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Contest May 2020 CaC: Space (All Results Up!)
- Thread starter Jabberwock
- Start date
Hi guys! It's been some time since my last image-based entry, so here it is! I hope you like it 
Good luck to all contestants, thanks for having me in the CaC again!
Wishiwashi CES (Ability)
Buzzwole CES (positions)
Meowstic UNB (attack)
Buzzwole CES (positions)
Meowstic UNB (attack)
To fit this CaC's theme, I brought a Pokémon that evolves with a Moon Stone, Delcatty!
After seeing the Dex entries, and that Delcatty isn't a very competitive Pokémon in the games, I thought I could make a card that would give it a chance in battles, and showing that Delcatty isn't just a pretty face!
This card was made to add into a funny deck I saw some time ago, with only Caturday Pokémon and no energies. Delcatty, just like the other cats, would have a nice combo with UNB Persian, making a cool control-type deck imo (since it's not a good attacker, it wins in a different way!).
Delcatty doesn't like to battle so it goes around with a prize-negation Ability that let you stall the game, while also drawing cards. I think it's balanced bc any Guzma-like card could ruin the strategy (by pulling Persian or Skitty from the Bench), or even attacks that target the Bench, but without that, Delcatty would provide a chance battling against the overpowered GX (and even V) Pokémon.
I'm guessing I'll be docked points for creativity in the attack (?), but since Delcatty needed the Caturday attack to work with the others, there was no way for me to work around. I thought about giving a second attack that racks up damage with Caturday Pokémon in the Bench, but I felt it was too much (and from my perspective, Delcatty is already a tricky opponent to deal with).
As a disclaimer, SwSh was a huge letdown for me and I don't think I'll be playing this era's TCG (V Pokémon are just EX Pokémon with bigger numbers, lol), so I decided to go with a SM-era card since I played it a lot.
After seeing the Dex entries, and that Delcatty isn't a very competitive Pokémon in the games, I thought I could make a card that would give it a chance in battles, and showing that Delcatty isn't just a pretty face!
This card was made to add into a funny deck I saw some time ago, with only Caturday Pokémon and no energies. Delcatty, just like the other cats, would have a nice combo with UNB Persian, making a cool control-type deck imo (since it's not a good attacker, it wins in a different way!).
Delcatty doesn't like to battle so it goes around with a prize-negation Ability that let you stall the game, while also drawing cards. I think it's balanced bc any Guzma-like card could ruin the strategy (by pulling Persian or Skitty from the Bench), or even attacks that target the Bench, but without that, Delcatty would provide a chance battling against the overpowered GX (and even V) Pokémon.
I'm guessing I'll be docked points for creativity in the attack (?), but since Delcatty needed the Caturday attack to work with the others, there was no way for me to work around. I thought about giving a second attack that racks up damage with Caturday Pokémon in the Bench, but I felt it was too much (and from my perspective, Delcatty is already a tricky opponent to deal with).
As a disclaimer, SwSh was a huge letdown for me and I don't think I'll be playing this era's TCG (V Pokémon are just EX Pokémon with bigger numbers, lol), so I decided to go with a SM-era card since I played it a lot.
Good luck to all contestants, thanks for having me in the CaC again!
Hello everyone~
This card was a whole lot of fun to make. Finishing the regular blanks for Broken Eternity was something I was looking forward to doing, and it did not disappoint. Honestly, I don't have too much else to say. The card is intended to be used as a starting Pokemon in the early game. The original blanks were made by @aschefield101, but were heavily modified by me. The art I used was made by artist and friend of mine, KoriArredondo (Twitter) (DeviantArt).
This card was a whole lot of fun to make. Finishing the regular blanks for Broken Eternity was something I was looking forward to doing, and it did not disappoint. Honestly, I don't have too much else to say. The card is intended to be used as a starting Pokemon in the early game. The original blanks were made by @aschefield101, but were heavily modified by me. The art I used was made by artist and friend of mine, KoriArredondo (Twitter) (DeviantArt).
- This card is a Sun & Moon-era card.
- The "in a game" part of the ability is intentional, meaning it can't be used any turns after it's used (Like a GX attack).
References:
- Victini GRI 10 ("You can't use more than 1 ... Ability")
- GX Pokemon ("... in a game")
- Great Ball SUM 119 ("Look at the top x cards of your deck. You may..." "... Shuffle the other cards back into your deck")
- Nest Ball SUM 123 (Converted the wording from 1 Pokemon to any number of Pokemon.)
- The "in a game" part of the ability is intentional, meaning it can't be used any turns after it's used (Like a GX attack).
References:
- Victini GRI 10 ("You can't use more than 1 ... Ability")
- GX Pokemon ("... in a game")
- Great Ball SUM 119 ("Look at the top x cards of your deck. You may..." "... Shuffle the other cards back into your deck")
- Nest Ball SUM 123 (Converted the wording from 1 Pokemon to any number of Pokemon.)
My second ever fake! Excited to get into this hobby. If you would like to watch my progress, my DeviantArt is SincereOatmeal.
All images and resources (except deoxys art) are free to use without needing permission or credit.
I cannot find the artist name for the Deoxys image. If you find them please let me know. I will not post this image anywhere else online until I have their permission.
I cannot find the artist name for the Deoxys image. If you find them please let me know. I will not post this image anywhere else online until I have their permission.
Eternatus VMAX HP 340 Darkness
VMAX - Evolves from Eternatus V
(Eternamax)
/Ability/ ~ Eternal Stream
If this Pokémon is in the Active Spot and your turn would end by the effect of an attack, Ability, or Trainer card, you may use this Ability. If this Pokemon has the necessary Energy attached to it to use it’s Alkahest Void attack, before ending your turn, you may use that attack.
[D][D][C] Alkahest Void 150
Until this Eternatus VMAX leaves the Active Spot, your opponent’s Pokémon get -10 HP for each [C] in that Pokémon's Retreat Cost. This effect can’t be applied more than once.
When your Pokémon VMAX is Knocked Out, your opponent takes 3 Prize cards.
Weakness: Fighting x2
Resistance: None
Retreat: 3
VMAX - Evolves from Eternatus V
(Eternamax)
/Ability/ ~ Eternal Stream
If this Pokémon is in the Active Spot and your turn would end by the effect of an attack, Ability, or Trainer card, you may use this Ability. If this Pokemon has the necessary Energy attached to it to use it’s Alkahest Void attack, before ending your turn, you may use that attack.
[D][D][C] Alkahest Void 150
Until this Eternatus VMAX leaves the Active Spot, your opponent’s Pokémon get -10 HP for each [C] in that Pokémon's Retreat Cost. This effect can’t be applied more than once.
When your Pokémon VMAX is Knocked Out, your opponent takes 3 Prize cards.
Weakness: Fighting x2
Resistance: None
Retreat: 3
Eternatus/babies. All I'm gonna say.
gonna drop from text
ok im dropping
/in and submitting!
Had a bit of spare time one night this week and decided to make a card! Clefable is confirmed to be an extraterrestrial Pokemon in the anime, and found this art recently so it was a no-brainer. Punch of Silence refers to "no sound in space".
Playing a Meteor Crash game is the main strategy here. Discarding a hand of 5 is enough to KO most Pokemon in the era - and with cards like Propogate Exeggecute, this card would be a monster in Expanded. Obvious pair is any Pokemon with an Ability that lets you draw until you have 5/6 cards in your hand. The other attacks are designed to support Meteor Crash. Moonstruck means decking out is the least of your concerns - and Punch of Silence allows you to Lysandre up Ability blockers and turn their Ability off for a turn, which could otherwise force you into a deaddraw.
Art: mcgmark
Resources: @aschefield101
References: (Moonstruck) Mewtwo-EX (Damage Change), Slowking BUS. Added "...new deck" for clarification purposes. Didn't include a "turn your deck / discard pile face down / up" clauses as we are switching all the cards in the discard pile / deck, not the discard pile or deck themselves.
Had a bit of spare time one night this week and decided to make a card! Clefable is confirmed to be an extraterrestrial Pokemon in the anime, and found this art recently so it was a no-brainer. Punch of Silence refers to "no sound in space".
Playing a Meteor Crash game is the main strategy here. Discarding a hand of 5 is enough to KO most Pokemon in the era - and with cards like Propogate Exeggecute, this card would be a monster in Expanded. Obvious pair is any Pokemon with an Ability that lets you draw until you have 5/6 cards in your hand. The other attacks are designed to support Meteor Crash. Moonstruck means decking out is the least of your concerns - and Punch of Silence allows you to Lysandre up Ability blockers and turn their Ability off for a turn, which could otherwise force you into a deaddraw.
Art: mcgmark
Resources: @aschefield101
References: (Moonstruck) Mewtwo-EX (Damage Change), Slowking BUS. Added "...new deck" for clarification purposes. Didn't include a "turn your deck / discard pile face down / up" clauses as we are switching all the cards in the discard pile / deck, not the discard pile or deck themselves.
Sorry Jabber for the last minute sign up!
The original idea was to make 4 cards for each form of Deoxys, with normal Deoxys being able to "shift" forms depending on what you need. The idea is still there, but due to a lack of artwork of Defense Deoxys (trust me, I tried), the alternate forms are still in spoiler form (see below). Since you can only have 4 Deoxys cards in your deck, I made them a bit stronger to be able to compete with GXs and what-not.
Maybe someday I'll make a card for each of them.
The original idea was to make 4 cards for each form of Deoxys, with normal Deoxys being able to "shift" forms depending on what you need. The idea is still there, but due to a lack of artwork of Defense Deoxys (trust me, I tried), the alternate forms are still in spoiler form (see below). Since you can only have 4 Deoxys cards in your deck, I made them a bit stronger to be able to compete with GXs and what-not.
Deoxys [P]
Basic
120 HP
*insert Deoxys Attack Forme art here*
Ability: Unstoppable
When your opponent’s Active Pokémon is Knocked Out by damage from this Pokémon's attacks, put 6 damage counters on 1 of your opponent's Benched Pokémon. If your opponent's TAG TEAM Pokémon is Knocked Out by damage from this Pokémon's attacks, take a 1 more Prize card.
[P][C][C] Exterminate 50+
This attack does 10 more damage for each damage counter on your opponent's Pokémon.
W: P x2
R:
C: 2
This Deoxys has transformed into its aggressive guise. It can fool enemies by altering its appearance.
Basic
120 HP
*insert Deoxys Attack Forme art here*
Ability: Unstoppable
When your opponent’s Active Pokémon is Knocked Out by damage from this Pokémon's attacks, put 6 damage counters on 1 of your opponent's Benched Pokémon. If your opponent's TAG TEAM Pokémon is Knocked Out by damage from this Pokémon's attacks, take a 1 more Prize card.
[P][C][C] Exterminate 50+
This attack does 10 more damage for each damage counter on your opponent's Pokémon.
W: P x2
R:
C: 2
This Deoxys has transformed into its aggressive guise. It can fool enemies by altering its appearance.
Deoxys [P]
Basic
130 HP
*insert Deoxys Defense Forme art here*
Ability: Immovable
Prevent all effects of attacks, including damage, done to this Pokémon by your opponent’s Pokémon with Abilities. Your opponent can't switch this Pokémon with one of your Benched Pokémon.
[P][C] Syphon 100-
Heal 20 damage from this Pokémon. This attack does 10 less damage for each damage counter on each of your Pokémon.
W: P x2
R:
C: 2
When it changes form, an aurora appears. It absorbs attacks by altering its cellular structure.
Basic
130 HP
*insert Deoxys Defense Forme art here*
Ability: Immovable
Prevent all effects of attacks, including damage, done to this Pokémon by your opponent’s Pokémon with Abilities. Your opponent can't switch this Pokémon with one of your Benched Pokémon.
[P][C] Syphon 100-
Heal 20 damage from this Pokémon. This attack does 10 less damage for each damage counter on each of your Pokémon.
W: P x2
R:
C: 2
When it changes form, an aurora appears. It absorbs attacks by altering its cellular structure.
