Card Design Contest - June 27 - July 4

    • Card Design Contest - June 27 - July 4

      The Rules:

      Design cards that meet the design constraints listed below. The entry I like best wins the competition. Multiple entries are allowed.

      In addition to the listed prize, the winner gets to host the next contest, and they get to set their own design constraint and award prizes of their own choosing.

      Design Constraint:

      Design a card with a deckbuilding restriction in its effects text.

      Examples: Jank Bot, Emsee, Etcher of Nulzann, Mama Yeti, and so on. See rewards section for and exhaustive list. You can also take a look at mercenaries — each of them comes with a deckbuilding restriction.

      Judging Criteria:

      Please try to make your card relatively balanced. Of course, your card can be strong if the deckbuilding constraint is restrictive enough.

      As usual, I'll try to take into account creativity, clarity, and elegance. Also, please use existing HEX' in-game terminology in the effects text whenever possible.

      Rewards:

      The winner will choose and get 3 (different) cards among the following: Jank Bot, Emsee, Etcher of Nulzann, Mama Yeti, Ardent Crusader, Underworld Crusader, Kaleidotron, and Servant of Shathak. (All those cards are regular art.)

      Deadline is July 4th, 11:59 pm CEST.

    • Name: Vinci, Outcast of Nulzann
      Cost: 5 <no thresholds>
      Type: Artifact, Troop - Construct *Unique*

      Socketable Major
      Deckbuilding: You can include this in your deck only if it contains no other socketable cards.
      Deploy: Each other creature in your deck and hand not named "Vinci, Outcast of Nulzuun" gets all socketable powers of this.

      5/5

      The post was edited 1 time, last by Mattmanhex ().

    • Name: Magus of the Shards
      Cost: 1 <no thresholds>
      Type: Troop - Human

      Deckbuilding: You can include this in your deck only if it contains at least 40 resource cards.
      If the first card you draw on your turn is a resource, draw another card.

      [BLOOD] [TAP], Discard a resource: Target opponent discards a card.
      [DIAMOND] [TAP], Discard a resource: Gain 2 health.
      [RUBY] [TAP], Discard a resource: Magus of the Shards deals 2 damage to target troop or player.
      [SAPPHIRE] [TAP], Discard a resource: Magus of the Shards gets spellshield until end of turn.
      [WILD] [TAP], Discard a resource: Summon a 2/2 Wild Child.

      1/2

      The post was edited 1 time, last by Mattmanhex ().

    • @Mattmanhex I really like your entries.
      Already the contest begins with high standards!
      Now I have to come with something at least as half as cool...
      :thumbsup:
      Also @Xylo i love that the design restriction is deckbuilding restriction..
      :)
      [Blocked Image: http://wardens.hexcompendium.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/cropped-wardens-of-entraht-logo-tranparent.png]The Wardens of Entrath is a large, open to public community of Hex enthusiasts with a mission to help and support Hex players and content creators alike!

      Find us on our Discord server or website!

    • Storyteller of Legend
      3
      [DIAMOND] [SAPPHIRE]
      Human
      Deckbuilding: your deck must contain at least 10 differently named unique troops.

      Invincible Spellshield Unblockable
      Other troops can't gain or have Invincible or Spellshield.
      At end of turn if you control no unique troop void this, then skip your next turn.

      6/4
      Beware of he who would deny you access to information, for in his heart he dreams himself your master.
      • Commisioner Pravin Lal - Alpha Centauri

    • Sivavis, Mirror Master
      4 [DIAMOND] [SAPPHIRE] [RUBY]
      Unique Troop - Necrotic Mage

      Deckbuilding: You may only include actions that have a single target.

      When a champion plays an action from their hand that targets this, create a copy of that action for each other troop in play. Each copy targets a different one of those troops.

      1 [ATTACK] / 5 [DEFENSE]

      "Through studying the shards of Hex, I have found we are mere reflections of a greater power."

    • we only seem to have troops -

      Ingenious Overcharge
      4
      [SAPPHIRE] [RUBY]
      Quick Action

      Deckbuilding: your deck must contain at least 20 artifacts.

      Draw 7 cards. Ingenious Overcharge deals 3 damage to you for each artifact drawn this way.

