It is the dawn of a new age, an age darkened by the vile black souls of those who made it. The multiverse is continually thinning of heroes, who are for the first time seeing through the light which has blinded them and into the darkness, where anything goes. Villains reign supreme. No land will go untainted, no heart un-rotten, and no mind un-purged.

Amongst this omnipresent evil are four who stand high above all others. It is they who will decide the fate of the multiverse, through a battle of wits and much bloodshed, of style and creativity. This... is the Contest of Villains.

(I greatly apologize for the delay; many factors caused it, some technical, others from waiting for entries, and I will try my best to prevent this from happening in the future.)

Create a Villain(ess) Contest Results

It took much time for the great villains of the multiverse to come together, but they are now here. From the ancient, powerful plane of Ardavia comes a dragon tyrant, a creature as evil as he is powerful. Another comes from an unknown plane, a hero and weapon both cursed with dark magic and a darker soul. The final two villains come from the well-known plane of Dominaria. One is, in reality, a victim and a tool of a much greater evil, and the other, with all his faults, is a hero in his own mind, and the minds of some others as well.

Which of these evils will reign above the others? It is a question you will have to read on to find out, for this is no usual arena of power, but one of creativity. Each of these villains has been brought into being by a different perverse mind… some more completely than others. In this arena, half-created beings have no power against fully created ones – they are mere harmless ghosts against true life. Not only that, but here, style awards points. The unique rise above the bland, for power is spread amongst those alike – the more there are, the less each power has – and whichever break the mold will be granted power of their own, raw and unabated.

The winner will be decided in a single elimination format, one on one. With four contestants, that means 2 rounds to decide the victor. So without further ado, let the battle begin!

*****

First to enter the arena, from the sky, is dragon lord Sephilis, roaring his might, challenging all others who would dare face him:

Name: Sephilis
Faction/Groups: U.A.A. (United Ardavian Alliance)
Species: Dragon
Title: Supreme master of the U.A.A. and ruler of Ardavia
Age: 2000 years

Ardavia: The world of Ardavia was once known as the "Plane of Gods," but in the modern times it is no such place. To understand how Sephilis gained power one must first understand the history of the plane. Ardavia once held the multiverse's largest amount of mana. So abundant was this mana that Ardavia provided mana for all the planes around it, allowing great civilizations to flourish on these planes. The first of the great civilizations was Aquieas, a magical city on the archipelago of Avius located in Ezoes, Ardavia's largest ocean. The Magi of Aquieas had drawn power from the massive amount of blue mana held in Ezoes and used it to gain a tremendous amount of knowledge very quickly. This knowledge helped to build a city whose buildings as well as it's power would extend into multiple planes. The city of Aquieas would grow quite quickly.

Through the use of powerful magic and economic control, Aquieas was able to gain most of its land without conflict, but one force was not willing to give up with out a fight. A small group of mountain-dwelling barbarians were becoming a constant thorn in the side of Aquieas’ expansion. To deal with this threat, the Aquiean government (known as the Ethereal Council) voted yes for the use of magic that uses Black mana as a weapon against the barbarians. Though the barbarians had met a quick death, this first use of Black mana would slowly cause an event known as “The Great Desolation”.

Using Black mana to gain knowledge has its downsides, but the Aquieans learned this the hard way. By combining Blue and Black mana to gain knowledge, the Aquieans had found the greatest secret of the multiverse: how to travel between planes without having the spark of a planeswalker. With this knowledge Aquieas went from a small speck on the map to a huge civilization in which the average citizen could travel in between planes using a system of warp gates.

With everyone in the plane becoming unofficial planeswalkers, Ardavia would earn the name "Plane of the Gods" but it would also earn it the name "The Great Waste”. Even though the warp gates had been a great invention, they used a lot of mana. Ardavians living in their great river of mana thought that they would never run out, but they did. The outer planes were affected first. Seeing how all the planes that Aquieas had influence on were supported by Ardavia's mana, as the mana supply decreased, it was these planes that suffered first.

After the outer planes became barren wastes, Ardavia soon followed. This transformation from the mana-rich land of gods to the mana-starved great waste was known as “The Great Desolation”. Aquieas soon fell and chaos and anarchy ensued. A period of warfare over the small amount of resources had begun; this lasted for about 15,000 years until an ice dragon named Sephilis came along.

Out of the warring factions, two superpowers emerged. The first was a group known as the Cult of Aquie, an anti-government group that wished to bring back the decadence of the Aquiean age. The second was known as the R.M.A. (Resource Management Alliance), a group that believed in law and order and thought that a harsh, all-powerful, imperialistic government was the right kind for Ardavia. The war between these two factions lasted for about 1000 years until the R.M.A. came out on top.

Despite the war ending, its effects were still felt as all mana and resources were virtually stripped from the landscape. To fix this problem, the now renamed U.A.A. (United Ardavian Alliance), under the rule of a young ice dragon named Sephilis, built floating cities that could sustain themselves by the mana in Ardavia's atmosphere, which was still abundant. The horrific tank was now replaced with the beautiful airship, the war-torn battleground with the magnificent sky. It seemed that Ardavia was at peace, but this was only a semblance.

