Spirit

Possibility of Blue Spirit Guide

Could blue get a Spirit Guide if it produced C?

I don’t believe so.

Blue Spirit

Disparity in Spirit Guide Rarity

Why is Simian Spirit Guide printed at common but Elvish Spirit Guide uncommon?

The Planar Chaos timeshifted sheet did some wonky things to rarities.

Elvish Spirit Guide Planar Chaos Rarity Simian Spirit Guide Spirit Uncommons

Differing Views on Duskmourn

Just to throw one more Duskmourn response in--I read the Planeswalkers Guide and I think the lore of this world is incredibly cool! It looks awesome, I love the static spirits and the chainkin and Glimmers. But the very specific 80s movie references like Ghost Vacuum are a big miss for me.

Thanks for the input.

Planeswalkers Pop Culture Spirit Story / Lore

Batching in Set Design

You have to give me a name when you batch things.

Apologies, I was thinking "Deity/Deities". Spirits were included as a more common type for the group but also have ties to the grouping through Kamigawa's Kami

Okay. Batches happen when there is a set for them that really wants them and we think the audience would enjoy the flavor of the batch. It’s also something we don’t do all that often.

Batches Flavor Set Design Spirit

Creating Deity Batches

Thoughts on a batch consisting of Elder, Archeon, God, Spirit, and Avatar?

You have to give me a name when you batch things.

Avatar Batches Elder God Spirit

Future for Creature Groupings

Are we going to see more mechanics for groupings of creature types like outlaws in the future? Like maybe fighters (Knights, soldiers, warriors, archers) or critters (rabbits, squirrels, rats, mice, etc) or undead (zombies skeletons vampires spirits)? Where does it sit on the storm scale?

There will be more batching. We do want to be careful how often and how intuitive the groupings are.

Archer Batches Creatures Knight Mechanics Mouse Rabbit Rat Rat Skeleton Soldier Spirit Squirrel Storm Scale Vampire Warrior Zombie

List of Green Cards

In case anyone was curious about how many Lay of the Land cards are in green:Mono-Green: 58
Analyze the Pollen
Attune with Aether
Borderland Ranger
Boseiju Reaching Skyward
Brave the Wilds
Bushwack
Caravan Vigil
Civic Wayfinder
Cultivate
District Guide
Druid of the Emerald Grove
Elfhame Sanctuary
Evolution Charm
Flare of Cultivation
Flourishing Bloom-Kin
Fork in the Road
Gaea's Bounty
Gatecreeper Vine
Greenseeker
Herd Migration
Horizon Seeker
hunting Cheetah
Journey for the Elixir
Journey of Discovery
Kodama's Reach
Krosan Tusker
Kura, the Boundless Sky
Land Grant
Lay of the Land
Many Partings
Nervous Gardener
Nissa's Encouragement
Nissa's Pilgrimage
Nissa's Triumph
Nissa, Vastwood Seer
Nylea's Intervention
Open the Gates
Outcaster Greenblade
Peregrination
Realm Seekers
Realms Uncharted
Reclaim the Wastes
Rites of Spring
Seek the Horizon
Shard Convergence
Spinewoods Armadillo
Spirit of the Aldergard
Sprouting Vines
Sylvan Ranger
Sylvan Scrying
The Huntsman's Redemption
Thirsting Roots
Trail of Mystery
Traverse the Ulvenwald
Verdant Mastery
Vorinclex
Yavimaya Elder
You Happen On a GladeGreen featuring another colour: 7
Dig Up
Flower // Flourish
Huatli, Poet of Unity
Invasion of Ergamon (flipped to Truga Cliffcharger)
Path to the World Tree
Safewright Quest
Yasharn, Implacable EarthUn-cards: 3
Selfie Preservation (Un-card)
Spirit of the Season (Un-card)
Wild Crocodile (Un-card)(everyone feel free to add any that I've missed!)

FYI

Analyze the Pollen Armadillo Attune with Aether Borderland Ranger Brave the Wilds Caravan Vigil Civic Wayfinder Colors Crocodile Cultivate Dig Up District Guide Druid Druid of the Emerald Grove Elder Elfhame Sanctuary Evolution Charm Flare Flare of Cultivation Flourishing Bloom-Kin Flower // Flourish Fork in the Road Gaea's Bounty Gatecreeper Vine Gates Green Greenseeker Herd Migration Horizon Seeker Hunting Cheetah Invasion Journey for the Elixir Journey of Discovery Kodama's Reach Krosan Tusker Kura, the Boundless Sky Land Grant Lands Lay of the Land Many Partings Nervous Gardener Nissa's Encouragement Nissa's Pilgrimage Nissa's Triumph Nylea's Intervention Open the Gates Outcaster Greenblade Path to the World Tree Peregrination Ranger Realm Seekers Realms Uncharted Reclaim the Wastes Rites of Spring Safewright Quest Seek the Horizon Seeker Selfie Preservation Shard Convergence Spinewoods Armadillo Spirit Spirit of the Aldergard Spirit of the Season Sprouting Vines Sylvan Ranger Sylvan Scrying The Huntsman's Redemption The Wilds The World Tree Thirsting Roots Trail of Mystery Traverse the Ulvenwald Un-sets Verdant Mastery Wild Crocodile Yasharn, Implacable Earth Yavimaya Elder You Happen On a Glade

Birthday Sealed Event Experience

Hey Mark I recently asked a question for my birthday (thanks for the answer). Here is my at home birthday sealed event playing outlaws! We had so much fun with the set and getting into the outlaw spirit. (I'm the one in the cowboy hat)Just wanted to say thanks and kudos to the team behind the set! It was a blast!

