Home of the CardsFromArt Challenge, and Limited Articles when I get the chance. I also write about Pauper for PureMTGO.com. In addition, I'm on the QA Team for the game Fortnite by Epic Games (but don't ask about that, because I can't talk about that. Yet).
Hi everyone! It's, uh, it's been a while. Let me see if I remember how to do this... I used to do a lot of things on here. Cool things. Magic things. I talked about drafts, customized cards, played some pauper. I made some friends, we laughed, we yelled. I even passed on a year-long dynasty to a dedicated follower. And then one day... I went dark. Life got busier than I could've ever anticipated. I was hired by Epic Games to be a QA Tester for Fortnite, a game that was in Closed Alpha, at the time. At first, I tried to balance that, and gaming, and Magic, and tumblr, and everything that you have to do when you start adulting, but something had to give. It's sad, but to make sure I could be a part of Fortnite while keeping my sanity, Magic fell by the wayside. So I went quiet. This week, though, something amazing happened. Fortnite moved from Closed Alpha to Early Access. For the first time, hundreds of thousands of players are playing a game that I worked on (albeit as QA) for a year, and my name is in the credits. I'm not saying I'm coming back or anything, but it felt like a good time to tell you all that I'm alive, and I haven't been doing nothing while I was quiet on here. If any of you have tried Fortnite, I'd also love to hear your thoughts on it! It's a labor of love to work on, and it's a game that I gladly play at work and at home. Think Minecraft-meets-Left4Dead-meets-Borderlands. A kind-of survival/tower defense game, with Llama pinatas. It's currently available for purchase on PC, Mac, Xbox One, and PS4, and it'll go free to play with the official release sometime next year. If you're interested, you can check out the link below: https://www.epicgames.com/fortnite/en-US/home Thanks for reading!
Hi, I was wondering if you know of any way to play mtg online aside from mtgo. I'm a newer player and the closest local gaming store to me is further than I can travel and I can't seem to find other players on campus who play. I'm not trying to cheat WotC out of money, but mtgo is way more expensive than I can afford, even when compared to what I play in paper and I don't even play that competitively. Thanks in advance.
I’ve heard some people online talking about playing on Cockatrice.
I’ve never used it myself, so I can’t say much about it, but I’m sure there are plenty of others here who can!
I am usually inspired either after I wake up or before I go to sleep (which is today’s case) Show some love to this crazy dude. Just look at how much he loves you. No planeswalker is that loyal :p
That I love the -X. I can’t really ever see using that +3. Maybe in rare instances, but it also could come back to bite you when just two damage makes it onto your own Tibalt and gets toubled, more than negating what you gained by plussing in the first place. I want something else there. Not sure what, but something.
That emblem is spectacular. Assuming perfect curve, you drop the emblem turn 6 (after two turns of doing nothing with that +3, including essentially wasting your four drop to cast Tibalt) and the next upkeep you finally get one damage on your opponent from an investment of four mana, a card, and two turns of walker abilities. There’s inevitability to it and it will add up as even the doubled emblems double themselves (2 damage next turn, then 4, then 8, then 16, and so on, Mark Rosewater would be proud). But it’s not starting soon enough for me. I’d look at seeing how much you can increase the damage that emblem starts at. Probably 2 would be my guess.
I actually think the ultimate is perfect: Tibalt's a torturer, and starting slow and ramping up the damage (you did the math yourself to see how quickly it kills) fits that to a T. Wizards has also moved away from ultimat a that instantly win the game, so this fits in that category.
I also love the +3, as he's all about the suffering, even when it's on himself. Risk vs Reward is a perfect Tibalt shtick, and this does a good job representing that.
Oh, and I really like that -X, it's a really good callback to punisher cards (like browbeat), but it would recommend a slight templating adjustment: "Gain control of target permanent until end of turn unless it's controller has Tibalt deal X damage to him or her. If they don't, untap that permanent. It gains haste until end of turn." Slightly less wordy and fewer targets to worry with (and doesn't become useless if your opponent has hexproof).
Ever since Wizards printed the Emerge mechanic, I have been wanting to show off an idea I had for taking this ability in a new direction. What if it mattered which creature you sacrificed to pay for the emerge cost? What if you got some benefit from sacrificing a certain creature?