After 2000 years of U.A.A. rule, Sephilis has stayed in power despite the "elections" that were held every cycle (1 cycle=10 years) and has continued to strip people of their rights in the name of justice and peace. In the present, the Ardavian citizen is treated no better than cattle, given numbers instead of names, and killed when the population becomes too high. The surprising thing is the average person is not willing to oppose the U.A.A., even though they know of the massive population-culling genocides and horrid acts of injustice that the U.A.A. has committed.

The U.A.A. has now expanded itself into other planes looking for resources. With this imperialistic policy, a small number of rebel pirates have mobilized and there is change on the horizon, but that change depends not on the battles to be fought but on the loyalties of the people. If they want change bad enough they can make it happen, but if they give in to their fear of the U.A.A. then they are destined to a life of oppression.

Personality: Sephilis can best be described as a cold and calculating chess master whose pawns happen to be the rest of the multiverse. Cunning and crafty Sephilis will never attack without a clear plan of assault, nor will he ever use a physical assault without assessing what damage he can do with magic alone. This cautious attitude has earned him the reputation of a coward amongst the rebels, but in reality this is not true as he is more than willing to take risks if the benefits outweigh the harm.

Besides his cautious take on confrontation, other Blue qualities that he shows are his taste for knowledge and his use of trickery and deceit. Sephilis looks to gain knowledge so he can apply it to the law. To Sephilis the law is the most important part of the world; without it there would be no order and thus the people would suffer, and the last thing Sephilis would want is suffering people.

Even though Sephilis performs evil acts, he is always performing them in the name of the people. He believes that his laws are made to protect the people; he thinks that he is doing the right thing. And this philosophy of the law (and Sephilis, the maker of the law) being right and everyone else being wrong leads to fascist beliefs and actions on the behalf of Sephilis and the U.A.A, which he controls.

Abilities: Being a dragon, Sephilis has all the normal abilities of a dragon (flight, strength, claws etc.), but instead of breathing fire he exhales ice. Besides these qualities, Sephilis also exhibits a long life. Whether or not this means that Sephilis is secretly a planeswalker is not known, but it could very well be a sign.

Minions: What's a villain without minions? Below is a list of Sephilis's evil underlings.

The Draconic council (Evil senate, made up exclusively of dragons).
The U.A.A. council (Evil house of rep. whose members represent all non-draconic species on Ardavia).
The Draconic court (Evil supreme court made up of dragons.)
Nevious (A shadowy being who controls the secret police and intelligence agencies of the U.A.A. He is one of Sephilis' elites).
Grekos (A powerful, intelligent golem who heads the military. He is one of Sephilis' elites).
Navia (A Human female who controls the airborne forces of the U.A.A. She is an elite).
The Legionnaires (robotic solders, pilots and general flunkies of the U.A.A. They are built by magical means).
Lair: What villain is complete without his evil lair? Sephilis' lair is not a dark castle or dingy dungeon but a brightly lit, crystal-like, silver structure that is about as tall as 500 empire state buildings stacked on top of each other called Martria.

Weaknesses: No one can be all-powerful; as such Sephilis has his appropriate weaknesses. The first is his reliance on his system. The web of laws and regulations that holds the U.A.A. together can be powerful but is also frail. Though impossible to assault when his laws protect him, Sephilis is open to attack when his system fails. This weakness also applies to the U.A.A. With their laws they are gods, but without them they are nothing.

[Insert both SEPHILIS card pictures - the creature and the land]

* Sephilis was always meant to be a VILLIAN. His goal is to gain resources and worlds and expand Ardavia's reach into all of the multiverse, and he is more than willing to kill any world that gets in his way, except Ardavia. He is pretty much a genocidal dictator who believes that only an iron-fisted leader like himself has the right to govern and that all of those who are not descendants from him should take their place as followers and obey their commands, because only He can bring order (hence why so many of the U.A.A. leaders are dragons, as they are part of his race, thus fit to rule). So even though he cares about his people, he cares about them as a resource or tool rather than individuals, and is more than happy to exterminate them if they have no usefulness. After all, why would you want to have a broken tool around?

*****

…And it seems he’s brought his entire plane to back him! The world itself cannot do much battling, though it will surely aid the dragon in the long run.

Sephilis is fairly typical, drawing the strengths of both the Islands and Plains. He is cold, intelligent, lawful, tricky, cautious, and utterly dominant. Quite like Grand Arbiter Augustin of the Azorius, so this drains strength from him. However, he has plenty of power on his own. How many villains do you know that already control a plane? Perhaps a few, if that. Most are ever in contest with heroes of one kind or another. How many do you know that control multiple planes – and with ease? There are those who wish to, but I don’t know any who do.

The imagery Sephilis spawns is breathtaking. His rule is much like that of the Roman Empire – absolutely huge yet growing more fragile the more it spreads, until it grows too much and shatters. Eventually, his rule will be so widely spread that no one will fear him anymore, and all will rebel. Sephilis relies far too much on his laws, and laws are made to be broken. His rise to power is also similar to that of Hitler – taking a fallen nation and rebuilding it through strict fascism, simultaneously doing great things and horrible things in his rule. No one can deny his saving the plane, so they cannot deny his atrocities either... for the time being.

