Contest PokéBeach Create-A-Card: September 2017 - Multi-Energy Costs - All Results Up!

bbninjas

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Fan-Voting Results

Unfortunately, we had quite a number of voters attempt to abuse the voting system this round; these votes were not counted. A reminder that you may not vote the same entry for each of the top spots, nor may you vote multiple times.

On another note, we had 16 counted votes for the image-based and 12 for the text-based this month, which is a significant jump from previous rounds - so thank you for voting! Without further ado, have the results:

Image-Based:
1st:
@Jabberwock - Dusknoir ex - 34 points
2nd: @professorlight - Arceus - 26.5 points
3rd: @TheNyanCatXD - Morty's Chandelure - 17 points
4th: @Zygarde - Kartana - 13.5 points
5th: @demifiend700 - Salamence FB LvX - 13 points

Text-Based:
1st:
@P3DS - Lucario ex δ - 20.5 points
2nd: @TheFlyingPidove - Lampent - 10 points
3rd: @GekkisaiDaiNi - Kingdra-GX - 8 points
4th: [TIE] @Lord o da rings - Salazzle - 6 points || @rainyman123 - Chandelure-GX - 6 points

Congratulations to the fan-voting winners for September! As always, we'll keep you posted about how the official judging is going.
 

bbninjas

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The text-based judging has now been finalised, and so you can find that below! We're still waiting on the image-based.
 

bbninjas

Ready or Not!
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Text-Based Results
Judges: @Vracken

1. TheFlyingPidove
[Stage1] Lampent / HP: 80 / Psychic
~ Evolves from Litwick

[ NO. 608 | Lamp Pokémon | HT: 2'o" | WT: 28.7 lbs.]

[Ability] Infiltrator
Once during your turn (before your attack), you may put 1 damage counter on 1 of your opponent's Pokémon that has a Pokémon Tool attached to it.

[R][P][C] Spirit Vortex [20x]
This attack does 20 damage for each Pokémon in your opponent's discard pile.

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

[Dex Entry: This is a very spooky lamp. Stay away from it or you will become Vracken 2.0...]
PB CaC Promo
Infiltrator is new, but not really notable, nice extra damage effect that is probably fine even with four Lampent, unless we move away from the high health meta. Spirit Vortex is interesting, though it just feels very much like a Ghost type attack to me, nothing about it makes me think Fire has had an influence on the attack or effect. All in all, a fairly standard card even if Spirit Vortex is pretty cool. I have given you an extra point for trying to make a middle evolution relevant. Also, I like the dex entry, though I am not sure it really is believable specifically because it references someone specific from outside of the Pokemon world, wonder who that is.

Creativity/Originality 14/20
The card isn’t brand new by any standards, but it has some modification on existing effects. My main gripe would be that nothing about it really feels like a Fire Attack in Spirit Vortex. Otherwise there is some flavour which I do like, as well as some minor synergy between the ability putting additional Pokemon in the discard for Spirit Vortex.

Wording 14/15
-1 Used an o instead of a 0 for the Height

Believability/Playability 14/15
Loss of believability due to dex entry being a little meta.

Overall 43/50

2. Kangaflora
Kommo-o – Type: Dragon – HP170

Stage 2 – Evolves from Hakamo-o



NO. 784 Scaly Pokémon HT: 5'03" WT: 172.4 lbs.

Ability: Bulletproof Revival This Pokémon takes 30 less damage from attacks for each Restored Pokémon you have in play (after applying Weakness and resistance).

[L][F][F][C] Clanging Scales 120 Flip 2 coins. If both of them are tails, this Pokémon does 20 damage to itself.

Weakness: Fairy (x2)
Resistance: none
Retreat: [C] [C]
Pokédex Information: When it spots enemies, it threatens them by jingling the scales on its tail. Weak opponents will crack and flee in panic.
Not really sure on the flavour of Bulletproof Revival, but it is a functional ability, I am worried that you already have high hit points, and with just a couple of revived Pokemon, this ability becomes a ridiculous 60 damage reduction, anymore than that and it would definitely be completely broken on such a tanky Pokemon, especially due to the fact that ability with one Restored Pokemon, the chance of damaging itself is now 0 due to the reduction. Beyond that, Clanging Scales is very stock standard, nothing about it feels both lightning and fighting to me other than how the attack actually physically works in the world. Very standard card with what seems to me, to be a very breakable ability, that would only be balanced around the badness of external cards.

Creativity/Originality 12/20
Bulletproof Revival is a modification of pre-existing abilities, with weird flavour that I don’t fully grasp, and otherwise Clanging Scales is a very stock standard kind of attack though with a very high energy cost for the amount of damage.

Wording 14/15
-1 (after applying Weakness or Resistance) You have not have capitalized “Resistance”.

Believability/Playability 11/15
I am not a fan of powercreep, and I think that 170 Hp is pushing that. And then the ability, while I understand restored Pokemon historically are hard to play, and difficult to get into play, it is too significant a reduction to be considered balanced by me.

Overall 37/50

3. Lunarwork
Stage 2- Metagross - HP 140 {M}
Evolves from Metang

NO. 376- HT: 5'03"- WT: 1212.5 Lbs

Ability: Extrasensory Steel If you have at least 1 {P} Pokemon and 1 {M} Pokemon on your
Bench, this Pokemon takes 10 less damage from attacks from the Defending
Pokemon for every {P} and {M} Pokemon on your Bench.

{M}{M}{P}{C}{C}- Rend Slammer - 50x Discard as much {M} and {P} Energy as you like. This attack does
50 damage times the number of Energy cards you discarded.

Weakness: {F} x2
Resistance: {P} -20
Retreat: {C}{C}{C}{C}

A linkage of two Metang, this Pokémon can perform any calculation in a flash by utilizing parallel processing in its four brains.

Refs: Pikachu-EX Promo: XY124
(thought of the ability myself)
Extrasensory Steel is fine, it is flavourfully named, but otherwise is just a modification of a preexisting ability, and is worded complexly, which detracts from it (simple is always better). Rend Slammer is pretty strong damage wise, but will be incredibly difficult to actually pull off due to the high initial cost. I could see any effect like this being problematic if there is enough support to pull it off, but since that support needs to be quite a bit, I am not worried about it, besides, would probably push other effects over the top more so than this one.

Creativity/Originality 12/20
Extrasensory Steel is a modification of pre-existing abilities, though I do like the flavour
Rend Slammer is a copy of another attack, just using different energy types.

Wording 12/15
-2 Accent e in Pokémon x5.
-1 Much should be Many when discarding energy (“Discard as many [R] Energy attached to your Pokémon as you like. This attack does 50 damage times the number of Energy cards you discarded., ref. Mega Camerupt, Primal Clash)

Believability/Playability 14/15
I am worried about the complexity of Extrasensory Steel, but otherwise the card seems perfectly believable to me, although probably unplayable in terms of balance due to the energy cost.

Overall 38/50

4. Lord o da rings
Salazzle HP: 110 - Fire
Stage 1 - Evolves from Salandit

NO. 758 - Toxic Lizard Pokémon - HT: 3'11" WT: 48.9 lbs

[R][P] Grave Poison
Your opponent's Active Pokémon is now Burned, Poisoned, and Asleep. Your opponent's Active Pokémon cannot retreat during your opponent's next turn.

[R][C][C] Scar Searing 70+
If your opponent's Active Pokémon is Poisoned, this attack does 70 more damage.

Weakness: [W] x2
Resistance: None
Retreat: [C]

Pokédex: Filled with pheromones, its poisonous gas can be diluted to use in the production of luscious perfumes.
Grave Poison is sweet, though an effect that has been done before and on another Salazzle, just as an ability and with added sleep. Scar Searing is a very standard attack however, bonus damage to a conditioned enemy, nice flavourful name.