Deoxys [P]
Basic
100 HP
*insert Deoxys Speed Forme art here*
Ability: Invisible
Whenever you discard a basic Energy card from your hand, you may attach it to this Pokémon instead. Once during your turn (before your attack), if this Pokémon is your Active Pokémon, you may move up to 2 basic Energy from this Pokémon to one of your Benched Pokémon.
[P][C] Accelerate 10x
Attach 2 basic Energy cards from your discard pile to this Pokémon. This attack does 10 damage times the amount of Energy attached to this Pokémon.
W: P x2
R:
C: 2
A Pokémon that mutated from an extraterrestrial virus exposed to a laser beam. Its body is configured for superior agility and speed.
Basic
100 HP
*insert Deoxys Speed Forme art here*
Ability: Invisible
Whenever you discard a basic Energy card from your hand, you may attach it to this Pokémon instead. Once during your turn (before your attack), if this Pokémon is your Active Pokémon, you may move up to 2 basic Energy from this Pokémon to one of your Benched Pokémon.
[P][C] Accelerate 10x
Attach 2 basic Energy cards from your discard pile to this Pokémon. This attack does 10 damage times the amount of Energy attached to this Pokémon.
W: P x2
R:
C: 2
A Pokémon that mutated from an extraterrestrial virus exposed to a laser beam. Its body is configured for superior agility and speed.
Maybe someday I'll make a card for each of them.
Image-Based Results
Judge: @Jabberwock
It was good to see some new faces this round! Image-faking can be a bit of a learning curve, but I hope y’all had fun exploring it nonetheless — if you have any questions about anything I mention in your judging, don’t hesitate to ask.
Almonds’s text-based judging is coming soon, as is the July round. Stay tuned!
~~Jabberwock
Howdy, FireLizard! Nice to see new faces round these parts. Impressive work to be tackling a GX as your first card, too!
I’m gonna start off by noting a few big things, which are probably largely products of the program you’re using. Plenty of folks here use lesser-known programs to pretty significant success, so there’s certainly no rule saying “Photoshop or else.” But there is one big barrier to using programs like Paint, and that’s the fact that so many of the community’s resources just aren’t compatible with it.
The main one is fonts. Font placement is tricky, because you have to know not only the exact fonts TPCi uses, but also exactly where they go on the card itself. There’s an easy (though somewhat time-consuming) way to do it yourself, which basically entails grabbing a scan of a real card, throwing it on top of your blank at 50% opacity, and then matching fonts to the text on the card with pixel-perfect accuracy.
Alternatively, a lot of folks make font guides for themselves, orshamelessly steal borrow them from other people — that just means they only have to do that once, and then they have the file saved as an editable series of text layers, so they can just pick and choose the text they want to edit when they want to make a new card. It saves a lot of time in the long run.
The issue is, most font guides are designed to be compatible with Photoshop, and they can be difficult to make work on other programs. You may find it worthwhile to experiment with making one for yourself — and I’m sure plenty of us here on the ‘Beach would be glad to help!
There’s also a couple of other things, like issues with transparency (see the big white bar between the Dragon-type texture at the top and the beginning of the art?) and adding a stroke/outline around text to make it stand out against the background, but like I said, fonts and placement is the main thing I’d suggest working on. If you can get that straightened out, you’ll be in pretty good shape.
As far as art goes, I like where you’re at with it — you’ve got a good image of Eternatus there that makes it look like an actual Pokémon and not just an amalgamation of spikes and tentacles. The variation in the background is good, but you’ll likely want a holosheet or something. Not just for realism, but also because it helps differentiate the Pokémon from the background, which is important when they’re roughly the same color.
The actual effects of the card, from a gameplay perspective, are … good. Like, really good. You can play it as a support mon, a utility attacker, or a straight-up nuke, because it does all three of those things really really well. Infinity Zone allows you to constantly have access to all the resources of your discard pile for a relatively negligible cost — no cost at all, if you’ve got something like an Exeggcute PLF. Spreading Beam lets you pick off Bench-sitters with absurd ease, and can even combo with a Gust of Wind-style effect to pick off two at once. Eternabeam is probably the only non-broken part of the card, but unfortunately it doesn’t have a very exciting effect.
Overall, though, it’s an impressive first stab at a GX, especially with a program like Paint! Keep up the good work, and let me know if I can clarify anything here or help with anything else.
Wording errors:
- Missing spaces after commas and full stops. [-1 point]
- “before you attack” -> “(before your attack)”, italics and all, and it should go inside the first comma. [-2 points]
- “from your discard pile to your hand” -> “from your discard pile into your hand” [-1 point]
- “You can’t apply more than 1 Infinity Zone Ability at a time” doesn’t actually do anything in that Ability, because by definition, you can only activate one of those Abilities at a time. You can’t activate a second one until the first one resolves. Maybe you meant “You can’t use more than 1 Infinity Zone Ability each turn”? [-3 points]
- “to Benched Pokémon” -> “for Benched Pokémon” [-1 point]
- The whole “Don’t apply W/R …” clause should be italicized. [-1 point]
- All the “é”s on the card have grave accents, not acute accents (they’re facing the wrong way). [-1 point]
Fonts and Placement errors:
- I’m gonna dock a blanket [-6 points] here. The fonts are all incorrect, save for the numerals (which I think come from asche’s symbolsheet?), and placements, while in the right ballpark, could also use some work. These can be tricky to get right, so lmk if you’d like any help figuring out the right fonts to use and how to place them effectively.
Creativity/Originality: 10/15
(Infinity Zone has some interesting design space, and the card omnipotently playing three different roles in the game is a neat idea flavor-wise.)
Wording: 5/15
(Several errors, mostly minor. Be sure to proofread!)
Fonts and Placement: 4/10
(Ballparked, but could use some work.)
Believability/Playability: 1/5
(Very overpowered, even for this day and age of the TCG.)
Aesthetics: 2/5
(Nice attention to posing, and I like the background. You’ll want a holosheet of some description, as well as fixing the opacity issues that come with Paint and potentially doing more with pop-out effects around the border, to get the extra points here.)
Total: 22/50
Gabs! It’s been a while! Welcome back!
Your custom art never ceases to amaze, and this one looks like it’d fit right in around a standard SUM set — it’s even strikingly reminiscent of the Delcatty from Cosmic Eclipse! The balance of colors, the blues and greens framing Delcatty on either side, works really well. And you’ve also got a bunch of open flat surfaces like the wall, the window, the back of the sofa, which can really allow a holosheet to pop. To achieve that, you’ll probably want some combination like Multiply 50-60% under Color Dodge 80-100%. Sunlava — the SUM holosheet — can be tricky; it’s hard to get it to pop without drowning out the background because of the sheer volume of colors it has, but a quick desaturation or partial grayscaling should do the job nicely.
From an effects standpoint, I think this Delcatty is particularly interesting because it would make the first Caturday card where the intent is actually to use Caturday! As opposed to other attacks that are also made free by Persian’s Ability, that is. The effective invincibility Delcatty has (on a sleep flip, anyway) makes it work well as a set-up card without being broken, since set-up (or control, I guess, though just “draw 3 cards” isn’t very control-y) is really all it can do.
I respect the decision not to include a second attack from a gameplay perspective; it’s very rare that we see three in any combination of Abilities and attacks on any card, and it’s usually the card’s main selling point. I also agree with you that I don’t think Delcatty needs it. It’s a set-up mon for a specific deck that retains some degree of utility all game long due to its partial invincibility gimmick. Adding anything else on top of that would probably just be superfluous.
I’m trying to think of any conceivable way to break this, and since there’s currently no way to get the odds of a sleeping Pokémon waking up between turns below 25% (nor can I imagine there being one), I think it’s probably fine. A stall deck that goes down a Prize once every four turns isn’t much of a stall deck, and it has a few other vulnerabilities, too — like needing to either attack or else keep a backup mon in play to replenish the sleep every turn, and in the first case you can’t use Steven’s Resolve or Tropical Beach or any comparable effect, and in the second, you’ve got a vulnerable Bench sitter. It’s also a Stage 1, which requires more resources to get out than most stall decks want. It’s got access to a different set of tools, but ultimately, it’s not really significantly different from a HGSS-era Baby Pokémon.
Wording errors:
- If printed on a real card, the Ability would be “opponent’s attack” and not just any attack, since being Asleep entails that it’s Active, in which case it would not be able to be damaged by one of your other Pokémon’s recoil attacks. Technically there are some hypothetical ways around this, like a card allowing a Pokémon to be Asleep on the Bench, or a card allowing sleeping Pokémon to attack and then a Technical Machine allowing Delcatty to damage itself, but those don’t currently exist in the game, and even if they did, I’d have a hard time believing this Delcatty would have that caveat, in contrast to all the other cards that don’t, just to make use of them. [-2 points]
Fonts and Placement errors:
- The “Move Away” font appears to be veeeery slightly different from the “Caturday” font. I can think of a couple of Photoshop settings that might cause this — stuff like setting kerning to Metrics versus Optical, or changing the text type around to Strong or Sharp instead of Smooth — but ultimately I have no idea what’s up with it. I’m not gonna dock for it because it’s so barely noticeable, but it’s worth looking into.
Creativity/Originality: 11/15
(Nice building on an existing archetype! I like the train of thought that led you to “what is this missing, what would make it more interesting.)
Wording: 13/15
(One thing in the Ability.)
Fonts and Placement: 10/10
(One minor thing that isn’t worth a dock.)
Believability/Playability: 5/5
(Balancing seems fine. Wouldn’t look out of place in the archetype.)
Aesthetics: 4/5
(Brilliant art as always! You may want to experiment with different blending modes to get the holosheet to pop, though.)
Total: 42/50
Ah, Broken Eternity blanks at last! The borderless effect is interesting as it lets you do a few specific things — which I imagine you’re already aware of, but they bear repeating. Number one, you can maximize space really efficiently, which you’ve already employed to fit a frankly ridiculous amount of text into only like one-fourth the vertical height of this card. Number two, which is especially exciting for aesthetic reasons, you can give each card you make much more of its own personality, because it isn’t bounded by a uniform yellow frame. You can make it look more organic, more surreal, more otherworldly, whatever you like; and there’s not much holding it back from that. It’s sort of how I wish they did Ancient Traits — it was such a shame they kept the yellow border for those.
I have one minor suggestion, which is to add a stroke around all the bottom text, or else remove the stroke from the name and HP. It strikes me as weird to have one but not the other. I’m not gonna dock points for this, especially since it’s a custom blank; it’s just a personal note that you can take or leave as you like.
Anyway, about the aesthetics of this particular card: I like the art you chose! The lighting makes it a bit nontraditional for a Pokémon card, but I think it works really well with the blank. Goes back to that whole thing about having more room to expand on a card’s personality. I don’t know if it was your choice or Kori’s to add the craquelure sort of effect on the background (maybe it was just on the original and I don’t remember it lol), but I think it works wonders to tie the whole thing together.
It’s unlike you not to include a holosheet, but I think it was a good choice in this case. There are already so many colors and so much going on in the background, sunlava would have drowned it all out unless you turned the saturation all the way down to 0, and even then the waviness would have distorted it quite a bit. Sometimes holosheets add to a card; I think in this case it would only have detracted. I like it as a non-holo.
Stellar Connections is an interesting effect; it draws on the theme of Energy acceleration and ties it to the Lost Zone in a new and unique way. It gets into a territory that I tend to be very cautious about, though — it’s a card that you have no reason not to run. It’s a staple in every deck that plays basic Energy (which sure, isn’t all of them, but it’s pretty close), and perhaps even worse, it has zero drawbacks.
Staples are a pretty inherent part of any TCG, but in most cases, they aren’t just free boons. Shaymin-EX and Uxie LA are low-HP Pokémon that run the risk of being sniped after you’ve used them, and in the meantime they clog up your Bench space. If you want to remove them on your own terms, you have to give up an attack to do so. Ultra Ball and Professor’s Research discard cards in order to get you new ones — sure, this isn’t always bad and is often even good, but it is still a cost you have to pay in order to use the card.
