Contest May 2021 CaC: Extreme Heights (Results Are Up!)

Can't believe I forgot to sign up until now, but put me in for image!

This time, I saw the prompt and immediately knew what I was going to make. The only problem was how to do it. At first, my plans were simply to make an Alolan Exeggutor LEGEND, to enhance the vertical aspect of the card. As I perused the art, however, I found a piece by Jarzard that was extraordinarily tall. The only thing to do, then, was to embark on the longest card conquest of my faking career. With @CardPone's Omnium LEGEND template at my side, I morphed, stretched, and mangled the blanks until they were twice as tall as beforehand. After that, it was a mere matter of hours, and the palm tree was complete. With the introduction out of the way, I present Alolan Exeggutor LEGEND LEGEND!

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My design philosophy for the non-aesthetic portion of this card was fairly simple. I wanted to make a REALLY memey card, so I extended an already convoluted mechanic and gave it some of the most ridiculous attacks ever printed. First off we have Atomic Egg Bomb, which knocks out both Active Pokémon. This is the kind of attack that I would love to see swoop in from nowhere and tie the game, causing the rare and sought-after sudden death game. The second attack, Hammer of the True Tree Hydra, is based on my favourite card ever printed, Slowbro UNB. For a mere 5 energy, it can do up to 500 base damage plus up to 400 spread to the bench (given sky field is in play). However, there is that 1/16 chance that you just straight up lose the game then and there. Victini does make this risk pretty nonexistent, but a 1/256 chance is still a chance, and that just makes it all the funnier when it happens. In terms of the weakness, resistance, and retreat cost, I decided to stick to form with those. I took Grass's weakness, Dragon's weakness, and gave it both, much like many LEGEND cards. The retreat cost is 3 because that's true to Alolan Exeggutor form.

Forretress VIV: “Both Active Pokémon are Knocked Out.”

Darmanitan DRM: “Flip 4 coins. This attack does X more damage for each heads.”
Escavalier DAA: “If all of them are heads”
Vibrava DAA: “This attack also does X damage to each of your opponent’s Benched Pokémon. (Don’t apply Weakness and Resistance for Benched Pokémon.)”
Delibird TR: “If all of them are heads… If all of them are tails…”
Slowbro UNB: “If all of them are tails, you lose this game.”
Rookidee DAA: “Before doing damage”
 
TheFlyingPidove said:
I'd like to sign up for text-based, please. Hopefully I won't end up dropping out again. >.>
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..I'm sorry to disappoint me, but I'm dropping out once again. Should've seen this one coming, huh. I guess faking just isn't my thing anymore after all. Sorry. :(
 
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I chose Ribombee for this month's CaC, partly due to the excellent art by TheAdorableOshawott. Along with a custom blank, this card also features my Plus mechanic (essentially another version of BREAK or Level X). Unlike Level X, Pokemon Plus don't count as the same card as their pre-evolution. The wording and balancing should be up to date with the current generation.

Aromatisse UNB
 
TheFlyingPidove said:
..I'm sorry to disappoint me, but I'm dropping out once again. Should've seen this one coming, huh. I guess faking just isn't my thing anymore after all. Sorry. :(
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No worries TFP — don't feel bad about it, and feel free to join again sometime! Always a pleasure to see your cards. :)

Everyone else, about 2 days remaining! Get those entries in!
 
Trolling @PMJ with the super late post.

Made a wall that is meant to block out non-vanilla attacks. Cosmoem cards so far are just boring and do nothing, so I figured I'd create a way that it does nothing but does so in a good way. SWSH block rules, hence the [D] weakness.

Cosmoem – Psychic – HP100
Stage 1 – Evolves from Cosmog

NO. 790 Protostar Pokémon HT: 0’04” WT: 2204.4 lbs.

Ability: Cosmic Shell
Prevent all effects of your opponent’s attacks that have effects other than damage, including damage, done to this Pokémon.

[C][C] Gravity Gathering
You may discard any number of cards from your hand. During your opponent’s next turn, the Defending Pokémon’s Retreat Cost is [C] more for each card you discarded in this way.

Weakness: Darkness (x2)
Resistance:
Retreat: [C][C][C]

The absorption of starlight fuels this Pokémon's growth. The shell that encases it is harder than any known material.
 
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No Weedle cards reference Weedle's nose for delicious leaves! I figured I'd change that by giving Weedle a bit of utility to search for Grass Energy. I also figured it might be interesting to combine the two typical Weedle attacks of Poison Sting and String Shot into one coin-flippy version.
 
Aaaaaand that's a wrap! Stay tuned for results at the end of the month!
 
Image-Based Results

Judge: @Jabberwock

Another month, another great set of entries. A warm welcome to our newcomers — we saw some really impressive work this round, and we hope to see everyone, newcomers and old hands alike, back for another round soon.

As a general note, remember to keep an eye on wording. Even if you think you know what you’re doing, making a list of specific references is a great way to check yourself.

The June round will be posted sometime in the next couple days. See you then!

~~Jabberwock

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Man oh man, stunning work on that blank! I love all the potential Omnium has opened up for customizability, and I’ve seen some pretty impressive takes on it already, but this is definitely a new level of custom. Flawless meshing of the e-series/SwSh elements, really clean integration of the dual-type texture effect, and some outstanding original art — what’s not to like? Pone summed it up himself — “holy cannoli” indeed!

The Ability and attack are pretty cool too — clear inspiration taken from existing Pumpkaboo and Gourgeist cards, like you mention, that deal with HP boosts and the discard pile. The HP boost in particular seems like a solid nod to the contest’s theme, and the fact that the attack actively makes use of the HP boost is indicative of some good design space.