Creativity/Originality 13/20
Grave Poison is a modification of pre-existing attacks/abilities though it hasn’t been done yet exactly as this. Scar Searing is very stock standard, but flavourful. I wish that it had psychic in its cost as well since it has the poison influence as well as Grave Poison.

Wording 14/15
-1 Cannot should be “Can’t.

Believability/Playability 15/15
I can’t see anything that would make this not believable or unplayably broken.

Overall 42/50

5. GekkisaiDaiNi
Stage 2 Kingdra-GX HP240[N]
Evolves from Seadra

Ability Kingdraw
Once during your turn (before your attack), if this Pokémon has any [W] Energy attached to it, you may draw four cards.

[W][L][C] Electric Wave 30x
This attack does 30 damage for each of your in play [W]-type Pokémon and [L]-type Pokémon.

[W][L][L][C] Conductive Wave-GX 220
Discard all of your in play [L]-type Pokémon. Each of your in play [W]-type Pokémon get +30HP for each Pokémon you discarded in this way. (You can't use more than one GX attack in a game.)

Weakness: [Y]x2 Resistance: Retreat: [C][C]
When your Pokémon-GX is Knocked Out, your opponent takes 2 Prize Cards.
Kingdraw seems far too strong. A couple of Kingdra and water energy, which you want to attach to them anyway, means you can draw 8 cards a turn. Even just 4 extra cards a turn is incredibly potent. Electric Wave is pretty standard, and Conductive Wave-GX is going to have some memory problems, requiring players to write things down, or have counters to remember, which just makes it a little more messy. Otherwise, the attack does a lot of damage, and buffs all of your water Pokemon permanently, which could be strong, though it takes a lot of investment for a benefit that Kingdra-GX doesn’t benefit from, and as such I don’t think it is broken (I am actually a fan of how it is balanced, I am interested in hearing your thought process on the attack).

Creativity/Originality 17/20
Kingdraw is a more powerful version of existing abilities, Electric Wave is fairly standard. Conductive Wave is bombastic and pretty unique I am a huge fan of it even despite its issues.

Wording 7/15
-1 “get” should be “gets” in Conductive Wave
-1 Missing “(and all cards attached to that Pokemon)”
-2 “In play” should be after [L]-type Pokemon and [W]-type Pokemon
-1 “Much” should be “Many” when discarding energy
-2 No specification on time frame of extra Hp, would need some kind of an explanation of for the rest of the game
-1 No Specification on whether future water Pokemon gain the additional Hp, or if it is just the ones in play when the attack is used

Believability/Playability 8/15
The card is interestingly balanced, but it is worrying due to the lack of a time frame on Conductive Wave GX and the extremely potent draw 4 on Kingdraw. I assume it is for the rest of the game, but it is not stated anywhere which reduces believability. Otherwise it is a reasonably complex card with multiple interactions that may just be above where I expect the norm to be for the Pokemon TCG.

-2 Edit Penalty

Honestly, this card is a little confusing, the card itself wants to be doing several different things. It doesn’t really want to be a support due to the [W] energy requirement for the ability. Its first attack wants you to have Water and Lightning Pokemon on your bench, while the GX attack wants your main Pokemon to be Water Pokemon and requires a fair bit of investment. It has made the card feel like a bit of a hodgepodge to me.

Overall 30/50

6. Ilovepokemom
Giratina GX-Dragon-HP190
Basic

Ability:final reguest
Once during your turn ( before you attack) , you may search your deck for 3 cards and put them in your hand. If you do, this pokemon is knocked out.

(G) (P) (C) No friends-90 Your opponent can't play any supporter cards from his or her hand during there next turn.

(G) (G) (P) (C) No help GX Your opponents can't play any cards from there hand during there next turn (you can't use more then 1 GX attack a game).

Weakness:Fairy (x2)
Resistance:
Retreat: 2
Attack names are a bit strange, though I like the admittedly misspelled ability name. The ability itself is potentially worrying from a power level perspective though the knocking out component probably balances it. Otherwise costs are somewhat expensive which downpowers the card a little. 90 damage might be on the higher end for an effect that blocks supporters, as the other two cards that do it do 10 damage and 0 damage, though they only cost 1 energy.

Creativity/Originality 14/20
Final Request is unique, there are a couple of somewhat similar effects out there, though they are damage, or draw, and don’t always include knocking out. It is possible that searching for 3 cards could be too strong, but giving up two prizes to do it does limit it. I like the synergy for doing it if your opponent can’t get a 1HKO, you get to make an interesting choice, attack again, or have something else attack. No Friends is a rare move, but preexisting with increased damage and cost. No Help GX is quite unique, and I am glad to see something like it as a fake.

Wording 8.5/15
-1 Accent e in Pokémon x2.
-1 Spelling error “reguest” should be “request”
-1 Capitalizations are off on both attacks and ability
-2 Incorrect use of “there” and “then” which should be “their” and “than” respectively x4
-1 should be (before your attack) not before you attack.
- 0.5 for the extra spacing after the before your attack and within its brackets.

Believability/Playability 13/15
Other than the wording issues, there does seem to be anything to make the card particularly unbalanced except for possibly the high damage amount on No Friends.


Overall 35.5/50

7. Dashking
Venusaur GX HP 240 Stage 2 [G] and [P]

Evolves from Ivysuar

[G][G] Merciful Strike 10+

This attack does 20 more damage for each Pokémon in your discard pile and minus 10 for each Pokémon (excluding Pokémon EX or GX) in your opponent’s discard pile.

[G][G][P] Solar Beam

Put a Solar Counter on this Pokémon. This Solar Counter stays on this card for the number of turns equal to 3 minus the number of pairs of [G] Pokémon on your bench. When the Solar Counter is removed, this attack does 170 damage to the Opposing Pokémon. This Pokémon cannot attack during your next turn

[G][G][P] Champion of the Forest GX 10+

This attack does 30 more for each [G] or [P] Pokémon in the discard or in play. (You can’t use more than 1 GX attack in a game.)

Retreat Cost: [C][C][C][C]

Weakness: [R}x2

Resistance:
Merciful strike is great, awesome attack, I would like to see more like this, even if it is just an expansion on already existing attacks in the TCG. However, I don’t really understand the lack of including GX’s and EX’s in the attack power reduction. Also not really sure what symbol should be used (+ or -) since it is both. Solar Beam however is a very complicated move. I personally love people trying to include counters, so I am pro that side of it, however there is a lack of when the counter timer ticks down, when the Pokemon can’t attack, after using Solar Beam, or after Solar Beam deals the damage. Could just use some extra wording to clarify. Finally for Solar Beam, the pairs of [G] Pokemon, there is no distinction on what a pair is, or how to determine if there are any. If you want specifically 2 [G] Pokemon to count, and not just one, I believe saying “For every 2 [G] Pokemon on your bench…” would be more effective. Interesting that Champion of the Forest can do either discard or play, should probably specify that a choice is required, same with the [G] or [P]. Double decisions are weird to me.

Creativity/Originality 18/20
Merciful Strike is an existing move expanded into new design space. Solar Beam is a very unique move, though has its complexity and clarification errors. Champion of the Forest is flavourful but otherwise a slightly more complicated version of existing moves increased in power, and expanded into additional design space.

Wording 5.5/15
-1 Ivysaur misspelt as Ivysuar.
-0.5 Missing a full stop at the end of Solar Beams
-1 Opposing should be Opponents
-2 Missing the “Pokémon-GX rule: When your Pokémon-GX is Knocked Out, your opponent takes 2 Prize cards”
-5 for clarity errors of how the Solar counters work

Believability/Playability 11/15
This is hard to consider balanced, as in expanded it will be very easy to meet the conditions for Champion of the Forest, and as such is only balanced by the fact that it is a GX move. Otherwise, the card is slightly weakened, due to the lack of colourless components of attacks making it slightly harder to use.

