Magic: The Gathering Drive to Work Podcast

#1263: Flux 01.08.2025 35:28 ↓

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.

#1262: Magic Card Back 25.07.2025 30:19 ↓

In this podcast, I see if I can talk for 30 minutes about the Magic card back. (Hint: I did it.)

#1261: Edge of Eternities Set Design with Andrew Brown 25.07.2025 29:53 ↓

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.

#1260: The Juice Isn't Worth the Squeeze 18.07.2025 35:11 ↓

In this podcast, I talk about an R&D expression, "The juice isn't worth the squeeze."

#1259: Edge of Eternities Vision Design with Ethan Fleischer 18.07.2025 31:28 ↓

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.

#1258: History of Colorless 11.07.2025 35:31 ↓

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

#1257: Enchantment Color Pie 11.07.2025 30:49 ↓

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

#1255: Creature Color Pie 04.07.2025 37:29 ↓

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

#1256: Right for This Set 04.07.2025 35:58 ↓

In this podcast, I talk about how it's not enough for a mechanic to be good in a vacuum.

#1254: Cameo Mechanics 27.06.2025 31:45 ↓

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

#1253: Artifact Color Pie 27.06.2025 29:52 ↓

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

#1252: Why We Name Mechanics 20.06.2025 33:45 ↓

In this podcast, I answer a question from my blog about how we decide when to name and not name mechanics.

#1251: History of Typal Themes 20.06.2025 32:39 ↓

I recently wrote a three-part article about the history of typal themes in Magic . This is my podcast on the topic.

#1250: Exodus 13.06.2025 34:14 ↓

In this podcast, I talk all about Exodus (the third expansion of the Tempest block).

#1249: Stronghold 13.06.2025 30:59 ↓

In this podcast, I talk all about Stronghold (the second expansion of the Tempest block).

#1248: Futureproofing 06.06.2025 39:43 ↓

In this podcast, I talk about a concept called futureproofing where we design mechanics to better enable us to use them in the future.

#1247: FINAL FANTASY with Gavin Verhey 06.06.2025 31:22 ↓

In this podcast, I sit down with the lead designer of Magic: The Gathering ®—FINAL FANTASY™ to talk about the set's design.

#1246: Why Mechanics Don't Make It 30.05.2025 33:35 ↓

We design a lot of mechanics. Most don't make it to print. Why? That's my topic for this podcast.

#1245: Test Decks 30.05.2025 30:43 ↓

This podcast talks about a tool we use to playtest new mechanics.

#1244: Formats I Made 23.05.2025 31:38 ↓

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.

#1243: Vision Design Issues 23.05.2025 36:15 ↓

In this episode, I walk through many of the design issues that occur during vision design.

#1242: Repeats and Tweaks 16.05.2025 31:31 ↓

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

#1241: Making Mechanics 16.05.2025 31:46 ↓

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

#1240: Communications 09.05.2025 30:44 ↓

In this episode, I walk through the history of Magic and talk about how communicating with players has changed over the years.

#1239: Top 20 Worst Mechanics, Part 3 09.05.2025 33:10 ↓

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 .