The Contest
As Trevor Davis was the previous winner, he was given the responsibility of setting the rules for the next one.
Well, it’s that time again! Last week’s contest saw a huge turn out, and to make sure we continue the trend I asked the community what they’d like the next contest to be. I got a lot of really good feedback, and I think I am going to go with the popular vote. This weeks contest will be…
– 80’s-90’s CARTOONS
– Any cartoon you watched as a kid is fair game, from Looney Tunes to GI Joe; from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to Transformers I want to see it all!
– The only rule is that it has to be a CURRENT STANDARD CARD, and this includes M14. Restriction breeds creativity! I want you to play in a sandbox. I didn’t say anything about coloring between the lines.
I’m actually jealous that I don’t get to submit anything in this contest, because this one is straight up my alley.
Have a blast guys. Thundercats HOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
The Winner & Entry Analysis
This section was written by Factory Worker Head Judge Trevor Davis.
Well, I’ve kept you all waiting long enough. The winner of this week’s Horde of 80’s & 90’s Cartoons is….
Elbrus, the Binding Blade/Withengar Unbound by Jason Mong!
This was a very tough call as both Jason with his flip card piece and William with his solid Nivix Cyclops piece were neck and neck! Ultimately it came down to the card that spoke to me most. Jason found the way to my heart with Transformers. It almost wasn’t fair.
With that said, congratulations to Jason Mong and William Brandon Smith who will be getting $20 and $5 store credit respectively courtesy of our sponsor, FacetoFaceGames.com. Great job all around guys, and a super close one!
My critique for each of this week’s entries is listed below from first to last entry.
Assemble the Legion by Maxime Boucher – I really liked the flavor of this piece. The artwork seemed perfect for this card. The Cobra Commander watermark was easily my favorite part of the piece. My only criticism is that the card title and card type text looked a bit small. Overall this was a very good piece.
Original art: Assemble the Legion
Guardian of the Ages by Les Kershaw – I really liked that this piece was trying to push the envelope and do something different, although typically when I see misprints they seem rather slight and not so pronounced. I like what this piece was going for, but I feel like the “misprint” should have been brought back a bit. Great idea, but the execution needed some more work.
Original art: Guardian of the Ages
Sire of Insanity by TheProxyGuy – I am a huge fan of the Powerpuff Girls and Genndy Tartakovsky. This piece was actually one of my favorites. Very strong art choice, nice touch with the flavor text, and the text box having a distressed look made this one of the strongest pieces this week. Great work, as always.
Original art: Sire of Insanity
Geralf’s Messenger by Joshua Enke – This piece felt like it was lacking something. The overall composition was good, and the feathering on the hair was fantastic. I feel like just the hair on the right side overlapping the frame was out of place, and could have possibly been corrected by bringing the rest of the head out of the frame. I am not a fan of the transparent text box here as it’s a bit hard to read the text. Good piece, it just lacked something to really make it pop.
Original art: Geralf’s Messenger
Liliana of the Veil by Shreyas Sampat – Liliana of the Veil is one of my favorite cards of all time. Doing an alter of her is like doing a cover of Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin; it has to be amazing or it’s never going to live up to the original. The art choice was neat, and while we all know what Liliana’s text is at this point, it’s still nice to see some version of the text on the card, especially for a Planeswalker. Another situation where the execution needed a bit more thought.
Original art: Liliana of the Veil
Guild Feud by Calvin Rasmussen – I don’t really have much to say about this one. The flavor of the card is really clever, but that’s honestly all I really liked about it. The frame really put me off. Also the P/T box should have been removed. What frame is this?
Original art: Guilt Feud
Nivix Cyclops by William Brandon Smith – This card caught my attention as soon as I saw it. The art choice was perfect. I’ve actually thought about making the same card with the same art before, so when I saw it, it had my vote immediately. The color correction may have been a bit overdone, but most everything about this card is wonderful. The spacing on the text needed a bit of work, but overall this was a very good piece. Little criticism is needed. Great work.
Original art: Nivix Cyclops
Elbrus, the Binding Blade/Withengar Unbound by Jason Mong – Although this piece was tied with the Nivix Cyclops piece, the creativity involved in this piece makes it my favorite this week. As TheProxyGuy pointed out in the comments, the flavor seems a bit off because equipping an aircraft is a bit silly. The only criticism I have with this piece is the same thing I had with the Nivix piece in that the text had some spacing issues. Transformers has a special place in my heart. This piece is my pick for the winner this week only slightly edging out Nivix Cylcops. Both were great pieces, but I feel like the amount of work and thought that went into the Starscream piece put it over the top.
Original art: Elbrus, the Binding Blade/Withengar Unbound
Warleader’s Helix by Steven Corrigan – At first glance, this piece confused me. I didn’t recognize the artwork, and I don’t think that it fit the theme or feel of the card. I really like the older frame that was chosen, and while the flavor text doesn’t fit the theme of the original card, I think that it’s very fitting for the art chosen. Again, the text in the text box needs work with the spacing.
Original art: Warleader’s Helix
Shadowborn Demon by Adam Dexter – Being a huge fan of the Powerpuff Girls, I was obviously a big fan of Samurai Jack as well. The art choice was awesome, but something about this piece felt rushed. To me this piece begs for spill or borderless. I think it could have use a frame and text box as well, and the lone P/T box looks out of place. This piece was almost there, it just needed a little more work.
Original art: Shadowborn Demon
Black Cat by Daniel Sexton – I like the artwork on this a lot. Super art was a great choice. The spill i awesome, although I wish I could have seen the tail over the title frame a bit. Slight spacing issues in the text box seemed to plague this contest. I do like the choice of the smaller text box. Good work.
Original art: Black Cat
Next Contest Info
For all the details of the next contest, just go to the contest page in Z’s Proxy Factory Community on Google. Those interested in submitting a piece need to first read the rules and agree to abide by them. Let’s have some fun!