Since it is my birthday and a prerelease weekend, could I get birthday trivia about prereleases?

The first set to have a prerelease was Ice Age. It had one and it was held at a comics convention in Toronto. The event was won by Dave Humpherys. I played in the event to write an article for The Duelist about the experience. I made the cut to Top 32 (aka Day Two) but had to drop out as Wizards had paid for my trip and didn’t want me to win it. It was the only major tournament I’m aware of that was played with ante.Happy Birthday!

How early before release are sets usually printed? Asking because I'd like to know if my Ice Age cards, release in June 1995, are older than me (I was born in May 1995).

If they were the first print run, they are probably older than you.

Hey Mark it’s my birthday! Could I get some trivia on white mana, lifegain, warriors, or something completely random? Thank you and thank you for all you do!

The white mana symbol is the only one to have a significant change since Alpha. It happened for Ice Age. In fact, there’s a white card that had a preview version with the old symbol while the card in the set had the new symbol.Happy Birthday!

"All set logos now use the Beleron font." -- Could they ... not? Magic has had some beautiful and evocative logos in the past; Mirage, Ice Age, Scourge, Nemesis and Time Spiral all immediately jump to mind as memorable, and although Beleren has the benefit of familiarity, can we not keep it for placeholders, taglines, that sort of thing, and still see distinct and different logos in future?

Things can change, but the current policy is having all the logos in Beleren. It helps give Magic a more consistent look and feel.

Magical Hack has been around since Alpha, while Sleight of Mind saw the light of day in Ice Age. Over the years more of these 'alteration' cards have been printed, yet they are all Instants or Sorceries (not counting Balduvian Shaman). Will we ever see an actual (Legendary?) wizard creature with those abilities?

We don’t do a lot of permanent text changing these days.

Does this set have a distinct placement in the timeline? So far it looks to be almost entirely between The Brothers War and Ice Age.

It’s not set at one particular time.

Not really a question, but I've been playing since Ice Age, paying attention to the story since Mirrodin, and this is the most hyped I've been for a set in all that time. I love the idea that it will focus on a story, and this is already giving me Avengers-style vibes of a a big bad that has built up for years finally making his move. Cannot wait for spoilers to start!

I can’t wait for you all to see it.

Hi Mark. I love that R&D is making the game simpler. The new products helped a lot getting my friends into the game. But, please, consider this: I was 11 y.o. when I started playing and Ice Age was just released. I fell in love with Snow Basics and bought many starter decks just to have those. They were pretty simple to understand, even as a kid. So, if we ever visit a Norse Plane, please give us players a little love and consider printing Snow Basics, even if not tied to any mechanic. :-)

Snow lands are neither as simple to comprehend nor as easy to integrate as you believe. As someone who judged a lot during Ice Age and was on the design team for Coldsnap, snow is not as clean as your memory might lead you to believe.

What are some examples of marquee cards?

Jester’s Cap (Ice Age) and Grinning Totem (Mirage). Mindslaver was supposed to be the Marquee card of Tempest. It was what Volrath’s Helm was supposed to do.

Hey Mark, today is my birthday and I started playing during Ice Age and my favorite color is white, so could you give me some trivia about Ice Age or the best removal spell of all time, Sword to Plowshares? Thank you and happy holidays!

The expression originated in the Bible in the Book of Isaiah. The flavor of the spell is that the targeted creature has given you their violent ways and has become a peaceful, nonviolent person.
Happy Birthday!