MTG Cardsmith Community Forums
Music to my ears.
Hey all! I just got back from the national competition Bands of America, and to commemorate the event, I thought I'd launch my first contest!
The only criteria is that you create a card somehow related to music, for example: http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=383442. As long as the card somehow represents, produces, or interacts with music, it's valid!
I'll be judging based mostly on flavor (as I'm not nearly as good as others on these boards) but I'll also attempt to judge based on the cards themselves.
The end date will be this Thursday (26) at 6:00 am Pacific Standard Time.
My example is here: http://mtgcardsmith.com/view/herald-of-the-hoarde
Thanks all!
The only criteria is that you create a card somehow related to music, for example: http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=383442. As long as the card somehow represents, produces, or interacts with music, it's valid!
I'll be judging based mostly on flavor (as I'm not nearly as good as others on these boards) but I'll also attempt to judge based on the cards themselves.
The end date will be this Thursday (26) at 6:00 am Pacific Standard Time.
My example is here: http://mtgcardsmith.com/view/herald-of-the-hoarde
Thanks all!
This discussion has been closed.
Comments
http://mtgcardsmith.com/view/terras-arm?list=user
http://mtgcardsmith.com/view/calia-the-lightbringer?list=user
And the song that goes with it...
Critical Mass is the beginning of a nuclear chain reaction,
http://mtgcardsmith.com/view/beguiling-lyricist?list=user
This is actually quite an old card I made but I remade it today so it would look a bit better.
I also neglected to mention prizes! First place gets 5 likes and a token (I'll explain in a bit), second place gets 4 likes and a token, and third place gets 3 likes. I'll try to get the results up by Friday.
Now, about the tokens; rather than create a legendary creature for you, I'll make a creature token of your (undoubtedly creative) description (power, toughness, name, type, etc) and attempt to make a card that puts it into play. Just for some trophy variety.
Thanks again for the entries!
And the song
http://mtgcardsmith.com/view/i-wont-let-you-down
(
http://mtgcardsmith.com/view/im-not-through
http://mtgcardsmith.com/view/here-it-goes-again
Oh wait, I cry. I guess this is not an entry then.
The critiques are ordered by when you entered.
@Rednaxela - Terra's Arm: Flavor wise, seems ok. I like the pun about ‘heavy’ metal, considering it’s a burn spell, but flavor seems a little unfocused other than that. Functionality, seems really powerful. I’d suggest “Terra’s Arm deals 4 damage…”, like lightning bolt’s wording. I think that compared to Languish (http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=398597) this is a bit overpowered; maybe 4 damage to non red, and 2 damage to red? Seems like it could use a little balancing, but I still like it!
@Corwinnn - Calia, the Lightbringer: Flavor is great! I think it's interesting how she's bringing hope (+1/+1) but the music is heavy metal and dark (-1/-1?). Functionality wise, seems balanced. I like how she’s not a stereotypical angel bringing hope, but instead a fellow human. P/T ratio seems fair, and the ability doesn’t target her, which I view as fair. My only real issue is that it may be a bit of color-pie bleeding? But that’s a small issue, it seems pretty good to me.
And gosh darnit Corwinnn, you got that song stuck in my head (and stuck in my song library).
@Gelectrode - Raging Caldera: Flavorwise, matches the music! Volcanic eruptions, but only after the buildup/crescendo. Sweet. Functionality, I presume you could tap it for R mana? My only qualm is that you seem to have a lot more to lose than the opponent by playing this card, but I’m sure it’d work in the right deck. I love these chance cards, and with Krark's Thumb, this would be a cool red agro card. I think this is pure red - someone gets burnt either way. Awesome.
@Animist - Beguiling Lyricist: I think the flavor here is awesome. Not only does the art seem apt, but both abilities suggest the creature is entrancing the blocker with music. On point. Functionality, P/T seems balanced, and overall fits the rarity while still being usable and fun. That combination of abilities really intrigues me. I just wish it were a siren - that would have been ultimate flavor (but probably a bit too stereotypical I guess).
@bluprintmtg - Spindlehymn Melodist: Flavor is nice. Using music to recall the past is neat, and I think this gracefully reflects that. Functionality, this seems to harken to Buyback, which I like. I'd personally combine the two sections of text, but it seems pretty reasonably balanced. I like it. Nothing too flashy, but a good cost, a good ability, good flavor, and a generally good card overall.