Stellar Connections doesn’t have that. You can use it at any point in the game, as long as you have at least one other Pokémon in play, to net yourself a free basic Energy. It doesn’t even stick around long enough to be sniped, because it cleans up after itself in the same Ability! It doesn’t take an attack to use, and it doesn’t require any Energy, Tools, Supporters, or any other input than the Mew, a Benched Pokémon, and an Energy in the deck. Basically, I cannot think of a single reason not to play at least one copy of this card in every deck in the format*, and at that point, you’ve changed the rules of the game to “build a deck of 59 cards and Mew.”
Don’t get me wrong, I do think it’s interesting design space to explore. As far as I know, “GX Abilities” haven’t been done since Hippowdon LV.X, and it’s a cool idea that allows for way wackier effects than your average Abilities. I just think that in this case, it needs to be balanced very differently to avoid a scenario like the one above.
Cosmic Dive is also a cool effect; it’s like Pichu’s Playground, only much less good. (I guess to compensate for the Ability being so bonkers?) I think it’s probably pretty rare that you’d get any more than one or maybe two Basic Pokémon off the top 6 cards, but that’s probably as it should be. On paper it does synergize with the Ability, but the scenarios where you’d actually want to use the attack rather than just going for the Ability are … pretty fringe.
I think the way I’d go about balancing the Ability in light of the attack would be to require that Mew be in play for a full turn before being able to use the Ability? That way you would have more opportunities to use the attack, like on the first turn it’s in play, and you would have to deal with losing that Bench spot for a turn, and your opponent would have the opportunity to do something about it in the turn before it removes itself from play. That probably still wouldn’t be perfect, but off the top of my head, it seems like a step in the right direction.
*Yeah, granted, not every deck plays Basic Energy. I don’t think they make up a significant enough part of any metagame to nullify this point, though.
Wording errors:
- “Then, shuffle your deck” should be before the “If you do” sentence, according to Magneton CEC. [-1 point]
- Magneton also says “If you searched your deck in this way” instead of “If you do”, but that’s a subtly different effect, so you get the benefit of the doubt and I’ll assume the intent is that if you fail the search, you don’t put Mew in the Lost Zone. [-0 points]
Fonts and Placement errors:
- Custom blank pass — nothing here is so different that I would dock for it.
Creativity/Originality: 12/15
(Getting into new design space with the Ability, and nice synergy, on paper, at least, with the attack.)
Wording: 14/15
(Sentence order.)
Fonts and Placement: 10/10
(Custom blank.)
Believability/Playability: 2/5
(Stellar Connections makes the card a staple without any drawbacks.)
Aesthetics: 5/5
(Combination of the art and blank give the card its own unique personality.)
Total: 43/50
Hey, sgtfrog; welcome to faking! You’ve come with an impressive second-ever card right out of the gate, so I look forward with great interest to seeing more of your stuff in the future.
Pokémon V — Ultra Rares in general, actually — are tricky to do. It’s often not just a matter of finding good art, but making that art blend cohesively with the background and then giving it something extra to make it really pop. Lighting effects, auras, glowing orbs and the like are all good ways to do that, but they can be quite difficult to make from scratch. You might be able to find a few free-use ones as stock images by googling around, though.
I like that you’ve made a stab at integrating the Deoxys into the card by making it pop out of the
frame. There are a couple things holding it back from being fully enmeshed within the art, though — they’re just fundamentally different styles. The background is gorgeous and very thematically appropriate for a Deoxys, but it’s got soft colors that all kinda run into each other, as opposed to the Deoxys, which has clear bold lineart. It’s much easier to get away with lineart for Pokémon V than it has been for other Ultra Rares (see Snorlax V and Lapras V, for example), but in those cases they’ve got additional whoosh-y effects making the Pokémon more seamlessly a part of the card.
Holosheets are also a fun way to add effects to a card, but they can also present a learning curve — most come with suggested blending modes, but if you’ve got any questions, I’m sure anyone here would be glad to help you figure it out.
As far as the text of the card goes, I’ve got some reservations about the power level. 180 damage for two Energy on a Basic Pokémon is a lot, no matter how you slice it. You can justify higher damage output, especially since it’s an Attack Forme Deoxys, but in order not to break the game, you need some kind of drawback. Discarding Energy, doing damage to itself, and so on. There are lots of ways to balance high damage output.
Granted, it occasionally does less damage, if it already has damage counters on it. But damage counters are easy enough to heal, and even with that aside, 90-for-2 (or 135-for-2 on average, since it’s on a flip) is still a lot. I think it needs something more to balance it than that.
Invasion is a neat gimmick that can potentially turn the tide of a game, but it leaves me a bit confused. Why does an invasion return Pokémon to the hand? Why does it target [P] Pokémon specifically? Why does it make sense for an Attack Forme Deoxys to be messing around with control-style attacks? Ultimately I think that attack just falls short in terms of utility.
Like I said, though, this is a really great second card. I encourage you to keep at it, and of course, reach out with any questions — either about specific things I’ve said here, or about faking in general. I look forward to seeing more of your work!
Wording errors:
- Invasion should read “Put 1 of your opponent’s Benched [P] Pokémon and all cards attached to it into their hand.” Key things are capitalizing “Bench” or “Benched”; “1” instead of “one”; clarifying what “one” refers to; and the clause about the cards attached to it. [-4 points]
- “this card” -> “this Pokémon” [-2 points]
- Exo Sphere should include either the word “less” or a reference to base damage. [-1 point]
- Heads is only ever used for positive effects; decreasing the damage your own attack does should only happen on a tails. [-2 points]
Fonts and Placement errors:
- “Deoxys” shouldn’t be italicized. [-2 points]
- Attack damage numerals should be in Futura std Heavy; same as the HP. [-2 points]
- Attack effect text should be Justified; i.e. should line up on the right-hand side as well as the left. [-1 point]
- The “x2” in the Weakness bar is weirdly blurry. [-0.5 point]
- There’s some wonky fonts and placement around the bottom text. The “1/1” in particular should be italicized and a different font — I don’t remember which off the top of my head; I believe it’s a variant of Frutiger. Would suggest referencing a font guide for this. [-0.5 point]
Creativity/Originality: 9/15
(It’s an Attack Forme Deoxys that does a bunch of damage. Invasion is interesting, but I’m not sure I understand it thematically.)
Wording: 6/15
(A few errors.)
Fonts and Placement: 4/10
(A few errors.)
Believability/Playability: 2/5
(Exo Sphere is overpowered; Invasion feels a bit too niche.)
Aesthetics: 3/5
(Solid, but could use some more effects to tie the art together. Ultra Rares are hard to do!)
Total: 24/50
Wow! Even for you, bb, that’s a pretty top-notch Pokémon-GX. The dynamism of Clefable gearing up for a punch, its fist wreathed in pink light, and all of that in contrast with what I think is the best use of glowballs and light-y whoosh-y effects we’ve seen in a long time — that’s a recipe for a really excellent card!
Seriously, I think the glowballs are what really set this one apart. It’s an effective way to make Clefable pop out of the frame without there being many parts of the Pokémon itself that can do that, at least on the left side of the card. Moreover, the effects being gold contrasts really nicely with the pink aura up top. I think the fist is primarily what one’s attention gets drawn to, but it would surely be a much less interesting card without the glowballs.
If I were to make one aesthetics suggestion, it would be to tone up the saturation slightly on Clefable itself. The shadows around the Pokémon are really well done; a massive credit to the artist for that, but I think for a Pokémon-GX, the whole body could stand to be … pinker, somehow. Or at least brighter.
As for what the card actually does, I like how much thought you’ve put into how each attack could be relevant over the course of a game. It shows creativity in that you’re thinking about as many different angles of play as possible, and putting them all together into the design of a single card.
Meteor Crash is well-balanced for what it is. It can easily hit an OHKO on virtually anything, but doing so means you’re expending a bunch of cards that you’d probably otherwise like to use. Its best partner is undoubtedly something like Exeggcute PLF (though that’s a broken card to begin with), as anything else would force you into constructing a deck the majority of which you’re never actually going to use. Even if you do have Exeggcute or a similar card, the three-Energy cost on a Stage 1 makes it difficult to stream — another effective form of balance.
Punch of Silence is a really fascinating gimmicky attack. I’m a fan of finding creative ways to use Ability lock (and other locks) in moderation, and limiting it to just the Active Pokémon seems like a great way to do that. I also like the idea of using it to get yourself out of Ability lock for a turn, through some sneaky Lysandre-ing.
Moonstruck is a neat enabler to Meteor Crash, though I think it’s just as interesting on its own, as a once-per-game one-sided Lysandre’s Trump Card. I’m sure plenty of other cards (Gardevoir-GX?) could make good use of it as well.
Overall, I like the card a lot. You can use it on its own, building a deck around supporting turn-after-turn Meteor Crashes; or you can use it for its situational Ability lock, GX attack, and occasional massive firepower in another deck. There’s a lot you can do with it, it’s clear you’ve considered a great many of those angles, and that makes it a well-designed card.
Wording errors:
- When using Moonstruck, you never actually get a new deck; only new cards in the same deck. This is because the game considers the deck to be a “zone”, not just the accumulation of all cards within it — you always have a deck, for example, even with zero cards in it. That being said, I agree that “new deck” serves an important clarification purpose here, and beginning in the SM era, TPCi has undoubtedly made an effort to be as transparent as possible in their wording. I’m gonna give you a partial benefit of the doubt: I think it’s not entirely unreasonable to assume that TPCi would commit a small wording infraction for the sake of clarity. However, it is still, as far as anyone knows, a wording infraction, and so I have to dock a cautious [-1 point] for that.
Fonts and Placement errors:
- Looks good to me.
Creativity/Originality: 14/15
(You’re clearly thinking about lots of different avenues of play here — it’s got good design space, fun synergy, and impressive gameplay consideration all on the same card.)
Wording: 14/15
(“New deck” is a tricky call.)
Fonts and Placement: 10/10
(Looks good.)
Believability/Playability: 5/5
(High damage output, but well-balanced.)
Aesthetics: 5/5
(Very impressive effects!)
Total: 48/50
Howdy, KoD! No worries about last-minute signups, haha; always good to see more faces in the CaC.
The art is really interesting; I like the crazy display of colors — it’s almost like the sunlava holosheet even without the sunlava holosheet xD
Toolbox-style Abilities (by which I mean Abilities that let you use the attacks of other Pokémon, not … the actual ability “Toolbox”) have been done before, albeit in the faking community more often than in the official TCG. Deoxys is a common Pokémon for them to show up on. This one is interesting in that you get to use not just attacks, but Abilities as well, but it doesn’t just co-opt the card itself. So you retain the Normal Forme’s HP, Retreat Cost, etc. It’s a different twist, though I’m not sure it makes more sense to have the other formes “attached” as opposed to it literally becoming that card for a turn, Ninja Boy-style.
An effect like that, of course, is only as strong as the effects you give it access to. I don’t necessarily agree with the principle that “because you can only have four Deoxys total, they can be more powerful”, because that’s the case for 99.9% of cards in the game, and they can’t all be more powerful. You could very easily just skip the Forme Shift gimmick and run four Attack Forme Deoxys (for example), if they’re really that powerful, and then where would you be?
And I have to admit that they are pretty good, likely to the point where you would just bypass the Forme Shift gimmick. Running four Speed Forme Deoxys would make you extremely likely to be able to get three Energy (or more!) on the board on turn one. Running four Attack Forme Deoxys would make for a powerful spread deck. They would be balanced if you were forced to run just one of each of them along with the Normal Forme, but you aren’t forced to do that.
One way I could see this working is if you made them, instead of Basic Pokémon, a new Stage that can’t just be played down onto the Bench. Sort of like Restored Pokémon, or Pokémon LV.X, or even like how Tokens work in MtG. That way, you would be forced to run the Normal Forme to get the others into play, and they’d end up being far more balanced because of it.
Reconstruct is cool flavorfully, though I’m not sure you’d use it all that often. The card isn’t really designed to tank hits. Even in its Defense Forme, it can only stop certain attacks, not tank damage from the attacks that actually go through.
Overall, you’re definitely getting into some good design space with a Deoxys that lets you call other Deoxys into play to temporarily use their effects. I think it’s just a bit wanting in terms of balance.
