istarkano

[istarkano]

Proposals to refer to One D&D as "6th Edition" in order to spite Hasbro marketing don't go far enough. We should retroactively assign full edition numbers to every major core rules revision for which the game's publishers declined to do so, as follows:

White box OD&D is now 1st Edition

Holmes Basic is now 2nd Edition

AD&D 1st Edition is now 3rd Edition

BX/Moldvay Basic is now 4th Edition

BECMI/Mentzer Basic is now 5th Edition

AD&D 2nd Edition is now 6th Edition

The Rules Cyclopedia is now 7th Edition

The AD&D 2nd Edition Player's Handbook redux with the infamous "This Is Not 3rd Edition" foreword is now 8th Edition

Player's Option is now 9th Edition

D&D 3rd Edition is now 10th Edition

D&D 3rd Edition Revised (3.5E) is now 11th Edition

D&D 4th Edition is now 12th Edition

D&D Essentials is now 13th Edition

D&D Next (later informally rebranded as "5th Edition" due to consumer pressure) is now 14th Edition

Finally, this means the forthcoming One D&D is 15th Edition.

Make sense?

[istarkano]

[istarkano]

[istarkano]

“Tales from the Pit” #2571

[istarkano]

How is Far Out acorn, but Stickers are eternal?

Because the rules can do stickers but not Far Out. Stickers are essentially a new counter-like resource which the game has no problem processing.

Far Out messes with modes and is an example of a card that is relatively easy to process from a human brain standpoint, but hard to adapt to the rules system in a way that doesn’t cause corner case issues. If the rules can’t handle something 100%, it’s not viable.

Far Out is perfect example of why we make Un-sets. It’s a card players have been wanting for a long time. We tried putting it into premier sets, but it’s just not rules compliant (and in a way almost none of the audience is going to understand).

Why should a card players want to play with and, from a common sense standpoint, will be able to understand, save weird corner cases, not be able to exist as a card?

[istarkano]

For the first time in three years, I’m going to be attending a Magic event: Magic30. I’ll be hosting Unfinity events, doing panels, and a lot of meeting and greeting. Click below for more info.

https://magic.gg/news/save-the-date-magic-30-is-a-party-three-decades-in-the-making

[istarkano]

Hey Mark! As a design philosophy, you have stated numerous times that land destruction is not fun. I am wondering then, why milling enemy decks continues to be a sub-archetype. Isn't equally not fun to play to not have cards to draw as compared not having lands to play?

Milling doesn’t stop you from getting to play the game like land destruction does.

[istarkano]

Happy Pi Day

Back in 2017, I wanted to put this card on social media saying Happy Pi Day with no comment. The idea was it would be the first hint that a new Un-set (Unstable) was coming. March 14 was a little early (as the set came out in December of 2017) and the card wasn’t a good representative of what the set was, so I ended up not doing it.

[istarkano]

I'd like to see Magic go back to closer to it's roots, aesthetically. I want more mechs, power armor, alien viruses, automatons, time travel, cloning vats, cybernetic implants, etc.

: )

[istarkano]

Hi Mark, I enjoyed reading your article today, and am always super appreciative of the work you do to communicate Wizards' philosophy to the players. However, I was also very disappointed by some of what was written. As someone whose concerns fall under the "contamination problem", it really felt like the message of the article was that my concerns are unimportant. The buffet analogy was particularly saddening. Magic is not a buffet - other players also dictate what cards we experience.

I think the buffet metaphor was the most apt metaphor I've ever found for Magic design. We want to provide an amazing meal. Not everyone wants the same food, but we have to prioritize providing food individuals will love over not providing foods some might hate.

Yes, someone might sit at your table and adore the meal because they love the chile they got. We shouldn't deny them that chile because you hate chile. Don't eat the chile, and if watching someone else enjoying chile really upsets you, don't sit at the same table as them. Your dislike of chile is not a reason the chile lovers shouldn't have chile at the buffet.

[istarkano]

“Tales from the Pit” #2438

[istarkano]

This is going to be awesome!

