Happy 10th Anniversary MTGCardsmith!
Time To Celebrate!
It's hard to believe that MTGCardsmith has been around for 10 Years now! We've been reminiscing about all of the Cardsmiths who have come and gone throughout the years. It would be impossible to list everyone, or even acknowledge all of the folks who've left their mark on the website since day one.
We're still going to try, but it really is an impossible task! When we first started, there were already legendary Cardsmiths who were no longer making custom cards, and we had no idea how many countless others would come along and leave their mark on MTG Cardsmith. Creators like NilGravity, who posted the first set of entirely custom artwork cards, Looverse, who brought a larger than life personality and cards that matched, Grimshac who made not just amazing challenges, but created the original Circuit Challenge that we're still using today! We could list a virtual cornucopia of early Cardsmiths such as MrRansom, Cryptonight, Shinobi, krazykobold, Memnarchitect, DeepSky, Crimson, Noobplayzgames and of course the incomparable Beeswax, and only scratch the surface of people who have made our site, YOUR site what it is today!
So in our attempt to honor not just our past, but our present as well, this month you'll find Featured Cards from just a handful of the amazing people who you may not have met, some that are still around, and some that joined our family not too long ago. The designs featured are some of the most incredible and mind-blowing custom cards ever crafted on MTGCS, or anywhere else! If you don't find yourself with a Feature this month, it isn't because we forgot you or you haven't made some great cards, it's only because we could only fit a few of the thousands of masterful cards that WE have created over the past 10 years!
Survey Says...
We're not as famous as Steve Harvey, but recently we posted a survey and asked YOU... What's your inspiration to create custom cards? We've picked a handful of excerpts from your responses to share in the blog this month, but there were so many great responses, that we've decided to post them all on the May 2021 Forum Thread.
Cardsmiths Say...
Here is some of what you had to say about your inspiration for creating custom cards...
Some of us like to keep things simple...
"What's the coolest thing I can do without a bunch of words?"
"Get a vague idea, find art, and try and make it work from there."
"I like making fun cards that aren't cards you would normally see in an official Magic Pack."
"I think, what makes this card unique? Is it the amazing art? Is it the sick flavor text? Is it the crazy one liner?"
Some of us like to design around stories...
"If the focus is on something like artwork or story, I'll begin by trying to translate it best and as interestingly to Magic mechanics as I can, or otherwise finding the best "fit" for it."
"I want to make cards that inspire people to write things, and think on cool ideas."
"What I really like to do is to surf across art sites, find some neat artworks, then give them a story/character by creating a card from the artwork."
Some of us design around sets...
"Generally, sets are roughly concepted top down."
"I personally tend to find the most interesting and engaging way to create new cards to be through set design. By designing a set, I am able to direct my designs toward a single unified purpose and theme, both flavorfully and mechanically. The biggest motivation at that point is that it culminates in a draft environment that I can share with both my IRL playgroup and the MTGCS community."
"My ideas for a set can come from all over the place. Most commonly, however, my set ideas stem from music."
We design around formats...
"What kind of game do you want to play? And how does this hypothetical card, which is of course yet another piece in a sprawling game, help you realize this vision?"
"I like to create cards that I would like to play in custom cube draft. If I add this card to the cube, would people enjoy it or not?"
We design around art...
"I look at the card like a piece of art. Rarely do I actually consider a format for the card to be played in... I want to express my reality through the card."
We design around abilities...
"I'll start by trying to find a fitting set of abilities to what I'm trying to convey flavorfully, or vice-versa if I have interesting ability ideas. I then will move on to finding artwork usually, or if it is based off art, I brainstorm the abilities the art would have."
We try to bring our designs to life...
"When I come up with an idea for a card, I try to actually visualize their effects like they are part of an action anime. I feel like being able to visualize a character's actions gives the card much better reasoning for its abilities rather than just giving a card some random keyword in order to make it stronger."
And we design to inspire...
"Seeing other people's creative works is inspiring, and they influence me heavily, and I encourage other card designers to find their own creative inspirations to draw from, so they can take that motivation and inspiration and design something that is truly their own."
Speaking of Anniversaries
We're just a few SHORT months away from the 4th Annual Artful August Event. If you want to get a head start on your designs and drawings, now is a great time to start!
It's Coming in just three short months!!
Featured Cardsmiths
This month we've picked two more deserving Cardsmiths to be our Featured Cardsmiths for the Month of May. Because we're spending the entire month of May celebrating as many old and current cardsmiths as we can possibly fit into 31 days, we're going to Feature them here this month and on the front page next month, along with June's Featured Cardsmiths!
Without Further Ado... Congratulations @Red_Tower & @Shelko
Red_Tower joined us in 2015, and has been a welcomed Cardsmith ever since! Not only do they throw down in the challenges and contests, but they also battle hard in the Sagas as well! We've been enjoying their cards for years now, and if you haven't had a chance to check out Red_Tower's creations, now is the time!
As a slight contrast to our previous Co-Cardsmith for may, Shelko doesn't participate on the forums, but still makes great cards and is a contributing member on Disqus. Often commenting and helping out in their own way, we felt it would be a shame if this Cardsmith went without being acknowledged for their contributions, so check out the cards and Cardsmith alike!
Each month we're excited to highlight a few Cardsmiths that have helped make MTGCardsmith the best interactive online Card Creator. We hope you'll take some time to check out their creations!
