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Card Contest: Form of the ...
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http://mtgcardsmith.com/view/form-of-the-sliver-1
Viva la Sliver!!!
Next, Form of the Beast
http://mtgcardsmith.com/view/form-of-the-beast-1
You're big.
Really big, and you like to smash things. Namely Artifacts.
You're mean.
This land is your land, and just yours. You get to hunt on and benefit from all of it.
And you're scary.
So scary, in fact, that lots of puny, insignificant beings do not dare even approach your omnipotence.
Anyway, there's my submission.
http://mtgcardsmith.com/view/form-of-the-enchantress-5
While judging, in addition to a flavor prize and a creativity prize, I felt the need for another prize which I will keep for my contests in the future - Elegance of mechanics. Sometimes cards just work right, game wise. While reading one of these, I recognized that it was outstanding in this regard, and that I wanted that to be something to aim for in future contests.
So without further ado, the winners...
Theme wise, this card is spot on. Beyond just following the templating of Form of the Dragon, it includes a powerful per-turn action that is right in the color and type's mechanics, and two mechanics that modify how you can be killed to really give it that "Form of the" flavor. The land-based life mechanic is great for two reasons - beasts need land to thrive, and it's a large amount of life, symbolizing beasts' toughness.
Mechanics and balance wise, I think this is the strongest card overall. In addition to giving you three powerful mechanics, it also includes a subtle balance mechanism, in that left to its own devices, it will eventually self destruct via its first ability.
*Edit - Apparently I didn't notice the 'other' restriction. Oops! Well, anyway you know my thoughts on it now... *
Form of the Hive ( @Beeswax ) - Creativity
http://mtgcardsmith.com/view/form-of-the-hive-1
This card succeeds at taking some flavor and elegantly translating it into a mechanic. It manages to merge two ideas together - a physical manifestation of cards in your hand, but also (and more importantly for this challenge) the notion of tying your vitality to the number of tokens of a given swarm that you control. Honestly, I love both ideas, and I love them together - though I do feel the first one is so unique and cool, it could have a card dedicated to just exploring that idea. In fact, removing it leaves something closer to what your first submission was (and more clearly cements this color identity in white green, since it is that first mechanic that seems more blue). Either way, this design is a win.
Form of the Cat ( @Animist ) - Flavor
http://mtgcardsmith.com/view/form-of-the-cat-1
I love it when the mechanics of a card unquestionably translate to the flavor of the card or vice versa. This card more than any other here succeeds at that. The nine lives mechanic holds its own, and is sufficient to make this card interesting and playable, even without the need for a more active ability like on the other cards... still you have to wonder, what free action would you get each turn as a cat?
Minor tweak - I think "whenever" is reserved to indicate a triggered ability, so you should use "if" here.
Form of the Villager//Wolf ( @Tesarand )
http://mtgcardsmith.com/view/form-of-the-villager
http://mtgcardsmith.com/view/form-of-the-wolf
I have to admit I didn't really like that MtG introduced this two-sided card mechanic. But! "In for a penny in for a pound" - as with many mechanics, now that it's in the game, I think it's a large design space that is worth exploring, rather than being just a one-block gimmick.
What is nice about this mechanic (for this challenge) is that it is strongly tied to a creature type! So congratulations for choosing a great combination of creature type & mechanic for this challenge
On the villager side, I like that you adhered to the once per upkeep automatic action format, to make this feel like a "Form of the" card. Also, the small effects are appropriate for this side of the card.
On the wolf side, I think you had a harder challenge to tackle. Wolves, despite being a very cool and long-running type, have never had any signature mechanics. A quick search shows a pretty even mix of shroud/hexproof, banding, undying, infect... basically, wolves and werewolves don't prefer any one keyword, like spiders do for reach. And, as I've mentioned on quite a few other cards, the choice of a creature type buff as the primary ability makes this ability feel more like a "form of the leader/lord" ability. I'm not sure what I would suggest instead (as I said, it's a hard one), but it still feels like there might something more "wolfy" to leverage. Finally, given the inherently unstable nature of this side of the card, I think you could've cheated a bit on the second ability and made it even more protective, though "trample only" is a pretty big restriction as it is.
Form of the Enchantress ( @Tomigon )
Great creative selection of card type. As someone who's been playing the game a long time, I always appreciate direct references to older cards, and the "Verduran Enchantress" card draw is well complemented by the "argothian enchantress" hexproof. Minor note on this point - the enchantresses have varied between "draw a card" and "you may draw a card". For this contest in particular I would have preferred the former, since it slightly modifies your possible loss conditions, i.e. via decking, which would contribute to the "Form of the" flavor.