Overall 34.5/50

8. SneaselGenesis
Smeargle – Colorless – HP 70 Basic Pokémon

NO. 235 Painter Pokémon HT: 3'1" WT: 127.9 lbs.

[R][L][W] Primary Assault 30x
This attack does 30 damage times the number of different types of Pokémon in play.

Weakness: Fighting (x2)
Resistance: N/A
Retreat: [C]
A special fluid oozes from the tip of its tail. It paints the fluid everywhere to mark its territory.
Nice and simple, good to see unfortunately that does sacrifice creativity as there is nothing new about this Pokemon beyond the attack cost. Primary Assault is a slightly modified version of Rainbow Force using multiplication and your opponent's Pokemon rather than addition and just your own Bench.

Creativity/Originality 10/20
Unfortunately there really isn’t anything new about this Pokemon other than the unique cost of the attack and the fact it is based off of both yours and your opponent's Pokemon.

Wording 14/15
-1 Primary Assaults cost should be [R][W][L] instead of [R][L][W].

Believability/Playability 14/15
I can’t see anything that makes this not believable, if anything it is probably too hard to get going making it on the weaker side

Overall 38/50

9. Jadethepokemontrainer
Stunfisk//Electric//100
Basic

[L][F] Touch and Jolt
During your opponent's next turn, if this Pokémon is damaged by an attack (even if this Pokémon is Knocked Out), you may leave the defending Pokémon Paralyzed. If you do, discard all energy attached to this Pokémon.

[L][L][C] Flatten Up Your Friends 20
Choose 1 of your Benched Pokémon. That Pokémon has +30 HP.

Weakness - Fighting x2
Resistance - Metal -20
Retreat - [C][C]
Dex: Its skin is very hard, so it is unhurt even if stepped on by sumo wrestlers. It smiles when transmitting electricity.
The lack of timing for the +30HP on Flatten Up Your Friends is strange. Several other people have made this same mistake and so I am not sure if it is due to an attack existing that does something like this, but it doesn’t mention if this HP change is permanent or now

Creativity/Originality 14/20
The Card is overall fairly creative utilizing some interesting effects.

Wording 13/15
-2 Missing the Dex Information (Not the Dex entry, but the information such as Weight, Height, etc)

Believability/Playability 14/15
The Card seems a little weak if anything, though otherwise appears to be balanced to me. It is possible that the extra HP could push things over the edge, but the investment is pretty high for an attack that can only be used once per turn.

Overall 41/50

10. Rainyman123
Chandelure-GX HP 230 Fire
Stage 2 - Evolves from Lampent

[R] Soul Burn 30x
Look at the top 5 cards of your opponent's deck and discard any Pokémon you find there. This attack does 30 damage times the number of Pokémon you discarded.

[R][R][C] Burning Shadows 100
If the Defending Pokémon has 3 of more Energy attached to it, your opponent can't draw a card at the beginning of his or her next turn.

[R][R][P] Chandeburn GX 160
Prevent all effects of your opponent's Trainer cards done to your opponent's active Pokémon during his or her next turn. (You may only use 1 GX attack in a game)

When your Pokemon-GX is knocked out, your opponent takes 2 Prize cards.

Weakness: Psychic x2
Resistance: Fighting -20
Retreat: 2
Soul Burn seems really strong to me, one energy to potentially hit for 150 damage, even at 60 or 90 is strong, while also milling potentially important resources from your opponent. It is a cool effect, but I think it is too strong for one energy especially since the only restriction on it is the fact that Chandelure is a stage 2. Not sure about the “discard any Pokemon you find there” I believe it should be all Pokemon you find there, just because any indicates choice, which will create interpretation problems. Finally, you don’t have your opponent shuffle their deck, meaning you now know their topdeck (unless 5 Pokemon are seen and discarded). If you have to discard all Pokemon seen there, it should reveal the cards, not just have you look. If you can discard any number of Pokemon, this is less of an issue, but still allows for significant control of an opponent's top deck, and it is also worrying from a gameplay perspective that people are going to have to watch closely so that they aren’t put back on top in a different order than they come off from. As for Burning Shadows, that is a cool effect that I haven’t seen, with quite a tight restriction, potentially a little on the weaker side, but still cool nonetheless. I do question the wording, “can’t” doesn’t feel appropriate, I would have said something like “doesn’t” or “Your opponent skips the first draw of their turn”. Chandeburn seems fine to me, possibly a tad on the weakside.

Creativity/Originality 14/20
The Card has some modifications to existing effects of attacks for which one of those is quite the change, but nothing is brand new, or really wows me about the card.

Wording 12/15
-1 “Times the number of” is now “for each” as of Sun and Moon
-2 Lack of specification of what to do with the remaining cards not discarded from Soul Burn. Assumption is put back on top of deck in same order they came out on.

Believability/Playability 10/15
I am worried that Soul Burn is simply too powerful of a damage, denial and control tool.

-2 Edit Penalty

Overall 34/50

11. FlashRayquaza
Lucario GX STRIKE HP: 200 [F][M] Stage 1: Evolves from Riolu

Pokémon-STRIKE rule: You can have only 1 Pokémon-STRIKE in your deck. When you play this Pokémon from your hand to evolve 1 of your Pokémon, you may use one of it`s attacks regardless of the amount or type of Energy attached to it. (Your turn does not end)

[C][C] Breakthrough Punch 60

Discard a Special Energy or a Pokémon Tool attached to your opponent`s Active Pokémon.

[P][F][M] Aura Strike 100

Discard a basic Energy attached to this Pokémon. If you discarded [P] Energy, your opponent can`t attach Energy cards to his or her Pokémon until the end of his or her next turn. If you discarded [F] Energy, this attack does 70 damage more. If you discarded [M] Energy, discard one of your opponent`s Benched Basic Pokemon.

[P][C] Aura Share GX

During your next turn, you can use all of your Pokémon`s attacks regardless of the amount or type of Energy attached to them and all of your Pokémon have no Retreat Cost (except Lucario-GX STRIKE). (You can`t use more than 1 GX attack in a game)

Weakness: [R] x2 Resistance: - Retreat Cost: [C][C]
Strike is a cool mechanic that people have been expecting for a long time, though the extra automatic attack is incredibly strong, once upon a time, getting two attacks a turn was a mechanic, and it was only not broken because every attack that came with it was pathetic. This is restricted to two attacks only once a game, but each attack is incredibly strong in at least one way, making this card probably too flexible. Breakthrough Punch is a solid attack with two effects that have been seen before. While you can only choose one, I am worried it is potent as for a DCE you are dealing 60 and having flexibility, both of which are quite valuable. Aura Strike is almost definitely too strong. 100 for 3 different energy types isn’t bad, possibly a little weak, but Energy Denial is quite strong, 170 for a discard is fine, but discarding a benched Pokemon as a repeatable effect, even if only a basic is almost certainly too strong. Aura Share GX needs some clarification. When it says use all of your Pokemon's attacks, while I am sure you don’t mean have one Pokemon use every attack, that is one way it could be interpreted, which is definitely broken.

Creativity/Originality 17/20
Modal effects and new mechanics are pretty creative.

Wording 13/15
-2 Clarification required on Aura Share GX

Believability/Playability 7/15
Definitely playable, don’t really believe it to be a believable card. Very open and needs clarification on its GX attack, and the extra attack is such a strong effect I simply do not think it is likely to be made in a way that is balanced.

Overall 37/50

12. P3DS
Lucario ex δ - [D][M] – HP 110
Stage 1 Pokémon - Evolves from Riolu

When Pokémon-ex has been Knocked Out, your opponent takes 2 Prize cards.

Poké Body: Dark Mimicry
Each basic energy attached to this Pokemon provides every type of Energy but provides only 1 Energy at a time. This power can't be used if Lucario ex is affected by a Special Condition.

