The Return of Team Plasma Tournament Judging!Team LookerResults:Wombat vs anti_righteous
WombatCut - It was a good try, especially for your first mugshot. There's just a few things here and there keeping you from passing. The face line is a bit too straight, even though I know Prof. Oak is a bit of a block head. Also, the outline on inner features, like the mouth, should be lighter than the outline on outer features, like the top of the head and shoulders and such. That's not to say you can't use black outline on the inner features, but like a trainer sprite you want to use it sparingly, and in conjunction with colored outline.
anti_righteousPass - Recruiting the enemy, I like your thinking! Probably the most impressive aspect of this sprite was how you were able to keep the light source consistent, something that even I continue to have trouble with in my mugshots. I love the little Team Plasma badge in the bottom there, it's small but doesn't lose the detail. My only recommendation is that the mask outline cuts across the face with too long of a straight line.
Aether vs Lizz vs Dragon Arbock
AetherCut - All three of you did an excellent job, but I need to cut someone. The biggest issue here is the light source. First off, it's a bit inconsistent, with the source on the shirt coming in from a sort of front-right, but the source on the hair coming in from a very harsh right angle. And second, about that angle, most if not all mugshots have the light source from the front, and while it's okay to move it around a bit, it's generally never that far right.
LizzPass - I don't know why you're so nervous about mugshots. I mean sure you're up against Aether and Dragon Arbock's been bringing her A game BUT your sprites always make it look effortless. I also love how you seem to incorporate props into your mugshots too, even if it is just the top of a ski pole. Couple that with no technical problems and it's a great sprite.
Dragon ArbockCut - I have to admit, I do like your character choice the best. Not a huge fan of Lyra myself. The thing that really kept you from winning this round was the outline. The hard thing (or easy, depending on which way you look at it) about the outline in mugshots is that it uses a lot more black than you're normal trainer or Pokemon sprite. Switching between light and dark outline too much causes the outline to look choppy, and there's a bit of that going on here, especially around the white shirt.

Good job recruits, and hello new recruits. Our team's looking better than ever, but just as we got ready, Team Plasma seems to have gotten quiet. The calm before the storm, most likely. Until then, our two leaders - yeah, you're promoted to leading the frontal assault (good thing I got out of it) - should get some rest. But don't get too comfortable, you should be receiving some information soon about your final assignment. It's still just rumors at the moment, so we'll get back to you with more information as we come by it.Congratulations Lizz and anti_righteous for making it to the finals! By clearing the Top Bracket, you two will receive three bonus points for your final grade, receive a hint to the final round within a few minutes of this being posted, and the full assignment two days before your competitors. Good luck!
Team PlasmaResults:
FourthBeatPass - It's a good thing I judge so slow, or else you wouldn't have made it in time. Anyway, the secret to a good egg is a balance between simplicity and recognizably, and you've done a good job. I mean, some poor mother has to lay these eggs, don't want to get snagged on an edge. You've done a good job of that. There's not much to criticize here... I personally like the Raikou egg the best.
KatteylaCut - A good shot, but a few problems. The Entei egg, for starters, gets lost in its own fur. It was a good idea, but the egg shape is hard to see. It sort of looks like a chibi Piloswine... on fire. Be careful with the dither shading on the Raikou egg, you're bordering on too much. Also the "ears" don't really add anything, I can tell what Pokemon it belongs to just on the pattern and clouds alone. The Suicune egg is my favorite of the three. Simple, still keeps aspects of Suicune in it.
CJamesPass - You hit the bullseye, walking the narrow path of detail and simplicity with this entry. The Heatran egg is probably my favorite egg of all. It doesn't need any extravagant decoration to show which Pokemon it belongs to. The other eggs show this too, just... I really like the Heatran one. The one suggestion I'd give is with the Registeel egg. Registeel is already a fairly simple Pokemon, so when adding all the details present in it's "face" the egg comes out looking like a chibi Regi, or a Trozei sprite, rather than an egg.
BrodeoCut - What got you was the Jirachi egg. While the other two are great, the last one has some problems, and with as tight as the competition is, you have to nail all three eggs. The Jirachi egg looks saggy and lopsided, like instead of a hard shell, it's just a sack. It's too bad, because I do like the other two eggs, the Meloetta one in particular.
RosehfaceCut - You know, I'm sure that in-universe, this trio's eggs would look exactly like this. It's simple and highlights the main aspects of each of the Pokemon. Unfortunately, everyone in this tournament is really talented, and going simple only works if you can still find a way to make your entry stand out from the rest, and these didn't.
PwnageMaster67Cut - Ugh, if I were allowed one more to pass, you would have gotten it. I love the amount of detail you were able to fit into a small sprite like this. Unfortunately, that detail is a bit of a double edged sword in this round. An effective egg sprite should be simple, yet clearly show the Pokemon its representing. Like I said with CJames' Registeel egg, the amount of detail in the two Regi eggs here make them look like Trozei sprites, rather than eggs. But what really kept you from just squeezing out on top was the shading on the Regigigas egg. It looks too flat, and needs to be a shade darker. And since I haven't mentioned the Groudon sprite yet, I'd like to say it's my favorite out of the bunch.

Well done, we got those eggs back in order. Though some of your eggs seemed to have cracked along the way... Well, Kyurem can be a bit of a feisty mother, good thing none of you handled its eggs. But you're still demoted. But not you two. You come here, I need to have a word with you two, and your three friends who joined up just recently. You see, old man Ghetsis is looking a bit frail, and ever since N took the high road, we've been looking for a new successor. And I'm talking about you five. Well, only one of you five, you'll have to fight for it if you want to be the next King or Queen of Team Plasma.Your Assignment:Create the next heir to Team Plasma. Should be a trainer sprite, none of us here speak Pokemon (we really have no idea where N picked it up) so the lack of communication would be difficult to crown a Pokemon. And don't give Mewtwo any ideas, I heard about what he did to Team Rocket out East!
Deadline: August 28th, Midnight, -7 GMT
Psst, hey there, we heard Team Plasma was up to no good again and came to investigate. Leave it up to the police? When does that ever work? Anyway, we need someone to come with us to help out. We'd like to bring everyone along, but if we're going to sneak in, we can't have a small army tagging along. So you'll need to prove what you're made of.Team TrainerWildcard Round
Your Assignment:Create a Pokemon and its evolution (two sprites) with at least one of them being a type combination that doesn't exist yet.
Everybody can enter this round, whether you've been kicked out of the tournament already or just came in now. In addition, everyone still in the lower bracket can also enter as a backup in case they don't make the cut there. However, you have to enter the lower bracket round as well... even though I'm not sure why you'd skip that one for this. But I've seen crazier in past events. If you do pass in the lower bracket, then your wildcard entry will just be ignored. (But I'll still give C+C if you'd want it.)
Deadline: August 28th, Midnight, -7GMT
Good luck!