Wording errors:
- “attach it to this card” -> “attach it to this Pokémon” [-2 points]
- “Abilities and attacks” -> “attacks and Abilities” (ref: Machoke GRI, Metal Goggles) [-1 point]
Fonts and Placement errors:
- On point.
Creativity/Originality: 11/15
(Getting into good design space, though toolbox-y Abilities have been done before.)
Wording: 12/15
(A couple of errors.)
Fonts and Placement: 10/10
(On point.)
Believability/Playability: 3/5
(There’s some balancing flaws in the context of the other cards you provided, to the extent that this one is actually a bit underpowered and might not even see play.)
Aesthetics: 4/5
(I like the art! Works well with the sunlava holosheet. The additional point here would come from making it a full-art card, manipulating the art in some way yourself beyond adding a holosheet, etc.)
Total: 40/50
3rd Place: Gabs Kazumi’s Delcatty, with 42/50 points.
2nd Place: Nyan’s Mew, with 43/50 points.
1st Place: bbninjas’s Clefable-GX, with 48/50 points.
Judge: @Jabberwock
It was good to see some new faces this round! Image-faking can be a bit of a learning curve, but I hope y’all had fun exploring it nonetheless — if you have any questions about anything I mention in your judging, don’t hesitate to ask.
Almonds’s text-based judging is coming soon, as is the July round. Stay tuned!
~~Jabberwock
Howdy, FireLizard! Nice to see new faces round these parts. Impressive work to be tackling a GX as your first card, too!
I’m gonna start off by noting a few big things, which are probably largely products of the program you’re using. Plenty of folks here use lesser-known programs to pretty significant success, so there’s certainly no rule saying “Photoshop or else.” But there is one big barrier to using programs like Paint, and that’s the fact that so many of the community’s resources just aren’t compatible with it.
The main one is fonts. Font placement is tricky, because you have to know not only the exact fonts TPCi uses, but also exactly where they go on the card itself. There’s an easy (though somewhat time-consuming) way to do it yourself, which basically entails grabbing a scan of a real card, throwing it on top of your blank at 50% opacity, and then matching fonts to the text on the card with pixel-perfect accuracy.
Alternatively, a lot of folks make font guides for themselves, or
The issue is, most font guides are designed to be compatible with Photoshop, and they can be difficult to make work on other programs. You may find it worthwhile to experiment with making one for yourself — and I’m sure plenty of us here on the ‘Beach would be glad to help!
There’s also a couple of other things, like issues with transparency (see the big white bar between the Dragon-type texture at the top and the beginning of the art?) and adding a stroke/outline around text to make it stand out against the background, but like I said, fonts and placement is the main thing I’d suggest working on. If you can get that straightened out, you’ll be in pretty good shape.
As far as art goes, I like where you’re at with it — you’ve got a good image of Eternatus there that makes it look like an actual Pokémon and not just an amalgamation of spikes and tentacles. The variation in the background is good, but you’ll likely want a holosheet or something. Not just for realism, but also because it helps differentiate the Pokémon from the background, which is important when they’re roughly the same color.
The actual effects of the card, from a gameplay perspective, are … good. Like, really good. You can play it as a support mon, a utility attacker, or a straight-up nuke, because it does all three of those things really really well. Infinity Zone allows you to constantly have access to all the resources of your discard pile for a relatively negligible cost — no cost at all, if you’ve got something like an Exeggcute PLF. Spreading Beam lets you pick off Bench-sitters with absurd ease, and can even combo with a Gust of Wind-style effect to pick off two at once. Eternabeam is probably the only non-broken part of the card, but unfortunately it doesn’t have a very exciting effect.
Overall, though, it’s an impressive first stab at a GX, especially with a program like Paint! Keep up the good work, and let me know if I can clarify anything here or help with anything else.
Wording errors:
- Missing spaces after commas and full stops. [-1 point]
- “before you attack” -> “(before your attack)”, italics and all, and it should go inside the first comma. [-2 points]
- “from your discard pile to your hand” -> “from your discard pile into your hand” [-1 point]
- “You can’t apply more than 1 Infinity Zone Ability at a time” doesn’t actually do anything in that Ability, because by definition, you can only activate one of those Abilities at a time. You can’t activate a second one until the first one resolves. Maybe you meant “You can’t use more than 1 Infinity Zone Ability each turn”? [-3 points]
- “to Benched Pokémon” -> “for Benched Pokémon” [-1 point]
- The whole “Don’t apply W/R …” clause should be italicized. [-1 point]
- All the “é”s on the card have grave accents, not acute accents (they’re facing the wrong way). [-1 point]
Fonts and Placement errors:
- I’m gonna dock a blanket [-6 points] here. The fonts are all incorrect, save for the numerals (which I think come from asche’s symbolsheet?), and placements, while in the right ballpark, could also use some work. These can be tricky to get right, so lmk if you’d like any help figuring out the right fonts to use and how to place them effectively.
Creativity/Originality: 10/15
(Infinity Zone has some interesting design space, and the card omnipotently playing three different roles in the game is a neat idea flavor-wise.)
Wording: 5/15
(Several errors, mostly minor. Be sure to proofread!)
Fonts and Placement: 4/10
(Ballparked, but could use some work.)
Believability/Playability: 1/5
(Very overpowered, even for this day and age of the TCG.)
Aesthetics: 2/5
(Nice attention to posing, and I like the background. You’ll want a holosheet of some description, as well as fixing the opacity issues that come with Paint and potentially doing more with pop-out effects around the border, to get the extra points here.)
Total: 22/50
Gabs! It’s been a while! Welcome back!
Your custom art never ceases to amaze, and this one looks like it’d fit right in around a standard SUM set — it’s even strikingly reminiscent of the Delcatty from Cosmic Eclipse! The balance of colors, the blues and greens framing Delcatty on either side, works really well. And you’ve also got a bunch of open flat surfaces like the wall, the window, the back of the sofa, which can really allow a holosheet to pop. To achieve that, you’ll probably want some combination like Multiply 50-60% under Color Dodge 80-100%. Sunlava — the SUM holosheet — can be tricky; it’s hard to get it to pop without drowning out the background because of the sheer volume of colors it has, but a quick desaturation or partial grayscaling should do the job nicely.
From an effects standpoint, I think this Delcatty is particularly interesting because it would make the first Caturday card where the intent is actually to use Caturday! As opposed to other attacks that are also made free by Persian’s Ability, that is. The effective invincibility Delcatty has (on a sleep flip, anyway) makes it work well as a set-up card without being broken, since set-up (or control, I guess, though just “draw 3 cards” isn’t very control-y) is really all it can do.
I respect the decision not to include a second attack from a gameplay perspective; it’s very rare that we see three in any combination of Abilities and attacks on any card, and it’s usually the card’s main selling point. I also agree with you that I don’t think Delcatty needs it. It’s a set-up mon for a specific deck that retains some degree of utility all game long due to its partial invincibility gimmick. Adding anything else on top of that would probably just be superfluous.
I’m trying to think of any conceivable way to break this, and since there’s currently no way to get the odds of a sleeping Pokémon waking up between turns below 25% (nor can I imagine there being one), I think it’s probably fine. A stall deck that goes down a Prize once every four turns isn’t much of a stall deck, and it has a few other vulnerabilities, too — like needing to either attack or else keep a backup mon in play to replenish the sleep every turn, and in the first case you can’t use Steven’s Resolve or Tropical Beach or any comparable effect, and in the second, you’ve got a vulnerable Bench sitter. It’s also a Stage 1, which requires more resources to get out than most stall decks want. It’s got access to a different set of tools, but ultimately, it’s not really significantly different from a HGSS-era Baby Pokémon.
Wording errors:
- If printed on a real card, the Ability would be “opponent’s attack” and not just any attack, since being Asleep entails that it’s Active, in which case it would not be able to be damaged by one of your other Pokémon’s recoil attacks. Technically there are some hypothetical ways around this, like a card allowing a Pokémon to be Asleep on the Bench, or a card allowing sleeping Pokémon to attack and then a Technical Machine allowing Delcatty to damage itself, but those don’t currently exist in the game, and even if they did, I’d have a hard time believing this Delcatty would have that caveat, in contrast to all the other cards that don’t, just to make use of them. [-2 points]
Fonts and Placement errors:
- The “Move Away” font appears to be veeeery slightly different from the “Caturday” font. I can think of a couple of Photoshop settings that might cause this — stuff like setting kerning to Metrics versus Optical, or changing the text type around to Strong or Sharp instead of Smooth — but ultimately I have no idea what’s up with it. I’m not gonna dock for it because it’s so barely noticeable, but it’s worth looking into.
Creativity/Originality: 11/15
(Nice building on an existing archetype! I like the train of thought that led you to “what is this missing, what would make it more interesting.)
Wording: 13/15
(One thing in the Ability.)
Fonts and Placement: 10/10
(One minor thing that isn’t worth a dock.)
Believability/Playability: 5/5
(Balancing seems fine. Wouldn’t look out of place in the archetype.)
Aesthetics: 4/5
(Brilliant art as always! You may want to experiment with different blending modes to get the holosheet to pop, though.)
Total: 42/50
Ah, Broken Eternity blanks at last! The borderless effect is interesting as it lets you do a few specific things — which I imagine you’re already aware of, but they bear repeating. Number one, you can maximize space really efficiently, which you’ve already employed to fit a frankly ridiculous amount of text into only like one-fourth the vertical height of this card. Number two, which is especially exciting for aesthetic reasons, you can give each card you make much more of its own personality, because it isn’t bounded by a uniform yellow frame. You can make it look more organic, more surreal, more otherworldly, whatever you like; and there’s not much holding it back from that. It’s sort of how I wish they did Ancient Traits — it was such a shame they kept the yellow border for those.
I have one minor suggestion, which is to add a stroke around all the bottom text, or else remove the stroke from the name and HP. It strikes me as weird to have one but not the other. I’m not gonna dock points for this, especially since it’s a custom blank; it’s just a personal note that you can take or leave as you like.
Anyway, about the aesthetics of this particular card: I like the art you chose! The lighting makes it a bit nontraditional for a Pokémon card, but I think it works really well with the blank. Goes back to that whole thing about having more room to expand on a card’s personality. I don’t know if it was your choice or Kori’s to add the craquelure sort of effect on the background (maybe it was just on the original and I don’t remember it lol), but I think it works wonders to tie the whole thing together.
It’s unlike you not to include a holosheet, but I think it was a good choice in this case. There are already so many colors and so much going on in the background, sunlava would have drowned it all out unless you turned the saturation all the way down to 0, and even then the waviness would have distorted it quite a bit. Sometimes holosheets add to a card; I think in this case it would only have detracted. I like it as a non-holo.
Stellar Connections is an interesting effect; it draws on the theme of Energy acceleration and ties it to the Lost Zone in a new and unique way. It gets into a territory that I tend to be very cautious about, though — it’s a card that you have no reason not to run. It’s a staple in every deck that plays basic Energy (which sure, isn’t all of them, but it’s pretty close), and perhaps even worse, it has zero drawbacks.
Staples are a pretty inherent part of any TCG, but in most cases, they aren’t just free boons. Shaymin-EX and Uxie LA are low-HP Pokémon that run the risk of being sniped after you’ve used them, and in the meantime they clog up your Bench space. If you want to remove them on your own terms, you have to give up an attack to do so. Ultra Ball and Professor’s Research discard cards in order to get you new ones — sure, this isn’t always bad and is often even good, but it is still a cost you have to pay in order to use the card.
Stellar Connections doesn’t have that. You can use it at any point in the game, as long as you have at least one other Pokémon in play, to net yourself a free basic Energy. It doesn’t even stick around long enough to be sniped, because it cleans up after itself in the same Ability! It doesn’t take an attack to use, and it doesn’t require any Energy, Tools, Supporters, or any other input than the Mew, a Benched Pokémon, and an Energy in the deck. Basically, I cannot think of a single reason not to play at least one copy of this card in every deck in the format*, and at that point, you’ve changed the rules of the game to “build a deck of 59 cards and Mew.”
