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Lovesong set contest (Support MtG cardsmith)
This one is different... Will it flop? Here goes nothing!
*This contest supports MtG Cardsmith* - if this contest gets 20 qualified entries, I'll purchase a premium membership to MtG Cardsmith to build the set with these cards!
Background - As some of you may know, I always use public domain / copyleft art in my cards, which sometimes makes it hard to find art. I found an artist today (Sir Wendigo) who posts a lot of awesome creative commons art, but the subject of his art is not typical MtG subject matter... long story short, I had the idea of making a set dedicated to some of the common themes in the art.
Qualifying Cards
- must use non-copyrighted art (e.g. public domain or creative commons). If CC art is used, the license and attribution should be noted in the card comments. This should not be too hard since a CC artist is provided, though you are free to use other artists.
- must be balanced
- must be templated/worded correctly
- must adhere to the set flavor guidelines below
- must use art of a certain quality. Although subjective, again, not hard since an artist is provided.
- must use the diamond set symbol
Flavor guidelines
This set aims to upturn some of the conventional flavor in MtG. Red and black are the colors of passion and sacrifice, but in this set these are the "good" colors. White and blue are the colors of order and oppression, these are the "bad" colors. Green is a neutral color. Themes of individuals' experiences, strife, and love make an unusual appearance, over the typical themes of tribes, war, fighting, and group cohesion.
The set is a largely focused on a dystopian metropolitan society. It's a bit more modern than most MtG, but should still not feel like present day - rather post apocalyptic, with limited technology fueled by mana.
Faceless government (U and W) keeps the masses oppressed. Individuals are given few options but to conform - free speech is censored, occupations are assigned, relationships are arranged - solely for procreation and never of one's choosing. (To keep it "faceless" I suggest that the art depict the objects of the oppression rather than the agents of the oppression.) Some individuals (R and
seek freedom from the oppression through covert acts of art, free speech and love, sacrificing all aspects of their arranged lives for their desires. Outside of the walls of the cities, primitive societies (G) live off the land. Although the metropolitan oppressors would love to capture these groups, they are the only means of accessing green mana - both the oppressors and oppressed seek the fruits of the green mana - psychotropic potions and herbs used either for oppression or for experiencing altered states.
Mechanically, I leave things open to your interpretation!
Contest Rules
- No limit on entries per cardsmith. Each entry counts toward the goal of 20.
- My judging criteria are creativity, mechanical elegance, and flavor, but due to the nature of the challenge, the emphasis will be on flavor
- Winning cardsmith gets a card made in their honor and 5 favorites
- Contest ends Feb 27th. Prize awarded Feb 28th.
*This contest supports MtG Cardsmith* - if this contest gets 20 qualified entries, I'll purchase a premium membership to MtG Cardsmith to build the set with these cards!
Background - As some of you may know, I always use public domain / copyleft art in my cards, which sometimes makes it hard to find art. I found an artist today (Sir Wendigo) who posts a lot of awesome creative commons art, but the subject of his art is not typical MtG subject matter... long story short, I had the idea of making a set dedicated to some of the common themes in the art.
Qualifying Cards
- must use non-copyrighted art (e.g. public domain or creative commons). If CC art is used, the license and attribution should be noted in the card comments. This should not be too hard since a CC artist is provided, though you are free to use other artists.
- must be balanced
- must be templated/worded correctly
- must adhere to the set flavor guidelines below
- must use art of a certain quality. Although subjective, again, not hard since an artist is provided.
- must use the diamond set symbol
Flavor guidelines
This set aims to upturn some of the conventional flavor in MtG. Red and black are the colors of passion and sacrifice, but in this set these are the "good" colors. White and blue are the colors of order and oppression, these are the "bad" colors. Green is a neutral color. Themes of individuals' experiences, strife, and love make an unusual appearance, over the typical themes of tribes, war, fighting, and group cohesion.
The set is a largely focused on a dystopian metropolitan society. It's a bit more modern than most MtG, but should still not feel like present day - rather post apocalyptic, with limited technology fueled by mana.
Faceless government (U and W) keeps the masses oppressed. Individuals are given few options but to conform - free speech is censored, occupations are assigned, relationships are arranged - solely for procreation and never of one's choosing. (To keep it "faceless" I suggest that the art depict the objects of the oppression rather than the agents of the oppression.) Some individuals (R and
seek freedom from the oppression through covert acts of art, free speech and love, sacrificing all aspects of their arranged lives for their desires. Outside of the walls of the cities, primitive societies (G) live off the land. Although the metropolitan oppressors would love to capture these groups, they are the only means of accessing green mana - both the oppressors and oppressed seek the fruits of the green mana - psychotropic potions and herbs used either for oppression or for experiencing altered states.Mechanically, I leave things open to your interpretation!
Contest Rules
- No limit on entries per cardsmith. Each entry counts toward the goal of 20.
- My judging criteria are creativity, mechanical elegance, and flavor, but due to the nature of the challenge, the emphasis will be on flavor
- Winning cardsmith gets a card made in their honor and 5 favorites
- Contest ends Feb 27th. Prize awarded Feb 28th.
This discussion has been closed.