His representation in Magic card form fits decently. While flashy, the art doesn’t show much anything about the all-powerful dragon tyrant. The stats are good but not great – he is willing to go into combat, but isn’t eager to, so that is represented very well. His abilities are definitely tyrannical – controlling what everyone does each turn, or just taking all the land. How he uses the creature-tapping ability only to defend is good flavor – he rules mainly by laws and magic, not force.

His lair is also decent. Giving up a permanent is not very tyrannical of him, but it can be use deceitfully, like trading away a trap of some kind (like Bronze Bombshell). The flavor text is just awesome (seeing how Martria is about 500 empire state buildings-worth tall). It fits extremely well with Sephilis’s genocidal (and racist) nature – killing all who aren’t dragons and would oppose him, and the dragons ruling the rest. The art also helps show the sheer magnitude of it.

Now, let’s see how Sephilis’s power is determined in this specialized arena. He is incredibly detailed, scoring a 75/100 to begin with. His typical characteristics hold him back. There is much history, especially of his plane, but the character itself is pretty flat – what you see is what you get. But, the detail of both him and his world does not go unseen, and adds 15 more to the score. The art also adds 15 (out of a maximum of 20), mostly for his lair. The cards themselves, while good at showing his strengths, could be better at showing his weaknesses, such as his reliance on the law. So another 15 (max: 20) added for those.

All in all, Sephilis, Master of the Alliance, scores 120/100, exceeding perfection and getting a great boost in power in this arena. However will anyone stand against him? Let’s find out with our next contestant, and the dragon’s first adversary:

Mydeak was a well know jester in his time. Loved and appreciated by many, his jokes never failed to raise a smile on someone’s face; if not the person the joke was directed at.

But one day, Mydeak made the mistake of directing his joke at a High Priest of Yawgmoth, causing the Priest to lose much face among his cohorts and minions. As punishment, the priest called down a curse upon Mydeak; "You will never finish a performance again in your lifetime!".

Seeing that this would be a cruel fate for a man so used to being admired by the masses, Yawgmoth upheld the curse. He crafted a teleportation spell around Mydeak that would move him in a random direction and distance if he was too close to anyone living and who could appreciate his jokes.

Try as he might, Mydeak could never get someone to laugh before he was shifted through the shadow realm back into existence somewhere else; only to be moved in the next few seconds because he had appeared near someone else. After a few years of this, Mydeak's mind started to crack under the pressure and loneliness. He started to believe that people were walking out on his performances rather than him randomly teleporting.

Eventually, he had enough of people leaving him and started attacking people at random; yet the curse still triggered shortly after so it was rare that he would actually manage to kill someone.

To make matters worse, the shadow realm was starting to use this constant window to the mortal realm as an attempt to release some mayhem. But of course, until a shadow creature has established an identity on the mortal plane, it will assume that of the one that brought it into being. The problem being, this made them subject to the same curse as Mydeak, so they would only have a brief moment in the mortal realm before they were cast back into their own plane of existence.

Yawgmoth took no end of pleasure in watching such a pure and kind man breakdown into a wild savage that left people across the globe in fear of his “random surprise shows”; so much so he started to 'engineer' Mydeak's arrival points to suit plans of his design.

Here ends Mydeak's tale.

Mydeak is a short man, around 5' 3" with dark brown hair and reddish brown eyes. Because he is unable to take the time to rest and change, Mydeak is still wearing the jester costume he mocked the priest in; though it has lost much of its colour and features many stains from fights and “bodily functions”.

* I wouldn't really call him a villain; but at the same time he is by no shape or form a Hero. He commits “evil acts” because his mind is fractured beyond the point of no return; does that make him evil? No; but the acts he commits are evil, so to all outside appearances he would appear to be a Villain when in truth he is a Victim!

*****

Mydeak is definitely the most comical character of the group, and it suits him. “Because he is unable to take the time to rest and change, Mydeak is still wearing the jester costume he mocked the priest in; though it has lost much of its colour and features many stains from fights and ‘bodily functions’.” …Ok, that’s just gross. I’ll take this as a reminder to never doubt the extent of Luther’s imagination, however sick it may be. Nevertheless, this… depth of detail will be a bonus.

This prankster is neither a hero nor a villain, but a victim – of the Lord of the Wastes, no less. That sure makes it interesting and quite unique, and grants Mydeak a great deal of power to battle Sephilis. He is not evil himself, but is a tool for evil, easily controlled by his fractured mind (which also fits his being a joker). He does continue his performances unwillingly in service to Yawgmoth, even though he’s probably too insane to notice, which adds a nice twist.

As for Mydeak’s card, the abilities fit perfectly when compared to this excerpt:

“Eventually, he had enough of people leaving him and started attacking people at random; yet the curse still triggered shortly after so it was rare that he would actually manage to kill someone.

