Radiance

Mechanics Evaluation Recap

FYI you actually did your worst 10 mechanics once before in Drive to Work #693 and this was your list at the time:10. Haunt - Guildpact9. Radiance - Ravnica8. Ripple - Coldsnap7. Processors - Battle for Zendikar6. Annihilator - Rise of the Eldrazi5. Epic - Saviors of Kamigawa4. Rebel Mercenary - Mercadian Masques3. Gotcha - Unhinged2. Rhystic - Prophecy1. Bands with Others - Legends

FYI

Annihilator Battle for Zendikar Coldsnap Drive to Work Eldrazi Epic Guildpact Haunt Legendary Creatures Mechanics Mercadian Masques Mercenary Processor Prophecy Prophecy Radiance Rebel Ripple Rise of the Eldrazi Rise of the Eldrazi Saviors of Kamigawa Zendikar

Probability of Radiance

Will we see radiance in the near future?

I’ll call it unlikely.

Radiance

Trivia on Boros Guild

Hey, Mark, it's my brithday. Could I get some trivia on the Boros, my favorite guild?

The first mechanic designed for Boris was convoke, designed by Richard Garfield. I moved it to Selesnya. Mike Elliott then created Radiance. Happy Birthday!

Birthday Boros (R/W) Convoke Mechanics Radiance Richard Garfield Selesnya (G/W) Two Color

Feather and Radiance

I assume feather working well with the radiance mechanic was an intentional throwback? because if so that's pretty clever

: )

Mechanics Radiance

Radiance Mechanic Origin

Why was Radiance a Boros mechanic? What does the Boros guild has to do with it?

It works well with how Boros plays, but I agree it’s the most off-guild guild mechanic we’ve made.

Boros (R/W) Mechanics Radiance Two Color

Radiance Mechanic Feedback

I actually kind of liked Radiance. It felt like a good blend of Red’s effect copying and White’s tendency towards symmetry.

It just wasn’t very Boros-y.

Boros (R/W) Radiance Red White

Guild Mechanic Synergy

"It’s one of our guidelines for making new guild mechanics." Not to harp on this, but Battalion has little to no synergy with radiance. Can we get Maro "maybe" on Boros maintaining a clear identity?

Both work very well on an aggro attacking deck. Also, Raduance is the least guild-appropriate mechanic we’ve ever released.

Attacking Battalion Boros (R/W) Mark Rosewater Mechanics Radiance Two Color

Radiance Keyword Critique

Tell us about the Radiance keyword

It was a mistake. It didn’t do a good job of capturing Boros and it was needless complex to track.

Boros (R/W) Keywords Radiance

Boros Guild Trivia

It's my birthday! Can I get some trivia on the Boros guild? Thanks

The Boros have the mechanic (Radiance) that I feel, in retrospect, is the least guild flavored. Happy Birthday!

Birthday Boros (R/W) Mechanics Radiance Two Color

Converge Inspiration

Was Converge inspired by Radiance in anyway?

Not that I know of.

Converge Radiance

Mediocrity of Radiance

mediocre

Radiance.

Radiance

Perception vs Power

You have mentioned numerous times that some mechanics were not received very well, like Radiance, Provoke, Chroma, Fateful Hour. I see a contradiction in this claim, since none of those mechanics really have any good cards attached to them. The opposite thing is happening at the moment where you said that both devotion and Constellation were received well, but card like Master of Waves and Doomwake Giant were/are a must to play in tournaments because they are so good. Do you have a take on it?

Having powerful cards obviously helps public perception, but we have numerous metrics we can look at that tell us whether or not a mechanic was popular despite overall power level.

Chroma Constellation Doomwake Giant Fateful hour Giant Master of Waves Mechanics Power Level Provoke Radiance The Moment

Radiance Mechanic Feedback

To be fair to Radiance, the underlying idea behind it felt very in line with the Boros-help all of my creatures, or hurt all of my opponent's creatures. It failed in execution because too many spells with radiance could end up benefitting the other player.

The execution has to match the ideal.

Boros (R/W) Creatures Radiance Spells

Radiance Mechanic Issues

What made Radiance so bad?

The mechanic had two issues: 1) It didn’t feel particularly Boros-y. 2) The spells were hard to process. Trying to figure out what the possible outcomes of casting a Radiance spell got very complex.

Boros (R/W) Mechanics Radiance Spells

Haunt Mechanic Evaluation

Is there a reason R&D considers Haunt as a failure of a mechanic? I personally liked it. Sure, it wasn't the best (*cough*dredge*cough*), but it wasn't the worst either (*cough*radiance*cough*). It's flavorful, easy to understand, interesting to build around, and not that bad.

The problem was it *wasn’t* easy to understand. In fact, it was the least understood of the ten original Ravnica mechanics.

Dredge Flavor Game Design Haunt Mechanics Radiance

Ravnica's Success

Why do you think Ravnica was the best block when you had problems with so many mechanics (forecast, haunt, radiance, dredge, etc.)? Not that I disagree, but it's odd.

No block is perfect. The fact that Ravnica was so popular despite its flaws shows that it did a lot right.

Dredge Forecast Haunt Mechanics Radiance

Freyalise Trivia

Can I get some Freyalise trivia? I would have loved to see her made into a card <3

I don’t know a lot about Freyalise. She had a supplicant, a charm, some radiance and winds. : ) Who knows, with our current take on supplemental products, there’s always a chance.

Birthday Radiance

Likelihood of Radiance

Now that we've seen both new Convoke and new Transmute cards outside of the original ravnica block. what's the likelihood of seeing new radiance cards?

Much lower. That mechanic does not have a lot of love from either the public or R&D.

Convoke Mechanics Radiance Transmute

Favorite Mechanic: Landfall

Battalion, bloodrush, channel, chroma, constellation, domain, fateful hour, grandeur, hellbent, heroic, imprint, inspired, join forces, kinship, landfall, metalcraft, morbid, radiance, strive, sweep, tempting offer, or threshold?

Landfall.

Battalion Blood Bloodrush Card Printing Channel Chroma Constellation Domain Fateful hour Grandeur Hellbent Heroic Imprint Join forces Join Forces Kinship Landfall Metalcraft Morbid Radiance Strive Sweep Tempting offer Threshold

Hellbent Against Radiance

Hellbent or radiance?

Hellbent.

Hellbent Radiance