I find it very interesting when you mention "what could have been"s in Magic, such as your plan for the Weatherlight Saga or the Past-Present-Future block. Are you prohibited from talking about "what could have been" UB's? Is there a time limit where once it's been long enough, it's okay to talk about UB's that fell through?

Universes Beyond involve people/companies outside of Wizards, so that’s off limits for me to talk about.

Happy birthday Mark! Inverse birthday trivia! Arna Kennerüd, a sky knight quoted in a bunch of flavor texts from Ice Age and Alliances, was the first Magic lore character I designed a fan card for when I was real young. They finally get a real card nearly 30 years later in MH3!Also, I want to thank you personally for The Weatherlight Saga, where my love for Magic's lore truly blossomed.

Thanks.

Hi, Mark.
Is it possible that something like a third expansion will be added to the Mirage block, just like Cold Snap was added to the Ice Age block over time? (since Weatherlight is like episode zero of the Rath cycle) (although I have a feeling Prophecy is the third)

Weatherlight was still the third block of the Mirage block. It does have flanking and phasing cards in it.

Some thoughts on "Holy Cow":I don't think it's specifically an issue with Holy Cow in a vacuum.Instead, it's more about the massive increase in proliferation of "meme cards" and "joke cards", cards that make references to real life idioms, seek to break the 4th wall in some way, make puns or jokes that pander to everyone, naming cards after a ubiquitous a turn of phrase in pop culture, etc.Sometimes it's cute and whimsical but when it misses, it can feel pretty cringe. I don't want my favorite game to have a bunch of cringe references which becomes a possibility when Magic makes dozens of "joke cards". It also makes the Magic world and universe feel less bespoke and more like a series of existing references.

For what it's worth, I think the Holy Cow reference would have been funnier if it weren't so obvious (i.e. design the card as is with the same art but name it something different).

Years ago, I made this card:

I love puns, so much so that I wove this one into the story (this was the Weatherlight Saga that Michael and I created). Very, very few players got it. (The pun is “squeeze toy”, the squeezable rubber toy that makes noise when you squeeze it, like you would give a dog.) Every time I explain this, I get more people say, “I never got that.”I have nothing against the subtle joke now and then (and there are some pretty subtle jokes in the Un-sets), but I would rather do jokes that the majority of players get. If the trade of is some people roll their eyes and say “that’s not my style of humor”, but many others laugh and enjoy it, I’ll gladly take that. A joke more people get is “funnier” in the aggregate.

Invoking the hallowed and ancient rite of birthday trivia, I was wondering if there was anything new you could share about your original vision for the end of the Weatherlight Saga? Failing that, is there a villain in Magic's past that you personally would like to see return?

Our original pitch was for a three-year story (with the idea that we’d tell more stories; this was the first story arc). Year one was Rath. It mostly matched with what happen save Crovax going evil and killing Mirri.Year two was Mercadia. A completely different story, and a very different world from what was made.Year three was Dominaria, but in the future. The crew returned to warn Dominaria about the upcoming Phyrexian invasion only to learn the portal they traveled through sent through time and the Phyrexians have already taken over Dominaria. The crew is able to defeat both the Phyrexians (using the hourglass pendant to rewind time) and Volrath who is aboard the ship disguised as Tahngarth.Happy Birthday!

Can I request birthday trivia for the oversized cards that went with the Weatherlight crew that modified your life total/hand size, and gave you a special ability?I think they were called Vangaurd cards?

They were called Vanguard cards. They were done in conjunction with an in-store program. The were four groups of them, each with eight cards. All of them were tied to The Weatherlight Saga, although the first two were more crew connected and the last two were more Urza connected. I was actually lead on the larger Vanguard project.Happy Birthday!

The time has come to once again invoke the right (rite?) of birthday trivia! In your original version of the Weatherlight Saga, did Hanna survive? Or was she always doomed?

Hanna survived.

While I don't think The Skyship Weatherlight qualifies as a character, it does eventually turn into Weatherlight Compleated which does seem to qualify as a character since it moves of its own volition even after it's powerstone was removed. The question comes down to whether naming the character will count the machine that became it. So for a similar question: If I name Memnarch with Vorthos, will it count towards cards with Mirari in them?

If you want to name Weatherlight as a character, I won’t stop your fun. Have at it. Memnarch can count the Mirari, why not?

Hi Mark! My friend, who is a big fan of Karn, got his drgree on Mothematics yesterday, do you have some trivia on his favorite card (Karn the great creator) or anything else Karn related? Thanks!

Karn is named after the word cairn which means “a mound of rough stones built as a memorial or landmark”. He came about because I wanted an artifact creature on the Weatherlight crew.Congrats to your friend!

Ahh I forgot! Yesterday was my 21st birthday!Do you have any trivia on my favorite praetor, Urabrask? Or Phyrexia as a whole?Thank you Mark!!!

Phyrexia is Magic’s oldest villain, introduced in Antiquities, the second ever expansion. I was such a fan of them that I convinced Michael to make them the main villains in the Weatherlight Saga. Happy Birthday!