Bargain

Designing Yawgmoth's Card

Hi Mark, it's my birthday today and I was wondering if you have any cool desing stories related to some key cards of my favorite villan, Yagwmoth. Could be his MH1 card, Will, Bargain or even K´rrik.
Thanks for your all your hard work!

Mike Elliott and I parallel designed Yawgmoth’s Will, but Mike designed it in black and I designed it in green. Mike was the lead designer, so he put his version in the file. Happy Birthday!

Bargain Birthday Black Green Head Designer Modern Horizons Yawgmoth's Will

Defining Parasitic Mechanics

"Parasitic only plays with cards from the set it is in." That's not the definition I had been working under. I thought a mechanic was parasitic if you needed cards fitting X category and cards fitting Y for either of them to work. The classic example would be lands and spells. Lands do nothing without spells; spells do nothing without lands. More recently, Bargain was parasitic in WOE. To make the Bargain deck happen you needed fodder and payoffs, and to draw a mix of them. Is this wrong?

As the person who coined the term “parasitic”, in reference to Magic design, and uses it the most in my writing, that is not what “parasitic” means. It refers to a mechanic or theme that only works with cards from the set it is in. The term parasitic is important from a design viewpoint because it’s not backwards compatible, and you can’t put too much of that in any one set.

Bargain Lands Mechanics Parasitic Spells Wilds of Eldraine

Crafting-Themed Year

The sets so far this year have given us lots of token resources (roles, maps, clues) and graveyard resources (descend, cycling variants) and ways to use them (bargain, craft, collect evidence).Are we in a secret Crafting-themed year-long block?If so, nice job on the cross-set mechanical synergy! I know it’s been a consistent goal of the post-block era.

There is a goal to provide synergies. We’ve found being loud about it (“this is the year of ______”) is harder and have moved away from that.

_____ Bargain Collect Evidence Craft Cycling The Graveyard Tokens

Bargain Mechanic Praise

Hi Mark! I enjoyed your Odds & Ends pt 2 column. Re: Bargain, I think part of the reason it was so popular is that R&D did a good job of seeding the limited environment with cards you were eager to bargain away, particularly the B and 1W "Vigil" enchantments. Bargaining those away felt like almost entirely upside and always felt great to do. Kudos to the team for setting the mechanic up for success!

Thanks.

Appreciation Bargain Enchantments Game Design Limited Mechanics Success!

Bargain Mechanic Coincidence

Mark, did the designers of Crimson Vow know that Bargain was going to be a mechanic when they made Old Rutstein? :)

No.

Bargain Mechanics Old Rutstein

Bargain Mechanic Future

Bargain is my favorite mechanic in a long time because it plays so well in both draft and Commander, my two favorite formats. Where would you put it on the Storm Scale? Thanks!

I’d call it a 5. I assume we’ll see it again. It needs some structural support, but something very doable in the right set.

Bargain Commander Draft Formats Mechanics Storm Scale

Concerns on Counterspells

Three 2 mv counterspells at common and uncommon is too many, please don't do this again. Yes I'm counting the cancel as 2 mv because of the bargain. I feel like there us a fun set stuck behind my inability to play my cards. I have made all reasonable efforts to play around them but this is in fun and a 'controller unplugged' experience because I no longer have agency that should be seen as a mild failure. The game is about things happening, not things not happening.

Do others share this concern?

Bargain Cancel Mana Value Uncommons

Synergy Design Considerations

You sometimes talk about the different types of synergies, and one of them is A+B (e.g., scry + "whenever you scry, do X"). In WOE, the WB synergy seems to be A+B+C (enchantment + get enchantment to the graveyard + "whenever an enchantment dies"). What are the considerations when you do that kind of synergies? I was a little surprised to see that white and black have so few bargain cards (that cover the "B" part) compared to blue and green. White in particular only has 2 commons and no unco.

Things going to the graveyard, especially creatures and creature auras, is built into the game, so it doesn’t necessarily require dedicated cards in quite the same way. Yes, there can be enablers (like sacrifice outlets), but they’re not required to make the system work.

Auras Bargain Black Blue Commons Creatures Enchantments Green Orzhov (W/B) Sacrifice Scry The Graveyard White Wilds of Eldraine

Praise for Porridge Design

Mark, I need to specifically praise the design of Three Bowls of Porridge. It's *absolutely* perfect! Synergy with food *and* tap-down themes, direct removal for colors usually strapped on options for that, when you're 2/3 of the way through it's great to bargain? The too [hot / too cold / just right] bit for the modes is probably my favorite flavor in the set! High-fives to everybody involved on this one c:!

I get to high-five myself. I designed the card in the first week of vision design.

Bargain Colors Flavor Food Three Bowls of Porridge Vision Design

Bargaining Mechanic Considerations

Was there consideration to making bargain a keyword action ("you may sacrifice...")? The downside is you can intend to bargain but the opponent removes your sacrificable things before the spell resolves. But, for example, Sugarmaw could be "At the beginning of your upkeep, bargain. If you don't, tap this." Then you could've done things like "counter target spell unless its controller bargains," etc.

We have to be careful, ruleswise, with making additional costs keyword actions (as opposed to being part of additional costs).

