ycm cc contests [Finished]CC Monthly Series [February 2015]

[Flash Flyer - Sakura]

You can take your Rank 2 exam if you want, Striker; though you were more than welcome to help judge if you wanted.

After all, you did pass it once (under Saber/Aix)

[Flash Flyer - Sakura]

Anyway, now that I have internet at home again (hopefully it stays constant), I should be able to grade them quickly in Nai's place (unless he has the time to do it himself).

However, this will have to wait until tomorrow night, because I have some university work to attend to right now.

 

I'll be using a modified version of the standard scale (or rather, the original one); but most of you know how I grade at this point.

[Major's Shadow]

Alright guys, get excited! Here's the first round of reviews for this month's CCG Card Tournament! While Sakura Haruno was away, I took care of the first half of the bunch, with Sakura's approval to move forward and post the reviews. If you have any concerns or complaints, be sure to reach out to either me or Sakura. In any case, let's begin!

 

Grading Criteria:

This scoring will use a similar rubric found on the YCM Monthly Card Tourney Information page, but not entirely. I will explain my reasoning for each criteria below:

• Balance/Usability (55%): This will remain the same, as it is a crucial element to card design, and one that should not be taken lightly. If you are to submit a card, be sure to have a specific logic or reasoning as to why the card would be necessary. Be certain the card has strengths in which it's viable, but not too many in which the card is unbeatable. Be sure to have a conscious understanding of the fundamentals of what makes a card balanced, and what precautions were taken to prevent anything game-breaking. If a card is too underpowered, then this score will still be affected.
• Creativity/Flavor/Theme (30%): The individual criteria of Creativity & Flow/Theme, have been merged, due to these criteria being necessary for one another. Overall, this has been lowered, due to all of these factors being affected by your OCG/Effect and Card Balance. This is simply another factor to come into play, and I expect to see some really great looking and consistent card artwork & effects!
• OCG (15%): While it's not a realistic expectation to assume every card designer fully understands the YuGiOh OCG Corrective Card Text, I will dock people for being careless in their design. This also correlates with Balance/Usability, as some Card text errors can correlate with a Card's Balance and Usability as well. This one is not quite as set and stone, so I will certainly explain my reasoning behind a majority of the grading process for OCG. However, if you do follow Corrective Card Text, I will let you know if I spot any errors, and grade accordingly.

Specific Grading Criterion/Scores:

[spoiler='Divine Dragon Sage/"Clear Sky Ray" (47/100)]
Design/Usability (18/55): The card is far too good. Having it be a generic Aquliphort Towers is begging for exploitation, and the fact that it becomes a 4000 beater after destroying 1 Monster can lock out entire game states. Being inherently unaffected by Card Effects is insane, with the fact that it's generic making it even worse. If this Card is able to be made by Agents, then I'm certain that it's design is inherently flawed. Having it also be an extra deck monster has no consequence for using it, since you can never draw into it. It also has the ability to be revived in any manner after destruction (Call of the Haunted, Soul Charge, etc). While it's true that such a card as this exists, it's archetype-based, requires a tribute summoning, and cannot be summoned by other ways. I don't feel that's a great place to get inspiration, especially when it's splash-able into any deck, and easier to make than Quasar Dragon.

Creativity/Flavor/Theme (16/30): I don't feel the artwork, typing, and effect all correlate too well. I can see it as a wind-type, but nothing stands out about it's design. Nothing in the artwork tells me that it's a Synchro Aquliphort Towers, which is a disappointment. The flavor text was nice, but not a saving grace. Also, some text for the edition, serial number, and other such things would have been a nice touch, making it feel more complete.

