Last month, Wizards of the Coast announced that it's changing Magic: The Gathering's "Converted Mana Cost" to "Mana Value", which is simply the total cost of a spell converted to all colorless mana. This small update will come with release of the upcoming magical school-themed set, Strixhaven: School of Mages next month. Today, a Magic designer has explained why they decided to change this widely-used term.
During a recent press event (via Comicbook.com), Magic principal product designer Mark Turian explained the reason behind this change.
"One of the things I love about working on Magic is we're always looking to improve and iterate," Turian said. "And with mana value, we just saw this opportunity, right? There's always been nomenclature confusion about converted mana cost and what it means. It's also a lot to be writing out, right? That's a pretty hefty phrase to be putting on cards, where space is very valuable. So through testing and in discussion, we found that mana value really would capture a lot of that same information that converted mana cost does better to newer players and more concisely for everyone."
When WotC announced this change last month, fans on social media were divided about this decision, with some criticizing the change and saying that "Converted Mana Cost" is clear and easy to understand, but some fans welcome the change because it sounds less wordy, and using the new term can help save space in card design, as Turian just pointed out.
Related:Strixhaven: School of Mages March 25 Preview Round-Up
Strixhaven: School of Mages is set to release for tabletop on April 23, and it will be released on Magic: The Gathering Arena and Magic Online on April 15. Check out the important dates here. To check out the rest of the new cards from Strixhaven: School of Mages, check out the spoiler section at MTGRocks.com.
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