Blogatog

how many asks about the teaser that you can’t answer do you have already?

Wed, 26 Aug 2026 02:16:44 -0400

Some. : )

What makes an IP suitable for a UB vs a secret lair? What sort of considerations go into whether an IP will get a collab at all? Does the size/total gross revenue of the IP factor in? The time period of peak popularity? The demographics of the fan base of the IP? The subject matters/themes of the IP? The nation of origin of the IP?

Wed, 26 Aug 2026 02:16:28 -0400

Here’s an article I wrote about how we pick Universes Beyond partners:

The Challenges of Making Universes Beyond

Hi Mark! Hope your day is going well! As a lover of MTG and a horse enthusiast could I request that we get more horses that could be used as commanders? Sorry if a silly question

Tue, 25 Aug 2026 22:11:24 -0400

It’s not a silly question. I assume we’ll make more legendary Horses.

If enchantments and artifacts were a subtype from a parent “noncreature permanent” type (let’s call it “Thingy”), would Auras, Vehicles, Sagas, Equipment and others be secondary subtypes (Thingy - Artifact Equipment) or replace the subtype and not include Artifact or Enchantment (Thingy - Equipment)? Auras and Sagas could easily do without Enchantment, but Equipment and Vehicles do seem like they need to be subtypes of Artifacts.

Tue, 25 Aug 2026 22:10:40 -0400

As it’s all a hypothetical, it’s not a problem that’s been solved. Maybe they’re also Thingy subtypes.

I was wondering are there a significant number of reprints for the main universe version of characters in Reality Fracture?

Tue, 25 Aug 2026 22:09:32 -0400

No, mostly they are new designs.

Would you ever use twobrid mana in a set with mechanics that care about mana value, or would it be considered too confusing

Tue, 25 Aug 2026 22:09:11 -0400

I would worry about it being confusing.

So I’ve been thinking with the whole entire nauticus set coming out what are the basics going to be like cuz kind of weird to have a plaina underwater isn’t it

Tue, 25 Aug 2026 22:08:35 -0400

You’ll have to wait and see. : )

They look great.

I dunno why you’re on my dash all the time but congrats on card game

Tue, 25 Aug 2026 22:07:39 -0400

Thanks.

Do you know why Tumblr is putting you all over my dashboard? I don’t follow you or any Wizards of the Coast or Magic the Gathering tags.

Tue, 25 Aug 2026 22:07:30 -0400

I have no idea. I think I generate a lot of content, so the algorithm likes me.

“It, along with the random draw, creates the core variance of the game. If the evolution of resources is predictable, it makes games play out very similar game to game.” I’ve been thinking about this answer for quote a while, and it honestly doesn’t sit right with me. (To refresh your memory on this subject, because its been some months, we were talking about why Lands have extra abilities and why was it necessary to have them in the main deck) This brings a big question to the table: Why is variance so important? The big glaring answer is that variance creates hype. One player has the other on the ropes, when the other player top decks a Wrath of God! The crowd goes wild! But then we have to ask a follow up question here: Is this good? When we’re just messing around with friends and chilling, variance is very important. Its one of the contributing factors that makes casual Commander so incredibly fun and popular. But, when looking at things from the eyes of a competitive player, a person who is playing for actual prizes, variance goes from a fun shock factor to an aspect of the game that can only end with frustration. We have all been there. We didn’t draw any lands, so we mulligan and now we draw only lands. The goal of a competitive player is to reduce variance as much as possible, and to win as fast as possible. When variance is directly programmed into the game, it makes people upset because there is a real chance they can lose because the planets didn’t align. This is the reason League of Legend’s ARAM doesn’t have ranked. With this in mind, I give my question: Since Commander has wildly different rules than Competitive, would it be feasible that Competitive be given some kind of rules that reduces variance even further? Because simple mulligans aren’t enough. If you go to a tournament, you are guaranteed to have a non-game or two.

