MSE Survivor: Introductions

Written by CanterburyEgg

39 days. 20 people. 1 survivor.

Okay, actually none of those numbers are true except for the last one. I just got the catchphrase off the first Google search result for "Jeff Probst Catchphrases." But in its essence, MSE Survivor is similar to CBS Survivor, hence the naming coincidence. Some number of contestants enter and design for iterative challenges set by the Survivor Hosts. Their entries are anonymously judged by a curated panel, and the lowest scores are eliminated until just one designer remains, forever crowned an MSE Survivor champion!

Way back in 2020, I got the idea to host a weekly designed contest on the MSE server, likely due to an addiction to reality TV shows fueled by quarantine insanity. After gauging community interest, we started the first season of Survivor with a whopping TWELVE contestants! After a hard-fought battle, DrChillbrain was named Survivor Season 1 champion, and a legacy was born. Iterative seasons were won by Scribbl, Splashcat, Coolbeens, and Brotein, each earning them a custom emote on the MSE server and—more importantly—a permanent place in our collective hearts.

Since season 1, Survivor has EXPLODED in popularity, leading to a season 5 peak of over a hundred contestants! Currently, season 6 is slated to have 94 contestants, which is still incredible for a months-long Discord design contest. In fact, Survivor has become so popular that it has spawned spinoff contests (most notably Card Coliseum, which you may have heard about), and prompted creation of an #mse-events channel on the MSE Discord specifically for events such as this. In fact, Survivor has also led to some of the most polished and impressive sets the community has released. The following sets all stemmed directly from Survivor entries, three of which have gone on to be included in custom formats (and the fourth being brand-new):

Beyond the Blackwall, by Bergland

Panxiou, by Scribbl

Viridian's Last Mission, by DrChillbrain

Hirokage: Blade of Shadows, by Brotein Manganiello

The sixth MSE Survivor season is hosted by Pipsqueak, Brotein Manganiello (season 5 winner), and CanterburyEgg (yours truly). If you're interested in following along, I'll be writing up monthly articles summarizing the very best from the contest here in the Custom Magazine. If that's not enough, you can come over to the MSE server and watch the game play out in real time!

I'm eager to see what the contestants do with this season's slate of challenges. In the current world of Custom Magic design, the world is our oyster, and I have the highest hopes that this season will lead to some truly great things.

Until next month,

CanterburyEgg