Ben Weitz
@bsweitz123.bsky.social
Senior Game Designer at Wizards of the Coast. Former ML Engineer at Pinterest, Ph.D. in TCS. Ask me about designing Magic Cards! Or my monored cube! Or math! Or board games!
Even for a play designer, I typically work on sets late in their lifecycle. I don't do a lot of blue-sky mechanic design, I tune existing mechanics. But I am very proud to have had a large hand in designing hone counters! I just want every equipment to be Colossus Hammer :)
I'm so excited for this set to release! Probably the single set I've spent most time on, I was on the team for almost all of both vision design and set design. It was also my second ever limited lead, and one of my favorite sets of all time. I can't wait for y'all to see it.
Magic: The Gathering@magic.wizards.com · 4w agoOur third set of the year is a return to a fan-favorite plane under siege. Kamigawa: Titanbreach releases June 4th! #MTGKamigawa youtu.be/cC6ebvZg-_Q
It’s been a long, long time since I got 2nd place at a major card game tournament. Last time it kick-started an incredibly fun 6-year pro-level career in which I made lifelong friends. Excited to see what the future of Riftbound has in store for me :)
Ended up getting second overall, bittersweet finals for sure but at least I won the Best-Of Diana with my own list and what the team started calling “my emotional support -1 Hwei”. So happy to be back playing card tournaments again. Congrats to my opponent whose tag I don’t know!
Top 8 the Hartford RQ with Diana! Really happy with my work on the deck and also appreciate my friends bullying me into playing more Ride The Winds, even though I (wrongly) dislike that card. Sprite Fountain remains exceptional though. 3 to go.
7-0-1 at RQ Hartford with Diana. Feeling rather exhausted but happy with the day. It ended with a crazy match where I thought I could never win but managed to crawl back to a winning position but sadly needed one more turn I didn’t have. Excited for tomorrow and looking for a t8!
Ended up going 9-4 at the RQ with Diana. Pretty disappointed, I played poorly and got punished. I really need to play against more decks before these tournaments, getting owned just by lack of experience. But so it goes, Hartford soon for another shot!
Update: opened some packs and received a good portent
Ben Weitz@bsweitz123.bsky.social · 2mo agoLost my last round for 6-2 at RQ Vancouver. Bummed to once again be essentially eliminated from top 8 but will do my best to win all my matches tomorrow! Diana my beloved
Lost my last round for 6-2 at RQ Vancouver. Bummed to once again be essentially eliminated from top 8 but will do my best to win all my matches tomorrow! Diana my beloved
Finished Friday 4-0-1 after splitting the final round with cftsoc, who I worked on the deck with. Here’s to hoping tomorrow goes just as well!
Ben Weitz@bsweitz123.bsky.social · 3mo agoHeading to Vancouver via train for the RC. Have been tinkering a lot on my deck and I think it’s in a real nice spot. It’s also very fun to play and generates the kind of Riftbound games I love. Looking forward to the tournament! can’t let @samdsherman.bsky.social upstage me for too long in RB
Heading to Vancouver via train for the RC. Have been tinkering a lot on my deck and I think it’s in a real nice spot. It’s also very fun to play and generates the kind of Riftbound games I love. Looking forward to the tournament! can’t let @samdsherman.bsky.social upstage me for too long in RB
This might be my favorite card in all of SOS. I love every part of it: the art is amazing, the flavor text is badass, and the design gives a high floor while forcing you to figure out what cards to play with it to maximize its abilities.
Experiencing spoiler season as a Magic Designer is really weird because I’ve seen all these cards before but I kinda forgot how cool they were so I still get hyped. Anyway I love SOS and I hope y’all will too!
I built another model. It’s a marble maze and it was frickin hard. My fingers are so sore from pinching and pushing wood but it feels great to be done and it’s cool af. Progress pics below.
The official article on Secret Lair: Dandan went up this morning. It was a dream leading this with @corriganabe.bsky.social, but I cannot stress enough that this wouldn't be possible without @magicstorytime.bsky.social. Magic's players are its legacy. #WOTCstaff magic.wizards.com/en/news/anno...
