I tribute @Yonkers11 to special summon the great @TheDukeOfPork, but wait that's not all, by tributing @Yonkers11 I activate the a graveyard ability returning Yonkers to the battlefield in defense position. I then activate my special ability "finish your cards" which puts all my creatures in attack position coupled with my trap card "don't take me seriously" which doubles the attack power of all my monsters, I then attack @ThePhantomJoker for 4000 total points of damage.
Okay, so only three people completed week 3 challanges, but hopefuly other people will join back later. That being said, let's see the scoreboard:
1. @TerryTags with Malfegor (74) Maddening Choices. Firstly, I love the art. I'd compare this to Underworld Dreams except this card is much more powerful. If I understand it correctly, it replaces the draw with the damage effect, so it doesn't even let the player draw the card. The flash also feels a bit unnecessary. Overall, I like the art and flavor, but mechanically it's likely broken. Look // Don't Touch is cool, I like the split card schowcasing the magic of two characters, I like the flavortext that stretches over both of the cards and both sides feel balanced mechanically. My only slight issue is that the don't feel tied together in any way. Flavor-wise yes, but not in the terms of the effects. But that's merely a slight inconvinience. Also I find it funny that on the Look side, you put the line between the ability and flavortext but on Don't Touch you didn't. 2. @Tonysparks with Nefti (63) Your overarching story with Liliana is very intriguiging I must say. The "you've served him but then betrayed him unlike me" gives a cool new perspective to Liliana's story. I like how you modeled your card to reflect Liliana's Mastery. Beautiful work with the flavortexts also - I know Nefti's a psycho, but she evolved to have the most interesting personality out of the Hornguard and it's fun to read her lines. Four 1/1 fliers with wither for five mana might be a bit too strong, but so is two 3/3 and a buff to all other Zombies (which is a much more prominent tribe) for the same investment, so I guess it works. Oathguards Refuge on the other hand... I love this card so much! Really creative design, totally balanced, but still powerful, cool flavor, just a great work. A little work on formating is needed, but mechanically the card is amazing. 3. @pstmdrn with Nystax (62) Subversive clone is too powerful. Stealing any creature for just three mana is just too good and leaving a 1/1 in return is nowhere near a suitable downside. The flavortext is really cool though and I like the cooperation between the two characters showcased there. Maybe the card could have been something like "Gain control of target creature you don't control. Its controller creates a token that's a copy of it except it has "At the beginning of your upkeep, mill two." Just a thought, something along those lines could have been more balanced and fit the flavor. Then we have Cold Rebutal which is a really cool card. Situational, since it can only counter noncreatures and copy non-blues, but there is still a big chance it's going to hit something. Might be a bit too powerful, but I like it, along with the art and flavortext.
Alright, if anyone else joins back with challanges for the past weeks, I'll add them to the leaderboard, for now we have just three people. And we're close to the finish line, so act quickly.
Week Four: The End The end is here. You have managed to overcome the Gatewatch, locate Nicol Bolas in the Prison Realm and return his spark... or have you? There are two version of how this is going to end.
1) Create a card that showcases your wish come true. What has Nicol Bolas promised to you in the case of success? Well, now you get it. 2) Create a card that shows your planeswalkers defeat. This card might or might not be inspired by the Defeat cycle from Hour of Devastation. How would your potential downfall look like?
It had been months since Bolas's imprisonment even with all of the Hornguard's help, getting to the meditation realm was no mean feat. Nefti had learned through tortured sources that her pharaoh had not died, and while the others had began to lose sight, Nefti never did. Through trial and error she managed to access the space with the help of the chain veil she had stolen from its confines in Ravnica. Once she was in, with the veils help, and all the power she had gathered from all her other patrons she managed to best Ugin sealing him in his own realm, and releasing Bolas.
Bolas impressed with the Hornguard's loyalty particularly Nefti, decided to reward the planeswalker. As promised, he would broker four contracts with four powerful patrons for Nefti under the condition she swore unconditional loyalty to bolas before any other patron. Nefti agreed and a clause was written.
The first contract bolas brokered was with a demon of agony, Nefti wished to amplify the powers of her soul magic, and there was no better way that borrowing the help of a demon that embodied agony. They were weaker and easier to fool with lesser souls, so Nefti and Bolas used one of Nefti's victims to escape the tax.
