Locations
I guess I just didn't realize all the different ways people derive a sense of “value” from a column like this. Whereas I thought it would be sort of boring to come across someone you already knew, loved, and followed in this context, I didn't fully appreciate the sense of validation one enjoys from having his or her follow choice affirmed.
Worse still, people became genuinely upset when I mentioned The Eh Team for a second week without actually fully covering them. I misread the situation badly. My reasoning was that if anyone was enough of a fan of The Eh Team that the person would be offended that the cast wasn't included, what possible value could he or she derive from having that cast covered? My e-mail inbox reflected the kind of sentiment that would make you think I publicly spoiled last week's Game of Thrones episode. You can ignore a popular podcast or you can cover a popular podcast. What you can’t do is mention a popular podcast and then say you won't be covering it. Twice.
The Eh Team
Where You Know Them From: Being the most popular MTG podcast. Easily.
Regulars:
Scott MacCallum a.k.a. Scotty Mac
In case you have legitimately never heard of The Eh Team, they are a podcast staffed by mostly Canadians (hence the “eh” pun) plus Jon Medina. There's a lot of value on this cast: Medina halfheartedly defending MTG finance, Jay Boosh's epic rants, Scotty Mac's impeccable choice of libations, and KYT being okay with the fact that most of the feedback from fans directed at him is people telling him to fix the show's RSS feed. This podcast is the reason I wanted to get into podcasting. They cover pretty much every topic that comes up, and they also brew and cover how they did at recent events.
If you could only listen to one MTG podcast for the rest of your life, there is a very large contingent of loyal fans out there who would pick this one. At least listen to the most recent episode and give it a try if you haven't listened to it already. They dealt with a very contentious podcast sponsorship issue that has been causing rifts in the community, and they covered it well in my opinion. At a hundred thirty-one episodes and still going strong, this podcast speaks for itself, but I don't mind speaking for it, too. Most of you have heard of it, and those of you who were there from the beginning can be proud that you have such impeccable taste.
Onward to this week’s article about the team that makes StarCityGames coverage so entertaining and informative.
AJ Sacher
Where You Know Him From: SCG Coverage, Writing SCG Premium articles, Twitch
Current Title: MTG Profishional
Social Media:
I think AJ makes a great pairing with Glenn Jones, and I think you will agree if you watch them cover an event together. In recent years, StarCityGames has really stepped up its game and brought the quality of its coverage up to rival the production of Wizards-run events, and a great deal of that is owed to the fact that SCG is paying top dollar to have knowledgeable and personable people for its commentary team. I could have started with any number of people, but AJ is as good a place to start as any.
I feel that I could easily have slotted AJ into a future installment about whose Twitch streams to watch, as AJ’s is superlatively entertaining. I like how instructive he is, and I feel it’s excellent value for players. Maybe it’s his chess background, but I feel that he is among the more analytical thinkers playing the game (as opposed to the gut-feeling approach that serves other players at the highest levels)—so analytical, in fact, that he was featured in the controversial “How to Brainstorm Like a Pro,” where they poke fun at his cerebral approach to the game.
He’s far from boring as a commentator, he understands the game on a deep level, his Twitch is as entertaining as it is informative, and tweets like this . . .
Protip: When your opponent Sin Collector's you and wants to exile a split card, be sure to ask which side they are choosing.
— AJ Sacher (@AJSacher) June 4, 2013
. . . make my day.
Osyp Lebedowicz
Where You Know Him From: SCG
Current Title: Magic Pro and SCG Commentator
Social Media:
Start typing this man’s name into Google, and see how long it takes before Google autocompletes the name and a million results pop up. I got as far as one letter into his last name. Is it because he has a distinctive name or is it because he’s had quite a career? Crushing Pro Tour: Venice and Grand Prix: Orlando in fourteen months is quite an accomplishment. He had a very impressive string of finishes from 2001–2006, and now that he isn’t devoting as much time to playing, we enjoy the benefit of his wisdom.
For a lot of reasons, I always look forward to an Osyp deck tech interview when he is playing. He tends toward control-style builds, and I feel that he is almost always among the first people to figure the builds out. I learn more about card choices, proportions, sideboarding, and mulliganing for control decks in one deck tech interview than I do in fifty playtest games. His tendency to understand formats quickly leads to his success with the Block Constructed format early in his career, and he brings this level of understanding to his analysis as a commentator. For the rest of the year, he will be paired with Cedric Phillips, whom I feel he complements. I feel that Osyp’s analysis is very valuable and that his side job of giving Cedric Phillips a hard time makes him a snap-follow.
@scglive LOVE the coverage so far, but NO sports coats really shows a shocking lack of professionalism @ajsacher @cedricaphillips #ForShame
— Osyp Lebedowicz (@OsypL) June 2, 2013
Gerard Fabiano
Where You Know Him From: SCG, possibly TV in the future
Current Title: Magic Pro and SCG Commentator
Social Media:
No Explanation Does This Video Justice
This man, quite literally, wants to be Kind of the Nerds. Unless you were rendered comatose in the past two weeks (if you have, stay off Twitter before someone spoils a playoff result), you've seen the video I posted above, wherein G Fabs stumps for himself as a contestant on Season 2 of King of the Nerds, which I assume is like a nerd Iron Chef. Can you think of anyone better-suited within our community?
That says a lot about his style as a commentator and I guess also about his attitude toward Twitter. He's frankly even crazier in person, but Twitter does a good job of reflecting his personality. I think he'd be a good ambassador for our community to the nine hundred or so people who watch TBS. His career speaks for itself to an extent, but on top of impressive finishes, he provides some of the most colorful color commentary on SCG events, and I wish he were slated to do more than two more coming up. He's fun and loveable, he knows his Magic, and if you're not following him already, you should correct that.
