MTG Cardsmith Community Forums
To Judge Oneself
Okay, bear with me, this might be one of the strangest contests here. But I'll love it if you join in!
To quote the Little Prince: "It is far more difficult to judge oneself than to judge others. If you succeed in judging yourself rightly, then indeed you are very wise."
So. You'll come up with a card-making challange, then submit a card for it and lastly you will judge the card. Yes. Your own card. You can leave some time in between posting the card and judging it (to leave some time to let it sink in and think about it) and you can use any point system or other judging method you like to.
Alternatively you can submit a card for any other challange that has been created before by anyone in this contest. You are still judging the card yourself.
You are free to submit as many entries as you like, but only after you've finished judging your previous entry. I hope to make this an ongoing thing, but we'll see how it turns out. I might also come in once in a while, comment on things and give faves to stuff I like.
Now off you go!
To quote the Little Prince: "It is far more difficult to judge oneself than to judge others. If you succeed in judging yourself rightly, then indeed you are very wise."
So. You'll come up with a card-making challange, then submit a card for it and lastly you will judge the card. Yes. Your own card. You can leave some time in between posting the card and judging it (to leave some time to let it sink in and think about it) and you can use any point system or other judging method you like to.
Alternatively you can submit a card for any other challange that has been created before by anyone in this contest. You are still judging the card yourself.
You are free to submit as many entries as you like, but only after you've finished judging your previous entry. I hope to make this an ongoing thing, but we'll see how it turns out. I might also come in once in a while, comment on things and give faves to stuff I like.
Now off you go!
Comments
Create a creature with an activated ability whose cost contains colors of mana not in that creature's mana cost.
I wonder how the judge will feel...
The Tiers
S: WOTC-quality formatting, well-balanced, creative concept, and focused design, with endorsement from at least one other member of the community
A: high-quality formatting and good balance with a creative concept while being slightly off-color, lacking in flavor, or otherwise disparate from what WOTC would conceivably print; focused design that may wander a bit
B: high-quality formatting and acceptable balance with a decent concept that either stays on well-trodden ground or strays too far from WOTC material; focused design that may contain some out-of-place elements
C: high-quality formatting and questionable balance with a concept that is either boring or almost entirely outlandish; general design idea is present, but a major aspect of the card doesn't really harmonize with the overall function
D : high-quality formatting and poor balance with a concept; design idea is vague or lacking
F: poor formatting, doesn't comply with the conditions listed
A-
The judges expressed that the card was creative and thematic while maintaining good balance. They did question the inclusion of wolfcycling, which seemed to be a bit of a tacked-on addition to the card. The protection from colors of the sacrificed Wolf was particularly intriguing to the panel, although the use of the phrase "color identity" made some of the judges a bit uncomfortable. Overall, the card was deemed a fairly impressive work, and the judges look forward to receiving submissions from Mr. TalentedTalonflame in the future.
(By the way, although this is a challenge centered around assessing one's own work, Mr. TalentedTalonflame has stated that he encourages others to share their evaluations of his creations and to do so using whatever ranking system they see fit.)
Create a Sorcery with the word "exchange" in its rules text.
You can score points by including certain factors in the card.
A maximum of ten points on each category can be gained, plus a minimum of one. and there are 4 categories, leaving the maximum amount of points 40. Here are the categories:
Category 1 - Formatting
Adequate to phenomenal WotC formatting will score 7-10 in this category. Outlandish to bad formatting will score 1-6.
Category 2 - Flavour
Interesting and meaningful to exquisite flavour text and art will score 7-10 in the flavour category. Weird or in general bad flavour text will score 1-6.
Category 3 - Balance
Acceptable to perfect balance scores 7-10 in this certain category. Terrible or misjudged balance scores 1-6.
Category 4 - Wording
Good to exact wording scores 7-10 in this category. Imperfect to incorrect wording scores 1-6 in the wording category.
Give the judges a day or two.
B-
The card is properly formatted and fits the stated requirement while having a fairly unique overall design that remains consistent throughout. However, for this particular card, the additional cost seems a bit out of place. Dreadswamp Hydra is a four mana 4/4 with no keyword abilities and no way to protect itself of any kind. Furthermore, it already has a fairly expensive activated ability. Consequently, rarely will Dreadswamp Hydra provide immediate value, and so the additional casting cost seems to hold the card back from any real playability. Also, the "sacrifice a swamp" ability, although synergistic with the card itself, seems a bit out of place and easily abusable in the right deck. Thus, while the card has a cool concept, the actual implementation of said concept seems to be too much work for too little benefit. The judges recommend, Mr. TalentedTalonflame, that you not try to force what doesn't work, although they applaud the theme of a card that "preys" on creatures of lower mana value.
