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drkungfus-customs · 5 years

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Mtg Custom Card Competition Round 2: Phyrexians on Ixalan

Hello everyone and welcome back to the second week of I and Alyssa's custom card challenge. Just a quick foreword to thank everyone for the warm response we have had to the last round of judging, it is always nice to see people throw feedback back at us for running it. This weeks prompt was provided by Alyssa where participants were asked to present a theoretical Phyrexian corruption of Ixalan. As always submissions were gathered through discord and were judged by myself and Alyssa.

Michael says: So our first submission of the prompt, this card is a powerful reanimation and board control effect stapled onto a phyrexian corrupted dinosaur. However the power level, especially for a rare, is what has me most concerned. The colour pie is fine and the card feels very black, there are no problems in that regard. The part that has me worried is that the reanimation is instant, comes at a low cost, and is a replacement effect. Once Corruptosaurus is on the battlefield, and if itself gets a -1/-1 counter, it becomes almost impossible to deal with as traditional measures such as rest in piece or leyline will do nothing to prevent this effect. Additionally because the return is instantly rather than at the end of turn as with Marchesa, the Black Rose it opens the card up to some silly loops with persist cards or anything that has -1/-1 counters built in. While the card is slow to distribute -1/-1 counters, their existence on this card implies they exist elsewhere in the set which will make this card much stronger. Especially in limited this card would be a nightmare as -1/-1 effects your opponent controls will be useless against your creatures and your own also feature as a steal effect. In order to make this card feel a little less broken and more fair I would restrict the resurrection to either only your own creatures or only your opponents. The potential value engine of this card seems a little above the curve as-is, especially when considering older formats with access to things like black sun’s zenith. There isn’t a single factor that pushes this card over, its just a confluence of factors that would make this card just not fun to play with and too warping in the limited environment.

Alyssa says: Formatting is mostly fine. The third ability shouldn’t be a replacement effect, because as written it inappropriately uses “return”. (Because the word return requires a card to be in the graveyard, and this replacement effect means that you gain control of the creature instead of it dying, it never enters a zone it can “return” from.) As written now, it resurrects friendly things with -1/-1 counter on them, meaning anything that has a -1/-1 counter either endemic to it (Bloodied Ghost, Grief Tyrant) or has permanent persist can be infinitely looped by it. You’ve accidentally prevented some abuse like Disciple of the Vault and Blood Artist by replacing the death trigger, but you can still benefit immensely from the infinite sacrifice. Furthermore, it just makes immortal creatures.

Balance-wise, it’s doing a bit much. The endemic wither is fine, giving it a way to damage stuff and get it back, and it would tie well in with the third ability like a souped up Necroskitter. The second ability is completely unnecessary, though perhaps more novel. You really only need one of these for the card to be useful for Limited and narrow Constructed applications (which is where this thing feels like it belongs.) It would be so much better if you went with only one of these abilities: I prefer the second one, as the incremental infection-based effect, perhaps through infected bites or claw injuries, seems much more “dinosaur” than a resurrection effect.

Flavor-wise, it’s okay, but it’s a bit bland. It’s a zombie dinosaur that does vague infection stuff. There’s not much of a story to the card, and a bit of flavor text with the space freed up from the above changes would be just dandy. I want to see how it fits in with the set around it, how Ixalan responds to its new apex predators. You have no art credit. We wouldn’t have noticed that “Mr. J” wasn’t an art credit if someone else didn’t use that art and credit it correctly.

Possible improvements:

- Focus on one of the two passives and cut the other. If you wanted to focus on the incremental blight aspect, then perhaps make it asymmetric and only affect your opponent’s creatures.

- Fix that malfunctioning third ability if you decide to stick with it.

- Flavor text never hurts.

- Drop a reminder text bubble on Wither for easier reading comprehension.

Grades:

Formatting – 4/5

Function – 3/5

Flavor – 2/5

Michael says: This card appears to have a serious flavour issue which really hurts the mechanical execution of the card. The flavour text indicates a phyrexian merger of Ghalta and Etali, something I would expect to have a similar importance as Brisela from Eldritch Moon, however the rest of the card appears to instead by an Ixalani call-back to Phyrexian Obliterator. This card feels like two excellent ideas combined to a less effective whole.

Judging by the perspective of an Obliterator call-back this card feels like a very good way to make a dinosaur version of the card, using enrage as an in theme way of simulating the desired effect. However in this case the card doesn't feel very green at all, outside of the dinosaur tribe and enrage there is nothing mechanical to make this card green. Given the enrage effect is symmetrical and only sacrifices a single land, if you had to keep the green in the mana cost rather than making it BBBB you could probably improve its power and toughness. Additionally if we assume this card is representative of the rest of the set, it is important to note that Wither and Enrage really do not play well in the same environment as wither -1/-1 counters will not trigger any enrage abilities on blocking. I personally would look to replacing wither with another ability, preferably one that is more green to help reinforce the colour requirements.

Again the card isn't particularly bad by any means, but the foremost improvement I would make is replacing the flavour text. The combination of Ghalta and Etali shouldn't be as small as a 5/5, should certainly be a legendary, and should at least cost red. The dissonance of these two ideas harms the card severely.

Alyssa says: Wither shouldn’t be capitalized. In a list of keywords, only the first one is capitalized. When you’re writing quotes in flavor text, make sure you put a shift line break in between the end of the quote and the beginning of the speaker’s name. The card feels barely green at all: in fact, I wouldn’t be surprised to see this as red/black. The only bit that really strikes me as possibly green is the trample, which is secondary in black anyway. Enrage is also really hard to trigger intentionally in black, making abuse of the ability in its two intended colors very difficult.

The enrage ability is beyond busted. I understand you want to reference Phyrexian Obliterator and its extremely powerful on-damage ability, but remember that ability can only be as strong as it is because there’s very few ways for you to abuse it, since the controller of the source sacrifices the permanents. There’s tons of enrage enablers that would allow you to use this to repeatedly Armageddon the board. You may think its symmetry compensates for it, making it a “risk vs reward” play, but if you’re building around it the play will never be symmetrical. If you have one of the many ways to reliably damage this each turn you can just pop every land your opponents play consistently, and you’ll have a giant 5/5 that can wear down literally anything over time provided it doesn’t die. There’s a reason people play Armageddon despite the “this includes your lands” line, and making a repeatable version on top of a strong creature isn’t a good combo.

