I think putting -1/-1 counters on herself is a really flavourful representation of Marie Curie, who died of irradiation due to her pioneering research on radioactivity. However, there seems to be a big issue with the mechanical effect of the card. That last ability — aside from being awkwardly worded — isn’t limited by Aria’s toughness. You can literally decide to put 60 counters on her, she would die but you would still draw 60 cards. That’s a little much for just one blue mana ;p Still, it’s otherwise a pretty cool-looking card and I especially liked that you used her Polish name as a base for the card name, it’s a cool easter egg not everyone knows about!
OhWyrm
Bevien, Existence Becoming
Inspired by Simone de Beauvoir
It’s interesting because I wasn’t sure what you were going for when I read the card first but the little explanation really impressed me with how well you thought of this. Using the changeling ability to represent Madame de Beauvoir’s philosophy is a surprisingly deep take, and I love your explanation of exchanging life for knowledge, which is again surprisingly deep for such a common MTG effect. My only bemol is that the card’s presentation could have used a bit more polish. Using the appropriate card frame, spacing the abilities properly, adding a comma between the U and T symbols, and fitting a “If you do” after the life payment proposition are little things that would have made it a more realistic MTG card.
YoUei
Kuro, Light Machinist
Inspired by Nikola Tesla
Light counters are a flavourful fit for Nikola Tesla, which is a pioneer in the distribution of electricity. All the abilities are also well chosen to represent his scientific side, though they do feel a bit disconnected (the second one especially feels weird, artifacts is a very specific theme to care about). My main concern though is how this uses Light counters in parallel to the loyalty counters. Why have them at all? The card would work just fine without the light counters. Also, if you went +1 +1 +1 -7, that ultimate would deal 3 damage to any target in the best case scenario, so it’s really not worth it.
FORFUN
Vladimir, the Conqueror
Inspired by Ivan, the Terrible
The effects tell a ruthless and very flavourful story. While they are a bit disconnected mechanically, each of them is quite evocative, the monarch hints at his political influence, the second ability defines his enemies, and the third has a ruthless war flavour. It’s a very nice mechanical portrait. I have two main critics about the design itself as a card though. First, it’s really weak, it’s a 4/3 for 7 mana, the monarch is a nice addition but the second ability is a downsides ability and the third ability will realistically never come up since the opponent have the choice to send their creatures to combat against him or not and 3 excess damage means you can only steal creatures with toughness 1 anyway without pump spells. The templating of the last ability is also a bit shaky. MTG cards don’t talk about “points” of damage, and the card needs to check that the creature is dead if you want to return it (you could deal excess damage to a creature with indestructible for instance.)
Congratulations to the top 3 and especially @Usaername for your very flavourful and synergistic card. Way to take Meandering Towershell's drawback and turn it into a plus.
Thanks to @ningyounk for all of the time you put into providing thoughtful feedback, as always. This was a very creative competition. Admittedly, the interpretation of Judas leaned more towards the literal rather than giving deference to gameplay, which is why it was taken as a given that he starts on the other side of the board, since he was first a disciple before he was a traitor (no bribery or ulterior motive at first). Counting treasures to establish control is an interesting mechanic that I've considered for another card, one that I think is better suited for a Mercenary. As far as creating the treasures to power its own ability, I believe this once again shows a difference in weight given to being literal/flavourful vs. gameplay. As a standalone card, not being able to activate its ability without assistance does lower its usability, especially with such a large initial drawback, but that a card isn't self-sufficient and must be built around or enabled isn't necessarily a bad thing and exists to varying degrees on actual Magic cards.
I'm glad you liked Odea Also just so you know, I did consider "you control how each creature attacks and blocks each combat" for Tzu, but decided against it, because I thought it'd be too powerful. Also, I thought it'd be more flavorful given a lot of Sun Tzu's lessons to have everything decided in advance. You have to construct a plan and try to make it shake out your way. as Tzu once said: "Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win." But anyways that's just my two cents. As for the favorites, please favorite anything of mine you think is interesting. Thanks for holding such a fun contest!