      Dwarf Allegiance - This deals half damage rounded down.
      Beware of he who would deny you access to information, for in his heart he dreams himself your master.
      • Commisioner Pravin Lal - Alpha Centauri

    • Slumbers on Moon
      8 [Blocked Image: https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/s47iX1ga0e67Ews_3f5nle18YWggzYDdgg-RX-Iyn1lc3489Nr7J6diruzfQbl0Y1h4dcBubFqrz37HWRM6U7XVji0uDte4KzQOq3L9WkBC6M9RgHAXQbz8uINBu7ndnHIUMQPlp] [Blocked Image: https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/SwGerwHXVnxsGDOVMUMW3Q7bY37yjGzpTo8DGyBpZjuSli5KFYHt2UhP-fPu3VoxZgJO3LrNhciYv5X6W8rafMQ1gZEARQeVKvXRuCREFfKyWkSfbw4CuTJXj7_U9Ob84Ytkh4AM] [Blocked Image: https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/ZOa4GJ3gcUSp1OSK01fW-3RYmcuHln1Ap05sKj72HAbYxPtkzRZRa1cJwrxRUk-LHBcv62cgr1m-1Ub2xBLtp-Vbk4k5Wt0hapJQmhGbjQJc0Kg1fa8yjkJffdqYKfrWVZ0R1UDe] [Blocked Image: https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/Ziy2-X-8-xZH8uq7za-jHZ5VMDub7xbtOZBnAV5d7NNGoh0gwGD-lcBsm3daBKqQsy7nbLFD_U2g5L9Lsfe48caH2ea9Iv_zzzdh7ogdAvChnIeZSWftY_tc4bdhY-tag8pcNSbA]
      [Blocked Image: https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/ib_ZKFdGstLhdxc4u9MsJ6kH3cyXBrhFc7WBOjL71IQ6PgohHQpiIfppcYcycIlCTOSFuZ0QQtDjO71ZlkHdhyoBa1Mz1U2RdpjnYvlMXzB0tQIHCrE8E93aDRBFzaZ9XOD13HWw] Troop- Coyotle (Unique)
      [ 0 \ 4 ]
      [STEADFAST] [LIFEDRAIN]
      Deckbuilding: You can only include one Slumbers on Moon in your deck.
      Deckbuilding: Your deck must contain at least 15 differently named Prophecy cards.
      At the start of the game (after decks have been shuffled), place this card on the bottom of your deck. This card's position in your deck will not be changed whenever your deck is shuffled.

      Whenever you play a prophecy, this card gains a copy of that prophecy and move this card up one space in your deck.
      At the start of your turn, move this card up one space.

      "As the waking world falls asleep, the prophecies tell of one who rises. Every night, we anticipate the ascent of the Moon and the descent of the awakened sleeper."

    • 1- Astolfo, Master of Disguises

      [DIAMOND] [SAPPHIRE]

      TROOP - Human Mage - Unique - Legendary

      Deckbuilding: Your deck must contain at least 20 unique troops.

      Deploy - Unique troops you control lose the Unique trait.
      When a Unique troop enters play under your control, it loses the Unique trait.

      2 [ATTACK] 2 [DEFENSE]

      "Disguising our armies as our heroes, may give us the the elements of surprise and intimidation!" - Astolfo
      [Blocked Image: http://wardens.hexcompendium.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/cropped-wardens-of-entraht-logo-tranparent.png]The Wardens of Entrath is a large, open to public community of Hex enthusiasts with a mission to help and support Hex players and content creators alike!

      Find us on our Discord server or website!

    • Thank you for your entries! Here are my comments:

      Mattmanhex wrote:

      Name: Vinci, Outcast of Nulzann
      Cost: 5 <no thresholds>
      Type: Artifact, Troop - Construct *Unique*

      Socketable Major
      Deckbuilding: You can include this in your deck only if it contains no other socketable cards.
      Deploy: Each other creature in your deck and hand not named "Vinci, Outcast of Nulzuun" gets all socketable powers of this.

      5/5

      A stronger and shardless version of Destined to Lead with a nice 5 [ATTACK] / 5 [DEFENSE] body, and affecting the cards in hand as well (which is understandable given the 5 cost). The deckbuilding constraint is not very restrictive, and such a card could be used in a lot of decks. Thematically, a Nulzann card that doesn't synergize with other socketed troops feels a bit odd (but I guess that's expected from an outcast).

      I think it might be slightly too strong. Maybe it should have a smaller body?

      Mattmanhex wrote:

      Name: Magus of the Shards
      Cost: 1 <no thresholds>
      Type: Troop - Human

      Deckbuilding: You can include this in your deck only if it contains at least 40 resource cards.
      If the first card you draw on your turn is a resource, draw another card.

