Magic: The Gathering Drive to Work Podcast

One of the truisms of game design: make sure your players enjoy losing your game. How do we do that? This podcast walks listeners through six key lessons.

Every year, my eldest daughter, Rachel, and I go to a convention dedicated to Broadway called BroadwayCon. It's interesting going to a convention from the perspective of a fan. In this episode, I talk about this year's trip, the things I learned, and apply my learnings to Magic design.

I do a lot of interviews. A question I often get is, "Why is Magic so good?" I have a lot of answers to that question, enough for a 30-minute podcast.

In this podcast, I sit down with Yoni Skolnik, the lead set designer for Aetherdrift, to talk about the design after it was handed off for set design.

I talk about the history of drawback mechanics, what they are, how we design them, and how they've changed over the years.

I recorded this podcast two years ago when I handed off the Aetherdrift vision design to the Set Design team. Hear my thoughts on Magic's latest set as it came fresh out of design.

In this podcast, I walk through the various reasons why we reprint cards at a different rarity.

In this podcast, I talk about the history of the protection mechanic, starting from Limited Edition (Alpha) to present day.

In this podcast, I walk through Magic's history to talk about how the use of creature types has changed over time.

This is another in my "Lessons Learned" podcasts where I talk about sets I led or co-led the design for. I walk through the various lessons I learned in leading the design of the set. This episode is about The Lost Caverns of Ixalan.

Almost every randomized booster product is designed to be drafted. To do that we have to build around what we call draft archetypes. In this podcast, I talk all about them.

In this podcast, I sit down with JC Tao, the lead designer of Innistrad Remastered, to talk about the making of the set.

In this podcast, I talk all about the design of Apocalypse, another set from the Invasion block.

In this podcast, I talk all about the design of Planeshift, a set from the Invasion block.

I gained a love of games from my father and a love of psychology from my mother. This podcast talks about how my interest in psychology has impacted me as a Magic designer.

Part of writing a weekly Magic column involves writing card preview articles for new sets. In this podcast, I talk all about what goes into writing them.

This is part two of my two-part series where I talk about the history of two-in-one cards.

This last fall, I wrote a two-part article about what I call "two-in-one cards," or "two-in-ones" for short. These are designs where more than one spell is represented on a single card. My dividing line is that each spell has its own name. There are a bunch of different ways we've made two-in-ones. This podcast talks all about their history. This is part one of two.

Variance is an important aspect of Magic design (and game design in general). In this podcast, I explain what it is and how we use it.

There are two ways to begin a design: from the top down, where you start with flavor, and from the bottom up, where you start with mechanics. In this podcast, I talk about how these two design processes have evolved over time.

My favorite metaphor for Magic design is that it's like running a buffet. I talk about where this metaphor came from and why I feel it's so accurate.

This is another history podcast where I explore how an element of Magic came to be and evolved over time. This time, I look into the history of drafting.

In this podcast, I talk about how to use brainstorming to come up with ideas.

On this podcast, I talk about how we design cards for the mythic rare rarity.

In this podcast, I talk about an important quality of Magic mechanics: stickiness. What is it and how do we use it? This podcast dives into the topic.

I went to MagicCon: Las Vegas and have many stories to tell. This podcast tells those stories.

This episode is the eighth and final part of my eight-part series where I go through the entire history of Magic design to talk about design evolution over the years.

At MagicCon: Las Vegas, I was honored to participate in Game Knights Live. I have my three fellow players, Josh Lee Kwai, Jimmy Wong, and Becca Scott, on the podcast to talk through all that went into putting it on and share a bunch of the behind-the-scenes stories.

This episode is part seven of an eight-part series where I go through the entire history of Magic design to talk about design evolution over the years.

In this podcast, I sit down with Carmen Klomparens, lead designer of the Magic: The Gathering Foundations Starter Collection, to talk about the design of the product.

This episode is part six of an eight-part series where I go through the entire history of Magic design to talk about design evolution over the years.

