The Gardener's Gazette, edition 22 - Second Anniversary Edition!

[align=center][img]https://i.imgur.com/Xy793Fy.png?1[/img] 
[color=#1f8b4c][size=300][font=timesnewroman][b]The Gardener's Gazette[/b][/font][/size]
[size=200][font=timesnewroman][i]2021 Card Publication of the Year[/i][/font][/size][/color][/align][float=right][box][b][u]LINKS[/u][/b]

- [url=https://discordapp.com/invite/4rw98Aw]Discord Server[/url]
- [url=https://forms.gle/1aiwFN2Tfseb2hU89]Membership Application[/url]
- [url=https://github.com/dithpri/RCES/raw/master/userscripts/auction/Gardener%20Highlighter.user.js]Society Member Highlighting Script[/url]
- [url=https://www.nationstates.net/page=deck/nation=epleho]EpLeHo[/url]
[/box][/float]

Welcome to the twenty-second edition of the [b]The Gardener Gazette[/b], released monthly to keep gardeners and guests alike informed on the happenings within the Card Gardening Society. This edition was published one day after our two year anniversary, and thus has special articles.

[hr][color=#1f8b4c][size=133]Garden Insight[/size][/color]
by [nation]Giovanniland[/nation]

Welcome to the Garden Insight for the month of March! Here you can read about all interesting happenings in the Gardens that took place in the last month, all in a few paragraphs.

The earlier part of the month was more inactive than usual, although conversation examples were about issues stats and puppet series. Thankfully, activity increased later in the month, as the [url=https://www.nationstates.net/page=dispatch/id=1674725]21st Gazette[/url] was published and Gardeners looked forward to the now-finished Card Bracket contest. The return of the [i]Card Questions of the Week[/i] presumably also helped, and this month's questions regarded predicted rarities for Gardener's own Season 3 cards and unfinished card goals for each member. Furthermore, March 20th was an important day for our Society, due to its great results in the [url=https://forum.nationstates.net/viewtopic.php?p=39376707#p39376707]2022 Card Awards[/url]! The Gardens earned second place in the [i]Indescribably and Irrevocably Irresistible[/i] category just like last year, and most notably, this very Gardener's Gazette was chosen as the [i]Card Publication of the Year[/i], whose trophy can be seen below! I would like to thank everyone who supported us in the vote, our monthly readers and upvoters, and of course anyone that has ever written an article.

[center][img view="standout border shadow"]https://i.imgur.com/Ntt8Wjz.png?1[/img]
[i]The trophy for the Card Publication of the Year category, designed by [nation]Ioavollr[/nation].[/i][/center]

With the weekly question regarding rarity predictions, Gardeners also talked about the Season 3 release in general, agreeing that it's a needed step to encourage more activity in the cards community, but also talking about possible changes that may be taken by the admins before, regarding issues such as inflation and card farming. The latter was also discussed in the Toolshed when [url=https://forum.nationstates.net/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=515609]future changes to script rules[/url] were announced by [violet] on the Technical forum, with the potential of greatly changing card farming scripts. It is expected that the change will render the popular script GotIssues illegal, because it "auto-generat[es] HTML links containing embedded information" for a specific issue option to be answered, whereas many other card scripts' future status is still unknown.

Some people pondered if the 2022 April Fools event would be related to cards due to Season 1's four year anniversary, but it was the [url=https://www.nationstates.net/page=news/2022/04/02/index.html]Global Trade Fair[/url] instead. A special channel in the Gardens was created in preparation for the event, named #trade-but-not-of-cards, and a [i]Not Card Question of the Week[/i] asked if Gardeners were excited about the event. It was very different than what one would expect, despite sharing the "trade" word with cards, because the more commonplace activity was to inspect other nations in order to steal their goods and then stash them in one's home region, with not much actual trade happening. Although the region of [region]Suspicious[/region] dominated the event, followed by other large regions, there were a few one-man armies aiming for one specific item through puppets. Several card farmers joined in the fun, for example Gardener [nation]Triseria[/nation], whose region of [region]Sunset Shimmer[/region] stashed 1045 tractor parts and finished in second place for that item.

