Back in 2024, I began a series called "Design Files." Whenever I turned over a file back in the day, I would keep a copy of the file as handed off at the end of the design. In this series, I show you the handoff file and go through the cards with added commentary. Some cards will make it into the printed set, often with changes, while others will either show up in later sets or never be seen again.

Here are the four sets I've covered so far:

Last time I talked about Mirrodin, the first set in the original Mirrodin block. Today, I'll discuss Fifth Dawn, the last set in that block. I do want to point out that this handoff has a higher percentage of cards that made it to the printed set than other handoffs, especially at common. This is due to both the design handoff being later than the modern vision design handoff and the fact that I had the head developer at the time, Randy Buehler, on my design team.

"Tomato" Design File

April 25, 2003

The sets in the block were codenamed "Bacon," "Lettuce," and "Tomato."

CW1
Treasure Finder
o1oW
Creature — Human Artificer
2/2
When CARDNAME comes into play, you may return an artifact with a converted mana cost of 1 or less from your graveyard to your hand.

Other than changing its creative ("Treasure Finder" to Leonin Squire; Human Artificer to Cat Soldier), this card made it to print as handed off. Cards that cared about artifacts with a mana value of or were a small theme in the set. In design, we referred to these cards as "cogs." Mirrodin and Darksteel had play-balance issues (and that's me putting it kindly), so the Fifth Dawn design team was looking for safer "artifact matters" themes.

CW2
Sky Knight
o2oW
Creature — Cat Knight
1/3
Flying
CARDNAME does not tap to attack.

This is another card that made it to print exactly as handed off, other than creative changes. This became Skyhunter Prowler, and it even stayed a Cat Knight. Vigilance wouldn't become a keyword until Champions of Kamigawa later that year. At the time, R&D just referred to it as the "Serra ability."

CW3
Brawlin' Sam
o3oW
Creature — Human Soldier Cleric
2/3
T: Prevent the next 2 damage that would be dealt to target creature or player this turn.

This card's mana cost changed from to , but other than creative changes ("Brawlin' Sam" to Loxodon Anchorite; Human Soldier Cleric to Elephant Cleric), it stayed as handed off. This was back in the day when creatures that tapped to "heal" (i.e., prevent damage) were a staple at white common, going all the way back to Samite Healer in Limited Edition (Alpha). When New World Order happened (during the Lorwyn block), we stopped doing repeatable damage prevention on creatures as it added a lot of complication to combat math, caused board stalls, and greatly slowed the game.

CW4
Spit and Polish
oW
Instant
Target creature gets +1/+1 until end of turn. Scrye 2 (Look at the top two cards of your library. Put the cards back in any order on top and/or on bottom of your library.)

This card is another straight carryover to print (its name changed to Stand Firm). My biggest shock at seeing this card is that I totally forgot we spelled scry with an "e" in design. (There are two possible ways to spell the word; we might have been influenced by a Magic magazine that existed at that time with that spelling.) Scry was created by Aaron Forsythe as a way to add more card flow into the set. Not only did scry eventually become evergreen, but it was one of the reasons we decided to hire Aaron into R&D. At the time, he was the editor of the Magic website. I put him on the team because I thought he'd enjoy it and be a good contributor, and because it would make for a cool article. He blew us away with his designs (he also made sunburst), and we knew we wanted him full time in R&D.

CW5
Stab
oW
Instant
Destroy target blocking creature.

This would become the card Vanquish. The two big changes were that it moved from common to uncommon and its cost changed from to .

CW6
Old Skool Twiddle
oW
Instant
Tap target creature. Prevent all combat damage it would deal this turn.

This card did not make it to print. The name is making fun of the fact that in the pre–Sixth Edition rules, a tapped blocking creature didn't deal combat damage. Players would often use Twiddle (an Alpha blue common for that tapped or untapped an artifact, creature, or land) as a combat trick, tapping creatures after they blocked.

CW99
Trained Squire
o2oW
Creature — Cat Knight
1/3
Flying
Whenever CARDNAME attacks, if CARDNAME is equipped, you may tap target permanent.

