Contest September 2019 CaC: Bug Pokémon! (All Results Up!)

PMJ said:
Shedinja isn't attached to your opponent's Pokemon, so that's why it doesn't have that text. There haven't been any cards you attach to your opponent's cards since the Flare cards, so I went with that wording.
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Oop, you're right there.

I wish I knew what the correct placement for the bottom stats were, jabber said they were too low and now you're saying they're too high. I only moved them up a couple pixels.
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They definitely are too high at the moment. It's possible that the WRR orbs and the x2 / -20 are just too large, which might be why Jabber said they were too low in previous judging. I'd recommend overlaying an official scan to check size and placement if you haven't done that already.
 
This is quite the unexpected turns of events. I thought I was gonna end up last XD And the cards I liked the most had the lowest scores :O
I guess life always gives you surprises hah

Fair judging, @bbninjas! I'll try to apply the corrections you suggested.
Also don't feel that bad @PMJ! We weren't as many contestants this time. You could've placed lower (or higher) :p

Couple of things:

- Delele is supposedly the sound Kricketune makes hah. It's quite famous on the internet if you search for Kricketune memes. So basically it comes at you making that sound and knocks off your tools.

- Are you implying decks can't have more than 1 win condition? :eek: What if I just want to mill specific cards :B

- I believe there aren't that many fonts as far as I remember? Like, the Pokémon name, the HP and the damage are all the same font. And the Evolved and attacks' text is the same. Though they have some slight variations in the thickness or in the angle. But I can get what you mean.

Virtually all the cards were quite good imo! I love Bug-types even more now!!
 
Text-Based Results

Judge: @NinjaPenguin

Apologies for the delay on the judging. This was a really nice batch of cards! A lot of you either created a card that was my all-time favorite of yours or are completely new to this contest, which are both great to see! Believability and creatively were both good, so my one general note is that while I saw a lot of you used clear references, you need to be a bit more specific and make sure you’ve chosen the one most applicable to the current clause and be careful to precisely transfer it into your effect. As always, feel free to ask me any questions about your card or about what you can do in general to improve.

~~NinjaPenguin

@Vom
[Stage 1] Accelgor-GX HP200 [G]
Evolves from Shelmet
accelgor.gif

Ability: Forbidden Arts
Once during your turn (before your attack), when you play Escavalier or Escavalier-GX from your hand to evolve 1 of your Pokémon, you may put this Pokémon from your hand onto your Bench. If you do, you may search your deck for a card and put into your hand. Then, shuffle your deck. You can't use more than 1 Forbidden Arts Ability each turn.

[*] Deck and Cover
Your opponent's Active Pokémon is now Paralyzed and Poisoned. Shuffle this Pokémon and all cards attached to it into your deck. If you don't have Shelmet and Karrablast in play, this attack does nothing.

[G] Turncoat GX
If your opponent's Bench isn't full, put this Pokémon and all cards attached to it onto your opponent's Bench. (When this Pokémon leaves play for any reason, put it in its owner's discard pile). If you have Shelmet, Karrablast, and Escavalier or Escavalier-GX in play, you may use 1 more GX attack this game. (You can't use more than 1 GX attack in a game.)

Weakness: [R]x2
Resistance: -
Retreat: -
GX Rule: When your Pokémon-GX is Knocked Out, your opponent takes 2 Prize cards.
Creativity: 18/20
I really like the interesting quirks you’ve added to your effects here, Vom! The condition on playing Escavalier in order to get a free Stage 1 on your bench in Forbidden Arts is super neat and Turncoat GX adding the mechanic of filling up your opponent’s bench space is an incredible idea. That being said, Deck and Cover’s condition of requiring Shelmet and Karrablast in play is interesting (as is the synergy with Forbidden Arts), but it's not really enough to set the effect apart from the classic one quite as much as I’d like.

Wording: 10.5/15
Forbidden Arts:
-This is nitpicking but italicize the parentheses around clauses along with the things within them [-0 Points]

Turncoat GX:
-If your opponent’s Bench is full, nothing will happen with the effect anyway, so delete “If your opponent's Bench isn't full,” (and capitalize Put) (Reference: Mawile GX UNM) [-1 Point]
-You need to specify what happens to damage counters/turns in play/etc. after Accelgor is put onto the opponent’s Bench [-1 Point]
-When Accelgor leaves play, you’ll need to handle what happens to its lower evolutions/cards attached to it along with Accelgor itself (it probably would be easiest to say “put it and all cards attached to it in their owner's discard pile”) [-1 Point]
-Put the period after “discard pile” inside the parentheses [-.5 Points]
-Replace “may” with “can” [-1 Point]

Believability: 14/15
The ability is powerful but balanced considering the fact that Accelgor needs to be in your hand to make Forbidden Arts work and it would be difficult to chain with the less powerful Devolution Spray. Though the GX attack has utility, there’s nothing busted about it. Similarly, the reduction in damage capacity (combined with multiple prizes, conditions, etc.) has allowed you to make Deck and Cover a lot less busted than back in the day, when it could be combined with things like Virbank City Gym, while still keeping it functional through the sheer power of paralysis. However, free attack costs in the SuMo era are only on Alolan Pokémon.

