CFAC #50 Showcase (part 4)
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!












