Month: May 2024

Gabriella’s Spike Breastplate – 14/18

| JVS

OVERALL: This card has the least personal reference, at the same time it’s a personal statement on ‘protections’ that are needed in this world. The image showed up out from a series of image generations. The texture and composition seemed very ‘magic’. I also wanted to create a card that wasn’t a creature.

GAME ATTRIBUTES: The mana cost seems a high, but flying and hexproof is a winning combo to place on one creature. The equip cost is pretty low, so once you get this card out, it should be easy to move around to other creatures as needed.

Lyra Blossomer – 13/18

| JVS

OVERALL: This was a derivative image from the 50+ rounds of image creation for the card, “Jerry, the Grower of Things”. Probably one of the only cards chosen based on the exploratory results. I set it aside as a decent creation and expected it to be cut from the finalists. I liked the overall composition – The leaf shapes, the background light-to-dark, the orange, the shadowed face, the figures look to the viewer. As with most AI, the ‘hand holding the orange’ has some issues but it was crucial for the orange, as fruit and as color, to be in the layout. I may not have mentioned this, but for this project, I promised myself that I would not use Photoshop, so the ‘hand-fruit element’ stayed in the image as originally created by the AI software.

GAME ATTRIBUTES: This card’s core function is to allow the player to place an extra land per turn. This will allow the player to grow their resources faster than the other players and eventually allow them to cast more spells over the course of the game.

Mezcalorian Mixologist – 12/18v2

| JVS

OVERALL: This is a second iteration of the Mixologist card. I couldn’t pick between the two final images, both images conveyed the huge smokey flavor of Mezcal. This card was added to represent my brother-in-law. He is one of the only people I know who has a large knowledge base of Mezcal. If you’re lucky, at night he might have an impromptu tasting from his most beloved top-shelf Mezcals. If you’ve not tasted Mezcal, try it sometime – It’s unique and there is a large range of flavors – it has a distinct smoky flavor. Most mezcals taste differently than their aroma – expect the unexpected. Mezcal’s flavor is highly dependent on its artisanal production methods and the specific environment where the agave plants are cultivated, making each bottle a unique tasting experience. His favorite mezcal drink is called the ‘Better than Jerry’ which basically my favorite Tequila drink of Tequila, Club Soda and 2 lime wedges – He uses Mezcal instead of Tequila.

GAME ATTRIBUTES: Like my brother-in-law, this card loves to share what it has – Here, it’s the base defense with other like creatures. This takes on the mono-white position and is a large ground creature. As white is often, it’s overpowered as this card shares a 0/6 attribute with other creatures which might share its attributes. A tiny white 1/1 bird will now be a 1/7 flying bird as long as this card is on the battlefield.

Beverage Death Tax – 11/18v2

| JVS

OVERALL: This is another card with a different image. I changed the title too – which is more fitting. This card represents a new shift in how I play weekly Magic the Gathering. We used to have an active 60-card weekday night group (4-6 players) on Wed/Thursday night. Over the years the a player would stop playing. Including myself, eventually it came down to 2 players. It was fun for a while, but 2 player games become boring as both players start to memorize the other players decks. We agreed to ventured out to find new players for our magic play night. What we found, was a thriving player base of ‘commander’ players at the Upland Magic Group (UMG). They play weekly on Sunday at Upland Brewery between 12-8p. There are always 15+ players in total and usually there are 5-10 players rotating in and out on Sundays. This past year, Sunday is Magic day with the UMG at Upland Brewery.

GAME ATTRIBUTES: This card is mono-black and was designed to be snuck into actual game play with UMG. Having protection from everything means it doesn’t go away. Since UMG plays in a brewery, it makes sense to have some kind of operating rules around how players pay for beer rounds. Besides being a great blocker (without flying) it determines that of a 4 player game, the first player out, buys the round for the surviving players as long as the card is in-play.

Upland Shadow – 10/18

| JVS

OVERALL: This card represents a new shift in how I play weekly Magic the Gathering. We used to have an active 60-card weekday night group (4-6 players) on Wed/Thursday night. Over the years the a player would stop playing. Including myself, eventually it came down to 2 players. It was fun for a while, but 2 player games become boring as both players start to memorize the other players decks. We agreed to ventured out to find new players for our magic play night. What we found, was a thriving player base of ‘commander’ players at the Upland Magic Group (UMG). They play weekly on Sunday at Upland Brewery between 12-8p. There are always 15+ players in total and usually there are 5-10 players rotating in and out on Sundays. This past year, Sunday is Magic day with the UMG at Upland Brewery.