I designed this card very early on in my custom phoenix tribal EDH deck project. Originally I had this tied to only granting the additional emerge benefit if you sacrificed an Egg because it was somewhat top-down design based on the art. But as my design developed to include a large shaman component, I decided to expand this ability to give the benefit if this phoenix emerged from a shaman, as well.
Hey everyone, welcome back to the CardsFromArt Challenge! I bring the art, you bring the custom Magic card design based on that art! Please submit entries directly through this link, which is also the “Submit” link on the main page of this blog. Include CFAC02 somewhere in the submission.
Feel free to mock your card up using any appropriate program and send it in with the art I’ve provided AND artist credit! If you can’t do that, just send in the text of your card and I’ll make a mock up of it. Be sure to include:
Name – mana cost
Type – subtype, rarity
Any abilities, power/toughness
CFAC01
There are more comprehensive rules to come but since this is my inaugural challenge I wanted to let you know that things are going to be a bit different than you’re used to.
Schedule Update:
Most designs came in for the last design during the first three days and there wasn’t much after that so I’m pushing the deadline to submit designs ahead to Saturdays at midnight. Then I should better be able to write up the winner post on Sunday and either post that on Sunday or Monday at the latest.
Hall of Fame:
I forgot to mention last week, but there’s a reason I’m not doing a Hall of Fame and picking someone each weak to be entered there. That’s because at the end of each season the person with the most points (or people tied for the most points) will be inducted into the Hall of Fame. So there’s something to fight for.
This art is inspired by the Vietnamese myth of Lac Long Quan, which translates to Dragon Lord of Lac. You can read a brief overview of the myth by following that link but it’s entirely up to you as to whether or not you use that for inspiration this week or go entirely in your own direction.
Bonus Challenge:
This week’s challenge is to use a symbol in the rules text that has never been used in the rules text of a Magic card before. Maybe # or @ or %, for instance.
Weekly Winners:
Two winners up for grabs this week. One for using a special symbol in relation to numbers and another for using a special symbol not in relation to numbers. For instance using 10% would be in relation to numbers and using (@) as a mana symbol would not be in relation to numbers. Good luck!
If you have any questions please ask me. You have until 11:59 pm EST on Saturday, November 19, 2016 to submit your entry!
Things are off to a big start right away we have both new contenders and familiar faces clinching the top spots for designs this week. A huge thank you to everyone who sent thanks and designs and all of that. The winners this week were awarded in three categories:
I get the distinct feeling that this isn’t going to be a particularly popular piece, but it bears mentioning. I’ve seen a lot of people complain about things like Day 1 Paid DLC, and how much they abhor it. They feel like they are missing out on the “complete” experience of the game, because some content is held behind an additional pay wall on day 1, and it really annoys them. The worst part about it is that this content is becoming more and more interesting. It adds to the story, it is actually fun and provides better context and makes the overall game more enjoyable if you have it. But it costs $10, and you just paid $60 for the game itself, and now they want even MORE money, and RAAAARGH THIS MAKE YOU ANGRY. So you hop on the internet, and you post angrily to message boards, and look! There are lots of people who are also angry and furious because they dare to ask for MORE money! You end up with some sort of “I am Spartacus!” movement where everybody swears never to buy a game again, because the series has been RUINED by money-grubbing publishers. People often even make memes like this one:
Well, I’m here to tell you the truth about it all. The truth about how the evil, evil game developers get to make this content, and how they can justify charging you for it.The actual God’s-honest truth about the inner workings and justifications for paid DLC, especially day 1 DLC.
Aaaand here’s the last bit of the CFAC Archives! Each link will take you to the challenge, the entries, and the eventual winners. Feel free to utilize it to find any old cards, plus it has handy links to the leaderboard and the Hall-of-Fame!
The CFAC Hall-of-Fame has been officially updated for the last time. It’s a bit of a post, spanning from CFAC #22 to CFAC #50. You can follow this link to check it out!
The final leaderboard has been officially updated! Now, if you ever want to look at your CFAC entries, all you have to do is click on your name and it should take you back to every post you were tagged in. Now, since this is the final update, let’s take a look at the top finishers, and how they managed it.
First up, at twenty-eight points, we have @linvala-the-memer and @amtgplayer tied. However, the tied breaker (as it has always been) is the highest score from the most recent challenge. @amtgplayer did well in the last challenge with four points, but @linvala-the-memer swept the points in the Showcase and won a category for the week for a total of six points, putting her at the permanent top of the CFAC Leaderboard.
