[On September 19^th, I had the privilege of meeting with two employees of Wizards of the Coast over lunch. One was a member of the design team for Mirrodin, and the other was on the development team. On condition of anonymity, each agreed to speak with me and provide a revealing glimpse into the development of Magic’s latest expert level set. After several dozen doughnuts and a few beverages, we began the interview.]

Pale Mage: Thanks for taking the time to speak with me today.

Design: Our pleasure.

Development: No problem.

PM: A large expansion that is half artifacts. Wow, guys. How did that happen?

DGN: By the time we were ready to start work on ‘Bacon’ [the WOTC code word for the set that would become Mirrodin] we knew we wanted the setting to be a completely different world than Dominaria.

PM: Why was that?

DGN: Dominaria was used up. Everything that we could think to do to her we had done to her. No mysteries remained.

DEV: It was time for fresh meat.

DGN: You could say the ‘magic’ was gone from the relationship.

PM: Could we keep the puns off the table today?

DEV: No argument here.

DGN: We had been kicking around a few ideas for a while. The frontrunner was called ‘Leather World’. I say it was the frontrunner, but there wasn’t unanimous support for the idea.

DEV: It came off as a cheap excuse to reprint Earthbind. In the end, we tabled the concept. The risk we might hop onto Brainburst or StarCityGames and read the phrase ‘Fetish Block Constructed’ was too great to ignore.

PM: So how did ‘Leather World’ become ‘Metal World’?

DGN: We remembered that this would be the first block to begin after M:tG’s Tenth Anniversary. Eighth Edition was in part an homage to the history of the game, but nothing specific had been done to commemorate the game’s creator.

DEV: You may not think it to look at him, but Richard Garfield is a huge Megadeth fan. I can’t count the number of times I’ve passed by Richard’s office and seen him counting his money to the rhythm of ‘Wake Up Dead’ or ‘Blood of Heroes’.

DGN: Normally we shy away from Earth-specific references, but design is all about breaking the rules. We thought of this set as the new ‘Legends’, except this world would be populated with legends like Ozzy Osbourne and Nicki Sixx. Once we started talking about it, the concept just took on a life of its own.

DEV: The large expansion would take its inspiration from the early metal pioneers like Black Sabbath and the eighties groups like Quiet Riot. The winter expansion would delve into the death metal scene a la Morbid Angel, and the spring expansion would focus on newer bands, which we know nothing about.

DGN: But that’s why we have interns. Research. And doughnut runs.

DEV: ‘Metal World’ was born.

DGN: We started calling it the ‘Rock Block’. There was talk of shooting a TV ad with Jack Black as our spokesman. It would have been righteous.

DEV: Actually, if you consider the outfits the hair metal bands used to wear, the leap from ‘Leather World’ to ‘Metal World’ was not that great. We were all ready to reprint Iron Maiden and resurrect the Poison mechanic when the legal department nixed the whole shebang.

PM: Why? Did everybody sober up?

DGN: Backlash from the RIAA crap. The record companies have gotten very stingy with their artists and their respective likenesses. Napster and Kazaa ruined everything.

PM: Are you telling me if more kids bought Metallica’s latest album instead of downloading it for free, there would be a Lars card?

DGN: Ironic, isn’t it?

PM: By Alanis Morissette’s definition, anyway.

DEV: To make matters worse, the International Metalworkers Federation uses ‘Metal World’ as the title of their trade rag. Legally they couldn’t prevent us from using the name, but those guys are teamsters. I don’t want to sleep with the fishes or wake up with a minotaur head in my bed.

PM: It sounds like you guys were in a jam.

DGN: Were we ever. We had months of work into the ‘Metal World’ concept. Hell, we were only a few days away from leaking parts of the spoiler. We were screwed.

PM: So, how did you go from screwed to making the artifact set?

DEV: We were having lunch at Centerfolds and touching up our resumes when one of the girls asked us why we weren’t smiling.

DGN: We started to explain ourselves, but the music was to loud for conversation, so we moved to one of the VIP rooms to bring her up to speed on our plight.

