He awoke, a fresh but racking scream still ringing in his ears.
His eyes now abruptly opened, he looked at his new surroundings: a barren waste, a mournful moon, a lack of life. Where was he? He had never before seen such deadness before his eyes. Death he had seen plenty, mind you. Too much death, actually… nearly all of which he himself had caused. But the land itself was desolate and dark. The only breath he heard was his own, and the only other life he sensed was the lily he had torn from Life’s Web.
Now, of all times, seemed a terrible moment for self-reflection. He never felt anything for those he had slain. Not a single teardrop fell from his eyes, not for a moment would he have done differently. Such was always to be expected of Krilnov the Necropotent.
He stood, and looked down upon the ground as he often looked down upon his subjects. To his amazement, it was upon his subjects that he now looked. Five minions lay around him, dark, hooded, cold, and clammy. Funny, he thought. Just like the ones that did my bidding at Almyon. But he was no longer at Almyon. He was somewhere he had never been before. Yet his same minions still followed him.
He stretched forth his hand, testing the resources of the land. He was shocked when mana surged right through him – never having witnessed a scene so dead, he felt it impossible for mana to flow so fluidly here. He released some of it, conjuring a violent, violet bolt that struck a hefty rock in the distance.
Never before have had I such power, he thought.
The bolt awakened those around him, and as each arose, the same racking scream of a woman filled his ears. Who was screaming? And why was she in such pain? Perhaps time would tell as he made to explore this devastated wild.
Come, he said to his minions. We have work to do.
Obedient as ever, they followed Krilnov perfectly and closely. Still, he sensed something different in them – and in himself. Until now, he had been their leader, but yet an equal. Now, he felt not in them the power that imbued him. He was not just their leader. He was their god. And he felt something else–
They hungered for his power.
Welcome to Clash of Gods
Overview
Clash of Gods is a contest for 24 players. Of these 24 players, four of them are gods, each with five minions. As rounds go by, minions and gods are eliminated, and the last-standing god’s team wins.
How to Participate
In order to play in Clash of Gods, post a card for the audition round. The top twenty-four entrants will participate in the contest. The top four contestants are the “gods”. Based on their ranking order and their card submitted, each is assigned five “minions” among the rest of the top twenty-four entrants.
Assistant Judges Needed
If you do not participate in the contest, you may volunteer to be a judge for the contest. An assistant judge preferably needs to have some experience in running contests and time to judge four to twelve cards weekly, or twenty-four cards should the contest host have no time to grade that week. If the contest host does not inform you of judging needs for a week, you will not have to judge that week. Judges should match their style as much as possible to the contest holder’s style to keep the judging consistent. If one judge would give a card a 1 in design when another would give it a 2, then there will be huge problems throughout the course of the contest. Hence the rubric below. Assistant judges will ensure that the contest can continue running in the case that the contest host has to abandon the contest or the forums altogether.
How Cards Will Be Judged
Cards will be judged on the following rubric:
- Design – 2pts (How well the card fits into the color pie and appeals generally)
- Elegance – 1pt (How neatly the effects work together)
- Flavor – 2pts (How well the card’s concept illustrates an actual action)
- Innovation – 2pts (How new of an idea it is, or how new of a perspective it gives on the game)
- Balance – 1pt (How fairly the card’s cost is)
- Mechanics – 1pt (If the card is posted neatly, if it’s worded correctly, and if it works correctly.)
- Pizzazz – 1pt (How much flair the card has; how much players will want to play it.)
Gameplay
Each round, a criterion will be posted by the host or an assistant judge with some context. The players have until Friday to post a card that reflects that criterion.
Each Saturday, the judges post their grades. All minions who did not post criteria for that round are eliminated. Then the lowest-scoring minion is eliminated.
If there is a tie for the lowest-scoring minion, the highest-scoring god chooses one of those minions, which is then eliminated. If there is a tie for the highest-scoring god, each chooses one of those minions, which are then eliminated. If there are more gods tied for the highest score than there are minions tied for the lowest score, then all of the minions tied for the lowest score are eliminated.
God Rules
The “gods” are not eliminated under normal circumstances. They have loyalty points. If their loyalty points equal 0, then they are eliminated. If a god is eliminated and still has minions, the highest-scoring of his minions takes his place.
If a god doesn’t post a card during a round, he is demoted to minion, and the highest-scoring of his minions takes his place.
Gods get a +2 bonus on the cards they design each round. If all of a god’s minions' average score is higher than his during a round, the god is demoted to minion, and the highest-scoring of his minions takes his place.**
If a god needs to be replaced and there is a tie for the highest-scoring minion, the minion with the highest cumulative score takes his place. If there is still a tie, the minion that scored highest in the audition round takes his place. If there is still a tie, the contest host consults his assistant judge or judges, and they reach a mutual agreement as to which minion takes his place.
Gods start off with 2 loyalty points. They each have three abilities which have some impact on judging and gameplay. There are some ways for gods to gain and lose loyalty points.
How to Gain Loyalty Points
A god gains loyalty points if he:
- Posts a card scoring 10 or higher in a round.
- Uses his [+1] ability.
How to Lose Loyalty Points
A god loses loyalty points if he:
- Posts a card scoring 6 or less in a round.
- Uses his [-2] or [-4] ability.
- Is targeted by another god’s ability that damages his loyalty points.*
Using Abilities
A god’s abilities will be sent to him by private message at the beginning of the contest. There will be two applications per ability: one for minions, the other for gods. If a god chooses to use an ability during a round, he should send the contest host a private message including the ability used and any targets for that ability.* Generally, the god’s first ability will cost [+1], the second will cost [-2], and the third will cost [-4], each of those costs reflecting the god’s change in loyalty points by using the ability. Gods cannot use abilities they don’t have enough loyalty points to activate.
The outcome of ability usage will be included in the results posts.
*Gods can’t be targeted by other gods’ abilities unless they have no minions.
Audition Criterion
Make a single-colored planeswalker card that has a [+1] ability, a [-2] ability, and a [-4] ability. It must enter the battlefield with [2] loyalty points.
You have until next Friday, 23 December 2011, to audition for the contest. If submissions die down before then, I would ask that an assistant judge send me a personal email at jt564453@yahoo.com.
P.S. This is my Christmas present to the forums (and my apology for leaving the forums in the middle of Apples to Apples and after announcing this contest). I just hope I can keep up with it.
**30 January 2012 — Slight change made to god rules; I had intended for and was under the assumption that the god replacement rule was different than it was. It has been modified so that if the average score of his minions is greater than his own, the highest scoring of those minions takes his place as a god. Were this not so, one of the [+1] abilities of the gods would be completely broken.
Q's contests.
