Odds and Ends : Daily MTG : Magic: The Gathering

The letter W! hen I started putting together this week's column I realized that I had a number of different items I wanted to talk about. No single one was particular lengthy, so I decided to do a hodge-podge column with a little of this and a little of that. And yes, for those who've been eagerly awaiting, at the column's end is Extra Pulled #3 with the Magic card name chains and a new project for you all to help me out with.

Design of the Times

Bill Rose

Last December, I got promoted to Lead Magic Designer (which incidentally is now changing to Head Magic Designer so as to not confuse the title with the lead designer of each individual expansion). Because we work so far ahead, my design regime doesn't really start until the 2005 standalone, codenamed Control. (But have no fear about Kamigawa, Bill Rose finished his stint as Head Magic Designer with a very cool and interesting block.) When I first got the job, Bill and I put together the Control design team. Recently, consulting with Randy Buehler, I put together the design teams for the rest of the Control block (Alt and Delete) and the large expansion of 2006, codenamed Snap (followed by Crackle and Pop).

One of the things I've decided to do as Head Designer is to publicly announce design teams when I put them together. I want to do this for two reasons. First, I feel the designers deserve the recognition. And second, I like letting the public have some glimpse into the future. So without further ado, here are the current assembled design teams (note that some will not start for a number of months and these teams might change based on designer availability):

Control (Fall, 2005)
Mark Rosewater (lead)
Tyler Bielman
Mike Elliot
Aaron Forsythe
Richard Garfield

This set marks the return of Richard Garfield to Magic design (he last worked on Judgment). It's also interesting to note that Mike, Richard and I were three-fourths of the Tempest design team (Charlie Catino being the fourth) and Mike, Tyler and I are three-fourths of the Mirrodin design team (Brian Tinsman being the fourth).

Alt (Winter 2006)
Mike Elliott (lead)
Aaron Forsythe
Devin Low
Brian Schneider

I believe Mike has the honor of leading more design teams than any other Magic designer. (Although I've slowly been catching up to him.) This team makes use of two newer designers who both worked on Saviors of Kamigawa (Devin and Brian).

Aaron Forsythe

Delete (Summer 2006)
Aaron Forsythe (lead)
Brandon Bozzi
Mark Gottlieb
Mark Rosewater

This is Aaron's first lead design. You might also note that we're trying columnist Mark Gottlieb out on Magic design for the first time. I've dubbed this design the magicthegathering.com design team. Now if only Brandon could get a weekly column.

Snap (Fall 2006)
Brian Tinsman (lead)
Aaron Forsythe
Devin Low
Mark Rosewater

This design team is relatively young (design-wise), but has what I believe is great potential.

As you can see, we have quite a number of very good design teams set up. I can't wait for you all to see the results.

Sweet Sixteen

Here's a quick update on the next Magic Invitational. It will again be held on Magic Online. We're currently planning to hold the event for a second time at E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo) in Los Angeles next spring.

But here's the interesting part. After the success of features like “You Make the Card” and “Selecting Eighth/Ninth Edition”, we've decided to revamp the invite policy to allow more audience participation. We're still working out the details but I can say this. The new invites will not simply be us expanding the number of players invited on the player ballot. Rather, we are going to be creating a series of unique categories that recognize a wider range of skills than previous invite lists. That said, not all the slots will be votes. There will still be a number of invites assigned to particular achievements.

Keep your eye out for further details.

Third Time's The Charm

Speaking of online promotions, I've been getting a lot of mail about “You Make the Card #3”. Has magicthegathering.com abandoned “You Make the Card”? Heavens no. It's one of our most popular features. And yes, we do have “You Make the Card #3” scheduled for this fall. The reason for the wait was that the promotion takes several months and we didn't want to overlap it with “Selecting Ninth Edition”.

I can't say much just yet but I will spill the beans that the third “You Make the Card” installment will have a cool new twist that will have all of you designing the card in a slightly different (but still very true to R&D) way. Once again, stay tuned for further details.

Whittling Away

I've had a number of letters inquiring about the Magic Creative Writer position. The short answer is we're working on it.

The long answer is that we had a record number of applicants and it's taking us a while to work our way through it. Here's the quick recap. Five hundred and eight six applicants applied. Four hundred of those passed a screening test and were asked to send in a resume and a creativity exercise. From there, twenty-five applicants were selected to take a name and flavor text test. A small number of those people were then given a phone interview. That's where we currently are. I'm hoping within the next few weeks to have the position filled. Once it is, I'll let you all know who got the job.

What I can say is that I was overwhelmed by both the response we received and the high caliber of applicants. I am confident we are going to fill the position with a very creative person that will help the Creative Team continue on their upward path. (Speaking of which, I can't wait for you all to see Champions of Kamigawa. The Creative Team really hit it out of the park.)

Kibbles and Bits

That's all I got for today. If my column seems a bit short (for me anyways), I've included an Extra Helping below.

Join me next week, when I explain why Kamigawa's got spirit.

Until then, may you enjoy the hors d'oeuvres of life.

Mark Rosewater

Extra Helping #3

At the end of my “Loose Ends” article, I asked my readers to come up with the longest name chain using Magic card titles. The trick was the last word of each title had to be the same as the first word in the next title. Before I get to the best chains, let me remind you all that the next assignment is at the end of the article.

I received hundreds of replies. What follows is the ten best based on length. Be aware if two people sent me the exact same thread, I've only credited the first person that sent it in.

#9) Laurie Cheers (56) - tie

Purraj of Urborg Phantom Nantuko Disciple of Kangee, Aerie Keeper of the Mind Stone Kavu Chameleon Spirit Mirror Wall of Lava Burst of Energy Arc Lightning Cloud Spirit Shield Wall of Wood Sage Owl Familiar Ground Seal of Fire and Brimstone Dragon Breath of Life/Death Pulse of Llanowar Knight of Stromgald Cabal Ritual of Steel Wall of Fire/Ice Cave Tiger Claws of Wirewood Savage Gorilla Warrior Angel of Light of Day of the Dragons (56)