DEV: Have you ever tried explaining the color pie to an exotic dancer? It isn’t easy. Chantel had never even seen Magic cards before, so I whipped out a few Eighth Edition rares I had with me. She picked up Aladdin’s Ring and said she thought silver was the best color.

DGN: We just looked at each other. The path had become clear.

PM: Okay, I just want to make sure I’m not misunderstanding you. The original concept for ‘Metal World’ was a nod to Richard Garfield’s love of heavy metal placing actual bands and artists in a fantasy setting. When that fell through due to legal issues, your entire staff couldn’t think of anything better so you turned to the wisdom of a Seattle stripper?

DEV: That’s a fair statement.

DGN: Yeah, that sums it up.

PM: I don’t know what to say. I’m in shock.

DEV: If that leaves you stunned, don’t ever ask how we came up with the Weatherlight and her crew.

PM: Thanks for the warning, I guess.

DEV: As soon as we got back to the office the teams were assembled and we pitched the concept. Everyone loved it. We pulled an all-nighter at the conference table, the design team on one side, development on the other. Paper flew back and forth for hours. People’s fingers were occasionally cut by the edges. It was a madhouse.

DGN: The beautiful thing was we were able to recycle a lot of the material that had already been developed. In fact, the Leonin race grew out of the Def Leppard card.

PM: How much of Mirrodin would you estimate is the original ‘Metal World’?

DEV: About two thirds.

PM: Really? So if I threw some card names at you, could you tell me the original titles?

DEV: Probably.

PM: Arrest?

DEV: Warrant.

PM: I should have guessed that one. How about March of the Machines?

DEV: Master of Puppets.

PM: Worldslayer?

DEV: Armageddon It.

PM: Betrayal of Flesh?

DEV: Tommy Lee.

DGN: Not everything survived the transition. There were big holes to fill. After the first flurry of carnage, we realized we only had one mechanic. We changed all the enchant creatures into artifacts and ‘Equipment’ was born.

DEV: We should have done that in the first place. Who ever heard of a ‘Flying V’ being created with blue mana? It’s clearly an artifact.

DGN: You mean it’s clearly Neurok Hoversail.

(They laughed.)

DEV: Of course most of the original cards had to lose quite a bit of power and flavor to make the new set. Guns ‘N’ Roses became the Myr mana producers. Slade broke up and became the golem cycle. As long as we filled all the holes without letting a Wild Mongrel or Psychatog through, everything would be fine.

DGN: Speaking of atogs, we each sent a team member to go rooting around for reprint candidates.

DEV: After their first couple of suggestions, we sent them off again with a copy of the reserved list.

DGN: Hey, at least we got Gilded Lotus out that fiasco.

PM: What was the hardest part of reworking an entire set concept at the last minute?

DGN: The art.

DEV: Definitely the art.

PM: How so?

DEV: Most of the commissioned pieces no longer applied. Everything had to be redone. Quickly. There wasn’t even time to come up with a new style guide for the artists to follow.

DGN: I was on the phone forever with artists saying, “Think chrome and lots of it. The whole world should look like Middle Earth collided with Easyriders magazine”. I remember one of the guys we hired for land art wasn’t getting it. I didn’t think a metal world would be a difficult idea for a fantasy artist to grasp.

DEV: I remember that. Funny story, I was coming to [DGN’s] cubicle to ask him if he got my email and he was screaming into the phone. “No, John! It’s a metal world! Everything is metal! When you walk through the woods, you don’t come down with poison ivy, you get lockjaw! I can’t use [expletive] pines unless they look like those crappy aluminum Christmas trees from the sixties!”

DGN: Heh. He came around eventually. The entire thing has panned out quite well, so far. It certainly has been an interesting experience. One I’d not like to repeat.

DEV: It hasn’t been all a bitch, though. I’ve been itching for the chance to reprint Bottle Gnomes ever since that MiseTings parody card.

PM: That’s funny.

DEV: What’s funny? We love MiseTings.

PM: You do?

DGN: Oh, yeah.

PM: Dear God, why?

DGN: Without MiseTings, we’d never have any idea if our efforts were in vain or not. MiseTings is the pulse of the M:tG community.

PM: Good one, guys. You should take that act to Vegas.

