Kogi was traveling through the multiverse as he pleased, when he saw the oath of the gatewatch thing happen. He got mad, blah blah blah, and then he found Bolas. He started out just being on Amonkhet, but he slowly was drawn towards Bolas's lair, where they met, and Kogi showed off his abilities. Bolas was like "sure lets destroy humanity. but you have to loyally serve me." and Kogi was like "sure.". And yeah, thats it.
Just to clear thigs up: Planeswalker and Oath are the entry ("Week 0") Week 1 was an important thing from your past, your spark and your planeswalker as a creature Week 2 is now, that's your meeting with bolas and your signature spell
I'll show you the leaderboard after week 2 soon, but I believe we're still missing entries from @WarriorCatInAhat and week 1 cards from our new participant @TheDukeOfPork. It would be lovely if you completed the entries so I can judge it all at once
1. @TerryTags with Malfegor (59) Cruel Decision could use a bit of a better wording, but other than that its a really unique and powerfull effect, I love it! You ditch your hand but you get to grab whatever you want from your grave. Feels very Malfegor and very cool indeed. It's a bit situational, but powerful when used right, I think. Malfegor's Voice is like the perfect signature spell. Yes, in most decks it's a worse version of Cathartic Reunion, but it again feels very Malfegor and in some decks you like the fact that you get to fill your grave and discard more cards. Just a cool common. 2. @TheDukeOfPork with Kail'Afi And our latecomer takes the second place - even with the tiny point penalty. Good job. And now I have to state my opinion on all of your cards, great . So, let's get into it. Kail'Afi the planeswalker himself is... interesting to say the least. You can drop him down on turn 1 and it will probably take your opponents some time to get rid of him with that starting loyalty, but he's also not going to be that useful right away. But if you have creatures, he will be more useful, but more expensive as well. That's actually a pretty original design and I still don't know if it's broken or not. The last ability should however be worded differently, I am really not sure what exactly is it trying to do. Maybe: "Whenever an opponent would lose life this turn, that player loses that much life plus 4 instead." or something. His Oath though is not an Oath card. To see what I mean look up the Oaths of planeswalkers from Oath of the Gatewatch and in some later sets. They are legendary enchantments that have an etb effect and some synergy with planeswalkers. Your card is good, just not very Oath-like. Kail'Afi as a creature is just a good lifegain/Vampire/sac card, not much else about him.Voyager of Miralda is cool, not very special design-wise, but it could have its use. The flavortext is interesting though. Kail'Afi's Spark however is cool. Could be abused very much in some decks, but not too many, and it's very situational. I like it. Boar of Ashaya next! Cool common, not too useful in many situations until you start to think about Armagedon. But who would do that, right? Nice design. And lastly, Strike of Kail'Afi is a great signature spell, it does something useful, is not too splashy, but nicely demonstrates the magic of a certain planeswalker. 3.-4. @pstmdrn with Nystax (49) That meeting with Bolas is totally epic and totally something I imagine Nystax doing. If you are going to meet a dragon, then do it in an appropriate way. Beautiful. The card is just a tiny bit underwhelming, but has its flavor. One slight problem I have with it is that menace is not a blue ability at all, but apart from that the card is very solid. And I also like how you created the artwork to get what you wnat, that's cool. Nystax's Phantom is exactly what a signature spell should do. Very solid, very playable, not too splashy, but that's not really the point. And that flavortext... chills, man, that's a great line. 3.-4. @Yonkers11 with Kogi (49) Promise of Revenge is cool, I'd just rather run Engineered Plague or Plague Engineer, which does that effect permanently. But sure, it's a nice card and the flavortext is good. But Kogi's Flare is a very unplayable card. Artifact destruction is something that exists for one mana, so this is really slow, and the situational 2 damage doesn't help it. It's quite flavorful, just not too good as a card. The flavortext is pretty neat as well. 5. @Tonysparks with Nefti (47) A Taste of Power is cool, but overcostet. If you don't control Bolas, this card is not that good, both those effects could be achieved for one or two mana. If you control Bolas it becomes better, but that's a hard requirement since all Bolas planeswalkers are VERY hard to cast. At that point in the game you want to do something more epic. But Soul Rend is great. It's versatile, it's very on point with what Nefti has been doing so far, it's balanced, not too pushed, but playable, I like it very much. The flavortext is great although it will become a bit funny as I uncover the challange for the next week. You'll see...
