Rally

Color Framework Tokens

I think a blue card that makes a green flying token is probably fine. It doesn't give green decks access to flying, and its somewhat (not exactly) similar to the red Rally of Hornburg making white creatures with haste.

We do want green tokens to feel green.

Blue Colors Creatures Flying Green Haste Rally Red Tokens White

Allies and Rally Return

Will we ever see the return of Allies and the rally mechanic? Feels like mom would have been the perfect opportunity to bring them back

I think Allies will most likely return. I’m not sure that means Rally or an Ally-related mechanic will automatically come with it.

Ally Mechanics Rally

Party Mechanic and Allies

Does the party mechanic mean that Allies and Rally are no longer viable?

They just didn’t work in a set with party. They could show up again on a future return to Zendikar.

Ally Mechanics Rally Rally Zendikar

Rally Mechanic Possibilities

Hello, Mark! I had been thinking: the Mirran Resistance could have been allies? or maybe the Renegades of Kaladesh? or even the survivors of Amonkhet? My question is: is it possible to have allies (and specially the rally mechanic) in other planes than Zendikar?

It is possible.

Ally Amonkhet Kaladesh Mechanics Planes Rally Rally Survivor Zendikar

Favorite Mechanics or Cards

I feel like a lot of people who say you’ve only done bad for the game don’t realize you’re probably behind some of their favorite mechanics or cards too. For a change of pace, can you list some beloved mechanics or cards you’re responsible for?

Here are the Magic mechanics I’ve had a hand in creating: Absorb, Addendum, Affinity, Aftermath, Aura Swap, Battle Cry, Bolster, Champion, Changeling, Cipher, Companion, Contraptions, Crew (Vehicles), Dash, Deathtouch, Delve, Dredge, Embalm, Energy, Entwine, Evoke, Exert, Exploit, Fabricate, Fateful Hour, Fateseal, Ferocious, Flashback, Flip, Forecast, Fortify, Frenzy, Gotcha, Graft, Gravestorm, Heroic, Hexproof, Host/Augment, Hybrid Mana, Imprint, Infect, Intimidate, Kicker, Landfall, Lifelink, Living Weapon, Madness, Manifest, Mentor, Modular, Monstrosity, Morbid, Morph, Multikicker, Mutate, Ninjitsu, Phyrexian Mana, Poisonous, Populate, Proliferate, Prowl, Raid, Rally, Reach, Recover, Reinforce, Retrace, Ripple, Shroud, Soulbond, Splice, Split Cards, Split Second, Suspend, Transfigure, Transform, Typecycling, Undying, Unearth, Vanishing and Wither.

Absorb Absorb Addendum Affinity Aftermath Aura Swap Battle Cry Battle Cry Bolster Champion Changeling Cipher Companion Contraptions Crew Dash Deathtouch Delve Dredge Dredge Embalm Entwine Evoke Exert Exploit Fabricate Fabricate Fateful hour Fateseal Ferocious Flashback Forecast Fortify Fortify Frenzy Graft Gravestorm Gravestorm Heroic Hexproof Hybrid Imprint Infect Intimidate Kicker Landfall Lifelink Lifelink Living Weapon Madness Mana Manifest Mechanics Mentor Modular Monstrosity Morbid Morph Morph Mutate Ninjitsu Phyrexian Poisonous Populate Proliferate Prowl Raid Rally Rally Recover Reinforce Retrace Ripple Shroud Soulbond Splice Split Cards Split Second Suspend Suspend Transfigure Transform Undying Unearth Unearth Vanishing Vanishing Vehicles Wither Your Hand

Rally Mechanic Necessity

Did Rally really need to be ability worded in BFZ?

We tend to keyword or ability word mechanics when they get big enough. When we don’t, players don’t recognize them as mechanics.

Ability Words Keywords Mechanics Rally

Zendikar Allies and Rally

With the Eldrazi defeated, will we still have allies and the rally mechanic if we return to Zendikar again?

What would you all like to see if we returned to Zendikar?

Ally Eldrazi Mechanics Rally Zendikar

Aether Revolt Naming

Was the name of the set Aether Revolt deliberately chosen for the ligature change?

No, it was chosen as a name and it got me to rally everyone to finally drop the ligature.

Aether Revolt Rally Revolt

West African Plane Proposal

From Alison Luhrs's article today: "We don't currently have plans to create a West African–inspired plane, but if there is enough fan response, I know I'd be the first to rally for us to hire a cultural consultant to help make Aminatou's home plane a reality." Just here to personally start up the fan response engine. Let's do a West African-inspired plane (featuring Aminatou of course)!

Anyone else interested?

