Training

Commander Game Complexity

Is there any concern about the current complexity of Commander games?Cards like Crystalline Giant, Wheel of Misfortune, and dozens of recent legendary creatures with 2 paragraphs of text, as well as relatively complex mechanics used only in a single set (connive, enlist, casualty, training) have lead to some games in which I've spent more time reading than playing. It comes up most often when I play with strangers and against unfamiliar decks. Thanks in advance, and I really admire your dedication to and involvement with the community :)

Formats that use cards from all the sets are inherently complex.

Casualty Commander Connive Creatures Crystalline Giant Enlist Game Complexity Giant Legendary Creatures Mechanics Misfortune Training Wheel of Misfortune

Eldraine Aftermath Observations

I was thinking back on Wilds of Eldraine and my critique is that I think I expected more of the aftermath after the phyrexian invasion. Like, I would have liked seeing what happened to the Yorvo and Gadwick(we got to see Torbran in a team-up card), what happened with the Locthwain court since it fell and the Aftermath's Training Ground card made it seem like Eldraine picked up a new virtue: preparedness, which was absent in the set.

The absence of things was a big part of the aftermath. Numerous courts were decimated.

Aftermath Invasion Phyrexian Training Wilds of Eldraine

Errata Changes Explained

Hey Mark, I noticed your FAQ mentions that there would never be mechanically functional errata to cards; what's the explanation for Training Grounds then? The original rules text, as well as the ruling info, both state that you can choose to discount a creature's activated ability by just 1 or even 0 if you so choose, but with the Aftermath reprint, you no longer have a choice and you're forced to take the full discount of 2. Sounds like a mechanically functional change to me.

We do occasionally make small functional errata changes on cards, but it isn’t something we do a lot.

Aftermath Card Printing Errata Functional Errata Reprints Rules The FAQ Training Training Grounds

Non-Magic Design Application

"Is there anything I've produced (...) that you've applied to non-Magic design?" I am Scrum Master (kind of a coach) for IT developers team. I use quotes from this blog all the time. Your insight into human soul/behavior is phenomenal. When I have issues inside the team (not only related to design, but every day topics) very often i reference something you have shared with us. Your years of experience is worth much more than numbers of training i have had. Thank you for your wisdom. Thank you for your openness. Thank you for you!

Thanks for the kind words. : )

Appreciation Blogatog / Tumblr Human Humor Training

+1/+1 Counter Themes

How do you feel about +1/+1 counters having "friend" themes like backup, support, mentor, and training? :)

I think we have a theme for a Friends Secret Lair. : )

Backup Humor Mentor Secret Lairs Training

Teamwork Mechanics Considered

March of the Machine is the most excited I've been for a set since Unfinity! I love the return of Convoke for the heroes. Are you free to share any other preexisting mechanics that were considered to represent Teamwork?

We had a long list, but I don’t remember much of them off the top of my head. Soulbond, Mentor, and Training were there.

Convoke March of the Machine Mechanics Mentor Soulbond Training

Effective Playtest Feedback Approach

"...a playtest where everything goes wrong is a good playtest. You learn a lot from it, and it allows you to advance toward the right answers." This is one of the most important things to know as a designer or creator of any kind of product or service, and it's constantly frustrating to hear my peers just say "It's good." Do you have any tips on how to get a terrible playtest more often? Or how to get more constructive feedback from players?

The key is training your playtesters how to give the most useful feedback. If they liked it, have them explain why. What exactly did they like? It’s also important to have them understand that they can like the playtest overall, but still dislike things. And everything I said also applies if they didn’t like it.

Playtesting Training

Becoming the Squirrel Guy

Thought you might like to hear this ;We're in training at my new insurance job. During some phone training, to lighten the stress of having no insurance knowledge, I asked my coworkers about fictional insurance instead (squirrel insurance).Squirrel Insurance has become an ongoing joke within our block, with people from neighboring blocks questioning "why we're talking about squirrels again".Most honorably, I have become "the squirrel guy", and I'd like to thank you and Sally for helping me achieve this!

Thanks for sharing the story. 🐿 - Being “the squirrel guy” is a great honor.

Appreciation Humor Squirrel Story / Lore Training

Request for Middle Management Card

Can I request you make a card with both Mentor and Training and call it Middle Management?

