10 Years, 10 Lessons | What I've Learned in a Decade of Magic: the Gathering Game Design

[@GlichCentral]

The right cost for an instant that deals 3 damage is 7 mana. Ember Shot is where its at.

[@GoodMorningMagic]

Dude ember shot is SICK

[@10freekie2]

Wow Ember Shot even draws a card :oo!

[@andrewfoster8100]

I know! I’ll make it cost seven, Murray!

[@manuelgomez6520]

Happy 10 years anniversary, Gavin! You're a great communicator when it comes to understanding WOTC job. You always manage to bond with the player base and you put so much effort and joy (I'll never forget how happy you were when you spoiled the new Sengir on the Command Zone). We really wish you the very best for the future 😊

[@GoodMorningMagic]

IT'S BARON SENGIR!!!!!! :D

[@jaklegend3]

There might be tough times ahead for Magic but im realy enthusiastic about the future of MTG. As long as we have passionate people like gavin that make and play the game, it will be fine. At the end its art, self expression and a good way to use your spare time. I will always be there for Magic along the way.

[@MTG69]

Keeping a game like MtG alive and thriving for 25 years is remarkable. Kudos to you and all the WOTC employees that have achieved something so incredible. I will say, I was worried after Homelands came out.

[@GoodMorningMagic]

I, too, am glad we survived Homelands!! 😄

[@jayemdaewarehouse9027]

Aww, but I love Homelands. I’m a serious Vorthos, that story is incredible and the cards are dripping with flavor, so that might explain my love for that set lol.

[@fizzygig3309]

Wow, this was a fantastic episode. Always love to see behind the scenes of the actual process and thinking that goes into game design. Thank you so much for 10 years of great design Gavin!

[@GoodMorningMagic]

Thank you for being such a great member of the community and for following!! :D

[@TheCommunistGamerTV]

As MaRo has gotten older I've often wondered who on earth could take his place when he inevitably retires. He's irreplaceable, but Gavin seems to be setting up to take his place a lead content man, and I'm very pleased.

[@WowItsErin]

Gavin genuinely seems like the only possible successor for Mark. His passion, his eagerness to engage with the community, and his insights into the design process, are truly wonderful to see.

[@JO11190]

As someone who really enjoyed Maro's 20 in 20 and found it really cool and insightful, newfound respect for the man, I really enjoy you doing this. Keep up the good work my man!

[@jayemdaewarehouse9027]

I love this allusion to Mark Rosewater’s 20 Years 20 Lessons, possibly my favorite presentation I’ve seen. Nothing teaches like experience, and after ten years designing the greatest game you certainly have that.

[@Red-Tower]

Now we just need Gavin to work on a sit-com and we'll come full circle haha 😂

[@technole]

Battlebond is one of my fav sets, so you can make more than a card someone’s favorite too

[@user-mv6fv6eh2i]

so is mine. the opposite partner cycle was great. I still try and fail to build a zndrsplt and okaun commander deck

[@ericmccormick7088]

You are the poster child for follow your dreams and pursue them with vigor. I’m so happy for you. Your pursuit has helped me let my daughter pursue her dreams instead of something safe.

[@GoodMorningMagic]

Wow! Thank you Eric for your support for so many years, and I hope she gets to do her dreams!

[@Matteo_the_Plague_Doctor]

What a lovely video. Congrats on your 10 years Gavin. I have a special place in my heart with Battlebond. My best friend of 16 years and I played in that prerelease. I don't remember us doing very well, but I remember it for being able to play 2HG with him and the fun interactions we had drawing our cards and conferring with each other about our plays. The "Be the coffee pot" lesson was a great one, and was my favorite takeaway from the video. Thanks Gavin!

[@thyronebennett1170]

Boi, where dat Melissa Podcast. Great vid btw, congratulations. I'll be here for the two decade iteration aswell

[@GoodMorningMagic]

Next episode will be up next week!! She was on vacation, but she's back now, we've recorded and it's on its way. :)

[@thyronebennett1170]

YAAAAHHHHHHHHSSS

[@marcomesturino1775]

Having a mystery booster sealed showdown with my gf is the best mtg related memory I have, all thanks to you Gavin! You're an awesome designer and the community is lucky to have you!

[@GoodMorningMagic]

Oh man, YES Mystery Booster! That was one of my favorite projects. I'm glad you had a blast with it!

