Contest November 2019 CaC: Ancient Pokémon! (All Results Up!)

super super pushing the time limit

Relicanth and Wailord GX | HP 290 | [W]
TAG TEAM

Ability: First and Last
When you play this Pokémon (onto your Bench), look at the top 6 cards of your deck. Return 3 cards to the top of your deck, in any order, and place 3 cards at the bottom of your deck, in any order.

[W][W][C][C] Sealing Whirlpool 140
Discard 2 cards from your hand. If you can't discard 2 cards, you can't use this attack.

[W][W] Unlocking GX
From your discard pile, you may take up to 3 cards, in any combination, of Regirock, Registeel, and Regice, and place them on your Bench. You may also take up to 3 Pokémon Tool or Special Energy cards from your discard pile and attach them, in any order, to those Pokémon. For the rest of the game, the Retreat Cost of these Pokémon is [C] less. Shuffle your active Pokémon, and all cards attached to it, into your deck. (You can't use more than 1 GX attack in a game.)

___________

Weakness: [L] x2
Resistance: [R] -30
Retreat: [C][C][C]

TAG TEAM rule: When your TAG TEAM is Knocked Out, your opponent takes 3 Prize cards.

(this is probably full of mistakes but i forgot to submit until the last minute whoops)
 
woah a double post

will it give a deduction if I delete one? They're the same post; I just somehow posted it twice.
 
Holy crap I read bbninjas' post timestamp as PM instead of AM...hopefully this still gets accepted. :x

[Basic] Dracovish-GX HP210 [W]
You can only play this card with the effect of Fossilized Fish and Fossilized Drake
93228-1205640-376-dracovish-full-1-amp_main_img-1.png

Ability: A Fish and a Dragon Walk Into a Bar
As often as you like during your turn (before your attack), if you have Fossilized Fish and Fossilized Drake in your discard pile, you may discard a card from your hand. If you do, search your deck for a card with Fossil in its name and put it into your hand. Then, shuffle your deck.

[F][F][C] Fishious Rend 130+
You may do 30 more damage for each card with Fossil in its name in your discard pile. If you do, put them on the bottom of your deck in any order, then draw that many cards.

[F] Mass Extinction GX 70
If you go first, you can use this attack on your first turn. (You can't use more than 1 GX attack in a game.)

Weakness: [G]x2
Resistance: -
Retreat: [C][C][C][C]
GX Rule: When your Pokémon-GX is Knocked Out, your opponent takes 2 Prize cards.
The new Fossilized cards would work like a Puzzle of Time kinda thing: play 1, you search your deck for an energy and attach it to a Pokémon that mentions Fossil in its text; play 2 in any combination, you search your deck for the corresponding fossil pokemon. (There would be 4 different fossilized cards like in the games).

Also the attacks are a little bit stronger since you can't just play this thing normally, you need to play Fossilized Drake and Fossilized Fish at the same time.

also there is precedent for fossil pokemon having F costs despite not being F type so fight me I just wanted backwards compatibility
 
Aaaaaand that's a wrap on this round! Y'all's cards will still be accepted since you got here before me. :p

Ephemera said:
woah a double post

will it give a deduction if I delete one? They're the same post; I just somehow posted it twice.
Click to expand...
Yeah, you can delete one of those posts. All good.
 
Eeeeeeeeh, I missed x.x

I honestly kinda forgot I signed up. Hope this doesn't cause too much of an issue ///
 
Nyan said:
Eeeeeeeeh, I missed x.x

I honestly kinda forgot I signed up. Hope this doesn't cause too much of an issue ///
Click to expand...
Don't worry about it haha, the only reason there would be an issue is if we hit the max number of signups and you were keeping a spot from somebody else. That never happens these days so it's a bit of an obsolete rule. :p
 
Image-Based Scores
Judge: @bbninjas

I was very impressed by the quality of the entries this month. There were ZERO word errors from our regulars this month, which I don’t think I’ve ever seen in the image portion before. The art was fantastic with solid scoring all round.

~~bbninjas

WaterTrainer:
7nhbE03.png

Welcome to the competition WaterTrainer! It’s great to have you.

Aerowave and Ancient Chaos are nice simple attacks with flavour that fits the theme well. Both attacks are bit OP for the Classic-era, however. In the Classic-era, attacks do about 30 damage for 2 Energy - not 40 + 20 with the chance of Confusion. Similarly, attacks do about 80 damage for 4 Energy - not 90 with 20 to each Benched. The HP of Lugia cards in this era is either 80HP or 90HP, so the 100HP you’ve given is a bit high.

For some reason Lugia has Fighting Weakness and Psychic Resistance - it should be the other way around.

Don’t be discouraged that your score is lower than other’s -- everyone else has been faking for at least a year. If you want to improve, take on board the feedback you received today! We’ve also got a Discord chat if you’d like real time advice.

