#for each contest

[inventors-fair]

Strength in Numbers

Everyone needs a friend these days. Maybe that value is something on the battlefield, maybe that's something on the stack, maybe it's the number of friends you dragged down to your LGS to ensure that draft would fire. There are a lot of ways for the lots to show their ways!

Now I'm a big fan of having huge numbers, even if that doesn't correlate to my opponents often getting more stuff on the battlefield than me at any given time. You never know how the tides may turn! But when things go just right, you get to live out all your dreams and make those numbers really pop...

Design a card whose rules text uses one (or more) of the following—

"this way"

"for each"

"equal to"

—that incentivizes an intriguing deck archetype/deck construction.

That's the gist of it! This is a "think outside the box" category; I really want to see values that haven't been seen before and that make the limited implications pop.

You're designing this to be draftable, don't forget! Think about the limited decks you've made and what resources are available to limited players. What's going to be the best kind of card for someone who's building on the fly?

Focus on a standard/premier power level. Keep in mind that while commander is a format that exists, most limited (and the limited of your card's world) will be 1-vs-1.

Do you wanna go big? Do you wanna go small? Do you want to punish, profit, perish, or proliferate? I know we've done "X" contests before but get weird with it. I want to feel ALIVE, people. Harrumph.

@abelzumi

>> Add your card to the SUBMISSIONS >> Increase our DISCORD population

[maddymoreau]

Finding Frankie Ending Discussion

I've seen a lot of people discussing the ending and some confused so I thought I'd share my thoughts!

Why does the Real Frankie say: "Stop ruining my fucking gameshow!"

When you meet the Real Frankie in that room there’s a white board showing his plans. Which are to help keep the player alive until the final round in order to boost views. By not dying during the climatic moment you’re ruining his show.

How does the contestant survive?

Although it's not shown how the contestant survives. It's important to consider this scene is shown from the audience's perspective. Everyone watching assumed the contestant died so the broadcast ends. Which is why the credits begin to play.

We can also see this through the Real Frankie when afterwards he's watching the credits on his monitors. Along with how he's surprised when the contestant appears.

Why does the Real Frankie recruit the contestant?

When the contestant reveals they're alive this is a golden opportunity.

The broadcast is over (shown also by the TVs being turned off). It's just the contestant and the Real Frankie. Since you won, as promised, he gives you the five million dollars.

Although the Real Frankie helped the contestant survive they're the first out of hundreds to make it this far.

Real Frankie: "You're the first contestant we've ever had who won. Hundreds of people last a few seconds, a few last a couple of minutes, but you . . . you're different. I like that."

So he uses this as an opportunity to try and recruit the contestant for another round. Since contestants are disguised if they do another round the audience won’t know it’s them.

What is the contestant's motivation?

While not explained we're given clues throughout the game. Let's start with what the Real Frankie says about the contestant.

Real Frankie: “But let's be honest with ourselves for a second, contestant. We need each other. Especially you, I mean, look where you live . . ."

We're shown the contestant's apartment which is in rough condition. Along with the detail that the constant has watched prior shows:

It's important to note that the broadcast is privately funded. Most likely through people paying to access the stream and gambling thousands of dollars on it.

ANONYMOUS: "I HAVE 10,000 ON THIS GUY LET'S GO!"

For someone living in those conditions we know the contestant took a HUGE gamble for the opportunity to get on the show.

Considering they spent $3.99 X 769 boxes = $3,068.31

My theory is that the contestant's financial situation may not be the best due to gambling (or other life circumstances) so they chose to stay another round.

Real Frankie: ". . . And you've helped us. Having a privately streamed and funded show isn't the easiest thing in the world, and then, on the verge of bankruptcy, you came along. Our star, but stars don't just leave after a season, do they?"

