Lorwyn

Creature Types in Bloomburrow

Does Bloomburrow’s lighter emphasis on more creature types set a precedent for how sets with more typal themes will be treated in the future? I think I remember you claiming that Lorwyn’s typal density created balance and draft issues, which Bloomburrow’s lighter focus seems to solve.

The big lesson of Bloomburrow is Innistrad is a better model for typal sets than Lorwyn.

Bloomburrow Creatures Draft Formats Innistrad Kindred / Typal Lorwyn

Lorwyn and Shadowmoor Preferences

Perhaps a question for the readers: when people ask you for a return to Lorwyn, do they typically mean Lorwyn, Shadowmoor, or both?

Readers?

Lorwyn Shadowmoor

Future Set Reveal Timeline

I hate to ask this during Bloomburrow's time in the sun, but are you able to say when we're getting info on next year's sets? I'm really just interested in seeing Lorwyn🥺👉👈

I can’t currently say when. Sorry.

Lorwyn

Bloomburrow Appreciation

Less a question and more just feedback. Bloomburrow has been -amazing- so far. It's by far my favorite set in years, and definitely my favorite plane. I'm one of those big Lorwyn fans, and honestly it Bloomburrow feels a lot like Lorwyn with a lot of its issues weeded out. Kudos to the whole team, from flavor to mechanical design. I'm hoping it's a 1 on the Rabiah scale and that the return to Lorwyn can tide me over until a hopeful return to Bloomburrow.

Glad you’re enjoying it.

Appreciation Appreciation Bloomburrow Flavor Lorwyn Rabiah Scale

Scarecrow Card Reprint Request

May I request a reprint of the card scarecrow in the upcoming return to Lorwyn? The card is absolutely horrible but that’s what makes it so funny

We don’t have a lot of space for cards that are funny to see once and you don’t play.

Humor Lorwyn Reprints Scarecrows Scarecrow

Future of Mono-red Fire elementals

Hello! I'm a huge mono-Red fan and my special interest is Fire. (I've been a fan of MtG ever since I saw Ashling in a Lorwyn ad. Flamekin are my favorite!!) I'm eagerly looking forward to the reveal of the WildFire Calamity Beast's card! My question is: Can we please get a yes/no/maybe on the possibility of upcoming mono-red Fire elementals?

I can only say we make them from time to time and I expect us to make more in the future.

Elementals Lorwyn Wildfire

Changeling Role in Typal Sets

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:
The Bloom of the Burrow, Part 1

As-fan Bloomburrow Changeling Creatures Exploratory Design Frog Ixalan Kindred / Typal Lands Lorwyn Rares Sorceries Spoilers Story / Lore Uncommons

Bloomburrow vs Lorwyn

Is Bloomburrow Lorwyn 2.0?The hybrid mana is what’s hitting it for me in addition to the tone

There are some similarities (such as no Humans), but they are distinct from one another.

Bloomburrow Human Hybrid Lorwyn Mana

Llorwyn Reception

Hey Mark! How was the reception of Llorwyn back in the day? Tmk tonally it was much lighter than the average set. Did it have any issues being cutesy/lighter subject matter?I’m looking forward to Bloomburrow and was wondering if Llorwyn had any specific effects on it also

I believe the only block to perform poorer than Lorwyn, in our key metrics, was Champions of Kamigawa.

Bloomburrow Champions of Kamigawa Lorwyn

Lorwyn or Shadowmoor Sets

Ir lorwyn lorwyn or is it shadowmoor?

That’s an interesting question. : )

Humor Lorwyn Shadowmoor

Kindred Mechanic Speculation

Is the use of kindred in modern horizons 3 a plant for its proper return in the return to lorwyn set?

It’s a tool we plan to use sparingly and only for a strong reason. I’ll leave it to all of you to speculate.

Kindred / Typal Lorwyn Mechanics Modern Horizons 3 Plant

Executing Problematic Mechanics

Modern horizons 3 is interesting to me in that three of the major mechanics in the set were once considered failed or problematic mechanics. Kindred was considered a failure almost immediately after lorwyn and was abandoned. It was meant to be a card type and you now have a defunct card type. You used kindred not only in the tarmogoyf deck but also in a different way as an identifier in the eldrazi deck. Energy was awesome flavor wise and was a success but you failed to balance it mechanically and you had to ban several cards and because of that it seems you hesitated to return to this mechanic in standard. Finally devoid was considered a do nothing mechanic that was not popular. You used all three of these mechanics in modern horizons 3 but they are a big success. What has changed? Is it the execution? Is it experience? Why use these mechanics for such a high profile set knowing their history? Does this give hope for other mechanics that were not popular to return

First, energy was quite popular, the highest scoring mechanic in Kaladesh. Yes, a bunch of cards ended up being too strong, but that means a lot of people played with it.Second, Kindred (formerly tribal) wasn’t unpopular. Our issue with it was it led to a slippery slope where we added a lot of words on cards for little effect. Players have asked for its return.Third, devoid was unpopular, but I think we just positioned it wrong. We made it a mechanic that didn’t do anything which upset people. Had we made it a supertype, I don’t think anyone would have blinked at it.So what happened in Modern Horizons III?We brought back energy, a popular mechanic that players have been begging us to bring back for years. We brought back Kindred (renamed), but that’s not a big element of the set. Again, it’s something players have been asking for.We brought back devoid because we were doing Eldrazi, which was much more popular than devoid. I don’t think devoid is why the Eldrazi theme is popular. The Eldrazi are why the Eldrazi theme is popular. Devoid is just a callback, one we need to make the theme work mechanically.