Next, we have @outerspace-messiah at a comfortable twenty-seven points, which made my life easy. @voicesofchaos and @thekillershrub tied at fourth and fifth with twenty-five points, and they actually earned the same score for this past week. In fact, I had to dig all the way back to CFAC 47, where @voicesofchaos earned 4 points to @thekillershrub‘s 3, giving him the slightest edge. Following that we have @palaguin all by his lonesome at 24 points, and then we have this madness at 23 points.
So let me just go down the tiebreakers, one by one. @acting4life97 takes the top spot by scoring a massive five points this week. @thricexandvii and @noyan-dar both earned four this week to put them in the subsequent spots, with a tiebreaker from CFAC 49 putting @thricexandvii just barely ahead. Rounding out this section, we had @nine-effing-hells and @magicarasa both scoring three points, with CFAC serving as the tiebreaker yet again.
Following, @dimestoretajic sits pretty comfortably with twenty-two points, while long-time competitor @talldrinkofspookiness and relative newcomer @thanatyr tied at twenty points with the tiebreaker from CFAC 50 giving the veteran a slight bump. @mtg-philocalist, the “newest” player among the high-scorers, rounds out the top 15, with the remaining scores cascading down the remaining thirty players (if you have any questions about tie-breakers here, let me know!)
Over the next couple of days, the Hall-Of-Fame and the CFAC Master Post will be updated for the final time, and you’ll all be notified when they change. Once again, a big thank-you for all of the participation in the challenge over the past year!
Hey everyone, welcome to a new take on the CardsFromArt Challenge! I bring the art, you bring the custom Magic card design based on that art! Please submit entries directly through this link, which is also the “Submit” link on the main page of this blog. Include CFAC01 somewhere in the submission.
I wanted to take a moment to thank @blackdeckwins for running the challenge for the last year. I’ve participated as much as I could and really enjoyed it. I hope my take on the challenge can continue to bring all of you that excitement, stimulation, and enjoyment. It’s become a singular pillar of the custom Magic card community and is a commendable effort.
Feel free to mock your card up using any appropriate program and send it in with the art I’ve provided AND artist credit! If you can’t do that, just send in the text of your card and I’ll make a mock up of it. Be sure to include:
Name – mana cost
Type – subtype, rarity
Any abilities, power/toughness
CFAC01
There are more comprehensive rules to come but since this is my inaugural challenge I wanted to let you know that things are going to be a bit different than you’re used to.
Schedule:
Each new challenge will be posted on Sunday. Submissions will be accepted until the following Sunday at midnight. I’ll do posts throughout the week though I currently don’t have a set schedule in mind for that. Winners will be announced on Tuesday.
Scoring:
Typically two points will be available. One for submitting a design, and a second for meeting the challenge for that week. This is subject to change, especially based on specific challenges for the week.
You may earn additional points by being selected as an exemplary design for that week.
Seasons:
This is where things are going to be rather different. Instead of keeping a rolling scoreboard, I’m going to judge discreet “seasons” that each have a definitive end. Each season will be ten weeks long. That’s ten artworks. Ten designs. At least twenty points up for grabs and then a definitive overall winner ten weeks from now. Then we start season two.
And though I’m doing seasons like this, you can absolutely enter midway through, or skip a week and come back after that. Never feel like you’ve missed the opportunity to join in, because you haven’t.
Now that we’ve taken care of all that, let’s get to this week’s challenge! The art above is Cove Giant by Stefan Kopinski.
Bonus Challenge:
We’re starting with something near and dear to my heart, Viking World! We’ve got a giant and a boat full of people here, but there are plenty of fantasy settings where that would fit in just fine. Your bonus challenge is to sell me on why your card depicts a creature/scene from Viking World. Feel free to explain yourself when you send in the submission. Successful entries receive an additional point.
Weekly Winners:
This week will have three winners, each of whom will receive a bonus point. You can take one of these spots by designing the best creature card, designing the best sorcery/instant card, or designing the best card that is not a creature, sorcery, or instant. All of that of course determined by me. Good luck!
If you have any questions please ask me. You have until 11:59 pm EST on Sunday, November 13, 2016 to submit your entry!