[@BlakeFaeMorton]

As a fellow game designer, I got the reference to Mark Rosewater's speech right away. It covers a lot of things I already knew, but it was so helpful to hear them stated outloud and makes it easier to communicate them. Great speech.

[@GoodMorningMagic]

Rosewater's talk is so good!!! He already took a lot of the obvious lessons, so mine are a bit more inside design. ;) I hope you enjoyed them!

[@BlakeFaeMorton]

@@GoodMorningMagic Enjoying! You've caught me before I have finished the video. But I am finding it helpful. Especially the point about testing strong.

[@PieBandit]

Gavin for all of your boons, for all of your faults, for the home runs, for the foul balls, for the strike outs, with all the above, we appreciate you and we're happy for you

[@christina.morris]

Happy 10 years! This one was great, I can't get enough of design-adjacent stuff, and I also really appreciate the ways you're willing to talk about things you used to do or think about design, how those things have changed, and why. It's always thought-provoking! This channel has become one of my favorite on KZbin: it's always perfect for a little something interesting while I have lunch (or when I've got hours to kill, as with the card story streams or the recent Commander podcast).

[@GoodMorningMagic]

Thank you for all the support, and I'm really glad you enjoyed it! It's been awesome having your support for these 8 months or so. :)

[@adamdenzinger576]

Congrats on 10 years! Along the lines of your last lesson, I have a friend who refuses to play a deck until he gets the "perfect build" which, in turn, means he almost never plays his new decks.

[@blaze556922]

I was a victim of this for a long time. Then I realized the best way to improve decks is to play them and get feedback. It sounds like your friend is worried about not winning with his decks, instead of just playing with.

[@adamdenzinger576]

@@blaze556922 you are 100% correct there

[@zfjosmadhen1212]

Congratulations on your 10 years, Gavin!! Working at Wizards sounds like a dream come true! This video was awesome, thanks for the insight. Here's to another 10 year! Cheers!

[@irifhir]

I love the extreme clarity and entertainment value across all your different kinds of video! Keep those creative juices boiling!

[@neoteo359]

Much thanks to your work on giving us this behind the scenes view. My favorite cards are Ashling the Pilgrim as the card that got me into magic and syndicate trafficker as the card that reignited my love of magic. Honorable mention to the flavor text "Comrades in life. Comrades in death." as it made me geek out about the depth of black as sacrifice.

[@MrDvd05]

Happy 10 years Gavin!

[@GoodMorningMagic]

Thank you, and thanks for watching!!

[@MrDvd05]

Videos like this just make me think about designing magic cards.... ah.... a wonderful daydream~

[@ralphio]

Great video! I've loved watching your GMM videos, seeing you at events over the years, and interacting with you on social media. It shows how much you care about the gathering part of Magic. Here's to the next ten years!

[@fercruz555]

I remember reading your column on the website a long time ago, boy! Time runs fast, As a Hardcore commander player I just want to say thank you Gavin! And congratulations!!!

[@GoodMorningMagic]

Thank YOU for playing!!

[@oLoRdHaZaRdo]

Congrats Gavins, i just wanted to state i absolutely loved the mirriodin darksteel and fifth dawn block it was amazing, the darkness and the hopeless of everything the art style the artifacts the modular stuff was awesome, then you had the other side the sunburst all the elements pulling together the cubs the sharpness in pictures showing that everything is artifact, my favorite next to innistrad well done! I appreciate you also! Bring back the Cephalids or the Kavu or Atogs or the Lhurgoyf! i kid man always excited for new stuff!

[@themage1115]

Congratulations on your 10 year anniversary Gavin! Keep up the great work as always :)

[@GoodMorningMagic]

Thank you!! All the support is so appreciated.

[@bengenesis1989]

Just want to share that Ur Dragon is my favourite card. It hits the right spot of being an awesome mean dragon by itself and also having a commander ability which is always "on". This takes away the "feels bad" when Ur Dragon keeps getting hated on in the field.

[@AcidRavelEffect]

try playing weaker dragons? i play furnace whelp, sarkhan's whelp, changelings (but not morophon), anything to keep realmwalker going smooth when i demonic tutor for it. u should already kno hellkite courser. my favorite card right now is angelfire ignition. i doubt i have seen any one else play it. open up some options with dreadhorde arcanist. thrilling discovery was always kinda better than expressive iteration because to wait for turn 3 was like taking up a 3-slot in the mana curve. just gotta take the risky spelunk. the new, better Gamble.

