I would say that as long as you provide your own render, you can crop it however you want. If you don't provide a render, you have to assume they're using the entire picture.
Agreed.
And, um, Iphanx, quite a few of those links in the most recent poll aren't coming up the way you want them....just the link to the pics...
And would it be possible to have the link to these artists' galleries (if you know of one) posted so that we can have that resource in the future?
EDIT: Here's my submission:
Elves of Ottu Keep :1mana::symgr:
Creature - Elf Druid (U)
T: Add G or R to your mana pool.
Sacrifice Elves of Ottu Keep: Add 1 mana of any color to your mana pool.
2/2 "Hear that? That's the sound of a thousand hearts sustaining us in life and galvanizing us in death." - Keepmonger
Amy: Pretty nifty. I'm not terribly fond of "Amy" for a name....but you've obviously got your reasons. It seems like she's a little too much...maybe drop the first strike? I like the damage/life thing...I'm surprised we haven't yet gotten a creature from Wizards that does this...it's a nice concept. But she feels just a little too good for the cost.
Mountain Dew
Enchantment - Aura
Enchant land
Whenever enchanted land produces W, you gain 2 life.
Whenever enchanted land produces R, it deals 1 damage to target creature or player.
Read the flavor text for Burnout, then tell me if you still think Jaya could be blue ever.
Also, the Jaya's Orb cards has some nice art, but the card is such a blatant rip on Lightning Storm.
Read my earlier post, and you'll know that I still think Jaya could be blue. Ever.
Characters change. That's the beauty of the concept of fiction. You are introduced to a character at point A (which is rarely their birth), and you go with them on a journey to point Z (which is sometimes, but not always, their death). Most magic cards have no time reference to them, that is, you have no idea how much time has passed between Jaya's quote on Burnout and her quote on Browse (or even if Burnout came first or later). Because of this, you normally have no concept of a character's lifespan, only the tidbits that sneak through in flavor text and, from time to time, the novels. The journey from point A to point Z is extremely brief. Kahmahl is a refreshing exception to this rule, as we get to see a definate progression of his life from red Kamahl, Pit Fighter to a reference of his druid acolyte-status to green Kamahl, Fist of Krosa (I realize there are other references).
But how did Kamahl become a Pit Fighter? I can't remember if the answer is detailed in the book, but I'm pretty sure that Jaya's past isn't explored in detail...nor am I aware that her demise is recorded as of yet. So what is to say that before she became the witty red mage that we all know and love, she wasn't blue? Maybe when she became a mage, she was studying under a blue-tendency teacher, who betrayed her, and her rage transformed her, ensuring that caution and study were not in her vocabulary. Maybe years after the Burnout quote, she survived enough encounters to come to value insight and patience....who knows? When dealing with imagination, the possibilities usually outweigh the restrictions.
And it seems to be pretty poor form to dump all over a competitor's card pre-judging. Perhaps snarky comments could be restricted until after the judges have had their say?
Blazing Spectre XBR
Creature - Spectre
When Blazing Spectre comes into play, it gets +X/+0 until end of turn.
Flying, haste, fear
Whenever Blazing Spectre deals combat damage to a player, he or she discards a card.
At end of turn, sacrifice Blazing Spectre.
0/3
Aether Disturbance 1WURR
Instant
For each creature, flip a coin. Remove each creature whose coin came up heads from the game. Return each creature whose coin came up tails to its owner's hand.
Personally, I try hard not to think of any character/person as not being any specific color. While there may be a dominant color that springs to mind when you think of any given legend/planeswalker, it seems to me that these aren't just 1-dimensional personas from your random noob D&D campaign or comic book (Hulk SMASH!!!)...they're complex characters with lives to live. As such, any given one of them will more than likely encompass at least 3-4 of the 5 colors throughout their lifetime. Just because this concept was only explored via cards with a select few (Kahmahl, for instance) doesn't mean that other characters, flavorwise, don't have depth and color (no pun intended).
Would you have a more difficult time painting the green-white side of Yawgmoth? Sure. But a red mage who used to be or is growing toward blue? Could the blue be a remnant of her training? In her old age, could she be learning the importance of concentration, patience, and forethought?
It's nice to see two combatants locked in mortal battle sharing sparring tips.
Personally, Tahn, I think that there's a better wording option out there...but I hesitate to mention it since I'm a) not you, and b) not your opponent; therefore, I don't really have any business making wording suggestions.
Match 6 Me vs. muchsarcasm
Honorable Fairlady Raia Presiding
Card: Teferi's Armor
Good luck, muchsarcasm!
Teferi's Armor
Artifact (R)
For you and/or each creature you control, if damage would be dealt for the first time this turn, prevent 1 of that damage. "Urza saw himself as the last survivor of an empty world; my vision provides me with company." - Teferi
Good lord! The templating on this one is tricky. But I think I've finally got it.