Don’t get me wrong, I do think it’s interesting design space to explore. As far as I know, “GX Abilities” haven’t been done since Hippowdon LV.X, and it’s a cool idea that allows for way wackier effects than your average Abilities. I just think that in this case, it needs to be balanced very differently to avoid a scenario like the one above.
Cosmic Dive is also a cool effect; it’s like Pichu’s Playground, only much less good. (I guess to compensate for the Ability being so bonkers?) I think it’s probably pretty rare that you’d get any more than one or maybe two Basic Pokémon off the top 6 cards, but that’s probably as it should be. On paper it does synergize with the Ability, but the scenarios where you’d actually want to use the attack rather than just going for the Ability are … pretty fringe.
I think the way I’d go about balancing the Ability in light of the attack would be to require that Mew be in play for a full turn before being able to use the Ability? That way you would have more opportunities to use the attack, like on the first turn it’s in play, and you would have to deal with losing that Bench spot for a turn, and your opponent would have the opportunity to do something about it in the turn before it removes itself from play. That probably still wouldn’t be perfect, but off the top of my head, it seems like a step in the right direction.
*Yeah, granted, not every deck plays Basic Energy. I don’t think they make up a significant enough part of any metagame to nullify this point, though.
Wording errors:
- “Then, shuffle your deck” should be before the “If you do” sentence, according to Magneton CEC. [-1 point]
- Magneton also says “If you searched your deck in this way” instead of “If you do”, but that’s a subtly different effect, so you get the benefit of the doubt and I’ll assume the intent is that if you fail the search, you don’t put Mew in the Lost Zone. [-0 points]
Fonts and Placement errors:
- Custom blank pass — nothing here is so different that I would dock for it.
Creativity/Originality: 12/15
(Getting into new design space with the Ability, and nice synergy, on paper, at least, with the attack.)
Wording: 14/15
(Sentence order.)
Fonts and Placement: 10/10
(Custom blank.)
Believability/Playability: 2/5
(Stellar Connections makes the card a staple without any drawbacks.)
Aesthetics: 5/5
(Combination of the art and blank give the card its own unique personality.)
Total: 43/50
Hey, sgtfrog; welcome to faking! You’ve come with an impressive second-ever card right out of the gate, so I look forward with great interest to seeing more of your stuff in the future.
Pokémon V — Ultra Rares in general, actually — are tricky to do. It’s often not just a matter of finding good art, but making that art blend cohesively with the background and then giving it something extra to make it really pop. Lighting effects, auras, glowing orbs and the like are all good ways to do that, but they can be quite difficult to make from scratch. You might be able to find a few free-use ones as stock images by googling around, though.
I like that you’ve made a stab at integrating the Deoxys into the card by making it pop out of the
frame. There are a couple things holding it back from being fully enmeshed within the art, though — they’re just fundamentally different styles. The background is gorgeous and very thematically appropriate for a Deoxys, but it’s got soft colors that all kinda run into each other, as opposed to the Deoxys, which has clear bold lineart. It’s much easier to get away with lineart for Pokémon V than it has been for other Ultra Rares (see Snorlax V and Lapras V, for example), but in those cases they’ve got additional whoosh-y effects making the Pokémon more seamlessly a part of the card.
Holosheets are also a fun way to add effects to a card, but they can also present a learning curve — most come with suggested blending modes, but if you’ve got any questions, I’m sure anyone here would be glad to help you figure it out.
As far as the text of the card goes, I’ve got some reservations about the power level. 180 damage for two Energy on a Basic Pokémon is a lot, no matter how you slice it. You can justify higher damage output, especially since it’s an Attack Forme Deoxys, but in order not to break the game, you need some kind of drawback. Discarding Energy, doing damage to itself, and so on. There are lots of ways to balance high damage output.
Granted, it occasionally does less damage, if it already has damage counters on it. But damage counters are easy enough to heal, and even with that aside, 90-for-2 (or 135-for-2 on average, since it’s on a flip) is still a lot. I think it needs something more to balance it than that.
Invasion is a neat gimmick that can potentially turn the tide of a game, but it leaves me a bit confused. Why does an invasion return Pokémon to the hand? Why does it target [P] Pokémon specifically? Why does it make sense for an Attack Forme Deoxys to be messing around with control-style attacks? Ultimately I think that attack just falls short in terms of utility.
Like I said, though, this is a really great second card. I encourage you to keep at it, and of course, reach out with any questions — either about specific things I’ve said here, or about faking in general. I look forward to seeing more of your work!
Wording errors:
- Invasion should read “Put 1 of your opponent’s Benched [P] Pokémon and all cards attached to it into their hand.” Key things are capitalizing “Bench” or “Benched”; “1” instead of “one”; clarifying what “one” refers to; and the clause about the cards attached to it. [-4 points]
- “this card” -> “this Pokémon” [-2 points]
- Exo Sphere should include either the word “less” or a reference to base damage. [-1 point]
- Heads is only ever used for positive effects; decreasing the damage your own attack does should only happen on a tails. [-2 points]
Fonts and Placement errors:
- “Deoxys” shouldn’t be italicized. [-2 points]
- Attack damage numerals should be in Futura std Heavy; same as the HP. [-2 points]
- Attack effect text should be Justified; i.e. should line up on the right-hand side as well as the left. [-1 point]
- The “x2” in the Weakness bar is weirdly blurry. [-0.5 point]
- There’s some wonky fonts and placement around the bottom text. The “1/1” in particular should be italicized and a different font — I don’t remember which off the top of my head; I believe it’s a variant of Frutiger. Would suggest referencing a font guide for this. [-0.5 point]
Creativity/Originality: 9/15
(It’s an Attack Forme Deoxys that does a bunch of damage. Invasion is interesting, but I’m not sure I understand it thematically.)
Wording: 6/15
(A few errors.)
Fonts and Placement: 4/10
(A few errors.)
Believability/Playability: 2/5
(Exo Sphere is overpowered; Invasion feels a bit too niche.)
Aesthetics: 3/5
(Solid, but could use some more effects to tie the art together. Ultra Rares are hard to do!)
Total: 24/50
Wow! Even for you, bb, that’s a pretty top-notch Pokémon-GX. The dynamism of Clefable gearing up for a punch, its fist wreathed in pink light, and all of that in contrast with what I think is the best use of glowballs and light-y whoosh-y effects we’ve seen in a long time — that’s a recipe for a really excellent card!
Seriously, I think the glowballs are what really set this one apart. It’s an effective way to make Clefable pop out of the frame without there being many parts of the Pokémon itself that can do that, at least on the left side of the card. Moreover, the effects being gold contrasts really nicely with the pink aura up top. I think the fist is primarily what one’s attention gets drawn to, but it would surely be a much less interesting card without the glowballs.
If I were to make one aesthetics suggestion, it would be to tone up the saturation slightly on Clefable itself. The shadows around the Pokémon are really well done; a massive credit to the artist for that, but I think for a Pokémon-GX, the whole body could stand to be … pinker, somehow. Or at least brighter.
As for what the card actually does, I like how much thought you’ve put into how each attack could be relevant over the course of a game. It shows creativity in that you’re thinking about as many different angles of play as possible, and putting them all together into the design of a single card.
Meteor Crash is well-balanced for what it is. It can easily hit an OHKO on virtually anything, but doing so means you’re expending a bunch of cards that you’d probably otherwise like to use. Its best partner is undoubtedly something like Exeggcute PLF (though that’s a broken card to begin with), as anything else would force you into constructing a deck the majority of which you’re never actually going to use. Even if you do have Exeggcute or a similar card, the three-Energy cost on a Stage 1 makes it difficult to stream — another effective form of balance.
Punch of Silence is a really fascinating gimmicky attack. I’m a fan of finding creative ways to use Ability lock (and other locks) in moderation, and limiting it to just the Active Pokémon seems like a great way to do that. I also like the idea of using it to get yourself out of Ability lock for a turn, through some sneaky Lysandre-ing.
Moonstruck is a neat enabler to Meteor Crash, though I think it’s just as interesting on its own, as a once-per-game one-sided Lysandre’s Trump Card. I’m sure plenty of other cards (Gardevoir-GX?) could make good use of it as well.
Overall, I like the card a lot. You can use it on its own, building a deck around supporting turn-after-turn Meteor Crashes; or you can use it for its situational Ability lock, GX attack, and occasional massive firepower in another deck. There’s a lot you can do with it, it’s clear you’ve considered a great many of those angles, and that makes it a well-designed card.
Wording errors:
- When using Moonstruck, you never actually get a new deck; only new cards in the same deck. This is because the game considers the deck to be a “zone”, not just the accumulation of all cards within it — you always have a deck, for example, even with zero cards in it. That being said, I agree that “new deck” serves an important clarification purpose here, and beginning in the SM era, TPCi has undoubtedly made an effort to be as transparent as possible in their wording. I’m gonna give you a partial benefit of the doubt: I think it’s not entirely unreasonable to assume that TPCi would commit a small wording infraction for the sake of clarity. However, it is still, as far as anyone knows, a wording infraction, and so I have to dock a cautious [-1 point] for that.
Fonts and Placement errors:
- Looks good to me.
Creativity/Originality: 14/15
(You’re clearly thinking about lots of different avenues of play here — it’s got good design space, fun synergy, and impressive gameplay consideration all on the same card.)
Wording: 14/15
(“New deck” is a tricky call.)
Fonts and Placement: 10/10
(Looks good.)
Believability/Playability: 5/5
(High damage output, but well-balanced.)
Aesthetics: 5/5
(Very impressive effects!)
Total: 48/50
Howdy, KoD! No worries about last-minute signups, haha; always good to see more faces in the CaC.
The art is really interesting; I like the crazy display of colors — it’s almost like the sunlava holosheet even without the sunlava holosheet xD
Toolbox-style Abilities (by which I mean Abilities that let you use the attacks of other Pokémon, not … the actual ability “Toolbox”) have been done before, albeit in the faking community more often than in the official TCG. Deoxys is a common Pokémon for them to show up on. This one is interesting in that you get to use not just attacks, but Abilities as well, but it doesn’t just co-opt the card itself. So you retain the Normal Forme’s HP, Retreat Cost, etc. It’s a different twist, though I’m not sure it makes more sense to have the other formes “attached” as opposed to it literally becoming that card for a turn, Ninja Boy-style.
An effect like that, of course, is only as strong as the effects you give it access to. I don’t necessarily agree with the principle that “because you can only have four Deoxys total, they can be more powerful”, because that’s the case for 99.9% of cards in the game, and they can’t all be more powerful. You could very easily just skip the Forme Shift gimmick and run four Attack Forme Deoxys (for example), if they’re really that powerful, and then where would you be?
And I have to admit that they are pretty good, likely to the point where you would just bypass the Forme Shift gimmick. Running four Speed Forme Deoxys would make you extremely likely to be able to get three Energy (or more!) on the board on turn one. Running four Attack Forme Deoxys would make for a powerful spread deck. They would be balanced if you were forced to run just one of each of them along with the Normal Forme, but you aren’t forced to do that.
One way I could see this working is if you made them, instead of Basic Pokémon, a new Stage that can’t just be played down onto the Bench. Sort of like Restored Pokémon, or Pokémon LV.X, or even like how Tokens work in MtG. That way, you would be forced to run the Normal Forme to get the others into play, and they’d end up being far more balanced because of it.
Reconstruct is cool flavorfully, though I’m not sure you’d use it all that often. The card isn’t really designed to tank hits. Even in its Defense Forme, it can only stop certain attacks, not tank damage from the attacks that actually go through.
Overall, you’re definitely getting into some good design space with a Deoxys that lets you call other Deoxys into play to temporarily use their effects. I think it’s just a bit wanting in terms of balance.
Wording errors:
- “attach it to this card” -> “attach it to this Pokémon” [-2 points]
- “Abilities and attacks” -> “attacks and Abilities” (ref: Machoke GRI, Metal Goggles) [-1 point]
Fonts and Placement errors:
- On point.
Creativity/Originality: 11/15
(Getting into good design space, though toolbox-y Abilities have been done before.)
Wording: 12/15
(A couple of errors.)
Fonts and Placement: 10/10
(On point.)
