"Villain *isn’t* inherently a moral term. There are lots of villains in pop culture that aren’t inherently evil." I think you're conflating villain and antagonist. Calling someone a villain means they are "the bad guy" even if they have morally gray motives (very few characters are "inherently evil," but a villain must be up to no good.). Before villain was used for characters specifically, (e.g. in Shakespeare's day) it simply meant a scoundrel or knave.

I don’t mean antagonist. The movies I mentioned (Ocean’s Eleven, The Suicide Squad, Megamind, Malificent, Wicked, Thunderbolts, etc.) have the villains as the protagonists. Yes, they are “bad guys” in the sense that they commit crimes and do things a normal person wouldn’t, and yes, there is plenty of questionable motives, but the stories have them often make decisions and take actions that the audience can identify with.

Now that we saw it a second time in the fallout decks, where is Squad on the storm scale?

I’ll call it a 5. I expect us to use it one day in a premier set.

i really like the Squad mechanic and im curious as to if we'll see it outside Universes Beyond someday

I think the chances are good.

Can squad work in a standard set, either as a one off on a creature or as an entire faction mechanic? If so where do you place it on the storm scale

I think squad will most likely make it to another set one day. I’ll call it a 5.

"Could we ever see a UB set rename an ability word like I could imagine Covent having been renamed fellowship" "It’s a possibility." Kicker was renamed Squad in 40K

Renaming existing abilities is within the purview of Universes Beyond sets. Note that squad is not really an example of this. Many mechanics could just be kicker.

What is a recent mechanic that makes you think: "Wow, how come we hadn't designed this mechanic already years ago?"?

Squad.

Speaking of it, where would you put squad on the storm scale?

I’d call Squad a 4. I expect to see it again.

I can't believe we are finally going back to Tarkir! Though understandably most people are angry with the set being based around shard colored jellyfish factions instead of wedge colored dragon factions.
What led you to move Tarkir in that direction?

I’ve become a little obsessed with starfish ever since the last Suicide Squad movie.

Hi Mark! Will you pass along my thanks to the commander legends: boulders gate team and to the whole D&D squad? Last September (of 2021) my nephew, who’s 8 with adhd, asked me to teach him how to play D&D. Because of AFR, he now asks me to pick up the alternate art cards so he can make his own D&D binder! It’s something that we both look forward to, each week that he comes over?

Thanks for sharing your story. : )

Does R&D have an unofficial name for the 'new Modular' seen recently on cards like Iron Apprentice, Parish-Blade Trainee and Spiteful Squad? Is it anywhere close to becoming evergreen, given its relatively frequent use?

Just “fixed modular”. : )