[C] Aura Thief
Choose an attack on 1 of your opponent's Pokémon in play. Aura Thief copies that attack. This attack does nothing if Lucario ex doesn't have the Energy necessary to use that attack. (You must still do anything else required for that attack.) Lucario ex performs that attack. During your opponent’s next turn, the defending Pokémon cannot use the attack that Lucario ex performed.

[D][M] Shadow Thief 30
Look at your opponent's hand. You may use the effect of a Supporter card you find there as the effect of this attack. (The Supporter card is discarded)

Weakness: [P] x2
Resistance: none
Retreat: [C]
Dark mimicry is an effect I was sure existed, though for some reason, I cannot seem to find anything like it. I worry about the fact it kinda makes the energy requirement, the point of this month's theme, pointless, though it does still meet the themes requirements. Furthermore, it does work wonderfully with Aura Thief, which is an awesome attack, though I am not sure how the one colourless cost works with the attack in general. Does it mean that Lucario needs one [C] more than the attack it copies? That was how I originally read it, but I am not so sure, clarification there would have been good, though the text for the attack is already quite full. Shadow Thief is an existing attack, hard to tell if it is balanced due to my lack of familiarity with the era however.

Creativity/Originality 17/20
While it is creative, I am worried that it defeats the purpose of the theme of this month. I personally think it would have been better as just one energy counting as each type, but that would make Aura Thief significantly weaker.

Wording 12/15
-1 Missing the Dual Type reminder text
-1 Energy should be capitalized in Dark Mimicry
-1 Defending Pokemon should be capitalized

Believability/Playability 11/15
Extra Supporter and using opponent's resources is very strong, probably shouldn’t discard their supporter as that can seriously mess up an entire game plan just with a single attack. Otherwise, basically all colourless energy attacks makes the card a little too splashable and reliable, which does make it fairly strong.

Overall 40/50

13. GM Draclord
Stage 2 - Evolves from Vibrava / Put Flygon on the Stage 1 card
Flygon 90 HP [C]
Stage 2 Pokemon
Pokemon, Length: 6' 07". Weight: 180.8 lbs.
Poke-BODY : Crystal Type
Whenever you attach a [G], [F], or [D] basic Energy card from your hand to Flygon, Flygon's type (color) becomes the same as that type of Energy until the end of the turn.

[F][D][C] Dragon Illusion Flip a coin. If heads, during your opponent's next turn, prevent all effects of attacks, including damage, done to Flygon.
20

[G][G][F][F] Buzzing Dust Flip a coin. If heads, this attack does 10 damage to each of your opponent's Benched Pokémon. If tails, this attack does 10 damage to each of your Benched Pokémon. (Don't apply Weakness or Resistance for Benched Pokémon.)
50

weakness - [G] resistance -
retreat cost - [C][C][C]
I am unfamiliar with the era, so forgive me, but I am not really sure what the point of the ability actually is, nor the flavour for why it is appropriate for Flygon, which just made the whole card feel strange to me, which wasn’t helped by the fact that I am so unfamiliar with the era and it’s meta as a whole. I know it is a mechanic, I just don’t get why. That lack of knowledge also made it very difficult for me to determine if the card is balanced, strong, weak etc. Finally, the weakness to grass sticks out as strange, as Grass is Grass, Bug and on occasion Poison, none of which Flygon is weak to in the games, and colourless Pokemon are not weak to grass either.

Creativity/Originality 11/20
Preexisting ability, with no synergy with the rest of the card makes it feel out of place. Otherwise both Dragon Illusion and Buzzing Dust are copies of an existing attacks just with the energy types changes.

Wording 15/15
I can’t see anything wrong with the wording.

Believability/Playability 14/15
Not so sure about the weakness, seems very off to me, otherwise seems pretty balanced, possibly on the weak side.

Overall 40/50

14. NinjaPenguin
Basic\Xerneas\HP 130\Fairy

NO. 716 Life Pokémon HT: 9’10" WT: 474.0 lbs.

Ability: Justice for All
If one of your opponent's [F] Pokémon tries to attack, you may discard 3 cards from your hand. If you do, that attack does nothing.

[L][P] Terror Jolt 80-
Discard any Stadium card in play. Your opponent may discard a Supporter card from their hand. If they do, this attack does 60 less damage.

[G][R][W] Brilliant Light 40+
Discard each [D] Pokémon in play (both yours and your opponent’s). Then, flip a coin. If heads, this attack does 20 more damage for each [D] Pokémon you discarded in this way. If tails, draw a card for each [D] Pokémon you discarded in this way.

Weakness: [M] x2
Resistance: [N] -20
Retreat Cost: [C][C][C]
The horns on it's head shine many colors. If you see one with exactly seven colors, it's said to grant you eternal life.
There aren’t many abilities that activate like that on an opponent's turn, which makes it awesome. I am slightly worried that 3 cards is too few, as doing that even once a game can the difference between winning and losing, and 3 cards is a fairly low cost to do only once or twice. Of course, it is restricted entirely to one type which balances it, though it does mean in the format there is a random basic Fighting type hoser which is quite splashable for decks that aren’t filled already. This thing alone probably renders fighting type decks nearly unplayable in the format it is in, which has pretty heavy implications for Expanded. Terror Jolt has a cool restriction on it that works similarly Justice for All, though is obviously a fair bit weaker most of the time. Brilliant Light however is probably the most worrying thing about this card as it 100% hoses dark type decks, and so long as there is energy fixing/acceleration, this card could make essentially force Dark decks to auto lose, becoming more potent the higher stage and energy costing the dark types are. It is only really balanced by a difficult energy cost to meet, but it can also draw you cards which is a potent effect on any attack that does more than just draw cards.

Creativity/Originality 18/20
It’s pretty creative for sure, biggest gripe would be a lack of synergy in the card itself.

Wording 13/15
-1 “it’s” should be “its”
-2 No specification of what happens if the active Pokemon is a Dark Type, where does the damage go? Or is it lost?

Believability/Playability 8/15
I really just cannot see a card that completely hoses one type, and renders another incredibly risky to play just because of this card's existence ever seeing print other than the fact TPCi does a terrible job balancing anyway.

Final Score – 39/50

Complimentary Judging:

Adam Ryder
Alolan Marowak - Fire/Ghost - HP100
Stage 1 - Evolves from Cubone

Ability: To Hell And Back
If this Pokémon is in your Discard pile and you have a Cubone in play, use this Pokémon to evolve Cubone.

[R][C] Playing With Fire 50+
This attack does 50 damage plus 20 more damage for each [R] attached to your Pokémon.

[P][C] Remembering Mother 30x
This attack does 30 times the number of Marowak in your discard pile.

Weakness: [W](x2) Resistance: [G](-20)
Retreat Cost: [C][C]

The bones it possesses were once its mother's. Its mother's regrets have become like a vengeful spirit protecting this Pokémon.
Unfortunately this entry doesn’t meet the requirements for this Month as the theme is Multi Type attacks, meaning that at least one attack should include two Energy types.

Creativity/Originality 10/20
Ability is pretty cool, not as much a fan of the name, though flavourfully it works.

Wording 15/15
I can’t see anything wrong with the wording.

Believability/Playability 15/15

Mirdo
Smeargle - Normal - 150 HP Basic

Ability: Color Refill If this Pokémon is your active you may attach any number of Basic Energy from your Hand to this Pokémon, but only one per Type.

[C] [C] [C] Color Splatter 30x
Discard as many Basic Energy cards from this Pokémon as you like. This attack does 30x Damage for each diffrent type of energy you discarded in this way.

[C] Clean Slate GX 100
Put as many Basic Energy cards from your Discard Pile or your Pokémon into your hand.

Weakness: Fighting x2 Resistance: Retreat cost: [C][C][C]
When your Pokémon-GX is Knocked Out, your opponent takes 2 price cards
Creativity/Originality 10/20
Unfortunately there really isn’t anything new about this Pokemon other than the unique cost of the attack.

