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Make Your Own Planeswalker Deck Cards #2: Originals
Hi folks! I'm becoming a little bit addicted to making contests, I think.
So last year I held a contest in which you all created cards using the format of the bonus cards found in the Planeswalker decks, based around other planeswalker characters. Since then, we've had two more sets of the decks, bringing out Ajani and Tezzeret and then Gideon and Liliana, and I figured it was time to bring this contest back, but this time, with original planeswalker characters!
Here are the rules:
1. Create an original planeswalker character and card. (Previous cards are acceptable, if you've made a Planeswalker in the past that you really like.)
2. Give me a small paragraph describing your Planeswalker as a character. Who they are, what they want, where they're from, what kind of magic they use, that kind of stuff.
3. Create a rare noncreature card that has an effect and also searches your library for your planeswalker card by name.
4. Create an uncommon creature card that gets a bonus as long as you control a planeswalker with the same subtype as your planeswalker.
5. Create a common card that is tied to your planeswalker thematically, but not necessarily mechanically.
You can see examples of the four card templates in the previous contest link above, or here.
Power level is not a factor here, so you don't have to restrain yourself to cards that could be put in a realistic Planeswalker Deck. This contest is all about expressing the themes of your characters.
As such, judging is simple:
There will be three (or fewer) winners selected:
1. The contestant with the best planeswalker card.
2. The contestant with the best non-planeswalker card.
3. The contestant with the best thematic ensemble, looking at all four submitted cards.
*I'm defining best in terms of balance, coherence of themes, correct Magic formatting, the usual deal.
The contestants with the best planeswalker and non-planeswalker cards will get their cards faved, plus two additional favorites available on request. The contestant with the best set of four will receive the same, plus four additional faves. If someone wins in multiple categories, well, more faves for them! The contest will end on the April 22/23.
As always, have fun! I'm looking forward to seeing what you guys come up with.
So last year I held a contest in which you all created cards using the format of the bonus cards found in the Planeswalker decks, based around other planeswalker characters. Since then, we've had two more sets of the decks, bringing out Ajani and Tezzeret and then Gideon and Liliana, and I figured it was time to bring this contest back, but this time, with original planeswalker characters!
Here are the rules:
1. Create an original planeswalker character and card. (Previous cards are acceptable, if you've made a Planeswalker in the past that you really like.)
2. Give me a small paragraph describing your Planeswalker as a character. Who they are, what they want, where they're from, what kind of magic they use, that kind of stuff.
3. Create a rare noncreature card that has an effect and also searches your library for your planeswalker card by name.
4. Create an uncommon creature card that gets a bonus as long as you control a planeswalker with the same subtype as your planeswalker.
5. Create a common card that is tied to your planeswalker thematically, but not necessarily mechanically.
You can see examples of the four card templates in the previous contest link above, or here.
Power level is not a factor here, so you don't have to restrain yourself to cards that could be put in a realistic Planeswalker Deck. This contest is all about expressing the themes of your characters.
As such, judging is simple:
There will be three (or fewer) winners selected:
1. The contestant with the best planeswalker card.
2. The contestant with the best non-planeswalker card.
3. The contestant with the best thematic ensemble, looking at all four submitted cards.
*I'm defining best in terms of balance, coherence of themes, correct Magic formatting, the usual deal.
The contestants with the best planeswalker and non-planeswalker cards will get their cards faved, plus two additional favorites available on request. The contestant with the best set of four will receive the same, plus four additional faves. If someone wins in multiple categories, well, more faves for them! The contest will end on the April 22/23.
As always, have fun! I'm looking forward to seeing what you guys come up with.
This discussion has been closed.
Comments
Cache is a mechanic by @fabiocbinbutter:
See - https://mtgcardsmith.com/view/gaeas-confidant-1
[To cache a card]
(Exile it face down. You may look at it at any time. You may draw from your cache instead of from your library.)
Related rules text:
To cache a card means to exile it face-down as cached. Players may look at any cached cards they own at any time. If a player would draw a card and they own any cached cards in the exile zone, they may instead choose one of those cards and draw that card instead of drawing from the top of their library.
(The word "from" in the first sentence of her +1 should be "of" instead.)