[@Flailkerrin]

This video, and you, are a delight. I regularly reference Mark's 20 Lessons Learned, and with you really stepping into a similarly key public facing role it's wonderful to see your own homage to it! My favourite of yours, which feels so very YOU, was the coffeepot one. The notion of your "randolunches" and that sheer openness to engaging with anyone and everyone is a great attitude to life in general. Keep being you Gavin!~

[@GoodMorningMagic]

Randolunch is so great!! I cannot recommend trying it enough. 😄

[@isaacmg9213]

Congratulations Gavin!! Such a fantastic career designing something that pull the heartstrings of so so many people in this world! MTG is such a big outlet of Joy for people is crazy to think about it, so many good memories attached to it, congratulations and may your future gets brighter than ever! PD. You should totally give a GDC talk some day, i would go for sure! ... Why GDC? well... i wonder... :)

[@GoodMorningMagic]

I would love to give a GDC talk. :)

[@Oon86]

I think one of the most important lessons that you outlined here is the 'Coffee Pot' lesson. Very important to know what others think of you & what you are doing, the direction it is going & is it fitting the priority of the times. Also, small differences can make a huge impact. Yes. Such as the recent Arena event where broken cards get tweaked. Such is the butterfly effect. Thanks Gavin & the whole WotC team for all the work & the enjoyment given to the world. I know there are some decisions which does not sit well with the community at large recently... but a lot of us are still having fun if we do not focus on the negatives. It is all about THE GATHERING, after all...

[@eagle_vision_13]

Happy 10 years gavin. We hope you will still be making cards for us for 10 more years. This is a refreshing vid. I dont follow spoilers so spoiler season is boring for me, your topic spiced it up. Next the first few game design tips were for standard and limited, as an edh player i couldnt relate, but you finished strong, keep it up gavin, you got this!

[@safira2376]

Happy 10 years! I really enjoying watching you video and it gave me lots of ideas to do at work. I'm only 23 years old and already at a high position at work, so I really enjoy watching these relax and supportive videos with tips and ideas of content creators I like that work at big enterprises like you. Thanks for the awesome tips! I will try to improve my workplace with those :D

[@mattdolan6249]

Congratulations on the first 10. Thank you for all your work. Can't wait to see the next 10.

[@NicholasSabin]

Happy 10-year anniversary, Gavin! Thank you for being such a tremendous ambassador of the game. I remember you working with the SCG Live team -- your enthusiasm was as inexhaustible then as it is now. Keep up the great work!

[@joeconlon9661]

Congrats on your 10 year anniversary. You've designed some of my favourite cards so I'm glad you were there. Here's to many more years to come and even more amazing designs.

[@JarsCristobal]

I've been following your career even when you were a host on Monday Night Magic. Glad that you're one of the people creating my favorite game, and that you've been consistently a voice for casual and kitchen table magic players. Congratulations on your decaversary!

[@thomasdesrosiers-dorval5158]

Congrats on your 10th anniversary! As a (video) game designer recently celebrating my very first anniversary, I can only hope to reach 10 years and look back like you did. Thank you for being here at wizards and also being there also especially for Commander. Amazing work on Commander Legends, hope you're leading on the next one also... I'm so hyped for Baldur's Gate! Here's to 10 more years!

[@GoodMorningMagic]

Thank you!! What are you making? I'd love to check it out!

[@thomasdesrosiers-dorval5158]

@@GoodMorningMagic I work on Dead by Daylight, the asymmetrical multiplayer survival horror game.

[@counsellour]

Wow! Just wow. I can't believe it has already been ten years. Just a couple of weeks ago, I was telling a new student about your time here at UW and how he might get to chat with you one day as you are so accessible to up and coming players and game designers. It felt like it wasn't that long ago that I asked you to sign your The Daily article. I can only hope that the next ten will feel just as smooth and swift in their passing.

[@nik700]

Happy ten years anniversary! And for many years more!

[@RazorOfArtorias]

Congratulations on your 10 year anniversary, Gavin! Glad you started this channel :)

[@ronvitale]

Happy anniversary! I remember first hearing you on a Magic podcast back in the day. Great to see you all these years later. Congrats!

