MTG In Quarantine

On today's episode of the podcast, guest artist Beyond The Machina and I discuss the importance of the aesthetic "feel" of Magic: The Gathering cards and how different visual styles can make or break a set.  We then discuss Secret Lair products regarding how Wizards is expanding the art styles used throughout MTG, as well as some of our thoughts on how the art could evolve in the future Standard-legal sets, the upcoming crossovers, and Universes Beyond.

You can find Beyond the Machina on Twitter at @BeyondThMachina or on Inked Gaming/online at Beyond The Machina.

You can find more of my content on Twitter at @MTGInQuarantine. The back catalogue of my podcast episodes are available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Casts, and many other podcast outlets.

On today's episode, Carlos, Ravnican Artist, and I go down Memory Lane back to a time when "Gotta Catch 'Em All" was all the rage and kids like myself wanted to go on our own Pokemon journeys someday.  We discuss some MTG characters as Gym Leaders from the hit video game series and what Pokemon teams they would use.

You can find more of my content on Twitter at @MTGInQuarantine.  The back catalog of my episodes is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Google Casts.

On today's episode of the "White in MTG is Good, Actually" series, guest panelists CoachJRo and Peter (MonoWhiteBorder) join me to discuss the definition of White as a color in MTG as well as how we would introduce new players to the White slice of the MTG Color Pie.  We then discuss a few ways to potentially change the perception of White in the greater MTG community.

You can find CoachJRo on Twitter at @Coach_J_Ro, and he streams MTG content on Twitch at twitch.tv/unsummonedskull. He also runs a Discord server called the "Skull Symbol" where many good EDH and Oathbreaker games can be found.

You can find Peter on Twitter at @MonoWhiteBorder. His deck diaries and other content are found at monowhiteborder.weebly.com.

You can find me on Twitter at @MTGInQuarantine. The back catalog of my podcasts is available on Spotify, Google Casts, Apple Podcasts, and many other podcast distribution sites.

It's been about a year since the last Mystery Booster event fired at a MagicFest, so that makes it the perfect time to reminisce about some of the things I really enjoyed about the product (even though I didn't actually get to draft the set).  

I am on Twitter at @MTGInQuarantine. The back catalog of my podcast is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Google Casts.

On this episode of Control Room, Ryan and I discuss some of our favorite/underrated "sneaky" cards in EDH.  These cards typically are Instants or cards which have Flash and have a variety of interesting and valuable effects!  Whatever you're looking to do in EDH, there's probably a card or two for you to look at in this episode!

You can find more of my content on Twitter at @MTGInQuarantine.  The back catalog of past episodes is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Casts, CastBox, Anchor, Breaker, and other podcast outlets!

On today's episode, I discuss "land-to-hand artifact fetches", which are artifact cards that allow you to tutor for a land out of your library and put it into your hand.  While the gold standard of this effect is Wayfarer's Bauble because it acts to ramp you by placing a land directly onto the battlefield, many players may miss the potential of other artifacts which bring lands to your hand (in many cases for less cost!).  I argue that ensuring that you don't miss a single land drop during the course of the game is on par with actively ramping because you are able to better keep up with your opponents by taking advantage of the 1-land-per-turn rule.  In its own way, this generates card advantage for you as the player because you are able to ensure that there is a land in your hand (and it's even better in decks looking to get multiple lands onto the field in one turn!).  I then use examples of my own Alela, Artful Provacateur and Titania, Protector of Argoth decks as examples of places where I run these fetches so that I can guarantee that I hit my land drops.

You can find me on Twitter at @MTGInQuarantine.  The back catalog of my podcast is available on Spotify, Google Casts, and Apple Podcasts (along with Breaker, Anchor.FM, CastBox, and more!).

On this episode of the podcast, guest collaborator Sheepwave and I discuss two important topics in the MTG sphere.  The first half of the show is dedicated to the announcement last week from Hasbro/Wizards of the Coast that there will be Lord of the Rings and Warhammer 40k crossovers with Magic expected sometime in 2022. We discuss the potential of crossovers in MTG as well as identifying the number of crossovers already present in Magic's design.

In the second half of the show, we discuss how WotC has increased the visibility of queer and trans representation in the Magic lore by not only including Niko Aris as the first openly trans Planeswalker, but has also utilized Niko as a major part of the advertising campaign for the Kaldheim set instead of a footnote.  We discuss how representation can be crucial to bringing those who might not otherwise play into the game, which leads to a healthier overall playing community.

Sheepwave can be found on Twitter at @sheepycutie, and her website is sheepwave.com

You can find more episodes of my podcast on Spotify, Google Casts, and Apple Podcasts.  I am on Twitter at @MTGInQuarantine.

On this episode of Control Room, guest host Ryan and I discuss two ways of building decks.  Planned decks are defined as decks that are mostly built in theory before the cards ever come together into deck form, such as a decklist or deck tech.  Play-testing/chaotic deck building is defined here as the science of "What If?" building in that you have an idea and try to find cards that can work in that shell as well as those that may not have a defined home but can still be useful.  We both use examples of our own decks throughout the episode.

You can find more of the MTG In Quarantine podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Google Casts.  I am on Twitter at @MTGInQuarantine.

In this episode, CoachJRo and I discuss the expectations players should have handy when they try to join an existing playgroup, whether over vEDH (video camera) or at their LGS/a MTG event along with expectations for how playgroups should interact with Rule 0 before starting a game.  It's what you want to get out of the game that is important, not just "power level".  JRo also discusses how to build and maintain a successful Discord server through his own experience, including cultivating a good active community along with remaining ever vigilant to keep the Discord a supportive environment for all users.

You can find more of my content on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Google Casts.  I am on Twitter at @MTGInQuarantine.

On this episode of Control Room, guest host Ryan and I discuss our thoughts on the recent information released about the new Strixhaven set and the Command cycle.  We also go in-depth on the 2-color pairings of the five Colleges and explore possible room for WotC to take these concepts.  Lastly, we discuss the keyword change from "Converted Mana Cost" to "Mana Value".

You can find me on Twitter at @MTGInQuarantine.  The back catalog of the MTGInQuarantine podcast is available to stream anytime on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Google Casts.