Card Design Contest: November

[eudaimonia]

Update 1: Added clarification to Prompt Restrictions and General Criteria sections.

Introduction

Hello everyone, and welcome to November’s Card Design Contest! This month we have a new prompt and jury, and we’ve also updated the General Rules for greater readability (so please give those a read ). As per usual, here is the overall contest schedule:

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• Submission Deadline: 11/15 at 11:59pm (Central Standard Time)
• Jury Evaluations: 11/16 - 11/19
• Community Voting: 11/20 - 11/28
• Next Card Design Contest: 12/1

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November's Prompt: "There Will Be Blood"

##Design a card that interacts with Bloodborn spells.
(1) If your design’s interaction involves the triggering of an effect after a friendly Bloodborn spell is cast (e.g. Hearthstone’s “Inspire” mechanic), then you must use the provisional keyword: Bloodbond.

• Why? This helps streamline the judging process, so we jury members don’t have to pour through 20+ different keywords that all refer to the same effect.

(2) You may NOT only create a new Bloodborn spell (i.e. it must be connected to a minion/spell/artifact), or rebalance/rework an existing one.
(3) Here are two sample designs:

Tundra Falconmaster / Vanar Minion / 3 Mana / (2/5)
Bloodbond: Deal 2 damage to enemy minions in the enemy General’s column.

Corona / Lyonar Minion / 5 Mana / (4/7)
Bloodbond: Restore 3 Health to your General.

General Rules (click on any of these to read more)

All participants are allowed ONE contest submission per month.

• Of course, you may edit said submission as many times as you see fit.
• If your submission contains more than one design, then you will be disqualified (unless you explicitly state which design is your “final draft”).
• Abuse of additional accounts to make multiple submissions will result in disqualification from the current contest and all future contests.

All contest submissions must follow the current month's prompt.

• If you have any questions/concerns regarding the prompt, then please feel free to contact any of the jury members or discuss via the Discussion Hub.

All contest submissions must follow this basic template.

Name
Faction + Type
Cost + (Stats)
Card text.

OR

Name / Faction + Type / Cost / (Stats)
Card text.

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Therefore, a sample (designed by @phayze) would look like this:

Mindspike Mantle
Magmar Artifact
3 Mana
Whenever your opponent draws a card, deal 2 damage to the enemy General.

OR

Mindspike Mantle / Magmar Artifact / 3 Mana
Whenever your opponent draws a card, deal 2 damage to the enemy General.

All contest submissions must include a description of the design’s purpose.

• Why? (1) It give us jury members a better understanding of the thought-process behind your design and (2) It gives you and fellow participants a better way to discuss your design in the Discussion Hub.
• This can be very brief (or as long as you’d like).

All contest submissions must follow the official 125-character limit on card text (including spaces).

• This roughly amounts to 18-22 words. For example:
• Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Integer quis tempor nunc. Interdum et malesuada fames ac ante metus.
• You may consider using the DuelystDB Custom Card Creator to verify.

Any content not pertaining to a contest submission (e.g. discussions, critiques) is NOT allowed.

• Why? We have an entirely separate topic for discussions/critiques/feedback: the Discussion Hub.
• This separation facilitates greater readability for both contest submissions and discussions.
• Of course, feel free to give a “Like” accordingly!

Clearly unbalanced or "meme" designs are NOT allowed.

• If you are concerned about the balance of your design, then please feel free to discuss or get feedback in the Discussion Hub.

New Generals, minion/card types, or keywords are NOT allowed.

• You may use a new keyword, minion/card type, or General if it is provided by the prompt.

Please use the “Hide Details” function for non-required content (e.g. lore, artwork).

• Why? To maintain readability for both jury members and other contest participants. While additional content is fantastic, we want to ensure a fair reading and judging environment.

Please avoid directly copying a card from another contest participant or CCG.

• If you are concerned about committing plagiarism, then please feel free to contact a jury member or discuss via the Discussion Hub.
• If you are reporting plagiarism, then please only contact a jury member via PM and we will investigate accordingly.

Prizes!