But it’s the flavor which really grinds my gears. The implication is that the Obliterator is some kind of Brisela-like chimera of Etali and Ghalta… which completely doesn’t gel with the card itself. It’s not legendary, it’s less than half the size of Ghalta, it has none of Etali’s lightning stuff or draw power going on. It looks like a generic compleated dinosaur, which would honestly be completely fine if it weren’t for that flavor text implying this was an amalgam of two of Ixalan’s Elder Dinosaurs. It would be similar to Brisela being, like, a 3/3 Eldrazi with a card draw ability.

Possible improvements:

- You need to find a way to make it green. Perhaps play on the legendary Phyrexian resilience and have it punish by getting bigger when it takes damage. Or perhaps have it dredge its way out of the graveyard at end of turn if it would die from combat damage. Who knows?

- Figure out a new enrage ability. This one is ridiculously easy to turn into Armageddons For Ever.

- Use some new flavor text. If you’re dropping story characters, then you need to reflect their abilities, roles, and legendary status.

Grades:

Formatting – 4/5

Function – 2/5

Flavor – 1/5

Michael says: A compleated Azor is a very interesting concept from a lore perspective, and his card would surely excite players to see printed. This card however I am not sure would accomplish this feat. His mana cost is highly colour intensive meaning he is very difficult to cast in any normal game, therefore I would expect to see a reward equivalent to the effort I put in to cast him. In addition to possessing no built in way to protect himself, his effect feels incredibly weak. While seeing your opponents hand is noteworthy, in the vast majority of games when you cast Azor you are likely to be in the later stages of the game. At this point your opponent has likely already cast most of their hand and if not you are playing against control in which case Azor is never resolving let alone actually attacking. And even if the effect does trigger you are only likely to draw a single card at most given the opponent will play around the effect as much as possible. In order to make this card playable its effect needs to be tuned into a specific niche; given Azor's previous identity as a control piece I would want to see an effect that works well against control to help tie the flavour into the mechanics. I and Alyssa came up with giving him "this card cannot be countered" to help give him an anti-control niche along with changing his effect to be an enter the battlefield trigger. Allowing you to look at an opponents hand, pick a card type, and producing a static draw effect whenever your opponent casts one similar to how Archon of Dawn's Reach is worded we believe would be the best way to give him a specific use worth the extreme mana investment to cast him as well as being more relevant in multiplayer.

Alyssa says: Some small formatting changes. It’s “…look at defending player’s…” rather than “the defending player’s”. You need to add a “Then” before “Choose a nonland card type” to help sequence the effect (basically, so you know you look, then declare.) Make sure you install the M15 Mainframe layout for MSE, so you get the M15 card style, holofoil stamp, legendary crown, flavor bar and text chopping.

Woah, that’s a restrictive mana cost! This gent would be underpowered at 3WUB, so making him six mana of specific colors is a bit too much. I get that it’s acknowledging Azor’s original 2WWUU, but he had two strong abilities, one with instant payoff, that necessitated four color pips. This card doesn’t, and should be priced accordingly. I doubt you’ll ever get value off of his ability. He needs to survive a turn to use it, and by that time you not only have to attack an opponent with a brimming hand, but choose a card type they’ll play loads of. It also only triggers from that player casting that card type, so if Jimmy jams all the enchantments that you just disincentivized Bimmy from playing you dont get any cards. Even so, he doesn’t stop your opponents from comboing off, and the fact it isn’t a “may” means in fringe cases he might mill you out. You might get, like, one card off this guy every two turns, and that’s far too weak. Just play Cloudblazer. This ability isn’t black at all. Becoming Phyrexian doesn’t just jack black onto your mana cost, as New Phyrexia demonstrated, and his vague lockdown/card advantage ability doesn’t do much.

Flavor-wise, I’m not sure what Azor is doing here. He’s evidently compleated, and is doing vague law things, but I just don’t see what the ability is meant to indicate. Does he demand tribute from those who would transgress his twisted law? It just doesn’t have an immediate, strong flavor resonance for me. There is also an Incorrect art credit, which also is already in use. This is the art for Sphinx of the Steel Wind, by Kev Walker, from Alara Reborn. (It’s also one of the five first Mythic Rares! The more you know.)

Possible improvements:

- Make him 3WUB. Or just make him 4WU. He isn’t strong enough to need all of that color.

- He needs protection, or a stronger ability to justify the risk. Perhaps make his ability also trigger off entering the battlefield, a la Arashin Foremost. You could also retool it into an effect that names a card type that can’t be played, a la Archon of Valor’s Reach. If you make it stronger, tick up the mana accordingly.

- Make him scale to multiplayer scenarios.

Grades:

Formatting – 3/5

Function – 2/5

Flavor – 2/5

Michael says: Ok so I really enjoy this card. Its a silly win the game condition with a really crazy activator. These sorts of cards are almost always popular and incentivize weird brews in both the standard environment and in eternal formats. Also I do appreciate the effort you put in to photoshop this yourself, good job on that front. While there is nothing wrong this card in its present incarnation, I think it needs to be improved from where it is now. Phyrexia in general often has an identity of using -1/-1 counters, and so if those exist in the environment it will stop a significant +1/+1 counters theme from being present which would be a key tool making this card workable. In addition while the precedent for win the game effects has been established for the upkeep step this particular card would struggle significantly with such a timing window, as many cards that buff or double power last until end step. If we assume this set cannot use +1/+1 counters the main pathway for this card would be effects that double in power, and therefore I think you can change this effect to an end of turn trigger without much concern over power. If you have a creature with power 40 or greater you are probably winning anyway. In order to avoid confusion with the cleanup step and to improve flavour I would suggest an end of turn trigger where if you attacked with a creature with 40 or more power you win the game.

Alyssa says: You need a comma between “more power” and “you win the game” as they’re two separate clauses. You spelt “versus” wrong, and you want to add a shift line break after the quote finishes before the speaker’s name. Make sure to get the M15 Mainframe card style to add a flavor bar.