The Second contract brokered by Bolas was with an Archfiend of Despair and pain. Bolas offered one fourth of Nefti's soul under the agreement that should the Archfiend die, the souls fragment would be relinquished to Bolas. In exchange the Archfiend tutored Nefti in the ways of torture and despair and lender her a potion of its tremendous power.
The third contract was with a Xathrid demon. These foul beasts would not accept payment in anything other than flesh and blood so bolas brokered this deal, Nefty would slowly over time age and decompose in exchange for immeasurable power. Yet again Bolas put a clause that 400 years after Nefti dies her soul will be relinquished back to Bolas.
The final contract was with none other than Ormendahl, Griselbrad's replacement. What Nefti and Bolas sought out of the deal was true immortality, but knowing that the demon was to smart to be tricked with the promise of a soul because immortal people can't die Bolas brokered yet another deal, when Bolas died, Nefti's whole soul would be relinquished to the demons control. If this happens Nefti's immortality would last for 50 more years before she dies and goes under the demon's sole governance.
The genius of how the contracts were brokered ensured that the unknowing demons unwitingly got the crumbs of the whole deal while thinking that they had the loaf of it. The immortality from Ormendahl canceled out the Xarthid and The Archfiend, and the fake soul switch duped the demon of Agonies. As for Ormendahl, Bolas had no intent of ever dying, let alone relinquishing his most valued possession and that contract ensured that Nefti would never make attempts on Bolas's life.
All those powers warped together within Nefti, transforming her into an Archfiend, and making her a god among planeswalkers and only second to Bolas. She served as Bolas's right hand for the remainder of her long life and was bestowed the highest title a cleric can get "Bishop"
(Entry One) Ultimately, Nefti's downfall came from her arrogance and not her lack of ability. She underestimated an assassin from Ravnica despite even her knowing that underestimating Ravnica was the last thing you should ever do, that assassin was Kaya, Ghost Assassin. (This is before she gets the contracts)
On the conclusion of my story I should specify that she still was allowed to roam planes and have freedoms, but she was at the beck and call of Bolas at all times and was treated as a valuable asset. She was considered a god in multiple planes with her new powers and a scrounge in others. All through that she remained loyal to Bolas despite rivaling his power.
Also for reference the "Blood in the snow" "Decree of pain" and multiple other black mana board wipes are similarly priced to my planeswalker who has a board wipe ability so I think the cmc is fair.
If you don't get a planeswalker out of this, you get a board wipe.
I'd like to get at least @pstmdrn's cards for the last week in before I judge this. It's a pitty most of the people here dropped out right before the end, but I do have to admit, I might have done this a little too long.
@pstmdrn , I can help you get a logo on your mtg.design card if you want.
Just go to Cardsmith and pretend you are creating a card; Scroll to the set symbol you want, then drag it to a new tab; then copy the link and paste it in the set logo link area in mtg.design.
So the contest is finally over! I'm sad that we lost a lot of people along the way, but I do have to admit that the contest was rather long and it is hard to retain one's attention and time for making the cards for it. But anyone who dropped out during the contest is more than welcome to make the cards they missed and you'll for sure get something as well. I'm interested in how your stories end. That includes @WarriorCatInAhat, @Yonkers11 and @TheDukeOfPork for the most part. Whenever you find time, guys, I'll be waiting. But now, let's see the people that carried on and ran all the way into the finish line:
1. @TerryTags with Malfegor, final score: 88 points Curse of Malfegor is a really cool card that ties itself into the overall theme of Malfegor in this storyline. It's balanced, interesting and the flavortext is good. Malfeogr's Defeat is a bit all over the place but it pretty much does the job. There's a small wording issue, it should state something like "If a Malfegor planeswalker is dealt damage this way..." but that's a minor thing. And that flavortext? That's GENIOUS. I love it. Overall your journey was fun to watch. It was very consistent, nothing too flashy, but I liked the concept of bringing Malfegor back into the story, you were the only one to utilise a canon character and it was pretty original. Your cards are also well made most of the time, which adds to the overall quality. 