Design 101. Uring the last few weeks, I’ve begun making my pass on the mechanics submissions for “You Make the Card #2.” Even restricting players to one entry, I have over double the entries of the first “You Make the Card,” and that doesn’t even count the ones from Japan. Why do I bring this up? Because the overflow of card submissions reminded me of a topic I meant to write about long ago. (As for "You Make The Card"… we're working on it… Hang in there…) You see, in my job I am often called upon to judge the work of rookie card designers.
I should also note before I continue that my audience for this column is for card designers who want to design cards as we do here at Wizards of the Coast. Mistake #1 - The Card Is Too Complicated This is far and away, hands down, the most common mistake made by novice designers. The card has too many abilities - For some reason, new designers feel a great need to take all their cool ideas and put them on the same card. Making Your Own Magic Mark Rosewater. Design 102. Little over a year ago, I wrote an article called “Design 101” where I explained some of the most common mistakes made by rookie designers. I received so much positive e-mail about the column that I decided that one day I'd do a follow-up column. Guess what? Today's that day. Before I begin, I want to remind you all that this article is for people who wish to design Magic for fun like we do here at Wizards. If you want to make cards we'd never make, have fun, but this column isn't for you.
Also, I'm assuming you read the previous article, so if you haven't go take a peek. Finally, I want to stress that while I'm giving you tips for your own designs, I am not currently allowed to look at unsolicited (that is anything where you send in ideas unprompted by Wizards of the Coast) designs. Last time I spent my column telling you what not to do. . #1 – Know Magic History In college, I majored in broadcast & film with a minor in screenwriting. A) It will teach you what's been done. Authors read. Design 103. Has never been a better time to pay attention at magicthegathering.com if you want to learn about Magic design. Why? Three words – The Great Designer Search (okay, that’s four, but who really counts “the”?). Fifteen people are vying for the chance to win a paid Magic design internship. Each week they are given a design challenge that is critiqued by four judges (Aaron Forsythe, Devin Low, myself, and Gleemax – the alien brain in a jar that runs R&D).
The design challenges are hard, and the critiques are brutally honest. The challenge officially ends when I (I’m the Donald Trump of this reality show) eliminate one or more contestants. The show has just started ramping up and no one has been cut yet, so it’s a great time to jump in and watch. What this means for all of you is that there are more words dedicated to card design than have ever appeared on the web site before. A quick aside. ‘Til Daddy Takes The T-Bird Away Magic is a game. Mistake #2 – Making The Audience Do Unnecessary Work. Nuts & Bolts: Design Skeleton. Little over a year ago, I ran my first Nuts & Bolts column (on card codes for those that might not have read it). The idea behind it was that there is a lot of minutiae that goes into design and that part of understanding the process is learning about all the little things we do. At the end of the column I asked if you all wanted to see more of this kind of thing and the response was an overwhelming "yes, but no too often.
" So I present my 2010 Nuts & Bolts column. For today I've chosen the topic of Design Skeletons. Design Skeletons in the Closet Let's begin today's column by answering the first question: what exactly is a design skeleton? A key part of design skeletons are card codes so if you haven't read the previous Nuts & Bolts column I recommend you do so before you move on. The first thing we need to do is to figure out how many creatures we want. . #1 – The Set Is Going To Have Around 50% Creatures The percentage of creatures tends to ebb and flow.
White Blue Black Red Green. Color Pie Archive : Magic Magazine. Slow and Steady. Elcome to Azorius Week! Dissension brings us three new guilds; the first of which leads us to an Azorius theme week and the eighth column in my series of articles about the philosophical blending of each of the ten two-color pairs (a.k.a. guilds). If you are interested to see the previous seven parts of the series feel free to check out Selesnya, Golgari, Dimir, Boros, Gruul, Izzet, and Orzhov respectively.
Also, this series of columns was inspired by a previous series dedicated to the philosophy of each of the five colors (“It's Not Easy Being Green”, “The Great White Way”, “True Blue”, “In the Black”, and “Seeing Red”.) This article will focus on the intersection of the philosophies of White and Blue rather than talking about the Azorius guild in particular (although I will use the word Azorius to mean White/Blue).
For more insight into what makes the Azorius tick, check out Matt Cavotta's “Taste the Magic” this Wednesday. What do the two colors have in common? Here's how it works. Pretty Sneaky Sis. Elcome to Dimir Week! This is the third in a ten part series exploring the color pie philosophies of the ten two-color pairings (“Group Think” and "Life and Death”, the green/white and black/green respectively, were the first two). The entire series is a follow-up to an earlier series where I explored the color pie philosophies of the five mono-colors – white, blue, black, red and green. (Quick tip: "Seeing Red" has links to the other four, so all you need is that one link to find all five articles.)
