Boxes, Contests, and Value
…But I am going to be open for the sake of transparency. I make zero money from this blog (if you didn’t already know) and all prizes from contests and whatnot come out of my own budget. While I am financially stable, I still make minimum wage and can’t afford as much MTG as I’d like (i.e. I can get some Iconic Masters packs but I can’t drop $1,000 on a modern deck).
The November was a splurge. After all the everything, I ended up spending about $150 for the commission - a fantastic deal for indie-professional fantasy art, of course, but it was still the most expensive contest I’ve had - also with the absolute lowest entry turnout. With that money, I could have bought a booster box and I know that would have been much more enticing ‘cause, well, cards.
Then I thought… What if I could do a custom Magic card booster box giveaway contest?
Restrictions. With shipping costs and all, it would have to be within the U.S. only, which limits the audience.
Numbers. There would probably be far more entries than any other contest, which means that it would take longer to judge. Individual commentary would not be possible.
Size. For a contest of this scale, it might even have to be done in rounds like the GDS, which means longer even for the contest - and people who haven’t won would need to watch the finalists.
Prize control. Would there be second-place options? What would they get? How much would that cost? Planning ahead for this also means that the prizes they would get would have to either have been purchased ahead of time or they would have to choose from immediate booster box options in standard.
Varsity. The exclusivity would be necessary, meaning (a) followers only or (b) veteran Tumblr users or © an increasingly strict set of judgement guidelines.
Popularity. Holy crap, this would be the most popular design contest on Tumblr. A free booster box? God DAMN.
New designers. I have no doubt that this contest would bring in several new designers from all over the internet.
Critical design. Because the judgement would be so much stricter, the way that people think about cards would have to be much more thoughtful as well.
Future benefits. Something of this scale would set precedents for future contests; it would have to, considering how hard these things are to run normally. Maybe there would be a breakthrough.
Standards. I think if this comes through, then I can increase the value of potential contests, keep them there, and have them as semi-regular things to bring in new faces and designs to Magic custom cards and community.
What do you all think? There are, like, 1,400 of you, most of whom aren’t spambots and most of whom would probably like a free booster box AND most of whom understand that it’s fucking hard as butts to do something like this. I’d love to hear replies, comments, or other things about this. If you’ve won a contest in the past especially I’d like to hear your input.
Thank you all for you continued support and creativity.
kianamaiart
blakekathryn
theartofmadeline
gummygunk
tangentwithtanner
yousharknotpass
titsay