To make matters worse, the shadow realm was starting to use this constant window to the mortal realm as an attempt to release some mayhem. But of course, until a shadow creature has established an identity on the mortal plane, it will assume that of the one that brought it into being. The problem being, this made them subject to the same curse as Mydeak, so they would only have a brief moment in the mortal realm before they were cast back into their own plane of existence.”

So whenever Mydeak starts trouble, the shadow realm brings forth a creature in the form of he who created it by opening the window: Mydeak. Then, thanks to his curse, both of them disappear before they can cause too much havoc. This and the fact of blue/red being a good color combination for insanity (take the Izzet, for example), combined with the reckless power/toughness of 3/2, makes for an excellently created card. I would expect no less from the author of “If I worked at R&D”.

The only thing I do not like about Mydeak is the art. It looks far too sinister; too much “plotting evil” and not enough “insane evil”. As stated before, Mydeak is not a true villain, but the art is a bonus nonetheless.

Even though this character is brilliantly crafted, he is somewhat simple, and this gives him a base score of 85/100. His singularity is a huge plus, and the history of how he became a villain helps as well. He gets an added bonus of 20 for the card, 5 for the art (even if it doesn’t fit great), and, finally, 10 for the storyish version of the entry (not quite a story, I know, but much better than a list), for a grand total of 120/100 – a tie with Sephilis!

It looks like we have a stalemate in the first battle of the contest, but let us see how it unfolds…

Round 1, Battle 1: Sephilis vs. Mydeak

Entering the arena from above is our first contender – the mighty dragon tyrant Sephilis! The detail of this villain gives him a powerful boost, and he proves it with an icy blast of breath into the crowd, freezing half of them instantly! Boy, I’d hate to be them. This guy isn’t kidding around.

And opposing him – wait, where is he? Has anyone seen Mydeak? He’d better not be pulling something funny… aha! There, on top of Sephilis! Mydeak, with his shadow twin, have “teleported” on top of the dragon’s head, and boy, does Sephilis look pissed. He tries to shake them off, but they hold tight and, what are they doing now? It appears that the clowns are singing. Could they be casting some sort of spell? No… they’re just singing. And the dragon is not enjoying it.

He flings his head back to catch the jokers in his mouth, but they disappear into thin air! And reappear… in the crowd?! Now what? They seem to be performing to the crowd, miming and telling jokes, and making a complete fool of Sephilis – one of the most powerful villains in the multiverse! Ah, he might have the most power elsewhere, but here; the rules work a bit differently. And he doesn’t have his laws to protect him. Sephilis exhales another freezing blast of ice at the twins, who disappear yet again, leaving the other half of the crowd wide open to the attack! It seems we no longer have an audience – and neither does Mydeak.

The clown flashes back into reality, notices this, and instantly becomes infuriated with a blind rage like no other. He lives for his act, and it has been brutally taken away from him by the tyrant Sephilis. Already on the verge of insanity, if not past it, Mydeak is quick to anger and quicker to lash out. He charges the dragon in a frenzy with his shadow twin – and disappears yet again. What is this? Sephilis seems equally confused, but Mydeak then appears on Sephilis’s back, gouging out his scales and tearing into flesh.

Sephilis turns to snap them up, but they’re gone again only to come back on his legs, ripping some more. Sephilis casts a spell of protection on himself, so Mydeak cannot hurt him at all. He tries, of course, but neither contestant gets anywhere. Sephilis is too slow for the flickering jester, and Mydeak cannot cause enough damage to really harm the dragon.

Well, folks, it looks like both Sephilis and Mydeak will go on to the next round, and this contest will be extended. It will be up to the next two contestants to break the tie, and here comes the first now:

I would like for you to meet Astriedax Ourii - A necromantic assassinator who, before he died, used his necromantic powers to imbue his blood-stained soul into a sword, rumored to be wielded by the gods themselves and named "The LightHawk," that is indestructible. And Darius Dargon Leradine - a wandering human warrior cursed with the sword, granting him immortality, power, and wisdom, that never lets him know nor have peace of mind.

By Day he is Darius Dargon Leradine. A hero by name, Darius has a build like Conan the Barbarian, with The LightHawk strapped to his back. His Armor consists of light armor, like chain mail, and a shield, light by weight but sturdy as steel. Around his waist is a thick belt that houses two small pouches and 4 daggers, 2 small and 2 large. When he battles, he battles for the honor, against those who would do evil and harm, and the hope that one day the gods will hear his plea and grant his wish to be freed from the cursed sword, so that he may die in peace.

By Night he is Astriedax Ourii. When night falls, the cursed sword glows an ominous black and green light, which signifies that Astriedax has awakened. When he appears, mysterious tattoos appear all over his body, which hides his face and camouflages his body in the shadows of the night. Astriedax thrills in the delight of killing anybody, both good and evil, he does not care. When he kills his victims from the shadows, he uses only the daggers, mounted on the belt, so as not to lose the blood flowing from their corpse. For fun he passes the time chanting to his dark and sinister master while creating vile and deadly potions made from the blood of his slain victims.

