Hi Mark, if or when: Cryptic Spires in a standard set?

If.

What writing utensil do you recommend for signing Autograph Book or circling Cryptic Spires to prevent indentations creating a marked card?

Thin Sharpies are good.

You once said that a true waste of a card isn’t the one that people complain about its the ones that people just forget about. That really stuck with me because there are so many fun cards that i have played with but don’t really have any use for. So whenever i fall in love with a card i now sleeve it and use them as book marks. Some of my favorites are cryptic spires, the prismatic piper, lost auramacers and keeper of the lens. In a weird way it has provided an extra layer of joy to my reading because now when i open my book i am reminded of my favorite game with a card that fell throw the cracks in one way or another.

Thanks for sharing.

Since Cryptic Spires and stickers were close together in the timeline, was it ever considered to use stickers on Cryptic Spires' color indicators?

Stickers require a big investment in the booster pack as you have to have a sticker sheet.

Hi Maro, about the Cryptic Spires anecdote. If this was a casual draft (in a store or a friends house) you can change the colors chosen with it. If you alredy marked it, you could use a piece of paper or a stronger and clear mark.

Yes, in casual play, players should feel free to change the colors on it between games.

Cryptic Spires is such a fun and innovative design, but one that breaks from Magic tradition. It seems like its a product of the recent breaks from the formula for mechanics. At what point did something like Cryptic Spires becomes reasonable for black-border Magic? (I'm glad it did BTW)

Interestingly, it was first created by a team that was looking for ways to improve drafts. The idea was this would be a tool offered in small number to every draft. We ended up deciding against it, but the idea was there when Double Masters 2022 was looking to solve their mana issues.

Hi Mark! I played a 2X2 draft today, I mostly enjoyed it but found Cryptic Spires frustrating. I used my Spires to splash red but ended up cutting the red splash after the first round, but by then I could no longer use them for my remaining colors. Wanted to pass on this story to express my hope that future sets trying to support multicolor draft will find different methods and avoid having players modify their cards.

I find that when I play a format and I learn a lot in my first time playing that I can apply to later times playing that it’s an exciting thing. It means I have much to learn about the format. Cryptic Spires’s design allows you to do things differently next time, so you don’t have a repeat of this mistake. I think that’s good design, not bad.

Hey Mark! Since Cryptic Spires sets precedent for writing on cards in draft, could perpetually work as a draft mechanic with writing?

I think people need to think of Cryptic Spheres much as they think of checklist cards. It’s a tool to enable gameplay.

When is the latest you can make your decision for Cryptic Spires?

Deck building.

Re: Cryptic Spires. It feels a little disingenuous to start comparing a common tapland (less powerful than a guildgate) with similar rarity to a basic land to Chaos Confetti, etc. Can we limit handwringing about the subject to maybe cool feedback that takes the facts into account, maybe just this once? It feels like people are just trying to troll you sometimes.

Some players are trying to troll me every day. : )