I didn't manage to make it to Grand Prix Dallas/Fort Worth, but that's okay because barely anyone did. Since I had other projects occupying me, I didn't even watch the coverage. I admit that not watching the coverage was a bit of a misplay because while I expected it to be a battle between mono-black and mono-blue devotion to settle once and for all the question, "Who lacks creativity to a greater extent?"—because those bouts have ended in a draw lately—I was treated to brand new decks emerging. I was also treated to relative newcomer Marlon Jacob Avila Gutierrez and his Orzhov deck (opinions are split between calling it control and midrange) taking down Magic juggernaut Huey Jensen, who played a deck I'm calling "Oops, no win conditions." While I didn't watch the coverage this weekend, I did monitor Twitter because I do that kind of a lot. When the Top 8 was going on, a few very entertaining characters emerged and seemed to almost live-tweet the event. The best part for me was how reactive their tweets were to what they were seeing, so it was a bit like hearing one side of a conversation. Their reactions, however, said it all.

In the finance game, we often say, "Value is subjective," so today, I feel that the value I am going to give you is in the form of people to follow who provide good commentary on the game in general, the community and its members, and actual games in progress. These are people whom you're probably following already, but we all know by now the value in either validation or a gentle reminder. I'll cut the preamble already because I'm eager to get down to business. Without further ado, I bring you "Who to Follow – Live Tweet Edition."

Paul Rietzl

Where You Know Him From: Nine Grand Prix Top 8s, two wins, four Pro Tour Top 8s, one win

Current Title: Level 47 Archmage

Social Media:

Twitter

TCGplayer Archives

ChannelFireball Archives

Facebook

Wiki Page

You are familiar with Paul if you pay attention to coverage and results, particularly this year. He has managed four Grand Prix Top 8 finishes (one win) and a Top 8 at Pro Tour Dublin all in the last year. That's pretty impressive. I'm not suggesting you should follow Paul on Twitter because he's good at Magic; a lot of people are good at Magic. I resisted turning this column into a generic hero-worship column because there are enough of those. No, I think you should respect Paul a great deal because he's good at Magic and because he is absolutely crushing it this year. I think you should follow Paul on Twitter because he's delightful.

See what I mean about feeling as though you're only seeing half of a conversation? Yet you can still kind of get a sense what's going on.

If you don't find the occasional snark or sarcasm hilarious and endearing, I can kind of understand it even if I don't agree with your view. What we can't deny is that Paul's feed is ultimately excellent value, and I find myself agreeing with him much more often than not. He's excellent value, so make sure you're not missing out by not following.

I could go on and on. You get the message I think. Follow Paul or live to see yourself be proven wrong.

Matt Sperling

Where You Know Him From: MTG Lampoon?

Current Title: Magic Pro

Social Media:

Twitter

StarCityGames Archives

ChannelFireball Archives

Sperling Grove

MTG Lampoon

I almost can't fail to include Matt Sperling in an article containing Paul Rietzl. Jamming these two together seems fine considering the last time they were jammed together, they won a team Grand Prix.

Sperling has been under fire for some of his rejected articles or his posts on MTG Lampoon, but love him or hate him, he's doing something right on Twitter, and five-and-a-half thousand people agree with me. Matt knows the game—both games, really: Magic and marketing—and he has managed to make his one of the bigger names in the game through a combination of play skill and trolling people. I think he's a riot, and I recommend him as a follow.

Again, the rest of the feed is equally gassy, and you should peruse it at your convenience. You'll be glad you did.

Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa

Where You Know Him From: The Magic Pro Tour Hall of Fame

Current Title: Student, Hall of Famer

Social Media:

Twitter

ChannelFireball Archives

Wiki

PVDDR, as he is known colloquially, is a swell dude. He may be the perfect lime wedge to cleanse your palate of the tequila taste of bitter cynicism from the last two gentlemen, but don't take his friendliness to mean that he isn't equally hilarious and fun to follow—quite the contrary. On top of being really good at Magic, he's really good to follow on Twitter, and twelve thousand people all agree.

I realize the link between these guys was tenuous at best, but I really felt that I wanted to bring you three people who consistently entertain and whose streams I enjoyed reading when I couldn't watch coverage. I'm sure you'll forgive me once you start following and see how much they improve your Twitter feed.

That's it for me next week. If you have a request about the theme you would like me to do next week—or even if you'd like me to stick to one—you know what to do. Leave it in the comment section, tweet at me @JasonEAlt, or e-mail it to altjason17 at gmail dot com. Have a great week, and let's both make it a point to pay attention to coverage this weekend!