Last but not least, it is a tradition to mention in this Garden Insight the names of new members that joined the Gardens recently! Please give a warm welcome to [nation]Polinasia[/nation] and [nation]Triseria[/nation] that joined during March, and may their harvests give great fruits from now on.

[hr][color=#1f8b4c][size=133]Garden Spotlight[/size][/color]
by [nation]Giovanniland[/nation]

Continuing the tradition of releasing one Garden Spotlight every four months, we now have the fifth iteration! Following the other iterations in the [url=https://www.nationstates.net/page=dispatch/id=1475788]6th[/url], [url=https://www.nationstates.net/page=dispatch/id=1529798]10th[/url], [url=https://www.nationstates.net/page=dispatch/id=1580268]14th [/url] and [url=https://www.nationstates.net/page=dispatch/id=1632403]18th[/url] editions of the Gazette, this spotlight features both newly created and older collections, including those posted in the Garden Displays channel and those submitted as entries in one or more monthly contests.

[url=https://www.nationstates.net/page=deck/collection=38660]5[/url] by [nation]Seanat[/nation]: While many collections are prized for representing a theme, here Seanat chooses to display an enhanced version of the complete set of Season 2 legendary cards! The collection's name is explained by the fact it contains not only one, but five copies of all 169 legendary cards, for a total of 845 cards. The user in question has recently reached 100 thousand deck value in legendary cards alone, and this collection proves their valiant efforts put into card farming and trading.

[url=https://www.nationstates.net/page=deck/collection=37626]Avatar: The Last Airbender And The Legend Of Korra[/url] by [nation]Panagouge[/nation]: This beautiful display shows Panagouge's advanced collection skills, developing multiple well-regarded collections in the past months and earning second place in the Collection Bracket with this one. This specific collection highlights two famous animation series that are the main components of the Avatar franchise, not to be confused with the film franchise of same name.

[url=https://www.nationstates.net/page=deck/collection=37864]Class Cards[/url] by [nation]The Unified Missourtama States[/nation]: A recently rebuilt collection of cards from class nations, that earned the third-place in the Collection Bracket event. Class regions are a special feature of NationStates that allows teachers to use the game for educational purposes, therefore their regions are sealed off from the rest of the world and we can't move into them nor contact their residents. However, even though we'll probably never never get to talk with them, you can surely collect them!

[url=https://www.nationstates.net/page=deck/collection=45824]First in stats[/url] by [nation]Neim[/nation]: A display of cards of all nations currently ranked first in at least one World Census stat. An interesting detail is that it is updated according to changes in the world rankings, unlike [url=https://www.nationstates.net/page=deck/collection=351]Samudera[/url] and [url=https://www.nationstates.net/page=deck/collection=21482]Pangurstan[/url]'s collection that display nations with the best stat at the time of the Season 1 and Season 2 snapshots respectively. 

Bonus: [url=https://www.nationstates.net/page=deck/collection=32602]Intricate design, each step unfolds in order, the end captivates[/url] by [nation]Vylixan[/nation]: Although this collection was already highlighted in the [url=https://www.nationstates.net/page=dispatch/id=1529798]2nd Garden Spotlight[/url], I find it an interesting idea to bring it back as it was chosen by popular vote to be the winner of the collection Bracket! Many of the cards in the collections resemble kaleidoscope images and are even somewhat hypnotizing, and they surely make the viewer think, with the additional fact of the title being a haiku.

