R&D

For other uses, see R&D (disambiguation).

R&D is an abbreviation for Research & Development. It is a section of Wizards of the Coast that create upcoming sets and cards. Design creates the vision, development upholds that vision even if it has to make some changes to get it there. The design/development split is a very important facet to Wizards R&D. It ensures that each set has two different set of eyes overlooking each decision to make sure that what we end up with is the best the set can be.

Design

The designers create new cards, mechanics and themes for Magic sets. Every set should do something innovative that hasn't been done before. It also set should bring back something from the past and present it in a new light, it should add new elements to old ideas. Every set should make players have to shift their thinking about the game in some way, while creating a moment that is uniquely its own. Head designer Mark Rosewater distinguishes five stages of Magic design, and corresponding dynasties of Magic designers.

First Stage

Alpha through Alliances. This stage was about the focus on individual card design. Design decisions tended to be made on a card-by-card basis.

• Richard Garfield
• The "East Coast Playtesters"
  • Skaff Elias
  • Jim Lin
  • Chris Page
  • Dave Pettey
• The "Penn group"
  • Charlie Catino
  • Joel Mick
  • Don Felice
  • Howard Kahlenberg
  • Elliott Segal
• The Canadian connection
  • Steve Conard
  • Robin Herbert

Second Stage

Mirage through Prophecy. This stage was the introduction of the block and the focus of design in thinking of Magic in terms of a year.

• Bill Rose
• Mark Rosewater
• Mike Elliott
• William Jockusch
• Henry Stern

Third Stage

Invasion through Saviors of Kamigawa. This stage was the introduction of block themes. Blocks were no longer just a collection of mechanics, but contained specific things chosen to highlight the block's theme.

• Randy Buehler
• Mike Donais
• Brian Schneider
• Worth Wollpert
• Aaron Forsythe
• Elaine Chase
• Devin Low
• Brian Tinsman
• Tyler Bielman

Fourth Stage

Ravnica through Rise of the Eldrazi. This stage was the introduction of block planning. Instead of picking a theme and continuing it through the block, design now planned out how exactly the block was going to evolve. This planning allowed for themes to be better set up and paid off.

• Mike Turian
• Erik Lauer
• Nate Heiss
• Matt Place
• Alexis Janson
• Ken Nagle
• Graeme Hopkins
• Mark Globus
• Paul Sottosanti
• Gregory Marques
• Mark Gottlieb
• Steve Warner

Fifth Stage

From Scars of Mirrodin until now. How mechanical themes are looked at and used is radically changed. In the previous two stages, themes had been used as the foundation to build the block on. Starting with Scars of Mirrodin, mechanical themes are now thought of as tools used to put a block together. Metaphorically, themes are no longer the canvas, but the paint.

• Dave Humpherys
• Zac Hill
• Tom LaPille
• Max McCall
• Billy Moreno
• Gavin Verhey
• Kelly Digges
• Matt Tabak
• Ethan Fleischer
• Shawn Main

Development

The main job for developers is to make Magic as fun as it can be for all the different types of players. Most of the time is spent working on designing the right recipe for Magic. They try to find the most fun parts of the design and bring them to the forefront of the set, and kill unwanted elements. Casting costs and other balance issues for both Limited and Constructed are considered.

Trivia

• Look at Me, I'm R&D
• Designer is an Unglued creature types which was eliminated from the Comprehensive Rules list during the Grand Creature Type Update (Richard Garfield, Ph.D.).