[axoqiii]

whats their problem man

[sexypeople-contests-2025]

[chimerafeathers]

i love that isafrin can be the most straightforwardly romancey, wholesome pairing on a surface level and then you go one (1) level deeper and run into siffrin’s seething guilt and convoluted feelings around touch and intimacy and the extent to which they want or don’t want those things in a specifically romantic way or if he was trying to seek connection and love in any way he could once he knew that Isabeau wanted those things from him in that context, and the combined power trip/self disgust at “manipulating” Isabeau’s desires without his knowledge to make themself feel wanted and in control. and then you keep going and there’s also Isabeau’s own warped self image (still, in spite of all his changes, fearing that he’s someone that would be shameful to know), his “emotionally stable pillar” role and self-taught therapy talk masking his deep fears of real confrontation (struggling loop after loop to confess, not wanting Odile to confront Siffrin about their weird behavior in the sus quest bathroom talk) and how Siffrin’s fear of vulnerability and Isabeau’s fear of Pushing Too Hard allow both of their issues to fester unspoken long after it’s clear that the problems exist.

all this to say. duality of isafrin. makes my heart full and warm and happy to see the sweet, fluffy, silly love and connection between them (mutually romantic or otherwise). and then also. the delicious, delicious complications. gnawing on them like a dog with a beloved bone

[butter-n-breadrolls]

Bagginshield prompt: pre relationship with Bilbo in Erebor being asked to bestow a ‘prize’ to the winner of an annual tournament. Bilbo thinks he’ll pass off a trophy but turns out the ‘prize’ is a kiss from a hero of Erebor, when Thorin finds out he practically jumps off his throne to fight in the tournament himself. He says he wants to save his friend from having to kiss a stranger but of course he wants the hobbit kiss for himself

[lieutenantraziel]

I started this for an Elden Ring art contest but I didn’t finish in time… I am the World’s Slowest Drawer™

[spacebubblehomebase]

Ah yes. Again with my random Merthur fanart that I periodically post for no reason, but this was mostly just me playing around with colors awhile ago. Really miss their Enemies-to-"Not if I die for you FIRST, you ARSEHOLE" dynamic! Still, if you're like me and you somehow never walked away from the accursed Lake Avalon, here's your occasional check up: You good, fam??? 👑🧙‍♂️✨️ -Bubbly💙

[applebees4prez]

snl wishes they could be this funny prepared, let alone off the cuff. nobody has perfected the art of comedic timing like zac oyama has but also, nobody could work with other comedians well as these guys do.

[that1notetaker]

Match-off: Whoever blinks dies first (also gets resurrected first though)

[luvsscribblez]

AU where everything’s the same except it’s also different

[inventors-fair]

"For Each" Commentary: Masses of the Mind

And here's the gist of it: as I've been drafting more, I've been learning that constructed formats are...hard. Very hard. I'm not good at them. On occasion my decks will do decently enough but you know what, if I can match the power level of the same person who can't draw their removal spell because they drafted it too late, then dangit, I'll take the inevitable win/loss/whatever in stride. So what does this have to do with this week? Very little, except that numbers make for an interesting ride.

We did an Eldraine draft—original Eldraine, mind—this Friday. It was incredibly fun, and I think that seeing the board swarm/unswarm and seeing how the numbers affected the board is going to influence this judgment a lot. I have my soft spot for cards of a certain color, as many of you should know by now, because it's been going on for...several years at this point, but regardless, there are some days where I have to step back and just let it all slide. An understanding of a perfect board state, an understanding of the circumstances, an understanding of meta design—it all has to come together. Let's have some fun.

If you're new to the crew or reading through because you've stumbled upon this blog—hello! Also, if you see a card with JUDGE PICK next to it, that means that I liked it enough to go "hey I wanna talk about something real good this card is doing." So let's jump into it.

@arixordragc — Soul Incubator (JUDGE PICK)

The card itself: fantastic design. Should it be mythic, and should it be five mana? That I'm not so sure about. Maybe it's because symmetrical effects have been slightly less favored in recent years—though I'm a fan myself. Aggressive symmetrical effects can really push the gameplay into a place where you're looking at the most complex build, in my opinion. That said, the general effect is lovely. I think that making deaths of creatures matter changes gameplay drastically in any format.

