And that's a wrap on entries! Thanks to everyone who has submitted a card to the contest! Judging with @Chris Taylor and REDACTED CELEBRETY JUDGE will commence soon!
General [Contest] A Good Omen!
- Thread starter TrainmasterGT
- Start date
Best flavor text of 2025
Just wanted to show off a couple of images of cards received over Discord for the contest before the judging episode is released later today:
Omen, whose Nomen est Omen by J.mul.
Guin Water Wyvern by Alex/Alveric
Xerexi Abombination by Trainwreck
We also had a text-based entry from online:
Cheshire Dragon by Packcats The System
Brain Smart 1U
Sorcery - Omen Draw three cards, then put one card from your hand on top of your library. (Then shuffle this card into its owner’s library.) -----------
Cheshire Dragon, the Grinning Transformation 3UU
Creature - Cat Dragon
Flying Ward - This creature's controller draws a card. Cheshire Dragon's power is equal to the number of cards in your hand. ------ I've always been genderfluid, but magic made me a shapeshifter too! */4
Omen, whose Nomen est Omen by J.mul.
Guin Water Wyvern by Alex/Alveric
Xerexi Abombination by Trainwreck
We also had a text-based entry from online:
Cheshire Dragon by Packcats The System
Brain Smart 1U
Sorcery - Omen Draw three cards, then put one card from your hand on top of your library. (Then shuffle this card into its owner’s library.) -----------
Cheshire Dragon, the Grinning Transformation 3UU
Creature - Cat Dragon
Flying Ward - This creature's controller draws a card. Cheshire Dragon's power is equal to the number of cards in your hand. ------ I've always been genderfluid, but magic made me a shapeshifter too! */4
The judging episode is now live! I will make a full post with more information later... for now, stay tuned to the episode to find out who won!
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
Aw... a Sammy Rae shoutout!
<3
<3
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
Hey ravnic, congratulations on the win man! I was rooting for your submission, because I love everything about it. Great design!
grats to the winner!! (are we hiding the name in spoilers? i guess i won't say)
some about my card since i didn't say much when i posted it
some about my card since i didn't say much when i posted it
- appreciate everyone's words and thoughts on it.
- i thought a lot about writing out a longer description alongside it but i figured that i should just have the confidence to let the card stand on its own
- i was specifically really worried that the flavor wouldn't necessarily be seen, but i realized if i wanted a real evaluation of that flavor then i definitely should not try to explain that separately. it's always really hard to tell if people will see that kind of thing. relieved when it was
- to clarify, about the non-creature-ness of my submission, i figured that this is a dragon in spirit and so went within the rules. to me this is still a creature. this was something i thought about mentioning in that non-existent description that i ended up not writing.
- i thought about scry instead of fateseal, but it doesnt work with the omen shuffle. and i ultimately felt like scry just really didn't work for the feelings the card is trying to evoke. i also went with fateseal because it's short on text but it's a really really well known mechanic (despite being only on a handful of cards). it's a common enough word in magic that people just talk about fatesealing even when a card doesn't actually fateseal.
- i tried mana-of-any-color like yall mentioned but just there's too much text on an omen and i really didn't like how it looked.
- shooting star's name was originally going to be falling star but that's both an existing card, and also i decided i should go for alliteration on both sides to better connect them.
- the overall concept kind of went in parallel with me making the art and me studying real-world beliefs in omens. i was also looking at tons of mtg's existing dragons. i figured i have a certain artstyle and i should just lean into it. moonveil dragon and zodiac dragon were both pieces that i took from, and with the real-world beliefs, the space and astrology connection seemed appropriate. i was also thinking, how can an omen also be a dragon. an omen that flies, with fire?
- shooting/falling stars are often seen as bad omens. even when they don't land, there have been societies that viewed them as precursors or causes of plagues or crop failures. so the land destruction is meant to have a double meaning in that regard, it can be an impact or it can be plagues/crop failures. the fact that you can recast it later potentially is meant to represent the idea that maybe it didn't land, in that case it's a comet or something that came around the sun again. i know a comet isn't quite the same thing but historically peoples didnt make such a big difference between the phenomenon, especially when being treated as an omen.