As for the second ability, I'm somewhat confused as to why it (a) affects both players, and then (b) gives bonuses based on all enchantments rather than enchantments they own. Especially given the lower cost of this card compared to the other cards, it would have been interesting to make this ability a double-edged one (like many of these did), perhaps simply setting your life total equal to the number of enchantments you control (or even twice the number of enchantments you control) rather than just gaining life.
Form of the Sliver ( @GodOfWar )
http://mtgcardsmith.com/view/form-of-the-sliver-1
After seeing so many "lord" type enchantments above, I was tempted to give feedback saying something along the lines of - why does your "form of the X" act like a lord effect, it's not "form of the sliver". But I figured I would rather see if anyone chose sliver on their own - I'm really glad you did, it's an super-flavorful creature type and a great choice for the contest.
Ironically, this being the one form that should have had a mechanic that boosts creatures of that type, such an ability is strangely absent. Other than that, the design is fairly straightforward, though perhaps the second ability is a bit overpowered (as worded) in multiplayer. I would have loved to see something a bit more creative mechanics-wise for such an iconic creature type. The flavor text is succinct and well-chosen, playing on the player-creature inversion that is inherent in this card.
Form of the Necromancer ( @ImBadAtBalancing)
http://mtgcardsmith.com/view/form-of-the-necromancer
I like the direction you are going with "each turn, you may reanimate a creature by paying its cost in life". The automatic action per turn model fits the "Form of the" theme well, and the use of life to power the reanimation does too. However, the implementation feels clunky. I would have left it as just "at the beginning of your upkeep". What do you want the focus of your card to be? The necromancer flavor, or the unusual time that the card chooses to trigger? Granted the change is a hit to the power level of this card, but I think that would be better addressed by adding another ability.
I've said for various other cards that "buff your creatures" is more of a "Form of the leader/lord" mechanic, but in this case I would make an exception, because it is well within the flavor of necromancers to raise hordes of undead creatures, so an undying buff works well.
Finally, (and this actually complements what I said about the first ability), I still think this could use one more ability. The really good "Form of the" cards manage to directly or indirectly work the life/death of the creature into your win/loss. Along with the change to the first ability, this could really round this out into a fantastic design.
Form of the Whale ( @wealthbeyondmeasure )
http://mtgcardsmith.com/view/form-of-the-whale
I like the initial idea and flavor of a form that just wants to swallow things. (Kraken would have been a suitable choice too) Although all three of the abilities are positive, with no tradeoff/risk like Form of the Dragon or others, this card is balanced by the fact that its second ability does not initially do anything, but grows over time - which is itself a nod to the whale theme. Overall, it feels a bit underpowered for having just paid 7 mana to get the enchantment, but it is compensated for by the fact that the third ability is (a more flavorful form of) "creatures can't attack you". Finally, the first ability is good, but would have fit in the "form of the" archetype better if it happened for free each upkeep.
Form of the Goblin ( @augustsworld )
http://mtgcardsmith.com/view/form-of-the-goblin
This iconic creature type rightfully deserves to be in the contest - kudos! The card is considerably cheaper than other forms, but this is reasonable for the creature type in question.
Goblins have a long history of doing things backwards, and the "sacrifice a goblin" part of the per-turn ability is a nod to this. It would have been great to explore this facet of the card type a bit more explicitly - that really would have gotten some points for flavor. Like having to somehow play your spells at random, or I don't know, something!
Beyond that, the card feels like a generic goblin-buff card. Which kind of suggests that the player is transforming into somekind of lord/leader... rather than a goblin. This is not to say that it is a bad card - on the contrary, I think many goblin decks would love to play it. But it kind of falls short on the flavor of the mechanics as a "form of the..." card
Form of the Demon ( @michaelmvm )
http://mtgcardsmith.com/view/form-of-the-demon
Great choice of creature type. Both iconic in the MtG lore and powerful like the dragon, many players would love a "Form of the Demon" card. I like that you decided to choose an in-flavor mechanic (paying life) and build around it. However, the card is still not quite 100% there. The first two abilities are so similar that I wonder whether it was worth the extra rules text to even have the second option. And to a certain extent it's missing that "form of the" flavor - the mechanics feel very much like a necropotence or a gravepact, but nothing to tie them in to the player's living or dying, with the minor exception that your opponent could theoretically win by choosing to sacrifice a bunch of creatures.
Form of the Shapeshifter ( @AlphaOmega )
http://mtgcardsmith.com/view/form-of-the-shapeshifter
Shapeshifter is an interesting choice that could have allowed for exploring some cool mechanics. Ultimately this card comes across as a global enchantment, "buffing" all of your creatures - but shapeshifter's don't do that... so it kind of suggests that the player is transforming into somekind of lord/leader... rather than a shapeshifter, and so it misses the mark on the "form of the" flavor.
