Challenge #6 Results; Challenge #7 Begins

by Charlie Plaine, Chairman

6th April 2010

At this point in the competition, the arduous task of eliminating contestants becomes less and less about skill, and more and more about those other, intangible qualities in the contestants. All of them have demonstrated their skill in each and every challenge, so the judges have the unhappy duty at looking at qualities such as teamwork and communication as they discharge their unfortunate duty.

The Borg Team
Blake Mandalis (Devoras) and Kevin Jaeger (Hoss-Drone) were up for elimination from the Borg Team.

Blake has consistently shown his ability to generate good card ideas, but has been resistant to adapt to changes in process. He often starts strong, but his input tapers off as the teams narrow down their choices, contributing less and less as time goes on.

Kevin is an amazingly skilled player and has a unique insight into the design process, and his talent is clear. Recently, Kevin has appeared to lose faith in his team and appears to have been placing his own agenda over that of his team.

Neither of these skilled contestants deserve to go home, but sadly, one of them must. With a vote of 3-1, the judges have voted to "cut" Kevin "Hoss-Drone" Jager from the competition, knowing that he has the skill to succeed and hoping that he'll remember teamwork is equally important.

From Brad: "Kevin, your talent as a designer is clear and the competition is losing something special. I am eager to see what you can do in the future."

Kevin will be moved out of his team forum and into a different group, where he can still see the general goings on of the competition, but not the inner workings of their former teams.

For the ten remaining contestants, the game continues. Forty (40) percent of the challenges leading up to Project Xavier (their virtual expansions) are done, and there are just three more challenges left before their final forty-five (45) card expansions are set to be delivered. For their next challenges, we introduce the teams to the Rules Committee and give them a chance to work with the fundamentals of the game.

Challenge #7, "Not Inspired By Ferengi," is a unique challenge is that it confronts the teams with a theoretical rules change. What would the game be like if personnel were present with themselves? In this challenge, featuring guest judge Mr. Chris "Maelwys" Lobban, teams will have to create six (6) cards that take advantage of this hypothetical ruling.

Teams have until Monday, April 12th, 2010 at 8 AM EDT (GMT-6) to submit their entries. Judging will be opened shortly after the submissions are received and posted.

Episode XII of the Make it So podcast will be available later today, featuring an interview with Chris about the interactions between the rules and design teams, as well as more details on Challenge #7.

Stay tuned to the Official Forum for all the latest news and happenings on Make it So!