The Wanderer

The Wanderer's Origin

When you made the Wanderer for War of the Spark, did you already know she would be the Emperor of Kamigawa, or did that come later?

I don’t believe it was known when we first made her, but we knew we’d use her again.

The Wanderer War of the Spark War of the Spark

Subtype Absence

Is there a term for these type of cards? "(Type) cards that don't have any (type) subtype"- creature cards without any creature subtype (such as "Go-Shintai of X", Legendary Enchantment Creatures - Shrine)- artifact cards without any artifact subtypes (such as "Greatest Show in the Multiverse", an Artifact Enchantment - Saga)- other type of cards without respective subtypes (such as "The Wanderer" for Planeswalker, "Evolving Wilds" for Land, "Lightning Bolt" for Instant, etc.)

There is not a term for it, as it’s not something we need to talk about in design.

Artifacts Creatures Enchantments Evolving Wilds Greatest Show in the Multiverse Instants Lands Lightning Bolt Planeswalkers Sagas Subtype The Wanderer

Planeswalkers in Stories

Here's some constructive criticism on the stories: I think it's kinda dull that a lot of planeswalker cards can make tokens, but we never see that happening in the stories. It would have been cool to see the Wanderer conjuring Samurai to fight for her, for example, or Oko summoning an Elk in one of the many situations in the recent history in which that would have been useful. As is, the planeswalkers feel too much like normal characters. (Elspeth even had to fistfight back in New Capenna!)

We learned long ago that making the stories too exact to the cards leads to less good stories.

Elk Fight / Bite Planeswalkers Samurais The Wanderer Tokens

Neon Kamigawa's Conflict

Maybe when it was in Vision Design "tradition vs modernity" was the conflict of Neon Kamigawa, but in the actual set that we the players got to see, the conflict was "Kaito, Tamiyo and the Wanderer vs Phyrexia".

That’s the conflict of the world.

The Wanderer Vision Design

Creature Types

If/when. A creature without a creature type Ala the Wanderer not having a PW type.

Nameless Race has no creature type in Oracle.

Creatures If/When Nameless Race The Wanderer

Wanderer's Missing Type

Now that we know who the Wanderer is, why doesn’t she get a planeswalker type?

We still don’t know her name.

Planeswalkers The Wanderer

Set Design Workload

What was the logic behind not making any "Invasion of NeverBeforeSeenPlane", like how War of the Spark showed Kasmina and The Wanderer as never before seen Planeswalkers

It would be a lot of extra work, and March of the Machine was already creating a ton of work.

Invasion March of the Machine Planeswalkers Set Design The Wanderer War of the Spark War of the Spark

Set Design Decisions

Was it considered to use battles or Planechase cards to debut upcoming planes, in the same way that we first saw e.g. Kasmina and the Wanderer among WAR's large planeswalker cast? I might be wrong, but I believe all the planes seen in MOM are already established (if often obscure!).

We did talk about it and decided we had enough on our plate with March of the Machine not to add in another complication. (Previewing future stuff, aka work we haven’t done yet is tricky.)

Battles March of the Machine Planechase Planes Planeswalkers Set Design The Wanderer

Wanderer Trivia Request

It was my birthday last weekend, I hope I can still ask for trivia? I found Neon Dynasty to be the most compelling story in a long, long time. Kudos for that! Love the new characters and I'm happy they seem to be playing a big part in the future. Can I have some trivia about the Wandering Emperor?

When we created the Wanderer, we knew a little about her, but didn’t know most of her origin. When we started building Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty, we realized how well she fit there as it matched the things we did know about her.Happy Birthday!

Appreciation Birthday Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty Story / Lore The Wanderer The Wandering Emperor

Wanderer's Cameo Revealed

Other than War of the Spark, what are some of the cameos you've said The Wanderer appears in?

Here’s one from Ikoria:

Blogatog / Tumblr The Wanderer War of the Spark

Kaito, Wanderer Trivia

I think my birthday ask got buried. Can I get some obscure trivia on Kaito or the Wanderer?

