Then in Future Sight, we printed Sarcomite Myr as a hint that colored artifacts might be something players would see in the future. Colored ArtifactsĪrtifacts go all the way back to Alpha, but for many years, all artifacts were colorless. Technically, we are allowed to make Clue tokens without having to "investigate" first, but we've found the word very flavorful. Unlike all the artifact tokens that followed in its wake, Clue tokens are tied to a named mechanic, investigate. We asked, was there a way to draw half a card? That led us to the idea of an artifact token that required you to spend mana to get the card.Ĭlue tokens were so successful that they opened the door to artifact tokens as a design tool where we built sets around a single, flavorfully named token that had a basic effect. We wanted investigate to be a keyword, but having it directly draw you cards was proving to be too powerful.
Clue Tokens and InvestigateĬlue tokens began as a tool to solve a problem. We use them when we need them, but they're never a requirement. I list cantrips as deciduous because they're not things we go out of our way to make sure are in every set. Seeing how these played fine, R&D changed over to normal cantrips in Weatherlight. Interestingly, it was the set Portal that first did just "draw a card," and it did it to simplify the effect and remove memory issues (as Portal was an entry-level product). Basically, cantrips don't make you go down a card because they replace themselves.Ĭantrips first appeared in Ice Age (as a collective thing Jeweled Bird from Arabian Nights has the honor of being the first card that did it), but all of them were what we now call "slowtrips" because you didn't draw the card until the beginning of your next turn.
Blood TokensĬantrips are a slang term for cards that draw you a card as a secondary effect in addition to the main effect of the card. On Buzzing Whack-a-Doodle in Unstable, the players have to compare which modes they each chose that impacts what effect happens, and having a singular word for each ability makes it much easier to use.Īnchor words have proven to be flavorful and can make the cards more intuitive, so we made them deciduous. Third, they can be used as a tool to help the players reference a mode for a secondary use. Dungeons & Dragons: Adventures in the Forgotten Realms made very good use of this second technique. Second, they also are good for creating a narrative of a design tree where the player must choose what they do next. Fate Reforged, the first set to use anchor words, built a whole cycle around the conflict between the khans and the dragons. Cards can show each side of a fight, but it's sometimes hard to illuminate the conflict itself, and anchor words do a good job of flavoring two sides. So far, there are three different ways we've used them.įirst, to show a conflict. Anchor words are descriptive text used to differentiate choices in a modal spell. Like many things that I'm going to talk about today, anchor words are a little more of a tool than a mechanic, but they are a design resource available to all sets. Today, I'm going to walk through all of the current deciduous mechanics, explain their history, why they're deciduous, and how we tend to use them. Like evergreen mechanics, a deciduous mechanic can be used in whatever volume is needed, so it could be on one card or many cards.
As you will see today, how often a deciduous mechanic gets used varies widely.
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I like to think of deciduous mechanics as a toolbox full of more specialized tools that are available if needed but aren't expected to be in most sets. The term "deciduous" (which I believe I did coin) was created to label mechanics that aren't quite evergreen but are still mechanics that designers have access to in any set where they want to use them. For more on the history of evergreen mechanics, you can read my article " Evergreen Eggs & Ham." Usually in sets aimed at beginners, these mechanics have reminder text. These are named mechanics that are just things we use all the time. This includes things like flying, deathtouch, and trample. I think we need to first begin with a different keyword: "evergreen." This term was coined very early on in Magic's existence (although I don't remember by whom) to describe mechanics that Magic uses every set or almost every set. Today, I'm going to go into some depth on a term R&D has used for a long time but is something I've never delved into much in my column-the term "deciduous." What exactly does it mean and how does it impact how we design sets? Today, I answer those questions.
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