TASK I
Battle Prowess - The Arena
Hard Chargin' Partiers Getting Smashed (http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,29197.0.html)
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745 745 745 745 778 778 778 778 778 77a 77a 77a 77a 77a 77c 77f 77f 77i 77i 77l 77l 77l 77m 78q 78q 78q 78q 78q 78q 78q 8pl
(http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/2666/phaseiplatinumspinv2.png)(http://img97.imageshack.us/img97/3904/phaseiplatinumscorev2.png)](http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/2663/phaseisilverspinv2.png)(http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/4672/phaseisilverscorev2.png)(http://img171.imageshack.us/img171/7209/phaseibronzespinv2.png)(http://img820.imageshack.us/img820/3582/phaseibronzescorev2.png)
TASK II
Card Design - Shards
Trials submission - Shard of Philomathy (http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,28846.msg397991#msg397991)
Critique -
- :earth - Shard of Perfection (http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,28846.msg398046#msg398046)
I think this is a great idea for a shard because it is just plain fun. It adds an extra element and challenge to the pve environment, an area that is often ignored in trials/war. It is a great fit for earth, since likely those decks with an earth mark, or at least a heavy focus on generating earth quanta will be able to utilize it's properties. I am not sure the coding of the game would be able to implement the Shard, or at least I would think it would need to be recoded a bit. The only drawback, of course, is that the shard has literally no importance in a pvp environment, thus making it a non-competitive card. It's non-competitive nature, in comparison to other elements, could actually further weaken the :earth element in terms of war because other elements would be able to utilize their shards to better their position (adding additional pressure in their decks/creating additional counters to consider while battling), while this shard does nothing for :earth. - 174 words- :earth - Shard of Confidence (http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,28846.msg398430#msg398430)
This is a good concept and works as a sort of less impressive version of nightfall/eclipse for burrowed creatures. The fact that it refers to only burrowed creatures probably makes it more applicable to devourers in the upped environment than any earth creatures. It allows grabbies to hit for 6 and antlions to hit for 3. In the unupped environment, it allows grabbows to have an extra turn defensively before having to evolve vs. firestalls, but I don't really find the card that playable overall in a competitive environment. I think the shard is fairly underpowered as currently stated, however, a reasonable change might be to change the verbage from "burrowed" to "burrowable". I find the cost of 2/3 to be fair, even with a change to the verbage. The shard is not quite as good as nightfall/eclipse, but doesn't have a restriction of being specific to :earth or any other element, the way that nightfall/eclipse has a restriction to :darkness. This means that any duo, trio, or rainbow that wants to utilize this shard should be able to utilize this shard as well as just earth decks. - 188 words- :earth - Shard of Stoicism (http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,28846.msg398715#msg398715)
At first, I read the description to this proposed shard and I became very excited! Long had I dreamed of a way to protect more than one enchant without having to pack multiple card slots, thus wasting multiple card spaces in a created deck. In light of my rage against arena, I had promised to myself to no longer attempt playing it (I subsequently continue to break this promise to myself). The biggest frustration to me with platinum & gold is that any time I try to play a deck with any perms, I have to watch them blow up almost immediately. This shard seems like a great solution to this problem. Additionally, the unupped version might make playing an earth-based rush a viable option in arena. Almost equally depressing is the parallel situation to seeing all of your perms blow up, is playing against a deck that packs ample CC. This analogous situation has helped fuel my rage as well. Then, I put further consideration into this card..... the double draw and excess quanta generation is what makes arena maddening to me. People can take a balanced deck concept and add excess CC & enchant removal to go from a fair fight to a situation where only the luckiest situations will cause it to lose. In short, people play strong decks and then pack cards to help make them more well-rounded in the end. The answer (Shard of Stoicism) to this problem would only increase this frustration when opposing arena decks play them. Timebows would make me want to punch babies when packing this shard. Also, I am not sure it is a whole lot better than cloak so my entire discussion might be invalidated, but I am sure there are more specific ways to abuse Shard of Stoicism. SoG spam with a timebow sounds aweful just thinking about it. There is no way a pulverizer even could keep up. Ultimately, I believe this shard does more harm to the arena meta than it helps. - 334 words- :earth - Shard of Prudence (http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,28846.msg398124#msg398124)
I really like the way this shard concept fits in with the :earth theme. The shard itself has a bit of a "grounded" or "stuck in the mud" theme to it and can really do a lot to favor monos or earth duos vs. speedbows or immo decks. I kind of get a happy feeling inside when thinking of the synergy this card has with other lockdown cards such as earthquake, discord, reverse time, eternity, silence, etc. That being said, I feel the quanta cost is much too high because the cost itself counteracts the very thing the shard sets out to do. I would lower the cost to 2 for unupped and 1 for upped, this way, if drawn, it gives the opportunity to achieve its purpose. If the cost is left at 4 or 5, the shard would almost require that some sort of grabbow be played in order for it to be useful. I really like the idea of what this card could do to add some relief against false gods and against buffed drawing decks in the arena as well. - 180 words- :earth - Shard of Fortitude (http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,28846.msg398388#msg398388)