Wording 14/15
-0.5 Price Cards should be Prize Cards
-0.5 different is misspelled as diffrent

Believability/Playability 15/15

3rd Place:Jadethepokemontrainer’s skittish Stunfisk, with 41/50 points
2nd Place:Lord o da ring’s slippery Salazzle, with 42/50 points
1st Place:TheFlyingPidove’s lambent Lampentt, with 43/50 points
 

Lorde

♕ The Queen ♕
Member
Well that's new, I've never placed before and I needed it after July and August. Congratulations to all the participants!
 

DashKing

Aspiring Trainer
Member
Merciful strike is great, awesome attack, I would like to see more like this, even if it is just an expansion on already existing attacks in the TCG. However, I don’t really understand the lack of including GX’s and EX’s in the attack power reduction
This is because the Venusaur has mercy for little Piplups and not for Darkrai EX that murdering it. :)
Anyway thanks, for the results!
 

professorlight

Ice Queen
Member
I would just like to take this opportunity to note that the Prism Star mechanic is basically the Legendary Pokemon mechanic of my Arceus; therefore, I'll gladly and very humbly accept the five points awarded for the secret "Goodness gracious you actually made something TPCI did before they did it" judging category.
 

bbninjas

Ready or Not!
Advanced Member
Member
Image-Based Results

Judge: @bbninjas

It's here! We had quite the diversity of eras and blanks this month, which I must say was rather refreshing. Congrats to the winners!

professorlight:
0-arceus-png.14158
I think you’ve got some uncanny ability, Light - good call on that turn-skip, months before it debuts in PTCG on this upcoming Dialga-GX! By the way, I think the card you’re thinking of is Dialga Lv.X, with it's Time Skip. Anyway, this effect is insanely broken if it is not limited to once a game; as you expected, there is definitely enough resources for one to easily chain it’s use and prevent your opponent from ever playing.


Z-Genesis is a much more powerful version of the typical game reset found in PTCG, that merely being shuffling all non-Pokemon cards in play back into one’s deck. For this version, there’s a logistic problem in that it could double the length of a game if use late game, and long games is something TCPi tends to avoid. Shuffling in your prize cards is where things get broken, though - imagine bringing your opponent down to 1 prize card, and then being hit by a Z-Genesis? It cheaply undermines everything you’ve done up until the point, and there’s no real drawback for the player using Z-Genesis (1 Prize card isn’t that much).

Wording errors:
- “You and your opponent” should be “Each player”. x2 (-1.5pts)
- “must shuffle your” should just be “shuffles their”. (-1pt)
- You don’t need “respective”. (-1pt)
- “Prizes” should be “Prize cards”. (-1pt)
- In “draw 7 cards each”, you don’t need the “each”. (-1pt)
- ‘bench’ should be ‘Bench’, ‘basic’ should be ‘Basic’. x2 (-1.5pts)
- When you play a Pokemon from your hand, you must specify that it is from “your hand onto your Bench”, else actions like “playing to your Discard Pile” might be activate the Ability. (-2pts)
- There should be some specification as to when the turn skip happens (e.g. “once this turn ends”). (-2pts)
- “must place 6 cards from your respective decks as face down Prizes” should be “...adds the top 6 cards from their deck to their Prize cards”. (-2pts)
- You need to specify where that 1 Basic Pokemon that you place after the reset comes from (e.g. play… Pokemon from your hand). (-2pts)

References:
Nihilego-GX, Ilima,

Fonts and Placement errors:
- nothing looks out of place!

Creativity/Originality: 13/15
(Definitely some out-there exploration of design space.)
Wording: 0/15
(Quite a few errors, being a tricky effect to word.)
Fonts and Placement: 10/10
(Customs~)
Believability/Playability: 0/5
(Broken Ability and broken attack.)
Aesthetics: 5/5
(Stunning holosheets, stunning blank and stunning art that uses lighting perfectly to achieve that “Oh, S***!” effect.)
Edit penalty: -2pt
Total: 26/50

NinJamezor:

I’m a sucker for art consisting of figurines and love the DP-era, so you’ve got me hooked!

Fake Out has a particularly standard Paralysis effect, so moving on. I like how you’ve integrated the theme into Frozen Rend, not just having a multi-cost effect, but performing different effects depending on the discard. The self-sustaining synergy when you discard a [W] Energy is a neat touch. That said, I’d like to see more exploration of new design space if you’re looking for more creativity points.

Wording errors:
- “Pokemon” should have the accented “e”. x2 (-1.5pts)
- “from” should be “attached to” in the DP era. (-1pt)
References: Torkoal PL

Fonts and Placement errors:
- “Weavile”, the Galactic symbol and the Lv. details should all be bottom-aligned to the Galactic symbol. (-1pt)
- The text size for “Weavile” is a bit too small, it should be a couple of pts bigger. (-1pt)
- Lv.48 should not be the condensed font (if it is not the condensed font, then it should be wider and bolder). (-1pt)
- The “x” in “x2” is the wrong font. (-0.5pt)
- The CAC symbol and the set number should be a couple more pixels to the left, while the damage integers should be a couple more pixels right. (-1pt)
- The damage integers should be a few more pixels taller. (-1pt)
- The image of Cyrus should begin closer to the neck, instead of near the shoulders. (-1pt)
- The attack effect text should be justified, and reach all the way to the damage integers. (-1pt)

Creativity/Originality: 11/15
(Nice integration of the theme.)
Wording: 12.5/15
(A couple of minor errors.)
Fonts and Placement: 2.5/10
(A number of errors.)
Believability/Playability: 5/5
(Looks fine.)
Aesthetics: 3/5
(Lookin’ spiffy!)
Total: 34/50

King1313:

There’s not too much new here. Oceanic Attack has been seen many times before, and Guardian’s Revenge is pretty standard for effects based on the Pokemon you have that are damaged. The name “Guardian’s Revenge” is a neat nod to the art. It is neat that you’ve made your own art, but it isn’t for me unfortunately. :)

The attacks would be fine power-wise if they were in the current era, but are too powerful for HGSS, where you’d normally have to multi-hit a Pokemon to KO it. For Oceanic Attack, you could be dealing 60 damage for 1 quite consistently, which is abnormal. For Guardian’s Revenge style attacks in the HGSS, you’re normally only adding an extra 10 damage (else 5 damage counters means you’re hitting 120, which is a 1-hit KO for most Pokemon). That’d also be why these style of attacks only ever involved a single Pokemon (instead of all of your Pokemon in play), in the HGSS era.

Wording errors:
- “amount of” should be “number of”. (-1pt)
- “Pokemon” should have the “e” accented. x2 (-1.5pts)
- There should be a period at the end of your sentences. x2 (-1.5pts)
- In the second attack, you don’t need “This attack” for the HGSS era. (-1pt)
- You don’t need “including this Pokemon” in the second attack. (-1pt).
- The character you’ve got in “Guardian’s” is not an apostrophe. (-1pt)
- There needs to be “in play” after “[W] type Pokemon”. (-2pts)
- “HP” goes before “100”, not before. (-1pts)



Fonts and Placement errors:
- I’m not sure what’s going on with that “BASIC” text, nor the Weakness/Resistance/Retreat Cost text, but they are all definitely in the wrong spot. (-4pts)
- The PokeDex effect has the wrong font and is too large in font size. (-1pt)
- The “HP” text is far too large. (-2pts)
- The card name and attack names should be bolder. (-1.5pts)
- The attack names should be left-aligned to each other. (-0.5pt)
- The Energy symbols are a few pixels too small. (-1pt)

Creativity/Originality: 9/15
(We’ve seen the effects quite a bit before.)
Wording: 5/15
(A number of errors.)
Fonts and Placement: 0/10
(Many errors, both minor and major.)
Believability/Playability: 2/5
(Overpowered for the era.)
Aesthetics: 1/5
(A number of elements are blurry, and the misplacements are distracting.)
Total: 17/50

TheR3DX:

Nice to see you try for a FA, R3! The background definitely pops, and the nod to the art being of a shiny is evident in the theme, and the typing of Omega Blast.

