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Post by Daij_Djan on Nov 26, 2018 22:21:19 GMT
Duel Deck Contest – Daij_Djan Edition In the year 2012 a user named DJ Indigo came up with an (in my opinion) awesome idea for a contest, which was then brought back again in 2014 by CoreyImperia, and then again in 2015 by Waally1. And today, if people are interested, it shall rise again! In this challenge two users (each with a small team of helpers if wanted) each design one duel deck in a challenge spaning several weeks time. The basic rules and criteria for judging will stay the same as they were in the past (I'll write more about this if people are actually interested in doing this^^), however I want to add a new element to maybe help and keep people going in the difficult middle period where multiple teams dropped off in the past. Here are the rules: {Duel Deck Contest Timeline} - Once the teams have been chosen and the game has started, each team has one week to do the pre-design and get things started.
- Afterwards I'll start giving out ten specific challenges, one every two days (more on these challenges below).
- Once the challenges have finished, both teams get eight more days without interruptions to finish their decks as well as prepare a short presentation / introduction to the deck. This means in total, one round should last for five weeks.
{Deck Design Rules & Guidelines} - Your deck should consist of sixty cards without a sideboard.
- Your deck should only contain a single mythic, the posterchild card. Normally this is a legendary creature or planeswalker showcasing the deck's color(s).
- Other than that, your deck should have five rares. The rest is commons and uncommons (there really is no fixed ratio here to be kept in mind).
- You may fill five deck slots with reprints, of course not counting basic lands.
- To offer some diverse gameplay, most cards appear as one-offs in Duel Decks. I won't give you a fixed number of two-offs, but you shouldn't go overboard with them. Three-off are normally only used when the cards in question are either rather crucial to the gameplay experience or due to the specific nature of the card. There is almost no reason to use a four-off.
- Your deck should contain two mechanics or mechanical themes: One returning and one new.
{The Ten Challenges} - Each of the ten challenges will last 48 hours and ask you to design one specific card to be used within your deck (some challenges might ask for two or more cards).
- The challenges are meant to be not too strict and fitting for any kind of duel deck – they are supposed to keep you focussed during the long challenge as well as maybe remind you of typical staples you otherwise might have missed. I won't ask you to design two white cards if the current theme is Rats vs. Demons, for example.
- It's fine to use the same card for multiple challenges if it fits. You may also use a reprint slot to fulfill a given challenge – but please keep in mind I'd judge a reprint a bit lower than an original design in a vacuum. You may not however use your posterchild mythic.
- You may change a card entered for a challenge after the challenge has closed as much as you like (as long as I can at least still get its origin) for the final decks, but I'll judge the version you originally entered for the individual showdowns.
- Judging will happen after the contest has been closed. For each challenge, the teams' entries will be put against one and another on their own. The better card receives one point to the final score.
{Judging Criteria} - Your Posterchild Mythic – Considering your mythic is the card of your deck, definitely talking about it seems appropriate. This is why you may not use it for the Ten Challenges (see above). – 5 Points
- The Mechanics – Does your choice of mechanics fit your deck's theme? Does your new one even work? This category is more about the mechanics in general rather than about individual cards. – 5 Points
- General Flavor – Does your deck's theme shine though the cards? Which cards do I like most? Are there some apparently unfitting ones?– 10 Points
- Mechanical Prowess – Flavor aside, are your cards looking mechanically solid? Does your deck have a reasonable curve? Are there too many wording issues? – 15 Points
- The Presentation – Does your presentation do a good job at introducing your deck to us readers? – 5 Points
- The Ten Challenges – For each challenge, the teams' entries will be put against one and another on their own. The better card receives one point to the final score. – 10 Points
- Let's start things simple, shall we? And I mean literally. Duel Decks are supposed to not be too strong and/or complicated and always some some simple and clean cards. That's why I want you to fill two deck slots for this task, each of them with a french vanilla or virtual vanilla. (You may use the same card twice, if you wish.)
- Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's a Magic card! Flying is often considered the most simple yet flavorful and important mechanic of the game – so your deck shouldn't ignore it. Design a card that either has or grants flying or interacts with flyers.
- Here, let me help you! By this point, you should hopefully have chosen your deck's two mechanics / themes, Design a support card for each one of them! (The cards should not feature the mechanic they support if possible. Each may feature the mechanic it is not supporting without restrictions. You may use the same card twice, if you wish. If you haven't shown me your two mechanics by this point, that's fine.)
- It's 42, right? Duel Decks don't purely consist of threats, you also need some answers (removal, counters, combat tricks). Time to design one!
- Round and round. Fill (at least) two deck slots with two cards from a cycle. Whether it's a horizontal or a vertical one is all up to you.
- Creatures are the focus of modern Magic. But they are not all there is to it either! Your rare slots are prechious, but you should use at least one for something else than a beater. Design a noncreature rare.
- Back to the basics. Well, not this time. While a big part of your mana base (actually most of it in most cases) should consist of basic lands, you should offer some variety as well. So fill two slots of your deck with nonbasic lands. (You may use the same card twice, if you wish.)
- Call my name! Design a card that either references other copies of itself or refers to another card by name. Exception: If your posterchild mythic is a planeswalker, you may refer to its planeswalker type instead. (You don't have to showcase the card you're referring to yet.)
- I'm in for the long haul. Design a card you can play early (CMC3 or below) but has some great late game potential.
- It should be worth more than that, right? Design a card with some sort of cost reduction (either for itself or for other spells or abilities).
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Post by korakhos on Nov 26, 2018 23:20:09 GMT
I'll gladly rejoin this, let me think up some possible themes
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Post by viriss on Nov 27, 2018 1:46:55 GMT
Interested as participant
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Post by Fleur on Nov 27, 2018 2:02:12 GMT
I'm interested.
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Post by gateways7 on Nov 27, 2018 4:00:48 GMT
This seems fun! I'm interested as a participant.
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Post by shiftyhomunculus on Nov 27, 2018 10:32:47 GMT
I'm in. I'd quite like to lead the charge, actually, but would be happy to serve as a participant too!
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Post by fluffydeathbringer on Nov 27, 2018 16:03:28 GMT
heck, I'm in
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Post by melono on Nov 27, 2018 20:18:27 GMT
I'm possibly interested to participate, probably as a helper.
So hereby first some questions:
How do the positions in a team work?
Is it assumed there will be (a lot of) communication between the members of a team?
Are there "final says" and edits with the help of other team-members? Before the 48 hour time limit? (that one sounds a bit tight on time)
Does everyone in the team make a card for every challenge? (probably if you want a full deck)
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Post by Daij_Djan on Nov 27, 2018 21:01:21 GMT
I'm possibly interested to participate, probably as a helper. So hereby first some questions: How do the positions in a team work? Is it assumed there will be (a lot of) communication between the members of a team? Are there "final says" and edits with the help of other team-members? Before the 48 hour time limit? (that one sounds a bit tight on time) Does everyone in the team make a card for every challenge? (probably if you want a full deck) Yes, there will most likely be quite a lot of communication between team members. How much will be for your team to decide, as well as how the decision process is supposed to work. It's just that by experience, having one leader who in the end makes the final calls is really useful especially in the beginning - I've seen a few groups where all members were on a level playing field but couldn't decide on a mechanic / theme or similar in the beginning and therefore never really gotten started. Having a leader helps here - but other than that I really don't want to dictate how the teams should communicate and reach decisions.
And no, there will be only one card per team and challenge (well, a few challenges might ask for two cards, but that's not the point  ). The deck is not supposed to consist purely of cards associated with the challenges - they are as mentioned just supposed to help and focus while adding a new competitive element into the long design process. Yes, two days is kind of short, but I think it'll work. You might already have a card fitting the given challenge as well. And even if you really miss one, your only give away a single point to the opponents' team (so it doesn't mean you've already lost).