Maro’s Modern Horizon 2 Teaser

Before previews for Modern Horizons 2 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:

• a legendary character best known for having his name on a powerful card (that’s been banned) finally gets a legendary creature

• a theme on only a handful of cards in Modern Horizons gets a larger presence

• a Frog twenty-six years in the making

• new split cards

• a Future Sight mechanic reused for first time

• a character that first appeared in a Magic novel finally becomes a legendary creature

• A card with the number words “four” and “fourteen”.

• a fan favorite animal character finally becomes a legendary creature

• a white enchantment with a trigger that investigates

• a planeswalker from the past that has previously only had a legendary creature card

Here are some snippets from rules text that appear in the set:

• “Whenever you cast your third spell each turn,”

• “for each other Ooze you control.”

• “If an ability of a <CENSORED> or another <CENSORED> you control triggers, that ability triggers an additional time.”

• “This ability costs 1 less to activate for each +1/+1 counter on creatures you control.”

• “you may sacrifice a Mountain rather than pay this spell’s mana cost.”

• “Trample over planeswalkers”

• “If an Insect card was milled this way,”

• “Protection from permanents with corruption counters on them”

• “choose a number between 1 and 5. Flip that many coins.”

• “instead create one of each.”

Here are some type lines from the set:

• Artifact Creature – Assembly-Worker

• Creature – Dinosaur Illusion

• Creature – Dauthi Rogue

• Creature – Skeleton Shaman

• Creature – Elemental Incarnation

• Artifact Creature – Clue Myr

• Tribal Artifact – Lhurgoyf

• Legendary Creature – Merfolk God

• Legendary Creature – Snake Elf Scout

• Legendary Creature – Squirrel Warrior

Finally, here are some of the mechanics in the set. (I replaced all the letters with x’s.)

• xxxx (4)

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• xxxxx (5)

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• xxxxxxxxxxx (11)

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• xxxxxxxxxxxx (12)

• xxxxxxxxxxxxxx (15)

Tune in May 20th to DailyMTG.com for answers to some of these and more.

[istarkano]

Theory: Fractal Creatures as a Possible Quandrix College mechanic?

As spoiled yesterday, we see a new version of Kasmina is in Strixhaven.  Now while a new UG mythic tends to be something that makes a splash, her -X loyalty ability started the wheels turning in my head about a possible mechanic for Quandrix.  Now, the following is entirely conjecture.  I have no inside knowledge, and most of what I am going to say is based entirely on the new Kasmina.  Which, it should be noted that just because she is in Quandrix colors (Simic who?), does not mean that she is in the college, nor does it mean that her abilities represent the college’s possible themes or mechanics.  As a mathematician, I am extremely excited to see what WotC does with Quandrix, and her -X does seem like it may be a good fit.

What is her -X ability?  It reads, “Create a 0/0 green and blue Fractal creature token.  Put X +1/+1 counters on it.”  One word in here screams Quandrix to me, Fractal.  From the “first lesson” article, we get this blurb, “Quandrix mages are ingenious math magicians. They study patterns, fractals, and symmetries to command power over the fundamental forces of nature.”  To me, the fact that they choose to use the word fractal on Kasmina is no accident, and allows us to make a reasonable connection to Quandrix.

What could this tell us about a possible Quandrix mechanic?  First, let us recall that on @markrosewater​‘s Blogatog, Mark mentioned that the Strixhaven Colleges were a conscious attempt to explore the enemy colors in a way that had not been done in Ravnica.  Now at the surface, Kasmina’s -X ability seems perfectly at home with the Simic, they care about +1/+1 counters, right?  True, but their specific mechanics used +1/+1 counters in a particular way.  In Dissension, the Simic received Graft N (This creature enters the battlefield with N +1/+1 counters on it. Whenever another creature enters the battlefield, you may move a +1/+1 counter from this creature onto it.).  In Gatecrash the Simic received Evolve (Whenever a creature enters the battlefield under your control, if that creature has greater power or toughness than this creature, put a +1/+1 counter on this creature.).  Finally, in Ravnica Allegiance Simic had Adapt N (If this creature has no +1/+1 counters on it, put N +1/+1 counter(s) on it.).  Overall, these mechanics tended to be about using +1/+1 counters to represent growth and change.  While Kasmina’s -X ability can be set to a particular number of counters, there is no automatic way for the number of counters to change (like in Evolve and Adapt) or move (like in Graft).

Second, let’s talk about that creature type, Fractal.  What are fractals?  