Wording errors:
- “confused” should be capitalised. (-1pt)
- “two” should be “2”. (-1pt)

Fonts and Placement errors:
- The HP, card name, attack names and attack effect fonts are wrong. They should be Gill Sans, and bolded. (-4pts)
- The HP is much too large. (-1pt)
- There should be a “-30” next to the resistance. (-1pt)
- The WRR orbs are too small. (-1pt)
- The Energy orbs for attacks in the Classic-Era are not arranged in a horizontal line, but are rather stacked. (-2pts)
- The attack effect text should not be bolded. (-1pt)

Creativity/Originality: 9/15
(Fun flavour, simple attacks.)
Wording: 13/15
(Not too shabby.)
Fonts and Placement: 0/10
(Needs some work.)
Believability/Playability: 2/5
(OP attacks, strange Weakness / Resistance, high HP)
Aesthetics: 1/5
(Sugimori art.)
Total: 25/50

steffenka:
ddk69qy-d984de08-5ec4-4ce2-b70d-655ec56643e8.png


Nice to see that you’re branching out and exploring other eras Steff!

Uxie-EX is essentially a Mew-EX clone -- the Being of Knowledge Ability is the same, and it’s another Psychic type -- so not much to comment on there. Memory Control is different but fits the card’s theme, though it doesn’t have the synergy that Mew-EX’s Replace attack had with its Ability. Memory Control is rather underpowered compared to other cards of the era, which would have the same effect for 1 Energy, with 30 base damage (see Simisage XY, etc).

I like how you did your own art, steff! The pale blue / purple / gold colour scheme works very well. However, the gold lines on the art are rough around the edges and look too thick in places, leaving the aesthetic feeling a bit unpolished.

Your placements are probably the best they’ve ever been Steff! Aside from the one error below, all the other placements are pixel-perfect (which you don’t normally see, even in the CAC).

Wording errors:
- Looks good.

Fonts and Placement errors:
- The attack effects span out a bit too far. The rightmost edge of the effect text should be a few pixels over to the left. (-1pt)

Creativity/Originality: 10/15
(Fun effects and flavour.)
Wording: 15/15
(Perfecto)
Fonts and Placement: 9/10
(A minor error)
Believability/Playability: 4/5
(A tad underpowered)
Aesthetics: 3/5
(Needs more polish.)
Total: 41/50

chico:
uc


This is a stunner chico! It looks nearly as good -- if not better -- than some of the Ancient cards that I’ve seen Asche put out. I see you’ve taken some creative license with the runes (i.e. “ancient Japanese”). I do have to drop a point in the Believability department for that, but otherwise I think it’s a nice choice!

Ninetales art looks fantastic -- you’ve captured the ancient style perfectly.

Wording errors:
- Hmm, it seems I can’t understand any of it!

Fonts and Placement errors:
- The card name is a bit too far to the right.

Creativity/Originality: 9/15
(Mechanic choice is original, but the effects themselves (obviously) aren’t.)
Wording: 15/15
(Easy points)
Fonts and Placement: 9/10
(Minor error.)
Believability/Playability: 4/5
(Uses Ancient Japanese instead of runes.)
Aesthetics: 5/5
(STUNNED)
Total: 42/50

The Ωmega One:
NovCAC19.png


The rendering is a standout piece of work Omega, well done! Love the pastel colours, watercolour strokes and the detail hidden in the background. I’m not a fan of the canvas texture you’ve applied on the art, though -- it looks fake and a bit amateurish. In real life, canvas distorts the brush shape and the strokes sort of flow around the grooves. The shadows casted by the grooves probably needed more contrast as well.

I like the nods to past Golurk cards, reflecting the Iron Fist of Justice attack on the old Plasma Golurk. The ability and attacks are nothing particularly original, but are fun. They are an odd combination, since the effects have little synergy with each other. Balance looks good. Seal Shatter is basically Arceus & Palkia & Giratina Tag Team, so nothing much to see there.

Wording errors:
- Looks fine!

Fonts and Placement errors:
- The Type orb next to the HP is too high. (-1pt)
- HP250 is too close to the Type orb -- it should be further left. (0.5pt)
- The card name is too large (should be squished horizontally, and of smaller font size). (-1pt)
- The Type orb is a few pixels too small. (-0.5pt)
- The attack effect text should start a few more pixels to the left (the black of the first letter should be in line with the red of the Ability). (-1pt)
- There should be a white stroke on the outside of the Type orb. (-1pt)

Creativity/Originality: 10/15
(Fun attacks but nothing particularly original.)
Wording: 15/15
(Everything looks good)
Fonts and Placement: 5/10
(A few errors in the upper half of the card.)
Believability/Playability: 5/5
(Looks very real.)
Aesthetics: 4/5
(Canvas texture looks amateurish.)
Total: 39/50

CardPone & Kavross:
CaC_04_-_Armaldo_1.png


Oh WOW. I must have missed this card when it was first posted, since this is the first time I’ve seen it!

Apex Armor is a really interesting and original effect idea, and I like how it’s become the focus of the card design. Reclaim has obvious synergy with Apex Armor, while Compound Jab is more subtle. In fact, it has synergy both by providing additional bulk on top of a HP boost, as well as giving the player a place to put excess Energy so that they secure said HP boost. Very cool. Reclaim does seem particularly weak however, considering Energy Retrieval exists, and Compound Jab should probably cost 3 for 100 + 40 reduced damage in SM-era.

The art direction is fantastic. Using greens and browns in the art to match the dual-type blank is brilliant.

Wording errors:
- Looks great!

Fonts and Placement errors:
- I know I docked points for the attack effect spanning across too much of the blank for Anorith last competition, but it actually looks alright on this card. I reckon that’s because there is a more text vertically and less space between the individual effects. While there is less white space, it is distributed more snugly.

