How Every Mechanic in Outlaws of Thunder Junction Was Made! w/ Jeremy Geist | Magic: The Gathering

Thanks for watching Good Morning Magic! If you enjoyed the episode, it'd mean a lot to me if you subscribed: it only takes one click, and helps grow the channel.
--------------------
Jeremy Geist saw much of Outlaws of Thunder Junction from start to finish! How did all the mechanics in the set get made? Jeremy runs us through it!
Have a question? Post a comment! You can also catch me, Gavin Verhey, on the rest of the internet at:
Twitch: Twitch.tv/GavinVerhey
Twitter: gavinverhey
Instagram: gavinverhey
TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@gavinverhey
Thumbnail art is Mirage Mesa from Outlaws of Thunder Junction, by Andrew Mar.
#magicthegathering #design #mtg

[@zeusalternative1270]

I will love to see this again for Bloomburrow

[@joelhockin281]

He really rocking the woody shirt lol. I dig it

[@travis_approved]

I was just about to make this comment lol

[@thorineichenschild4231]

Plot is awesome

[@BamaNick]

it really does add a way for aggro and combo decks to outsmart control decks. It was extremely powerful before the control deck users picked up on keeping an eye out for plotted cards, but I still love the extra layer it makes.

[@christopherb501]

Still prefer suspend and foretell.

[@mRboylls]

I’m really not a fan of the theme of the set but I have to say the mechanics and ideas from this set are so great! It also thread the needle just right of impactful to standard but not overpowered.

[@angeldoyle859]

hard agree. The theming was pretty awful but the gameplay was spectactular

[@AnotherGeekOnTheWall]

Milling still counts as a crime if it targets an opponent instead of milling all opponents. I get the impression that Jeremy is very well informed and aware of that. They sounded a bit nervous, which is understandable. Having to talk to a large audience is tough. I love the point Gavin made about the crime mechanic impacting the common dual lands; that was really sweet. It came up less than I initially hoped it would, but it felt amazing when it did happen on either side of the board, excluding topdecks... Also, a lot of us limited players trust Dave Humphreys a lot at this point. I'm curious if any of the really clear similarities in his sets like common dual lands/good fixing will be more generally implemented. I'm sure most of the set design is quite distributed, but that in particular is something I've loved as it gives more flexibility and replay-ability. I'd expect it won't become evergreen to have duallands at common, but hope it becomes closer to that as it helps a lot with the longevity of a format, at least for me. Highway robbery is also one of the most elegant iterations on cards I think y'all have ever done. While spree is just kicker, it's probably the best "just kicker" there has ever been. I wish mercenaries were a bit better in limited and love the theming. They were still fine, but not perfect. I think they were strong, just the powerlevel of the commons lead to them not shining. Overall, this was an amazing set I likely will be happy to have flashbacks of and while I get the impression that Jeremy likely cared more about commander or other constructed formats than limited based on their favorite cards and a few other statements, they definitely also saw and cared about limited. Jeremy sounded quite nervous, but I don't think needed to be; they seem to be a competent and knowledgeable designer.

[@PatataMaxtex]

The OTJ dual deserts are great thematically but also out of limited in budget commander decks for example.

[@ChibiRuah]

more videos like this, I dont think Jeremy has as strong of a present as you do on camera, but I honestly really enjoy hearing their thought process and how the mechanics came to be made. I honestly love to see more of this even maybe from designers that have mechanic that strong (though I like to keep the video much more positive and respective of all the people that worked on a set)

[@TheCommunistGamerTV]

Spree has to become deciduous, right? It's just too useful for making modal cards to be left to rot. It's clean, intuitive, and opens up massive amounts of modal card designs.

[@TheScruffydog10]

More please! I loved this video and the peak behind the curtain!

[@ianleggett8429]

This was a very interesting peek behind the curtains. I’d be interested in the same interview but from a set that was more bottom up in its approach.

[@jayradical953]

I really didn't expect to like this set as much as I do. Great job!

[@pote941]

I really loved this style of video, would love for this to be a returning series for every new set, with Jeremy or other designers!