OCG (13/15): For the most part, it's very easy to read. However, some small mistakes crop up in the 2nd sentence, specifically here ":you can have it gain 500 atk". I'm certain in OCG that "it" does not refer directly to the card that destroyed the monster by battle. Also you could use a semi-colon to distinguish the cost, rather than a colon, which is often used as a condition. The effect should look more like this: "; you can have this card gain 500atk"[/spoiler]

[spoiler='Chi-Class/"Blackskull Necromancer"  (82/100)']
Balance/Usability (46/55): The card is very well thought out. I can definitely see play with this card in most Zombie-Based Decks, but perhaps this card's level could be 6 or 8 to better accompany their play styles? Don't forget that Uni-Zombie boosts or reduces levels, so it's almost never at 3 initially, unless you're not using its effect. I suppose that makes it more splashable into something like Vampires, but it's an unusual level to have for a Beelze/Plaugespreader type-of-design Synchro. Also, it could make for some dumb loops by bringing out more plaguespreaders after synchro-summons, but I don't see that as a huge issue. Nothing entirely game breaking here, at least from what's already been released, but perhaps you could clarify on what level of target can be Special Summoned? Either way, it's good in my books, and helps out zombies a lot, but does nothing to make them more flexible.

Creativity/Flavor/Theme (22/30): The artwork is... well... not quite what I'd see as a "Blackskull Necromancer"; which almost seems intimidating and powerful. I don't get the impression off an anime-style artwork, but the eff correlates well with the type of decks used, and does fit with the zombie theme.

OCG (14/15): I see no major issues that take away from the card. Everything is clear, concise, properly written, and has correct punctuation and capitalization. One small thing is the wording for the cost, which is a little odd "target 1 non-tuner monster in your graveyard that was sent there for this card's Synchro Summon". It's clear, but a little redundant. Perhaps you could rephrase it as: "target 1 non-tuner monster in your graveyard used for this card's synchro summoning".[/spoiler]

[spoiler='Aquatic Ether Zerpant/"Mundane Marauder" (72/100)']
Creativity/Design (38/55): I really like the way this card is designed. Making Normal Monsters more beat-down makes a ton of sense, especially since that was one of their inherent qualities back in the earlier stages of design for YuGiOh! It's good to see a bit of a callback to that mentality, but there are a few problems I see here. For one, this card is not easy to bring out. I understand you want to support Normals, but I don't see an easy way in which you can get this guy on the field (Maybe Heiratics? Normal Pendulums?). You have to assume you have this Card + 1 Normal Monster left over in order to use him effectively, which is unreasonable. If you could bring him out via other methods, I could see this being played. While I would often state that the terminology "Cannot be removed from the field" is way too strong, I detest that here, since it's impossible for him to be brought out, while also requiring another Normal to protect himself. I would advise, for the sake of better design, that you find a way to bring him out somewhat easier, and make his effects slightly less powerful.

Creativity/Flavor/Theme (24/30): I love the idea of a strong warrior being a representation for his effs, since that's why normal monsters are awesome! The artwork, while not properly cropped, still fits the design well. However, the only thing I dislike is the name. I don't think "Mundane" is a good word to use for such a powerful figure. Perhaps "Ancient" or some other word would be more suitable for his artwork and effect.

OCG (8/15): The text was clear and the effects were organized correctly, but the one thing you messed up on was the text corrective format. a colon (:) refers to condition, a semi-colon (;) refers to cost, and whatever comes after refers to the effect. A lot of the effects were treated as cost, and statements after the semi-colon were the effect, which can be interpreted wrong. For example, in this sentence here: "If this card destroys an opponent's monster by battle and sends it to the Graveyard (Condition): you can Special Summon 1 Level 3 or lower Normal Monster from your Deck (Cost); you must control a Normal Monster to activate and resolve this effect (Effect)". You are referring to the Special Summon of a Monster being the cost, and the controlling of a Normal Monster as an effect. If you would like to use OCG corrective-style text, then be sure to do it correctly, otherwise it can be confusing. [/spoiler]

[spoiler='Yugiohcreator876/"Mecha Fighter"' (69/100)]
Balance/Usability (40/55): Having a negation tool built in to a generic synchro is pretty nasty, but it's excused for being such a large level with weak base stats. I'm not comfortable with it being a Light-Type, just due to it being a target for plenty of great cards (BLS, Honest, etc.), but otherwise it's fairly viable. If your board state is correct, then this could be a great lockdown tool, considering you have backrow. However, with it being a large investment to make, and most decks having trouble easily making easy Sync 10's, I think it's fairly potent. I have 2 major issues with the design, however: 1, being unable to be destroyed by battle overall is too strong, especially since it has a built-in negation tool. Perhaps this could be limited to OPT clause? 2, a burn-type effect is unnecessary, and can be exploitable, which is not a good idea from the start. I understand the mentality behind that effect, but I would urge not to include it. I won't dock off for this much, but I don't find it quite as neatly designed as the rest of the card. Also, perhaps you could add a limiting clause, just to prevent multiples on field, or SS from grave, or other things such as that.

