Category: mtg

  • Stop the Flagbearer Hate

    An icy black void slices through an honor guard, leaving nothing alive in its wake.
    The fearsome dragon flying above is not harmed. A humble man made of brass proudly
    carries the banner of the Coalition. He is blasted into scrap by a jolt of red mana,
    utterly destroyed, leaving an angry masticore to dominate the battlefield. A tiny
    changeling, just learning to fly, suddenly disappears without a trace, never to be
    seen again. The Eldrazi titan in its wake continues on its path of annihilation,
    unmoved and implacable.

    These three seemingly-disparate acts of magical violence have one common thread:
    They were perpetrated by planeswalkers, against flagbearers. And these are not isolated incidents.
    Everywhere I go in the multiverse, the story is the same: senseless violence targeted at my comrades.
    I have seen planeswalkers consumed by hordes of slavering monsters while frantically flinging their
    spells at innocent flagbearers. They would rather die a horrible death than suffer one of us to live.
    All for the simple “crime” of carrying a flag. It happens every day, and we turn a blind eye to the
    plight of the fallen, relieved that their destruction was not our own.

    Why do we tolerate this? I say enough is enough. And I ask all creatures of the multiverse to stand
    with me, with us, here and now. For when we are gone, who knows where next the blade of doom will fall?
    If your commanding planeswalker commits a violent act against a flagbearer, solely for the crime of
    carrying said flag, throw down your weapons! Show them that the flagbearers’ plight goes unnoticed no
    more! Show them that we will no longer sit idly by and watch them commit atrocities! Show them that
    your lives, and their own, should be more highly valued than a flagbearer’s destruction! We must unite,
    and then, and only then, will they learn to smite someone who deserves it for once! Together, we can
    make the multiverse a better place for all.

    Editor’s Note: Ms. Jahd’s point is underscored by the fact that, mere hours after submitting
    this letter, she herself was struck and killed by a meteor that had somehow torn a hole in the very
    fabric of space and time itself just to reach her. Her untimely death has already caused some
    planeswalkers to reconsider their anti-flagbearer stances. We hope more will follow.

  • Wallpaper of the Week: Shrunken Planet

    by Fake Monty Ashley


    Thursday, May 12th, 2011

    This week’s wallpaper features an incredibly sneaky green creature: Rob Alexander’s Shrunken Planet artwork from Innistrad. Enjoy.

    Shrunken Planet, by Rob AlexanderShrunken Planet, by Rob Alexander

  • Innistrad Preview Week, Day 3

    by Fake Mark Rosewater

    Wednesday, May 11th, 2011

    Welcome back once more to Innistrad preview week! As promised, today we have the full versions of both of the cards that were previewed on Monday. I would like to first introduce you all to Tombstone Curse.

    What would you like on your Tombstone Curse?

    One of the most common card variants we see here at R&D have what are known as “Pepperoni or Sausage” mechanics. These are, quite plainly, mechanics where you get to choose between one of two bonuses when you cast a spell. Some people simply enjoy one of the bonuses more than the other, so they don’t get much out of making the decision, but many people are easily swayed into picking Sausage over Pepperoni if the situation calls for it.

    The part of Tombstone Curse that we are most proud of is how the Slowtrip mechanic plays into the “Pepperoni or Sausage” decision. Before we had come up with the mechanic, this card was a normal cantrip – but like its namesake, people were tripping over the second option in the ability! During playtesting it was fairly common for someone to raise dead, and then be forced to discard a card at the end of their turn due to the unexpected “bonus” of increasing the number of cards in your hand.

    Slowtrip elegantly works around this by giving you extra the card at the start of your next turn, after your mana is refreshed and you can actually do something with what you have in your hand.

    Weathering the Spellstorm

    It’s a longstanding fact that people hate playing against control decks, but it’s much lesser known that people also hate playing as the control deck. The primary reason for this is because to play it well, you have to bide your time, keeping your mana and spells open to deal with anything your opponent might try. This is made doubly hard by cheap, aggressive creatures that red and white mages like to cast to put pressure on – any stumbling over your draws or mana, and you’ll find yourself locked down outside of the house during the proverbial storm of cats and goblins.

    What better way is there to prepare for the bad weather than to put up an umbrella? Spellstorm does just this, and it does it right when you want it: At the end of your opponent’s turn. This opens up your strategy to allow 6-drops again. That’s right, this card is actually an enabler for Sea Serpents, the premier fair-weather friends of blue wizards everywhere.

    The Perfect Grave Storm

    That wraps it up for today, and I hope you enjoyed this glimpse into the thought process of R&D here at Wizards of the Coast.

    Join us again tomorrow to see what else is lurking inside this amazing new plane!

  • Homelands Booster Pack Special

    Forums member Xerent opens this rare 8-card booster pack from the Homelands expansion.