Believability/Playability: 3/5
(There’s some balancing flaws in the context of the other cards you provided, to the extent that this one is actually a bit underpowered and might not even see play.)
Aesthetics: 4/5
(I like the art! Works well with the sunlava holosheet. The additional point here would come from making it a full-art card, manipulating the art in some way yourself beyond adding a holosheet, etc.)
Total: 40/50
3rd Place: Gabs Kazumi’s Delcatty, with 42/50 points.
2nd Place: Nyan’s Mew, with 43/50 points.
1st Place: bbninjas’s Clefable-GX, with 48/50 points.
Text-Based Results
Judge's note:
Hello again, everyone! This month was a little low numbers-wise, but it sure made up for it in quality. Every single one of these cards is well thought-out and a testament to your continual improvement in the CaC. Referencing in particular was pretty good this time, although it’s important to pay attention to the small details and to make sure that you’re using Sword and Shield-era references wherever possible. There were also a lot of really complex wordings in here, and I was quite impressed with how you handled them. Well done, everyone!
--FourteenAlmonds
@Vom
@TheMaskedMeowth
@Jadethepokemontrainer
@ThePigThatCriedRii
@Nyora
3rd Place: TheMaskedMeowth’s Vibrant Ultra Necrozma V, with 39.5/50 points.
2nd Place: Nyora’s Eternal Eternatus Vmax, with 40/50 points.
1st Place: Vom’s Kingslaying Nidoking, with 42/50 points.
Judge's note:
Hello again, everyone! This month was a little low numbers-wise, but it sure made up for it in quality. Every single one of these cards is well thought-out and a testament to your continual improvement in the CaC. Referencing in particular was pretty good this time, although it’s important to pay attention to the small details and to make sure that you’re using Sword and Shield-era references wherever possible. There were also a lot of really complex wordings in here, and I was quite impressed with how you handled them. Well done, everyone!
--FourteenAlmonds
@Vom
[Stage 2] Nidoking HP160 [D]
Evolves from Nidorino
NO. 034 Drill Pokémon HT: 4' 07'' WT: 136.7 lbs.
Ability: Shadow of the Colossus
Prevent all effects of attacks, including damage, done to all of your Pokémon that have "Nido" in their name by your opponent's Basic Pokémon.
[D][C][C][C] Kingslayer 200-
If you took more than 1 Prize card during your last turn, you may Knock Out 1 of your Benched Pokémon. If you do, this Pokémon can attack twice this turn, but the second attack does 100 less damage. (If the first attack Knocks Out your opponent’s Active Pokémon, you may attack again after your opponent chooses a new Active Pokémon.)
Weakness: [G]x2
Resistance: -
Retreat: [C][C][C]
Nidoking's thick tail packs enormously destructive power. With one swing, it can topple a metal transmission tower. Once this Pokémon goes on a rampage, there is no stopping it.
Evolves from Nidorino
NO. 034 Drill Pokémon HT: 4' 07'' WT: 136.7 lbs.
Ability: Shadow of the Colossus
Prevent all effects of attacks, including damage, done to all of your Pokémon that have "Nido" in their name by your opponent's Basic Pokémon.
[D][C][C][C] Kingslayer 200-
If you took more than 1 Prize card during your last turn, you may Knock Out 1 of your Benched Pokémon. If you do, this Pokémon can attack twice this turn, but the second attack does 100 less damage. (If the first attack Knocks Out your opponent’s Active Pokémon, you may attack again after your opponent chooses a new Active Pokémon.)
Weakness: [G]x2
Resistance: -
Retreat: [C][C][C]
Nidoking's thick tail packs enormously destructive power. With one swing, it can topple a metal transmission tower. Once this Pokémon goes on a rampage, there is no stopping it.
Creativity: 16/20
Your creativity is very good here, Vom. The card overall seems clever, and while there's nothing brand new in the card, it certainly feels at least unique. Moving forward, I'd suggest looking at how to add totally new effects rather than throwing in a twist -- for example, Shadow of the Colossus breaks down to be a simple combination of effects with the technically new "partial name search" thrown in. Kingslayer is a much more complex combination of effects, and it introduces a new requirement for using the attack, but it doesn't really open up any exciting doors or explore totally new design space either.
Wording: 12/15
Shadow of the Colossus:
- "Prevent all effects of attacks, including damage, done to all of your Pokémon that have "Nido" in their name by your opponent's Basic Pokémon." -> “Prevent all effects of attacks, including damage, done to all of your Pokémon that have “Nidoran (f)”, “Nidorina”, “Nidoqueen”, “Nidoran (m)”, “Nidorino”, and “Nidoking” in their name by your opponent's Basic Pokémon.” -2pts (explanation attached)
Kingslayer:
- “this Pokémon can attack twice this turn” -> “this Pokémon may attack twice this turn” -1pt
Believability: 14/15
Shadow of the Colossus is well-balanced. It’s a Basic Pokémon safeguard effect, so would normally fit on a Stage 1, but it protects Pokémon other than the user and so works best as a Stage 2. I also like how it reintroduces evolution-based decks into the format. Although the required wording would be quite long, Mysterious Treasures' Nidoqueen provides enough of a precedent that it's not outside the realm of believability.
Kingslayer at a first look is quite strong, but surprisingly isn't too powerful at all. Power creep means that even basics will soon be hitting 250 damage (see the recently revealed Lugia) and Stage 2 Pokémon are already doing so, so this is fine. The extra 100 damage with a restriction is also ok, since it only works in specific circumstances and punishes a multiprize meta. Furthermore, the energy requirement makes it harder to string attackers together so the card is well-balanced overall.
Although Poison is now represented by Dark-type cards and Dark is now weak to Grass in the TCG (Bug in the games), Pokémon that are Poison in the games are still not weak to Grass in the TCG. -1pt
Final Score: 42/50
You ticked all the boxes, well done, Vom! Your balancing was spot-on, your creativity was overall really good, and you only made two wording errors. Your consistent excellence means that I don't have much to say here, except for "keep up the good work!", so I hope you continue to participate in the CaC competitions!
Your creativity is very good here, Vom. The card overall seems clever, and while there's nothing brand new in the card, it certainly feels at least unique. Moving forward, I'd suggest looking at how to add totally new effects rather than throwing in a twist -- for example, Shadow of the Colossus breaks down to be a simple combination of effects with the technically new "partial name search" thrown in. Kingslayer is a much more complex combination of effects, and it introduces a new requirement for using the attack, but it doesn't really open up any exciting doors or explore totally new design space either.
Wording: 12/15
Shadow of the Colossus:
- "Prevent all effects of attacks, including damage, done to all of your Pokémon that have "Nido" in their name by your opponent's Basic Pokémon." -> “Prevent all effects of attacks, including damage, done to all of your Pokémon that have “Nidoran (f)”, “Nidorina”, “Nidoqueen”, “Nidoran (m)”, “Nidorino”, and “Nidoking” in their name by your opponent's Basic Pokémon.” -2pts (explanation attached)
Kingslayer:
- “this Pokémon can attack twice this turn” -> “this Pokémon may attack twice this turn” -1pt
Although it is certainly concise and convenient, I ended up spending a lot of time looking into the wording you chose for Shadow of the Colossus. TPCi is super inconsistent with “Pokémon with xxxx in their name” effects, but one thing they have been consistent with is their avoidance of partial name search. For example, a query regarding Apricorn Maker and Bursting Balloon resulted in the following exchange (as per the Compendium):
Although "don't be silly" is a pretty poor justification for the ruling, the result of the wording indicates that the word searched for must be distinct. The ruling for Maxie’s Hidden Ball Trick also had a similar result:
Within this ruling it appears to be implied that if Maxie’s Hidden Ball Trick was an item after all, searching for it would be permitted.
Looking back at older cards as well, the old Nidoqueen from Mysterious Treasures had a similar Poké-Body that listed out every single Pokémon in the evolution line – although it would be really long, according to that card and the current "in its name" convention set by Falinks V, the wording of the ability would have to be changed to the following:
The reason that partial name search as you used it here would never be permitted is a bit more obscure than CaC competitors are generally required to consider, but it essentially boils down to the fact that this partial name search is horrific to translate. As an example, example, the “Nido” pattern is not present in every language that the TCG has to be translated to, such Cantonese Chinese. Every existing card that searches using "in its name" always has a specific and self-contained word required. "Falinks", "Ball", and even "Brock" and "Erika" in the old Gym Heroes cards are distinct and can be translated accordingly.
Although this is a really obscure thing to think about, I’m still going to dock for it because it requires a significant wording change.
Q. Can Apricorn Maker be used to search for the Trainer "Bursting Balloon"? Taking the card literally, Bursting *BALL*oon contains the exact same "Ball" as given on Apricorn Maker.
A. Of course not, don't be silly! You can only search for cards like Poke Ball, Ultra Ball, Beast Ball, etc. (Celestial Storm FAQ; Aug 2, 2018 TPCi Rules Team)
A. Of course not, don't be silly! You can only search for cards like Poke Ball, Ultra Ball, Beast Ball, etc. (Celestial Storm FAQ; Aug 2, 2018 TPCi Rules Team)
Q. Can Apricorn Maker be used to search for "Maxie's Hidden Ball Trick" since it has the word "Ball" in its name?
A. Nope, Maxie's Hidden Ball Trick is a Supporter, not an Item card. (Celestial Storm FAQ; Aug 2, 2018 TPCi Rules Team)
A. Nope, Maxie's Hidden Ball Trick is a Supporter, not an Item card. (Celestial Storm FAQ; Aug 2, 2018 TPCi Rules Team)
Looking back at older cards as well, the old Nidoqueen from Mysterious Treasures had a similar Poké-Body that listed out every single Pokémon in the evolution line – although it would be really long, according to that card and the current "in its name" convention set by Falinks V, the wording of the ability would have to be changed to the following:
“Prevent all effects of attacks, including damage, done to all of your Pokémon that have “Nidoran [f]”, “Nidorina”, “Nidoqueen”, “Nidoran [m]”, “Nidorino”, and “Nidoking” in their name by your opponent's Basic Pokémon.”
The reason that partial name search as you used it here would never be permitted is a bit more obscure than CaC competitors are generally required to consider, but it essentially boils down to the fact that this partial name search is horrific to translate. As an example, example, the “Nido” pattern is not present in every language that the TCG has to be translated to, such Cantonese Chinese. Every existing card that searches using "in its name" always has a specific and self-contained word required. "Falinks", "Ball", and even "Brock" and "Erika" in the old Gym Heroes cards are distinct and can be translated accordingly.
Although this is a really obscure thing to think about, I’m still going to dock for it because it requires a significant wording change.
Believability: 14/15
Shadow of the Colossus is well-balanced. It’s a Basic Pokémon safeguard effect, so would normally fit on a Stage 1, but it protects Pokémon other than the user and so works best as a Stage 2. I also like how it reintroduces evolution-based decks into the format. Although the required wording would be quite long, Mysterious Treasures' Nidoqueen provides enough of a precedent that it's not outside the realm of believability.
Kingslayer at a first look is quite strong, but surprisingly isn't too powerful at all. Power creep means that even basics will soon be hitting 250 damage (see the recently revealed Lugia) and Stage 2 Pokémon are already doing so, so this is fine. The extra 100 damage with a restriction is also ok, since it only works in specific circumstances and punishes a multiprize meta. Furthermore, the energy requirement makes it harder to string attackers together so the card is well-balanced overall.
Although Poison is now represented by Dark-type cards and Dark is now weak to Grass in the TCG (Bug in the games), Pokémon that are Poison in the games are still not weak to Grass in the TCG. -1pt
Final Score: 42/50
You ticked all the boxes, well done, Vom! Your balancing was spot-on, your creativity was overall really good, and you only made two wording errors. Your consistent excellence means that I don't have much to say here, except for "keep up the good work!", so I hope you continue to participate in the CaC competitions!
