• In a few sentences, what is the premise of A Better Yesterday?

"A Better Yesterday (ABY) is a standard-sized set with a hybrid cyberpunk-steampunk aesthetic that is primarily themed around non-linear time and carries motifs of free will versus determinism. Unlike Cliques of Nylin, it’s my attempt at a story-focused set, and I plan on writing short stories of a similar length to those found in canon sets for this project down the line."

• What inspired you to begin creating A Better Yesterday?

"Around three years ago, I was struggling to come up with a flashy flagship mechanic for another project of mine (Jyrus, for those that know of it). The idea of chrono counters–an energy-like resource that you could spend to take extra phases–came to me just as I was falling asleep one night, and I knew that I had to use it. While I initially tried to work it into that other project, after a couple of months of deliberation, I found that it conflicted with my ludonarrative goals a bit too much, so I scrapped it.

Fast forward over a year, and the project had splintered into two. The first half, which retained the original ludonarrative goals, set mechanics, and flavor, is still a work-in-progress that I hope to share one day. The second half, which was built entirely around chrono counters, became A Better Yesterday."

• Where would you say A Better Yesterday is in the development process?

"ABY is currently in the final stages of design. The card file only has around twenty slots left, and I hope to fill them out over the course of this spotlight. I expect to move on to full-set drafting and development soon!"

• Chrono counters allow for players to build complex turns, as well as fueling other cards within the set. How do you balance making the mechanic feel engaging while not making the extra phases/steps too swingy?

"Chrono counters are a near-unworkably flawed mechanic. If you go down the list of mechanical red flags that custom designers should be aware of, chrono counters check pretty much every box. Parasitic? Check. Color pie issues? Check. Requires a reminder token? Check. Despite this, they are the heart of this project and its most beloved mechanic. In short, chrono counters are a reminder that we create fake cardboard rectangles to have fun–that is what defines our design paradigm, not the other way around.

As for the specifics of designing with the mechanic, needless to say, the environment has been built around it to mitigate its color-bleeding properties and to enable its synergies. Examples of this include having vigilance take a backseat to Gear tokens in order to enable extra combat shenanigans, limiting high bursts of chrono counters to colors that can mass-untap permanents or produce large amounts of mana, and being conscious about the timing of triggered abilities to signal each draft archetype. It’s a tough juggling act, but a fun one."

• The story/theming of the set revolves around circular time and what free will and decisions mean in such a world. Besides chrono counters affecting turn structure, how do you feel that has translated to the flavor of the cards?

"I took a page out of original Kaladesh’s book for this: the best way to push themes of free will is by giving the player as much agency in the game as possible. Beyond chrono counters giving the player a range of choices, Gears are open-ended tokens with several synergy axes, Splinter is an optional trigger with a cost that may or may not be worth it depending on the gamestate, and both Vehicles and Traverse provide the player with other ways to use their creatures. All of these mechanics make each game play out differently.

Among all these choices, the periodic but certain triggers from the Flux mechanic stick out like a sore thumb–and that’s intentional! Flux carries the flavor of determinism, of givens, and of recurring patterns in the plane’s spiraling timeline.

The set also features a higher-than-normal density of legendary creatures to accommodate its story-focused goals. On that note, there’s a piece of content that I’ve kept secret for a couple months that I hope to finally show off towards the end of the spotlight. Stay tuned for that!

• What is your favorite card in A Better Yesterday?

"It’s a close one, but I’m going with Stabilizer Suit. I value simplicity highly, and I’m a big fan of cards featuring simple lines of text that are completely recontextualized by set mechanics. Stabilizer Suit’s ability to let you keep your Splinter tokens around permanently (or at least until you unequip the Suit) fits snugly within that latter category, and it carries the intended flavor perfectly."

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

"As is always the case in this community, I have too many people to thank! I’ll give a particular shoutout to Ignited Soul, who played dozens of games with me early-on in design to help me solidify the set’s themes and archetypes and who has continued to support the project since then. I’d also like to thank Gema for making the set title graphic (if you haven’t seen it, check out the design slideshow!), Crash for making the set symbol, Kebelqwa for making the updated chrono counter reminder token, Zarepath for permission to use the Traverse mechanic, and the various designers who have volunteered their custom planes to be featured on one of the set’s Omenpath lands. Finally, thank you to everyone who’s drafted the set and to everyone who’s stopped by the channel to give me feedback. We always say “this set wouldn’t be where it is without you” for a reason. I’m really lucky that this set has the following it does, and I hope to pay it all back soon!"