On Monday, August 11th, Magic Head Designer Mark Rosewater published his "State of Design" article for 2025. In his article, which recaps the good and bad of the sets from the past year, Rosewater covered Standard-legal set design from Bloomburrow through Final Fantasy. What worked well? What could Wizards of the Coast do better? Read on, and we'll explore all of this.
<h2>Bloomburrow</h2>
For starters, let's look at the good things that Mark Rosewater expanded upon regarding Bloomburrow. To begin, Bloomburrow did well in terms of its mechanics. Many of the interconnecting lines between mechanical design and its translation to the flavor themes were spot-on, according to Rosewater.
However, when it came to lore and flavor issues, interestingly, Rosewater notes that many players' feedback was critical of the number of animals represented, or the kinds of animals in the setting. This complaint seems to have run the gamut between "too many/few animals" and certain thoughts on frogs versus turtles, et cetera. Furthermore, some animal races were seen as either overpowered in certain formats (such as Mice in Standard) or off in some fashion (like Rats).
<h2>Duskmourn: House of Horror</h2>
Next, Mark Rosewater took a look at Duskmourn: House of Horror. This more modern horror setting did well in many aspects. However, it failed in what Rosewater refers to as "mundane modernity," or what many players see as the aesthetic use of blue jeans, sneakers, and the like. This appears to have been a very common complaint regarding the set. However, many of the other aspects of the flavor for Duskmourn did very well among players, according to Rosewater.
Mechanically, while the set lent itself to a stellar Limited environment overall, the mechanics were seemingly a bit much for many players. There were a lot of different mechanics to keep track of, including Rooms. That said, Rooms were the mechanic from Duskmourn that Rosewater purports he got the most compliments about.
<h2>Foundations</h2>
Rosewater then went on to discuss Foundations. He praised it as "What a Core Set should look like," as "meat-and-potatoes Magic," and "classic Magic" in feeling. However, as high of a mark as Foundations received by players, there were a couple of issues that players emoted to Rosewater in feedback. For one, players expressed concerns about the longevity of Foundations in Standard. Certain card choices needed to be dialed back because Foundations is a 5-year Standard-legal set. As such, Rosewater brought up the ways <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Llanowar Elves" href="#" target="_blank">Llanowar Elves</a> warps any format it's in, as well as <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Omniscience" href="#" target="_blank">Omniscience</a> bringing the potential for broken combos. As a consequence, Limited also suffered.
<h2>Aetherdrift</h2>
Rosewater then discussed Aetherdrift. It seems that Rosewater views Aetherdrift as a failed design. While players praised the set for its use of the planar settings as the background for the plot, they also didn't seem to have enjoyed the racing plot. Rosewater noted that players liked the settings far more than the overuse of Vehicles and racing tropes. Furthermore, the card pool from Aetherdrift is too weak for the majority of meaningful Constructed play.
<h2>Tarkir: Dragonstorm</h2>
This brings Rosewater to Tarkir: Dragonstorm. Overall, Tarkir: Dragonstorm was a much better set in many players' eyes than the previous set. Flavorwise, it was awesome. The clans and dragons were designed exquisitely from a creative standpoint. However, there was a slight issue in that the original Dragonlords of the Dragons of Tarkir timeline were absent.
Mechanically, Dragonstorm was also a relative hit. It proved that Wizards of the Coast's Design team can craft three-color-focused sets well. This has been a longstanding challenge for them, so it's good to see them tackle this. Otherwise, Limited suffered yet again as people either had to draft red-white Aggro, or a four-to-five color deck focused primarily on green.
<h2>Final Fantasy</h2>
Finally, Mark Rosewater touched upon the Final Fantasy set. While capturing sixteen games in one set was a huge task, Rosewater believes the team did a fantastic job of delivering. However, even if this is the case, many players felt that some of their favorite elements were missing from the set. Beyond this, the flavor of the set felt a little too scattered for many players.
