Mark Rosewater
Encyclopedia
Mark Rosewater is a Magic: The Gathering
card designer. He is currently Magic' s head designer.
. Rosewater has a Jewish background. Rosewater has described himself in his youth as a "social outcast", who did not have many friends. He was particularly small, smart and was bullied by other children. In his youth, he worked as a professional magician.
Rosewater attended Boston University
, where he got a Bachelor of Science
in Communication
.
. He then found work as a writer. Before 1994 he was on the writing staff of Roseanne
. He is credited for two Roseanne episodes: "Vegas, Vegas" and "Take My Bike, Please", both aired in 1991. He considered his time in Hollywood a "roller coaster ride." While working as a free lance writer he took a job at a game store in order to have some social contacts. Working there he first found out about Magic: The Gathering from a customer.
, the Wizards of the Coast magazine promoting and covering Magic. In 1996 Magic: The Puzzling was published, a collection of 25 puzzles written for The Duelist. Since 1996 Rosewater has worked for Wizards of the Coast as a designer of Magic cards. Rosewater has designed at least one card for every Magic expansion since Alliances
. While working for Wizards of the Coast, he wrote columns called “Insider Trading” for the magazines The Duelist, Topdeck
, and The Sideboard
which gave an inside look at Magic design.
Rosewater has been the lead designer for Tempest
, Urza’s Destiny, Odyssey
, Mirrodin
, Ravnica: City of Guilds
, Future Sight
, Shadowmoor
, Eventide
, and Zendikar
. He was also the sole designer of Unglued
; in it he combined his career as a magic card designer with his previous career as a comedy writer. Picking up on the comic note of the "un"-sets, he judged the Unglued pre-release wearing a chicken suit and the Unhinged pre-release wearing a donkey suit. He also wrote flavor text in various sets including Mirage
and Tempest.
Rosewater championed the Pro Tournament for years, including the important idea of having feature matches at professional events.
Since 2002, Rosewater has a weekly column called "Making Magic" on magicthegathering.com, the official site of Wizards of the Coast. In these columns, much like in his previous "Insider Trader"-columns he gives an inside look on how Magic cards are created. He has written on many controversial subjects, such as why Wizards of the Coast makes "bad rares".
Other key subjects of his columns include Wizards of the Coast's "psychographic" profiles of players called "Timmy", "Johnny", and "Spike" and the color wheel. He often writes his articles in off-the-wall or unusual styles. For instance in one column he took the perspective of the Magic card "", in another he wrote from the perspective of the mechanic "splice". One article, which even had the subject "Mark Rosewater Admits He’s %#@$ Insane!" was written like a bulletin board
on one of his columns. Many articles also touch upon his personal life. Rosewater claims he reads every email sent to him and has written several mailbag columns in which he responds to praise and criticism alike.
In December 2003 he became Magic's lead designer, later called head designer. Before that he was senior head designer. As head designer Rosewater has written a "State of Design"-column every year, in it he has reviewed the Magic design of the last year and he has written his plans for future Magic designs. His most important contribution as a head designer is the institution of block design.
Mark Rosewater's nickname is Maro. This came about because the old email system of WotC had a feature that could complete names based on the letters typed in and Bill Rose found out that the shortest unique combination of letters that he could write to email Mark Rosewater was Maro. In the Mirage
expansion of the card game, a creature card named "" named after him was included; Rosewater claims that it is his favorite magic card. is his second favorite card. He made the art of this card himself. Rosewater considers his personality to align with that ascribed to blue-red in the game itself, and the player profile of "Johnny."
of comic book characters.
Magic: The Gathering
Magic: The Gathering , also known as Magic, is the first collectible trading card game created by mathematics professor Richard Garfield and introduced in 1993 by Wizards of the Coast. Magic continues to thrive, with approximately twelve million players as of 2011...
card designer. He is currently Magic
Biography
Rosewater grew up in Pepper Pike, Ohio, where he attended the Orange High SchoolOrange High School (Ohio)
Orange High School is a public high school located in Pepper Pike, Ohio, an eastern suburb in the Greater Cleveland metropolitan area and part of the Northeast Ohio region. Orange High School primarily serves the affluent communities that historically formed Orange Township, which are Hunting...
. Rosewater has a Jewish background. Rosewater has described himself in his youth as a "social outcast", who did not have many friends. He was particularly small, smart and was bullied by other children. In his youth, he worked as a professional magician.
