The Lion's Lair - suggestions for editing/wording/templating potential article topics

[bravelion83]

As you might know if you're following me in the Games subforum, I am republishing my original article series about custom card design, called The Lion's Lair, with 2024 updates, but it was still nine years ago though, so they are starting to become outdated. On top of that, they have a big focus on just the MCC and its old rubric, not even the one we're using now. You can find the ones I've republished so far in the "Leo's content index" link in my signature.

In addition to that, a post by Komandon in the Games subforum asking for design resources on the internet made me realize that there are a lot of resources about Magic card design (mainly by Maro), as well as gameplay strategy, with many pro players writing for several websites, but not a lot about card editing, wording and templating, which is an area I feel very strong in, one of strongest actually.

So, that gave me the idea to reprise writing articles specifically to help fill that gap. I want to finish republishing my old articles first, but after I'm done with that, I want to reprise the series, giving it more focus on editing, wording, and templating rather than general custom card design. I have ideas for the first two new articles, but not after that. Thus my question here:

Are there any topics about editing, wording, and templating that you would like to see me write a future article about?

I'm also accepting ideas only tangentially related to that area, though I do want to shift the focus of the series.

Any suggestion is welcome and appreciated.

Thank you.

[marioguy3]

It seems like a basic question but I'll add to the suggestion stack

Question: What changes in templating would you like to see Wizards make in the next two years?

[void_nothing]

What are the worst templating decisions ever made? I'm thinking about things like the story about Time Walk's original wording ("Target player loses next turn").

[bravelion83]

It seems like a basic question but I'll add to the suggestion stack

Question: What changes in templating would you like to see Wizards make in the next two years?

Oh, this is going to be a long one... It's essentially those that I've already implemented in my own private custom sets, and there are a LOT of those... including one that will be real starting in Bloomburrow (shortening "enters the battlefield" to just "enters", but I've gone much farther in my sets...) Definitely worth an article. Thank you for the idea.

What are the worst templating decisions ever made? I'm thinking about things like the story about Time Walk's original wording ("Target player loses next turn").

I will have to do research for this one, so a little harder on my side to write about as it's not something I already have in my mind, but definitely doable. I know that one story, I will have to look for more. The reminder text on Cases has been very confusing at my MKM prerelease, explaining why could be another one. I'll definitely keep this one in mind as well. Thank you.

I've also been adding more topics of my own to the list, and with these suggestions I'm up to ten points, more than enough for a few new articles, but more requests are absolutely still welcome.