Well well, doesn’t this look familiar? If you’re not quite tired of card design challenges based on pieces of artwork, I highly encourage you to check out the newly-revamped CardsFromArt Challenge, under new management by long-time participant in the original CFAC, @magicarasa. And bring your A-game, because just because I’m out of management, doesn’t mean I won’t be on the other side ;)
Well everyone, it’s time. We’ve had a week to get all of the submissions in for this monumental challenge, and I’ve been handing out points like Halloween candy. Now, it’s finally time to announce the winners of the final CardsFromArt Challenge!
Just a reminder, one winner for each artwork will be awarded one point, and the best overall entry will be awarded two points and will be permanently placed in the CFAC Hall of Fame (which I promise, I’ll update. Especially since I should have the time now).
Without further ado, the winners!
David Demaret’s Piece - Flaming Cerberus by @outerspace-messiah
This was easily the most hotly-contested category for the week, and as such, the most difficult to decide. Many challengers chose to tackle “triple strike,” so I decided to award this category to my preferred implementation of triple strike. Sure, I had a few tweaks I would’ve loved to make to the card, but overall I think it was the best of this artwork and could be used for some interesting things. Congratulations, you will receive one bonus point!
Kim Sokol’s Piece - Cruel Multitasker by @thekillershrub
With only two entries (both submitted late in the week) that were both very nice designs, this was a difficult winner to choose. In the end, I decided to lean towards the one that pushed complexity and did something interesting (and didn’t give me a slight rash when I thought about power-balancing it). This may have been a design targeted at everything I enjoy in Magic design (which it isn’t, otherwise it wouldn’t have been an elf), but I suppose it ended up working. Congratulations, you will be awarded one bonus point!
Chris Cold’s Piece - Pact Collector by @linvala-the-memer
Much like the last category, I quite liked the submissions for this artwork, but the one that grabbed my attention the most was the one that adapted a a beloved Enchantment (Demonic Pact) onto a actual demon, and drove home the synergy quite well. Congratulations, you will be awarded one bonus point!
Kimonas’s Piece - Rift Hunter by @ubervores
I can’t believe I’m actually doing this. I’ve spent the last fifty challenges campaigning against suspend, fighting its existence, and reminding you all how much I hate it every time it appears.
And here it is, on one of the winners of the last CFAC. This is clearly a sign I need to get out of the business.
But, this jumped out to me as a very cool and clever design with a lot of interesting gameplay interactions to it. This designer managed to do the impossible and create a Suspend card that I actually liked, and I suppose that deserves some credit. Congratulations, you will be awarded one bonus point!
Ivan Laliashvili’s Piece - Outlander Ambushers by @acting4life97
Full disclosure: this was actually the piece that I thought would get the most submissions. It’s just so dynamic, and holds so much design space...but I guess it’s hard to beat a flaming dog. Fortunately, I received two entries for it on the last Showcase of the challenge, so we were able to have some real competition. Both took mechanics (one pre-existing, one custom) and applied them perfectly to the artwork. This one introduced an interesting tribal mechanic, while also conveying the cool ambushing flavor that an elf on a centaur’s back could have, so I chose it as the winner of the category. Congratulations, you will be awarded one bonus point!
Overall Winner - Selesnya Bond-Kin by @the-color-blue-izzet
I’ll be honest...it’s difficult to convey why I like this card. It’s a slight variation on a pre-existing mechanic, and something about that is really cool to me. The fact that this creature gives the benefit, but it’s the smaller Elf that creates the connection, is almost poetic in its design. Each is equally as important as the other, and they can’t function as well without their specific partner. It flowed well with the art, and was one of those cards that instantly struck me as “in the running” for the win, and in the end, is my choice as the last CFAC winner. Congratulations, you will be awarded two bonus points, and your card will be added to the CFAC Hall-of-Fame!
Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, to all of the people who have contributed to the CardsFromArt Challenge; I believe there are around one hundred that have participated at one point in time or another from the challenge’s inception, and several hundred more that have followed along, watching all of the crazy designs pass across their dashboard. This has been an adventure that has taught me more than I can ever recount, and has brought me through many difficult times by being both a creative outlet and a responsibility to all of the participants. I owe a lot to this little challenge, and I hope each of you will take away at least a small piece of that as you go.
Over the weekend, the CFAC Hall-of-Fame and the Masterpost will be updated with all of the winners and past challenges, and as long as tumblr will let me, you’ll be able to access them from my blog’s home page, so you can always go back and see your old designs when you need inspiration. I’ll also update the leaderboard one last time with this week’s results, so we can see who the eternal champion of the CardsFromArt Challenge will be. That will be up on Monday, of course, so unless you feel like doing math on your own, you’ll have to be patient ; )
Thank you again, to everyone who’s had a hand in making this challenge what it’s become. Keep making Magic!