That being said, I think you can afford to go a little harder, balance-wise. Getting 6 damage counters on a Pokémon is a pretty steep price to pay! And it’s not really the sort of thing where you can rely on your opponent to do it for you without Knocking Out your Pokémon. We can compare it to something like Durant BKP, which mills 4 cards for 2 Energy on the condition it has any damage counters on it. So for the amount of investment 6 would require, we’d probably expect it to mill more than one additional card.

The Held Item is a nice touch — some light counter-synergy with the attack, where you generally want to have damage counters on Pumpkaboo, but the Mago Berry lets you take them off. Being optional helps it out there, though. Mainly I like it as an aesthetics thing, with the bar taking up some space between the illustration and the rest of the card. Not sure why it’s gold when the other bars on the card are all silver, but it doesn’t look out of place.

Outstanding work overall — a very compelling debut entry. Welcome to CaC, and hope to see you around again soon! :)

Wording errors:
- “you can” -> “you may” in Mago Berry’s text. While “you can” has been seen on cards like Talonflame V, Eternatus VMAX, and the Mustards from Battle Styles, it’s always used for effects that change something about what the rules of the game allow you to do. Specific decisions like whether or not to heal 20 damage with a Held Item are always rendered with “you may”. [-1 point]
- Other effects look good. References are on point.

Fonts and Placement errors:
- All looks good to me — your blank, your rules, and there’s nothing too crazy here font-wise.

Creativity/Originality: 12/15
(Uses some existing Pumpkaboo-related design space with HP boosting and effects that care about the discard pile, but uses them in an interesting new way. There’s certainly some stellar creativity in the blank edits you’ve done, but that’s for the aesthetics score.)
Believability/Playability: 12/15
(Seems quite hard to use — powerful if you have an easy way of putting 6 damage counters on your own Pokémon, but I can’t think of any efficient way to do that with existing cards.)
Wording: 9/10
(One minor error.)
Fonts and Placement: 5/5
(Your blank, your rules.)
Aesthetics: 5/5
(Outstanding.)
Total: 43/50
uc


Okay! Back to some innovative new mechanics and incredible custom blank work! Really thought-provoking card, and impressive aesthetics as always, Nemes. I remember thinking the left-hand side looked kinda funky when I saw the card for the first time, but the mock-up with the Gengar helps a lot. The super-thin yellow line still seems a little weird, but I’ll roll with it. The card’s stunning overall.

Extra Tag seems like a huge flavor improvement on Tag Teams as a mechanic — i.e. actually having cards “team up”, rather than just two Pokémon on the same Basic card. I like that it manages to evoke that flavor in a vastly improved way, without losing sight of what the mechanic does right now. In particular, the Rule Box is spliced onto the first Pokémon when you attach Budew to it, turning it into, essentially, what a Tag Team is now. And then there’s the Tag Team Supporters referenced in the Ability, so between that and the Rule Box splicing thing, it could fit in very easily to a real-life format. Just a very elegant execution of a well-designed mechanic.

So the next question is about balancing — if you’re splicing the Tag Team rule onto a Pokémon without any Rule Boxes, you’re making it yield two more Prize cards than it normally would. Which is a big deal! Prize card yield manipulation on your own Pokémon has become more common in recent years — Island Challenge Amulet and Black Market Prism Star in addition to the older Expert Belt, for example — but we still haven’t seen anything that alters it by more than 1 Prize on the same card. So it’s hard to judge.

Cautiously, though, I think it’s good. +90 HP puts it roughly on par with Island Challenge Amulet / Hero’s Medal, just in the other direction, so that’s one Prize taken care of, and I think the Ability and GX attack justify the second. They’re cool effects; very versatile with all the ways to boost Poison and all the different Pokémon that could take advantage of attacking twice after a turn. It’s awkward to invest your GX attack on the assumption your opponent won’t be able to (a) switch their Active Pokémon and (b) switch your Active Pokémon on their next turn, so it’d definitely need some additional partners to work well, but I think that’s actually a point in its favor. It can probably turn the tide of a game, but requires some deckbuilding and gameplaying skill to pull off.

Overall, very impressed. Incredible work!

Wording errors:
- I wavered for a while on your use of “Rule Boxes” in an era that just referred to Pokémon with them as “Pokémon-GX and Pokémon-EX”. Why not just call them attributes the way you do in the last sentence? Where I ended up was that this is a justified use of an out-of-era term, since you’re splicing the Rule Box itself onto a new Pokémon, which is technically more than just the attributes. You also handled it well in changing the reminder text, so props. [-0 points]
- “Pokémon that isn’t a Pokémon with a Rule Box” -> “Pokémon that doesn’t have a Rule Box”, per Cherrim BST. [-2 points] (There’s a case to be made here that “Pokémon with a Rule Box”, pre-SwSh and without the benefit of any SwSh-on references, can be an attribute in and of itself, like “Pokémon-GX” or “Pokémon-EX” — that is, Pokémon don’t have Rule Boxes, they are “Pokémon with Rule Boxes”. In this case, “Pokémon that isn’t a Pokémon with a Rule Box” would be correct per cards like Nidoqueen TEU. However, if that were the case, your reminder text — and most of the rest of the Rule Box text — would need substantial rewording to reflect that.)
- I think the rest of the Rule Box wording is fine, actually — “attributes” is good; “gains” is acceptable. Props for wording a tricky effect in an understandable and not out-of-place way.

Fonts and Placement errors:
- Looks good — I was going to gripe about the lack of Justified text in the Rule Box, but Prism Stars don’t Justify their Rule Box text, so you’re good.

