Hey Mark, on the topic of players being worried about creature types losing their distinctiveness by being added in with the broader type rather than a specific race (ex. Viashino(Lizard) or Naga(Snake)), I looked to see how many are already currently templated this way and there are ALOT more than I realized.Archaic (Avatar), Aven (Bird), Leonin (Cat), Malamet (Cat), Nishoba (Cat Beast), Daemogoth (Demon), Ainok (Dog), Flamekin (Elemental), Loxodon (Elephant), Mycoid (Fungus), Thallid (Fungus), Akki (Goblin), Boggart (Goblin), Mogg (Goblin), Redcaps (Goblin), Eumidian (Insect), Kraul (Insect), Nantuko (Insect), Khenra (Jackal), Kitsune (Fox), Merrow (Merfolk), Selkie (Merfolk), Triton (Merfolk), Onakke (Ogre), Caryatid (Plant), Nezume (Rat), Rhox (Rhino), Amphin (Salamander), Orochi (Snake), Kami (Spirit), Drogskol (Spirit), Eidolon (Spirit), Ent (LoTR) (Treefolk), Trow (Troll), Kappa (Turtle), Liche (Zombie), Eternal (Zombie), Draugr (Zombie), Nim (Zombie), Skaab (Zombie)

Yep. Most of the ones that didn’t do it entered the game before we made this the default.

Hi Mark. Why did black fungus tokens replace green saproling tokens as the tokens that fungi make in LCI?

I assume Saprolings didn’t match the creative they wanted.

Mark, I was understanding but disappointed that Fungusaur, last seen in 8ed, wasn't included in Caverns. Have you ever done a Drives to Work about why the relevant reams choose to include or not include on-theme reprints in a set?

There are a lot of moving pieces in designing a set. Yes, we look for in-flavor reprints, but with 27,000+ cards, there’s simply no way to reprint everything that could potentially fit. The reprint has to fit many criteria, the biggest of which is synergy with other elements.

Hey Mark, do you think we'll see Fungus with spore counters in a Standard/Premier set again?

I’ll say it’s possible, but a bit of a long shot.

I'm curious about the new fungus token and why use them over saproling. The reception of phyrexian mite have something to with it?

I think Saproling didn’t feel like it captured the look for the creatures as well as Fungus. It wasn’t an area I was involved in though, so that’s more of an educated guess.

Hey! It’s my birthday! Been thinking long and hard about the trivia request for this year. Any trivia in magics first Dinosaur, Fungusaur? If not, trivia on any other dinosaur would do.

Fungusaur was the first creature to use +1/+1 counters.Happy Birthday!

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.

Hi, my birthday is this week. Can you tell me any trivia about my favorite tribe, the humble fungus? Thanks!

Fungus as a printed creature type didn’t show up until Fallen Empires. Most the creatures that made Saprolings (that also premiered in the set) were Funguses. Interestingly, the first printed card to later become a Fungus, Fungusaur, was in Alpha. At the time it was creature type Fungusaur, but it would late be errataed to Fungus Dinosaur.Happy Birthday!

Just as a polite correction to "Slivers with non-Sliver types," not counting the two Playtest cards, there have been six non-Sliver types on Slivers: Fungus (Fungus Sliver), Illusion (Mistform Sliver), Trilobite (Scuttling Sliver), Construct (Sliver Construct), Mutant (Sliver Overlord), and Spirit (Spectral Sliver) with the two Playtest cards "technically" adding 2 more (Eldrazi and Dragon) for a combined total of 8/112 (~7% of all Slivers period) or 6/109 (~5.5% of all Slivers legal in most formats) of Slivers that have additional types, which I found interesting to look up (Just in case anyone was curious what other types were added onto Slivers)

FYI

Mark,

I thought you might be interested in the results of the Great EDH Creature Type Request of 2021! I compiled all the votes from the comments of that ask and tallied them up for you! If people voted for more than one tribe, I took their first THREE tribes they listed and did not include any tribes that don't have cards in Magic as I feel that is a different discussion. So.. without further ado... your top tribes that need help in EDH according to the Scientific Fact of your Readers' Opinion are:

1. Myrs (14)T-2. Angels (12)T-2. Dwarves (12)T-4. Beasts (11)T-4. Werewolves (11)6. Minotaurs (9)7. Skeletons (8)T-8. Insects (7)T-8. Oozes (7)T-10. Horrors, Ninjas, Orcs, Thallids, and Sphinx (6)Satyrs and Spiders received 5 votes apiece, Aetherborn, Faeries, and Fungus each got 4 votes. There were a slew after that at 3 and 2.

According to EDHRec, Angels are the most popular tribe in need of help ranking 13th in tribal decks. Dwarves were second most popular at 28th and Sphinx was third at 30th! So I guess... bring on the Myr decks! I will try to do this again next October.

THE PEOPLE HAVE SPOKEN.

FYIThanks so much for compiling this.