[@jwaffles9269]

I really enjoyed this video and would love to see it become a regular staple of the channel. I think multiple videos like this per set would also allow you to go into more detail than you did in this. It was really interesting, but it kinda felt like spark notes

[@lora5030]

It's very cool to see the behind the scenes content for specific sets. Idk if it's possible but it'd be interesting to hear about the process behind Modern Horizons. And definitely hope to see it for Bloomburrow, Mark Rosewater said some interesting things about the design for it in regards of how scaling of creaatures was approached and it would be great to learn more about it.

[@yurisei6732]

Ooh this is going to be fun, Thunder Junction's mechanics really push the limits of top-down design, it's interesting to imagine what the early design looked at that this was the best outcome they could reach.

[@bluemanblue2316]

I really enjoy this type of video! You both gave very good explanations!

[@Rainfalls7711]

Every single design/card story/history video is awesome Gavin. Essential viewing for people invested in Mtg. Keep it up.

[@GheyForGames]

i feel like a heist mechanic that involves setting up multiple different permanent types could have made sense. maybe something akin to the party mechanic but actually good

[@Hakaze]

Needing creature, artifact and enchantment, could have been cool. They tried that a bit with WoE I feel, where there were a lot of overlap in the mechanics, but ended up hard to support as they all were parasitical

[@Seergun]

This video just further proves how important MaRo is to magic.

[@ribbontoast]

Okay I REALLY liked the fact that this interview was with someone who is newer to Wizards and more junior. As much as I like interviews with Mark Rosewater or other lead designers I really like hearing the perspective of someone who is new to the design team.

[@MattIsAMage]

Jeremy was great! awesome talk to help see how much effort goes into these games!

[@Karl_Smink]

Jeremy is awesome. Before he started at wizards, he was publishing some amazing design blogs that I loved reading. He even helped me playtest my own card game over Tabletop Sim and gave me some incredible feedback. The game has come a long way further thanks to him. It's great to see him doing well at WOTC.

[@Karl_Smink]

I'm on Play Design now. :)

[@NKMitch42]

I love visible tricks and information. It leans into the chess-like parts of magic design. I have been sad at how its been reduced overtime.

[@EDZ1LLA]

Very interesting hearing Jeremy's thoughts. Very well articulated, gave a real insight into the design process whilst managing to be concise and not just dump a load of un-contexted info. Good job!

[@NoeticEidetics]

Thing I like about some of OTJ’s theme is some of the creatures and imagery reminds me of Cowboys of Moo Mesa; a cartoon many are too young to know about. The mechanics are cool. Overall it is generally a cool set.

[@BassWakil]

This was fun! Good chat! :)

[@TopMostFlavor]

Fellas im having a great time. Im working on a jund treasure crime deck with the dual deserts and its so fun

[@zarfling]

I like how thematic each of the mechanics feel in terms of a set that cares about villainy and the frontier landscape. My request is that you revisit them because Crime, Plot, and Mount can fit elsewhere.

[@Sicktoid]

Thanks for the concise and informative answers, Jeremy! Great video!

[@Badassest]

I would love to see more mana values that keep certain pie based powerful effects easy for use if using that particular color of pie but get more restrictive if you add color to overall deck build. Some of this was seen in the Brothers War like Terisian Mindbreaker.

[@Justiferous]

Love these kinds of videos. Thanks!

[@VinnieMTG2024]

Green standard needs some love. Flavorwise you guys could focus on the strength of the woods ( barkskin, polen woodland and forestry stuff)

[@JavierOrtizBultron]

This was a very interesting episode for me since I love game design.

[@Badassest]

I would love to see some artfacts that in cast mana value are generic mana value but the abilities are in triple pip. For example a 3mv generic cost equipment that can equip for free to a specific type or color of creature to use a certain ability but to use the main ability a triple pip cost is required- Lightning Gauntlet (CCC) Equip a Red creature (0) Equip (3) If the equipped creature is red it gets +3/+0 (RRR), Tap, equipped creature deals damage equal to its power to target permanent or destroy target artifact or add a charge counter to target permanent.

[@richarddueck1770]

Gavin, your content is consistently interesting and great. I think it's more effective than the cheesy, more overt marketing videos WOTC is putting out, and I'm hoping my (and other) feedback helps nudge things back to "the before time"

[@magic_claw]

The set design was almost perfect. The lore really let this set down.