@Arceus8523 Favourites have been distributed! Congratulations again =D
@Usaername Sorry but Odea wasn't made on MTGCardsmith and I can't find your account on google, would you mind sending me a link to your gallery please? ^^
KorandAngels@FORFUN Haha, well I'm glad you liked it x) I don't think it would be a good idea to restart the exact same contest because nobody submitted more than two entries out of the three allowed so I think people who wanted to participate already did and we wouldn't get many entries in round 2 ^^
That being said, this challenge comes from a larger project I cancelled. I originally intended to make a three-rounds contest with three little challenges like this one inside (each one would have challenged your sense of flavour, originality, and realism respectively — this is an example of a flavour challenge). I finally decided it was too complex but that means I might make more quick challenges based on the cancelled ideas I liked best x)
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Comments
Aria Lokdowa
Inspired by Marie Salomea Sklodowska Curie
I think putting -1/-1 counters on herself is a really flavourful representation of Marie Curie, who died of irradiation due to her pioneering research on radioactivity. However, there seems to be a big issue with the mechanical effect of the card. That last ability — aside from being awkwardly worded — isn’t limited by Aria’s toughness. You can literally decide to put 60 counters on her, she would die but you would still draw 60 cards. That’s a little much for just one blue mana ;p Still, it’s otherwise a pretty cool-looking card and I especially liked that you used her Polish name as a base for the card name, it’s a cool easter egg not everyone knows about!
Bevien, Existence Becoming
Inspired by Simone de Beauvoir
It’s interesting because I wasn’t sure what you were going for when I read the card first but the little explanation really impressed me with how well you thought of this. Using the changeling ability to represent Madame de Beauvoir’s philosophy is a surprisingly deep take, and I love your explanation of exchanging life for knowledge, which is again surprisingly deep for such a common MTG effect. My only bemol is that the card’s presentation could have used a bit more polish. Using the appropriate card frame, spacing the abilities properly, adding a comma between the U and T symbols, and fitting a “If you do” after the life payment proposition are little things that would have made it a more realistic MTG card.
Kuro, Light Machinist
Inspired by Nikola Tesla
Light counters are a flavourful fit for Nikola Tesla, which is a pioneer in the distribution of electricity. All the abilities are also well chosen to represent his scientific side, though they do feel a bit disconnected (the second one especially feels weird, artifacts is a very specific theme to care about). My main concern though is how this uses Light counters in parallel to the loyalty counters. Why have them at all? The card would work just fine without the light counters. Also, if you went +1 +1 +1 -7, that ultimate would deal 3 damage to any target in the best case scenario, so it’s really not worth it.
Vladimir, the Conqueror
Inspired by Ivan, the Terrible
The effects tell a ruthless and very flavourful story. While they are a bit disconnected mechanically, each of them is quite evocative, the monarch hints at his political influence, the second ability defines his enemies, and the third has a ruthless war flavour. It’s a very nice mechanical portrait. I have two main critics about the design itself as a card though. First, it’s really weak, it’s a 4/3 for 7 mana, the monarch is a nice addition but the second ability is a downsides ability and the third ability will realistically never come up since the opponent have the choice to send their creatures to combat against him or not and 3 excess damage means you can only steal creatures with toughness 1 anyway without pump spells. The templating of the last ability is also a bit shaky. MTG cards don’t talk about “points” of damage, and the card needs to check that the creature is dead if you want to return it (you could deal excess damage to a creature with indestructible for instance.)
Thanks to @ningyounk for all of the time you put into providing thoughtful feedback, as always. This was a very creative competition. Admittedly, the interpretation of Judas leaned more towards the literal rather than giving deference to gameplay, which is why it was taken as a given that he starts on the other side of the board, since he was first a disciple before he was a traitor (no bribery or ulterior motive at first). Counting treasures to establish control is an interesting mechanic that I've considered for another card, one that I think is better suited for a Mercenary. As far as creating the treasures to power its own ability, I believe this once again shows a difference in weight given to being literal/flavourful vs. gameplay. As a standalone card, not being able to activate its ability without assistance does lower its usability, especially with such a large initial drawback, but that a card isn't self-sufficient and must be built around or enabled isn't necessarily a bad thing and exists to varying degrees on actual Magic cards.
Can you fav these?
https://mtgcardsmith.com/view/anakin-juju-on-that-bubble?list=user
https://mtgcardsmith.com/view/tokimeki-the-army-breaker?list=user
https://mtgcardsmith.com/view/boomling?list=user
Favourites have been distributed! Congratulations again =D
@Usaername
Sorry but Odea wasn't made on MTGCardsmith and I can't find your account on google, would you mind sending me a link to your gallery please? ^^
KorandAngels @FORFUN
Haha, well I'm glad you liked it x) I don't think it would be a good idea to restart the exact same contest because nobody submitted more than two entries out of the three allowed so I think people who wanted to participate already did and we wouldn't get many entries in round 2 ^^
That being said, this challenge comes from a larger project I cancelled. I originally intended to make a three-rounds contest with three little challenges like this one inside (each one would have challenged your sense of flavour, originality, and realism respectively — this is an example of a flavour challenge). I finally decided it was too complex but that means I might make more quick challenges based on the cancelled ideas I liked best x)
Thank you! =D
@Usaername
Favourites have been distributed!
@HeroKP
You can still claim one favourite of your choice as a reward