Yawgmoth: Wow...pretty scary. 8 mana for an indestructable that could be pretty small. You'd better have quite a few artifacts going on. Personally, while I appreciate the flavor of skipping your draw step, I think it's a bit harsh for this card. Instead of ditching it, though, why not just make it a little more Yawgie-Loves-Artifacts? My suggestion:
Yawgie, That Ineffable Cuddle-Bunny (not really, use your name) 5BBB
Legendary Creature - Demon? Lord
~ is indestructable and gets +2/+2 for each artifact you control.
Skip your draw step.
1, Pay 1 life: Return target Artifact creature card from your graveyard to your hand.
0/0
Restraining Order 1W
Enchantment - Aura
Enchant creature
Enchanted creature can't attack you and can't block creatures you control.
Whenever enchanted creature's controller targets you with a spell or ability, counter that spell or ability unless he or she sacrifices enchanted creature.
Ahhh, I couldn't find any good fantasy art for this one Where are some good places to get some though? I only know of deviantArt and google image search . Where does everyone else start when searching for art?
DeviantArt and Google are fine; I participate in the "I got the art, you make the card" contest, and there are LOTS of links to great artists' websites there. I also bookmark any artist's website that I notice has a deep collection of appropriate art, then when I'm looking, I'll go back and check those out.
F/C/Q: (7/10) I get the flavour of an icicle falling from ceiling to impale an attacker , however what I don't get is why it's white . Yes the ability is white , and I am aware your not allowed to use blue but something nags at me that icicles are blue. However since this coldsnap set is from a pre-era when glacial wall was green etc etc I am not too concerned about that.
I do think it should have been " 2 damage to target attacking creature " though.
Something tells me that we're going to see all sorts of "blue-flavor" ideas in other colors for Coldsnap...red dealing dd via ice, green spiders that have frostwebs, etc. I thought about making it white/blue, but the card mechanic itself is purely white...no blue involved, so I just went with the slightly off-flavor concept. If it makes any difference, the race mentioned in the flavor, the Frijolds, are one of my fictional blue-oriented groups..."recruiting" the white elemental.
For your other note, I figured that a 4/1 recursive first strike wall that can take out up to two attackers per round for WW imbued with S should have some sort of drawback...flavor-wise, I liked the restriction that the attacking creature has to be invading your camp.
EDIT: Regarding Hack Into the System, I think this is a bit more powerful than people are hinting at...remember that you'll normally start a constructed game with 53 cards in your library...and you won't normally play this turn 1...probably turn 3-5 when you've got your mana base the way you like it and you've got a blue mana to spare...so you'll be going from 50-48 cards down to 43-40 cards...and that's a good percentage increase. And if you shift that principle to limited, where the deck size will normally be 40 (33 in the library on turn 1), the improved odds are pretty spectacular. Combo deck enabler? Not so much. A tool to ensure limited nonland draws? Certainly. Personally, instead of costing it at U, I'd like to see it at 1U or (more likely) 2U and tack a cantrip on, flavorwise indicating an immediate reward for your 1337 skillz.
Vanguard of Chelshyr: This is quite solid and a nice ability to see coming around. We'll see a variation on this cost/effect soon'nuff, I'm sure. Some nice flavor to introduce us to Chelshyr would be nice.
Manaclasm: Other than being (maybe) a little cheap, there are some wording issues, but nothing really broken, I don't think. The rearranging thing bothered me, but then I realized that the best you'll ever be able to do, even if this reveals 6 lands followed by a creature, is to put the creature on top...and you'll still have 6 lands to slog through, so I don't think it's too bad. My suggested version (with slight change in mana cost and wording):
Manaclasm RR
Sorcery
Reveal cards from the top of your library until you reveal a nonland card. ~ deals damage to each player and each creature without flying equal to the number of cards revealed in this way. Put all cards revealed in this way back on top of your library in any order.
My Card:
Pure Rot WB
Legendary Creature - Zombie Cleric
Recover — Gain 2 life (When a creature is put into your graveyard from play, you may gain 2 life. If you do, return this card from your graveyard to your hand. Otherwise, remove this card from the game.)
When Pure Rot comes into play or leaves play, lose 1 life.
3/1
Scribbling Recluse 1UU
Creature - Human Wizard
When Scribbling Recluse comes into play or is put into a graveyard from play, draw a card.
0/2 You rarely see him, but his presence is always felt.
As you know from my judgements I disagree with Krashbot. However, I will say that for an aggressive deck that plans to kill you quickly, 4 power for two mana is a great deal no matter what happens when it dies. It's definitely over the curve, I just felt the drawbacks as well as the one toughness was enough to balance it well enough that it wasn't ridiculous.