Funky, fresh, and Green! The problem is that it’s way too hard to pull off. Placing the win trigger at the beginning of the turn means you need a creature with static power 40 or more, plus instant boosts/abilities, which is really hard because it and the creature both need to survive a full turn to trigger outside of some abstruse circumstances. This just feels like it’s been made too safe out of power level concerns.

I appreciate the need for some counterplay in win conditions, but I feel it’s pretty telegraphed anyway, and if you’re getting the beefy boy that you need to win with this there’s some other enchantments for similar cost that will make your beater so ferocious it’ll probably just win you the game anyway. I feel that it’s perfectly fine to make it an end of turn effect. One variant that we like is for you to attack with a creature with 40 or more power to win the game on the end step, really playing up the flavor of the card.

That flavor is really nice, and I appreciate the photoshop. It’s really cute! I would really prefer to have the artists who made the art you’ve edited credited too (the people who painted Ghalta and Vorinclex.)

Possible improvements:

- Make it an end of turn effect to better synergise with creature buffs.

- If you want to keep it at upkeep, add an activated ability that boosts power or whatever. It’s hard to use counters in a Phyrexian set (which is going to be a -1/-1 counter set nearly all the time) but temporary boosts still work.

Grades:

Formatting – 4/5

Function – 4/5

Flavor – 4/5

Michael says: This card I find somewhat disappointing in all honesty. To give credit where it is due the templating is correct, I love the flavour text, and the card works. But it is far too safe, and that safety really hurt the card. This is obviously a call-back to the original Mavren effect, but creating 2/2 horrors with deathtouch instead. This really does impact the card in a few ways. Firstly the tokens you make are not vampires, one of the benefits of the original Mavren is that he did not need to attack, and the tokens he made would fuel his ability further so you could always swing in with a single vampire every turn and remain even on tokens. This Mavren requires a significant amount of other vampires in the deck, or to swing with himself which opens up a lot more vulnerability to the card getting blocked and killed. And this plays into my other concern as well as the creatures have deathtouch instead of lifelink. While a more powerful mechanic it promotes a slower and more defensive playstyle, which conflicts with the precedent of the vampires being the white weenie deck, in addition to meaning that if Mavren does swing it is more likely there will be creatures available to block him. Finally and this is the most important concern, he is a white card that creates deathtouch tokens. Yes he is tied to vampires, a tribe mostly in black, but he needs to have black in the mana cost or otherwise this card is a colour pie break.

Alyssa says: The formatting is just dandy. The full art is nice, but it does reveal the Legend of the Cryptids watermark and copyright information below, which really takes you out of the card. You also spelled Mavren Fein wrong! It’s a small quibble but it really, really hurts the card’s aesthetics and is something that could be easily fixed with some proofreading. Unless compleation made him shuffle his name around a bit.

This card puzzles me. For one, it’s not remotely white: Mavren Fein does produce tokens but they’re white tokens with lifelink rather than black ones with deathtouch. I don’t like the fact that mono-W can break the color pie and make deathtouch creatures relatively easily with him. For another, unlike Mavren Fein’s initial form which produces aggressive tokens with a keyword that incentivizes combat and attacking each turn, Mavren Fien’s ability produces defensive tokens instead. I’m therefore confused as to what exactly his game plan is: attack in every turn, or hunker down? There’s also balance considerations in that he does make 2/2’s, which is fine perhaps on a multicolored card but a bit much for a monocolored one, especially when it’s a color bend like this.

I also don’t like that it lets token vampires make tokens. Small thing, but the Torrezon vampires traditionally make lots of tokens so I worry that might kick it over. The flavor is fun, if a little lazy. It’s literally just Mavren Fein again, but with a slight change in some knobs. I want to see something a little more exciting.

Possible improvements:

- Proofread! So close to being perfect.

- He’d be perfect if he just cost WB. No color breaks there, and a neat compensation for being two colors.

- Is deathtouch really the best keyword for his token? Possibly look to making the tokens more directly incentivize aggression

Grades:

Formatting – 4/5

Function – 3/5

Flavor – 3/5

Michael says: Another odd infect card, this time a compleated siren with the ability to steal creatures. Firstly I really, really love that flavour text. Definitely one of the best I've seen in a while from a personal perspective, it resonates just right. My opinion on the mechanics however is that this card is pulling in two directions. Its raid effect wants it to sit back and block attacking creatures to distribute -1/-1 counters, and this would inevitably be very powerful in limited. However on Ixalan I expect to see bigger creatures than normal thanks to all the dinosaurs, which means it can be very difficult at times to block with this creature. The card really wants to both attack to activate the raid safely as well as remain untapped to block incoming attacks. While this dissonance helps to balance what can be a very potent steal effect, it would also make the card very unfun to play as you cant play in the way this card wants to. Yes a board presence and other infect creatures help to mitigate this, but by itself it will not have a good gameplay loop. Additionally this card uses art that already exists on a magic card. I'm not particularly bothered by that but it can lead to a bit of confusion so if you can avoid that it helps.

Alyssa says: You forgot the “on it” part of “with a -1/-1 counter on it.” You don’t capitalize the “The” in “the Stormwreck Sea”. Otherwise, formatting is good!

I feel mixed things about this card. On the one hand, it’s mechanically sound, on the other I’m not entirely sure how well it will play. It’s a seemingly very powerful trigger, but I worry that its implementation is internally competitive. You want to steal big stuff here, which is good, but as a 1/5 infect on its own you can only steal things that have 4 or less power that attack into Ichorfleet Despoiler. You aren’t going to be taking any Colossal Dreadmaws with this thing. Similarly, anything it can safely block will probably be worthless when you get it: it’ll be out of the way, sure, but I want more for 5 mana. If the surrounding environment supports putting -1/-1 counters onto creatures, then this could have applications, but it’s really, really bad at triggering its own ability and I think that should be taken into account.

I’m always awkward about putting infect onto things. Once again, this exposes another internal competition within the card. Its 1 infect damage means it’s going to kill people at the speed of a Coral Eel, but I don’t like that you’re incentivized to steal your opponent’s stuff, which probably won’t have infect. You want to win in infect by dealing 10 damage as quickly as possible, but because “not having poison counters” isn’t a resource, you don’t really gain much through incremental, slow upticking. If you’re stealing creatures without infect it’s like the damage this deals doesn’t even matter. In effect, it’s kind of like giving this infect has reduced its power to 0. Just give it wither, like several other entrants have twigged.

