Linear

Silo Problem Discussion

New 18 May 2024 Asked by yuleooze 26 Comments

Hi Mark! Some pushback on the 'silo problem' you outlined in your Typal talk: my first draft was Lorwyn and those silo cards really gave me an on-ramp to understanding what the archetypes were and the concept of archetypes as a whole. I think they have their uses and shouldnt be wholesale junked as inflexible ne'er do well slot wasters.


There’s nothing wrong with having typal (or other linear) themes. Players like them, and yes, they’re good for beginners. The “silo problem” doesn’t say not to have typal themes, but rather you have to design them in such a way that multiple drafters are interested in the same cards or every draft plays out identical where drafting a specific theme always gets you the same deck.

Final Fantasy UB Set

New 14 Apr 2024 Asked by mythial-blog 50 Comments

I'm looking forward to the Final Fantasy UB set. I'm going to be especially interested in how the set is going to fit 16 worlds/stories into itself. The LotR set was already very "Proper-Noun"-dense, and that was one world with a linear timeline, and even then, references outside of the three original books were scarce. This is all to say, I'm looking forward to seeing how such a massive project is handled, and I hope each entry in the FF series gets the representation it deserves.


I’ve seen the slide show, and it’s pretty cool. I can’t wait for you all to see it.

Modular Mechanic Name

New 06 Mar 2024 Asked by heavenlyevan 32 Comments

Modular is kind of a linear mechanic if you think about it


It is. Modular, the mechanic, wasn’t the best name.

Linear vs Parasitic

New 06 Mar 2024 Asked by jjustin1379 29 Comments

Sometimes a mechanic is for more than limited play. Energy was a whole mechanic that seemed highly pushed for competitive tournament play so much so that several of the strongest energy cards were banned and energy was still a decent choice in standard. I think the more parasitic a set mechanic is the more it is for constructed. Infect was like this too. Mechanics like blitz do not care how many you play in a deck. You do not get rewards for playing only blitz cards in your deck.


The word you mean is “linear” not “parasitic”. Parasitic only plays with cards from the set it is in. Linear means the cards pushes you play cards of a similar theme/mechanic. Linear cards more push you towards play mechanic themes in constructed. “Modular” cards, the opposite of linear, allow you to play them easier as one-ofs.

Linear Storytelling Challenges

New 22 Feb 2024 Asked by polluxr 48 Comments

Is there still a reason Standard sets have to stick to a linear timeline? A big part of good storytelling is being able to develop worldbuilding and enrich backstories and I can't help but feel like it's a huge mistake to keep pushing the plot forward without better developing the multiverse and its characters. Additionally, I would have expected the introduction of UB to facilitate What If scenarios (Mirrodin Pure, Bolas winning, etc), but it seems like there's even less space for original sets like that now...


Telling a story in a trading card is already challenging. Telling non-linear stories just makes a difficult job even harder.

Morph Mechanic Strategy

New 08 Dec 2023 Asked by make-mrd-pure-again 42 Comments

Hi Mark! You've mentioned in the past that Morph is a linear mechanic: Once you have a Morph in your deck, you're incentivized to play multiple Morphs. Since a face-down card has the possibility of being any Morph card until it's revealed, what benefit is there to playing multiple?


The more you play the harder it is to figure out which one it is.

Future of Bonus Sheets Theme

New 11 Oct 2023 Asked by su92 41 Comments

Do you think bonus sheets could be less strict in their theming in the future? A lot of people seem to like them, but the possible reprints are very restricted by having to be legendary creatures, enchantments, etc. IN ADDITION to fitting the sets in the first place. For example, Umbra Mystic could've worked in WOE, but it wasn't an enchantment.


The data we have shows that players like the sheets themed, and the cleaner the theme the better. That said, we’re experimenting with bonus sheets, and will try different things that might not be quite so linear.

Commander Format Needs

New 26 Aug 2023 Asked by blazinjsin 48 Comments

"It feels like every other release lately we've been getting a macro game mechanic to add to black border (dungeon, undercity, attractions, day/night, ring bearer, etc.)" I can say as a commander player, we love leaning into all of those to make fancy new decks, the trick is we need more support for them than the set they first show up in


I talk about this in my “designing for eternal world” podcast. Commander needs over six times the volume that Standard does for a linear strategy to work. There’s just not an easy fix for that.

Horizontal vs Vertical Cycles

New 08 Apr 2023 Asked by riptidecrab 55 Comments

"Why aren’t they cycles? Having one of each rarity is as much a cycle as each color." Horizontal cycles go around the color wheel and return to the same place - a cycle. From in front of a building you can go around the block and be back where you started. "Vertical cycles" go from common to uncommon to rare, and then it stops. If you go up to the roof of a building, there's no door that puts you right back on the first floor. "Vertical cycles" are linear. That's why they are towers to me.


What? You start at white and end at green. If you consider yourself going back to white, then it’s the same with a vertical cycle, you go back to common. One loops horizontally and one vertically.