Comments
To find creative commons or public domain art in general, go to Google images, and after you put in your keywords (hint, sometimes it helps to specify a site, like "dragons site:deviantart.com"), then click Search Tools > Usage Rights > Labeled for Noncommercial reuse with modification
http://mtgcardsmith.com/view/fabios-familiar-1?list=user
http://mtgcardsmith.com/view/charming-sorceress
http://mtgcardsmith.com/view/death-by-survival
http://mtgcardsmith.com/view/speakeasy-violinist-1 (Common red creature)
Edit: *grumble grumble* stupid Diamond set symbol requirement *grumble*
I hope I got the art thing right... I did find it on DeviantArt with a CC notice.
Defy Destiny
http://mtgcardsmith.com/view/mind-leech-3
http://mtgcardsmith.com/view/zarnes-city-of-pale-silence
Honestly believe it is public domain; can't help it if I'm wrong.
Is this fits in the flavor?
Also can we use non-evegreen mechanic?
Art : http://creative-commons.deviantart.com/art/Knight-2-283265697
http://mtgcardsmith.com/view/defiant-archer-2?list=user
Art : http://creative-commons.deviantart.com/art/Tomb-Raider-reborn-359273008
Ok, thanks! Cool background concept of the set!
@Corwinnn - Fabio's Familiar
I don't fully get the reason why you would play the card mechanically, or the flavor connection to the overal set, but anyway I get the idea that this entry was about wanting to use this cute art, and the card does fit well with its art!
@Corwinnn - Charming Sorceress - Honorable mention
Unlike Fabio's Familiar, I can see why you would play this card! It's a super versatile creature, and I think this is mainly what earned it lots of favorites. The mechanical connection to charms is clever. The art seems very fitting for the set, though I do still think the flavor somewhat incongrously "in your face" or "wielding power" for a citizen of an oppressive distopia.
@Latinas - Death By Survival - Honorable Mention
I would award a prize for this one even based on the name alone, I love it! A great name on its own, but even better in the context of this set. As for the art selection, I think this art would have been more fitting (in this particular set) in green, with the shamanistic clothing. Also, the mechanic was inspired, but ultimately feels a bit backwards. When you're at full health it's a board wipe, and when someone's low on life, it just leaves the big creatures? Maybe it's just me, but I don't get how that ties to the flavor of the card. The favor text is nice, and fits well with the flavor of the set.
@Lujikul - Verdict of Finality
Let's start with mechanics - I guess two wrongs can make a right. This card feels like an overcosted Swords to Plowshares, and it has a targeted exile effect castable with mono-blue. Each of those on their own would be a mark against the card, but together, they... kind of combine to be acceptable. But still, it doesn't quite do anything unique, fresh or powerful, though all sets need this to a certain extent for limited play. Now flavor - the effect does align very well with the set, as does the flavor text. The art is a bit odd, with the robot drawing a lot of the attention, but ok. Overall, the card is fine and would make sense in the set.
@Ginge - Enforcer Hydra - Honorable Mention
This is one of the strongest cards on mechanics, because it (a) clearly signals what you expect to be a common mechanic in the set (tapping down creatures), and (b) is a powerful 'build around me' card that players would want to use. I will just nitpick that the templating is off - "if" should be "when" because this needs to be a delayed trigger, and the word "the tapped" should "that" to reduce ambiguity (what if the creature is no longer tapped?), and the concept of "would die this way" is IMO a novel concept that would require careful analysis of the rules to fully specify the meaning of. On flavor, I'm still undecided on whether monsters such as hydras actually make sense in a metropolitan environment (ala Ravnica), but I don't consider this to be a fault of the card, just something to think about in the flavor of the set.
@Faiths_Guide - Defy Destiny
How ironic is it that a card called Defy Destiny was created weeks before the contest, yet was destined to be in this contest with the right set symbol and perfect flavor XD
But seriously... the card name, mechanics and flavor text fit perfectly into the flavor of the set, and specifically the favor of red. There's the defiance, the sacrifice, the passion in the randomness. The art has a nice man-made setting, but the brandished weapon is a slight mismatch, though what can you do short of creating your own art. On that note, technically not qualified without a mention of the art license, but still I liked considering the card based on it's other aspects!
@Corwinn - Mind Leech
This art takes the cake for most used art in this contest XD I like that you took the fateseal mechanic and ran with it. This card is... actually very playable, despite the funny inspiration. And even in this odd-flavored set, the funny flavortext works well!
@CrucibleOfHate - Zarnes, City of Pale Silence - 2nd Place
Like most sets, a few distinctive places represented by legendary lands are super useful for filling out the flavor of the set. Plus, I like the ideas in this card a lot. I actually think the word "Pale" works against this card. I bet distopias are pale, but that should probably not be among their most notable characteristics - perhaps "Crushing" silence? Ironically "Deafening"? Anything, just not "bland". On the other hand, love the matter-of-factness of the flavor text - just what this color needs in this set. Mechanically, I like the idea. Though as a general rule for lands which I see no reason to go against here, I would still prefer that the land be able to generate mana under normal situations, not just color fix... and the second ability would be even cooler (I think) if it added mana equal to the number of tapped creatures a chosen opponent controls.
@Tomigon - Silver-Armored Knght & 2 others
Although all 3 of the cards were more traditional MtG with their focus on outright battle, the Knight's mechanic actually fits well in this set. With a different art & name, it would be a perfect fit in the set.
@Lujikul - Mordeau, Undercity Spy - 1st Place
The choice of opposed colors was risky, but acceptable with the rare and legendary mitigations. The flavor works well, and the idea of the mechanic is there, but it needs some work. However, since the main criteria of this challenge is flavor, this card ends up taking first place!