In this podcast, I sit down with Foundations's Lead Set Designer Bryan Hawley to talk about the design of the set's product suite.

This episode is part five of an eight-part series where I go through the entire history of Magic design to talk about design evolution over the years.

In this podcast, I go through all the mechanics that interact with the graveyard in some way.

This episode is part four of an eight-part series where I go through the entire history of Magic design to talk about design evolution over the years.

When we design new Magic cards and mechanics, we have to be conscious of how those cards will play with the cards and mechanics that already exist. In this podcast, I talk about what we do to make sure they play well together.

This episode is part three of an eight-part series where I go through the entire history of Magic design to talk about design evolution over the years.

Once a week, the Magic designers get together to talk through technical design issues. That meeting is called "Cardcrafting," and I talk about it in this podcast.

This episode is part two of an eight-part series where I go through the entire history of Magic design to talk about design evolution over the years.

In this episode, I take all the sets I talked about in my "State of Design 2024" article (The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth™ through Modern Horizons 3) and walk through every new mechanic with my personal thoughts on them and what we've learned about them.

This episode is part one of an eight-part series where I go through the entire history of Magic design to talk about design evolution over the years.

In this episode, I sit down with Emily Teng, the Duskmourn: House of Horror worldbuilding lead, to talk about the creation of this brand-new plane.

In this podcast, I talk about what divides normal Eternal-legal Magic mechanics from silver-bordered and acorn mechanics.

In this podcast, I sit down with Jules Robins, lead set designer of Duskmourn: House of Horror, to talk about the design of the set.

This is another episode in my "Lessons Learned" series where I look back at sets I led or co-led and walk through the many lessons I learned from doing the design. In this podcast, I talk about what I learned designing March of the Machine.

In this podcast, I sit down with Ovidio Cartagena, the art director for Duskmourn: House of Horror, to talk about the visual look of the set.

In this podcast, I sit down with Annie Sardelis, the lead vision designer of Duskmourn: House of Horror, to talk about the early design of the set. Annie also led the design of the set's Commander decks, so we talk about those as well.

In this podcasts, I talk about the history of various Magic card borders and frames.

We banned a card this week that stirred up a lot of talk. I then wrote a blog entry on it that stirred up additional talk. This podcast is me explaining the issue with the extra context that having 30 minutes to talk provides.

In this podcast, I explore why the colors are allies with those next to them in the color pie and enemies with those across.

Each August, I write an article where I review the last year's worth of Magic design. This podcast looks into the history and philosophy behind these articles.

In this podcast, I sit down with Zack Stella, Bloomburrow's art director, to talk about the visual look of the set.

Thus far, there have been seven stages of Magic design. In this podcast, I walk through each stage and explain the changes each brought to the game.

In this podcast, I sit down with Neale LaPlante Johnson, the lead worldbuilding designer for Bloomburrow, to talk about the making of the plane.

This podcast is all about my trip to this year's San Diego Comic-Con where I ran the Magic panel.

I sit down with Play Designer Jadine Klomparens to talk about the play design of Bloomburrow.

In this podcast, I talk about the various ways we can make the hand matter mechanically.

In this podcast, I talk about the design technique of making a new theme by combining numerous mechanical themes.

In this podcast, I examine what exactly power level is and how it impacts design.

In this episode, I sit down with Set Design Lead Ian Duke to talk about the later design of Bloomburrow.

In this podcast, I examine what makes for fun gameplay.

In this episode, I sit down with Vision Design Lead Doug Beyer to talk about the early design of Bloomburrow.

This podcast is part two of a two-part series based on a Making Magic article where I look back at the first 30 years of Magic and pick the top design contributions of each year.

This podcast is part one of a two-part series based on a Making Magic article where I look back at the first 30 years of Magic and pick the top design contributions of each year.

In this podcast, I talk about the Fallen Empires expansion.

In this podcast, I talk about the early portion of design where the sky is the limit.

In this podcast, I talk about how design needs to evoke an emotional response from the players.

In this podcast, I talk all about the history and design surrounding the exile zone.

