My Comments On GDS2 Episode 2

http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/feature/119z

This round of submissions didn't seem very exciting. Then again, Commons usually aren't very exciting and the competitors are getting a better feel for what is common and what isn't.

ETHAN FLEISHER
Turn back time should cost 2UU as it's a cantripped Boomerang. If it was "non-land permanent" then it could be 3U as it would be Cantripped Disperse.

JON LOUCKS
Illuminate doesn't seem to have really been changed from the previous challenge, just cleaned up a little. Still don't like it, especially at Common.

Lightspeed Lookout and Roofglide Moth should be Blue.

Expose: I really like this as white removal in a block with Morph.

Beacon ability doesn't really belong at Common.

SHAWN MAIN
Assault does not feel like a blue mechanic. How many creatures you are attacking with seems green, red, or maybe white (in that order).

Desperate Denial feels rather narrow.

DEVON RULE
Mobilize AND Mandate seems a little overkill, though Mobilze in all 5 colors (ala Allies) might work okay. Mandate seems like a very nice White mechanic.

SCOTT VAN ESSEN
Feels like too many sacrifice effects.

DANIEL WILLIAMS
Don't like the Flash/Instants-matter theme.

Stake A Claim's looter effect doesn't belong in Green and feels wonkily tacked on in general.

I hope he keeps Showdown. It's good but simply doesn't belong at Common, ala Imprint.

JON WOODWARD
Consume sacrificing Auras feels wrong. I understand it works with the Auras-matter theme of the set, but "Creatures or Auras" just doesn't grok. "Creature or Enchantment" would be much better but then can't be in Black (it can't destroy Enchantments). I think the mechanic has to only allow you to consume creatures.

Desiccate seems too good at 2 mana even as a Sorcery. Even if it's okay in Limited & Block, in most formats it's "2 mana = destroy target creature."

Necromantic Infusion seems fine as a Grim Discovery variant.

MY RANKINGS FOR THIS CHALLENGE
Devon Rule
Scott Van Essen
Jon Woodward
Daniel Williams
Shawn Main
Ethan Fleisher
Jon Loucks

My Comments On GDS2 Episode 1

http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/feature/117z

Ethan Fleischer

+1/+1 counters as a resource seems neat.

Evolve: Simple but flavoful mechanic.

Mischiveous Monkey: Artifact bounce doesn’t seem right for green. This should just be a Mox Monkey variant.

Velociraptor Pack: I’d say Raptors belong in red, but otherwise it’s a fine card.

Nature’s Sacrifice: Nice spin on Nature’s Claim.

Heavy Shell: This should be uncommon. Do you want Troll Shroud and Regenerate all over Limited?

Jon Loucks

New version of Illuminate seems too complicated and the forced nature of it seems unfun. Geez stuck on two land Example: Stuck on two land but want to kill your Birds Of Paradise with Piercing Beam. Illuminate the top card of my library…it’s a land. That I wanted to draw next turn. That I have to exile now. UGH.

Living Reflection seems like too much of a memory issue, especially at common. One shot creatures like Refracted Runner might be okay (but 4 abilities on a common seems too much) and even a CIPT 1/1. But when you get into funky P/T combinations like Lavaskin Thragg I think you’re entering a land of confusion.

Speaking of Flashbomber: terrible name as he neither has Flash nor blows anything up.

Steamdriller: Does red get 4/4s at common? I still like Dig as a Cycling variant.

Shawn Main

Forsake: Cycling from play! MaRo will approve. Certainly becomes more “fair” without combat damage on the stack.

Blight seems neat. More token generation than usual works nicely with it, the sacrifice effects like Forsake provide a way to fight it, and the ‘goes to graveyard’ triggers like Bloodlust work nice with it. All around smash hit I think.

Devon Rule

Devon really goofed on reprints: Giant Cockroach AND Snuff Out, plus Tavern Sellsword is a functional reprint (Krovikan Scoundrel and Dakmor Scorpion).

Gold counters seem very interesting and I like his take on Mercenaries.

Jay Treat

Commune: So it’s just Kinship with a trigger for when you reveal? Not sure how fun that is.

