Hey Mark! Was having a conversation with my housemate about how good a design Fact or Fiction is, and wondered if you knew who designed it? If so give them a high five from both of us

The divy mechanic (put cards into piles, someone picks one) was made by Bill Rose, Mike Elliott, and myself. The person who really championed Fact or Fiction was Randy Buehler who pushed it to be a tournament regular.

Just listened to your podcast on non-tournament design, and it cements my belief that you fundamentally misunderstand the issue people have with unsets. For example, you cite space concerns for dexterity cards, but they're also incredibly alienating to players who aren't as able-bodied as you. And you can't opt out, since there are dexterity cards that force your opponent to perform actions they may physically be unable to do

Three things: 1) After Unhinged we changed how we do physical cards. All Un-sets since (Unstable, Unsanctioned, Unfinity) limit physical action to the player who cast the card requiring it. We no longer make cards that force the opponent to do a physical action. 2) You have this misconception that only Un-sets can ask an opponent to perform an action they might be unwilling or unable to do. For example, Fact or Fiction asks the opponent to perform an action (divide five of your cards into two piles) that is intimidating for a lot of players. It requires knowledge of the cards, understanding of power level, and the ability to read the board state. Magic makes use of many different types of skills and any of those can be problematic for an opponent. That doesn’t mean Magic shouldn’t have those cards. 3) If a player has an issue, it’s fine in casual settings to adjust to what that player is capable of doing. For example, when I’ve played against players intimidated by Fact or Fiction, I’ve put them in order of how much I want them to help the opponent make their decision. The same is true of any physical cards from Unglued or Unhinged. Adapt what is being asked to something the player can do. They key here is a willingness for accommodation.

Is a Spike card one that's efficient and competitively viable, like Uro, or one that is skill testing, like Fact or Fiction?

A Spike card is a card that various Spikes enjoy playing which means it can be both of the above.

Why so little use of the pile/choose mechanic like Fact or Fiction and Do or Die? Its a mechanic that encourages players getting better at the game , is sort of a sub game, and rewards bettter players. Are they very difficult to develop, too complex or give the better player too much of an advantage? There seems to be infinite design space there so it puzzling there have not been many more.

R&D refers to it as “divy”. There’s not as much usable design space as you might think. It also takes a lot of time to execute.

Birthday Trivia request: Shelter, Fact of Fiction, or Temporal Spring? (and thanks for doing all you do...)

Fact or Fiction was pushed powerwise because we felt it was a card tournament players would enjoy playing. Happy Birthday! #WotCStaff

Why is the Jund Ultimatum so much worse than the other four? The Esper one is a super fact or fiction, the Bant one can double a board state, the Grixis one can reverse a board state, the Naya one can end a game through a single combat, and then the Jund one just kills off three non-indestructible permanents. The old Eldrazi titans do that but better every time they attack.

You do understand you, not your opponent, get to pick which three permanents.

Looking back at Fact or Fiction and its ilk, there are no green cards other than Camoflage that make you separate things into piles. Every other color has at least two. Why is this?

I think we made some Green ones but they did play well and got cut. Being the mechanic wasn’t named and thus would be grouped together less in players minds we left it as is. I don’t think it’s how we’d handle it today.

Have we seen the last of the divvy mechanic? (Do or Die, Bend or Break, Fact or Fiction, etc)

I doubt it.

I just had the conspiracy prerelease and I got really lucky. I first picked a heartless hidetsugu and second picked a fact or fiction so I decided to go blue red. I then opened (and first picked) a dack fayden in the second pack and second picked a lore seeker. I got innistrad, and opened three rares (skirsdag high priest, ludevic's test subject, and a foil gavony township, so I used an agent of acquisitions I got in the first pack to draft the whole pack. Conspiracy is great :)

Sounds like you had a great time (and lots of luck).

With Jace, Architect of Thought and Steam Augury about to be in the same standard, how likely are we to see a reprint of Fact or Fiction?

Low. I believe Development consider it too powerful.