If I play Shahrazad or another card that creates a subgame, who determines the format of the subgame, or does it have to be the same format as the main game? If the subgame format is determined by the person who played the card that generated the subgame, could they choose a format that causes an automatic loss for everyone? For example, a commander subgame where no one's deck has 100 cards. Thank you.

A subgame is the same game as the one you were playing when the subgame was cast, using the remainder of your deck as the library in the subgame. Note some subgame cards might alter elements of the subgame, like your starting life total.

Has there ever been some consideration of taking a few of the cards that basically don't work in the rules, ones that have persistently needed whole sections, stuff like Panglacial Wurm, and shifting them into the Falling Star/Shahrazad and such category, cards just deemed... Well, you know. Basically, "we shouldn't have printed this card and every rules-manager's job gets harder because of it, so now it's gone forever"? If a rules-manager proposed that, would they succeed?

There have been a number of calls to ban Panglacial Wurm in every format for rules reasons (aka it doesn’t kind of technically work).

question about "outside the game" effects in un-sets like spike and photo op: generally the convention is to only have these interact with sideboards, even in limited, but is there an exception for un-cards? as far as i can tell spike is fully dead in limited if you can only grab cards you drafted with her for example

At the Unstable LRR PRR, someone used Spike to get a Shahrazad, so please have fun getting whatever.

I don't know how they did it, but props to the Arena team for finally getting Chaos Orb to work in digital!

Wait until you see the Shahrazad.

Is it possible to get a ruling on Shahrazad? Does the sub game have to be the same format as the current game? Additionally, if it’s a game of commander or another 1v1v1v1 format does it need to remain in that style of 1v1v1v1, or can it switch to something like 2HG for speed’s sake?

The sub game is supposed to be the same format you are currently playing with all the players from the main game.

You said no character is off limits. Does that mean I can get a maybe on Shahrazad getting a legendary creature eventually?

I wouldn’t call it likely, but I’ll say it’s possible.

Is Shahrazad a color pie break for white? I know it's a black-border break, but is the effect one white should get for winning a subgame?

The effect for winning the subgame isn’t white.

RE: "How is riffing off of Goldilocks any different than riffing off of The Fly?" The ELD previews remind me more of cards like Shahrazad or Invisible Stalker where the combination of art and mechanics pull from a specific version of a character rather than Delver of Secrets or Kindly Stranger where the card doesn't immediately register as a specific pop culture reference, but MTG's take on the broader trope.

I forget, when exactly in the story does Goldilocks take out the bears? : )

Are subgames that start at 1 life more feasible in black border than Shahrazad's subgame? Are we talking like the difference on Storm Scale between 9 and 10 or no?

For tournament time reasons, we have chosen not to do subgames in black border any more.

Do you believe that subgames were inherently a bad mechanic? Or was it just Shahrazad that was a bad card?

Sub games are hard to do in timed tournament Magic. That’s why they’ve (for now at least) been relegated to silver border.