I’ve always felt the core role of this blog has been one of information. We make a lot of choices in design, and I try to use my various communications, including Blogatog, to walk the players through what we were thinking when we made key decisions.

The challenge with this approach is that it’s very logic-focused. It uses intellectual justifications to explain actions. But the problems I’m often responding to are emotional in origin. I have a good friend who’s a psychologist. He refers to this (using the words of author Robyn Gobbel) as an owl brain solution to a watchdog brain problem.

When someone is hurting, hearing about why the thing that is causing them pain is the result of intellectual decisions falls flat. That’s what has been causing some tension lately here on Blogatog.

It’s clear that for some Question Marks changes over the last few years represent the loss of something key to what makes Magic special to them. To them, the game is losing its heart.

While I can’t necessarily do anything about that, I want to better understand what you’re going through. So I’m using this post to ask players who are concerned with the recent changes to help me understand their feelings. Let me hear your stories about how your lives have been affected by these changes.

The thing is, you knew this would be happening practically from the get go. Universes Beyond is only four years old. You guys work on designing a set two to four years before it's released. The reason behind this decision wasn't something you found was happening through any kind of data. This was the plan all along. To try to say otherwise is disingenuous and disrespectful to the already established playerbase, the enfranchised players. You basically decided to do this after what? One or two UB sets were rolled out? Come on, be honest, or did you also sign a NDA to not speak the truth on how you feel?

The asker and the this in the replies are more in the right than Mark is here. He's definitely going to have to do more to explain WotC's rollback on making Universes Beyond legal in every format. I despise folks who only back their company and don't speak for themselves. I might not have a huge problem with the decision, but that doesn't mean I'm blind to the points others are making. Universes Beyond does muddle the flavor of Magic. And I'm not completely sold on why UB players would have trouble competing in Modern when the point of UB was doing things that couldn't be done in Standard. That response is a bold-faced lie.

A problem I do have is introducing a 'core set' like Foundations into Standard that would be in the format for longer than normal. Why is Standard being changed so much? After 30 years, a game and game format shouldn't be changed so much that it can't be recognized. If you can't find a way to keep it fresh and recognizable within its own parameters, then maybe it's time to step down and retire. You've been at this for 30 years. Maybe it's time for someone else to take the reins.

Maro’s Foundations Teaser

Before previews for Foundations officially begin, I thought it would be fun to do another of my Duelist-style teasers where I give tiny hints of things to come. Note that I’m only giving you partial information.  

First up, here are some things you can expect:  

• The five iconic creatures each show up on multiple cards

• Two monocolor reprints, each of a different color, that together win you the game.

• Some creature tokens in this set: 1/1 white Rabbit, 2/1 blue Ninja, 3/3 Green Raccoon, 4/4 red Dragon, and a copy that’s a Nightmare

• A character from one of our most popular online Magic stories returns

• An 8/12 creature with ward 4

• A creature with seven evergreen keywords

• A Magic Invitational winner’s card gets reprinted (and no, not the most powerful one)

• Counters in the set: +1/+1, bait, fellowship, incubation, loyalty, revival, soul, stash, and stun

• A card that’s in the top 10 cards I sign gets reprinted

• More deciduous mechanics get used in this set than any previous (non-Time Spiral block) premier set

Next, here are some rules text that will be showing up on cards:  

• “This spell costs {1} less to cast for each Cat you control.”

• “You can’t lose the game and your opponents can’t win the game.”

• “target instant or sorcery card in your graveyard gains flashback until end of turn.”

• “Creatures you control get +10/+10”

• “A deck can have any number of cards named”

• “Then exile all other Nightmare tokens you control.”

• “Whenever you draw your second card each turn, create a token that’s a copy of this creature.”

• “Double the number of each kind of counter”

• “You may pay {B} rather than pay this spell’s mana cost if there are thirteen or more creatures on the battlefield.”

• “Draw a card for each different mana value among nonland permanents you control.”

