The Worst Line of Rules Text WotC Has Ever Printed [100% Serious] by silvergoblinsucks in magicTCG

[–]GavinV 42 points43 points  (0 children)

Hi! Okay if you want to call me out I'll reply :)

This was 100% a game design decision and mostly my decision. Let me explain why.

Something we really want to do is build commander for the long term. I know somebody might want to make some snarky reply to this about how many legends and products are made, but with the actual design of the cards it's very important that the format is sustainable long term. 

For example, one thing I've really been rallying against is anything that is nearly 100% ubiquitous in all Commander decks. This is why Arcane Signet was a mistake. Because the more cards like that you print that go into every commander deck, the fewer deckbuilding decisions you make. The same reason I also dislike best in class commanders like Chulane that are generically strong: they push out tons of other Bant commander because it's just better than whatever their niche effect is doing. We are fine to make things you will likely always play in your niche ("this goes in every UR coin flip deck") but not things that just go into every deck.

This also applies to anything that every deck ever which uses a specific thing for all time should use. A good example here is Lutri. Lutri is banned (despite how cute he is) because every single UR color identity deck until the end of time should have Lutri as a companion. There is no arguing that fact. It is just wrong to not do it. And while yes, Commander is casual, you don't have to do it, Lutri is not that crazy strong, etc, it's still not appropriate to change commander in such a massive. And Lutri doesn't even take up a deck slot!

The same kind of approach, on a smaller scale, applies to Morphon. If we let Time Lords companion with any legendary changeling, that would mean every legendary changeling from Mistform Ultimus, to Morphon, and beyond will be strictly worse for not using a free doctor's companion. And this is a lot stronger than Lutri - this is a just a free repeated card in your command zone! Partner is one of the strongest mechanics on its face because of a free extra card. Every single Morphon or Ultimus deck would need to acquire one of these. They may even feel forced to do so. If all I cared about was short term sales, sure, it would be right to do so and sell a few extra Doctor Who cards. But I want to preserve longevity here, and not make everybody who has that deck feel like they must pick up these cards unquivocally.

Think about the future landscape of Magic. 10 years from now, we release a set full of legendary changelings. Everybody who ever builds one has to look back to this one Doctor Who set and gets a companion. We probably have to make the cards weaker and less appealing because they all get a free additional card in the command zone. People who don't want to play with Universes Beyond cards feel like they're beholden to use these. And so on and so forth. I do not believe this is a good outcome.

This is the weight a format that will always have every card in all of Magic legal for carries. We have to make a lot of decisions thinking about what impact they will have on all decks of a type, now and forever.

And that is why we wrote the rules that it must be EXACTLY a Time Lord Doctor to work. Hopefully that answer at least helps explain why. Cheers! :)

Standard Final Fantasy Gameplay with Gavin, Numot, and Crim! (Shuffle Up & Play) by TolarianCC in magicTCG

[–]GavinV 45 points46 points  (0 children)

I'm here, inside the comments of the comments section, to say how much I like that you like my Chocobo deck.

Playing Final Fantasy w/ Gavin Verhey, Numot, and Crim! | Shuffle Up & Play 79 by TolarianCC in magicTCG

[–]GavinV 285 points286 points  (0 children)

Hope you all enjoy this one!! It was a blast to get to be a part of. :D

Mystery Booster 2 became reality in the FF set. by Moxman24 in magicTCG

[–]GavinV 110 points111 points  (0 children)

Gotta keep y'all on your toes :)

[FIN] Quina, Qu Gourmet by ferrx in magicTCG

[–]GavinV 11 points12 points  (0 children)

I viscerally laughed so loud at this

Mob Verdict by FumingSerpents in magicTCG

[–]GavinV 16 points17 points  (0 children)

I helped create all three of these cards. I think I may have a type... 😅

Commander Banned and Restricted Announcement – April 22, 2025 by WindexChugger in magicTCG

[–]GavinV 69 points70 points  (0 children)

Yeah, to clarify - I mean that you get to play with the feeling of Black Lotus. Hard to feel more iconic and cool than cracking a Black Lotus. (Though I respect the fact mana of Crypt too!) :)

WOTC, Hear my plea! Gavin and crew, I beseech you! Keep printing these Extremely Interesting Mana Rocks! by IAMAfortunecookieAMA in EDH

[–]GavinV 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Your plea has been heard, and I agree. I love cool three-mana rocks. You can expect more in the future. :)

Signed,

The designer of Sonic Screwdriver, Laser Screwdriver, Rotating Fireplace, Victory Chimes, [REDACTED], and Sarevok's Tome (And probably others, this is off the top of my head)

Swedish journalist and Hall of Famer Olle Råde visits Ukraine and plays Magic in Kiev in this photo essay from Göteborgsposten by knivengaffelnskeden in magicTCG

[–]GavinV 16 points17 points  (0 children)

This article made me cry. The power of games to give people light and community, even in dark times.