Creativity/Flavor/Theme (16/30): Got to be honest, not the most original piece of YuGiOh CCG I've seen on this sight. I understand there wasn't a strong direction for this competition, but the name & photo don't bring anything original to the table. "Mecha Fighter" is pretty unoriginal, but the saving grace is the image itself, in correlation to it's typing and eff. It's nothing spectacular, but it's functional I suppose. The flavor text also just makes me more confused, truth be told.

OCG (13/15): It was organized correctly, clear and concise, and capitalized correctly. However, the issue was the punctuation, and some of the wording was off. For example: "This card cannot be destroyed in battle". In OCG, the term "in" should be replaced with "by", and for the first effect, you should use a ";" semi-colon instead of a ":" colon to show cost. Otherwise, it looks good. [/spoiler]

[spoiler='Valkyrus/"Twin Arrow Diana" (76/100)]
Balance/Usability (41/55): While she seems fairly balanced, I'm not comfortable with a Self-Bouncing OPT clause (Tenki, Vanity's, etc). This just begs for exploitation, and I'm not a fan of game-breaking combos. For a generic Synchro Level 7, it's very viable. It's definitely what the engine needed, as it helps pick off individual problem cards, at the cost of not allowing you to recycle your own materials in the process, if you so choose to bounce. The fundamentals of its design can certainly be exploited (Twin Arrow + Call of the Haunted), but if a Hard OPT was implemented into her clause, then I feel she would be a far more fair card. However, due to her current state being fairly exploitable, I'll have to grade based off that.

Creativity/Flavor/Theme (24/30): It's Name, Type, Attribute, Picture, and Effect all mesh together so well! It really felt like you put the effort to design your effect around your card, rather than the other way around. My biggest complaint is that it does not feel like a generic card, it's almost like an archetype-based card that has an eff and summoning condition which is generic. Also I suppose people really like anime for their card artwork, and I don't blame them.

OCG (10/15): While Capitalization, Order of effs, and terminology were fairly close, the biggest part was that it was clunky. You did not need to add extra punctuation, like a comma after "then", and you did not need to place the targeting clause in a separate sentence. for example: "Once per Turn, you can target 2 cards on the field ... You cannot target more than 1 card your opponent controls with this effect". This can be simplified to: "Once per Turn, you can target 1 card you control, and 1 card your opponent controls; return 1 target to the hand, then destroy the other target". Also, be sure to use ";" semi-colon instead of ":" colon to distinguish cost (since targeting is treated as a cost). [/spoiler]

[spoiler='lightdiversion/"Majestic Wyvern" (72/100)]
Balance/Usability (41/55): I'm surprised you considered adding support to the Majestic Synchro Engine, but I couldn't think of a better way for doing so! It helps meet every requirement, and doesn't have a cost for doing so. It's very easy to bring out, and effectively allows you to sync into a 3800 beater that has a ridiculous effect fairly easily! While I would say that would be somewhat fair, in it's current state, it's anything but. You can use Majestic regardless of how it's summoned, allowing you to Call of the Haunted him from grave, then use his effect again, to loop into another Majestic! I like how the card is incredibly flexible, but perhaps it's too flexible? If it was more centralized to bringing out just Majestics, I would say the card has done enough, but due to it's loosely designed aspects, it has the potential to be easily exploitable.

Creativity/Flavor/Theme (25/30): The photos chosen are surprisingly accurate to the Majestic Archetype, which is surprising to say the least. The image quality is somewhat low, but it fits quite well in context to the rest of the card. Since it's archetype specific, as well as it being a generic, it works in both manners. The name also fits the image and style of the card quite well, so props!