2. @Tonysparks with Nefti, final score: 78 points Nefti, Bifhop of Agony is beautiful. There are a few wording errors, but I love what the card showcases. Nefti has truly gone a long way and if she succeds, it will be magnificent. Well... for her at least. The frame is for transform cards, but who cares? It looks damn badass. Also the story is cool. It kinda rips of Liliana with the demon lords and stuff, but then again, it's Bolas again and Nefti is pretty much like a successor to Liliana as the Bolas general, so it pretty much makes sense and I like how he does it in this clever way so the contracts work in a way together and stuff. Nefti's Defeat is super situational and again kinda similar to Liliana's in HOD. If you don't come across a black creature or planeswalker it's gonna be a dead draw, and if that thing is not Nefti, it's just a worse Murder. But the flavortext is so cool! If I'm going to be honest, I didn't think much of Nefti from the beginning, but her journey throughout the contest was amazing. I loved her character and the theme of loyalty, which you too have displayed to this contest and I am grateful. You could work on the card designing aspect of things, but I'm sure it will come around and I'd gladly help if you have some questions or uncertainties in this department. All in all, Nefti really deserves the second place for her endurance, loyalty and fun character. 3. @pstmdrn with Nystax, final score: 76 points Nystax, Master of Reality is pretty cool, Illusion tribal is not a thing currently, but it very well might be with him. The emblem is strong but situational and the overall design id pretty neat. Spark Rupture is interesting as it is the only non-Defeat-style card we've seen here and I also like the design. It's flexible and strong but balanced as well. And the flavor is great, instead of meeting his fate in the field, Nystax has a chance to be punished by Bolas himself. Cool and original! Nystax was nice. We didn't get too much character from him and he wasn't anything flashy, but I quite like him. He's a bit similar to Jace, but much more focused on illusion magic than mind magic. I also enjoyed some of the story beats like his spark ignition for example. The cards could most of the time use some help with wording but you can work on that over time. The most important thing is if you've enjoyed the journey.
I've decided that I've undervalued what four weeks of card design mean. For that I will increase the rewards and I'll also grant something to the people that left early, as they also put a lot of time and effort into this and I wouldn't want them to do it for nothing. So, the situation is like this:
@TerryTags for the first place you get seven faves on your cards and deep constructive feedback on three of your choosing. You will also be sent the cute cat video via PM, where we will also discuss the faves.
@Tonysparks for the second place you get five faves and deep constructive feedback on two cards of your choosing as well as a cute cat video, which I'll again send in a PM, where we will discuss the faves and cards.
@pstmdrn for the third place you get four faves and deep constructive feedback on one card of your choosing. And a cute cat video as well, again, sent via PM, where we will discuss the faves and stuff.
@TheDukeOfPork you get one fave since you joined a bit later
That's it for the prizes, everyone please write into my PM about them.
Thanks for sticking around so long for this contest. I know it's been a bit exhausting, but we made it! I'd love some feedback from you as well, but it's completely optional.
The other 2 faves can go on any cards you like in my page.
Sorry, I changed my mind last minute and I have decided that I want feedback on Zorg and Ezda on the above set instead of what I had before.
Thanks again for hosting such an awesome competition. This was definitely something I would try again. I also don't think it was too long and I acknowledge that people may have been busy though. I will keep open to design critics from you. Cheers!
@ThePhantomJoker Thank you for the great contest! I'll let you know via PM what faves I'd like, etc. Congrats to ALL participants I got my cat videos, and they are - indeed - glorious awards to be won
MTG Cardsmith Community Forums
Comments
1. @TerryTags with Malfegor (74)
Maddening Choices. Firstly, I love the art. I'd compare this to Underworld Dreams except this card is much more powerful. If I understand it correctly, it replaces the draw with the damage effect, so it doesn't even let the player draw the card. The flash also feels a bit unnecessary. Overall, I like the art and flavor, but mechanically it's likely broken. Look // Don't Touch is cool, I like the split card schowcasing the magic of two characters, I like the flavortext that stretches over both of the cards and both sides feel balanced mechanically. My only slight issue is that the don't feel tied together in any way. Flavor-wise yes, but not in the terms of the effects. But that's merely a slight inconvinience. Also I find it funny that on the Look side, you put the line between the ability and flavortext but on Don't Touch you didn't.
2. @Tonysparks with Nefti (63)
Your overarching story with Liliana is very intriguiging I must say. The "you've served him but then betrayed him unlike me" gives a cool new perspective to Liliana's story. I like how you modeled your card to reflect Liliana's Mastery. Beautiful work with the flavortexts also - I know Nefti's a psycho, but she evolved to have the most interesting personality out of the Hornguard and it's fun to read her lines. Four 1/1 fliers with wither for five mana might be a bit too strong, but so is two 3/3 and a buff to all other Zombies (which is a much more prominent tribe) for the same investment, so I guess it works. Oathguards Refuge on the other hand... I love this card so much! Really creative design, totally balanced, but still powerful, cool flavor, just a great work. A little work on formating is needed, but mechanically the card is amazing.