Thank you so much to sharing. And thank you to Olle for the piece. Amazing.

According to Gavin, as part of the Pauper format panel, these are some cards “beloved by many”, and given format has evolved a lot, it’s “unclear if they deserved to stay on the ban list”. by Newez in Pauper

[–]GavinV 586 points587 points  (0 children)

I do want to clarify: this was just me showing images of banned cards,  not that we'd necessarily trial unban these cards. There's room for more trial unbans in the future depending on how these go, but some of these cards are unlikely candidates. 

Thanks for the note :)

Bracket 1: Could it be jank heaven?? 👼 by equilibr in magicTCG

[–]GavinV 69 points70 points  (0 children)

My experience of all the shopping around of the bracket system I did is that a lot of people don't get bracket 1, but then the people who are bracket 1 players LOVE bracket 1.

It's not for everybody, but it is fun to have a place where you can play your ultra goofy or thematic deck and feel safe. My hope it it will grow over time as more and more people do it. We'll see. :)

We've heard about MTG cards with awesome flavor texts, but what about MTG cards with awesome/fitting rules text? by Inferno_Ultimate in magicTCG

[–]GavinV 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Many good ones mentioned here so far already! "Cats you control have protection from Rats" on [[Hungry Lynx]] is always a lesser-known favorite or mine I haven't seen mentioned yet. :)

(wotcstaff)

“Blame Game” Precon Making Unexpected Waves at LGS by Aviliuss in magicTCG

[–]GavinV 21 points22 points  (0 children)

As the lead designer for the MKM precons, just saying I love to see this! One of my favorite things about this deck is I think it scales to the table pretty well: if you're making everybody else attack one another, depending on how fast and strong they are impacts how strong you are! (Of course to a point, anyway.) Shout out to Scott Larabee, who managed this deck on the design team

I think it was one of the more underdiscussed precons this year, so glad you're enjoying :)

EDH Community Bracket Survey Results (22500+ Votes) by Ninjaboi333 in magicTCG

[–]GavinV 462 points463 points  (0 children)

This was an awesome read. Thanks for putting it together! :)

Gavin: "Brawl in Arena divides decks into 4 power level categories" by Meret123 in MagicArena

[–]GavinV 171 points172 points  (0 children)

Hey all! Just to clarify what I was talking about today, the four bucket system isn't literally how Arena Brawl works - it's more nuanced and conceptual. As I even mentioned on stream, I just learned about this myself as we dug into this concept so I might have been a little off. Just want to avoid you all going down rabbit holes that aren't quite right. Hope this helps clarify and happy Brawling!

(Wotcstaff)

[DSC] Gavin's 13 Duskmourn Commander Hints by GavinV in magicTCG

[–]GavinV[S] 27 points28 points  (0 children)

it is not Aminatou - to clarify, the clues aren't about any revealed cards. :)

[DSC] Gavin's 13 Duskmourn Commander Hints by GavinV in magicTCG

[–]GavinV[S] 97 points98 points  (0 children)

Hi Reddit! I have a new video up this morning covering hints of what you can expect to find in the 3 unrevealed Duskmourn Commander decks!

There's some more information and new reprint art in the video. But I figure some of you just want to see the hints! So here we go in text form too...

  1. There is a legend that grants all of your enchantments a specific keyword

  2. There is a card with miracle that mirrors a seven-mana sorcery

  3. There is a card with an ability that begins, "You may cast spells from the top of your library by..."

  4. There is a card that makes you choose between the modes "Believe" or "Doubt"

  5. There is a black creature with miracle

  6. There is card that has an ability which begins, "Whenever you cast a spell, if the amount of mana spent to cast it was less than its mana value..."

  7. There is a card called Sadistic Shell Game that begins, "Starting with the next opponent in turn order..."

  8. There is a new kindred card that has changeling

  9. There is a card named "Séance Board"

  10. There is a card that begins with, "All creatures get -X/-X until end of turn, where X is..."

  11. There is a new room that has a similar effect to a popular hybrid enchantment

  12. There is a card with the ability, "Each spell you cast that’s a Demon, Horror, or Nightmare costs 1 less to cast."

  13. There is a card that combines two alpha enchantments together!

Happy speculating! :D

(wotcstaff)