Otherwise, there isn’t that much new going on with the effects - Omega Blast is standard and Gun Down is effectless. I do like how you increase damage based on Energy attachments for Download, however! I’d say that Omega Blast is a tad underpowered for a GX attack, as you’re only hitting 150, AND have to discard an Energy.

Aesthetically, the holo sheet has darkened the art a bit too much, as the background pops out more than the subject. There is probably too much sparkles going on as well, although that might not be a problem once the art is lighter.

Wording errors:
- “For each Energy card” should be “for each Energy”, as the you don’t refer to the Energy as a card when it is attached to a Pokemon. (-1pt)
- You need to have a “to your opponent’s Active Pokemon” in the Download effect somewhere, for clarifications sake. My recommendation would be right after “10 more damage”, and then change the remainder of the effect to say “...to your opponent’s Active Pokemon for each Energy attached to that Pokemon.” (-2pts)
- There should be a “(before applying Weakness and Resistance)” clause after the main effect in Download. (-2pts)

Fonts and Placement errors:
- The HP210 text should be a few pixels more down, and a pixel or two more to the right. (-1pt)
- “Gun Down” and “Omega Blast” should be left-aligned to “Download”, being the attack/Ability name furthest from the left, and the attack names should be bottom-aligned to the Ability box and the Energy symbols respectively. (-2pts)
- The Energy symbols, excluding those in the GX box, should have a white outline. (-1pt)
- The attack effect font looks to be too bold and/or not condensed. The text “attack in a game” in the GX clause appears to be the wrong font. (-1.5pts)
- The attack damage (and consequently the attack effects) are a few pixels too far from the card edge. (-1pt)
- The illustration text is a whole line too high and the x2 and -20 text looks to be a few pixels too high. (-1pts)

Creativity/Originality: 9/15
(Some exploration of design space in Download.)
Wording: 10/15
(A couple of major errors.)
Fonts and Placement: 2.5/10
(A few elements were a bit off.)
Believability/Playability: 4/5
(The GX attack is slightly underpowered.)
Aesthetics: 3/5
(The holosheet detracts somewhat.)
Total: 28.5/50

Jabberwock:

I’ve always liked how the RS-era uses much more card space for the attack information, meaning that longer effects - like Possession - are entirely possible, unlike in other eras.

Possession is rather thematic for a Dusknoir, although it doesn’t strike me as an effect particularly new, as this is a design space that the faking community seems to enjoy playing with It would of course be creative for PCL standards, however. I do like the creative nerf in discarding the attached Pokemon - I hadn’t thought of that. Soul Drain has nice and obvious synergy to Possession, but is otherwise pretty decent.

I initially thought 150 HP for a Dusknoir was much too high (the first Dusknoir with that much HP was the SM-era), but then again, both Gardevoir-exs had said amount also, despite their vanilla versions having only 100 HP. Go figure.

I see that you’ve included Dusclops-ex as a possible Pokemon for Dusknoir-ex to evolve from. I see why you did that, but if this card was in fact printed, I’d bet that this text would be omitted. After all, Dusknoir from DP - which was in format with Dusknoir-ex in 2006-2007 - didn’t have a “evolves from Dusknoir-ex”.


Wording errors:
- Looks fine.

Fonts and Placement errors:
- When comparing the Ability name to the Ability symbol, the Ability name appears to be a couple of pixels too low. (-1pt)
- I’ve checked a number of references across the era, and it appears the [F] Resistance symbol position is off (both from afar and after cross-referencing with official cards). I believe it should be a few pixels higher, and perhaps a few more pixels to the left, so that the orb overlaps or near overlaps the top and bottom arc of that swirly thing. (-0.5pt)

Creativity/Originality: 13/15
(Fun exploration of design space and good synergy.)
Wording: 15/15
(Perfect.)
Fonts and Placement: 8.5/10
(A few small errors.)
Believability/Playability: 4/5
(A cautious negative point for the use of “Evolves from...Dusclops ex)
Aesthetics: 5/5
(Beautiful - it could pass as an official ex.)
Total: 45.5/50

TheNyanCatXD:

I am impressed by how you’ve combined dual types with the BW gold blanks - the Energy silhouettes are very well placed. It actually makes the crude split between the two types bearable! I do however find adding “Gym Leader’s Pokemon” into the box you have rather strange, as that box is reserved for PokeDex information. I would also recommend making the texture holo sheet sharper, as it appears to be rather blurry and thus doesn’t pop as it is intended.

I find the damage penalty for Soul Charge a bit strange. It’s not that powerful of an effect, as there’s only two Pokemon you can actually draw out from your Discard. Spirit Burn is too powerful - attacks that heal all damage are generally compensated with a much lower damage output (more around 90 to 120), and despite that, “discard all Energy” attacks tended to cap at around 160 damage. Creativity-wise, the flavour is nice and there’s some synergy between the attacks, but nothing that particularly stands out to me.

Wording errors:
- Looks fine.

Fonts and Placement errors:
- The attack effects should reach a couple of extra pixels more to the right. (-1pt)
- The ‘1’ in the HP and the attack damage should be a couple of pixels over to the right. (-0.5pts)
- To be consistent with Double Crisis, the text “Morty’s” in the name should be capitalised. (-1pt)
- The attack names appears to be 1pt too small. (-0.5pts)
- The “x” in “x2” should be bolder. (-0.5pts)
- As mentioned already, the placement of “Gym Leader’s Pokemon” is strange. (-2pts)

Creativity/Originality: 11/15
(Synergy and flavour with some new effect combinations.)
Wording: 15/15
(Looking good!)
Fonts and Placement: 4.5/10
(A few minor errors.)
Believability/Playability: 3.5/5
(Soul Charge has a weird nerf, and Spirit Burn is too powerful.)
Aesthetics: 4/5
(Some nice blank editing. )
Total: 38/50

JustCallMeGio:

Nice to see you attempt a GX, Gio! The artwork looks a bit too dull, and so it doesn’t pop as GXs should. Choosing a different colour background could fix this, or you could increase the contrast of the Shadow Mewtwo art. Additionally, the outline of Shadow Mewtwo should be either more prominent (perhaps a deeper purple) or not be there at all.

Shadow Ball is rather reminiscent of X-Ball and it's variants, although utilising the multiple Energy types is neat thematically and flavourful. Mind Breaking Blade also has nice flavour, although is a bit too powerful, even for a GX - Sylveon-GX and Bewear-GX both have similar effects and don’t even dish out damage. With the potential KO of the Active Pokemon and discarding 2 Benched, you can get rid of at least half of your opponent’s Pokemon, either stealing a cheap win, or making it very difficult for your opponent to bounce back.