[hr][color=#1f8b4c][size=133]Winners of the Month[/size][/color]
by [nation]Giovanniland[/nation]

In this article we will talk about the giveaways of March! This month had twelve giveaways just like February, although missing by one day the chance of having two more since April started on a Friday. Regardless, there was a fair share of valuable cards, including the Season 1 legendary of [url=https://www.nationstates.net/page=deck/card=77715/season=1]Techno[/url], and the famous [url=https://www.nationstates.net/page=deck/card=1/season=2]Season 2 Testlandia[/url]. However, there was a high contrast to February regarding the distribution of wins, because only one Gardener won twice during the month! Seems [nation]Porflox[/nation] collected some four-leaf clovers during March, and incidentally one of their wins was one day after March 17, Saint Patrick's Day. The other ten giveaways were shared by ten different Gardeners as you can see below:

[table][tr][td]Nation[/td][td]Number of Wins[/td][/tr]
[tr][td][nation]Porflox[/nation][/td]
[td]2[/td][/tr]
[tr][td][nation]Laudesia[/nation][/td]
[td]1[/td][/tr]
[tr][td][nation]Marxmeans[/nation][/td]
[td]1[/td][/tr]
[tr][td][nation]Indusse[/nation][/td]
[td]1[/td][/tr]
[tr][td][nation]Varanius[/nation][/td]
[td]1[/td][/tr]
[tr][td][nation]Grea Kriopia[/nation][/td]
[td]1[/td][/tr]
[tr][td][nation]Giraffeton[/nation][/td]
[td]1[/td][/tr]
[tr][td][nation]Andusre[/nation][/td]
[td]1[/td][/tr]
[tr][td][nation]Ioavollr[/nation][/td]
[td]1[/td][/tr]
[tr][td][nation]The United Peoples of Centrism[/nation][/td]
[td]1[/td][/tr]
[tr][td][nation]Polinasia[/nation][/td]
[td]1[/td][/tr]
[/table]

[hr][color=#1f8b4c][size=133]Community Contribution Awards[/size][/color]
by [nation]Giovanniland[/nation]

Six months ago, the transition between [nation]The Unified Missourtama States[/nation] and myself happened, and the third edition of the Community Contribution Awards was also announced in the same month. Therefore, it's now time for the fourth editions! Every six months we census contributions from the community and recognize the most active members in the categories of [i]Cards[/i] and [i]Commentary[/i].

[b]Cards –[/b] recognizes members who donated the most cards to help support the activities of the Society. The top in this category gets a custom role on our community Discord! Top 4 members are listed below:
[list][nation]Fauzjhia[/nation] with 10 donated Legendary cards;
[nation]The Unified Missourtama States[/nation] with 7 donated Legendary cards;
[nation]Indimu[/nation] with 4 donated Legendary cards;
[nation]Economichunger[/nation] with 1 donated Legendary card.[/list]

[b]Commentary –[/b] recognizes members who are active in conversation (non-spam, interactive messages) in our community Discord. The top in this category gets a [b][color=#ffd700]legendary[/color][/b] card, this time a [url=https://www.nationstates.net/page=deck/card=1/season=2]Season 2 Testlandia[/url]! Top 4 members are listed below:
[list][nation]Racoda[/nation] with 250 messages;
[nation]Panagouge[/nation] with 223 messages;
[nation]Fauzjhia[/nation] with 217 messages;
[nation]Vylixan[/nation] with 208 messages.[/list]

[hr][color=#1f8b4c][size=133]Monthly Contest Results and Update[/size][/color]
by [nation]Giovanniland[/nation]

After February's Valentine's Day Collection Contest ended, March saw a [b]Card Bracket[/b] happening, another idea put forward by [nation]Marxmeans[/nation] in response to one of December's [i]Card Questions of the Week[/i]. Gardeners had a two-week submission period to link me two cards that they owned either in their main nation or a puppet, one Season 1 and one Season 2 card. After that, the submissions were placed in one of two brackets according to their seasons, with their fate decided by popular vote. Let's see how the event happen, firstly through mentioning all entries.