@TheMaskedMeowth
Ultra Necrozma V – Psychic – HP220
Basic Pokemon (Ultra Beast)
Ability: Light Absorption
Once during your turn (before your attack), you may discard a Solgaleo or Lunala from your hand. If you do, during this turn, your Ultra Beasts' attacks do 60 more damage to your opponent's Active Pokémon (before applying Weakness and Resistance). You can't use more than 1 Light Absorption Ability each turn.
[P][M] Light Manipulation: 90 damage
Switch 1 of your face-down Prize cards with the top card of your deck. If your opponent's Active Pokemon is Knocked Out by damage from this attack, take any Prize cards first.
Weakness: Darkness (x2)
Resistance: Fighting (-30)
Retreat: 2
Basic Pokemon (Ultra Beast)
Ability: Light Absorption
Once during your turn (before your attack), you may discard a Solgaleo or Lunala from your hand. If you do, during this turn, your Ultra Beasts' attacks do 60 more damage to your opponent's Active Pokémon (before applying Weakness and Resistance). You can't use more than 1 Light Absorption Ability each turn.
[P][M] Light Manipulation: 90 damage
Switch 1 of your face-down Prize cards with the top card of your deck. If your opponent's Active Pokemon is Knocked Out by damage from this attack, take any Prize cards first.
Weakness: Darkness (x2)
Resistance: Fighting (-30)
Retreat: 2
Creativity: 15/20
Both Light Absorption and Light Manipulation are combinations of existing effects, but Light Manipulation introduces an interesting new clause. Although that clause doesn't really add anything new to the game itself, the fact that you're thinking outside the box and reshuffling the order of events in the game is neat.
Wording: 12.5/15
- Accent the e in Pokémon x2 -1.5pts
Light Absorption:
- “(before your attack)” was removed for SwSh-era cards -1pt
- Italicise “(before applying Weakness and Resistance)” -1pt
Light Manipulation:
- This isn’t worth deducting a point for, but you don’t need to say “90 damage”. Just the number is fine -0pt
Believability: 12/15
The main thing to realise with Light Absorption is that 60 damage is a really significant buff, so it’s important to consider everything that it can partner with. Buzzwole FLI works especially well with this, dealing 30 base + 60 damage for one energy as a basic single-prizer. Adding in Diancie Prism Star alone pushes damage upwards of 100 damage for a single energy, and that’s without adding in Beast Energy or the other options Expanded has for further damage boosting. Donk also gets a massive help from this, with Pheromosa-GX now able to deal way too much damage (ie easily 120+ in Standard) before the opponent even gets to draw a card. It is slightly hindered by the clunkiness that running the Ultra Necrozma V/Solgaleo/Lunala combo would introduce to a deck, but not enough. Although it’s not broken in and of itself, this card’s capacity to make other cards so much stronger, even if it means sacrificing a little consistency, means that it’s a bit too far ahead of the curve.
As for Light Manipulation, the attack is quite well balanced. The only real query I had for it was on the necessity of the second clause, but it is necessary for the effect you want. Although it hasn't been seen before, it should resolve the interaction just fine.
Final Score: 39.5/50
This is a great first card; seriously, well done! Your only wording errors were some minor details, and your balancing was only slightly off, so to improve for future competitions the best advice I can give you is to try and find a totally new idea to add to your card. That's something I struggle with myself, but you're already doing well in that regard so I think a higher score for you should be very achievable.
Both Light Absorption and Light Manipulation are combinations of existing effects, but Light Manipulation introduces an interesting new clause. Although that clause doesn't really add anything new to the game itself, the fact that you're thinking outside the box and reshuffling the order of events in the game is neat.
Wording: 12.5/15
- Accent the e in Pokémon x2 -1.5pts
Light Absorption:
- “(before your attack)” was removed for SwSh-era cards -1pt
- Italicise “(before applying Weakness and Resistance)” -1pt
Light Manipulation:
- This isn’t worth deducting a point for, but you don’t need to say “90 damage”. Just the number is fine -0pt
Believability: 12/15
The main thing to realise with Light Absorption is that 60 damage is a really significant buff, so it’s important to consider everything that it can partner with. Buzzwole FLI works especially well with this, dealing 30 base + 60 damage for one energy as a basic single-prizer. Adding in Diancie Prism Star alone pushes damage upwards of 100 damage for a single energy, and that’s without adding in Beast Energy or the other options Expanded has for further damage boosting. Donk also gets a massive help from this, with Pheromosa-GX now able to deal way too much damage (ie easily 120+ in Standard) before the opponent even gets to draw a card. It is slightly hindered by the clunkiness that running the Ultra Necrozma V/Solgaleo/Lunala combo would introduce to a deck, but not enough. Although it’s not broken in and of itself, this card’s capacity to make other cards so much stronger, even if it means sacrificing a little consistency, means that it’s a bit too far ahead of the curve.
As for Light Manipulation, the attack is quite well balanced. The only real query I had for it was on the necessity of the second clause, but it is necessary for the effect you want. Although it hasn't been seen before, it should resolve the interaction just fine.
Final Score: 39.5/50
This is a great first card; seriously, well done! Your only wording errors were some minor details, and your balancing was only slightly off, so to improve for future competitions the best advice I can give you is to try and find a totally new idea to add to your card. That's something I struggle with myself, but you're already doing well in that regard so I think a higher score for you should be very achievable.
@Jadethepokemontrainer
Normal Forme Deoxys - [P] - 120 HP
Basic
NO. 386 - DNA Pokémon - HT: 5’07” – WT: 134.0 lbs.
Ability: Emerging Virus
As long as this Pokémon is in the Active Spot, damage can't be healed from either player's Pokémon.
[P][P][C] Call of Forms 80+
You may discard either Speed Forme Deoxys, Attack Forme Deoxys, Defense Forme Deoxys, or all 3 from your hand. If you discard Speed Forme Deoxys, switch this Pokémon with 1 of your benched Pokémon. If you discard Attack Forme Deoxys, this attack does 100 more damage. If you discard Defense Forme Deoxys, during your opponents next turn, prevent all damage done to this Pokémon by attacks. If you discard all 3, your opponent shuffles their Active Pokémon and all attached cards into their deck.
Weakness - Psychic (x2)
Resistance -
Retreat - [C]
Deoxys emerged from a virus that came from space. It is highly intelligent and wields psychokinetic powers. This Pokémon shoots lasers from the crystalline organ on its chest.
Basic
NO. 386 - DNA Pokémon - HT: 5’07” – WT: 134.0 lbs.
Ability: Emerging Virus
As long as this Pokémon is in the Active Spot, damage can't be healed from either player's Pokémon.
[P][P][C] Call of Forms 80+
You may discard either Speed Forme Deoxys, Attack Forme Deoxys, Defense Forme Deoxys, or all 3 from your hand. If you discard Speed Forme Deoxys, switch this Pokémon with 1 of your benched Pokémon. If you discard Attack Forme Deoxys, this attack does 100 more damage. If you discard Defense Forme Deoxys, during your opponents next turn, prevent all damage done to this Pokémon by attacks. If you discard all 3, your opponent shuffles their Active Pokémon and all attached cards into their deck.
Weakness - Psychic (x2)
Resistance -
Retreat - [C]
Deoxys emerged from a virus that came from space. It is highly intelligent and wields psychokinetic powers. This Pokémon shoots lasers from the crystalline organ on its chest.
Creativity: 15/20
Emerging Virus is a very simple combination of effects -- essentially, just Next Destinies' Bronzong with a restriction. Call of Forms lists a few effects without doing anything super interesting to them, but does tie your idea of discarding specific Pokémon in with Deoxys' lore in a cool way. Discarding specific cards from your hand is nice and technically hasn't been seen before, but is more of an extension on existing effects than brand-new itself.
Wording: 7/15
- The Forme should come after the Pokémon’s name, as per Legendary Treasures’ Castform and Deoxys forms. x7 -2pts
- "120 HP" should really be "HP 120" but as it's simply a formatting preference -0pts
Emerging Virus:
- Major wording change: “damage can't be healed from either player's Pokémon.” -> “damage can’t be healed from any Pokémon (both yours and your opponent’s). (Damage counters can still be moved.)”-3pts
Call of Forms:
- “If you discard [xxx]” -> “If you discarded [xxx] in this way” x4 -2pts
- “benched” -> “Benched” -0.5pt
- “opponents” -> “opponent’s” -0.5pt
Believability: 12/15
Having four different effects on a single attack is a bit much considering the lengthy wording required for each; attacks like Fury Cutter (seen on cards dating back to 2001) all have more concise, easily repeated effects based on a quickly described determinant. That being said, you handled it quite well for what it was: if multiple different effects were to be incorporated into a single attack based on factors that require a longer phrasing, this is probably how TPCi would do it.
Taking a look at the effects themselves, they’re all pretty much in line with expected power levels. 80+100 is pushing the limits for a basic, but it’s not too far out there. Unfortunately, there’s a minor problem with the final effect on this card: all existing effects that involve returning Pokémon in play to their owners hand, discard pile, lost zone, etc. are seen on non-damaging attacks and trainer cards; it seems highly unlikely that TPCi will break that trend, in order to avoid rulings on “does it get Knocked Out or does it just shuffle into the deck” and suchlike.
Final Score: 34/50
I really feel like you tried to do too much with this card, Jade. Although the attack works thematically, cramming a bunch of existing effects together just doesn't add much to your creativity score and really hurt your wording with minor errors. Next time, I'd suggest trying to find just one or two effects that are new and exciting, rather than shoving a number of existing effects into one attack as it seems you've done here.
Emerging Virus is a very simple combination of effects -- essentially, just Next Destinies' Bronzong with a restriction. Call of Forms lists a few effects without doing anything super interesting to them, but does tie your idea of discarding specific Pokémon in with Deoxys' lore in a cool way. Discarding specific cards from your hand is nice and technically hasn't been seen before, but is more of an extension on existing effects than brand-new itself.
Wording: 7/15
- The Forme should come after the Pokémon’s name, as per Legendary Treasures’ Castform and Deoxys forms. x7 -2pts
- "120 HP" should really be "HP 120" but as it's simply a formatting preference -0pts
Emerging Virus:
- Major wording change: “damage can't be healed from either player's Pokémon.” -> “damage can’t be healed from any Pokémon (both yours and your opponent’s). (Damage counters can still be moved.)”-3pts
Call of Forms:
- “If you discard [xxx]” -> “If you discarded [xxx] in this way” x4 -2pts
- “benched” -> “Benched” -0.5pt
- “opponents” -> “opponent’s” -0.5pt
Believability: 12/15
Having four different effects on a single attack is a bit much considering the lengthy wording required for each; attacks like Fury Cutter (seen on cards dating back to 2001) all have more concise, easily repeated effects based on a quickly described determinant. That being said, you handled it quite well for what it was: if multiple different effects were to be incorporated into a single attack based on factors that require a longer phrasing, this is probably how TPCi would do it.
Taking a look at the effects themselves, they’re all pretty much in line with expected power levels. 80+100 is pushing the limits for a basic, but it’s not too far out there. Unfortunately, there’s a minor problem with the final effect on this card: all existing effects that involve returning Pokémon in play to their owners hand, discard pile, lost zone, etc. are seen on non-damaging attacks and trainer cards; it seems highly unlikely that TPCi will break that trend, in order to avoid rulings on “does it get Knocked Out or does it just shuffle into the deck” and suchlike.
Final Score: 34/50
I really feel like you tried to do too much with this card, Jade. Although the attack works thematically, cramming a bunch of existing effects together just doesn't add much to your creativity score and really hurt your wording with minor errors. Next time, I'd suggest trying to find just one or two effects that are new and exciting, rather than shoving a number of existing effects into one attack as it seems you've done here.
@ThePigThatCriedRii
Eternatus V - [D] Pokemon - 210 HP
Basic Pokemon
NO. 890 Gigantic Pokemon 65′07″ 2094.4 lbs
Ability: Starfall
Once during your turn, if this Pokémon is in your hand, you may reveal it. If you do, discard your hand and draw 3 cards.
[D][D][C][C][C]: Eternabeam
Put a damage counter on each Pokémon (both yours and your opponents) for each Pokémon in your discard pile. Then, if both you and your opponent would take 2 or more Prize cards this turn, you win the game.
