Crocodile

Creature Types Consolidation

I'd like to voice my dislike of the paring down of some of the creature types, because I feel like differing viewpoints are good in game design and I've not really seen that many statements voiced in opposition to these changes. My view of it is that it strips out a lot of uniqueness of Magic as a setting. Other settings have humanoid lizards, but they don't have Viashino. Other settings have undersea-dwelling peoples, but they don't have Cephalids. Naga becoming Snake was completely understandable, and I think the justifications for it were valid. I do not think Viashino becoming Lizard or Cephalid becoming Octopus were remotely justified. On top of that, it creates some weird points, where you can see clearly crocodilian humanoids (the Viashino from Alara) now labeled as Lizards, which not only are separate types in Magic, they're not even closely related in real life (crocodiles are more closely related to birds and dinosaurs than lizards). I've seen a number of very loud people advocate for trimming all the "unnecessary" types in Magic out, but their proposals usually end up as "there should be about 20 creature types total." This is not only unsatisfactory from a game design standpoint--as it would make tribal decks a bit *too* easy to accomplish--but absolutely catastrophic from a flavor perspective as well. At that point, why not just have typelines be "TYPE1", "TYPE2", and so forth? Flavor and function have to work together, and sacrificing too much of either is a bad thing. Too little function, and the game becomes unplayable. Too little flavor, and the game becomes cold and sterile. This is not to say that trimming on creature types is a bad thing--I think Magic wouldn't be hurt by trimming on a few more creature types if you asked me--but just that I think the choice of creature types being trimmed is odd, to say the least. Why does a regularly printed creature type with new cards that were printed just earlier this year get the boot, and not something like trilobite, which has all of 5 cards, with a 4 year gap between the printing of the most recent one and the one before that? If this is to help tribal decks, why are there still one-off or two-off creature types being printed, like Varmint and Coyote?

We’re not getting rid of Viashino. They will continue to creatively exist. We will still refer to them in titles and flavor text as Viashino. All we’re doing is consolidating the creature types so that we’re consistent in how we use them. Magic has been treating animal humanoids this way (aka using the animal as the creature type) for two plus decades. All we’re doing is going back and fixing the few that got done before we adopted this policy back in the early days of Magic.

Bird Card Printing Cephalid Coyote Creatures Crocodile Dinosaur Flavor Flavor Text Game Design Kindred / Typal Lizard Naga Octopus Snake Trilobite Varmint Viashino

List of Green Cards

In case anyone was curious about how many Lay of the Land cards are in green:Mono-Green: 58
Analyze the Pollen
Attune with Aether
Borderland Ranger
Boseiju Reaching Skyward
Brave the Wilds
Bushwack
Caravan Vigil
Civic Wayfinder
Cultivate
District Guide
Druid of the Emerald Grove
Elfhame Sanctuary
Evolution Charm
Flare of Cultivation
Flourishing Bloom-Kin
Fork in the Road
Gaea's Bounty
Gatecreeper Vine
Greenseeker
Herd Migration
Horizon Seeker
hunting Cheetah
Journey for the Elixir
Journey of Discovery
Kodama's Reach
Krosan Tusker
Kura, the Boundless Sky
Land Grant
Lay of the Land
Many Partings
Nervous Gardener
Nissa's Encouragement
Nissa's Pilgrimage
Nissa's Triumph
Nissa, Vastwood Seer
Nylea's Intervention
Open the Gates
Outcaster Greenblade
Peregrination
Realm Seekers
Realms Uncharted
Reclaim the Wastes
Rites of Spring
Seek the Horizon
Shard Convergence
Spinewoods Armadillo
Spirit of the Aldergard
Sprouting Vines
Sylvan Ranger
Sylvan Scrying
The Huntsman's Redemption
Thirsting Roots
Trail of Mystery
Traverse the Ulvenwald
Verdant Mastery
Vorinclex
Yavimaya Elder
You Happen On a GladeGreen featuring another colour: 7
Dig Up
Flower // Flourish
Huatli, Poet of Unity
Invasion of Ergamon (flipped to Truga Cliffcharger)
Path to the World Tree
Safewright Quest
Yasharn, Implacable EarthUn-cards: 3
Selfie Preservation (Un-card)
Spirit of the Season (Un-card)
Wild Crocodile (Un-card)(everyone feel free to add any that I've missed!)