Well, this is it. The last showcase of my CardsFromArt Challenge. Here, you’ll find the last of the entries, and any that come in after I’ve posted it will be appended to the end. Follow the jump to check them out, and if you’ve got a design, check out the challenge here! You don’t want to miss your last chance, do you?!?
Art by David Demaret, Kim Sokol, Chris Cold, Kimonas, and Ivan Laliashvili
@the-color-blue-izzet:
I didn’t even know this was the last challenge until i saw one of the showcases go by my dashboard. I should really check my tumblr more..
Anyway i decided for my final submission i should try to challenge myself. So i picked the artwork that i thought would be used the least. The card itself doesn’t have soulbond because i thought it was the most boring way to do it but seeing as this would probably be printed in a set with other soulbond cards it doesn’t seem a massive drawback to me. The reminder text for soulbond is on the card so that it doesn’t have to be on the token which i think would look weird.
Thank you for keeping this challenge going for as long as you have, it must have took a lot of work each week and i appreciate it.
Ooh, interesting. Let’s get to the breakdown:
1 point for your submission: Got that one! Point!
1 point for not breaking the color pie: Soulbond is open for any color, tokens are fine, reach, trample, Centaur, Elf...yep, all in color. Point!
1 point for not putting something broken on the card: It’s potentially strong, but I think it’s certainly not broken. Point!
1 point for using proper templating (or at least close to it): Yep, proper templating down to the Soulbond text. Point!
1 point for impressing me with a cool design: I’m actually genuinely impressed by this design. It encourages you to play more soulbond creatures on this one, but in a different way from the normal Soulbond way because this creature doesn’t actually have Soulbond. It’s a slight inversion, but one I quite like. Point!
Well, looks like that adds up to the full five! Thanks for the submission, participation, and the kind words : )
@mtg-philocalist:
I cannot believe this is the 50th Cards From Art Challenge and, sadly, also the last, apparently. I have had so much fun creating cards in this format and hope that there will be something similar in the future, as it gives me and probably everyone else who participated an outlet to express their creativity. Thank you so much, @blackdeckwins, for all the work and effort you have put into this!
Now, it was really hard to decide which artwork to choose for this final submission, as all five of them look awesome and provide great sources of inspiration. After much (so much) deliberation, I eventually went for Kim Sokol’s beautiful piece, which inspired me to create this legendary Elf, coinciding nicely with the upcoming release of the much-anticipated Commander 2016. I just like legendaries so much!
In any case, I do hope that she does this last challenge justice.
Thank you again for all the fun!
I personally hate having first strike a deathtouch on the same card without having to work for it, and it seems especially weird for a Black/Green card. Like, you basically have to double-block this with two large creatures to kill it. You even get to dodge removal by sacrificing lands! But, I’m getting ahead of myself: let’s break this down.
1 point for your submission: Got that. Point!
1 point for not breaking the color pie: First strike is tertiary in Black, so it’s close, but I’ll give it to you. Point!
1 point for not putting something broken on the card: Being small is the thing that’s keeping me from calling this broken. I would prefer to have an ability tied to this gaining first strike or deathtouch, but I think it could at least start as this. Point!
1 point for using proper templating (or at least close to it): All good here. Point!
1 point for impressing me with a cool design: Interesting, to be sure, but not quite getting them for me.
Four points! Thanks for your submission, participation, and kind words : )
@acting4life97:
Alright, I really took my time with this one because I wanted to make something unique and fun for the last CFAC (at least on this blog). I tried to make a creature that was unique, and looking at the piece of art I knew two things. One, this is one of few cards that has 3 creature types (not including changelings) where two are races instead of classes. Two, I wanted to make a creature that conveyed teamwork between the two races, in such that combining their power would make for stronger effects. The easier way to show this would be on a spell, but I wanted to challenge myself to figure out how it would work on a creature.
It took a while, but I think I finally found some middle ground that I’m happy with. I came up with the Kinsmanship mechanic while looking at the art itself, and placed on an appropriate plane. My one and only concern about it is that it might have a fate similar to Haunt, where it works slightly different on spells than on creatures. A spell with Kinsmanship would simply require you to control an Elf and a Centaur, whereas the creatures would require one of each, not including itself. It’s something that would probably have to be fleshed out in testing, but I believe this is the best wording for it right now.
