TCG Fakes 31 Days of CaC: A Month-Long Look at 10 Years of History

[Jabberwock]

31 Days of CaC​

It’s October 2021, and you know what that means — it’s been 10 years since the first-ever Create-a-Card contest was posted here on PokeBeach!

To celebrate, the judging staff took a trip down memory lane, combing through all the old rounds of the contest, picking out the entries that stood out to us the most from CaC’s past. Over the course of this month, we’re gonna be going through them, from oldest to most recent. You can think of it like a month-long Hall of Fame if you like, or some way to give a little extra praise to entries that have caught our eye. But it’s intended first and foremost as a glimpse through CaC’s history: the story of the forums’ longest-running contest, told through the entries that — in our books, at least — had a hand in making it what it is today.

You might disagree with us at times. We might feature entries you don’t find particularly special, or we might miss out some that you do. That’s okay! Throughout the month, we encourage you to post here. Comment on cards you love. Tell us what you think we missed. History is what we make of it, and CaC’s history is no exception.

But without further ado, let’s kick things off where it all started: October 2011; “Water”; the first-ever CaC!

---

aschefield101’s Rocket’s Feraligatr EX

October 2011 — Water​

Judge: @CMP

Creativity: 20/20
asche has proven himself time and time again as a master of new (and gorgeous!) blanks. His idea to use the Battrio symbols is something I've not seen before. Love the "R" in holo in the background -- and look! Return of the 1st edition stamp. Cool!

Wording: 12/15
As Noble Victories Carracosta shows us, BW wording should be "If any damage is done to this Pokémon by attacks, reduce that damage by 30 (after applying Weakness and Resistance). However, wording switches between generations, so with the new blank (new generation?), I can't take off too much. However, you still say "last turn," when "next turn" makes much more sense.

Fonts and Placement: 10/10
Placement seems to fit well with the blank. Interesting choice to use the bold italic for the name -- differentiates your blanks from traditional ones. Symbols are lined up; everything looks in order.

Believability: 5/5
I really don't see why this couldn't be a real card (attack-wise). Carracosta NV reduces damage by 50, and Rocket's Feraligatr EX only by 30. Nice damage output but hindered by an attackless turn. Retreat seems reasonable as well.

Total: 47/50

Entry post: [https://www.pokebeach.com/forums/th...ers-pmj-and-aschefield101.101967/post-2150611]
Results post: [https://www.pokebeach.com/forums/th...ers-pmj-and-aschefield101.101967/post-2165528]

A real blast from the past — 2011 was well before my time on the ‘Beach. But not before the famous aschefield101, whose stunning fakes and inimitable resources continue to be the gold standard for the community today. It’s only fitting, then, that he took home the gold in the first CaC competition with this impressive piece. No history of the contest would be complete without its inaugural winner.

To get the discussion ball rolling, what do you like about this card aesthetically? Creatively? Mechanically? Asche has long acknowledged that designing the text component for his cards is something of a weak spot for him — if you had the opportunity to rewrite the effect text for this card, what would you do?

Overall, lot has changed in the last 10 years. What are some differences you notice in the cards submitted for this contest versus the cards submitted today? What else has changed?

We'll be taking a look at some of these changes as the month goes on. CaC's development has happened in several steps over time, and it's an exciting story to follow. Stay tuned!

 

[Vom]

This is a really cool idea! It'll be really interesting to see the beginnings, especially for those (like me!) who were not there.

As for this specific card, yeah it's not very interesting in the effects themselves, but it doesn't have to be since it's supposed to be a Lv.X for EXs. I think that is the main appeal design wise, as well of course as the card aesthetics themselves.

 

[PMJ]

I remember this. The first CaC was sort of a lawless wasteland; not only were you allowed to enter both categories, but you weren't limited to just one entry (I entered two images and two text fakes, and ended up winning text with Articuno).

Side note: Legendary faker Fangking Omega actually entered this contest but never submitted an entry.

On the topic of asche's Rocket's Feraligatr-EX, I might have thought it was "neeeeeeat" when he first posted it, but looking at it just makes me cringe today. I generally can't stand custom blanks and this whole card is an eyesore, it's extremely busy and isn't visually appealing to me at all. If you pay attention to CMP's judging, he says that everything "seems to fit well;" this was before the "your blank, your rules" thing was adopted.