OCG (6/15): While some of the text-corrective formatting was correct (like using ";" semi-colon to distinguish cost), a lot of it was due to bad punctuation and some capitalization (Negated shouldn't be capitalized). You used commas on a conditional statement to merge with the effect, which is confusion to read. You also used "face-up" instead of "face-up on the field", which is a big no no. "face-up" states nothing about it being on the field, which can be interpreted wrong. While the effects were organized correctly, the effect is not made clear due to various structural mistakes. [/spoiler]

[spoiler='-Noel-/"Morpheos, the Dragon of Nightmare" (88/100)]
Balance/Usability (45/55): I really, really like this idea! I don't see that much of an issue with cards being flipped face-down (aside from BoM), but this is a nice answer to have a 2900 beater that can get over set cards! I love the initiative you spoke of in designing this card, which I am in total agreement with. While I feel this card does not do enough to alleviate the issue of the sync. 9 drought, it would certainly help. This card would have been absolutely fantastic in earlier meta formats (shaddolls), but it's still not a bad option. I like the idea of having cards set and negating them, but this certainly feels more like an archetype-based card. Standalone, it's not quite as viable, because it doesn't solve any major issues for synchros, aside from having a decent Lvl. 9. The final clause, while somewhat redundant, is still a nice thing to have. The meta is still somewhat too fast to actually make use of flip-summon abuse, but I suppose being cautious of it is alright. I could see it being a lot more viable if that clause was removed, but better safe then sorry. 

Creativity/Flavor/Theme (28/30): Everything is stellar. From the name, to the artwork, to the typing, it's all glorious! The effect is incredibly unique for a synchro, and not much exploration has been done in manipulating cards via face-down/face-up flipping, which would make for a really cool archetype. I love the idea of the card, it's design, and the amount of polish that went into it.

OCG (15/15): The card's text was clear, concise, organized correctly, and fits OCG standards. I do not feel the clause is entirely necessary, but that does not prevent it from being a decent measure to help further balance the card. Further corrections are unnecessary.[/spoiler]

[spoiler='Silenth/"Dark Megami Warrior" (67/100)]
Balance/Usability (33/55): While I do admire the incorporation of stun-type effects in the synchro library, it is easily exploitable. True, there is a cost to use the effect, but the ability to swarm your own field by Special Summoning any number of monsters removed from the field is bound to have exploitable loops. I'm also not a fan of how it can revive itself by essentially being impossible to get over without it being Special Summoned during the End Phase. While, yes, Vanity's Emptiness, Solemn Warning, and other cards to name a few do prevent such effects from occurring, it's not a good idea to have a reliable way to bring back monsters under any condition from being removed from the field. Of course this applies to your opponent as well, but again, it's equally as bad an idea, since you can negate the effect to bring back their monsters, then leave them in a terrible board state. It's not that the card is overpowered, but rather the design is poor, in the fact that it can loop itself, and all the monsters on your field (synchro builds can potentially abuse this, given the correct circumstances). I don't have much to say about the stats, typing, and attribute, but I feel those are all contributing factors to the bigger issues present in the design of the effects.

Creativity/Flavor/Theme (22/30): While the card artwork is nice and the effect fits with the psychic theme, the rest seems kind of confusing. The name has "warrior" in it, while the artwork shows depictions of roses, and the typing is dark? I can imagine the typing to be completely different depicted by the image, but nothing severe. Overall, still well constructed, and the effect is rather creative with the psychic theme, but the artwork and name can potentially throw people off.

OCG (12/15): It's good for the most part, but you missed a couple of biggies on formatting for OCG standards: 1. you wrote down "remove from play" and "banished" on the same card, which are completely different terminology from separate eras of YuGiOh's OCG. 2. I do this often too, but you messed up on capitalizing words (Monster, Card in cost, monster, card in effect). 3. you don't have to use a colon ":" to signify a Once per Turn condition, even if you add "during either player's turn", you can just use a comma to separate the statements, since it's not a condition that has to be met. [/spoiler]

[spoiler='Forest Fire/"Heiratic King of Despair" (62/100)]