Final Score: 42.5/50
This was a really nice card, Vom! You’ve managed to get your believability problem under control while maintaining what makes your cards so exciting to see. Great work!

@TeamAqua4Life #HEYNICK
[Basic] Accelgor & Escavalier-GX HP250 [G]
[Tag Team]


[G][G][M] Shell Buster 150
Discard the top card of your opponent's deck. This Pokémon does 40 damage to itself.

[C]+ Sinister Toxin-GX 50
Your opponent's Active Pokémon is now Poisoned. Put 5 damage counters instead of 1 on that Pokémon between turns. If this Pokémon has at least 4 extra [G] on it, this attack does 50 damage to each of your opponent's Benched Pokémon and their active Pokémon is also Paralyzed.

Weakness: [R]x2
Resistance:
Retreat: [C][C]
TAG TEAM - When your TAG TEAM is Knocked Out, your opponent takes 3 Prize cards.
Creativity: 11/20
These effects feel uninspired. Shell Buster’s effects have been seen hundreds of times before, as have the components of Sinister Toxin GX (and this combination feels in essence quite similar to Muk & Alolan Muk GX). Try to invent something new instead of just recycling ideas that have been seen in the past.

Wording: 8/15
Sinister Toxin GX:
-Add “Energy” after “[G]” [-1 Point]
-Replaced “on it” with “attached to it” [-1 Point]
-Add “(in addition to this attack’s cost)” after “it” [-1 Point]
-Replace “their” with “your opponent’s” [-1 Point]
-Capitalize Active [-1 Point]
-Add the “(Don’t apply Weakness and Resistance for Benched Pokémon.)” clause [-1 Point]
-Specify that “(You can’t use more than 1 GX attack in a game.)” [-1 Point]

Believability: 15/15
Sinister Toxin’s power is comparable to Muk and Alolan Muk GX’s, while Shell Buster is easily within the realm of believability. It feels weird to have the energy cost for Shell Buster be dual type considering the card isn’t dragon type, but I guess it is believable enough considering the whole idea of Tag Team Pokémon and the existence of cards like Moltres & Zapdos & Articuno GX. Good job!

Final Score: 34/50
Unfortunately, you missed the mark here, Nick. I know you can produce really creative ideas, so in the future, try to let them shine and back them up with thorough referencing.

@Anime Psyclone
Team Plasma’s Genesect
HP: 200 [G] / BASIC

Ability: Multi Drive
Whenever this Pokemon uses an attack that does damage, flip a coin. If heads, the attack is super effective regardless of the Opposing Pokemon’s weakness.
[G][M] Steel Swarm: 20+
This attack does 20 damage plus 20 more for each [M] energy attached to this Pokemon.
[G][G][M][M] Techno Rage: 30x
This attack does 30 damage times the number of Prize cards the opponent has drawn. If the Opposing Pokemon becomes Knocked Out by this attack, pick a card from your opponent’s hand. That card is sent to the Lost Zone.
Weakness: [R] x3
Resistance:
Retreat: [C][C][C]
Creativity: 15/20
You’ve got some nice new thoughts going on here, AP! Multi Drive is a really interesting effect that’s surprisingly new considering how simple it seems, and Techno Rage’s disruption capabilities upon scoring a KO are also really cool. Steel Swarm has been seen plenty of times before, and half of Techno Rage has too, but the general ideas you’ve come up with are quite good.

Wording: 0/15
Multi Drive:
-“Whenever” is normally used in the TCG for much more passive effects. “When” would most likely be better, though the uniqueness of this ability means I can’t definitively say that. [-0 Points]
-Accent é in Pokémon x2 [-1 Point]
-“Super effective” isn’t a TCG term. Instead, use “apply Weakness” [-1 Point]
-Capitalize Weakness [-1 Point]
-Replace “Opposing” with “your opponent’s” [-1 Point]

Steel Swarm:
-Replace “20 damage plus 20 more” with “20 more damage” [-1 Point]
-Replace “for each” with “times the amount of” [-1 Point]
-Capitalize Energy [-1 Point]
-Accent é in Pokémon [-.5 Points]

Techno Rage:
-Replace “times the number of” with “for each” (yeah I know this seems like the opposite of what I said for Steel Swarm but these are supported by references (Pheromosa GX for this one; Stamie GX for Steel Swarm)) [-1 Point]
-Replace “the opponent” with “your opponent” [-1 Point]
-Replace “drawn” with “taken” [-1 Point]
-Replace “the Opposing” with “your opponent’s” [-1 Point]
-Replace “becomes” with “is” [-1 Point]
-Specify that the opponent’s Pokémon is KO’d by “damage from” the attack [-1 Point]
-Replace “pick” with “choose” and specify the card is “random” [-1 Point]
-Replace “that card is sent to” with “and put it in” [-1 Point]
-Accent é in Pokémon [-.5 Points]

Believability: 11/15
This card feels like it’s supposed to be a GX (also, there’s no Team Plasma mechanic here, so I’m not sure why it’s a Team Plasma Pokémon). The HP is wayyy too high for a boring Genesect (too high for a GX, even), seeing as Unbroken Bonds Genesect had only 130. Steel Swarm and Techno Rage feel fine on their own, but with Multi Drive, they might end up being a bit too powerful. Still, the fact that they require two energy types, the extra damage is luck based, and Techno Rage requires 4 energy and can be played around somewhat puts the power level in the range of believability. -2 Points for missing ‘Dex stats and entry.

