably upgrade the amount of counters and bump the elemental of the last ability to a 6/6
http://mtgcardsmith.com/view/invention-charm?list=user
http://mtgcardsmith.com/view/ruthless-charm
http://mtgcardsmith.com/view/ruthless-charm-1
http://mtgcardsmith.com/view/hopeful-charm-1