Balance/Usability (26/55): I've always been a huge fan of god card style effects, and this feels like it was ripped straight out of that design philosophy! I'm not saying the card is unoriginal or a rip off, but rather commend you for it! It always has this sort of self-balancing mechanism, in which it's more difficult to bring out, but rewards you for doing so! However, while I compliment you for this feat, I cannot forgive the lack of thought put into this behemoth in some aspects. 1st, why does it negate all light effects? It completely fits the card's theme, don't get me wrong, but why for heretics? They're all lights! Why build this support in when it directly counters their own plays? Shouldn't the effects support the archetype, rather than hurt it? 2nd, you made its base stats incredibly weak, which makes it easy to run over, considering how difficult it is to bring out. When a lvl. 4 monster can run over it in atk position, you know something is wrong there. 3rd, nothing about this card screams Heretics. I already explained why I felt the last effect did not work, but the better question is, why is this a boss monster for them that only they, and a few select other decks, can summon? I'm not suggesting to make the card more splash-able, but it just doesn't seem to fit for them in the slightest. So either way, it doesn't fit with the archetype design, it's too difficult to bring out for other archetypes, it's stats are lackluster, It has no protection, and its effects are just not good enough for the amount of resources necessary to bring him out.

Creativity/Flavor/Theme (26/30): I love the polish. I love the picture. I love the gold-style incorporated for a final finish. I love the name. However, again, where does Heiratic fit into this? Not gonna dock off a lot, but maybe you should have reconsidered this being maybe more specific towards something like Darkworlds?

OCG (10/15): While everything is organized correctly and made clear for the most part, you messed up on one huge thing, which was using semi-colons ";" in your effects where they don't belong. For example, the effect which makes your opponent loose 1000 atk for special summoned monsters, is a cost for the real effect, which is to destroy them. That means before your opponent can even react, and even when this guy's effects are negated, that will always go through as a cost to activate the real effect, which should be a separate effect altogether. Also, some statements could be further polished, but only during the last sentences on the card. [/spoiler]

[spoiler='Minato Sakai/"Justice God Shamash" (84/100)]
FIRE, Level 7, Fairy/Synchro/Effect, ATK 2400/DEF 2800

1 Tuner + 1 non-Tuner monster
When this card is Synchro Summoned, if your opponent has more total cards in their hand and their side of the field than you do: You can target 1 card your opponent controls; destroy it, then activate the appropriate effect, based on the type of card destroyed:
●Spell: Draw 1 card.
●Trap: Target 1 face-up monster on the field; this turn, it is unaffected by other card effects, except its own.
●Monster: Inflict damage to your opponent equal to the destroyed monster's original ATK.

Balance/Usability (45/55): It's a very well-designed card! It is not completely useless, but is easily splashable into synchro decks, while getting you out of awkward positions without having to destroy all cards on the field (blackrose). Lightsworn have a similar card, but having it be a generic that lets you plus after popping instead of banishing just makes a ton of sense. It has a lot of utility, by offering you different rewards for picking the correct card to destroy. Plus, it being a light fairy-type monster, it is easily accessible in agents and other fairy-type decks! Plus, the effect does not let you pop your own cards, giving it even further balance atop of all this! A couple of small things bother me though; I feel it's defense is too high. It being a 2400 face is good enough after popping and getting pluses, so I see no reason to give it such a big back. The burn damage is unnecessary, as it can still attack directly, and is far more flexible than volkasaurus as it stands. The trap effect, however, gives your opponent multiple points in which he/she can respond to the card's effects before it becomes unaffected. While normally I detest the wording "unaffected", I feel it works here, since it's only an on-summoning effect, and it gives your opponent ample time to respond. I would certainly see this being a feasible card for the synchro engine, albeit slightly too powerful.

Creativity/Flavor/Theme (25/30): The card's design, effect, name, and typing all make sense to me. It's difficult to fully judge based on text, but I can see this all correlating well with one-another. The effect is immensely well thought out, and very creative, especially for the lvl. 7 synchro engine. There isn't much more I can say about this, but maybe a slightly more feminine name would fit the fairy archetype? Not as a form of bias or anything, but by its effect, it seems somewhat more fitting.

