I was listening to Strixhaven with Ari earlier and he referred to “3 damage to any target” as Searing Spear instead of Lightning Bolt. Do people do something like this often to you? It really made me feel old. (No offense to Ari I’m sure he’s a wonderful guy)

Magic slang does vary based on how long you’ve been playing. I’ve just accepted that I’m old.

Yesterday you asked what parts of the core set we would like to see return, here's my answer. I would like a simple box set which contains playsets of 5-10 utility cards which are not in standard-legal block sets. Here's an example for a BFZ-SOI-KLD-AHK Set: Relic of Progenitus, Hero's Downfall, Dissolve, Searing Spear, Pacifism and Arbor elf. None of these cards fit with the feel of the worlds we are currently visiting, but would improve standard by adding a little graveyard hate and removal.

Graveyard hate missing is not because of the lack of a core set.

D&D spells have descriptors like "fire" or "death" or "evil" or whatever to categorize them and distinguish them. If the Magic card face had enough space, would you use descriptors on Instants and Sorceries the way permanents have subtypes, so they could be easily grouped? (Searing Spear and Lightning Strike would be slightly functionally different then; maybe young pyromancer cares more about the spear.) Or do you think it would add too much complexity?

If we started over, I’d be tempted to make more flavorful supertypes.

In regards to names for cards, you said "It’s one of our most limited resources. Note we are careful about when we use a simple name." Then why do you keep wasting names on functional reprints? Why not reprint Searing Spear instead of wasting the name Lightning Strike? Why not reprint Inspiration instead of making Weave Fate? I can understand for something like Counsel of the Soratami becoming Divination due to it being plane-specific, but why do these re-names if names are so valuable?

Usually when we use a good name on a card that’s similar, one of two this is going on. One, we slightly changed the card mechanically and that’s what we want to be reprinting in the future (example: Weave Fate) or two, it’s a general enough effect that we know we’ll use often, so we make a slightly different creative take to allow us some choice to adapt to the world it in future reprints (example: Lightning Strike).

The more we see of Theros worldbuilding and learn about Keranos in particular, the happier I am that Lightning Strike exists as it is, instead of being Searing Spear, as many fans (including me) wished it had been when Theros was first spoiled and came out. Lightning Strike keeps getting cooler the deeper we get into Theros!

I’m glad some of you are coming around. : )

"I get complaints about everything. And I mean everything" What was the complaint that surprised you the most, that we don't already know? (so no Searing Spear, Return to Kamigawa, etc)

No matter what we do, no matter how popular, someone doesn’t like it and as the most visible spokesperson, they often tell me. The craziest ones are always someone asking for something that if put up to a vote wouldn’t generate 1%. For example, I got a complaint about how they hate it that with premium cards you sometimes get two rares in a single booster.

The re-skinning of Searing Spear got me thinking: Was there ever an attempt to distinguish the elements by making fire spells sorceries and lightning instants?

No, different worlds and different planeswalkers call for different elements and thus we need them to exist in both instant and sorcery versions.

@naming Searing Spear/Lightning Strike/etc. IIRC you've said before that sometimes in R&D when it comes to designing blocks the two teams don't necessarily communicate - but there is oversight for *Standard* right? So this is a kerfuffle that could have caught during the inception of both sets. They see a Standard season with two functionally identical cards; they talk to design heads, point it out, manage the namespace. I assume this is a thing that already happens, is it not? If not, why not?

We did not know what the Theros card would be when Magic 2013 was being done. Heck, we didn’t know what it was going to be when the art of Theros was being done.

I really don't mind lightning strike. The card is the same as searing spear, which just means it's a solid common. The art is great and the flavor is solid. It also allows for another searing spear for future core sets, to maintain variety while keeping an equal balance point. Functional reprints happen all the time. As an actual question do you think heroic had enough design space to exist outside of theros or do you imagine it'll be mostly covered after Nyx?

Ask me at the end of the block.

Couldn't Lightning Stike be anthing else other than a functional reprint of Searing Spear? Maybe 3 damage sorcery speed, or 3 damage to players, 2 damage to creatures. 2 damage with upsides.... There is a lot of things that it could do and it just feel 'meh' to be a functional reprint from something that just left standard

Late in development, the developers don’t like using things they haven’t been well played and understood. (Many of development’s biggest mistakes came from trying something new late in the process.) The card had to match the art for Lightning Strike and had to be a repeat that was good enough that it would see tournament play. There were not a lot of options.