It’s a good card, but it just doesn’t sit right to me. The potential line of “attack with my dinky infect rat, get blocked by a gigantic dinosaur, play Despoiler main 2 and steal it” is really fun but once you’ve seen it once you’ve seen it all. This is a card that’s so hard to evaluate outside of set context.

The flavor is lovely, but this art is in use! It’s the art for Siren of the Silent Song from Born of the Gods. Reverse image search your images before you use them just to make sure.

Possible improvements:

- Give it wither, so it can actually attack well.

- Swap out the art for something that hasn’t been used.

- Consider making the card better at activating its own abilities, so it doesn’t rely on the context of a set that doesn’t exist.

Grades:

Formatting – 4/5

Function – 3/5

Flavor – 4/5

Michael says: So because of the nature of this card as a goblin piker I am less reviewing the card as I am the mechanic, and to be totally honest I am not super keen. The mechanic is clearly a riff on explore, providing a poison counter instead of a +1/+1 counter. My concern with this kind of mechanic is that it would struggle to exist in an environment with infect already present as they compete with similar design space and infect is often easier to get to 10 counters thanks to how it scales and is repeatable. With this mechanic you would need to trigger it and hit a non-land 10 times to win and that is almost impossible in limited if we assume the mechanic is seeded like explore was in Ixalan. Another issue here is that these poison counters are functionally useless until you hit 10 meaning that there is no real benefit for the first 9, whereas with explore the +1/+1 counters can be supremely relevant to the board. Encroach would need to be significantly pushed in how often you can activate it in order to see any amount of constructed play and in doing so could produce a harmful standard environment as these counters would be more difficult to interact with than creature damage through infect. In addition seeing this effect on a BB goblin piker at uncommon is very below rate, while this effect existed in Ixalan the explore trigger was significant in that it existed on both a 1/2 and a 2/1 while also costing one coloured and one generic mana. This card is seriously underpowered in almost every circumstance except when the opponent is on 9 poison counters and I am unsure as to how the mechanic could be tweaked and still keep the flavour of phyrexia while also working similar to explore.

Alyssa says: Formatting wise, this is completely fine. It wants to be a Soldier, though. Or perhaps a Horror, with appropriate art?

Mechanically, I don’t really have that much to say. Encroach is a very weak ability because it really doesn’t do anything to alter the game state aside from when your opponent has nine poison, which, if that is only being spread through encroach, means the first nine activations that don’t hit a land basically do nothing. With explore, both times you’re getting something, whether that’s a land card or a counter plus a surveil, but with the Conquistador you just give a worthless poison counter. It also feels very lackluster as a concept. It’s literally just explore, but with a tinge of Phyrexian spice that ironically makes it weaker. I can’t think of a set that would want this as one of its 3.5 mechanics. The card wants to be 1B rather than BB. For BB you’re getting a 2/2, or perhaps a 3/2, with that basic effect, especially at uncommon.

A big problem I have is that it’s ripped wholesale from Vraska’s Conquistador, which is also a black uncommon 2 mana 2/1 Vampire with the same art (which you didn’t credit, by the by.) There’s nothing spooky or Phyrexian about the art that tells me that this thing is encroaching on Ixalan, and there’s no flavor either. It just feels like it was slapped together in a couple minutes from Vraska’s Conquistador, even down to the name, with a mechanic that’s just Explore covered in Phyrexian graffiti.

Possible improvements:

- It needs to be overhauled from the top.

- Encroach needs some genuine thought to turn it into an incremental poison/value generation mechanic, with a benefit on top of just giving them a single poison counter.

Grades:

Formatting – 4/5

Function – 2/5

Flavor – 1/5

And finally we have our winner for this week:

Michael says: This is a safe design, but I think it checks a lot of boxes for a good call back design while still having its own unique effect. Here the original value engine of kumena is replaced with an infect strategy which supports itself through a token creation ability that also possess infect. I also enjoy how in order to fuel his unblockability, it requires a sacrifice instead of just tapping merfolk, an elegant way of powering down the card in a very flavourful way thanks to the addition of black to his mana cost. While infect can be scary I think the limiters on dealing combat damage to players to trigger the token making definitely helps to mitigate the potential of the card. In order to break this card you would need a lot of tribal investment and synergies, which means he would probably make a strong commander but his standard impact can be well measured. In addition to this the formatting has no problems and the art was well picked for this card. Honestly it makes me sad I cant say much more about this card, its just a really good example of linking old and new flavour. The power level may be a bit suspect but I think it is correct to err on the side of caution for infect cards, especially with built in evasion.

Alyssa says: The formatting is superb. You even got the rules for multiple instances of a legendary creature’s name in a text box right! I also appreciate that you provided the token it produces.

I always get leery of infect, but I can honestly see it working here. The stats are about right (considering it attacks players as a 4/4) especially for a 3-color legendary creature. It’s not Boltable, but it has no inbuilt protection, which I feel compensates. The combat damage trigger is a little uninspired, and perhaps a little weak. I’d like to see something sexier, maybe a card draw? I can’t help but look at Phyrexian Swarmlord as a point of comparison. But I suppose incremental infect production is a decent enough compensation. Either way, I feel it’s a good implementation of infect on a creature that is its own game plan.

You could probably dink the sacrifice condition for his unblockability down to two merfolk. Going in on a -3 to then get, I dunno, Divine Arrowed or whatever is really sad. I like it being free on mana but high on card disadvantage to really sneak infect hits through.

Flavorwise, he’s a real treat. Lovely to see a Phyrexian card with a bit of personality, especially with him being all shouty up in the card art. Flavor text is actually unnecessary on this, in my opinion. His charisma and influence is demonstrated by the Merfolk he summons, his cruelty by how quickly he disposes of them for his own benefit. It’s a shame he’s not a Zombie too but the typeline is packed to the gills (ha) already.

Possible improvements:

- I want to see either the combat damage trigger a bit sexier or the unblockability trigger a little cheaper.

Grades:

Formatting – 5/5

Function – 4/5

Flavor – 5/5

So thank you to everyone who submitted a card and to Hyperviper for his winning design of Kumena, the Tainted Tyrant. As always feedback on this would be greatly appreciated and hopefully the next prompt should be provided shortly.