The number 99 means this wasn't officially in the set, but we liked it enough to leave it as an extra card for development. (Fifth Dawn was back in the era of design and development before we began the exploratory design, vision design, set design, and play design model.) This card played into a small "Equipment matters" theme we had in white. This card was based on something we'd done on a card called Sidar Jabari in Mirage. The attack trigger that taps a creature is a design vein we would start using a lot more in the future. It didn't make it into the printed set.

UW1
Wee Valkyrie
o2oW
Creature — Bird Soldier
1/1
Flying, double strike

This became Skyhunter Skirmisher, a Cat Knight, and its mana cost changed from to . Double strike, interestingly, was created by a fan who submitted it as a mechanic for the first "You Make the Card" event we did where we let the audience design a card through voting and submissions. Double strike wasn't a good fit for the "You Make the Card" creature (it was green, Forgotten Ancient), but R&D liked it, so we used it the first chance we got in Legions a year earlier.

UW2
Cog Collector
o1oW
Artifact Creature — Human Archaeologist
1/1
W, T: Return an artifact card with a converted mana cost of 1 or less from your graveyard to your hand.

This card would become Auriok Salvagers. It changed from a 1/1 to a 2/4, and the ability went from to . Because that was more powerful, the mana cost changed from to .

UW3
Where's My Gun?
o1oW
Instant
Search your library for an Equipment card, reveal it, and put it into your hand. Shuffle your library. Scrye 2 (Look at the top two cards of your library. Put the cards back in any order on top and/or on bottom of your library.)

This would turn into Steelshaper's Gift. It changed from an instant to a sorcery and lost the scry. To adjust, the mana cost dropped from to .

UW4
Shut-Off Switch
o1oW
Enchant Artifact
Enchanted artifact's activated abilities can't be played. If it is a creature, it cannot attack or block.

This became Stasis Cocoon. No changes.

UW99
Dispose
o1oW
Instant
Remove target attacking creature from the game.

This was another 99 card design. It didn't make it. We hadn't done the simple version of this effect yet (Apocalypse had it as part of a split card at a higher mana cost) and were looking for a place to put it. This exact version at wouldn't happen until Murders at Karlov Manor. The word "exile" isn't used because exile wasn't a term in the game yet. That would happen with the Magic 2010 rules update.

RW1
Angel of Immunity
o3oWoW
Creature — Angel
3/5
Flying
Whenever an opponent plays a sorcery, you may remove CARDNAME from the game. If you do, return it to play at end of turn.

I think the idea behind this card was an Angel that was harder to kill. You couldn't kill it with sorceries, which included most of the board wipes (cards that destroy all creatures). It ended up being a bit too close to Pristine Angel in Darksteel, a 4/4 Angel that was also hard to kill, and was removed from the set.

RW2
Holy Savior
o1oW
Creature — Human Cleric
2/1
Your Equipment and equipped creatures you control can't be the target of spells or abilities an opponent controls.

This was another card designed to help out with an "Equipment matters" theme. This was before the keywords shroud or hexproof existed. It ended up not playing as well as we had hoped and was cut.

RW3
Artifact Replenish
o4oWoW
Sorcery
Return all artifact cards from all graveyards to play.

This was printed as Roar of Reclamation at . It was obviously inspired by the card Replenish that I had designed in Urza's Destiny. And yes, an earlier version was exactly Replenish but for artifacts (only you return your artifacts in your graveyard to the battlefield), but R&D was worried about it being a problem in tournament play (as Replenish had been).

RW4
Life Blast
o2oWoW
Instant
Double the life total of target player.

I love doubling things. Why not life? We had a rare cycle of instants and sorceries that you shuffle into your library as part of their resolution. We called them "Eternals," and the final set called them Beacons. This cycle was based on a mechanic that had been in the original Onslaught design handoff. This card would shift to a Beacon in development and see print as Beacon of Immortality. The mana cost was changed from to .

RW5
Eternal Wrath
o2oWoWoW
Sorcery
Destroy all creatures. They cannot be regenerated. Shuffle CARDNAME into your library.

