Light of Day

Appreciation for Aftermath Fan

I would just like to say that (as a sicko Aftermath fan, at least design-wise) that BIG is my favorite part of OTJ and I appreciate all the work done to massage it into a state that could see the light of day. I am weirdly that much more eager for Assassin’s Creed, given what this model has enabled from a design perspective.

Glad you’re happy.

Aftermath Appreciation Assassin's Creed Light of Day Outlaws of Thunder Junction

Future Sight Insights

Hey Mark. Not sure if this is something you can delve far into, but have you ever released anything talking about Future Sight mechanics? I'd love to hear your thoughts about mechanics that you think are solid, what challenges come with some of them and if any have no chance of seeing the light of day. This comes as a huge fan of fortification and I'm really hoping to see it as a fully realized mechanic someday.

I have articles on this:
Back to the Future Sight | MAGIC: THE GATHERING
Back to the Future Sight, Part 2 | MAGIC: THE GATHERING
Back to the Future Sight, Part 3 | MAGIC: THE GATHERING

Card Printing Delve Future Sight Futureshifted Futureshifted Light of Day Mechanics Reprints

Unglued II Prospects

What are the chances that Unglued II will ever see the light of day?

Very low. Unhinged used the best of the designs, and a bunch of the art.

Art Light of Day

Blog Inspired Mechanics

Has there ever been a time when this blog somehow inspired a new mechanic/change to a mechanic or resulted in a mechanic getting tabled for another time/hidden in a void never to see the light of day? Obviously you can't see unsolicited designs, but people ask a lot of when/if questions, so I thought it might be possible

It’s happened a number of times. For example, there’s a smaller theme in The Brothers’ War that was heavily influenced by this blog.

Blogatog / Tumblr Light of Day Mechanics

Designing Silly Cards

Do you (or anyone at Wizards) ever design fun/silly cards with the intention they’ll never see the light of day or are for internal use only?

We put humorous cards in the file on occasion that we don’t believe will last longer than a single playtest, but that is done pretty infrequently.

Light of Day Playtesting

Chroma's Future Possibility

Now that we have Devotion. Chroma wil never see the light of day?

It’s very unlikely.

Chroma Light of Day

Chances for Barry’s Land Release

Is Barry’s Land finally seeing the light of day more probable in a Modern Horizons set than a premiere set?

I don’t think we can make for all the reasons we haven’t made it. The issue isn’t there isn’t a set to make it.

Barry's Land Lands Light of Day Modern Horizons

Phyrexian Gremlins Reprint Query

Is the upcoming Brother's War set the right place to FINALLY reprint Phyrexian Gremlins? Antiquities showed off the results of the War so I expect some callbacks to stuff seen or alluded to there, but Phyrexian Gremlins hasn't seen the light of day since it original printing.

Black no longer (and one could argue never should have) does that in its slice of the color pie.

Black Color Pie Gremlin Light of Day Phyrexian Phyrexian Gremlins Reprints

Future of Ice Age Art

The story I heard of why Plateau had new art in Revised Edition was the original art file became corrupted and unfix-able, but fortunately the ABUR dual lands were considered and rejected for Ice Age by R&D due to power issues, leaving the commissioned art for each dual land unused, leaving that art for Revised Plateau. My question is this: Will the rest of Ice Age art for the dual lands ever see the light of day in MTGO or somewhere else?

I believe the Plateau art was land art not dual land art.

Art Corrupted Dual Lands Game Design Lands Light of Day Magic Online Plateau Story / Lore

Aura Morph Feasibility

You previously mentioned having explored "aura morph" as a possibility for Dragons of Tarkir but felt it played poorly in the same environment as morph (do I block the morph in case it's a big creature or the non morph in case it gets a surprise aura), but could it ever see the light of day on its own without regular morph in the same standard?

It’s not off the table, but I’m not sure it passes the bar of being interesting enough to replace morph with it.

Auras Creatures Dragons of Tarkir Light of Day Morph Morph Standard

Delayed Mechanic Integration

On the topic of the "No scene" quote and saving great card designs for later sets, do any specific cards come to mind that had to wait a good while before getting to see the light of day?

Energy didn’t fit well in Mirrodin, so we saved it for a set where it was a better fit.

Light of Day Mirrodin

Recycling Design Ideas

Being a designer for magic as long as you have been, i reckon you probable have lots of desings ideas that didn't see the light of day yet (for whatever reasons, that's not the point of the ask). How common it is for you to come back to one of those desings while you are making a new set? For example, when you were making Throne of Eldraine im sure you used a few desings, or desing ideas, you already had in mind (being that you wanted to make this set for so long).

I use old design ideas all the time. “We tried something like this back in _______ .”

_____ Light of Day Throne of Eldraine

Permanent Text Alteration Cards

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.

Alpha Balduvian Shaman Card Printing Creatures Ice Age Instants Light of Day Magical Hack Shaman Sleight of Mind Sorceries

Quadrupling Season Hint

Mark, be when will Quadrupling Season finally see the light of day?

I have to get Tripling Season through first.

Light of Day

Unused Mechanic Ideas

When working on other TCGs that don't quite see the light of day (Mood Swings, the original Neopets game) or on games whose mechanics are quite different from Magic (Transformers), are there unused mechanic ideas you can take back with you and implement in Magic design? Or are the other games usually too different?

I have made many a Magic card inspired by cards I designed for other card games.

Light of Day Mechanics Mood Swings Transformers

Snow Land Possibility

A lot of people are talking about this after the twitter snow land mention and I'm curious about what the official stance on it is. Are you allowed to make snow double lands without drawbacks?

I’m not sure. It would require a company wide discussion. The legendary version has a clearer path to seeing the light of day, but even that would still require a discussion.

Lands Light of Day

Link Mechanic Potential

Do you think that wacky 'two-become-one' mechanic proposed for New Phyrexia could ever see the light of day? Or at least something like it?

We keep coming back to Link so I hope one day we crack it. I doubt we’ll give up trying.

Light of Day Mechanics New Phyrexia

Daylight Card Request

Did you know the word daylight has never been used in the name of any magic card? The closest thing I could find was light of day. I hope this is fixed with the new inistrad block coming out!

What other simple words have never been used in a Magic card title?

Light of Day

Desired Features Ranking

Rank these according to desire to see the light of day: contraptions, third Un-set, Mood Swings.

They’re all tied for first. : )

Contraptions Light of Day Mood Swings Un-Magic / Silver Border / Acorn Un-sets

Enchantment Tokens

Re: "We've had creature tokens, artifact tokens, artifact creature tokens, and enchantment creature tokens. Are enchantment and aura tokens something that might see the light of day eventually or is there not enough design space?" There is "Imperial Mask" enchantment card from Future Sight that puts enchantment token.

That means there’s a potential future where they might come to pass. : )

Artifacts Auras Creatures Design Space Enchantments Future Sight Imperial Mask Light of Day Tokens