From the Chaos Vault: Secret Lair Dandân Decklist
Dandân has officially surfaced in Secret Lair! This 80-card, Fish-filled deck will be available tomorrow, March 16, through the Chaos Vault.
magic.wizards.com
My weekend combined record with Pit Crew Ezreal minus bye was 15-3. 3-0 Miracle Draven 3-0 Draven 2-0 Fiora 2-0 Ahri 1-1 Jax 1-1 Kaisa 1-0 Ezreal 1-0 Irelia 1-0 Sett 0-1 Miss Fortune Was very comfortable with Draven plans but definitely needed more practice against fringe decks
Preparing for this event is some of the most fun I’ve had, the squad is great 💕❤️💕
Carmen Klomparens@carmparens.bsky.social · 5mo agoUpdate on discord's KDA on the weekend: 8 people 2 Regional Qualifications 4 Day 2s 1 Best of (Ornn) 5 plated cards Not bad :)
Update on discord's KDA on the weekend: 8 people 2 Regional Qualifications 4 Day 2s 1 Best of (Ornn) 5 plated cards Not bad :)
Carmen Klomparens@carmparens.bsky.social · 6mo ago6-0d the Friday event and got to upgrade my Legend for the trouble 🥰
Emerging from social media exile to say I had such a damn good time this weekend. Lost back to back win and ins for regional qualification which was brutal, but had a blast prepping and playing with friends and came out of it with a plated card. Looking forward to Atlanta.
Carmen Klomparens@carmparens.bsky.social · 5mo agoUpdate on discord's KDA on the weekend: 8 people 2 Regional Qualifications 4 Day 2s 1 Best of (Ornn) 5 plated cards Not bad :)
Finished the Riftbound Vegas RQ at 10-3 and 55th place, which fulfills the “qualifier” part! Proud to say that I’ll be attending the first Riftbound Regional! It was a harrowing day since I started with a loss but won out. Leaving with a Q and a metal card makes a nice weekend :)
Day 2 the Vegas RQ at 6-2! Really love my deck construction, though there is a lot of seal hate out in force. Game is completely impossible to play at 100%, just going to aim for about 95% and play at a reasonable pace.
Our testing discord went a combined 25-4-1 in the event :)
Carmen Klomparens@carmparens.bsky.social · 6mo ago6-0d the Friday event and got to upgrade my Legend for the trouble 🥰
Went 6-0 at the pre-RQ tournament at Vegas. Sadly the Ahri metal cards were out but I got to at least got to pick up a heavy version of my legend. Riftbound is fun as hell
On this week's #mtgcube conversation on Recross the Paths, I get to sit down with @bsweitz123.bsky.social and chat about Mono-Red! Lots of great insight from Ben's role as a game designer at Wizards of the Coast. open.spotify.com/episode/3p9A...
Ben Weitz - Monored Cube
open.spotify.com
If you want to hear me talk about Magic design, Cube design, and how I’ve applied it to my Monored Cube, check out this interview! I love yapping and you can get plenty of it here.
Kade Goforth@domrikade.bsky.social · 6mo agoOn this week's #mtgcube conversation on Recross the Paths, I get to sit down with @bsweitz123.bsky.social and chat about Mono-Red! Lots of great insight from Ben's role as a game designer at Wizards of the Coast. open.spotify.com/episode/3p9A...
Lost in top 8 sadly. Wasn’t meant to be. But I’m happy to have made a deep run with a self-made brew. Jeweled Colossus is the truth, just some nice chonk for the pump spells. Decklist here:
Ben Weitz@bsweitz123.bsky.social · 7mo agoTop 8 the Riftbound 10k at @scgcon.bsky.social with Ahri. Aiming for that trophy and to properly represent my midlane one-trick!
Top 8 the Riftbound 10k at @scgcon.bsky.social with Ahri. Aiming for that trophy and to properly represent my midlane one-trick!
Won our #wotcstaff Avatar Limited tournament today. I won the Spider-Man one too a few months ago! Perhaps only mostly washed :)