Wording errors:
- ‘Attack’ and ‘Including’ should not be capitalised. x2 (-1.5pts)
- ‘Prize’ and ‘Energy’ should be capitalised. x2 (-1.5pts)
- There should be a new sentence between “...Mewtwo GX)” and “This attack damage”, and “...attached to them” and “You don’t take…”. x2 (-1.5pts)
- “is not” should be “isn’t”. (-1pt)
- “this attack damage” should be “this attack’s damage”. (-1pt)
- “including Shadow Mewtwo-GX” should be “including this Pokemon” in the SM era. Plus, you don’t need this clause anyway. (-1.5pts)
- You don’t need the “You don’t take any prize cards for those 2 Pokemon” clause. (-2pts)

Fonts and Placement errors:
- The [P] type symbol should be a few pixels higher and more to the right (you’d actually be able to fit in the card name fine if this symbol was correctly positioned). (-1pt)
- The attack effects should span along the card so the end of each line is approximately right-aligned to the attack damage. (-0.5pt)
- The outline around the attack symbols should be thicker. (-1pt)
- The Weakness and Retreat symbols a few pixels too large. (-1pt)
- The attack effects are much too small in font size, and should not be the condensed version of the font. (-2pt)
- The attack damage integers should be a pixel or two more condensed. (-0.5pt)
- The Illus. text is too small in font size, while the set number is too large in font size. (-1pt)

Creativity/Originality: 10/15
(Good use of flavour and newish combinations of effects.)
Wording: 5/15
(A number of smaller errors.)
Fonts and Placement: 3/10
(A number of font and placement errors.)
Believability/Playability: 4/5
(Mind Breaking Blade is too powerful.)
Aesthetics: 3/5
(The art could do with some work.)
Total: 25/50

demifiend700:
A colorless Salamence is a very simple but elegant interpretation of the theme - I like it! You also pulled off the Lv.X style very well.

There’s nothing much new going on with the attacks. Moxie has some nice support for Pokemon SP and has a nice restrictor regarding prize cards, although damage buffs isn’t anything particularly different. Draconic Burst is that typical power attack with your standard nerfs.

Moxie is too powerful. Pokemon SP were already quite powerful in their time, with their high HP and above average attacks, and a splashable damage boost on an effective Stage 1 pushes that over the edge. That is especially considering this effect can stack, and that the most comparable damage boost of the era in Cherrim SF only boosts in increments of 10.

The [F] resistance should be at -20, not -40.

Wording errors:
- “Prize cards than” should be “Prize cards left”. (-1pt)
-“all attacks of your Pokemon SP do” should be “each of your Pokemon SP’s attacks does”. (-2pts for structure, -1pt for incorrect use of words).

References: Cherrim SF, Upper Energy

Fonts and Placement errors:
- The image of the Frontier Brain should end at the shoulders, not at the chest. (-1pt)

Creativity/Originality: 10/15
(Nice flavour, but nothing particularly new.)
Wording: 11/15
(A couple of errors.)
Fonts and Placement: 9/10
(A small error.)
Believability/Playability: 2/5
(Moxie is too powerful, too high resistance.)
Aesthetics: 5/5
(Looks like an official Lv.X!)
Total: 36/50

Zygarde:

It’s nice to see you return, Zygarde! I’ve been missing your Welkin blanks.

Beast Exchange is an elegant solution for mill decks, which need to KO or otherwise disable the Active so that it doesn’t KO your Pokemon in return, but receive no advantage in taking Prizes. It gets even better in Fragile Blade, which due to the synergy with the Ability, it makes up perfect balance. Mill needs to be discarding 3+ cards per turn for it to be viable, but it becomes broken if accessing that mill is too easy, and letting your opponent control the mill is a simple but effective balance. Even if your opponent chooses to discard no cards, the Ability means that you’re still adding pressure, and so the attack hasn’t gone to waste. The synergy here is exemplary - these effects can only exist in this combination, else the design would be overpowered. My ONLY reservation is that due to the way Beast Exchange is worded, if you were to take multiple Prizes, you would still only discard 3 cards (instead of 3 cards per card).

Wording errors:
- ‘prize’ should be ‘Prize’. (-1pt)
- “discard this way” should be “discarded in this way”. (-1pt)

Fonts and Placement errors:
- The effect for Beast Exchange looks uncomfortably close to the name of the attack, especially compared to the effect for Fragile Blade. (-1pt)

Creativity/Originality:14.5/15
(Masterful integration of synergy to elegantly solve the problems of mill.)
Wording: 13/15
(A couple of minor errors.)
Fonts and Placement: 9/10
(A slight oddity in the effect placement.)
Believability/Playability: 5/5
(Perfectly balanced!)
Aesthetics: 5/5
(Elegant and stunning.)
Total: 46.5/50

MarshalBry:

Hallowed Spirit is a neat take on the theme, providing synergy to the multi-energy cost of the attack. I’m not sure how useful it would be in practice beyond converting Double Colorless, as Special Colorless Energy isn’t common in the current era, although there’s not really a problem with that. Trick or Treat’s discarding effect also plays nicely to the theme. The effects themselves are nothing particularly new, although the [P] effect is a nice nod to Night March.

Wording errors:
- “a Stadium card” should be “any Stadium card”. (-1pt)
- “Discard 1 Energy” should be “Discard an Energy”. (-1pt)
- “Discard Pile” should be “discard pile”. (-1pt)
- “with the” should be “that have the”. (-1pt)
- “in your discard pile” should come immediately after “...each Pokemon…”. (-2pts)
References: Cresselia BKT, Pumpkaboo PHF

Fonts and Placement errors:
- The card name should be a few pixels more to the right, and a couple pixels up. (-1pt)
- The HP60 text should be quite a few pixels further down, and a few more pixels to the left. (-1pt)
- The attack Energy symbols should begin quite a few pixels further to the left, and the attack damage should be quite a few pixels further to the right. (-1.5pt)
- The card name should be in the bold version of the font, as should the ‘x’ be in ‘x2’. (-1.5pt)
- The PokeDex entry should be of a different font (I cannot remember the exact font off the top of my head unfortunately). (-0.5pt)
- The PokeDex information should be of a smaller font size. (-1pt)
- The attack names should be of a larger font size. (-0.5pt)
- The Illus. credit should not be as skewed/italicised, and should be larger in font size. (-1pt)

Creativity/Originality: 12/15
(Some nice synergy and a creative interpretation of the theme.)
Wording: 9/15
(A few minor errors and a major error.)
Fonts and Placement: 2/10
(A number of smaller errors.)
Believability/Playability: 5/5
(Looks to be fine.)
Aesthetics: 3/5
(Nothing particularly interesting going on.)
Total: 31/50

3rd Place: TheNyanCatXD’s mysterious Morty’s Chandelure, with 38/50 points.
2nd Place: Jabberwock’s desolating Dusknoir, with 45.5/50 points.
1st Place: Zygarde’s crafty Kartana, with 46.5/50 points
 

Nyan

She/They
Member
I find the damage penalty for Soul Charge a bit strange. It’s not that powerful of an effect, as there’s only two Pokemon you can actually draw out from your Discard

Funny your bring up the damage penalty of Soul Charge. Any YuGiOh player would have understood lol:
latest
^ was a very direct inspiration lol
 

professorlight

Ice Queen
Member
I think you’ve got some uncanny ability, Light - good call on that turn-skip, months before it debuts in PTCG on this upcoming Dialga-GX! By the way, I think the card you’re thinking of is Dialga Lv.X, with it's Time Skip. Anyway, this effect is insanely broken if it is not limited to once a game; as you expected, there is definitely enough resources for one to easily chain it’s use and prevent your opponent from ever playing.


Z-Genesis is a much more powerful version of the typical game reset found in PTCG, that merely being shuffling all non-Pokemon cards in play back into one’s deck. For this version, there’s a logistic problem in that it could double the length of a game if use late game, and long games is something TCPi tends to avoid. Shuffling in your prize cards is where things get broken, though - imagine bringing your opponent down to 1 prize card, and then being hit by a Z-Genesis? It cheaply undermines everything you’ve done up until the point, and there’s no real drawback for the player using Z-Genesis (1 Prize card isn’t that much).