Creativity/Originality: 13/15
(Original Ability supported by synergetic design choices.)
Wording: 15/15
(Perfect.)
Fonts and Placement: 10/10
(Looks good.)
Believability/Playability: 4/5
(Attacks are a bit underpowered.)
Aesthetics: 5/5
(Inspired.)
Total: 47/50

3rd Place: steffenka’s Uxie-EX, with 41/50 points.
2nd Place: Chico’s Ninetales, with 42/50 points.
1st Place: CardPone & Kavross’s Armaldo with 47/50 points
 
Text-based results are delayed slightly this month. They'll be up as soon as possible. Bear with us! ^.^
 
Wow! This is the third time a row I've gotten a higher score than I expected, haha! Thanks so much for all the kind words and another super-thanks to Kavross for absolutely nailing the artwork!

I'm not asking for any changes to the scoring, but in your notes you mentioned it being a little on the weak side for SM-era cards. Despite the SM-inspired aesthetic, Omnium cards are all balanced for late-DPPt/HGSS (it was mentioned on one of the bullets in my notes). I honestly though the attack might be too strong for that era after looking at other Armaldo cards, but it's hard to say. Either way, I'm still super happy with the score! Can't wait to see how I can edge closer to that fabled perfect 50 in the next contest!

Congrats to everyone else, too! There were some fantastic image fakes this time around!
 
Yeeeehaw!! :D I got 2nd! Now I've been 1st, 2nd and 3rd. My life is complete haha

I really like @The Ωmega One's and @CardPone's+@Kavross's cards. Golett/Golurk are one of my fave species. And I like the art style a lot! Same with Armaldo's style... it's quite painterly! Plus the mixture between gen formats looks great!

I hope you all had a great end of the year. Thanks a lot for organizing these events!! <3
 
Text-Based Scores
Judge: @NinjaPenguin

Judge’s Note:
Apologies for the judging delay this month. I thought this was a super great and creative bunch of cards! Every single card had unique effects, a great theme, fun synergy, or all of the above, which is always fun to read through and judge. Wording was also pretty much normal this month; just be sure to use good references (for finding them, I recommend pkmncards.com and using +text:”[Insert text here]” to try to find cards with similar text) and copy them down correctly. My major note for this month was that most cards had issues with the believability category, either because they neglected to include some part of the card, did not reference some of the basic parts of their card (i.e. HP and Weakness/Resistance/Retreat Cost) with other cards of that same Pokémon, or failed to properly balance their card. For the future, be careful that your card has everything that needs to be included on there and has similar power levels as other cards of its era.

@Anime Psyclone
Alva’s Dark Magearna GX
HP: 200 [M]

Ability: Shattered Soul, Broken Heart
Whenever a damage counter is placed on this Pokemon, and there is no damage counters on it currently, you may flip a coin. If heads, place it on one of your Benched Pokemon instead. If tails, place 2 additional damage counters on this Pokemon.
[D][M][M] Azothian Rage: 80
Flip a coin. If heads, you may arrange damage counters on your Active and Benched Pokemon however you like.
[D][D][M][M][C] Atrocious Blaster GX
Both the Opposing Pokemon and one of your Benched Pokemon are Knocked Out. If the Opposing Pokemon has less then half it’s health remaining when it is Knocked Out, both players take one additional Prize Card.
Weakness: [F] x2
Resistance:
Retreat: [C][C][C]
Creativity: 16/20
I really like the ideas you have going here, AP! Shattered Soul, Broken Heart is an interesting way to try to avoid damage, and I really enjoy how you’ve made it conditional on having no damage counters, making it super unique. Atrocious Blaster giving you extra prizes for getting your instant KO on a partially damaged Pokémon is also a super creative and interesting idea. Azothian Rage, however, has basically been seen before.

Wording: 0/15
(Adding all references here because of your comments at the end of last CaC)
Shattered Soul, Broken Heart: (References: Yveltal UNM, Gligar GUR)
-Replace “placed” with “put” x2 [-1.5 Points]
-Accent é in Pokémon x3 [-1.5 Points]
-Replace “there is” with “it has” [-1 Point]
-Replace “currently” with “before the damage counter is placed” [-1 Point]
-Replace “one” with “1” [-.5 Points]
-Replace “additional” with “more” [-1 Point]

Azothian Rage: (Reference: Tapu Lele UPR)
-Replace “arrange” with “move any number of” [-1 Point]
-Delete “Active and Benched” [-1 Point]
-Accent é in Pokémon [-.5 Points]
-Add “to your other Pokémon” after the first “Pokémon” [-1 Point]
-Replace “however” with “in any way” [-1 Point]

Atrocious Blaster GX: (References: Lunala GX UPR, Pinsir TEU, Stakataka UNB, Guzzlord CEC)
-Insert “Knock Out” at the front of the first sentence, delete “Both”, and delete “are Knocked Out” (this is because you have to choose which Benched Pokémon is KO’d, so it needs to be in the active voice) [-1 Point]
-Replace “the Opposing Pokémon” with “your opponent’s Active Pokémon” x2 [-1.5 Points]
-Replace “one” with “1” x2 [-1 Point]
-Accent é in Pokémon x2 [-1 Point]
-Replace “less then half” with “less than half” [-1 Point]
-Replace “it’s” with “of its” [-1 Point]
-Replace “health” with “maximum HP” [-1 Point]
-Replace “additional” with “more” [-1 Point]
-Decapitalize card [-1 point]