Final Score: 26/50
This score may look low, but you’ve got some smart and innovative thoughts behind your card, AP, so all you really need to do is work on that wording category. When making your card, watch out for common wording errors and check past cards to make sure the official wording is the same as it is in your memory.

@Nyora
Shedinja HP 30 Psychic
Stage 1 - Evolves from Nincada

/Ability/ ~ Traitor Swarm
Once during your turn (before your attack), if this Pokémon is your Active Pokémon, and the sum of the total HP of your opponent’s Pokémon in the discard pile is equal to 1600 or more, you may use this Ability. If you do, you win this game.

[P] Dead Ring
Reveal the top 3 cards of your opponent’s deck and discard any number of Pokémon you find there. Your opponent shuffles any remaining cards back into their deck. For each Pokémon discarded, your opponent puts 1 damage counter on your Pokémon in any way they like.

Weakness: None
Resistance: None
Retreat: 0
Creativity: 19/20
I absolutely love what you’ve done here with Traitor Swarm, Nyora! It’s a perfect way to introduce an alternate win-con into the game that’s fun, punishes GX heavy decks, and requires a strategy to play around. Dead Ring also has really nice synergy with Traitor Swarm, and I like the twist of having a punishment for discarding a ton of cards (in the form of your opponent placing damage counters on your Pokémon), even if the effect does feel similar to cards like Palossand GX that have been made in the past. Great work!

Wording: 6/15
Traitor Swarm:
-Italicize “(before your attack)” [-1 Point]
-Delete “sum of the” [-1 Point]
-Replace “the discard pile” with “their discard pile” [-1 Point]
-Delete “equal to” [-1 Point]

Dead Ring:
-Replace “Reveal” with “Look at” [-1 Point]
-Replace “any remaining” with “the other” [-1 Point]
-Swap the order of the second and third sentences (Reference: Palossand GX) [-1 Point]
-Replace the second “Pokémon” with “card you” [-1 Point]
-Add “in this way” after “discarded” [-1 Point]

Believability: 13/15
The balancing of the card is quite good! The 1600 HP threshold feels like enough so that it is possible to achieve this goal if your opponent has gotten rid of too many GXs but not so easy to achieve that you can destroy your opponent with Shedinja without luck/misplays (in line with cards like the Unown from LOT). Since Shedinja LOT exists, the penalty in Dead Ring of taking damage feels appropriately balanced with the reward of discarding more Pokémon, giving it some niche utility. -2 Points for missing ‘Dex stats and entry.

Final Score: 38/50
As always, Nyora, you’ve created some incredible ideas for your card and balanced it well! You said yourself that you hadn’t double checked it, and I think if you had, your normal referencing precision would have easily allowed you to win this round, so I guess just do that next time.

@Dusk Form Lycanroc
Golisopod – Grass – HP140
Stage 1 – Evolves from Wimpod

Ability: Emergency Exit
Once during your turn (Before your attack) if this Pokemon has any damage counters on it you may switch this Pokemon with one of you benched Pokemon.

[G][C][C] First Impression 50+
If this Pokemon was on your bench and became your active Pokemon this turn this attack does 150 more damage

Weakness: Fire (x2)
Resistance:
Retreat: [C] [C]
With a flashing slash of its giant sharp claws, it cleaves seawater-or even air-right in two.
Creativity: 11/20
This card just feels plain. Emergency Exit is a nice way of bringing an effect from the games into here and works well with First Impression, but isn’t particularly unique. First Impression feels quite lazy, since it has been used in exactly that form on a Golisopod in the past. Try to think of new and unique ideas instead of reusing exact ones the TCG has made before.

Wording: 2.5/15
Emergency Exit:
-Decapitalize before [-1 Point]
-Italicize “(before your attack)” and put a comma after it [-1 Point]
-You need to specify that the ability can only be used “if this Pokémon is your Active Pokémon” [-1 Point]
-Accent é in Pokémon x2 [-1 Point]
-Add a comma after “it” [-.75 Points]
-Replace “one” with “1” [-1 Point]
-Replace “you benched” with “your Benched” [-1 Point]
-Capitalize Benched [-1 Point]

First Impression:
-Accent é in Pokémon x2 [-1 Point]
-Replace the first “your” with “the” [-1 Point]
-Capitalize Active [-1 point]
-Add a comma after “turn” [-.75 Points]
-Add a period after “damage” [-1 Point]

Believability: 11/15
First Impression feels really overpowered, seeing as it does 80 more damage than Golisopod GX upon the effect triggering, while being on a non-GX, for only one DCE higher in the cost. This gets even worse when you consider the fact that Emergency Exit assists your ability to retreat by enabling you to cycle between Golisopod (you can let one Golisopod take the damage from your opponent, then switch it for free and attack with the next one). -1 Point for missing ‘Dex stats.