OCG (14/15): All clear, well written, fits OCG, and organized correctly. Only issue is the capitalization, which could be fixed later on. Minor, but it still counts.
[/spoiler]

[Flash Flyer - Sakura]

I dealt with the other cards that Yugster hadn't already graded, which is essentially Giga and Gadjiltron onwards.
Anyway, notes on how stuff was graded. (More or less, the old rubric I had earlier before Nai raised any objections over things, save for a few things that I changed)

 

Balance (50): This should be obvious at this point. Is your card broken with respect to other things in the game, or in general?

Half of your grade is based on how balanced it is, so if your card is really bad here, your grade will reflect that.

 

Creativity/Flavor (25): If any Archetypal things occurred, how well do they relate?

Also how creative were you in designing this card; is this something that's been overdone or a new concept?

 

OCG (15): Essentially how well you've worded things in PSCT (or 5Ds format) AND how well you abided by proper English mechanics.

A majority of this grade is based on comprehension; whether or not I understand it, but PSCT wording is important, since it dictates when/how an effect is triggered.

 

Remember that multiple OCG errors can lower your comprehension grade (based on severity), so be aware of that. Otherwise, I won't strip too many points for errors.

 

I also grade on you using English mechanics properly (this includes spelling, punctuation, capitalization, etc.), because it looks unprofessional if a card has a lot of grammatical/spelling errors.

This is why I advise you spell check your work before submission; I know some of you have another language besides English as a primary language, but please make an effort to spell correctly.

 

[I repeated myself at least 3-4x with Nai on this, but you know what happened.]

 

Theme (10): Did you obey the criteria, and abide by proper cardmaking principles. Meaning: Are you using existing Types that exist in the game and appropriate stats.

Not following this may lead to deductions in other areas.

 

(Otherwise, most of you know how I grade stuff by now)

[spoiler=Grading]
Standard
B: 50
C: 25
O: 15
T: 10
Total: 100
 
Giga
B: 44
C: 23.5
O: 14.5
T: 10
Total: 92
 
Gadjiltron
B: 48
C: 24.5
O: 15
T: 10
Total: 97.5
 
Gold_Armor
B: 34 (it's a generic L6 that can make your opponent discard things and also grows stronger when it does kill things. 2100 ATK is about average [or below that], so boosting helps a bit and isn't straight up broken; though I don't particularly agree with how it forces a discard when it just kills something; as opposed to dealing damage; most of the time, you'll deal some damage when killing a monster)
C: 18
O: 11.5 (It's a “when” effect based on the wording, not “if”; also some other minor things)
T: 10
Total: 73.5
 
EndUser
B: 40
C: 20
O: 14 (“when this Attack Position monster is [targeted for an attack]”)
T: 10
Total: 84
 
Keep in mind that I was grading off of the design notes, which appears to be the card itself. Next time, please update BOTH card and lore underneath; got confused on which I should've graded.
 
ReneTCG
B: 39 (I need to reiterate that this card basically makes Qlips and other stuff run rampant, since they cannot die by battle via this card's effect; also its ability to SS things. Though I don't see them running Synchros in their mixes, and indeed it helps certain other Decks to a degree. Stupid Qlips.)
C: 21
O: 14.5 (the attack lock effect could be worded as a separate sentence; other existing cards have this. Nothing major though.)
T: 10
Total: 84.5
 
Striker
B: 47
C: 22
O: 15
T: 10
Total: 94
 
Radiant FURY
B: 35 (Hopefully you know about Shaddolls, right? You've basically given them another opportunity to trigger on the field and do whatever [assuming this dies]. Of course Ghostricks and stuff get some help, but moreso 'dolls. They can also make this too, with Falco + whatever L4 of their choice.)
C: 21
O: 15
T: 10
Total: 81
 
UltimateIRS
B: 31 (So basically, it shuts down your opponent's MP1 for even battling with this card. Not sure I agree with it; even if it does relate to original Timeater)
C: 18
O: 14
T: 10
Total: 73
[/spoiler]

 

 

Because both of us had different scales for a lot of things (give/take 5% in balance for creativity/theme and vice versa), but we're on a 100-point scale; the winners are thus.

 

[spoiler=Winners]

1st - Gadjiltron - 97.5

2nd - Striker - 94

3rd - Giga (Ri-Class) - 92

[/spoiler]

 

 

Again, if you have questions about how you were graded; ask.