Creativity/Originality: 15/15
(I hear “Tag Teams would have been so much better if only they worked like this!” all the time, but can’t remember ever having seen one of those takes actually realized in card form. It’s executed very well, and beyond the mechanic itself, the gameplay potential is also top-notch. You’ve accomplished something really fantastic here.)
Believability/Playability: 15/15
(You took an existing mechanic, completely revamped how it works, and yet it doesn’t conflict with the existing rules for that mechanic in the game. That’s hard to do, but it all checks out. I tip you my metaphorical hat.)
Wording: 8/10
(Lots of wavering on my part, but only one minor error.)
Fonts and Placement: 5/5
(All good.)
Aesthetics: 5/5
(I particularly like the flower in the background matching one of the colors inside Budew’s bud. The colors are all great, work very well with the blank, and the holosheet is expertly applied too. It’s a beautiful card.)
Total: 48/50
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Always good to see your art gracing a card, and taking it to another level with a Pokémon V is no exception. The traditional (i.e. not 3D) style might have seemed out of place on an EX or a GX, but it looks right at home here. Black Kyurem is no easy Pokémon to draw, but you’ve got the posing and the shading and all executed perfectly.

The effects are neat, getting into some design space around Retreat Cost we rarely see explored. Thunder Shackles situationally increasing Retreat Cost and locking the Pokémon in the Active Spot against Switch-like cards is a new twist on existing Retreat Cost-raising effects, and Cold Press offers a synergistic way of dealing damage. Nothing outrageously new, but still an interesting take on some existing areas of the game.

One potential problem with the Ability, though, would be the proclivity of the SwSh era in general to spit out extremely viable stall archetypes — at least a few of which, in the past, have revolved around running the opponent out of resources and then locking some non-attacking Pokémon in the Active Spot. Thunder Shackles makes that extremely easy to do, especially since it prevents switching through Trainer cards. Obviously it depends on what other cards exist in any format this is introduced to — the assortment of gust effects, in particular) — but I think this card doesn’t necessarily need the no-switching effect anyway. Increasing Retreat Cost is pretty good on its own, and paired with the right attacks, it can certainly be viable without breaking the game.

Wording errors:
- “attached to it” -> “attached”, per Darkrai DAA. [-2 points]
- Shouldn’t have a space between the [C] symbols in Thunder Shackles’s effect, per Tower of Waters. [-0.5 point]

Fonts and Placement errors:
- Looks good to me.

Creativity/Originality: 12/15
(Some cool Retreat Cost-related design space in the Ability. The attack provides some light synergy, but there’s probably some room for more creativity there.)
Believability/Playability: 10/15
(It’s not very difficult to imagine an overwhelming stall archetype arising out of the powerful locking potential of the Ability, paired with pretty much any reliable gusting card.)
Wording: 7.5/10
(A couple minor errors. Don’t forget about SwSh-specific wording changes.)
Fonts and Placement: 5/5
(Looks good.)
Aesthetics: 5/5
(Very pretty art, and all the more impressive due to the complexity of the Pokémon.)
Total: 39.5/50
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lmao okay

I mean, what can I say. I remember you saying at the beginning of the month that you were gonna pull out all the stops and make a spiritual successor to a certain old CaC entry, and boy oh boy did you deliver. I genuinely laughed out loud when I saw it.

Art choice is great; love the wild and carefree look of two of the heads paired with the sunglasses on the third. And why not, PCL has done plenty of cards with meme-y artworks before. It’s hilarious that two of the cards are just neck, but one of them having a sea background and the other having a sky background adds an element of differentiation that’s important for cards like this.

I only have a couple of minor quibbles with the execution. For one, I think you could afford to put the body of Exeggutor in front of the illustration box on the bottom card, rather than behind it. The leaves on the tail already go over the box, so you might as well go the whole dynamic mile and put the entire Pokémon in front of it. For the other, I reckon there ought to be a lot more holosheet. Three of these cards only have holo effects on the name, which ain’t nearly enough holosheet for a LEGEND. Or a LEGEND LEGEND.

The attacks are good — one’s a nuke, which can either, as you said, force Sudden Death, or win the game outright when your opponent has no Benched Pokémon and 5 or more Prizes remaining. The other is probably the main attraction — you flip a bunch of coins, and in all likelihood, you achieve another nuke without sacrificing your big 4-Prize monster. Then there’s a good bonus if you get all heads, and a crushing defeat if you get all tails. I think it works on the nuke grounds alone — 5 Energy for a slightly risky average-of-300, yeah, why not. It’s good.

And overall, first glance, it’s spectacular. You set out to make a meme, you made a beautiful meme, mission accomplished. I love it.

Wording errors:
- The type icon suggests it’s a dual-type, but this needs to be explicitly stated on the card itself (“This Pokémon is both [G][N] type”) in order to work. Or you could have the two individual Energy icons, Steam Siege-style, but if you’re combining them into one then you have to resolve the ambiguity. [-2 points]
- Don’t need the “before doing damage” clause — the phases of an attack are do damage, apply other effects, then check for Knock Outs. You won’t take any Prize cards for the damage until after applying all effects anyway, by which time if you flipped 4 tails you’ll have lost anyway. [-2 points]

Fonts and Placement errors:
- LEGEND attack text is sometimes hard to break convincingly, but you got it here.

Creativity/Originality: 14/15
(Brilliant visual take on the theme, and what’s more, the meme-y attacks both have genuinely interesting gameplay potential. Well-designed, meme and all.)
Believability/Playability: 13/15
(As much as I want it to be believable, I can’t give you full marks here for a card named “LEGEND LEGEND”. I’m also hesitant about the “Legendary Pokémon” bar, since Exeggutor isn’t a Legendary Pokémon in the traditional sense, but “Legendary Pokémon” also isn’t an official TCG designator, so I’ll let it slide on the custom blank clause.)
Wording: 6/10
(A couple errors.)
Fonts and Placement: 5/5
(Nice breaking of the attack text.)
Aesthetics: 4.5/5
(Art choice is great and blanks are well-edited, but I’m docking a half-point for the virtual lack of holosheets on the top three cards. Not docking for the above-versus-below-the-illustration-box thing; just a suggestion to keep in mind.)
Total: 42.5/50
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Really pretty card. The thicker borders work well with the 3D minimalist aesthetic of the render, and the holosheet over the background is just excellent. Also always a fan of holosheets applied well over borders.

