You're looking for new blood which will bring new skills and new ways of thinking. Given that, say a GDS3 contestant got perfect scores on the multiple choice test AND for the design test submitted elegant, novel designs that your current designers have already made before, AND you agree with every answer the contestant gave in the essay test. Do you eliminate that contestant for being too close to what you guys already have, in spite of their design skills and intuition?

I would not eliminate a good candidate for that reason.

Hi Maro! I took two friends to the HOU prerelease this weekend - one who had played intermittently and one who'd been playing for all of three days - and they had a total blast! They both said all the other players were happy to take it slow and help them understand the game better. They enjoyed the cool prerelease kit and making their decks - one of them is now determined to build an Esper Zombie Standard deck. High fives to you and everyone else who makes this great game.

Thanks for brining in new players. New blood is crucial to making Magic last a long time.

Does it excite you that one day Magic R&D may be populated by people younger than the game, who may bring a radically different prospective?

R&D is constantly hiring new blood because we want a constant influx of new ideas and prospectives.