Blogatog

"Drive to Work #1346 - All the Mood Swings Cards, Part 2"

Fri, 29 May 2026 12:07:21 -0400

"Drive to Work #1346 - All the Mood Swings Cards, Part 2":

This podcast is part two, of a five-part series, where I discuss the design of every card from my new TCG Mood Swings.

"Drive to Work #1345 - Landfall"

Fri, 29 May 2026 12:03:48 -0400

"Drive to Work #1345 - Landfall":

In this podcast, I talk about the history of one of the best mechanics in Magic, landfall.

"Drive to Work #1344 - Depth"

Fri, 29 May 2026 12:00:34 -0400

"Drive to Work #1344 - Depth":

Magic’s depth of game play has many pros and cons. In this podcast, I talk all about it.

If it hadn’t been for Pro Tour San Diego (and the preceding Grand Prix and PTQ events) in 2007, do you think it’s possible we might have seen Battlebond 2HG Limited played at high-level events in mid-2018?

Fri, 29 May 2026 11:52:26 -0400

I do not.

It’s this time of the year again, which means I get to ask for birthday trivia! Do you have anything for me about DnD, Dominaria United (the Invasion remake) or failing those any obscure trivia on a card you always wanted to mention?

Fri, 29 May 2026 11:52:13 -0400

We’ve tried for years to make a “fixed banding” and enlist is the most successful version (so far).

Happy Birthday!

Hi Mark! Hope you’re having a great day. I am a bit of a Melvin, and really love to read about and see the design process behind MTG cards. I have noticed that MTG design often evolves through “discoveries”, that open up new design space. Obviously these need not to happen abruptly, and are often the result of many years of development. For example, once you learned that artifact tokens such as Clues or Treasures could be so useful, they became an important part of modern MTG. More subtly, the “discovery” of how to properly exploit the exile zone lead to the birth of beloved mechanics such as Adventure, Prepared and so on. So first of all, do you agree with this general (and I suppose probably a bit trivial) vision? If so, what “discovery” do you think might play an interesting role in the future? My guess would be subtypes on more noncreature cards, such as Lessons or on lands.

Fri, 29 May 2026 11:50:36 -0400

Design technology builds on what comes before it. The nested spell technology of prepared has a lot of potential for future design.

What’s your favorite card type to design for?

Fri, 29 May 2026 11:48:18 -0400

I enjoy designing all the card types.

What is your personal favorite way to play mood swings?

Fri, 29 May 2026 11:48:02 -0400

Probably quick draft, although I really enjoy the basic two-person game. My favorite way to play with four people is open team (the closest thing to Two-Headed Giant).

What is your experience with the cube format?

Fri, 29 May 2026 11:46:34 -0400

I have played with many cubes. I like to feel the sets I design are my cubes. : )

At what next convention or date can we expect revealing of set names/themes for 2027?

Fri, 29 May 2026 11:45:57 -0400

We don’t normally announce when we’re announcing things.

Hello Mark. You are a big comics fan and before magic/game design you studied and worked writing TV shows. Did you ever consider writing comics?

Fri, 29 May 2026 11:45:03 -0400

It’s something I would have been excited to do.

Hi Mark. What is the storm scale rating of a Future Sight preprint?

Fri, 29 May 2026 11:44:21 -0400

We always look for opportunities for new ones. The chances shrink each time we do a new one as the easy ones to do have been done. I would call another one a 6.

If mood swings sells out in 30 minutes due to scalpers, will wizards still consider it a success and discuss a proper release?

Fri, 29 May 2026 11:43:14 -0400

June 1st is the sale of first edition. We have plans to make future editions. The only thing that would stop us is lack of interest in the first edition. So, if first edition (quickly) sells out, we will make more.

Do you think the creative team would ever consider giving a creature a technically inaccurate creature type in a UB or even UW set if it meant avoiding a major spoiler? In the hypothetical ‘Toothy the Goblin’ TV show, Toothy is revealed in the very final episode to have been a goose all along. Would this mean his Magic card would have to be Legendary Creature - Bird?

Fri, 29 May 2026 11:39:04 -0400

The final call would be by the people who own the property.

Does Learn/Lesson have roughly the same issue as Partner, where each new Lesson makes Learn cards more powerful because there’s more cards they can get, and each new Learn card makes Lessons more powerful because there’s more cards that can get them?

Fri, 29 May 2026 03:15:28 -0400

It does, but to a lesser extent.

Is it at all possible to print black border and silver border cards on the same sheet or in the same set? I really liked Unfinity, but I wasn’t a huge fan of the acorn symbol versus the traditional silver border. It would be cool to see both styles of cards in the same packs. Plus it would be really fun to open silver and black border cards out of the same booster.

Fri, 29 May 2026 03:14:44 -0400

It can be done with a process called gutter cutting. It lessens the number of cards that can be on the sheet. You could also print separate sheets and mix them in the booster.

Neither of those were an option for Unfinity though because we made the decision to make some of the cards eternal legal so late.

We Played Mood Swings from Mark Rosewater and Secret Lair! | One More Game

Thu, 28 May 2026 20:04:16 -0400

We Played Mood Swings from Mark Rosewater and Secret Lair! | One More Game:

Good Time Society plays Mood Swings.

I’ve been watching some legacy recently that has been using learn and lessons in the sideboard and wanted to say I really like learn. I am guessing we probably won’t see it again but it’s a really neat mechanic!

Thu, 28 May 2026 17:29:14 -0400

It's tricky to balance, but yeah, a cool mechanic.

So, saw the Beebles post, I am familiar with Beebles. They are adorable, unique to Magic, and something I would like an entire PhD level dissertation of concerning their culture, personalities, ecology. What precisely is the issue with Beebles? Why haven’t we gotten more of them over the years.

Thu, 28 May 2026 17:28:05 -0400

Some consider them a little too silly for normal Magic. I, obviously, disagree, and have been trying to get them back in black border for years.

In your opinion which designer or designers has been the most influential on magic besides you and Dr Garfield?

Thu, 28 May 2026 17:27:02 -0400

My leading contenders are Bill Rose, Erik Lauer, or Aaron Forsythe, but so many talented designers have worked on Magic, it's hard to narrow down to just a few.