Believability: 11/15
Shattered Soul, Broken Heart requires way too many coin flips for it to be busted, but still has a bit of utility I suppose to mess up an attack that’s barely a one hit KO or something. Azothian Rage feels perhaps a bit weak, but moving all the damage counters on your Pokémon is quite powerful, so I guess it should be OK. Atrocious Blaster seems a bit overpowered, but considering you need to have attached 5 energy of two separate types, Magearna can’t really make use of any special energy to power it up more quickly, and you need to KO one of your own Pokémon to use it, it should be difficult enough to power up that it’s about in line with other 5 energy GX attacks (which do stuff like 150 damage and taking another turn or 250 damage for only one type of energy). However, the card is missing Basic on it, which renders it literally unplayable. Fighting weakness seems weird, but considering the mechanic says it’s “Dark” I guess it could work. Three Retreat Cost, however, is quite considering all past Magearna only had one. -1 Point for no GX Rule.

Final Score: 27/50
You have some great ideas and correct balance on your card, AP! You just need to make sure reference your cards so you are using the proper wording and make sure your card includes all the elements necessary and you’ll soon be getting much higher scores. I know it seems difficult, but considering you post your entries on the first day of the contest, if you just waited a bit and gradually referenced your wording, you should be able to get a nicely referenced card without taking too long.

@itsAdoggo
Omastar – Fighting – HP160
Stage 2 – Evolves from Omanyte

Ability: Spiral Helix
Once during your turn, you may flip a coin. If it is heads, you may draw a card. Repeat this until you get tails.

[F][F][F] Apex Evolution 20+
This attack does 20 more damage for each time you have used Apex Evolution in this match.
You can’t add more than 220 damage in this way. Then, if you have used Apex Evolution 20 times, you win the game.

Weakness: [Y] (x2)
Resistance: [G] (-20)
Retreat: [C] [C] [C] [C]
Government records show that people had once created an entire religion worshiping this Pokémon, calling it the “Lord Helix”.
In recent years, their ornate fossils have become a sought-after collectors item.
Creativity: 16/20
I love the way your effects here have been inspired by aspects of Omastar and just general thoughts about the Pokémon world! I particularly enjoy Apex Evolution; it’s an interesting way to build up an attack’s damage over time and create an alternate wincon in doing so. Spiral Helix also has a cool inspiration, but it has basically been seen before, just as an attack instead of an ability.

Wording: 9/15
Spiral Helix:
-Specify this ability occurs “(before your attack)” [-1 Point]
-Move “until you get tails” to directly after “you may flip a coin” (and delete “Repeat this”) [-1 Point]
-Replace “If it is heads” with “For each heads” [-1 Point]

Apex Evolution:
-Replace “match” with “game” [-1 Point]
-In the TCG, the word “then” is used for sequential things, where one should not be processed until the other is over (e.g. boosting damage for stadium cards and discarding a stadium card). In this case, you can check the wincon at the same time as boosting damage, so “then” is unnecessary [-1 Point]
-Replace “win the game” with “win this game” [-1 Point]

Believability: 8/15
The draw power from Spiral Helix and the damage spiraling out of control in Apex Evolution are both at a nice power level, having significant use but not being able to dominate a game or anything (if you manage to somehow get 20 attacks off with a stage 2 that takes three energy to attack, you deserve a win, though I’m not sure if the auto-win would ever come up considering that you would have attacked your opponent for over 200 damage 10+ times). That being said, I feel like it would be quite difficult to keep track of how many times you’ve used Apex Evolution, seeing as there’s no mechanism in-game for doing so, which means this effect is quite unlikely to be printed. Also, fairy weakness and grass resistance both don’t make sense on an Omastar and the retreat cost and HP both feel quite high based on other Omastar that have been printed. -1 Point for missing ‘Dex stats.

Final Score: 33/50
You have some fun effects and have done pretty well in all aspects of this card, doggo! Just check over your wording with past references a bit more and make sure you’ve compared your card to past cards of the same Pokémon in order to ensure your Weakness/Resistance/Other Basic Stats line up with other cards of that Pokémon and you’ll soon be at the top of the leaderboard.

@Ephemera
Relicanth and Wailord GX | HP 290 | [W]
TAG TEAM

Ability: First and Last
When you play this Pokémon (onto your Bench), look at the top 6 cards of your deck. Return 3 cards to the top of your deck, in any order, and place 3 cards at the bottom of your deck, in any order.

[W][W][C][C] Sealing Whirlpool 140
Discard 2 cards from your hand. If you can't discard 2 cards, you can't use this attack.

[W][W] Unlocking GX
From your discard pile, you may take up to 3 cards, in any combination, of Regirock, Registeel, and Regice, and place them on your Bench. You may also take up to 3 Pokémon Tool or Special Energy cards from your discard pile and attach them, in any order, to those Pokémon. For the rest of the game, the Retreat Cost of these Pokémon is [C] less. Shuffle your active Pokémon, and all cards attached to it, into your deck. (You can't use more than 1 GX attack in a game.)