The effects are nothing super new, and there’s not much to say about them. It’s got a decent support/attacking combination of effects, but we’ve seen both before, and neither is really something you want to see on what’s effectively a Stage 2 with 120 HP. For comparison, Bronzong BST, Weavile-GX, and Aromatisse XY all have comparable effects on Stage 1s. This being a Stage 2 — that you can’t even use Rare Candy to accelerate, since it’s not technically a Stage 2 — means you can get away with some more potent effects. I don’t think the attack really achieves it on its own.

Wording errors:
- Should have a “Then,” in front of “for each Energy”, as per Raichu UNM and Moltres TEU. [-1 point]

Fonts and Placement errors:
- Your blank, your rules. All looks fine to me.

Creativity/Originality: 10/15
(Very lightly synergistic support/attack combination, but nothing all that new, and the Ability in particular we’ve seen plenty of times before.)
Believability/Playability: 12/15
(A little underpowered — once an Ability has been placed on a Stage 1, it’s hard to justify playing it on a Stage 2. The attack has some interesting potential, but, likewise, I have a hard time seeing it go very far on a Pokémon that requires that many turns of setup.)
Wording: 9/10
(One minor error.)
Fonts and Placement: 5/5
(Your blank, your rules.)
Aesthetics: 5/5
(The art blended with the holosheet blended with the blank — overall it’s superb.)
Total: 41/50
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Welcome to CaC! A solid first entry right out the gate — sifyro’s art lends itself really nicely to modern-era blanks, and this piece is no exception.

Frond Fancier is a helpful way to get Energy into your hand for a hypothetical Beedrill deck, which historically has relied on low Energy counts. The top 5 cards of your deck are probably unlikely to have a [G] Energy in them in general, but it’ll be a huge boon on the occasions they do. You mention Weedle’s propensity for searching out leaves to eat and how it’s rarely ever referenced in card form, and I think this Ability captures it well.

Stringy Strike is nifty and gimmicky — not super new in function, just a new-ish way of putting a few effects together. 50% of the time you get (probably) 20 damage, barring any Special Condition-blocking shenanigans from your opponent, and the other 50% you get 0 damage, but Paralysis. I think it could be priced at just one Energy, to be honest. Two Energy on a 40-HP Basic Pokémon is a steep cost, especially for this particular Pokémon. (Trivia: Koga’s Weedle is the only Weedle ever to have an attack costing more than 1 Energy.) So potentially some slight underpowering there, but the card’s certainly still usable for its Ability.

Wording errors:
- Looks good.

Fonts and Placement errors:
- Also looks good. If you’re in Photoshop, you should check the kerning on the attack damage and make sure it’s set to Optical and not Metrics, which messes with the positioning of the “1”, but it’s not a big deal for two-digit attack damages. [-0 points] here.

Creativity/Originality: 12/15
(Ability design is simple and elegant, and I like the attention to flavor. Attack is a little more gimmicky, but it does what you set out to make it do, and it’s also thematically appropriate for a Weedle.)
Believability/Playability: 13/15
(Cautious two points docked because I can’t see the attack ever seeing play. Even though the Ability makes up for it somewhat, it’s a bit of a red flag when some part of the card will never be used. Two Energy is a lot of Energy on a Pokémon like this.)
Wording: 10/10
(Looks good.)
Fonts and Placement: 5/5
(Also looks good.)
Aesthetics: 4/5
(Great art choice; proof that even evolving Basic Pokémon can look stellar. The last point here would come from something to put it over-the-top — think holosheets, a Full Art treatment, a custom blank, etc.)
Total: 44/50

3rd Place: Mick-773’s Pumpkaboo, with 43/50 points.
2nd Place: Mr. Sableye’s Weedle, with 44/50 points.
1st Place: Nemes’s &-Budew-GX, with 48/50 points.
 
Text-Based Results

The theme this month was highly generic, so it was incumbent on you all to make your cards interesting despite this. Gotta say, y'all didn't disappoint. It was fun to read your entries (except 47bennyg who like clockwork submitted his entry at the buzzer, thanks pal <3).

Wording was generally better overall; keep up the good work. Don't forget that you still need to use current era wording even if your reference is from a past era.

[Basic] Rain Castform & Gyarados-GX HP270 [W]
[TAG TEAM]

[W][W][W] Stormfront
Choose 1 attack that isn't a GX attack from any Pokémon with 260 HP or less in your discard pile or any Pokémon in play that has any damage counters on it and use it as this attack. (If those attacks have any effects that list a specific Energy or Pokémon type that isn't [W], those effects now list [W] Energy or [W] Pokémon instead until the end of your turn.) (You can't choose an attack that would make you choose another attack.)

[W]+ Typhoon Warning GX
For the rest of this game, your [W] Pokémon's attacks do 10 more damage for each [W] Energy attached to them to your opponent's Active Pokémon (before applying Weakness and Resistance). If this Pokémon has at least 1 extra [W] Energy attached to it (in addition to this attack's cost), remove all effects of your opponent's attacks on each player and their Pokémon. (You can't use more than 1 GX attack in a game.)

Weakness: [L]x2
Resistance: -
Retreat: [C][C][C]
TAG TEAM Rule: When your TAG TEAM is Knocked Out, your opponent takes 3 Prize cards.
Click to expand...