[details=1st place]

• Pixel art created by @DieMango
• Exclusive forum badge “Design God”
• 2 Orbs
• Place in the jury for the next month[/details]

[details=2nd place]

• 2 Orbs
• Place in the jury for the next month[/details]

[details=3rd place]

• 1 Orb

• Place in the jury next month[/details]

  Useful Links and Misc.

• Don’t forget to drop-by the Discussion Hub to discuss fellow submissions, give/ask for feedback, etc.

• Here is a document with the General Criteria that the jury consider while evaluating designs.

• Please note that these are not strictly-enforced criteria, and that any jury member reserves the right to emphasize/de-emphasize a given criterion as they see fit.

• This month’s jury members are:

• @attheedge

• @eudaimonia

• @nullaurelian

• @hellcat

• @bolthero

• Best of luck on your submissions! We are very excited to see what you all come up with

[narasimha]

Alright, I’ll kick things off! With a bang!

[details=Vagrant Bloodmage]
Neutral Minion
4 mana
4/5
Whenever your opponent casts a Bloodborn spell, place a copy of it in your hand.

Reason: Ever felt like Zir’an wasn’t sharing the healing love? Ever thought that maybe you wanted to buff your swarm? Ever felt like a one damage ping kept you from victory? Well fret no more! The Vagrant Bloodmage takes your opponent’s strength, and kindly gives it to you. More importantly, it forces your opponent to really consider “Is using my BBS worth giving it to my opponent?”. A normally simple decision gains the potential to change the entire flow of the game. This is a card that would force any general to step back and think. Except for Starhorn. Starhorn would love the hell out of this.[/details]

[excogitator]

Rasha's Enthusiasm / 8 mana / Vetruvian / Spell

At the end of each of your turns, summon a Phamtasm Guardian next to your general. Destroy your Bloodborn Spell.

Phantasm Guardian / 3 mana / token / 3/3

Force field, Provoke

Explanation: with an expansion focused on Bloodborn spells coming out, I felt like Vetruvian, the faction with a few pretty bad blood born spells, should get some support. As the game progresses, Sajj’s BBS becomes boarderline useless since her health is too low. As such, I thought that a card that sacrifices access to Bloodborn spells would be interesting. Since more Bloodborn spell synergies are expected in the new expansion, the downside of the spell should be at least somewhat significant. For sacrificing the spell, you get a free 3/3 sticky provoke each turn for the rest of the game. This gives Vetruvian control decks a pretty big payoff card that is not weak to dispel or removal. Late game cards in general are seeing little play due to how easy they are to remove. This circumvents that. Right now, control Vetruvian has no real win condition other than outvaluing your opponent. This puts them on a clock and heavily taxes their resources.

As for the flavour, “Enthusiasm” in his context does not mean eagerness or excitement. Instead, it draws from the Greek roots of this word, which means “letting the god into oneself.” In this spell’s context, the caster gets rid of their Bloodborn status in order to channel Rasha’s power.

[sirplaysalot]

Sajj’s Weaponsmith / Vetruvian Minion / 3 Mana / (3/3)
Bloodbond: Equip a random artifact that costs 3 or less.

Works well with artifact Sajj decks. Great no matter when drawn. Keeping it alive yields greater rewards, but is still a tempo play at 3 mana.

[eternamemoria]

Thoughtstream / Vetruvian Minion / 4 Mana 3/3

Opening Gambit: replace your opponent’s bloodborn spell with Idle Thought.

Idle Thought / Pseudo-token-BBS / 2 Mana

Replace this bloodborn spell with your original one and activate it. Your opponent draws a card.

Purpose: I feel this gives more interactivity with the bloodborn spells themselves, by making them something you can give an additional cost to. It is also another card-draw alternative that allows control on the opponent’s side yet still makes sure you eventually draw a card as the game goes on.

Comment: I am unsure if this counts as creating a new BBS, but I guess it does not, as it is like the riddles Sphinx gives to the other player. One thing to remember is that casting Idle Thought also activates the original spell.

[polinchi]

Echoing companion

Neutral, Minion
6 mana, 3/5
You can cast your bloodborn a second time.