Final Score: 24.5/50
When you bring back effects from past cards, the least you can do is try to look at the past cards where they were used and copy their wording onto here. For next time, please try to look at past cards for inspiration and wording (but don’t just copy their effects exactly).

@Lord Goomy
Scatterbug - Grass - 40HP
Basic Pokémon

NO. 664 Scatterdust Pokémon HT: 1.0 ft. WT: 5.5 lbs

Ability: Infestation
When you play this card from your hand onto your Bench, you may put a Scatterbug from your discard pile onto your Bench.

[G][C] Dust Plague 10x
This attack does 10 damage for each [G] Pokémon you put onto your Bench this turn. Then, you may discard as many of your Benched [G] Pokémon as you like.

When under attack from bird Pokémon, it spews a poisonous black powder that causes paralysis on contact.
Weakness: [R] x2
Resistance:
Retreat: [C]
Creativity: 15/20
This is a really nice way of designing an NFE, Goomy! I love the specific method of doing damage in Dust Plague that is very unique yet at the same time feels perfectly at home the TCG and is something I wish the designers had come up with before. It also has very nice synergy with Infestation due to the discarding mechanic, enabling the attack to be reused in a really interesting way. That being said, Infestation itself has basically been seen before, which hurts your score here a fair amount.

Wording: 12/15
Infestation:
-Replace “card” with “Pokémon” [-1 Point]
-Add “during your turn” after “onto your Bench” [-1 Point]

Dust Plague:
-Add “that” before “you” [-1 Point]

Believability: 15/15
There’s no way you can break this card, seeing as Forest of Giant Plants is banned. Though you can get a consistent 40 damage a turn with Exeggcute PLF (and maybe a bit more considering the synergy Dust Plague has with Infestation), that requires full commitment to this strategy, which kinda ridiculous and isn’t overpowered at all. Good job!

Final Score: 42/50
This was a solid job in all aspects, Goomy! There’s nothing you really need to work on; just try to be sure all of your effects are new and be a bit more careful with wording I guess. Keep making cards like this and you’ll keep doing well.

@DashKing
Pheromosa&Ninjask Tag Team GX
Basic Pokémon
[G] Type
200 HP

Ability: Scampering Draw:
When you play this Pokémon from your hand onto your Bench during your turn, you may draw cards until you have 6 cards in your hand. At the end of your turn, draw or discard cards until you have 3 cards in your hand.

[.] Ultra Jolt
You can only use this attack if you have no other Ultra Beasts in play. Return this card and all cards attached to it to your hand. Your opponent’s Active Pokémon is now Poisoned.

[G]+ Silver Wind GX 60+
For the rest of this game, draw an extra card from the top of your deck at the beginning of your turn. For each additional [G] energy attached to this Pokémon, flip 2 coins. For each heads, this attack does 10 damage for each card in your hand to one of your opponent’s Pokémon. For each tails, place a trainer card from your hand into the Lost Zone. If you cannot place a card into the Lost Zone, put 5 damage counters on 1 of your Pokémon.

Weakness: Fire (x2)
Resistance:
Retreat: [C][C]
Creativity: 17/20
I like the way you’ve created simple but nice ideas here, Dash! I really love how Silver Wind has built in a coin flip effect where tails serves as an active detriment to doing more damage, and drawing an extra card every turn is an interesting element too. Scampering Draw also has a nice method of either counteracting or adding to the draw effect, depending on how you play, and Ultra Jolt has a cool new way of making a return to hand effect conditional, but both are a bit too similar to past effects.

Wording: 0/15
Ultra Jolt:
-Move “only” to right before “if” [-1 point]
-Replace “Return” with “Put” [-1 Point]
-Replace “card” with “Pokémon” [-1 Point]
-Replace “to” with “into” [-1 Point]

Silver Wind GX:
-Replace “additional” with “extra” [-1 Point]
-Capitalize Energy [-1 Point]
-Specify that the extra Energy is “(in addition to this attack’s cost)” [-1 Point]
-Replace “one” with “1” [-1 Point]
-Add the “(Don’t apply Weakness and Resistance for Benched Pokémon.)” clause [-1 Point]
-Replace “place” with “put” x2 [-1.5 Points]
-Capitalize Trainer [-1 Point]
-You place cards “in” the Lost Zone, not “into” it x2 [-1.5 Points]
-Replace “cannot” with “can’t” [-1 Point]
-Specify that “(You can’t use more than 1 GX attack in a game.)” [-1 Point]

Believability: 9/15
Ultra Jolt should be fine, as should Scampering Draw, considering it has a drawback and Pheromosa & Ninjask is a major liability on the bench with only 200 HP (though considering the HP is 40 below any other TAG TEAM Pokémon, that number is unrealistic). Silver Wind GX, however, scares me, since even though the damage will be reduced as you go and other TAG TEAMs have just as busted GX attacks, it shouldn’t be too hard to have 3+ 80+ damage snipes, along with the huge advantage of drawing an extra card every turn. Additionally, extra energy effects on TAG TEAMs are of the “if you have at least _ extra Energy” format, not “for each extra Energy”. You also need to specify that Pheromosa & Ninjask is an Ultra Beast. Finally, the Retreat Cost also feels way too high considering the Pokémon both normally have quite low Retreat Costs, typically being 0 and never being higher than 1 (with the exception of Pheromosa & Buzzwole GX but that’s a TAG TEAM with a high Retreat Cost Pokémon). -1 Point for no TAG TEAM rule.

