Humans of Magic

Alexander Hayne is widely considered to be the greatest Canadian Magic player of all time. He is the Pro Tour Avacyn Restored Champion.

6:36 is Alex old-school?

8:09 from learning Magic to playing the Pro Tour

12:17 present-day relationship with Magic

16:27 figuring out what’s next

18:02 the fire vs. the grind

21:48 depression & the rear-view mirror

26:11 “mistakes shape who I am”

29:03 tools from therapy

36:10 mental health stigma

38:26 PT Barca mindset

47:41 winning PT Barca & unforeseen consequences

52:20 being a relatively unknown player

54:29 negative side of Magic fame

59:43 chasing another PT top eight / hall of fame eligibility

1:04:41 on streaming

1:08:02 “plays nearly perfect all the time”

1:10:14 habits & diminishing returns

1:14:20 the period when Alex worked the hardest

1:18:08 humility vs. bravado

1:20:08 heels in today's game

1:21:13 art of trolling

1:29:50 is pro gatekeeping real? / to be the best? network

1:43:20 objective truth, do we want it?

1:50:05 state of content today / PVDVR is the content GOAT / attention spans

2:01:05 passion as a creator: find your lane

2:08:01 writing fiction / reading over 3,000 books

2:17:04 what should WOTC do in the short term? long term?

2:26:15 rant on the current Modern format / Alex’s favorite formats of all time

Show notes: humansofmagic.com

Patreon: patreon.com/humansofmagic

Dom Harvey is a high-level Magic: The Gathering player and content creator. He writes for Star City Games and runs the Dominaria's Judgment podcast.

3:23 intro

10:15 UK to Canada: "my life was going nowhere"

17:29 being a Brit who doesn't like soccer

22:15 the most Canadian thing Dom has picked up?

23:27 it's about the gathering

27:38 on prize splits and feel-bads

32:37 the fire

35:38 growing up with competitive Magic

41:05 oral history of Pro Tour Philadelphia: concept to reality

51:08 James's favorite part of the oral history

57:38 state of MTG content & creator incentives

1:11:35 dealing with burnout

1:15:31 what would (younger) Dom do?

1:16:20 path to SCG commentator

1:24:44 streaming: yay or nay?

1:27:15 future goals

1:29:41 deck-building & creativity

Show notes: humansofmagic.com

Patreon: patreon.com/humansofmagic

Music: @kuplasound

Deathsie is a Magic content creator and Limited specialist. He has been ranked number one in several games, including Magic Arena, Marvel Snap, Tetris Effect, and King of Stackers (Tetris).

Show notes: humansofmagic.com

Patreon: patreon.com/humansofmagic

Music: @kuplasound

Milan Bhayana is one of the youngest players to qualify for the Magic Online Champions Showcase (MOCS) and Magic Pro Tour.

He is a Top Chef competitor and owner of the 'lilchefmil' Tik Tok account with 921K followers.

[3:42] Attending school online

[6:39] Offline connections matter

[11:32] College aspirations

[14:16] Building a Tik Tok account with his sister

[18:27] Top Chef experience

[22:40] Top Chef takeaways

[24:15] Parents

[28:28] Magic origin story

[31:33] Learning mindset: Magic and cooking

[34:19] Magic Online during class

[39:21] Magic Online shout-outs: boomer-zoomers

[41:15] Why are zoomers playing Magic?

[42:17] Future MTG competitive play goals

[45:21] Future Tik Tok goals

Show notes: humansofmagic.com

Patreon: patreon.com/humansofmagic

Music: @kuplasound

Joseph Johnson is an actor and content creator.

[9:12] First Comicon experience / meeting John Wick

[12:45] Becoming a character

[17:20] Acting: nature vs. nurture

[22:37] Art of improv / having fun with it

[26:15] Working in the film industry

[29:07] Empathy vs. ego / the importance of your circle

[35:12] "The pandemic made me realize I need to step my game up"

[37:08] Falling in love with acting

[43:57] Lessons from the community

[46:34] Ambition / staying in the game

[52:10] Positive influence of parents

[58:52] Growing up in Flint, Michigan

[1:04:43] Diffusing a dangerous situation

[1:09:42] BLM

[1:17:52] Tabletop Jocks vision

[1:20:45] 'The Cookout' / representation matters

[1:31:14] Normalizing black nerd culture

[1:39:22] Attention to detail: the Tabletop Jocks aesthetic

[1:43:09] Learnings / areas to grow

[1:49:05] Community mailbag

[1:57:47] Why Magneto is Joe's favorite X-Men character

[2:00:42] Advice for first-time content creators

Show notes: humansofmagic.com

Patreon: patreon.com/humansofmagic

Music: @kuplasound

Veggie Wagon is a comedian and content creator.

[7:14] Moving to Medford, Mass

[13:36] Chemistry degree to acting career

[18:00] Veggie as actor

[20:41] Performing for others as a kid

[23:15] Growing up adopted

[32:24] Weight of self-expectation

[35:46] On family

[41:29] Charity work: motivation

[45:49] A content creator's responsibility

[51:49] Masks we wear as creators

[54:19] Gathering Support: lessons learned

[1:07:12] Origin of 'Veggie Wagon' name

[1:12:31] Influences: Back to the Future

[1:23:34] Measuring success

[1:29:49] Live versus recorded comedy

[1:41:41] influences: Jackie Chan

[1:51:01] Make something for yourself -- but don't take too long

[1:57:04] Community mailbag

Show notes: humansofmagic.com

Patreon: patreon.com/humansofmagic

Music: @kuplasound

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.

[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

Show notes: humansofmagic.com

Patreon: patreon.com/humansofmagic

Music: @kuplasound

Jon Corpora is the Content Manager for TCGplayer and producer of the YouTube series Pretty Deece.

Show notes: humansofmagic.com

Patreon: patreon.com/humansofmagic

Music: @kuplasound

Kacem "Noxious" Khilaji is a gaming content creator.

Show notes: humansofmagic.com

Patreon: patreon.com/humansofmagic

Music: @kuplasound

Sam is the creator of Rhystic Studies, a YouTube channel that focuses on the art and culture of Magic: The Gathering.

Show notes: humansofmagic.com

Patreon: patreon.com/humansofmagic

Music: @kuplasound