It will be an article about the block structure. Next Monday is likely when we get the next Announcing... Arcana. We haven't had one yet and over the last 5 years the second set announcement was in July or August and always before the spoilers for the first set start.
Hope: The removal of cards reprinted in Revised from the reserve list (where they shouldn't have been placed in the first place) and a reprinting of the duals in KTK.
Realistically: GDS3.
I am likely wrong on both.
Private Mod Note
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Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
It's about time for the reserved list to die, for the sake of Vintage and Legacy (And Commander).
I'm hoping for a special Modern set, basically a Modern Mixer set, which includes reprints of cards that are too old to be Modern legal but would be nice to add to the format, and brand new cards to go directly into Modern that are unlikely to be printed in Standard any time soon, but Modern could use, which will be printed alongside Modern Masters 2 and a reprint of Modern Masters 1 with the new card frames. It probably won't happen though.
Or maybe a brand new format, perhaps only allowing cards printed in Standard starting with M15, which uses similar deck-building restrictions to Duels 2015, where you can have 4 of a common, but only 3 of an uncommon, 2 of a rare, and 1 of a mythic rare, in a deck. Or perhaps a new commander inspired format using cards from a certain set forward with a banned-list pre-prepared that is singleton based and has some special rules, and perhaps revolves around planeswalker cards or non-creature artifacts rather than legendary creatures.
Or maybe a new great-designer search and announcement that they plan to increase the size of sets in the future once they've increased the size of the design team.
Or maybe a special Khans block format revolving around time travel that we'll be able to play once the entire block is out, as a special form of block constructed, perhaps aimed at multiplayer.
Or maybe announcement of Fblthp becoming MTG's new official mascot and that we'll be getting a wave of merchandizing for it.
It's is the Making Magic column, right? If so it will be related with the development. I can think that it is about the block struture (why they change the release dates, maybe a 4 sets block) or the Standard format (like the rotation rules, his "answer" to my question about it maybe be a clue)
I somehow find it tragic when an attacking Traveling Philosopher gets blocked by another Traveling Philosopher, which normally results in two dead philosophers. Shouldn't they just sit aside and start discussing?
"This is really exciting, so much to find out about, so much to look forward to, I'm quite dizzy with anticipation . . . Or is it the wind? There really is a lot of that now, isn't there? And wow! Hey! What's this thing suddenly coming toward me very fast? Very, very fast. So big and flat and round, it needs a big wide-sounding name like . . . ow . . . ound . . . round . . . ground! That's it! That's a good name- ground! I wonder if it will be friends with me? Hello Ground!"
Curiously enough, the only thing that went through the mind of the Sprouting Phytohydra as it fell was Oh no, not again.
Could be anything really, remember "The thing people have been asking to come back" Turned out to be Morph, which no one asked for, ever.
People asked for it...
as well they asked for more orcs...
and as much they asked wedge legends...
and as much as they wanted a "timetravel" element......
Could be anything really, remember "The thing people have been asking to come back" Turned out to be Morph, which no one asked for, ever.
As strange as it seems to me, it apparently gets a lot of requests. I was never much a fan of the mechanic, and as local rules advisor, will hate the questions I get from newer players.
- End of Coresets
Huge! But unlikely in my opinion. They found a reasonable use for the coresets and I really think that M15 was executed very great.
I'm not sure that the core sets DO have a use anymore. There has been increasingly a push for all the goodies to go into the block. Since they no longer want to print duals unless they print entire 10 card cycles, duals in core either break this pattern ala m15 or give half a cycle then get completed in the fall set. The premium removal has been migrating out of core. There was a pressure to have these things in block for block constructed purposes which I believe was the original intent of these moves, but now, block constructed is falling by the wayside so maybe this will slcak but I doubt it. Once upon a time core was an excuse to reprint older cards to keep them in circulation so that they remained relevant and people would want them. It also set the baseline for what counters/kill spells, etc. would define standard over the next 2 years. Core during this time sold horribly. Then came m10 where half the cards were new (or functional reprints) and people had a reason to buy core in order to have these cards. By keeping the set rotating every year, they had a chance to change the utility spells up to match the sets going in and out of standard and maintain a more flexible paradigm. As time has gone by, the m series core sets have become merely gap bridgers with lots of filler that doesn't matter outside of limited, and a few awesome rares/mythics that lots of folks need. They could easily spread this stuff out over the course of a block.
