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Every year, I write a "State of Design" column where I talk about how I feel the last year of Magic design went. This year's column starts with Bloomburrow and goes through Magic: The Gathering®—FINAL FANTASY™. With six sets to talk about, I ended up having a pretty lengthy article, so I made a supplementary podcast where I walk through every new mechanic to give my thoughts on how they went.
This is another podcast in my ongoing quest to record a podcast about every expansion. This podcast is all about Nemesis, the second set in the Mercadian Masques block.
Magic is made not by a single designer but by a large group of people. In this podcast, I talk about how that affects game design.
This is another podcast in my ongoing quest to record a podcast about every expansion. This podcast is all about Mercadian Masques.
Today on the podcast, we take a peek at the exciting premiere of Marvel Studios' The Fantastic Four: First Steps as we hear from Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, and Joseph Quinn from the red carpet (1:10). Plus, we spotlight Senior Paralegal for Marvel Studios' Legal and Business Affairs, Matt Gilbert (7:01). And finally, we get the latest from Magic: The Gathering's Max McCall, Sarah Wassell, Mark Rosewater, and Jadine Klomparens as they share the behind-the-scenes creation of the Magic: The Gathering | Marvel's Spider-Man set (14:33). All time codes are approximate. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The very nature of a trading card game is that it's always evolving. In today's podcast, I talk about what that means for Magic design.
In this podcast, I talk all about my trip to this year's San Diego Comic-Con.
In this podcast, I sit down with Andrew Brown, the set lead designer of Edge of Eternities, to talk about the making of the set.
In this podcast, I see if I can talk for 30 minutes about the Magic card back. (Hint: I did it.)
In this podcast, I sit down with Ethan Fleischer, the vision design lead for Edge of Eternities, to talk about the making of the set.
In this podcast, I talk about an R&D expression, "The juice isn't worth the squeeze."
In this podcast, I walk through the history of how we've used colorless in design.
This podcast explores how each of the colors interacts with enchantments.
This podcast explores how each of the colors interacts with creatures.
In this podcast, I talk about how it's not enough for a mechanic to be good in a vacuum.
This podcast explores how each of the colors interacts with artifacts.
In this podcast, I talk about the use of repeat mechanics on singular card designs.
I recently wrote a three-part article about the history of typal themes in Magic. This is my podcast on the topic.
In this podcast, I answer a question from my blog about how we decide when to name and not name mechanics.
In this podcast, I talk all about Stronghold (the second expansion of the Tempest block).
In this podcast, I talk all about Exodus (the third expansion of the Tempest block).
In this podcast, I sit down with the lead designer of Magic: The Gathering®—FINAL FANTASY™ to talk about the set's design.
In this podcast, I talk about a concept called futureproofing where we design mechanics to better enable us to use them in the future.
This podcast talks about a tool we use to playtest new mechanics.
We design a lot of mechanics. Most don't make it to print. Why? That's my topic for this podcast.
In this episode, I walk through many of the design issues that occur during vision design.
Someone on my blog asked me if I ever designed any Magic formats. It turns out that I have, so I spent a podcast episode talking about them.
Inspired by this year's "Nuts & Bolts" column, I walk through how mechanics are created.
In this podcast, I talk about times we decided to reuse mechanics and times we chose to tweak mechanics into something new.
This podcast is part three of three on my series about the 20 worst mechanics of all time, based on my talk at last year's MagicCon: Las Vegas.
In this episode, I walk through the history of Magic and talk about how communicating with players has changed over the years.
This podcast is part one of three on my series about the 20 worst mechanics of all time, based on my talk at last year's MagicCon: Las Vegas.
This podcast is part two of three on my series about the 20 worst mechanics of all time, based on my talk at last year's MagicCon: Las Vegas.
When Richard Garfield first made Magic, he liked to say it was "a game bigger than the box." In this episode, I walk through what exactly that phrase means and the challenges of making a game that accomplishes this.
This is part two of a two-part series on the aesthetic profiles. This time, I talk about Mel, the player who aesthetically appreciates mechanics.
In this podcast, I talk about the team that figures out what in-Multiverse Magic sets we'll be doing in the future.
