Author Games: Path of the Guildpact

Results

Ah, this part always hurts my cold, black heart. Another Games has come to an end- and it falls to me to announce the final rankings. Without further ado:

In fourth place:

Elijah Karsur, as you may have noticed, is a mystery. With motivations that neither we the audience nor he himself truly understand, his entries were a suspenseful venture into the grimmer aspects of Ravnica's underbelly. With an oddly entertaining alliance with his study in opposites Mikaela, Elijah added the spice of variety to the many dedicated, focused tributes who were his competitors. Though he might not believe it himself, his skill has definitely earned him fourth place.

In third place:

A Boros angel who long outlived her comrade, Mikaela Gavreel demonstrated depth of character from the very beginning, with a fascinating form that promised mysteries to come. She has not disappointed us in that regard; the intriguing character interactions with her "ally" Elijah have given us a glimpse of humor in what could have easily become yet another grim storyline. Moreover, the steady procession of morally gray choices culminating in her (ironically redeeming) execution by Aurelia made for a character arc that rose and fell exactly where and when it needed to do so. 

In second place:

I'm going to be honest: when I opened up the race of goblins to character creation, I didn't anticipate that they would be a popular choice. In the MTG canon and the game itself the entire species seems to be confined to the role of slapstick and punchline, with emphasis on the "punch." As such, it was surprising and rather heartwarming to find a character who dealt with a goblin's attention, emotion, and lifespan in a manner that was truly nuanced and respectful, while painting a character who with easily the most consistent scores in the Games. I am proud to acknowledge Iracun Rumpig as second place; he has truly earned his position.

So obviously, that leaves:

When a veteran host and competitor submitted a form describing a character who could only be described as "necromancer Snow White" I was sure of two things: first, that this would either be terrifyingly good or a glorious train wreck, with nothing in between. Second, something horrible was going to happen to the surprisingly adorable skeleton bunny. Heccan Kirkeus has proven me right on both accounts (I still haven't forgiven you for that rabbit, Carl.) Though in my previous Games he had been confined to perpetual second place, it would seem that Heccan has finally broken his personal glass ceiling. Many congratulations!

There you have it: the official end to Author Games: Path of the Guildpact. I'd like to officially thank our wonderful competitors, even those who didn't make it to the final round- it is not an exaggeration to say that this would have been impossible without your efforts. Special thanks go out as well to the people who read and enjoyed these Games; hopefully you'll be able to compete in the future, but if not I do hope you enjoy this online nonsense which takes up a substantial fraction of my time and thought.

Tune in with TheRealEnemy if you're hoping to see one hell of a collaboration, or wait for the summer to catch my ventures into more general story writing with CAKersey.

Until later,

-The Narrator/TheCatKing/Joe