[@benwierchowski3496]

as a pauper player the only thing I found worthwhile in OTJ was the new tapped dual lands that ping your opponents for 1 when they drop

[@travis_approved]

I really liked this video a lot! I like to design cards sometimes and this had a lot of interesting insight from pros. Hopefully this becomes a recurring series? DFTBA

[@deadneck13]

From a flavor standpoint, I do wish that you could only Saddle with a non-Mount creature.

[@Hakaze]

I hope we get more crime cards. The machanism is perfect for a lot of my grixis EDH decks, both in function and flavour

[@irifhir]

That felt very hurried😮

[@NKMitch42]

I really wish the common deserts had the land types.

[@TauntedSymbol]

Are the colors unbalanced on purpose? Green is waay better than everything else, even at commons. So much so that it can't possibly be by accident

[@acdcguy18]

One thing I don't like with the "plot" mechanic is your opponent(s) knowing what you've "plotted." Shouldn't your enemies not know what you're plotting? Just feels... unflavourful. Also, warlocks being "outlaws" is strange to me. They're just like wizards but "bad" now? Same with mercenaries. All of them are wanted now even if they're not criminals, lol? I understand the others, being outlaws, though.

[@Jesse110]

I just imagine it like the James Bond films where the evil mastermind tells the hero their entire plan before they do it.

[@lastnamefirstname8655]

nice. thanks!

[@aztecaXV]

Gavin looking like Woody today

[@SmugLookingBarrel]

One thing I'm curious about, why does the mercenary token's activated ability have the "creature you control" restriction? It seems like that would be a good way to add more Crime to the set in an interesting way, and it makes sense to me that the mercenaries would be able to commit crimes.

[@yurisei6732]

Flavourfully though, powering up an opponent doesn't really feel like a crime. Plus, then crimes become extremely easy to access. When every turn you can just tap a token for 0 mana to commit a crime, crime synergy stops really being crime synergy.

[@SmugLookingBarrel]

@@yurisei6732 I see the flavour as like, giving them a gun so that the authorities see they're armed, that'd probably count as a crime. I'm curious to see whether the tokens being able to commit crimes would significantly change the format.

[@gemmafire8628]

Outlaw was such a slam dunk, I wish they had thought of it for Murder at Karlov Manor instead of adding detectives

[@camfunme]

Whilst I like the mechanics in OTJ, especially Crime and Spree, it is absolutely one of the worst draft experiences I've had so far. I would normally draft 100+ times per set, but I've just had it with this set. The bombiness of extra rares and the colour inbalance in favour of Green and against Red/Blue, makes drafts which have coherently drafted good cards just nigh impossible to win against some opponents. I've had multiple games in a row where I'd have a deck I thought would 5-x or 6-x in any other set and what the opponent has done by turn 5 has invalidated not just the draw I'd had, but every conceptual draw I could've had with this deck.

[@DaveSwitch7]

I love Alela! So happy she created it!!

[@Woutva]

Interesting topic, but if I can give some feedback; it feels the video is weirdly edited. The response between question and answer seems so short it feels like its cut. I understand wanting to remove certain online ''lag'' between speakers so to speak, but it made me double check this wasnt pre-recorded and read off a script at some point.

[@Cjgalvez11]

Loved the creation process. I only suggest less text in cards

[@stephenlewis6922]

More Spree please!

[@austinyoung3953]

Moar plot pls!

[@jacobnordquist3448]

Mount feels clunky and I'm sad that we didn't get a cool mutate variant instead!

[@pketr5]

Loved the mechanics in the set, but here are some missed opportunities that i always bring up whenever i have the chance: Non-mount creatures that support mounts should have been Rangers (like the Lone Ranger). We should have had Ranger tokens that have the Pilot ability (crew/saddle as though it has more power) for Mounts. Also more battles. They should have used battles the way they used to use sagas (to show lore). For example, we could have had a battle to depict the battle at the vault. Also also, battles should be historic. Maybe treat it like they treat planeswalkers now, where there are only a few per set.