When your opponent's staring down your blockers, trading doesn't seem so good. Boardwipes are even stronger, and shrivel effects make it go from evil to downright repugnant. The 4/4 Horror is an interesting choice as well! Really, that's what makes me like this card a lot. I think that in terms of deck building, this card asks to be built around, or at least it asks of the general black aggro/goodstuff builds that it's included for the sake of itself. Nothing wrong with that, of course, and having the horror there to further your wincon of beating face is a strong choice. The name isn't quite gripping me, although I see where you're coming from—the souls incubate the horror, and it needs a varied diet. That's fair; personally, incubators will always be artifact-aligned for me.

~

@batatafilosofal — Guardian Hydra

Ward keywordal! I'm...going to posit a rhetorical question of why something like hexproof or shroud pseudo-typal hasn't been done before. The fact of the matter is, as with many Bogle effects, it makes for uninteractive gameplay. If you manage to get multiple creatures with ward, then that's all fine, but what's the rest of the deck look like? The answer isn't something that I feel pushes for "fun." Incentivizing difficulties in interaction makes choices matter less.

I do like it in a vacuum, though, or at least the first and third abilities. There's nothing wrong with ward by itself and there's nothing wrong with hydras. I think the first and third ability without the middle jam-it-full-of-ward ability would've been just fine. Implication of ward benefits would affect deck choices and lean into certain color combinations more than straight-up declaring it. I love ward and I love hexproof even more, honestly. I have to abide by my designer senses.

~

@bread-into-toast — Awakened Whirl Turtle

You know, I initially thought of scrying, but there are other effects beyond that. Scrying would potentially mean throwing away cards you want in favor of cost reduction. Commune with Nature or a well-placed Once Upon a Time means you can snag a turn-three 5/5 with ease, on the other hand. I think that having that easy big creature isn't the worst thing in the world, although there are two really big questions that I'm left with. The first is whether or not this would be trying to be some kind of archetype; the second is, if not, how many cards in the set would be able to support it in limited.

As for the first question—well, no, it's kind of answered by the second, isn't it. Or at least they're related, and the point remains that I don't think this card could be supported that well in a limited environment, and feels more awkward than not in a constructed one. Gimmicks are fun and I love it when I can use cheatsy-type effects to make my opponents moan and groan and etc. I'm not sure there's more to it than that at the moment. However, I do want to jam my appreciation for the implied/intended flavor. Throwing the spells away to "feed the turtle" on accident is pretty great.

~

@certification-wizard — Grist, the All-Swarm

There she goes again! Grist is a fun one. I think just having this planeswalker here is a good effort, and tokens-to-loyalty can get out of hand really fast without being too crazy broken. Flavor-wise, there's not much to go on that Grist hasn't already covered, but that's all fine. My first point of note is the wording of the first loyalty ability. Did you check for wording/precedent? I couldn't find anything with the exact template, and even with "copy this ability." Personally, I think it should've been make an Insect, then you may sacrifice a nontoken, and if you do, make another Insect, capital 'I.' Love the flavor of that.

With the second loyalty ability, however, there's only one mono-green card that does multi-mill, and while there are a few black cards that do it, it's not in the hybrid pie. Additionally, that doesn't actually benefit Grist or ask you to build around her exactly. What is this ability doing for you, for the card? Perhaps the implied game state is like Ghoulcaller's Bell, but I don't believe that's enough justification. What could be a green AND black ability that would, fairly, help to win the game or advance the game state for Grist?

~

@halfsilveredmirror — Aether Swimmer

Let's make this a learning moment: when a prompt asks for rules text, that means all text outside of italicized reminder text. On that technicality, this card would be ineligible. Also, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that this isn't something that everyone knows right off the bat, and it's within the spirit enough. Allonz-sea-creatures!

From what I can tell, though, hexproof to your spells doesn't actually do anything. I really like how you used affinity on a technical level because, yes, you do "control" spells albeit in a slightly different context than "controlling" artifacts. Hexproof is a static ability of permanents and has no bearing on the stack; hence, why Invisible Stalker can be countered. The wording felt frustrating a little until I realized that that's what you were trying to go for. Sadly, comp rules take issue.