Explanation

Since we have a really fast meta, i thought about a card that encourages long term games. How? An expensive, hard to use late game card, but whose value and overall benefit would be gigantic: imagine vaath gaining +2 attack everyturn; lilithe summoning 4 wrathlings; sajj literally being able to take down any minion with one hit. It would gain a lot of value the turn he is played, and even more if maintained for several turns.
A great comeback card: you hold on to late game and then, if used correctly, it could turn the board around, putting a clock on the opponent.
Yet, a really hard to play card: while it costs 6, hr is pretty much a 7 drop, considering you use it with your bloodborn spell. While some factions can accelerate and play it faster, they wouldnt have access to their BBS everyturn, balancing the value they would gain by playing him faster; also note that abyssian need to sac a minion and magmar would deal damage to it, leaving it vulnerable.
Also, by his own, it most likely wont win games. You need to think carefully and plan in advance when and how you are going to play it.
Why neutral? I just couldnt decide for any particular faction because i thought it would be a bit strong, and though not all, many generals could make use of it, allowing control decks for everyfaction, so i decided for it being neutral

[dokfitz]

Icemancer / Vanar Minion / 4 mana (1/5)
Bloodbond: Summon two joined 0/2 Vespyr Walls nearby. Minions that attack those Walls are Stunned.

Like the wallnar archetype, first was thinking about a necromancer for Abyssian, but those zerglings are really everywhere,then I changed to the wall type, I like cold and ice!;D

[nwardezir]

Bloodfrenzied Imp
Neutral Minion
2 Mana 2/3
Bloodbound : this minion gains +1/+1 and moves to a random space nearby

Details

• Lore : this Imp as been subject for magical manipulation and is very sensitive to Bloodborn Spells. It makes him mad, violent and uncontrolable
• Artwork : some small creep, imagine a “gothic” type of Snow Chaser, or a “vampiric” type of Wraithling, something both tiny and turning into rageful terrifying creature. You can also imagine a typical © Gremlin™, when they eat after night or put into water
• Concept : a little RNG doesn’t hurt, it adds a part of fun to this card. Player will have to make a gambit between power and placement. And maybe one day we will provide some other 2 drops alternative to the usual Primus, Mystic and Shroud

[deathsadvocate]

Spectral Lantern
Abyssian Artifact
1 mana
Blood Bond: Your general gains attack equal to the combined attack of all friendly wraithlings.

[details=Summary]Primarily it is designed to have amazing synergy with Lilithes Bbs. I think it gives some much needed Wraithling synergy, and an alternate to deathwatch. Ideally it would activate after Lillith summons her wraithlings.

Unlike various deathwatch abilities this lets you play proactively by getting benefit from wraithlings just being on the field rather than needing them to stick around or die. I really like the vision of Lilithe drawing power from her wraithlings themselves rather then their death.

It supports the swarm archetype by actually encouraging you to value your wraithlings, especialy if you buff them, rather then just waiting for them to die. While it still requires set up, it’s cheap enough to play as part of a combo, and once it is proced it does not matter if they get wiped.

The name just brings to mind Lilith carrying a lantern on a chain shining with a purple light that glows brighter with the presence of Wraithlings. She can of course swing it around and beat people with it. Sort of like a Wraithling counterpart to Cassyvas firey creep lantern.[/details]

Old version:

[details=Summary]Spectral Lantern
Abyssian Artifact
1 mana
Whenever you summon a Wraithling your general gains +1 attack.

Primarily it is designed to have amazing synergy with Lilithes Bbs but I did not want to make it to narrow by just restricting it to a BBs ability. While both simple and a little similar to grimwar I think it gives some much needed Wraithling synergy, and an alternate to deathwatch.

Unlike various deathwatch abilities this lets you play proactively by getting benefit from wraithlings on summon rather than needing them to stick around or die. I really like the vision of Lilithe drawing power from her wraithlings themselves rather then their death.

While it will be harder to pull off the massive bursts that cresendo/grimwar can do, it is cheap enough to encourage the swarm play-style by actually encouraging you to swarm rather then just live in fear of aoe like skorn. Priestess/Vorpal can still lead to smaller large bursts.