3. @pstmdrn with Nystax (62)
Subversive clone is too powerful. Stealing any creature for just three mana is just too good and leaving a 1/1 in return is nowhere near a suitable downside. The flavortext is really cool though and I like the cooperation between the two characters showcased there. Maybe the card could have been something like "Gain control of target creature you don't control. Its controller creates a token that's a copy of it except it has "At the beginning of your upkeep, mill two." Just a thought, something along those lines could have been more balanced and fit the flavor. Then we have Cold Rebutal which is a really cool card. Situational, since it can only counter noncreatures and copy non-blues, but there is still a big chance it's going to hit something. Might be a bit too powerful, but I like it, along with the art and flavortext.
Alright, if anyone else joins back with challanges for the past weeks, I'll add them to the leaderboard, for now we have just three people. And we're close to the finish line, so act quickly.
The end is here. You have managed to overcome the Gatewatch, locate Nicol Bolas in the Prison Realm and return his spark... or have you? There are two version of how this is going to end.
1) Create a card that showcases your wish come true. What has Nicol Bolas promised to you in the case of success? Well, now you get it.
2) Create a card that shows your planeswalkers defeat. This card might or might not be inspired by the Defeat cycle from Hour of Devastation. How would your potential downfall look like?
Bolas impressed with the Hornguard's loyalty particularly Nefti, decided to reward the planeswalker. As promised, he would broker four contracts with four powerful patrons for Nefti under the condition she swore unconditional loyalty to bolas before any other patron. Nefti agreed and a clause was written.
The first contract bolas brokered was with a demon of agony, Nefti wished to amplify the powers of her soul magic, and there was no better way that borrowing the help of a demon that embodied agony. They were weaker and easier to fool with lesser souls, so Nefti and Bolas used one of Nefti's victims to escape the tax.
The Second contract brokered by Bolas was with an Archfiend of Despair and pain. Bolas offered one fourth of Nefti's soul under the agreement that should the Archfiend die, the souls fragment would be relinquished to Bolas. In exchange the Archfiend tutored Nefti in the ways of torture and despair and lender her a potion of its tremendous power.
The third contract was with a Xathrid demon. These foul beasts would not accept payment in anything other than flesh and blood so bolas brokered this deal, Nefty would slowly over time age and decompose in exchange for immeasurable power. Yet again Bolas put a clause that 400 years after Nefti dies her soul will be relinquished back to Bolas.
The final contract was with none other than Ormendahl, Griselbrad's replacement. What Nefti and Bolas sought out of the deal was true immortality, but knowing that the demon was to smart to be tricked with the promise of a soul because immortal people can't die Bolas brokered yet another deal, when Bolas died, Nefti's whole soul would be relinquished to the demons control. If this happens Nefti's immortality would last for 50 more years before she dies and goes under the demon's sole governance.
The genius of how the contracts were brokered ensured that the unknowing demons unwitingly got the crumbs of the whole deal while thinking that they had the loaf of it. The immortality from Ormendahl canceled out the Xarthid and The Archfiend, and the fake soul switch duped the demon of Agonies. As for Ormendahl, Bolas had no intent of ever dying, let alone relinquishing his most valued possession and that contract ensured that Nefti would never make attempts on Bolas's life.
All those powers warped together within Nefti, transforming her into an Archfiend, and making her a god among planeswalkers and only second to Bolas. She served as Bolas's right hand for the remainder of her long life and was bestowed the highest title a cleric can get "Bishop"
(Entry One)
Ultimately, Nefti's downfall came from her arrogance and not her lack of ability. She underestimated an assassin from Ravnica despite even her knowing that underestimating Ravnica was the last thing you should ever do, that assassin was Kaya, Ghost Assassin.
(This is before she gets the contracts)
(Entry two)
Nefti Signature Spellbook
https://mtgcardsmith.com/user/Tonysparks/sets/60272
If you don't get a planeswalker out of this, you get a board wipe.