A little about the Archivist:
Orinthene blinked, trying to clear her vision; it didn't help. The blurriness had nothing to do with her eyesight, rather, it was due to the heavy rain on the window pane through which she now squinted. "Torches?" she thought, "Could those little faint red glows out there be torches?" As she lived on the border of Avabruck, strange sounds and sights weren't really foreign, more intriguing then anything else. As the bright spots vanished from view, either because they were too far away or because the rain had swelled to a downpour, Orinthene decided she better turn in for the night.
Orinthene was fourteen years old and lived alone in a small run down cottage, what many would call a hut. Not much to look at from outside or in. Her parents were loving wonderful teachers and guardians that had been... misplaced, somehow. Orinthene had carried on alone with a touch of grief and a longing to know just what had befallen her beloved father and mother.
She awoke with a start only a few hours later to the sound of howls. "Mondronen" she surmised. Living this close to Avabruck meant that Orinthene knew enough that she wasn't easily startled or surprised. She drifted off to sleep.
-YEARS PASS-
Orinthene's discovered that she can planeswalk. During the werewolf attack after the wards around Avabruck's central cathedral, the Temple of Saint Raban, failed. She returned to Innistrad shortly after. She doesn't wish to be anywhere else, she'd begun to archive. Her hut had become a storehouse of documents and research. Mostly in an effort to determine the fate of her parents, she'd now delved into the mysteries of every race on the plane and documented her findings. She's recently learned of Arlinn Kord, she'd witnessed Avacyn cursemuting or killing hundreds of werewolves, and knows of the angel's church launching a new inquisition more terrifying than anything they've done before against the lycanthropes. Not much of it matters as long as she's left to continue her vigil and learn the full extent of what there is to be learned on Innistrad.
Orinthene's sole goal is to be left alone and undisturbed. She has no desire to assist the coming Gatewatch or engage in the struggle of the native races. Her inherent powers are few, but empower her to keep her archive safe an obscured while simultaneously allowing her to go places others cannot as she collects little known facts.
(Sorry for my "novel" style and any mistakes I may have made. I know almost nothing of MTG lore, I just scabbed pieces off of wiki and MTG stories.)
i have no backstory for this ... yet... maybe ever... but i am on break so i might come up with... something... probably not
*insert backstory here*
Heimrath is an ancient and powerful wizard who has mastered the art of mind magics. He puts these terrible magics to use, manipulating the weak into his servitude and stealing the experiences and memories of the powerful right from their minds. He is a ruthless manipulator and sees nothing as his equal, operating under the belief that he must possess all the world’s knowledge and secrets. To do this, he aims to find a way of harnessing such great levels of insight without losing his own sanity in the process, no matter the cost to those around him.
Edit: Changed -5 ability.
Credius "True Corruption" Narethis
Birthplane: N'aquillon
Race: Corrupted Ancient Planeswalker
Background:
Born in a distant past so obscure and unknown, it is believed that the entity inhabiting the Ancient Aquillon body going by the name Credius Narethis is a fragment of the Orginal Spark that created the multiverse. Credius himself is from the plane of N'aquillon; a peaceful and calm plane dominated by blue, green and white mana. It is there that a young Credius honed his skills as a diplomat and Theorist.
Alas N'aquillon suffered a great cataclysm, when an expedition into uncharted territories of the plane brought back a small black crystal the size of a fist. From the very moment the crystal had been brought into the capital of N'aquillon, the people became overcome with rage and hatred, distrust was growing and chaos ensued.
In the final thralls of the great war that had devastated the plane and decimated its inhabitants, Credius took it upon himself to destroy the crystal with a small batch of personally chosen warriors. When they arrived at the location of the crystal, a voice spoke to Credius' mind in an ancient tongue and told him to give himself to the crystal's will. However, the ancient entity within the crystal underestimated the Aquillon's will and dormant spark and rather than taking over Credius' body, the crystal and its power got absorbed by the Aquillon, effectively merging Credius with the Ancient entity's power and awakening the Ancient Aquillon's dormant planewalker's spark.
Ever since, Credius made it his mission to spread chaos, distrust and hatred throughout the multiverse, using his vast power and resources to manipulate numerous events just for the sake of gorging himself on the darkness his own machinations bring forth.
Credius is a proficient user of dark magic, yet also has influences of blue and white mana from his old self, making him a very versatile mage and impressive warrior. His intellect is easily on par with Nicol Bolas and his drive may even exceed the Elder Dragon's.
His favorite style of dealing with opponents is weakening them, draining them of strength and resolve and forcing them to surrender on their own accord rather than using more offensive tactics to bring them to submission.
