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For future reference!

How many planes so far did we had a set in it?

Off the top of my head:

Worlds that were the primary plane of a set:

- Dominaria

- Rabiah

- Ulgrotha

- Rath (later overlaid on Dominaria)

- Mercadia

- Mirrodin/New Phyrexia

- Kamigawa

- Ravnica

- Alara

- Lorwyn/Shadowmoor

- Zendikar

- Innistrad

- Theros

- Tarkir

- Kaladesh

- Amonkhet

- Ixalan

- Eldraine

- Ikoria

- Fiona

- Kylem

- Bablovia

Worlds that were part of a set:

- Serra’s Realm

- Phyrexia

- Segovia

- Vryn

- Regatha

- Bolas’s Meditation Realm

- Muraganda

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Cool idea.

Can you give us an example of a mechanic you really loved but was just a little too out there to make work on a group of cards?

Time Spiral had a cycle of cards that if they were in your deck they made a small subset of cards legal in the deck even if they weren’t normally part of that format. Subsets including things like Wizards and artifacts with a CMC of 6. It turned out to be a little “too out there” for the rest of R&D and got pulled.

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For silver border, it’s MaRo, Rules Papager.

Who's the highest authority on MtG rulings?

For black border, the Rules Mamager.

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Important ruling to keep around somewhere.

Hey Mark, I know Acornelia doesn't consider Krosan Beast to be a squirrel in its original art, but is it sufficiently squirrely for her tastes in the new secret lair art?

The Secret Lair Krosan Beast art is definitely Squirrel-y enough for Acornelia.

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I can’t wait for KayaQueen.

So, Mark, you just said that Kayaking is the first set to be designed during pandemic. Let's say everything goes well and it's released as planned, in how many years from now are we likely to see this set? Also, does it have something to do with Kaya?

Kayaking is over two years from being released.

The codenames have nothing to do with what the set is about. They are selected before we even know where the set takes place or what its mechanical themes are.

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Welcome here, and thank you, Sympathetic Mark.

Focusing on the small differences between Nalathni dragon, nexus of fate, and the secret lair feels like a deliberate splitting of hairs and intentionally ignoring the commonalities which is what is upsetting players: once the window of opportunity to get these cards has passed, it’s going to be incredibly hard to get them. This response feels like the communities concerns are being ignored which makes us more upset and feeling overall gaslit. It doesn’t inspire confidence.

Here’s my problem. My job is about splitting hairs. Chroma was a failed mechanic and Devotion was a hit. The difference between something working and something not can often be tiny executions. I try on this blog to let you see my designer persona which does a lot of nit-picking, but you bring a good point that when the audience is upset, that’s not the persona you need and I apologize for that. You guys are hurting and what you need from me is an acknowledgement of that hurt. You need sympathetic Mark and not designer Mark.

One of the by-products of being a face of Magic is I’m a lightning rod for feedback. There’s good and bad to that, but it does mean that I have a unique insight into what is upsetting you all. I just wrote a write-up to share with my bosses to explain what I’ve learned, and I want to thank you all for feeling comfortable enough with me to share your issues.

So, I’m sorry so many of you are hurting right now. I’ll stop acting like designer Mark on this topic. It’s just causing more pain and that’s the last thing I want.

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1. Yes, as long as it feels either « special » (MLP, Godzilla, Transformers...) or coherent (like, a D&D expansion).

2. Please do it in such a way that it will be available AND affordable for the players who want them. A lot of this uproar comes from the distribution scarcity (some countries can’t even order Secret Lair drops), price tag (50+ € for a few cards), and feeling that players are considered « cash cows » by relying on the FOMO that holds every (most) Magic player.

Not every product is for every player, but this is a game and players shouldn’t feel like they either HAVE TO spend a huge amount of money to get the special cards, or get BLOWN OUT because they couldn’t afford them at the time and now they’re even more financially out of reach.

I’ve been getting a lot of feedback today. I’d like to ask the following two questions:

1) Would you like to see Magic have cards with other IPs on them, yes or no?

2) If, yes, how would you like us to do them?

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Mind = goated.

Could I have Birthday Trvia on goats?

Atog is an anagram of “goat” because, like goats, it ate objects.

Happy Birthday!

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So many interesting clues (not to mention more Horrors!) 🤔

Maro’s Zendikar Rising Teaser

Before previews for Zendikar Rising officially begin, I thought it would be fun to do another of my Duelist-style teasers where I give tiny hints of things to come. Note that I’m only giving you partial information.

First up, here are some things you can expect:

• A white creature that can make an opponent lose the game simply by attacking them no matter how much life they have

• A multicolor creature that lets you repeatedly reanimate permanents out of your opponent’s graveyard for no mana

• Three creatures with five creature types

• An artifact granting +2/+2 to a subset of creatures that first appeared in Alpha

• X being used for a variable it’s never been used for before

• a 6/6 artifact creature that costs 3 and a 7/5 artifact creature that can cost 3

• The return of four mana symbols that have each only ever been used on two cards before

• Lands that come with a choice you’ve never had before

• Targeted enchantment removal in black

• A red/white creature with a line of rules text that starts with “Whenever” and ends with “draw a card”

• A card with three different activated abilities that all copy something

Here are snippets of rules text, you’ll see:

• “three plus”

• “different converted mana cost X or less”

• “equal to 20 minus”

• “Cowards can’t block Warriors”

•  “don’t lose unspent red mana”

• “twice the number of equipment”

• “If it’s the third time”

And finally, here are some creature type lines you’ll see:

• Mouse

• Leviathan Crab

• Shapeshifter Rogue

• Demon Cleric

• Wurm Horror

• Hydra Horror

• Cat Horror

• Angel Wizard

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Some personal insight that bring positivity to our striving world. Thank you MaRo, we’re counting on you.

