Fireball

Fireball from Beatdown Explanation

Just found a Fireball from Beatdown, and it has X and Y in the mana cost. Why the decision to make Y in the mana cost vs the regular wording when it was first printed?

Fireball templating has gone through many changes. One time we tried a second variable. I didn’t go well.

Fireball Mana Templating

Card Name Punctuation

Something I've wondered for a while: I know it's a fine balancing act coming up with names for cards, because, once you've used up a word or phrase, that can only ever be that card again (i.e. there's only so many ways to say "no" for things like counter spell names), but does punctuation change that in any way for cards that have phrases for names? I doubt you could get away with "fireball!" being a different card, but could you use "No, more lies" as a different card from "No more lies"?

Currently, the same name, but with punctuation, is not considered a unique name.

Card Names Fireball No More Lies

Fireball Printing Confusion

Why is there only one printing of Fireball with Y in its mana cost?

It confused too many players.

Card Printing Fireball Mana

Complexity's Role

Additional pieces and complexity have always been part of the game, in Alpha ,The Hive made tokens; Clockwork Beast, Cyclopean Tomb, Fungusaur, Gaea's Liege, Living Artifact, Rock Hydra and Scavaging Ghoul used counters of some kind. In the same set Aspect of Wolf, Fireball, Gaea's Liege and Personal Incarnation involve fractions with rounding up and down(many players still have some difficulty using these cards) and then just out right comp lexity, Camouflage, Illusionary Mask, Lich,Raging River and Word of Command. Not to mention Banding, Protection, interrupt batches, tapped artifacts turning off, tapped blockers dealing no damage, in addition to individual card interactions. This game has always been complex and drawn on other components outside of just the cards. All to the enrichment of its players. Do you think without the conceit of this complexity as many early board, minature, rpg, card game players would have been drawn to this azmazing game?

I think complexity is more feature than bug, but it’s still a dangerous force to be used carefully.

Artifacts Aspect of Wolf Banding Batches Beast Camouflage Clockwork Beast Cyclopean Tomb Fireball Fungusaur Gaea's Liege Hydra Illusionary Mask Incarnation Lich Living Artifact Personal Incarnation Protection Raging River Rock Hydra The Hive Tokens Wolf Word of Command

Power Creep Prevention

Hello Mark! Reading an article on the set “Power Lunch”, it was mentioned that the baseline for creatures was fireball (e.g. Serra Angel was a 4/4 for 3WW). Is there any similar rule of thumb today to keep power creep in check? Thank you and wish you Happy Holidays!

The idea behind “Power Lunch” was the baseline for spells was Ancestral Recall. Note it was never a real product, just humorous musings.

Ancestral Recall Angel Appreciation Creatures Fireball Power Level Rules Serra Serra Angel Spells

Power Creep Concerns

History has shown players like powerful things and lower powered sets or sets that appear lower powered have weaker player appeal responses and purchase patterns. Does this mean that powercreep is inevitable and at some future date Moxes will be made obsolete? Especially in an eternal world can player expectations be met without bringing the game full circle with everyone having Black Lotus Channel Fireball as their deck?

We’ve been making Magic for almost thirty years, and power creep has not overtaken the game, so I think we have a handle on it.

Black Black Lotus Channel Fireball Eternal Fireball Making Magic Power Level

Revelation About Rolling Thunder

"For example, in Tempest I came up with the idea of making the common X direct damage spell have two red mana to make it harder to splash." - Are you telling me that Rolling Thunder was almost a strict upgrade to Fireball before you had that revelation?

I had the idea *before* I designed Rolling Thunder.

Fireball Mana Red Rolling Thunder Tempest

Fireball's Unique Mana Cost

I know it's not everyone's cup of tea, but I really enjoyed the Fireball with a mana cost of (X)(Y)(R). To my knowledge, it's the only card that's ever been printed with two variables!

The only one with exactly two variables, but not the only one with two variables.

Blogatog / Tumblr Fireball Mana

New Fireball Version Reception

I’m very happy to see a new version of Fireball coming out, as all current printings have incorrect wording.

That card has had so many templates. I agree the current one is good.

Fireball Templating

Fireball Variations

what do you think about the weird version of Fireball (the one that uses both X and Y in its mana cost?)

I personally prefer the version with X, Y, Z, AA, BB and CC.

Fireball Mana

Fireball Spell Design Inquiry

You once said it was a shame that the name "Fireball" had been taken up by such a subpar spell. Do you have a better design in mind that you'd like it to have been?

It’s not that Fireball is subpar. I just wish it was simpler, so we could reprint it more. I would have loved if the design for Blaze could be called Fireball.

Blaze Fireball Reprints

Card Design Improvement Wishes

I've heard that you wished fireball had an easier to grok effect so that you could use it more, because of how iconic the spell is. Are there any other card designs you wish were different so you could use them more?

There are lots. Teleport being a useless spell annoys me to no end.

Fireball Teleport

Regrets on Card Names

Are there any cards besides fireball that you wish you hadn't "wasted" such an evocative name on?

Lots and lots.

Card Names Fireball

Wishing for Name Swap

If you could swap Blaze and Fireball's names, would you?

In a heartbeat. I wish Fireball was the basic X spell.

Fireball