___________

Weakness: [L] x2
Resistance: [R] -30
Retreat: [C][C][C]

TAG TEAM rule: When your TAG TEAM is Knocked Out, your opponent takes 3 Prize cards.
Creativity: 15/20
I really love what you’ve done flavor-wise here, Ephe! Unlocking GX is such a cool way of incorporating what those two Pokémon do in the games (simply using the mechanic of TAG TEAM to replicate Sealed Chamber is a great idea) and using that flavor to build a nice new effect. First and Last isn’t quite as unique as effects go, but also has that great inspiration and replicates the games nicely. The effect of Sealing Whirlpool, however, has been seen plenty of times, which makes it a lot less interesting than the other two effects.

Wording: 0/15
First and Last:
-Note you are playing the card “from your hand” [-1 Point]
-Delete the parentheses and unitalicize “onto your Bench” [-1 Point]
-Specify this occurs “during your turn” [-1 Point]
-Replace “Return” with “Put” (and “to the” with “back on”) [-1 Point]
-Delete the commas around “in any order” x2 [-1.5 Points]
-Replace “place” with “put” (and replace “at” with “on”) [-1 Point]

Sealing Whirlpool:
-Replace “you can’t use this attack” with “this attack does nothing” [-1 Point]

Unlocking GX:
-Replace “From your discard pile, you may take up to” with “Put” [-1 Point]
-Delete “cards” [-1 Point]
-Delete the commas around “in any combination” [-.5 Points]
-Replace “, and place them on” with “from your discard pile onto” [-1 Point]
-Replace “take up to” with “attach” [-1 Point]
-Delete “and attach them, in any order,” [-1 Point]
-Add “in any way you like” after “to those Pokémon” [-1 Point]
-Replace “rest of the game” with “rest of this game” [-1 Point]
-Replace “these” with “those” [-1 Point]
-Replace “your active” with “this” [-1 Point]
-Delete the commas around “and all cards attached to it” [-.5 Points]

Believability: 8/15
Unlocking feels like a fine power level; the Pokémon placed on the bench are less powerful than Ho-oh, but the attachment of tools and energy helps to offset that. Sealing Wave feels just a bit underpowered; the drawback seems really strong considering its a Tag Team GX (Wailord CEC has the same attack cost and damage but without the discarding two cards, for example), but I suppose the synergy it can have with Unlocking makes it not too far off the power level. First and Last also feels a bit too powerful considering this is a basic (look at how strong cards like Gallade BKT were despite being Stage 2). Both the Lightning weakness and Fire resistance don’t really make sense here; neither of these two Pokémon have had those since at least Gen 5. Also, the card is missing Basic on it, which renders it literally unplayable. Finally, Tag Team GXs always have a GX attack that does an extra effect either if you have a certain amount of energy not used for the attack cost or if you play a TAG TEAM supporter, which Unlocking is missing.

Final Score: 23/50
Your incorporation of flavor was wonderful, but unfortunately, the wording really hurt your card this time, Ephe. You seem to have noticed this based on your comment with your card, so my only real advice is to give yourself more time to extensively check your card with references and be thorough in making sure its mechanics and Weakness/Resistance all make sense based on past cards.

@Vom
[Basic] Dracovish-GX HP210 [W]
You can only play this card with the effect of Fossilized Fish and Fossilized Drake
93228-1205640-376-dracovish-full-1-amp_main_img-1.png

Ability: A Fish and a Dragon Walk Into a Bar
As often as you like during your turn (before your attack), if you have Fossilized Fish and Fossilized Drake in your discard pile, you may discard a card from your hand. If you do, search your deck for a card with Fossil in its name and put it into your hand. Then, shuffle your deck.

[F][F][C] Fishious Rend 130+
You may do 30 more damage for each card with Fossil in its name in your discard pile. If you do, put them on the bottom of your deck in any order, then draw that many cards.

[F] Mass Extinction GX 70
If you go first, you can use this attack on your first turn. (You can't use more than 1 GX attack in a game.)

Weakness: [G]x2
Resistance: -
Retreat: [C][C][C][C]
GX Rule: When your Pokémon-GX is Knocked Out, your opponent takes 2 Prize cards.
Creativity: 16/20
I really like the synergy you’ve incorporated here, Vom! A Fish and A Dragon Walk Into a Bar and Fishious Rend work really nicely together (though perhaps too much, as explained below) and are both super cool effects in their own right. Using the ability to gain more fossils but repurposing that by allowing those other fossil cards to do more damage (and then building draw power off that) is a super interesting combination of effects and super well designed. That being said, Mass Extinction has been seen plenty of times and doesn’t really add anything new here.

Wording: 14/15
Fishious Rend:
-Since the cards with Fossil in their name were only referred to within the first sentence, you need to replace “put them” with “put those cards” for specificity [-1 Point]

Believability: 8/15
Mass Extinction is perfectly fine because of all the luck that’s required to get this out on the first turn. However, the combo of A Fish and A Dragon Walk Into a Bar and Fishious Rend wayyyy too good. Since you can use A Fish and a Dragon Walk Into a Bar an infinite number of times (and the condition is basically non-existent since you need those two cards in your discard pile to play Dracovish), you can super easily just discard a card, take a Fossil, discard that Fossil, take another Fossil, etc. until all the fossils in your deck are gone. Even if you only have 4 fossils, that’s 250 damage almost for free, which is insane, even with the fact that Dracovish is so hard to put into play (this issue could be fixed pretty easily by making you discard 2 cards rather than 1, but with only one this infinite cycle is too insane). (Also, even if there is precedent for [F] costs on non-[F] Fossils, the fact that Fossil’s secondary type in the games is in fact Rock is likely the reason for this. Seeing as Dracovish is Water/Dragon, I’m not sure if this would ever happen, but Dragon could include [F] in costs so I’ll let it slide.) Finally, Dracovish would be classified as a Restored Pokémon, not a Basic, or else you would be able to simply play it from your hand.