Some Thoughts I’d Like To Share

This post is coming from me personally and not in my role as a spokesperson for Wizards of the Coast. There’s just a few things I‘d like to say. First up, I strongly believe black lives matter. I believe there is systemic racism towards black people in this country. I think it’s an important issue that needs light shed upon it, because we as a country (and really, as a world) need to change and be better. I’m stating this firmly and bluntly, because I don’t want anyone doubting where I stand or what I believe.

Second, I feel my fellow co-workers at Wizards of the Coast share my desire to be a part of this change. I’ve heard their passion about it in meetings, in online communication, and just when talking face-to-face around the building. I’ve watched as we’ve worked hard to incorporate diversity and representation, both in the game and at the company. That said, I’ll be the first to say we have room for improvement. We have a lot of work to do to get to the place we’d like to be, especially in employment. I believe we’re moving in the right direction, but we need to figure out how to move faster.

Third, I think we need to be better at communicating with all of you. I go to meetings where so much work is being done to improve things and then I turn to social media where I get yelled at for Wizards not doing anything. I would like us to be better at telling all of you what we’re up to. We have a good vision. It should be shared.

Fourth and finally, this has been a time of self-reflection. There’s three truths about myself I must come to terms with. One, I’m a white man that grew up in America in the 70’s and 80’s. I need to recognize that a lot of things I’ve internalized as normal and “just part of life” have ugly aspects tied to them. I need to self-educate to understand these biases so that I can remove them. Two, I sometimes miss larger context to the things I say or do. It’s on me to use whatever resources necessary to avoid doing this in the future. Three, I need to learn how to be a better advocate for black people (as well as other people of color and women). It’s not enough to just do no wrong. I need to listen and learn the things I can do to actively make things better. Not solving the problem is being part of the problem.

Thank you for reading this, and I hope I might inspire others to do some self-reflection.

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No, I would KEEP Companions, for two reasons:

1. You (Magic R&D) need to test out new space, and this kind of innovation (being good or bad in itself, which I am not to judge) is what helps push the game forward and helped its longevity.

2. I liked the idea of additional deckbuilding restrictions in exchange for bonuses (be they as powerful as some out there).

I’m also neither a tournament nor older formats player, so this probably won’t impact me much, but makes point #2 very subjective (and I’m aware of this).

Never stop innovating! I love Companion as a concept. I think its power level wound up too high (mostly be companion restrictions being looser than they appear) but I think as a mechanic it's a good one. More like Kaheera and Umori and less like Lurrus and Obosh could be good in the future. They just need more playtesting.

This leads to an interesting question - would you erase companions from existence? Yes or no, and please say why.

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This inspired that.

Immaculate Ultimatum

UURRRWW

Sorcery

Target player gains 5 life. Immaculate Ultimatum deals 5 damage to any target. Draw 5 cards.

What would those numbers have to be to make this card exciting?

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I am actually eager to know more.

Maro’s Ikoria Teaser

Previews for Ikoria: Lair of the Behemoths don’t start until April 2, but I’ve been getting a lot of requests from people cooped up at home that are eager for any content, so I decided to do something I used to do all the time back in my column in The Duelist. I’m going to be giving you a Maro Teaser where I give tiny hints of things to come. Note that I’m only giving you partial information.

The following can be found in Ikoria:

• Magic’s seventh Egg

• A card with the text “four or more times this game”

• A card with the text “total power 10 or less”

• Magic’s largest power/toughness granting aura.

• A card with the text “X is the number of times this creature has mutated”

• Magic’s third and fourth card with “(Zero is even.)” reminder text.

• Three cards with the text “different name(s)”

• Twelve different types of counters

• A card that says “choose a kind of counter at random”

• A card with the text “remove eight foreshadow counters”

• And a cycle that players have been asking us to make for over ten years

In addition, Ikoria has creatures with the following creature types:

• Dinosaur Turtle

• Shark Beast

• Demon Kraken

• Elemental Otter

• Brushwagg

• Hellion Horror

• and a Nightmare Squirrel (Yes, a Squirrel in a Standard-legal set!)

Hopefully, this can tide you all over until the previews begin on April 2nd. Enjoy!

EDIT: Oops, there’s actually thirteen different type of counters. I searched for counter and planeswalkers don’t actually say “counter” on them. So that’s twelve not counting loyalty counters. Sorry.

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That seems like a card Boros would like for EDH 🤔

Finish the card! "1RW Instant Destroy target ___"

artifact. Create X red and white Warriors where X is that artifact’s converted mana cost.”

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New Ron Spencer art. What more could I ask for?

Wait Mark. Ron Spencer is my favorite MTG artist ever, and I don’t know how to thank you for bringing back the Infernal Spawn family (and his unique style)!!! I’m so excited about Unsanctioned, but this pushes it over the top!

I was excited that we could make it happen. It’s one of the things I was bummed didn’t make it into Unstable.

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Nice peak at some behind-the-scenes work :)

Another find of the day. Here’s my notes when I was coming up with six different meanings of S.N.E.A.K. for Unstable flavor text.

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A THEROS BEYOND DEATH MEME

So I couldn’t help but notice the likeness of Gallia and this infamous meme (stance, staff/rod/broom, clothing colors... not to mention the 3 creatures mattering).

I had to create my own meme with it.

I’m starting to think they did the art and card on purpose. Any thoughts?

#therosbeyonddeath #mtg #meme #mtgmeme #commander #edh