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.

#1131: Magic Stories about My Dad

2 hours ago 32m 7s

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

#1130: A/B Mechanics

7 days ago 33m 44s

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 so

#1129: The Question

7 days ago 31m 48s

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 contro

#1128: Outlaws of Thunder Junction Play Design with Jadine Klomparens

14 days ago 29m 25s

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.

#1127: Same But Different

14 days ago 30m 24s

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

#1126: Outlaws of Thunder Junction Set Design with Dave Humpherys

21 days ago 41m 46s

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.

#1125: Mercenaries

21 days ago 30m 12s

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

#1124: Outlaws of Thunder Junction Vision Design

28 days ago 30m 58s

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

#1123: Every Set

28 days ago 40m 5s

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.

#1122: Top 20 Evergreen Mechanics, Part 2

Mar 22nd, 2024 30m 46s

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.

#1121: Top 20 Evergreen Mechanics, Part 1

Mar 22nd, 2024 30m 11s

#1120: The Early Days of Magic

Mar 15th, 2024 30m 28s

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

#1119: The Elephant in Boots Problem

Mar 15th, 2024 36m 42s

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

#1118: Top 20 Mechanics, Part 3

Mar 8th, 2024 30m 48s

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.

#1117: Top 20 Mechanics, Part 2

Mar 8th, 2024 32m 20s

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.

#1116: Top 20 Mechanics, Part 1

Mar 1st, 2024 35m 14s

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.

#1115: MagicCon: Chicago

Mar 1st, 2024 32m 19s

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

#1114: Playtesting in 2024

Feb 23rd, 2024 31m 46s

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

#1113: Synergy

Feb 23rd, 2024 31m 42s

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

#1112: Perfectionism

Feb 16th, 2024 31m 31s

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.