In this podcast, I sit down with Lead Designer Corey Bowen to talk about the design of Magic: The Gathering® – Assassin's Creed®.

This podcast talks about the spectrum of giving players what they're asking for and surprising them with things they never thought of.

I talk all the time about the strengths of each color. This week, I delve into their weaknesses and how those present themselves mechanically.

In this podcast, I talk for 30 minutes all about every aspect of power and toughness.

In this podcast, I talk about why we don't have colors show up in different amounts in sets.

In this podcast, I sit down with Set Design Lead Michael Majors to talk about the set design for Modern Horizons 3.

In this podcast, I talk about how we design tokens and the cards that create them.

I sit down with Erik Lauer, Modern Horizons 3's lead vision designer, to talk about the making of the set.

I've talked a lot about the color pie over the years. In this episode, I talk about its history and how we've treated it as it has evolved over time.

In this podcast, I sit down with Scott Larabee, Sheldon's best friend, to talk all about the man and his life. We talk about many aspects of his huge impact on Magic (it's not just Commander) and who he was as a person.

This podcast is another in my "Lessons Learned" series where I talk about design lessons from sets I led or co-led. This episode is about the design of Phyrexia: All Will Be One.

In this episode, I talk about how we design typal cards (i.e., cards that mechanically care about creature types).

What exactly is a lead designer responsible for? In this podcast, I walk through what the lead designers do during exploratory design, vision design, set design, and play design.

In this podcast, I talk about how we design monocolor themes for both Constructed and Limited.

In this podcast, I talk about how R&D uses the alphabet to design Magic cards. I walk through the alphabet, explaining how we use each letter.

In this podcast, I sit down with Ari Zirulnik to talk about how we name Magic sets.

Back in 1999, the Magic rules had the biggest change in the history of the game in conjunction with the release of Sixth Edition. In this podcast, I walk through the major changes that happened.

My father, Gene Rosewater, died on April 17. In this podcast, I share stories about him that relate to Magic. Warning: This one's a bit of a tear-jerker.

A/B mechanics are mechanics that require a separate subset of cards to work (such as madness requiring cards that make you discard). In this episode, I talk about how we design A/B mechanics, the challenges of making them, and the history of some famous A/B mechanics.

Back in 2018, we ran the Great Designer Search 3 (GDS3). Part of that event was a multiple-choice test many contestants took to qualify for the next part of the qualification. One question from that test, question number 28, proved to be controversial. The topic recently returned to social media, so I decided to record a podcast about it. I talk about the history of the GDSs, the reasons why there's a multiple-choice test, and get into the specifics of question 28.

In this podcast, I sit down with Outlaws of Thunder Junction Lead Play Designer Jadine Klomparens to talk about the play design of the set.

In this podcast, I talk about a concept I learned from my days in Hollywood and how I apply it to Magic design.

In this podcast, I sit down with Dave Humpherys, set design lead for Outlaws of Thunder Junction, to talk about the set design of the latest expansion.

In honor of Outlaws of Thunder Junction, I did a card-by-card design podcast on cards with creature type Mercenary.

In this podcast, I talk about the early design of Outlaws of Thunder Junction.

Before I get into Outlaws of Thunder Junction, I see if I can name every non-core expansion set in order with a bit of trivia about each one.

During my MagicCon: Chicago talk where I listed my top 20 mechanics of all time, I also showed a slide for my top 20 evergreen mechanics and said that one day, I'd do a podcast on it. Today is that day. This is part two of two.

During my MagicCon: Chicago talk where I listed my top 20 mechanics of all time, I also showed a slide for my top 20 evergreen mechanics and said that one day, I'd do a podcast on it. Today is that day. This is part one of two.

In this podcast, I explain what it was like to play Magic in 1993.

In this podcast, I share what Magic R&D refers to as the "elephant in boots" problems and how we work to solve it.

This is my third podcast in a three-part series talking about the 20 best non-evergreen mechanics of all time. It's based on a talk I gave at MagicCon: Chicago.