None of the other images that have survived this long were anything special either. I wish I could have seen more of them; the only reason I know which ones I entered is from context clues (and me keeping copies of all my fakes). I also wish I could have seen my scores, but CMP's image scores were corrupted... if I ever did message him about it, it wasn't through the forums. Still, with asche's card getting a 47, it would have been a high bar to clear.

It was wild times back then, but I'm glad to see that not only has CaC gotten more structured over the years, but it's maintained its popularity. Here's to another ten.

 

[Jabberwock]

This is a really cool idea! It'll be really interesting to see the beginnings, especially for those (like me!) who were not there.

That's the hope! We think it's a really fascinating history, and we're excited to present it like this.

As for this specific card, yeah it's not very interesting in the effects themselves, but it doesn't have to be since it's supposed to be a Lv.X for EXs. I think that is the main appeal design wise, as well of course as the card aesthetics themselves.

True! Great catch. Interestingly, though, it's missing the usual EX rule box — I guess asche meant it as a simple rebranding of the LV.X mechanic?

I remember this. The first CaC was sort of a lawless wasteland; not only were you allowed to enter both categories, but you weren't limited to just one entry (I entered two images and two text fakes, and ended up winning text with Articuno).

Yeah, I think these things tend to start comparatively unstructured, and then acquire structure as time goes on. It's hard to predict what a recurring event will look like even a few iterations down the line, and I definitely don't think CMP or anyone else expected it to last as long as it has. But actually, one of the things that surprises me the most is how little some parts of it have changed — like, our current OP uses a lot of the same language as CMP's original one, especially around the rubric section.

Aside, shoutout to PMJ here as the only member to have entered both the first round of CaC and the latest — that's some real living history right there. We're featuring mainly image-based entries this month since those tend to be the ones that have stuck with us the most, but CaC is a two-part competition, and there's no doubt that some outstanding text-based entries have made their mark on it too.

Here's PMJ's winning text entry from that month, for reference:

Articuno - HP120 - [W]
Basic

[W] Frost Wind
Put 1 damage counter on each of your opponent's Pokémon and heal 20 damage from this Pokémon.

[W][C][C] Ice Tornado
Does 40 damage to 1 of your opponent's Pokémon. (Don't apply Weakness and Resistance for Benched Pokémon.)

WK: [M]+20 / RS: [F]-20 / RC: [C][C]

A legendary Pokemon. The very beating of its magnificent wings chills the air and causes snow to fall.

 

[Vom]

True! Great catch. Interestingly, though, it's missing the usual EX rule box — I guess asche meant it as a simple rebranding of the LV.X mechanic?

I was confused about that, but I figured since you just put it on top of an EX Pokémon which already has the rule box it wasn't necessary. That and to prevent "lul I'm gonna take 4 Prizes now" situations

 

[Jabberwock]

Spammy’s Regigigas LV.X

December 2011 — Winter​

Judge: @CMP

Creativity: 21/20
You took a Pokémon that really has nothing to do with Winter and “Chistma-fied” it perfectly. Very well done, and this was honestly exactly the kind of entry I was hoping for! You made great little edits to Regigigas itself, and put it in a festive background. Body/power combo for red/green is also festive. I’m giving you a bonus point for being (in my opinion) the most creative of the image-based entries.

Wording: 11/15
Gentle Giant: “Regigigas can’t attack until it has any damage counters on it.” (basing wording on url=http://pokebeach.com/scans/legends-awakened/15-regigigas.jpg]Regigigas LA[/url]. In the power, I don’t think the part about using the power again is correct. It should be something similar to “During your next turn, this power does 90 damage to the Defending Pokémon.”

Fonts and Placement: 9.5/10
Everything looks like it checks out, though the Pokémon usually doesn’t come so far out of the image border that it interferes with the body/power/attack text.

Believability: 4/5
Honestly, the body is a great representation of its in-game ability, and I can see the power being real – although it would make much more sense as an attack. However, the real Regigigas has HP around 150, and there have been normal versions of Regigigas with 120 HP, so 110 HP is a little low.

Total: 45.5/50

Entry post: [https://www.pokebeach.com/forums/threads/pokébeach-create-a-card-competition-2-congrats-dolphinluv2010-and-weihnachtsmann.103057/post-2178501]
Results post: [https://www.pokebeach.com/forums/threads/pokébeach-create-a-card-competition-2-congrats-dolphinluv2010-and-weihnachtsmann.103057/post-2179394]

Fun cards, joke cards, whatever you want to call them — they’ve been a staple of CaC for years, and on the image side of things, Spammy’s Christmas Regigigas LV.X is in many ways their progenitor. With custom art by Xous tailored to the theme, it’s a classic example of a meme entry done right.