Form of the Volcano ( @pyrak )
http://mtgcardsmith.com/view/form-of-the-volcano
This one is a unique choice of type! I like the direct connection to a land type, and this card almost compels you to think about a cycle. Maybe there's a Form of the Maelstrom for islands and a Form of the Sun for plains, etc. Overall it's a very creative card, and there are some neat effects in there, but I think there are so many of them without a clear rationale for each that it loses some focus. With some revisions and consolidation of ideas, this could be an awesome card.
Form of the Spellshaper ( @stormbreath )
http://mtgcardsmith.com/view/form-of-the-spellshaper
A commendable choice of type, as spellshapers are a bit esoteric yet very distinctive - they're no generic wizard! Unfortunatey, the card mechanics don't really tie at all into the one thing that spellshapers do, which is to turn any given card in your hand into one specific spell. An ability like "As you play Form of the Spellshaper, you may reveal an instant or sorcery card from your hand. At the beginning of your upkeep, you may discard a card. If you do, you may copy the revealed card and play that copy." would have made a direct allusion to spellshapers and therefore have made the card work. (Add in some additional win/loss conditions like the other Form cards, maybe tying in to the spell still being in your hand, etc., and you would have rounded it out as a "Form of the" card)
Flavor issues aside, the card also has some mechanical issues. First, giving a spell on the stack storm doesn't technically work as you probably intended (since storm only triggers when the spell is played... if it's on the stack, it's too late). Second, if it did, this card would be horribly broken.
Form of the Fool ( @CrucibleOfHate )
http://mtgcardsmith.com/view/form-of-the-fool
I personally love the archetype of the fool. Though it is sadly underused in MtG, I really appreciate your choice nonetheless (Btw, have you ever played A Fool's Errand ? It's an awesome old school game!)
I see where you are trying to go with the first mechanic incorporating randomness and with its allusion to wheel of fortune. Unfortunately it comes across as clunky and forced. Afterall, since your draws are random also, "draw 10, discard 5 at random" is basically the same as "mill 5, draw 5".
The remaining three mechanics combine in an intentionally haphazard way, but I fear what typically happens when storm is involved - the net effect is an immensely "swingy" card that trumps anything else going on, so I don't think it's balanced, especially given that it's 4 mana. Even with the damage, this is just an easily circumvented nuisance, making it even more swingy. The game turns into: did my 5 random cards include Angel's Grace? Ok, I win. No? Ok, it doesn't do anything useful.
http://mtgcardsmith.com/view/form-of-the-fortress
Mechanically, this is a nice and balanced card. Unfortunately, I think flavorwise, I don't read this and think "Oh hey, this player has transformed into a fortress", instead I read it and think "Oh hey, this player *has* a fortress". It's a subtle distinction but one that is at the essence of this contest. Ironically, I now think a Form of the Fortress would be a really cool card to make, but it would have an ability like "As Form of the Fortress comes into play, choose another player. If the chosen player wins or loses the game, you win or lose the game as well." In this case, you *are* the fortress.
Form of the Sangromancer ( @Kauyon )
http://mtgcardsmith.com/view/form-of-the-sangromancer
Sangromancer is a difficult form to successfully make a card from. It has only one in-MtG precedent, Sangromancer, which only shares superficial similarities to this card, and as an external non-MtG concept a sangromancer not so iconic or well-defined that one could translate the concept into MtG mechanics directly. As for "Form of the" flavor, the first ability certainly fits well, but the second... why does transforming into a Sangromancer allow your opponents to draw cards? Overall, it ends up feeling like a spin on Necropotence/Greed/etc., and not a "Form of the" card. And potentially it may be too powerful, even with its prohibitive cost.
Form of the Spider ( @MrRansom )
http://mtgcardsmith.com/view/form-of-the-spider-2
In Magic, spiders have a very distinctive flavor & mechanics, so they make a good choice for this challenge. Let's start with the last ability. It would have made a lot more sense if "creatures with flying can't attack you". Spiders negate flying attackers. As it is now, it seems exactly the opposite of what it should be. On the otherhand, the first ability makes sense. But overall, the first two abilities seem a tad underpowered for the cost you're paying. Finally, it would have been nice if the abilities at least indirectly modified your win/loss conditions.
Form of the Honey Badger
Form of the Ritualist
Form of the Potato
Form of the Butterfly
Form of the Vampire
Here are my cards. If you wanna fav the most recent three that'd be great, but otherwise whichever ones you like! http://mtgcardsmith.com/user/Animist/cards
My cards and sets are here:http://mtgcardsmith.com/user/CastorCrozz
Favorite whichever one(s?) you like, although I feel like Karanel is probably one of my personal favorites as of now.
@fabiocbinbutter Thanks for hosting contest! That was very interesting idea for the contest and I enjoyed a lot!