We still don't have entries from @WarriorCatInAhat's Soros, so I'll add those later when they appear. Let's move to the third week!
Week Three: Interactions Okay, now we finally get to do something. This week will be focused on your interactions with other characters around you.
1) Since you are gathered as the opposite of the Gatewatch, it is very likely that you will bump into them at some point. Create a card that shows your confrontation with one of the current Gatewatch members. 2) And above all you're supposed to be a team! For the second challange, create a card to show your interaction with another of the other current team members. Maybe some moment of teamwork, or some disagreement in the group, maybe some deeper bonding takes place... all up to you!
I think a taste of power is fairly costed considering the the potential ups. If you drop Nicol bolas, Dragon God (5 cmc) and hit it with this its an instant win. Assuming you were doing this based on it being used on my character, then you should be able to hit an ultimate one to two turns after you cast it regadless of weather you have Bolas or not.
But you are the judge so keep those challenges rolling I guess
If anyone wants to make a bond with Nefti dm me so we can work on the cards for the 2nd challenge together. otherwise I'll just wing it near the deadline.
@Tonysparks Dragon-God is cheaper, but has hard color reqirements. But yes, I agree it's pretty good when you have some Bolas out, in that case it's not overcosted, but if there's no Bolas, the spell is very weak, that's all I'm saying. I just try to be constructive
honestly, I am sorry, but I am just going to quit this challenge it's a really cool idea, and it was really fun, but I haven't been able to keep up with the deadlines and I don't think I will be able to. you might see soros again in the future, who knows. goooooooooodbye
Queen Alasia was turning out be quite the barrier to Bolas's plans on Illyrius. Malfegor was tasked with creating discord among the various regions of the plane, but Alaisia was perceptive and able to sniff out any sign of corruption. For this reason she would have to be dealt with. Nystax thought supplanting her with a version of the queen who was more receptive to Bolas's plan would be useful.
When a noble’s disappearance on a relatively peaceful plane threw its people into chaos, it wasn’t long before rumors began to circulate about Bolas having his claws in the ordeal. The Gatewatch sent Chandra to do some preliminary investigating, figuring it best to burn away the first sign of disease. Nystax was surprised that they had gotten word. He and his associate had taken extra precaution to keep things quiet. The illusionist thought it best to not let things get out of hand too quickly, so he ambushed her as soon as he had the opportunity.
The first confrontation Nefti ever had with liliana was when liliana arrived in Amonkhet roughly three weeks after she did. She was all her new patron Bolas talked about and she hated having to compete for attention so they never really got along well.
This showcases Nefti "welcoming" her and leading her to the Hekma after she arrived in accordance to the god pharaoh's demands. I used Liliana's mastery as a supporting card for this.
When the Hornguards first visited Ravnica, Nefti was the first to welcome them. They indeed did look like an odd bunch and she knew that while Ravnica was home of the odd bunches that even they would draw too much attention for themselves. She knew that in Ravnica a few mysterious disappearances went unnoticed as long as they weren't of Ravnica's guild members. She made a few disguises and sheltered them under the allias of The Cult Of Oathguards in her torture chambers while they cituated themselves in the plane.
So ... like ... this isn't my entry, but @pstmdrn ;and I were bouncing around some ideas with each other, and one of the things we talked about was how Bolas is UBR, and since Malfegor is BR and Nystax is U, some collaborations would be good between our dudes. But then I got to thinking (since I'm a marketing guy at heart), wouldn't it be neat if there were some Hornguard symbol or logo? So, this card is a ... bonus card? for this contest, because I was workshopping some logo ideas for the Hornguard. The logo is obviously just a copy of some bolas horns in a four-leaf-clover pattern that I photoshopped to have red and blue beveling, and the background image is just a desaturated image of Grixis I found from the Grixis Planescape card.
Enjoy!
