I am very excited today to be presenting something that has never been done before here on magicthegathering.com. Most of the time, card previews from new sets come out about two weeks before the set is released with certain cards that reflect aspects of the new set being revealed by members of the Wizards staff. For the first time, I am presenting several cards several months before a set comes out. And I'm showing you the complete card logs.

Card logs are like the life of a card, from birth straight through to either making it into the set or being cut. As you will see, several people comment a card on and a decision is made. Most of the cards go through some pretty radical changes from development to print.

Take this card, for example. "Game Winner" started out as a very powerful, broken card. It slowly shifted into a less powerful card while keeping its flavor and we're quite happy with the results. We think that you will be too.

Game Winner
1U
Instant
Remove target player from the game.

RB: is this overcosted?
AF: Guys this is broken. Raising the casting cost to 2UU.
BT: I don't think this is in flavor for blue. Should be red.
RB: Red? Fuck red. Blue is where it's at. BLUE!
AF: Should this be rare? I'm making this rare.
RG: I'm a little teapot
BT: lol
MR: Hey guys. What's going on in this card log?
AF: Raising the cc to 5UUU.
AF: Changing the word "player" to "land".
BT: Take that Boseiju

Wow. I know that I am very, very excited to open up a Game Winner in the prerelease drafts, and the deck building ideas are endless. I'm sure that this card, even in a weakened state will lend itself to several new and exciting deck archetypes!

As you can tell by Saviors of Kamigawa, R&D has taken an active stance on making enchantments more viable. Enduring Ideal is going a long way in making this happen, and since we want to continue pushing enchantments as game winners, Ravnica has some interesting new twists.

Golden Shower
WUBRG
Enchantment
Destroy everything.

MR: Enchantmemt?
BT: Nice spelling there champ.
RB: Enchantments are good now.
AF: Golden Shower is not an appropriate name.
RG: Let's call it "Pee Pee Shower" then.
MR: I don't think this card makes sense.
AF: Print it.

"RG", by the way, is Richard Garfield. It's exciting to see him back on the design team, and to see that he still has new and interesting ideas. I guess great minds are great all the time.

Some cards are designed with certain artists in mind. We know that certain artists have certain strengths, and sometimes we actually choose names and flavor based on a particular artist. Faerie of Pixieduste is such an example:

Faerie of Pixieduste
1W
Creature
Flying
1/1

AF: So this is just something for Guay to paint so her fans don't get pissed at us again, right?
RB: I'm pointing to my nose right now.

Rebecca Guay is one of our most favoritist artists around here too, folks. So much so that we go out of our way to design cards specifically tailored to her one style of art. We love you Rebecca!

Not all cards are cut because they are too powerful or too weak. Some cards are too out of flavor. Some cards we just don't like. Some cards break too many rules. And some cards get cut because of outside reasons that don't really have anything to do with playability. Naturally, we always try to separate our work from our regular lives, but this isn't always possible.

Kill Guy
2BR
Creature
When ~ comes into play destroy target creature, deal 3 damage to target player.
3/1

RB: Hehehehheheheheheheheheh
AF: what the fuck?
RB: hehehhehehehehehhehe
RB: COOOOCCCCCCAAAAAAAAAIIIINNNNEEEEE
RB: hehehehehehehehehehehehehh
RB: hehehehehehe
AF: you're an idiot, Randy.

Notcounterspell
UU
Instant
Counter target spell.

MR: Randy, stop trying to get Counterspell back in
AF: Stop trying to get Counterspell back in.
AF: Shit sarnath'd.

Branches Grow on Trees
GGG
Sorcery
Put a leaf token on each creature you control. Those creatures gain the ability to make maple syrup.

MR: Can we keyword this?
RG: I like maple syrup.
AF: I really like this card, but it's too powerful in playtesting. Raising cc to 2GGG.
RB: Ooooooh yeah baby. I wanna touch your boobies too.
RB: Fuck I posted that in the wrong window.
AF: Oh for fuck's sake. You ruined this one Randy. How the fuck am I ever supposed to play this card when all I can picture is your chest? Cut it.

So, as you can see, our personal lives very much affect the state of the game. Randy has always been a fan of blue!
Following the mess that was affinity and the unbelievable brokenness of Skullclamp, R&D has made it their mission not to have to ban any more cards in standard play. At the latest pro tour Umezawa's Jitte proved that it is a card we will have to work hard to contain, and we've already taken a step against it.

Jitte Smasher
3GG
Sorcery
Destroy target Umezawa's Jitte.

MR: Good job guys. We won't make the same mistakes we made with Affinity and Skullclamp.
BT: I think this might cost too much.
AF: Rare?
BT: Guys this card sucks.
RB: Yes, rare.
BT: Dear God don't make it rare.
MR: The combo possibilities make it rare.
AF: Print it.
BT: NOoooooooooooooo!

It's pretty obvious that Brian Tinsman is a big fan of the Jitte to try to stop such a powerful spell from being made. We don't blame you, Brian, but those who do not learn from their past are doomed to repeat it.

These are just a few of the cards that you can expect to see in Ravnica: City of Guilds. The entire Ravnica block will be as fun as the cards I've shown you today, and I look forward to the face of the new standard because of that. I hope you do too.

Discuss this article in the Magic: the Gathering Forums!

