Our newest episodes post on GatheringMagic.com every Friday at 12 a.m. EST. Episodes are posted on this site one week later. Thank you for listening!
Forced Fruition, Episode 5: Sealed PTQ Practice
‘Tis the Season It’s that time of year when we get to play Sealed PTQs. The format has its upsides and downsides and you’re certainly going to increase your odds of winning by practicing as much as possible. I like Sealed because it evens the playing field to a degree by emphasizing deckbuilding. I also …
Serum Visions – Things We Collaborate On
Hello, everyone, and welcome back to Serum Visions! This week, WotC has announced that it is doing a set of “designer cards” with game designers from outside of Magic’s R&D. This is a great opportunity to talk about an amazing part of the craft beer culture: collaboration beers [CB]. This is really exciting and quite …
Conjured Currency #9: Which Spec is Right for You?
Welcome back, readers! If you keep up to date on price trends at all (which you should), then you know that Tropical Island is approximately $200 TCGplayer median at the time that I am writing this (Monday, April 14th). In the weeks prior, when the card could be found for $100-120, you may have seen …
How Not To Lose – Playing To Your Outs
Welcome back, brewers. Today we are going to take a look at a fundamental of Magic that many new players overlook: it’s called playing to your outs. Playing to your outs involves understanding game state and figuring out what you need to do to win the game. Sometimes it’s easy to know what you need …
The Spike Feed Episode 33 – Hallelujah
It’s just Curtis and Cameron this week, and the pair take a Journey into Nyx. We go deep on several of the newly spoiled cards, reviewing them with our patented “50%-ish” accuracy. Also, Cameron finally defeats his longtime nemesis and emerges from the experience a new man. Thank you for your honor. Your hosts: Cameron …
All Standard Wanted was a New RUG, Man
In very recent tournaments, there has been a Red/Blue/Green (RUG) Monsters deck seeing some success. I believe the deck was popularized by Sam Black. My friend and I have been playing and tuning a different type of RUG deck lately: RUG Midrange. I’ll be showing this deck to you, along with what card choices can …
What’s in Your Spec Folder?
The MTG finance market is ever shifting. If nothing else, it is one where you need to evaluate and re-evaluate cards in an ever-changing environment. It’s also one where no one really knows what they’re talking about, myself included. An example straight from Reddit a month ago here: Sometimes the experts make the wrong calls …
Puzzle Box – Four-Person Cube Format: Twos
Hello, everyone, and welcome back to the Puzzle Box! These last couple weeks have been pretty fun! I know there are at least a few of you who have been trying out the formats I’ve presented here. That is really flattering—thanks, guys! This week, I am going to be continuing of this meta-series (as Mark …
Pitt Imps Podcast #64 – Rookie Mistake
Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:29:11 — 20.4MB) In this episode of the Pitt Imps we had Judge Frank back on and he went over the two new mechanics as well as a little GP Primer for you new players that might of never been to one and might be going to your first soon. We also …
GW Scion – Post-Born of the Gods
Welcome back, brewers. Surprise, surprise, today I’m going to talk about GW Scion. It’s been a while since I last wrote about it. In fact, it was before Born of the Gods was even released. Now that the new set has been out for a while and I’ve had a chance to play with it, …
Conjured Currency #8: The Definition of “Need”
Do we need it or want it? Let’s be honest. We live in a society where we exaggerate a lot. Our ancestors would be absolutely baffled if they saw us Magic players exclaiming our “need” for foil copies of Misty Rainforest to finish making our deck of cards look fancy. Hell, they’d be shocked at …
Inventory Management Part IV: Sunk Cost
This is part four of my Inventory Management series. Parts one through three are here, here, and here. Read them first if you haven’t already. I really appreciate the feedback I have been getting and I’m happy to answer questions. Today we’re talking about sunk cost. Sunk cost is not just an inventory management topic, …
Getting L.U.C.K.y: Trading Up
This always feels like a tender topic. The idea of profiting in a trade is enough to make many people steer clear of trading altogether. Just so nobody misconstrues this, I am not talking about taking advantage of someone or “trade-rape” (which seems to be a popular term for it at the LGS). What I …
Episode 32 – Merfolk Fan Fest 2014
Podcast: Download (Duration: 39:41 — 15.9MB) We’re recording a bit early this week, fresh off of an SCG Legacy IQ. We discuss our thoughts on the event, Dustin complains about his interactions with shop owners, and Cameron plays with/against Merfolk for an afternoon. Thank you for your honor. Your hosts: Dustin Gore Cameron McCoy – …
Episode 31 – Cameron Comes Back to Legacy (Then Leaves Again)
We’re back to our usual form, as Cameron has too much fun at a Legacy tournament, Curtis hates Standard, and Dustin prepares for more travels abroad. We also announces the winners of our contest, contemplate our mental states when playing Cloudfin Raptor, and discuss Cameron’s status as a landlord. Your hosts: Dustin Gore Cameron McCoy …
Casually Infinite – Bad Pool
Sometimes you just don’t get a very good set of cards in your Sealed pool. Is it possible to salvage these events? How much of Sealed is luck versus skill? Today I go through the worst Sealed event I’ve played in years. It was a Magic 2014 Sealed daily event. Black Black Cards1 Corpse Hauler1 Doom …
Financial Five: Sweepers
Sweeper effects have been a long-lasting staple in Magic. These effects make aggro players cry and control players gleam. They can make or break a game and trigger the same “ooooh’s” and “ahhhhh’s” Wizards of the Coast (WotC) tried to accomplish with the Miracle mechanic from Avacyn Restored. These game-changers will continue to be …
Weekend Review April 4-6
Last week I was excited about Standard Magic. For the first time in months, it looked like the face of Standard was changing. This is great for the game, because players who have gotten bored and haven’t shown up to the LGS in a while pop in to try out some new brews. I was …
Forced Fruition Episode 4: Jund…
What is Red and Black and Green All Over? This week I had the pleasure of entering a Born of the Gods-Theros-Theros draft with my good friend Grant. Together we worked our way through some exciting picks and equally exciting games. Having a second voice to help guide your thoughts is a great exercise and …
Serum Visions: Stout, the Barroom Black Hole
Hello and welcome back to Serum Visions, everyone! This week we shall be looking into a specific style of beer: stout. I plan on making one in the very near future and so I have been reading up on the process, which is a great opportunity to share some of my learnings with you here. …
Conjured Currency #7: Buying and Selling at Grands Prix
Welcome back, podders and speculators and financiers all! My last two articles got much less response than normal, probably due to the fact that I strayed from what I consider myself skilled in. I’ll stick to teaching you guys how to make money, and not actually playing the game. Now, let’s get right into a …
Inventory Management Part III: Turnover
This is part three of my Inventory Management series. Two weeks ago, I led with an introduction talking about the purpose of inventory as well as some common mistakes. In short, inventory is there to support your sales which is how you make money. Last week, I talked about tracking your inventory and calculating your …
What’s Your Style?
“In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock.” –Thomas Jefferson Never give up your personal preference, but being aware of your Magic: The Gathering play style is important. This is what Thomas Jefferson was trying to say, obviously. Everybody has a preferred style when playing, deck building, …
C(ube) + C(ommander) Magic Factory – The Casual Collection
Q. What do the following have in common? A shoe box full of Ice Age and Revised. Leavings from opened booster boxes going back three years. Smatterings of cards sporting bizarre expansion symbols. A melting pot of pre-constructed products. A. These are typical components of a collection belonging to the “casual magic player.” Aside from …