I understand what he’s trying to do with the “two or more creature types” vs “less than two creature types” but I don’t like it.

Tale Of The Lazy Cat: seems like a mess – an Enchantment with a static ability while it’s in play targeting a creature that enters the battlefield when it’s in the graveyard. I think you have to just word it as a triggered ability that mirrors the static ability to make this work under the rules, but too many of these could be a pain to deal with. Probably doesn’t belong at common.

The only reason I see for Morph to still be in the set is allowing for the surprise factor of “I have no creature types” turning into “I have 2+ creature types”. Which is a lousy reason.

Scott Van Essen

Essence Thief: Lifelink and Swampwalk together on a common? Dislike.

Like the use of +1/+1 counters. Similar concept to Fleisher, but I think I like Van Essen’s better.

Daniel Williams

New version of Showdown seems better, but I feel like it still needs some tweaking. Not sure how well it works at Common. Clash was okay at common because you didn’t have cards changing zones and the decisions were simpler.

Good choice keeping Revelation.

Bringing back Aurochs = awesome. They don’t need to be in large numbers, just common.

I feel like the mechanics still need some hammering out, but the awesome flavor keeps showing through.

Jon Woodward

Erupt feels out of place in the set. Swarm encourages creatures. Incarnate and Favored encourage Auras. But Erupt wants to you to play Instants and Sorceries. Pulls in too many directions! Either this needs to be ditched entirely or turned into a set where mechanics are divided by color: Swarm and Favored in G/W, Erupt in U/R, and I’m not sure about B. (With Incarnate still across all 5 colors.)

My Rankings For This Round (Best To Worst)
Shawn Main
Devon Rule
Daniel Williams
Jon Woodward
Scott Van Essen
Ethan Fleisher
Jay Treat
Jon Louck

My Comments On The GDS2 Top 8

http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/feature/115z

I read through the submissions for the Top 8 for Great Designer Search 2. Here are my comments:

My thoughts on the Top 8:

Ethan Fleischer

• Really liked the idea of removing the ability to cast spells and activate abilities during the end step. Does remove some neat tricks with "at end of turn" abilities but those tricks can be kind of confusing to some players anyway.
• Really disagree with his Fetchlands complaint, except maybe that they are too good (but that is a DEVELOPMENT issue not Design).
• Like the idea of returning to Rabiah and mechanically playing off "there are actually 1001 Rabiahs".
• Pleased to see my Muraganda get some use with Thunder Lizard, Primal and Provoke.
• Not a fan of Equipment tokens - too many memory issues.

Jonathon Loucks

• Given that Jon has already been a professional game designer I would say that he's easily the front runner to win GDS2.
• Like moving Shade ability to Green. It is a little redundant to the Rootwalla ability, but I always hated that ability (because it is only once per turn).
• Ditching the Maximum Hand Size is okay. It makes a few cards like Spellbook complete blank (unlike removing mana burn which simply made some cards very narrow/bad). Also, I think most card games have a maximum hand size.
• 'dual Tribal' idea seems terrible, at least in Lorwyn. Maybe it would work better in a setting with different creature types or with all the multi-type spells involve Class instead of Race?
• The Light vs Dark theme seems pretty cool, especially it's use of Morph and face down creatures. There might be a rules issue with some of the cards involving non-creature cards being face down creatures (which is currently illegal).
• Equipment tokens again? Ugh.

Shawn Main

• Dislike removing the Upkeep step, but I agree with the crux of his argument: "stop punishing people who automatically start each turn by untapping and drawing." Soooo many new players want to draw before they do anything else. I've somewhat seriously talked about getting a shirt that lists "Untap, Upkeep, THEN Draw" because of how often I see people screw it up. I think it needs to be changed somehow.
• Token set is a fine idea, bringing back Convoke works great with it, and I like Swarm in general. Seems like this would be a very aggressive Limited format like Zendikar. But also seems a bit bland.
  

Devon Rule

• Agree that having an empty library should cause you to lose the game as a SBA because it how it syncs up with all the other losing the game SBAs.
• Agree with his hate for Dawnglare Invoker.
• Yay for returning to Ulgrotha, but I'm not sure that's the appropriate place for a Wedge themed block.
• Pretty nifty Enchantment block.
• Idealism is such simple yet awesome card, especially in context of Enchantments & Enchantment Creatures set.