Tue, 25 Aug 2026 22:01:24 -0400

You’re coming from the position that having a small number of non-games is worse than having all the other games that aren’t non-games play worse. I obviously disagree.

Tournament formats do have a means to lower their variance - the four-of card restriction.

In addition, even tournament-level play needs a certain amount of variance to keep play dynamic. There’s skill in responding to variance, as long as it’s within a certain parameter.

In short, I don’t think further reducing variance in tournaments is warranted.

Re: High variance undermining skill. This is actually debatable from a game theory perspective. Yes, if the variance is cranked all the way to an extreme you get the situation of a game where two people sit down to play chess and at the end of the match, they flip a coin and the coin determines the actual winner. However you can tweak the variance in ways that still test skill but throws a small, healthy amount of chance into the mix. Not disagreeing with you by the way. I have defended R&D’s position on die rolling many times, despite the fact that I think it’s a fun mechanic with lots of untapped design space.

Tue, 25 Aug 2026 17:11:21 -0400

We like high variance die rolling for more casual formats and don’t like them for high-end tournament formats.

The challenge is eternal legality means they are available in both, so sadly, we have to cost them for tournament formats.

Hi maro, could you please pin the reality fracture teaser :)

Tue, 25 Aug 2026 16:45:46 -0400

I did.

Local Winter Duskmourn fan here. Excited to see the Winter, Team Player name drop!!!! Really excited to get to see more of him in Reality Fracture. :)

Tue, 25 Aug 2026 16:45:39 -0400

Happy to hear that.

how has the fan reaction been to the new art direction for the in-universe sets?

Tue, 25 Aug 2026 16:45:13 -0400

What do you consider new art direction?

Hydras have appeared in every color: mostly green, of course, but a bunch were red back in the day, and a handful in Golgari, Simic, and Selesnya (and of course Progenitus in all colors). Did you mean a monocolor hydra, which means only not in green or red?

Tue, 25 Aug 2026 16:26:08 -0400

The teaser says the creatures appear in a monocolor that it has never appeared in before, meaning as a monocolor card.

Speaking of making the planeswalkers for MBC, please give a huge high to whoever’s idea it was to make Thomil and Worzel. I out of curiousity wanted to read the first ever mtg story a few years ago and found their story both endearing and a surprisingly clear vision into what the game was supposed to feel like at the time. See the characters and immediately noticing that they cast the spells they casted in the story was delightful and filled me with nerd glee.

Tue, 25 Aug 2026 16:25:25 -0400

Glad you enjoy the designs.

Yesterday you replied to someone asking if they actually wanted upkeep costs to come back. And actually, yes! If the game is slow enough so that having a permanent out multiple turns matters, an upkeep cost, or even a cumulative upkeep cost, represents a very meaningful decision. Undercosted permanents (enchantments are what I had in mind, but creatures and artifacts would work too) with cumulative upkeep costs are actually a fun idea. I wish those would come back in small doses.

Tue, 25 Aug 2026 16:25:05 -0400

Magic went pretty deep into upkeep costs in the early days and they were both unpopular and didn't play well. (Those two things are obviously connected.)

I'm not saying we won't dip into upkeep costs from time to time, but history doesn't make me optimistic there's good gameplay there.

Mark, can you tell us if you know where Aminatou is from? Can you tell us if she’s from Zhalfir?

Tue, 25 Aug 2026 16:23:20 -0400

I can't as I don't know where she is from.

“While individual sets have their own iterative loops, Magic design as a whole also has iterative loops.” Does Magic design end in a drawn game?

Tue, 25 Aug 2026 16:21:31 -0400

I'm not sure there's an end to Magic design.

Progenitus is. 5 colour hydra. And you said colourless is not a colour. So could you clarify?

Tue, 25 Aug 2026 16:20:58 -0400

I literally don't understand what you are asking. Could you clarify?

EDIT: A single color means a monocolor card that the creature type hasn’t appeared in before, again as a monocolor card.