I'll award the prizes tomorrow, once any questions are finished.

[Nathanael D. Striker]

94? Wow, surprised I did that well in a comeback. XD

I'd like comments on mine though, please

[-Noel-]

Don't mean to object the result or anything, but tbf I think both judges should grade all entries and summed the scores. There're too much score gap in how both of you judging it at least imo

 

[spoiler='-Noel-/"Morpheos, the Dragon of Nightmare" (84/100)]

Balance/Usability (47/55): I really, really like this idea! I don't see that much of an issue with cards being flipped face-down (aside from BoM), but this is a nice answer to have a 2900 beater that can get over set cards! I love the initiative you spoke of in designing this card, which I am in total agreement with. While I feel this card does not do enough to alleviate the issue of the sync. 9 drought, it would certainly help. This card would have been absolutely fantastic in earlier meta formats (shaddolls), but it's still not a bad option. I like the idea of having cards set and negating them, but this certainly feels more like an archetype-based card. Standalone, it's not quite as viable, because it doesn't solve any major issues for synchros, aside from having a decent Lvl. 9. I'll explain more reasons how it could have been better in the OCG section.

Creativity/Flavor/Theme (28/30): Everything is stellar. From the name, to the artwork, to the typing, it's all glorious! The effect is incredibly unique for a synchro, and not much exploration has been done in manipulating cards via face-down/face-up flipping, which would make for a really cool archetype. I love the idea of the card, it's design, and the amount of polish that went into it.

OCG (8/15): If you knew there were several ruling bugs in the card's design, why did you not fix them? I'm confused, since when you flip a monster face-down, they can't activate OPT effs anyhow. You only stated that the monster can't activate anymore, but what good does that do if they either: a. have already activated on summon, b. activated in chain, c. are OPT and can't activate face-down anyways. That final clause just seems redundant when it accomplishes no more than putting a card face-down would have anyways. I suppose it could be used to prevent your own field from getting flip effects, but due to the summoning rulings, you wouldn't even be able to flip them until your next turn anyways! Now, if  the effect were to negate that card anywhere for the turn, I can see that clause having more of a purpose. If you understood these OCG errors, why didn't you fix or clarify the wording to prevent such issues?[/spoiler]

Can I say something? Have you thought about flipping an opponent monster with a flip eff before attacking it? that last clause is there to prevent the eff in said situation in addition from prevent your own flip abuse (and if you flip a monster that was on the field since last turn, yes it can be Flip Summoned.) Anyway I'm not quite satisfy with OCG points here as there's not even a real mistake yet the score deduction was so huge.

[Flash Flyer - Sakura]

Ideally, both of us should've used the common scale in the discussion one; so we grade on the same criteria; but I don't know.

Now if my net wasn't shitty the past week, I would've gotten to all of them; but I have double midterms to put up with at this point.

 

But yeah, grading all entries in both of our cases and using a 200 point scale would be ideal here.

(I'll work on those later on; grading another 10 entries is nothing new for me)

 

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I didn't look at your card fully, but seeing the OCG, I wouldn't have docked you points.

Everything else looks fine.

 

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Anyway, I've decided to grade the other cards, so we at least had some say in the cards submitted here. 

Hopefully Yugster gets the message.

 

[spoiler=Grades 2]

 

Divine Dragon Sage

B: 23 (Really reeks of Towers' syndrome, and basically blanket immunity to everything, except Trains and stuff. There are a few Decks that can still make this though, even with the requirements, so keep this in mind. Nordics come to mind though)

C: 13

O: 11

T: 10

Total: 57

 

UE

B: 45

C: 20

O: 14.5

T: 10

Total: 89.5

 

Aquatic Ether

B: 40

C: 20

O: 12.5

T: 10

Total: 82.5

 

yugiohcreator

B: 31 (being a Shi-En of sorts, though limited to S/T stuff isn't particularly good design. Yeah, it's Level 10 but certain Decks have ways of making it VERY quickly. Second effect can add up a bit, but should be fine)

C: 15 (yeah, Shi-En negation is something we need to avoid)

O: 14.5

T: 10

Total: 70.5

 