This is the second of a three-part series talking about the 20 best non-evergreen mechanics of all time. It's based on a talk I gave at MagicCon: Chicago.

Recently at MagicCon: Chicago, I did a talk called "The 20 Best Mechanics of All Time," which you can watch here. This podcast covers part one of that talk.

In this podcast, I talk about my time at last weekend's MagicCon: Chicago.

Ten years ago, I released a podcast on playtesting, but a lot has changed. In this podcast, I look at how we playtest today.

In this podcast, I talk about the importance of synergy in Magic design.

We spend a long time designing sets, constantly improving on every aspect possible. But how and when do we decide to step away? In this podcast, I explore the subject of perfectionism.

In this podcast, I talk about the basics of designing puzzles.

In this podcast, I look back at the advertising of the first ten years of Magic.

In this podcast, I sit down with Andrew Brown, co-lead set designer on Murders at Karlov Manor, to talk about the making of the set.

In this podcast, I pay tribute to longtime Magic designer Erik Lauer who recently retired.

In this podcast, I sit down with designer and puzzle-builder extraordinaire Mark Gottlieb to talk about the making of the puzzles for Murders at Karlov Manor.

In this podcast, I tell the design story of Murders at Karlov Manor.

In this podcast, I talk about many of the products we've introduced to help teach people how to play and walk through how our philosophy about it has changed over time.

In this podcast, I define the R&D expression "strictly better," discuss its history, and talk about why it's a thing we have to care about.

In this podcasts, I talk with Rules Manager Jess Dunks about how we go about making mechanics work that do things we've never done before.

I talk a lot about all the changes cards go through early in design. In this podcast, I interview Play Designer Ben Weitz to talk about the types of changes the Play Design team makes to cards late in the process.

In this podcast, I go through the process from start to finish of designing a Universes Beyond set.

Most of the time, we create the card design before we commission the art, but not always. In this podcast, I walk through when art comes before design and when we have to design to the art.

In this podcast, I talk all about Magic's fourth expansion.

This podcast is dedicated to mana cost. I talk about its history as well as the design space it offers designers.

Sometimes it can take a while to get a particular idea to print. This podcast shares some stories of things that took a while to get out to the public.

This podcast was inspired by a number of blog posts asking why we've been adding more restrictions to cards lately.

December 3 marked my 20th anniversary as Magic head designer, and this podcast tells the story of how that came to be. It's also filled with a lot of tips about how someone can work toward their own dream job.

How do we decide when to bring mechanics back? This podcast talks all about it.

Sometimes we make a mechanic and realize later that we could have done it better. This podcast talks about how we make new mechanics that are fixed versions of older ones.

In this podcast, I talk about a procedure we do called a Vision Design Summit.

In this podcast, I talk about how we design colorless cards.

This podcast is another in my "Lessons Learned" series where I talk about sets I led or co-led and explain the many lessons I learned while making them. This episode is about what I learned leading the design for Unfinity.

In this podcast, I sit down with Graphic Designer Daniel Holt to talk all about the making of expansion symbols.

In this podcast, I take an in-depth look at the current vision design process.

In this podcast, I take an in-depth look at our current exploratory design process.

This is the tenth and final podcast in my three-color philosophy series. This time I talk black-green-blue.

In this podcast, I sit down with Ovidio Cartagena, the art director of The Lost Caverns of Ixalan, to talk about worldbuilding and the visual look of the set.

I interview Co-Set Design Lead Jules Robins to talk about how the underground set moved to Ixalan.

In this podcast, I talk about the vision design for The Lost Caverns of Ixalan. Things don't always work out, so this podcast looks into a very different take on an underground world.

This podcast is the ninth (of ten) of my three-color philosophy series. In this one, I talk blue-red-white.

In this podcast, I talk about one of my favorite effects in Magic: copying.

In this podcast, I talk about the spectrum of meeting players' desires. At one end is designing cards the players are asking for, and at the other end is designing cards they don't expect.