One of the things that people have complained about for as long as I can remember playing this game is that their favorite mechanics never get developed enough. Having a 4th set in every block would allow them more space to play with the set mechanics. Alternatively, MaRo has been talking about the challenges of 3rd sets lately, it is possible that moving forward we only get 2 set blocks which would eliminate the 3rd set problem forever, and allow for a completely different rotational model for standard which would keep the format from growing stale for as long as the standard we find ourselves in currently has felt for most people.
I certainly wouldn't mind seeing them print in paper a gold bordered holiday cube with the P-9 and what not. Since cube is casual, there are no restrictions on what you could put in it. You could potentially make up your very own cards and add them to a cube if you wanted to. Nobody is going to stop you. The worst that could happen is somebody says your cube is terrible and they don't play with it.
Private Mod Note
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Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
All your base are belong to us!
RIP Batman guy. I hope somebody picks up the slack now that you are gone. Sick children need their Batman.
A new format, or changes to Standard. Magic talk on social media is almost always about either the cards some schmuck just bought or high-level tournaments.
Maro is the face of MtG. His article is a good place to make big announcements, though no doubt not the only place. His statement that "everyone will be talking about his article" make me think that it is bigger than R&D related... since only a small portion of players actually read all of his articles. This article may be publicized more, and may be intended for a larger audience.
I Fox releases a statement about the Movie on Monday, MtG could certainly be planning to make a statement at the same time.
I still think it will be GDS3. The company has had more and more success every year, and may be looking to add more products with the success of Commander, Modern Masters and Conspiracy. Planechase always did well, but at this point will never get to be printed again.
So, with more demand for annual products, there is room for more people in R&D. GDS3 will bring in some talent, and will draw even more attention to the company as they continue to thrive.
I don't see this being about Khans. If it were, it would be announced at SDCC/Pax instead, or during the first week of previews. A special announcement the week before previews suggests that it's about something different.
GDS3 does seem the most likely possibility at this point. He's said in the past that they wouldn't do another GDS until they had an open slot to fill. Does anyone know if any Magic designers have left recently?
Why move the State of Design article a week to announce GDS3 though?
Why not just announce it in his article two days ago, and then let the State of Design article fall in its usual slot?
Why move the State of Design article a week to announce GDS3 though?
Why not just announce it in his article two days ago, and then let the State of Design article fall in its usual slot?
You could ask that of nearly any reasonable possibility. The answer could be as simple as "it wasn't ready at the time."
I want something that I haven't seen mentioned yet... It's kind of weird, but I think it could provide boat loads of fun.
I want gold (silver?) bordered themed sets. Cards that are themed to utilize other IPs, but use the same rules and formatting as Magic cards, and can be slid into any casual Magic decks as agreed upon by play groups, but that aren't tournament legal cards. Starting with a Dungeons & Dragons MtG set. Perhaps a My Little Pony (I am not a fan and don't know anything about MLP but I know it's a Hasbro IP and it seems really popular, so seems a good bet they'd do one for this property if they were to go this route at all). Maybe even license it out to third parties. Let's get a Cthulhu MtG set. Doom. Final Fantasy. Mad Max. DBZ. Terminator. Star Wars. Lord of the Rings. Whatever! I just love the rules, mechanics, and formatting of Magic as a game, I want to experience it in any and every way possible.
Maybe it would be tougher to pull this off than I'm making it seem... but I dunno, licensed third party and even internal different-IP based Magic sets that aren't tournament legal but "work" with the game as we know it, it's just a cool idea that could lead to some really fun, flavorful, interesting products that people would want to play with.
