Looks like a busy day buried me in this thread somewhat! Lot of ground to cover here...
Challengers: I certainly understand the thirst for power, but xdude has been a phenomenal master. He knows 
inside and out, what it can do and what it cannot. What can you do that he cannot/has not?
I haven't read up on everything he's done, but I can tell you what I can do. Since I was very young, I've had a strong strategic mind - in fact, I'm almost to the point where I might be diagnosed OCD. It's a blessing and a curse, and I often lose the forest for the trees. War sounds like fun, though I haven't been in War before. My strongest contribution to this community so far has been active involvement in the card ideas section - I have provided strong constructive criticism of others' ideas, long before this Trial started, and whether or not I make Master status, this will likely continue.
I also currently hold the most card ideas in the Armory (3), unless someone's equaled me since I last checked... though I don't have any in the Reliquary yet. As Master, I would apply myself strongly to seeing that Light's card ideas are refined as much as possible, and offer my own ideas as well. Crusader was a very strong addition, we need more cards like that.
To all: I look for maturity in whichever candidate that I want as master, something I have felt has been sorely lacking by some of those in the trials. This is more of a general statement than a question, just something I thought you all should know.
I agree! Been very thankful to have a drama-free, good-sportsmanship-filled Light Trial this time around. In addition, I feel that since a Master ought to set the example for other players, ego also has no place. I hope this has been true of me, and if you feel it hasn't, I hope you will bring it to me right away.
Well, johann seemed like the most inventive deckbuilder.
I take that as high praise, sir! Your comments in each of the Phase 2 result threads were duly noted; it seems I was more focused on countering the secondary elements I anticipated each player using, than focused on countering Light itself. Hence stuff like Dune Scorps to counter Antimatter.
What does Light symbolise for you?
Stability. The weapon and two of three shields are immaterial, Hope provides the strongest potential physical damage reduction in the game, and all creatures except Photon and Pegasus have strong health - coupled with Angel healing and Holy Light. Light in Elements is similar to the Cleric class on my old NwN server: built to ignore stuff, not counter it.
What will you do for this element as a Master? What is your vision?
Light has actually been one of my favorite elements since I started playing, but when I first joined, I didn't know a thing about playing it well, of course. I dabbled in most of the other elements, notably Fire, Water, Time, and Life, before realizing Light had potential I hadn't seen. As a Master, one major part of my vision would be to aid newbies; established players will continue to learn and grow on their own, but the new player needs encouragement to stay and add to the community. Plus, Light is one of those elements whose merits won't be immediately apparent to a new player - they are more likely to see potential in Fire, Earth, Darkness, or Aether, which have much more obvious tactics.
What types of cards does Light need in game to finish covering the Element Light?
I disagree with Dm, Ryan, and xdude here, I don't think Light really needs any kind of control. What Light currently lacks are any real direct counters beyond Holy Light vs Death/Darkness (which IMO needs to be removed), and I think it should stay that way. Light should get more cards that synergize with creature healing, damage reduction (go Solar Buckler!), and perhaps a good non-damage pump spell (though it could be argued Hope sort of falls in that category, despite being a permanent).
Phase Shield, Gravity Shield and to an extent Bonewall are great vs Light. PC would help against the better 2 (better vs Light, of course)
That is an excellent reason for Light to stay PC-less. Duo decks are a good way to get access to PC already, and it is good for some cards to be better versus certain elements. You wouldn't expect Phase Shield to be good versus Fire opponents, but other things work well... Jade Shield comes to mind.
Many people see Light as "The Element that is only Good for ROL/Hope." How could you prove them wrong?
By beating them up with Crusaders, Rage Angels, etc. Succumbing to a deck does wonders for one's respect for the cards involved.
Would you ever use Holy Light (Against 
/ 
is excluded.)?
Yes. Angel/Armagio is an interesting example. Most people think only of the player-healing it can provide, which is usually too weak to matter... but especially coupled with Blessing, it makes a great way to emergency-heal your creatures. Twice the healing of Guardian Angel, and no summoning sickness. I actually packed a couple of these in at least one of my Trial Phase 2 decks.
And why the red and yellow?
xdude was showing what he thought was a contradiction between the yellow and red parts... but it looks like he misunderstood you. You seemed to be saying, "we're only talking about mono-Light BUT you can duo with Light to get ways to handle stuff." Which is true and non-contradictory.
Why do you believe you can lead light better than someone who has been master for 3 terms?