The Wanderer’s schtick is she planes walks uncontrollably, so we’ve had fun having her appear in cameos in sets. Happy Belated Birthday!

Birthday Planes The Wanderer

Vorthos Theme Deck Query

Hey MaRo! Really loving the Unfinity spoilers so far! Me and my friend were wondering, if you played Vorthos, can you chose The Wander as a named *Magic* character, considering we dont know their real name? I would love to make a theme deck around them.

Yes, you can say “The Wanderer”.

Mark Rosewater Spoilers The Wanderer Vorthos

Planeswalking Vs. Teleporting Differences

Re: planeswalking vs. teleporting. I believe it *is* possible to planeswalk to another part of the same plane, just very, very difficult. In fact, the Wanderer does it in the NEO story! Also, years ago when Doug Beyer still used his blog, he said that Nicol Bolas could probably do it, and that he liked it as an ability for villains.

As always, I was explaining the default. It is possible for an individual planeswalker to have abilities that let them do something most planeswalkers can’t.

Doug Beyer Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty Nicol Bolas Planeswalkers Story / Lore The Wanderer

Trivia about The Wanderer

Hey Mark, a MTG fan from Down Under here. Today is my birthday (and a milestone being my 30th). May I please kindly ask for some birthday trivia - could it be something about the Wanderer? (coincidentally 'The Wanderer' is also one of my pseudonyms). Can you please also upload some high fives to the cool team at Wizards! Virtual cake for all the amigos.

The Wanderer is the only planeswalker without a subtype. There was discussion at the time if that was a problem, but we liked that it added some mystery.Happy Birthday!

Birthday High Fives Planeswalkers Subtype The Wanderer

Elspeth and The Wanderer

Ok Mark, now that we know Elspeth and The Wanderer aren't the same person can I get a maybe on seeing both of them in the same place in the future?

Maybe. : )

Humor The Wanderer

Wanderer's Identity and Kamigawa's Role

Sorry if you already answered this, but now that we know the identity of the Wanderer, was their first card from War of the Spark added because you knew we were going to visit Kamigawa relatively soon, or did it just make sense to have the Wanderer reveal in NEO?

We did not know we were returning to Kamigawa when we made War of the Spark.

Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty The Wanderer War of the Spark War of the Spark

Hopes for New White Planeswalkers

Hey Mark, with the approach of Kamigawa and New Capenna I have real high hopes for good new White planeswalkers (maybe The Wanderer and Elspeth) considering the amazing White cards in both Innistrad sets. Just wanted to tell you that!

We’ll have to wait and see. : )

Humor Innistrad Planeswalkers The Wanderer White

Identity of The Wanderer

May I ask if we might finally know the true identity of The Wanderer in Kamigawa Neon Dinasty?

We’ll have to wait and see. : )

Humor The Wanderer True Identity

Involvement of Planeswalkers

Could we ever see Planeswalkers be a part of a set and story but not have an individual card? Something a bit more substantial than a cameo like the wanderer in Ikoria.

There have been planeswalkers that play a substantial role in stories and not get a planeswalker card. The Bolas Arc is a good example. The Gatewatch were in many sets but not always on a card.

Planeswalkers Story / Lore The Wanderer

Factors for Planeswalker Appearances

Which is a more important factor in deciding a Planeswalker appears in a set?- Previous appearances (either frequency or time since last print)- Fan request- Story- Playing with the designed sets mechanics/flavor.Just curious since we've had some Planeswalkers make multiple set appearances in the past couple years (Kaya, Lukka, Wrenn, Rowan/Will) while others have been a little more sparse (Garruk, The Wanderer, Koth).Thanks for all that you do! Loving the Innistrad sets!

Here’s my best guess at the order in factors: (from most to least)- story- playing with set themes or mechanics- fan request- frequency since last appearance

Card Printing Flavor Innistrad Mechanics Planeswalkers Story / Lore The Wanderer