For what it’s worth, this card is especially notable for scoring 21/20 on Creativity — the rubric used to be a lot looser than it is now.

---

Kam’s Chanukah Baltoy​

Chanukah Baltoy - 60 HP - {F}
Basic

{C} Dreidel Spin
Spin a dreidel. If the dreidel lands on Nun (נ), this attack does nothing. If the dreidel lands on Gimel (ג), move all the damage counters on Chanukah Baltoy onto the Defending Pokémon. If the dreidel lands on Hei (ה), move half of the damage counters (rounded up to the nearest 10) on Chanukah Baltoy onto the defending Pokémon. If the dreidel lands on Shin (ש) or Pei (פ), put a damage counter on Chanukah Baltoy.

Weakness: {P}
Resistance:
Retreat Cost: {C}

December 2011 — Winter​

Judge: @CMP

Creativity: 20/20
I’ve never seen anything like this before. It’s very creative and unique, and giving it anything less than a full score would be uncalled for.

Wording: 15/15
Nothing is wrong. Good work.

Believability/Playability: 8/15
Unfortunately, with such creativity often comes a sacrifice. In this case, both believability and playability are sacrificed. Spinning dreidels won’t be done in Pokémon cards any time soon.

Total: 43/50

Entry post: [https://www.pokebeach.com/forums/threads/pokébeach-create-a-card-competition-2-congrats-dolphinluv2010-and-weihnachtsmann.103057/post-2178376]
Results post: [https://www.pokebeach.com/forums/threads/pokébeach-create-a-card-competition-2-congrats-dolphinluv2010-and-weihnachtsmann.103057/post-2179394]

On the text-based side of things, here’s another great example of an entry that breaks the mold to score high in Creativity at the potential cost of some Believability points. Text-based entries are gonna be a little fewer and farther between in this thread, but this one goes too perfectly alongside Spammy’s Regigigas for us not to include it.

Without the benefit of Xous’s custom art, this one doesn’t execute the meme in quite the same way that Spammy’s Regigigas does, but it’s great nonetheless and fully deserves a spot in the history books, especially for being one of the first entries of its kind.

 

[PMJ]

This takes me back. I thought for sure I had a lock on image after I posted my submission but, in hindsight, submitting a Sawsbuck for a winter theme is just as uninspired a choice as a generic Ice type (I'm not even the only one who used it). My text submission was, probably not surprisingly, Glaceon, which also, in hindsight, was a poor choice.

I ended up losing out on first in image by half a point. It definitely would not be the last time that happened.

Spammy's Regigigas LV.X might have been a meme pick, but it's actually a great example of how having an image can really sell a theme. This fake wouldn't have worked at all as simply text, and even Kam's Chanukah Baltoy would have been better served as an image fake; the imagery of perhaps dressing Baltoy up like a dreidel would allow others who might not be familiar with Jewish traditions to be more 'in' on the joke. Having an image might also have freed up some card space so as not to have to sell the theme through text (and thus tank his Believability score). It's a shame that that's the only reason he lost, I liked it much more than 47bennyg's Ursaring, which somehow managed to snag a perfect score.

It's probably worth mentioning that 50s were handed out a lot more freely back then.

 

[Jabberwock]

It's probably worth mentioning that 50s were handed out a lot more freely back then.

For sure. The tightening of the rubric, of course, came around mainly when Heavenly Spoon started judging — we'll get to him soon enough. Every judge has their own take on the judging rubric to some extent, but some differences are much broader than others.

Asking everybody at large, what are some of the other differences you see between early judging like CMP's here and the more recent judging of the past few years?

 

[Jabberwock]

Zygarde’s Porygon-Z Prime

February 2013 — Colorless Pokémon​

Judge: @DNA

Porygon-Z Prime! The Death Duck returns again with a whole new slew of toys, designed to impress us, and it does not fail to disappoint. First thing I notice is that the PZ has the 'in-your-face' style that is common to all Pokemon Prime cards, which fits nicely. Its Poke-Power removes itself from the field, but treats every coin flip as heads. (Although, if it were me, I'd have it so you can choose the result of the flip, since the flip-until-tails attacks would never end, and attacks like Bench Manipulation would play against you.) Then, you have a 2-turn OHKO to serve as its two attacks...although Eviolite kinda screws that up. Still, for only 1 Energy, that's nice.