      [BLOOD] [TAP], Discard a resource: Target opponent discards a card.
      [DIAMOND] [TAP], Discard a resource: Gain 2 health.
      [RUBY] [TAP], Discard a resource: Magus of the Shards deals 2 damage to target troop or player.
      [SAPPHIRE] [TAP], Discard a resource: Magus of the Shards gets spellshield until end of turn.
      [WILD] [TAP], Discard a resource: Summon a 2/2 Wild Child.

      1/2

      The Exiled Bard has a new shardless human friend.

      What about limited? Requiring 40 resources in limited is probably too much. You don't provide the rarity, but given the amount of text, I'd assume this card would be rare or legendary, so the odds of getting two or more copies of it in your pool are small. Maybe requiring, say, only 30 resources specifically in limited would make it more playable?

      While the 1 [ATTACK] / 2 [DEFENSE] body is very decent for a 1 cost card, would one really go through the trouble of making a 40 resource cards deck for something that can be removed so easily? But wait, it can get spellshield at any time, assuming it is ready, you have a sapphire threshold, and a resource in hand (which you probably do if it is in play). That makes it much harder to remove in sapphire decks if you don't exhaust it recklessly (of course, this doesn't protect it against Blight, Massacre, and so on). So the opponent will probably not attempt to use targeted removal on it if it is ready and you have a sapphire threshold and some cards in hand, but it is in their best interest to keep some resources open to represent quick removal in order to prevent you from safely exhausting the Magus of the Shards to get a Wild Child, cause 2 targeted damage, or make them discard a card. That makes things very interesting in my opinion.

      All of the powers, except perhaps the diamond one, are really strong, and asking to discard a resource to use them is not excessive (especially when you have a bunch of them in your deck).

      I also like the fact that the optimal deck size is not obvious when you use that card. Maybe using 60 cards would still be possible, with 20 ices, 20 fast resources, 4 Magi of the Shards and 16 other cards? That sounds risky, though.

      In any case, it is a very interesting one drop.

      SlayerStronghold wrote:

      Storyteller of Legend
      3
      [DIAMOND] [SAPPHIRE]
      Human
      Deckbuilding: your deck must contain at least 10 differently named unique troops.

      Invincible Spellshield Unblockable
      Other troops can't gain or have Invincible or Spellshield.
      At end of turn if you control no unique troop void this, then skip your next turn.

      6/4

      A high risk high reward card, with and absolutely insane evasive body at that cost, coming with a harsh punishment if you fail to protect your unique troops on the board. I can't think of any 0, 1 or 2 cost unique troop that would be relatively safe on turn 3, so you probably wouldn't want to play Storyteller of Legend on curve, but instead you would wait until you have 4 resources so as to be able to cast Evaporate or Runebind on it in case of emergency.

      The deckbuilding constraint is nice. It ensures that many different situations can arise depending on the unique troops on the board. As there are currently only 13 standard legal diamond and/or sapphire or shardless unique troops. All but two of them ( Vision of Zeota and Emsee, Etcher of Nulzann) cost 4 or more, so you would probably want to go tri-shard when playing standard (wild opens Baroness Floriana, Jenson the Joymaker and Shamrock, The Goldfather, for instance).

      Arcanyx wrote:

      Sivavis, Mirror Master
      4 [DIAMOND] [SAPPHIRE] [RUBY]
      Unique Troop - Necrotic Mage

      Deckbuilding: You may only include actions that have a single target.

      When a champion plays an action from their hand that targets this, create a copy of that action for each other troop in play. Each copy targets a different one of those troops.

      1 [ATTACK] / 5 [DEFENSE]

      "Through studying the shards of Hex, I have found we are mere reflections of a greater power."

      That's a really original and intriguing deckbuilding constraint. So untargeted actions cannot be part of the deck, but any single target action is fine, even if it doesn't target a card in play, right? ( Arcane Focus, Communion of Wax, etc...)

      I also suppose that the word "different" actually means different, and not separate. For instance, if you cast Burn on Sivavis, each other troop in play will typically get burnt once. You cannot target the same troop with multiple copies of Burn, nor target a champion with any of the copies (because it would go against the "each copy targets a different one of those troops" part).

      The deckbuilding constraint ensures that targeting a different troop for each copy of the action played is always possible when you cast an action on Sivavis and the opponent has no troops with Spellshield or other targeting constraints, and the action itself doesn't have targeting constraints. However, the opponent doesn't have the same deckbuilding restriction and may therefore target Sivavis with actions that have more that one target. The copies left without valid targets would simply fizzle, I guess, so that's not a big deal. But maybe the wording can somehow be changed to avoid such situations? Something like "when you play an action from your hand that targets this". While this would make the card much stronger, this would also solve the other problem I have with this entry, namely the fact that as is, Sivavis may help the opponent more than its controller. For instance, the opponent can Herofall Sivavis, which is a one sided board wipe since Herofall targets opposing troops only, while the controller of Sivavis cannot do the same thing.

