Zvi Mowshowitz

Zvi Mowshowitz is a former Magic: The Gathering player, columnist, and Magic R&D intern.

Player

Zvi was voted into the Magic Invitational in 2004.

Ben Bleiweiss once said that Zvi "has broken more engine cards than any other player in Magic history".

Columnist

Zvi wrote for Brainburst from 2002 through 2004.

Zvi wrote for Star City Games, mostly during 2005.

Zvi wrote The Play's The Thing column on magicthegathering.com from July 2005 through April 2006. The column addressed game situations which were often complicated.

R&D Intern

Zvi served a internship with Magic R&D from August 2005 through April 2006.

He worked on Time Spiral (block) and argued that Damnation was a "mistake". He would later explain that greatly regreted not being able to "build the deck or find the argument that would convince those with the power to pull this card that it should not have been printed."

He chose to quit in April 2006, a decision explained on his blog: "I woke up and realized: I wasn't having any fun. I was having fun talking to my coworkers. I was having fun playing board games with them after work. I was having fun going to lunch with them and talking about stuff. But when it came down to the nuts and bolts of making a game, the same tasks that I'd dedicated myself to for years on end were not something I looked forward to. I was played out. When something went badly in a game of Magic I'd be sad, but when it went right I wouldn't be happy. Every deck and match seemed like another boring chore I had to get through. I was feeling tired all the time without doing anything outside of work beyond wind down, but I still felt I wasn't putting in the kind of work that I was capable of. Finally I realized: I'm just going through the motions. I aint got that swing. I don't want this job."

Personal

Zvi lives in New York. He largely retired from all things MTG-related after the end of his R&D internship.

References

• Top 50 Card Drawing Cards
• Where Do We Go From Here?
• Planar Chaos Review: Damnation

External Links

• Zvi's Blog
• author archive on Brainburst.com/TCGplayer.com
• Zvi Mowshowitz author archive on Star City Games
• Zvi Mowshowitz author archive on magicthegathering.com