Bargain Keyword Actions Mechanics Sacrifice Tap / Untap

Mixed Feelings on WOE

WOE is a very messy and average set at best. The limited is very bad if you play more than 1-3 times and/or like competitive play. The card designs are extremely poor for 1v1 and competitive play, they feel just down right boring and are relying on the flavor of the set to carry the whole product. What playable 1v1 comeptitive cards there are, are very unfun to play against and unhealthy for the format....... But as a member of the Rat crew for life.... there is actually enough rats to make a 1.5 tier deck and I ... love it!! My favorite standard in 5 years easily.... but is objectively a terrible standard. But me and my rats will be here stealing games we have no business winning till at least fall 2024. ...... This is like a total monkey's paw situation where I made a Bargain with my Lord and Savior Skitter and we are terrorizing the other players on ladder, but the cost is it being a terrible standard objectively...... but I'm happy so does it matter if the game is an objectively a terrible state? Yes, but also ..... GO RATS!!!!!!

I have to ask Jon. Was there a point in Magic where you were happy with the state of design and competitive game balance?

Bargain Competitive Play Crew Flavor Game Balance Limited Rat Rat Standard Wilds of Eldraine

Bargain vs. Kicker

is there a reason beyond flavor that bargain isn't just a form of kicker?

I don’t believe 100% of the execution can be replicated with kicker. Nonetheless, many mechanics could be kicker. Kicker’s too broad of a mechanic, as regular Question Marks know.

Bargain Flavor Kicker Mechanics Question Marks

Praise for Bargain Mechanic

Hi Mark!
I just wanted to say, I love the Bargain mechanic from WOE!
It adds so many interesting choices when drafting, deck-building and in gameplay, balancing up your bargain fodder with spells that bargain, and it feels so good to sacrifice permanents for extra value like Hatching Plans or Hopeless Nightmare!Excellent work!!

Glad you like it.

Bargain Game Play Hatching Plans Hopeless Nightmare Mechanics Nightmare Nightmare Permanents Sacrifice Spells Wilds of Eldraine

Token-Focused Sets

If/when: a set focused on tokens – or does WOE count as one with foods and roles?

I would argue that many sets already have had tokens as a major theme. Modern Horizons 2 even had lots of different tokens as a theme which is something tricky for a premier set to do. Although, as you point out, Wilds of Eldraine does have six Role tokens and Food tokens (not to mention numerous creature tokens), and a whole mechanic, Bargain, that lets you sacrifice tokens, so it’s a pretty token-y set.

Bargain Creatures Food If/When Mechanics Modern Horizons 2 Premier Sets Sacrifice Tokens Wilds of Eldraine

Enchantment Role Evolution

Your recent articles make clear that WOE's enchantment theme grew substantially between Vision handoff and the finished product. In hindsight, do you think it's an issue that the set's core structure was developed without the knowledge that enchantments would end up as its dominant mechanical theme? For example, Adventures make sense in an 'Eldraine set'; but they seem like an odd fit in an 'enchantment set', being a mechanic that pulls in a very different direction (instants and sorceries).

Roles were in vision. Bargain was in vision. Adventures being on enchantments was in vision. Set design leaned into the theme, adding the bonus sheet, but I wouldn’t say the theme “grew substantially”. Also Adventures aren’t necessarily anti-synergistic with the enchantment theme. Some make roles. Some interact with enchantments (with things like bargain). Others are on enchantments. I think the two work together better than you think they do.

Bargain Bonus Sheets Enchantments Instants Mechanics Set Design Sorceries

Adventures and Bargain

You mentioned earlier that some adventures made role tokens. Nome of them use the bargain mechanic though. Was this for complexity reasons, (ie: more modularity on cards that already have multiple modes) did the cards get too wordy with both adventure and bargain, or was there simply no interesting design R&D decided to pursue?

Bargain is too wordy to fit on Adventures.

Bargain Game Design Mechanics Tokens

Counterspell Draft Balance

WOE feels fun to draft, Bargain plays well and feels pretty dynamic. I'd really like to see counterspells relegated to rare and mythic, losing to Cancel and Mana Leak variants for the x hundredth time is not fun or novel. Thanks in advance.

There are a significant amount of players for whom counterspells are an important part of limited. We try to strike a balance.

Bargain Cancel Draft Formats Limited Mana Mana Leak Rares Wilds of Eldraine

Aura Bargaining

How often do you anticipate a less enfranchised player attempting to Bargain away an aura the opponent put on their permanent?

Not super often.

Auras Bargain Experienced / Enfranchised Players

Sagas Design Evolution

Did the idea of the sagas that you're encouraged to sacrifice with things like bargain before their final chapter come from vision design or set design? Either way, it's a cool and clever idea.

The individual designs of Sagas were mostly made during set design, but vision design had cards in the handoff that showed the potential.

Bargain Sacrifice Sagas Set Design Vision Design

Bargain vs. Kicker

Is there a reason that Bargain is an additional cost rather than having "Kicker - Sacrifice an X permanent" (where X is some word used like Historic to mean artifact, enchantment or token)?

Not a rules person, but bargain is not exactly kicker.

Artifacts Bargain Enchantments Historic Kicker Rules Sacrifice Tokens