As a bonus please see our take on the prompt with Azor the Mad, unable to intervene in the conflict thanks to his oath limiting simply to providing a passive sanctuary on Useless Island.

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mrauthor3ds · 7 years

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Things I hope to see in Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon

Time for early wishlists! Assuming that Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon are indeed sequels to Sun/Moon, what kind of things would I like to see in them...

1: Lusamine and Nihilego’s redemption arc

I’m sure a lot of us hope to see that Lusamine is making an effort to atone for her insane actions in Sun/Moon. Perhaps it can also give us more insight on when and how she lost it. But I also hope to see that specific Nihilego redeem itself, too.

I’m of the belief that that Nihilego, the one that was hanging out next to her in Ultra Space and was supposedly in that Beast Ball, is the same on that appeared at Aether Paradise twice, and could be the one that applied its neurotoxin to Lusamine long before the story began (judging by how long Gladion stayed at Route 8′s motel, I’d say about 2-3 years prior).

And keep in mind, after Nebby got Lusamine and Nihilego to de-fuse, Nihilego went back into the Beast Ball, and likely got brought back to Alola with her. I wouldn’t be surprised if Lusamine was tasked with making sure Nihilego doesn’t try to cause more trouble, and maybe eventually, that Nihilego will truly become an ally to us.

2: Mohn gets a role in the story

We’ve seen Mohn managing Poké Pelago, yes. We also hear the name as that of the leading professor on Ultra Space studies. And there’s way too many in-your-face hints that he’s the husband of Lusamine who got unexpectedly pulled into Ultra Space and was never seen again. Given what tends to happen to Fallers - people who have gone through Ultra Wormholes - as we see with Anabel, it’s easy to guess that Mohn suffered amnesia when he reappeared where Poké Pelago is now.

So I’m sure a lot of people wanted to know why we can’t just bring him to Gladion and Lillie to resolve things sooner. Well, perhaps Mohn can make an appearance in USUM’s story and maybe clear that up. Maybe he’ll remember scant tidbits about his time in Ultra Space, which can provide some help to us.

And who knows, maybe his wife and children might not be able to fully restore his memory, but they can be happy that he’s still himself in spirit. I know that’s not quite the happy ending that most people would want, but I think that would still be happy enough, and it would give a subtle but important lesson in the process.

3: A different Team Skull

And by that, I don’t mean make the Trial Captains of Sun/Moon be its members. We’re talking if this is a sequel. No, I mean a completely different Team Skull, with slightly different duds and perhaps a more serious mission. They can still retain the goofy quirks of the previous Team Skull, but with a SERIOUS MISSION.

...Likely involving Necrozma. After all, one of the reasons everyone suspected the Aether Foundation in Sun/Moon is because their white/gold color scheme goes with Solgaleo and Lunala. Well, Team Skull had an emphasis on black, which is clearly Necrozma’s primary color. Also, the “necro“ in its name can relate to the skull of Team Skull (death and all). So...yeah.

But who would lead this Team Skull? Well, one Punk Girl in the trailer park near Tapu Village tells that Team Skull was originally founded by a disgraced kahuna, but was deposed by the wrath of the tapu. This is likely long before Guzma rebuilt the gang. Perhaps that disgraced kahuna can make himself known here in USUM.

I’m sure the previous Team Skull of Sun/Moon won’t be happy to hear about a Team Skull appearing. Guzma and Plumeria especially might not be happy about this. You know, it can be sort of like the new Team Plasma of Black2/White2, but under a different management altogether.

4: An Ice-type specialist

One of the fascinating things about Alola is that there’s a specialist for just about every type. The Trial Captains cover Normal, Water, Fire, Grass, Electric, Ghost, and Fairy, the kahunas have Fighting, Rock, Dark, and Ground, Kahili has Flying, Molayne has Steel, Guzma has Bug, Plumeria has Poison, Faba has Psychic, and Ryuki has Dragon.

...But no Ice-type?

Okay, I know Sina has Ice-type Pokémon, but she’s only battled in the Battle Tree. That and Dexio is another Psychic specialist, so I’ll have to count them as complete outsiders (though Ryuki might also count as an outsider).

Point is, there’s a lot of things in Sun/Moon that beg for an Ice user to appear in these games that clearly put focus on Necrozma. For instance...

Post-championship, an Aether employee in Secret Lab A will comment on how Pokémon moves were used for cryostasis on the Pokémon in Lusamine’s “collection“. This makes me wonder...the possibility of a high-ranking Aether member, alongside Faba and Wicke, who specialized in Ice-types and was ordered at some point to deep-freeze all those Pokémon, as well as the three Type: Null...and afterward s/he left.

Again, it seems that Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon will be putting focus on Necrozma. In Refresh, when you pet the horn above Necrozma’s face, your hand will freeze. But it’s not Ice-type? Still, that gives me another theory. What if that same Aether member who was told to freeze those Pokémon defected to this new Team Skull, which is trying to harness Necrozma’s power for...something? Wouldn’t be the first time the new team got an Ice user while harnessing the power of a cold legendary Pokémon - I speak of course of Zinzolin in New Team Plasma (BW2 again).

Either way, in Aether or in Team Skull, I really hope that s/he has some prominent blue on the outfit.

5: Hau as the new Melemele kahuna

I know, I’ll be taking a lot of cues from Black2/White2 for this. But what if Hau finally succeeds Hala as the new kahuna of Melemele Island by this time? This is of course a similar vein to how the rival Cheren became the first Gym Leader you face in the sequel.

Not sure if he’d have a single type specialty, or if he’ll be anything like Blue (as the Viridian City Gym Leader in Gold/Silver) and use a few Pokémon of completely different types. You know, like say...Flareon, Vaporeon, and Leafeon.

6: Don’t replace the island challenge with Gyms!

Seriously, I doubt that Alola is going to just give up the island challenge altogether in favor of the classic Gym formula. I mean, come on! The island challenge is one of the things that made Sun/Moon so unique to the series!

Yes, I know. Alola has a Pokémon League now. But that doesn’t mean it has to use Gyms just like all the other regions. It can still work its traditional island challenge into it.

