Tucked away in an unassuming office building near Lake Washington lies the headquarters of Magic: The Gathering, the longest-running collectible card game in existence. For the first time, a collection of journalists was invited into the heart of Wizards Of The Coast to discuss the history of Magic, as well as a small look ahead at the Duskmourn and Foundations sets.

Set up like a private convention, we were brought into the secured headquarters and presented with three distinct s. The first was a Q&A with a group of important decision-makers within Magic. This included Mark Rosewater who has been with the company for 30 years, Jackie Jones, Ken Troop, Mark Heggen, Aaron Forsythe, and Chris Kiritz. The second event was a discussion of the Duskmourn set, with the senior art director Ovidio Cartagena and a Precon Commander decks breakdown. And finally, a playtest of the new Foundations set coming in November 2024.

The People & Stories Behind Magic: The Gathering

A Collection Of Individual Journeys

As we entered the headquarters of Wizards of the Coast, we were immediately confronted by a massive statue of a female Shivan Dragon, frozen in time and surrounded by a collection of her victim's bones. Her name is Mitzy, and her presence loomed large inside the lobby as we checked in and received our visitor badges. Adorning the walls around the check-in area were shelves filled with Dungeons & Dragons player books, awards, dice, and recent Magic: The Gathering booster boxes.

One thing that stood out to me were the signs announcing open-play events for employees to engage in, including specific RPG & Commander play nights. A reminder that work and play can go very much hand-in-hand when you're creating some of the most creative games on the planet.

Once inside the meeting room, we were introduced to the "who's who" of people who have been molding the game of Magic for years. This was a simple Q&A where we got to listen to the stories of all these incredibly creative people. In an introductory moment, when asked "Why has Magic stood the test of time?" head designer Mark Rosewater simply said, "Magic is the greatest game ever made."

After a little coaxing, he continued "One of the most amazing things about Magic is that it allows each individual player to make the game what they want it to be. If you want the game to be very light and build your deck around elves to play with your friends, you can. If you want to compete at the very highest possible level and play for millions of dollars, you can do that as well. It is a game of great depth, a living, breathing, ever-changing thing."

"Magic is the greatest game ever made."

The presentation continued on with each individual ist describing how they came to the Magic team, and what makes it special to them. It was an honor to sit and listen to so many people dedicated to this 31-year-old game. They discussed what goes into bringing each set to life and how cards are created, playtested, and adjusted.

They even discussed an insider group called "The Council of Colors" where each member is in charge of their specific color. If a card doesn't feel like it fits the Blue theme, that council member will speak up and begin a discussion. It was impressive how many little "checks" along the path of creating a single Magic card there really are.

Duskmourn, Foundations, & Beyond

A Continuous Legacy For MTG

After the storytelling Q&A, we quickly moved on to the newest Magic: The Gathering set, Duskmourn. Led by Senior Art Director, Ovidio Cartagena and Executive Producer, Mike Turian. This discussion was basically a rehearsal for the PAX East they were scheduled to do the next day. We went through the new card reveals and had some in-depth discussions with Ovidio and Senior Game Designer Emily Teng on how Duskmourn came to be thematically.

As a horror fan myself, I was incredibly impressed with the depths they reached to make this new set feel like a proper homage to 80's horror, with some modern-day creeps sprinkled throughout. Each card and mechanic shows a different side of scary, from hidden elements in the Lurking Evil versions to the jump-scare-like effect of Manifest Dread. The whole set oozes theme and the recent episodic stories by author Mira Grant enhance the narrative even more.

The future of Magic is strong. In addition to this September set, Wizards of the Coast has one more product line in store for 2024. Foundations is a beginner box to teach new players how to play Magic: The Gathering. The product comes with 10 themed Jumpstart packs, two game boards, reference cards, and an incredibly well-detailed tutorial for brand-new players.

We all gathered into groups of two and sat down to try the beginner tutorial. I was lucky enough to partner up with TheGamer's Eric Switzer, who is much more of a Disney Lorcana expert. However, the step-by-step nature of Foundation's tutorial had him quickly besting me in our Cats vs. Vampires starter scrimmage. After a good number of tutorial-dictated rounds, Eric felt comfortable enough to continue on his own and pull out the win. This was a devastating blow to my ego, and I may never recover.

Foundations is clearly created with new players in mind, and I think it will be an incredibly successful way to bring in more Magic fans to the fray. If you're a long-time player though, there's not much here for you except a collection of basic jumpstart decks.

Overall, if there is one thing I took away from this whole day, it was an appreciation and respect for the game itself. There have been times I've cracked open a pack only to quickly shuffle through it, disappointed I didn't pull a Mythic or a new squirrel for my Chatterfang deck. However, that pack isn't just 15 random throwaway cards, each one has a history. Each card was created, tested, changed, tested again, and verified. It was discussed in the Council of Colors as to its viability in whatever set it was created for.

It then made its way to the art department to find the perfect art, artist, border, and possible treatments. Hundreds of little meetings and discussions had to happen for this single card to be created, approved, printed, packed, delivered, and opened by me. Every card is a thousand creative decisions from a large group of dedicated people who genuinely love the game, and I think Mark Rosewater was right, Magic: The Gathering is the greatest game ever made.