The Abyss

Creature Cards Capabilities

Can any spell be printed as an etb creature or is there a line drawn somewhere? Could we get for example A creature that when etb: Peer into the abyss?

Some effects, like ones that interact with how many creatures there are, get altered by being on a creature.

Creatures Enter The Battlefield Peer into the Abyss The Abyss

Request for Tribal Demon Commander

Hey MaRo!I'm a huge Demon lover and I wanted to know when we could get a Demon Tribal Commander (Besides Rakdos, as he is a good start but not quite there)
Also would you include the Demons, Devils and Imp batching moving forward with a theoretical Legendary Demon? A Demon Lord with a horde of lower denizens of the abyss would be sublime

I’ll keep the suggestion in mind.

Batches Commander Demon Devil Imp Kindred / Typal Mark Rosewater Rakdos (B/R) The Abyss

M21 Set Card Teaser Hints

Now that all of M21 has been revealed, can you go through your teaser and tell us the card or cards each hint was?

The new core set has a lot of exciting new cards, including:
• A brand new planeswalker (from a plane we’ve visited) - Basri Ket (from Amonkhet)• A card that lets you draw half of your library. - Peer into the Abyss• A +1/+1 tribal lord for a creature type that’s never had one. (A creature type with over fifty cards already in print.) - Pack Leader• A character with a Vanguard card and a legendary creature card gets a second of the latter. - Barrin, Tolarian Archmage• A card with thirty-one different options. - Sublime Epiphany• A card that gains all activated abilities of a certain subset of cards in a place it’s never done it before. - Conspicuous Snoop• A card that uses a nonevergreen named ability over twenty years old. - Teferi, Master of Time (phasing)• A card with the words “battlefield”, “cast”, “creature”, “converted mana cost”, “end of turn”, “exile”, “graveyard” and “mana cost”. - Idol of Endurance• An aura inspired from a cycle from Urza’s Sagablock - Demonic Embrace• A nonevergreen enchantment subtype returns - Shrines with Sanctum of Tranquil Light and company Core 2021 also has a number of fun reprints, including:• A popular character first introduced in flavor text. - Ugin, the Spirit Dragon• A French Vanilla mythic rare. - Baneslayer Angel• A popular aura that started as part of a cycle. - Faith’s Fetters• A card with a unique protection. - Runed Halo• Two cards played in tournaments that have been reprinted over twenty times with at least five different pieces of art - Duress & Shock• A card that’s never previously appeared in a premier set. - Grim Tutor• A card that’s never been reprinted before which has a 2, 3, 5 and 6 all appear on the card. - Massacre Wurm• A Human Monk. - Azusa, Lost but Seeking• A card from the Time Spiraltimeshifted sheet. - Tormod’s Crypt

Amonkhet Angel Art Auras Azusa, Lost but Seeking Baneslayer Angel Barrin, Tolarian Archmage Basri Ket Card Printing Conspicuous Snoop Core Set 2021 Creatures Cycles Demonic Embrace Dragon Duress Enchantments Endurance Flavor Text France French Vanilla Grim Tutor Human Idol of Endurance Kindred / Typal Mana Mana Value Massacre Massacre Wurm Monk Mythic Rares Pack Leader Peer into the Abyss Phasing Planeswalkers Premier Sets Protection Rares Reprints Runed Halo Sanctum of Tranquil Light Spirit Sublime Epiphany Subtype Teasers Teferi, Master of Time The Abyss The Exile Zone The Graveyard The Library Tutoring Ugin, the Spirit Dragon Vanguard Vanilla Wurm

Legendary Creatures Flavor

Doesn't both players having the same legendary creature also fly in the face of flavor? "I attack you with my Dakon Blacklade." "Okay, I block with my Dakon Blackblade." I don't want the legendary rules to change, but I don't see why flavor disqualifies world enchantments from working the same way.

There is a lot more vagueness in the summoning flavor. Is it a mana copy? Is it plucked from various points in time? There are flavorful answers to multiple legendary creatures. I’m fighting you but I’m on Plane A and you’re on Plane B is a lot harder to find creative answers for. Also, world enchantments were specifically designed so that one answered another. Cards like Nether Void or The Abyss become overbearing without the world enchantment answer. This means I’m not sure each person gets one makes the gameplay better based on the current designs.

Creatures Enchantments Flavor Game Play Legendary Creatures Mana Nether Void Rules The Abyss

Shadowmoor Block Insights

Myou birthday was a week ago, and my question got lost in the abyss. Can I get some trivia on the Shadowmoor block? If not, can I get some trivia on Kruphix, God of Horizons or his followers?

Shadowmoor is one of my favorite sets to draft. I worked very hard to make monocolor a draftable thing as it’s hard for most blocks to pull off.Happy Birthday!

Birthday God Kruphix, God of Horizons Limited Monocolor Shadowmoor The Abyss

Morphs vs Zzyxas's Abyss

"kytheon-hero-of-akros asked: Un-rules question: Morph creatures don't die to Zzyxas's Abyss because they have no name, right? Correct." Objection. In your Unhinged FAQ, you said that the Card With No Name would be first to be affected by the Abyss, so a morph would fall in with the same category, right?

Ooh, good catch. Sorry, Morph.

Creatures Morph Rules The Abyss The FAQ Unhinged Un-sets

Wizards Office Themes

So a lot of the offices/meetings rooms at Wizards are themed and named after the theme. Could you share pics of some of your favorites?

wizardsmagic:
There actually aren’t a ton of names in here named directly after MTG lore. We recently named the new downstairs common area Dominaria (with conference rooms Waterdeep and Ravnica attached). Other favorite rooms include…City of BrassThe Command TowerSerra’s Sanctum (formerly the CEO’s office)Hall of GuildsEasy Bake OvenTHE DANGER ROOMChicken CoopWayne ManorMain EngineeringThe BridgeThe Wampa CaveThe AbyssThe MatrixBermuda Triangle
If you listen to “Drive to Work” I mention a few of these meeting rooms from time to time.She forgot some Magic themed ones:Ivory TowerMishra’s WorkshopEye of UginHelvaultNote the last two are places people were imprisioned.

Blogatog / Tumblr Caves Chicken City of Brass Command Tower Dominaria Drive to Work Eye Eye of Ugin Helvault Ivory Tower Mishra Story / Lore The Abyss Two Color

Unfun Cards Demand

Mr. Rosewater, I really like unfun grindy cards (Rishadan Port, Smoke Stack, The Abyss, etc.) and while I get my kicks in legacy can I expect to see more "unfun" cards in standard?

Of the kind you listed? Not on purpose.

Legacy Mark Rosewater Rishadan Port Standard The Abyss

Sixth Color Challenges

"There’s not a lot of new things left. Yes, there are new mechanics to be found but “things you can do in the game” has been pretty mined out. So evening the color pie is more about shuffling abilities and picking level of use." Always thought that this is the biggest barrier for a sixth color. I mean you would have to cut from every other color to make it happen, which is bad for the overall game imo. Correct?

This is a giant barrier for a sixth color. I should stress if we ever do a sixth color (and that’s still a big if) it wouldn’t be a permanent thing but a gimmick that we do for a block and then kick back to the abyss.

6th Color Color Pie Colors Giant Mechanics The Abyss