And here's a transparent .png file of the logo if you're interested! (right click to open in new tab for full size 1000pix width)
For the first challenge, my card shows an interaction between Malfegor and Jace. The reason it's called "Maddening Choices": Blue decks tend to be big on drawing cards (Hullbreacher, etc.) so this is a Rakdos way of punishing people for drawing extra cards. Many people don't mind taking 1 damage, but since this Enchantment ALSO punishes your opponents when someone else draws too many cards, those players become targets! So, it's a maddening choice: "I'm okay with using my own life total to draw cards ... but then I'll be an enemy!"
For the second challenge, pstmdrn and I have been chatting about how Nystax's intelligence and illusions would be a good foil to Malfegor's chaos and madness. So, the images in this card (and the flavor text) are supposed to represent how Nystax's illusions can wreak havoc, and Malfegor needs to be wary!
EDIT Oh, okay fine, I'll rotate it so you can read it! (lol, I'm 46 years old, and if I keep having to crick my neck to read my own card, I'm going to end up in the doctor's or chiropractor's office or something, haha)
One last thing, If I'm doing a Madness-themed Grixis deck, the "Look" half of this card can rescue one of my creatures and bounce it back to my hand like an Unsummon, and then I can reveal my hand, discarding a Madness card that I can play. And the "Don't Touch" half of this card works like a version of Rakdos Charm, but it's implying ("flavor-wise") that the artifacts or tokens on the battlefield MIGHT actually be some of Nystax's illusions which are booby-trapped to damage their controller.
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Kogi was traveling through the multiverse as he pleased, when he saw the oath of the gatewatch thing happen. He got mad, blah blah blah, and then he found Bolas. He started out just being on Amonkhet, but he slowly was drawn towards Bolas's lair, where they met, and Kogi showed off his abilities. Bolas was like "sure lets destroy humanity. but you have to loyally serve me." and Kogi was like "sure.". And yeah, thats it.
Planeswalker and Oath are the entry ("Week 0")
Week 1 was an important thing from your past, your spark and your planeswalker as a creature
Week 2 is now, that's your meeting with bolas and your signature spell
1. @TerryTags with Malfegor (59)
Cruel Decision could use a bit of a better wording, but other than that its a really unique and powerfull effect, I love it! You ditch your hand but you get to grab whatever you want from your grave. Feels very Malfegor and very cool indeed. It's a bit situational, but powerful when used right, I think. Malfegor's Voice is like the perfect signature spell. Yes, in most decks it's a worse version of Cathartic Reunion, but it again feels very Malfegor and in some decks you like the fact that you get to fill your grave and discard more cards. Just a cool common.
2. @TheDukeOfPork with Kail'Afi
And our latecomer takes the second place - even with the tiny point penalty. Good job. And now I have to state my opinion on all of your cards, great
Kail'Afi the planeswalker himself is... interesting to say the least. You can drop him down on turn 1 and it will probably take your opponents some time to get rid of him with that starting loyalty, but he's also not going to be that useful right away. But if you have creatures, he will be more useful, but more expensive as well. That's actually a pretty original design and I still don't know if it's broken or not. The last ability should however be worded differently, I am really not sure what exactly is it trying to do. Maybe: "Whenever an opponent would lose life this turn, that player loses that much life plus 4 instead." or something. His Oath though is not an Oath card. To see what I mean look up the Oaths of planeswalkers from Oath of the Gatewatch and in some later sets. They are legendary enchantments that have an etb effect and some synergy with planeswalkers. Your card is good, just not very Oath-like.
Kail'Afi as a creature is just a good lifegain/Vampire/sac card, not much else about him.Voyager of Miralda is cool, not very special design-wise, but it could have its use. The flavortext is interesting though. Kail'Afi's Spark however is cool. Could be abused very much in some decks, but not too many, and it's very situational. I like it.
Boar of Ashaya next! Cool common, not too useful in many situations until you start to think about Armagedon. But who would do that, right? Nice design. And lastly, Strike of Kail'Afi is a great signature spell, it does something useful, is not too splashy, but nicely demonstrates the magic of a certain planeswalker.
3.-4. @pstmdrn with Nystax (49)
That meeting with Bolas is totally epic and totally something I imagine Nystax doing. If you are going to meet a dragon, then do it in an appropriate way. Beautiful. The card is just a tiny bit underwhelming, but has its flavor. One slight problem I have with it is that menace is not a blue ability at all, but apart from that the card is very solid. And I also like how you created the artwork to get what you wnat, that's cool. Nystax's Phantom is exactly what a signature spell should do. Very solid, very playable, not too splashy, but that's not really the point. And that flavortext... chills, man, that's a great line.