Jay Treat

• Someone else who wants to end End Step shenanigans.
• I also second the "mana pools only empty at the end of turn" change. I didn't propose this on my GDS2 essay, but when word leaked out about mana burn changing this was the changed I expected at the time.
• I don't think Devour was terrible, but I think Jay makes good arguments about what's wrong with it.
• Jay designs with Hybrid look pretty sweet.
• Huzzah! Another Muraganda!
• Someone else putting non-creature cards as face down creatures.
• I think Approaching is a really neat mechanic.
• "Bind Familiar" (essentially "Mount") is great flavor and seems to be implemented well, though it will lead to weird flavor situations and seems weird to implement creatures riding other creatures as separate cards after 17 years of that not being done. I guess it could overcome those hurdles like Equipment did but at least at first it just tastes wrong.

Scott Van Essen

• "rule 305.7...lands which are changed to a basic land type lose their abilities generated from rules text" <- I agree this rule sucks. It has merits but those could be overcome by extra rules text on specific cards and the effect is not intuitive.
  
• More people playing non-creature cards face down (Cloak of Invulnerability)!
• Creatures flipping into Planeswalkers is a neat concept but feels like a text space nightmare.
  
• Prison world seems like a nice concept but the cards feel clunky with a whole bunch of different kinds of counters.

Daniel Williams

• Major props for creating a bunch of mechanics that work with each other. This is 7th person I've read but the first one that made me really go "WOW".
• I'm not sure so much card revealing would be fun to actually play. The whole thing feels like some kind of rules variant of MTG rather than an actual set. Still, great job swinging for the fences.

Jonathan Woodward

• Moving enchantment removal from White to Black makes some sense, but I don't like it especially with discard. If anything, I would get artifact removal completely out of white (but not give it to anyone else). Now you have Red with shatter affects, White with Demystify, and Green with Naturalize (Shatter or Demystify). I think that's got nice flow.
• We already saw Swarm as a "attack with as many creatures as possible" mechanic (I hope one of the two Swarm guys changes the name to avoid confusion) but this version is more like a fixed Banding.
• Incarnate is essentially Manifest.
  

Things that surprised me: lots of people want to go back to Ravnica, lots of people like Equipment tokens, lots of people like facedown non-creature cards. Surprised at the amount of overlap in general; I was expecting a more mechanically diverse selection of worlds.

How I'd rank the Top 8:
Devon Rule
Jonathon Loucks
Ethan Fleischer
Daniel Williams
Shawn Main
Jay Treat
Jonathan Woodward
Scott Van Essen

Great Designer Search 2 - Multiple Choice Test

MaRo has posted the answers with explanations for the GDS2 Multiple Choice test.

A few comments on the test:

I scored a 39 of 50.

#6: I misunderstood the question as "which one of these abilities would we least likely to pair with a CREATURE with Flash".

"The next time target instant or sorcery spell would deal damage, it deals double that damage instead." seems like a terribly narrow ability to print at all and would confuse some players about when and how to use it.

#13: I hope the 2 people that voted a DEMON with INTIMIDATE and a DISCARD ability misclicked.

#16: How did 35 people chose or as least appropriate color for a 2/2 for 2??? They print those cards in every dang set - in green's case literally since day one. (Grizzly Bears & Glory Seeker)

#19: I think I over-thought this one as on my notes for the test I wrote "why is this an Aura?!" but chose "change damage to life loss". My reasoning is that black spells that affect a player but not a creature pretty much always cause life loss while having this wonky spell be an Aura instead of a Sorcery would make sense in a Enchantment-heavy block.

I realize now my logic is flawed anyway because the existence of Planeswalkers means player-only black spells are no longer strictly better if they cause life loss since damage could be redirected to a planeswalker.

#21: This was another "WTF people?" question. To the 8 people who thought black could affect Enchantments what card were they thinking of that sets any kind of precedent for this? Grossly misunderstanding Mortify?

#25: I remembered this correctly not because of Tezzeret not being an Artifact Planeswalker but because of Ajani not being a Cat Planeswalker. I do love me some Tribal...