GAME ATTRIBUTES: This card is mono-black and was designed to be snuck into actual game play with UMG. Having protection from everything means it doesn’t go away. Since UMG plays in a brewery, it makes sense to have some kind of operating rules around how players pay for beer rounds. Besides being a great blocker (without flying) it determines that of a 4 player game, the first player out, buys the round for the surviving players as long as the card is in-play.

Sunking Cervesalorian – 9/18 v2

| JVS

OVERALL: This is iteration 2 of a previous card. It worked so well, I created another version of it for the show. It will most likely get replaced by The One card (see below). You’ve heard of the Honey Badger, this is the Beer Badger. This badger cannot get enough of their favorite beer. This card is me in a ‘beer’ form. As you can tell from the cards title, I’m a big fan of Sunking Brewry . This card pays homage to Sunking for all the great beers it makes (just for me?). I am really excited for their new barrel-aged release Buffalo Slumber being released May 24th. Buffalo Slumber is a Bourbon Barrel-Aged Belgian-Style Tripel. This BA Tripel is the 2011 GABF gold medal winner 🥇 in the Belgian-Style Strong Specialty Ale. 🦬💤

GAME ATTRIBUTES: This card is two-colored – red (speed) and white (purity). Two mana cost is low and fast. Upon turn 2 this guy can come out swinging. It has haste upon entering the battlefield. For 2 mana it can give itself double-strike anytime it needs it.

Beachcomber – 8/18

| JVS

OVERALL: This card represents my father-in-law. His presence touched so many lives. The moments I cherish the most are when we’d be on vacation on a beach – He always had great advice when you needed it. On the beach, he would notice a Pelican in the sky and always mentioned how majestic the Pelican was to him. It’s life was about soaring over the beach and diving for dinner when hungry. “…4% of their day foraging and 96% loafing…” Even flying, it didn’t flap its wings as leveraged the wind of beach to keep it afloat. “Imagine having that kind of life and flying with other birds and being able to fly anywhere you wanted.” He’s passed away many years ago and to this day, when any family member sees a solitary Pelican, they say, “Look there he is…he’s watching over us.”

GAME ATTRIBUTES: Choices in Magic are really important. This card not only aids in drawing more cards but also lets you choose to get some extra life to keep your score afloat – What could be a more sustaining white/blue card? This creature in the early to mid-game, can fly around and do 3 damage until the attacks don’t work and draw some more cards. The best part is the choice of discarding to gain life when you have cards you don’t need. I really like this card. Only addition might be to give it vigilance so It can attack and draw a card.

Syr Larzzy, Cabineer – 7/18

| JVS

OVERALL: This card represents a friend and fellow designer who has helped me along my job search. Many people help or feel sorry for me, but as an angel creature, he mass-emailed all his contacts/friends. He also has forwarded many leads to me and introduced me to other creatives. As a lumberjack he is an avid camper and travels many times a year to see outdoor excursions. As a Cabineer, if he’s not in a tent, he enjoys all types of cabins. He has a great deal of creative merchandise at Timber Design Company. Currently, but for a limited amount of time, he also has poster art showing in a store in Broadripple (Bungalow). He typically also sells his merchandise at the Kringle Market for 4 weeks in December. Definitely check out his work and his merchandise, both are fantastic. if you meet him in-person, you will notice he is quick to share and help others with his business-changing design and wholly as just a good person. He is a gem in our crazy and selfish world.

GAME ATTRIBUTES: I wanted the card to be a Legendary Creature but there wasn’t enough space – I really wanted Lumberjack Angel to on the card. Being he is a creature of purity, rules and respect of earthed natural elements, it makes sense that this card is white/green. Like his actual personality, he is a sharing creature that gives a bonus attack and first strike – totally insane but it’s white green. The card is a beast of a card having a higher attack of 6 than its defense of 3 – It’s going to kill some of your opponents creatures. For 4 mana, this card is a great deal to have on your side of the battlefield.