FYI

Analyze the Pollen Armadillo Attune with Aether Borderland Ranger Brave the Wilds Caravan Vigil Civic Wayfinder Colors Crocodile Cultivate Dig Up District Guide Druid Druid of the Emerald Grove Elder Elfhame Sanctuary Evolution Charm Flare Flare of Cultivation Flourishing Bloom-Kin Flower // Flourish Fork in the Road Gaea's Bounty Gatecreeper Vine Gates Green Greenseeker Herd Migration Horizon Seeker Hunting Cheetah Invasion Journey for the Elixir Journey of Discovery Kodama's Reach Krosan Tusker Kura, the Boundless Sky Land Grant Lands Lay of the Land Many Partings Nervous Gardener Nissa's Encouragement Nissa's Pilgrimage Nissa's Triumph Nylea's Intervention Open the Gates Outcaster Greenblade Path to the World Tree Peregrination Ranger Realm Seekers Realms Uncharted Reclaim the Wastes Rites of Spring Safewright Quest Seek the Horizon Seeker Selfie Preservation Shard Convergence Spinewoods Armadillo Spirit Spirit of the Aldergard Spirit of the Season Sprouting Vines Sylvan Ranger Sylvan Scrying The Huntsman's Redemption The Wilds The World Tree Thirsting Roots Trail of Mystery Traverse the Ulvenwald Un-sets Verdant Mastery Wild Crocodile Yasharn, Implacable Earth Yavimaya Elder You Happen On a Glade

Gripe About Batching

Mark, I've given myself time to think on it, and this one Goose's opinion is that we shouldn't do more creature type batches. I'm going to use a fictional card called "Dr. Marten, Herpetologist" as a framing device. I understand how "Reptiles you control have [the curiosity effect]" may ring as flavorful and also save space. However, I feel like saying "Reptiles (Lizards, Snakes, and Crocodiles are reptiles)" rather than "Lizards, Snakes, and Crocodiles you control have [the curiosity effect]" makes it seem like the team has little confidence in our ability to make the connection. Given how many context clues Magic cards provide, I think you should have more faith (a gripe I share with flavor words).That being said, happy Earth Day! and do you have any research that shows players aren't able to make the connection as well as I think?

Batching came about in Dominaria. We were tying artifacts, legendary cards, and Sagas together as things that represented the past. We tried numerous templates and the playtesters just didn’t get it. Backed into a corner (Bill, our VP, told me he was going to force me to cut the mechanic if people weren’t getting it), I tried something new, giving the combined items a flavor word and then listing them in reminder text. It worked. Playtesters finally got it. So yes, I have little confidence in the audience making the connection, but that’s because I tried the alternative, many alternatives actually, and the audience didn’t get it.

Artifacts Batches Creatures Crocodile Dominaria Flavor Flavor Words Lizard Mechanics Sagas Snake Templating

Grouping Creature Types

With creature types being grouped together like with Party and Outlaw, I imagine this trend will continue if received well. Do you think there is a limit on how many creature types could be grouped together at one? For example, if there was a grouping for "Reptiles" you realistically could include Lizard, Salamander, Turtle, Crocodile, Snake, Hyrda, Dinosaur, Basilisk, and Kavu. There might be some others I'm forgetting, but 9 seems like a lot. Do you think that the amount of possible creature types would prevent potential groupings from being made at all, or would some just be left out?

Our default rule is two to five items in a batch. Getting over that gets unwieldy, both to remember and to fit on the card.

Basilisk Batches Creatures Crocodile Dinosaur Kavu Lizard Rules Salamander Snake Turtle

Alligators vs. Crocodiles

Mark, why does Magic have so many crocodiles but so few alligators? I demand more alligators!