Bannings Card Types Devoid Eldrazi Flavor Kaladesh Kindred / Typal Lorwyn Mechanics Modern Horizons Modern Horizons 3 Power Level Standard Supertype Tarmogoyf

Kindred Card Frequency

Hi Mark. I'm not a fan of the kindred card type, and hope it doesn't show up too much. I would rather it stick to supplemental sets than sets like Bloomburrow or Return to Lorwyn. I don't think it's a good mechanic for the game.

We don’t plan to use it often, but a premier set is not off limits.

Bloomburrow Card Types Kindred / Typal Lorwyn Mechanics Premier Sets

Cubing Rediscovery

Happy birthday, Mark!I rediscovered Magic during Kamigawa Neon Dynasty after not touching it since my childhood (around Lorwyn block). I tried almost every gamemode on Arena, as well as some EDH, but nothing quite captured the essence of Magic like drafting a cube for the first time.Since then, I've made five (!) cubes, and crafting & managing them has become one of my treasured hobbies. Making my own environments has made the game extremely fair and accessible for my less enfranchised friends, and it scratches the itches of my designer brain.Thank you for being such a big part of the game I love to tinker with!

Glad you found the expression you enjoy most.

Appreciation Birthday Commander Draft Formats Experienced / Enfranchised Players Lorwyn Magic Arena Tinker Treasure

Full Art Lands Desire

I love the full art lands we've been getting for the last few years, but I still find myself wanting vibrant landscapes with bright colors. No black and white, no Phyrexia, no Phyrexian symbols, no stylized mana symbols. I'm essentially asking for full art basics in the same style as Lorwyn. Will Bloomburrow deliver on this?

Maybe. : )

Art Basics Black Bloomburrow Colors Humor Lands Lorwyn Mana Phyrexian White

Silo Problem Discussion

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.

Beginners Draft Formats Junk Kindred / Typal Linear Lorwyn

Rabiah Scale Today

Question about the Rabiah Scale. It seems that returning to planes is getting easier these days and we're going back to planes like Kamigawa and Lorwyn with high Rabiah scores. Given that a set might be a backdrop (like Ixalan) or one of a few sets visited (like the racing set) or reimagined like Kamigawa. Given that, is it fair to say that the Rabiah Scale indicates less "if" we'll return and more "how frequently"?

I do believe the current system means we’re more likely to return to worlds, but there are a lot of worlds and only so many opportunities for returns, especially as we continue to make new worlds.

Ixalan Lorwyn Planes Rabiah Scale

Exiled Boggart Trivia

Hi Mark, it's my (belated) birthday. Can I have a trivia on Exiled Boggart?

Exiled Bogart (from Lorwyn) was made at a time where a 1B 2/2 had to come with a drawback. We finally made a vanilla 1B 2/2 (Walking Corpse) in Innistrad after a lot of discussion. Happy Birthday!

Birthday Exiled Boggart Innistrad Lorwyn The Exile Zone Vanilla Walking Corpse

Supplemental Product Feasibility

Has WOTC considered testing the waters for a full set on a questionable plane (for lack of a better term) such as Rabiah, kamigawa, lorwyn by releasing supplemental product set there? A set of, let's say, commander decks on Rabiah would allow you to create a little lore and feel out players before deciding to jump in for a full set.

The problem is world building takes a lot of time and resources, something we wouldn’t do for a smaller product.

Commander Decks Lorwyn Story / Lore Wizards of the Coast

Rhys the Redeemed Trivia

Hi Mark! It's my birthday! I hereby invoke the sacred rite of Blogatog Birthday Trivia! What is some awesome and preferably previously untold trivia about Rhys the Redeemed? (I think one story you told was about how the card came from experiments of "how do we make a 1 mana legendary creature," so I guess something beyond that)

The Lorwyn/Shadowmoor block was a bout a world that completely changes, so most legendary creatures in Shadowmoor (and Eventide) were new versions of characters you’d already seen on a card in Lorwyn (and Morningtide). The Elves were black and green on Lorwyn and green and white on Shadowmoor. We wanted both Rhys cards to play in the same deck, so we made both castable in a monogreen deck, but then game them elements that showed their second color. As Shadowmoor’s main theme was hybrid, that was the tool we used for Rhys the Redeemed.Rhys the Redeemed’s first ability was aimed towards an Elf deck, something we expected in limited and constructed. The second ability was grander in scale and encouraged a different style of deck, although one that would still work in just the Elf deck.Happy Birthday!

Birthday Black Colors Constructed Creatures Elf Eventide Green Hybrid Legendary Creatures Limited Lorwyn Mana Morningtide Morningtide Rhys the Redeemed Shadowmoor Story / Lore White