I will not be talking about the Dimir guild in specific as I am more focused on the interaction of the two colors in general. Check in on Matt Cavotta's “Taste the Magic” this Wednesday for more info on the Dimir guild. So, how exactly do I tackle the color pie philosophy of two intersecting colors? What do the two colors have in common? Got it? What do the two colors have in common? The trick for allied colors is to examine the shared enemy of the two colors. Blue seeks omniscience. Hedonism With Attitude. Elcome to Rakdos Week! Finally! Yes, the ten-part two-color guild articles are finally coming to a close, this being number ten and all. (In case this whole series is new to you, feel free to check out my columns on Selesnya, Golgari, Dimir, Boros, Gruul, Izzet, Orzhov, Azorius and Simic.)
I’m sorry for the delay, but Coldsnap doesn’t like to be ignored. The ten-part series was inspired by an original five-part series (six if you count artifacts) on the mono color and their philosophies (green, white, blue, black and red). As it’s been a while, let me recap how this is going to work. What do the two colors have in common? After the questions I will examine some aspect of the Rakdos that I feel is misunderstood. What do the two colors have in common? The trick to understanding an allied color pair is to examine the color that shares their enmity, in this case white. Black and red could care less about the needs of the group. How do the two colors differ? What does the guild care about? Aaaargh!!! Elcome to Gruul Week! This is the fifth part (and the first of the Guildpact section) in a ten-part series exploring the color pie philosophies of the ten two-color pairings (the first four were "Group Think" [Green/White], "Life and Death" [Black/Green], "Pretty Sneaky Sis" [Blue/Black] and "Disorderly Conduct" [Red/White]).
The entire series is a follow-up to an earlier five-part series ("It's Not Easy Being Green", "The Great White Way", "True Blue", "In the Black" and "Seeing Red") where I explored the color philosophies of each color. Note that I will not being talking about the Gruul in particular (check in on Wednesday in Matt Cavotta's "Taste the Magic" column for that), but rather the general philosophy of how Red and Green mix. My required link-heavy exposition out of the way, let's jump right in. Here are the questions I've been answering in each column of this series: What do the two colors have in common? Just five little questions. What do the two colors have in common? Group Think. Elcome to Selesnya Week! During Ravnica block, we are planning ten different theme weeks each dedicated to a different guild (aka color pair). We are starting with green/white. My plans for these weeks is to do a series of articles that are an extension of the color pie philosophy articles that I did during our cycle of mono-color weeks (“It's Not Easy Being Green”, “The Great White Way”, “True Blue”, “In the Black” and “Seeing Red”).
Though many of the writers will be talking about the Selesnya Guild and Ravnica, pretty much anything green/white fits under the umbrella of the theme week, so you can expect some historical looks at the various color combinations as well as we do these. For this series of color pie philosophy articles, I am going to talk about the relationship of the two colors in question.
And by doing so, explain the philosophy of that color pie intersection. Slicing Pie During my previous color pie columns, I answered the following questions about each color: Group Hug. Playing By Their Own Rules. If You're Interested In Working For Wizards Of The Coast, Make Sure You Check Out The End Of This Column. elcome to Orzhov Week! If you're familiar with this series of articles, I'd advise skipping to the paragraph after the first header. (There might be a wee bit of repetition from the first six columns in this series.) If you're new to this series or just love them hyperlinks, continue on. This is the third and final of the Guildpact theme weeks and the seventh of the Ravnica block (Dissension previews are right around the corner). So far, I've written on Selesnya, Golgari, Dimir, Boros, Gruul and Izzet.) As obliged by nobody in particular, let me remind everyone that this article focuses on the intersection of the philosophies of White and Black (as in the colors of Magic – I somehow always seem to spur letters when I don't point this out for these two colors) rather than talk about the Orzhov guild in specific.
What do the two colors have in common? How do the two colors differ? Life and Death. Elcome to Golgari Week! As I explained two weeks ago (during Selesnya Week), magicthegathering.com is planning ten theme weeks during Ravnica block dedicated to the color combinations of the ten guilds. For each of these theme weeks I am planning columns examining the philosophy of the interactions of the two colors. (This is a follow-up to a series of articles I did on the individual color philosophies – click here for white, blue, black, red, and green.) Today is, of course, black/green. As I explained in my Selesnya column, I'm not going to be talking about the Golgari in particular (check out Matt Cavotta's “Taste the Magic” column Wednesday for that) but rather I'm going to explain the philosophy of the color pie intersection.