Also I'm really happy about the interest shown so far  Some theme suggestions:
Past vs. Future Life vs. Death The Land vs. The Sea
Coke vs. Pepsi (  ) |
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Post by korakhos on Nov 27, 2018 21:14:15 GMT
I'd like to take a gander at Past vs. Future if someone else is willing to go for that, also why not:
Pirates vs. Ninjas (let's make it happen!)
Society vs. Rebels
Dragons vs. Krakens
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Post by melono on Nov 28, 2018 18:52:26 GMT
I'll think I'll be sitting this one out then. I'll be watching from the sidelines
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xylophone
1/1 Squirrel
Posts: 51
Favorite Card: Hymn to Tourach
Color Alignment: White, Blue, Black
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Post by xylophone on Nov 28, 2018 19:40:25 GMT
Would a Past vs. Future deck be MTG past vs. MTG future sort of like in Time Spiral and Future Sight? That sounds intriguing. It would probably need to represent all 5 colors somehow to work well and duel decks generally don't have more than 3 colors between them (IVG notwithstanding).
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Post by Daij_Djan on Nov 28, 2018 21:42:11 GMT
@ xylophone : Well, how to interpret the given challenge is all up to the given team, I guess - unless both teams would prefer agreeing on this when they start.
Also, I'm really happy to see people getting interested in this project. I'll add some more comments about how I'll judge the final decks (and copy over a few general numbers) to the first post over the next few days. I think it'd be awesome if we got this started by next week maybe? As this would make the contest continue during Christmas, the single card challenges would then take a break for a few days - so don't worry about this.
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xylophone
1/1 Squirrel
Posts: 51
Favorite Card: Hymn to Tourach
Color Alignment: White, Blue, Black
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Post by xylophone on Nov 28, 2018 21:46:28 GMT
Another question: Do these decks have all reprints like real Duel Decks or are they all original cards or is that up to the teams too? My interest is piqued though. I haven't really gotten into set design yet and this would probably be a good way to start.
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Post by Daij_Djan on Nov 28, 2018 22:01:56 GMT
The decks are definitely not supposed to purely be made out of reprints, no. I will allow a small number of reprints (most likely four or five slots - but that's one of the things still to be added to the first post within the next few days) but other than that I expect all (nonbasic ) cards to be new designs. |
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Post by mrlozano on Nov 28, 2018 22:17:11 GMT
If I have time I will absolutely be interested on this. If not I will just seen how it works, but seems truly nice. |
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Post by korakhos on Nov 28, 2018 22:22:02 GMT
I'd like to lead a team
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kinotherapy
6/6 Wurm
stupid kor i just fell out of the floor
Posts: 322
Favorite Card: Ruthless Raider
Favorite Set: Rising Tides
Color Alignment: Blue, Black, Red
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Post by kinotherapy on Nov 29, 2018 4:30:58 GMT
I'd be happy to join as either role, though I don't mind sitting out if there's too many people / an odd number of people. I'll also put a vote in for Past / Future \o/
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Post by fluffydeathbringer on Nov 29, 2018 7:58:14 GMT
making the suggestion of Mortals/The Divine, voting for Past/Future if voting for Mortals/The Divine would stall things too much
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xylophone
1/1 Squirrel
Posts: 51
Favorite Card: Hymn to Tourach
Color Alignment: White, Blue, Black
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Post by xylophone on Nov 29, 2018 17:23:57 GMT
I like Mortals vs. Divine maybe even more than Past vs. Future, but I'm a 0/0 Germ and my word probably counts for very little here.
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Post by Daij_Djan on Nov 29, 2018 22:37:58 GMT
I like Mortals vs. Divine maybe even more than Past vs. Future, but I'm a 0/0 Germ and my word probably counts for very little here. No matter whether you are a 0/0 Germ or a 7/7 Elemental (the currently highest occupied user rank), your word counts as much as anyone else's
Seeing as we definitely have enough members to get this contest rolling, I'll give everyone till Monday to declare (or resign) interest in participating as well as which challenge you'd be interested in. By Monday I'll have stuff added to the first post as promised and then will look at how many participants we have, randomly put the (two or four) teams together and pick the challenge.
