Mark Rosewater (born May 25, 1967)[1] is the head designer for Magic: The Gathering, a position he has held since 2003.

[2] Rosewater has described his young self as a "social outcast" whose intelligence and small size led to bullying.

"[12] While working as a freelance writer he took a job at a game store in order to have some social contacts.

[16] Rosewater has been the lead designer for Tempest, Urza’s Destiny, Odyssey, Mirrodin, Fifth Dawn, Ravnica: City of Guilds, Future Sight, Shadowmoor, Eventide, Zendikar, Scars of Mirrodin, Innistrad, Dark Ascension, Gatecrash, Theros, Khans of Tarkir, Battle for Zendikar, Kaladesh, Amonkhet, Ixalan, Unstable, Dominaria, Guilds of Ravnica, Ravnica Allegiance, War of the Spark, Throne of Eldraine, Unsanctioned, Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths, Zendikar Rising, Strixhaven: School of Mages, Innistrad: Crimson Vow, Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty, Unfinity, Phyrexia: All Will Be One, March of the Machine, The Lost Caverns of Ixalan, and Murders at Karlov Manor.

[19] Rosewater advocated for Pro Tournament (organized, competitive Magic play with significant cash prizes) for years, including the important idea of having feature matches at professional events.

Feature matches are chosen at Pro Tournaments to be highlighted for spectators and web coverage because the players or the decks involved are well known or thought to be of greater interest.

Since 2002, Rosewater has a weekly column called "Making Magic" on magicthegathering.com, the official site of Wizards of the Coast.

[20][21] Other key subjects of his columns include Wizards of the Coast's "psychographic" profiles of players called "Timmy/Tammy", "Johnny/Jenny", "Vorthos", and "Spike"[22][23][24][25][10] and the color wheel.

[13] Rosewater claims he reads every email sent to him and has written several mailbag columns in which he responds to praise and criticism alike.

[12] Rosewater considers his personality to align with that ascribed to blue-red in the game itself,[41] and the player profile of "Johnny".

[42] As a hobby Rosewater likes "stereotypically geeky things", such as comics, television, games and writing.