This was the initial part of the Eternal cycle. This card became Retaliate, an instant with "Destroy all creatures that dealt damage to you this turn."

RW99
Law of the Land
o3oW
Enchantment
Lands don't untap during their controllers' untap steps. At the beginning of each player's upkeep, that player untaps a land they control.

To help establish white as the color that "set rules," we talked about making a white Winter Orb. It would never get made. This was another 99 design. I should also point out that we ended up shifting the balance between colored cards and artifacts, which were all colorless, during development, so more colored cards ended up in the final set. Part of this was due to the issues we were having with the power level of the colorless cards in the block.

CU1
Bouncy Seer
oUoU
Creature
1/2
oU, T: Return target permanent you control to its owner's hand.

This card became Vedalken Mastermind. The only change was that it was moved to uncommon.

CU2
Wind Surfer
o3oU
Creature — Vedalken
2/2
Flying
oU: CARDNAME cannot be the target of spells or abilities until end of turn.

This card became Advanced Hoverguard. No changes other than becoming a Drone rather than a Vedalken. As I mentioned above, neither shroud nor hexproof was a term yet.

CU3
Cog Prestidigitator
o2oU
Creature — Human Wizard
2/2
When CARDNAME comes into play, you may search your library for an artifact with a converted mana cost of 1 or less, reveal it, and put it into your hand. If you do, shuffle your library.

This would become Trinket Mage, which would inspire a whole series of creatures that fetch an artifact of a certain mana value range from your library.

CU4
Scrye Sink
oXoU
Instant
Counter target spell unless its controller pays X.
Scrye 2 (Look at the top two cards of your library. Put the cards back in any order on top and/or on bottom of your library.)

This would become Condescend.

CU5
Affinity Displace
o3oU
Instant
Affinity for artifacts (This spell costs {o1} less to play for each artifact you control.)
Return target artifact to its owner's hand.

This would become Into Thin Air. Its mana cost would change from to . One of the challenges for Fifth Dawn design was that R&D had started realizing all the play-balance issues from earlier in the block, and we were trying to make Fifth Dawn feel like the third set in the block without adding to the issues, so making cards with affinity for artifacts was difficult. The idea behind this design was that it would be playable in Limited but not cause any Constructed play issues.

CU6
Scrye Network
oU
Instant
Draw a card.
Scrye 2 (Look at the top two cards of your library. Put the cards back in any order on top and/or on bottom of your library.)

This became Serum Visions. It was a card that would see play in top-tier competitive decks.

UU1
Air Beast
o6oUoU
Creature — Beast
4/4
Affinity — Artifacts (For each artifact you have in play, CARDNAME costs {1} less.)
Flying

This would become Qumulox. The only change is that it went from a 4/4 to a 5/4.

UU2
Reboot
o4oUoU
Sorcery
Untap all artifacts.

This would change from to . It also gained affinity for artifacts and moved to rare. The printed card is called Blinkmoth Infusion.

UU3
Bewilder
o3oUoU
Instant
Counter target spell. Tap all creatures.

We didn't end up making this card. The closest we ever got was Cryptic Command, which for could counter a spell and tap all creatures your opponent controls (one of many possible options).

UU4
Scrye World
o2oU
Enchantment
o2: Target spell you control gains "Scrye 2 (Look at the top two cards of your library. Put the cards back in any order on top and/or on bottom of your library.)"

This card would become Eyes of the Watcher. Instead of having an activated ability, it has a triggered ability. It limits the effect to instants and sorceries and changes it from costing to costing .

RU1
Undujin
o6oUoU
Creature — Elemental
5/6
Flying
When CARDNAME comes into play, you may return up to two target creatures to their owner's hands.

This card is Hoverguard Sweepers. Other than changing from an Elemental to a Drone, there were no changes.

RU2
Survival of the Cogs
o1oUoU
Enchantment
U, Discard an artifact card with a converted mana cost of 1 or less: Search your library for an artifact with a converted mana cost of 1 or less, reveal it to all players, and put it into your hand. Afterwards, shuffle your library.