In this episode, I sit down with Designer Gavin Verhey to talk about the design of Magic: The Gathering® – Doctor Who™.

Our new office is open, so I'm back to driving to work. In this podcast, I talk all about the ways we design for Limited. Due to traffic, this podcast is a full hour.

This is the eighth podcast in my three-color philosophy series. In this one, I talk all about the philosophy of white-black-green.

What exactly is an iconic or characteristic creature type? In this podcast, I explain what they are and detail our long history of figuring out which ones work best.

This is another in my "Years in Review" series where I walk through an entire year and talk about many of the Magic events that happened that year. This podcast is about the year 2018.

There are many ways to win a game of Magic without reducing an opponent's life total to 0. In this podcast, I talk all about alternative-win conditions.

This is another podcast in my "Lessons Learned" series where I talk about sets I led or co-led and explain the many lessons I learned working on them. This podcast is about the design of Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty.

This podcast is my seventh (of ten) in my series on three-color philosophies. Today, I talk all about green-blue-red.

In this podcast, I sit down with Roy Graham, the person in charge of overseeing Magic Story, to talk about Magic storytelling and the making of the Wilds of Eldraine story.

In this podcast, I sit down with Play designer Benjamin Weitz to talk about the Play Design of Wilds of Eldraine.

A number of years ago, Wizards started a new employee appreciation program which resulted in us making not quite official Magic cards. In this podcast, I talk about how they got made and walk through the designs.

This podcast is another in my three-color series. Today, I talk all about red-white-black.

In this podcast, I have Jeremy Geist on the show to talk about the design of the Wilds of Eldraine Commander decks.

In this podcast, I talk about the influence of Throne of Eldraine on the design of Wilds of Eldraine.

In this podcast, I discuss Wilds of Eldraine set design with Ian Duke, the set's lead set designer.

In this podcast, I talk about the meaning and philosophy of "inclusion over exclusion" from a game design standpoint.

In this podcast, I talk about Wilds of Eldraine vision design with guest Chris Mooney, lead vision designer for the set.

This is another podcast in my three-color series. In this episode, I talk about red-green-white.

In this podcast, I talk about all the cards that are also set names.

In this podcast, I talk about one of my last trips of the summer to Gen Con 2023.

In this podcast, I talk all about my trip to MagicCon: Barcelona.

In this podcast, I talk about my trip to the 2023 San Diego Comic-Con and my history with the San Diego Comic-Con.

In this podcast, I talk all about mechanical bends and breaks in relation to the color pie.

Today's podcast marks my last Drive to Work where I drive into our offices at The Landmark. In this episode, I talk all about the history of our Wizards of the Coast offices.

This is another podcast in my three-color series. Today, I talk about black-red-green.

In this podcast, I finish talking about all the cards with subtype Ape and Monkey.

In this podcast, I talk about cards with subtype Ape and Monkey.

In this podcast, I talk about the design and development of the set Coldsnap.

This is another podcast in my three-color series. Today, I talk about blue-black-red.

In this podcast, I talk about being inducted into the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts & Design Hall of Fame (i.e., the Tabletop Gaming Hall of Fame).

In this podcast, I talk about the concept of "mapping" and how we use it to design Magic sets.

In this podcast, I talk about the three-color Esper shard, white-blue-black.

In this podcast, I talk to Glenn Jones, set design lead for The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth™, about the making of the set.

In this podcast, I talk about the narrative arc of the Phyrexian storyline.

In this podcast, I talk all about the design of The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth™.

In this podcast, I talk about the biggest design mistakes made by less experienced designers.

In this podcast, I start talking about three-color combinations in Magic, with today's episode focused on green-white-blue.

This is part two of a two-part series where I talk about zero-mana artifacts.

This is part one of a two-part series where I talk about zero-mana artifacts.

In this podcast, I talk about the Ice Age Prerelease in Toronto, the first-ever Magic Prerelease.

In this podcast, Scott Larabee and I reminisce about Magic's distant past.

In this podcast, I walk through the making of Eldritch Moon and designing the set's mechanics.