Oh, I can't do what xdude has done better than him, he is playing to his strengths and those are not my strengths. I can do different things, however - and while xdude probably has some more to offer the community, it is likely that - having spent 3 "terms" as Master - his contributions have mostly been seen already. There is an argument to be made for fresh blood. Better? No, that's too much apples and oranges. I can promise I'll be as fair as him and not make it about my ego or agenda. This Trial is a win-win for me... if I oust xdude, being Master will lead me to do things I might not otherwise have done, partly I expect through more direct involvement with the leadership of the community. If I remain a humble neophyte, the pressure of responsibility is off, and I have no obligations.
Oooh, yes or no question! Yes. Because so far nobody was even close to proving me otherwise.
I disagree. Pre-empting any "of course you had to say that," I think this shouldn't have been a yes or no question... as I said above, it seems like apples and oranges. So jippy isn't as experienced a PvPer. So Ryan didn't use any terribly original deck concepts. So I didn't participate in the last War and have been largely uninvolved in organized PvP until now, and fared badly against my fellow challengers. I think jippy has proven his worth through his learner's attitude and eagerness to help (perhaps he isn't ready now, but given more experience, he may fit the spot nicely). Ryan showed excellent PvP play against everyone, using his decks the best he could. Dm has already shown his ability to lead through organizing tournaments. And I'd like to think that I've shown some of my personal strengths through my participation in this Trial. By your standard, maybe nobody's proven they're as "good as you," whatever that means... by my standard, heck yes they have.
1-) Ryan used the same deck over and over. Honestly, any challenger could counter it if they wanted to. I had to make two decks up on the spot, but the rest really could see it coming.
As xdude was kind to point out in the chat quote, I did try to counter it but my luck was terrible while doing that... and Ryan didn't use the exact same deck each time. He tweaked it between matches. Yeah, it was still Light/Gravity, but he did adjust to his opponents' perceived tactics. It was not Gravity Shield that killed us every time - in several matches it was Gravity Pull. In my first game against him, if he hadn't used Gravity Pull, it may have been an easy win for me via blessed Squids.
Earlier I mentioned ego as one thing I think a Master shouldn't have... really, with that whole chat quote as well as some of his comments on here, I'm thinking Light does need a change. Reminds me of politicians slamming each other...
*ahem* Moving on...
Q: Light has a card called 'Miracle'. Can you name something that's happened to you in the forums or in real life that you felt was truly an unexpected Miracle? Or do you believe that those positive incidents were caused by your determination (i.e. - something based on your ability to push through to get through it, rather than some lucky act of fate)?
Joining the theater group I'm in. Before I did that, I was dealing with a lot of non-self-imposed isolation and really awful depression. I'm an introvert, and it's really tough for me to make friends outside of an environment like college where friendships happen naturally. At several points I was getting close to suicide... I believe it's no understatement that that community of creative souls has saved my life and made it much more worth living, all at once. Perhaps not a miracle by definition, since miracles are supposed to be things that break natural laws, but in my mind, I'd call it a miracle by virtue of its importance in my life's direction.
I am a much happier person now, so much has changed in the past year, I wouldn't know where to begin. Thanks for asking, I enjoyed sharing!
What is Darkness?
Darkness is subtlety. While Light is immobile and constant, Darkness flits about and uses subversion rather than force. Its only shield makes the user hard to hit, Cloak conceals everything, Voodoo Doll is unaffected (or its purpose fulfilled) by most forms of CC, and its damage can't be prevented in any way. Steal uses the target's permanents against him, Devourers slowly leech off the opponent's ability to fight back, and Parasites will kill the entire enemy field slowly and repeatedly if not dealt with, despite being small and vulnerable.
Due to my lack of success in Phase 2, I'm unlikely to succeed enough here to have a shot at xdude, though it's still possible. If you vote for me, I'll take that as a vote of confidence and repay it to the best of my ability. If you vote for someone else, I'll trust you have good reasons for it - my fellow challengers have been pretty impressive. Do keep something in mind, though: a vote for xdude is a vote for Ryan, in practice, since he has the lead (though it will also boost xdude's upped card count). Putting whether he'd make a good Master aside completely, the voting phase is primarily the last step in determining who gets to
face him.
EDIT: I have one suggestion for the next Trial - a closer point differential for phase 2. With the votes in phase 3 likely being much more of an even split, a 10-6-4-0 spread makes it extremely unlikely to recover from even second place, and nearly impossible to recover from third and fourth. A 10-8-6-5 spread or some such would be a bit less fate-sealing and allow the potential for comebacks, without making phase 2 meaningless. With 10-8-6-5, a second-placer in the battles could win with 40% over his rival's 20%... and someone who placed fourth would need 70% of the vote to overcome the same.
