Welcome to You Pursue the Card, hosted by razorborne and yours truly! (What does that even mean?)
You Pursue the Card is a contest designed to reward continued excellence but also allow for early slackers to get back into the game. As you've probably guessed, it is based on the popular Trivial Pursuit franchise, but don't fret if you've never played the world's most successful questioning board game--all you need to know to play along is written below!
Participating
All rounds of the contest will be held in this thread. An audition round has determined the following 15 players as its contestants:
Catoftheyounger: FL - I - MP Dudibus: FL - H - I Glasir: FC - H - I - E - MP Kavu_Overlord: FC - FL - I - E - MP Kingreaper: FC - H - I - E Kyosuke666: H Imidazoline: FL - E - MP Jessica_Morgan: FC - FL - H - I - MP magicpablo666: FL metalevolence: FL Mown: FC - H - I - E - MP silasw: FC - H - I - E - MP Steinhauser: FC - FL - H - I - E - MP - FULL PIE!!! - WINNER! theatog: FC - FL - H - I - E - MP - FULL PIE!!! theScion: FC - FL - H - E - MP
Good game, y'all.
The contest has an indeterminite amount of rounds, but our estimates say it shouldn't go much further than 15 and likely could end after 7.
Submissions & Judgment
Each round, a player may submit a single card to any of 6 categories following its individual criteria. (See raz's post below.) Please make a note of which criteria you are submitting to by labeling your post with its category name. Each card is ranked against each other card submitted to its category that round. (e.g. Innovation entries are ranked against other innovation entries.) The top ranked entry from each category earns that category's pie slice. Judging for each category will be skewed toward that category's theme. It won't be the only factor taken into account, but it will be more heavily considered. An overall ranking of category winners will also be announced each round. If you win the overall, you are allowed to submit two cards during the next round, each to a separate category. You are only allowed to win a single pie slice, though. Think of it as an extra opportunity to move ahead. If you win both categories, you choose which pie-slice to receive and the other simply doesn't get awarded.
Note: If a submission to any category goes unopposed that round, an approval system will determine whether or not the pie slice is awarded. That basically means we have to agree to like your card enough that it makes us happy.
Winning
After a player has collected all 6 pie slices, they are ready to win it all! (Note: This means duplicate slices are in most respects worthless.) Every round after a player has collected all six slices, that player may submit an entry to any category they choose. If that player wins the category, no pie slice is awarded. If that player wins the overall ranking, he or she wins YOU PURSUE THE CARD along with some fabulous prizes that I'm sure raz will talk about below.
Time Structure
The audition round opens as of this post and ends Tuesday night, 11:59pm PST, Novemeber 14th. Rankings will be posted by that Sunday night or Monday morning. New rounds will begin Sunday night/Monday morning and end the following Thursday night, 11:59pm PST.
AND NOW HERE'S RAZORBORNE WITH WHAT IS LIKELY TO BE SOME INSIGHTFUL RAMBLING.
I wanted to call this category Development Needs but Rush thought that would just be balance. that category would've been awful. "make a card that is moderately powerful and would likely see sideboard play." BORING. what was Rush thinking?
but no! that's not what this is. this is one of the most important skills a designer can have. this is the ability to look at a format's needs and design a card that perfectly suits them. they're not always pretty, but they get the job done. don't think of the cards that make you go "wow that's cool", think of your ash zealot s, you tunnel ignus es, your kataki, war's wage s. the cards that don't excite you, but that make the game work. these criteria, by their nature, will be fairly specific compared to the others. that's because Formatcraft is all about context.
Sample Criteria RDW is too good, we want to give white-blue control decks a strong answer that is maindeckable against other archetypes as well. we haven't seen a good GW aggro deck in a while, give them something to push them over the edge. not multicolored, but should encourage a GW approach over other combinations. we're designing a block with a heavy enchantment theme. make a targetted hoser for a block mechanic. should be sideboard quality.
okay guys this one is pretty straightforward and you all know it. you also may know that razorborne hates flavor criteria with a passion but HEY THAT'S WHY I CRAMMED THEM ALL INTO ONE CATEGORY YOU'RE WELCOME. don't worry Rush will never find out about my plan, he doesn't know how to open sblocks. just don't tell him. deal? good.
so what is a flavor criteria? quite simply, it's where we give you a concept, and you craft the mechanics. it could be specific, where we give you a specific object to represent, or it could be vague, like if we give you a set of source material to draw from. either way, there will be little to no mechanical indication. it will be up to you to make the mechanics resonate within the flavorful framework we set forth.