The Mandelbrot Set Created by Wolfgang Beyer.

In the simplest terms possible, fractals are patterns that are generated by performing some process over and over.  One quality that fractals have is something called self similarity, if we zoom in on a fractal it will exhibit the same patterns that we viewed originally.  Essentially, the part appears similar to the whole.  Ferns are a great example of naturally occurring structures that are self similar.

So here we finally come to my theory on a possible Quandrix mechanic: fractal creatures will be creatures capable of coming in various sizes, but will be similar to each other, most likely via ability sharing.  Now, these are token creatures, so they will probably be created via spells and abilities, like Kasmina’s -X.  In addition, I believe that some of these spells or permanents will grant fractals abilities.  This could work similar to slivers, or to other tribal lord-type effects.  Or perhaps even similar to abilities on some of the cards with Graft.

Now I know that this could be seen as covering ground that Simic has already covered, but I think that fractals could be different enough.  While Graft creatures were all different, but could grant abilities to each other, fractals would be identical except for their size, their abilities would be shared, but likely given by outside sources.  A very fractal-like design.

So, there are my thoughts.  I can’t wait to see what Quandrix is like and I am looking forward to all of the possible mechanics that could be used to represent a College of Mathematics!

[istarkano]

Maro’s Strixhaven Teaser

Before previews for Strixhaven 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:

 • a white card with the rules text “draw three cards”

• a planeswalker you know, but not as you know them

• a card featuring Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa’s likeness (for winning the World Championship)

• a spell with three X’s in its mana cost

• introduction of a new evergreen keyword

• a red sorcery that you can have as many copies in your deck as you want

• a futureshifted card (appearing for the first time in a premier set other than Future Sight)

• an MDFC with the same card type on both sides that hasn’t been printed before

• a card sharing something never shared before

• a cycle of enemy dual lands finishing off a ten-card cycle

 Here are some snippets from rules text that appear in the set:

 • “Search your library and graveyard for up to four creature cards with different names”

• “Otherwise, put a study counter on it.”

• “Whenever a permanent entering the battlefield causes a triggered ability to trigger”

• “untap each creature you control, then tap any number of creatures you control”

• “Pay 10 life:”

• “Repeat this process six more times.”

• “Pests, Bats, Insects, Snakes, and Spiders”

• “Each mode must target a different player.”

• “Whenever an opponent activates an ability that isn’t a mana ability”

• “where X is the number of cards in your library”

 And finally, here are some creature type lines from the set:

 • Creature – Turtle Druid

• Creature – Bird Warlock

• Creature – Frog Wizard

• Creature – Spirit Dwarf

• Creature – Troll Druid

• Creature – Eye Bat

• Legendary Creature – Vampire Warlock

• Legendary Creature – Orc Shaman

• Legendary Creature – Dryad Druid

• Legendary Artifact Creature – Construct

 Find out the answers to (some) of these clues and other Strixhaven news on March 25th at 9:00 AM PT. Tune in either on twitch.tv/Magic or on our official YouTube channel.

[istarkano]

This would be amazing.

Now that UB exists, would you also think about making Space: the Convergence? I'd love actual *original* sci-fi Magic sets.

I’d say it ups its chances. There’s a lot of work to be done though, so it’s not a small ask.

[istarkano]

I didn't think I could be more excited for Strixhaven!

What percentage of the color pie would you say differs between a Strixhaven school and the corresponding Ravnica guild? More concretely, what percentage of cards in Strixhaven printed for particular color pairs would not be able to be printed under the corresponding guild?

I can’t give specifics yet, but making them different was a design goal.

[istarkano]

The funny thing is, whenever I take a color pie personality test, I always end up as blue or blue/green (and it leans a little more towards the latter). As a mathematician, I have never previously really connected with the main blue/green faction, the Simic. Not a huge biology or zoology person.

But this explanation and the little blurb on the preview site makes me feel like I do belong in blue/green. Can't wait for more!

From a flavor perspective, why is Quandrix u/g instead of something like w/u? Fractals and patterns are inherently orderly, and it seems that's more white than green. I'm probably blanking on the actual reason that green makes sense though...

One of the main conflicts in math is this: is math something humans created or something we discovered? Is it something humans came up with or an inherent natural part of the world? A classic blue/green conflict.