In just two short hours we’ll be hearing from Aaron Forsythe, Senior Director of Magic R&D at Wizards of the Coast! Aaron will be calling in at 2:00 PM PST to talk to us about Magic and a lot more!
Aaron earned his post heading up the daily editorial contest at magicthegathering.com by being a professional Magic the Gathering player on the Pro Tour. As a member of R&D over the past 10 years, Forsythe has been both a designer and developer for Magic and his design credits include Magic 2010 through Magic 2013 and Planechase. As a developer, his work can be seen on many Magic releases including the original Ravnica block and Zendikar.
If you have any questions for Aaron please leave them in the comments and we’ll pass them along!
Having worked on the original Ravnica block, and with the release of the new one, do you (Aaron Forsythe) like the feel and play of the new set better or worse than the original and/or what do you like about each.
If you could create your ultimate magic set, what would it be, keywords, etc. also any chance of a futuristic type plane with technology that runs off mana? and finally, whats your favourite sandwich?
As a returning player who love the Modern format but can’t afford to put too many money into magic, I’m afraid that the current price increase on staples combined with the decisions to make Modern Masters a limited print run and the format being FNM viable will keep me and others away from the format because of the high cost of entry.
Is there anything you can tell us to help ease my worry?
(Also, please sweeten the pig with a card spoiler or two for Gatecrash if the bids reach a certain amount) 😀
What kind of factors affect the reprint-ability of cards. Mostly I want to know when I can play lightning bolt in standard again, or if I should follow my favorite card to other formats.
Why does the Simic t-shirt not use any of the Simic colors?
Hello Aaron will you ever bring back the UN cards maybe one more set like “Unstable” or somthing
Avacyn restored was a lot of fun, I think miricles are fun and cheer even when I loose to them, except bonfire, which is just buying a win. But I felt it played better in a full Innistrad draft.
Was it designed with the set and then put into stand alone later or was Avacyn always going to be a 3 X AVR draft.
What is the most frustrating part of your job? Is their ever a point where you feel unsatisfied by how things progress, or are progressing?
Any clue for what mechanic is coming back in Magic 2014?
As a huge fan of the Archenemy format, I feel compelled to inquire – Dr. Forsythe, will we be seeing a return of the Archenemy?
Do you ever think that something is horrible wrong with the way magic works. (like a re-design)
As a HUGE fan of the previous 2 Un-Sets will there be a third set?
Aaron, what is the biggest MtG design mistake that you can take credit for? How would you have done things differently to rectify this mistake?
What is the most interesting mechanic/card that you’ve partook in designing? Any favorite designs? Can you share any interesting mechanics or cards that have gone through you but been turned down due to being over(or under)powered?
Finally, what is your favorite color/s for designing mechanics for?
Why did you return to Ravnica for this block (not complaining, i love Ravnica)
How do you maintain and calculate balance for the cards in Magic?
What is your favorite magic cards in terms of flavor, and what is your favorite it terms of playability?
Where do you see Magic as being in 5 years? 10 years? Are there any particular barriers that you feel need to be overcome in order to achieve these futures?
What is your favourite memory from your time on the Pro Tour?
I’ve noticed that you seem to have a more straight-forward approach to social media usage. Can you talk about how social media has changed your position with Wizards, and what your personal philosophy towards social media as a prominent member of a community is?
Will you ever switch back to the “Negative Eevee” twitter profile pic?
Which card do you wish had never been designed, not due to power level issues, but from a mechanic standpoint?
Is there a mechanic that you wish would see print, but hasn’t yet been included in an expansion?
What was the design philosophy behind the “Wither” mechanic?
Which mechanic in the set you have worked on were the most difficult to balance?
What determines whether or not a card rolls over to a new set to remain in standard?
Do you feel the prevalence of 3+ colour goodstuff decks in standard is more a result of excessive mana fixing or the mythic rarity?
Do you think this is good for magic?
Has R&D discussed fixing this?
Are cards like Obliterator a (failed) attempt to create incentive for mono coloured decks?
Hi Aaron,
I’d like to first praise you for the upcoming Modern Masters set and Modern as a Friday Night Magic format.
Can we ever expect to see something like Modern Game Day? I love modern, and just want to see it get a lot of love.
Aaron,
Are you worried about over-saturation? Why can’t we see a larger ratio of reprints to help avoid over-saturation within this great game?
As someone whose childhood is firmly routed in Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh! card games but never had friends who played Magic the Gathering, I’ve never played the game.
Can you tell someone who doesn’t play Magic at all why he should?
How do you (Wizards) decide which artist to book for a Grand Prix??
I’ve heard that, if you all could, you guys would go back and remove Instant as a card type all together and just make Sorcery cards with Flash. Is this true, and what stoped/ing you?
Dear Dr. Forsythe:
You got your bachelor’s in Chemistry, but have clearly followed a non-chemical career path. What thoughts do you have on having a job mostly unrelated to your education?
What was it like to meet Alex Day?
How likely are we to see a Goat lord sometime in Magic’s future? 😉
“Nikola Tesla, Planeswalker”, is it playable?
do you try to make every card a good card? Or do you purposely try to make some cards empirically better than others? If so, why?
How do you feel about R&D’s capacity to keep putting out sets at the current rate? Are you concerned about ever running out of ideas?
Also will there ever be another Great Designer Search?
How has “power creep” influenced the development of Magic: The Gathering over time?
When do you think we will see the next un-set?
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