Below you'll find a list of all posts that have been categorized as “Design”
As Magic players, most of us primarily care about how the game actually plays. However, so much more goes into a set than the cards themselves — from worldbuilding to characters and the places they intersect. Often, these qualities outside of gameplay are called flavor, and they help sets taste different, even if they are similar in some ways to what has …
Arguably the best thing about Magic is the sheer variety of ways to play it. Even ignoring the growing range of officially-supported formats, Magic’s “rules engine” and massive card pool make perfect building blocks for inventing all sorts of wacky new scenarios! That’s just what a player named “Perodequeso” was up to back in 2016 when he invented Wacky Races. …
With Phyrexia: All Will Be One fully released into the wild, and the resulting disaster of the Planeswalkers’ ill-fated foray into the metal plane ready to play out, it’s time to look at what comes next. March of the Machine is the next Standard set in the Magic storyline, and here’s a look at what we know so far. The …
In Phyrexia: All Will Be One, we have a cycle of one-mana artifacts with activated abilities that can draw you a card called Skullbombs. This builds on a similar cycle from Scars of Mirrodin called Spellbombs, which were themselves a sequel to the original Spellbombs from Mirrodin block. It’s not often we see cycles full reiterated this many times, but …
As Magic players, most of us primarily care about how the game actually plays. However, so much more goes into a set than the cards themselves — from worldbuilding, to characters and the places they intersect. Often, these qualities outside of gameplay are called flavor, and they help sets taste different even if they are similar in some ways to …
There’s a lot on the horizon for Magic in 2023, and Tom is here to take a look at what all the different moving parts may mean! It’s a new year for Magic just as it is for you and me – and 2023 in particular stands as a tense cliffhanger moment in the game’s proud history. The narrative stands …
Wizards made an announcement on Friday which will completely transform how their Universes Beyond designs fit into the wider hobby. They announced that Set and Collectors Boosters for The Brothers’ War will be… more than meets the eye with the addition of Transformers. Yes, after dancing around the idea for years, tournament legal Transformers cards are finally going to be …
Some fringe formats thrive off individual expression, or playing the most powerful cards in Magic, or both. Anyway, here’s Chris with Dandân. Many fringe formats of Magic center around either a creature with evocative abilities and lore (Momir Vig) or a group of linked creatures so emblematic of an aspect of the game that they can’t be ignored (The Elder …
Welcome back to another edition of “This Day in Magic History.” Today, we’re going to look at the release of Planechase, which had its release events from Sept. 4-6, 2009. Planechase isn’t especially well-known these days, but it marked a number of important Magic firsts: it was the first supplemental set, the first set focused on multiplayer, the first set …
Welcome back to another edition of “This Day in Magic History.” This time, we’re taking a look at the release of Coldsnap, which was released on July 21, 2006. Coldsnap is one of the weirder black-bordered releases we’ve ever seen. It was printed as the intended third and final set of the Ice Age Block. That might not sound strange …