So in short, keep the island challenge. Make new trials for this time around, sure. Maybe see some new kahunas as well (likely just replacing Hala and Olivia, since they’re Elite Four members now).

7: New Alolan variants

I know some people were bummed to only see variants for Gen-1 Pokémon. Well, this can be a chance to add Alolan variants from other generations! Might probably be just Gen-2 ones, though. Since the Gen-1 games came to Virtual Console leading up to Sun/Moon, I believe that Gold/Silver on VC will lead up to Gen-2 variants.

Wouldn’t be new. After all, Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire added a lot more Mega Evolutions. So...

What would you think? Lately, I’ve been toying with the idea of a Fire/Ice-type Girafarig, so it can get a new duality to play around with. Or maybe a Grass/Fire-type Sunflora, as a result of getting so much sun in Alola.

Anyway, I feel we should look at the Pokémon that currently can’t be found within Sun/Moon for ideas on new variants, especially since Masuda said that we’d see Pokémon in USUM that can’t be found in Sun/Moon.

8: More signature moves

This can be a chance to give some Pokémon their own new signature moves, like Mimikyu. For such a standout Pokémon, it doesn’t have an exclusive move that it can call its own. Maybe a Ghost- or Fairy-type mimicry of Pikachu’s famed Electric attacks? And Nihilego stands out even among the Ultra Beasts, but it doesn’t have its own unique move. This can be a chance to truly give Pokémon like them their turn in the bigger spotlight.

Along with this, I also hope to see a few more unique Z-Crystals. You know what I mean, right? The Z-Crystals that give exclusive Z-Moves to certain Pokémon. What Pokémon do you think deserve their own special Z-Moves? Silvally? Nihilego? Lemme know.

9: More clarification on the Ultra Beasts

The reports that Wicke provides on the Ultra Beasts in the post-game do give a few neat details on how SUPER WEIRD they are. But I hope we see EVEN MORE information on the Ultra Beasts, like how they came to be. Perhaps Lusamine and Mohn can give more insight?

10: Visit Ultra Space

Yup. Being able to access pockets of Ultra Space during your journey. Perhaps you can meet Pokémon that have hidden abilities in there, similar to the Hidden Grottos in Black2/White2. Well, that and be part of the main story.

11: Story battles with special twists

So we know that Totem Pokémon, and Fused Lusamine’s team, get stat boosts right at the start of the battles, which can set them apart from normal battles. But apparently, that’s not good enough for SOME people. Perhaps there can be other twists in some story battles, like against the antagonists. For instance, that suggested Ice-type specialist could do something that neutralizes Ice-type’s weaknesses during some battles. Or, someone could make it possible for all of his/her Pokémon to use their Z-Moves, rather than just one. Or someone whose Pokémon are all Mega Evolved. You know?

12: Difficulty toggle

So clearing Black2/White2 will let you access different difficulties. Easy Mode to reduce opponents’ levels, and Challenge Mode to raise their levels. Perhaps something like that can be enabled for Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon...though preferably without needing some keys.

And...that’s all I can think of at the moment. What about you? What features - whether story or gameplay - to do you hope to see in Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon?

#pokemon #sun #moon #ultra sun #ultra moon #sequel #speculation #ultra beasts #nihilego #lusamine #team skull #necrozma #black2 #white2

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makingscipub · 5 years

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A Science Fiction Movie Guide to Responsible Innovation

This is a guest post by Andrew Maynard, Professor at Arizona State University, who is launching his new book today: Films from the Future: The Technology and Morality of Sci-Fi Movies. I am really happy to publish this post on the Making Science Public blog, as it deals with topics like responsible innovation, synthetic biology, gene editing, nanoscale science and engineering and geoengineering in ways that open up these topics to the general reader and cinema goer. Have a look and read the book!

***

Responsible research and innovation and science fiction movies may seem an odd combination. Yet approached in the right way, it turns out that sci-fi films can provide a surprisingly insightful medium through which to explore the challenges and opportunities of innovating responsibly.

For some time now, I’ve been interested in how emerging technologies can be developed and used in ways that benefit society, without causing more harm than they’re worth. This was initially sparked through my work on the safe development and use of engineered nanomaterials, and my increasing engagement with stakeholders that included innovators and consumers, as well as regulators, advocacy groups and others.

Convergent and responsible innovation

Over the past decade though, I’ve become increasingly intrigued by the challenges of innovating responsibly at the points of connection between technology trends.

This is where innovators have a tendency to pull together ideas and capabilities from every conceivable branch of science and brand of technology as they build capabilities that respond to opportunities (or create new ones) in novel ways. The resulting innovations are rarely constrained by labels like “nanotechnology”, or “synthetic biology”, or “artificial intelligence”, or other neatly-demarked areas that so-loved by academics. Yet these are where the truly transformative breakthroughs often occur.

Because innovation at the convergence between different strands of science and technology is often messy and ill-defined, it’s not easy to develop and implement generally-applicable approaches to socially responsible innovation. But there is an even greater challenge that I continually run up against when working with innovators and entrepreneurs, at least in the US: Many entrepreneurs, it seems, struggle to understand the value-add of academic ideas around responsible innovation, when they are fighting to survive in the commercial world.

It’s not that they don’t understand the inherent importance of producing products that do good, and do no harm. It’s simply that in the world they inhabit, the language of responsible innovation is often jarring, inaccessible, and (when it is understandable) unresponsive to their specific needs and constraints.

Of course, there are exceptions to this, and initiatives such as RRI Tools and others have made serious inroads to helping bridge the gap between what innovators need, and what responsible innovation has to offer. Yet many tech companies and developers are still unaware of, or suspicious of, the ideas behind responsible innovation; despite a growing awareness that they need to do things differently.

Making responsible innovation public

And this is where science fiction movies come in.

Sci-fi movies are great social levelers. People from all ages, backgrounds, professions, and expertise, can sit down together and enjoy watching them. And as they do so, these films have the ability to slip under the barriers people so often raise when trying to stick with their social or professional “tribe”.

Because of this, science fiction movies provide an intriguing medium through which people can begin to see world around them differently. But they also have a couple of other tricks up their metaphorical sleeve when it comes to socially responsible technology innovation, starting with their focus on new and emerging technologies.