Might even be useful as a tool to get people who aren't into Magic, into the game. If I can hook my Star Wars obsessed friend with a Star Wars themed Magic set that shares rules and mechanics and plays like Magic, then it's an easy transition to get him to play REAL Magic, too.
Interesting idea, but I think that'd potentially dilute the game way too much. People playing «Terminator Magic» would end up saying they play «Terminator», not «Magic». That's not where you want to put yourself as a business. Moreover, I think WotC folks are busy aplenty with designing cards and not dealing with third-parties.
But I do admit that some of my playbuddies and I have designed a couple of «Dune» Magic cards, just for kicks Loads of fun. The Baron was real evil haha.
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Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
MODERN Blue Lantern, UBx Tezzerator. OLD SCHOOL 93/94 «The Pain Train» Black Sligh, Esper «Machine Gun» Artifacts, Jund «Psycho» Ponza-Disko.
Interesting idea, but I think that'd potentially dilute the game way too much. People playing «Terminator Magic» would end up saying they play «Terminator», not «Magic». That's not where you want to put yourself as a business. Moreover, I think WotC folks are busy aplenty with designing cards and not dealing with third-parties.
But I do admit that some of my playbuddies and I have designed a couple of «Dune» Magic cards, just for kicks Loads of fun. The Baron was real evil haha.
Perhaps have a separate format where those cards are playable alongside normal magic cards? My stormtrooper blocks the terminator. Sounds fun.
GDS3 does seem the most likely possibility at this point. He's said in the past that they wouldn't do another GDS until they had an open slot to fill. Does anyone know if any Magic designers have left recently?
Interesting idea, but I think that'd potentially dilute the game way too much. People playing «Terminator Magic» would end up saying they play «Terminator», not «Magic». That's not where you want to put yourself as a business. Moreover, I think WotC folks are busy aplenty with designing cards and not dealing with third-parties.
But I do admit that some of my playbuddies and I have designed a couple of «Dune» Magic cards, just for kicks Loads of fun. The Baron was real evil haha.
Perhaps have a separate format where those cards are playable alongside normal magic cards? My stormtrooper blocks the terminator. Sounds fun.
The problem with that is that WotC doesn't want to print products that only a small percentage of the playerbase will buy. Yes, there's Commander, but they put new Legacy staples in the Commander products, and you REALLY don't want Legacy (a format that's already hard to get into) to be diluted with stuff that most players don't know or care about. It would basically kill Legacy.
EDIT: Just saw the "non-tournament legal" part. But it would still be a bad idea because of how few people would buy it. It has the same problem as an Un-set, but ten times worse.
Considering that such a product would fill the summer multiplayer slot, then no, no they do not need to announce it now. They usually announce summer multiplayer products early in the same year.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
It's about time for the reserved list to die, for the sake of Vintage and Legacy (And Commander).
you know, if conspiracy was disigned for multiplayer, why no a stand alone product now?
Realistically: GDS3.
I am likely wrong on both.
---
Numquam evolutioni obstes. Solum conculceris.
Pascite draconem, evolvite aut morimini.
Or maybe a brand new format, perhaps only allowing cards printed in Standard starting with M15, which uses similar deck-building restrictions to Duels 2015, where you can have 4 of a common, but only 3 of an uncommon, 2 of a rare, and 1 of a mythic rare, in a deck. Or perhaps a new commander inspired format using cards from a certain set forward with a banned-list pre-prepared that is singleton based and has some special rules, and perhaps revolves around planeswalker cards or non-creature artifacts rather than legendary creatures.
Or maybe a new great-designer search and announcement that they plan to increase the size of sets in the future once they've increased the size of the design team.
Or maybe a special Khans block format revolving around time travel that we'll be able to play once the entire block is out, as a special form of block constructed, perhaps aimed at multiplayer.