Conceptually, this "shard" is one of the strongest entries I have seen thus far. I mean the word "conceptually" in the sense that its name matches up well with the function of the card, and the shard itself really fits in great with the theme of earth. willng3 definitely brings a sort of :life feeling into this shard, because for me, I see it as an empathic bond in spell form, specific to earth, with stone skin properties. My obvious criticism is that it isn't a permanent shard, although, SoD & SoS are not either. Perhaps there needs to be more of a movement to un-permanent-ize the shard revolution. I really like the way this shard fits into AI3 rush/EM decks and was already daydreaming about golem-SoF-tosis. PvE needs stronger alternatives to Improved Heal for EM decks as a final heal. Not only does the shard fit many the other properties well conceptually, but willng3 himself :) - 156 words- :earth - Shard of Caution (http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,28846.msg400183#msg400183)
The first thing that came to mind for me when looking at this shard is how ridiculously overpowered it is. Its cost is on the mid-ranged side for perms, so playing it will not even put much of a strain on quanta. I was thinking it was named Shard of Caution because if the shard only increased defense alone, this would be a buff to gravity shields as well, which is probably needed somehow, but adding momentum to earth creatures completely nullifies this buff. There are several aspects to this card that make it scary and able to be abused in my opinion. First off, from an opposing standpoint, you can pretty much forget about any of your CC being effective while it is in play. Secondly, the thought of anything that can devour scares the living daylights out of me, particularly when considering scarabs, which are quite spammable. Even if the defensive buff was changed to +1/+2, I would think the momentum buff would make it overpowered for grabbows. My personal recommendation would be that this shard should not be considered when adding new ones. - 185 words
TASK III
Deckbuilding
- Thread 1: http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,7501.msg90317#msg90317 - word count: 192
- Thread 2: http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,28142.0.html - word count: 186
- Thread 3: http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,27839.msg379313#msg379313 - word count: 171
- Thread 4: http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,27751.msg400239#msg400239 - word count: 175
- Thread 5: http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,25455.msg400244#msg400244 - word count: 189
- Thread 6: http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,27402.msg400594#msg400594 - word count: 171 (word count website registered 44, so I hand counted the value)
- Bonus Thread! (<25% :earth, but I adjusted to >25% and the deck suggested is quite solid & unique): http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,16023.msg400252#msg400252 - word count: 309
TASK I
Battle Prowess - The Arena
Complete.
The Laughing Stones (http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,29353.0.html)
Hover over cards for details, click for permalink
58r 58r 58r 58r 594 594 596 596 5aa 5aa 5c9 5c9 5c9 5c9 6rq 6rq 6rq 6rq 778 778 778 778 778 778 778 778 778 778 77a 77a 8pn
Victory:
(http://imageplay.net/img/m7Gbd216490/PlatinumVictorytrial.png)
Score:
(http://imageplay.net/img/m7Gbd216491/PlatinumVictoryScoreTrial.png)
Victory:
(http://imageplay.net/img/m7Gbd216488/SilverVictoryTrial.png)
Score:
(http://imageplay.net/img/m7Gbd216489/SilverScoreTrial.png)
Victory:
(http://imageplay.net/img/m7Gbd216492/BronzeVictoryTrial.png)
Score:
(http://imageplay.net/img/m7Gbd216493/BronzeScoreTrial.png)
TASK II
Card Design - Shards
Complete.
Shard : http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,28846.msg397618#msg397618
Shard Critique:
Shard of Perserverance (http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,28846.msg396233#msg396233) - An interesting card, especially when combined with wardens - this shows potential for making certain monos a lot stronger, possible examples being :time and :death (think about Scorpions.) As of now, it looks too cheap for it's current form.
Possible changes:
- Lower the buff - I think it might be fair to change the buff to just HP or just attack - it makes the card less lethal with numerous weak creatures by limiting it to attack-buff creatures (e.g. Scorpions, Wardens) or HP-buff creatures (e.g. Sparks, Scarabs, Otyughs)
- Increase card cost - possibly 6 :rainbow | 5 :rainbow considering that this is comparable to a portable growth, and most growing creatures use two elements.
- Make the effect target the highest attack creature instead - this will still help cards that are vulnerable (e.g. Lava Golem), and supports cards like Massive Dragon (e.g. w/Acceleration), and the damage buff remains the same.
- Make the effect not stacking - it's helpful, but I feel this damages the intent of the card. Try not to do it before considering the other changes.
Shard of Perfection (http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,28846.msg398046#msg398046)
I remember a similar card made in CI&A that had a more powerful effect (500 HP would win you the game), but it didn't include Immaterial or the +Electrum effect. While it doesn't add anything to the metagame itself, it's still a fun idea to design around and would benefit a grinding stall deck. (With Shard of Divinity aligning itself to :light , this seems to complement it very well, considering Earth/Light stall decks like The Immortal.)
