Blogatog

You’ve implied that there’s a limit to the total Universes Beyond that Magic will do over the next 10-20 years, and that we are currently at the peak rate, correct? That is, in after 10-ish years you expect less than 50% of sets to be UB? Then, why must we get UB at the max rate of 50% now? Can’t the curve be equalized over the next 20 years? I realize I’m throwing math at a writing guy, sorry!

Fri, 05 Jun 2026 11:25:59 -0400

I do understand math. : )

We don’t know the total volume that Universes Beyond will fill, so we don’t have the ability to equalize it over a long time period.

Me believing there’s a limit is very different from us definitively knowing what that limit is.

Why is the marvel set using so many obscure characters? Is it intentionally trying to hit them or is it assumed most people know who the flash clone is (silver surfer or whomever)

Fri, 05 Jun 2026 11:22:32 -0400

One of our goals with all Universes Beyond products is to capture the wide breath of that property. To players less familiar with that property I understand some characters might feel more obscure, but to the fans of it, these are classic characters that are exciting for them to get cards of.

Hi Mark - what are the main arguments against changing legendary to a marker? Do they revolve mainly around the fact creating a keyword like unique for the cards that would require it would be a form of functional errata?

Fri, 05 Jun 2026 10:45:26 -0400

My new suggestion isn’t to change legendary, but rather create a new supertype that functions like legendary (it could be your commander) but doesn’t have the drawback. Going forward, we could choose which one we want for each creature, and just use legendary when the restriction is needed (which would be infrequent). This avoids any need for errata.

If or when: junk food tokens?

Fri, 05 Jun 2026 10:42:19 -0400

If. : )

It’s my birthday! I’ve been rereading my old issues of The Duelist, so I wish to invoke my ancient rite to ask for any trivia you have on either Mr. Suitcase or Mr. Pling.

Fri, 05 Jun 2026 10:41:32 -0400

Mr. Suitcase was written by a man named Paul Peterson who would later work in R&D. At Wizards, he designed the game Guillotine and would later make the game Smash Up after he left Wizards.

Happy Birthday!

Sorry, my perception of legendary as a downside got altered a bit due to the Alchemy card “three-tree battalion”.

Fri, 05 Jun 2026 07:45:21 -0400

Legendary being a marker (aka cards can mechanically care about it) doesn’t negate it having a downside.

Hi Mark, I’m a big fan of Strixhaven, and one of the things I love most about it is how well the worldbuilding and card design often support each other. Lore is very important to me, and I always get excited when a card’s mechanics and visual identity feel like a natural extension of the story. For example, I really enjoy characters like Eriette, the Charmed Apple, where the card captures the flavor of the character so well. Another example for me is the original Pest tokens from Strixhaven: School of Mages. I felt their design perfectly conveyed the strange, magical ecosystem of Witherbloom. My question is: what led to the decision to change the Pest token design later on? And as a follow-up, if a future set or card design were to focus on Pests again, would the design team consider returning to the original look? Personally, it felt much more flavorful and closely tied to Witherbloom’s identity. Thanks for all the work you and the team put into Magic!

Fri, 05 Jun 2026 07:44:22 -0400

Pest tokens changed because we thought the new version would lead to better gameplay. Part of doing revisits to a world is re-evaluating choices from the first visit.

In a recent answer you said “We have a property famous for its deep roster of characters, so we’re leaning into it.”, but you needed to have multiple card of the same character, with a slightly different name. Isn’t that a contradiction?

Fri, 05 Jun 2026 07:42:32 -0400

No. In Universes Beyond sets, we often do multiple version of popular characters, usually one focused on limited and one on constructed.

Where is Recover on the storm scale?

Fri, 05 Jun 2026 07:41:17 -0400

I’d call it a 9. I’m skeptical of its return.

Hi, Mark! Are there any plans to finish the “Bill” cycle by designing a monoblack legendary creature named Bill?

Fri, 05 Jun 2026 01:25:12 -0400

: )

In Mood Swings, why does red, green and black have 27 cards and white and blue each have 26? Which three cards were added to bring those three colours up by one each or why were 2 cut from white and blue?

Thu, 04 Jun 2026 23:59:08 -0400

The collation had 48 commons, 40 uncommons, 30 rares, and 15 mythics. That adds up to 133 which isn’t divisible by five, so two colors have one less card. I chose white and based on the cards I had to work with.

The UB discourse is beyond tiring for anyone trying to actually enjoy magic. Can you clarify so the community can maybe move on: is there any possible way you aren’t making more UB standard sets as the baseline going forward?

Thu, 04 Jun 2026 23:57:40 -0400

There are no current changes planned.

From your Marvel teaser, what was the subtype not seen in Standard in over 20 years? Minion?

Thu, 04 Jun 2026 23:23:57 -0400

I’m not sure we’ve seen it yet.

Why should commander “legality” matter for making a card legendary or not? You’ve talked a lot before about how people should rule 0 what they want in casual environments, making a non-legendary card your commander would certainly fall under that. On the other hand, non-singleton competitive formats exist where there is no “rule 0”, and the decision to make something legendary or not is a balance choice in those environments, not just a flavor one.

Thu, 04 Jun 2026 21:28:43 -0400

Legendary is barely a balance tool. Again, there are maybe ten cards in Magic’s history that need the restriction for play balance reasons.

If you removed the legend rule, would that provide the pretense to errata the Nephilim to be legendary?

Thu, 04 Jun 2026 20:53:09 -0400

It would make it easier to talk about the change.

You said every creature in the set is either common or legendary, doesn’t that fall under the gimmick sets you said you were done making?

Thu, 04 Jun 2026 19:17:42 -0400

There’s no gimmick. We have a property famous for its deep roster of characters, so we’re leaning into it.

hey mark, are we not seeing any guardians of the galaxy characters pop up in MSH previews because they’re getting they’re own set in the future??

Thu, 04 Jun 2026 19:16:14 -0400

I can’t speak to any particular character’s existence or absence, but I can say Marvel Super Heroes is not our last Marvel set. (We are making more than two Infinity Stones.)

I think making a non-legendary named creature card is bound to make somone upset they can’t make that card their commander. I am kind of upset none of the original shadowmoor spirit avatars aren’t legendary.

Thu, 04 Jun 2026 19:14:36 -0400

No decision won’t upset someone. Go look at today’s poll. I’ve never seen the audience more evenly split.

Have you started to work on your second non-magic game yet? I hope that one does not take 28 years to be available!!

Thu, 04 Jun 2026 19:13:52 -0400

I do have some other games, although nothing as developed as Mood Swings.

What date did you first learn Mood Swings was officially being made?

Thu, 04 Jun 2026 19:13:13 -0400

It got greenlit at the end of 2024. But things that get greenlit don’t always make it to print. It’s not until the first off line decks got sent to Wizards and I held one in my hand, in March, that I really believed it was actually happening.