Sample Criteria Make a card that represents a pack of wildcats Make a card that represents a greek god Make a card with the flavor text "What sleeps but never dreams?"~Necromancer's riddle
I don't have anything mean to say about Rush in this category but I have started a trend and I will look silly if I do not continue it. so. Rush is stupid I guess. take that.
so what is History all about? aren't we doomed to repeat it? didn't someone say that? yeah probably. people say a lot of things, every day, pretty much non-stop. but that is neither here nor there. what is the history category? basically, it's design but with a time machine. instead of designing for magic as it is, you will design for it as it was. we may give you an old mechanic to do something with, an old setting to work in, or maybe we'll just give you an old card and ask you to rework it. we do what we want. this is our contest. the point is, in this category, you'll be working with old things. because everyone loves old things! especially Rush 'cause he is one HEY-O! nah he's not. man that guy is harder to insult than you'd think.
Sample Criteria Make a card with phasing Make a card that would fit flavorfully and mechanically into Mercadian Masques The invasion apprentice cycle got cut at the last minute. show me another take on the one-drop encouraging ally colors cycle at common. (show only one member)
this was one of the first categories we nailed down. it's pretty obvious, and yet criterias for it are tricky stuff. in the end I (AND I ALONE) came up with the idea of simply pointing you in directions that hadn't been explored and letting you guys do the innovating. so while the criterias themselves do not force innovation, they will be pushing you in that direction. from there it's up to you. Innovation is about doing your own thing, anyway. if we tell you how to do it you're not doing it. but we'll be grading this category heavily with an eye toward the innovation you managed to find, so go read up on Ephemeron's work.
Sample Criteria Make a card with a keyword that functions from your library. Make a card that creates it's own mini-game. (liar's pendulum , goblin game . notshahrazad ) Make a non-land card with no mana cost.
Sample Criteria Make a non-creature card with exactly five words of rules text, five words of flavor text, and a five letter name. Make a card that has a single sentence of rules text, but would demand its own CR entry. (see Time Stop or Mindslaver ) Make a card named "Elegance".
so we come to the last one. fortunately this one is so obvious even Rush knows what it's about. (SLAM!) multiplayer magic is by far the most popular variant on traditional magic. many products have been released specifically for it, and many cards exist for it in any given set. so why not stretch that muscle? why not work on cards geared toward, or exclusively for, multiplayer formats? no reason!
Sample Criteria Make a card with the phrase "you and target opponent" on it. Make a card that changes control. Make a Commander.
that's it! now for the audition!
this is going to run just like a normal round, except for there will be more people and no one gets a pie slice. hooray! we'll give you all six criteria, and you submit to one of them. the top two in each category will earn free entry to the contest, to compete for the coveted title of YMtC's Top Pursuer! in addition, there will be three slots given away on Razorpoints, as I promised when I invented them! the three applicants with the highest razorpoint scores will get in, without having to pass the audition! heck, if you're sure you'll get in on points, you don't even need to design a card! (if an applicant gets in on points and places in the top two of a category, we'll give the spot to the 3rd-best applicant in that category.) for reference, here's the current leading point-holders:
do you wish you could get in on Razorpoints but don't have any? well good news! I'm giving some away this contest too! specifically, I will give 8 points to the eventual winner, and 3 to anyone else who had all 6 slices when the contest ends. for those who opened the last sblock, you may have noticed that 8 is an easy lock at #1. you could be the #1 Razorpoints holder in all of YMtC! (note: numbers subject to change.)
but first you have to pass the audition. the audition round is going to follow a theme. that theme is laziness. these criteria will all be borrowed from the sample criterias up above. so if those got the gears in your brain turning, then congrats, you may be able to use whatever you came up with!
