• In a few sentences, what is the premise of Bauhinia: Eternal Spring?

"Bauhinia is a "set cube" that seeks to emulate canon booster drafts, with a limited environment focused around long games and three mana 2/3s that's geared towards more experienced players. It's located in a world reminiscent of Japan during its industrialization, around the end of the XIXth century and the beginning of the XXth. The signs of urbanization and modern technology are readily apparent, but they show themselves behind mesmerizing scenes of falling petals and a seemingly never-ending spring."

• Where would you say Bauhinia: Eternal Spring is in the development process?

"Although I've filled out all the commons and uncommons and many of the rares, if I were to be realistic, I would say that Bauhinia is under halfway to what I would consider a "completed" state. There's still a huge amount of testing I want to do, and I expect a ton of changes and refinements that will stem from that. The road has been long, but recently I've been simply enjoying the process of creation more than ever, so even though I'm nowhere near done, I'm not too worried about the timeline."

• What inspired you to begin creating Bauhinia: Eternal Spring?

"I would say that my most important inspiration is the work of many amazing illustrators like tsubonari, rindo karasuba, and fuzichoco. Many of whom, including the ones listed, have actually gone on to illustrate canon Magic the Gathering cards since I first conceived of this project way too many years ago. I've always been enamoured by artists with styles that use soft colours and gradients and thin lines to create a gentle and dreamy atmosphere: something that is often missing from the more realistic depictions in canon illustrations. I wanted to see if I could complete a project that could evoke that same delicate feeling for others.

My second most important inspiration is the real life history of the Taisho period in Japan. It's such a short period, but so fascinating not only in terms of the fashion and aesthetics, but also its politics and the social changes that resulted from the maturation of new technologies that were introduced during the previous Meiji period. I wanted to share my interest in this historical period with others, and hopefully inspire them to create more art centered around it. If there comes a day where "Taisho Japan" is as well-recognized of a stock historical setting as "Victorian England" or "Ancient Egypt" is, then I think I can die in peace."

• You have created a unique drafting process for Bauhinia that is rarity-blind. What led you to this idea, and how has it played so far?

"This might come as a surprise, but I was led to it mostly by frustration! If you've ever seeded a cube with four different rarities before... I'm sorry and I know your pain. And if you haven't before but are thinking about it... get someone else to do it if you can! My previous large custom project was a singleton cube with seeded rarities. However, it was almost never drafted by a full pod. I began to wonder what the point was. Why I was spending so much time keeping the cards in order for so few people? So for this project, I just said: screw it! Unfortunately we haven't had that much testing with mixing rares in, but the results so far have been good. Having a smaller pod definitely makes things a little more random, but the overall effect of being extremely quick to set up, and even easier to put away, has saved me alot of grief personally. The pools definitely get imbalanced sometimes, but that's a tradeoff I'm willing to make as a designer and one that my audience simply considers an interesting texture of the format."

• Theses offer a repeatable alternative to Sagas. How has the repeatability factored in to their design and the design of cards around them?

"The Thesis subtype has been a joy but also a challenge to design for. Some of my favourite cards in MtG are those that slowly accrue value over the course of a game, but you quickly realize that you can only do so many riffs on "draw a card each turn" when you decide to make that kind of card a set mechanic. Finding two to three effects that fit together nicely for each card has been difficult, just like canon Sagas, but things get much more difficult when you have to project the impact of the card beyond its first three lore counters. However, getting it right is extremely satisfying and has already made for some interesting gameplay. Designing cards around Thesis has been a smaller challenge. It's immediately obvious that putting lore counters no longer just speeds up getting benefits you would have gotten otherwise, but actually increases the total amount of value you can generate from a Thesis. From that idea I created Revise, a simple glue mechanic which grants you a lore counter or the chance to rummage. Other than that, I've tried to be a little more deliberate about the flavour and frequency of enchantment removal."

• What is your favorite card in Bauhinia: Eternal Spring?

"This might be somewhat of a boring answer, but it's actually Springwhirl Dance: an unassuming common rummage. However it does have a special place in my heart because of two things: first is that it's all of the visual themes condensed into one illustration. It includes flowers, a mix of traditional and modern fashions, as well as soft lighting and an airy mood. Second is that when I was first started slotting in the commons, I had a looming sense of "Oh my god this is not going to work. How am I ever going to make this interesting mechanically." Making Springwhirl Dance instantly dispelled those fears. It might not be groundbreaking, but I feel like it accomplishes so much more than its text initially lets on in terms of acquainting the audience with the environment."

• Would you like to give any special thanks to anyone on this server for their help?

"I would first of all like to thank the staff and moderation team for having fair but closely enforced activity policy in the project channels! Having a vague limit on how long I could ignore my work for was actually very helpful in keeping momentum going, even when my motivation to continue was at its lowest. Other than them I would like to sincerely thank everyone who has ever given feedback on cards, or even just read posts regarding the project. Especially the feedback thread regulars, of whom there are definitely way too many to list. You guys are the best and have successfully sanity checked me on more occasions than I can count."