Magic: The Gathering’s Head Designer Admits He’s Still Trying To Like The Commander Format
Mark Rosewater, head designer for Magic: The Gathering at Wizards of the Coast, has designed cards for all of Magic’s playable formats. At MagicCon Atlanta, during a question and answer session with press, Rosewater spoke candidly about his experience with the game, including one interesting tidbit: He’s not a fan of Commander, the most popular format currently available to MTG players.
One question Rosewater received was about player fatigue with Universes Beyond–Magic’s regular collaborations with outside intellectual property. Rosewater said he understands players who aren’t fully on-board with the crossover sets, because he isn’t fully on-board with some of the other popular things Magic is doing–especially the Commander format.
“I’m not a Commander fan,” Rosewater said. “To me, Magic is a strategic game. I love it because I win when I’m outthinking my opponent. Commander is not a strategic game. It is a political game; you’re playing the people.”