Meanwhile, 2 people either misclicked or somehow forgot Jace The Wallet$$$culptor exists.

#27: I remember the precedent of cards like Aven Cloudchaser.

#32: I immediately thought of larger rare versions of 3 of the 5 cards listed: Conquerer's Pledge, Inferno, and Might Of Oaks.

#33: Almost got this wrong (picking white) but decieded to double check myself with the color philosophy articles.

#34: Flashback has obvious synergy with Dredge.

Madness would go nicely in Rakdos, both flavorfully and mechanically (make yourself discard to achieve Hellbent but still get to cast the spells you're discarding).

#36: Those who did not learn from their mistakes in GDS1 are doomed to repeat them in GDS2. In the discussion for GDS1's essay questions, MaRo said most cards are designed for Spike because of Limited. I blew that question in GDS1 but did not make the same mistake twice.

#44: I voted for Flanking not working when blocking. I was thinking of Bushido, which is similiar and in the same colors but works on attacking and blocking both.

Flanking not including a number seems like a bad answer for two reasons: Flanking is cumulative so if you really want to make it in multiples you just put multiple instances of the word (see Cavalry Master). Also, subsequent abilities like Threshold and Metalcraft don't have a number. Then again, Bushido did have a number.

The correct answer (Flanking doesn't affect Flankers is unintuitive) is so correct that I didn't even realize that rule really existed! I wonder if this means I didn't play enough TPF limited?

#48: I caught Canyon Minotaur, but was one of the people that forgot Flying amidst all the other text on Squadron Hawk. DOH.

#49: I thought Martial Coup was part of a cycle and didn't realize Steppe Lynx was in a cycle (a pretty loose cycle).

Great Designer Search 2 - Essay 10: Revisiting A Plane

Choose a plane to revisit other than Dominaria or Mirrodin. What is a mechanical twist we could add if we revisit this plane?

The plane I would revisit is Ulgrotha, the location of Homelands. Homelands was loaded with flavor but lacking mechanics and good cards. Enough time has passed to let much of the bad taste fade while references to the setting have been made such as The Dark Barony (Planechase), Barony Vampire (M11), and near the end of the “Future Sight” novel. With Vampires now a much more established race in Magic, the time is ripe to return to a plane dominated by a vampire.

The set should have many Legendary Creatures and many references to the flavor of cards from the original set. This would include a Tribal subtheme. The setting has Dwarves and Minotaurs, two races that have been barely touched thus far in Magic. Dwarves in particular could appear in colors other than red and be defined in ways to set them apart from Goblins. Vampires would also be a main tribe allowing more of their design to be shown (most other tribes have a much bigger head start).

With Baron Sengir having conquered most of the plane, the block could be “Torment 2”: the dominance of black and how the other colors react to and interact with it. This needs to be done differently than Odyssey block: no uneven distribution of colors and no the intentionally weak white cards in certain colors. Instead of hosing, make them mechanically different. For example, all triggered abilities on black creatures could be “put into a graveyard” triggers while all triggered abilities of green and white creatures could be “enters the battlefield” triggers. With a black focus it would also be appropriate to revisit a Graveyard-oriented mechanics. A twist on Madness could be a variant that triggers when milled instead of discarded. Instead of Threshold and Flashback, there could be cards like Bridge From Below that have abilities when they’re in the graveyard. The Delve and Gravestorm mechanics from Future Sight could also be used. Grandeur would also combine the Graveyard and Legendary themes as discarding a card to Grandeur can feed other graveyard abilities, especially Delve.

Of all my essay submissions I've posted here, this is the only one I've tweaked before posting here. My final paragraph didn't end as nicely as this one does: I had made a note to include Delve and Gravestorm but forgot to do so. Grandeur and it's synergy with graveyard abilities only occured to me later.

Great Designer Search 2 - Essay 09: Worst Mechanic In Extended

Of all the mechanics currently in Extended, which one is the worst designed? Explain why.

The worst designed mechanic currently in Extended is Totem Armor. Totem Armor is the worst mechanic because it fails more than it succeeds.

