The Perfect "Lord" Challenge

PepperoniPepperoni
edited July 2019 in Contests and Challenges
Some tribes in Magic are more succesful than others; some, like Merfolk, owe their succes to redundant lords and some tricks.
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Other Tribes owe their success to their ability to go-off like Elves
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But the vast majority of tribes don't have a defining mechanic that makes it playable nor a key piece that holds the deck together and makes the tribe unique and satisfying to play. Recently, the perfect Wolf-Werewolf and Dinosaur lords were printed:
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They both have synergy with their tribe's mechanics and have the right power level.


I hereby challenge every cardsmith to make the perfect lord for his or her favorite tribe and make it playable.

RULES AND CRITERIA:
-Your tribe may have past yet unsuccessful support such as Cats,
-It may improve a boring tribe such as Humans wich basically has no defining mechanic other than lords and value.
-It may be a previously unsupported tribe.
-Your cards will be judged by how unique the defining mechanic or synergy and cohesive the tribe becomes thanks to your cards.
-Un cards won't be eligible for 1st place.
-It doesn't have to be a creature card.
-Up to 4 entries per smith.

Prizes:

3rd place: 2 Favorites of your choice.
2nd place: 3 Favorites of your choice.
1st place: 5 Favorites of your choice.

Deadline: 20/07/2019
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Comments

  • spookoopsspookoops
    edited July 2019
    Specters have been my favorite tribe since the beginnings of MtG... they need much love.

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  • PepperoniPepperoni
    edited July 2019
    Btw, it might be useful to clarify that the "lord" isn't necessarily a creature that gives +1/+1 to creatures of the same type. It can be literally anything as long as it makes synergy with the tribe.

    Here's a Ninja enabler. It might not be a traditional lord but things such as this are allowed.
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  • Arceus8523Arceus8523
    edited July 2019
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  • Arceus8523Arceus8523
    edited July 2019
    Also, with all due respect, I'd beg to differ tribes don't have defining mechanics. On the contrary, I'd argue most, if not all, tribes have a defining mechanic. I think this is an interesting topic to discuss, since tribes are one of my favorite aspects of MTG.
  • PepperoniPepperoni
    @arceus8523 It depends on your definition of tribe.
  • Arceus8523Arceus8523
    @Pepperoni

    Alright then. What do you consider a tribe?
  • Arceus8523Arceus8523
    Oh, and here's another entry in the meantime. This is a sweet contest.

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  • PepperoniPepperoni
    @arceus8523 A creature type, basically. You can make a Bird tribal with Favorable Winds as your "lord"; Birds has one obscure, unsuccessful lord but, as for practical uses, it Is one of those creature types that Wizards uses to print utility since no one would build a funcional Bird tribal.
  • Arceus8523Arceus8523
    @Pepperoni

    Do you dare question the relevance of Soroya the Falcone--okay yeah she's pretty obscure.

    Anyway, the unifying mechanic of birds is flying. I know it's a bit generic, but still, if you asked me to tell you defining mechanic property of birds, I'd tell you it's flying.

    We do have the same definition of tribe, though, I think any set of creatures with the same type justify a "tribe."
  • HeroKPHeroKP
    edited July 2019
    @Pepperoni

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    Originally made for Lakan Wars.

    EDIT: Fixed a stupid error pointed out by @Arceus8523
  • Arceus8523Arceus8523
    edited July 2019
    Pointed out a mistake in @HeroKP 's design. Mistake corrected. Good job!
  • HeroKPHeroKP
    @Arceus8523

    OH GOD IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE AN INSECT, I WILL FIX THIS RIGHT AWAY
  • Arceus8523Arceus8523
    @HeroKP

    Lol figured as much. Heh.
  • sanjaya666sanjaya666
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  • PepperoniPepperoni
    @Arceus8523 Agreed. Some generic tribal cards have been printed (e.g. Radiant Destiny, Morophon, etc) but the point of the contest Is to solidify your favorite's identity so you don't have to scratch the bottom of the barrel to get your deck together.
  • Arceus8523Arceus8523
    Anotha one
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  • Arceus8523Arceus8523
    And Lastly:
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    -------------------------------------------------------------
    In all:
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  • PepperoniPepperoni
    edited July 2019
    Ya'll really like Legendary 5+ CMC lords don't you?

    Legendary lords enable a higher power level. Neheb never really gave Minotaurs a full identity, but it was a good attempt, it mainly failed because there were alrady too many minutaurs in the 3-drop slot and the semi-hellbent mechanic didn't really do anything beyond that.
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  • Arceus8523Arceus8523
    @Peperoni
    As an EDH player. Yes.
  • EmolgAnEmolgAn
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  • Faiths_GuideFaiths_Guide
    edited July 2019
    Don't know if I have a favorite tribe...
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    ... but I like Elephants.
  • ArlinnKordArlinnKord
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  • Faiths_GuideFaiths_Guide
    Again, don't know about favorite...
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    But Mutants are interesting.
    Does this one even qualify!?
  • PepperoniPepperoni
    @faiths_guide So far, all entries qualify.
  • TenebrisNemoTenebrisNemo
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  • Red_TowerRed_Tower
    First two cards are not the most powerful or anything, but they are on flavor:
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  • PepperoniPepperoni
    After a long time analizing all your interesting card, taking in consideration everything from uniqueness to mana curve fixing. I've come to this contest's conclusion, last entries have until midnight. Otherwise, winners seem clear.
  • PepperoniPepperoni
    edited July 2019
    Finally, the results:

    3rd place goes to...
    @ArlinnKord
    For their Shade lord, Brilliant synergy, Going full monoblack clever since the tribe has no splashing colors, playable in multiple formats. Clear strategy.
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    2nd place goes to...
    @Arceus8523
    For all of their lords. Were difficult to judge, mostly EDH oriented, bent criteria. However, clever, broad, unifying.
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    1st place goes to...
    @Faiths_Guide AND @Spookoops!
    Faiths build on top of semi-established mechanics, met criteria, fixed mana curve; design opens space for future cards and reiteration of current ones.
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    Spooks expanded upon specters' design, experimented, remained on-flavor, used color splashing, created space for deck building. Spot on.
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    Congratulations to all of you, please link the cards you wish liked. :D
  • spookoopsspookoops
    @Pepperoni, thank you for the challenge, I look forward to future endeavors with you. Please check out cards from the linked set and like what you want...it is still growing as his story progresses.
    https://mtgcardsmith.com/account/sets/44185
  • Arceus8523Arceus8523
    edited July 2019
    @Pepperoni
    Can you fav your three favorite lords @ArlinnKord made? I really like their designs and I think they deserve more attention from what I can tell.
This discussion has been closed.