I figured as well...here's a better rundown of the cards I looked at to base my card at 4/1:
Green gets a 4/1 for 2G, 1GG (adds trample), or 3G (adds 4 1/1's when it dies). Black gets a 4/1 for 3B with an additional activated ability, and a 4/1 for 3B with soulshift.
Black also gets a 4/2 for 3B in various forms...so I figured that the other abilities on the card balanced each other out (Does Final Judgement give you back your 4/1? Sure, but your blue opponent can bounce it to "kill" it.), so I didn't see a problem with a 4/1 for BG with a life investment of 3. Can you get around it? Sure, but it'll detract from any agressive stance you want to take.
I will admit that I had an early issue that I think I resolved: Early on it only caused life loss if it went to the graveyard from play. I then found Food Chain and realized that Food Chain + Oddvark = Infinite Mana, slowly, painfully. Thus, the life loss whenever it leaves play. You can still go infinite with Food Chain...but you're gonna have to deal with 3 life/iteration...unless your combo involves toughness-boosting/power-reduction.
EDIT: On a completely unrelated note, how do you do the nifty little links that point to an individual post?
Recycle was the card that started me down the dark path to becoming the Cantripmancer. Such a powerhouse, especially with Spellbook and others of its ilk. And Phil Foglio's art is hilarious.
Agreed.
And, um, Iphanx, quite a few of those links in the most recent poll aren't coming up the way you want them....just the link to the pics...
And would it be possible to have the link to these artists' galleries (if you know of one) posted so that we can have that resource in the future?
EDIT: Here's my submission:
Elves of Ottu Keep :1mana::symgr:
Creature - Elf Druid (U)
T: Add G or R to your mana pool.
Sacrifice Elves of Ottu Keep: Add 1 mana of any color to your mana pool.
2/2
"Hear that? That's the sound of a thousand hearts sustaining us in life and galvanizing us in death." - Keepmonger
Mountain Dew
Enchantment - Aura
Enchant land
Whenever enchanted land produces W, you gain 2 life.
Whenever enchanted land produces R, it deals 1 damage to target creature or player.
Read my earlier post, and you'll know that I still think Jaya could be blue. Ever.
Characters change. That's the beauty of the concept of fiction. You are introduced to a character at point A (which is rarely their birth), and you go with them on a journey to point Z (which is sometimes, but not always, their death). Most magic cards have no time reference to them, that is, you have no idea how much time has passed between Jaya's quote on Burnout and her quote on Browse (or even if Burnout came first or later). Because of this, you normally have no concept of a character's lifespan, only the tidbits that sneak through in flavor text and, from time to time, the novels. The journey from point A to point Z is extremely brief. Kahmahl is a refreshing exception to this rule, as we get to see a definate progression of his life from red Kamahl, Pit Fighter to a reference of his druid acolyte-status to green Kamahl, Fist of Krosa (I realize there are other references).
But how did Kamahl become a Pit Fighter? I can't remember if the answer is detailed in the book, but I'm pretty sure that Jaya's past isn't explored in detail...nor am I aware that her demise is recorded as of yet. So what is to say that before she became the witty red mage that we all know and love, she wasn't blue? Maybe when she became a mage, she was studying under a blue-tendency teacher, who betrayed her, and her rage transformed her, ensuring that caution and study were not in her vocabulary. Maybe years after the Burnout quote, she survived enough encounters to come to value insight and patience....who knows? When dealing with imagination, the possibilities usually outweigh the restrictions.
And it seems to be pretty poor form to dump all over a competitor's card pre-judging. Perhaps snarky comments could be restricted until after the judges have had their say?
Blazing Spectre XBR
Creature - Spectre
When Blazing Spectre comes into play, it gets +X/+0 until end of turn.
Flying, haste, fear
Whenever Blazing Spectre deals combat damage to a player, he or she discards a card.
At end of turn, sacrifice Blazing Spectre.
0/3
Instant
For each creature, flip a coin. Remove each creature whose coin came up heads from the game. Return each creature whose coin came up tails to its owner's hand.
EDIT: Next: Clash of Steel
...in your humble opinion?
Personally, I try hard not to think of any character/person as not being any specific color. While there may be a dominant color that springs to mind when you think of any given legend/planeswalker, it seems to me that these aren't just 1-dimensional personas from your random noob D&D campaign or comic book (Hulk SMASH!!!)...they're complex characters with lives to live. As such, any given one of them will more than likely encompass at least 3-4 of the 5 colors throughout their lifetime. Just because this concept was only explored via cards with a select few (Kahmahl, for instance) doesn't mean that other characters, flavorwise, don't have depth and color (no pun intended).
