Mark, I love OTJ, and how it uses the fauna, flora and folklore of North America to feel 'western'. Armadillos, Mountain Bighorn Sheep, Prairie Dogs, Buzzards, Coyotes, Roadrunners, Gila Monsters, Wolverines, Porcupines, Tumbleweeds (nevermind the Tumblewaggs), Beavers, Possums, Badgers, a knight riding a Moose, a battalion of various Cactus-folk and a Magic version of Paul Bunyan and his Blue Ox. Its like a roadtrip from my childhood through Wyoming, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico and western Texas was condensed into a set, even the panning for gold at a tourist trap! All I'm left wondering is when can we return so we can get a card inspired by John Henry, the steel-driving man, and maybe an ornery bison or two.

Please dole out copious high fives to those who had the idea that this set needs a bunch of critters from the southwest and the Rocky Mountains to feel like a western setting.

High fives shall be applied.

What are your favourite guild mechanics for each guild of Ravnica? Do you think they're also the ones most likely to be brought back?

Azorius - DetainDimir - SurveilRakdos - SpectacleGruul - BloodthirstSelesnya - ConvokeOrzhov - ExtortIzzet - ReplicateGolgari - ScavengeBoros - BattalionSimic - Evolve

To support drawing cards, could white get more creatures such as Squadron Hawk, Battalion Footsoldier, and Inspiring Commander? Builds the feel of having an army of little dudes and helps with white's drawing problem.

It’s in color pie. There are shuffling and play design issues to deal with.

Why can't the rules handle Panglacial wurm? It seems so intuitive and easy to grok for me. Crack a fetch? You can play the wurm. Demonic tutor? Land Tax? Battalion foot soldier? Cast wurm.

There is a difference between what players can understand and what the rules can handle. Silver border is full of cards that fall in this category.

Did any Modern Horizons designs get absorbed by War of the Spark? Makeshift Battalion, Tenth District Legionnaire, and Devouring Hellion seem like they were very obviously designed to have Battalion, Heroic, and Devour, respectively.

They were, but that was all the doing of the War of the Spark’s set design team.

Did you ever consider bringing back a mechanic for GRN that had not previously been a guild mechanic (Like battle cry for the Boros, or infect for the Golgari)? Is there any particular reason Selesnya was the only guild not to get a new mechanic? Did you ever consider bringing back battalion, or scavenge, or overload?

We had a list for every guild what we could bring back. We tested Splice (onto instant and sorcery) for Izzet.

Why don't we get battalion again? Don't get me wrong, mentor looks pretty good, but battalion was such a fun mechanic. Any particular reason why it hasn't returned like convoke?

Play with Mentor. It’s a lot of fun.

Question 49: what I thought was part of the difficulty is that while Cycling/Miracle and Modular/Scavenge would have hidden synergy less experienced players might not notice, Myriad/Battalion's interaction is non-intuitive and most less-experienced players would get it flat-out wrong, which makes it much more difficult.

Correct.

Mark, how is it that White can get mechanics like Exalted and Battalion, when they’re direct opposites?

Colors are more than a single facet.

Hi Mark! I was wonder info could get some birthday trivia on the Boros?

When Shawn Main first pitched Battalion in the second Great Designer Search, I knew then and there that it was going to be the Boros mechanic when we returned to Ravnica. Happy Birthday!