Quote: "Demons, Dragons, Angels... they all think themselves to be gods, yet none has ever managed to remain standing before my might."
(Nocrix's story happens between Shadows Over Innistrad and Eldritch Moon)
Nocrix (Planeswalker Card) was a researcher from Innistrad who began to notice strange happenings within the city, such as deformation of life local life and dimensional tears (Card #1: Rift Anomaly). He began to suspect the Eldrazi for the nonsense, but according to the reports from Zendikar, it couldn't have been possible, as the Eldrazi were wiped out.
Days passed and the sightings only became more frequent, and so he decided to investigate by collecting a blood sample from the deformed cattle in the backwoods. After further investigation, he finally decided that he wasn't crazy, and that it was the Eldrazi who were responsible for the oddities that had surfaced recently.
As he looked more and more into the matter, he became obsessed with the Eldrazi and their immense power. He would sacrifice sleep some nights to finish studies and journal entries, and one night, a voice began speaking to him in tongues. It identified itself as the Eldrazi titan, Emrakul, claiming it was the being creating the beauty that Nocrix was witnessing. Emrakul offered to glorify Nocrix if he would sacrifice a human soul to her so that she may unleash her true power upon the world and make it perfect. He agreed to this without hesitation, eager to become favored by the creator of his obsessions.
Nocrix hired a mercenary wizard to harvest the soul for him, offering a large sum of gold in exchange for it (Card #2: Relentless Mercenary). The mercenary agreed and went off to take the soul of the local alchemist. The mercenary returned the next day with the soul, but rather than holding up his end of the bargain, Nocrix used a curse to obtain the soul of the mercenary, and took both to be turned into a special ritual concoction (Card #3: Ritual Vial). He offered it to Emrakul, and she deformed and tinkered with Nocrix's physique until he was of her image, then sent him to the other side of the rift plane so he may adapt to his new form.
Due to Nocrix's carelessness, Emrakul was able to unleash hell upon the city of Innistrad, turning families into walking abominations and forcing the entire city to turn on itself. Nobody could be trusted, and even the Gatewatch themselves were suspicious of eachother, but in the end, the Gatewatch was able to put an end to Emrakul. A search party went to look for Nocrix after his disappearance was reported and the body of the mercenary was found, however the search never turned up any results, as Nocrix was no longer of this world.
Elasi was born on a plane a little like Innistrad, where things like dying, but not staying dead. She learned from an early age to channel the power within the earth of plane, and as she grew, found an affinity with the zombies of the plane, rather others of her own kind. Until, one day, she meets with a demon residing on her plane; the encounter causes her spark to ignite and she finds herself on the world of Zendikar. Scared and alone, she finds solace in these Kor, hides herself well within their ranks, and finds herself growing an affinity for crafting metal and blades from stone.
Elasi lives among the Kor people on Zendikar for a few years, and her prowess of using the power within the earth of her home plane had helped her be able to be a renowned lithomancer during the time between the Eldrazi awakenings, but as we all know, that second awakening happens, and Elasi, scared for her life, planewalks away from the plane (she had been practicing while studying lithomancy). Elasi wanders the Blind Eternities, looking for her home plane, but, as she frantically searches, knowing she must find somewhere to go soon, she is unable to find her plane and choose to go to the world of Phyrexia. She tries to help the people there fight the Preators, but, even the earth of the plane is sick with their corruption, and soon Elasi feels herself becoming corrupted by the sickness within the earth. Thus, she starts succumbing to Compleation. hence, From the Blood
i also made a flip walker that shows her early years. (home -> zendikar). Stone's Fury shows her starting to succumb to Compleation.
"Bismin Mycurim!"
"Yes sir."
"You finish the electro-amplifier diverter yet?"
Bismin merely rolled his eyes at the prime izmagus's questions about the project he had been assigned. He had finished the part weeks ago but if he told his boss that he would be assigned another worthless project and he was to busy working with his friend Yaziel on a new experiment where they could use excess mana to summon allies from across a field.
"Are you listening to me!?"
"Yes sir, finish the part by the second instillation and make sure Kazzix doesn't find out."
The assistant of the Firemind pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Just get it done please."
He bit the inside of his cheek holding back another remark as the Prime Izmagus turned and walked over to inspect a Chronomage's finishing project yelling about over used chronoradicals and how they were destabilizing the time around Nivix.