Final Score: 38/50
As always, Vom, you’ve got some super great ideas and backed it up with some great wording. Your problem with balance came back again this round, so just be sure to check over your card and really consider how it can end up becoming broken in order to be sure you don’t fall into the same trap.

@ShaQuL
Tyrantrum-GX – Dragon – HP250
Stage 2 – Evolves from Tyrunt

Ability: Rule of Despotism
Once during your turn (before your attack), you may discard a basic Energy card from your hand. If you do, all basic Energy cards in play provide every Energy type, but only provide 1 Energy at a time until the end of your turn.

[F][F][M][M] Megaton Bite 160+
If your opponent’s Active Pokémon is a Basic Pokémon, this attack does 90 more damage. If your opponent’s Active Pokémon is Stage 1 Pokémon, your opponent’s Active Pokémon is now Paralyzed. If your opponent’s Active Pokémon is Stage 2 Pokémon, during your opponent’s next turn, this Pokémon takes 50 less damage from attacks.

[F][M][C] Apex Predator-GX 210
You may search your deck for up to 3 in any combination of Tyrantrum and Aurorus, including Pokémon-GX, and put them onto your bench. Shuffle your deck afterwards. If your opponent’s Pokémon is Knocked Out by damage from this attack, heal all damage from this Pokémon.

Weakness: Fairy x2
Resistance:
Retreat: [C][C][C]
Creativity: 16/20
I really love Rule of Despotism! It feels like the kind of card that would be super useful for dragon type decks and I can already think of ideas for other uses for it (e.g. in expanded with Aromatisse), which is a great sign. Megaton Bite and Apex Predator are both pretty interesting in their uses, but are in essence just a concatenation of old effects rather than something truly new, which hurts you a bit here.

Wording: 7/15
Rule of Despotism:
-Because these Energy are attached to Pokémon, say “basic Energy in play” instead of “basic Energy cards in play” [-1 Point]
-I’m not sure if your intention is actually that just the Energy cards in play are turned “rainbow” (which is how it would currently work) or every single one (you would need the second in order for it to work with Welder). If you only want it to apply to cards in play, you would need to add the “(This includes cards that come into play on this turn.)” clause at the end (it would probably also be best to change “in play” to “attached to your Pokémon” unless you want to have it also apply to your opponent). If you want it to apply to all of them, specify this effect also applies to “all Energy cards in your hand and in your discard pile” (saying cards because they’re not attached). [-1 Points]
-Replace “Energy type” with “type of Energy” [-1 Point]
-Replace “only provide” with “provide only” [-1 Point]
(-It’s possible that you should add “instead of their usual type” like in Typhlosion LOT, but seeing as the energies still in part retain their original type until the end of the turn, I can easily see omitting it too. [-0 Points])

Megaton Bite:
-Specify the reduced damage from attacks is “(after applying Weakness and Resistance)” [-1 Point]

Apex Predator GX:
-Capitalize Bench [-1 Point]
-Replace “Shuffle your deck afterwards.” with “Then, shuffle your deck.” [-1 Point]
-Specify that “(You can’t use more than 1 GX attack in a game.)” [-1 Point]

Believability: 9/15
Rule of Despotism is useful but not too crazy considering the cost to using it, which makes it pretty well balanced. Megaton Bite just feels way too powerful. Regardless of what stage you’re against, you’re either dealing enough to KO most opponents, giving them the most difficult status condition to deal with along with 160 damage, or making a 4 energy attack that comes with an advantage. For reference, Dragonite GX’s Giga Impact has a slightly higher cost (then again, Rule of Despotism helps Tyrantrum with this) and 40 more damage, but comes with the huge drawback of not being able to attack next turn (whereas this card is better damage-wise vs basics, gains paralysis in return for 40 damage against stage 1s, and is maybe a bit worse vs Stage 2s, and that’s ignoring the unable to attack next turn part). Apex Predator also feels a good deal above the power level considering you can both put three GXs on the bench and attack your opponent for a lot while healing all your damage (the aforementioned Dragonite gets more selection of Pokémon on the bench for three basic energy, but can’t do any damage, while Tyrantrum does 210). -1 Point for no GX Rule.

Final Score: 32/50
Your inspiration and ideas are both quite nice, ShaQuL! Your referencing is quite good also; it just seems you made a few typos and neglected to put in some small clauses, so just be a tiny bit more careful and be sure you aren’t taking advantage of the current meta to the point where your card becomes the thing that needs to be countered.

@SableyeGuy
Omastar & Kabutops GX - [F] Pokémon - HP280
Basic

Ability: Ancient Restoration
Once during your turn, before your attack, you may heal 30 damage from one of your Pokémon.

[W][F] Pain Split 10 damage.
For each Prism Star card on your Bench, you may move three damage counters from one of your Pokémon to another Pokémon (yours or your opponent’s). For each [W] attached to this Pokémon, put one damage counter on your opponent’s active Pokémon.

