Welcome everybody to the first Fan Community Spotlight of 2021. Not only is this the first one of the new year, but it's also a huge milestone for the series. For the first time on this series, we're taking a lot as a fan-made set that isn't for Hearthstone. This right here is a mini Freljord set for Legends of Runterra titled A Boy And His Yeti. This set follows Nunu and Willump and their journey across the cold Freljordian lands, and they appear as a card themselves.

This set was made by Frostivus, a seasoned veteran of custom Hearthstone expansions. One of the first Fan Community Spotlights I ever did was on a Hearthstone set of theirs called The Last Tour. Frostivus' Hearthstone sets have historically been known for attracting the attention of the actual Hearthstone team themselves, and even encouraging Frost to apply for a job! The website that holds these cards was made by Maysick (who also made the site that holds the cards for The Last Tour), and in the website, you can click on each individual card to see its full art and flavor text, just like the actual game.

The set is very short being only 18 cards (making it the smallest set I've covered on this set series so far), features no new keywords, and only contains Freljord cards, but is instead focused on flavor and mechanics. With that said, let's see how Frost made the set.

Given that this is one of the earliest custom sets for Legends of Runeterra and the first one for Fan Community Spotlight, what standards of quality are you hoping to lay down with this set?

Frost: "As always, my number one mission statement with every set is to make storytelling and worldbuilding my focus. I hope that readers can look at the set of cards and follow the chronology of events in the champion's life that shaped him to be who he is, as well as the world that he inhabits. If I can get more people to be excited about making exciting, immersive sets, that would be great! But you know, just more custom LoR sets being included into the spotlight, that would be great too."

What inspired you to make a set of this theme? What's the set about?

Frost: "So in LoL you have all these square-jawed men with buzz cuts and clunky armour, or reptilian insectoid monster hybrids, or warrior supermodels with basically no waistline . . . and then there's Nunu. I can't stress that enough -- literal gods of war and dragon aliens that can crush stars. And then there's Nunu. He has no superpower. He's a young kid in a big world looking for his mum. That stark contrast between him and the usual hero archetype just piqued my interest, and by the time I finished reading his short stories, the decision to share his story with cards came naturally. Also, Christmas, right? Pretty good timing."

Interviewer's note: The name of the artist is simply added to the image after the card is made. These aren't inherently present on cards made in the creator.

You're a seasoned veteran of custom Hearthstone expansions. Were there any unique challenges in making a set for another game?

Frost: "Most definitely. Back in my customHS cards I could hand-wave a lot of my egregiously bad designs with my usual 'embrace the RNG clown fiesta' excuse. Not in LoR. I essentially had to rein in a lot of my crazier concepts and act a lot more restrained in terms of design. Which, for anyone who knew me back in customHS, is the complete opposite of what I like to do. And you know, it's a whole new game with different numbers and mechanics. Card draw and AoE are priced differently. Hero Powers don't exist. It's like learning a new language again."

Are there any other specific cards you wish to highlight for any reason?

Frost: "Good Boy is a card that has been with me ever since Around The World in 80 Meals, 3 years ago, in my custom HS days, and has featured in every single of my sets since. He's got different art and way different effects now, and although he's just not as memorable anymore, I still consider him my good luck charm. He's a good boy.

The card that has gotten the highest amount of positive feedback so far is Adventure Time. This card uses a lot of Hearthstone lexicon because it came from Hearthstone -- meant for one of my now scrapped sets. It's my favorite too: I love giving players the opportunity for skill expression, and the multitude of permutations really makes this a flexible card with a place in most archetypes. It's also just simple, clean and short wording - my favorite kind of card design.

Good boy in HS. He'll find his way into Runeterra, you'll see.

In terms of flavor and cute factor, it goes unquestioningly to Tower of Poros. The concept of several minions making up one entity isn't a rare concept, but despite that, it remains a well-loved one. It's not competitive or ground-breaking design. But it is 3 fluffy animals stacked on top of each other."

Do you have anything behind the scenes you'd like to share?

Frost: "Yo, thanks, maysick. You make website design look easy (it's not, trust me.)"

Do you have anything else you'd like to share?

Frost: "I would really appreciate it if you would fill in this survey. Tell me your favorite cards, and let me know what you wanna see next! A designer thrives on having their work measured. No greater thrill while you're locked indoors during Christmas."

If these cards interest you, then check out the rest of the set. From this website, you'll also get to see the flavor text and full art of each card. If you've ever thought of making your own Legends of Runeterra set, then perhaps this set might inspire you to do so. I hope to see more of them, and I will gladly cover more of them.