Happy to hear you had such a good time.

Appreciation Appreciation Birthday Blogatog / Tumblr Sealed Format Spirit

Constraints on Copy Effects

The next time you want to make something like Doppelgang, how about \we restrict it to that player's side of the board, okay? or restrict it to a certain mana value? Recently, it seems like you guys have decided to have spell intrude on other players' permanents more than usual and it's really getting tiring. Of course, having spells that constantly making tokens is tiring enough. How about we reel it in some more, okay?

Alpha has four cards that can copy something of your opponent’s (Clone, Copy Artifact, Fork, & Vesuvan Doppelganger). Murders of Karlov Manor has three (Doppelgang, Lazav, Wearer of Faces, & Reenact the crime). It has one more card (Kaya, Spirit’s Justice) that copies your own stuff. Copying your opponent’s stuff is not new to Magic. I hear you that we need to be careful how it gets used. Token making, in contrast, has gone way up since the early days. Part of that is the addition of token cards to help manage them. Part of it is the huge popularity of them. And part of it is they allow access to new design space which thirty-one years in is an important tool. But I do hear you that perhaps we’re pushing boundaries with them.

Artifacts Clone Copy Artifact Design Space Doppelgang Lazav, Wearer of Faces Mana Value Permanents Reenact the Crime Spells Spirit Tokens Vesuvan Doppelganger

Innistrad Missing Creature Type

Hey MaRo! I recently watched a really interesting video about Innistrad recently. The thesis is that there is a subtle “missing” creature type of UG wizards that were cut for some reason, probably for thematic reasons within Innistrad.I was wondering if you could give any insight if that was the case? Here’s the video, it’s 13 minutes long but it’s very solid and it convinced me soundly as a viewer.https://youtu.be/12X5wgYikqk?si=WW2i_Hr4cZrDHZ_SI also love the idea that the wizards were explorer/pirate wizards in the Hinterland harbor a lot

I haven’t watched the video, but as the guy who led the design, I know that the only five creature types we cared about were the four monster creature types (Spirits, Vampires, Werewolves, and Zombies) and Humans. No other typal themes were ever part of the design.

Creatures Explorer Hinterland Harbor Human Innistrad Kindred / Typal Mark Rosewater Pirate Spirit Vampire Zombie

Memorable Birthday Story

Happy Birthday, Mark!I know you didn't ask, but in the spirit of Birthday Trivia, let me tell you about one of my favorite Magic moments.I was playing a group hug commander deck and cast the spell Wedding Ring, targeting my boyfriend to make a copy of it (my friends accuse us of being too adorable). But my chaotic friend cast Deflecting Swat redirecting it to himself, so instead it was us who got "married".He proceeded to call me "babe" and "honey" the entire game while my boyfriend turned redder and redder.My boyfriend and I got engaged last week.Thank you for your part in making Magic and giving us so many great memories.

Thanks for the birthday wishes. As is tradition, I love hearing your Magic stories (how Magic positively impacted you) on my birthday.

Appreciation Birthday Commander Decks Deflecting Swat Making Magic Spirit Story / Lore Swat Wedding Ring

Ghosts and Omenpaths

Hi Mark, as always thanks for doing what you do. I’m not sure if this has been addressed elsewhere but can the ghosts of Ravnica travel through the omenpaths? I’d love a showcase set where Agrus Kos inspires a group of recruits (or quells a mob) on some other plane. He’d make a good Roman, or would do equally well employing his no nonsense attitude in a space war!

We haven’t tackled the metaphysics yet of spirit interplanetary travel.

Omenpaths Spirit

Keyword Granting Creatures

So when looking through creatures that grant keywords in typal abilities, I’ve noticed that most creatures have the keyword and grant it to other creatures, but some just grant it to all that have the type. For example, Drogskol Reinforcements, a Spirit, has “Melee” and “Other Spirits you control have melee.”On the other hand, Lancer Sliver just has “Sliver creatures you control have first strike.”Why is there a difference? Is there a specific formatting or rules reason that all typal keyword-granting abilities don’t just follow the Lancer Sliver version? The latter seems simpler.

For clarity, the template is the creature has the ability and then grants the ability to “all other creatures you control”. Slivers use the old template because when you have a bunch of them, it’s easier to add up all the effects.

