What are your favourite guild mechanics for each guild of Ravnica? Do you think they're also the ones most likely to be brought back?

Azorius - DetainDimir - SurveilRakdos - SpectacleGruul - BloodthirstSelesnya - ConvokeOrzhov - ExtortIzzet - ReplicateGolgari - ScavengeBoros - BattalionSimic - Evolve

Having seen the mechanics for VOW; I’m a little curious why WoTC chose for the returning faction mechanic to be exploit over spectacle. “Opponent losing life“ was a big part of the theme for BR in Hunt, and a wedding spectacle makes a lot of flavor sense (especially for Olivia), so what led the design team to choose not to use it?

We used Blood counters for the Vampires, so the open slot was for something blue and black for Zombies which spectacle didn’t work for.

In podcasts about Ravnica, you discussed how the guilds need to share some themes for the overall set to work (for example, Orzhov Afterlife helped with a Selesnya “go wide” tokens and triggered Rakdos Spectacle). On a larger scale, sets need some shared mechanical glue (like how MDFC connected several sets, etc).Could a return to Ravnica share keywords across all factions (similar to Strixhaven)? (I.e., not have a dedicated keyword per guild, but rather a couple good overlapping mechanics that might work across several guilds each)?

It’s possible to structure it that way, but now that Strixhaven has taken that path, we might want to keep the two distinct.

It's possible a card with no cost have the text "this card cmc it's 4"? For example, rakdos lord of riots has a text that's basically spectacle, and being able to cast him only with spectacle, it's possible to specify a card cmc with text allowing it to be cast only with other abilities?

The rules can do it, but it might create more confusion than it’s worth.

Is there is reason why there are no instants with spectacle?

Yes. We found playtesters thought they could use it in ways they couldn’t.

Sam Stoddard's preview article last week mentioned that part of why spectacle was moved out of Gruul is that green has a relatively small variety of effects it can have after combat that aren't just +1/+1 counters. Do you think that's an issue that needs to be fixed?

That’s not the kind of problem that’s easy to fix.

Was there any point where Riot was considered for Rackdos and Spectacle was considered for Gruel? That combination would have felt reminiscent of their previous mechanics Bloodthirst and Unleash.

The precursor to Spectacle started as a Gruul mechanic. I’ll tell the whole tale in my preview columns.

Please extend high fives to the person or people responsible for the Battlebond art direction. I really enjoy the vivid colors and the framing of the scenes visible in the cards for this set about the spectacle of battle!

Will do.

So, I had been thinking a fair bit about the all-Gods pack promotion for a while now. I wasn't a big fan before - seemed like a huge lottery ticket with some obnoxious hurdles for TOs to deal with in drafts and a feel-bad for everyone who wasn't able to open one. Then we had one opened in our LGS last night, and I can totally see why it's worth it now. Not just the guy that opened it was excited - everyone in the store ran over to check it out, take pictures, etc. Kudos on the awesome idea!

Part of what we do is to try and create moments. I know when I’m designing cards, I often ask, “Will this ever create a story?” The god booster was definitely created to be as much spectacle as cool reward. I’m glad it was a fun experience for the whole store.