Winners Announced: Umbral vs Celestial Screenshot Saturday Contest

Legends written with light and shadow

Hello heroes! Beleen here, emerging from approximately 116 screenshots later with permanently dazzled eyeballs. No complaints whatsoever 🤩

For the Umbral vs Celestial screenshot contest, we asked you to choose between the Shadows and the Heavens, and you gave us cinematic battles, celestial warriors, ominous outlaws, gorgeous player housing, dramatic editing, and enough glowing particle effects to make my graphics card file a formal complaint.

We saw angels and demons and super heroes and super villains and mysterious beings that I'm still not entirely convinced weren't actual deities. And as always, narrowing everything down was ridiculously difficult. Every contest reminds us of just how wildly creative the AQ3D community is, and this one was no exception.

So without further ado… meet our marvelous 🎉 winners! 🎉

1st Place Winners, 3000 Dragon Crystals

Yes, you read that correctly. We simply couldn't choose just ~one~ 1st place winner this time, so we settled with two. Well, technically, three!

Grand Prize, Solo Entry: Loki Monster

Absolutely breathtaking, Loki Monster! The composition, lighting, atmosphere, and overall presentation is out of this world — literally! And, honestly, we didn't expect anything less from you :) Congratulations Loki Monster, and please enjoy these 3000 Dragon Crystals for your celestial screenshots!

Grand Prize, Group Entry: MEKUZ MEKUZ & -BLC-

This super hero masterpiece deserved something super special. The teamwork, creativity, conflict, and overall execution were simply too good not to honor! They even wrote a little fanfic story on Discord, if you wanted to check that out too. For winning 1st place, MEKUZ MEKUZ and -BLC- will split the 3000 DC grand prize winnings PLUS an Emperor's Chest for each! Congratulations to both of you!

 

2nd Place, 2000 Dragon Crystals

ZyXe

valltier

These entries absolutely dazzled us with their creativity, atmosphere, and storytelling. Narrowly missing the top spot, each one showcased incredible craftsmanship and a fantastic eye for composition. Congratulations, ZyXe and valltier!

 

3rd Place, 1000 Dragon Crystals

MKeL

-Dragon-

Vove

Beautifully composed, wonderfully creative, and packed with more personality than a caffeine-fueled moglin barista at Scarbucks Coffee, these screenshots stood out from an incredibly competitive field. Amazing work MKeL, -Dragon-, and Vove.

 

4th Place, Emperor’s Chest

Crucify & Sahir

Graves Reed & -Ojin-

-Jayzer-

Assmodeous

Outstanding work! These screenshots impressed us with their creativity, style, and attention to detail, earning each creator an Emperor's Chest worthy of their efforts. Amazing job Crucify & Sahir, Graves Reed & -Ojin-, -Jayzer-, and Assmodeous!

 

5th Place, Warlord’s Chest

-KENJIRO-

MapCurse

ZeroArt & Nakshie

Ty-Lia McWizardly

Jayriel

Creativity comes in many forms, and these entries reminded us just how much talent exists throughout the AQ3D community. Congratulations on earning a Warlord's Chest -KENJIRO-, MapCurse, ZeroArt and Nakshie, Ty-Lia McWizardly, and Jayriel!

 

6th Place, Soldier’s Chest

ThePlague

Dr X

shenronDJ

 

-Nisa- & Lienhardt

 

giaaaaa & Tifa Lockheart

 

R A M I

Last on the list... but certainly not least! Considering how many amazing entries we received, making it onto this winners list is an achievement all by itself. Congratulations, heroes!

 

Above & Beyond: Poe Prize

One screenshot didn’t quite fit into a traditional placement… because it deserves a category all its own. We'd like to present a very special award inspired by one of my personal favorite Edgar Allan Poe poems, “The Raven.”

 

Nocturno

This haunting recreation captured the spirit, atmosphere, and melancholy beauty of Poe's legendary work in a way we absolutely loved! For this midnight dreary entry, we’re awarding Nocturno (whose username totally checks out btw) with 1313 Dragon Crystals!  

But why 1313?

This is a tribute to Room 13, the dorm room long associated with Poe during his time at university, a fitting nod to one of literature's most iconic masters of the macabre.

Congratulations Nocturno, and may the raven forever remind us… 

Nevermore!

Above & Beyond: Blackwood Castle

And another player deserves recognition beyond the contest categories. Fellow hero Austria submitted more than just a few screenshots… they submitted an entire world! 

Blackwood Castle impressed us with its ambitious architecture, atmospheric storytelling, and nearly 2,000 placed house items, all crafted in Saga Mode!!! Complete with its own original lore, mysterious history, and future expansion plans, this project showcased just how creative Player Housing can be. Read the story of Blackwood Castle here!

 

As a special recognition for Austria’s house + lore build… and perhaps to help replenish the mountain of gold spent bringing it to life, lol!… we’re awarding Austria with 1,500 Dragon Crystals and 100,000 Gold.

Congratulations, Austria! We can't wait to see what Blackwood Castle becomes next.

 

Congratulations & Thank You 

Let’s give a HUGE round of applause to all our amazing winners! And to everyone who entered...

Thank YOU!

Every Screenshot Saturday somehow raises the bar even higher, and it's genuinely inspiring seeing the worlds, stories, friendships, and creativity you bring to life inside AQ3D. Whether you won this time or not, your screenshots helped make this contest an absolute joy to judge.

Keep experimenting, keep creating, and keep making us question how you managed to capture THAT screenshot at THAT exact moment.

We'll see you all at the next Screenshot Saturday!

Battle on,
Beleen, our wonderfully overwhelmed panel of judges, and the AQ3D team

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