3.-4. @Yonkers11 with Kogi (49)
Promise of Revenge is cool, I'd just rather run Engineered Plague or Plague Engineer, which does that effect permanently. But sure, it's a nice card and the flavortext is good. But Kogi's Flare is a very unplayable card. Artifact destruction is something that exists for one mana, so this is really slow, and the situational 2 damage doesn't help it. It's quite flavorful, just not too good as a card. The flavortext is pretty neat as well.
5. @Tonysparks with Nefti (47)
A Taste of Power is cool, but overcostet. If you don't control Bolas, this card is not that good, both those effects could be achieved for one or two mana. If you control Bolas it becomes better, but that's a hard requirement since all Bolas planeswalkers are VERY hard to cast. At that point in the game you want to do something more epic. But Soul Rend is great. It's versatile, it's very on point with what Nefti has been doing so far, it's balanced, not too pushed, but playable, I like it very much. The flavortext is great although it will become a bit funny as I uncover the challange for the next week. You'll see...
We still don't have entries from @WarriorCatInAhat's Soros, so I'll add those later when they appear. Let's move to the third week!
Okay, now we finally get to do something. This week will be focused on your interactions with other characters around you.
1) Since you are gathered as the opposite of the Gatewatch, it is very likely that you will bump into them at some point. Create a card that shows your confrontation with one of the current Gatewatch members.
2) And above all you're supposed to be a team! For the second challange, create a card to show your interaction with another of the other current team members. Maybe some moment of teamwork, or some disagreement in the group, maybe some deeper bonding takes place... all up to you!
Happy smithing.
But you are the judge so keep those challenges rolling I guess
it's a really cool idea, and it was really fun, but I haven't been able to keep up with the deadlines and I don't think I will be able to.
you might see soros again in the future, who knows.
goooooooooodbye
never gonna let you down
never gonna run around and desert you
dont ask
https://mtgcardsmith.com/view/subversive-clone
When a noble’s disappearance on a relatively peaceful plane threw its people into chaos, it wasn’t long before rumors began to circulate about Bolas having his claws in the ordeal. The Gatewatch sent Chandra to do some preliminary investigating, figuring it best to burn away the first sign of disease. Nystax was surprised that they had gotten word. He and his associate had taken extra precaution to keep things quiet. The illusionist thought it best to not let things get out of hand too quickly, so he ambushed her as soon as he had the opportunity.
https://mtgcardsmith.com/view/cold-rebuttal-1
This showcases Nefti "welcoming" her and leading her to the Hekma after she arrived in accordance to the god pharaoh's demands. I used Liliana's mastery as a supporting card for this.
When the Hornguards first visited Ravnica, Nefti was the first to welcome them. They indeed did look like an odd bunch and she knew that while Ravnica was home of the odd bunches that even they would draw too much attention for themselves. She knew that in Ravnica a few mysterious disappearances went unnoticed as long as they weren't of Ravnica's guild members. She made a few disguises and sheltered them under the allias of The Cult Of Oathguards in her torture chambers while they cituated themselves in the plane.
Enjoy!
And here's a transparent .png file of the logo if you're interested!
For the second challenge, pstmdrn and I have been chatting about how Nystax's intelligence and illusions would be a good foil to Malfegor's chaos and madness. So, the images in this card (and the flavor text) are supposed to represent how Nystax's illusions can wreak havoc, and Malfegor needs to be wary!
EDIT
Oh, okay fine, I'll rotate it so you can read it!
(lol, I'm 46 years old, and if I keep having to crick my neck to read my own card, I'm going to end up in the doctor's or chiropractor's office or something, haha)
One last thing, If I'm doing a Madness-themed Grixis deck, the "Look" half of this card can rescue one of my creatures and bounce it back to my hand like an Unsummon, and then I can reveal my hand, discarding a Madness card that I can play. And the "Don't Touch" half of this card works like a version of Rakdos Charm, but it's implying ("flavor-wise") that the artifacts or tokens on the battlefield MIGHT actually be some of Nystax's illusions which are booby-trapped to damage their controller.