Would you have a more difficult time painting the green-white side of Yawgmoth? Sure. But a red mage who used to be or is growing toward blue? Could the blue be a remnant of her training? In her old age, could she be learning the importance of concentration, patience, and forethought?
Nahhhh.
Personally, Tahn, I think that there's a better wording option out there...but I hesitate to mention it since I'm a) not you, and b) not your opponent; therefore, I don't really have any business making wording suggestions.
Me vs. muchsarcasm
Honorable Fairlady Raia Presiding
Card: Teferi's Armor
Good luck, muchsarcasm!
Teferi's Armor
Artifact (R)
For you and/or each creature you control, if damage would be dealt for the first time this turn, prevent 1 of that damage.
"Urza saw himself as the last survivor of an empty world; my vision provides me with company." - Teferi
Good lord! The templating on this one is tricky. But I think I've finally got it.
Yawgie, That Ineffable Cuddle-Bunny (not really, use your name) 5BBB
Legendary Creature - Demon? Lord
~ is indestructable and gets +2/+2 for each artifact you control.
Skip your draw step.
1, Pay 1 life: Return target Artifact creature card from your graveyard to your hand.
0/0
Restraining Order 1W
Enchantment - Aura
Enchant creature
Enchanted creature can't attack you and can't block creatures you control.
Whenever enchanted creature's controller targets you with a spell or ability, counter that spell or ability unless he or she sacrifices enchanted creature.
DeviantArt and Google are fine; I participate in the "I got the art, you make the card" contest, and there are LOTS of links to great artists' websites there. I also bookmark any artist's website that I notice has a deep collection of appropriate art, then when I'm looking, I'll go back and check those out.
Something tells me that we're going to see all sorts of "blue-flavor" ideas in other colors for Coldsnap...red dealing dd via ice, green spiders that have frostwebs, etc. I thought about making it white/blue, but the card mechanic itself is purely white...no blue involved, so I just went with the slightly off-flavor concept. If it makes any difference, the race mentioned in the flavor, the Frijolds, are one of my fictional blue-oriented groups..."recruiting" the white elemental.
For your other note, I figured that a 4/1 recursive first strike wall that can take out up to two attackers per round for WW imbued with S should have some sort of drawback...flavor-wise, I liked the restriction that the attacking creature has to be invading your camp.
Thanks for the scores, though.
Vanguard of Chelshyr: This is quite solid and a nice ability to see coming around. We'll see a variation on this cost/effect soon'nuff, I'm sure. Some nice flavor to introduce us to Chelshyr would be nice.
Manaclasm: Other than being (maybe) a little cheap, there are some wording issues, but nothing really broken, I don't think. The rearranging thing bothered me, but then I realized that the best you'll ever be able to do, even if this reveals 6 lands followed by a creature, is to put the creature on top...and you'll still have 6 lands to slog through, so I don't think it's too bad. My suggested version (with slight change in mana cost and wording):
Manaclasm RR
Sorcery
Reveal cards from the top of your library until you reveal a nonland card. ~ deals damage to each player and each creature without flying equal to the number of cards revealed in this way. Put all cards revealed in this way back on top of your library in any order.
My Card:
Pure Rot WB
Legendary Creature - Zombie Cleric
Recover — Gain 2 life (When a creature is put into your graveyard from play, you may gain 2 life. If you do, return this card from your graveyard to your hand. Otherwise, remove this card from the game.)
When Pure Rot comes into play or leaves play, lose 1 life.
3/1
Creature - Human Wizard
When Scribbling Recluse comes into play or is put into a graveyard from play, draw a card.
0/2
You rarely see him, but his presence is always felt.
I figured as well...here's a better rundown of the cards I looked at to base my card at 4/1:
Green gets a 4/1 for 2G, 1GG (adds trample), or 3G (adds 4 1/1's when it dies). Black gets a 4/1 for 3B with an additional activated ability, and a 4/1 for 3B with soulshift.
Black also gets a 4/2 for 3B in various forms...so I figured that the other abilities on the card balanced each other out (Does Final Judgement give you back your 4/1? Sure, but your blue opponent can bounce it to "kill" it.), so I didn't see a problem with a 4/1 for BG with a life investment of 3. Can you get around it? Sure, but it'll detract from any agressive stance you want to take.
I will admit that I had an early issue that I think I resolved: Early on it only caused life loss if it went to the graveyard from play. I then found Food Chain and realized that Food Chain + Oddvark = Infinite Mana, slowly, painfully. Thus, the life loss whenever it leaves play. You can still go infinite with Food Chain...but you're gonna have to deal with 3 life/iteration...unless your combo involves toughness-boosting/power-reduction.
EDIT: On a completely unrelated note, how do you do the nifty little links that point to an individual post?