    Homelands was known primarily for being so overpowered in block formats that it was removed entirely from Ice Age block. Furthermore, since it was one of the last expansions to exclude rare and mythic cards, most people consider it the high point in Magic: The Gathering set design.

  • Innistrad Preview Week, Day 2

    by Fake Mark Rosewater

    Tuesday, May 10th, 2011

    Welcome back to Innistrad preview week! I hope you’ve all remained vigilant, because sinister dealings have been going on here at Wizards of the Coast. Since I am in charge of literally everything that happens around here, I’ve chosen these three cards to give you a small taste of what is coming later on this week.

    We’ll start off with a most horrifying red spell. This card is special because it was actually on the file for Urza’s Saga, but was ultimately cut for power reasons after it was determined that it would take years of playtesting to balance it properly. Those years have passed! Here is that card!


    Next is the return of a beloved cycle of lands, ones that defined their original block through their flavor and artistic vision. In truth, their “original” printing was found on an old sheet of paper that a custodian found one day at Wizards headquarters, years ago. A sheet of paper that was labeled … Innistrad.


    Finally, we bring you the most terrifying preview yet: A creature type so evil and sinister that it’s been left out of sets that contained demons, devils, and horrors. What could it be?


    Join me later this week when I reveal the full previews of the cards you already saw on Monday.

  • I’m glad our plane is Innistrad

    by Fake Mark Rosewater

    Monday, May 9th, 2011

    Welcome to Innistrad preview week! It’s once again time to delve into a new and exciting block (it feels so good to be saying that after sitting on this thing for more than five years). As you will see, this time we’ve taken the set design in a whole new direction. What are we doing, and what inspired us to do it? Before today’s column is done, you’ll know.

    Ever since we announced Innistrad it’s been known to the public that the set has a gothic or medieval look to it. After enduring a fierce, action-packed metal world, with its own ‘tainted’ flavor, both the design and art teams wanted to get back into traditional fantasy. In fact, they both came to me independently asking to swing the pendulum back from the crazy chaotic feel of war in the Scars of Mirrodin block. They were eager to build a world steeped in a misty full-moon setting, with horrors lurking around every corner (horrors without infect). I hope you’re ready to delve into Innistrad!

    Innistrad, the forgotten plane

    To get in the mood, I have to tell you something about the story. It so happened that the ancient planeswalker Feroz came across Innistrad, a once-beautiful plane, now ravaged by war and darkness. At the last unspoilt oasis on this plane he met fellow planeswalker Serra, whom he married. Together they worked to restore the plane, and to protect it, Feroz’s Ban was created. Feroz died during its creation, however, and the grief-stricken Serra abandoned the plane. In her absence the isolated civilizations of the plane fight amongst each other while the vampires plot with the secretly lurking Liliana Vess to take control of the plane under the fading Ban of Feroz.

    Innistrad is truly an ancient plane, and as such the art team wanted ancient artwork to go with it. They’ve organized a dream team of artists, including Rob Alexander, Mark Poole, Mark Tedin, Anson Maddocks and Kaja Foglio, whose outstanding efforts have defined the plane and the set of Innistrad.



    A high knight stands on a precipice, overlooking the plains of Innistrad.



    Innistrad is filled with mystic places, where clerics sing mystical chants.



    Many horrors lurk in the snowy mountains of Innistrad…



    …such as raiders and bandits.

    I’m confident that players will be equally impressed by the wow! factor when they open their first packs of Innistrad as I was. This is going to be an amazing fall in the world of Magic!

    Force the flash mechanic!

    Normally when you design a set (you do that all the time, right?), you start with the mechanics. No block set since Homelands has been without a whole array of new keywords and mechanics, and in this regard Innistrad surely delivers.

    The difficulty of being head designer of a Magic set is knowing about cool stuff and not being able to talk about it for years – I don’t think I’ve mentioned that before. In any case, the first mechanic I’ve wanted to highlight for the last five years is featured on this card:

    What’s this? Forceflash. If you pay an extra cost, you force the spell through, kind of like Force of Will, only somewhat like Force Spike but not at all like Force of Nature. The forceflash cost is an alternate cost, not an additional cost.

    Then how on Earth did we come up with forceflash? From my point of view, it’s simple. Players like when things happen unexpectedly-or at least when they do for your opponent. I knew I wanted a push towards instant-speed interactions. When I proposed my idea during the initial Innistrad development, the team agreed (as I’m their boss). The biggest challenge for the team was trying to find a way to approach the “instant-speed” theme in a way that didn’t just feel like Time Spiral 2.0.