But as he walked into his lab he heard something vibrating in his workshop he quickly rushed in worried the pressure converter he was using to solidify aether had begun to leak but as he checked the oval base he found it was perfectly intact.He followed the sound into a panel in the floor where he kept souvenirs from other planes he stuck his hand grasping around the deep hole and finally after a few seconds grabbing hedrons and vampire teeth he wrapped his fingers around a irregularly shaped device gifted to him by his sister. He paused for a moment thinking about the sibling who had taken care of him after his parents had been infected the sibling he had killed as she spat oil and curses at him. Shaking his head clear of his family he refocused on the vibrating handheld he slid the middle ring to alleviate whatever built up pressure causing the whistle but instead was shocked by the clearly Vedalken voice that was traveling over the aether to give him a message that shocked him out of the stupor the voice had caused.
http://mtgcardsmith.com/view/distress-call
as the message began to repeat he slid the middle ring to silence it he shoved it into his pocket he began to scurry from his desk to his work bench to his rarely used bed.
He had forgotten his home, his family's home.
Time to return to the suns, to the graves, to Mirrodin.
http://mtgcardsmith.com/view/bismin-sun-touched-1
http://mtgcardsmith.com/view/emblem-323
http://mtgcardsmith.com/view/knight-657
http://mtgcardsmith.com/view/bismins-electromancer
http://mtgcardsmith.com/view/distress-call
http://mtgcardsmith.com/view/white-sun-survivor
Backstory
Brigitte Haerkenlaer wields white mana and draws her power from the loyalty of men and women whom she is then able to bolster and fortify.
Born on Pelavor, Brigitte is the daughter of Bjeldor Haerkenlaer, Jarl of Tsoth Mora, where she was raised to value the strength of steel and the importance of honour. Growing up, she revered her father and the sword that he carried as a symbol of his power and authority: a wightblade, said to be infused with the spirits of ancient warriors, the Holvarken, who, unwilling to rest in the Great Hall beyond, preferred to remain on this world and continue to see battle.
It was when Brigitte stole the wightblade from her father that her spark was ignited. Disagreeing with Bjeldor’s actions in the conflict that arose from the elven kingdom of Vaerholt and the dark province of Krovmir, Brigitte had intended to usurp her father’s authority for his own good. Upon grasping the blade, however, the spirits dwelling within revealed themselves to her as ancient planeswalkers, their powers long since diminished, who had waited millennia for one with the spark to possess the blade. They revealed to Brigitte the true nature of the conflict engulfing Pelavor and that the Great Hall was not a place of feasts and mirth as the legends told but something twisted and terrible.
Though she would be disowned by her father and many of the clan heads would want her executed, unwilling to tolerate any defamation of the Great Hall and unable to hear the warnings of the ancient planeswalkers as she could, Brigitte knew that others would follow her unquestioningly as the wielder of the wightblade; that, if a sufficient number of them showed loyalty to her, her fledgling powers as a planeswalker would grow great enough to bring peace to this life and the next.
Cards
Thank you all for your submissions! The contest is concluded, and the winners are as follows:
Best Planeswalker Card: Brigitte Haerkenlaer, by Animist.
An excellent design, which was well-praised back when you first made it. I really like the simplicity of it, it gives the card an aspect of sincerity. Very nice.
Best Non-Planeswalker Card: Distress Call, by HenryTheHatter.
I enjoyed the concept of your Izzet/Mirran planeswalker character, and I like the idea of a sorcery-speed copy effect. It makes you have to think ahead about your next move. What spell can you cast this same turn, and which is best when you know you'll have your walker next turn? Good job.
Best Ensemble: The Orinthene Series, by Faiths_Guide.
I think you made good use of the cache mechanic. The series was tied together very well, and definitely conveyed the flavor of a knowledge-collecting Planeswalker.
Congratulations to the winners, and thanks again to all who submitted entries. This was fun, as always! Winners can contact me by PM for their duly earned faves, and anyone who likes can also PM me if you'd like individual card feedback.
With all that said and done, I leave you with one final piece of advice: always tip your waitstaff.
@Corwinnn , this challenge is closed.
Congrats other @Winners!
Thanks for the contest win.
Can you fave
https://mtgcardsmith.com/view/growing-horror-1
and the man himself
https://mtgcardsmith.com/view/bismin-sun-touched-1
Thanks!
Great contest.