In this podcast, I walk through the making of Shadows over Innistrad and designing the set's mechanics.

In this podcast, I talk all about the history of mana symbols, how we use them, how they were created, and more.

In this podcast, I sit down with the Brian Weissman, long-time Magic pro and expert in card advantage, to talk about the concept of card advantage.

You can't say "yes" to every idea when designing for Magic. In this podcast, I explore reasons why we might not move forward with an idea.

In this podcast, I sit down with the Jadine Klomparens, lead play designer of March of the Machine, to talk about the play design process for the set.

In this podcast, I walk through all the phases and steps of a turn to talk about how design creates cards for each part of the turn.

In today's podcast, I sit down with Ellie Rice from the Casual Play Design team to talk about their process for March of the Machine.

R&D uses a philosophy in design known as F.I.R.E. design. There are a lot of misconceptions as to what it means, so I walk through its philosophy in this podcast.

I sit down with the lead designer of the March of the Machine Commander decks to talk about their design.

In this podcast, I talk about one of the most important tools we use for Magic design—databases. I walk through the history of our databases and explain how we use them.

I sit down with March of the Machine's Lead Art Director Taylor Ingvarsson to talk about the visual identity of the set.

This podcast is another in my "Lessons Learned" series where I talk about sets I led or co-led and all the lessons I learned from designing them. In this episode, I talk about what I learned from making Innistrad: Crimson Vow.

In this podcast, I sit down with Dave Humpherys, the lead set designer of March of the Machine, to talk about the making of the set.

In this podcast, I tell the design story of March of the Machine.

In this podcast, I sit down with Senior Game Designer and Graphic Designer Daniel Holt to talk about how the frames and icons for March of the Machine were designed.

Gavin Verhey recently did a video about the Invitational cards on his YouTube channel Good Morning Magic, inspiring me to do a podcast telling the behind-the-scenes stories of how we made each card.

In this podcast, I talk all about the making of Magic's third expansion, Legends, which, among other things, introduced multicolor and legendary permanents.

I recently wrote a new "Nuts & Bolts" column where I talked about the elements a set needs to work well in Limited play. This podcast goes over all the details from that article. If you're interested in building your own set or cube, this is worth a listen. If not, it's still a good insight into the process.

In this podcast, I sit down with Harless Snyder and Natalie Kreider to talk about the role of Magic story in the game and the revival of The Magic Story Podcast.

In this podcast, I talk through numerous mechanics that we've designed but never published.

In this podcast, I sit down with Art Director Ovidio Cartagena to talk about the art direction of Phyrexia: All Will Be One.

Today, I talk about the role of the product architect and the importance of the position.

In this podcast, I talk about the history of artifacts and enchantments and how they evolved to become closer mechanically.

I went to Philly to attend MagicCon. This podcast tells of my journey.

So far, I've talked with all five color representatives. That means it's time to talk with a sixth, the colorless representative Ben Weitz.

One of the teams I work closest with is the Creative team. In this podcast, I talk about how the Vision Design and Worldbuilding teams work hand in hand.

In this podcast, I talk about all the different ways cards can impact the players mentally and how we have to account for it in design.

In this podcast, I talk about how this concept came about and how we design for it.

This is another in my series where I sit down with color representatives from the Council of Colors. In this podcast, I talk with Chris Mooney about white.

In this podcast, I look at the history of die-rolling cards.

This is another in my series where I sit down with color representatives from the Council of Colors. In this podcast, I talk with Corey Bowen about black.

This is another podcast in my "Lessons Learned" series where I look back at sets I led (or co-led) to talk about the design lessons I learned. Today's podcast is on Strixhaven: School of Mages.

This is another in my series where I sit down with representatives of the colors from the Council of Colors. In this podcast, I talk with Ethan Fleischer about blue.

In this podcast, I talk about an important aspect of design, something we call logistics (all the physicalness of using a card).

I sit down with Set Lead Designer Adam Prosak to talk about the design of Phyrexia: All Will Be One.