Nice to see you getting in line early. Will it pay off? Who knows...

Stormfront is a weird attack. Like, I get what it does, but copying attacks isn't something I see either of these Pokemon doing. I will say that overriding type-specific costs is certainly unique, but I believe this hurts the card more than it helps. When you copy attacks, you do as much of it as you can - so if you copy an attack that says discard 2 Fire and you don't have it, then you just discard nothing. With Stormfront, you now have to discard 2 Water, and with a cost as steep as this, that's bad news.

With that said, there aren't really any attacks outside of one or two that you could take advantage of this effect (although Full Blitz is a big one). Being able to use nearly any attack just by throwing it in your discard pile is plenty strong.

Good job including the word "opponent's" in Typhoon Warning GX. I missed it on my first readthrough and I was like wait a sec what

Wording errors:
Stormfront
- "Choose 1 non-GX attack" (Marshadow CEC) [-1 point]
- I'm giving you a pass on the rest of it, since there is no precedent for this sort of effect. It doesn't sound official but in lieu of an actual card I will begrudgingly accept this wording and you're off the hook. [-0 points]

Creativity/Originality: 1314/20
(Actually, I just realized that using a small and large Pokemon is actually super thematic for a Tag Team. I can dig it. Have a bonus point. The type overriding effect sounds neat on paper but does not have enough practical application to be useful.)
Wording: 14/15
(Good improvement over last month. Your only error is a forgivable one, notwithstanding the mess that is the latter half of the attack.)
Believability/Playability: 14/15
(Knocking you a point because copying attacks on such a wide scale isn't really in the wheelhouse of either of these Pokemon. Otherwise, pretty solid entry overall. Nice work.)
Total: 42/50
Floette ✦ - [C] - HP: 180 - Basic
No. 670 Eternal Blossom Pokémon - 0’08’’ - 2.0 lbs.

Ability: Light of Hope: Whenever this card is in play, the Defending Pokémon can only be dealt damage by the attacks of the Attacking Pokémon (The effects still activate but no damage is dealt). Whenever an effect that would deal damage to the Defending Pokémon (from a move from the Defending Pokémon, status effects, etc.) activatates with this card in play, this Pokémon takes 10 damage.

[P][G][C][C] Light of Ruin: 60+
Flip a coin. If heads, this attack does 30 more damage and deals 10 damage to this Pokémon. If tails, deal 20 damage to this Pokémon.
✦ (Prism Star) Rule: You can’t have more than 1 ✦ card with the same name in your deck. If a ✦ card would go to the discard pile, put it in the Lost Zone instead.

Weakness: Metal x2
Resistance: N/A
Retreat Cost: [C][C]
“This mysterious Pokémon, treasured by the ancient king of Kalos, was granted eternal life. Now, it holds the power to both heal and destroy.”
Click to expand...

I think Eternal Flower Floette makes for a great Prism Star. I think it's a shame that it's been relegated to Pokemon limbo like gen 4 Arceus and others.

Why is this Colorless?

I'm having a bit of trouble understanding what Light of Hope is supposed to do. I'm inclined to think that it means that Floette blocks all effects of attacks and only direct damage is allowed. It's unclear whether it only works for Floette's player or if it works on both players at once. It takes 10 damage any time it successfully blocks an effect?

The wording for it is all off (more on that later), which makes it hard for me to parse your intent. Assuming I'm right, it's a decent effect.

Light of Ruin is really bad. Prism Stars are limited to one copy per deck, so you're allowed to go a little wild with your effects. This attack, with its low damage, self damage, and huge, multicolored cost, doesn't check any boxes of things I'd wanna see on a Prism Star card.

And I still don't know why you decided to make it Colorless. It's a Prism Star, so that automatically qualifies your fake for SM era; Fairies still exist so there is no reason not to make it Fairy.

Holy giant Basics I just realized this thing has 180 HP. That is way, way too much.

Wording errors:
General
- Prism Stars don't have Pokedex info. Eternal Floette also doesn't have its own classification; it shares the same classification as the rest of the Floette. While these are both errors, I'm penalizing you only for including the info when you should not have. [-1 point]
- The Prism Star rule should be above the Ability. [-1 point]
Light of Hope
- It's too difficult to accurately determine what this card is supposed to do because there are things that need to be clear that aren't. Having a general idea isn't good enough. There are also wording errors like "deals" damage, incorrect references to self-damage... Just gonna do a blanket reduction here and tell you to check real cards for effects and proper wording. [-5 points]
Light of Ruin
- "...more damage and this Pokémon does 10 damage to itself. (Pikachu CEC) [-0.5 point]
- "If tails, this Pokémon does 20 damage to itself. (Pikachu CEC) [-0.5 point]

Creativity/Originality: 14/20
(Excellent choice for a Prism Star card.)
Wording: 7/15
(Don't ever just guess! pkmncards.com is a fantastic resource to look up card text.)
Believability/Playability: 8/15
(Floette is Fairy, not Colorless; HP is way too high; Light of Ruin's attack cost is needlessly complex; card in general is underpowered and doesn't stand out as Prism Star material.)
Total: 29/50
Basic | Kartana | 70 HP | G
Drawn Sword Pokémon. Length: 1'00, Weight: 0.2 lbs.
Ability Kirigami Manoeuvre
If you have more Prize cards remaining than your opponent, don't apply Resistance when this Pokémon attacks.
G G Revenge Sword 40+
This attack does 70 more damage for each Prize card your opponent took on their last turn.
Weakness Rx2 | Resistance | Retreat
"Although alien to our world, a Kartana was seen protecting Bellsprouts like they were its own"
Click to expand...

Okay, not a lot of bells and whistles on this guy, but that's not a bad thing! Sometimes simpler is better. Let's see if it's true for you this month.