Create a creature with power and toughness greater than its mana value but has an additional cost or some sort of negative payoff, but still seems fair and very playable.
Card Design/Art: Rating- 9/10
Really nice work with the design; I like the inspiration from the girl in The Ring. It fits the black identity near perfectly. My only criticism is you probably could have found artwork where you could have the artist's name on the card. But with the theme you have here, I'd say you did a great job.
Card Mechanics: Rating- 7.5/10
Honestly this is a playable card. Four mana for a 5/5 with Fear is really great value, especially with its combat damage ability. And the payoff is fine, 2 life really isn't much when you consider the stats. You did a nice job adhering to my challenge. However, my only complaint is that this has no immediate value, and I don't want to sound like a bore by saying this, but in the standard format, a legendary creature that doesn't do anything the turn it comes in can sometimes be a mistake. But then again, magic is all about taking risks and no one knows how the game will turn out going in.. All that being said, it's still a great creature for the cost and if your opponent doesn't have a way to deal with this, it can easily turn the game in your favor.
Overall Score: 8/10
I'm giving this an overall 8/10 score because of course it could have some improvements. It might honestly be a little too good; if your opponent doesn't have a means to deal with this they will lose the game really quickly from combat damage, however I think it's still fair because it can still be removed easily and you do have to invest 4 mana. Good work here, @CS101.
A+
The card is excellently formatted and has a really cool mechanic. The additional cost serves to balance out the card, and the card feels very thematic. Of course, the repeated nature of the activated ability might make some styles of black-red burn too powerful, even accounting for the additional cost. Also, one thing to point out is that while gaining life doesn't often sway the game too much (aside from infinite combos), the fact that Nib Gerroth is a land that prevents life gain makes it really hard to interact with. Overall, though, the judges found this to be your finest piece so far. They did consider awarding you a rank of S-, but that would require an endorsement from a community member. Regardless, the judging panel commends you for your excellent card.
In other news, the judging panel would like to express its excitement that others are participating in the thread. There is a paucity of good challenges right now, and so the presence of others eager to generate ideas for invigorating card designs is frankly awesome.
A-
The concept of the card is relatively simple, but it seems to work well. The card has sufficient stats for its mana value to compensate for the rather steep additional cost, and the inclusion of the untap mechanic was a nice touch. However, the card lacks a certain level of inspiration, as it ends up being basically another take on the underpriced stompy card. That said, Lethargic Monolith does what it was made to do, and very elegantly embraces the theme of a lazy construct. The judges, overall, have ruled that your card is a fairly creative and thematic answer to the challenge posed by @CS101.
A+
The card is creatively designed and properly formatted, providing an engaging take on the consistent Human theme of +1/+1 counters. The restriction on the card also works very well to balance out Trueborn Champion, as well as being aligned with the flavor of the character. That said, while the card does need to be built around, it could conceivably prove too powerful in formats where Human tribal doesn't run anything but lands and Humans. Of course, a Human tribal deck completely lacking in at least a minimum of noncreature spells isn't typically viable, and so the card's potential to be broken is extremely minor. The card also could have been legendary, given how unique its dynamic is. However, overall, Trueborn Champion is a thematic triumph, and the best card we have seen from Mr. TalentedTalonflame so far.
Category 1 - Formatting
8.0
You did pretty well on this. The only problem is that the divider line is not fully complete.
Category 2 - Flavour
9.5
Abosolutely amazing flavour text, and it includes a philisophical meaning. The thing that drags it by 0.5 is the artwork. It's good art, but it doesn't suit the 'Rot' theme.
Category 3 - Balance
6.0
It's a tricky one. I mean, is taking a bad creature for an OP one that your opponents spent hard work to destroy? Wasn't sure, so gave it a 6.
Category 4 - Wording
8.0
I'm not 100% sure if this the last part is correct, but I'm pretty certain it is. So -2.
The final score is.....
31.5/40!!!!!!!!
The flavour and concept are very cool, maybe slightly tipped on balanced, but nice card! Good job @TheDukeOfPork!