Here are some creature type lines from the set: 

• Creature – Rabbit Noble

• Creature – Demon Warlock

• Creature – Shark Pirate

• Creature – Eldrazi

• Creature – Hyena Rogue

• Creature – Spider Spirit

• Creature – Elemental Hydra

• Creature – Bear Demon

• Artifact Creature – Phyrexian Construct

• Legendary Creature – Zombie Warlock

Finally, here are some names in the set: 

• Boltwave

• Electroduplicate

• Fishing Pole

• Goblin Negotiation

• Hare Apparent

• Homunculus Horde

• Midnight Snack

• Perforating Artist

• Refute

• Stab

The Foundations debut will be live at MagicCon Vegas on October 25th at 2:30 PM Pacific, right after our “The Foundations of Magic’s Next Era” panel, where you’ll get a sneak peek at the 2025 sets. You can follow along on social media or watch the full VOD of the debut panel on our official YouTube channel after it airs.

I really hope we get a set taking place on Shandalar. If there's any fantasy setting I'd want in a Standard set, it's Shandalar. There's so much that's taken place there in core sets and other media. I wish WotC would actually use it for a premier set.

Maro’s “Look Inside the House”: A Duskmourn: House of Horrors Teaser

The new plane of Duskmourn is a perilous place, but if you can survive the horrors within you may come out stronger than ever. I’ve been there. I’ve seen the darkness and to that end, here are some hints of things to come – but will this information help or hinder your journey? Only time will tell. As with any good piece of horror media, you’re only receiving partial information and things are not always as they appear: 

First up, here are some things you can expect:  

• A component of the set with a frame using technology first designed for an Un-set

• A tweak on an ability word that first appeared in the third set of a block

• Counters used in the set: +1/+1, -1/-1, finality, flying, lifelink, lore, loyalty, nest, possession, rev, stun, and time

• The first ability word to reference “second main phase”

• A 10/1 creature for UUU

• A variant on a mechanic that itself was a variant on another mechanic

• A modal three mana white mass removal spell

• A character returns as a legendary creature that first appeared in flavor text in Alpha

• A new ability word that cares about a card type and a (new) keyword action

• Creature tokens: 1/1 white Toy, 1/1 white Glimmer, 2/1 white Insect, 3/1 white Spirit, 4/4 white Beast, blue token copy, X/X blue Spirit, 2/2 black Horror, 6/6 black Demon, 1/1 red Gremlin, 1/1 red Balloon, 2/2 green Spider, 1/1 black and green Insect, and 0/0 green and blue Fractal

Next, here are some rules text that will be showing up on cards:  

• “unlock a locked door”

• “Search your library for a Demon card,”

• “where X is the number of creatures you control with power 2 or less.”

• “Exile any number of target instant, sorcery, and/or Tamiyo planeswalker cards from your graveyard.”

• “The same is true for creature spells you control and creature cards you own that aren’t on the battlefield.”

• “You have no maximum hand size and don’t lose the game for having 0 or less life.”

• “Whenever you cast an instant or sorcery spell that targets only a single creature you control, copy that spell.”

• “Shards you control become copies of it until the beginning of the next end step.”

• “of creatures you control that don’t have the same name as this creature.”

• “(2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19, 23, 29, and 31 are prime numbers.)”

Here are some creature type lines from the set: 

• Creature – Human Doctor

• Creature – Kor Survivor

• Creature – Goat

• Creature – Shark

• Creature – Eye

• Creature – Fish Insect

• Artifact Creature – Monkey Toy

• Creature – Human Clown Berserker

• Legendary Creature – Elder Demon

• Legendary Creature – Rat Ninja Wizard

Finally, here are some names in the set: 

• Acrobatic Cheerleader

• Don’t Make a Sound

• Exorcise

• Friendly Ghost

• Jump Scare

• Let’s Play a Game

• Meathook Massacre II

• Orphans of the Wheat

• Split Up

• Unsettling Twins

Tune into Duskmourn’s Debut at 2pm PT, August 31 – streaming live from PAX West – where the House will finally reveal more of its secrets.

