On this, my most birthiest of days, I invoke the holy right of trivia! Specifically, about Bant (the mini-plane, not WUG).

The Bant mini-design team was led by Brian Tinsman and included Ken Nagle and myself. When Brian first pitched exalted, I was very skeptical. I said it seemed like too small a hoop to jump through. We playteested and it played great, so I went to Brian and said, “I was wrong. Exalted is great.” I think Bant was the first team to settle on its keyword.Happy Birthday!

You’ve mentioned how GDS requires a lot of setup and infrastructure to do. I don’t really know very much about the last two, would you mind explaining what kinds of things went into it, and also what it was?

You could enter if you were 18 or older and capable of working in the U.S. To make it to each next step, you had to qualify.Step 1 - Answer 10 essay questions (3000 words total).Step 2 - Take a multiple choice test on Magic knowledge.Step 3 - Do a design test.Top 8 compete in a competition that resembles a reality show that tests a skill (think Project Runway or Top Chef). Each week there is a design challenge. Judges review all the entries and give public notes. The person doing the worst overall is eliminated. The top three get flown to Wizards for a day of interviews and other tests.The winner gets a 6 month internship in R&D. The top three of each of the three Great Designer Searches, as well as a few others, were eventually hired full time by Wizards (although not all in R&D).Top 3 Finalists:GDS1 Alexis Jansen - winnerKen Nagle - runner-upGraeme Hopkins - thirdGDS2 Ethan Fleischer - winner Shawn Main - runner-upScott Van Essen - thirdGDS3Ari Nieh - winner Jeremy Geist - runner-up Chris Mooney - third

How about some birthday trivia about the noggles of Lorwyn/Shadowmoor?

When making Eventide, the creative team needed creatures that made sense being enemy colors, so they turned to Celtic mythology. R&D liked to joke about Noggles because one of the designers was Ken Nagle. Happy Birthday!

I think platinum angel came out well before Ken Nagle joined Wizards, so it couldn’t have been him who designed it.

That is a good point.

Was Ken Nagle working on Magic when Mirrodin came out?

A fine point. He was not. It must have been a different designer.

It is my birthday. May I ask, Can you give me some Omnath lore or behind the scenes stories or fun fact or something? He is my favorite character.

Ken Nagle designed the original Omnath as a cool one of. The second version added a color just to try and fit an open space in a cycle. Two points often make a line though, and the third version was just us having fun. The fourth version caused endless discussion about what the fourth color should be. Happy Birthday!

Recently in the Commander Theory Podcast, Ken Nagle stated that Dinosaurs are being experimented with to replace hydras as Greens Iconic race. How's the future fare for hydras?

I’m skeptical that experiment is going to work. I think Dinosaurs work better showing up at all rarities.

It's my birthday today! May I please get some triva on Bant? (Either the shard or color combination in general)

I was on the mini-team for Bant along with Brian Tinsman (who led the group) and Ken Nagle. When Brian first proposed exalted, I didn’t like the mechanic, but was won over when I played with it. Happy Birthday!

April 20th was my birthday, so could I maybe ask for some trivia on my favourite shard, Naya?

The Naya mini design team was led by Ken Nagle and included Brian Tinsman and myself. I believe it was the first team Ken ever led.Happy Birthday!

Ken Nagle didn't design Dryad Arbor. He joined WoTC just before Future Sight was released. Ken _did_ design a card very similar to Dryad Arbor in GDS1 though. It was a 2/2/ forest that ETB tapped.

That’s right. He parallel designed it. Yeah, it was already in Future Sight when I saw his GDS1 design test.