Creatures Drogskol Reinforcements First Strike Keywords Kindred / Typal Lancer Sliver Melee Melee Reinforcements Rules Sliver Spirit Templating Your Hand

Creature Type Uniqueness

Hey Mark, on the topic of players being worried about creature types losing their distinctiveness by being added in with the broader type rather than a specific race (ex. Viashino(Lizard) or Naga(Snake)), I looked to see how many are already currently templated this way and there are ALOT more than I realized.Archaic (Avatar), Aven (Bird), Leonin (Cat), Malamet (Cat), Nishoba (Cat Beast), Daemogoth (Demon), Ainok (Dog), Flamekin (Elemental), Loxodon (Elephant), Mycoid (Fungus), Thallid (Fungus), Akki (Goblin), Boggart (Goblin), Mogg (Goblin), Redcaps (Goblin), Eumidian (Insect), Kraul (Insect), Nantuko (Insect), Khenra (Jackal), Kitsune (Fox), Merrow (Merfolk), Selkie (Merfolk), Triton (Merfolk), Onakke (Ogre), Caryatid (Plant), Nezume (Rat), Rhox (Rhino), Amphin (Salamander), Orochi (Snake), Kami (Spirit), Drogskol (Spirit), Eidolon (Spirit), Ent (LoTR) (Treefolk), Trow (Troll), Kappa (Turtle), Liche (Zombie), Eternal (Zombie), Draugr (Zombie), Nim (Zombie), Skaab (Zombie)

Yep. Most of the ones that didn’t do it entered the game before we made this the default.

Avatar Beast Bird Cat Colors Creatures Demon Dog Elemental Elephant Eternal Fox Fungus Goblin Insect Jackal Lizard Merfolk Naga Ogre Plant Rat Rhino Rhox Salamander Snake Spirit Thallid Treefolk Troll Turtle Viashino Zombie

Token Name Harmonization

Does R&D have any plans to harmonize the names and rules text of tokens, similar to what happened to creature types in Llorwyn? For instance, Thopter artifact creature tokens are usually 1/1 fliers, but Leonardo da Vinci makes 0/2 flying Thopters. So the name "thopter token" doesn't uniquely tell you what the rules text is. Likewise, there are 2/2 Knights with firs strike, 2/2 Knights with trample and haste, 1/1 colorless Spirits, 1/1 white Spirits, and many more examples.

We do within any one set, but we allow variance between sets.

Artifacts Colorless Creatures Flying Game Design Haste Knight Leonardo da Vinci Rules Spirit Thopter Tokens Trample White

Beast Type Explanation

Do you have a DtW where you break down Beast a little more as a type? I'm trying to figure out where it fits in the devolution of the type line, and I just read "Human Barbarian Beast," on [[Barbarian Outcast]],"Beast Horror Spirit," on [[Chupacabra Echo]],"Nightmare Beast Elemental," on [[Brokkos, Apex of Forever]], and"Plant Elemental Beast," on [[Carnivorous Moss Beast]], so it feels like there's been a few changes on where it should be placed?

Beast is one of a small handful of creature types that can fill both race and class slots depending on how it’s used.

Barbarian Barbarian Outcast Beast Brokkos, Apex of Forever Chupacabra Echo Creatures Drive to Work Echo Elemental Horror Human Nightmare Nightmare Plant Plant Elemental Spirit

Card Design Continuity

Hey Mark, when you revisit making a card for a character, do you typically try to make it related somehow to previous versions of the card (e.g. if old versions made spirits, the new one should be related), or can you start with a clean slate?

We usually like it to feel connected, but by how much can vary.

Spirit

Mechanics Across Sets

How often were named mechanics actually used in more than one set in a block? After looking back at some popular blocks, it appears as though it was the exception rather than the norm. Kicker being in all three Invasion sets seems like the best example, but then Kicker can literally go in any set. Spirit/Arcane were so parasitic that they probably couldn't have functioned without appearing in consecutive sets, but good examples of this seem rare given how often people cite it.

Most of the time. Sometimes if we ran into trouble play designwise, the third set just had one or two.

Invasion Kicker Mechanics Parasitic Rares Spirit

Undead Type Attempt

If/When: "Undead" batch (Which would include Spirits, Zombies, Skeletons, Vampires and Wraiths, or the like)

If. Many years ago, we attempted to combine a bunch of creature types into Undead, but it didn’t go well and we put them back.

Batches Creatures If/When Skeleton Spirit Vampire Wraith Zombie

Neon Dynasty Feedback

Bouncing off a previous ask, I think some of my issues with Neon Dynasty were that it hardly felt like the future of Kamigawa. I say this as someone who's favorite creature of the last 5 years is Greasefang and as someone who loved ND limited. But I would rather a new cyberpunk plane or find a way to split the set more half and half between old and new. If Kamigawa was spirits vs the physical, ND should have been more about technology vs magic to really feel like Kamigawa. If we go back, thats what I would really hope to see as a core piece of the worldbuilding

Modernity vs. tradition was the conflict of Neon Dynasty.

Creatures Limited Spirit