@theimmortaldeath - A Great Deceit: Seems really good flavorfully; matches the song quite well. Functionality wise, a 5 drop tutor is decent, nothing spectacular. Manifesting it is an interesting concept, but it seems like the tutored creature would be more vulnerable to removal than the more conventional tutors. Still a cool card.
@Biblio1 - Purple People Eater: Almost lives up to my expectations, just disappointed in the lack of a horn and single eye (joking, it’s really quite great on flavor, couldn’t have asked for much more). Functionality, I like it. 6 drop 3/3 flyer isn't the best, but it basically acts as a 6/3 which could smite mini humanz. Maybe could have represented it eating things more, but I still thinks it’s well represented.
@Tomigon - Senbozakura: Flavorwise, I had to look up meanings and lyrics, and I’m still a bit confused. People said it was about strengthening Japan’s resolve or something, a “kill all, I don’t care” attitude someone said. I’m having trouble deciphering the song’s meaning, and so I’m finding it hard to match the flavor of the card to the song. Functionality, I like it for certain kinds of decks. It seems like it could find a home in any mardu agro,but also in a weenie deck. Nice.
@kauyon - House of the rising son: Flavorwise, it seems to match the song somewhat. I don’t get the feeling of regret, but the danger involved is apparent. Functionality, I like it a lot if you were playing it; however, it seems almost impossible to beat. You can’t destroy it, there are very few mass enchantment sweepers, and it only hits opponents. Personally, I’d either get rid of the shroud and lifelink, or make it target all players and maybe gain half the life. I might be wrong, but it just feels too overpowered and unfair, especially to control players or players without creatures.
@timecoat - Needing and Getting: Flavor seems to match pretty decently; as much as you might need a card in the game, drawing or getting it is completely a different issue. Card construction wise, I’m a bit iffy about the wording. Most cards that interact with a specific card have you name it, or search for and exile it (the imprint mechanic). I’d suggest naming it, searching for it, then have a separate text block (If there’s space with the flavor text - cause the flavor matches well!) saying something like "Whenever the you draw the named card, exile it and draw another. You may cast the exiled card until end of turn.” Just a suggestion, follows what I view as more standard word formatting (see http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=83142). But nice job!
@ostewart - Spellbinding Harp: Flavorful! Iv’e seen a lot of associations between harps and magic such as you’re demonstrating. I like it a lot; the only thing I’d suggest would that the attack part of the equipment seems out of place - maybe you could tap the equipped creature for the ability? Just a thought. Functionality, it seems decently balanced. I’m torn between it being slightly underpowered as it is, or knocking the cost down to 1 x, which would make it slightly overpowered. Difficult to balance, but I think playing it safe was smart. The wording is slightly off - most cards would say "Those creatures don't untap during their controller's next untap step.”, and the “may” on your card bleeds a bit into the frame, but those are small issues. Good work!
@kauyon - Moonbound Pathseeker: Flavor-wise… I’ll confess, I really like classical and brass music, so I’m a bit confused about this song (sorry). Google helped a bit, but I’m still in the dark; maybe it matches the drug-induced state the character Pink is in? I dunno, and don’t want to say stuff that is wrong. You obviously know more than I do, so I’ll say good job!
@timecoat - I Won’t Let You Down: Flavor is quite nice! Matches the lyrics and title really well, and the abilities really emote the song. I really like this card! My only concern flavor-wise is that I’d like some black in the mana cost, and the fact the other player can attack you. Taking damage is definitely red, and gaining 2 life is definitely white; however, destroying a creature is more of a black thing. Just a thought, and I think that black would make it more balanced. The other issue is that the enchanted player can attack you, which breaks the theme and flavor of the card, while giving the enchanted player a larger advantage. Functionality, I’m a bit on the ropes about this. The only place where it may find a home would be double-headed giant, commander, or a tainted remedy deck. This severely limits it in my eyes, and without an upside to you, I’d find it hard to justify in most formats. My suggestion would be to add “enchanted player can’t attack you”. This would serve not only to make it usable in many more decks and formats, but also fix the flavor issues. Still, I think this is a really awesome card.
@timecoat - Here it Goes Again: Flavor is decent, does get the idea across about repetition. Functionality is a bit broken, and the text is a bit funky; Based off real cards, I’d suggest rules text reading "Put a 1/1 white Soldier creature token onto the battlefield for each card named Here It Goes Again in your graveyard. Exile/Sacrifice those tokens at the beginning of your next end step”. If this was a real card (which would be AWESOME), I’d run it with maybe 22 lands, 4 thrumming stones (http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=124451), and 34 Here it Goes Again. T6, assuming you’ve cast thrumming stone and have 6 land, you can simply play a single Here it Goes Again (or multiple if the ripple fails) and attack with 785 1/1 soldiers. Not to mention the other ones you’ve cast before. So yeah, a bit unbalanced, but still a cool card.