Please no more than two, unless they're like the WAR 'walkers. Power levels of planeswalkers had gotten ridiculous before a lot of them were desparked. That includes planeswalkers involved with the Phyrexian story arc. If you're going to powercreep, don't be so blatant with it as a planeswalker who can exile everything the opponent has or discard an opponents entire hand. Planeswalkers who could 'do it all' was starting to suck.

MARO WHAT

Damn, I should’ve guessed that Asmor was gonna show up on Duskmourn

I second that request!

A world where plants and insects are the core components of the world. Plants and insects are the most numerous, most varied, most widespread of all life on our own world. It would make sense if there were a world where plants and insects were important to the lives of that world's inhabitants, held in high regard, etc.

Don't you know Magic articles have turned into marketing ploys? It's no longer about sharing info with the players. It's about getting you to click on a link to the pre-order page. Doesn't matter if they put the same link under every picture when only one would be enough. They want you to pre-order the next set, or at least click the link.

The thing about Future Sight is that it wasn't a supplemental set, so the whole complexity among mechanics would fall under Modern Horizons for a supplemental set.

All of Time Spiral block was a great experiment in what can be done with the game. But it was also part of the overall Magic Story because its sets were in Standard. Could there be a Future Sight 2 in a Standard environment? I think there can be with the current single set storytelling. There'd have to be sets before it to tell the story of how the Multiverse came to the point of there being a Future Sight 2 but it can be done.

Y'all we are so spoiled by BlogATog.

For anyone not in the know, it's a Tumblr Q&A blog run by Mark Rosewater, head of design for Magic the Gathering. He shares teasers for upcoming sets in the form of riddle-like hints and gives a lot of insight into choices made behind the scenes. It's fascinating. And, to my knowledge, almost entirely unique.

I'm in a lot of gaming circles. I've been heavily invested in Heroclix, Yu-Gi-Oh, Warhammer 40k, Pokemon (VGC, Smogon singles, and TCG) at various times in my life, and none of them have the same kind of open relationship with its playerbase. The best you can hope for is panels at conventions and big tournaments, or the one disastrous attempt at explaining a banlist yugioh did back in 2012(ish). I would LOVE to hear the behind-the scenes reasoning for Yugiohs recent shift away from negation-based endboards, how 40k chooses which models to update and which can wait (both on rules and physical model), why it took wizkids so long to realize that Resources were worse for Heroclix than relics, why Furfrou hasn't been in Pokemon game since it's first appearance. But magic? Magic, ANYONE can go on Tumblr and ask the most random question, and you've got a good chance at getting a compact but solid answer. Especially if it's your birthday.

There's been a lot of discourse around magic lately, namely around pricing, and I feel that that's valid. But I also feel like it should be stated that clearly the faces behind the game care. That blog could have been abandoned years ago, and I don't think anyone would have been surprised. But it's kept going, and man I appreciate it.

If you want to see more from Magic Story, whether it's main stories or side stories, messaging Mark is a good start. But even more important...

Click the links. When a new story drops, click the link and read to the end! Clicks are one of the only metrics WotC has to go on when deciding how much value Story has. I giggle whenever I click the link for one of my own pieces, because I go into that same big metric stew and it's glorious.

Fill out the surveys. List Story as part of what you enjoyed about a set! And if you can...

Focus on the positives. Which is not "you can't complain," but more "if you never tell WotC what we did right, they'll start thinking we didn't do anything right, and that could become a problem."

if you love magic story, these are the steps to let wizards know you care and want more!

I really hope there's a plethora of Magic Story for Duskmourn. There's way too many well-known, well-loved characters for there to only have 5 chapters. Plus the new characters will need room to shine, as well. I mean, we are talking a rescue squad being assembled to save someone.