Born of the Gods

Understanding Instant and Sorcery

Someone asked for "instant that becomes stronger or gains an additional effect when cast at a time you could cast a sorcery" and you've made those already in Born of the Gods with the Fated cycle.

Yes.

Born of the Gods God Instants Sorceries

Non-Inclusion of Inspired Mechanic

Was inspired ever considered in the set?

I don’t believe so. That mechanic didn’t get received well in Born of the Gods.

Born of the Gods God Mechanics

White's Card Drawing Limitations

Can White get "Each player can't draw more than one card each turn"? => Spirit of the Labyrinth (from Born of the Gods) does this.

See, it can.

Born of the Gods Card Draw God Spirit Spirit of the Labyrinth White

Theros Popularity Insight

Hi, Mark. How popular was Theros?

Pretty popular. Theros did much better than Born of the Gods or Journey into Nyx though.

Born of the Gods God Journey into Nyx Nyx Theros

Theros Birthday Trivia

May I please have some birthday trivia about the plane of my first sets as a player, Theros?

Bestow was originally designed for Born of the Gods, but Ivrealized we needed it to make Theros work, so I pulled it back a set.Happy Birthday!

Bestow Birthday Born of the Gods God Theros

Origin of Bestow

You designed bestow? Wasn't it designed by the lead developer of Born of the Gods (whose name escapes me at the moment) for that set and then retroactively put in Theros to fix the as-fan problem of enchantments?

You are correct. I was mistaken. Bestow was made by Billy Moreno. I helped apply it to Theros but Billy designed Bestow. Apologies.

As-fan Bestow Born of the Gods Enchantments God The Moment Theros

When Gatecrash Was Designed

I started playing magic right before gatecrash was released. What set was in design at that time?

Multiple sets would have been in design. Probably Theros and Born of the Gods plus some supplemental products.

Born of the Gods Gatecrash Gates God Theros

Drive to Work Timing

Re: Drive to Work Don't you mean three years? If you work two years ahead, wouldn't you have been working on Born of the Gods (3 winter sets ago) when DtW started 5 years ago?

You’re right, I did the math backwards. Five years ago, I was working on something you roughly saw three years ago.

Born of the Gods Drive to Work God

Tribute Mechanic Reception

how well-received was Born of the Gods' Tribute mechanic?

Not very well.

Born of the Gods God Mechanics Tribute

Preferred World Return

Would you Rather return to Born of the Gods or Champions of Kamigawa?

There’s no returning to sets, there is returning to worlds. Theros would be better received than Kamigawa.

Born of the Gods Champions of Kamigawa God Theros

Non-creature Tokens

We've had non-creature Artifact tokens before. Born of the Gods/Journey into Nyx had the "Gold" tokens from Gild and King Macar. Magic 2015 had Goblin Kaboomist, who makes artifact tokens. And finally, the Nahiri planeswalker card from Commander 2014 can make an Equipment that is a token.

Okay, I was way off. Populate still doesn’t make any flavor sense duplicating noncreature tokens.

Artifacts Born of the Gods Commander Commander 2014 Equipment Flavor Gild Goblin Goblin Kaboomist God Journey into Nyx Magic 2015 Non-creatures Nyx Planeswalkers Populate Tokens

Mechanics and Types Trivia

My birthday was last week but, unfortunately, you never answered my birthday trivia question. So, can I have some trivia on one of my favourite mechanics, Totem Armor and Bestow? Or on my favourite card type, Enchantment?

Bestow was designed for Born of the Gods but we moved it back to Theros because we needed it to make the enchantment theme work. Happy Belated Birthday!

Bestow Birthday Born of the Gods Card Types Enchantments God Mechanics Theros Totem Armor

Expansion Title Naming

If you avoid having "The" in expansion titles ever since "The Dark", then how do you explain Rise of THE Eldrazi, Born of THE Gods, or Oath of THE Gatewatch?

Fine. As the start of the name. : )

Born of the Gods Eldrazi Gates God Oath of the Gatewatch Rise of the Eldrazi The Dark

Future Podcast Promise

Are you ever going to do a born of the gods and journey into nyx podcast

I’ll get there eventually.

Born of the Gods Drive to Work God Journey into Nyx Nyx

Bestow on Storm Scale

Mr. Rosewater! Today's my birthday, I was wondering if there is any trivia for ashen rider, stormbreath dragon, or underworld cerberus. If not them, then how about a bit on bestow and it's storm scale.

Bestow was designed for Born of the Gods but we moved it back to Theros because we needed it to make the design work. I’d put Bestow at 7 on the Storm Scale.

Ashen Rider Bestow Birthday Born of the Gods Dragon God Keyword Abilities Mark Rosewater Storm Scale Stormbreath Dragon Theros Underworld Cerberus

Narset vs Xenagos

Why's it okay to do the 4-1 split for Narset but not for Xenagos in Born of the Gods? (Playing devil's advocate. I actually don't see a problem.)

We were trying to show progression. Not a god -> becomes a god.

Born of the Gods Devil God

Theros Trivia Gift

So my birthday was Tuesday, and for my birthday, I want trivia on theros

The Bestow mechanic was originally designed for Born of the Gods but got pulled back to Theros because it needed it to make enchantment creatures work in limited. Happy Belated Birthday!

Bestow Birthday Born of the Gods Creatures Enchantments God Limited Mechanics Theros

Theros Enchantment Theme

From a Vorthos perspective, I felt the enchantment theme in Theros was perfectly executed. It really lent an otherworldly feel to the the entities from Nyx, in the same way spirits worked in Kamigawa. I think my main concern was that it didn't feel like enchantment creatures mattered mechanically until Constellation was introduced in JOU, and even then, there were only 16 instances. Prior to that, it felt like more of a liability. Do you think adding Constellation earlier could have helped?

I said in my State of Design last year that I wish I had put Constellation in Born of the Gods.

Born of the Gods Constellation Creatures Enchantments God Kamigawa Nyx Spirit Theros Vorthos

Theros Reception

I keep running into people who insist that Theros was somehow not well received nor popular. I understand that it was a lower power level but I really enjoyed it and I know others did too. Can u explain the fallacy of such thinking? It's the set that got me back into magic as it was a flavor home-run.

Theros did well by every metric we use to measure success. Born of the Gods and, to a lesser extent, Journey Into Nyx didn’t do as well as Theros, but a lot of that was based on the reasons we'ved moved to a two-set block model.

Born of the Gods Flavor God Journey into Nyx Nyx Power Level Theros

Voice of Xenagos

Are you the voice of Xenagos in the Born of the Gods trailer?

I am not.

Born of the Gods God