- i knew the design was huge risk and definitely involves a lot of feel-bad. but i wanted to convey the idea of something as nasty and uncomfortable as waking up in the morning and seeing on social media that there's a new plague spreading a continent away. which is basically what looking out your window to see a shooting star was to some people historically. i wanted not just something bad immediately but that creates a sense of feeling doomed in the future.
- in particular the art is meant to evoke a psychic bad vibe coming off this thing both as it flies overhead or once it's landed. "dragon nightmare" because this is what the people nearby are having bad dreams of
- i thought about playing up the plague aspect with -1/-1 counters but i felt like it wouldn't quite come through and it also was just too heavy on text.
- woah this is a lot of text
- anyway thanks again for the thoughts
- i thought a lot about writing out a longer description alongside it but i figured that i should just have the confidence to let the card stand on its own
- i was specifically really worried that the flavor wouldn't necessarily be seen, but i realized if i wanted a real evaluation of that flavor then i definitely should not try to explain that separately. it's always really hard to tell if people will see that kind of thing. relieved when it was
- to clarify, about the non-creature-ness of my submission, i figured that this is a dragon in spirit and so went within the rules. to me this is still a creature. this was something i thought about mentioning in that non-existent description that i ended up not writing.
- i thought about scry instead of fateseal, but it doesnt work with the omen shuffle. and i ultimately felt like scry just really didn't work for the feelings the card is trying to evoke. i also went with fateseal because it's short on text but it's a really really well known mechanic (despite being only on a handful of cards). it's a common enough word in magic that people just talk about fatesealing even when a card doesn't actually fateseal.
- i tried mana-of-any-color like yall mentioned but just there's too much text on an omen and i really didn't like how it looked.
- shooting star's name was originally going to be falling star but that's both an existing card, and also i decided i should go for alliteration on both sides to better connect them.
- the overall concept kind of went in parallel with me making the art and me studying real-world beliefs in omens. i was also looking at tons of mtg's existing dragons. i figured i have a certain artstyle and i should just lean into it. moonveil dragon and zodiac dragon were both pieces that i took from, and with the real-world beliefs, the space and astrology connection seemed appropriate. i was also thinking, how can an omen also be a dragon. an omen that flies, with fire?
- shooting/falling stars are often seen as bad omens. even when they don't land, there have been societies that viewed them as precursors or causes of plagues or crop failures. so the land destruction is meant to have a double meaning in that regard, it can be an impact or it can be plagues/crop failures. the fact that you can recast it later potentially is meant to represent the idea that maybe it didn't land, in that case it's a comet or something that came around the sun again. i know a comet isn't quite the same thing but historically peoples didnt make such a big difference between the phenomenon, especially when being treated as an omen.
- i knew the design was huge risk and definitely involves a lot of feel-bad. but i wanted to convey the idea of something as nasty and uncomfortable as waking up in the morning and seeing on social media that there's a new plague spreading a continent away. which is basically what looking out your window to see a shooting star was to some people historically. i wanted not just something bad immediately but that creates a sense of feeling doomed in the future.
- in particular the art is meant to evoke a psychic bad vibe coming off this thing both as it flies overhead or once it's landed. "dragon nightmare" because this is what the people nearby are having bad dreams of
- i thought about playing up the plague aspect with -1/-1 counters but i felt like it wouldn't quite come through and it also was just too heavy on text.
- woah this is a lot of text
- anyway thanks again for the thoughts
I concur on the top 3, I thought that they were indeed the most solid designs and definitely guessed who would win. I probably would have swapped 2 and 3 but everything is subjective anyway.
Really loved all of Kade's interjections as you could feel they are a real connoisseur of the art of custom cards. Trying to make no feels-bads on some pretty awkward looking designs.