Perhaps this would be a kind of storm build card, perhaps a cheap-creatures deck, perhaps many things. Giving your stuff hexproof is still fine. I'm not sure this card necessarily has a home, however, and it would be a fine flash-protection spell in general without the baggage. For future reference, the Fair inbox is always open for clarifying questions, and the workshop in the Discord is a great resource for technical finagling.

~

@helloijustreadyourpost — Maddening Imp

Yes, it is indeed a maddening little fellow. I've been on the fence about this card and I think this is one of those really unsatisfying conclusions, so apologies in advance: this card is very good but isn't scratching my particular itches for this contest. In a limited environment, it would be pretty great as an aggro card, but that's also assuming you're getting the most benefit by having a) fewer big creatures of your own and b) your opponent having bigger creatures than you in general. I love symmetry. I love mill. This card, though, asks of you to build a deck that assumes a fair amount about the game state.

Is it a sideboard card, then? Probably not, because jeez, it's a three mana 3/2 flier! That by itself is so tempting to just jam into any deck and go wild. And you still can't assume that your opponent is going to be running something big enough to justify it. Heck, what if they're primarily a creature deck, and you never get a hit on them? The ways in which this card can go right are easy to visualize. The ways in which it can just break you even, well, that's fine too. But what I think that I'm getting at has already been stated: it's just not reliable. Jeez, what if you're stuck in a stalemate chump-blocking position... Okay, admittedly, that's kind of funny.

~

@i-am-the-one-who-wololoes — Bully the Peasants

The first thing that came to mind for me was Foul-Tongue Shriek. Maybe this card could be more punitive if you have something that requires multiple blockers, but in general, I think that you could have bumped the power level up a little. I personally feel that black should get more stuff that interacts with combat like this, although it does have a LOT of tools in its wheelhouse already.

Let's do the ever-fun questions of flavor. Who is the speaker in the flavor text talking to in the context of the art? The peasants aren't the implied ruler, and they're being, well... Honestly, it's almost comical: "bully" is a pretty lighthearted term for the razing and ravaging that's happening in the art. It's gruesome but juxtaposed with the name and snarky flavor enough that it goes, for me, from funny to incongruous. I don't know who the speaker is supposed to be, I don't know who they're speaking TO, and I'm having a major tonal issue overall. Going into super-seriousness would be fine, or going into more Lorwynian cajoling would be fine too. We're just at a weird place as it stands.

~

@just--a--penguin — Bruna's Illumination (JUDGE PICK)

By itself, I think this card's pretty great, and Innistrad could stand for a Revelation kind of effect—Sphinx's, I mean. Pausing for just a moment here to say that "draw" doesn't need the "You" in front of it in the second bullet. Continuing: I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that most people would be using the second mode more often than not. Lifelink is quite fun with these effects, and, well, it's easier to gain cheap amounts of life, looking at Lone Missionary and whatnot. How much life gain you gain before making this card pop off? Even then, saving yourself with a quick lifegain spell hasn't felt bad yet if you can get the crackback.

Is it something to build a deck around, or to incentivize deckbuilding? Honestly, yeah. This one in retrospect was pretty darn close, and I think I wasn't feeling the deck in the same way because there's always a chance that you topdeck this card with no lifegain on board and, well, that's no fun. Plus, what a mana investment—but also what card draw! I'd love to play this in a constructed Azorius control build. I'm also a monster.

~

@nanokore — Assembled Swordsworn

So, this is a smaller multicolor Kemba's Legion. I think that that's unfortunately as much as I can say about the mechanical side of things. Personally, I always liked the Legion effect, and you can check the wording there. It's going to see as much play as the archetype allows and that's perfectly reasonable in the correct world/limited setting, whatever that may be.

On the flavorful side of things, I'd like to take a moment to point out a discrepancy, or at least a place to look for where flavor comes into play. In the flavor text, it's implied that this golem is supposed to be cutting through swaths. However, the mechanics are centered around this creature being a blocker. When matching the mechanics and flavor together, the verbs of your card's mechanics can be key to ensuring the flavor lands. Protection, servitude, guardianship, etc. could serve a multi-blocking swordsworn character in a way that the current flavor has a hard time matching.