Kirigami Manoeuvre is actually super helpful, with Metal Pokemon being almost universally resistant to Grass.

Revenge Sword is super strong. Silvally UNM, a Stage 1, hits 180 for CC after a 3-Prize turn. Comparatively, Kartana, a Basic, does 250 for GG. The change from SM to SWSH does not justify such a drastic increase in damage, and especially not on a Basic.

Wording errors:
General
- Kartana's Pokedex number is missing. [-1 point]
- There's an extra period after the classification. [-1 point]
- In SWSH, lengths of zero inches are removed (1', not 1'00") (Starly DAA) [-1 point]
- Pokémon is its own plural (Bellsprout, not Bellsprouts) [-1 point]
- A period is missing at the end of the flavor text. [-1 point]
Kirigami Manoeuvre
- I'm dinging you for your spelling of the word "Manoeuvre", but only because English cards have used the word "Maneuver", so there's precedent. (Weavile-GX) [-1 point]
- "...than your opponent, damage from this Pokémon's attacks isn't affected by Resistance." (Zygarde FLI) [-1 point]

Creativity/Originality: 14/20
(Nothing too out of the box here, but I like that Kirigami Manoeuvre kicks in when you're losing and getting ready to make a big play to come back.)
Wording: 8/15
(Check and double check your wording before you submit!)
Believability/Playability: 14/15
(The damage needs toning down but otherwise I could easily see it as real. You did what you set out to do. Good job overall.)
Total: 36/50
Mimikyu HP: 70 [P]
Basic
mimikyu.png

NO. 778 Disguise Pokémon HT: 8' WT: 1.5 lbs.
Ability: Jealous Heart
If any damage is done to this Pokémon by attacks during your opponent's turn, if your opponent played a Supporter card from their hand during their turn, prevent that damage.

[P][P] Lonely Claws 50
If you didn't play a Supporter card during your turn, your opponent reveals their hand. Choose 2 cards you find there and discard them.

Weakness: [D] x2
Resistance: [F] -30
Retreat: [C]

A gust of wind revealed what hides under this Pokémon's rag to a passing Trainer, who went home and died painfully that very night.
Click to expand...

I like it. The Ability is interesting and synergizes with the attack. I'm more interested in what the attack can do rather than the Ability; that's a super good effect. If you can position yourself in the late game to score a kill with it after a Reset Stamp or something, you can keep the opponent in topdeck mode for a while.

A side note: You mentioned giving Mimikyu a Fairy Weakness just to be different. I would advise against doing that, at least in SWSH era; you'll notice that Weakness and Resistance in SWSH are extremely rigid and every type has the same ones. Never mind that Fairy doesn't exist in SWSH anymore or that Mimikyu isn't weak to Fairy, I would dock points for going against convention here. If you meant giving it a Metal Weakness, that would be okay to do, although I'd probably mention that existing Mimikyu follow Psychic (Ghost) conventions, not Fairy, in terms of Weakness and Resistance.

Wording errors:
General
- You used the incorrect notation for inches ("); your Mimikyu is 8' (feet) tall! [-1 point]
Jealous Heart
- I'd argue that the Supporter clause should go first but I could see it go both ways so you're off the hook on this. [-0 points]
Lonely Claws
- If you didn't play any Supporter card from your hand during your turn..." (Igglybuff GE) [-2 points]

Creativity/Originality: 15/20
(A cool card all around.)
Wording: 12/15
(Feels a little odd to use an old Igglybuff as a reference, but there has never been a card to use the phrase "play a Supporter". Using "any" also removes all ambiguity from the attack. Incidentally, Igglybuff is the only card to use the phrase "play any Supporter" so that's what I'm going with.)
Believability/Playability: 15/15
(No issues.)
Total: 42/50
Shaymin
Type: [G] – HP 80
Basic
NO. 492 Gratitude Pokémon HT:0′08″ WT: 4.6 lbs

Ability: Rainbow Burst
When you play this Pokémon from your hand onto your Bench during your turn, you may look at the top 3 cards of your deck and attach any Basic Energy cards you find there to this Pokémon. Put the other cards into your hand. You can’t use more than 1 Rainbow Burst Ability each turn.


[G][R][W] Amazing Flare 10+
Move as many Energy cards attached to this Pokémon to your Benched Pokémon in any way you like. This attack does 30 more damage for each energy moved in this way.

Weakness: [R]x2
Resistance:

Retreat: [C]

Dex Entry: The blooming of Gracidea flowers confers the power of flight upon it. Feelings of gratitude are the message it delivers.
Click to expand...

Eh, not too bad. The power may as well say "draw 3 cards" but the potential for a quick power up is there. My only issue is that the attack isn't very amazing. You can typically do 100 damage and set up another Shaymin to attack, but that ain't a lot compared to what the other Amazing Rare cards can do. All it takes is one Boss's Orders and your newly powered up Shaymin is dead, and there goes all your Energy. And what do you have to show for it, 100 damage? That ain't even a 3HKO in this format.

You need to pump up those numbers and make the attack worthy of the moniker "Amazing." I like the effect and the potential to chain Shaymin together, so let's keep that, but increase the damage to 50x instead of 30x. That'll give you 160 damage at a minimum and turn this card into something resembling a potent single-Prize attacker.