Card#2:
This has been a great contest, and I've put all my entries in a set, which can be found here:
Malfegor's Signature Spellbook
https://mtgcardsmith.com/user/TerryTags/sets/59891
https://mtgcardsmith.com/view/spark-rupture
Just go to Cardsmith and pretend you are creating a card; Scroll to the set symbol you want, then drag it to a new tab; then copy the link and paste it in the set logo link area in mtg.design.
1. @TerryTags with Malfegor, final score: 88 points
Curse of Malfegor is a really cool card that ties itself into the overall theme of Malfegor in this storyline. It's balanced, interesting and the flavortext is good. Malfeogr's Defeat is a bit all over the place but it pretty much does the job. There's a small wording issue, it should state something like "If a Malfegor planeswalker is dealt damage this way..." but that's a minor thing. And that flavortext? That's GENIOUS. I love it.
Overall your journey was fun to watch. It was very consistent, nothing too flashy, but I liked the concept of bringing Malfegor back into the story, you were the only one to utilise a canon character and it was pretty original. Your cards are also well made most of the time, which adds to the overall quality.
2. @Tonysparks with Nefti, final score: 78 points
Nefti, Bifhop of Agony is beautiful. There are a few wording errors, but I love what the card showcases. Nefti has truly gone a long way and if she succeds, it will be magnificent. Well... for her at least. The frame is for transform cards, but who cares? It looks damn badass. Also the story is cool. It kinda rips of Liliana with the demon lords and stuff, but then again, it's Bolas again and Nefti is pretty much like a successor to Liliana as the Bolas general, so it pretty much makes sense and I like how he does it in this clever way so the contracts work in a way together and stuff. Nefti's Defeat is super situational and again kinda similar to Liliana's in HOD. If you don't come across a black creature or planeswalker it's gonna be a dead draw, and if that thing is not Nefti, it's just a worse Murder. But the flavortext is so cool!
If I'm going to be honest, I didn't think much of Nefti from the beginning, but her journey throughout the contest was amazing. I loved her character and the theme of loyalty, which you too have displayed to this contest and I am grateful. You could work on the card designing aspect of things, but I'm sure it will come around and I'd gladly help if you have some questions or uncertainties in this department. All in all, Nefti really deserves the second place for her endurance, loyalty and fun character.
3. @pstmdrn with Nystax, final score: 76 points
Nystax, Master of Reality is pretty cool, Illusion tribal is not a thing currently, but it very well might be with him. The emblem is strong but situational and the overall design id pretty neat. Spark Rupture is interesting as it is the only non-Defeat-style card we've seen here and I also like the design. It's flexible and strong but balanced as well. And the flavor is great, instead of meeting his fate in the field, Nystax has a chance to be punished by Bolas himself. Cool and original!
Nystax was nice. We didn't get too much character from him and he wasn't anything flashy, but I quite like him. He's a bit similar to Jace, but much more focused on illusion magic than mind magic. I also enjoyed some of the story beats like his spark ignition for example. The cards could most of the time use some help with wording but you can work on that over time. The most important thing is if you've enjoyed the journey.
I will get to the prizes in a sec.
@TerryTags for the first place you get seven faves on your cards and deep constructive feedback on three of your choosing. You will also be sent the cute cat video via PM, where we will also discuss the faves.
@Tonysparks for the second place you get five faves and deep constructive feedback on two cards of your choosing as well as a cute cat video, which I'll again send in a PM, where we will discuss the faves and cards.
@pstmdrn for the third place you get four faves and deep constructive feedback on one card of your choosing. And a cute cat video as well, again, sent via PM, where we will discuss the faves and stuff.
@Yonkers11 for participation you get two faves
@WarriorCatInAhat for participation you too get two faves
@TheDukeOfPork you get one fave since you joined a bit later
That's it for the prizes, everyone please write into my PM about them.
Thanks for sticking around so long for this contest. I know it's been a bit exhausting, but we made it! I'd love some feedback from you as well, but it's completely optional.
https://mtgcardsmith.com/user/Tonysparks/sets/58866
The other 2 faves can go on any cards you like in my page.
Sorry, I changed my mind last minute and I have decided that I want feedback on Zorg and Ezda on the above set instead of what I had before.
Thanks again for hosting such an awesome competition. This was definitely something I would try again. I also don't think it was too long and I acknowledge that people may have been busy though. I will keep open to design critics from you. Cheers!
Thank you for the great contest! I'll let you know via PM what faves I'd like, etc.
Congrats to ALL participants
I got my cat videos, and they are - indeed - glorious awards to be won