I also want to take the time to say thank you for taking your time out of your weeks, months, etc, to help designers not only by critiquing their work, but also providing a deadline, which is something I personally struggle with if there is not one set. I’ve participated since about halfway through the contest, but if I had the ability I would have gone back to the start I would have. Thanks for your many weeks of hard work for us designers.
Kinsmanship has some potential, I believe, but a few notes about it:
I would keep this to just creatures; less to worry about.
No real need to tie it just to Elves and Centaurs; it could be done for any combination of two tribes.
Now, breakdown:
1 point for your submission: Done. Point!
1 point for not breaking the color pie: Elf, centaur, flash, damage, trample, lifelink; we’re good here. Point!
1 point for not putting something broken on the card: Certainly strong, but not broken by any means. Point!
1 point for using proper templating (or at least close to it): I really dislike the wording for Kinsmanship. I think what you’re actually looking for is...”as long as you control another Elf and another Centaur.” But, I think that’s a minor tweak. Point!
1 point for impressing me with a cool design: I’ll call it cool, but not quite impressive enough for me.
All in all, four points! Thanks for the submission, the participation, and the kind words : ) I’ve always struggled with deadlines, as well, and my best advice is to just set them on your own, and write them on something like a whiteboard that you’ll see literally every day (That’s how I was able to do this challenge!).
@nine-effing-hells:
The art had a sort of secluded, stationary feel to it; just some creature, standing there, waiting. So, I tried to make a card that represents a demon waiting for something. Specifically, they’re waiting until it can collect on that life you promised it. Please, by all means, draw those extra cards! They’ll be here, waiting. Tick tock.
Holy cow. This thing is really planning on killing you. Though, six turns with impressive card advantage and you haven’t won the game yet? It’s probably about time that it pours on the damage.
1 point for your submission: Yep, that’s submitted. Point!
1 point for not breaking the color pie: All clear here. Point!
1 point for not putting something broken on the card: I’m on the fence here. If this thing naturally kills itself, you are literally drawing twenty-one cards over those six turns, and you definitely won’t be able to use all of them, but that kind of selection could be just the kind of thing a combo deck needs to find its win-cons. Plus, in a normal game of Magic, this will basically kill you, but in a game of Commander, it’s less than half of your starting life total, and I’m sure about any Commander deck would trade that for twenty-one cards. The downside is great, but I think this might be simply too powerful right now.
1 point for using proper templating (or at least close to it): Looks pretty good to me. Point!
1 point for impressing me with a cool design: interesting, and there may be something here, but it’s not quite gripping me.
All together, three points. Thanks for the submission, and for your long-time participation in the challenge!
@retroactivelyours:
no commentary
I suppose I should’ve expected a Mono-Green Dragon at some point.
1 point for your submission: Yep, point!
1 point for not breaking the color pie: I want to dock you here for having a Green Dragon, but they do happen every now and then. Point!
1 point for not putting something broken on the card: Powerful effects, but not quite broken. Point!
1 point for using proper templating (or at least close to it): Straightforward. Point!
1 point for impressing me with a cool design: It’s clean and cut, but it’s not quite impressive to me.
Four points in total! Thanks for the submission, and for your participation in the challenge!
@noyan-dar:
Who’s a good fiery boy?
Turning up the heat, I see?
1 point for your submission: Close to the deadline, but just in time. Point!
1 point for not breaking the color pie: Trample, Combat damage triggers, one-shot mana creation. All red. Point!
1 point for not putting something broken on the card: The base creature isn’t too powerful, and it takes quite a bit of work to get the mana out of it. Point!
1 point for using proper templating (or at least close to it): Everything checks out here. Point!
1 point for impressing me with a cool design: You’re pulling at my heart with the Red Aggro card here, but it’s not quite excited me.
All told, four points. Thanks for the submission, and for your long-time participation in the CardsFromArt Challenge!
After I write up a critique for a submission, I delete it from my inbox so I can keep track of what I’ve already covered for the week. And I have to admit, this week it’s getting more and more difficult to delete each one, because each deletion draws closer to the end. Today is the second-to-last showcase, and tomorrow will be the final one, and Saturday will be the final announcement of the winners, and that will be it (from me, at least). Follow the jump to check out the next batch of designs (with significantly fewer flaming dogs) and if you’ve got a design yourself, check out the full challenge here! We’re currently at a huge lack of centaurs, elves, and demons!