Rosewater attended Boston University
Boston University
Boston University is a private research university located in Boston, Massachusetts. With more than 4,000 faculty members and more than 31,000 students, Boston University is one of the largest private universities in the United States and one of Boston's largest employers...
, where he got a Bachelor of Science
Bachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years .-Australia:In Australia, the BSc is a 3 year degree, offered from 1st year on...
in Communication
Communication
Communication is the activity of conveying meaningful information. Communication requires a sender, a message, and an intended recipient, although the receiver need not be present or aware of the sender's intent to communicate at the time of communication; thus communication can occur across vast...
.
Television
After graduating, Rosewater started his career in television as a runnerGofer
A gofer or go-fer is an employee who is often sent on errands. "Gofer" reflects the likelihood of instructions to go for coffee, dry cleaning, or stamps, or to make other straightforward or familiar procurements. The term gofer originated in North America...
. He then found work as a writer. Before 1994 he was on the writing staff of Roseanne
Roseanne (TV series)
Roseanne is an American sitcom broadcast on ABC from October 18, 1988 to May 20, 1997. Starring Roseanne Barr, the show revolved around the Conners, an Illinois working class family...
. He is credited for two Roseanne episodes: "Vegas, Vegas" and "Take My Bike, Please", both aired in 1991. He considered his time in Hollywood a "roller coaster ride." While working as a free lance writer he took a job at a game store in order to have some social contacts. Working there he first found out about Magic: The Gathering from a customer.
Magic: The Gathering
Since 1995, Mark Rosewater has worked for Wizards of the Coast, the company which makes Magic: The Gathering. He wrote puzzles based on Magic cards and other articles for the The DuelistThe Duelist
The Duelist was created in late 1994 as a quarterly magazine produced by Wizards of the Coast to accompany the increasingly popular Magic: The Gathering trading card game...
, the Wizards of the Coast magazine promoting and covering Magic. In 1996 Magic: The Puzzling was published, a collection of 25 puzzles written for The Duelist. Since 1996 Rosewater has worked for Wizards of the Coast as a designer of Magic cards. Rosewater has designed at least one card for every Magic expansion since Alliances
Alliances (Magic: The Gathering)
Alliances is the fourteenth Magic: The Gathering set and eighth expansion set, released on 10 June 1996. It was released 8 months after Homelands, which is the longest gap between expansion sets in the history of the game. It is now the middle set in the Ice Age block since the July 2006 release of...
. While working for Wizards of the Coast, he wrote columns called “Insider Trading” for the magazines The Duelist, Topdeck
Topdeck
Topdeck Travel is a tour operator providing trips for passengers aged 18 to 30s throughout Europe, Africa and Egypt. The company was founded in 1973 by Graham "Skroo" Turner, who later went on to found Flight Centre in Australia.-Early Days:...
, and The Sideboard
The Sideboard
The Sideboard was a magazine published by Wizards of the Coast that covered Magic: The Gathering tournaments and expert play. After six years of publication, it ceased its print activities and much of the content from The Sideboard was folded into magicthegathering.com.Originally titled "The...
which gave an inside look at Magic design.
Rosewater has been the lead designer for Tempest
Tempest (Magic: The Gathering)
Tempest was the 20th Magic: The Gathering set and twelfth expert level set, and the first set in the Rath Block, released in October 1997. The release of Tempest represented a large jump in the power level of the card set, compared to the previous Mirage block. Many cards from Tempest instantly...
, Urza’s Destiny, Odyssey
Odyssey (Magic: The Gathering)
Odyssey is the 24th Magic: The Gathering expert-level expansion set. Released in September, 2001, Odyssey is the first set in the Odyssey Block. Its expansion symbol is a small image of the Mirari .-Storyline:...
, Mirrodin
Mirrodin
Mirrodin was the 50th Magic: The Gathering set, the 30th expert level set, and the first set in the Mirrodin Block, released in October 2003. It is a 306-card expansion set. It is also the name of the block containing the Mirrodin, Darksteel and Fifth Dawn expansion sets...
, Ravnica: City of Guilds
Ravnica: City of Guilds
This article is about the Magic: The Gathering set known as Ravnica: City of Guilds. For an article about the plane and the guilds mentioned below, see Ravnica ....