Weakness: [F]
Resistance: None
RC: [C][C]
Pokémon V rule: When your Pokémon V is Knocked Out, your opponent takes 2 Prize cards.
It was inside a meteorite that fell 20,000 years ago. There seems to be a connection between this Pokémon and the Dynamax phenomenon.
Basic Pokemon
NO. 890 Gigantic Pokemon 65′07″ 2094.4 lbs
Ability: Starfall
Once during your turn, if this Pokémon is in your hand, you may reveal it. If you do, discard your hand and draw 3 cards.
[D][D][C][C][C]: Eternabeam
Put a damage counter on each Pokémon (both yours and your opponents) for each Pokémon in your discard pile. Then, if both you and your opponent would take 2 or more Prize cards this turn, you win the game.
Weakness: [F]
Resistance: None
RC: [C][C]
Pokémon V rule: When your Pokémon V is Knocked Out, your opponent takes 2 Prize cards.
It was inside a meteorite that fell 20,000 years ago. There seems to be a connection between this Pokémon and the Dynamax phenomenon.
Creativity: 15/20
Starfall is nothing really new; it's just a combination of effects that introduces yet another form of draw support in the form of an ability. Eternabeam, on the other hand, introduces a new win condition and considers counting the Prize cards you would take with an attack -- something that has never been seen before.
Wording: 8.5/15
- "210 HP" should really be "HP 210" but as it's simply a formatting preference -0pts
- Accent the e in Pokémon x3 -2pts
Eternabeam:
- “Put a damage counter” -> “Put 1 damage counter” -1pt
- Add apostrophe and italicise “(both yours and your opponent’s)” -1.5pts
- “Then, if both you and your opponent would take 2 or more Prize cards this turn, you win the game.” -> “Then, if both you and your opponent would take 2 or more Prize cards in this way, you win this game.” -2pts
Believability: 9/15
Starfall is balanced nicely; it is good and viable, but not broken. The effect is very similar to the original version of @Steffenka’s Big Nugget item card (discard hand, draw 4 cards) which was nerfed later down the track. A lot of what made that card so good was the lack of other draw support within its custom format, and as this draws one less card and there actually are other options to choose from in the format, I’d say it’s ok.
Eternabeam, meanwhile, has a couple of issues. First looking at Standard, the damage output is inefficient early in the game against a multiprize meta since you’re highly likely to sweep yourself before you knock out the opponent – especially with no efficient way of accelerating all the energy you need. However, once you get properly set up, Eternatus only needs one or two attacks to knock out a low-HP two-prizer such as Dedenne-GX and win the game. It also totally dominates against a single-prize meta, with the lower HP of those cards only making it easier to win in a single attack. Shifting to Expanded, with the extra tools and energy acceleration within, this card would get banned instantly.
Pokémon V don't actually have Pokédex entries. -1pt
You also need to specify the level of weakness (ie +20, x2), so -1pt for that.
Final Score: 32.5/50
This is a pretty interesting card overall. Starfall brought you down in terms of creativity, and Eternabeam did the same in believability, so I think what you need to do moving forwards is to find a balance between creative and realistic effects in each aspect of the card. Paying more attention to detail would also help you a lot with your wording, but you've got a lot of potential and I look forwards to seeing what you come up with in the future!
Starfall is nothing really new; it's just a combination of effects that introduces yet another form of draw support in the form of an ability. Eternabeam, on the other hand, introduces a new win condition and considers counting the Prize cards you would take with an attack -- something that has never been seen before.
Wording: 8.5/15
- "210 HP" should really be "HP 210" but as it's simply a formatting preference -0pts
- Accent the e in Pokémon x3 -2pts
Eternabeam:
- “Put a damage counter” -> “Put 1 damage counter” -1pt
- Add apostrophe and italicise “(both yours and your opponent’s)” -1.5pts
- “Then, if both you and your opponent would take 2 or more Prize cards this turn, you win the game.” -> “Then, if both you and your opponent would take 2 or more Prize cards in this way, you win this game.” -2pts
Believability: 9/15
Starfall is balanced nicely; it is good and viable, but not broken. The effect is very similar to the original version of @Steffenka’s Big Nugget item card (discard hand, draw 4 cards) which was nerfed later down the track. A lot of what made that card so good was the lack of other draw support within its custom format, and as this draws one less card and there actually are other options to choose from in the format, I’d say it’s ok.
Eternabeam, meanwhile, has a couple of issues. First looking at Standard, the damage output is inefficient early in the game against a multiprize meta since you’re highly likely to sweep yourself before you knock out the opponent – especially with no efficient way of accelerating all the energy you need. However, once you get properly set up, Eternatus only needs one or two attacks to knock out a low-HP two-prizer such as Dedenne-GX and win the game. It also totally dominates against a single-prize meta, with the lower HP of those cards only making it easier to win in a single attack. Shifting to Expanded, with the extra tools and energy acceleration within, this card would get banned instantly.
Pokémon V don't actually have Pokédex entries. -1pt
You also need to specify the level of weakness (ie +20, x2), so -1pt for that.
Final Score: 32.5/50
This is a pretty interesting card overall. Starfall brought you down in terms of creativity, and Eternabeam did the same in believability, so I think what you need to do moving forwards is to find a balance between creative and realistic effects in each aspect of the card. Paying more attention to detail would also help you a lot with your wording, but you've got a lot of potential and I look forwards to seeing what you come up with in the future!
@Nyora
Eternatus VMAX HP 340 Darkness
VMAX - Evolves from Eternatus V
(Eternamax)
/Ability/ ~ Eternal Stream
If this Pokémon is in the Active Spot and your turn would end by the effect of an attack, Ability, or Trainer card, you may use this Ability. If this Pokemon has the necessary Energy attached to it to use it’s Alkahest Void attack, before ending your turn, you may use that attack.
[D][D][C] Alkahest Void 150
Until this Eternatus VMAX leaves the Active Spot, your opponent’s Pokémon get -10 HP for each [C] in that Pokémon's Retreat Cost. This effect can’t be applied more than once.
When your Pokémon VMAX is Knocked Out, your opponent takes 3 Prize cards.
Weakness: Fighting x2
Resistance: None
Retreat: 3
VMAX - Evolves from Eternatus V
(Eternamax)
/Ability/ ~ Eternal Stream
If this Pokémon is in the Active Spot and your turn would end by the effect of an attack, Ability, or Trainer card, you may use this Ability. If this Pokemon has the necessary Energy attached to it to use it’s Alkahest Void attack, before ending your turn, you may use that attack.
[D][D][C] Alkahest Void 150
Until this Eternatus VMAX leaves the Active Spot, your opponent’s Pokémon get -10 HP for each [C] in that Pokémon's Retreat Cost. This effect can’t be applied more than once.
When your Pokémon VMAX is Knocked Out, your opponent takes 3 Prize cards.
Weakness: Fighting x2
Resistance: None
Retreat: 3
Creativity: 18/20
Eternal Stream introduces a totally new and really cool effect; you did really well on this! Alkahest Void is a bit less revolutionary in that it's more of a combination of effects, but the way the card as a whole opens up a lot of strategies is really great.
Wording: 8/15
Eternal Stream:
- Major wording change: "If this Pokémon is in the Active Spot and your turn would end by the effect of an attack, Ability, or Trainer card, you may use this Ability. If this Pokemon has the necessary Energy attached to it to use it’s Alkahest Void attack, before ending your turn, you may use that attack." -> "If this Pokémon is in the Active Spot and your turn would end by the effect of an Ability or Trainer card, you may use this Ability. Before your turn ends, this Pokémon can use its Alkahest Void attack. (You still need the necessary Energy to use that attack.)" -5pts
The main issue here is concerned with the specific mechanics of ending the turn; I went back and forth a lot over how to interpret this. There's some ambiguity in the rules themselves over whether all attacks end your turn, and if all attacks do then the card essentially functions as a glorified double attacker. If not, then including "attack" should work with the intended effect. However, especially considering that only one existing attack ends a player's turn, "attack" is such a niche thing to include that it hardly seems worth the confusion. After discussing it at length with Jabber and BB, I'm still unsure what exactly the intent behind that clause is, and that's a bit of a red flag. I'm going to dock a blanket [-2 points] from Wording for the ambiguity in that clause (due to its significance towards the rest of the card), and a cautious [-1 point] from Believability since I can't effectively judge it without knowing the intent of what it does.
Believability: 14/15
As a Vmax, this card is believable for sure, assuming that it was intended to not be a double attacker. Viable without being overpowered, there aren’t any broken combos or cards which make this an instant BDIF. The intended strategies relating to Eternal Stream (Babies/Steven’s Resolve/Zacian V) are both balanced and keep the card interesting. It opens up somewhat established but unexplored design space by interacting with existing effects in a new way. Alkahest Void is also balanced, and although it can scale up with cards like Galar Mine and Absol, it’s still hitting reasonable numbers for a Vmax and a little less than most of the current top decks.
-1pt for the ambiguity of the Ability's intention, as outlined in Wording.
Final Score: 40/50
Creativity and believability are both brilliant with this card; kudos to you! Unfortunately, often with new effects come difficult wordings, and this was no exception. Eternal Stream was one of the hardest wordings I've ever had to deal with, and you handled it better than can be generally expected of even experienced fakers such as yourself. Although the points don't reflect your efforts in Wording in the best light, you're well on your way to creating a perfect card, so good luck moving forward!
Eternal Stream introduces a totally new and really cool effect; you did really well on this! Alkahest Void is a bit less revolutionary in that it's more of a combination of effects, but the way the card as a whole opens up a lot of strategies is really great.
Wording: 8/15
Eternal Stream:
- Major wording change: "If this Pokémon is in the Active Spot and your turn would end by the effect of an attack, Ability, or Trainer card, you may use this Ability. If this Pokemon has the necessary Energy attached to it to use it’s Alkahest Void attack, before ending your turn, you may use that attack." -> "If this Pokémon is in the Active Spot and your turn would end by the effect of an Ability or Trainer card, you may use this Ability. Before your turn ends, this Pokémon can use its Alkahest Void attack. (You still need the necessary Energy to use that attack.)" -5pts
The main issue here is concerned with the specific mechanics of ending the turn; I went back and forth a lot over how to interpret this. There's some ambiguity in the rules themselves over whether all attacks end your turn, and if all attacks do then the card essentially functions as a glorified double attacker. If not, then including "attack" should work with the intended effect. However, especially considering that only one existing attack ends a player's turn, "attack" is such a niche thing to include that it hardly seems worth the confusion. After discussing it at length with Jabber and BB, I'm still unsure what exactly the intent behind that clause is, and that's a bit of a red flag. I'm going to dock a blanket [-2 points] from Wording for the ambiguity in that clause (due to its significance towards the rest of the card), and a cautious [-1 point] from Believability since I can't effectively judge it without knowing the intent of what it does.
Believability: 14/15
As a Vmax, this card is believable for sure, assuming that it was intended to not be a double attacker. Viable without being overpowered, there aren’t any broken combos or cards which make this an instant BDIF. The intended strategies relating to Eternal Stream (Babies/Steven’s Resolve/Zacian V) are both balanced and keep the card interesting. It opens up somewhat established but unexplored design space by interacting with existing effects in a new way. Alkahest Void is also balanced, and although it can scale up with cards like Galar Mine and Absol, it’s still hitting reasonable numbers for a Vmax and a little less than most of the current top decks.
-1pt for the ambiguity of the Ability's intention, as outlined in Wording.
Final Score: 40/50
Creativity and believability are both brilliant with this card; kudos to you! Unfortunately, often with new effects come difficult wordings, and this was no exception. Eternal Stream was one of the hardest wordings I've ever had to deal with, and you handled it better than can be generally expected of even experienced fakers such as yourself. Although the points don't reflect your efforts in Wording in the best light, you're well on your way to creating a perfect card, so good luck moving forward!
3rd Place: TheMaskedMeowth’s Vibrant Ultra Necrozma V, with 39.5/50 points.
2nd Place: Nyora’s Eternal Eternatus Vmax, with 40/50 points.
1st Place: Vom’s Kingslaying Nidoking, with 42/50 points.