So, since there were so many flavorful entries for this contest, I thought that I’d give a bit of backstory for each of these cards while giving feedback for them.
General Design Winner - Ozark Prowler by @reaperfromtheabyss
I always thought one of the things that kept Werewolves from being great as a tribe was the weird pseudo-mechanic that Wizards attached to them, almost like a ball and chain to creative design. I feel like this type of design would have been much more interesting and each side plays into the other very well. It gives you a repeatable goad on a stick that rewards blocking smaller creatures. My only quip is that it might be a bit too powerful for the cost, but the design in general is awesome.
Cryptid Backstory: The “Ozark Prowler” is a cryptid that is reported to be sighted in the remote areas of Arkanses, Missouri, Oklahama, and Texas. People describe it as thick and shaggy, with black fur, whose cry sounds like a combination of a Wolf’s and an Elk’s. It was allegedly named after a woman, Ozark Howler, making the werewolf/transform part of this card really interesting.
General Design Runner-Up: Elusive Familiar by @boxofsomething
I really like the mechanics of this, playing more like a chump blocker on demand than a creature that can actually be used to deal damage. It’s both vulnerable to counterplay from your opponent and poor plays on your own part, meaning that playing smart with it is very rewarding. My biggest quip with this one is the colors; I’m not really seeing the black in there, and I think this would have worked fine as monoblue.
Cryptid Backstory: So apparently the poster here made a card of a creature that’s joked around in their hometown as a cryptid, which I think is actually pretty awesome.
Wackiest Creature Winner: Bukavac by @brockianultracricket
This plays both mechanically well and was just really cool and interesting in general, and I had no clue what I was looking at when I saw this entry, prompting me to read some of the info the OP provided, and I was hooked immediatly. Not only do the mechanics reflect the flavor of the card well, but they’re balanced, and I could see myself drafting it as a nice counter-play to tokens or in a Hapatra Commander Deck.
Cryptid Backstory: Thankfully the OP did this part for me, lol. “Bukavac is a mythical creature in Slavic mythology. Belief in it existed in Srijem (county near Vukovar, Croatia) and also some parts of Serbia (Belgrade county and Vojvodina).Bukavac was sometimes imagined as a six-legged monster with gnarled horns. It lives in lakes and pools, coming out of the water during the night to make a loud noise (hence the name:buka - noise), jump onto people and animals, and strangle them.”
Wackiest Creature Runner-Up: Saci by @dim3trodon
Another head-turner that had me really wondering what the backstory was on this. After reading up, I thought this design had an awesome amount of flavor behind it, and while there were a bit of syntax errors, it’s a really fun card that you either risk to play early for damage, or save up a heck ton of mana to play later to use it to bypass mana cost. I love cards that really make you think about using them, and reward smart plays.
Cryptid Backstory: The Saci is a trickster spirit from Brazilian folklore, which is said to spontaneously manifest and control the winds. It dopes those around it much to their misfortune, and is described as a dark skinned, young man with a red hat atop his head, a pipe in his mouth, and holes in his palms. If one is able to successfully persuade him into entering a dark green bottle, it is said that he grants wishes.
