Meld might be my favorite mechanic ever (Manifest is probable second). Do you think a more mixed up meld utilizing artifacts could possibly get around the flavor issues? Like you're melding together different machines and that maybe looks better than Host/Augment natural creatures together?

The art elements looking good on a mix and match meld is a major stumbling block.

Why every set needs to introduce so many new keywords? I believe there are already enough. Stuff like Disguise, Cloak, Collect Evidence, Suspect, are born (and I believe dead) within Murders at Karlov Manor. LCI had Craft, Descend, Discover, Explore. OTJ has Crimes and probably more. I understand that it's fun to draft with new mechanics, but I hate when I am playing any format and have to search online what a specific new mechanic does.

We make new mechanics because players tell us it’s the number one factor of why they buy new sets. Disguise and cloak are just us updating Morph and Manifest, which I do expect us to use again. Collect evidence played well, so I assume it will return. Suspect is the mechanic I’m least sure we’ll use again, but I’ve said that about plenty of mechanics that went on to come back.If an excess of mechanics is frustrating for you, you might want to try a rotating format, like Standard, which greatly limits how many mechanics are available at a time. Non-rotating formats are just going to continually go up in mechanics. It’s their nature.

Hey Mark, loving the new Ravnica set and the revamped Morph/Manifest mechanics. That being said, I have a question:Considering that the team works on sets two years in advance, could we see successful set mechanics (say, cloak for example) appear in following sets before a two year period has passed?
Thanks

It’s a possibility.

If I manifest the spell recall, put the name sticker “Ancestral” on it , kill it and then put it onto the battlefield with magar, I assume I can cast “ancestral Recall” when the creature deals damage to a player.But can I do that in formats where ancestral recall is banned, such as commander.

Putting an “Ancestral” sticker on Recall doesn’t change the functionality of the card, just the name, for effects that care about the name.

any possibility of a premier set with manifest but no morph?

Yeah, it’s possible.

If we ever return to tarkir, is morph (or a morph like mechanic like manifest) more of an if or a when?

I don’t think morph would be a must for a return to Tarkir.

Have you ever explored creating an Ethereal Valkyrie type card for Morph?

You mean with manifest?

With regard to morph, I wanted to offer that manifest is my favorite variation of it, more so than the even the original (and I'm a big fan of morph). I hope we haven't seen the last of manifest either and personally I'd rather see manifest.

I doubt we’ve seen the last of morph or manifest.

There has been much debate on how a certain trick involving Magar of the Magic Strings, Recall, manifest, and an "Ancestral" name sticker works, or if it even works at all. Basically, you manifest the Recall, put the Ancestral sticker on it, have it die, then transform it into a creature with Magar, noting "Ancestral Recall" because of the sticker. Does this cast Recall or Ancestral Recall?

It casts Recall.

Could we see the Muraganda “vanilla matters” theme with morph/manifest?

“Colorless matters” would make a lot more sense, especially with how few vanilla cards we do these days.