Beacon of Creation

A show about design in Magic: the Gathering. Each week we cover both official cards and custom cards made by the community. The weekly design challenge gives you the opportunity to make it on the show! Hosted by Tim, Juliet, Kayiu and Markus, with guests! Music used with permission: https://www.youtube.com/user/daleculp

Talkin' Tokens! The Highs and Lows of Token Design 09/16/2026

Talkin' Tokens! The Highs and Lows of Token Design With the new Empower Jace mechanic from Reality Fracture, we've got tokens on the mind! From format-defining tokens to one-off nostalgia cards, we dive deep into the world of tokens. Join Beacon of Creation's Discord: https://discord.gg/t88Vpwh Show Notes and Images: https://beaconofcreation.com /episode/index/show/beaconofcreation/id/42924772

Aug-erload Challenge Review, part 2 09/09/2026

Aug-erload Challenge Review, part 2 Our challenge review block comes to a close with some wild text-changing effects! Ogre-load, Servos, Carbo-load, and maybe the hardest to track card we've ever reviewed (in a fun way)! Join Beacon of Creation's Discord: Show Notes and Images: /episode/index/show/beaconofcreation/id/42840055

Aug-erload Challenge Review, part 1 09/02/2026

Aug-erload Challenge Review, part 1 Summer challenge time continues! We've got a whole new set of challenges and cards to review. Text changing effects can be quite tricky and unusual, so it takes a lot of unpacking to get to the root of each of them. Stay tuned for some cool Planechase draft technology! Join Beacon of Creation's Discord: Show Notes and Images: /episode/index/show/beaconofcreation/id/42712025

Incarnation Challenge Review, part 3 08/26/2026

Incarnation Challenge Review, part 3 Incarnations embody the feeling of an "exciting cycle". Our community members sent in their exciting cards that also have the potential for 4 more cards in other colors. Tune in for our first "reverse challenge" where our member Xena challenges Juliet! Join Beacon of Creation's Discord: Show Notes and Images: /episode/index/show/beaconofcreation/id/42558305

Incarnation Challenge Review, part 2 08/19/2026

Incarnation Challenge Review, part 2 Tune in as we unpack and understand another crop of alien, ephemeral Incarnations! This challenge really brought out the mind bending rules text. We've got nine powerful cards to review, some of which are shooting for our "could be in Foundations" bar for complexity. Did anyone make it? Check out the episode! Join Beacon of Creation's Discord: Show Notes and Images: /episode/index/show/beaconofcreation/id/42484195

Format Smorgasbord! Cube, Coop, and and Collusion at Magic Camp 2026 08/12/2026

Format Smorgasbord! Cube, Coop, and and Collusion at Magic Camp 2026 Our trips to the beach for Magic Camp are always filled with some big swings and fun games. Tim's friend Keith hops on to the pod to help recap a successful outing full of inspiration for cube, card design, and formats. Keith's cube: The No Limit Cube: The version of Hellscube 4 we played: Join Beacon of Creation's Discord: Show Notes and Images: /episode/index/show/beaconofcreation/id/42397695

Incarnation Challenge Review, part 1 08/05/2026

Incarnation Challenge Review, part 1 Our latest challenge asked submitters to submit big, abtract creatures that could fit in a five color cycle. How do you convey vast and unusual in a non-legendary Magic card? Plus, at least one card submitted in jest. Join Beacon of Creation's Discord: Show Notes and Images: (fixed initial cold open audio) /episode/index/show/beaconofcreation/id/42323220

Rebel Yell! Learn about New Requiem: Crossfire 07/29/2026

Rebel Yell! Learn about New Requiem: Crossfire Learn all about the newest set from the dynamic duo of Redbay and MonoWhiteBorder! Heavy creature focus, lots of combat rewards, and a free spirit of rebellion. Cyberpunk minus the artifact theme! Lots of fun things to learn about their new project. Browse the cards from the set: Join Beacon of Creation's Discord: Show Notes and Images: /episode/index/show/beaconofcreation/id/42249980

Marvel Jumpstart Rules, Let's Talk About Why 07/22/2026

Marvel Jumpstart Rules, Let's Talk About Why The new Marvel Jumpstart product has a ton of special things about it. Lots of unique cards just for these packs, some nice fixing and card flow elements, plus a ton of exciting themes that hook into each other. We catch everyone up on Jumpstart, breakdown strengths and weaknesses, then go pack by pack to get some specific lessons from the designs. Join Beacon of Creation's Discord: Show Notes and Images: /episode/index/show/beaconofcreation/id/42178295

Juno Challenge Review, part 3 07/15/2026

Juno Challenge Review, part 3 Wrap up our "hatebears" challenge with your best 2 mana 2/2s that slow down your opponents' strategy. As usual, your submissions drifted from that starting point into some exciting areas. Punish those lacking devotion, buy some plush merch, and witness the return of the Atog in this fun deep dive episode. New Eps of Juliet's other show coming soon: Join Beacon of Creation's Discord: Show Notes and Images: /episode/index/show/beaconofcreation/id/42098180