The sword known only as "The LightHawk," was created and forged from a different realm. Before it was a sword, it was used as a key to run and maintain the functions on a ship. But something went wrong and due to the malfunction on the ship, it blew up sending the key to another world. The sword can be described as light and easy to swing. On the pommel, located on the bottom of the hilt, laid an arrangement of 5 gems, and etchings that no one can read, on both sides of the pommel. The hilt wrapped 3 times by thick sturdy leather and on the cross-guard the shape of wings, made of feathers from an angel’s wing. In the hands of a virtuous being, the blade shines with a bright white light that sings of the wind, but in the hands of a corrupted being, it shines with a dull red light that will destroy that being holding it. Until one day, with the help of his master, Astriedax found a way to join his soul with the sword without being destroyed. Since then it is now known as "The Cursed LightHawk."

(Pentarch Ward has been chosen by Emperor Crusty to represent this character)

* Darius was a Hero, before he acquired the whereabouts of the LightHawk, making quite a reputation for himself over 15 years. But since finding the LightHawk, Astriedax has destroyed his name, honor, and fame. So he now and forever will be Evil because no matter how much good Darius has done or will do, Astriedax will destroy what good Darius has done and make it worse, times 3.

The reason why he is not destroyed when Astriedax takes over is because he never holds the sword himself. He knows that if he does, Darius would be removed from the plane of existence, which is why he prefers to use the daggers. Not only that but he likes the body that he takes control of and would not wish to lose his host. Now unlike Darius, when he found the sword at the age of 31, he was not destroyed because he was still good in nature. He just wished that he never found the sword and could die, because since he found the sword he has lived for 113 years never growing older, always staying young. As of now Darius is 144 years old and Astriedax is 189 years old.

*****

Interesting, indeed. Where does he come from? It does not seem that this villain is based in a Magic-type setting, not relaly. But villain may not be the correct term…. In truth, this character is two characters – one a villain (Astriedax), and the other a hero (Darius) whose reputation the villain destroyed. Since this contest is about breaking out of the box, this is a definite plus. The history behind Astriedax is fresh and certainly interesting as well – living within a sword and possessing its user? A hero, no less? That’s some style!

Unfortunately, that’s about all there is. The visual detail is nice, but there is not much to the character, and there are many questions left to me, especially about the sword, which is the key to this villain. How did the LightHawk get to a different world? Did the ship’s explosion cause some kind of rip in the universe? And if that’s possible, what kind of ship was it? And what was the sword doing there as a key? Maintaining the functions, yes, but what kind? And what happened to make it blow up? How did Astriedax find it? How did he figure out a way past its destruction of vile persons? So on and so forth.

Nevertheless, the pure uniqueness of this villain gives Astriedax/Darius a decent score of 80/100, plus 10 for the picture description, for a total of 90/100. A respectable score; though thanks to the bonuses the other two contestants have taken advantage of, not as good as them, and it seems Astriedax will not be breaking the tie. However, we still have one final entry to see if we will have a definite winner. Atop his steed, he enters, a warrior’s glint in his eye…

Vasher, the Crusader

Smoke bellows across the horizon behind Vasher and his zealot army. Life on Sarpadia has been increasingly rough since the great uprising. Havenwood, Icatia, the Citadel of the Ebon Hand, and Gurn Keep all lie in ruin, as Orcs, Goblins, Thallids, Homarids, and Thrulls pour over the land routing their former masters at every turn. The very land itself echoes the fall of the master races. The forests grow dark, the ocean cools, and the air itself grows colder with each passing month despite winter having ended. It’s been months since a single Vodalian has been sighted and the dwarves and elves now hide together in secluded mountain regions. However, none of this is a concern for Vasher. For him, an even darker presence concerns him; the Ebon Hand’s presence is still lingering in the air. .

Last eve, Vasher and his band slaughtered one of the last Icatian settlements after discovering that they had conspired with the Ebon Hand. An abomination, no, an affront to all that is pure is what the Ebon Hand represents. Its one thing to consort with lesser beings deemed unworthy by the Hand of Justice, it’s entirely another to even be near an Ebon Hand member without one or the other perishing. Surely the villagers had been tainted by the Ebon Hand’s evil. They had to be purged. Just like all of Sarpadia. Even though Icatia is lost, the crusade must continue – the followers of Tourach must be removed from the land no matter the cost.

Vasher stares out across the plains as the smoke continues to bellow into the evening air. The smell of burning ash and flesh still lingers on even though it’s been several days. Unsure where the Ebon Hand hides in Sarpadia, Vasher gazes toward the East, into the wilderness where a single forested mountain lies. There, the Elves and Dwarves have taken refuge plotting with the Ebon Hand to retake their land. Their presence has been tolerated long enough. These lesser beasts must be able to tell Vasher where the Ebon Hand lies in camp. They will reveal the location as their last breath chokes out and their precious land burns in his wake. The Ebon Hand shall fall limp no matter the cost.

Card:
Vasher, the Crusader – 1WWW
Legendary Creature – Cleric Knight
Protection from Black, First Strike
WW T: Destroy target creature. Put 2 1/1 colorless Thrulls into play under target opponent’s control
4/2

As Vasher razed more and more of the land, the Thrulls found it easier and easier to breed.