[@GoodMorningMagic]

It's so great that you're here following it too Ron! Thanks for all you do and have done, Magic Sock all the way to now!

[@ronvitale]

@@GoodMorningMagic You are welcome. I'm still amazed that it's been nearly 29 years since I started playing Magic and the game is still growing strong!

[@Hames8]

Thanks Gavin. I hope you continue to fill out canvas of infinite possibilities called Magic.

[@GoodMorningMagic]

Me and my Magic paintbrush are ready to go. :D

[@vakuzar]

Dude congratulations that’s so cool! 10 years of making great cards! I hope you still enjoy your job and do so for years!!

[@GoodMorningMagic]

Thank you! Doing what I can. Appreciate you following!

[@Phe0nix1986]

Keep making and keep talking and keep reflecting Gavin. Love your insights.

[@christam949]

congrats on 10 years, gavin! on the topic of making someone's favorite card, honestly, sometimes the weird and funny flavor texts are why i love a card. there are plenty of cards i have considered for decks that i love but haven't put in decks because the flavor text just makes my day. punish ignorance from alara block is definitely one of these for me because the mana cost is usually too complicated for a consistent counter but the flavor text is just so on the nose for a control player.

[@DrMonty-ng5fo]

Drannith Magistrate was added to fight companions...that didn't end up going very well, lol

[@GoodMorningMagic]

It was valiant effort. >_>

[@siener]

Even after the companion nerf Drannith Magistrate was still one of my favorite white cards in Standard and it was definitely underrated. It shuts down Escape, Adventure, Lurrus, all the impulse draw effects etc. I'm really sad that it rotated out (but very happy about loads of other cards)

[@mmartak]

Thank you for the past 10 years Gavin! Your enthusiasm and passion for the game is infectious!

[@ricardogallegos4213]

Great advice applicable even outside the game. I particularly found the old coffee pot metaphor resonate with me and will use at work to improve communication.

[@GoodMorningMagic]

That's awesome. I hope you enjoy it!

[@AlexBalhatchet]

Happy work anniversary Gavin! Great episode 🙌❤️

[@harlock2019]

Awesome insight. And congrats for those past 10 years and for all the years to come!

[@imrahil_327]

Congratulations on 10 great years, Gavin! Your passion and enthusiasm for the game are infectious, and Wizards is lucky to have you. To many more years and lessons!

[@GoodMorningMagic]

Thank you Chris!! I appreciate all of your support so much. And thanks for all you do too!!

[@blaze556922]

Happy Anniversary my friend!!

[@VitalSyntax]

Awesome video man, congrats on 10 years! Looking forward to the next 10!

[@GoodMorningMagic]

Thank you!!

[@BradleyRose]

Happy 10 years, Gavin! You picked some great lessons to share. The most impactful insight I learned from this vid is Lesson #4: Test Strong. Thank you! I'll keep this in mind for my own Magic design projects.

[@highshelf]

Happy 10 yr anniversary

[@francescognerre2408]

I did really enjoy this video!! Thank you, and to 10 more years!

[@ILSquirtles23]

An awesome vid! Thanks Gavin, and congratulations!!

[@christopherreay3242]

Happy 10 years Gavin! Love your insight on these cards and you explain them so well. Thanks for the cards and the videos! (and the landscape boosties)

[@atamakita]

rad talk! helps with all art i'll be honest. thanks for sharing!

[@VincentWolfeye]

Happy 10 years Gavin! Saw you first as that guy from wizards on Game knights episode 7. I might have thought you were a bit quirky. But with time it's that Gavin flavour I've come to love. And you shephearding the commander format it feels like you are the Mark Rosewater of Commander and multiplayer sets. (Not that you remind me of him as a person, just that you feel almost as recogniseable as him for me as a commanderplayer.) It would be nice to hear you talk about the color pie from your perspective, since different people seam to have different ideas about what the colors should do. Congrats again to 10 years. And here's to many more. You've got this!

[@emthreadgold]

One of my favorite Gavin memories is recent - the epic beard he grew during lockdown. It would only be fair to bring up one of my most disappointing Gavin memories too - when he shaved that epic beard he grew in lock down.

