Ferocious

Modern Horizon Sets

I know people have mixed feelings on Modern Horizon sets and how they impact Modern, but I just want to say that from a design standpoint the cards are simply glorious. A card with both Ferocious and Eternalize is just so cool and all the MH sets have things along those lines. High fives to all the people that make these sorts of combinations.

High fives will be passed along.

Eternalize Ferocious High Fives Modern

Ferocious Mechanic Usage

Ferocious seems to be functionally deciduous. Is there any chance to see the ability word get rr used like you do for Landfall? That ks for answering our questions sir.

It’s something we can talk about.

Ability Words Deciduous Ferocious Landfall Mechanics

Ferocious Mechanic Status

Hi Mark! Hope you're doing great!How far is Ferocious of turning into an evergreen/deciduous mechanic? It's used very frequently, but without the keyword.Thanks!

I’ll say not close.

Deciduous Evergreen Ferocious Keywords Mechanics

Ferocious Status Uncertainty

I know it is used in a lot of different ways now, but do you think the ability word Ferocious (controlling a creature with power 4 or greater) will receive official deciduous status?

Unsure.

Ability Words Creatures Deciduous Ferocious

Design Space for Power and Toughness

Do you think there is design space for converted power and toughness, similar to Ferocious, but looking at power + toughness?

We’ve tried it in a few sets (called “heft”), but it’s yet to survive to print.

Card Printing Design Space Ferocious

Concerns About Reusing Keywords

Regarding key/ability words like Ferocious being used outside of their sets: I really wish you would start doing this, especially with very basic mechanics like Landfall. I want Magic to feel like one holistic game, rather than hundreds of small experiments that we never see again. When Ferocious is called Ferocious in one set, and called nothing in the next set, it just makes it feel like you're forgetting your own mechanics. I know why you do it, but I think it would be better if you didn't.

One of the things I enjoy about this blog is that I get to share game design lessons with all of you, but sometimes those game design lessons bleed into life lessons. This is one of those times.A challenge of designing a game like Magic is that there we’re designing for such a diverse audience. Because we don’t have the option of making different versions of the same card (functionally - we obviously have things like Booster Fun for aesthetic differences), we have to make decisions about what best serves the audience as a whole.When making these type of decisions, we most often want to prioritize the needs of the audience with the least resources. In Magic’s case, this would be the un-enfranchised, that is players who haven’t embraced the game as a lifestyle. They’re far less likely to be connected to the larger Magic community (especially on social media) and thus have less tools to figure out things that confuse them. I should note that the un-enfranchised *far* outnumber the enfranchised. To understand why this is important, let’s go down both paths. The current path doesn’t keyword things unless the keyword is evergreen or part of the current set. There is some small inconvenience for the enfranchised audience. It’s harder to search databases for mechanics. There’s an aesthetic disconnection that I’ll gladly admit is a little annoying. It might take a second longer to process what a particular card does.Now let’s go down the other path. We’re constantly making new mechanics, so little by little we’re keywording most actions the game can take. If every action that’s had a keyword had to take that keyword when used, over time sets will just have more and more keywords. This tends to cause vocabulary overload with the unenfranchised because they don’t necessarily recognize older mechanics and they have no way of knowing what mechanics matter to the set as every keyword carries equal weight in isolation. It makes sets significantly more complex for them and will cause many of them to leave the game. I should note that the above isn’t just speculation. In Time Spiral block, we experimented with lots of one-of labeled keywords and it went over horribly with the unenfranchised for all the reasons I listed above. They left the game in droves. And yes, the enfranchised, for the most part, really enjoyed it.The larger lesson here is that when making decisions for the larger group, you want to keep in mind the limitations of those that have the least resources. What might be an inconvenience for the audience with the resources can often be overwhelming for those without. This applies not just to game design, but to life as well.

Ability Words Blogatog / Tumblr Boosters Evergreen Experienced / Enfranchised Players Ferocious Game Design Keywords Landfall Mechanics Outnumber Overload Search Time Spiral

Reason Behind Phasing Out Keywords

Hi Mark, i hope youre doing well. Im curious why keywords like ferocious get phased out despite the fact that newer cards like bolt bend technically have ferocious. Is it because you dont think the effect needs a keyword, or do you not want a keyword to appear only on 1 card out of an entire set?

We don’t like using keywords on a card or two in a set unless it’s evergreen.

Bend / Break Bolt Bend Evergreen Ferocious Keywords Phasing

Favorite Mechanics or Cards

I feel like a lot of people who say you’ve only done bad for the game don’t realize you’re probably behind some of their favorite mechanics or cards too. For a change of pace, can you list some beloved mechanics or cards you’re responsible for?

Here are the Magic mechanics I’ve had a hand in creating: Absorb, Addendum, Affinity, Aftermath, Aura Swap, Battle Cry, Bolster, Champion, Changeling, Cipher, Companion, Contraptions, Crew (Vehicles), Dash, Deathtouch, Delve, Dredge, Embalm, Energy, Entwine, Evoke, Exert, Exploit, Fabricate, Fateful Hour, Fateseal, Ferocious, Flashback, Flip, Forecast, Fortify, Frenzy, Gotcha, Graft, Gravestorm, Heroic, Hexproof, Host/Augment, Hybrid Mana, Imprint, Infect, Intimidate, Kicker, Landfall, Lifelink, Living Weapon, Madness, Manifest, Mentor, Modular, Monstrosity, Morbid, Morph, Multikicker, Mutate, Ninjitsu, Phyrexian Mana, Poisonous, Populate, Proliferate, Prowl, Raid, Rally, Reach, Recover, Reinforce, Retrace, Ripple, Shroud, Soulbond, Splice, Split Cards, Split Second, Suspend, Transfigure, Transform, Typecycling, Undying, Unearth, Vanishing and Wither.