Art by David Demaret, Kim Sokol, Chris Cold, Kimonas, and Ivan Laliashvili
@thricexandvii:
I may have just backed my way into an interesting, if somewhat convoluted, evasive overlap ability in U/B. The flavor of enthralling is that the creature exudes a presence that some people/creatures (those with focus counters) find completely enthralling and provokes an obsession in them, while in others, they have no interest whatsoever for the thing or might even go to lengths to avoid it. (Think in terms of a quality that could exist in something like Moby Dick that can somehow inspire a ridiculous life-ruining obsession in Ahab, but not in others. I admit that the ability isn’t named perfectly, but I think it works reasonably well.)
In terms of color-pie, black and blue both get a fair amount of evasion independently, and I feel like fiddling with blockers is something they could mess with. Especially since Blue has straight up unblockable, and Black has a slice of menace.
As for haste? It appears on some Black creatures, and a small smattering of Blue ones (mostly those with suspend). BUT, I feel that given the enthralling keyword, and him being Legendary, it helps to get one potentially unblockable attack in. This is a somewhat similar way that creatures with suspend gain haste almost as a work around even though they should still have summoning sickness.
Oh, one more thing! It’s a shark demon because, well, it looks rather shark-ish to me… and what could be cooler than a Shark that’s also a Demon? (Unless of course it also had a laser!)
Interesting effect here, a sort of unblockable that becomes progressively worse over time. I’m not sure how I feel about it as a keyword, but it’s certainly interesting as a one-off ability.
1 point for your submission: Point!
1 point for not breaking the color pie: You’re a bit close on this, but I think it slides by. Point!
1 point for not putting something broken on the card: A 6/6 that’s initially unblockable and becomes progressively less unblockable may be powerful, but not quite broken. Point!
1 point for using proper templating (or at least close to it): That name’s crazy, but Magic’s got some crazy names already, so I’ll take it. Point!
1 point for impressing me with a cool design (this will be the hardest point to earn): Interesting, yes, but not quite impressive enough for me.
Four points in total. Thanks for the submission, and for your long-time (and well-written) participation in the challenge!
@thanatyr:
We’re leaving together,
But still it’s farewell
And maybe we’ll come back
To earth, who can tell?
I guess there is no one to blame
We’re leaving ground (leaving ground)
Will things ever be the same again? It’s the final countdown!
This was fun while I was in it!
I know, small text, but I wanted it to try and fit. Aka, no reminder text. I’m honestly not sure if you can suspend a fused card two at once, so this was the ability I came up with in its place. Suspend either side for a lot of aggro to come your way. Suspend both? Control the wipe, then cause monstrously large creatures to come sweeping down from beyond the grave. Not positive on the wording, but I figured it would be having creatures re-animated getting said devour and ETB effect.
Here are the abilities in text form, since they’re quite small:
Final: Final is black and blue. Suspend 3 {3}{U}{U}{B}{B}. At the beginning of your upkeep, draw a card for each time counter on Final if it is suspended. Each player exiles all creatures from his or her graveyard, then sacrifices all creatures he or she controls, then puts all cards he or she exiled this way onto the battlefield.
Countdown: Countdown is red and green. Suspend 3 {2}{R}{R}{G}. Creature cards you own that aren’t on the battlefield have Devour 2 and “When this creature enters the battlefield, it may fight another target creature” until end of turn.
Coalesced Delay (You may suspend one or both halves of this card from your hand)
**insert rant about how much I dislike suspend**
**insert further rant about suspend and cards without mana costs**
**insert obligatory balancing problem about cascade**
There, I think I covered that. Now, for the breakdown:
1 point for your submission: Yep, got that one. Point!
1 point for not breaking the color pie: Both sides are appropriately in their color. Point!
1 point for not putting something broken on the card: So, have of this card is literally Living End but I guess if that’s the best you can cascade into, it isn’t that broken. However, suspending Final draws you six cards before you actually cast the spell, and then you get a shot at a ton of creatures out of your graveyard. More than I’m okay with out of that.
1 point for using proper templating (or at least close to it): Now, this isn’t templated the way you actually want, because other than on the stack, split cards are both halves, so even if you went for the Red/Green part, you’d be drawing cards, which is either a color pie break or a templating fail. Also, the abilities are on the wrong sides of the card: this has all of those creatures enter the battlefield, then the Devour and Fight ability grant happens but all of your creatures are already here. Add that with the tiny text, and I can’t give you the templating points.
