Concerted Effort

Keyword Ability References

Is there a reason "keyword abilities" isn't a batch or otherwise isn't referenced on cards like Concerted Effort, Rayami, and Shadows Odric? The rules explicitly list what keyword abilities exist in 702, and variants can be handled as shown by Kathril handling "hexproof from" variants. To me, it seems far more intuitive to have them batched, rather than spelling out the evergreen keywords at the time of printing, when that list changes each time a card like those is made.

What exactly counts as a keyword is not as rules tight as you might assume. And what is “evergreen” is even looser than that. We write them out because that’s the only version that’s rules compliant.

Batches Card Printing Concerted Effort Evergreen Hexproof Keyword Abilities Keywords Rules

Rules Baggage and Subtypes

Hi Mark, when I started playing Magic R&D had a concerted effort to remove rules baggage from subtypes. Walls lost their "can't attack" inherent ability and gained Defender. Legend became the supertype Legendary. With the release of Sieges and Sagas prior to that, has this stance softened or is it a compromise in order to make those cards work they way you want?

We removed rules baggage from creature subtypes. There are subtypes of other card types that carry rules baggage such as Vehicle, Equipment, Aura, and the five basic land types.

Auras Card Types Card Types Concerted Effort Creatures Defender Equipment Game Design Lands Rules Sagas Sagas Sieges Subtype Supertype Vehicles Wall

Flavor for Reach

Has there ever been a concerted effort to standardize the art/flavor for reach like there was for flying? I think one of the reasons players get caught by it so much is that there is a lot of inconsistency with the flavor. Some really tall things have it, some don't, some archers have it, some don't etc.

We don’t want all tall things having reach.

Archer Art Concerted Effort Flavor Flying Standardize

Keyword Grouping Challenges

Would it ever be possible to batch all keywords (or sets of keywords) together so that cards could have Concerted Effort or Odric style effects without it requiring nearly the entire text box to enumerate them?

The problem is the evergreen suite of keywords keeps changing.

Batches Concerted Effort Evergreen Keywords

Recurring Characters in Art

I really like the recent trend of recurring characters (other than big players like planeswalkers and gods) appearing across various card arts in a set (the 5 representative students in Strixhaven, and the adventuring party on all the "You" cards in AFR). Is this something Creative has been making a concerted effort to do more, or am I only just now noticing it?

We’ve been leaning a little harder on legendary creatures because of the popularity of Commander, so the creative team has found ways to use that to do more world building.

Adventures in the Forgotten Realms Art Commander Concerted Effort Creatures God Legendary Creatures Planeswalkers

Concerted Effort Ability Query

Why do Concerted Effort and similar white cards include abilities white doesn't get access to?

Because it doesn’t grant it unless you already have it. In other words, it’s not generating the ability, it’s sharing it.

Concerted Effort White

Elspeth's Hair Color

Was there a concerted effort by the art department this time round to emphasise that Elspeth is in fact a brunette?

You can actually see her hair. That should help.

Art Concerted Effort

Guild Naming Confusion

"I was talking Azorius the guild. White/Blue as a color pair could easily have Investigate." This is inconsistent with the concerted effort you've made to replace ex. "BUG" with "Sultai." Is this confusion just an acceptable cost of the switch?

In 70,000 posts, the mistake has happened once, so I’m not concerned.

Azorius (W/U) Blue Colors Concerted Effort Gates Investigate Sultai (B/G/U) Two Color White

Plainswalker Trivia

The day has come bday trivia. Trivia on 5 color plainswalker or my commander child of alara.

Here’s some five color plainswalking trivia. There are actually cards in every color (and artifact and multicolor) that can have or grant plainswalk:White Aysen Highway (Homelands)Concerted Effort (Ravnica) - must have other plainswalkerGraceful Antelope (Odyssey)Great Wall (Legends)Righteous Avengers (Legends)Blue (okay, other than Greater Morphing, Illusionary Presence or Traveler’s Cloak, you have to already have a land walker to pull this off)Crystal Spray (Invasion)Greater Morphling (Unhinged)Illusionary Presence (Ice Age)Magical Hack (Alpha)Mind Bend (Mirage)Spectral Shift (Fifth Dawn)Trait Doctoring (Dragon’s Maze)Traveler’s Cloak (Invasion)While of Vorrath (Tempest)BlackCairn Wanderer (Lorwyn) - ,must have plainswalker in graveGiant Slug (Legends)RedBarbarian Guides (Ice Age) - can grant snow-covered plainswalkBeggars Arsonists (Shadowmoor)GreenMagnigoth Treefolk (Planeshift) - must have PlainsOld Fogey (Unhinged)Zodiac Rooster (Portal: Three Kingdoms)ArtifactDeath-Mask Duplicate (Darksteel) - must exile plainswalkerExcavator (Tempest) - must sacrifice PlainsMulticolorLord Magnus (Legends) - Green/WhiteThis is the most I’ve ever written about plainswalk on Blogatog. : )Happy Birthday!

Alpha Antelope Artifacts Aysen Highway Barbarian Barbarian Guides Bend / Break Birthday Black Blue Cairn Wanderer Child of Alara Cloak Colors Commander Concerted Effort Crystal Spray Darksteel Dragon Excavator Fifth Dawn Giant Giant Slug Graceful Antelope Great Wall Greater Morphling Green Homelands Ice Age Illusionary Presence Lands Legendary Creatures Lord Magnus Lorwyn Magical Hack Magnigoth Treefolk Mind Bend Mirage Odyssey Old Fogey Planeshift Portal Red Righteous Avengers Sacrifice Selesnya (G/W) Shadowmoor Slug Spectral Shift Tempest The Exile Zone Trait Doctoring Treefolk Unhinged Wall White Zodiac Rooster

Combat Steps Visibility

Are Mirror Match and Meandering Towershell part of an intentional effort to increase the visibility of the combat steps?

Not a concerted effort.

Concerted Effort Meandering Towershell Mirror Match

Future Plane Names

Given the need to rename planes formerly seen (for whatever reason), is there a more concerted effort being made to vet future plane names? It really sucks to see these cool planes and watch them get wiped away due to something as small as the name.

The problem is we can’t vet names until we know there’s a product and there’s a timeline for how long before that product has to come out. It’s actually a pretty thorny problem.

Concerted Effort Planes

Future-Proofing Keywords

Do you think there is a way to future-proof "keyword-transferring" cards like Volrath's Shapeshifter and Concerted Effort? I always feel a little sad when I run across one of these cards and remember that they no longer work as intended. Cairn Wanderer, for example, features shroud and fear, which means it's incompatible with cards going forward, and Concerted Effort doesn't allow creatures to share lifelink or deathtouch.

There is not unfortunately. You can’t just grant any keyword as some keywords cause problems so we have to list the ones we want.

Cairn Wanderer Concerted Effort Creatures Deathtouch Fear Keywords Lifelink Shapeshifter Shroud Volrath

Alpha Set Appreciation

It feels like you guys are making a concerted effort to remove everything from alpha from the game. Reading your comments, I get the vibe that the only cards you like from that set are the basics! Is anything worth retaining?

There is tons of great stuff in Alpha. For example, many of the best keywords started there.

Alpha Appreciation Basics Concerted Effort Keywords

Mythics at Prereleases

Is it just me, or has Wizards stopped giving out mythics at prereleases? Has that been or a concerted effort or just by chance?

We give out so many prerelease cards that giving out a mythic rare was actually changing its rarity so we decided to start giving out rares instead.

Concerted Effort Limited Mythic Rares Prerelease Rarity