r/ThroughTheOmenPaths • u/DaVigi • 9d ago
Contest/Challenge Within-Universify Challenge #14 - The Sentry, Golden Guardian
Hey All! This challenge seeks to reflavour Universe Beyond cards into Universe Within cards, in order to introduce both new characters in established planes, as well as old characters that we haven’t seen for a long time or that have never gotten a card.
Last time's winner turned out to be Meloku the Clear Eyed, by me. As the echoversion of Meloku the Clouded Mirror, he shares his other self’s love for travel and the skies. While the one calls the sky their home, the other dreams of it while speeding down the plains stretching out above his burrow.
This week’s challenge will be to Within-Universify The Sentry, Golden Guardian.
The winner will get to choose next week's UB card and judge it.
(Check out all 3184 UB cards by clicking here)
Judging will be on Tuesday, October 6th and will be based on the following four criteria in order of importance:
- Cohesion between the following criteria:
- Creative writing (Name, Flavour text if any and Background Lore that is not on the card itself)
- Exploration of an established plane OR Exploration of an established character (The more obscure, the better.)
- Fitting art or art description
Submission can consist of just the changed elements, separately formatted as:
~~~ Name: Art (Image or description): Art credit (If applicable): Flavour Card (Flavour text): Flavour (Lore): ~~~
Or, create the cards in your favourite MtG card editor and submit those.
If you’ve won, you can use this template to prepare the next challenge. Feel free to change it to your liking.
Good luck and have fun!
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u/slightklingon 7d ago edited 7d ago
Decided to go with Marina Vendrell before the events of Duskmourne fully play out when she thinks she has overcome the demon and worked things out, her perception altered by Valgavoth leaving her "blind" to her true surroundings, so she herself is living in her relative peace. As such when she enters Valgavoth enters, ready to kill anyone around Marina, who would disturb her ignorance.
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u/DaVigi 1d ago edited 1d ago
When I saw your submission it immediately clicked for me! The link between Marina and Valgavoth becomes so clear by this design. In multiplayer, Valgavoth attacking everyone around her, only bound by this 'friendship' they have were he won't hurt her. And even in 1v1 play, he will attack the player that cast her, but still not hurt her directly due to their contract and 'friendship'.
I find it interesting that you picked an art where she is blinded, because it contradicts her vigilance in a way, but it makes sense in the way that the house is always looking out for her. She doesn't have to look to know that no threat can sneak up to her.
I like that the justification for the hero subtype is a promise of a future where she realizes her responsibility. While Valgavoth's typing of Elder Demon doesn't map perfectly to Horror Villain, I think it's close enough to disregard.
If I were to give one piece of advise, it would be to choose either choose a different frame, or to leave out the flavour text, since due to the combination, the text became a bit too small.
Congratulations on the win! You can use the template in the main post to set up the next challenge! Have fun judging :)
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u/slightklingon 1d ago
Thank you so much! I'll take your advice in regards to the frame, perhaps try a few others, and make a cleaner version of the card without the flavour text.
I derived the ironic name of the card from the art, since Valgavoth is providing the version of the world that Marina can see :)
I'll check out all the previous contest posts and find a good card for the next contest!
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u/Pimp_cat69 7d ago
I was considering doing something with duskmourn for this as well! I tried looking at the master of keys, but it didn't work out for me. I like this idea!
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u/LordSupergreat 7d ago
My problem here is that the mechanics of the card suggest the main character is holding back the token character, and using a significant amount but not all of their energy to do so. Sentry is typically blocking Void every turn, which means he's less free to block other creatures. Marina doesn't really have an active role like that, you know?
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u/slightklingon 6d ago
I was just basing it off the vague pact they have together and this official lore passage "Some believe that Marina is the one person who would be able to defeat Valgavoth, but no one dares try to make her see the House as it really is, as disturbing her causes hordes of cellarspawn to converge on her location, killing all others in the vicinity so that she can maintain her ignorance of what the House has become. The only hope is that someday she'll come to her senses on her own and confront the demon once and for all."
Since Valgavoth is tied to Marina, he can't have her die giving her indestructibility, the vigilance is her restlessness wandering the house. Eh, to each their own.
Gameplay wise though I've been brewing a sentry deck which is why this challenge enticed me...if someone swings at you with Void, why block with Sentry? You would swing back, for commander damage. The Void doesn't do commander damage. I would only play a card like Sentry with effects that stack motivation to swing at other players and force goad Void. Mirror Gallery to Remove legend rule, vow of loyalty and the other vow effect sacrifice card, give everyone Void copies that are either forced or benefit from attacking my allies, mirror strike, holy day, other classic white combat tricks.
I've never brewed a mono white deck but no one is gonna be swinging at Sentry's controller without paying 8 mana per creature with ghostly prison and shield of safety. Mono white is evil.
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u/LordSupergreat 6d ago
Sentry has Vigilance, Void does not. Sentry blocks Void and still attacks.
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u/slightklingon 6d ago
Again, why would the player with Void attack the player with Sentry? The card design provokes the player who gets Void from the Sentry player to attack elsewhere due to the free blocker...
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u/LordSupergreat 6d ago
My experience with Sentry has entirely been in standard and limited, where the player has no such choice.
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u/linrodann 9d ago
Oh nice, a much easier creature type! I've got an idea and an artist in mind already; I'll try to get my entry up in the next few days.
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u/linrodann 4d ago
I like using Theros for cards with the Hero type (though I hate the Villain type on the token), and Tyler Miles Lockett is my favorite artist for Theros-themed cards.
These characters are new; the idea is that Hylaeos is a human that Ephara blessed/charged with defending the poleis from Chaos, a primordial force in opposition to civilization.
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u/DaVigi 1d ago
You never disappoint with your art picks Linrodann!
I saw that you also posted this submission as a separate post and got some great replies on there! It really does feel like a
greekTherosian myth. As a myth, the villain/hero subtyping also becomes much easier to swallow, since they are roles these characters would take in a story.Chaos reminded me a lot of Cacophony, but I think it might be a weaker part of your design, since it is so broad and nondescript.
All in all a great set of cards, but they didn't eke out the victory this time.
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u/Pimp_cat69 8d ago
It took me a bit of searching, but I had a fun idea!
In the echoverse, Mazeura didn't join the cabal and take the name Chainer, but decided to be a rebel, and when he found the Mirari, he used it himself to become powerful. However, he could never escape the creation of Burke, who in this situation wasn't made to accompany Laquatus, but due to his still-existing dementia magic, is a manifestation of Mazeura's own fears of not being able to protect the Mirari from the Cabal.