AUDITION CRITERIA FORMATCRAFT: RDW is too good. Give white-blue control decks a strong answer that is maindeckable against other archetypes as well. FLAVOR: Make a card that represents a pack of wildcats. HISTORY: Make a card that would fit flavorfully and mechanically into Mercadian Masques. INNOVATION: Make a card that creates it's own mini-game. (liar's pendulum , goblin game ... notshahrazad ) ELEGANCE: Make a non-creature card with exactly five words of rules text, five words of flavor text, and a five letter name. MULTIPLAYER: Make a card with the phrase "you and target opponent" on it.
Wild Gamble Sorcery [Rare] Choose a permanent you control, then search your library for a card, search your graveyard for a card, and search your hand for a card. Exile those cards face-down, then target opponent chooses one. Reveal that card. If it's a creature card, each player puts a token that's a copy of that card onto the battlefield. Otherwise, cast it without paying its mana cost.
So yeah. It's a little out there. It might be a little too out there, actually, but I thought, "Hey, if I'm going to make a mini game why not make the stakes really freaking high?" The remaining cards, of course, stay exiled face-down.
Urg. You guys. I dunno. Rush always hates my cards. Razor always likes them. So close to the RP qualifiers. Now for the strategic part. Which categories will the best designers go for. Which categories will the most designers go for. Flavor, innovation, and multiplayer seem like obvious choices for the average YMtCer. Formatcraft seems doomed to be unpopular, though I can think of one bird-lover who might jump at it. History also seems unlikely, though it should garner the attention of some of the more mature designers, and they are usually stronger. Elegance looks middle-ground-ish, and I must tell you enticing.
I'm usually one who strives for Innovation and my own interpretation of flavour, but I think I'm going to have to go w/Elegance.
Also, seems like waiting until more people have entered would be the best strategy, but that also seems shady. So, I'll put up an Elegance entry, which will probably be subject to change: Real Elegant Entry:
Stone as in "To punish by throwing rocks at." Flavour being, you own the creature. It betrays you, somehow , and in your jealous rage, you do what any passionate lover would. You smite that which you once cared for.
I don't even know if that works. I know damage doesn't stack. Do my mana symbols count as words? What about (n)? Here are the rules. Damage can be replaced. I'm pretty sure this is not the right way to replace it, though.
119.4. Damage is processed in a three-part sequence.
119.4a First, damage is dealt, as modified by replacement and prevention effects that interact with damage. (See rule 614, "Replacement Effects," and rule 615, "Prevention Effects.") Abilities that trigger when damage is dealt trigger now and wait to be put on the stack.
119.4b Next, damage that's been dealt is processed into its results, as modified by replacement effects that interact with those results (such as life loss or counters).
119.4c Finally, the damage event occurs. Example: A player who controls Boon Reflection, an enchantment that says "If you would gain life, you gain twice that much life instead," attacks with a 3/3 creature with wither and lifelink. It's blocked by a 2/2 creature, and the defending player casts a spell that prevents the next 2 damage that would be dealt to the blocking creature. The damage event starts out as [3 damage is dealt to the 2/2 creature, 2 damage is dealt to the 3/3 creature]. The prevention effect is applied, so the damage event becomes [1 damage is dealt to the 2/2 creature, 2 damage is dealt to the 3/3 creature]. That's processed into its results, so the damage event is now [one -1/-1 counter is put on the 2/2 creature, the active player gains 1 life, 2 damage is marked on the 3/3 creature]. Boon Reflection's effect is applied, so the damage event becomes [one -1/-1 counter is put on the 2/2 creature, the active player gains 2 life, 2 damage is marked on the 3/3 creature]. Then the damage event occurs. Example: The defending player controls a creature and Worship, an enchantment that says "If you control a creature, damage that would reduce your life total to less than 1 reduces it to 1 instead." That player is at 2 life, and is being attacked by two unblocked 5/5 creatures. The player casts Awe Strike, which says "The next time target creature would deal damage this turn, prevent that damage. You gain life equal to the damage prevented this way," targeting one of the attackers. The damage event starts out as [10 damage is dealt to the defending player]. Awe Strike's effect is applied, so the damage event becomes [5 damage is dealt to the defending player, the defending player gains 5 life]. That's processed into its results, so the damage event is now [the defending player loses 5 life, the defending player gains 5 life]. Worship's effect sees that the damage event would not reduce the player's life total to less than 1, so Worship's effect is not applied. Then the damage event occurs.
, Discard a card: Target opponent discards two cards.