This is Artificer's Intuition. The only change is that it allows you to discard any artifact from your hand, not just artifacts with mana value 1 or less. It wasn't necessary from a play-balance perspective and saved us some words.

RU3
Blue Light Special
o1oU
Enchantment
All artifact creatures are blue nonartifact creatures.

This card had all sorts of problems, from combo issues to rules interaction to digital implementation, and was cut in development.

RU4
Technapping
o3oUoU
Sorcery
Search target opponent's library for an artifact card and put that card into play under your control. Then that player shuffles their library.

This card became Acquire. It was a tweaked version of the card Bribery from Mercadian Masques.

RU5
Eternal Time Walk
o6oUoU
Sorcery
Take an extra turn after this one. Shuffle CARDNAME into your library.

This became Beacon of Tomorrows. The only change was that the extra turn went to target player rather than you.

RU99
Preemptive Clone
o2oUoU
Sorcery
Target opponent reveals their hand. You may choose a creature card from it. Put a creature token into play that's a copy of the chosen card.

This is another 99 design. I think we didn't want to make two cards that take something from the opponent that they haven't played yet. We ended up sticking with Acquire.

RU99
Nuts and Bolts
o4oUoU
Sorcery
Draw a card for each artifact you control. Then, discard a card for each nonartifact permanent you control.

This was not the kind of card we wanted to print with the artifact theme of the Mirrodin block causing tournament issues. Because it was a 99 design, it already wasn't planned for the set.

CB1
[Borg Nim]
o2oB
Creature — Zombie
2/2
Discard an artifact card from your hand: CARDNAME gets +2/+2 until end of turn.

This card became Fleshgrafter. Other than becoming a Human Warrior, this card was printed as handed off.

CB2
Zombie Flanders
o1oB
Creature — Zombie
3/3
Whenever a spell is played, CARDNAME gets -1/-1 until end of turn.

This became Blind Creeper. Other than gaining Beast, it also went to print as handed off. This was part of a vertical black cycle (meaning there was a card at common, uncommon, and rare).

CB3
Skeletal Crocodile
o3oB
Creature — Zombie Crocodile
5/1

This card was a reprint from Portal. To make it feel more like it belonged on Mirrodin, we changed its name to Dross Crocodile.

CB4
Scrye Sicken
oB
Instant
Target creature gets -1/-1 until end of turn.
Scrye 2 (Look at the top two cards of your library. Put the cards back in any order on top and/or on bottom of your library.)

This became Lose Hope.

CB5
Artifact Duress
oB
Sorcery
Target opponent reveals their hand. Choose an artifact card from it. That player discards that card.

A number of designs in the Mirrodin block came from us taking popular cards, usually affecting creatures, and changing the effects to artifacts instead. This is exactly the spell Duress but discards artifacts rather than noncreature, nonland cards. The printed name is Shattered Dreams.

CB6
Die, Die, Die!
o2oB
Instant
Destroy target tapped creature.

Alpha had Royal Assassin, which tapped to destroy a tapped creature. Stronghold then had a sorcery called Death Stroke, which destroyed a tapped creature for . We wanted an instant version. This card would eventually be printed as the sorcery Assassinate in Time Spiral three years later.

CB99
Pain Imp
oB
Creature — Imp
1/1
Flying
When CARDNAME is put into the graveyard from play, lose 3 life.

This is another 99 design. It shows how far creature curves have come. Back then, a one-mana flying black creature had to have a big drawback. It got moved to 99 because Bill Rose didn't want common black creatures that hurt their owners.

UB1
Junkyard Dog
o3oB
Creature — Hound
1/1
Whenever a permanent goes to a graveyard from play you may put a +1/+1 counter on CARDNAME.

This card would become Moriok Rigger. It went through a bunch of changes. Instead of a 1/1 for , it became a 2/2 for . It changed from caring about any permanent to just artifacts going to the graveyard (the card had done that earlier in design). Lastly, it moved to rare.

UB2
Ebony Drake
o2oB
Creature — Drake
3/3
Flying
You lose 1 life each time a spell is played.