Final Score: 26/50
I know the score seems low, Dash, but this is probably my favorite card I’ve seen from you! You’ve simplified the convoluted aspects of your past effects while still maintaining your good ideas, and your wording has clearly gotten a lot better and more referenced. Even a lot of tiny mistakes have hurt your score, this was definitely a step in a really good direction.

@FourteenAlmonds
Parasect-GX [G] HP200
Stage 1 – Evolves from Paras

Ability: Sporadic Spores
If this Pokémon is your Active Pokémon and is damaged by an opponent’s attack (even if it is Knocked Out) put 1 Spore counter on each of your opponent’s Pokémon.

[G][G][G] Fungal Fever
This attack does 20 damage to each of your opponent’s Pokémon for each Spore counter on that Pokémon. If your opponent’s Active Pokémon was damaged in this way, that Pokémon is now Burned, Confused and Poisoned.

[G] Mushroom Mayhem-GX 30x
This attack does 30 damage for each Spore counter on all of your opponent’s Pokémon. (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: [R] x2
Resistance: N/A
Retreat: [C][C]
Creativity: 14/20
Unfortunately, I feel like you got wrapped up too much in your counter mechanic to make something unique, Almonds. Sporadic Spores and Mushroom Mayhem are nearly copy-paste effects from past cards with “damage” replaced by “Spore”, which means they can’t showcase any of the clever and unique thoughts behind your usual cards. While Fungal Fever has an interesting way of applying spread damage and having a conditional effect, it’s not really enough to make up for the lost opportunity on the rest of the card. Counters can add synergy and be a fun mechanic, but only if they contribute to making the card more interesting as a whole.

Wording: 12/15
Sporadic Spores:
-Put a comma after the parentheses [-1 Point]

Fungal Fever:
-Add the “(Don’t apply Weakness and Resistance for Benched Pokémon.)” clause [-1 Point]
-Put a comma before “and” [-1 Point]

Believability: 15/15
There’s no way to break Parasect because its power scales directly with what your opponent does and it faces the same problems as any other spread deck, but it is capable of having a strong effect if your opponent plays into it. Perhaps with an attacker with an effect like Donphan PLS had back in the day, it could have some chance as an archetype, but it’s by no means busted. Good job!

Final Score: 41/50
As always, Almonds, the technical aspects of your card are really good. I think you just got a bit caught up in a mechanic that hindered you from making the fun ideas that populate your normal cards. Just return to those and you should be good.

@Ephemera
Galvantula-GX - Grass - HP190
Stage 1 - Evolves from Joltik

Ability: Static Silk
If this Pokémon has any [L] energy attached to it, this Pokémon’s type is both [G] and [L].

[G][C] Swarming Bite
On each of your opponent’s benched Pokémon, place damage counters equal to the amount of Joltik in your discard pile.

[G] Web Stunner GX 10x
This attack does 10 damage times the number of damage counters on your opponent’s benched Pokémon. The Defending Pokemon is now Paralyzed. (You can’t use more than 1 GX attack in a game.)

Weakness: [R] x2
Resistance:
Retreat: [C]
When attacked, they create an electric barrier by spitting out many electrically charged threads.
Creativity: 15/20
You’ve got some interesting ideas going here, Ephemera! I really like the synergy between Swarming Bite and Web Stunner, and they each have some cool aspects individually in the form of discarding part of your own evolution line to increase the damage you do and using spread damage to deal a massive blow to your opponent. Static Silk, however, is just an exact repeat of a past effect, which hurts the card a good deal here.

Wording: 6.5/15
Static Silk:
-Capitalize Energy [-1 Point]

Swarming Bite:
-Capitalize Benched [-1 Point]
-Replace “place” with “put 1” (and replace “counters” with “counter”) [-1 Point]
-Replace “equal to the amount of” with “For each” [-.75 Points]
-Swap “For each Joltik in your discard pile” and “on each of your opponent’s Benched Pokémon” [-1 Point]
(i.e. the final effect should look like “For each Joltik in your discard pile, put 1 damage counter on each of your opponent’s Benched Pokémon.”

Web Stunner GX:
-Replace “times the number of” with “for each” (and replace “counters” with “counter”) [-.75 Points]
-Capitalize Benched [-1 Point]
-Replace “The Defending” with “Your opponent’s Active” [-1 Point]
-Accent é in Pokémon [-1 Point]

Believability: 10/15
Swarming Bite and Static Silk should be fine, but I worry about the fact that Web Stunner has the capacity to just obliterate the opponent for only one energy, since it’s likely that over the course of a game you’ll end up leaving a Pokémon or two with significant damage on the bench, which can turn into a simple one-shot KO. Even if you fail to get that, you still have the very powerful free Paralysis, which judging by cards like Shuckle GX, Dedenne GX, and Muk & Alolan Muk GX, should come with much less damage (50 or so max) for low energy costs, putting Web Stunner definitely way above the power level. -2 points for a ‘Dex entry on a GX and missing GX Rule.