[@admiralsky56]

I think the reason battles aren't included is because MOM didn't come out until 2023, and like Jeremy said, set design for OTJ started in late 2021. It's likely that enough of the set was locked in before they could see what the player reaction to battles are that they couldn't fit battles in. Rosewater has mentioned on his blog something similar to this, although I don't know if he was responding to a question about OTJ or another set just before/after. The rangers idea is really cool- I hope that on a return to TJ (or another set which uses mounts), they add a version of pilot tokens for mounts. I think the ability to crew for higher came in a later set than vehicles were introduced? So I'd bet it's not out of the realm of possibility

[@GheyForGames]

GOD I REALLY WISH MOUNT WAS LIKE MUTATE THATS WAAAYYYYYY MORE FLAVORFUL

[@nicks4802]

So it was jeremy who dropped the ball….

[@chevin0]

Jeremy, deep breath bud. I 100% get it with nerves, but you need to slow down. for real though, I want to see Jeremy in more videos, Bloomburrow or something, I like his energy and how he lays the stuff out and makes it understandable.....just dial the speed down a few notches, we're not in a rush :)

[@V1C10US]

tl;dw "We had a bunch of stupid ideas, then Mark Rosewater came to the rescue and fixed everything".

[@aldenkahl8703]

I found Outlaws to be a really disappointing set. Not really mechanic wise but rather the theming was wasted. A plane of cowboys and sentient cactuses and we get Rakdos in a cowboy hat and one legendary cactus plant. Honestly though it's not surprising Wizards consistently fails to write interesting sets that deliver on the theming.

[@Morchunkis]

I kinda agree, I love the gameplay, the draft is almost perfect, it’s full of exciting cards for every constructed format, the mechanics are so fun, and the world and theme sucks. Could have been an all time set but wasted on a gimmicky theme.

[@aldenkahl8703]

@Morchunkis The worst part is given how far out they design sets. Even if they hear this criticism and agree I won't see the plain done well for another half decade.

[@_Ve_98]

It's kinda like the opposite from MKM for me. I loved that set's story and theme, but the cards were kinda underwhelming.

[@_Ve_98]

​@@aldenkahl8703this is why I think they should bring back something similar to core sets. Like, every year we get a "tales of the multiverse" set that's entirely short stories with different characters throughout the multiverse so we can know what's going on. That way, we also avoid having to force cool characters into sets and storylines like I feel happened in this set, and we also get time to do things like show how each plane struggles against the invasion of phyrexia for a bit longer and to introduce future plot points more slowly, like how the invasion has affected each plane.

[@801Hellfire]

I know Rosewater’s really into the idea of thematic familiarity which is great but I think they go too far incorporating it. They could do their one unique or lesser known western ideas on top of familiar ones but instead they go all out making the magic set feel like a corny 1960s western tv show setting where everyone has a cowboy hat and the bad guys are unified within a completely separate bad guy faction and are bad for bad’s sake. Western is supposed to be gritty, it’s naturally compelling but that’s lost when everything looks like an episode of Bonanza.

[@Victini1734]

Worst set concept we've had the last couple of years (not counting 30th and unfinity), imo. It could've been so cool/intersting with the hidden omenpath concept, or even if the wild west theme was actually taken seriously to provide any form of commentary. Womp womp.

[@frankyg821]

Committing a crime is not a mechanic. You can’t take something that is already done and just rebrand it… Mark Rosewater wanted it so they did it, but it means nothing

[@ThisNameIsBanned]

Plot it for the most part just a powercreep version of Foretell , but the problem that you cant use instant speed with it is a real bummer, as when it matters it makes entire cards completely unusable with the mechanic. The "reason" behind it is also weak. There are not many cards that let you plot any card, and the format it matters the most would be constructed, where plotting a removal or counterspell would be absolutely valuable, not being able to cast them at instant speed robs these cards of many applications.

[@ThisNameIsBanned]

Combining creature types into "outlaws" and similar stuff is annoying at best. People dont remember the creature types, even after playing a lot of the set people still miss a creature type like "warlock" ; its simply not intuitive at all and the cards with these types also have no good visual indicator of their type, so its always annoying to check the creature types and its overall just not worth it, its plain annoying and not fun. Even if the cards that are Outlaws would outright have an ability (like Changeling) that says they are Outlaws, that would be more visually clean ; and even better if its just Rogues with a distinct visual style (as putting cowboy hats on "outlaws" would have worked if it would be consistent, but there are non-outlaws with cowboy hats, so that entire visual aid package doesnt work with the set). In original Ixalan we had Pirates, Merfolk, Vampires and Dinosaurs, they are VERY distinct visually, so there it works greatly.