[@orsettomorbido]

I was ready to make a joke about having heard a similar title elsewhere but of course you cited Maro's video XD 12:34 I laughed so hard, I didn't expect the nod to April! That sweet sweet stax lover

[@tserrofz9]

Gavin, this series has become one of my favorite on youtube. I appreciate your insights. Speaking to the favorite card thing, I love 4 mana 5/5s. I love rumbling slum. It'd be cool if we could get a Jund Commander for that kind of aggressive body and some support for it.

[@joelhaggis5054]

I've been making custom magic cards for nearly three years. Some of these are lessons I have learned myself, and others are lessons I will be applying to my custom sets in the future.

[@WizWiteKnight]

My faovurite card is Lethal Vapours. Other cards like Doom Foretold have scratched the itch, but ive never felt the same joy I had when I would slam down Lethal Vapours.

[@MtGArtandArtifice]

Congratulations Gavin!

[@GoodMorningMagic]

Thank you, and for following for so long!!

[@taurincochran3398]

You've done great work, you do great work, you will continue to do great work. Happy 10th anniversary, Gavin. 🥳

[@Rukalin]

Oh, wow, Cobblebrute is also a friend of mine's favourite card, he even made a cube with a Cobblebrute theme.

[@GoodMorningMagic]

Wow! Cobblebrute fans unite! 😄

[@Aigis31]

Happy 10 year anniversary! It's wild to me to think I started playing Magic only a few months before you started working at Wizards!

[@Aigis31]

I really love these videos, as I like making cards for games I love in my spare time as a hobby. My experience is limited, and my designs rarely see play, so knowing any tips I can get is always super useful to make sure a fun design doesn't end up soured!

[@Aigis31]

Also, on the subject of "make cards you want to play with," the card Scroll of Fate is one I've been yearning for for years, and I am still ecstatic to see someone made it! Manifest has always been a personal favorite mechanic of mine, and I was sad more wasn't done with it. So seeing a take on it where it has the choice of Morph while having the benefits of Manifest was amazing!

[@karolkurzawa3246]

Happy 10 years anniversary, Gavin :) Keep up good work. And I hope you will have fun every day of work.

[@wtficantfindagoodnam]

Love what you do for the game Gavin. Congrats on the 10 years. Here's to 10 more glorious years.

[@AufziehMeister1]

Battlebond was the first set i bought a box of with 2 friends of mine to get into commander. Still have my Pir and Toothy Deck from that box split, though it had many iterations since and got me hooked on commander and helped me make friends with people i only sort of knew before starting. So i guess thanks for making the set and especially designing the boy and his imaginary beast, having a blast with them to this day!

[@chaddonat3454]

Happy Anniversary! Really appreciate this insight to the process. Here’s to 10 more! 🎉🍀🥳

[@dontstealmydiamondsv3156]

Insight after insight! Yep this is the Gavin version of MaRo's GDC talk :)

[@gothic22d]

I was first introduced to you through The Professor. Watching you play an evil version of yourself that was the Prof's nemesis let me right away I was going to like you. Anyone that is comfortable portraying a satirical version of themselves tends to possess that rare mix of humor, intellect, and confidence that improves the atmosphere of any room the enter.

[@WytherFang]

Congratulations on 10 years! What an incredible accomplishment! I'll be honest: I haven't always agreed with you on various subjects or design philosophies. But that being said, it has been truly wonderful to see you learn, grow, and come into your own as a designer. I can honestly say that the game is better off for it. Cheers!

[@TealVelvet]

Congrats on 10 Years!! I started to play in Ixalan/Rivals and you have had your hands in so many of my favorite products, i can't believe it! Hopefully i'm able to meet you and play with you someday. Even better if i manage to get into wizards of the coast haha

[@TokenBG]

Happy 10 years, Gavin! Loved watching this channel grow and your insights into MTG. Would love to see a video of what the day of a game designer is like. (Maybe film it now, release it in a couple years or whenever the set is out to avoid spoilers?)

[@adamburnett566]

This was an excellent video and so interesting to hear you break down everything and what you learned. I am not in game design but these are helpful lessons for any kind of work!

[@GoodMorningMagic]

So happy you enjoyed it!

[@yogokazunori]

Happy 10 years anniversary Gavin~ Always enjoyed watching your videos and your stories! In line with today's video, even if you regret it, Yuriko is my favorite card. I've always wanted a Ninja commander and you've brought a card which i really really like in terms of mechanic and design. thanks a lot!