Card 2:
Vasher’s Crusade --- 2WW
Sorcery
Destroy all creatures of the chosen type. They can’t be regenerated.
Put X 1/1 colorless Thrulls into play under target opponent’s control, where X is the number of creatures destroyed.

The settlements Vasher razed made the perfect breeding grounds for Thrulls.

Picture Description:
Color is a very dark white. He has the standard Order of Leitbur1 garb, but is beset by dark contrasts. His horse is white, but on either side of him are spikes with heads on them. His army can be seen somewhat in the background. The horizon is smoke-filled above the plains where he has massacred a village. The focus is definitely on him, which is impart to showcase him in the card, but also to show how he is blinded by the sheer evil of the acts he is committing and how they ultimately doom Sarpadia. This should create the mood that although he’s decidedly a white creature, he’s deluded to the core and his zealotry has become Sarpadia’s downfall.

(Photoshoped Order of Leitbur)

Vasher, the Crusader.
Age 26

At the age of 6, Vasher’s father was ousted as an Initiate of the Ebon Hand. While his father slipped into the night, his mother and he were taken into custody. Under excruciating torture they determined that Vasher’s mother as well was an Initiate and consequently put to death. Vasher, being so young, was taken in by the Order and raised as a standard squire in the order. To deter the evil of his lineage, every day he was forced to cleanse himself through corporal mortification, believing that only through this could he truly cleanse himself.

As Vasher aged he became a full-fledged knight in the Order, but never was promoted. Extremely capable on the field and respected by his peers, he was never promoted into leadership due to fear of his past. On the day of the great uprising, Vasher lead a small group of Leitbur safely out of Icatia as the Zealots amassed forces inside only to be overrun later by Thrulls. As the week bore on, Vasher rescued other members of the Order and formed a small army that successfully routed some of the surrounding villages free of Zealot control.

With his minor victories and keen leadership in the face of destruction, he earned the surviving Order of Leitbur’s trust. With each passing week his army grew as word spread of his success. The appearance of the Thrulls meant one thing and one thing only to Vasher, though. The Ebon Hand had done this all. Their mortal enemies had succeeded in destroying Icatia in a single blow, even if it was not intentional. Vasher and his Order all took new oaths, but this time not to serve the Hand of Justice, who had gone missing, but to eradicate the Ebon Hand.

Now on the verge of a Dwarf, Elf and Ebon Hand-led campaign to retake their land from the slave races, Vasher and his army rally their own campaign to rid Sarpadia of the Ebon Hand once and for all no matter the cost. As the two armies gather in an inevitable clash, the slave races linger in the outskirts watching, waiting to devour both sides and take Icatia for their own.

*Vasher is that fine line between both hero and villain. While he is a hero to his followers, his actions end up dooming all of Sarpadia. Due to his shortsightedness and impassioned hatred for the Ebon Hand and everything it is, him and the Order of Leitbur doom any attempt of the master races retaking Sarpadia. So to the world and history he's shown as a villain despite having the qualities of heroes such as stoic resolve, unfaltering loyalty, and religious fervor. You also might say he'd be a hero to the slave races as in the storyline I continued off on, he would eliminate all hope of the master races returning to power, by re-enslaving the slave races.

*****

At the first, quick glance, Vasher is a hero – slaying the evil of the world. But the closer you look, the more that façade sheds from the corruption that lies beneath (AHA!!). A superb character we have here, and also a great example for my last article.

Vasher is driven by justice, and as they say, justice is blind. It must be tempered with prudence, humility, and compassion, for the sake of good. Without it, it’s gray. However, I believe the defining point that makes Vasher evil lies here:

“Vasher and his Order all took new oaths, but this time not to serve the Hand of Justice, who had gone missing, but to eradicate the Ebon Hand.”

At this point, Vasher no longer fights for good, or even the sake of it, but against evil. Much like Urza, in a way. It matters not what casualties the war takes, only that the enemy is defeated. And, we all know that Urza is a villain at heart. After all, he did submit himself to Yawgmoth. It only took 4000 years for him to do it. But what does this mean? It is no longer blind justice that drives Vasher, but malicious justice, fueled by hate, which will only help create further atrocities. Ah, yes, now the gray is a few shades darker.

Not only that, but Vasher’s very roots are evil; his mother and father Initiates of the Ebon Hand – that which he has sworn to purge from Sarpadia. The depth of this character is amazing, and that alone gives Vasher an excellent score. And while in-between characters are not completely new, the style with which Vasher does it is quite unique, and well constructed, simultaneously fitting Magic’s color pie and being different.

The art gives a great boost – Vasher resides in a righteous and honorific state of mind, blind to his own evil acts, while all around him is atrocity. Perfect! The cards fit magnificently as well. Vasher himself has many black traits. He has a higher power than toughness, he can destroy any creature (not just “evil” ones), and when he does, he only creates more of a mess. But, he is still heavily White, with Pro: Black. Not that it balances his evil with good; it just sets his mindset of righteousness. The type Cleric confuses me, though. By the rest of the flavor, he would seem only a knight. Nevertheless, his card well represents the illusion he has created for himself and his reality both. The flavor of Vasher’s Crusade is much the same – good intentions, but an act of evil nonetheless.