Wording errors:
Rainbow Burst
- "...and attach any number of basic Energy cards..." (Alcremie RCL) [-1 point]
- Don't capitalize "basic" when referring to Energy. (Alcremie RCL) [-1 point]
Amazing Flare
- "Move any amount of Energy..." (Staraptor DAA) [-1 point]
- It should be "from" this Pokémon, not "attached to" this Pokémon. (Staraptor DAA) [-1 point]
- "to your other Pokémon..." (Staraptor DAA) [-1 point]
- Capitalize "Energy" in all cases. [-1 point]
- "...for each Energy card you moved in this way." (Alolan Golem TEU) [-2 points]

Creativity/Originality: 13/20
(Decent synergy with multiple Shaymin, but it's lacking a 'wow' factor.)
Wording: 7/15
(Gotta double check those references.)
Believability/Playability: 13/15
(Playable only in the strictest sense, it's only rarely worth the Bench space, even if you're utilizing its Ability in other decks.)
Total: 33/50
Cutiefly [P] HP 30

[Ability]Big Cheer
Once during your turn,before you attack,you may search your deck for a Basic Energy card and attach it to 1 of your Pokémon.
If you go second and it's your first turn, instead search for up to 3 Basic
Energy cards and attach them to your Pokémon in any way you like. Then, shuffle your deck.
You can’t use more than 1 Big Cheer Ability each turn.

[C]Pollen Escamotage 10
Your opponent's Active Pokémon is now Asleep and Poisoned.
Shuffle this Pokémon and all cards attached to it into your deck.

Weakness: [M]X2
Resistance:None
Retreat Cost:[C]
"Nectar and pollen are its favorite fare. You can find Cutiefly hovering around Gossifleur, trying to get some of Gossifleur’s pollen."
Click to expand...

That's quite the Cutiefly. It's pretty damn busted. Big Cheer is extremely powerful; it would be in every deck, no questions asked. The risk of getting sniped out is well worth the benefit of getting a free three Energy attachments on your first turn going second. Add in the fact that Cutiefly simply being on your field doubles all your Energy attachments for as long as it's on the field and you have a veritable monster on your hands.

Pollen Escamotage is almost an afterthought with how completely bonkers Big Cheer is. This thing will never attack, but in the event it does, that's still a fantastic attack, considering its cost, what it's on, and what it does.

Wording errors:
General
- Cutiefly's Stage is missing. [-1 point]
- Cutiefly's Pokedex information is missing. [-1 point]
Big Cheer
- "before your attack" was deprecated as of Sword & Shield. (Rillaboom SSH) [-2 points]
- "Basic" is never capitalized when referring to Energy. (Energy Recycler BST) [-1.5 points]
Pollen Escamotage
- "and all cards attached to it" was deprecated as of Sword & Shield; the proper wording is "and all attached cards." (Eldegoss V RCL) [-2 points]

Creativity/Originality: 12/20
(Turning Flare Starter into an Ability is a hugely bad idea.)
Wording: 7.5/15
(Be careful about using references from previous eras. Don't forget to adapt your wording to the current era.)
Believability/Playability: 10/15
(For an evolving Basic, it's completely unbelievable, and massively broken besides. The theme does not give you carte blanche to give your chosen Pokemon whatever effects you want, no matter how out of place they are.)
Total: 29.5/50
Regigigas - HP180 – Colorless
Basic Pokémon

NO. 486 Colossal Pokémon HT: 12’02” WT: 925.9 lbs.

Ability: Titanomachy
If Regice is on your Bench, this Pokémon’s attacks do 30 more damage to your opponent's Active Pokémon (before applying Weakness and Resistance). If Regirock is on your Bench, this Pokémon takes 30 less damage from attacks (after applying Weakness and Resistance). If Regieleki is on your Bench, this Pokémon has no Retreat Cost. If Registeel is on your Bench, this Pokémon gets +60HP. If Regidrago is on your Bench, this Pokémon has no Weakness.

[W][F][M][L][C] Amazing Wrath 280
Discard 3 Pokémon with "Regi" in their name from your Bench. If you don’t, this attack does nothing. This Pokémon is now Confused and during your next turn, can’t attack.

Weakness: Fighting x2
Resistance:
Retreat: [C][C][C][C]

It is said to have made Pokémon that look like itself from a special ice mountain, rocks, and magma.
Click to expand...

I can dig it. It's super thematic and strong as hell. Regigigas is one of my favorites from gen 4 and I like that this isn't just another gimmick that neuters his attacking potential with an Ability. On the contrary, the Ability makes Regigigas more powerful, which is as it should be.

Amazing Wrath is actually kind of weak. I think you hit it just a little too hard with the nerf bat; as you pointed out, Amazing Reshiram does 270 for 3 and Amazing Yveltal straight up KOs for the same five Energy, so I don't actually think you need all the debuffs on your side, especially considering that 280-310 won't OHKO everything it hits. I know you mentioned Powerful Colorless Energy, but even considering that, I think you could have gone a little easier on the poor boy. You definitely don't need the self-confusion and attack removal; not with that cost.

Wording errors:
Titanomachy
- Type order is only for symbols. When referring to specific Pokemon themselves, Pokedex order is the way. (Ancient Crystal UPR) [-1 point]
Amazing Wrath
- Again, type order is for symbols. The correct order for this attack's cost should be WLFMC. But you probably knew that. [-1 point]
- You might think otherwise because it makes sense, but you do actually need to say "this Pokemon can't attack" even if you are referring to the same Pokemon or action. (Lickilicky UNM) Lickilicky is the perfect example of this; the card tells the player to discard 3 separate times even though it's all part of the same action. [-1 point]

Creativity/Originality: 15/20
(Thematic and powerful. I would hope that the other Regis would have appropriate ways to possibly make Regigigas viable.)
Wording: 12/15
(I feel bad docking you for what you thought was the correct move, but on the other hand, you will never make these mistakes again.)
Believability/Playability: 14.5/15
(I'm taking off a half point because of your mention of Regidrago, who, as a pure Dragon-type, currently has no logical way to get a card in SWSH era (the Colorless type is currently reserved only for Flying-type dragons; there are no pure dragons with cards in SWSH as of this writing). While it's possible that they may just make them Colorless down the road or simply not make them at all (which is my guess), the fact is that right now it's not believable for Regidrago to exist in card form.)
Total: 41.5/50
Igglybuff GX // HP140
Fairy - Basic Pokémon

[Ability] Get Inspired!
Whenever a Supporter card you played would go to the discard pile, you may attach it to this Pokémon instead.