Mechanically, Rosewater had no "lessons" to learn from Final Fantasy, it seems. All of the lessons were largely with the Creative side of things, or logistically. He mentions something about the "layouts" of the Through The Ages bonus sheet, which was slightly harder to read at times. This is valid, but overall, Mark Rosewater's praise for the mechanics of the set bodes well for its implied reception.
The other thing that Rosewater touched on here was that players still seem apprehensive about the Universes Beyond initiative. This is especially true, it seems, with Standard's integration of the licensed sets. Whether players will be able to better acclimate to this new normal in time remaisn to be seen, but it seems that for now, that's here to stay.
<h2>State of Design 2025, in a Nutshell</h2>
This, of course, was just a recap of the notes that Mark touched upon with his State of Design article. There is much more nuance to what he wrote, so if you want to read it, <a href="https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/making-magic/state-of-design-2025">you can do so here</a>.
But let's hear from you now, dear readers. What were your favorite parts of Magic's set design between Bloomburrow and Final Fantasy? What do you think Wizards of the Coast could have done better? Sound off below!

Magic's State of Design 2025 Article, Recapped

<a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mistcaller" href="#" target="_blank">Mistcaller</a> | Art by <a href="http://ryanyee.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ryan Yee</a>
<h2>Electric Company and Water Works</h2>
I'm Michael Celani, and lately, I've been thinking about utility lands — cards like <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Bojuka Bog" href="#" target="_blank">Bojuka Bog</a> and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="War Room" href="#" target="_blank">War Room</a>, which suck if you don't need 'em, but are a godsend when you do.
On an unrelated note, I've also been thinking about silver bullets — cards like <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Kaya&#039;s Guile" href="#" target="_blank">Kaya&#039;s Guile</a>, which suck if you don't need 'em, but are a godsend when you do.
That's when I realized that there are way too many unplayable silver bullet cards languishing in people's bulk bins. Why not lower the utility cost of adding those effects to decks by re-imagining them as overpriced activated abilities on a land that enters tapped?
<a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Brand" href="#" target="_blank">Brand</a> might be terminally awful, but <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Homeward Path" href="#" target="_blank">Homeward Path</a> is something everyone wishes they included when they run into that theft deck at game night.
Here are some effects I want to see landified, and although this article is entirely speculative, you might find the perfect solution to a deck that's been bugging you in these cards.
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<h2><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Pull from Eternity" href="#" target="_blank">Pull from Eternity</a></h2>
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Exile is bizarre. Unlike every other zone in the game, which has an unambiguous, delineated purpose, exile is defined less by what it is and more by what it isn't. Exile isn't your library, your battlefield, your hand, or your graveyard... so what is it, actually?
Well, you have to read your cards. Some treat exile as a <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Swords to Plowshares" href="#" target="_blank">removed-from-the-game forever zone</a>. Others use it like a <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Wrenn&#039;s Resolve" href="#" target="_blank">second, temporary hand</a>. Others still repurpose it as <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ancestral Vision" href="#" target="_blank">a purgatory your cards must endure</a> before they really do something cool.
That amorphous nature of exile endears me to <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Pull from Eternity" href="#" target="_blank">Pull from Eternity</a>. It has so many hidden uses, and I love it! Wanna shut down someone's <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Yorion, Sky Nomad" href="#" target="_blank">Yorion, Sky Nomad</a> combo? Did a <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Wrenn&#039;s Resolve" href="#" target="_blank">Wrenn&#039;s Resolve</a> reveal something you don't like? How about reusing an <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Angel of Indemnity" href="#" target="_blank">encore</a>? <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Pull from Eternity" href="#" target="_blank">Pull from Eternity</a> can handle all three!
Now, I'm not a monster. I do understand how risky it would be to print this effect on anything remotely reusable; realistically, you'd have to limit the land's targets to cards your opponents own to prevent shenanigans. Still, I'd gladly pay and tap to shut down someone's <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Jhoira of the Ghitu" href="#" target="_blank">Jhoira</a>-suspended <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Blightsteel Colossus" href="#" target="_blank">Blightsteel Colossus</a>.
