My Entry into Fantasy and Magic: The Gathering® | The Hobbit™
Magic head designer Mark Rosewater shares how reading The Hobbit transformed his perspective on the fantasy genre as a child and eventually sparked his interest in Magic: The Gathering. He also reveals Wizard's Staff, a preview card from an upcoming Universes Beyond release.
- Mark Rosewater details how reading The Hobbit sparked his lifelong passion for fantasy.
- Previewed Wizard's Staff, an Equipment card designed for cheaper use by Wizards.
- Wizard's Staff copies triggered abilities originating specifically from the equipped creature.
- Rosewater connects his early love of fantasy to his initial discovery of Magic in 1993.
Discovering Fantasy Through Middle-earth
As a child, Mark Rosewater loved reading non-fiction and mythology, but he avoided fantasy entirely. Growing up in the 1970s, he viewed fantasy stories as boring histories of people fighting with swords on horseback, lacking the exciting futuristic technology found in science fiction. Furthermore, he found traditional depictions of mythical creatures like Elves and Dwarves unappealing.
That perspective changed completely in the sixth grade when his school librarian recommended The Hobbit. As a small child who was often picked on for his height, Rosewater found an immediate personal connection to Bilbo Baggins. The novel's epic depictions of magical wizards, formidable Elves, fierce Dwarves, giant spiders, and terrifying dragons opened his eyes to the potential of fantasy, leading him to dive into the genre and pick up Dungeons & Dragons a year later.
A Unique Preview for Wizards
To tie into his story about discovering magic through classic fantasy literature, Rosewater introduced a new preview card: Wizard's Staff. This artifact Equipment copies triggered abilities, though it only duplicates effects that trigger on the equipped creature itself.
Because it triggers alongside the creature, Wizard's Staff works incredibly well with mechanics like prowess, effectively doubling the stat bonus when casting noncreature spells. Additionally, the card features a reduced equip cost specifically for Wizards, marking the first time a card has printed text explicitly reducing its attachment cost for that creature type.
Connecting Fantasy to Magic's Creation
By 1993, Rosewater was working part-time at a game store in Los Angeles when customers began asking for a mysterious new card game called Magic: The Gathering. He got his first look at actual cards during San Diego Comic-Con, where he flipped through a player's deck and immediately recognized classic fantasy tropes.
Seeing iconic cards like Ironroot Treefolk, Ironclaw Orcs, Llanowar Elves, Dwarven Warriors, and Giant Spider immediately reminded him of the creatures he fell in love with while reading fantasy books. That familiarity inspired him to purchase a Starter Deck and boosters of Limited Edition (Beta), setting off the chain of events that eventually led to his long career as Magic's head designer.