This podcast is part one of a two-part series on the aesthetic profiles. Up first, I talk all about Vorthos, the player who aesthetically appreciates flavor.
In this podcast, I sit down with the creative lead for Tarkir: Dragonstorm, Lauren Bond, to talk about the worldbuilding and creative execution of the set.
This podcast is part three of a three-part series walking through the three psychographics. Today, I explore the psychological analysis of Spike.
In this podcast, I sit down with Tarkir: Dragonstorm Set Design Lead Adam Prosak to talk about the set's design.
This podcast is part two of a three-part series walking through the three psychographics. Today, I explore the psychological analysis of Johnny and Jenny.
In this episode, I walk through the vision design for Tarkir: Dragonstorm and talk about the evolution of the Dragon subtype and clan mechanics.
This episode is part one of a three-part series walking through the three psychographics. I start today with exploring the psychological analysis of Timmy and Tammy.
Magic's very first set had a card type that no longer exists called interrupts. In this episode, I walk through all the cards of this card type in Limited Edition (Alpha).
Many years ago, I would drive my eldest daughter to school, and occasionally, we did a segment called "Replies with Rachel" where the two of us would answer questions. I then did another segment with my youngest daughter Sarah called "Small Talk with Sarah" when I drove her to camp. Today, for the first time, I have both my daughters and all three of us answer your questions. I will note the audio quality for this podcast isn't my best, but I hope the content makes up for it.
We're going back to Tarkir and it's time to Dragonstorm off with the “Jeskai Striker” (white/blue/red) precon reveal! Check out this brand new spellslinger deck, including 10 never-before-seen cards! Then, just to add some fury to the flurry, we've also included our $50 budget upgrade guide so you can really show off your prowess at your next game night! -------- Link to Full ‘JESKAI STRIKER' Deck List: -------- Support the show and become a Patron! Be a part of our community, receive awesome rewards, and more! https://www.patreon.com/commandzone -------- GAME KNIGHTS FAN AUDITION WINNERS: We have a winner! Two, in fact! Want to see which fans will be making a guest appearance on Game Knights? Then stick around until the end of the episode. -------- FACTOR: Eat smart with Factor. To get 50% off your first box plus free shipping, use code FACTORPODCAST at https://www.factormeals.com/factorpodcast SHOPIFY: Power your business with Shopify. Start your one-dollar-per-month trial period today by going to: https://www.shopify.com/tcz -------- CARD KINGDOM: The Command Zone is sponsored by Card Kingdom! If you want to receive your cards in one safe package and experience the best customer service, make sure to order your Magic cards, sealed product, accessories, and more at Card Kingdom: http://www.cardkingdom.com/command ARCHIDEKT: Discover, build, catalog, and playtest on Archidekt, the deck-building website that makes it easy to brew brand new lists or manage your old favorites. Go to http://www.archidekt.com/commandzone to get started today! ULTRA PRO: Huge thanks to Ultra PRO for sponsoring this episode! Be sure to check out their amazing APEX sleeves and super classy MANA 8 product line. If you want to keep your cards protected and support the show, visit: https://ultrapro.com/command -------- Relevant Links: The Professor: Bluesky: @tolariancommunitycollege.com Twitter: @TolarianCollege YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/tolariancommunity "Storm Scale: Khans of Tarkir Block" by Mark Rosewater: https://tinyurl.com/storm-scale-ktk -------- Follow us on TikTok: @thecommandzone Follow us on Instagram: @CommandCast Follow us on Bluesky: @commandcast.bsky.social Follow us on Twitter: @CommandCast @JoshLeeKwai @jfwong @wachelreeks Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/commandcast/ Email us: commandzonecast@gmail.com -------- Commander Rules and Ban List: https://magic.wizards.com/en/banned-restricted-list -------- Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
In this episode, I explain the value of themes by going through the various teams that work on a Magic set.
In this episode, I explain the numerous ways designers give feedback to each other by going through the entire exploratory design and vision design process.
This is part two of a three-part series going over a talk I gave at MagicCon: Chicago 2025.
This is part three of a three-part series going over a talk I gave at MagicCon: Chicago 2025.