Melissa DeTora | Humans of Magic

Melissa DeTora is a Senior Game Designer at Wizards of the Coast and currently leads the MTG Casual Play Design team. She is the first woman to Top 8 a Magic Pro Tour.

Show Notes

[8:03] Melissa’s WOTC journey: Intern -> Senior Game Designer
[9:47] What is Play Design?
[13:38] Play Design -> Casual Play Design
[17:41] Playtesting Commander during COVID-19
[23:26] Designing for “Casual”
[25:57] Play Design interactions with Commander RC and CAG
[28:21] Too many treasures / Dockside Extortionist is OP
[29:36] Arcane Signet
[32:06] “I’m still learning things every day” / “I don’t want to go to FNM”
[37:58] Melissa’s mentors
[43:21] Design story: Tovolar
[46:33] Looking back: Mutate, Companion mechanics
[53:46] Looking back: past sets
[56:43] Self-criticality as a designer
[58:41] Self-criticality as a player
[1:00:39] Mindset change: PTQ to PT
[1:02:36] “You are probably bad at Magic”
[1:05:38] Raphael Levy
[1:09:22] Playtesting at the DeTora residence / Joel Larsson, pathfinder
[1:13:15] Parents and Magic
[1:14:22] Pump It Up
[1:24:06] Women in Magic: then vs. now