Mark Rosewater
@maro254
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Head Designer for Magic: The Gathering & Dedicated Family Man
Joined May 2008
Today is my 26th Anniversary with Lora. I’m so happy she said “yes” all those years ago. Three children, two houses later, she’s still the one I’m happy to wake up next to every morning.
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So sad to hear about that passing of Sheldon Menery. On my podcast he said, "How cool is it that I get to help a lot of people have some enjoyment in this life?" I don’t think there’s a better tribute to his huge impact on Magic. #WotCStaff
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I'm sad to announce that my father Gene passed away last night from Alzheimer's. He was 82. He was the source of my love for games, and there's no way I would be doing what I do now without his influence. Here's a podcast I did with him back in 2013:.
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@Spice8Rack Let me use this as an opportunity to ask everyone, what would you expect to see if we returned to Lorwyn?.
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Our ultimate goal is to make Magic the best game in the world, enjoyable for the players in whatever form they wish to play it. If there are hiccups along the way, it’s not because we don’t care, or aren’t trying, or don’t understand what needs to be done. It’s just a lofty goal.
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Here's how "mill" happened in one tweet:.For years, we've tried to come up with a word that flavorfully captured what milling does. One by one, we eliminated every other possibly choice and finally went, "Okay, I guess it's mill." #WotCStaff.
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Wizards is closing our Landmark building. I’ve worked here for eighteen years, and ten before that across the street. “Drive to Work” will be “at home edition” for a few months (after I work through my backlog). #WotCStaff
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In most people’s lives, there’s one person that shows up just when you need them most. For me, that was my best friend David. David died of cancer today, taken way too early. I’m so happy to have had him in my life, and so sad that he won’t be any more. Rest in Peace, my friend.
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I want to publicly celebrate a big anniversary for me. Twenty years ago (technically, yesterday), I became Head Designer for Magic. It is absolutely wild to me that I've had this job for two-thirds of Magic's life. It's been a huge honor. #mtg #WotCStaff.
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Something that I have waited almost *seven* years to say: THERE'S A THIRD UN-SET!!! #WotCStaff
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Today my babies become adults. Happy 18th Birthday, Adam and Sarah!
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It seems Adventure Time has some Magic fans. Here's a screen shot from S10E11. Can you find all the Magic references? : ) #WotCStaff.
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Last month, I encouraged all my US followers to register to vote. Today, I will encourage you all to actually vote. There's a pretty divergent choice. Help ensure the path you prefer is the path this country takes.
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I was honored to be inducted into the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts & Design (aka Tabletop Gaming) Hall of Fame tonight.
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Just to address a number of questions I've been getting - Strixhaven is Magic's take on the magic school genre and not just a reskinning of any one version of it. #WotCStaff.
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Unsanctioned skeptics: there’s a way to find out whether or not your hypothesis is correct. If the product isn’t worth it for just the basic lands & that’s all players care about, then the product should sell poorly. If it does, I’ll admit I’m wrong. If not, you all should. Deal?.
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My babies graduated from high school today. Congrats Adam & Sarah!
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So the Russo Brothers are having a panel right now at #SDCC. I wonder what they’re talking about? : ) #WotCStaff
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I just wanted to acknowledge the passing of a former Magic designer. Teeuwynn Woodruff was on the design teams for Weatherlight, 7th Edition, & Apocalypse, and on the development teams for Nemesis, Prophecy, Planeshift, & 7th Edition. 1/2.
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Longtime players will remember back in April of 2000 (between Nemesis and Prophecy), I announced the birth of my first child. Today, she graduates high school. Congratulations, Rachel!
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I’m one of the main spokespeople for the game and I get that comes with criticism. And yes, there’s plenty of legit criticism with Magic in 2019 and I do need & want to hear it, but please don’t fall into the social media trap of just focusing on the negative. 1/2 #WotCStaff.
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Okay, that happened way faster than I expected. Congratulations Rachel, we’re so proud of you!
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Happy Hanukkah from the Rosewaters! (Lora’s taking the photo)
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En route to San Diego, I made a stop in LA for @MakeAWish with @jfwong & @JoshLeeKwai. Evan, it was a pleasure meeting and playing with you. #WotCStaff
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My Christmas gift for all of you is a quote: “In my twenty-three years working on the game, I have never been more excited for a suite of Magic products than I am for 2019. Magic fans are in for an amazing year!” #WotCStaff.
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Response to my Christmas tweet last year is a good encapsulation of one of the rough parts of my job. I was so excited because after ten years of struggling I managed to get a fairy tale set made & a year later the response is “why’d you say that - Oko was so busted”. #WotCStaff.
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Earlier today, I previewed a #mtgm21 card. As is customary, I played a game with my followers to let them win the right to see it. I now realize that my choice of game, Hangman, was an insensitive decision on my part in the current climate. I apologize. #WotCStaff.
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The Mystery Booster card I did the art for (and one of several I designed) was Maro's Gone Nuts. #WotCStaff
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I enjoy the passion of the online community. We share a common desire to see Magic be its best. I welcome feedback and will pass it along to the relevant parties. I want to caution that the solutions to the problems at hand are never as simple as you think they might be. Thanks.
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A lot of people have asked, so here’s the stat. In the last week of sets we, on average, make 30-50 mechanical changes. Last minute changes cause a card that needs to get banned around once every 3-4 years. #WotCStaff.
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Happy anniversary to my wife Lora for twenty-one amazing years! : ).
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I realized today that (assuming my math is correct) this month I start working on my hundredth Magic set. #WotCStaff.