DEV: He’s not kidding. If the forum denizens on MT aren’t happy, we aren’t happy. Three people were handed walking papers this year based on a single flame war, and that thread was wasn’t even in Magical Topics!

PM: Don’t you guys spend money on focus groups and market research and such?

DGN: Man, I wish. We haven’t had that kind of cash in the budget since Hasbro took over. Mostly we just cruise the net and to find out how we screwed up. If it weren’t for loudmouths spewing venom and bile on message boards, I’d get no feedback at all.

PM: Back to Mirrodin. What cards would you say were developed for Timmy?

DGN: Who?

DEV: Huh?

PM: Timmy. You know, the casual player. Likes dragons and such.

DGN: I don’t follow you.

PM: Timmy, Johnny, and Spike?

DGN: Oh, that crap. Just between you, my colleague, and me Timmy doesn’t exist. We made him up. No one who plays this game for more than one afternoon likes big splashy creatures that cost a ton of mana. Johnny might exist, I don’t know. Don’t care, really. This is just my job, you know? It beats waiting tables or writing for television and it pays the bills.

DEV: Agreed. I’m just happy I don’t have to wear a tie. I’ll do anything to avoid wearing one. I’ll do my part to crank out new sets year after year as long as I don’t need a tie and I get ninety minutes for lunch at Centerfolds.

PM: Right. Last question. Will any of the material cut during the retooling of ‘Metal World’ end up in future expansions?

DEV: Most of it sucks. I doubt it.

DGN: Maybe. I’d like to find a home for the Krokus mechanic.

PM: Well, thanks again for talking with me. This has been very disturbing. Enlightening. I meant enlightening.

DGN: Anytime.

DEV: Yeah, thanks for the doughnuts.

[I also learned during this meeting that ‘Mirrodin’ is short for ‘mirrored din’ aka ‘strip club’. Apparently it has been a code word known to male R&D members for years. It’s original intent was to avoid embarrassment and possible harassment suits whilst discussing lunch plans in mixed company or in front of Hasbro executives.]

Discuss this article in the Magic: the Gathering Forums!

[On September 19^th, I had the privilege of meeting with two employees of Wizards of the Coast over lunch. One was a member of the design team for Mirrodin, and the other was on the development team. On condition of anonymity, each agreed to speak with me and provide a revealing glimpse into the development of Magic’s latest expert level set. After several dozen doughnuts and a few beverages, we began the interview.]

Pale Mage: Thanks for taking the time to speak with me today.

Design: Our pleasure.

Development: No problem.

PM: A large expansion that is half artifacts. Wow, guys. How did that happen?

DGN: By the time we were ready to start work on ‘Bacon’ [the WOTC code word for the set that would become Mirrodin] we knew we wanted the setting to be a completely different world than Dominaria.

PM: Why was that?

DGN: Dominaria was used up. Everything that we could think to do to her we had done to her. No mysteries remained.

DEV: It was time for fresh meat.

DGN: You could say the ‘magic’ was gone from the relationship.

PM: Could we keep the puns off the table today?

DEV: No argument here.

DGN: We had been kicking around a few ideas for a while. The frontrunner was called ‘Leather World’. I say it was the frontrunner, but there wasn’t unanimous support for the idea.

DEV: It came off as a cheap excuse to reprint Earthbind. In the end, we tabled the concept. The risk we might hop onto Brainburst or StarCityGames and read the phrase ‘Fetish Block Constructed’ was too great to ignore.

PM: So how did ‘Leather World’ become ‘Metal World’?

DGN: We remembered that this would be the first block to begin after M:tG’s Tenth Anniversary. Eighth Edition was in part an homage to the history of the game, but nothing specific had been done to commemorate the game’s creator.

DEV: You may not think it to look at him, but Richard Garfield is a huge Megadeth fan. I can’t count the number of times I’ve passed by Richard’s office and seen him counting his money to the rhythm of ‘Wake Up Dead’ or ‘Blood of Heroes’.

DGN: Normally we shy away from Earth-specific references, but design is all about breaking the rules. We thought of this set as the new ‘Legends’, except this world would be populated with legends like Ozzy Osbourne and Nicki Sixx. Once we started talking about it, the concept just took on a life of its own.

