I don't play Neheb so I have no feelings there, but I am genuinely curious. Why is it okay to change the rules/wording and make a major functional errata to how Neheb works, but not make the nephilim and Godsire legendary in the name of avoiding functional errata? It's not like Companion where it was an emergency thing.

I know we’re looking into this issue.That said, there is a difference between changing a card and changing a rule which results in a card playing differently. The first is functional errata (we’re actively changing how the card works). The latter isn’t. We’re changing how the game works and the relevant cards play with the rules as they now exist. Here’s an example. Lifelink used to stack. If you had two copies of lifelink on a creature you gained twice the life. We then changed how lifelink worked. Every card with lifelink now worked differently, but that wasn’t us specifically redoing any card.

You've said you've been seeding the Bloomburrow creature types for a few sets now. Was the decision to make Aclazotz a Bat God, and thus introduce bats and bat themes to the white/black Ixalan vampires, at all influenced by the Bloomburrow bats? There are a lot of pretty obvious similarities (colors, animal type, religion) between the two archetypes across the sets.

If you see any relevant animals in the last Magic “year”, we were very aware of their Bloomburrow needs when we added them to files.

I was today years old when I realized "Godsend" (as in, Elspeth's spear) is a pun.It's a literal godsend, as in it was sent by a god, but it's also a god's end.Very nicely done.

: )

Mark, since you're talking about the number of questions answered -- I want to thank you for all your hard work in this area! I recently (july 2021) got back into magic after many years 'out' -- I think the previous set I played was Visions! I played pretty constantly from 1993 to 1997, attended tournaments and so on, but stopped when my card binders got sold in a family garage sale lol (It still stings when I think about the number of alpha and beta cards I had).Jumping back in to paper magic after that huge a gap in both story and the sheer number of mechanics and sets was interesting -- given that I had last played *seven years* before we even got Planeswalkers, and had almost entirely spent my play time on Dominaria! Part of it was like riding a bicycle, while part was a huge challenge -- I wasn't just learning a new game, I was unlearning old terminology or mechanics that were long obsolete. While I was googling some answers to some keywords I came across blogatog. Instant follow. Spending the last 6 months reading your answers to questions has helped a lot in so many ways in making me feel grounded as part of the game community and making up for lost time in understanding the history of changes and how they intersected with the community. Gatherer's rulings sections on various cards is also a godsend -- please pass on high fives there! -- but while that can help me from a mechanical play side, blogatog helped way more in just making me feel able to be involved in the Magic community.Just wanted to let you know it really makes a difference!

Thank you. That’s nice to hear. Welcome back.

We've seen enchantment artifact - equipment before on Theros. Godsend is an example.

Yes.

Was inspired ever considered in the set?

I don’t believe so. That mechanic didn’t get received well in Born of the Gods.

Can White get "Each player can't draw more than one card each turn"? => Spirit of the Labyrinth (from Born of the Gods) does this.

See, it can.

Why are cards that seem to work perfectly with the commander decks sometimes not placed in the decks? Godsire seemed a perfect fit in the token deck and the gitrog monster seemed perfect for last years land deck.

Two answers:1) There are a lot of cards that could be considered a “perfect fit”, and that designation can change player to player.2) Commander decks, like any product, have restrictions for the people designing them. What seems like an obvious inclusion might have not been possible for a whole host of reasons.

Hi, Mark. How popular was Theros?

Pretty popular. Theros did much better than Born of the Gods or Journey into Nyx though.

FYI: White has 5 cards that give you hexproof (Aegis of the Gods, Imperial Mask, Leyline of Sanctity, Spirit of the Hearth and Shalai) and 3 that give you shroud (Ivory Mask, Solitary Confinement and True Believer). 2 artifacts for hexproof (Witchbane Orb and Orbs of Warding) and one green card for shroud (Form of the Squirrel) close the lot.

FYI