Here, science fiction films are notoriously unreliable predictors of the future, or even the present. Rarely if ever will a sci-fi movie producers let reality get in the way of a good story. And yet, because these films touch on new and often intriguing extensions of emerging technologies, they still provide a natural starting point for thinking about the consequences of current technological trends.

The second trick—and perhaps the more powerful of the two—is that the vast majority of sci-fi movies are ultimately stories about the complex relationships and dynamics between people and technology.

Because of this, with some help, science fiction movies can open up surprising insights into the potential dangers of unthinking or naive innovation, and reveal potential ways to steer new technologies toward more socially beneficial and responsible futures.

And because these films have the ability to slip underneath the instinctive barriers that are raised whenever someone tries to “educate” or “enlighten” someone else, they open the way for developers, users, and influencers, of emerging and converging technologies, to better-understand the complex risk-landscape around them, and how to effectively navigate it.

The book!

This is the premise behind my new book Films from the Future: The Technology and Morality of Sci-Fi Movies. The book is unabashedly aimed at anyone who is entertained by science fiction films, intrigued by emerging trends in technology innovation, and curious about the social questions they raise. It’s written for a popular audience, and so won’t be winning any awards for convoluted academic impenetrability and obfuscation. Rather, it’s designed to make sense to anyone interested in how to ensure emerging technologies are developed socially beneficial and responsible ways, without them having to get an advanced degree first!

The book is built around a series of twelve movies, which were picked to support a loose meta-narrative around biotechnology, AI and cyber-technologies, advanced materials (including nanotechnology), and the capabilities that arise out of convergence between them. It’s also very selfishly built around movies that I enjoy watching. I have, after all, had to live with them for nearly two years now! And it intentionally combines some well-known films with some that are less well-known.

The resulting chapters take readers through a tapestry of emerging technological capabilities that move from gene editing and “de-extinction”, through predictive policing, smart drugs, human augmentation, and AI, to nanoscale science and engineering, and geoengineering. In each case, the movies are the catalyst for exploring what scientists and innovators are beginning to achieve, and how these might potentially impact society.

In this way, the movie Jurassic Park opens up conversations around de-extinction and where responsibility lies for who decides to what and when. Minority Report leads to a deep-dive into pre-emptive crime prevention, and the ethics of predicting criminal behavior. The 1995 Anime Ghost in the Shell provides a backdrop for thinking about the pros and cons of human augmentation. Ex Machina enables an intriguing exploration of AI through the allegory of Plato’s Cave. And so on.

The individual accounts of real-world technology innovation in the book are often intriguing and disturbing—the exploration of machine-learning as applied to predicting criminal tendencies for instance, or the dangers of immoral logics when justifying far-reaching technological interventions. But it’s when these are threaded together that a larger picture of what it means to think about socially responsible innovation arises.

This is where the book sets out to open the eyes and minds of readers to new possibilities. It intentionally doesn’t provide instructions on how to innovate responsibly. Rather, through reading it, I hope that innovators and others will better-understand how socially naive innovation ultimately serves no-one, and will begin to think about how they can do things differently.

And this is where, hopefully, they will be able to turn to a growing community of responsible innovation experts and practitioners.

And, of course, a bunch of science fiction films.

Films from the Future: The Technology and Morality of Sci-Fi Movies (ISBN 978-1633539075) is published by Mango, and is available from Amazon.com and other book sellers.

Andrew Maynard is a professor in the Arizona State University School for the Future of Innovation in Society and Director of the ASU Risk Innovation Lab. A physicist by training, he’s worked for many years at the intersection between technology innovation, science and technology policy, and societal risks and benefits. He can be found on Twitter at @2020science.

The post A Science Fiction Movie Guide to Responsible Innovation appeared first on Making Science Public.

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thecloudlight-blog · 7 years

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New Post has been published on Cloudlight

New Post has been published on https://cloudlight.biz/why-blackberry-is-so-optimistic-about-software-and-services/

Why BlackBerry Is so Optimistic about Software and Services

Software and Services revenues rose 25% in monetary 2017 Tech (QQQ) firm BlackBerry (BBRY) has 3 primary business segments: Software program and Offerings, Mobility Solutions, and Provider Access Costs. In financial 2017, BlackBerry’s revenue fell 39.four% YoY (year-over-12 months) to $1.three billion, down from ~$2.2 billion in economic 2016.

By using a comparison, BlackBerry’s revenue from its Software program and Services enterprise rose 25% YoY in economic 2017 to $622 million from $497 million in fiscal 2016.

revenue from BlackBerry’s Software program section rose 3.6% YoY in financial 1Q17, 89% YoY in monetary 2Q17, three.2% in monetary 3Q17, and 39% YoY in financial 4Q17.

At some stage in BlackBerry’s financial 4Q17 profits call, CEO (leader government officer) John Chen stated: “A stellar growth in Software and Offerings exceed the decline in SAF and almost nearly offset the decline in hardware and SAF mixed.”

The culmination of optimism

BlackBerry is optimistic about revenue growth within the Software and Offerings area, pushed Via the robust performance within the enterprise’s Business enterprise Mobility, QNX, and Fee Control Software program segments.

In October 2016, BlackBerry announced that it had signed a settlement with vehicle manufacturer Ford Motor (F) to expand using its QNX Software. Blackberry is investing in numerous boom segments, such as Company Software program, IoT (Net of factors), and related cars. Extensively, BlackBerry’s QNX Software program is already being used in over 60 million automobiles.

Keep to the next part for a recap of what BlackBerry pulled off in 4Q17.

BlackBerry (BBRY) processed over three,500 patron orders in fiscal 4Q17, which became a rise of 16% QoQ (zone-over-zone). BlackBerry also won contracts with numerous businesses across industries, thereby increasing its Offerings inside the Employer market.

Different main wins for BBRY closing yr blanketed Deutsche Post DHL, Mitsubishi UFJ Economic Institution, Nationwide Mutual Coverage, Idaho Strength, Sutter Health, Queensland Investment Business enterprise and Parliamentary Services in Australia.

Blackberry Apps Development – All For An Increased Performance

There are numerous cell telephones in the marketplace that help you’re making lifestyles easier and greater thrilling. Some phones encompass Blackberry, iPhone, Nokia, Android, and many others. all these telephones include one-of-a-kind applications and exclusive functions. Usually, Blackberry is focused in the direction of the business magnificence humans, it is useful to them as BlackBerry telephones have programs that healthy them and their desires.