I’ve been trying to make one with flash called Insta-gator for decades.

Crocodile Flash

Birthday Trivia Sharing

Happy birthday! Can we get some birthday trivia about you on your birthday?

Sure. I turn 56 today, so here’s fifty-six things you may or may not know about me. 1) I never lost a baby tooth. Every one had to be extracted.2) I was once a contestant on Trivial Pursuit: The Game Show with Wink Martindale. I answered the most questions correct, but didn’t win. 3) I once had scarlet fever (the thing the boy gets in the Velveteen Rabbit).4) I’ve been told by doctors I have very weird blood.5) I self taught myself to juggle.6) I was a magician when I was a kid with the stage name The Wiz Kid. I mostly performed for kids parties.7) I was once a freelance greeting card writer. My favorite (that didn’t get printed) showed a jug of maple syrup tipped on its side making a puddle of syrup. In the syrup was a top hat. A hand is pulling a can of green paint with a shamrock out of the hat. You open up the card and it says Sappy Paint Hat Tricks Day. It’s a triple Spoonerism. 8) Sara Gilbert (of “Roseanne” fame) and I once went out for lunch. (It wasn’t a date or anything.) 9) I broke my collarbone doing a prat fall off a stage. 10) I once pet a cheetah. In South Africa. My face from the picture of me doing that was used as my “Making Magic” photo for years.11) I once made a root beer float for Keanu Reeves. It was at a play I was volunteering for. 12) I once get trapped inside Fred Astaire’s Estate. This factoid is oddly on my Wikipedia page.13) Starting during the pandemic, my family began fostering animals. So far, we fostered four dogs, six cats, and two Guinea pigs.14) In college, I wrote and directed two plays, started an improvisation troupe, and a writing workshop. 15) I still have all my wisdom teeth. 16) I have visited every continent except Antarctica for Magic. 17) I once asked Clint Eastwood for directions, not realizing who it was until he started talking. I was lost on the Warner Brothers lot.18) My first job in Hollywood resulted from me taking part in someone else’s interview. I snuck on the lot, and ended walking into a room where they asked “Are you here for the production assistant interview?”, and I said, “Yes.”19) I once had a disease the doctors couldn’t identify. They called it Mark’s Disease. 20) I was born in Mississippi. My dad was in the Air Force at the time. 21) I asked out seven woman to my senior prom who all turned me down. I ended up going with a friend who also couldn’t get a date. 22) I took six years of Spanish. 23) Most of my family’s vacations growing up were ski vacations, so I’m a decent skier. 24) I once delivered a pizza to Richard Gere. It was as a production assistant, not a pizza delivery person. 25) I once broke into an actor’s apartment building to deliver a script. It was so late, they were asleep and didn’t hear the buzzing of the door bell. 26) I once drove six hours (three in each direction) to pick up one five-stick package of Blackjack gum as a runner (production assistant).27) Dennis Miller once thought I was a crazy man. I was sent to get him from the parking lot for a shoot and he thought I was stalking him.28) I have over two hundred tee-shirts. They are organized by color. 29) I was supposed to pitch to “The Simpsons”, but it got cancelled when I got hired in the “Roseanne” staff.30) I pitched multiple times to “Star Trek: The Next Generation”, but never sold a script. The closest I got was a pitch about Data malfunctioning. 31) I once ate crocodile. In Australia.32) I played the Tinman in fifth grade in a production of “The Wizard of the Oz”. I was so hot, my silver make-up had to be reapplied halfway through as I sweated it off.33) My mother turned down being on “Oprah” to come to my college graduation.34) My parents are both retired. My dad was a dentist and my mom a psychologist. I used to joke I had a “paradox”. 35) Every birthday since I was 9, I’ve celebrated my birthday with crab legs. 36) Since I was in grade school, every Valentine’s Day, I hand out candy hearts, and every Halloween, I hand out mellowcreme pumpkins (basically pumpkin shaped candy corns). 37) My tee-shirts every week are themed. Some themes are pretty obvious, but they often get tricky. R&D likes figuring out the theme. 38) I got a BS in Communications (no, really) from Boston University’s College of Communications. 39) I collect superhero Minimates (they look Lego-ish). I have somewhere around two thousand. They are displayed in a number of cabinets built by my dad.40) My podcast was inspired by a talk by Kevin Smith (at San Diego Comic-Con) where he said anyone could make a podcast. 41) I have attended over twenty-five San Diego Comic-Cons.42) I am related to Lorne Green of “Bonanza” fame. 43) My dad’s family came from Germany and my mom’s from Russia. In Germany, my family’s name was Rosenvasser, but it was changed to Rosewater when they came to the U.S.44) There are so few Rosewaters in the United States, that if you meet a Rosewater odds are I’m related to them.45) I have lived in five states (Mississippi, Ohio, Massachusetts, California, and Washington, in that order).46) I have visited over thirty states for Magic. 47) I once met Jim Henson when I worked on a clip show that Kermit was on. The question I asked him was if Ernie and Bert were named after the characters from “It’s a Wonderful Life”. He said not consciously. Jim Henson is one of my idols and I feel so blessed to have met him. He died a few months later.48) I met Stan Lee at Hascon. He is another of my idols that I feel so lucky to have met. 49) On “Roseanne”, I worked with Amy Sherman-Palladino (just Amy Sherman back then) and Chuck Lorre. She made “Gilmore Girls” and “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”. He made “Big Bang Theory” and “Two and a Half Men”. Amy was super sweet and we got along well. I don’t think Chuck liked me.50) I am a super picky eater. For example, except for apples, I don’t eat fruit. I hate bananas with a passion. 51) I have been a game player since very young. My dad loves games and introduced them to me early in life.52) I get the writing bug from my mom. 53) I used to collect lint in a giant jar. When I got married, Lora made me get rid of it. It was an impressive amount of lint.54) I have a bad tendency to burn myself a lot. My family loves to make fun of it. 55) I own over fifty flannels. My favorites are from Japan because they are more colorful with their flannels. Normally I wear a large, but in Japanese sizes, I’m an extra large.56) My favorite number is 254. I chose it when I was little.