1 point for impressing me with a cool design: Interesting. Weird. Complex. Lots of things I can say about this card, but it’s not quite in the impressive category.
Two points! Thanks for the submission, and for your participation in the challenge!
@thekillershrub:
What I learned from this experience. You love bi-model cards, references to old cards, and over the top design. You also like Skulk when there are decisions involved. So…ya…here is all that.
So for my final card I wanted to go as Crazy as possible. I wanted a kill condition, bi models, inspired by a Planeswalker, insane effect, and all within the rules! Neither modes are particularly game breaking, but you get choice! I know most of the time Rogue is the right choice, but not even close all of the time! Also there are mono-black elves, so a Dimir one shouldnt be too far off.
Thanks for all you have done with these, I looked forward everyday to doing these and seeing the results. Man…I will miss these contests. But enjoy your job and your awesome life ^.^
Ooh, you’re going meta with your decisions by targeting things you know I like. Though you should’ve anticipated, I hold those effects to a higher scrutiny ;)
1 point for your submission: Point!
1 point for not breaking the color pie: Everything here looks fine for Dimir. Point!
1 point for not putting something broken on the card: Four mana 4/4 Deathtouch is pushing it. Four mana 4/4 Skulk and Curiosity is also pushing it. Throw in the chance to auto-kill a player, and the choice between all of this...and I’m pretty sure this is a five-mana card.
1 point for using proper templating (or at least close to it): Templating is a little weird here, but as best as I can tell, it all works. Changing “gains” to “has” for the two abilities would probably be a little more clear, but you’re close enough. Point!
1 point for impressing me with a cool design: Definitely combined a lot of things I like, but it ended up being a little more of a mish-mash than I would like. Close, but no cigar.
All told, three points! Thanks for the submission, the participation, and the kind words : )
@ubervores:
Okay so ngl I made a few different designs for the arts and the Cerberus was my favorite but since you got like 80 of those I’m gonna use this instead. It was a tough choice because I liked all of them but this was my first idea and took a lot of work to capture flavorfuly (and also it was the only one in a future sight border lol.) So the idea is that this Whale looking monster uses the rifts and what not of wherever Future Sight takes place to stalk its prey I dotn know if its incredibly UG past the fact that the way it has evolved is strange but it is what it is i guess. Man im gonna miss this challenge :’(
S U S P E N D Y U D O D I S T O M E ?
Alright, okay, composing myself, deep breath...okay, I’m good. Let’s continue:
1 point for your submission: Yep, that’s submitted. Point!
1 point for not breaking the color pie: slightly-large creature, suspend, downside for being large, “blinking,” yeah, this is all in Blue/Green. Also Whale Beast. Point!
1 point for not putting something broken on the card: This might get a bit complex, but I don’t think I’d call it broken. Point!
1 point for using proper templating (or at least close to it): Here, we get a bit messy. You’re going to need to specify “attacked or blocked this turn” so it doesn’t try to look to see if it’s ever attacked or blocked. And when you reference time counters inside of abilities, you always write out the number instead of using the digit, or in this case, you would use “a” instead. You’re also missing a few commas. With that many small errors adding up, I can’t quite give that to you.
1 point for impressing me with a cool design: Even though this has suspend, and is a little blinky and complex, I do actually like it. It isn’t quite to the impressive mark, but I do think it’s a good card.
Three points, all together. Thanks for the submission, and your participation (however sporadic it may have been ;) ). And truth be told, I’ll miss this challenge, as well: I imagine Monday I’ll reflexively reach for my laptop to critique designs before I realize there won’t be any. But that vacancy is what will drive the next project, which’ll be good for everyone : )
So goatfolk = White God/race, ibisfolk = Blue God/race, jackalfolk = Black God/race, ??? = Red God/race, and crocodilefolk = Green God/race? It’s something to at least start speculating about.
Honestly, I'd love to pick up the CFAC! I usually have a ton of free time, so that's not a problem, and I love looking at custom cards. With your blessing, I'll gladly keep it going and try to have it started as soon as possible.
Like I’ve said, if anyone has the desire to take up the torch, they’re more than welcome to try it out; you don’t need my permission ;) Just remember the golden rule of Custom Magic Cards: Always. Credit. Artists.