[table][tr][td]Gardener[/td][td]Season 1 Card[/td][td]Season 2 Card[/td][/tr]
[tr][td][nation]Aerilia[/nation][/td]
[td][url=https://www.nationstates.net/page=deck/card=2218828/season=1]A Small Fish in a Big Pond[/url][/td]
[td][url=https://www.nationstates.net/page=deck/card=2205993/season=2]A Dead Fish in a Big Pond[/url][/td][/tr]
[tr][td][nation]Giraffeton[/nation][/td]
[td][url=https://www.nationstates.net/page=deck/card=1652256/season=1]Opalium[/url][/td]
[td][url=https://www.nationstates.net/page=deck/card=254341/season=2]Feirmont[/url][/td][/tr]
[tr][td][nation]Laudesia[/nation][/td]
[td][url=https://www.nationstates.net/page=deck/card=1633166/season=1]Noahs Second Country[/url][/td]
[td][url=https://www.nationstates.net/page=deck/card=5/season=2]NERVUN[/url][/td][/tr]
[tr][td][nation]Panagouge[/nation][/td]
[td][url=https://www.nationstates.net/page=deck/card=55504/season=1]The Great Fire Nation[/url][/td]
[td][url=https://www.nationstates.net/page=deck/card=2721798/season=2]Ahsoka Tano[/url][/td][/tr]
[tr][td][nation]Polinasia[/nation][/td]
[td][url=https://www.nationstates.net/page=deck/card=25897/season=1]Krulltopia[/url][/td]
[td][url=https://www.nationstates.net/page=deck/card=712730/season=2]United Republic Empire[/url][/td][/tr]
[tr][td][nation]Seanat[/nation][/td]
[td][url=https://www.nationstates.net/page=deck/card=689/season=1]Headingtonia[/url][/td]
[td][url=https://www.nationstates.net/page=deck/card=393992/season=2]Trading Cards[/url][/td][/tr]
[tr][td][nation]The Unified Missourtama States[/nation][/td]
[td][url=https://www.nationstates.net/page=deck/card=2606484/season=1]Hoperica[/url][/td]
[td][url=https://www.nationstates.net/page=deck/card=34582/season=2]The Empire of Orion[/url][/td][/tr]
[tr][td][nation]Vylixan[/nation][/td]
[td][url=https://www.nationstates.net/page=deck/card=13616/season=1]Xoriet[/url][/td]
[td][url=https://www.nationstates.net/page=deck/card=445300/season=2]The Solar System Scope[/url][/td][/tr]
[/table]

After the submission period ended, the bracket was housed in a Discord channel open only to Gardeners, #card-bracket. Due to the total number of entrants being eight in both brackets, randomness was not needed at first and there were then four quarter-finals in each bracket. In the Season 1 bracket, Aerilia and Vylixan won against their respective opponents Giraffeton and TUMS by large margins (12-1 and 12-2 respectively), whereas Panagouge earned a fair share of 10 votes against Laudesia's 4, and Polinasia edged Seanat by a slight margin of 8-6. Meanwhile, for Season 2, Vylixan similarly won against TUMS 12-3, but other results were fairly different—Giraffeton won against Aerilia 9-5 and Laudesia defeated Panagouge 9-4. The most interesting result was of course Polinasia vs. Seanat, which ended in a tie of 7 votes each. Therefore, a coin toss was chosen to determine who would advance, and Polinasia was the lucky winner.

In the Season 1 semifinals, Panagouge's 9 votes allowed them a spot in the final in comparison to Aerilia's 4, and the same happened with Vylixan after defeating Polinasia 10-4. The Season 2 bracket was of course different, with the first semifinal seeing Giraffeton win against Laudesia with a score of 9-4. Meanwhile, the second semifinal saw a rematch of its Season 1 counterpart, because it also featured Polinasia and Vylixan. However, the result was different—Polinasia's card earned one more vote than Vylixan's (7-6), thus ensuring the former a place in the final. Last but not least, the finals! The Season 1 final saw a close match between Panagouge and Vylixan, and the latter won by two votes, whereas in the third-place match Aerilia defeated Polinasia with a score of 7-4. In the Season 2 bracket, Polinasia won against Giraffeton also with a score of 7-4, and the third-place match saw Vylixan's 8 votes win against Laudesia's 4.

