So Neimi is a descendant of Marhault. Marhault was a loyal soldier of Nicol Bolas back on Dominaria in the old days so I thought it would be interesting to instead have her trying to make up for the crimes of her ancestor and going out of her way to slay powerful and dangerous tyrants like Nicol Bolas was at the time. I also wanted that to manifest in an ability that triggers when blocked like Rampage but more versatile. She also has reach just so she can actually fight dragons like I intended and it's in green's piece of the pie.
Kaspar is a desecndent of Jasmine. Jasmine was a druid whose main feats were creating an earthquake, and destroying a ship by making the mast return to its life as a tree and having it's roots grow through the wood and wreck it. She also hated using modern artifacts in her spells, so for her descendant I wanted to have artifact hate as well as some sort of board wipe type spell like earthquake is in the game (which is why I made him part red) and figured I could combine the two. Storywise I decided that Kaspar while drawing power from the land like his ancestor, was less interested in magic and instead wanted to become a warrior, using his rudimentary druid skills to aid him in battle.
Closed for judging now. Jadefire - since it was before dawn, you're in. There are a lot of great submissions so It might be a little bit as I want to review them carefully. Than you to everyone who participated.
While the contest is closed, if anyone wants to share a descendant and want it to be seen they could still post it here. As far as I'm concerned it can go on as long as people have interest in posting.
Community Favorite: Among
cards that did not place, Dao'kanar, Swamp Prince by CS101 Tonysparks is the one the community liked
best. Art is nice and creepy. Making an opponent’s land change into a swamp
is a both very old-timey but perfectly apropos.
What held me back was the decision to
concentrate on depreciated Swampwalk mechanic rather than some sort of life
gain. A self-fulfilling Swampwalk means it would
not be the most fun to play against 1 on 1.
However, he would certainly be fun in Commander, where he could be viably
run with the intend to take someone out with 20 commander damage.
Fun with Flavor: Homelands was
magic’s flavorless proto-Innistrad. It
was so early they had a lot to learn about making cards. Hailing from Ulgotha we have Jadefire’s Esdra Sengir.
Which is as flavorful as you can
ask for and shows a power level more balanced for modern play. When I revisited Ulgotha myself, Wither was in
as the lycanthrope ability; curse unhealing wounds is apropos. The interesting variation on Sengir +1/-1 is
good as well. I had to DWQ it from placing
for a “unwritten rules” issue I ran into myself, namely that to decrease
confusion WotC isn’t putting +1/+1 and -1/-1 counters in the same set.
Deep in the Lore
& Continuing out Story is Oh Wyrm. While not playing this smith did give us two
cards that almost did. I have them both
lined up for an HM and noted they same person made them only after finalizing
my list. 2 HMs to one cardsmith.
Kaspar Boreal,
the Aspirant by This is like a textbook on how to dive into a legend that got
the vanilla treatment, take everything known about it, and make a card to that
is the next step. It is a good cad to have on your side as a
fighter, decent commander. He is not complex,
but his artifact/enchantment hate is a great plus.
Of special flavor
trivia note is kowing exactly what to callsomeone with rudimentary druid skills. Even
if it did have a make-me-feel-old as-dirt-component. I'm not even sure this is 100% intentional but there it is in any case. The bell it rung is from way back. The first edition ofAdvanced Dungeons & Dragons, which gave a name for many
individual class levels. A 1st level
druid was an “Aspirant”. That the card is built like a character that
took only 1 level is being a druid rather than having some big complex fancy
druid things is spot on with that level of experience.
Neimi Elsdragon,
Baneslayer takes a different tack. Sometimes,
people do not have ancestors to live up to, but ones who have done wrongs they
must rise above. In this case, we have a heroine trying to redeem
the family name. It is interesting how
this was done while maintaining the same colors, not bending the color pie, and
updating in an appropriate way.
This could have just
gone into Baneslayer Angel territory fact but it did not! The
ability sort of like rampage combined with Reach means 1 on 1 she can bring
down an elder dragon, unaided. An impressive feat. Moreover,
the Baneslayer name is justified in that
she works just as well to take down big demons, from Lord of the up through
Grixis and Lilianna’s four patrons. Have
her on your side and you are tyrant slaying ready.
#3: Jacques le Vert by ThePhantomJoker. Here we have someone who is rooting for the
little guy. Shining as a commander, his
low-cost high-quality defender carries Pendelhaven every humble soul can share.
Keeping true to the original, it is specifically
NOT all about him. There are all sorts
of strategies to churn out 1/1 counters in these colors and those who gather
behind Adrien’s banner find both strength in number and in actual strength.
I think the art itself deserve a special mention,
because he really does look like Jaques’ grandson or something. I think it the best art choice of al the entrants. They share a helmet which is very much a like. The direct callback to events of Dominatia is
perhaps a little wordy but I think see Adrien as a veritable chatterbox anyway,
like a regular constant inspirational speaker.
#2 Asuriel, Heir to Angelfire by OhWyrm. In Gabriel Angelfire we had a card with great
flavor that, like most legends of its day was not all that could be
desired. Always perplexing to me is why
did this not always fly?