Juno Challenge Review, part 2 07/08/2026

Juno Challenge Review, part 2 Continuing our review of your "hatebear" cards, which mix assertive combat with rule-bending counterbalances. These rule-centric cards have HUGE design implications, so stay tuned for, among other things, a review of the layers system. New Eps of Juliet's other show coming soon: Join Beacon of Creation's Discord: Show Notes and Images: /episode/index/show/beaconofcreation/id/42002715

Juno Challenge Review, part 1 07/01/2026

Juno Challenge Review, part 1 For June, we asked for your best "hatebear" cards. Small creatures, big roadblocks for your opponents. What different ways can you impede your opponent? New Eps of Juliet's other show coming soon: Join Beacon of Creation's Discord: Show Notes and Images: /episode/index/show/beaconofcreation/id/41902015

Sharpie Cube! Change Cards To Your Heart's Content 06/24/2026

Sharpie Cube! Change Cards To Your Heart's Content Ever want to knock a mana off a creature? Remove a bad drawback from a land? Sharpie Cube is the idea of redacting rules text. Always subtraction, never addition. Community member Otter has extensive experience making these edits and walks us through his principals and rules for modifying cards. Then we sharpie some cards live! Join Beacon of Creation's Discord: Show Notes and Images: /episode/index/show/beaconofcreation/id/41789300

Cooperative Magic Mega-sode! 06/18/2026

Cooperative Magic Mega-sode! We've got community members AuxilliaryOtter and first time guest CryptRat on to talk cooperative Magic! We go deep on the innovations found in the new TMNT Team Up product, then walk through our community's pitches for cooperative and multiplayer modes! Co-op is still such a new and unexplored part of Magic, so there's plenty to learn in this episode. Join Beacon of Creation's Discord: Show Notes and Images: /episode/index/show/beaconofcreation/id/41686175

Swamps and Marshes Challenge Review, part 2 06/10/2026

Swamps and Marshes Challenge Review, part 2 Are you Prepared for the second half of our black-mana artifact and land prepared spell design challenge? Tim and Juliet go on an Adventure reviewing all the submissions and have an Omen for next month's challenge. Join Beacon of Creation's Discord: Show Notes and Images: /episode/index/show/beaconofcreation/id/41593095

Swamps and Marshes Challenge Review, part 1 06/03/2026

Swamps and Marshes Challenge Review, part 1 This month we pay homage to our nation's wetlands by reviewing a variety of black mana producing cards. You might be disappointed by only ten cards, but secretly you get the full 20 thanks to adventures, omens, and prepared spells! Lots of discussion on the amount of juice you put into a land, and not a small amount of discussion around demon worship. Join Beacon of Creation's Discord: Show Notes and Images: /episode/index/show/beaconofcreation/id/41504075

Noggles, Donkeys & Midsummer Night's Dream w/Andrew Gillis 05/27/2026

Noggles, Donkeys & Midsummer Night's Dream w/Andrew Gillis Juliet and game designer Andrew Gillis tackle the noblest of beasts and regalest of steeds, the humble donkey. From its memorable place in Eventide as a goblin-replacement, to its historical role in documented in human society, to the artistic fancy of human-donkey transformation, there's fertile ground to design more Noggles! You can find Andrew's game We Contain Solitudes here: Or as part of a bundle here: /episode/index/show/beaconofcreation/id/41437540

The Baneslayer Cube by Redbay 05/20/2026

The Baneslayer Cube by Redbay Baneslayer Angel vs Mulldrifter is a spectrum of on-board presence versus pre-loaded value. This week's episode is a cube design episode about that tension. Community member Redbay hops back on the pod to outline the philosophy behind their "Baneslayer Cube" which puts more focus on battling creatures. Join Beacon of Creation's Discord: Show Notes and Images: /episode/index/show/beaconofcreation/id/41358335

Popcorn! Playing "Telephone" with Game Design 05/13/2026

Popcorn! Playing "Telephone" with Game Design This week we talk about and design for the "Popcorn" game in our Discord community. Fast paced, exciting, and pretty eccentric are apt descriptions for the cooperative hopper of cards. Design a card based off of the last card, and the next person designs one off of yours. We go over some highlights from the game, then design a pair of cards ourselves! Join Beacon of Creation's Discord: Show Notes and Images: /episode/index/show/beaconofcreation/id/41275295

Designing Cities w/Amberspire's Nic Tringali 05/06/2026

Designing Cities w/Amberspire's Nic Tringali Cain may be the "first author" of cities, but Juliet and game designer Nic Tringali dive deep into what makes the city, and the city builder, so frequent a fantasy in games and in real life. Along the way they discuss Amberspire, the hit new city-builder that goes live the day this episode releases, and design some brand-new Magic cards! Find Amberspire on Steam: Join Beacon of Creation's Discord: Show Notes and Images: /episode/index/show/beaconofcreation/id/41172860