Or maybe announcement of Fblthp becoming MTG's new official mascot and that we'll be getting a wave of merchandizing for it.
Speak for yourself. It's one of my favorite mechanics and I thought I'd never see it in print again. I went berserk when the announcement came out.
WUR Geist Midrange WUR
Commander
W Nahiri's Celestial Foundry W
WB Orzhov Inquisition (Cleric Tribal) WB
WUBRG Progenitus's Prismatic Domain WUBRG
WURG Kynaios and Tiro of Meletis Love You WURG
WUG Rafiq of the Many Auracrafting WUG
WRG Hazezon Tamar Overrun WRG
G Seton's Druid Ramp G
People asked for it...
as well they asked for more orcs...
and as much they asked wedge legends...
and as much as they wanted a "timetravel" element......
As strange as it seems to me, it apparently gets a lot of requests. I was never much a fan of the mechanic, and as local rules advisor, will hate the questions I get from newer players.
I'm not sure that the core sets DO have a use anymore. There has been increasingly a push for all the goodies to go into the block. Since they no longer want to print duals unless they print entire 10 card cycles, duals in core either break this pattern ala m15 or give half a cycle then get completed in the fall set. The premium removal has been migrating out of core. There was a pressure to have these things in block for block constructed purposes which I believe was the original intent of these moves, but now, block constructed is falling by the wayside so maybe this will slcak but I doubt it. Once upon a time core was an excuse to reprint older cards to keep them in circulation so that they remained relevant and people would want them. It also set the baseline for what counters/kill spells, etc. would define standard over the next 2 years. Core during this time sold horribly. Then came m10 where half the cards were new (or functional reprints) and people had a reason to buy core in order to have these cards. By keeping the set rotating every year, they had a chance to change the utility spells up to match the sets going in and out of standard and maintain a more flexible paradigm. As time has gone by, the m series core sets have become merely gap bridgers with lots of filler that doesn't matter outside of limited, and a few awesome rares/mythics that lots of folks need. They could easily spread this stuff out over the course of a block.
One of the things that people have complained about for as long as I can remember playing this game is that their favorite mechanics never get developed enough. Having a 4th set in every block would allow them more space to play with the set mechanics. Alternatively, MaRo has been talking about the challenges of 3rd sets lately, it is possible that moving forward we only get 2 set blocks which would eliminate the 3rd set problem forever, and allow for a completely different rotational model for standard which would keep the format from growing stale for as long as the standard we find ourselves in currently has felt for most people.
go!
I certainly wouldn't mind seeing them print in paper a gold bordered holiday cube with the P-9 and what not. Since cube is casual, there are no restrictions on what you could put in it. You could potentially make up your very own cards and add them to a cube if you wanted to. Nobody is going to stop you. The worst that could happen is somebody says your cube is terrible and they don't play with it.
RIP Batman guy. I hope somebody picks up the slack now that you are gone. Sick children need their Batman.
I Fox releases a statement about the Movie on Monday, MtG could certainly be planning to make a statement at the same time.
I still think it will be GDS3. The company has had more and more success every year, and may be looking to add more products with the success of Commander, Modern Masters and Conspiracy. Planechase always did well, but at this point will never get to be printed again.
So, with more demand for annual products, there is room for more people in R&D. GDS3 will bring in some talent, and will draw even more attention to the company as they continue to thrive.
8.RG Green Devotion Ramp/Combo 9.UR Draw Triggers 10.WUR Group stalling 11.WUR Voltron Spellslinger 12.WB Sacrificial Shenanigans
13.BR Creatureless Panharmonicon 14.BR Pingers and Eldrazi 15.URG Untapped Cascading
16.Reyhan, last of the Abzan's WUBG +1/+1 Counter Craziness 17.WUBRG Dragons aka Why did I make this?