Final Score: 31.5/50
This was a really good effort for your first ever fake, Ephemera! You’ve done a pretty good job in all three categories; just be a bit more careful with your referencing and the ways an effect can be broken and you should be at the top in no time.

@The Last Shaymin
[G] - Basic - Illumise GX - HP 170

Ability: Aroma Beacon
Once during your turn (before your attack), you may search your deck for a Volbeat and put it onto your bench. If you do, your [G] Pokémon do 20 more damage this turn (before applying Weakness and Resistance). Then, shuffle your deck.

[G] [C] Light show - 10+
This attack does 30 more damage for each Volbeat on your bench.

[G] Dancing Duo GX
Put all Volbeat in your discard pile onto your Bench. For each Pokémon put onto your Bench in this way, put 5 damage counters on your opponent's Pokémon in any way you like. (You can't use more than 1 GX attack in a game.)

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

Weakness: [R] 2x
Resistance:
Retreat: [C]
Creativity: 16/20
There’s some very nice synergy going on here, TLS! Aroma Beacon and Dancing Duo both provide ways of getting Volbeat onto the bench while having an interesting advantage for the second effect (which makes this card have super cool interactions with the Volbeat card you’d made), allowing them to combine two fairly typical ideas for the TCG in a pretty thoughtful manner. Light Show is less exciting and serves more as a conduit for the other effects to be interesting, which lowers the score here a bit.

Wording: 5/15
Aroma Beacon:
-Italicize “(before your attack)” [-.5 Points]
-Capitalize Bench [-.75 Points]
-Specify it’s your [G] Pokémon’s “attacks” doing damage [-1 Points]
-Specify the damage is being done “to your opponent’s Active Pokémon” [-1 Point]
-Move “this turn” right after “If you do,” [-1 Point]
-Add “during” before “this turn” [-1 Point]
-Italicize “(before applying Weakness and Resistance)” [-.5 Points]

Light Show:
-Capitalize attack names [-1 Point]
-Capitalize Bench [-.75 Points]

Dancing Duo GX:
-Replace “in your discard pile” with “from your discard pile” [-1 Point]
-Note that it’s Pokémon “you” put onto your Bench in this way [-1 Point]
-Italicize “(You can't use more than 1 GX attack in a game.)” [-.5 Points]

(It’s worth noting the rule is called the Pokémon-GX rule, not just the GX Rule, but that’s nitpicking so I’m not going to take off any points for that.)

Believability: 13/15
Though you can do a lot of damage with Light Show with four Volbeat on the bench, it's a lot like an upgraded version of Passimian SUM (which isn’t exactly format defining). With Aurora Beacon being pretty difficult to chain, even with the ability of the Volbeat you created, the card should be playable but not OP. With Dancing Duo, however, it seems a bit powerful to be able to exactly place up to 20 damage counters where you want for one energy while also powering up your main attack, considering there are a ton of ways to get Pokémon in the discard pile.

Edited: -2 Points

Final Score: 32/50
This was a really great effort, TLS! You created a card that was well balanced and had great ideas and referenced it pretty well too. Just be really careful not to have these tiny one word errors that have hurt your wording score and you’ll easily be in contention.

@ThePigThatCriedRii
Scolipede GX - [G] Pokemon - 260 HP
Stage 2 - Evolves from Whirlipede

Ability: Speed Boost
This Pokemon's retreat cost is decreased by [C] for each Energy attached to this Pokemon.

[G][C] Ramming Speed 250-
This attack does 70 damage less for each [C] in Scolipede GX's retreat cost.

[C] Speed King's Call GX
Look at the top 8 cards of your deck. You may reveal as many Pokemon and Energy cards you find there. Put all Pokemon revealed this way onto your Bench and attach all Energy cards revealed this way onto your Pokemon in any way you like. Shuffle the other cards back into your deck.

Weakness: Fire (x2)
Resistance: None
Retreat Cost: [C][C][C][C]
Creativity: 17/20
I love what you’ve done here with the combo of Speed Boost and Ramming Speed. Both are effects that individually might seem pretty typical, but they’re shockingly unique for the TCG (after all, Ramming Speed couldn’t work without an effect like Speed Boost) and work together in such a simple but great way. Speed King’s Call is unfortunately in essence a combination of two relatively common effects, though it does work nicely with the other two.

