Bill Rose
Bill Rose was a Magic playtester, developer and formerly one of the Lead Designers for Wizards of the Coast. In November 1995, he became Vice President at Wizards of the Coast and the head of R&D.[1] Following the internal restructure of R&D into in 2019 Studio X, Bill became head of the Studio.
Bill retired from Wizards of the Coast in July 2025, after a 30 year career. Mark Rosewater considered him to have had one of the biggest influences on Magic by any single person for his involvement in the Sixth Edition rules changes.[2]
Biography
In the late 1980s, Bill was one of the playtesters from the University of Pennsylvania that Richard Garfield tagged to help get the Alpha card set (and game rules) ready for public consumption.[3] In 1986 he majored in Economics. Bill began working for Wizards in October '95. Together with Joel Mick, Charlie Catino, Don Felice, Howard Kahlenberg and Elliott Segal, Bill formed the "Penn group" that designed Mirage and Visions.[4][5][6] He was also part of the "Magic: The Gathering Comprehensive Rules 2007" team working on the Comprehensive Rules Design and Development with Paul Barclay and Beth Moursund.
Playtesting
Designing
- Revised Edition
- 'Fourth Edition
- Mirage (co-lead)
- Visions (co-lead)
- Fifth Edition
- Portal (lead)
- Portal Second Age (lead)
- Stronghold
- Exodus
- Urza's Saga
- Anthologies
- Urza's Legacy
- Sixth Edition (lead)
- Starter 1999 (lead)
- Mercadian Masques
- Battle Royale (lead)
- Nemesis
- Prophecy
- Invasion (lead)
- Planeshift
- Torment
- Judgment
- Mirrodin
- Darksteel (lead)
- Champions of Kamigawa
- Betrayers of Kamigawa (lead)
- Coldsnap (lead)
- Planar Chaos (lead)
- Masters Edition
- Shards of Alara (lead)
- Conflux (lead)
- Magic 2010
- Avacyn Restored
Developing
- Revised Edition
- Fourth Edition
- Alliances
- Mirage (co-lead)
- Visions (co-lead)
- Portal (lead)
- Weatherlight
- Portal Second Age (lead)
- Tempest
- Stronghold
- Exodus
- Urza's Saga
- Anthologies
- Urza's Legacy
- Urza's Destiny
- Sixth Edition
- Starter 1999
- Masters Edition
- Lorwyn
- Morningtide (contributions)
- Shards of Alara
References
- ↑ Aaron Forsythe (October 22, 2004). "Gottlieb’s Fan Mail". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2021-04-29.
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (July 25, 2025). "Answer to yesterday’s #mtgtrivia question: Bill Rose.". Bluesky.
- ↑ Darren Davis (December 18, 2017). "Spell Casters, a ‘Magic: The Gathering’ Origin Story". Seattlemet.com. Archived from the original on August 23, 2022.
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (June 11, 2007). "Here’s the Kicker". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2020-10-25.
- ↑ Bill Rose (April 18, 2003). "A Three-Year Mirage". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2020-08-03.
- ↑ Mark Rosewater (April 14, 2003). "Jamuraa, the Merrier". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.