~

@piccadilly-blue — Crag Surge (JUDGE PICK)

I don't think it's broken but whoo boy it's asking to be broken. ... IS it broken?? I genuinely don't know. I don't think this card is doing anything that it's not supposed to be doing and I don't think it's doing anything at a higher rate than other, better rituals. The question: how do you get Mountain cards (oh yeah, that's the only technical note, adding "card" there b/c zones) into your graveyard the easiest? And then, how do you get this thing to go bajonkers on the whole ordeal?

I like mono-red. I like discarding cards. I absolutely adore Tectonic Reformation and think it should be run everywhere all the time. Cycle, cycle, cycle, cycle, CRAG SURGE, cycle, cycle, cycle... To what end? I don't care 'cause I love this card. Except maybe cycling into Emrakul and Surging for a zillion to get there. That would be not good. But it wouldn't be broken because it would only be played in formats with interaction so, you know what, I wouldn't worry about it because RRR is a big cost. Unluckily for you, I'm well aware that my tastes for drooling over combos and bad decks isn't relevant to a card's actual goodness. Let's keep this trophy between you and me, then?

~

@railway-covidae — Bisecting Blaze

Doesn't have trample? Harrumph. That's half a joke, but I want to go back here, because on a genuine note, giving a creature a power boost without trample and making it sacrifice doesn't feel good at all. Berserk and Fatal Frenzy are only good because of their trample, honestly, and for five mana, I could potentially do more damage to an opponent with a Fireball, or just another creature.

That said, that's the only thing I would change about this card mechanically; I'd even keep that same cost in, and the same rarity too. Name might have to be something different unless the art and flavor text really spoke to what was being bisected. As for the deck archetype or deck construction, something that plays red and creatures in limited could probably go for it without any issue, ngl. Constructed? Don't hold your breath. Maybe a weirdo Xenagos Reanimator would be happy to have a zillion-jillion creature. ... Actually, no, wait, Xenagos would love this, ha.

~

@reaperfromtheabyss — Crimson Connoisseur

Once more! Once again! A good card that's not quite eyebrow-raising but just plain good. Blood is everything that this card cares about, and it makes blood, and you can either stock up on blood to make this a bigger attacker or you can use 'em to get more cards to make more blood. This one implies that you've already got blood and/or are making blood; I like how it doesn't have evasion, actually. Lifelink it more of a target. The ability to get blood puts this beater in someone's sights but not insurmountably so.

See what I mean? Having played with blood, and having loved blood, blood is wonderful. What do I have to say about this card that blood hasn't already said? For one, the name's pretty great and very standard for vampires. Uh... Man, I guess that's about it. You've activated the trap card of making me want to do an IF cube again without having the spare time to actually go through and do it. Once I get [major project] done, I SWEAR—

~

@sparkyyoungupstart — Endless Hallway

I was honestly surprised that there were so many creatures this go-around, but I suppose I shouldn't be THAT surprised. I liked the massive variety and I do appreciate that. Let's go with the intriguing part of it: black-white walls. Nightmare walls. Actually, pause: before delving into some of my wall-themed problems that my therapist is ostensibly not helping me scale, I want to say that an Endless Hallway being a manifestation of a nightmare is a really cool trick. Nailed that for sure.

What I'm not as keen on is the fact that a) this is a wall without defender, b) the Labyrinth ability word just makes the walls all the more unscalable in combat, which is redundantly frustrating interaction-wise, and c) that last permaremoval ability is...weird. Wait, "is being blocked by?" What would be the point of blocking this wall? Why does it have both a blocking ability and an attack incentive? It has zero power; why would you attack with it? Okay, now that I'm talking about the card as I'm actually reading it and less that I'm going over the things I thought I'd been reading, I'm a little more finger-waggly. This card is mixing some metaphors and could perhaps use a spin on the revision table.