[C][C]+ Rock Drain GX 130 damage. If this Pokémon has at least 1 Extra [W] and [F] Energy attached to it, heal 130 damage from this Pokémon.

Weakness: Grass X2
Resistance: None
Retreat Cost: [C] [C] [C]
Creativity: 13/20
I think you have a really great idea here with the theme of healing/removing damage from your Pokémon, Sableye! Pain Split is a nice way of accomplishing this, moving damage to your opponent with an interesting condition attached to it. The other two effects, however, don’t really live up to the promise of your idea, with both of them pretty much having been seen before. In the future, try to invent more unique effects instead of simply recycling ones to make your concept behind the card really shine.

Wording: 3/15
Ancient Restoration:
-Replace the commas around “before your attack” with parentheses and italicize it [-1 Point]
-Replace “one” with “1” [-.5 Points]

Pain Split:
-When referring to Prism Star cards in an effect, say “◈ (Prism Star)” [-1 Point]
-Replace “card” with “Pokémon” [-1 Point]
-Replace “three” with “3” [-.5 Points]
-Replace “one” with “1” x2 [-1 Point]
-Delete “(yours or your opponent’s)” [-1 Point]
-Specify that it’s “[W] Energy” attached to it [-1 Point]
-Capitalize Active [-1 Point]

Rock Drain GX:
-Decapitalize extra [-1 Point]
-Specify it is not just 1 extra [F] Energy but also “1 extra [W] Energy” [-1 Point]
-Specify those extra energy are “(in addition to this attack’s cost)” [-1 Point]
-Specify that “(You can’t use more than 1 GX attack in a game.)” [-1 Point]

Believability: 12/15
Ancient Restoration is perfectly normal and 130 damage for 2 Energy on Rock Drain is a bit high, but considering it’s the GX attack and the extra energy effect is quite weak, it should be fine. Pain Split, however, feels a bit weak when compared to a card like Drifblim UPR, which is a non-GX, moves 4 damage counters from all your Pokémon to your opponent, and costs only two colorless energies. The fact you need to have Prism Stars on your bench makes it quite difficult to equal that power, even if you can do a bit of damage with extra [W] energy, but having unlimited choice gives it some utility I guess. Still, Pain Split still feels too weak for the only attack on a card that gives up 3 prizes. -1 Point for no TAG TEAM Rule.

Final Score: 28/50
You created an interesting theme on your card and had pretty good balance, Sableye. In the future, just try to make your effects a bit more unique and check the “Common Wording Errors” Compilation, since most of your wording mistakes just seem to be tiny errors and small missing clauses.

@Nyora
Dracovish HP 130 Dragon
Stage 1 - Evolves from Unidentified Fossil
NO. 882 Fossil Pokémon HT: 7’7” WT: 474.0 lbs.

/Ability/ ~ Hybrid Body
All basic [L] Energy attached to this Pokémon are [W][W] Energy of their usual type. Whenever you attach a basic [W] Energy card from your hand to this Pokémon, you may put an Arctozolt from your discard pile onto your Bench.

[W][W][C][C] Fishious Rend 100+
If this Pokémon has more Energy attached to it than the Defending Pokémon, this attack does 100 more damage.

Powerful legs and jaws made it the apex predator of its time. Its own overhunting of its prey was what drove it to extinction.

Weakness: Fairy x2
Resistance: Fire -30
Retreat: 3
Creativity: 17/20
I really love what you’ve done with Fishious Rend, Nyora! It’s a great effect which I’m shocked has never been used before, being simple but simultaneously useful and unique. I also really enjoy Hybrid Body (even though parts of it have somewhat been seen before) and how it both works in the context of the card but also could combine nicely as an archetype with other cards (including but not limited to that Arctozolt, which it has nice synergy with). Great job!

Wording: 13/15
Hybrid Body:
-Insert “instead” before “of their usual type” [-1 Point]

Fishious Rend:
-Replace “the Defending” with “your opponent’s Active” [-1 Point]

Believability: 11/15
Hybrid Body is perfectly fine on its own, making the attack a bit cheaper and not being too gamebreaking when combined with that Arctozolt, but Fishious Rend feels a bit too strong. Even if it couldn’t be easily powered up with Hybrid Body, its damage is probably a bit too much considering the fact that you usually accomplish the condition (seeing as your opponent will rarely have 4 energy attached to their Pokémon). However, since you can power it up with Hybrid Body (or I guess Double Dragon Energy in Expanded) for only two attachments (which is only helped by your Arctozolt), you are suddenly doing (normally) 200 damage for only two attachments on a Pokémon that only gives up one prize, which is crazy and super overpowered.

Final Score: 41/50
This was a really great card, Nyora! You’ve done well in all parts of the card; just be sure that your balance considers the combined power of your synergy instead of individual effects. Great work on this card and I hope you had a good birthday!

@ThePigThatCriedRii
Golurk - [P] Pokemon - 130 HP
Stage 1 - Evolves from Golett

Ability: Ancient Upkeep
At the beginning of your turn, before you draw a card, if this Pokémon is your Active Pokémon, you may put 2 cards from your Discard Pile into your hand. You do not draw a card at the beginning of your turn if you used this Ability.

[P][C][C][C]: Wrecking Rage 100
Discard the top 4 cards of your deck.

