Top down vs. Bottom up
From Henry's personal library
In the process to make magic's cards there are basically two ways to start: top-down or bottom-up. In the first case the theme takes priority. In the second case the mechanics take priority. An example of top-down:
Suppose that I have an idea of a card that is about wind. Destructive wind gusts. In the context of Magic that means a card that affects creatures, probably some card that destroys or deals damage to one or more creatures. Due to color restrictions, with each color having access to certain effects, the card can't be of any color. Let's see some of cards that were made:
