Ixalan

Possibilities for Nautical-themed Sets

New 25 Jul 2024 Asked by pinkmoth 7 Comments

which do you think is more likely: a more nautical-focused set taking place on ixalan, or on an entirely new world?


Another world, but Ixalan is known for its Pirates.

Asymmetrical Factions in Sets

New 24 Jul 2024 Asked by quantext 1 Comments

Is there a chance we could see another set that has asymmetrical factions similar to the original Ixalan set?


I’ll call it unlikely. It’s super hard to balance.

Potential Issues with Ixalan Setup

New 23 Jul 2024 Asked by moochiballs 6 Comments

Original Ixalan is still the only set with the draft archetypes being two 3-color and two 2-color archetypes. What (didn't) work with that setup, and do you think we'll ever see it again?


It caused a lot of play design issues, so I’m skeptical of its return.

Potential Second Set for Bloomburrow

New 23 Jul 2024 Asked by strymon 18 Comments

I’m very excited for Duskmourn, but I wish that Bloomburrow had received a second set to further develop its setting. It’s clear that the set was so packed that things were left out. For example, it would have been nice if the types received explicit support at common in both of its colors rather than just the one. I do get that part of the point was to have a looser typal structure for greater flexibility, and I definitely love that choice compared to say XLN. I suppose 1/4 of all commons (20/86) referring to a particular type would have been too much?


If a setting is successful, we can return. It’s risky to stay on an untested world for two sets.

Asymmetric Color Groupings Future

New 21 Jul 2024 Asked by labira75sui 5 Comments

I really like the asymmetric color groupings of Ixalan with some factions being three-color (Brazen Coalition, Sun Empire) and other being two-color (River Heralds, Dusk Legion). Is this something Ixalan specific or can we expect to see similar asymmetric groupings in the (near) future?
And how different is the design process compared to a symmetric plane like New Capenna or Alara?


Play design is not a fan of asymmetric factions. It makes it super hard to balance.

Bloomburrow Thematic Construction

New 15 Jul 2024 Asked by shitstormwastaken 0 Comments

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.

Success of Backdrop Sets

New 12 Jul 2024 Asked by sobek16 1 Comments

Based on your previous answer about backdrop sets was War of the Spark not successful?


I said it and The Lost Caverns of Ixalan were successes.

Backdrop Sets Explanation

New 12 Jul 2024 Asked by dungeonmasterryan 5 Comments

Why are backdrop sets a thing? If we are going to Ravnica and I don't get what I expect from Ravnica, im disappointmented. If the set does well, it still feels like a waste of Ravnica. Duskmourne seems similar where it could be a spooky house on any plane. Why are these sets so frequent now


So frequent? (War of the Spark, The Lost Caverns of Ixalan, and Murders at Karlov Manor) We’ve done three, two of which (the last two) were successful.

Potential Return of Snails

New 11 Jul 2024 Asked by marcuswilliams700 2 Comments

Lost Caverns of Ixalan introduced Snail as a subtype, and maybe it's too soon to say but it's looking unlikely that we'll see snails return in Bloomburrow. Any chance for more snails soon?


Bloomburrow might have something for the Snail lovers. : )

Changeling Role in Typal Sets

New 09 Jul 2024 Asked by tevans-living-life 40 Comments

Does Bloomburrow prove that a typal-themed set doesn’t need changeling to work? Or will Changeling stick around for typal sets with heavier creature type emphasis?


The as-fan of typal themes is a lot lower than sets like Lorwyn or Ixalan. “Here’s a snippet from my article today that touches upon this:To give you a sense of what I mean by a sprinkling, here are the typal rewards for Frogs:
  • A common that costs less if you have a Frog
  • An uncommon sorcery with a rider if you have a Frog
  • An uncommon land with an effect that helps Frogs
  • An uncommon land and a rare creature that cares if a Frog entered the battlefield this turn
  • An uncommon creature and a rare creature that grant Frogs an ability
  • A rare creature that cares about casting Frogs
The number of typal cards can vary slightly, but that will give you a rough idea of the as-fan I’m talking about.”Here’s a link to the whole article:

Development of New Planes

New 04 Jul 2024 Asked by no-i-know-her 4 Comments

How much of developing a new plane (specifically in the earliest parts you do as Head Designer) is original and specific world building, vs adapting inspirations? Ixalan is my favourite plane and it seems to do a great job adapting the faction/setting inspirations, while also being original and unique, and it feels like Bloomburrow is doing the same so far with the right mix of familiar animal fantasy tropes and new unique worldbuilding, but do planes usually start with more of one than the other?


It varies a lot by what the world is.

Ixalan's Reception

New 04 Jul 2024 Asked by clarknes 11 Comments

Now that we’ve had time to see the reception to Ixalan, how did LCI do? Where is Ixalan now on the storm scale?


The Lost Caverns of Ixalan did well. I’d call Ixalan a 5.

Urban Fantasy Setting Concern

New 01 Jul 2024 Asked by elderaktis 9 Comments

Hi, Mark.Not sure if I can quite explain this, but I'll try.Straight urban fantasy isn't terribly interesting to me, at least as a magic setting, especially if we're distinguishing it from "masquerade" as the other asker put it (i.e., magic's existence is a secret). I think that's because urban fantasy describes a setting that's exactly like the real, modern world, and the only difference is that there's magic. In other words, "magic and magic users exist" is the whole hook, what the burden of appealing to the consumer of that media falls onto. But, like . . . "magic and magic users exist" is the ENTIRE game! It doesn't feel like it does enough to differentiate itself from the rest of the multiverse.So, I think an urban fantasy setting needs to do one of three things: have a strong, unique hook beyond just "it's a modern world with magic"; be more focused, like how Duskmourn isn't just "80s fantasy" but "80s horror film"; or be combined with another concept, like how Ixalan is both "pirate world" AND "Mesoamerican world".Sorry if I rambled a bit there, but tldr: I for one would need a more detailed pitch than just "It's the urban fantasy plane/set!" to be remotely interested in it.


As with any world, there would be more details woven into it. I was just asking people’s thoughts on urban fantasy as a larger category.

Lost Caverns Set Development

New 27 Jun 2024 Asked by snivy1245 6 Comments

Hi, Mark. I just wanted to say that I find it astounding that Lost Caverns being set on Ixalan was a late decision, as one of the reasons it drew me into Magic was how interesting I found the factions of the plane, and how well I saw them represented in the cards. I suppose it just goes to show how much a set can change in Play Design, huh?


It changed in early set design, just after vision design handed the file off.

Power Level Adjustment in Sets

New 19 Jun 2024 Asked by justforaskingmaro 5 Comments

Set B "obsoletes" set A is a strong word, but let's focus a moment on pioneer, not very old vintage cards. I have a database of "top playables" in pioneer, restarted after every banning. Cards get into list based on certain number of appearances in goldfish's tournament winners, but criteria is equal to all cards. 9 OG Theros cards are on the list, 5 KTK cards. 4 RTR cards (+ shocks) 21 MKM cards are. 20 LCI cards. 13 OTJ. New sets have vastly more cards in list, thus are stronger.


The switch for a Standard-focus to an Eternal-focus forced us to up the overall power level of premier sets in Throne of Eldraine, so yes, Throne of Eldraine and sets after do have an overall high power level. That wasn’t set by set creep though, but a conscious one-time adjustment.

Reengaging with the Game

New 19 Jun 2024 Asked by visonoda 5 Comments

Hi, I just got back into magic through commander after not collecting since I was a child when mirrodin and darkseel were in print (i always wanted to do something with gemini engine). I just wanted to stop by and say i have been loving the new sets (and that it's astonishing you find the time to answer so many asks on tumblr). I wasn't expecting to enjoy outlaws for flavor reasons but had a blast playing limited UW control. LCI and MH3 were also amazing. I'm greatly looking forward to drafting bloomburrow!Also wow, Warren soultrader is a wild card for eternal formats.