Wording: 4/15
Speed Boost:
-Specify that this only applies “As long as this Pokémon is your Active Pokémon,” (and change “this Pokémon’s” to “its”) [-1 Point]
-Capitalize Retreat Cost [-.75 Points]
-Replace “decreased by [C]” with “[C] less” [-1 Point]
-Accent é in Pokémon [-.5 Points]

Ramming Speed:
-Move “less” before “damage” [-1 Point]
-Replace “Scolipede GX’s” with “this Pokémon’s” [-1 Point]
-Capitalize Retreat Cost [-.75 Points]

Speed King’s Call GX:
-There’s no need to reveal cards when they’ll be immediately put in play, so delete the second sentence [-1 Point]
-Accent é in Pokémon x2 [-1 Point]
-Since you aren’t revealing cards, change “all Pokémon revealed this way” to “any number of Pokémon you find there” and change “attach all Energy cards revealed this way” to “attach any number of Energy cards you find there” [-2 Points]
-Replace “onto your Pokémon” with “to your Pokémon” [-1 Point]

Believability: 8/15
Ramming Speed is wayyyy above the power level for damage, doing 110 for 2/180 for 3/250 for 4 with absolutely no drawbacks (while normally, that power level would require at least an energy being discarded). In Expanded, this gets even worse, seeing as a Float Stone can allow Scolipede to do 250 damage for 2 energy with no drawbacks, which is absolutely insane and format breaking. The fact that Speed King’s Call GX adds to this attack by providing energy acceleration and can place evolutions on the bench puts it even more above the power level. Finally, the max HP for non-TAG TEAM GXs is 250, and I see no reason Scolipede should change that. -1 Point for no GX Rule.

Edited: -2 Points

Final Score: 27/50
You’ve got some really good thoughts behind your card! Just be really careful that you’re using exact references instead of having these small deviations and consider the entirety of the format while making these cards, since a lot of your lost believability points came from the fact that you neglected to consider other ways of lower Retreat Cost.

@Gabs Kazumi


Volcarona - Fire/Water - HP80
Delta Species
Evolves from Larvesta

(This Pokémon is both [R][W] type)

Poké-Power - Frozen Monarch
Once during your turn, you may choose an Energy card attached to 1 of your opponent's Pokémon. That Energy provides [W] Energy instead until the end of your opponent's next turn. This power can't be used if Volcarona is affected by a Special Condition.

[R][W][C] Frostflare Dance 40
You may attach a [R] and a [W] Energy card from your hand to 1 of your Pokémon. If you attach a [R] Energy card this way, the Defending Pokémon is now Burned. If you attach a [W] this way, the Defending Pokémon is now Asleep.

Weakness: [R]
Resistance: None
Retreat: [C]
Creativity: 17/20
Frozen Monarch is definitely my favorite effect that I’ve seen in any of the cards this month! It’s such an amazing way to create a temporary disruption effect, penalize decks that fail to have the proper counters of the era, and ruin the pesky scramble energy strategies that existed in the ex-era. Frostflare Dance is an effect that’s new as an attack, but is quite reminiscent of the Poké-Powers of Roserade/Vileplume UL, bringing the card down a bit (even though I like how you built the attack with a potential partner in mind).

Wording: 9.5/15
Frozen Monarch:
-Specify the Poke-Power is being used “(before your attack” [-1 Point]
-Normally, TCG convention says to use “Energy” instead of “Energy card” when attached, but for the ex era, since you are explicitly changing what the card itself does, this wording is likely correct. However, that means that you would also need to change “Energy” at the beginning of the second sentence to “Energy card” [-1 Point]
-Since the effect is applied to the card itself, it’s OK to use the wording “provides” here like special energy does, but since there’s no guarantee the energy attached is colorless, you should specify that the energy is [W] “instead of its usual type” (Reference: Magmar LM) [-1 Point]

Frostflare Dance:
-Since you’ve already attached the energy by the time the effect happens, change the second two “attach” to “attached” (Reference: Holon Adventurer) [-1.5 Points]
-Specify that you attached a [W] “Energy card” [-1 point]

Believability: 9/15
Frozen Monarch looks really powerful, and probably would necessitate all decks adapting to it, but considering the fact that there are so many Poké-Power counters in the era (Cessation Crystal, Medicham ex, Solrock, delta Gardevior ex, etc.) it wouldn’t be able to single-handedly dominate the format or anything (which could even make playing a deck dedicated to getting many Volcarona out a dangerous prospect since it can be hard countered). I’m not sure how physically practical it is to keep track of up to four cards that have been turned into [W] energies. For example, what happens if the opponent uses an energy switch and accidentally doesn’t keep track of if they’ve moved the right energy card and tries to discard it with an attack? The attack’s power level seems a bit more like it would be balanced on an ex rather than on a normal Pokémon (or if you could only get one attachment from it), seeing as it gains you two free attachments, which is huge, along with having a solid amount of power when factoring in the special conditions. Additionally, when there are dual type delta species, they need to have one be either darkness or metal type (this is the case because metal/darkness energy at the time had the special effects that could only apply to Pokémon with their type). Finally, you need to note Volcarona is a Stage 1.

Final Score: 35.5/50
I always love seeing a card from a vintage era, and this was no exception, especially seeing as your ideas were great and a perfect fit for the ex-era! It’s really hard to remember all the details of old era wording and formats, so just be sure if you fake in this era again to try to research and consider as many details of that era’s wording and balance levels as you can.