The name just brings to mind Lilith carrying a lantern on a chain shining with a purple light that glows brighter with the presence of Wraithlings. She can of course swing it around and beat people with it. Sort of like a Wraithling counterpart to Cassyvas firey creep lantern.

Initialy I thought of it being a minion buff but it overlapped with Black Solus who already has a rough history. Thematically it would make more sense to function like Ghost Azalea but I did not want it to just be a Lilith copy of that weapon which exagerated swarms already prominent weakness to aoe. So instead I designed something somewhere between grimwar and Azalea that has direct synergy with Lilliths BBs and supports a neglected archetype.[/details]

[dewize]

I won’t give up, gonna try to win this time !

Silithar Blade
Magmar Artifact
4

Your General gains 1 attack and Bloodbond : Summon a Young Silithar Egg.

Summary

The idea behind this artifact was to give Magmar more artifacts, maybe we’ll see an artifact Magmar archetype someday, and strengthen the Eggmar existing archetype. Being able to summon more eggs, would make it extremely more viable, cards like Wild Inceptor and Dreadnaught would see more plays, Egg Morph would finally be used as something else than a removal, you get the point. Essentially, this card would tie every egg related cards together. Although, it won’t save Flaming Stampede from being bad.

[colexiel]

Dervish Caller/ Vetruvian Dervish/ 3 Mana/ (2/4)
Bloodbond: Give all other friendly Dervishes +1/+1

Reason: Vet honestly doesn’t have a ton of Dervishes in their arsenal and could always use more of them. Its Bloodbond is meant to synergize primarily with Zirix’s Iron Shroud, yes the Iron Dervish receives the +1/+1 as the Dervish Caller’s Bloodbond goes off after the Dervish is summoned from Zirix’s BBS. The reason I did not include the Caller itself with the buff is that it could snowball into a stupidly huge minion if left unchecked, it can however receive the +1/+1 from another Caller if two are present or for example: Zirix’s BBS + 2 Dervish Callers = +2/+2 for all other friendly dervishes and +1/+1 for the Callers.

[banang]

uhhh interesting, i’ll try it, too:

Enlightened Sage / neutral / 3 Mana / (2/5)
Your Bloodborn Spells instead puts a 0-mana spell with the same effect into your action bar.

Thoughts:
I wanted to create a rather balanced card that fits into control/spell/arcanyst decks. using BBS is a spell, playing that card again is another spell.
Additionally such a card would open up lots of options to play with. You could use your BBS twice or even more often in the same turn! You could save up your BBS for later use so you don’t “waste” the CD. And of course you can just replace that card to look for something else.

[coldhands]

Golem Relinquisher / Neutral / 4 mana / (3/5)
Bloodbond - Destroy your lowest cost Golem and summon 2 Bloodshard Golems on random spaces around it
Explanation - This is a complete rework of my original entry, and I sincerely hope this time it’s more balanced. The intent is helping out the Golem archetype with a token generator that rewards you for running Golems on the lower end of the curve. Also, a small clarification: this minion will only kill himself if that’s the only option available, so if you have a Hailstone Golem on the field he’ll preferentially destroy it then destroy himself.

[largebanana]

the term Bloodbond just clicks, love the name.

Keeper of Balance / Neutral / 4 Mana / (4/4)
Bloodbond :Whenever ANY hero uses Bloodborn Spells opponents hero will be forced to use it too.

[details=Small Detail]
-IF the opponent Bloodborne spells requires them to choose a tile, the target tile will be chosen randomly.

-IF the opponent Bloodborne Spells is on Cooldown, the effect will still happen but the spell will not be put on cooldown.

-IF the opponent uses their Bloodborne Spells from their Action bar (using Alcuin Loremaster for example) this will not trigger the effect of the Keeper of Balance.

Reasoning: This card is a pack full of mechanics. it might seem straight forward at first but when you delve into the actual power of the card you might be baffled. so yes the card isn’t too strong since it can potentially destroy the user but balance has to be kept right? so where is the power of the card? when you forced an opponent to use BBS by using your BBS you will completely ruin the strategy they had in mind that involves their BBS since the cooldown of the BBS will start when the opponent use it. for example Faie that prepares her BBS for Hearth Sister combo might be ruined. but as long as the Keeper stays alive the enemy can take revenge using it’s effect.[/details]

after writing this down, i find myself wanting to play this card, i hope even if i don’t win somebody can make a concept art of the KoB.

