Hey,

Scars of Mirrodin introduces a new mechanic to the mix.  It isn't a 100% completely new idea, but rather a combination of two previous ideas.  What are those two mechanics?  How have they been combined?

Check it out:


The mechanic shows up as an easter egg when clicking on a D20 dice at the bottom of this Magic Arcana article.

As far as the mechanic itself, Infect is a combination of Poisonous and Wither from previous sets.  Together they combine to form the mechanic.  Infect replaces damage from the creature with either -1/-1 counters when the damage dealt to a creature or poison counters when damage is dealt to a player.

For those of you unfamiliar with poison counters, a player loses the game as a state-based effect when he or she has 10 or more poison counters.

I predict that Infect will be primarily on black and green cards since the poison mechanic is on black and green cards.  Here are some classic examples of the venomous creatures:


While Wither and Poison had sets revolving around them, I think simply splicing one mechanic with another is too simple.  Wizards can utilize this space similar to how -1/-1 counters are used in Lorwyn cards such as this one:


What are some ways poisons counters can be used?  Here are some ideas:

• Gain poison counters for [effect] - One of black's trademarks is exchanging life for power as seen in cards such as Bitterblossom, Promise of Power, and Dark Tutelage.  Trading power for poison counters is not far from this concept.  
• Losing poison counters for [effect] - White would primarily have this effect.  An antidote type of card would work like Leeches from back in the day.  However, rather than dealing damage to the cured player, I think the poison can be used for life gain, damage prevention, or another white effect.
• Gaining power for [effect] - I see green having this effect.  The simplest version would be giving +1/+1 for each poison counter a player has.  More complicated versions could bestow special abilities such as trample, indestructibility, etc. depending on the number of poison counters.

Mark Rosewater (@maro254), head designer of Magic the Gathering tweeted about Infect.  Here are some of the juicy tweets:

Note that the ability is infect not infest. I can't explain why right now but check out a dictionary for a clue on what's going on in Scars.
Story-wise, it sounds like something came in and polluted the landscape.  A virus?  Disease?

The thing I enjoy most about infect is that it makes poison scary. I remember a playtest I had 4 poison & was attacked with a 1/1 infect.
I realized I was honestly panicked. I wasn't sure what to do. Infect adds a lot of unpredictability that old poison lacked.
Sounds like there's going to be a way to power up creatures with Infect that can either give them double strike or increase power.  Will it be enough to make Infect competitive?

Here's a factoid to discuss among yourselves: I personally despise the card Leeches.
@surmem Obviously every element of the game needs answers. Removing poison counters though might not be that answer.
If he dislikes Leeches, then chances are there will be no way to remove poison counters.  The second tweet @surmem supports that statement.  Then again, he isn't the only developer on the team.

@maro254 will there be auras that give infect to a creature? if you can't answer, am i right that the poison part is basically poison x?
@jakpul Will there be ways to grant things infect? Maybe. :)
Maybe is not yes or no.  Giving equipment or auras the keyword is not farfetched.

@maro254 Has Infect changed what pump cards you were willing to print?
@pirsqed Yes, infect has very much affected what development could do in sets around it.
Wonder why Might of Oaks wasn't in M2011?  Exactly.  No need for 7 counters out of nowhere.

Infect (and wither) is rather good against creatures with indestructible. Just a little factoid to mull over. No reason I mentioned it.
More indestructibility.  In Mirrodin, the Darksteel name signifies indestructibility on a permanent.  Chances are more Darksteel items will be in this set.

When we made Mirrdon many years ago, we had the story of Scars in our mind. What happens in Scars is foreshadowed in Mirrodin block.
I don't follow story much.  You can make more sense of this than me.

I'll leave with a pair of tweets about how M2011 was affected by Scars of Mirrodin from director Aaron Forsythe (@mtgaaron).

Many of you speculated from one of @tomlapille 's recent articles that Rancor was in the M11 design file. It was. Infect in SOM killed it.
It's a fine tradeoff: Infect is awesome now, and Rancor will get to come back later. We'll be making sets for a long time :)

I hope Rancor comes back one day too.

Until next time,
@shadowsketched