Hey all, a week ago I celebrated my first week on Hive by organizing a community contest. (Article: Peakd) The contest rules were simple - just create a custom Gods Unchained card using gucustom.cards or otherwise that you wish existed in-game. I put up an Einar, the Frozen King, a Valka's Captain, and 2 Guild Enforcers up from my personal collection as the contest prizes - hopefully just a little treat for the effort that some of the contestants put in. More than anything, I hoped that a friendly contest would help introduce a bit of diversity into the posts within the community. I'm really glad that many submissions came in and I was thrilled to see all the custom cards that the community created.
Contest Stats
A total of 33 participants joined the competition - thank you for the support, and I hope all of you had fun designing your cards.
With many people being new to Hive, a few of the posts did not include the topic #MyGodsUnchainedCustomCard, but I hope that I have caught all the posts that were intended to be an entry to this contest.
I was quite impressed with some of the quality of the posts; some came up with cards with lots of lore and backstory, some came up with interesting mechanics and some created meme cards. All in all, I thought many of the designs were pretty cool - you can read some of their entries by looking at the entries with the #MyGodsUnchainedCustomCard topic.
Here are all of the cards submitted! It's a pretty diverse set of cards 馃槃
Judging Criteria
To me, the most important part about a custom card is its "fun factor" and probably less about whether it is truly balanced. After all, most of us aren't game design experts and can't tell whether a card would be balanced; I can't either!
When judging a card, I took into account the card design, the lore/backstory if there was any, as well as the reasoning given for designing such a card. It was hard to judge them all especially since each card had so many unquantifiable qualities.
Results
1st Prize: 
2nd Prize: 
3rd Prize: 
Congratulations to all winners! If you are a prizewinner, do contact me via one of the following methods:
- Sending me a BeeChat message (on PeakD) with your IMX address
- Sending
plehr#9169a Discord message and leaving your Discord ID in the comments here so that I can verify that it is indeed you
Prize-winner Entries and Notable Mentions
1st Prize: @entrepidus
Entry: @entrepidus/the-entrepid-wanderer-a-brief-autobiography-gu-card-contest
The Entrepid Wanderer is a condensed metaphor for my way of approaching games like Gods Unchained.
Being a card that encapsulates
2nd Prize: @jungleboy1
Entry: @jungleboy1/gilmow-the-protector-of-nature
He does not seek light or darkness, never deceived or a warmonger while keeping away from magic鈥攐ne with Nature, a Champion of Aeona, the Goddess of Nature.
A card inspired by Rudyard Kipling's "The Jungle Book", Gilmow aims to protect his board with an enormous buff, while holding his own. I like the thematic nature of this card and how it feels impactful to play while not being stupidly overpowered.
3rd Prize: @theking24
Entry: @theking24/my-idea-of-a-new-card
I like the idea of fusion! It enables many wacky combos, although the result can be tough to deal with for classes that don't have unconditional single-target removal. This card may never be truly balanced in all its reincarnations, but I think just having the idea of fusion around is awesome.
Notable Mention: 
@hezpez
Entry: @hezpez/gods-unchained-custom-card-entry-djafus-soul-mirror
The card seems really interesting - it makes winning a game that much harder when it is placed down for both parties. Potentially meme deck tier, but I think it's a great concept.
Notable Mention: 
@flabord
Entry: @flabord/fenrir-the-wolf-gods-unchained-custom-cards-contest
I'm not deep into the mythological creature rabbit hole, but I think that a creature that eats other creatures is a great concept! An ability befitting of a legendary card.
Notable Mention: 
@cbizz
Entry: @cbizz/my-custom-gods-unchained-card-centaureum
Imagine if this card actually existed - I would quit my job if I could buy this card 馃槀 It's so ridiculous but I love it.
Notable Mention: 
@x-rain
Entry: @x-rain/7-dystopian-custom-gu-cards-inspired-by-politics-and-art
I really like the theme and dystopian backdrop of the cards, but I wished that there was more explanation for each of the cards' stats and abilities and how they tie into the dystopian world that was described. Nonetheless, an enjoyable post and submission!
Contestants
I had great fun organizing this contest and I am glad to see the community being active. IMO the Gods Unchained community here is much better than the one on Reddit (which is filled with "wen packs" and "how cash out" questions daily) and given enough time I hope this community has the opportunity to shine. There are many creative minds in this community and I firmly believe that this is just the beginning for Gods Unchained. Let's see what great things happen in the next year. Happy Holidays and have a Happy New Year!
Small Plug: If you are a deckbuilder on Hive, do check out my GUListCreator tool that helps you to create a view of multiple cards quickly - it can now export transparent PNGs of cards!