, Future Sight
Future Sight
Future Sight is an expansion set, codenamed "Pop", for the trading card game Magic: The Gathering. The set was released worldwide on May 4, 2007. The pre-release events for this set were held on April 21 and April 22, 2007.-Storyline:...
, Shadowmoor
Shadowmoor
Shadowmoor is an expansion set, codenamed "Jelly", from the trading card game Magic: The Gathering. It was released on May 2, 2008. The pre-release events for this set were held on April 19-20, 2008.-Set Details:...
, Eventide
Eventide
Eventide is an expansion set, codenamed "Doughnut", from the trading card game Magic: The Gathering. It was released on July 25, 2008. The pre-release events for this set were held on July 12–13, 2008.- Set Details :...
, and Zendikar
Zendikar
Zendikar is a Magic: The Gathering expansion set, that was released on October 2, 2009. It consists of 249 cards.-Set details:Zendikar is the first set in the Zendikar block...
. He was also the sole designer of Unglued
Unglued
For the Stone Temple Pilots song, please see Unglued .Unglued is the name of a Magic: The Gathering expansion set, the first silver-bordered, non-tournament-legal Magic: The Gathering expansion set released. It came out in August 1998. Its symbol is a cracked egg...
; in it he combined his career as a magic card designer with his previous career as a comedy writer. Picking up on the comic note of the "un"-sets, he judged the Unglued pre-release wearing a chicken suit and the Unhinged pre-release wearing a donkey suit. He also wrote flavor text in various sets including Mirage
Mirage (Magic: The Gathering)
Mirage was the fifteenth Magic: The Gathering set and ninth expert level set, released in October 1996. This expansion began the first official block set with one large expansion being followed by two smaller expansions all tied together through card mechanics and setting. This expansion also...
and Tempest.
Rosewater championed the Pro Tournament for years, including the important idea of having feature matches at professional events.
Since 2002, Rosewater has a weekly column called "Making Magic" on magicthegathering.com, the official site of Wizards of the Coast. In these columns, much like in his previous "Insider Trader"-columns he gives an inside look on how Magic cards are created. He has written on many controversial subjects, such as why Wizards of the Coast makes "bad rares".
Other key subjects of his columns include Wizards of the Coast's "psychographic" profiles of players called "Timmy", "Johnny", and "Spike" and the color wheel. He often writes his articles in off-the-wall or unusual styles. For instance in one column he took the perspective of the Magic card "", in another he wrote from the perspective of the mechanic "splice". One article, which even had the subject "Mark Rosewater Admits He’s %#@$ Insane!" was written like a bulletin board
Bulletin board
A bulletin board is a surface intended for the posting of public messages, for example, to advertise things to buy or sell, announce events, or provide information...
on one of his columns. Many articles also touch upon his personal life. Rosewater claims he reads every email sent to him and has written several mailbag columns in which he responds to praise and criticism alike.
In December 2003 he became Magic's lead designer, later called head designer. Before that he was senior head designer. As head designer Rosewater has written a "State of Design"-column every year, in it he has reviewed the Magic design of the last year and he has written his plans for future Magic designs. His most important contribution as a head designer is the institution of block design.
Mark Rosewater's nickname is Maro. This came about because the old email system of WotC had a feature that could complete names based on the letters typed in and Bill Rose found out that the shortest unique combination of letters that he could write to email Mark Rosewater was Maro. In the Mirage
Mirage (Magic: The Gathering)
Mirage was the fifteenth Magic: The Gathering set and ninth expert level set, released in October 1996. This expansion began the first official block set with one large expansion being followed by two smaller expansions all tied together through card mechanics and setting. This expansion also...
expansion of the card game, a creature card named "" named after him was included; Rosewater claims that it is his favorite magic card. is his second favorite card. He made the art of this card himself. Rosewater considers his personality to align with that ascribed to blue-red in the game itself, and the player profile of "Johnny."
Private life
Rosewater is married to Lora Rosewater. They have three children; a daughter Rachel (born 2000) and twins Adam and Sarah (born 2004). As a hobby Rosewater likes "stereotypically geeky things", such as comics, television, games and writing. For instance he owns a collection of action figuresBlock-style figures
Block-style figures are a type of collectible toy action figures marked by a generally simplistic representation of the human form, usually made of block-shaped appendages and torsos. Generally, the block-style figures are no bigger than two to three inches in height.The first widely produced...
of comic book characters.