Vampires

Complexities of Mechanical Design

'New cards or mechanics. Basically, new Magic mechanical design. Have fun doing it (Magic design is fun), but I can’t see it.' I wouldn't dare try it. It's just clarification for future requests like a Mardu-partner-with vampire pairing or a card called 'Mock Exam' for the upcoming Strixhaven set.

That stuff is fine.

Mechanics Vampires

Bloomburrow Bats Type

Hello. ^_^Was giving any of the Bloomburrow Bats the Vampire type ever considered?

No.

Bats Bloomburrow Vampires

Maths on Imbalanced Factions

Does the math on imbalanced factions change if it's just five two color factions with two of them being the same typal/theme. Something like Izzet Weirds, Simic Elementals, Golgari Squrrels, and Mardu (Boros and Orzhov) Vampires?

Five two-color factions isn’t “imbalanced”.

Boros (R/W) Colors Elementals Factions Golgari (B/G) Izzet (U/R) Kindred / Typal Mardu (R/W/B) Orzhov (W/B) Simic (G/U) Two Color Vampires

Red/White Vampire Feasibility

If or when: Vampire typal as a red/white archtype.

If. Vampires are so core black, it’s hard to imagine a color combination without black.

Black Boros (R/W) Colors If/When Kindred / Typal Vampires White

Bloomburrow Thematic Construction

You've said you've been seeding the Bloomburrow creature types for a few sets now. Was the decision to make Aclazotz a Bat God, and thus introduce bats and bat themes to the white/black Ixalan vampires, at all influenced by the Bloomburrow bats? There are a lot of pretty obvious similarities (colors, animal type, religion) between the two archetypes across the sets.

If you see any relevant animals in the last Magic “year”, we were very aware of their Bloomburrow needs when we added them to files.

Bats Battle for Zendikar Black Bloomburrow Colors Creatures Gods Ixalan Orzhov (W/B) Vampires

Bats in Bloomburrow Lore

I’d like to say thank you for not making the bats in Bloomburrow vampires. Or at least not making vampirism their main thing in the lore. Vampire bats are cool but overdone considering only 3 out of over 1,400 bat species drink blood (and those 3 species of vampire bay are only found in Central America and South America.)

In Bloomburrow, the Bats are the clergy.

Appreciation Bats Battle for Zendikar Blood Bloomburrow Story / Lore United States Vampires Vampire Bats Vampirism

Appreciating Bats in Archetype

Can you give a high five to whoever suggested bats for the black white archetype. Vampire bats being altruistic really leans into whites philosophy

Will do.

Bats Black High Fives Vampires White Vampire Bats

Praise for Simple Designs

I am LOVING the simpler designs in Bloomburrow. My favorite card of all time is Vampire Nighthawk so seeing a bunch of creatures with 2-4 evergreen keywords and nothing else makes me happy

Glad to hear that.

Bloomburrow Creatures Evergreen Keywords Vampires Vampire Nighthawk

Green vs Black Conflict

Could you please clarify an issue regarding the Green vs. Black conflict? Green is a believer in the natural order, which includes prey and predator. I understand why Green wouldn't want prey going out of its way to become predator (part of Black), but shouldn't it be okay with the notion of true predators taking advantage of the weak (another part of Black, i.e., Vampires, some Demons...)? Thanks!

People confuse “survival of the fittest” between Black and Green. Black’ Survival of the Fittest is the idea that the stronger person will get what they want. Might makes right. If you can take something away from someone else, it belongs to you.Green’s Survival of the Fittest is the Darwinian meaning. Things that can survive to mate pass along their genetic traits. Over time the traits that better allow survival will grow while those that don’t will die out - through natural selection.

Black Demons Green Might Makes Right Natural Order Natural Selection Survival of the Fittest Vampires

Nonhumanoid Planeswalkers

Mark, you've said before that you greatly prefer humanoid planeswalkers because you feel the audience needs to connect with them... How's your market research on nonhumanoid 'walkers? I personally vastly prefer video games in which I can play something non-human and ideally nonhumanoid, and I NEVER play as humans if I have the chance to be something else. In MTG, Vraska, Bolas, and Ugin are the coolest walkers just because they're "not just another human". PLEASE start branching out more. ~20%?

Ajani is a Cat.
Kiora is a Merfolk.
Karn is a Golem.
Daretti is a Goblin.
Sorin is a Vampire.
Arlinn Kord is a Werwolf.
Ob Nixilis is a Demon.
They’re not all Human.

Cats Demons Goblins Golems Humans Merfolk Planeswalkers Vampires

Unique Planeswalker Origins

Currently, by my count, we have planeswalkers who are a leonin, a merfolk, a vampire, a goblin, three elves, a demon (sort of), and two dragons (three if you count Sarkhan). What are the chances of seeing an angel, sphinx, or hydra planeswalker?

A Sphinx would be the easiest. Angels are artificially made meaning that wouldn’t naturally have a spark but as Karn shows there are work-arounds. We like our planeswalkers sapient, so a Hydra would be trickier. We have had sapient Hydras I believe so also not impossible, but unlikely.

Angels Demons Dragons Elf Goblins Hydras Merfolk Planeswalkers Vampires

Crovax and Selenia Trivia

Prerelease day is also my birthday! Can you give me some trivia about Crovax and Selenia? (The characters, not the cards.)

When we were making the Weatherlight crew, we wanted to make sure it included every color. For black we loved idea of the team having a vampire , but it seemed like it would be crazy for them to invite a vampire along. So we came up with a story where Crovax, a nobleman, unleashed an artificial creature from a cursed magical item. And the curse was it made him fall madly in love with the creature. We thought it would be best for that creature to be an angel as they are artificially created. Plus, a vampire in love with an angel sounded cool. Crovax, because he loves Selenia, frees her only to have her return to her previous owner, Volrath (who had given the cursed item to Crovax’s family in the first place). Selenia flees to Rath but it is the bond between the two that allows Crovax to lead the Weatherlight to the nexus that allows them to travel to Rath. This link is also the reason that Volrath is aware of the Weatherlight and sends the predator with Greven il-Vec to stop them. Selenia’s link to Crovax, by the way, is the “whisper of the muse” (which explains the art on the card). When the crew is in Volrath’s stronghold rescuing Sisay, Karn, Tahngarth and Takara, they are attacked on a bridge by Selenia. Crovax, defending Mirri, has no choice but to kill Selenia thus completing the curse turning him into a vampire. As he’s now part of the crew, they have to accept him and voila there’s a vampire on the crew. Note in the original story we created Crovax doesn’t turn evil and doesn’t kill Mirri. And that is probably more than you wanted to know about Crovax and Selenia. Happy Birthday!

Angels Art Birthday Black Colors Creatures Crew Crovax Greven il-Vec Mirri Prerelease Sealed Format Selenia Sisay Story / Lore Stronghold Tahngarth Takara Vampires Volrath Weatherlight

Tezzeret's Species

RE Tezzeret as a Vedalken: The asker was asking about Tezzeret being a Vedalken in species, the same way that Tamiyo is a Moonfolk, Ajani is a cat, Tibalt is a Devil/Human hybrid, Kiora is a Merfolk, Karn is a Golem, Nicol Bolas is a Dragon, Nissa is an Elf, Sorin is a Vampire, Vraska is a Gorgon, and Xenagos is/was a Satyr.

That is a Doug question.

Cats Devils Dragons Elf Golems Gorgons Humans Hybrid Merfolk Moonfolks Nicol Bolas Question Marks Satyrs Vampires Vedalkens