~

@spooky-bard — Curious Creation (JUDGE PICK)

And there we go, a soothing card that's a little bit funny and a little bit I'm worried for the animals. But holy crap, dude, you circumvented the changeling problem brilliantly. Because they're oozes! Creature type matters-ers, rejoice. I know other effects similar have been done before, and I'm ignoring that, because I think this is the best way to just find a deck that plays as many types as possible in order to maximize oozitude. If you've opened this up in limited, chances are that it's just gonna get +1/+1 for each other creature you control, but that's okay! Maybe there are more oozes, or maybe shapeshifters.

I think it's hard for me to place this card crazy high because, in terms of deck construction, it's making me think more of what I'd have to not include over what I could include. For example, would I play two of these? They're both good, but each addition of a cool ooze is a buff that's not, well, buffing it. Still—a small price to pay for something so cute. Seriously cute combination of art direction and flavor text. Lovely stuff.

~

@spore4ever — Unveil the Menagerie

This was the card that came right after in the order that I was thinking of. Okay! So let's solve this problem first. How would you keep everything the same and not have changeling be a factor? I would try this:

"Reveal the top seven cards of your library. You gain 1 life for each creature card revealed this way that doesn't share at least one type with another creature card revealed this way. Put up to two creature cards revealed this way into your hand if they don't share a type with another card pur into your hand this way. Put the rest on the bottom of your library in a random order."

It's not perfect, but you're limited by cards, not types. See? That's the gist of it. I think your art direction really pops and I think the idea is pretty cool. It's...very wordy. Honestly, I would cut down on the specifics if you wanted it to be less of a mouthful, but that's a me thing, and the card still functions well enough for me not to worry about it too much.

~

@stareyedesper — Y'Yzai, Hive Queen

I haven't tried pronouncing this card and I can already say I've never pronounced anything more wrong in my life. Anyway, perhaps the last ability should be "Each creature token you control enters the battlefield with your choice of a flying counter, a vigilance counter, or a trample counter on it" per other Ikoria cards and Capenna commander cards. So there we go! Hm, this does indeed feel commander-y, does it not? Nothing wrong with that—I think it could function as a cool set mythic or a commander showcase card regardless.

Falco's kinda cared about counters before, but tokens specifically? Honestly, this is kind of new territory, so props to ya. Also I just got distracted on Draftsim with New Capenna for half an hour, so there's...well, you can see why commentary gets posted in the evening. With this card, I think that having the flavor of an insect noble and the build-around of mass tokens would be a lot of fun, and none of the three keyword tokens would break it that wide open. Having a buttload of tokens being made all with unique counters might be really busy, though. Perhaps that's something to consider in the long term or at least in the do-I-have-enough-counter-keywords term. Someone's gonna build it, though!

~

@stupidstupidratcreatures — Gurmag Gardening

I actually don't know if this works within the rules as it stands. At least, I'm not sure that it...should? I'm weirded out by this card and it's not in a way that feels grokable. There's an inherent quality to the weirdness that I'm afraid I can't define. Maybe it's the specificity of it that makes it feel weird, or the argument about whether a taxing effect on top of a reduction effect would apply since "reduce" doesn't have an action/verbage in the comp rules (as far as I know) to allow for a card like this.

There's a sense that this card was made from a mechanical standpoint without wider consciousness—i.e. it feels one-to-one connected with delve as a mechanic for the Sultai. I don't really want to build "delve typal" in that sense; delve is a situational mechanic that happens to play off of other identities inherent to the colors in which it sees play. What's the flavor supposed to represent in connection to that? What is the relationship between delve and the world of the card? I'm not convinced there's a bridge yet. I encourage you to really take the time, wriggle out a few iterations, and really nail your card in every aspect. Ask the questions that may not be apparent to you.

~

@wolkemesser — Gatewatch Formation

I will never use the first mode of this card. Straight up, this card is asking for one thing and one thing only: play cheap superfriends, then max them out. I genuinely don't think that the first mode would see play except in the most dire of circumstances, and it wouldn't feel good for a second while using it. Sacrificing planeswalkers never feels good. But doubling them? Or, well, proliferating? I'm with you there. The valorous power of black feels pretty radically morphed here but I suppose that Liliana is trying her best.