Here's something you don't see every day. The printed version of the card removed exactly one letter from the design handoff. "Ebony" became Ebon. (Okay, the template also changed for the life-loss ability.) This is the uncommon of the vertical cycle in black.

UB3
Scrye Discard
o3oB
Sorcery
Target player discards two cards.
Scrye 2 (Look at the top two cards of your library. Put the cards back in any order on top and/or on bottom of your library.)

This became Fill with Fright.

UB4
Painful Analysis
o1oB
Sorcery
Draw two cards. Lose 2 life.

This became Night's Whisper. We got the note that too many of the black spells were hurting the opponent. This was the first time we did this effect, two life for two cards, as a spell. (It was previously an enters effect on a creature.) The spell would eventually be replaced by Sign in Blood, with a mana cost of , as the go-to cost for the effect.

UB99
Hand Draft
o3oB
Sorcery
Target player reveals their hand. That player selects a card then you select a card. Continue until all cards have been selected. That player keeps the cards they selected and discards the rest.

This is another 99 design. The scry discard effect only made sense in this set, so it stayed over this card. We've never gone on to make it, maybe because it's a little too mean.

UB99
Dark Vendetta
oBoB
Instant
Destroy target creature. It can't be regenerated. You lose life equal to that creature's toughness.

Finally, a 99 design that made it into the set. This card became Devour in Shadow.

RB1
Mephidross Vampire
o5oBoB
Creature — Vampire
4/4
Flying
Whenever CARDNAME deals damage to a creature or player, put two +1/+1 counters on CARDNAME.

Here's a card that kept its name but had much of its rules text changed. This card was designed to match art done before we made the card. I'll talk about this more at the end of part four.

The printed card changed from a 4/4 to a 3/4. It adds the Vampire subtype to creatures you control and gives them its ability, although it only works on damage to creatures and grants one +1/+1 counter instead of two.

RB2
Battlefield Despot
o3oBoB
Creature — Minion
3/4
Pay 1 life: Target creature gets -1/-0 until end of turn.

This card never made it. I don't think it was all that much fun.

RB3
Big Bad
o3oB
Creature
8/8
Fear
Whenever any player plays a spell, sacrifice a creature.

This stayed as handed off, becoming Desecration Elemental. It's the rare in the black vertical cycle. This is still the largest creature you can get for . I'm still surprised how long fear stuck around.

RB4
Entwine Persecute
3BB
Sorcery
Choose one — Target player reveals their hand and discards all artifact cards; or target player reveals their hand and discards all nonland, nonartifact cards.
Entwine — 2

We had a bunch of mass-discard cards in the handoff. This one also didn't make it to print. Development would design a completely new black rare with entwine, Plunge into Darkness.

RB5
Eternal Animate
o2oBoB
Sorcery
Return target artifact, creature, or land card in any graveyard to play under your control. Shuffle CARDNAME into your library.

This mostly stayed as is, becoming Beacon of Unrest. It cost instead of and didn't allow you to reanimate a land, just an artifact or creature. Black, by the way, no longer lets you reanimate noncreature artifacts.

RB99
Nim Medusa
o4oBoB
Creature — Horror
0/7
CARDNAME gets +1/+0 for each artifact you control. Whenever a creature is damaged by CARDNAME, it is destroyed at end of combat.

I think this card became Nim Grotesque, a 3/6 that just had the first line of rules text. It also got moved to uncommon.

RB99
Duplicatron
o1oBoB
Creature
2/2
3B, pay 1/2 your life: Put an X/X artifact creature token into play where X is the amount of life you paid.

I think this was me trying to make a creature version of Phyrexian Processor from Urza's Saga. It was handed off as a 99 design and never made it into the set.

That's All for Now

That's all the time we have for today. As always, I'm eager for feedback, be it on this article, this series, this set (Fifth Dawn), or any of the cards I talked about. You can email me or give me feedback through social media (Bluesky, Tumblr, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter).

Join me next week for part two.

Until then, may you find cards you remember fondly.