What do the two colors have in common? Now that I've explained what I'm going to do, I guess it's time to do it. What do the two colors have in common? Last time I examined an ally color pair. Green is focused on growth. How do the two colors differ? Improving Upon Nature. Elcome to Simic Week! Okay, that's not exactly true. Welcome to the Week Before Simic Week! What's going on? Well, next week's Simic Week and I've committed myself to this little ten piece series (you can check out my Selesnya, Golgari, Dimir, Boros, Gruul, Izzet, Orzhov and Azorius columns by clicking on the links), of which the Simic column would be my ninth.
The problem is that next Monday is Memorial Day (an American holiday honoring those who have died in the line of duty to the country for my non-American readers) and magicthegathering.com doesn't do new columns on major holidays (major defined as Wizards being closed). So I've decided to do my column a week earlier. This ten-part series on the guilds was inspired by an original five-part series on the five mono colors (“It's Not Easy Being Green”, “The Great White Way”, “True Blue”, “In the Black”, and “Seeing Red”.), six if you count my article on artifacts. What do the two colors have in common? How do the two colors differ? Creative Differences. Elcome to Izzet Week! This is the second of the Guildpact guild theme weeks and the sixth of the Ravnica block (I've already covered Selesnya, Golgari, Dimir, Boros and Gruul). I'll cover Orzhov in a few weeks and then tackle the Rakdos, Simic and Azorius guilds once Dissension finally sees the light of day. This ten-part series is based upon a five-part series – six if you count artifacts – that I did several years ago where I explored the philosophy of each of the five colors.
(“It's Not Easy Being Green”, “The Great White Way”, “True Blue”, “In the Black”, and “Seeing Red”.) As always, I'd like to start this article by reminding all of you that I am focusing on the intersection of the philosophies of Red and Blue, rather than talking about the Izzet guild in specific. What do the two colors have in common? At the end, I'll throw in a few pop culture examples to give the people in the thread something to argue about. What do the two colors have in common? How do the two colors differ? Disorderly Conduct. Elcome to Boros Week! This is the last of the Ravnica guild theme weeks and the fourth of ten of the Ravnica block guild theme weeks. Come Guildpact, I'll dedicate three different weeks to the black/white (the Orzhov Syndicate), red/green (the Gruul Clans) and blue/red (The Izzet).
Then as Dissension rounds the bend, I'll touch upon black/red (The Cult of Rakdos), green/blue (The Simic Combine) and blue/white (The Azorius Senate). As always I feel obliged to point out that the ten two-color philosophy articles are based on a series of mono-colored philosophy articles I did – on obviously white, blue, black, red and green. ("Seeing Red" has links to the other four, so all you need is that one link to find all five articles.)
But enough of the past and future. What do the two colors have in common? Sound good? What do the two colors have in common? The key to understanding an enemy color pair is to examine what conflict defines them. How do the two colors differ? Orderly Chaos. The Great White Way. Elcome to White Week! Several months ago we dedicated a week to green. I promised that this would be the first of five such “color” weeks. This week is the second in the series, white. As I did last time, I’m going to spend my column focusing on the flavor and philosophy of the color in question. As I stated in my green column, I believe the heart of the game of Magic rests on the color wheel. This unique innovation of Richard Garfield’s is the item that ties the game mechanics and flavor together. Who Feels Like Pie? During our work on the color wheel, we asked the following questions about each of Magic's five colors: What does the color care about?
What does the color care about? Each color’s philosophy is anchored in what it wants. I’d like to make a quick aside about white and the concept of “good.” Many humans share some global beliefs (the taking of a human life is wrong, for example). What means does the color use to achieve these ends? First is by moral laws. White Knights. True Blue. In the Black. Seeing Red. It's Not Easy Being Green. MagicCompRules_20100423. Elder Dragon Highlander (EDH) / Commander rules. Group Game Draft. Daily MTG. What I Know About Magic: The Gathering | Magic: The Gathering. Group Game Draft : Daily MTG : Magic: The Gathering. What I Know About Magic: The Gathering | Magic: The Gathering.
Planeswalkers Pantheon by *Cryptcrawler on deviantART. Gatherer - Magic: The Gathering.