    Forceflash’s design story begins with the design of Invasion and the instant-speed rare cycle (Breaking Wave, Ghitu Fire, Rout, Saproling Symbiosis and Twilight’s Call). Here we had five cards that could be cast at instant speed if you only paid 2 more colorless mana. Mechanics like these played directly into this design. I had been longing to exploit this kind of mechanic for years, but (as you should know, if you’ve been reading my columns) a set mechanic isn’t a set mechanic unless you can make it work at the common level.

    To that end, I decided that we were going to treat the instant-speed cost as a separate cost. As it came to be, one day (while tossing scrapped designs into a paper bin from across the room), it hit me. It didn’t have to be two colorless mana all the time! It could be anything! I ran down the stairs and up again, screaming with joy. In this setting, you could cast a common spell for four mana more, possibly even colored mana. I knew I wanted some form of innovation involving color. Colorless mana is boring.

    Take a trip, slowly

    Cantrips are fun. Magic is about fun. Thus, since what I say, goes, Innistrad is about cantrips. But while cantrips are fun, anticipation is a key element in gameplay. Starting with Innistrad, we’re introducing a new revolutionary (and magical) keyword: Slowtrip.

    Isn’t that fun anticipation? You’ve cast an awesome spell and are waiting in deep anticipation for your next turn. What could the next card be? While you’re waiting, you can even play spells and interact with your opponent! We believe that this will both work as the format’s draw engine and make the game even more fun to play.

    Now that I’ve rattled your brains somewhat, let’s do it completely. The world of Innistrad will not only introduce new mechanics and keywords, but will look and feel radically different from the previous block. In fact, it’ll come in a different container.

    Booster packs

    Innistrad will come in 8-card booster packs, and… wait, WHAT? Has Mark(eting) gone insane? Yes, it’s true, and no, he hasn’t (at least not me, I don’t know about marketing). The rationale behind this change is actually really simple. In recent years we’ve been experimenting with selling 6-card booster packs at large mass-market stores like Target or WalMart. What we learned from that experiment is that smaller booster packs are selling in large quantities simply because people love to crack packs and frantically inhale the Magic smell. We also noticed that players didn’t miss the rules tip card in the smaller packs, but they did long for tokens.

    The Innistrad block will be sold in 8-card booster packs, featuring 1 rare or mythic rare card, 1-2 uncommon cards and 4-5 common cards. The last card will always be a basic land or a token. In limited, two Innistrad boosters equals one regular booster (say, of Magic 2012). That is, a sealed pool would consist of 12 Innistrad boosters.

    We spend much of our time designing powerful rares, many of which players never get to slam on the table. It is our hope that players will come to enjoy opening twice the number of rares. This feature will both reduce the value of chase-rares on the secondary market, as well as increase Wizards’ revenues.

    One last thing

    To round off this preview, I’m happy to announce that the release card will be called Liliana’s Chime. I can’t tell you what it does yet, but I can assure you that it’s a truly amazing card (I admit, I designed it). Liliana’s up to no good and she stops at nothing to get what she wants!

    That’s all for this week! Join me next week as we delve deeper into the horrors lurking within Innistrad.

  • Umezawa’s Sofa

    We can only show you the card – the rest is up to you.

    There's always the rest.

  • A Message from the Future

    Hey, you there. Copper Myr. This is going to sound crazy, but… What year is this? Really? Okay. Thanks.

    By Kaldra, I’ve finally done it. All the lives that have been lost, all the good Mirrans enslaved… It won’t be for nothing. I have a chance to save them.

    Melira? Is that you? Listen, we don’t have time for questions. My name is Jor Kadeen. I come from a future where all of this… It’s compleat. Almost every man, woman, and child – infected or worse. It’s the Phyrexians, Melira. You’re the only one who can stop them, and that’s why they’re sending back in time a golem called Karnold to kill you. But I got to you first, and together we can –

    Hang on. Why are you looking at me like that?

    What do you mean you already know? Some… Some French guys already found out all this stuff? And you’re fine with the whole golem situation. Well, I mean, that’s great, obviously. No really, I’m happy for you. It seems like you have things under control! Shall I just… Go, then?

    No, you don’t have to feel bad. It’s just, I look kind of like a jerk, you know? We actually invented time travel for this. Do you know how complicated it is? It would literally take until the Phyrexians arrive for me to explain it to you. I had this big hero thing all built up in my head – you know I wrote down some one-liners for when we’re fighting Karnold? Yeah, I had a lot of free time while I was hurtling through a perpendicular dimension in the time capsule. I was going to say, “You Karn’t touch this!” Get it? No? Never mind.

    Karnold

    Look, I think it would be less awkward for both of us if I didn’t stick around. You don’t need my help anyway, right? I’m just gonna go find a nice spot near Lumengrid where I can unwind for a while. When the Phyrexians start invading, just give me a call, okay? Sorry to bother you like this. Uh… Yeah. Bye.