Green

Simic Cards' Copy Mechanism

I've noticed a lot of simic cards that copy enemy permanents recently, but I was curious about how that works pie-wise, since blue copies permanents all on its own while green rarely has that effect for even their own stuff, but it seems to be a pretty big thing for green+blue recently

Green is allowed to copy its own permanents, but it doesn’t do it a lot.

Blue Green Permanents Simic (G/U)

Consideration on Gifting Fish

Was it considered that "gift a tapped fish" makes it more difficult if design wants to eventually gift someone a 2/2 green fish? Or is that so unlikely to be necessary for a future set as to be not worth thinking about?

It’s pretty unlikely.It does prevent the following card for a potential Dr. Seuss Secret Lair:Gift a 1/1 Fish.Gift a 2/2 Fish.Gift a red Fish.Gift a blue Fish.: )

Blue Fish Gift Mechanic Green Humor Red Secret Lairs

Color Identity of Foghorn Leghorn

What do you think foghorn leghorn's color identity would be (sorry if this has been already asked)

Primary red, secondary green.

Color Identity Green Primary Red Secondary

Green's Monopoly on Ramp

I was just talking with a friend about how card draw, despite being "Blue's thing", all colors need it because having cards in hand is a resource that all decks need, and thus Blue card draw is the only unconditional one, but every color has been getting some form of conditional card draw that ties it to its color philosophies.This begs the question, why does Green have such a monopoly on ramp? Can't the same thing be done for that? The closest thing is White's catch up mechanics

All colors get the ability to fetch their own basic land type. Red has some ramp, but more one-shot than repeatable. And white does some catch-up ramp. In addition, we make a bunch of colorless cards that can help.

Blue Card Draw Colorless Colors Green Lands Mechanics Red White Your Hand

Disappointment on the Bloomburrow Preview

Gotta admit some disappointment with part of the bloomburrow preview. It was really cool seeing the counters in set list until the set dropped and it became “two of these are evergreen, two are ability counters which are deciduous, one is flood which has appeared on and off for two decades…and the ones new to the set are actually all just flavorfully named charge or verse counters in how they work if it’s just one-off cards building on themselves for an effect to count.” Which is super disappointing as it feels like if new counters are named they should mean something

I list counters a lot of the time, and it’s mostly for flavor. The majority of Magic sets have existing evergreen counters (like +1/+1), sometimes deciduous ones (like flying), and usually a few new ones that are charge counters with added flavor. Usually, if there’s some new functionality, that’s it’s own bullet point.

Bloomburrow Deciduous Evergreen Flavor Flying Spoilers

Current Status of Fog Effects

Are Fog effects still in-color for Green?

Yes, but R&D is a bit cold on it.

Green

Green or White for Life

Would you say green or white is flavorfully more about life (as in, the state of being alive, not lifegain)?

Green.

Green Lifegain White

Badger Support in Future

You said raccoons and badgers were the options for red and green. Since raccoons won the race, will there be more badger support in the future?

If the creative of a card wants to be a Badger, it can happen.

Badgers Green Raccoons Red

Bloomburrow and Hedgehogs

I am LOVING Bloomburrow! Haven't been excited for a set like this for a while! But I saw the ask about the hedgehog that got cut and I'm a little disappointed. Hedgehogs are my favorite critters and I would have loved even a one off like hamsters got. It could have been black green and called dredgehog! Maybe in the future?

Maybe. : )

Black Bloomburrow Green Hamsters Humor

Squirrels Color Associations

Black green squirrels work for Bloomburrow but I feel like squirrels could also lean white green for the community aspects.

We have made one white Squirrel, but I’m not sure how communal Squirrels are.

Black Bloomburrow Colors Green Squirrels White

Battle Removal Colors

"Which color(s) are the main one(s) for battle removal?Red and white usually have slightly more “combat tricks”. Green also always has a Giant Growth like effect that’s good in combat."I think this ask was about removing battles (the card type).

Red has direct damage, which removes battles. We haven’t chosen a color to destroy them.

Battles Card Types Colors Destroy Giants Green Red White Giant Growth

Primary Colors for Battle Removal

Which color(s) are the main one(s) for battle removal?

Red and white usually have slightly more “combat tricks”. Green also always has a Giant Growth like effect that’s good in combat.

Battles Colors Giants Green Primary Red White Giant Growth

Shift in Green removal Cards

Hey, Mark! Quick one- I've been noticing a lot of "bite" cards in green (i.e. Hunter's Talent) the last few years, and not as many fight cards. At first, I thought this was "too much", but I quickly realized the hoop for green removal is already pretty daunting, and maybe this is just the direction you're going in.
Am I reading this right?

We have been increasing the number of “bite” spells (deal damage equal to power) to help with green removal in limited.

Fight / Bite Green Limited Spells Deal Damage Hunter's Talent

Mono-Green Character Unlinked to Nature

Can you give an example of a mono-green character who isn't connected to nature? I find it hard to grok Green's philosophy without that element.

Yoda’s very green and he’s more about the way of the universe than nature specifically.

Green

Animal Appearance in Duos

From what I can gather all the duos, like Bakersbane Duo are in shards: Bakersbane duo is green but fits in a squirrel (bg) or raccoon deck (rg), making it a basically a Jund card. The black cards are an exception: Glivedive duo is in a wedge, Mardu (bat wb and lizard rb). Presumably the other black one will be squirrel (bg) and rat (ub)My question is: why? Is the pattern of shards intentional? Is the deviation to one color having wedges intentional?

The only guideline was each animal appeared in just two duos.

Bats Battle for Zendikar Black Colors Golgari (B/G) Green Gruul (R/G) Jund (B/R/G) Lizards Mardu (R/W/B) Orzhov (W/B) Raccoons Rakdos (B/R) Rats Squirrels Three Color Bakersbane Duo

Question on Concordant Crossroads

is concordant crossroads a bend break or neither?

Green is secondary in haste. Usually granting the ability is more for the primary color than the secondary, but we do allow the secondary color to do it a little. The rate is probably too good, but that’s not a color pie issue.

Bend / Break Color Pie Colors Green Haste Primary Secondary Concordant Crossroads

Reflecting on Design Methods

Long long ago I read an interview with a Magic designer, I think in the Duelist, and they said they designed while playing, and gave the example of "I'd be winning this game if I just had a 3/1 with Protection from Green." Twenty-some years later and I'm still waiting for it...

Some designer? : )

Green Humor Protection

Ra's Al Ghul's Character Analysis

It's worth noting that Mark is of the old school, where Ra's Al Ghul is an ecoterrorist first, political assassin second. Batman Begins made him more focused on political manipulation, so more recent viewers/people who know Batman more from mass media releases and not older comics will bias towards that lens. (it's also worth noting that his insistence on finding the strongest/fittest heir/successor is *super* green)

This is correct.

Assassins Green Pop Culture

Al-Ghuls' Color Alignment

My friend and I can't figure out why you think the Al-Ghuls are Black/Green instead of Black/White. Can you elaborate?

They are very much about controlling the natural order of the world. I will say their third color is white.

Black Colors Golgari (B/G) Green White Natural Order

Keyword Difficulty For New Players

Why people want new keywords so much? When I was a new player the thing I got more trouble understanding was which keywords did what. I printed a cheat sheet with the evergreen ones but it took me months to memorize them. A card with a full paragraph was usually easier to understand than keyword soup cards that had only one line with 3 keywords.

I think many enfranchised players don’t realize the true barrier of a lot of vocabulary words to newer players, as there was just a lot less evergreen vocabulary words when they entered the game.

Beginners Evergreen Experienced / Enfranchised Players Keywords