All in all, I give Vasher himself a perfect 100/100 – a simply amazingly crafted character with the complete evolution of his self; he seems like he could be someone from real life. A bonus 20 for the art, 15 for the cards (close to flawless, but not quite), and 10 for the marvelous storyline give a grand total of 145/100!! It looks like we have a winner, but we are still a few matches away from completing this contest. Let’s get to it!

Round 1, Battle 2: Astriedax/Darius vs. Vasher

Heavenly light graces the arena of this battle – fitting for the heroes. Or so they seem to be. On one side stands Darius, tall and proud, wielding the LightHawk, glowing a magnificent white in his hands, and opposing him is Vasher, the Crusader, who said he has come only to defeat the villains.

“You reek of the Hand,” Vasher snarls, “I’ll gladly toss your corpse upon the others for burning when I’m finished with you.”

“I don’t wish to battle you, Vasher, but if you insist to slay a hero then I will defend myself.”

“You’re no hero,” the crusader replies with a vicious thrust of his sword, which Darius parries and counters with his own thrust.

“Then your corruption spreads deeper than even you know,” Darius says as the two continue to fight. Vasher’s eyes cloud over, but he says nothing. Instead, he fights all the more viciously, making it harder for Darius to keep up, and he quickly draws first blood, slicing a gash down Darius’s right forearm. First blood belongs to Vasher.

“Ha,” Vasher growls, “Forces of evil stand no chance against me!” Darius growls back and fights with more vigor, letting his rage empower him.

But, a battle of heroes is not what we have come to see. I think it is time to make things more interesting…

Darkness fills the arena as day quickly turns to night, thanks to a bit of magic. Darius’s LightHawk clatters to the ground as the evil presence within him takes over… and he disappears into the shadows. Vasher’s eyes blaze.

“Come out and fight, cretin!”

A dark voice, many times more malicious than its previous owner, hisses from the darkness, “You should be as comfortable in the darkness as I, Vasher, slayer of mothers, of defenseless children –”

“Enough! If I have slain them, it was because the Ebon Hand was in them. And nothing touched by that vile presence deserves to live.”

“Even your parents? Even you…?”

Vasher roars in fury and charges the voice, deflecting a lightning-quick dagger that nearly strikes his heart, and another that would have impaled his skull. But he cannot do anything about the third and fourth larger daggers, which knock the sword out of his hands. Astriedax chuckles from the shadows.

The crusader blindly grabs the LightHawk from where Darius dropped it, and it glows a faint pinkish color, burning him from within, but only slightly. The pain only fuels his anger, and he dives into the shadows, pinning Astriedax with the LightHawk across his throat.

“I have cleansed myself, and continue to do so every day, with each of the Ebon Hand I strike down. I cleanse the others by death, and now I’ll do the same unto you.”

Astriedax kicks Vasher off him and onto his back, moving over him for the kill – but Vasher thrusts the sword up quickly, impaling Astriedax right through the chest. He grips the hilt helplessly, as if to pull it out, and it suddenly glows with a very bold, dark red light. Astriedax’s head falls back as he drops to his knees; his mouth open in a silent scream and the LightHawk eats away his soul. His body disintegrates to nothing, beginning with his hands and the hole in his chest, and the sword falls to the ground, its glow changing to green and then fading away completely as the last of Astriedax’s body is obliterated. Vasher raises himself from the ground and spits on the spot where Astriedax had knelt.

*****

Vasher is the victor and moves on to round 2! His next battle will be against Sephilis, the dragon tyrant. Though the arena has granted him a great deal of strength, how will he be able to slay the cunning dragon? Let’s find out:

Round 2, Battle 1: Sephilis vs. Vasher

Sephilis has obviously grown very irritable since his last battle against Mydeak. In his world, he would have been able to defeat the clown easily, but thanks to this arena, he could not. Now he faces the human who will most likely be his demise – a human! A little, insignificant, sniveling rat of a being! Hardly worth the effort.

On the other side of the arena, Vasher, still mantled in blood from his latest kill, only glares at the beast. He is utterly convinced of the Ebon Hand’s corruption within Sephilis, and all the rest…. Glancing about the crowd (newly replaced), he seems a little panicked – surrounded by the enemy – but they will have their turns. He refocuses on the dragon.

Sephilis seems almost to yawn and exhales his icy breath. Vasher acts quickly, rolling aside and coming up running at the beast. Snarling, the dragon weaves a spell to freeze the crusader in place, but Vasher bounds up him and slices into his wrist with his sword, cutting off the spell and his hand. Roaring in pain and anger, Sephilis swings at the pesky gnat with his other claws while lifting himself off the ground with a few powerful surges of his wings. Vasher leaps away and back onto the ground, lest he fall from too great a height to survive.

Safely out of reach, Sephilis unleashes another wave of ice, this time too wide for Vasher to avoid. The crusader kneels down and puts up his shield, protecting him from the blast. But Sephilis does not let up. The ground around Vasher freezes, and then ice forms, which builds more and more as Sephilis pours it on. Shortly after, Vasher is completely trapped in a block of ice.