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<h2><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Aquus Steed" href="#" target="_blank">Aquus Steed</a></h2>
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We've got access to cards like <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Maze of Ith" href="#" target="_blank">Maze of Ith</a> and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Labyrinth of Skophos" href="#" target="_blank">Labyrinth of Skophos</a> to remove creatures from combat, but messing with attack powers is a bit deeper. Sure, lowering a creature's power doesn't shut down enemy combat to the same extent, but it can affect how your opponents attack or even block.
I know we technically already have this in <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Beyeen Veil" href="#" target="_blank">Beyeen Veil</a>, but it's such a weak effect that I'd rather see it be a repeatable activated ability.
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<h2><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mistcaller" href="#" target="_blank">Mistcaller</a></h2>
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Although the canonical way to deal with graveyard strategies is to exile that player's graveyard before they do anything funky, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mistcaller" href="#" target="_blank">Mistcaller</a> would be an intriguing twist.
Unlike <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Bojuka Bog" href="#" target="_blank">Bojuka Bog</a>, which exiles a graveyard once when it enters and then spends the rest of the game as a <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Swamp" href="#" target="_blank">Swamp</a>, a theoretical <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mistcaller" href="#" target="_blank">Mistcaller</a>-land would require much better timing (assuming that you would have to tap and sacrifice it as a cost).
Each turn, you would have to make a real decision about whether or not you want to hold off the Reanimator player for a bit longer or tap out to advance your own game plan. Failing to pick correctly in either direction can have consequences, and that makes for engaging play.
The other fascinating thing about <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mistcaller" href="#" target="_blank">Mistcaller</a> is that it stymies more than just reanimation. It bans any and all fraud, including tutoring creatures directly onto the field and blinking them for value. It's not uncommon for giant threats to end up cheated onto the field several times a game, and deciding whether or not the current threat is worth your land is a great test of skill.
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<h2><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Organ Grinder" href="#" target="_blank">Organ Grinder</a></h2>
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For a color that basically lives in the graveyard the way I did during my moody teenage emo phase, black's lands don't really care to use the cards in them as fuel for interesting effects. Only (the extremely recently-printed) <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Great Arashin City" href="#" target="_blank">Great Arashin City</a> cares to, and that's basically just a <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Moorland Haunt" href="#" target="_blank">reskinned Azorius card</a>, of all things.
I say let black do more with the cards in its graveyard than simply moving them to the battlefield! They don't have to be groundbreaking effects, but exiling three cards to get a little reach on an opponent might make the difference between a victory and a loss.
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<h2><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Break Open" href="#" target="_blank">Break Open</a></h2>
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This narrow sorcery comes to us highly ranked, albeit only on lists of comically-usless Magic cards. With how much support face-down creatures have gotten in the past few years, though, it's time to give <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Break Open" href="#" target="_blank">Break Open</a> new life as a modal double-faced card.
Play out your land or cheat the cost of turning your manifested <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Valgavoth, Terror Eater" href="#" target="_blank">Valgavoth, Terror Eater</a> right-side up, the choice is yours!
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<h2><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Bloodscent" href="#" target="_blank">Bloodscent</a></h2>
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If <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rogue&#039;s Passage" href="#" target="_blank">Rogue&#039;s Passage</a> represents an overcosted way to sneak a creature through a crowded board state, then why not flip the script and make everyone fight?
<a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Lure" href="#" target="_blank">Lures</a>, like <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Fog" href="#" target="_blank">fogs</a>, are criminally underplayed in Commander; use one effectively, and you can snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. After all, it forces your opponent to send their <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Beast Whisperer" href="#" target="_blank">precious, yet frail value engines</a> to certain death in combat all whilst the rest of your crew has free reign to smack them down unperturbed by blockers.
It gets especially nutty if you can reuse the <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Lure" href="#" target="_blank">Lure</a> at instant speed; I have shut down entire games with <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Tempting Licid" href="#" target="_blank">Tempting Licid</a>.