[@okanut]

Happy 10th! It makes me so happy to see how much the designers of Magic enjoy doing it.

[@berndb3141]

Happy aniversery, Gavin. Please continue to be someone in the corner of the players when corp mom goes to far on ocasion. Nice video, it was interesting. Mark tied his design lesons back to normal life a bit wich was very cool.

[@specul8online]

Great vid Gavin! Congrats on 10 years - the longevity of WotC employees is always something that's impressed me (I'm in IT - 4 years at one company is about the longest most people seem to stay at one place)

[@SolRingMTG]

Happy 10 years anniversary!! Great video!!

[@GoodMorningMagic]

Thank you!! And thanks for all you do for Magic.

[@nickjoeb]

You're the literal best mtg content creator right now imo.

[@marsimoto8980]

Happy anniversary Sir! If anyone is interested in my favorite card, it's bearer of silence! My interpretation for it is "he is bringing silence, and begging for no resistance, to spill less blood" Maybe I'm entirely wrong, but that doesn't matter because in my imagination it's exactly right :)

[@theyanger]

Congratulations Gavin! I've loved this channel and your insights, just like MaRo's it honestly makes me wish we could get this level of in depth brain picking with every designer, as impossible as that would be. More perspectives are always fun to learn.

[@cur10uscr0w9]

Congrats! My first prerelease was Return to Ravnica and I've been playing ever since. It was a great video filled with great advice. Thank you for sharing!

[@ChrissyOneMusic]

Congratulations on 10 years, Gavin!! I really love the Randolunch idea!!

[@Thejalem2]

I'm very glad we have people like you working on this fantastic game. Keep up the good work Gavin! :)

[@DerMemelord]

Yennett was my first Commander because I started playing shortly after its release and I loved her instantly. She is still my favourite deck and one that is so much fun to adjust for future sets, because there will always be new odd cmc cards. It is odd cmc tribal afterall and I take that very seriously. Thank you for all the great designs over the years and please note that if you make more odd cmc tribal support in Esper, there will be players (like me) who will love it :D

[@justinforrester6742]

Congratulations on ten years Gavin! With over twenty thousand unique in game cards my favorite card exists in limbo with no good way to solve its logistical conundrum. Way to often I find myself plotting HOW can we get this slippery boy into an actual standard legal set, that card being Gunk slug! For two colorless and a single black this 2/3 slime slinger has gunked up my heart since the SCG con that mystery booster dropped at. You and I chatted about how much I loved this critter and how hard it would be to actually make gunk an ability but I cling to hope dreaming of the day that I will be able to actually gunk up my opponents deck! Keep up the great work we look forward to seeing what you bring to life with the next ten years!

[@callmeniles6060]

Happy anniversary! Could we ever see a Gruul Growth Spiral? Like 'draw a card, then discard a card, you may return a land card from your graveyard to the battlefield'? I think it would be neat :)

[@Niedomysm]

Watching this video made me realize that whenever magic players design cards in the community we are often not comparing them to other cards were usually designing them in a vacuum and that could be a good thing or that could be a bad thing.

[@logansisson5949]

Happy 10th anniversary Gavin!

[@markgrochowicz4098]

Congrats Gavin! Very nice chat.

[@digdoug31]

One of my favorite questions to ask people, in an interview, or just casual conversation is, "What have you changed your mind about?" This is a really great video. And congrats on making it a decade. Here's to another couple of those!

[@asierbouzas2679]

Thanks a lot for giving this super valuable information away for free! For people like me that dream about designing games this is the best gift we can ask for

[@Natedogg2]

Congrats Gavin! Here's for another 10 years of lessons!

[@GoodMorningMagic]

Thank you Nathan!! Really appreciate all your support. ❤

[@vorthosnick]

Congrats on 10 years, Gavin!

[@xelaranger3880]

Congrats Gavin on the anniversary! I really enjoy your content I think you do a good job of using your platform to increase visibility, or at least like I have learned alot after first seeing you in the prof's videos. Cheers!

[@lostinthewoods2201]

Thank you for making Yennett, my crown jewel deck. A odd matters, Mill your opponents deck. The oddness is themed as madness for me ❤️