Writing contests?

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Notepad

Guest
I had an idea for article submissions: A contest. It would be neat if CPA gave cards to articles that are the best article of that week, or turn-in period. Something like Star City's Article of the Week, but instead the prize is small, just casual cards.

If need be I could donate a few casual cards to the cause. Flicking through my binder real fast I see a foil Zoologist, some Unglued cards, Kangee, Well of Knowledge and Horn of Greed. I'm sure if I gave it a good look-see I could find some more interesting casual cards. Damn, if only I had never traded away my foil Goblin Game...I wonder who would compete over that. ;)

Nothing I have 4 copies of, but if there was an active contest with a regular run, I could put in the effort to track down copies of cards just for the CPA. Maybe, just maybe, I can track down 4 foil Goblin Games. :D Nah, I'd actually try to track down 4 Howling Mines...every multiplayer game loves those. :)

How's the idea sound? Anybody else out there willing to donate cards to the cause, in order to see some good old casual competition going on? And, if this is a good idea, where do we send the cards? Spidey's mailbox? The secret CPA underground HQ? To Quard's eight voices?
 
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Spiderman

Administrator
Staff member
I think it's a good idea, although judging from the lack of responses, most other people don't or don't care :(

I'd be willing to hold on to the cards if needs be...

However, there probably ought to be a minimum of articles submitted per week for the contest to take place. Right now only SeFRo submits regularly, with an occasional report or article coming in here and there, but not every week. Plus, do we include links like to rakso's articles on Star City (which are regular)?
 
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Erbrich

Guest
I think this is a good idea, and I'd be willing to help out by donating or whatever else to get it going.
 
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Notepad

Guest
Damn, been a long time since this was last talked about. I had all but forgotten it.

Anyway, I have three cards I'd like to submit for a contest:

Horn of Greed (ST)
Well of Knowledge (WL)
Teferi's Puzzle Box (7E)
One of each, and I'm wondering if anybody else can donate to the cause so there's at least two of each of those.

What I'd like to see these go for is a contest where the writers are asked to write the best deck for a multiplayer casual game using these cards. Not just a "help the world" deck, but something that finds a way to abuse the strange effects of these otherwise helpful cards to win the game in a circle of at least 4 people.

Is such a contest possible?
 
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Spiderman

Administrator
Staff member
Hmm. So really, this isn't a writer's contest, but a deck contest, something like Dune Echo ran a year or so ago.

I think it's possible. But who's gonna judge these things?
 
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Notepad

Guest
Ah, after looking at my original posts I see I totally forgot the original vision of the plan. Hmm, well then that means I can look through for more cards, since they don't have to stress making a deck out of them. :D

I'll repost with what I can donate to the cause.

Hmm, judges...I don't want to enter the contest because that would be mean to try to win my own cards. So, could I be one of the judges? ;) :D j/k

Spidey, why don't you judge, man?
 
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Mikeymike

Guest
I honestly think a deck-building contest would go over better with most people, since more people on this site are better Magic players than they are writers. If our user base was larger I think we could support a writing contest, but I don't think we'd get enough support (but what do I know).

Regarding card donation, I would if I had spares of the ones you are referring to, but my 4x Horn of Greeds are in a deck and Well of Knowledge is one of my favorite artifacts ever. I don't own Teferi's Puzzle Box.
 
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Apollo

Guest
I would prefer a writing contest. A deck-building contest would be neat, but what we need most is good front-page articles, and a wrtiting contest adresses that problem directly. If you do a deck-building contest the same way Dune Echo did, you'll get a bunch of front-page articles, but they'll all be a decklist and a couple paragraphs of description. I don't know what the response would be to it, but I'd say 5-10 good articles on diverse subjects are better than 30 decklists.
 
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Spiderman

Administrator
Staff member
Well, if we were really ambitious, we could do both. However, perhaps that's better left to the future... :)

I wouldn't mind being a judge. I know I don't really have the time to participate in either a writing or deckbuilding contest, so judging is the next best thing.
 
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train

Guest
I would donate prizes for either contest, but if I did compete and win, would pass the prize to a random non-judge member.
 
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Dune Echo

Guest
I haven't seen my name in bold that many times since I got here! I will be happy to contribute cards too! I'd have to look through my binder to see what I have. I know I've got some stuff worth putting up.

The first thing to determine is what the articles are about. Here's a few suggestions:

5-Color deck ideas... I've seen some fun workable decks around here. I'm sure we could have more.

Wish targets... Have people argue over what the best Wish targets will be in different types of games such as multiplayer.

Break a rare decks... These can be anything from the recent Burning Sands decks to Carnival Souls that have been so popular for writers and posters to harp on.