DEV: The large expansion would take its inspiration from the early metal pioneers like Black Sabbath and the eighties groups like Quiet Riot. The winter expansion would delve into the death metal scene a la Morbid Angel, and the spring expansion would focus on newer bands, which we know nothing about.

DGN: But that’s why we have interns. Research. And doughnut runs.

DEV: ‘Metal World’ was born.

DGN: We started calling it the ‘Rock Block’. There was talk of shooting a TV ad with Jack Black as our spokesman. It would have been righteous.

DEV: Actually, if you consider the outfits the hair metal bands used to wear, the leap from ‘Leather World’ to ‘Metal World’ was not that great. We were all ready to reprint Iron Maiden and resurrect the Poison mechanic when the legal department nixed the whole shebang.

PM: Why? Did everybody sober up?

DGN: Backlash from the RIAA crap. The record companies have gotten very stingy with their artists and their respective likenesses. Napster and Kazaa ruined everything.

PM: Are you telling me if more kids bought Metallica’s latest album instead of downloading it for free, there would be a Lars card?

DGN: Ironic, isn’t it?

PM: By Alanis Morissette’s definition, anyway.

DEV: To make matters worse, the International Metalworkers Federation uses ‘Metal World’ as the title of their trade rag. Legally they couldn’t prevent us from using the name, but those guys are teamsters. I don’t want to sleep with the fishes or wake up with a minotaur head in my bed.

PM: It sounds like you guys were in a jam.

DGN: Were we ever. We had months of work into the ‘Metal World’ concept. Hell, we were only a few days away from leaking parts of the spoiler. We were screwed.

PM: So, how did you go from screwed to making the artifact set?

DEV: We were having lunch at Centerfolds and touching up our resumes when one of the girls asked us why we weren’t smiling.

DGN: We started to explain ourselves, but the music was to loud for conversation, so we moved to one of the VIP rooms to bring her up to speed on our plight.

DEV: Have you ever tried explaining the color pie to an exotic dancer? It isn’t easy. Chantel had never even seen Magic cards before, so I whipped out a few Eighth Edition rares I had with me. She picked up Aladdin’s Ring and said she thought silver was the best color.

DGN: We just looked at each other. The path had become clear.

PM: Okay, I just want to make sure I’m not misunderstanding you. The original concept for ‘Metal World’ was a nod to Richard Garfield’s love of heavy metal placing actual bands and artists in a fantasy setting. When that fell through due to legal issues, your entire staff couldn’t think of anything better so you turned to the wisdom of a Seattle stripper?

DEV: That’s a fair statement.

DGN: Yeah, that sums it up.

PM: I don’t know what to say. I’m in shock.

DEV: If that leaves you stunned, don’t ever ask how we came up with the Weatherlight and her crew.

PM: Thanks for the warning, I guess.

DEV: As soon as we got back to the office the teams were assembled and we pitched the concept. Everyone loved it. We pulled an all-nighter at the conference table, the design team on one side, development on the other. Paper flew back and forth for hours. People’s fingers were occasionally cut by the edges. It was a madhouse.

DGN: The beautiful thing was we were able to recycle a lot of the material that had already been developed. In fact, the Leonin race grew out of the Def Leppard card.

PM: How much of Mirrodin would you estimate is the original ‘Metal World’?

DEV: About two thirds.

PM: Really? So if I threw some card names at you, could you tell me the original titles?

DEV: Probably.

PM: Arrest?

DEV: Warrant.

PM: I should have guessed that one. How about March of the Machines?

DEV: Master of Puppets.

PM: Worldslayer?

DEV: Armageddon It.

PM: Betrayal of Flesh?

DEV: Tommy Lee.

DGN: Not everything survived the transition. There were big holes to fill. After the first flurry of carnage, we realized we only had one mechanic. We changed all the enchant creatures into artifacts and ‘Equipment’ was born.

DEV: We should have done that in the first place. Who ever heard of a ‘Flying V’ being created with blue mana? It’s clearly an artifact.

DGN: You mean it’s clearly Neurok Hoversail.

(They laughed.)