Australia Birthday Blood Card Printing Cat Colors Conventions Crab Crocodile Doctor Dog Drive to Work Germany Giant Green Humor Japan Making Magic Mark Rosewater Paradox Pop Culture Rabbit United States Your Hand

Challenges in Defining Humanoid Types

The other problem with trying to batch humanoid is that a lot of creature types are both humanoid and non-humanoid depending on context. Cat, for example, encompasses both humanoid species like Leonin as well as normal lions, tigers, and house cats. And that’s not even getting into types like Phyrexian or Demon, which feature everything from standard humanoids to giant incomprehensible monstrosities, or Zombie or Vampire, which is sometimes standalone and sometimes a modifier to another type. (Zombie Warrior is probably humanoid; Crocodile Zombie probably isn’t.)

Yes, it’s hard to define something mechanically when you can’t make a clean subset.

Batches Cat Creatures Crocodile Demon Giant Phyrexian Standard Vampire Warrior Zombie

Request for Griffin Themed Trivia

Hey Mark. Could I get some birthday trivia about an old favorite of mine, Retaliator Griffin or, failing that, the griffin tribe in general?

I don’t have any trivia on Retaliator Trivia, but I do have one on a different Griffin:https://c1.scryfall.com/file/scryfall-cards/large/front/2/b/2bed19fa-e497-48de-8459-030e60fdc9a8.jpg?1562443742
Tethered Griffin is part of a rare 3-card cycle (that’s not a vertical cycle). It, Covetous Dragon and Emperor Crocodile were three creatures from Urza’s Destiny that was sacrificed if you didn’t control a particular permanent type (enchantment, artifacts, and creatures, respectively).Happy Birthday!