[Y][C] Singing Practice - 50
You may discard a Supporter card attached to this Pokémon. If you do, use the effect of that card as the effect of this attack.

[Y][C][C] Debut GX - 30x
You may discard any amount of cards attached to this Pokémon. This attack does 30 damage for each card you discarded in this way. Your opponent’s Active Pokémon is now Asleep. (You can't use more than 1 GX attack in a game.)

Pokémon-GX rule: When your Pokémon-GX is Knocked Out, your opponent takes 2 Prize cards.

Weakness: Metal (x2)
Resistance: None.
Retreat: [C]
Click to expand...

I had to think about this one for a while to see if I liked the idea behind it or not. On the one hand, you are technically wrong when saying you can just attach cards willy-nilly if the card allows for it, because no card like that currently exists. PlusPower wasn't a Supporter and also had a major wording change as of its most recent printing; every Pokemon that gets attached specifically mentions the manner in which that card is allowed to be attached ("as a Pokemon Tool card" or "as a Special Energy card"). Supporters getting attached? Hasn't happened. So it's weird to see a card specifically mention attaching Supporters, not as a specific type of card the way a Pokemon would, but just... as a card that's attached.

In the end, I've decided that I'm hesitantly okay with it. Keeping them out of your discard pile has strategic ramifications, and leaving them attached to a 140 HP GX is just asking for trouble. Your Supporters being latched to a Pokemon doesn't actually break anything, so as much as I have disdain for your heresy, I'll allow it and consider it a unique perk for this specific card because, honestly, this thing needs all the help it can get.

I don't like that it has 140 HP. I get that it's a baby, but the lowest Pokemon-GX HP is 150 and those two Pokemon have valid reasons for such low HP. Igglybuff-GX has... nothing. It's just a weak, frail attacker with a meme Ability that arguably hurts you more than it helps since it keeps your Supporters out of your discard pile.

Singing Practice is okay but I could never justify using either of this Pokemon's attacks with how frail Igglybuff-GX is. There are much better GX attacks to use and Singing Practice isn't good enough to warrant the low HP.

I'm not saying that giving it 150 or even 160 HP would solve this card's problems, but it would at least make it feel slightly more believable.

Actually, I think this would have made a decent regular Igglybuff card. Babies are horrendous in SM era; this would make the card have an actual niche. You probably still would have lost a point in Believability, but you probably would have more than made up for it in Creativity. There's just no reason for this to be a GX.

Wording errors:
General
- Pokemon-GX names are hyphenated. (Zygarde UNM) [-1 point]
- Fairy-type Pokemon-GX have Darkness Resistance. All of them, with the exception of Mimikyu-GX (who is the exception to the rule, as it has no Weakness either). [-1 point]
Get Inspired!
- I'm not sure this is right. It sounds wrong, but I don't know how to fix it (if it is). [-0 points]

Creativity/Originality: 14/20
(Attaching your Supporters is interesting design space, but this never should have been a GX. It just makes it a humongous liability. There's no reward for the massive risk involved with playing this card.)
Wording: 13/15
(These are simple mistakes that you won't repeat.)
Believability/Playability: 12/15
(HP is below the limit with no gameplay reason to make it so; its attacks are decent at best. I can't see a reason this would be worth the Bench space.)
Total: 39/50
Cosmoem – Psychic – HP100
Stage 1 – Evolves from Cosmog

NO. 790 Protostar Pokémon HT: 0’04” WT: 2204.4 lbs.

Ability: Cosmic Shell
Prevent all effects of your opponent’s attacks that have effects other than damage, including damage, done to this Pokémon.

[C][C] Gravity Gathering
You may discard any number of cards from your hand. During your opponent’s next turn, the Defending Pokémon’s Retreat Cost is [C] more for each card you discarded in this way.

Weakness: Darkness (x2)
Resistance:
Retreat: [C][C][C]

The absorption of starlight fuels this Pokémon's growth. The shell that encases it is harder than any known material.
Click to expand...

Okay, I guess that's an interesting take. Trying to figure out how to word Cosmic Shell is hurting my brain.

Gravity Gathering should cost one Energy.

Wording errors:
General
- Cosmoem should have a -30 Fighting Resistance. [-1 point]
Cosmic Shell
- "Prevent all effects of your opponent's Pokemon's attacks..." (Corviknight VMAX) [-1 point]
- This is a wording nightmare [-0 points]
Gravity Gathering
- You don't need "you may" here. (Cramorant VIV) [-1 point]

Creativity/Originality: 13/20
(Neat take on the damage guarding archetype. I do worry about it being able to block too much stuff.)
Wording: 12/15
(No comment.)
Believability/Playability: 13/15
(Walls stuff? Check. Worthless attack? Check. Permanent home in the binder? Check.)
Total: 38/50

3rd Place: ShaQuL’s Regigigas, with 41.5/50 points.
1st Place: Vom’s Rain Castform & Gyarados-GX and Falling Skies's Mimikyu, with 42/50 points.

Congrats to the winners, and good luck next month!
 
Lol. Love the "no comment" on my wording. I think for what I am doing, it is within the parameters of what tpci has put out, but if they were to ever print an effect like mine, it would get its own unique wording. Nice job everyone!
 
Can I get an F in chat for @ShaQuL who missed out on a tie for first by half a point for his mention of Regidrago since dragons didn't exist in the tcg a day ago
 
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