Rally

White's Reanimation Limits

Mark, you said that white mostly brings back low costed creatures and, sometimes, angels from graveyard. So the chances for us to have new versions of Ressurrection, Miraculous Recovery, Marshal's Anthem, etc. are low? I think that if necromancers and demons can raise their greatest threats from the grave, angels and gods should be able to bring their greatest champions back too xD effects like Faith's Reward and Rally the Ancestors don't seem like a bend nor a break for me...

Whenever possible, we like to keep effects that we use at a lower frequency off of one another. Black has the wide sweeping reanimation so white has to focus.

Angel Bend / Break Black Creatures Demon Faith's Reward God Marshal's Anthem Miraculous Recovery Rally Rally the Ancestors The Graveyard White

New White Spells

Mark, what about the chances of having new white spells that reanimate multiple creatures/planeswalkers (maybe all creature cards on your graveyard? o.o), like Rally the Ancestors, but indefinitely?

White only reanimates smaller creatures (and an Angel on rare occasion).

Angel Creatures Planeswalkers Rally Rally the Ancestors Rares Reanimate Spells The Graveyard White

Keywords as Names

Here are some keywords and ability words that are also card names: Vigilance, Lifelink, Exile, Fear, Overload, Rally, Rebound, Channel, Unearth, Provoke, Vanishing, and Recover. I'm sure there are more, too.

FYI

Ability Words Card Names Channel Fear Keywords Lifelink Overload Provoke Rally Rebound Recover The Exile Zone Unearth Vanishing Vigilance

Mechanics Waiting Game

What happened to landfall, awaken, converge, rally and ingest?

Let’s wait for all of Oath of the Gatewatch to be revealed and then ask this question again.

Awaken Converge Gates Ingest Landfall Oath of the Gatewatch Rally

Cohort Mechanic Analysis

While Rally was always fine since the creature had an effect when it entered the battlefield, Cohort seems just as parasitic as the original Ally mechanic, as it requires you to have at least one other Ally on the battlefield. Would you say, however, that Cohort is NOT parasitic because we already got Allies in the original Zendikar block, so there is a decent amount of them?

Cohort is less parasitic because of original Zendikar.

Ally Cohort Creatures Mechanics Parasitic Rally Zendikar

Most Parasitic Mechanic

Which mechanic from BFZ would you consider the most parasitic out of Processing, Colorless matters, and Rally

None are super parasitic as each cares about things already in Magic. I guess Rally cares about something that the fewest cards pre-exist Battle for Zendikar block.

Battle for Zendikar Battles Colorless Mechanics Parasitic Rally

Zendikar Allies vs Rally

Why weren't the Zendikar allies errataed to have Rally? It's literally the same mechanic, and erratas were made for Domain when Conflux came out.

It’s not the same mechanic. Rally boosts all your creatures, not just your Allies.

Ally Conflux Creatures Domain Errata Mechanics Rally Zendikar

Allies Design Feedback

I believe allies in BfZ have failed to deliver in many regards. Keeping in mind that I play Commander, not limited or standard, I find that every ally that does not have an "allies matters" mechanic is a mistake. Furthermore, allies had a +1/+1 counters subtheme that was mostly ignored in BfZ, yet +1/+1 counters would have worked well with Abzan. Due to gameplay over flavor reasons, allies lost a major portion of their identity. Could this happen to slivers too? General thoughts on the subject?

A few things. First, the creatures that were Allies but didn’t have Rally were mostly for limited. Second, the +1/+1 Allies (what we called “fighters” in original Zendikar) had a lot of developmental issues which is why they weren’t brought back. Third, when we return to a world, we like revisiting popular mechanical themes but we like to try new things with them and not just 100% do what was done last time.

Abzan (W/B/G) Ally Brought Back Commander Creatures Flavor Game Play Limited Mechanics Rally Sliver Standard Zendikar

Expedition Envoy Analysis

So, on its surface, Expedition Envoy is simply a vanilla 2/1 for W. However, it's also an Ally. In a sense, do you consider it to be closer to a virtual vanilla due to its properties in the Ally/Rally format?

Creature types don’t impact vanilla-ness.

Ally Creatures Expedition Envoy Rally Vanilla

Complexity in BFZ

BFZ seems way less complex than KTK did to me. I found morph a real hurdle to grasp intellectually. What exactly is so envelope-pushing about BFZ's complexity?

It’s not any individual piece. It’s the volume and the interactions. For instance, Battle for Zendikar has: Landfall
Awaken
Rally
Converge
Devoid
Ingest
Processors
Scion tokens That’s a lot.

Awaken Battle for Zendikar Battles Converge Devoid Ingest Landfall Morph Processor Rally Scion Tokens

BW Deck Flavor

Amidst mechanics like Rally, Landfall, and Ingest, what is the flavor justification for the BW life gain deck?

White and Black both like life albeit for their own reasons.

Black Flavor Ingest Landfall Lifegain Mechanics Rally White