Really happy to see this starting - I'd be thrilled if we end up with a full pair of duel decks in the end! |
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Post by gateways7 on Nov 29, 2018 23:56:54 GMT
I think I like Mortals vs. Divine more than Past vs. Future.
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xylophone
1/1 Squirrel
Posts: 51
Favorite Card: Hymn to Tourach
Color Alignment: White, Blue, Black
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Post by xylophone on Dec 1, 2018 18:17:47 GMT
Interest declared then in Past vs. Future, Mortals vs. Divine, or Pirates vs. Ninjas. All seem fun.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Dec 2, 2018 10:20:19 GMT
I'd like to see Manaless Dredge vs Stax
/uj I wanna particupate, interested in Past vs Future
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xylophone
1/1 Squirrel
Posts: 51
Favorite Card: Hymn to Tourach
Color Alignment: White, Blue, Black
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Post by xylophone on Dec 6, 2018 19:51:37 GMT
When will the challenge start?
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Post by Daij_Djan on Dec 6, 2018 20:33:56 GMT
You managed to ninja me by around half an hour xD
The first post has been updated over the weekend just as planned and I alriginally wanted to start the game this Monday - but then a cold struck me down out of nowhere again (it's that time of the year for me  ).. Thankfully, I'm feeling much better already, but I'll still be resting an extra day - so this game will finally start tomorrow evening/night! |
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Post by Daij_Djan on Dec 8, 2018 2:02:05 GMT
Ok, let's finally get this started, shall we? First of all: I'm really happy about your interest in the game. Massive thanks to all of you. We actually have too many people interested in participating (as three or four members really is the ideal size for a team imho), so.. - @mrlozano: As you never stated whether you had the time needed in the end or not, I made you sit this one one. I hope this is fine for you.
- @kinotherapy: As this means we now have too many participants plus an uneven number, I took your offer to sit this one out as well. Hope you're ok with this as well.
Teams have been assigned at random, and with two themes being almost neck-and-neck, this shall be this contest's challenge: Note: For deck building restrictions please check the initial post. You may decide your decks' color(s) on your own. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. And most importantly: Have fun! |
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Post by mrlozano on Dec 8, 2018 10:44:12 GMT
Yeah, I prefer to wait for another editon, I still dont konw if I will be able to participate and I dont want to spoil the game to other people.
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solring
0/0 Germ
stop using anime lands
Posts: 18
Favorite Card: Cyclonic Rift
Favorite Set: Khans of Tarkir
Color Alignment: White, Blue, Black, Red, Green
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Post by solring on Dec 8, 2018 17:15:54 GMT
Next time I would be happy to join in, this sounds like fun
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Post by Daij_Djan on Dec 14, 2018 23:02:55 GMT
Hi teams, I hope you're doing well One week has passed, so it's time to start with the first of the Ten Challenges. Please remember: You have 48h to submit your card(s) for each of these challenges (I'll try to upload these to the same time as much as possible). To submit your entry, feel free to post below (if you don't mind the other team seeing your entry) or send me a PM (if you do mind). Let's start things simple, shall we? And I mean literally. Duel Decks are supposed to not be too strong and/or complicated and always some some simple and clean cards. That's why I want you to fill two deck slots, each of them with a french vanilla or virtual vanilla. (You may use the same card twice, if you wish.) |
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"When in doubt, do a common." 
). The deck is not supposed to consist purely of cards associated with the challenges - they are as mentioned just supposed to help and focus while adding a new competitive element into the long design process. Yes, two days is kind of short, but I think it'll work. You might already have a card fitting the given challenge as well. And even if you really miss one, your only give away a single point to the opponents' team (so it doesn't mean you've already lost).
Some theme suggestions:
)
: Destroy target player.
).. Thankfully, I'm feeling much better already, but I'll still be resting an extra day - so this game will finally start tomorrow evening/night!