Welcome back. Glad to hear you’re enjoying the designs.

Reskinning Existing Magic Cards

New 18 Jun 2024 Asked by genericanonymoususer 3 Comments

Hi! This is sort of a random question about the reskins we've seen with universes beyond cards vs. functional reprints to change the flavor of an in-universe card to another in-universe card (like llanowar elves vs. fyndhorn elves). I could run Paths of the Dead (from LOTR commander) in a standard deck, since it *is* cavern of souls. I could not, however, run fyndhorn elves in place of llanowar elves in one of the formats where llanowar elves is legal but fyndhorn elves isn't. The tradeoff to this is that in commander, I can run one fyndhorn elves and one llanowar elves, since they're not the same card, but I can't run a Paths of the Dead and a Cavern of Souls from another printing (ex. LCI), since they're the same card. Would it be possible to print in-universe cards as reskins instead of functional reprints to change the flavor? For example, say you're designing a faction set with tri-color factions, and you want to use the triome lands with cycling, but you're not on Ikoria/New Capenna, so the names don't really fit. If you did a functional reprint to change the flavor, then players in eternal formats could double the number of triomes they run. Is reskinning the card an option you have at your disposal for this kind of situation?


Reskinning is an option, but a resource we want to be careful with.

Gatewatch Sets Trivia Request

New 17 Jun 2024 Asked by ardarian 7 Comments

Mark!I invoke the sacred rite of Borthday Trivia!Can I get trivia you haven't shared before about the gatewatch sets (BFZ-WAR) please?


Haven’t shared is tough as I produce a lot of content. I pitched an early version of the story where Jace appears to everyone, including the audience, to be killed by Bolas in Hour of Devastation. He then shows up with amnesia on Ixalan. The idea was the audience would assume Jace was dead for three months.Happy Birthday!

Results of Top-Down/Bottom-Up Poll

New 12 Jun 2024 Asked by itscrispycoffeecollector 206 Comments

Now that the polls are closed on your "Top Down/Bottom Up" questions, may you please reveal the correct answers?


Here are the results of the poll: Ixalan Top-down: 38.9%*Bottom-up: 61/.1Strixhaven School of Mages*Top-down: 54.7%Bottom-up: 45.3%Phyrexia: All Will Be One*Top-down: 51.8%Bottom-up: 48.2%The answer is all three sets were bottom-up designs. Ixalan was built as a typal set making use of the two two-color and two-three color faction structure we had originally planned to use for Khans of Tarkir.Strixhaven was built as an enemy-colored faction set with an emphasis on “instants and sorceries” matter.Phyrexia: All Will Be One was built around making poison structurally work. All three sets had strong flavor components that we integrated into the design, but the structure of all three had a mechanical core. The easiest way to think about this is that if you take a top-down set and remove all the flavor components (names, art, creature types, flavor text, etc.) the structure will just seem like random mechanical elements were thrown together while a bottom-up set will have an orderly structure.

Life Saving Game

New 25 May 2024 Asked by sahonithereadwolf 27 Comments

My big MtG positivity story was that it, under no exaggeration, saved my life. When I was homeless, MtG was a very good and useful excuse to get out of the weather. Having a deck allowed me to be in a space and sometimes a sympathy meal out of the people I played against, and at least for the shops I cycled through, free wifi while looking for jobs.At one point during this, on the urging of someone else, I wrote a whole article on the Indigenous rep within Ixalan. While I think I'd revise some of my stances on the storybeats, y'all ended up ended up featuring it on a round up of must-read MTG articles of the week.It gave me a platform and helped me make connections with the people that helped pulled me out of homelessness. And now all these years later I'm a professional game designer. I even just finished up doing some work with Evil Hat. Won some awards for my writing too.


Thanks for sharing.


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