      The whole idea of having a card on the board that basically transforms single target actions into actions affecting all or most other troops is great, though.

      The post was edited 3 times, last by Xylo ().

    • Mattmanhex wrote:

      Name: Papa Yeti
      Cost: 5 [RUBY]
      Type: Troop - Yeti


      Speed, Crush
      Deckbuilding: You may include one copy of this in your deck for each copy of Mama Yeti in your deck.
      When a Yeti you control attacks, it deals 1 damage to the player it's attacking.


      6/6
      Makes sense!

      SlayerStronghold wrote:

      we only seem to have troops -


      Ingenious Overcharge
      4
      [SAPPHIRE] [RUBY]
      Quick Action


      Deckbuilding: your deck must contain at least 20 artifacts.


      Draw 7 cards. Ingenious Overcharge deals 3 damage to you for each artifact drawn this way.


      Dwarf Allegiance - This deals half damage rounded down.
      Nice, one more card that encourages to build large decks, so as to dilute the 20 mandatory artifacts as much as possible. It would have its place in Jank Bot decks, and in the 100+ cards campaign decks, among others.

      I guess you chose 7 because it is the default starting hand size, and because 7 times 3 is symbolically greater than 20. But 7 cards for 4 resources sounds like a lot to me, even with the deckbuilding constraint and the ruby/sapphire thresholds. Maybe it should be reduced to 5 cards or something?

      HaughtyHeretic wrote:

      Slumbers on Moon
      8 [Blocked Image: https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/s47iX1ga0e67Ews_3f5nle18YWggzYDdgg-RX-Iyn1lc3489Nr7J6diruzfQbl0Y1h4dcBubFqrz37HWRM6U7XVji0uDte4KzQOq3L9WkBC6M9RgHAXQbz8uINBu7ndnHIUMQPlp] [Blocked Image: https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/SwGerwHXVnxsGDOVMUMW3Q7bY37yjGzpTo8DGyBpZjuSli5KFYHt2UhP-fPu3VoxZgJO3LrNhciYv5X6W8rafMQ1gZEARQeVKvXRuCREFfKyWkSfbw4CuTJXj7_U9Ob84Ytkh4AM] [Blocked Image: https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/ZOa4GJ3gcUSp1OSK01fW-3RYmcuHln1Ap05sKj72HAbYxPtkzRZRa1cJwrxRUk-LHBcv62cgr1m-1Ub2xBLtp-Vbk4k5Wt0hapJQmhGbjQJc0Kg1fa8yjkJffdqYKfrWVZ0R1UDe] [Blocked Image: https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/Ziy2-X-8-xZH8uq7za-jHZ5VMDub7xbtOZBnAV5d7NNGoh0gwGD-lcBsm3daBKqQsy7nbLFD_U2g5L9Lsfe48caH2ea9Iv_zzzdh7ogdAvChnIeZSWftY_tc4bdhY-tag8pcNSbA]
      [Blocked Image: https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/ib_ZKFdGstLhdxc4u9MsJ6kH3cyXBrhFc7WBOjL71IQ6PgohHQpiIfppcYcycIlCTOSFuZ0QQtDjO71ZlkHdhyoBa1Mz1U2RdpjnYvlMXzB0tQIHCrE8E93aDRBFzaZ9XOD13HWw] Troop- Coyotle (Unique)
      [ 0 \ 4 ]
      [STEADFAST] [LIFEDRAIN]
      Deckbuilding: You can only include one Slumbers on Moon in your deck.
      Deckbuilding: Your deck must contain at least 15 differently named Prophecy cards.
      At the start of the game (after decks have been shuffled), place this card on the bottom of your deck. This card's position in your deck will not be changed whenever your deck is shuffled.


      Whenever you play a prophecy, this card gains a copy of that prophecy and move this card up one space in your deck.
      At the start of your turn, move this card up one space.


      "As the waking world falls asleep, the prophecies tell of one who rises. Every night, we anticipate the ascent of the Moon and the descent of the awakened sleeper."
      That's a really original singleton card. The way it works really justifies restricting it to one copy per deck. However, as it is currently worded, it is not clear if prophecies affecting actions and resources affect Slumbers on Moon as well. I'd argue they shouldn't: for instance, a troop should have "Deploy - Draw a card" and not just "Draw a card" (which is what Thunderfield Seer gives). Also, I suppose that if Slumbers of Moon is the card that would be prophesied, it gets the prophecy effect twice, right?