Valkyrus

B: 42

C: 22

O: 15

T: 10

Total: 89

 

lightwyvern

B: 44 (it certainly helps Majestic monsters, yes, especially if you cannot be running Majestic Dragon)

C: 22

O: 13.5

T: 10

Total: 89.5

 

- Noel -

B: 47

C: 24

O: 15

T: 10

Total: 96

 

Silenth

B: 36

C: 18 (I don't particularly agree with making a better Goyo per se, but it does protect against certain destruction effects + is an out to things that either ED spam or whatever)

O: 15

T: 10

Total: 79

 

Forest Fire

B: 27 (Basically it's a floodgate against essentially every other Deck in this game that's still relevant in the game. However, looking at things, only DARK Dragon Tuners are Labradorite at 6 and Phonon Pulse at 4. That being said, not too many options that can be used non-Tuner wise, so I suppose that somewhat justifies this card's effects, but not so much)

C: 12 (see above about being a floodgate; also has no relation to the Hieratic archetype)

O: 9.5

T: 10

Total: 58.5

 

Minato Sekai

B: 45

C: 23

O: 15

T: 10

Total: 93

[/spoiler]

 

 

So for the first 10, the averaged scores (and cumulative, if Yugster gets over here and does the others):

 

Divine Dragon Sage: 47 + 57 = 104 (52)

Chi-Class (UE): 82 + 89.5 = 171.5 (85.75)

AEZ: 72.5 + 82.5 = 155 (77.5)

yugiohcreator: 69 + 70.5 = 139.5 (69.75)

Valkyrus: 76 + 89 = 165 (82.5)

lightdiversion: 72 + 89.5 = 161.5 (80.75)

- Noel -: 88 + 96 = 184 (92)

Silenth: 67 + 79 = 146 (73)

Forest Fire: 62 + 58.5 = 120.5 (60.25)

Minato Sekai: 84 + 93 = 177 (88.5)

[Major's Shadow]

Don't mean to object the result or anything, but tbf I think both judges should grade all entries and summed the scores. There're too much score gap in how both of you judging it at least imo

 

Can I say something? Have you thought about flipping an opponent monster with a flip eff before attacking it? that last clause is there to prevent the eff in said situation in addition from prevent your own flip abuse (and if you flip a monster that was on the field since last turn, yes it can be Flip Summoned.) Anyway I'm not quite satisfy with OCG points here as there's not even a real mistake yet the score deduction was so huge.

I agree actually. Looking back on it, I did dock too many points off, I would rather bring this up as a Balance/Usability issue than an OCG, and even then it's not huge. Tomorrow, once I go over the rest of the submitted cards, I will re-review your card and make necessary corrections. My apologies, should have caught that before submitting. Also, I will go ahead and review the rest of the cards tomorrow, then submit it in a new post on this thread.

 

Edit: Went ahead and corrected the grade. Thanks for pointing that out.

[Flash Flyer - Sakura]

I've graded the other entries thus far, and have provided both a cumulative and averaged final.

 

Again, if you have questions about how I graded you, then ask.

[(GigaDrillBreaker)]

Will further monthly contests have some of specific challenge, or just general CC like this one?

[Flash Flyer - Sakura]

There'll be a specific theme, though some of them may be generic like this one; others might not.

I think Nai's hinted to me that he has an idea for next month's tournament, but he'll reveal it later.

 

Remember Nai's hosting the March CC monthly; I'll just be around to help keep things in order.

 

 

This month's one was easy, since it's the first tournament.

[Flash Flyer - Sakura]

Yugster, don't worry about the other entries at this point if you're busy with stuff.

Anyway, the results are more/less the same, except for Noel sharing 3rd with Giga,

 

1st - Gadjiltron - 3 reps + 1500 points + custom group for month

2nd - Striker - 2 reps + 1000 points [might help with Leaderboard expenses]

3rd - Noel/Giga - 1 rep + 500 points each.

 

 

Gadjiltron, PM me what you'd like the new usergroup to be (name + color-wise).

 

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Anyway, thanks to all who joined this time around and hopefully you all try the March tournament next.

 

 

Final questions can be PMed to me.