Totem Armor’s purpose is to make Auras that negate the card disadvantage inherit in them. The problem is that the ability makes the enchanted creature more resilient but doesn’t stop the bigger problem of Instant speed removal killing the creature in response to the Aura. Rise Of Eldrazi limited is designed in such a way that Totem Armor achieves its goal there but only because the format has such a small amount of Instant speed removal.

In constructed play, the Totem Armor ability is not enough to overcome the card disadvantage because there is usually enough Instant speed removal. So the mechanic is not effective for experienced players and Spikes. Johnnys do not care because there is no combo potential for creature Auras.

Newer players and some Timmys will play Auras, but they will do this unaware of the card disadvantage. Totem Armor attempts to fix a problem they do not recognize as existing. Furthermore, the ability is confusing. Totem Armor is similar to Regeneration but not actually the same. New players often have trouble understanding Regeneration and Totem Armor just confuses them further. It would have been better designed if Totem Armor simply granted the ability “Sacrifice this Aura: regenerate enchanted creature.”

Furthermore, the ability lacks synergy. Nothing in Alara block nor Zendikar/Worldwake rewards a player for playing Enchantments. The use of -1/-1 counters in Scars Of Mirridion block is a disincentive to play Totem Armor because it negates Totem Armor’s bonus.

Great Designer Search 2 - Essay 08: Best Mechanic In Extended

Of all the mechanics currently in Extended, which one is the best designed? Explain why.

The best designed mechanic currently in Extended is Landfall.

Landfall is so simple everyone can understand it: if/when any land enters play for you for any reason, you get a bonus. There is no confusion.

Landfall is fresh. Despite the simplicity of the mechanic and Lands being around since Alpha, it had barely been used on any cards. Vinelasher Kudzu saw some play in Ravnica then was soon forgotten.

Landfall creates new and unusual experiences and play environments. Late in the game players usually want to draw anything but land. Landfall causes players to hope to draw land. Despite the unsually fast pace of Zendikar limited play and the low curve of its best decks, players still had reason to play as many lands as usual if not more (17-18) rather than fewer.

Landfall makes new players happy. Players usually have to have lands in their deck but these cards usually do “nothing”. Now new players have reason to be happy about drawing land. This is especially true for players making the jump from other card games which either involved no resources (YuGiOh) or could use any card as a resource (Vs). Landfall can encourage them to look for ways to get more than one land out in a turn, opening them to cards like Fetchlands they might have otherwise not tried to use.

Landfall makes experienced players happy. Whether or not to play surplus land in your hand has always been useful to bluff spells or have expendable cards against discard effects. Now there is the added decision of whether to speed up the expanse of your mana base to have more mana available or whether to hold back the land to get more turns where you trigger Landfall.

Landfall is the best mechanic because it makes everyone happy.

Great Designer Search 2 - Essay 07: Designing For Experienced Players

What do you think design can do to best make the game attractive to experienced players?

The best way to make the game more attractive to experienced players is to make cards and mechanics that reward their experience and skill: those that are subtly powerful and/or reward skill level in deck building and decision making.

Cascade was a great example of this. The randomness is disinteresting to newer players and they do not appreciate the card advantage it generates. Experienced players do recognize the card advantage. They also see how they can build a deck that removes the randomness factor; while they may not know what specific card they will hit they will have built their deck so that they know what general kind of effect it will be.

Cards like Fact or Fiction and Gifts Ungiven are another example. These cards are wordy and it is not apparent to new players why these cards are good. But an experienced player recognizes the card advantage they generate and see a way to use their superior decision making skills to trump other players. Gifts Ungiven also has an apparent drawback of never giving you what you want that discourages new players. Experienced players see how they can build redundancy into their deck. They can recognize combinations of cards such that whatever cards get put in their hand are either the cards they want or cards that allow them to get the cards they want.

The Masticores are also an example. Newer players hate discarding cards for any reason and will be turned off by the upkeep cost. Experienced players recognize that the drawback is manageable and the power of the card makes it worthwhile. In the case of the recently printed Molten-Tail Masticore, newer players are further turned off by the cost of removing a card in their graveyard. Experienced players will recognize the synergy between the upkeep cost and the cost to activate the damage ability.