Weakness: Darkness x2
Resistance: Fighting -20
Retreat: [C][C][C]
Creativity: 15/20
Ancient Upkeep is probably my favorite effect of this month’s contest! It’s a super interesting way to combine acquiring specific cards with a unique drawback and makes use of a part of the TCG that is rarely explored it cards (drawing a card at the beginning of your turn). Though Wrecking Rage works well with it, it’s an effect that’s been seen time and time again, and I wish you had done something as cool as you did with Ancient Upkeep instead.

Wording: 11/15
Ancient Upkeep:
-Decapitalize discard pile [-1 Point]
-Put “If you do,” at the beginning on the second sentence and delete “if you used this Ability” [-1 Point]
-Replace “do not” with “can’t” [-1 Point]
-Replace the second “your turn” with “this turn” [-1 Point]

Believability: 11/15
It’s funny because at first I wanted to call the ability really overpowered and the attack underpowered, but then I realized that combined they actually have a pretty balanced effect. Since the ability can only be used when Golurk is active, that means that you either had to do no damage last turn, have your Pokémon be KO’d last turn, or have powered up all 4 energy to do a quite weak attack at only 100 damage (albeit with the help of discarding cards). Still, I’m worried about the potential for this card to be like Teammates (except not take up your Supporter for the turn), with players just promoting it if one of their Pokémon get KO’d, grabbing two free cards, and immediately retreating it (especially in a format like Expanded that has a lot of retreating options) or about how it could be potentially used in a stall deck to grab disruptive tools (and Life Dew in Expanded). -2 Points for missing ‘Dex stats and entry.

Final Score: 37/50
You definitely did Golurk justice with this card! For next time, just keep up the great ideas like Ancient Upkeep and expanded them to your entire card and maintain your wording and you’ll be winning one of these in no time!

@FourteenAlmonds
Wartortle [W] HP80
Stage 1 - Evolves from Squirtle

NO. 008 Turtle Pokémon HT: 3’03” WT: 49.6 lbs

Ability - Slow Growth
As long as this Pokémon is your Active Pokémon, put 1 Age counter on each of your Wartortle in play between turns.

[W][W] Withdrawing Draw
Flip a coin. If heads, prevent all damage done to this Pokémon by attacks during your opponent’s next turn. If tails, draw 2 cards.

[W][W][W] Ten Thousand Years
If there are 100 or more Age counters on all of your Pokémon, you win this game. If not, move any number of Age counters on your Pokémon to your other Pokémon in any way you like.

Weakness: [G] x2
Resistance:
Retreat Cost: [C][C]

It is said to live for over 10,000 years. Its furry tail is a popular symbol of longevity.
Creativity: 13/20
I’m unfortunately going to have to pretty much echo what I said in your judging last time, Almonds, since once again I feel like you got wrapped up too much in your counter mechanic to make something unique. Slow Growth and Ten Thousand Years are just an effect/an exact combination of effects with the word “damage” replaced by “Age”. Withdrawing Draw isn’t unique either; just another combination of two things that have been seen before.

Wording: 14/15
Slow Growth:
-Delete “in play” (there’s no need to specify this because it’s not like you could place a counter on a Pokémon that isn’t in play) [-1 Point]

Believability: 13/15
Balance-wise, this card is perfectly fine. Withdrawing Draw is a pretty typical and not busted effect. Meanwhile, Slow Growth and Ten Thousand Years set up a win condition that’s almost never going to win (after all, it takes 12.5 turns of uninterrupted Slow Growth of 4 Wartortle to win the game) but is still pretty much balanced considering this is a NFE Stage 1 and you don’t want its wincon to be too easy. However, I don’t think it’s practical at all for this card to actually work. Keeping track of 100 counters would be pretty miserable (imagine the amount of time that it takes for you and your opponent to count up the number of counters on your Wartortle as you are approaching your wincon) and that annoyance makes me unsure if this could ever be printed (yes, Unown LOT has 66 damage counters required, but that’s both two-thirds of Wartortle and a type of counter they already widely distribute in products. If this card was printed, it would require distribution of a ton of counters in tons of products just for the purpose of allowing this one card to exist).

Final Score: 40/50
As always, Almonds, your balance and wording were great. I just wish I could see you get back to those super original effects that I know you can make instead of getting so absorbed in these mechanics that you fail to use the full extent of your creativity.

3rd Place: Vom’s Dynamic Dracovish GX, with 38/50 points.
2nd Place: FourteenAlmonds’s Wistful Wartortle, with 40/50 points.
1st Place: Nyora’s Dauntless Dracovish with 41/50 points
 
Thanks for judging @NinjaPenguin, I knew I was heading for trouble when I decided to use counters again. I knew what I wanted to do with the card with regards to the ability, but I really struggled to figure out a way to manage that without counters — I can’t even figure out how to properly manage translating Perish Song from the VG to TCG, so again counters are certainly something for me to work on or start to avoid. I guess after Scyther GL from a few CaCs ago I got a bit too excited, haha.

With regards to creativity... yikes. That’s a problem. I’m working on this month’s card right now, and even though I like where I am with the effects, there’s really nothing totally new there. Recently I find I’ve been relying too much on my wording and balancing to carry me, so I’ll definitely work to push some more creativity through in search of that perfect 50.
 
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