      The second deckbuilding constraint seems a bit too restrictive to me. Both crusaders require 10 differently named troops, so maybe requiring only 10 differently named prophecy cards would be enough here as well? There are 42 prophecy cards overall according to TCGBrowser, so asking for 15 is asking for over a third of them...

      Notable synergies with Indigo Dreamwalker and Scour the Archives.

      AxelDWater wrote:

      1- Astolfo, Master of Disguises


      [DIAMOND] [SAPPHIRE]


      TROOP - Human Mage - Unique - Legendary


      Deckbuilding: Your deck must contain at least 20 unique troops.


      Deploy - Unique troops you control lose the Unique trait.
      When a Unique troop enters play under your control, it loses the Unique trait.


      2 [ATTACK] 2 [DEFENSE]


      "Disguising our armies as our heroes, may give us the the elements of surprise and intimidation!" - Astolfo
      Nitpicking time: unique is not a trait. "Deploy - Unique troops you control become non-unique" sounds better to me. ;)

      Since the troops become non-unique until they are reverted, I'd go with a higher cost, at least 3. But otherwise, I like the idea and the card.


      Verdict:

      Winner - Magus of the Shards by @Mattmanhex (I'm a fan of Eternal Sage, so I may be a bit biased here...)
      Runner up - Storyteller of Legend by @SlayerStronghold

      Since there were 5 contestants, the runner up will get some prizes as well (specifically, three cards of the prize pool that haven't already been chosen by the winner).

      The post was edited 1 time, last by Xylo ().

    • Missed the contest, but liked it so much that I had to get in a few late entries.

      Janklet
      1 [no threshold]
      Artifact troop
      3/3
      Jank - Deckbuilding: Minimum deck size increased by 5.

      Fields of Jank
      2 [no threshold]
      Artifact
      [ONESHOT] Deploy - Summon a copy of this for each opposing champion.
      Jank - Deckbuilding: Minimum deck size increased by 5.
      At the end of your turn, draw a card and put a random card from your deck into a random opposing champion's deck.

      The increases would be cumulative, so if you have 4x of each, your min deck size would be 60+(8x5)=100.

    • Xylo wrote:

      For instance, the opponent can Herofall Sivavis, which is a one sided board wipe since Herofall targets opposing troops only, while the controller of Sivavis cannot do the same thing.
      Not quite.... you control the copies since Sivavis would create the actions. An opponent that plays herofall on Sivavis would allow you to wipe their board with the copies of Herofall it creates and leave the rest of your board untouched.

    • Shylba wrote:

      Missed the contest, but liked it so much that I had to get in a few late entries.

      Janklet
      1 [no threshold]
      Artifact troop
      3/3
      Jank - Deckbuilding: Minimum deck size increased by 5.

      Fields of Jank
      2 [no threshold]
      Artifact
      [ONESHOT] Deploy - Summon a copy of this for each opposing champion.
      Jank - Deckbuilding: Minimum deck size increased by 5.
      At the end of your turn, draw a card and put a random card from your deck into a random opposing champion's deck.

      The increases would be cumulative, so if you have 4x of each, your min deck size would be 60+(8x5)=100.
      The Janklet is simple but I really wish we had something like it in game. It compensates loss of consistency with high stats (maybe 2/3 would be more fair, though).
      For Fields of Jank, I understand that if you have a single opponent, you end up with 2 copies of it (both under you control) after playing it. Honestly, at that power level and cost, I think all the meta would turn into 80 card decks running 4 of those. :D

      Arcanyx wrote:

      Xylo wrote:

      For instance, the opponent can Herofall Sivavis, which is a one sided board wipe since Herofall targets opposing troops only, while the controller of Sivavis cannot do the same thing.
      Not quite.... you control the copies since Sivavis would create the actions. An opponent that plays herofall on Sivavis would allow you to wipe their board with the copies of Herofall it creates and leave the rest of your board untouched.
      Oh, I didn't understand it worked like that. Now that I read it again, it is indeed clear that Sivavis is the card creating the actions. My bad. That justifies the cost and threshold requirements.

    • Thanks for the post-contest feedback @Xylo!

      I also templated Fields of Jank poorly. What I was going for was an effect that would have been better worded as "Each opponent summons a copy of this."

      This would lead to each player getting a copy, which would be way less powerful (essentially requiring bounce or artifact destruction to be good), but way more fun!