After the bracket concluded, all nations that finished in third place or better were awarded a legendary card! Vylixan was the only one to appear in both podiums, winning Season 1 and being third in Season 2, thus they were awarded a [url=https://www.nationstates.net/page=deck/card=410/season=1]Season 1 Luna Amore[/url]. Polinasia also won a Season 1 card, namely [url=https://www.nationstates.net/page=deck/card=84731/season=1]Muspellheim[/url], after winning the Season 2 bracket. The other three Gardeners that received prizes were Panagouge (Season 1 runner-up), Giraffeton (Season 2 runner-up), and Aerilia (Season 1 third place), who earned copies of Season 2 legendary cards [url=https://www.nationstates.net/page=deck/card=650243/season=2]Sacara[/url], [url=https://www.nationstates.net/page=deck/card=105657/season=2]Free Socialism[/url], and [url=https://www.nationstates.net/page=deck/card=95034/season=2]Pythagosaurus[/url] respectively.

In summary, we can see bracket-style contests are a great type of competition! We saw a record of 15 votes, a score attained by the Vylixan vs. TUMS match (12-3) of the Season 2 quarterfinals—and I thank all who participated, whether by entering cards to the bracket, voting, or both. Furthermore, it's also time to announce the next contest, and this month we'll have something different than cards and collections. Namely, the Gardens are holding the [b]2nd Gardening Contest[/b]! The instructions are the same as last year's—show off your gardening abilities by taking a photo of your house’s garden, or if you don’t have one or don’t want to show it due to privacy concerns, you can also draw how you want your ideal garden to look like. The rules are listed below: 

[list=1][*][b]Photos[/b] must be original work by the person submitting, this means no stealing a random photo from the internet, since we will check submissions for that. 
[*][b]Designs[/b] can be either drawn digitally or by hand, and must also be original content.
[*]Every submission must follow Card Gardens and NationStates rules.
[*]Submissions must be sent by Discord DM to [nation]Giovanniland[/nation], closing at 23:59 UTC on Sunday, May 1st. Please send a link to the artwork, preferably hosted on an image-hosting site like Imgur.
[*]The winner will win a shiny legendary card, and additional prizes may be awarded if there are several entries.[/list]

The winner will then be announced in the next Gazette, and all entries will also be listed so that readers can look at every artwork. Good luck gardening!

[hr][color=#1f8b4c][size=133]2022 Gardener of the Year[/size][/color]
by [nation]Giovanniland[/nation]

We close this edition with the announcement of the [b]2022 Gardener of the Year[/b] award winners, the second edition of this special award created last year, in order to recognize non-admin Gardeners that have made pivotal contributions to our Society over the course of a year. A total of seven different nominations were made, and this time we have a clear winner!

Please congratulate [b][nation]Vylixan[/nation][/b] for winning the award this year! Some of the reasons cited were their incredible collections and overall helpfulness and niceness in the cards community, and I can also add that they have participated in multiple Gardens contests, are an active contributor to activity of our server and also have gifted a fair amount of cards to help our Society thrive. Congratulations to Vylixan for the well-earned award! They may display this award in signatures, trophy dispatches, or other places they want to show it:

[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/3QzX0v2.png[/img][/center]

Furthermore, I also want to mention the other nominations, even if they didn't manage to get enough mentions to win. [nation]Destructive Government Economic System[/nation], [nation]Fauzjhia[/nation], [nation]Ioavollr[/nation], and [nation]New Makasta[/nation] all received one nomination each. I thank not only these members for their contributions to our community, but also every other Gardener that wasn't nominated, because all contributions should be celebrated no matter how big or small they are. 

[hr]See you all next month for another Gardener's Gazette edition. Credits to [nation]Giovanniland[/nation] for leading the newspaper publication and writing the articles! If you want to contribute to the Society, apply to join the Sub-Administrative Committee, or donate cards to [nation]EpLeHo[/nation]! Feel free to ping @administration on our Discord server for more details.