DEV: Of course most of the original cards had to lose quite a bit of power and flavor to make the new set. Guns ‘N’ Roses became the Myr mana producers. Slade broke up and became the golem cycle. As long as we filled all the holes without letting a Wild Mongrel or Psychatog through, everything would be fine.

DGN: Speaking of atogs, we each sent a team member to go rooting around for reprint candidates.

DEV: After their first couple of suggestions, we sent them off again with a copy of the reserved list.

DGN: Hey, at least we got Gilded Lotus out that fiasco.

PM: What was the hardest part of reworking an entire set concept at the last minute?

DGN: The art.

DEV: Definitely the art.

PM: How so?

DEV: Most of the commissioned pieces no longer applied. Everything had to be redone. Quickly. There wasn’t even time to come up with a new style guide for the artists to follow.

DGN: I was on the phone forever with artists saying, “Think chrome and lots of it. The whole world should look like Middle Earth collided with Easyriders magazine”. I remember one of the guys we hired for land art wasn’t getting it. I didn’t think a metal world would be a difficult idea for a fantasy artist to grasp.

DEV: I remember that. Funny story, I was coming to [DGN’s] cubicle to ask him if he got my email and he was screaming into the phone. “No, John! It’s a metal world! Everything is metal! When you walk through the woods, you don’t come down with poison ivy, you get lockjaw! I can’t use [expletive] pines unless they look like those crappy aluminum Christmas trees from the sixties!”

DGN: Heh. He came around eventually. The entire thing has panned out quite well, so far. It certainly has been an interesting experience. One I’d not like to repeat.

DEV: It hasn’t been all a bitch, though. I’ve been itching for the chance to reprint Bottle Gnomes ever since that MiseTings parody card.

PM: That’s funny.

DEV: What’s funny? We love MiseTings.

PM: You do?

DGN: Oh, yeah.

PM: Dear God, why?

DGN: Without MiseTings, we’d never have any idea if our efforts were in vain or not. MiseTings is the pulse of the M:tG community.

PM: Good one, guys. You should take that act to Vegas.

DEV: He’s not kidding. If the forum denizens on MT aren’t happy, we aren’t happy. Three people were handed walking papers this year based on a single flame war, and that thread was wasn’t even in Magical Topics!

PM: Don’t you guys spend money on focus groups and market research and such?

DGN: Man, I wish. We haven’t had that kind of cash in the budget since Hasbro took over. Mostly we just cruise the net and to find out how we screwed up. If it weren’t for loudmouths spewing venom and bile on message boards, I’d get no feedback at all.

PM: Back to Mirrodin. What cards would you say were developed for Timmy?

DGN: Who?

DEV: Huh?

PM: Timmy. You know, the casual player. Likes dragons and such.

DGN: I don’t follow you.

PM: Timmy, Johnny, and Spike?

DGN: Oh, that crap. Just between you, my colleague, and me Timmy doesn’t exist. We made him up. No one who plays this game for more than one afternoon likes big splashy creatures that cost a ton of mana. Johnny might exist, I don’t know. Don’t care, really. This is just my job, you know? It beats waiting tables or writing for television and it pays the bills.

DEV: Agreed. I’m just happy I don’t have to wear a tie. I’ll do anything to avoid wearing one. I’ll do my part to crank out new sets year after year as long as I don’t need a tie and I get ninety minutes for lunch at Centerfolds.

PM: Right. Last question. Will any of the material cut during the retooling of ‘Metal World’ end up in future expansions?

DEV: Most of it sucks. I doubt it.

DGN: Maybe. I’d like to find a home for the Krokus mechanic.

PM: Well, thanks again for talking with me. This has been very disturbing. Enlightening. I meant enlightening.

DGN: Anytime.

DEV: Yeah, thanks for the doughnuts.

[I also learned during this meeting that ‘Mirrodin’ is short for ‘mirrored din’ aka ‘strip club’. Apparently it has been a code word known to male R&D members for years. It’s original intent was to avoid embarrassment and possible harassment suits whilst discussing lunch plans in mixed company or in front of Hasbro executives.]

Discuss this article in the Magic: the Gathering Forums!