I know the art is kinda plain (and you forgot the O in Porygon2), although I did see you explain the reasoning behind both of those. I don't blame you - good P-Z artwork is in such short supply these days! And the name of the Poke-Power makes me smile as well, though for true manipulation, you want the heads to stop exactly when you say so All in all, I like this card!


Creativity/Originality: 20/20
Wording: 15/15
Fonts and Placement: 10/10
Believability/Playability: 5/5
Total: 50/50

Entry post: [https://www.pokebeach.com/forums/th...lta-nite-dxm147-and-zarco.112078/post-2393589]
Results post: [https://www.pokebeach.com/forums/th...lta-nite-dxm147-and-zarco.112078/post-2399472]

Zygarde — or Delta Nite, as he was called then — was a towering figure in the community, perhaps best known for his highly-regarded custom blanks, used in his set Welkin. This card of his steps outside the bounds of TPCi convention, breaking the normal rules of the game and venturing into new (and very flavorful) design space for the power and attacks. It marks an important turning point in CaC’s early days, where people start to go from reusing staple TCG effects to making up their own, and transforming the meaning of the Creativity score in the process.

What does creativity (in the context of this contest) mean to you? What do you think it means to the judges, both in 2013 and now? Which real Pokémon cards do you think show good creativity in their design, and which ones don’t?

Another thing to note about February 2013: This month was the second round of @DNA’s tenure as host, and his third as judge, following in @CMP’s footsteps for both. DNA brought substantial organization to the contest, which you can see in the January 2013 OP — the whole year’s worth of themes are planned out in advance! He also had quite a busy tenure as judge, completing results for an astounding 199 entries over just 13 rounds.

DNA was before my time, but many of you were around when he was — and for y’all who weren’t, maybe you’ve seen his mark elsewhere on the forums. What are some things you remember about CaC and/or Creative Works as a whole around that time?

 

[Pone]

Lots of contests had multiple 50s for the first few years. Heavenly Spoon never handed a single one out as far as I can tell. We've only seen one perfect 50 since September 2014, though many have come close. Things really did change when Spoon got involved.

 

[PMJ]

DNA was one of my best friends. I wish he'd stuck around longer, but like most folks from that era, he outgrew the beach and just... left. Unlike other members who "retired", DNA has never come back. Hearing that he provided some much-needed structure to cac isn't surprising at all; he always was one who valued order.

My entry for this month was Fearow, which can be seen in the results post. It got a 49, losing to not one, but two 50s given out this month. It was a pretty tough pill to swallow, but it felt good to hold my own against people who were much better image fakers than me.

 

[Jabberwock]

PMJ’s Piloswine

March 2013 — Water Pokémon​

Judge: @DNA

And one right after the other, here's another card having to deal with Fighting Energy - Piloswine! Piloswine is cool guy; eh rams stuff and doesn't afraid of anything. Plus I really want to meet who made that Origami Piloswine; that's very impressive. (If that turns out to be just CGI I'm going to be sad.) Toughen Up is, finally, some Fighting acceleration, and directly from the deck no less, which is very helpful as Fighting tends to suffer from energy drought. And Revenge is just an epic troll in case it decides to go the way of the attacker. This evolution line tends to leave a lot of destruction in its wake.

Well done on the wording again, and the choice of picture. I've kinda come to expect this from your fakes by now, so I don't have much else to say. Then again, that might be because I'm lazy and don't put much effort into thinking of things to say.


Creativity/Originality: 20/20
Wording: 15/15
Fonts and Placement: 10/10
Believability/Playability: 5/5
Total: 50/50

Entry post: [https://www.pokebeach.com/forums/th...gratulations-pmj-and-teal.112574/post-2409681]
Results post: [https://www.pokebeach.com/forums/th...gratulations-pmj-and-teal.112574/post-2412111]

March 2013 marks our first repeated theme, but with significant advances across the board in terms of effort and payoff. This month, PMJ wins again — his first time to do so in image-based.

We selected this entry in particular because it’s one of the first examples of a not-fully-evolved Pokémon taking home the gold. Even today, it’s somewhat rare to see NFEs entered in months that don’t specifically call for them. They can be a delicate balancing act — real-life NFEs tend not to be super exciting, so do you risk overstepping the bounds of Believability by making one that’s too complex? Done right, though, they can be outstanding.