It really couldn't be changed much - the concept makes the card relatively cheap and fun, but situational, which feels a bit off-place from the current shards, whose effects are pretty lethal or just plain annoying, even by themselves. In contrast, this card relies on at least 4-5 cards to get the necessary HP boost to have an impact, and only 2 cards can actually synchronize with it's purpose, which leaves gives me a somewhat narrow feeling in terms of deck possibilities.
Overall, I definitely like the idea, but the Shard theme feels off. I can definitely see it an ingame card though.
Shard of Philomathy (http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,28846.msg397991#msg397991)
I first looked at this card, and the two elements that came to my mind were Fire and Time. The theme is pretty far from Earth - the closest connection I could make was a volcano or desert - it's true that Earth resides in those places, but looking at the cards in this game (e.g. Phoenix and Dune Scorpion), those places wield the essence of Fire and Time.
The triple-hit mechanic is always an interesting thing to work with, but it's also complicated and sometimes unwieldy. With this card, you're basically giving your opponent 3 | 2 random quantum and dealing 3 damage at the same time - all on different turns. This makes it slow, and I would probably take a different card in my deck instead if I was looking for a source of denial or damage.
Suggestions:
-Increase the cost a bit (perhaps to 2-3 :rainbow), and then remove the effect that gives your opponent quantum - that just seems to get in the way. By having only the two offensive effects there, you'll get something along the lines of a steady anti-pendulum.
-If you want to change 1 of the effects, I would suggest an effect that reveals the opposing player's hand. Philomathy is a love for learning, and knowledge is power, as they always say.
And an unrelated CO comment : be sure to fix your card image!
Shard of Prudence (http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,28846.msg398124#msg398124)
Clearly a lockdown card, designed to work with cards such as Earthquake, Pulverizer, and Nightmare.
It feels too tilted towards Earth though. I'm not exactly sure how to put it, but this seems to achieve an effect that would be the inverse of Holy Flash, which is a killer against 1 element and relatively useless everywhere else. This favors one element a lot, and pretty much hurts every element but it's own. Another accurate comparison would be Shard of Sacrifice, which is possibly an even worse case - Sacrifice only grows stronger with it's favored element, while Prudence at least has a weakness in the form of it's favored element.
I would water down the effect a bit - either increase the limit for all players to 2, or give Earth elementals the ability to play 2 cards only. For now, it's a bit one-sided. Increasing the cost slightly might also be a good idea, depending on what changes you make.
Shard of Endurance (http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,28846.msg397671#msg397671)
To summarize, this is an instant Stone Skin that inflicts 5 uncurable poison each turn.
Overall, it defeats itself pretty quickly, and I really don't get much of an Earth vibe from this card - I would imagine an Earth defense to be much more durable and long lasting, unless the concept it's being based on is erosion of rock. It's quicker than Stone Skin, but I'm not sure if it could fit a niche that Earth already has - rush and dominantion decks wouldn't want to use it because it would hurt them in the long run and it hurts more than it helps in stall decks.
I would keep the healing theme, but try to make it more Earth focused or find a way to modify the effect so that it does not overlap with other cards currently in game. In terms of balancing, lowering the healing and the self-inflicted damage might be a good idea, as well as changing the damage to poison to give Purify some more merit.
Shard of Fortitude (http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,28846.msg398388#msg398388)
Hmmm, SoG and Emphatic Bond combined for an Earth elemental? Interesting.
This is very helpful for a mono-earth stall, and can replace the SoGs (especially after their nerf), but it costs slightly more in that respect and thus it's still a solid-looking submission that at the same time wouldn't disrupt too many popular decks out there. I can imagine some new Life and Earth combos with this and Mitosis - Antlion and Gnome Gemrider seem like potential candidates for this type of deck - Antlions could synchronize with Adrenaline, while Gemriders could power up Stone Skin.
In terms of change, it doesn't need much - some might complain that it's redundant with other healing cards like Emphatic Bond, Sanctuary, and of course SoG, but considering that the card base is increasing and that every Element will expand on healing at some point, I see it as just fine.
So while it just seems like another regeneration card at first, when you think about the big picture this card can shine. Good job.
TASK III
Deckbuilding
Complete.
- Thread 1: http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,27402.msg398452#msg398452 - word count : 205 (Legitimate Thread)
- Thread 2: http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,26926.msg397635#msg397635 - word count: 163
- Thread 3: http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,27839.msg397657#msg397657 - word count: 156
- Thread 4: http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,27751.msg398473#msg398473 - word count: 253
- Thread 5: http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,28142.msg398852#msg398852 - word count : 223
- Thread 6: http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,25455.msg398860#msg398860 - word count : 216