Artifacts Birthday Blogatog / Tumblr Covetous Dragon Creatures Crocodile Dragon Emperor Crocodile Enchantments Griffin Rares Retaliator Griffin Tethered Griffin Urza

Hopes for Crocodile Tribal

Can we have more crocodile tribal support?

Hopefully, one day.

Crocodile Kindred / Typal

Likelihood of Crocodile Lord

If or When: a genuine Crocodile lord?

Probably when.

Crocodile If/When

Request for Legendary Crocodile

Hi Mark! May I request a legendary crocodile please? :)

That would rock! : )

Crocodile Humor

Green's Creature Reliance

If Green's weakness is its overreliance on creatures, what does that make Emperor Crocodile? A bend, break, or what?

It dies if you don’t have other creatures. That’s a textbook example of relying on other creatures.

Bend / Break Creatures Crocodile Emperor Crocodile Green

Crocodiles in Eldraine?

Hi Mark. Will there possibly be crocodiles in Eldraine? Constructed playable crocodiles?

Is it possible? Um, sure.

Constructed Crocodile

Crocodile Tribal Future

Can we get some crocodile tribal?

One day.

Crocodile Kindred / Typal

Unstable Mana Fixing

Mark, Unstable looks like lots of fun. But why is the color-fixing so terrible? There are only 4 cards that can get you arbitrary colors: 2 are green spells that fetch basic lands (Selfie Preservation and Wild Crocodile), 1 only works on spells with watermarks (Secret Base), and 1 has a 50% chance to get you colorless instead (Mad Science Fair Project). Urza is going to be impossible to cast in draft.

The mana supports the draft environment. We don’t warp environments for a single mythic rare.

Cast Colorless Colors Crocodile Green Lands Limited Mad Science Fair Project Mana Mythic Rares Secret Base Selfie Preservation Spells Unstable Urza Watermarks Wild Crocodile

Amonkhet Gods Types

Was there ever a debate about if the Amonkhet Gods would get a secondary creature type back when it was being designed? e.g. "Cat God, Bird God, Crocodile God, Jackal God, Snake God"

No, we tend to just let Gods be Gods.

Amonkhet Bird Cat Creatures Crocodile God Jackal Secondary Snake

Blogatog Trivia Share

MR ROSEWATER. You never answered my birthday question, so I'm going to give you Blogatog trivia. Your average visitor looks at your page 1.6 times a day, more people find your blog from searching "Crocodile dragon amohnket" than "Mark rosewater tumblr" and you are the 55,113th most popular website in the world.

FYI Interesting trivia. I’d love to hear more. : )

Birthday Blogatog / Tumblr Crocodile Dragon Mark Rosewater

Food Imagery in Magic

Why doesnt Magic activate the Crocodile part of the brain by including Food or other Types of Nourishment more in its cards? Excellent emotionally loaded cards like Feed the Clan come to mind. What do people on Amonkhet even eat? Just random Fruit (Oashra Cultivator, Liliana, Death's Majesty)? Fried Dune Beetles? Why cant Gideon be eating an apple in the art in Renewed Faith, where the hell does he get all his protein from? Everyone in Amonkhet is ripped af but the only food available is fruit!

Did the card with Gideon eating crocodile jerky not make it to print?

Activate Amonkhet Art Card Printing Crocodile Feed the Clan Food Liliana, Death's Majesty Oashra Cultivator Renewed Faith

Zombie Typeline Consistency

Why is it that a human zombie is just a zombie while a zombie goblin is still a goblin (Festering goblin)? We have zombie crocodiles, elves, goblins, merfolk etc but zombie humans are just 'zombies'.

It’s anti-Human prejudice.

Crocodile Die Rolling Elf Festering Goblin Goblin Human Merfolk Zombie

Rootwater Alligator Confusion

Why is Rootwater Alligator a Crocodile?

Because Crocodile is a supported creature type and Alligator is not. It’s kind of like how all Dogs are Hounds even when they are something other than a Hound.

Creatures Crocodile Dog Rootwater Alligator