@Teacup - Death Prophet: The flavor is GREAT! That song is already pretty funny, and the way you’ve incorporated the song into the card is both inventive while staying true to the theme of the song. Awesome! The functionality is also really cool - this is a completely out-of-the-box card, and I think that’s great. It’s decently balanced too, which makes it even better. My only problem would be that it’s too easy to break without more limitations (eg. choose combat damage, sorcery, instant, etc). That would make it more cluttered however, which I think is unnecessary for this type of card. Also, there’s a bit of continuity error in the card - you specify target creature in the first text block, but say “whenever A creature”. I’m going to assume you meant target creature for both. I still like this card a lot!
@AlphaOmega - Goblin Guitarist: Since your the only late entry, I’ll let it it. Flavor is pretty good - conveying the terrible singing skills of goblins is pretty funny. It’s also interesting how it takes time for him to ‘learn’ his chords before using them to ‘sing’ to people. Nice. Functionality, it’s pretty good. 1-drop 1/2 is decent, but the counters take too long to accumulate in my opinion. I play primarily modern, and this would be a bit slow even with populate. I’m going to compare this to Lux Canon (http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=210236). This is pretty good, but charges pretty slowly; Lux Canon can pick up speed with proliferate and numerous charge-counter-support from the mirrodin world blocks. This would work, but I feel it’s a little slow. Still, I like the theme of it a lot!
https://video.search.yahoo.com/video/play?p=the+earl+of+oxford's+march&vid=65393e29a79f86c20fe21d64d4c955e5&turl=http://tse3.mm.bing.net/th?id=WN.AkTUR%2fq6rU%2bexfnV%2fYBm%2bQ&pid=15.1&h=225&w=300&c=7&rs=1&rurl=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pyNS298tuw&tit=William+Byrd+-+The+Earl+of+Oxford's+March+-+Hanover+Trombone+Class+conducted+by+Jonas+Bylund&c=0&h=225&w=300&l=204&sigr=11bipvsg5&sigt=130scbm3p&sigi=12tsu78hd&ct=p&age=1289658948&fr2=p:s,v:v&fr=yhs-mozilla-004&hsimp=yhs-004&hspart=mozilla&tt=b
It was difficult to decide the finalists, so I divided it into 3 categories: Flavor, Functionality, and Overall (overall was the best mix of the two, so it was possible place in one category and not overall, or vice versa). I tried to judge them fairly, please forgive me if I offended anyone with the placings; I loved all the cards entered. I also didn't specify the number of cards to enter - an oversight on my part; I chose what I think was the best card submitted and ignored the rest.
I'll only be giving the rewards mentioned to the Overall winners, but I'll give 2 likes to every finalist, and I liked all cards entered in the contest.
Flavor
3rd place goes to @ostewart with Spellbinding Harp!
2nd place goes to @timecoat with I Won't Let You Down!
1st place goes to @Animist with Beguiling Lyricist!
Functionality
3rd place goes to @blueprintmtg with Spindlehymn Melodist!
2nd place goes to @gelectrode with Raging Caldera!
1st place goes to @Animist with Beguiling Lyricist!
Overall
3rd place goes to @gelectrode with Raging Caldera! I really liked this card - the flavor was very good, and the chance attribute of it really worked out well in my brain. Good job!
2nd place goes to @Corwinnn with Calia, the Lightbringer! While this wasn't the best in flavor or functionality, I think this was a good mix of both where the card and the backstory really complimented each other. Nice!
BTW, would tapping it for mana qualify as an ability?
@Animist with Beguiling Lyricist! This card absolutely blew me away. The flavor of it was fantastic, from the art to the implied backstory. The functionality was great; this really feels like a card I'd see in a magic set and go "WOW, I want to make a deck around that." Superb job!
I'll PM all finalists about rewards. Congratulations to all who entered, and thanks so much for all your entries!
House of the Rising Son was made overpowered on purpose as a metaphor of The House Always Wins and the concept of Secret Societies.
Moonbound Pathseeker was meant to express the combination of Ignorance Is Bliss and Delusions Of Grandeur.