As to my entry, I knew it wouldn't be a winner, especially due to the amount of text in the omen box and the fact it wasn't really a cube card, more of a limited build around. Glad the Judge's enjoyed my out-there-ish design along with everyone else who tried some weird callbacks that didn't entirely work either.
TBH the whole episode was really good, I can't believe I lost 2.5 hours just listening to this instead of having it on in the background like with most other podcasts.
Really loved all of Kade's interjections as you could feel they are a real connoisseur of the art of custom cards. Trying to make no feels-bads on some pretty awkward looking designs.
As to my entry, I knew it wouldn't be a winner, especially due to the amount of text in the omen box and the fact it wasn't really a cube card, more of a limited build around. Glad the Judge's enjoyed my out-there-ish design along with everyone else who tried some weird callbacks that didn't entirely work either.
TBH the whole episode was really good, I can't believe I lost 2.5 hours just listening to this instead of having it on in the background like with most other podcasts.
Onderzeeboot
Ecstatic Orb
OMG hard same XD
i was happy to be spared the full chris taylor wrath <3
OMGG I WON 
I just finished listening to the podcast. I'm flattered by the praise my card received. I love the feeling when you design something and people really understand it.
Also, @Chris Taylor I wasn't even aware that we were disagreeing so often lol, but I remember your joke about me not liking anything printed after 2006. I think it should be more like 2009!
I just finished listening to the podcast. I'm flattered by the praise my card received. I love the feeling when you design something and people really understand it.
Also, @Chris Taylor I wasn't even aware that we were disagreeing so often lol, but I remember your joke about me not liking anything printed after 2006. I think it should be more like 2009!
Chris Taylor
Contributor
I don't post about it because why take time out of your day to argue about something I respect someone else for doing, but if you go through any of your posts on a given spoiler thread, and my general positive for even the most AEtherdrift of spoiler seasons you can imagine how we might disagree on thingsOMGG I WON
I just finished listening to the podcast. I'm flattered by the praise my card received. I love the feeling when you design something and people really understand it.
Also, @Chris Taylor I wasn't even aware that we were disagreeing so often lol, but I remember your joke about me not liking anything printed after 2006. I think it should be more like 2009!
Also 2009: Zendikar? I don't really see you as much of a zendikar person.
Chris Taylor
Contributor
I respect the hell out of someone who is out there doing whatever its they're doing REALLY well, and you nailing the vibe of scourge so hard was really refreshing, even if it's something I'm not jamming in my cube after the episode.
Scourge was one of the first releases around when I started playing, late enough in that I kinda had my feet underneath me with how magic cards worked; I'd now learned you couldn't just play as many lands as you wanted in a turn and didn't draw 7 cards at the beginning of turn if you were empty handed.
Scourge fucking SUCKS for someone like that! The false promise this dragon set where the best dragon is Eternal Dragon, (an accountants dream of a dragon) combined with the focus on the fucking MANA COST of a dragon as a part to emphasize still baffles me to this day.Scornful Egotist[/C] as a joke would only be "better" if that card was a rare.
Scourge's best quality is completely redefining combo as an archetype as we know it, which is great if you're a combo sicko and mostly just feels unfair if you don't like putting blue cards in your deck
I don't post about it because why take time out of your day to argue about something I respect someone else for doing, but if you go through any of your posts on a given spoiler thread, and my general positive for even the most AEtherdrift of spoiler seasons you can imagine how we might disagree on things
Also 2009: Zendikar? I don't really see you as much of a zendikar person.
Wow, it seems like I come across more negative than I am. Or at least, than I view myself. I still love magic like my 11yo self and I am totally fine with them releasing stuff that's not for me – there are enough magic cards that appeal to me already! – which is why I also only made one little post in the whole Aetherdrift thread.
Also 2009: I was thinking of Shadowmoor/Eventide, my other big love in mtg next to Ravnica. If I had created my account on another day, chances are I would not be called ravnic but ... Shadowmoe ... or something.