In scenarios like this, what do you think might motivate someone to enter an NFE (like Piloswine) over its fully-evolved form (Mamoswine)? Have you ever done so yourself? Why? And how did it go? Let us know below!

 

[PMJ]

Oh yeah, I remember this. Don't remember why exactly I chose Piloswine over Mamoswine, but it was probably due to the art. I thought it was pretty cool to see a papercraft Piloswine. He didn't even mention the flavor text, which I thought was funny.

Kinda not in love with this card anymore. Revenge is a stupid attack and Toughen Up being able to pull Energy straight from the deck is pretty nutso if you ask me. At least I had the foresight to hard limit it to once a turn.

I think I only entered NFEs twice after this, a Dragonair with Athena that bombed (I think) and a Swirlix (which I won). I would probably limit NFEs to having some sort of ability or attack that directly benefits itself or its own line rather than stuff that can support your whole board. This card definitely wouldn't look like this if I'd submitted it today, and it sure as shit wouldn't have gotten a 50 looking like this.

 

[PMJ]

Also, this goes to show that even "normal" looking cards can bring home the gold - even if you can't make convincing two-Prizers like me, you've still got a shot if you got the fundamentals down and can think up something a little interesting. So to any text fakers who might wanna dip their toes in image faking but feel discouraged by seeing all these shiny and fancy fakes, don't. We got plenty of people willing to help you out in our Discord.

 

[Jabberwock]

I think I only entered NFEs twice after this, a Dragonair with Athena that bombed (I think) and a Swirlix (which I won).

The Dragonair got 47/50 and 3rd place (recorded as 2nd) under Scorched Feathers's judging in April 2014; the Swirlix 44/50 and 1st under bbninjas's in March 2018. It's true that those are the only two other NFEs you've entered.

Here's the relevant cards and their judging, if anyone's interested!

Spoiler: Dragonair

PARALYSIS PARALYSIS EVERYWHERE
...well then.
Both attacks give paralysis, which I'm not a big fan of, and I'd lower the second attack's damage a mite, since it does auto-paralyze, which is something incredibly hard to balance. Stopping you from attacking is good, since it 100% stops you from getting round it. W/R/R and HP seem good too, but I'm not sure on the placement of that "You". Seems right though. Also Thena art p>

Creativity/Originality: 19/20
Wording: 15/15
Fonts and Placement: 9/10
Believability/Playability: 4/5
Total: 47/50

Spoiler: Swirlix

Long time, no see! I don’t think I’ve ever judged one of your cards before, come to think of it.

I’ve always been a sucker for Retreat Cost based effects, and I like how you’ve combined luck with this one. I don’t think it would be too potent in the SM-era, as with 4 Dugtrio / 2 heads from Swirlix / a Stadium, and assuming the average Retreat Cost is [C][C], you could expect to be hitting 90 base at the most from Fairy Impact, or 180 from 20x attackers. That’s still not enough to take a KO on a large bulk of GX Pokemon!

Wording errors:
- Looks fine to me!

Fonts and Placement errors:
- The Swirlix text should be a few more pixels more towards the top of the card. (-1pts)
- The HP 50 font should be a few more pixels larger, and a few more pixels towards the top of the card. (-1.5pts)
- The PokeDex information in the bar between the art and the attack effects should be a point or so smaller. (-0.5pts)

Creativity/Originality: 12/15
(A fun integration of coin flips and Retreat Cost-based Abilities.)
Wording: 15/15
(XXX)
Fonts and Placement: 7/10
(A few minor errors related to font size.)
Believability/Playability: 5/5
(All good~)
Aesthetics: 5/5
(Very nice, cheeky art!)
Total: 44/50

 

[Jabberwock]

Nod3’s Steelix LV.X EX ex ☆

November 2013 — Metal Pokémon​

Judge: @DNA

WHAT IS THIS I DON’T EVEN.//////////////dsfksdhfk
y u capitalize damage counter hand discard pile/////ERR:w93jdht
y u no use δ no cap ENERGYpppppppp

Creativity/Originality: -20/20
Wording: 14/15
Fonts and Placement: 10/10
Believability/Playability: 0/5
Total: unjudgeable100/50

Entry post: [https://www.pokebeach.com/forums/threads/pokébeach-create-a-card-november-2013-nekoban-ryo-four-arms-luispipe8-winners-are-you.116818/post-2555572]
Results post: [https://www.pokebeach.com/forums/threads/pokébeach-create-a-card-november-2013-nekoban-ryo-four-arms-luispipe8-winners-are-you.116818/post-2559785]

One of my personal favorite cards ever to grace the CaC stage, Nod3’s Steelix LV.X EX ex ☆ is a masterpiece. Inspired, audacious, and a meme card in every sense of the word — what’s not to like?