: )

Humor Mentor Training

Creature Subtype Criteria

Could you please give more insight on the criteria for choosing Shaman or Wizard to a creature subtype? I feel theyre pretty similar in mtg world. In real world i feel shamans are more tied to religion/healing.

Wizards have more formal, schooled training.

Creatures Shaman Subtype Training

Rosewater's Leadership Position

Are you a boss?

I don’t have direct reports as I’m more in charge of design than designers. I do work closely with their managers though to make sure that they are getting the training and resources they need to grow as designers.

Training

Rationale Behind Card Reprints

This question is a bit late but I just wanna say what's with the bramble armor reprint. It's an obviously awful card and I understand why awful cards are in set but a reprint of an awful card the set after it came out just seems lazy to me. And the card doesn't even feel very necessary flavor wise. Any explanation?

Both Midnight Hunt and Crimson Vow wanted non-spell ways in green to use mana (for Werewolves) and ways to alter power of your creatures (for coven and training). Both Bramble Armor and Snarling Wolf did this very effectively. We could have done slight tweaks in Crimson Vow, but that would would have led to complaints that the cards aren’t different enough, so we chose to just reuse them. (Us being on the same world helped.) R&D has long learned that the game is better when we reuse cards that fit a purpose rather than make a tweaked card to just make a tweaked version.One other thing. Let’s try to not use the word “lazy” on this blog (and I would argue whenever you communicate with creative folk of things you enjoy). It’s fine for you to disagree with choices we’ve made, but please give me and my coworkers the benefit of the doubt that we thought long and hard about those decisions. I guarantee you that we spend way more time and energy on every decisions we make on Magic than most of you would guess we do.

Blogatog / Tumblr Bramble Armor Coven Creatures Flavor Green Mana Reprints Snarling Wolf Training Wolf

Evolve Versus Training

Why Training sees only power unlike Evolve ?

Evolve is the outlier, not Training.

Evolve Training

Creatures with Training and Mentor

Could a creature card both have training and mentor?

The rules can support it. Maybe in a Modern Horizons.

Creatures Mentor Modern Horizons Rules Training

Mechanic Similarities: Training versus Mentor

In your teaser you mentioned that a faction mechanic is returning. This is presumably Exploit, DTK Sultai mechanic. Cleave is great, but I'm pretty disappointed in hiding under the name "Training", a new name for a mechanic, "Mentor" mechanic from Boros. It's written the other way around, with target "taking" from higher power instead of higher power "giving" to lesser, but the actual effect is exactly the same in most cases. Conserving mechanics is a good idea, but do not sell them as new.

While training is similar to mentor, it actually plays out very differently in how it plays. It’s not just a renamed mentor.

Boros (R/W) Cleave Dragons of Tarkir Exploit Factions Mechanics Mentor Sultai (B/G/U) Teasers Training

Colorless Council Member

Hey Mark, is there a council of colours member (or something similar) for colourless?

It’s our training position. You start in colorless and advance to a color when it opens up.

Colorless Colors Council of colors Training

Acknowledging Jade Revenge Frog

Please distribute high fives for whoever is responsible for "Jade Revenge Frog" I assume that isn't the actual English name but anyway. Our old friend Chub Toad finally has the recognition he deserves after all those years of Samurai training!

There was a lot of discussion about the Samurai Frog, and I’m happy he made it to print.

Card Printing Chub Toad English Frog High Fives Samurais Training

Professor Onyx's Subject

Hey Mark! I was wondering, what is Professor Onyx a professor of? What classes does she teach?

She teaches in Witherbloom. I’m not sure the topic. She does have training in herbology.

Golgari (B/G) Professor Onyx Training

Creature-Transforming Planeswalkers

with gideon dead, do you have plans for a planeswalker who turns into a creature in the works? like niko xounds like it would fit her, as well as garruk, or... pretty much any planeswalker that has any physical training.

Sarkhan turns into a Dragon.

Creatures Dragon Planeswalkers Training

Request for situational golden lands

Mark, may I request more golden lands that enter the battlefield untapped but are very situational, such as Unclaimed Territory and Training Grounds?

You may.

Enter The Battlefield Lands Training Training Grounds Unclaimed Territory