Podcasts about Mark Rosewater

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."

This podcast explores how each of the colors interacts with enchantments.

In this podcast, I walk through the history of how we've used colorless in design.

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 creatures.

In this podcast, I talk about the use of repeat mechanics on singular card designs.

This podcast explores how each of the colors interacts with artifacts.

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.

In this podcast, I talk about times we decided to reuse mechanics and times we chose to tweak mechanics into something new.

Inspired by this year's "Nuts & Bolts" column, I walk through how mechanics are created.

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.

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 talk about the team that figures out what in-Multiverse Magic sets we'll be doing in the future.

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.

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 podcast, I sit down with Tarkir: Dragonstorm Set Design Lead Adam Prosak to talk about the set's design.

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.

In this episode, I walk through the vision design for Tarkir: Dragonstorm and talk about the evolution of the Dragon subtype and clan mechanics.

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 numerous ways designers give feedback to each other by going through the entire exploratory design and vision design process.

In this episode, I explain the value of themes by going through the various teams that work on a Magic set.

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.

In this episode, I talk about my recent trip to MagicCon: Chicago.

This is part one of a three-part series going over a talk I gave at MagicCon: Chicago 2025.

MagicCon: Chicago was the biggest MagicCon ever, in part because The Dive Down was there to experience it. This week's show features conversation we had at the Con with Mark Rosewater, Blake Rasmussen, and Athena Froehlich. We chat about a couple cards revealed from Tarkir: Dragonstorm and gather some WOTC insights following December's Modern unbans. A Preview Panel! A Chat with Blake! MaRo's 20 Cards of All Time! Become a citizen of The Dive Down Nation!: http://www.patreon.com/thedivedown Show the world that you're a proud citizen of The Dive Down Nation with some merch from the store: https://www.thedivedown.com/store Upgrade your gameplay and your gameday with Heavy Play accessories. Use code THEDIVEDOWN2025 for 10% off your first order at https://www.heavyplay.com Get 25% Cashback after 3 months of service with ManaTraders! https://www.manatraders.com/?medium=thedivedown and use coupon code THEDIVEDOWN Try out our new promo code for Magic Mind! Visit https://magicmind.com/divedownUse or use code DIVEDOWN at checkout to get up to 48% off your first subscription or 20% off one time purchase of Stan's new favorite mental performance shot. And now receive 8% off your order of paper cards from Nerd Rage Gaming with code DIVE8 at https://www.nerdragegaming.com/ Timestamps: 7:26 - This week's show/housekeeping 14:05 - The Dive Down begins: MagicCon Chicago! 23:06 - The MagicCon Chicago Spoiler Panel 47:44 - An interview with Blake Rasmussen 1:16:03 - The MaRo Q&A 1:50:35 - Wrapping up Our opening music is Nowhere - You Never Knew, and our closing music is Space Blood - Goro? Is That Your Christian Name? email us: thedivedown@gmail.com (mailto:thedivedown@gmail.com)

This episode looks back at the design of Visions, the second set in the Mirage block.

This episode looks back at the design of Weatherlight, the third set in the Mirage block.