Mark Rosewater, long-time chief designer of Magic: The Gathering for Wizards of the Coast, reviewed “Highlights” and “Lessons” from magic Sets published in its annual State of Design essay since June 2024.
One of the most important findings from this year’s design review was that fan reactions to the One Ring card from the The Lord of the Rings: Tales from Middle Earth Set were very polarizing. In terms of gameplay, many felt that One Ring was a format-warping card. In Modern, One Ring is used in more than 30% of decks and has little to no downside to playing it, even though the burden counter mechanic was intended to be a downside. One Ring was one of two cards from this set that Rosewater called “too good” in the article, the other being Orcish Bowmasters, and several players wish that both of these cards would one day be banned.
In terms of collectability, fans were divided over the printing of the One Ring 001/001 card (see “The One Ring 001/001”). Some were upset about the existence of the “One of” card, while others liked it for reasons not mentioned in the article. Rosewater also mentioned that WotC also has the option of reprinting the One Ring card as an in-universe equivalent, to allay fears that the card will mechanically disappear from the game once the LotR license expires. magic as well as.
Rose water also mentions Modern Horizons 3 in the article, which was a huge hit with fans because of its fun, limited format and double-faced cards (see “Best-Selling ‘Magic’ Set of All Time”). However, he mentioned that the set had some gameplay issues worth mentioning. The first issue was caused by Nadu, Winged Wisdom, which Rosewater said caused balance issues in Modern (see “Awkward Combo”). The second issue was that players didn’t like the effects that Modern Horizons 3 on older formats like Legacy and Vintage, as it uprooted some of the standard decks in those formats.
In a more general design comment, Rosewater admitted that the designers relied a little too much on tropes when it came to set themes. Many magic Fans still want “the magic In-universe sets that feel more like magic” and that some of the recently introduced aircraft felt a bit “thinner” than usual. Some fans are still interested in the history of the multiverse and are looking for designers to create more detailed aircraft for the magic core story.