The flavor's a bit wriggly too but I see the story effect that it's going for. A planeswalker's only powerful enough to deal five damage, huh? I'll be real, Capt'n Messer, I wanna absolutely abolish something if I'm sacrificing a planeswalker. You could've gone a little more ham with the first mode! Well. The real question is whether planesliferate is going to change the way that I build superfriends decks in my head. You know something? It just might. I may have a BW build and you may have unlocked it with this card. Too bad it's a figment of our collective imagination. But it ain't bad.

Tune in tomorrow when the world will be colored strangely, mottled and gorgeous, for you alone. —@abelzumi

[ask-zacharies-snackarie]

THERE WE GO

I'll post more pictures of the whole cosplay later when I get a chance :)

[numbuh424]

Create a Death Note x Taskmaster crossover.

Your time starts now.

[curtain-caller]

So I'm looking forward to seeing all the interpretations and headcanons people make for The Lucky Contestant (who I will also join in calling them "Lucky"), but I'm curious... Okay, raise of hands, who else here also pictures Lucky as a crafty, greedy, overconfident, sassy, morally bankrupt little shit (affectionate)? Or is that just me? Idk I just get those vibes from their choices in the game (elaboration below)

Like... the implications that they were combing through hundreds of boxes to get a tape to join the show??? That they were counting the boxes and keeping track??? The fact that the only way to escape at the start is to run PAST the giant fucking beast mauling another contestant instead of running AWAY from it??? Not to mention them leaving the other remaining contestants behind in doing so.

The fact they didn't hesitate when Deputy Duck pecked at them, fucking grabbing him by the neck and throwing him against the wall??? That screamed "I'm not fucking around, are you going to cooperate or not?" kind of energy. The way they barely move when they come across the Real Frankie in front of the monitors??? Like, I know you can't move during that segment probably so you don't just miss the cutscene, but in-universe, Lucky has ample opportunity to turn and fucking run, and we know damn well their fear response isn't freeze, it's flight.

Just. The entire noob noob section. I feel like they flinched one time during that and that was when they caught the first one, but only because the explosion caught them off guard. That slowed them down for 1 second, maximum. Hell, I've seen a few players laugh at that part, I feel like Lucky would too. The fact that there's no objectives to even try to escape Frankie's great value Parkour Civilization??? Like, in a game like this, I'd expect at one point for there to be an attempt to just escape the game entirely once shit hit the fan, only for the protagonist to realize the only way out is to begrudgingly play along and win. But nope. Lucky came here for the money, and they're getting that money. AND THE FACT THEY DO??? AND THEY'RE THE FIRST EVER ONE TO DO SO??? The way they just strut back into Frankie's office after their 57th near-death experience and look him right in the eye??? The whole ending segment where they go for another season??? It's not framed at all like they were forced to go again, because the Real Frankie just offered his hand out, and when we cut back, Lucky is casually looking at the ratings screen while standing on top of a pile of corpses. There are open gaps on the floor they can be standing on instead! But nope, just chilling on top of some dead bodies. Obviously we can't tell what their facial expressions are with the mask on, but they don't seem afraid or even all that tense about their situation either. To me, Lucky is the type of guy to go "I'm not gay, but 20 bucks is 20 bucks". Lucky is the type of guy to go "No, I'm taking the 5 million" only to sprint through that fucking door when Frankie whispers "Double or nothing". Lucky is the type of guy to walk past an old dead competitor and mutter "skill issue" under their breath. Lucky is the kind of guy to roll around in the glass money ball for enrichment like a hamster in a hamster ball. Lucky's the type of guy to keep going for season after season, for more and more money, until eventually they're not even doing it for the money anymore, relishing in the adrenaline rush and the glory instead. I just really love the idea that the reason why Lucky made it to the end so successfully was not only because of their skills and quick thinking, but because they also match Frankie's freak. Frankie was right: They need each other. They compliment each other. They enable each other in the worst ways possible. One wants to put the other through gradually more elaborate and deadly situations to increase ratings, and the other runs headfirst into those situations with the same energy as someone going cliff diving. It's like enrichment for them.

[silently-standingstill]

this is outrageous i cant stop drawing them