Blaze

Birthday Trivia and Rome

New • 03 Feb 2024 • Asked by djentleman • 33 Comments

Hey Mark! I have 45 minutes left to ask for birthday trivia about one of my favourite cards, Cloudblazer. :D Otherwise i would like to know, how often you think about the Roman Empire, and if you think a set inspired by it sooner rather than later is likely? Thanks for all you‘re doing! :)

Lining up numbers on cards makes it feel more aesthetic, even if the two things are very unequal (two cards are worth a lot more than 2 life). Happy Birthday!
Birthday Cloudblazer

Fireball Spell Design Inquiry

New • 18 Feb 2021 • Asked by sinkingtime • 78 Comments

You once said it was a shame that the name "Fireball" had been taken up by such a subpar spell. Do you have a better design in mind that you'd like it to have been?

It’s not that Fireball is subpar. I just wish it was simpler, so we could reprint it more. I would have loved if the design for Blaze could be called Fireball.
Blaze Fireball Reprints

Improvements for RW Commanders

New • 10 Apr 2019 • Asked by petruscaex • 67 Comments

Mark, I just want you to know that when you said that you were working on ways to make good new cards for RW Commander players we couldn't imagine how cool it would be. Feather is totally amazing, Solar Blaze is awesome and Parhelion II will be totally awesome alongside Depala Commanders. Thank you again for your attention and work for making a better game for all!

You’re welcome. I’m happy you’re happy.
Appreciation Boros (R/W) Commander Parhelion II Solar Blaze

Banning Criteria

New • 28 Apr 2017 • Asked by aurellharmonics • 47 Comments

Was any thought given to banning Saheeli Rai instead of Felidar Guardian? Clearly neither card is ban-worthy alone, and at least for myself, Felidar Guardian+Cloudblazer is great standard whereas Saheeli is barely playable.

History has shown us that players are happier the lower the rarity of the card banned.
Bannings Cloudblazer Felidar Guardian Format Legality Format Legality Rarity Saheeli Rai Standard

Boros Commanders Diversity

New • 07 Nov 2016 • Asked by himetic88 • 73 Comments

Is R&D aware of how bad/boring Boros commanders are as a whole? The vast majority of playable ones focus on dealing damage to opponents, which tends to scale badly in a 40 life multiplayer format, and it's also gotten really redundant for selecting a commander. RW has gotten all sorts of cool effects - sunforger, boros battleshaper, blaze commando, boros reckoner, master warcraft, searing meditation - does R&D have any plans to provide more diversity for boros commanders?

It’s becoming a louder issue, so we have become more aware of it.
Blaze Commando Boros (R/W) Boros Battleshaper Boros Reckoner Commander Commander Game Design Master Warcraft Searing Meditation Sunforger

Red Card Advantage

New • 12 Apr 2015 • Asked by xccoaster • 28 Comments

"Only if everyone then draws cards equal to the number of cards they had." Does that mean you are shying away from Wheel of Fortune effects? Or would you still do "mini wheels" like on Chandra Ablaze?

We have to be careful for Red not to get strong card advantage because it is supposed to be one of Red’s weaknesses.
Chandra Ablaze Red Wheel of Fortune

Power Levels

New • 20 Apr 2014 • Asked by destructible • 17 Comments

It seems like we've been getting a lot of strictly-better-thans within the same limited environments lately, even at the same rarities. E.g. there are two Commons in Journey Into Nyx (Lagonna-Band Trailblazer and Fellhide Petrifier) that are strictly better than commons from Theros. This seems weird. Is it something R&D has consciously decided to allow more of?

The game has and will always have strictly better cards. They started in Alpha and have never gone away.
Alpha Commons Game Design Journey into Nyx Lagonna-Band Trailblazer Limited Nyx Power Level Theros

Reserved List Policy

New • 08 Jun 2013 • Asked by myonlyfathersson • 5 Comments

On the reserved list topic: What about Fork vs. reverberate? Or Blaze of Glory vs. Valor Made Real? I can understand that something might care about Fork's copies being red, but Valor Made Real seems strictly better than Blaze of Glory? It seems clear that mechanically-identical functional reprints of reserved cards have already been done.

Yes, there was a time when we were thinking about phasing it out so we experimented with coming closer to the line. That experiment failed miserably so know we’re towing a wider line.
Blaze of Glory Card Printing Phasing Power Level Red Reprints Reverberate The Reserved List Valor Made Real

Critique on New Gideon

New • 30 Jan 2013 • Asked by maromanofmydreams • 33 Comments

The new gideon is the second worst planeswalker you ever made next to Chandra Ablaze.

I’m glad you don’t let things like actually having a chance to play with the card get in the way of reaching conclusions about how the card plays. : )
Chandra Ablaze Planeswalkers

Nissa's Future Appearance

New • 04 Jun 2012 • Asked by darantei • 9 Comments

Since many of the other planeswalkers have seen a new card and a new title beyond their initial name (Like Chandra Nalaar or Liliana Vess), and sometimes 2 new titles (like Chandra Ablaze and Chandra the Firebrand), I was wondering if we'll ever see Nissa again. Not just a reprint of Nissa Revane, but a new title for the elven planeswalker?

I’m with you that I would like to see Nissa again. 
Card Printing Chandra Ablaze Chandra Nalaar Liliana Vess Nissa Revane Planeswalkers Reprints

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