Building: The Gitrog Monster lands, Glissa the Traitor stax, Muldrotha, the Gravetide Planeswalker Combo, Kydele, Chosen of Kruphix + Sidar Kondo of Jamuraa Clues, and Tribal Scarecrow Planeswalkers
GDS3 does seem the most likely possibility at this point. He's said in the past that they wouldn't do another GDS until they had an open slot to fill. Does anyone know if any Magic designers have left recently?
Practice for Khans of Tarkir Limited:
Draft: (#1) (#2) (#3) (#4) (#5)
Why not just announce it in his article two days ago, and then let the State of Design article fall in its usual slot?
Cubetutor Peasant'ish-Funbox
Project: Khans of Tarkir Cube (cubetutor)
You could ask that of nearly any reasonable possibility. The answer could be as simple as "it wasn't ready at the time."
Practice for Khans of Tarkir Limited:
Draft: (#1) (#2) (#3) (#4) (#5)
Maro retiring.
That would be huge news, IMHO. And the huger news would be who his replacement would be. Nagle?
Current post- Grand Prix KC Modern Postmortem (7/7/13)
http://markrosewater.tumblr.com/post/95245003123/is-your-announcement-monday-about-your-retirement
I want gold (silver?) bordered themed sets. Cards that are themed to utilize other IPs, but use the same rules and formatting as Magic cards, and can be slid into any casual Magic decks as agreed upon by play groups, but that aren't tournament legal cards. Starting with a Dungeons & Dragons MtG set. Perhaps a My Little Pony (I am not a fan and don't know anything about MLP but I know it's a Hasbro IP and it seems really popular, so seems a good bet they'd do one for this property if they were to go this route at all). Maybe even license it out to third parties. Let's get a Cthulhu MtG set. Doom. Final Fantasy. Mad Max. DBZ. Terminator. Star Wars. Lord of the Rings. Whatever! I just love the rules, mechanics, and formatting of Magic as a game, I want to experience it in any and every way possible.
Maybe it would be tougher to pull this off than I'm making it seem... but I dunno, licensed third party and even internal different-IP based Magic sets that aren't tournament legal but "work" with the game as we know it, it's just a cool idea that could lead to some really fun, flavorful, interesting products that people would want to play with.
Might even be useful as a tool to get people who aren't into Magic, into the game. If I can hook my Star Wars obsessed friend with a Star Wars themed Magic set that shares rules and mechanics and plays like Magic, then it's an easy transition to get him to play REAL Magic, too.
But I do admit that some of my playbuddies and I have designed a couple of «Dune» Magic cards, just for kicks Loads of fun. The Baron was real evil haha.
OLD SCHOOL 93/94 «The Pain Train» Black Sligh, Esper «Machine Gun» Artifacts, Jund «Psycho» Ponza-Disko.
Perhaps have a separate format where those cards are playable alongside normal magic cards? My stormtrooper blocks the terminator. Sounds fun.
Last one IIRC was Billy Moreno last year.
R: Copypasta Sauce {Browbeat}
UR: Mana Cache , One Spell to Bind them All {Magnetic Theft}
UG: Epic Struggle , All-In-Poison {Metamorphosis}
UW: Planar Overlay , Decree of the Bailiff {Saprazzan Bailiff}
BG: Thought Gorger , Dark Chroma {Umbra Stalker}
UBR: Dwarven Shrine
WUBRG: Dissipation Field , Maelstrom Nexus
The problem with that is that WotC doesn't want to print products that only a small percentage of the playerbase will buy. Yes, there's Commander, but they put new Legacy staples in the Commander products, and you REALLY don't want Legacy (a format that's already hard to get into) to be diluted with stuff that most players don't know or care about. It would basically kill Legacy.
EDIT: Just saw the "non-tournament legal" part. But it would still be a bad idea because of how few people would buy it. It has the same problem as an Un-set, but ten times worse.
Considering that such a product would fill the summer multiplayer slot, then no, no they do not need to announce it now. They usually announce summer multiplayer products early in the same year.
---
Numquam evolutioni obstes. Solum conculceris.
Pascite draconem, evolvite aut morimini.