About 'Story Spotlight' System Expansion

New 21 Jul 2022 Asked by liampk 35 Comments

Has there ever been any consideration to expanding “story spotlight” system to include every card, and giving them a “timeline number” (putting the cards in order of what makes the most narrative sense) in addition to the organisational card number? Would be kind of fun to experience the world in a linear fashion by reading the flavour texts in that order. It’d take more effort from the story team to choose the best order, but the templating system mostly already exists.


Not every card is part of the story. We did come close® to doing this once though: (in Tempest)

Non-Linear Tribal Theme

New 15 Jul 2022 Asked by trifas 30 Comments

Is it possible to have a non-linear tribal theme? Or is tribal linear by definition?


You could do a go-wide creature type theme (caring about having different creature types).

Comparing Energy Counters and Arcane

New 14 Jul 2022 Asked by flakmaniak 36 Comments

How would you compare the insularity of energy counters and Arcane? And for each of them, how much would/did you consider making them close-to-evergreen so that they're less "just this one block's cards matter"?


Energy works in a vacuum. You could for example, put one energy card in your deck, and it just functions like charge counters. Arcane is a marker that doesn’t mean anything until you play a card that matters. Both are linear though and get less so if we make more sets with them.

Future of Slivers

New 16 May 2022 Asked by distinguishedninjacreator 35 Comments

Now that Slivers can appear in just a few Colors and with Commander Decks allowing non-evergreen/deciduous mechanics, can we hope for them showing up more frequently?


Slivers are so linear, it’s hard to do them in small doses.

Addressing Pauper’s Bans

New 08 Mar 2022 Asked by natew000 29 Comments

I notice that a lot of Pauper’s bans are related to linear mechanics that don’t have good answers at common, like storm. Does R&D ever look at adding silver bullet sideboard answer cards to Pauper like they do for other formats?


It’s tricky because those kind of silver bullet answers rarely appear at common.

Deciduous Status for Modified Ability

New 17 Feb 2022 Asked by thornthallid 31 Comments

Hi Mark,Modified seems such a good way to make otherwise linear build arounds much more modular. Could it become a deciduous ability, so in sets with a single theme that counts as modified like GW +1/+1 counters, or RW equipment, the payoffs are for modified creatures?


Things become deciduous because we find ourselves using them a lot. Time will tell the usefulness of modified.

Frequent use of 'Active Only As Sorcery'

New 04 Nov 2021 Asked by pedrofeliperocha 37 Comments

Regarding activated abilities, why is the “active only as a sorcery” clause more common day after day? I feel like this constraint makes the game patterns too predictable and linear. Is this R&D trying to “save” the players from “complexity”?


No, we’re trying to make the game play better. Having to make conscious decisions when to use something is more strategic than always doing it at the last moment because you can.

Unfinity Drafting Compatibility

New 29 Aug 2021 Asked by leoboon 33 Comments

Is Unfinity meant to be drafted and played primarily with itself? I found that Unstable was a bit too parasitic and linear with its mechanics, which didn't help with longevity. In that regard, I still think Unhinged is superior.


Unfinity, like Unstable, and unlike Unglued and Unhinged, is designed to be drafted by itself.

Unstable and Unfinity Compatibility

New 28 Aug 2021 Asked by lookingupanddown 37 Comments

Could Unstable and Unfinity be drafted together? If yes, would you recommend it?


Unstable’s two main mechanics are both very linear and become harder to use if you only get half the cards.

Issues with Linear Themes in Commander

New 09 Aug 2021 Asked by ascan7 70 Comments

"Commander stretches Magic in a bunch of weird ways. Singular linear themes play to a weakness of the format, the need to have a large enough volume of unique cards. This means Commander decks need to incorporate linear mechanics into larger themes rather than try to play them singularly." You can use the commander decks released with every set to help with this. Telling people that they can't make the deck they dream won't make them happy about playing the game.


Again, it requires almost six and a half times the volume of what you need to make a linear theme work in 60-card 4-of formats than what it takes to make it work in 100-card singleton decks. Commander decks can’t make up the differential, not even close. And that’s just tackling the card volume issue, not the separate design space issue.

Commander-viable Standard Mechanics

New 08 Aug 2021 Asked by ascan7 65 Comments

"Commander just doesn’t lend itself well to singular new set mechanics as a sole deck focus . They have to be components of larger synergistic theme." Maybe you should try to change this? Commander is a popular format and making themed deck is fun. But due to recent standard structure making an explore, amass, food, evolve and so on decks is impossible, while generals like Yarok, Korvold and Golos just increase goodstuff powercreep. Can you try making more standard mechanics commander-viable?


Commander stretches Magic in a bunch of weird ways. Singular linear themes play to a weakness of the format, the need to have a large enough volume of unique cards. This means Commander decks need to incorporate linear mechanics into larger themes rather than try to play them singularly.


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