#gonzoron

[markrosewater]

When a story beat involves one legendary creature killing another, do you always make sure it could happen rules wise? I really like that the scorpion god's -1/-1 counter ability could get around Rhonas's indestructibilty.

We do think about it.

[markrosewater]

Just wanted to say, I always love the puns in your article titles and headings, but "Amonkhet Down to Business" is an all-time great!

: )

My favorite is "I cc: Dead People".

[markrosewater]

So people have been begging for full-art land without Zendikar hedrons, and we finally get them... with big Bolas horns. :) Any chance of full-art lands that are just pretty and generic Plains, Islands, Swamps, Mountains, and Forests, without any plane-specific landmarks? Or does that only happen in Un-sets?

In Standard-legal sets, we like our basic lands being very world specific.

[markrosewater]

But how do you feel about Arachnus spinner throwing Arachnus Webs? (I think it's really cute) Would the web be ok if you couldn't cast it in green, but could still get it with the spinner (which is a creature)?

One of the hardest things to learn is you shouldn't undermine color pie just because the flavor is so good.

[magicjudge]

What happens when a creature with exploit (say, Sidisi, Undead Vizier) changes controllers with its exploit on the stack?

The player under whose control the exploit creature entered the battlefield still controls the exploit trigger and makes the choice of whether or not to sacrifice a creature when that trigger resolves. If they do sacrifice a creature, then the exploit creature’s “when ~ exploits a creature” trigger will trigger and that trigger will be controlled by whoever controls the creature at that time.

So if, for example, Illusory Gains gives your opponent control of your Sidisi before her exploit trigger resolves, you can still sacrifice another creature when the trigger resolves if you want to, but if you do it’s your opponent who’ll get to search their library for a card because of Sidisi’s second trigger.

[markrosewater]

I understand the reasoning about extra words being confusing, but isn't the type line an exception? New players need to understand quickly that creature subtypes don't usually matter. (Until they do) They probably don't even notice basic land subtypes because they match the card name. Why are enchantments different?

We don't use subtypes on any card type save creatures unless it is mechanically relevant. Creatures get the exception because we believe the flavor offsets the wordiness. "Goblin" has a lot more flavor than "Oath".

[magicjudge]

If I play Verdant Confluence and choose to search for land 3 times, do I really have to search one at a time and shuffle after each or can I search for 3 and then shuffle when done?

Technically you do have to shuffle between each of the searches, but in practice you can just shortcut it to do all the searching at once and just shuffle once.

Please note that anything that cares about you shuffling, such as Cosi’s Trickster or Psychogenic Probe, will still see it as three separate shuffles and trigger appropriately.

[markrosewater]

Could we ever see an "Oath" card that represents something other than joining the Gatewatch? I was surprised not to see an "Oath of Ob Nixilis" in OAG where he swore to destroy Zendikar or something like that.

Modern day cards with Oath in the title will only be Gatewatch oaths.