Cards like this fly in the face of the traditional judging rubric, as you can see in DNA’s short-circuited scoring above. Since then, they’ve tended to be judged with a little more seriousness, which generally presents itself in comparatively high Creativity and low Believability scores. But that never stopped Nod3, whose meme work is legendary. Here are a few more entries of hers from months past:

Spoiler: Flamin’ Wynaut

Spoiler: Wall of Unown

Spoiler: Full Metal Onix

But for me, from scrolling through old CaCs before I’d even joined the forums, it was the Steelix I remembered best. With Nod’s permission, I drew from it for an entry years later, which you can see below (going a little bit out of order here, but this card is too linked to Nod’s to separate them):

---

Jabberwock’s M Steelix EX ex GX LEGEND

July 2017 — Johto Pokédex​

Judge: @WastedSkyPirate

*Gulp*


Just the sight of this thing is enough to make a new judge player feel intimidated. I absolutely love this monstrous 4-card M Steelix!


I’ll be honest, this is the best executed “creative” card that I have seen for a long, long time. By “creative” I mean a new or different mechanic to that which is currently released in Standard Format. As a Faker, one of the biggest challenges is to strike the balance between creativity and something that looks like a real card. Here, I think you’ve done an amazing job – the way you’ve combined different mechanics and implemented them, through clever placement choices, is exceptional.


The artwork and background textures are just perfect! I can imagine picking this up in real life and seeing it’s crystal-like shimmer. The way that M Steelix’s threatening grin dominates the top-centre card is intimidating and taunting.


However, as much as it really is an excellent design aesthetically, I have some gripes with the card’s balance. If anything, I think you’ve made it underpowered! I really like what you’ve implied through the combined effects of the Ability and attacks: loading a bunch of Energy onto M Steelix and then blowing through the opponent’s entire board with a well-timed Diamond Rush GX. In practice, though, this seems woefully difficult to pull off. Not only do you need all 4 pieces of M Steelix before you can play it down but you need evolve it from Steelix (which ends your turn if you don’t have a Steelix Spirit Link equipped) and if you’re Knocked Out you lose all 6 prize cards! Furthermore, the non-GX attacks have low damage and mixed Energy costs making them cumbersome to power up using conventional means. This card is one heck of a Hail Mary (in many ways, you’ve created the Pokémon TCG’s Exodia) but I don’t see it coming together in a game without a lot of good fortune.


My final gripe is with the cards name. I feel that you’ve come up with such a good concept (combining, Mega Pokémon, Pokémon-EX, Pokémon-ex, Pokémon-GX, Pokémon LEGEND and even Crystal Pokémon) that it deserved to step out of the shadow of what’s come before. I’d like to have seen you come up with a suffix that wasn’t just a combination of previous mechanics and that was, instead, something of your own.


Overall – wow! You’ve clearly been building up to being released from judging duties by having this one in the locker. Amazing work.
_______________

Wording errors:


None


Fonts and Placement errors:


None

_______________

Creativity/Originality: 14/15
(Fantastic combination of past concepts and interesting synergy between the Ability and attacks. I’m yet to see anything quite like this. Unfortunately, you drop a point for not taking yourself seriously enough and giving this mechanic a suffix that isn’t just a combination of past mechanics.)

Wording: 15/15
(No errors. Excellent work.)

Fonts and Placement: 10/10
(A great job of making the card feel realistic through clever placement choices.)

Believability/Playability: 2.5/5
(It hurts me to say but, as much as this looks like a real card, there are elements that let it down slightly. The balance isn’t quite there (I think it’s under powered) and the ‘EX ex GX LEGEND’ suffix is a stretch of the imagination!)