[@LlywellynOBrien]

The trouble with those suggestions is all outlaw-matters cards would just be dead in the water outside of limited. They would have no compatibility with the rest of the cardpool.

[@ThisNameIsBanned]

@@LlywellynOBrien While true that doesnt really matter, as these cards are weak anyway and already dont matter outside of Limited. And the problem doesnt go away with the creature type soup , it just gets worse with old cards that might not even have the creature type printed on them.

[@MFewwy]

Mechanically a good set. Thematically - not a fan of it

[@mr.selfdestruct7928]

please ban the heist deck, fuck that

[@tariik.h]

I really dislike calling interaction with your opponents "a crime".

[@pblaser1774]

It’s a set mechanic not a philosophy

[@bigbone_99]

Turn 1 duress is a crime 😢

[@LlywellynOBrien]

​@@bigbone_99crime should have just been 'anything done by a blue and or black deck'

[@pascalsimioli6777]

Now it's every set mechanic, you've always been doing it, you just need payoffs. @pblaser1774

[@pblaser1774]

There’s always a storm count all you need is a grapeshot…

[@brandanmatthews4787]

theme sucks / game plays great . NJ gameplay team

[@LizaPlz]

this video could be 5 seconds long and all you need to say is "we recycled old mechanics"

[@Panquernic]

You’re fun

[@stvnshowers]

I’m sorry. This video makes me sad. Thunder Junction in my opinion is a bunch of old designs in a new skin (I know… everything is kicker… but Plot is just Foretell.. right?) Then you start talking about how cool Plot was supposed to be, locking stuff in your vault to unlock later? That sounds flavorful! But then you vision tested it or alpha tested it or beta tested it and people didn’t get it until you dumbed it down to… Foretell again. Boo.

[@DigitalinDaniel]

I really like this style of video, like an insight into sorta how the sets are formed! That said, I really dislike all the mechanics in OTJ :') Plot is okay, its how I imagined Foretell should work... however, we already had foretell. I really don't like this method of taking an old mechanic we already have an tweaking it. Like Morph > Disguise, Hexproof > Ward... not only that but we already had Shroud as the sorta penalized version of Hexproof. (Or I guess Hexproof is more like the unpenalized Shroud*) I don't really care for lumping creature types together "batching" or "typal coupling"... the more types added to a group the worse it gets. Crime is nonsensical, like I can murder your guy... but murdering all your guys is not a crime... smh Spree is just bad, the textbox and + in the frame looks ugly... and multiple choices, Swiss Army Knife, cards just feels like cheating, again the more choices you get the worse it feels. After cards like Merciless Eviction and Farewell I dreaded the day we would start seeing 5-6+ choices on a single card, and now there's Final Act.

[@trenchaus]

Spree was a mistake

[@raymondan4701]

No, I think it’s quite fun.

[@GoodMorningMagic]

^Why Magic design is hard, in a nutshell

[@juanlopesss]

Na, it provides the chance to effects like cancel to actually be playable in constructed

[@superyahoo1822]

Spree is fun it was just templated poorly

[@raymondan4701]

@@GoodMorningMagic that's completely fair

[@jacobrule4118]

Back at it again to pat himself on the back! Gotta love it. I hope he comes to realize his contribution to the dumpster fire this game has become. Congratulations on the amaaaaazing "Set Design" of taking regurgitated mechanics and slapping cowboy hats on recycled art yeeeehaw. Can't wait for the "set design" video for MH3. Can only imagine the discussion of, "how do we secretly sneak in reserved list reprints...Let's just take the same card and make them use energy!" Quite creative there. You should be embarrassed; unfortunately these videos show how oblivious wizards has become.

[@Yasherets]

Damn, you're salty. Maybe this isn't the game for you

[@jacobrule4118]

@Yasherets call it what you want. This guy and his team of "designers" are trash. They are the type of designers that take a great product and devalue it instantly. What they have been doing to Magic the Gathering is akin to products like Budlight Lime, Coca-Cola Spiced and Google Glass and then thinking they are God's gift to "creativity"