April Fool Us Challenge - Chaos Edition 04/29/2026

April Fool Us Challenge - Chaos Edition The big episode is here! Our new yearly tradition where our listeners try to fool us! Each card we review today is either a real card with name and color changed or a completely made up card. Can we tell the difference? We use a variety of clues to try to bust the fakes and make the right guess! Join Beacon of Creation's Discord: Show Notes and Images: /episode/index/show/beaconofcreation/id/41057435

Design Crossover - Spirit Island 04/22/2026

Design Crossover - Spirit Island Crossovers are back! This time Otter jumps on the pod to explain the board game Spirit Island to Tim. Despite being an area-control cooperative game, it has a ton of cool rules to adapt over into Magic. These Crossover eps are a great way to get the best tidbits from another game while also brainstorming tons of new Magic ideas! Join Beacon of Creation's Discord: Show Notes and Images: /episode/index/show/beaconofcreation/id/40970955

THE Horse Challenge Review, part 3 04/15/2026

THE Horse Challenge Review, part 3 Tim and Juliet enter their joker phase as they barrel through the final dozen submissions to THE Horse challenge. Put on your stirrups and listen to us break down all of your great saddle cards. Tons of creativity! There's even some innovation in... flavor text? Join Beacon of Creation's Discord: Show Notes and Images: /episode/index/show/beaconofcreation/id/40882705

THE Horse Challenge Review, part 2 04/08/2026

THE Horse Challenge Review, part 2 Our massive "Year of THE Horse" challenge review continues! You sent us way more submissions than ever before, including mount[ain] kings, the biggest lore dragon, a goat, and many horses. Continue learning along with us about all the nooks and crannies of the Saddle mechanic. Join Beacon of Creation's Discord: Show Notes and Images: /episode/index/show/beaconofcreation/id/40770520

THE Horse Challenge Review, part 1 04/02/2026

THE Horse Challenge Review, part 1 You better be ready for extensive horse content!!! We got a beyond-huge amount of submissions this month for our Design Challenge, so this episode can only tackle the first THIRD of that bumper crop! So much saddle content, from more traditional beasts to a doting dad. Come get your fill but be ready to come back for more next week. Join Beacon of Creation's Discord: Show Notes and Images: /episode/index/show/beaconofcreation/id/40707575

YOUR Fractured Planeswalkers! 03/25/2026

YOUR Fractured Planeswalkers! Last week's episode about color-shifted "Fractured" planeswalkers set off a firestorm of design in the Discord! This week we're going over a bunch of those cards. So many cool twists on existing characters in new roles, elements, and themes! GrandNagus aka Weasel joins us on the pod for the first time to share their card, too. Join Beacon of Creation's Discord: Show Notes and Images: /episode/index/show/beaconofcreation/id/40615315

Fractured Planeswalkers! Classic Characters in New Colors 03/18/2026

Fractured Planeswalkers! Classic Characters in New Colors Orzhov Ral Zarek is just the beginning! Khord and Tim collaborate on the idea of switched up colors for planeswalkers. Water wizard Chandra? Tezzeret with wooden limbs? Kaito the samurai? It's not just about changing color, it's also important to find that character nugget to keep the same. How do you keep Liliana's sass while giving her a white mana power set? Join Beacon of Creation's Discord: Show Notes and Images: /episode/index/show/beaconofcreation/id/40521420

Febru-Air Challenge Review, part 2 03/11/2026

Febru-Air Challenge Review, part 2 Juliet and Tim review your submissions for the 4/4 flier challenge. Along the way, they dive deep into what makes a keyword plausible, an ability word worthwhile, and randomness in gameplay fun or unfun. Join Beacon of Creation's Discord: Show Notes and Images: /episode/index/show/beaconofcreation/id/40391565

Febru-Air Challenge Review, part 1 03/04/2026

Febru-Air Challenge Review, part 1 This month's challenge standardizes the cost and size: 5 mana, 4/4 flier. From there, our designers could go wherever they want! Plenty of fun designs and great discussion, plus a thorough look into the nature of humanity. Join Beacon of Creation's Discord: Show Notes and Images: /episode/index/show/beaconofcreation/id/40308865

What Makes a Teenage Turtle Mutant? 02/25/2026

What Makes a Teenage Turtle Mutant? Juliet poses a philsophical question on the nature of identity and gets a crash course on TMNT from turtle-expert Riley Hopkins. In the face of Ooze, does patience or pizza win out? Did you know that Splinter is a cross-universe pun the whole time? Along the way, they design a quartet of fun new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Magic the Gathering cards. Check out Moonshot streams at: Get even more Moonshot (including more Juliet) at: Watch their Silent Hill f vids too: Join Beacon of Creation's Discord: Show Notes and Images: /episode/index/show/beaconofcreation/id/40200870

Beacon of Creation

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