Absorb Absorb Addendum Affinity Aftermath Aura Swap Battle Cry Battle Cry Bolster Champion Changeling Cipher Companion Contraptions Crew Dash Deathtouch Delve Dredge Dredge Embalm Entwine Evoke Exert Exploit Fabricate Fabricate Fateful hour Fateseal Ferocious Flashback Forecast Fortify Fortify Frenzy Graft Gravestorm Gravestorm Heroic Hexproof Hybrid Imprint Infect Intimidate Kicker Landfall Lifelink Lifelink Living Weapon Madness Mana Manifest Mechanics Mentor Modular Monstrosity Morbid Morph Morph Mutate Ninjitsu Phyrexian Poisonous Populate Proliferate Prowl Raid Rally Rally Recover Reinforce Retrace Ripple Shroud Soulbond Splice Split Cards Split Second Suspend Suspend Transfigure Transform Undying Unearth Unearth Vanishing Vanishing Vehicles Wither Your Hand

Ferocious Mechanic Insight

What issues does Ferocious have that makes it a 7 on the Storm scale?

Wording the ability doesn’t seem to be popular. Players don’t mind the gameplay, they just don’t like it “made into a mechanic”.

Ferocious Game Play Mechanics Storm Scale

Ferocious Keyword Popularity

Despite Ferocious having a 7 on the storm scale, it has been reappeared several times, although unnamed. It was even an archetype in Theros Beyond Death. Why has Ferocious been used this much when it is high on the storm scale?

The keyword is high on the Storm Scale.

Ferocious Keywords Storm Scale Theros Beyond Death

Theros Set Theme Explanation

Why wasn't the 4-power-matters theme in Theros given the ability word Ferocious?

Because we make so many sets, we will often keyword/ability word themes that we are playing up in that set. If we held onto all that terminology for all future sets, the game would be unwieldy in how large the vocabulary was for new players.

Ability Words Beginners Ferocious Keywords Theros

Grimlock Compliance with Kaheera

Un-rules question: Does Grimlock, Autobot Leader // Ferocious King count as a Dinosaur to satisfy the Companion condition of Kaheera, the Orphanguard?

As long as either side of a double-faced creature is of one of the five creature types, the card as a whole meets Kaheera’s requirement.

Companion Creatures Dinosaur Ferocious Kaheera, the Orphanguard Un-sets

Temur Trivia

Hi Mark! Today's my birthday, do you have any trivia on the Temur?

The Temur almost had a different mechanic because we were worried Ferocious was too close to the Naya unnamed “5 power matters” mechanic. Happy Birthday!

Birthday Ferocious Mechanics Naya Naya (R/G/W) Temur RUG

Prowess Mechanic Rationale

It seems that my question is being misunderstood. The Jeskai has a lot of ability triggering from noncreature spell being cast. Why do R&D choose to make Prowess this specific +1/+1 instead of making ability word ala Ferocious?

Whenever possible we like to make things consistent so it’s easier to track and remember. The +1/+1 bonus worked, so we used that.

Ability Words Cast Ferocious Game Design Jeskai (U/R/W) Non-creatures Prowess

Mechanic Faction Identity

Khans of Tarkir has been my favorite set since I started playing magic. However, I feel like there was some lost design space by limiting the clan mechanics to only appearing in one clan each. For example, a creature with both Prowess and Ferocious could have been quite interesting. Why don't we see multiple set mechanics on cards more often?

In the case of Khans, we used mechanics to define the factions which kept them from overlapping.

Creatures Design Space Factions Factions Ferocious Khans of Tarkir Mechanics Prowess

Naya Mechanic Explained

What is the Naya mechanic?

Naya cared about things being of 5 or greater power. It was Ferocious-ish.

Ferocious Mechanics Naya Naya (R/G/W)

Baby Themed Trivia

Mark, my daughter was born today! In her honor can I get some trivia on babies in Magic?

We haven’t done many babies in Magic. The few we have tend to be babies of big ferocious beasts like Dragons. Dragon Whelp was how we could justify a small, cheaper Dragon. Congratulations on your new arrival!

Appreciation Beast Birthday Dragon Dragon Whelp Ferocious

Creature Spell Mastery

Was there ever a push to put spell mastery on creatures, similar to putting ferocious on noncreature spells?

No, Renown was filling that space on creatures.

Creatures Ferocious Renown Spell mastery Spells

Ferocious Power Level

Was Ferocious from Khans ever power 5 or greater, like in Naya, or did you always want it at 4?

It was 3 for a while but never 5.

Ferocious Naya Naya (R/G/W)

Nagle's Favorite

"Ken Nagle would love this"

Ferocious.

Ferocious Ken Nagle