Push Your Luck

Real Card Line

To illustrate that every person has a different line for what's a "real" Magic card, my line is cards that can't easily be ruled on if you know the comprehensive rules. Most, but not all acorn cards cross the line, as does Panglacial Wurm. I do like a lot of nearly black border acorn cards, and even ask to include Gift Shop and Push Your Luck in my attraction deck. Universes Beyond as a line in the sand does not matter to me.

How do you feel about Tug of War? It wasn’t acorn because of rules (the Rules Manager said we could make it eternal), but because it didn’t feel right being eternal.

Black Border Blogatog / Tumblr Eternal Gift Shop Panglacial Wurm Push Your Luck Rules Rules Manager Sand Tug of War Universes Beyond Un-Magic / Silver Border / Acorn Un-sets Wurm

Clash Mechanic Insights

Clash is just a complicated coin flip and getting players interested in coin flips is challenging enough. I'd be surprised if we saw a mechanic remotely close to Clash in the future let alone a straight up reprint.Bonus thought: Clash is a push your luck mechanic; you want to cut as many low drops as possible to increase your odds of winning the Clash. And to keep aggro decks from running over Clash decks, warping your own deck as such needs to be a viable strategy.

(In other words: Clash takes building a deck's mana curve, a challenge for new players to understand, and rewards them for making bad decisions.)

I was really up on Clash when we created it. I was sad at its reception. It was very educational though.

Beginners Card Printing Clash Mana Mechanics Push Your Luck Reprints

Token Flavor Constraints

Why couldn't you have Gift Shop or Push Your Luck make a different 2/2 token so they could be eternal legal. For example the 2/2 Black Zombie Employee token in the set? The flavor is a bit looser but I think it was worth the stretch for the sake of two more eternal legal attractions

It was too late to make new tokens, as the art was all in. Being able to buy or win employees is not acceptable flavor.

Art Attractions Black Employee Eternal Flavor Gift Shop Push Your Luck Tokens Zombie

Token Choice Justification

>We did look to swap the Teddy Bear to cards that were already acorn. There unfortunately wasn’t another good token choice for either Gift Shop or Push Your Luck.Couldn't you use the 2/2 Black Zombie Employee token? Almost functionally identical only real difference is a mild flavor stretch you could make a "free monkeys" style joke out of.

Winning employees from the park as a prize was not a flavor we were willing to do.

Bear Black Employee Flavor Gift Shop Humor Monkey Push Your Luck Teddy Tokens Un-Magic / Silver Border / Acorn Un-sets Zombie

Teddy Bear Tokens

Why did you make cards have pink teddy bear tokens if they could have been a “regular” magic color and this eternal legal?

The eternal decision was made late and the Teddy Bear token frame and art were done and we’d already chosen Water Gun Balloon Game as our release day promo and it has a pink Teddy Bear creature token (although 5/5). We did look to swap the Teddy Bear to cards that were already acorn. There unfortunately wasn’t another good token choice for either Gift Shop or Push Your Luck.

Art Balloon Bear Card Frames Colors Creatures Eternal Gift Shop Promos Push Your Luck Teddy Tokens Un-Magic / Silver Border / Acorn Un-sets Water Gun Balloon Game

Acorn Cards Pink Teddy

With Attractions like Gift Shop and Push Your Luck what was the decision behind having those cards be acorn? I know they both make pink creatures but i was curious if there was a deeper reason.

Nope. It’s solely because the teddy bear is pink.

Attractions Bear Creatures Gift Shop Push Your Luck Teddy Un-Magic / Silver Border / Acorn Un-sets

Push Your Luck Acorn

Is Push Your Luck only acorn because it makes bear tokens? It doesn't seem like it does anything that'd break rules

The teddy bear is pink.

Bear Push Your Luck Rules Teddy Tokens Un-Magic / Silver Border / Acorn Un-sets

Red Tutoring Concept

About Red Tutoring, Could and effect like Tainted Pack from Odyssey fit under the random not planned tutoring allowed for red?

Tainted Pact is not random. You have numerous decisions (one at each card) to decide how much to push your luck. That’s very black, not red.

Black Odyssey Push Your Luck Red Tainted Pact Tutoring

Fiery Gambit Insights

Yesterday was my birthday, so may i have trivia on one of my favorite cards, Fiery Gambit?

Fiery Gambit is unique among coin flipping cards in that it lets you push your luck. It was made in Mirrodin as a wacky rare that was off theme from the rest of the set. (Okay, Mirrodin did have Krark’s Thumb.) Happy Birthday!

Birthday Fiery Gambit Mirrodin Push Your Luck Rares

Gold Digger Collaboration

Tell us about working with James Ernest on Gold Digger.

Many years ago James Ernest worked at Wizards of the Coast. He and I were friends. One day, I showed him a little game I had made with a deck of cards. It was a silly, push your luck game. Several years after James left Wizards and started Cheap Ass Games, he called me up and said he wanted to adapt my game into a little game he would give away as a freebie. There was no money it it (as he was giving it away) but I’d get credit on it. I said sure. Gold Digger is the only non-Wizards game that I have a design credit on.

Adapt Cheap Ass Push Your Luck Wizards of the Coast