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I am very excited today to be presenting something that has never been done before here on magicthegathering.com. Most of the time, card previews from new sets come out about two weeks before the set is released with certain cards that reflect aspects of the new set being revealed by members of the Wizards staff. For the first time, I am presenting several cards several months before a set comes out. And I'm showing you the complete card logs.

Card logs are like the life of a card, from birth straight through to either making it into the set or being cut. As you will see, several people comment a card on and a decision is made. Most of the cards go through some pretty radical changes from development to print.

Take this card, for example. "Game Winner" started out as a very powerful, broken card. It slowly shifted into a less powerful card while keeping its flavor and we're quite happy with the results. We think that you will be too.

Game Winner
1U
Instant
Remove target player from the game.

RB: is this overcosted?
AF: Guys this is broken. Raising the casting cost to 2UU.
BT: I don't think this is in flavor for blue. Should be red.
RB: Red? Fuck red. Blue is where it's at. BLUE!
AF: Should this be rare? I'm making this rare.
RG: I'm a little teapot
BT: lol
MR: Hey guys. What's going on in this card log?
AF: Raising the cc to 5UUU.
AF: Changing the word "player" to "land".
BT: Take that Boseiju

Wow. I know that I am very, very excited to open up a Game Winner in the prerelease drafts, and the deck building ideas are endless. I'm sure that this card, even in a weakened state will lend itself to several new and exciting deck archetypes!

As you can tell by Saviors of Kamigawa, R&D has taken an active stance on making enchantments more viable. Enduring Ideal is going a long way in making this happen, and since we want to continue pushing enchantments as game winners, Ravnica has some interesting new twists.

Golden Shower
WUBRG
Enchantment
Destroy everything.

MR: Enchantmemt?
BT: Nice spelling there champ.
RB: Enchantments are good now.
AF: Golden Shower is not an appropriate name.
RG: Let's call it "Pee Pee Shower" then.
MR: I don't think this card makes sense.
AF: Print it.

"RG", by the way, is Richard Garfield. It's exciting to see him back on the design team, and to see that he still has new and interesting ideas. I guess great minds are great all the time.

Some cards are designed with certain artists in mind. We know that certain artists have certain strengths, and sometimes we actually choose names and flavor based on a particular artist. Faerie of Pixieduste is such an example:

Faerie of Pixieduste
1W
Creature
Flying
1/1

AF: So this is just something for Guay to paint so her fans don't get pissed at us again, right?
RB: I'm pointing to my nose right now.

Rebecca Guay is one of our most favoritist artists around here too, folks. So much so that we go out of our way to design cards specifically tailored to her one style of art. We love you Rebecca!

Not all cards are cut because they are too powerful or too weak. Some cards are too out of flavor. Some cards we just don't like. Some cards break too many rules. And some cards get cut because of outside reasons that don't really have anything to do with playability. Naturally, we always try to separate our work from our regular lives, but this isn't always possible.

Kill Guy
2BR
Creature
When ~ comes into play destroy target creature, deal 3 damage to target player.
3/1

RB: Hehehehheheheheheheheheh
AF: what the fuck?
RB: hehehhehehehehehhehe
RB: COOOOCCCCCCAAAAAAAAAIIIINNNNEEEEE
RB: hehehehehehehehehehehehehh
RB: hehehehehehe
AF: you're an idiot, Randy.

Notcounterspell
UU
Instant
Counter target spell.

MR: Randy, stop trying to get Counterspell back in
AF: Stop trying to get Counterspell back in.
AF: Shit sarnath'd.

Branches Grow on Trees
GGG
Sorcery
Put a leaf token on each creature you control. Those creatures gain the ability to make maple syrup.

MR: Can we keyword this?
RG: I like maple syrup.
AF: I really like this card, but it's too powerful in playtesting. Raising cc to 2GGG.
RB: Ooooooh yeah baby. I wanna touch your boobies too.
RB: Fuck I posted that in the wrong window.
AF: Oh for fuck's sake. You ruined this one Randy. How the fuck am I ever supposed to play this card when all I can picture is your chest? Cut it.

So, as you can see, our personal lives very much affect the state of the game. Randy has always been a fan of blue!
Following the mess that was affinity and the unbelievable brokenness of Skullclamp, R&D has made it their mission not to have to ban any more cards in standard play. At the latest pro tour Umezawa's Jitte proved that it is a card we will have to work hard to contain, and we've already taken a step against it.

Jitte Smasher
3GG
Sorcery
Destroy target Umezawa's Jitte.

MR: Good job guys. We won't make the same mistakes we made with Affinity and Skullclamp.
BT: I think this might cost too much.
AF: Rare?
BT: Guys this card sucks.
RB: Yes, rare.
BT: Dear God don't make it rare.
MR: The combo possibilities make it rare.
AF: Print it.
BT: NOoooooooooooooo!

It's pretty obvious that Brian Tinsman is a big fan of the Jitte to try to stop such a powerful spell from being made. We don't blame you, Brian, but those who do not learn from their past are doomed to repeat it.

These are just a few of the cards that you can expect to see in Ravnica: City of Guilds. The entire Ravnica block will be as fun as the cards I've shown you today, and I look forward to the face of the new standard because of that. I hope you do too.

Discuss this article in the Magic: the Gathering Forums!

Related Stories

• New Card Face Doubleplusgood
• Cycle in Mirrodin Frees R&D From Having to Design Four More Cards
• Rosewater launches Roseanne Q&A