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Silhouette Gloom of the Sundown Lands
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Create cards as fast as you can!
Over the course of the year, our Create-a-Card contests look for perfection; the prettiest art, the most creative mechanics, the most lifelike appearance. For the last week of the year, we're focusing on quantity. If you like creating custom cards without having to worry about the strict guidelines of CaC, this is the event for you!
Welcome to the sixth Fakers' Marathon! In this event, we attempt to make the most cards we possibly can in a single week. Whether you're a newcomer or a veteran, whether you prefer to make text-based or image-based cards, the entire community is welcome to participate! All you need is to be a member of PB or the Custom Card Discord Server so we can keep track of your entries and their scores.
If you're new to faking, check out the Help and Resources Thread to help you get started!
How the Fakers' Marathon works
Submit your card by posting it in this thread or to the #showcase channel in the Custom Card Discord Server. That's all you have to do!
Your entry will be assigned a score based on the scoring rubric below. At the end of the week, all the scores are combined and we see how well we did. Last year we amassed an absolutely unheard of 1,116 points. Can we even approach that this year??
This is not a competition between entrants. Though each entry is being scored, your only job is to drive the total score higher. We're all working together towards that singular goal.
- We'll accept any kind of card and there is no limit to how many times the same Pokémon can be used! Fakemon? Go for it! Custom template? Absolutely yes! Trainers? Energy? We'll accept those, too!
- Artists are welcome and encouraged to collaborate with card makers for more cards!
- The marathon begins immediately and ends Saturday, December 31st at 11:59:59 PM CST. To ensure all events have the same timeframe, this is a hard deadline - no late entries will be accepted. Don't procrastinate!
Scoring
We allow both text-based and image-based cards for this event; like CaC, the two categories are scored a bit differently.
Incomplete cards (cards that are missing required elements, like illustrator credit, HP, type, and flavor/Pokedex text for those blanks that use it) will not be counted. There is no penalty for editing your post, so if you screw up, make those edits and resubmit ASAP so you can get credit for your work.
Changes from 2022
Scoring has been changed from last year. We had a ton of text fakes thanks to the addition of the Aesthetics category, which is great, but one of my personal goals for this marathon is to get more people into image faking. To that end, I have redone the scoring for both categories. While the text category still caps at 7 (although the points are distributed differently), image is now worth a maximum of 25 points. Even a simple image fake will net you nearly as much points as a perfect text fake, so don't feel like you have to go all out, but for those with the ability to make these fakes, your effort will be properly rewarded with a massive influx of points, as it should be. If you've never done an image fake before, now is the perfect chance to get your feet wet since we don't critique individual cards for the marathon.
Make sure you double check how each category is scored as the points and criteria are different in just about everything. If you have any questions about what qualifies where, just ask.
Text-based (Maximum score: 7)
- Completed entry - 2 points
- Submit your card and you're already on the board!
- Gimmick (simple) - +2 points
- For Pokemon, this essentially covers anything with a Rule Box, but also covers things like Delta Species as well. For Trainers, this could cover things like Team Flare cards.
- Aesthetics - +3 points
Image-based (Maximum score: 25)
- Completed entry - 5 points
- Submit your card and you're already on the board!
- Custom blank - +2 points
- You can get these points even if you didn't make the blank yourself. Whether it's completely new or just an altered version of an existing blank, we only care that it's original.
- Holosheet - +2 points
- Got a Pokemon with a transparent background? These are very easy points to earn. You may not want to waste time cutting a Pokemon out of a complex piece of artwork for this point. Keep it simple.
- Full art - +3 points
- Full art cards require more effort than typical cards, so you get more points for doing so.
- Gimmick (simple) - +2 points
- This bonus includes things like Light, Dark, Delta Species, custom gimmicks, Radiant Pokemon, or anything else that you would find on a typical blank. A rule of thumb is, if your card could be an uncommon, it qualifies for these points. Does not stack with itself (a Delta Species Dark Glaceon would only receive 2 extra points) or with Gimmick (complex).
- Gimmick (complex) - +5 points
- This bonus includes things like V, VMAX, and Pokemon ex. A rule of thumb is, if your card gives up two or more Prizes or is typically illustrated with a 3D render or graphics, it qualifies for these points. Does not stack with Gimmick (simple) (a Light Glaceon ex would only receive 5 extra points). A custom gimmick could award you these points at the host's discretion, but don't count on it.
- Texture - +3 points
- Don't worry about making this perfect - just add it for those sweet, sweet points. You can combine this with a holosheet or leave it as is.
- Own art - +5 points
- Illustrating your own cards takes a lot of effort. We reward that effort with a significant score boost. Note that in order to receive these points, your artwork must be new.
For collaborations between an artist and a text faker, the total image-based score will be split between both entrants.
Rules
- Proper illustrator credit must be present on all cards. No exceptions.
- We have a list of artists who have granted blanket permissions to the community on our Discord server as well as in the Help and Resources thread.
- PidgiWiki is also a very good resource for finding high-quality official Pokémon artwork, which requires no permissions!
- Of course, you can always seek out other artists for permission or make your own artwork for this marathon.
- If you're using a screenshot from the anime as your artwork, credit OLM, Inc.
- High quality cards only.
- While you aren't specifically being judged on the content of your card, you must still have correct fonts and placement (for images), good balance for whatever format they're intended to fit with, and a presentable appearance. The host reserves the right to reject any card if it does not meet this standard.
- Card generators are not allowed.
- If you want to do an image fake but don't know where to start, join our Discord. There are non-Photoshop alternatives out there and we can teach you all about them.
- All image-based cards must include the Fakers' Marathon 6 Official Set Logo on the card.
- It doesn't have to be the set logo (although that is recommended), but it has to be on the card.
- Faking in a pre-SV era? Use this one instead.
- All cards submitted to the marathon must be new.
- Cards created before December 25, 2023 are not eligible to be counted. The goal is to create new cards, not repost existing ones.
- Reposting new entries with slight changes or new artwork will not be counted.
- Using existing official artwork is prohibited.
- This covers any artwork that has appeared on an official card in any language. Other artwork by the artist is okay, provided you have permission to use it.
Deadline: Sunday, December 31st, 11:59pm CST
Here's a countdown timer for your benefit: [link]
This marathon's banner and set symbols were made by @CardPone
Official Card List
See this spreadsheet for a list of all the entries and their score breakdowns.