I know I contrasted this idea with <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rogue&#039;s Passage" href="#" target="_blank">Rogue&#039;s Passage</a>, but unlike making a single creature unblockable, putting a repeatable <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Lure" href="#" target="_blank">Lure</a> on a permanent type that nobody really interacts with might present a problem. That's why I think <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Bloodscent" href="#" target="_blank">Bloodscent</a> would work best as a modal double-faced card with its land on the back.
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<h2><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rishadan Pawnshop" href="#" target="_blank">Rishadan Pawnshop</a></h2>
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I love sacrifice outlets on lands, and although <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="High Market" href="#" target="_blank">High Market</a> isn't great at its job of killing your own stuff, it's better than nothing. Decks that aren't aristocratic generally use cards like this to protect their important permanents from exile, because you're much likelier to get something back from the graveyard than the endless expanse of liminal space that <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Swords to Plowshares" href="#" target="_blank">Swords to Plowshares</a> ensnares its victims in.
It's just that most sac outlets on lands deal specifically with creatures, so if someone points a <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Devout Chaplain" href="#" target="_blank">Devout Chaplain</a> at your <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Omniscience" href="#" target="_blank">Omniscience</a>, you're out of luck. A <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rishadan Pawnshop" href="#" target="_blank">Rishadan Pawnshop</a> on a land would work as a solid middle ground; you can save whatever you want, but it's going back into your deck, and you have to keep your land up to do it.
There's also a neat interaction with <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Act of Treason" href="#" target="_blank">Act of Treason</a> effects, since unlike a sac outlet, it won't put the card back in an enemy's graveyard.
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<h2><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Scuttlemutt" href="#" target="_blank">Scuttlemutt</a></h2>
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Color hate has been a part of Magic since the very beginning, and even now, it sees some niche representation in spells like <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Fry" href="#" target="_blank">Fry</a>.
The problem is that that representation is a little too niche. Removal is already so efficient that the primary upside of cards like <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Celestial Purge" href="#" target="_blank">Celestial Purge</a>, their cheap cost, isn't even noteworthy. The only real benefit remaining is the ability to break the color pie, and the only spell to come close to widespread use because of it is <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Red Elemental Blast" href="#" target="_blank">Red Elemental Blast</a>.
So why not turn <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Scuttlemutt" href="#" target="_blank">Scuttlemutt</a> into a land? It's not so unprecedented; after all, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Unstable Frontier" href="#" target="_blank">Unstable Frontier</a> can temporarily transform a land of yours into a basic of any type, so modifying a permanent or spell's color isn't a bridge too far.
(By the way; if you think <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Unstable Frontier" href="#" target="_blank">Unstable Frontier</a> is useless in itself, think of it as a <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Painted Bluffs" href="#" target="_blank">Painted Bluffs</a> that can also turn off your <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth" href="#" target="_blank">Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth</a> when it's another player's turn.)
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<h2><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Food|TBLB|27" href="#" target="_blank">Food</a></h2>
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<a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Scene of the Crime" href="#" target="_blank">Scene of the Crime</a> gave us a <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Clue|TMKM|14" href="#" target="_blank">Clue</a> land, so it's high time we got a <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Food|TBLB|27" href="#" target="_blank">Food</a> land! I'm surprised one didn't get printed in the Bloomburrow Squirrel deck, because that would pair well with that deck's focus on foraging.
You don't even have to stick to the tried-and-true for three life. Like <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ransom Note" href="#" target="_blank">Ransom Note</a>, you could play with the formula and offer other choices, or even make the sacrifice free, given that you're trading in an entire land for it.
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<h2>What'd I Miss?</h2>
Those are the cards I thought of that I'd love to see reimagined as lands, but surely there's plenty more out there. Which effects would you like to see on a land? Let me know in the comments below — I'm always interested in seeing old, weird cards!

magic design

Magic's State of Design 2025 Article, Recapped

Utility Lands That Need To Exist in Magic