Edit: i edited the Stat line because it seemed too weak, things that affects both heroes generally has a better stat line and such i decide to increase the statline.

[Sorostaran]

Pureflesh Golem
Neutral Golem
4 Mana (6/6)
Bloodbond: Deal 3 damage to your General.

Explanation: If CPG insists on having situational non-spammable Bloodborn Spells, then a golem shall come to champions their cause. =S

[kingw]

Phantasmal Samurai / Songhai Minion / 2 Mana / (1/2)
Backstab (1)
Bloodbond: Gain +2/+2

Not a very flashy minion, keeping it simple. It’s designed to give Backstabhai/Kaleos a boost. Has a good synergy with Kaleos’ BBS, Onyx Jaguar, and Shadow Waltz. It doesn’t do as much for Reva since Katara & Chakri Avatar fulfill the same roles, and this is a bit of a slower value-oriented card.

[akurane]

I guess I’ll go with a more simplistic design this time~
EDIT: It’s not simplistic anymore ><

[details=Sandsmith]
Sandsmith / Vetruvian Minion / 5 mana 3/6
Bloodbond: Equip a random Sandstone artifact on your general with 1 durability.

Sandstone artifacts:
Ilria’s Wings: Your general gains Flying
Oserix’s Flail: Dying Wish: Destroy the nearest enemy minion.
Haro’s Eye: Draw an extra card at the end of your turn.
Nephthys’s Tears: Restore 3 health to your general at the end of your turn.
Setiki’s Blade: Your general takes no damage from enemy general attacks.

I wanted to create a strong minion to improve Artifact Vetruvian, but I felt the previous version wasn’t creative enough as a solution. I changed it to a weaker 5 drop minion, and made it give 1 durability artifacts so that it would be easier to have artifacts on you for minions/effects like Aurorus Tears and Imperial Mechanyst. The effects and names are based off of Egyptian gods and goddesses, and I tried to give them effects that focused on both the strong and weak points of the Vetruvian.[/details]f

[deekester]

Vaath’s Chosen
Magmar Minion
6 Mana 3/2
Rush, Bloodbond: if this Is dead, summon it near your general

The reason i thought this would be good is that there aren’t many viable control decks and I think the big thing is that there’s so much good removal and not many good high cost cards. this and other cards like it could potentially solve both of those problems. It’s a minion that gives up tempo the turn you play it but not only has an immediate effect to clear something or push for damage, it provides recurring value for future turns. It also doesn’t care if it gets removed which is good in duelyst. If it’s not clear this means that if this minion has died this game and you use your bbs. this comes back on a nearby space. obviously it would need to be coded so it doesn’t work with itself and summon 3 different minions from just one cast since the minions would stack up in your “discard pile” and that would be too op.

[pfcmickey]

Battle Shrieker
Epic
Magmar Minion
3 mana 2/3
Grow: +1/+1
Bloodbond: Friendly Minions with grow activate their grow abilities

Summary

• Artwork: I imagined something like a quadruped dilophossaurus

• Lore: The shrieker shrieks (duh) when the general uses it’s bloodborn spell, getting ready for battle and inspiring the other warriors

• Motivation: I though about moloki huntress and how bad the grow mechanic is at the meta. Maybe with another growth every other turn they could be more viable.

• Mana Cost: The cost was designed so the card can be played with the bloodborn spell at turn 3 as P1.

• Stats: The stats are thought so that the player gets a 3/4 body for 4 mana like grimrock. It can’t be higher or the card will automatically render grimrock useless, but the effect is beneficial for a more swarmy deck, as grimrock is more of a standalone card. This way, the player must ask themselves if they want a body that grows 2/2 or a body that helps other minions grow.

[nashiok]

Runic Resonator

Neutral + Structure
4 mana + 0/6
Opponent can´t cast BBS