Oh Wyrm fixes this in with the Descendant. The mechanic of being able to copy Keywords is
something we have seen before, but for limited to keywords. Making it any keyword goes from menu to full smorgasbord. It manages to ben a spring and a summer in
that it feels very we’re all together in this Selesnya yet home in the more
mature Dominarian setting.
The
artwork is just lovely. Most angel art focuses on the angel, not so
here. That she has the support of the
laity in battle is clear by their raised swords. In this way, those she is drawing here
abilities from is subtly but definitely acknowledge.
#1 Serinsho the Ainted by Jadefire. Jadefire really shone with with a lot of
really good entries, and this is the best.
Seshiro the Anointed was definitely the card to be sure to put in your
Kamigowa Snake deck, but suffered from being a little too specialized in that
he was clearly a card pretty much just for a mon-green snake deck. Not nearly so attractive in anything
else.
Senku
corrects this fault by expanding to include utility in Samurai decks. Which, while still all-kamigowa, blow into
WUBRG. Internal Symmetry on the changes
is wonderful. Changing from Monk to Samurai,
Anointed to Avenger, and focus on the spiritual to raw physical are all in
harmony.
Avenger”
is interestingly applies in more than one way as well. That when his fellows die he get tougher is
the obvious part. Less obvious is the Flash. This lets him show up to the battle at the
last second, just in time to block someone minor, as superior foes slaughter a
whole slew of his comrades. This is great
untexted flavor in the manner of Stone Giant.
Cause everyone who’s ever seen Stone Giant was doing, even If it never
mentioned it on the card.
Of
note: 702.45b If a
creature has multiple instances of bushido, each triggers separately.
Which
means his Avenger ability is on steroids as he might have Bushido 1, Buhido 2,
Bushido 3, Bushido 4…. Particularly if
in a sacrifice deck. Trample means no chump blocker is to counter his
mega-Bushido.
Finally,
he has a built in Lure. The downfall of
bushido is that it depends upon the opponent’s decision to block. Lure classic alpha tactic for an all-out
assault in mono green. It well captures a
Samurai’s suicidal devotion to their lord. It echoes Seshiro in that, it gives to his
fellows. While he makes a big show of
striking the whole army, everyone else gets to sneak around behind them.
The
art is interesting in that there is a more than passing resemblance to the Seshiro. This was accomplished by recycling art from somewhere
obscure. The artist UDON had done art
for some 74 Vanguard Avatars. A little
side-turn Mtg that took that never off.
Nonetheless, it does provide perfect artwork for a card like this. Using alternate for fan that depicts a
specific character to portray a descendant is clever.
Thanks for running this context @mmm3creator! It was a fantastic and imaginative follow-up to the Update old Legendary Creatures contest, which I was sad to see end. It's really nice when the judge has an appreciation for Magic's lore and history, which you clearly do, so that the subtle design details are picked up on. I can appreciate the other entries more now that I can see some of the behind-the-scenes thinking that went into them. Good pick-up on the Vanuard art, btw. I didn't realize it was existing Magic artwork until after the fact since it doesn't occur on a standard card. I guess that just reinforces the adage that, when Googling for art for a custom Magic card, if it looks too good to be true, it probably is.
Congratulations to all the cardsmiths for making so many creative and interesting cards.
MTG Cardsmith Community Forums
Comments
https://www.mtgcardsmith.com/view/esdra-sengir
While the contest is closed, if anyone wants to share a descendant and want it to be seen they could still post it here. As far as I'm concerned it can go on as long as people have interest in posting.
Ok, this was tough. Here we go with the results:
Honorable Mentions
Community Favorite: Among cards that did not place, Dao'kanar, Swamp Prince by CS101 Tonysparks is the one the community liked best. Art is nice and creepy. Making an opponent’s land change into a swamp is a both very old-timey but perfectly apropos. What held me back was the decision to concentrate on depreciated Swampwalk mechanic rather than some sort of life gain. A self-fulfilling Swampwalk means it would not be the most fun to play against 1 on 1. However, he would certainly be fun in Commander, where he could be viably run with the intend to take someone out with 20 commander damage.
Fun with Flavor: Homelands was magic’s flavorless proto-Innistrad. It was so early they had a lot to learn about making cards. Hailing from Ulgotha we have Jadefire’s Esdra Sengir. Which is as flavorful as you can ask for and shows a power level more balanced for modern play. When I revisited Ulgotha myself, Wither was in as the lycanthrope ability; curse unhealing wounds is apropos. The interesting variation on Sengir +1/-1 is good as well. I had to DWQ it from placing for a “unwritten rules” issue I ran into myself, namely that to decrease confusion WotC isn’t putting +1/+1 and -1/-1 counters in the same set.
Deep in the Lore & Continuing out Story is Oh Wyrm. While not playing this smith did give us two cards that almost did. I have them both lined up for an HM and noted they same person made them only after finalizing my list. 2 HMs to one cardsmith.