Wording errors:
- “You and your opponent” should be “Each player”. x2 (-1.5pts)
- “must shuffle your” should just be “shuffles their”. (-1pt)
- You don’t need “respective”. (-1pt)
- “Prizes” should be “Prize cards”. (-1pt)
- In “draw 7 cards each”, you don’t need the “each”. (-1pt)
- ‘bench’ should be ‘Bench’, ‘basic’ should be ‘Basic’. x2 (-1.5pts)
- When you play a Pokemon from your hand, you must specify that it is from “your hand onto your Bench”, else actions like “playing to your Discard Pile” might be activate the Ability. (-2pts)
- There should be some specification as to when the turn skip happens (e.g. “once this turn ends”). (-2pts)
- “must place 6 cards from your respective decks as face down Prizes” should be “...adds the top 6 cards from their deck to their Prize cards”. (-2pts)
- You need to specify where that 1 Basic Pokemon that you place after the reset comes from (e.g. play… Pokemon from your hand). (-2pts)

References:
Nihilego-GX, Ilima,

Fonts and Placement errors:
- nothing looks out of place!

Creativity/Originality: 13/15
(Definitely some out-there exploration of design space.)
Wording: 0/15
(Quite a few errors, being a tricky effect to word.)
Fonts and Placement: 10/10
(Customs~)
Believability/Playability: 0/5
(Broken Ability and broken attack.)
Aesthetics: 5/5
(Stunning holosheets, stunning blank and stunning art that uses lighting perfectly to achieve that “Oh, S***!” effect.)
Edit penalty: -2pt
Total: 26/50

Oh, well, it was pretty out there.

Anyway, I hadn't even heard of that dialga LvX until today, so I'm fairly sure it was a fake I saw around here, at one point or another, but it doesn't matter. The ability should have the restriction; if I have a line free once I make the corrections you indicated, I'll add it.
But yes, not surprised about the wording; it's such a pain to have to use TCG-speak when all I want to say is "play this game again". As for TPCI not liking endless matches, well, TPCI doesn't like many things, but this would still be legal. Almost impossible to use, but legal.

But I don't understand the objection about the prizes. Using the attack when you're about to lose is precisely why I designed it (you wouldn't do it if you were winning, after all) if you're losing, you can use Arceus (if you have it and have the right energy) and reset everything to have a second shot at the game. And sure, the soon-to-win player wouldn't like that very much, but it's still a legitimate way to do it; I sure don't like to have them drop a 200-damage EX/GX/legendary basic in two turns and plow through my team in a second, but that's the game.
And cheap? eh, you still had to do the energy requirement, and you can only reset everything once; as I hear, TCG players are often annoyed by the role luck plays in a match; so my answer to that "cheap" complaint, if done, would be basically "if your deck -and you- are good enough, and luck had nothing to do with you winning at the time, then you can surely do it again."

But yes, I should have thought of the believability score before doing something so experimental; I never think things from the point of view of tournaments or competitive (since I don't do those), just of playing for fun; and if you play for fun, your opponent resetting the game would not be as bothersome as if you were in a high-stress, high-stakes competition (hell, with friends, it would become a legend). So I understand that. Hopefully the later ones do better; I think I didn't try anything as out there?

I think.

EDIT: Well, I had to make the type even smaller, but all the corrections fit. Fortunately, I probably won't need to use that size for many more cards.
 
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bbninjas

Ready or Not!
Advanced Member
Member
Anyway, I hadn't even heard of that dialga LvX until today, so I'm fairly sure it was a fake I saw around here, at one point or another, but it doesn't matter. The ability should have the restriction; if I have a line free once I make the corrections you indicated, I'll add it.
But yes, not surprised about the wording; it's such a pain to have to use TCG-speak when all I want to say is "play this game again". As for TPCI not liking endless matches, well, TPCI doesn't like many things, but this would still be legal. Almost impossible to use, but legal.
Funnily enough, cards causing the game to go too long is one of the few reasons that TPCI actually considers ban-worthy. They won't ban toxic cards like Seismitoad-EX, but they will ban Lysandre's Trump Card for increasing average game length (among other things). Go figure.

But I don't understand the objection about the prizes. Using the attack when you're about to lose is precisely why I designed it (you wouldn't do it if you were winning, after all) if you're losing, you can use Arceus (if you have it and have the right energy) and reset everything to have a second shot at the game. And sure, the soon-to-win player wouldn't like that very much, but it's still a legitimate way to do it; I sure don't like to have them drop a 200-damage EX/GX/legendary basic in two turns and plow through my team in a second, but that's the game.
And cheap? eh, you still had to do the energy requirement, and you can only reset everything once; as I hear, TCG players are often annoyed by the role luck plays in a match; so my answer to that "cheap" complaint, if done, would be basically "if your deck -and you- are good enough, and luck had nothing to do with you winning at the time, then you can surely do it again."
Haha, I get what you mean. This Arceus could be an asset for casual decks, so that they have a second chance if they would become steamrolled by a meta deck in the first game. That sounds nice in theory, but in actuality, successfully setting up an Arceus (especially considering its awkward cost) while being steamrolled would be very difficult. The problem grows if Arceus finds its way into those meta decks also. Meta decks are unlikely to get steamrolled by a casual deck, and setting up that Arceus would be feasible. Meta decks having the ability to reset the game at the moment you got close would be devastating considering getting close would have been a struggle already, let alone doing that twice, and so a casual deck winning would graduate from a prospect appearing hopeless to one virtually impossible.

It is true that if a player is good enough then they should be able to win again, and providing they don't encounter some particularly bad luck, then sure, but you also ended up wasting a significant amount of time just reaching the same outcome as before. Additionally, the reset renders everything that happened before it pointless, and in good game design, every action you make should influence the final outcome.
 

professorlight

Ice Queen
Member
That sounds nice in theory, but in actuality, successfully setting up an Arceus (especially considering its awkward cost) while being steamrolled would be very difficult.

Ehhh... I wouldn't be so sure.

The problem grows if Arceus finds its way into those meta decks also. Meta decks are unlikely to get steamrolled by a casual deck, and setting up that Arceus would be feasible. Meta decks having the ability to reset the game at the moment you got close would be devastating considering getting close would have been a struggle already, let alone doing that twice, and so a casual deck winning would graduate from a prospect appearing hopeless to one virtually impossible.

Well, yes, sure, but isn't the problem there that the decks are themselves mismatched, rather than the presence of a specific card? two casual decks=balanced, and two meta decks=balanced, but meta+casual=imbalanced; that means the meta will always have a serious advantage, and if the casual deck gets ahead, it was by sheer luck or bad playing on the meta player (which would be very, very strange), Arceus or not.
Arceus has the peculiarity that it doesn't make or break a deck; it's just there as some sort of safeguard; in a meta deck, this is unlikely to be needed unless you're playing against another meta deck that can match it, and in a casual deck, it won't matter much anyway, because it's just for fun.

It is true that if a player is good enough then they should be able to win again, and providing they don't encounter some particularly bad luck, then sure, but you also ended up wasting a significant amount of time just reaching the same outcome as before. Additionally, the reset renders everything that happened before it pointless, and in good game design, every action you make should influence the final outcome.

I think the win (even if it's for the same player that was reset) is worth the extra time, honestly, and yes, every action should influence the final outcome, but Arceus still does that; it just radically influences that final outcome (that you were predicting, because that's very relevant here) and makes everything less certain.
Where I'm going to is that, leaving the issues of TPCI and their rules (which are perfectly valid for judging) aside, to take up the position that Z-genesis is unfair to the soon-to-be-winning player is to start from the position that the game was decided already, and the soon-to-be-losing player has absolutely no right to fight it, because they were losing, which is a circular reasoning.
Sure, a full six-prize reset is extreme, but I felt that it was the best way to give the player with less advantage another chance at victory, beyond the decks in play; after all, if the game is just a full steamroll on part of a powerful meta deck against your unprepared deck, you're not going to use Arceus and subject yourself to yet another game of losing, right? you're going to use it only if you see yourself with a chance if things had gone slightly different.

But I understand the objection. Obviously it wouldn't be nice if your opponent forces you to replay a game you were winning, and the contest is focused on the real metagame and competitive playing.
 
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