Making Magic is an iterative process. We create something, we playtest it, we get feedback on it, and then we use that feedback to either make more new things or to adapt the things we already made. This iterative loop is not only applied to individual sets but also to the game as a whole. Three years ago, I wrote an article titled "Metamorphosis" where I explained a big change the game was going through. Seeing that this column is entitled "Metamorphosis 2.0," perhaps you have some idea where I'm going with this.

The change over to the Two-Block Model (two blocks per year, each with a large set and a small set) had some successes and created some challenges. Today's column is going to examine what we learned and then discuss what we've done to create the next iterative loop.

As I said in "Metamorphosis," I'm going to discuss times of the year when sets get released and the dates shifting from year to year make months inaccurate, so I'm going to use seasons as they apply in the Northern Hemisphere. For any readers from the Southern Hemisphere, I kindly ask that you mentally swap in the proper season accordingly.

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PROBLEM SOLVING 2.0
Players liked having more change. Players liked having more large sets. Players weren't enjoying the small sets as much as the large sets. This seemed to have a straightforward but bold answer. What if we stopped doing small sets?

Four large sets a year though would be too much—both in number of new cards and in the amount of work we would need to do to produce them. Okay, what if we did three large sets a year? That would work except it would leave a hole in the schedule in the summer. Was there something we could fill it with? How about the product we were sad went away? What if we filled the slot with a core set?

Not exactly a core set, as there were still some problems with core sets to solve, but how about a new product that was similar to a core set? That got us to the right number of cards and, if constructed correctly, could solve a few other outstanding problems.

The next problem was what would three large sets mean for the creative team. Would each be its own separate world? We have the team in place to design two worlds a year; was three a possibility? And did it even want to be three different worlds? Weren't there some worlds that we wanted to spend more than one set on?

We hashed through all of this and arrived with a brand-new model, what I've been calling the Three-and-One Model.

THE THREE-AND-ONE MODEL
Before I begin explaining the new model, I want to stress that this new system begins with "Soup" in the spring of 2018. Both Amonkhet and Ixalan blocks will follow the current model complete with a large and a small set. The reason I'm writing this now is that later this week we're going to be introducing sets that fall under this new system. (Yes, "Soup" will very shortly get a real name.)

What if we stopped doing small sets?

The last irony is that I had high hopes for Hour of Devastation rescuing the Amonkhet draft format. Although probably I am just getting jaded.

I guess this makes it easier to return to popular themes which aren't deep enough for a full, even two-set block. Return to Alara in 2018, I'm guessing.