Aesthetics: 5/5
(I almost fell out my chair when I first saw this. Textures, amazing art, vibrant colours – this has everything)

Total: 46.5/50

Entry post: [https://www.pokebeach.com/forums/threads/pokébeach-create-a-card-july-2017-johto-pokédex-results-are-up.140937/post-2884952]
Results post: [https://www.pokebeach.com/forums/threads/pokébeach-create-a-card-july-2017-johto-pokédex-results-are-up.140937/post-2890751]

This is the only card of mine on the schedule for this month (and it’s on here at bb’s suggestion), but I think it’s a pretty good one. I had a ton of fun making it, and I’d like to think I did Nod’s original card justice, and for me, that’s what matters. For reference, it's not a LV.X or a Pokémon ☆ anymore because those mechanics don't work with four-part cards. It's some awkward mechanical balancing, but provided you had the prevue, this card could technically be played in a normal game of Pokémon.

Four and a half years later, what would I do differently? The biggest thing is probably the balancing. I was so afraid of breaking things that I drastically underdid it here, as WSP pointed out in his judging — for a four-part combo card that gives up 6 Prizes on a Knock Out, the attacks are just underwhelming. Ironically, between Tag Teams and V-Unions, we’ve gotten a much better idea of how to balance these high-Prize Pokémon in the years since this card was made, so with a chance to remake the card with the benefit of hindsight, the numbers are the first thing I’d boost.

Apart from that, there’s a couple minor texturing things I’d like to brush up if I still had the PSD. Creating the background texture from scratch would be pretty cool, and I think I still had over a week left in the month when I submitted this, so I might have even been able to manage it back then. But all in all, I’m happy with this card — I think it’s aged well, balancing aside, and it’d be a hard one for me to replicate today.

Forgive us this brief out-of-order excursion — we're going back to 2013 tomorrow! Stay tuned!

 

[PMJ]

Literally just a v union.

Having made a few joke cards in my time, I can appreciate silly cards like this. Don't think I'd ever put em in cac tho.

 

[Jabberwock]

Literally just a v union.

I did it first. :v

Having made a few joke cards in my time, I can appreciate silly cards like this. Don't think I'd ever put em in cac tho.

Yeah that's fair. It tends not to be a play-to-win strategy. Between the bulk of Nod's entries and all the other silly cards we've had over the years, though, they've definitely got their place in the contest's history.

 

[Jabberwock]

Arcticwhite’s Gurasinu A LV.X

December 2013 — Any Type​

Judge: @DNA

It's been a while since I've looked at one of your cards, and I have the feeling I've seen this card before. Maybe from a previous month, but spruced up?

Picture has the pop-out effect that is typical of most LV.X cards, and for the most part, everything appears to be okay - the Poke-Power and attack could be spaced slightly apart though, like you see here - a very small difference, but still it can be enough.

Speaking of which, Moon Skip is probably how Lash Out should be worded - "If this attack Knocks Out the Defending Pokémon, draw a card." and Uprising would be "Once during your turn (before your attack), you may flip a coin until you get heads. For each tails, remove 2 damage counters from each of your Pokémon." It's not that you're wrong per se; it's that you can say it with less words.

Though I am scared it would create an infinite loop with that Shiftry...


Creativity/Originality: 19/20
Wording: 13/15
Fonts and Placement: 9/10
Believability/Playability: 4.5/5
Total: 45.5/50

Entry post: [https://www.pokebeach.com/forums/th...nd-zygarde-are-victorious.117142/post-2563894]
Results post: [https://www.pokebeach.com/forums/th...nd-zygarde-are-victorious.117142/post-2590148]

Here we have not the first Fakemon entered in CaC, and certainly not the last, but one of the most iconic. Arcticwhite was known in her time for submitting Fakemon entries, and this one, a LV.X with a different style of art to her usual, is one of her most ambitious projects.

Judges have had mixed opinions on Fakemon. Some see it as an easy way to circumvent the parameters of a restrictive theme, while others reckon they demonstrate an additional level of creativity. I’ve tended to land on the side of creativity in the past, so long as the card is done well.

What are your opinions on Fakemon in CaC? Ever entered one yourself? Or if not, would you? Why or why not? Tell us below!

 

[PMJ]

I don't like the idea of fakemon in cac because there's no frame of reference. Unless your fakemon is an evolution of an existing Pokemon, it becomes difficult to accurately gauge whether or not the card is too weak or too powerful.

In the same vein, I'm not a fan of "your blank, your rules" giving people a completely free pass on fonts and placement. You can argue that you could just knock points off of aesthetics instead but I think that if there are mistakes with fonts or placement, they should lose points for it.

I've entered fakemon before, but it was just the once in the first CaC I think. I don't recall ever submitting one, but regardless of whether or not I did, I don't think I'd submit another.