Good day, Mark! Just adding yet another lengthy Duskmourn opinion to the stack.Personally, I don’t mind the more modern vibes as long as they’re something used very sparingly across sets as a whole. As in, I’d probably start having problems if we saw another set with a “modern” setting within the next year or two (not counting UB, which I consider a whole separate thing), but getting one every once in a blue moon is a neat little curiosity if nothing else.I actually think the fact that Duskmourn is so horror-focused helps the modern-ness fit better. Like, since the whole vibe of the set is that it’s full of things that are bizarre and out-of-place, modern things like TVs create a fitting contrast with the fantasy characters and concepts. It truly does feel like an invasion from an “alien” world into the one we’re familiar with. Which is kind of perfect!However, there is one thing I’d like to voice a complaint about: the card Chainsaw. It’s not even the fact that it’s a chainsaw that bugs me, but that its name is just… Chainsaw. Even if the setting is more modern, I feel like there should be an underlying level of fantasticalness that never goes away. I think the razorkin from the PW guide are an excellent example of this; taking the Slasher Monster trope and twisting it a bit so it still feels fantastical. But the Chainsaw is just a chainsaw. It’s not even, like, “[Adjective] Chainsaw.” It feels mundane and unexciting. I felt similarly about the Clue weapons in MKM, for what it’s worth. I want every Magic card to feel like it’s something that could only come out of the Magic multiverse.Obviously, that’s just one card, but I’m a tad concerned there are going to be more cards like it revealed later on. It wouldn’t ruin the set or anything, but it would be disappointing to me, especially if I like the mechanics of the cards themselves.

Would an adjective make it feel more fantastical? We made a Chainsaw in original Innistrad and it turned into Trepanation Blade. I still refer to it as Chainsaw. I’m kind of excited to make a set that can have an actual chainsaw. I’m curious to hear people’s thoughts about the name Chainsaw.

How widespread are the mill erratas going to be? Is it only going to be cards that mill a set number like Thought Scour, or are cards like Trepanation Blade going to receive errata to mill?

It will only be used on cards whose Oracle update matches the mill template.

I followed you basically the day after my birthday, so I felt I should do the proper thing and wait the year out. Not that the day has finally rolled around again, could I get some birthday trivia on either of my favorite cards, Trepanation Blade or Braids, Conjurer Adept?

Braids wasn’t originally going to be a legendary creature but we saw an illustration we liked and decided it should be upgraded to a legendary creature. Happy Birthday!

You say that actual card names change quite often from their Design names (Chainsaw becoming Trepanation Blade). How often do mechanic names change from what Design first called them?

It happens a decent amount. Both devotion and heroic, for example, were the design name and monstrosity was monstrous so that was close. My best ever was Mirrodin where all four new mechanics (affinity, entwine, equipment and imprint) kept the design name.

Which came first, the Dimir "grind" mechanic, or Trepanation Blade?

Trepanation Blade came first. It was designed by Richard Garfield during Innsitrad design as a top-down Chainsaw (its design name and what I refer to it as).

During Innistrad spoiler season, I knew to look out for a Chainsaw design, so when I saw it spoiled, I immediately recognized it. Except that I later found out that it was Trepanation Blade, not the one I'd thought: Inquisitor's Flail. The Flail still seems more like a Chainsaw to me; the wielder deals a ton more damage by letting down his defense. How does a Chainsaw mill? If you're carving into someone's head, he's just dead.

The milling was just a means to determine a random amount of damage which has the potential to get very high.

Fun (potentially) non-AVR question time! What's your favorite nickname for a card? For example, I've seen Solemn Simulacrum being called Sad Robot.

I have a lot of favorites. My most recent was probably Chainsaw for Trepanation Blade (it was the design name) in Innistrad.

Are there innistrad cards you prefer the play testing names over what they were released with?

The vast majority of my time with the cards is with the playtest name so I get used to that name.That’s why, for example, I’m so bad at remembering card names (most recently seen in Evan Erwin’s interview with me.) http://www.starcitygames.com/magic/standard/23188_Worlds_2011_Interview_Mark_Rosewater.html Usually when the card gets a real name, I eventually learn to use that name, but sometimes I’m so fond of the playtest name that the new name never sticks. For example, I doubt I will ever call the card Clone Shell because it will always be Meat Puppet to me. Likewise Trepanation Blade will always be Chainsaw.