What cards have had the strongest impact on casual play from each set... This would be fun.

I honestly think a deck-building contest would go over better with most people, since more people on this site are better Magic players than they are writers.
Click to expand...
I disagree, I think anyone can write. It just takes an editor to make it more palatable for the masses. Also, the writer has to have a good idea. That's what takes people the longest to come up with.
 
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Jigglypuff

Guest
I agree with Dune Echo. Anybody can write. It's just a matter of whether they feel comfortable with themselves to let anyone else see their ideas and opinions.

I'd be willing to write articles again. Now that I'm playing Magic regularly again, I've got a lot of good ideas written down.

(- Steve -)
 
N

Notepad

Guest
Man that'd be awesome to see a full-fledged contest going on with lots of writers. Of course, that's be awesome to see a lot of writers here. ;) :D

Those artifacts are still up for donation to the pool, but I only have one of each. Maybe a bi-weekly contest where the winner gets one stack of four casual cards. The winner is taken from all writers who submit stuff to the CPA. Deck, rant, blazing take on news, or anything.

That's my idea on it all. :D
 
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Spiderman

Administrator
Staff member
All of Dune Echo's ideas are good, although for the last one I think a definition of "casual" would be needed so everyone knows the ground rules :)

Okay, instead of talking, why don't we just do it? Although we still need some more judges besides me :) I am still willing to hold on to the prizes; I'm not sure how to convince new people that I'm trustworthy but I can give the names of my trading buddies here and/or old-timers can speak up :) Email me at Spiderman@cpa-mail.net or PM me to get my address. Then we can set up the first contest and see how it goes. If there's a terrible reception, I'll send back the cards.

Caveat: I'll be out Friday-Tuesday so won't be able to answer or check mails until Wednesday.
 
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rkoelsch

Guest
I can submit some cards for prizes. I don't have time to put forth a quality article though. Good Luck
 
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Mikeymike

Guest
FOR I AM THE ALL POWERFUL MIKEYMIKE - THOSE WHO CHALLENGE MY WILL AND BELIEFS WILL DIE A RELATIVELY QUICK AND SURPRISINGLY COMFORTABLE DEATH!. TREMBLE BEFORE MY COLLECTION OF FOIL ODYSSEY BASIC LANDS!

OK, now that I got that off my chest, let us set up some rules for this contest.

What's the play style - Is it casual duel, or multiplayer. If its MP do we need to decide on a format. Could it be a deck or tournament report.
What are the stipulations and/or theme- must we use certain cards, can we only use a certain amount of rares, are infinite combos allowed, etc. etc.
What are the grammar rules - does an article that obviously didn't go through spell and/or grammar check get automatically discarded to prevented Admin-related aneurysms.

What spoils go to the victor and how do we decide on it? Maybe we can do something like an ante contest. Everyone who enters sends at least 1 copy of a goofy but casual-potentiafied (how's that for a word?) rare to Spidey, and the winner takes all. Or do we just have people donate certain cards.

I'm thinking we should probably create a few different scenarios for the contest, which we all vote on - or we just all agree and give 1 person the executive decision to make.
 
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Spiderman

Administrator
Staff member
It may not be a deck contest. Dune Echo's second and fourth suggestions were good non-deck article ideas.

I actually like those participating send in a prize, but that in turn might limit those who want to participate. I say we stick to the original idea that good-hearted folk donate the prize.

But we still need an idea to go with, deck or non-deck...
 
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Sammy Dead-O

Guest
I'm ready to be involved somehow. Actually, I'm ready to write. And I kinda like the ante idea (with maybe a second and maybe third place prizes, too), although my concern is that it could discourage the actual articles from coming in. It fits my collection (and the cards I could send in), though, since most of my rares are probably of the "crappy but maybe breakable" variety.

I would be most open to a contest with no limitations on the articles, with the exception being that they have some sort of casual slant. I think we can all make our own assumptions as to what this means, and if someone pushes the envelope too far, it'll probably show up in the judges' decision. We've probably all read enough damn articles about playing Quiet Roar vs. Control Black to understand what is decidedly not casual.

However, the folks here are clever enough to come up with casual angles on all sorts of stuff, and I think that should be recognized. I could see articles coming in on breaking crap rares, hot multiplayer cards from recent sets, fun rogue-deck tourney reports, 5-color decks, theme decks, and rants about Randy Buehler's hair. And I'm sure the people here can have very unique approaches to each.

As for judging, I'm up for having a panel of judges or for putting it to a general vote. Maybe we could even get another site or a casual writer at another site to link to the main page of our contest, and "outsiders" could vote in some way.

Whatever the deal, count me in, and let me know how to ante up!
 
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