3rd Place: FourteenAlmonds’s Potent Parasect GX, with 41/50 points.
2nd Place: Lord Goomy’s Splendid Scatterbug, with 42/50 points.
1st Place: Vom’s Astute Accelgor GX with 42.5/50 points
 
Hey at least I got the most points in Creativity c:

I’m surprised at how bad my wording marks were. Typically when I fake something I’ll check it and find like 3-4 errors on my own and correct them, then leave the rest to the judges lol. This time I had 9, and I think it’s because both effects are something that while not new to me, are something I have not practiced. So, this is a pretty neat learning experience for me haha. I feel really dumb though about missing the dex entries part, iirc that’s where I got the idea for Traitor Swarm from.

Also just a note, this Shedinja was actually meant to be paired with my Nincada and Ninjask fakes, from the currently newest post in my fakes thread! The repetitive use of Shedinja and Ninjask can lead to quite a mess for your opponent. If we’re using cards TPCI has made (because they’re more so designed for Lackey if anything), then you also get use of what Jabber pointed out of LOT Shedinja, as to make Dead Ring not as punishing towards you. Or, you can just skip that and use cards like Belellba & Brycen-Man or Recycle Energy with my Ninjask fake, or even with Garchomp & Giratina-GX. Also combines well with pretty much any card that mills, too. Looking at you, Bunnelby AOR.
 
Well, that judging confirms what I already know: My spelling is terrible and word choice horribly unrealistic. If I had the time I'd read official card wording but there's probably not going to be words for what I want to say.
 
Anime Psyclone said:
Well, that judging confirms what I already know: My spelling is terrible and word choice horribly unrealistic.
Click to expand...
There's nothing misspelled in your entry as far as I can see! Wording is a different matter, but the way you worded it isn't, like, grammatically wrong — it's just that the Pokémon TCG has some specific conventions for this type of thing.

If I had the time I'd read official card wording but there's probably not going to be words for what I want to say.
Click to expand...
You'd be surprised, actually. It's true that occasionally you get an effect so wild that there just isn't a good reference for it, but the entire reason that "Wording" is a 15-point category of this contest is that 99.9% of the time, you can find a way to word your entry that follows what Pokémon's been known to do in the past.

===

For @Anime Psyclone and anybody else looking to brush up on wording, pkmncards.com is a really stellar resource for this. You can go to "Syntax" in the upper right of the home screen to learn more about how to use it, but the gist is that it lets you search a database of every English Pokémon card ever to find out whether your wording (in its entirety or as a snippet) has been used before.

Happy faking. ^.^
 
Jabberwock said:
There's nothing misspelled in your entry as far as I can see! Wording is a different matter, but the way you worded it isn't, like, grammatically wrong — it's just that the Pokémon TCG has some specific conventions for this type of thing.


You'd be surprised, actually. It's true that occasionally you get an effect so wild that there just isn't a good reference for it, but the entire reason that "Wording" is a 15-point category of this contest is that 99.9% of the time, you can find a way to word your entry that follows what Pokémon's been known to do in the past.

===

For @Anime Psyclone and anybody else looking to brush up on wording, pkmncards.com is a really stellar resource for this. You can go to "Syntax" in the upper right of the home screen to learn more about how to use it, but the gist is that it lets you search a database of every English Pokémon card ever to find out whether your wording (in its entirety or as a snippet) has been used before.

Happy faking. ^.^
Click to expand...

Is pkmncards still a paid service? I used to use it back before the paywall came around, but I dropped it once I couldn’t keep using it.
 
FourteenAlmonds said:
Is pkmncards still a paid service? I used to use it back before the paywall came around, but I dropped it once I couldn’t keep using it.
Click to expand...
Nope, the paywall is gone now! Massive thanks to Adam (the webmaster) and his team of volunteers who have worked non-stop to keep the resource open for everyone :D
 
Jabberwock said:
There's nothing misspelled in your entry as far as I can see! Wording is a different matter, but the way you worded it isn't, like, grammatically wrong — it's just that the Pokémon TCG has some specific conventions for this type of thing.


You'd be surprised, actually. It's true that occasionally you get an effect so wild that there just isn't a good reference for it, but the entire reason that "Wording" is a 15-point category of this contest is that 99.9% of the time, you can find a way to word your entry that follows what Pokémon's been known to do in the past.

===

For @Anime Psyclone and anybody else looking to brush up on wording, pkmncards.com is a really stellar resource for this. You can go to "Syntax" in the upper right of the home screen to learn more about how to use it, but the gist is that it lets you search a database of every English Pokémon card ever to find out whether your wording (in its entirety or as a snippet) has been used before.

Happy faking. ^.^
Click to expand...
I can confirm what Jabber is saying here. Though there is occasionally a term or two where nothing comparable has been seen in the TCG, the wording of every other word in the effect and syntax of an effect can still be inferred from past TCG precedent.
I personally use pkmncards to help my judging, and every single mistake you'll see in the Wording category has a reference behind it that indicates the wording is incorrect, even if I haven't noted it down. I typically only write down references for the most hard to find or weird wording conventions in the TCG, but if anybody is curious about the cards I used as references for their wording errors, feel free to shoot me a PM.
 
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