Snorting, Sephilis swoops down to finish the job. Smashing the little ice-human will work just fine. He comes down with great speed, feet first, and shatters the block of ice – then howls in confused pain and smashes onto the ground.

In the last seconds before freezing, Vasher extended his sword as high as he could while protecting the rest of him with his shield, contemplating the dragon’s next move. Now it was completely vulnerable, and had a hard enough time sitting up to avoid the furious crusader. Shaking off the last bits of ice, Vasher climbs the beast, slashing all the way. Each cut he uses as a foothold, digging his foot into the wounds and ascending a step higher. The dragon, immobilized, can make no defense as Vasher stabs his sword deep into Sephilis’s neck, and wrenches it sideways with a powerful jerk, tearing its head off.

He turns his hateful gaze on the cheering crowd, planning to cleanse it of the Hand’s hold, but is interrupted by an insane cackling, seeming to come from all directions…

Round 3, Battle 1: Mydeak vs. Vasher

Mydeak wastes no time and leaps onto Vasher’s back, riding him like an amusement ride while his shadow twin swings a punch into Vasher’s gut. The weight on his back makes him double over, but the two disappear, only to return a moment later charging him from the side, knocking him over while the other kicks him, and they vanish yet again.

Vasher wearily looks about the arena, slightly dazed. He has to be fully alert to fend off any of these reckless attacks, and preferably with less points of attack. Defying much of what he stands for, Vasher backs into a corner, looking about him – but in all the wrong directions.

Mydeak appears directly above him, his twin directly before Vasher, who slices through the shadow creature, obliterating it to nothingness but taking a kick to the head from above. Apparently, only one of these things can be truly killed, but which one? Vasher’s head is swimming, his vision blurring as the Mydeak twins taunt him from afar.

They appear and disappear, working the crowd into raucous laughter as they do acrobatics and make a fool of Vasher; but they are the fools. They give Vasher time to recuperate and get his head together, though he continues to appear weak. There must be some way to tell these two apart…

There. Each time they enter reality; one of them seems to be a mere shadow just before taking Mydeak’s form. That would be the fake. Grinning, Vasher makes his way to the clowns, but they notice him far too soon. They vanish, and appear to attack him once more. This time, Vasher sees them both – one on either side. The one on the right is the fake, he establishes, and so he ducks and swings his sword at the left one, dodging the blows from both while cutting into the back of the legs of the real Mydeak before he disappears, leaving a red puddle on the ground.

He reappears in front of Vasher, glaring in pain and anger with his twin, blood running freely down his legs, then begins to flicker in and out of reality, faster and faster, a smile growing on his face, until it seems Vasher is completely surrounded by laughing clowns, who close in for the kill, slowly, playing with their enemy.

Vasher closes his eyes, focusing. 20 years serving in the Order has given him much experience, and he can now almost feel the presence of evil when it is close enough. This creature sends it off in waves. Something is controlling it, something not of this world, something much more evil than he could comprehend, and a name hisses in his mind… Yawgmoth.

If Vasher could find some way to sever that link, Mydeak wouldn’t stand a chance. He wasn’t much of a mage, but he did know a spell or two that sometimes came in very handy when dealing with evil forces. Healing spells, yes, but also spells of protection, and this one he readies for Mydeak.

Once within range, Vasher casts a circle of protection around him and Mydeak from all forces of darkness, and the clown suddenly stops, a blank look on his face, as he is momentarily cut off from Yawgmoth’s control. In that moment, Vasher swings his sword, decapitating Mydeak. Before the head even hits the ground, he disappears for good. Vasher then turns his attention on the cheering crowd…

All hail our champion: Vasher, the Crusader! Many congratulations to Cashew for creating this spectacular villain, and also to our other contestants: Joey, Luther, and Crusty, who all created great characters that made this bloodbath of a contest possible. To line up the scores:

Sephilis, by Joey Cittadino: 120/100
Mydeak, by Luthervamplord: 120/100
Astriedax/Darius, by Emperor Crusty: 90/100
Vasher, by Cashew: 145/100

I hope to see all of you and more next time. Oh yes, there will be a next time.

___________________________________

Maleficent, author of The Dungeon of Malefict, is Praetor of The [Order] of Phyrexia, and speaks for Yawgmoth himself. He hopes to spread the word of The Ineffable and all his greatness far and wide, so that more may learn of his wisdom and be accepted into his good graces.
He also likes to spend his free time slaying the unworthy in a variety of gruesome and agonizing ways, recurring the corpses, and doing it all over again.

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Articles Spotlights from 2007:
Lorwyn Theme Week Intro & Schedule of Events
Blink And Bounce: Timing is Key
Going Blind: XCB Metagaming - A Prolonged Conclusion.
The Science of Magic: Genetic Engineering, Part Two.
Shifting Lineaments: Casual Metagaming (Pt. 2).
The Dungeon Of Malefict: Pure Evil!
Combofusion: Legends Timeshifted.
Land Week Introduction & Schedule.
One Card to Rule Them All: Coastal Piracy
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