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@Em_TeeGee Richard Garfield's original vision for Magic was significantly closer to the Un-sets than high level competitive play. #WotCStaff.
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One of the reasons it’s hard to return to places like Kamigawa or Lorwyn is at the time everyone was so negative about it. If you see things you love in the game, speak up, so we see you want more of it. 2/2 #WotCStaff.
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A lot of talk about “typal” recently on Twitter, so I thought I’d say a few things. We used “tribal” internally to mean “cares about creature type” (as opposed to discussing the card type). 1/.
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@StarCityBen I'm not trying to diminish your thousand-sun fury, but this card doesn't break color pie. We now allow black (at a rate worse than white and green) to destroy enchantments, yes, even targeted. : ).
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Today's my 22nd anniversary of working at Wizards. I'll see if I can keep this streak going. : ).
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To clarify something I said earlier today. We do a lot of future forecasting. Had trends continued the way they were going, we believed the draft booster were in danger of going away due to market forces. No one in Wizards/Hasbro was trying to get rid of limited play. #WotCStaff.
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I’ve gotten a lot of comments today on Unsanctioned & I wanted to say something. The full-art lands are a sweet dessert, but they aren’t the main course. Unsanctioned is for players who love Un-cards. If that’s not your cup of tea, then this might just not be the product for you.
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My birthday cake. (My Party has an Avengers: Infinity War theme.)
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For those that missed the charity stream. Here I am as Shark Rosewater.
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How can you tell if a person is telling a dad joke? It’s apparent. : ).
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Happy New Year! We begin another exciting new Magic year (this time with some new silver-bordered cards). : ) . I can’t wait for you all to see what we’ve cooked up. #WotCStaff.
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I’m constantly asked what property I would be most excited to work on. #WotCStaff.
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Today was my first pandemic hair cut (courtesy of my daughter Sarah).
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Fun story. Erik Lauer was always bugged by the fact that Decimate didn’t actually decimate so he made Decimator Web which actually did. #WotCStaff
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For all the people arguing about rules text making use of "the stack" mechanically, here's an important factoid. The majority of players don't know what "the stack" is and only a tiny percentage truly understand how it works enough to be able to grasp card functionality.
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: ) . I've been wanting a new Gerrard for a long time.
Oh, and one more thing. this guy is in #mtgc19. (And yes, I promise it's not just a reprint of his Apocalypse card.) You'll see the card reveal later this weekend! :D .#wotcstaff
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Go squirrels!.
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Today my oldest, Rachel, turns 21. It strangely feels both like not that long ago and a long time ago, however that’s possible. Happy Birthday, Rachel!
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So busy at #Magic30 that I forgot that today is my 27th anniversary of working at Wizards. #WotCStaff.
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To all my American followers, please go out and vote if you're registered. If you're mailing your ballot, you need to drop it off at a dropbox. The USPS no longer guarantees it will be there by election day.
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It was just officially announced that Unstable is going to have an @LRRMtG Pre-Prerelease with me as a special guest. : ) #mtgust #WotCStaff.
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Enough of you have guessed the card, that I guess we can stop here. Yes, the reprint is Fabled Passage. #mtgm21 #WotCStaff
@maro254 Just say it's fabled passage already.
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Twenty-five years ago, I convinced someone to spend their life with me. Best decision I ever made. I love you, Lora! Happy Anniversary!
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Have you ever wondered what you would do if there was a documentary about the history and impact of Un-cards on Magic? It's a good thing you spent time thinking about this because you'll save vital seconds clicking on the link below. #WotCStaff.
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My great joy of Hascon was that I got to meet Stan Lee. He (and his fellow creators) have brought me so much joy. Rest In Peace.
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Since you all won the Twenty Questions game (but just barely), I present to you Flame Spill from #mtgiko #WotCStaff
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This time last year I was looking forward to the new year because there was a set I was extra excited for you all to see (#mtgdom). This year there’s three (none of which you know about yet) that I’m extra excited for you all to see. It’s going to be an awesome year! #WotCStaff.
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I’m not messing with you. There are no creatures with changeling in Ikoria. The creature types are what I say they are. #itakesquirrelsseriously #WotCStaff.
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There has been a lot of talk about the reminder text for committing a crime, so I thought I'd share it: (Targeting opponents, anything they control, and/or cards in their graveyards is a crime.) #MTG #WotCStaff.
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We were brainstorming about how to make the Unglued prerelease special, and I said, "I could head judge it in a chicken suit" (as the set had a chicken theme). The brainstorming immediately ended and they rented me a chicken suit. #WotCStaff.
Did you know that Mark Rosewater (@maro254) once dressed up as a giant chicken to officiate an MTG tournament? #MTGUNGLUED #MTG
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Today I turn 57. I first encountered Magic when I was 26 (back in August of 1993). My how time flies. : ).
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I got many replies to my 10% post. 2 important things:. 1) Organized play isn’t going away. If you like playing competitive Magic, at all levels, it will still exist. 2) Enfranchised players are an important group to us. We spend more time on them than any other group by a lot.
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Roses are red, roses are red. I’m repeating for a reason. You feel everything twice as strong.When in love with Doubling Season. In honor of Valentines Day, write a valentine for your favorite Magic card. #WotCStaff #mtgvalentine.
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I almost forgot - Happy 25th Birthday, Magic! It was exactly twenty-for be years ago today that Magic first went on sale at Gen Con. #WotCStaff.
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One other thing while I'm discussing Strixhaven. I'm as proud of this set as any Magic set I've worked on. Everybody, at every level, did an amazing job and I'm so excited for you all to see it. #WotCStaff.
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