Kaspar Boreal, the Aspirant by This is like a textbook on how to dive into a legend that got the vanilla treatment, take everything known about it, and make a card to that is the next step. It is a good cad to have on your side as a fighter, decent commander. He is not complex, but his artifact/enchantment hate is a great plus.
Of special flavor trivia note is kowing exactly what to callsomeone with rudimentary druid skills. Even if it did have a make-me-feel-old as-dirt-component. I'm not even sure this is 100% intentional but there it is in any case. The bell it rung is from way back. The first edition ofAdvanced Dungeons & Dragons, which gave a name for many individual class levels. A 1st level druid was an “Aspirant”. That the card is built like a character that took only 1 level is being a druid rather than having some big complex fancy druid things is spot on with that level of experience.
Neimi Elsdragon, Baneslayer takes a different tack. Sometimes, people do not have ancestors to live up to, but ones who have done wrongs they must rise above. In this case, we have a heroine trying to redeem the family name. It is interesting how this was done while maintaining the same colors, not bending the color pie, and updating in an appropriate way.
This could have just gone into Baneslayer Angel territory fact but it did not! The ability sort of like rampage combined with Reach means 1 on 1 she can bring down an elder dragon, unaided. An impressive feat. Moreover, the Baneslayer name is justified in that she works just as well to take down big demons, from Lord of the up through Grixis and Lilianna’s four patrons. Have her on your side and you are tyrant slaying ready.
The winners:
#3: Jacques le Vert by ThePhantomJoker. Here we have someone who is rooting for the little guy. Shining as a commander, his low-cost high-quality defender carries Pendelhaven every humble soul can share.
Keeping true to the original, it is specifically NOT all about him. There are all sorts of strategies to churn out 1/1 counters in these colors and those who gather behind Adrien’s banner find both strength in number and in actual strength.
I think the art itself deserve a special mention, because he really does look like Jaques’ grandson or something. I think it the best art choice of al the entrants. They share a helmet which is very much a like. The direct callback to events of Dominatia is perhaps a little wordy but I think see Adrien as a veritable chatterbox anyway, like a regular constant inspirational speaker.
#2 Asuriel, Heir to Angelfire by OhWyrm. In Gabriel Angelfire we had a card with great flavor that, like most legends of its day was not all that could be desired. Always perplexing to me is why did this not always fly?
Oh Wyrm fixes this in with the Descendant. The mechanic of being able to copy Keywords is something we have seen before, but for limited to keywords. Making it any keyword goes from menu to full smorgasbord. It manages to ben a spring and a summer in that it feels very we’re all together in this Selesnya yet home in the more mature Dominarian setting.
The artwork is just lovely. Most angel art focuses on the angel, not so here. That she has the support of the laity in battle is clear by their raised swords. In this way, those she is drawing here abilities from is subtly but definitely acknowledge.
#1 Serinsho the Ainted by Jadefire. Jadefire really shone with with a lot of really good entries, and this is the best. Seshiro the Anointed was definitely the card to be sure to put in your Kamigowa Snake deck, but suffered from being a little too specialized in that he was clearly a card pretty much just for a mon-green snake deck. Not nearly so attractive in anything else.
Senku corrects this fault by expanding to include utility in Samurai decks. Which, while still all-kamigowa, blow into WUBRG. Internal Symmetry on the changes is wonderful. Changing from Monk to Samurai, Anointed to Avenger, and focus on the spiritual to raw physical are all in harmony.
Avenger” is interestingly applies in more than one way as well. That when his fellows die he get tougher is the obvious part. Less obvious is the Flash. This lets him show up to the battle at the last second, just in time to block someone minor, as superior foes slaughter a whole slew of his comrades. This is great untexted flavor in the manner of Stone Giant. Cause everyone who’s ever seen Stone Giant was doing, even If it never mentioned it on the card.
Of note: 702.45b If a creature has multiple instances of bushido, each triggers separately.
Which means his Avenger ability is on steroids as he might have Bushido 1, Buhido 2, Bushido 3, Bushido 4…. Particularly if in a sacrifice deck. Trample means no chump blocker is to counter his mega-Bushido.
Finally, he has a built in Lure. The downfall of bushido is that it depends upon the opponent’s decision to block. Lure classic alpha tactic for an all-out assault in mono green. It well captures a Samurai’s suicidal devotion to their lord. It echoes Seshiro in that, it gives to his fellows. While he makes a big show of striking the whole army, everyone else gets to sneak around behind them.
The art is interesting in that there is a more than passing resemblance to the Seshiro. This was accomplished by recycling art from somewhere obscure. The artist UDON had done art for some 74 Vanguard Avatars. A little side-turn Mtg that took that never off. Nonetheless, it does provide perfect artwork for a card like this. Using alternate for fan that depicts a specific character to portray a descendant is clever.
Winners & Honorable mentions PM me with what to favorites. Winners have contact me with a boggle whenever they run into an issue.
Thank you got all the great entries!
Congratulations to all the cardsmiths for making so many creative and interesting cards.
Circuit Points Awarded!