BlackBerry Apps Development has been gaining momentum within the last few years, as there is a growth for those telephones. those telephones will ensure that your commercial enterprise existence is made less difficult and easier. BlackBerry Apps Improvement is a subject where increasingly human beings are being hired every single day. Agencies are searching out folks who can assist them to develop such functions and capabilities with a purpose to end up making the lives of people smooth. There are many humans interested in any such process definitely as it gives you growth and a danger to be a part of dynamic surroundings of BlackBerry Development.

BlackBerry Apps Improvement is not a clean challenge

Loads go at the back of every application and every utility is surely a large venture for developers. A whole lot of time, cash and research go into each application. builders Usually apart from the technical aspects need to preserve in thoughts what type of programs an audience is genuinely searching out. They will be searching out a target market that is an appropriate target for the application. This will make their venture easy in terms of distribution and advertising.

builders Typically will make certain that each application is a success as they keep factors consisting of the size of the software, the target audience to be targeted and the need of the application in mind. in relation to BlackBerry Apps Development lots of categories are selected such as the song, games, organizational capabilities, and so on. all these are regions in which a developer should look into and see what may be brought and what may be executed. In conjunction with experience, studies and qualification cross a long manner in BlackBerry Apps Development. As a brisker, you may start out with any organization and involve yourself on this method so that your corporation does not suffer any loss.

How To Be More Optimistic In The Long Term

We likely all have that one pal, one relative, one colleague or one neighbor who’s particularly superb and may constantly see the intense aspect of the photo.

Occasionally they’re the form of disturbing. However Once in a while, they may be kind of uplifting as they’re seeking to bring the satisfactory out people.

In truth, you could probably be that positivity freak.

But, if you are not naturally inclined to be so high quality all the time, you’ll be stressed and thinking how you can also definitely learn (or teach yourself) to be extra optimistic.

A few people are inherently advantageous at the same time as others are inherently poor. Perhaps it’s an inborn issue. Maybe it’s shaped via their childhood enjoy.

But are we all capable of remodeling ourselves from a poor power-draining vampire to an advantageous, satisfied, self-motivating man or woman?

The important thing lies in shifting the manner you think about matters.

It seems that optimism isn’t actually the tendency to consider that things will flip out for the higher at the same time as pessimism is not simply the tendency to assume matters will flip out poorly.

As an alternative, those phrases are used to explain the way someone thinks approximately what causes the adversity.

A pessimist has a tendency to consider these items in a way that makes them sense powerless. For example, many pessimists characteristic the adversity to internal forces, along with “Oh my god, this ruins the whole lot!”, “This is totally out of my manipulate!”, or “Oh dear, there is no way I will alternate this.”

It’s far feasible to change the manner that you reflect consideration on things. When you are confronted with an adversity you’re your default set of questioning makes you finish that matters are poor, take a step lower back, take a deep breath and permit’s reconsider it from a distinct attitude.

For instance, when you have an upcoming check and you are having issue know-how the cloth that is being included, it is straightforward to fall into the line of wondering that you are going to fail. A more healthy alternative is to consider ways you may better recognize the material and paintings on gaining knowledge of and reading what you want in order to get a higher grade at the take a look at.

The concept is that in case you are thinking you are going to fail, you probably will. In which focus goes, strength flows.

Changing your idea procedure and analyzing the cloth thoroughly is the best sensible option to enhance your probabilities of fulfillment.

while our attitudes in the direction of matters are On occasion habitual, It’s miles viable to change the manner which you think about things, for that reason getting to know to be more positive about events.

Types of Software Bugs

Every software program product carries some errors. A software program worm is this kind of device behavior that does not meet the necessities and produces the wrong consequences. It’s far not possible to expand a worm-unfastened device.

The failures of software merchandise may be of numerous sorts. Right here are some of them.

Useful insects – the wrong device behavior or enabled product features. Conversation troubles – the process of person’s Communication with the product may be not possible because of this form of mistakes, for instance, the manual is unavailable or the notifications are not proven. Lacking instructions – some anticipated instructions are left out inside the machine. Syntactic bugs – the grammar errors or misspelled phrases and sentences utilized in product GUI. Such errors can be connected with the localization technique. flawed handling of the errors – if something is going incorrect, the person must get the proper and clear notification. Its textual content must be short and it has to include all necessary facts about the nature of the mistake and the approaches of its possible removal.Calculation insects – the improper logic for calculation. The intense instance of such a mistakes is the misplaced Mars Weather Orbiter. Such state of affairs happened due to the fact there had been used English units in the metric machine.

Manage to go with the flow bugs – the violation of the series of movements.

The above-mentioned mistakes may be detected at some stage in exceptional varieties of software program testing, for instance, Purposeful, device, integration checking, and so on. Besides that, there are numerous uncommon bugs that can purpose a few difficulties all through their discovering and solving. What Are the uncommon software bugs?

Heisenbug – the errors of this kind of kind can regulate their houses. It’s far rather hard to stumble on these troubles as they will in no way be determined inside the debug-mode version of the product. Bohrbug appears beneath the set of precise conditions. Occasionally It’s miles referred to as ‘ghost’. Mandelbug – the failure of chaotic nature. It’s miles very difficult to outline the actual motives of this bug. It has very complicated reasons. Schroedinbug seems due to unusual the use of the product. The phase of the Moon computer virus – instead rare mistakes however it causes many issues. It is able to appear because the device is at risk of some screw ups on the unique time

Period and under particular situations.

Statistical trojan horse – the difficulty regular for aggregates. It violates the random producing of the precise output. these bugs are alternatively severe and the development team should paintings hard with a view to getting rid of the issues. And testers need to additionally observe exclusive techniques and methodologies to come across most of the people of serious bugs. for example, they use white box testing technique to better recognize the machine common sense. To perform mobile, computing device or internet website testing correctly those strategies must be adjusted for every enterprise and each project. QATestLab is unbiased, offshore software testing enterprise placed in Kiev, Ukraine. QATestLab plays trying out of merchandise on every degree of software program improvement cycle.

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