A long and busy year for Magic is over and a new one is already underway so we thought we'd take stock before another wave of discourse overwhelms us all. We take a look at the cards and sets of 2023, the hits and misses, and the return of the Pro Tour (and the elephants holding it up). Patreon / Twitter / Discord

Dom and Ari were reunited in paper (...in the flesh? in person?) at Eternal Weekend along with hundreds of thrill-seeking gamers keen to enjoy the Cadillac of Magic. After reeling from his swift 0-3 (which was somehow not the most tragic exit from the tournament) and dabbling in Legacy, Dom found an even more fake format he can win in - does Santa have a Premodern episode in the pipeline?! Ari actually won a lot of matches, as he is wont to do, and gives a former EW Legacy Champion and...

The prophecy has been fulfilled and bans are in. We're back for a not-so-rapid reaction to the changes, their explanations, and where Pioneer and Modern go from here. 16:38 Pioneer 41:38 Modern   Patreon / Twitter / Discord

Last week we all made a horrifying discovery of something we already knew (Cascade is kinda messed up!) and watched Pioneer collapse on itself as a result. Since this recording Geological Appraiser has passed the test while any hosts foolish enough to register Quintorius got their ivory poached and bans are confirmed for Monday. Until then, we catch up on Vintage and Legacy ahead of Eternal Weekend NA in Pittsburgh, singing the praises of some decks and bombarding others with broadsides....

After no changes, it's time to turn and face the strain. Ban talk is at a fever pitch, every MTGGoldfish screenshot of a Scam-infested Modern Challenge racks up hundreds of retweets and growls, and Grief has never been more aptly named. Elsewhere, the Beans talkers are obsessed with how to get an edge in the 4C mirror - the only thing that matters when everything else is too free for the Beans. Who needs to be taken down, how should they do it, and will we like what comes next? Show Notes...

Dom made a pilgrimage to Madison, Wisconsin last month to defend the honour of King Charles or Cube trying. In this solo episode he gives a report from this four-day Cube extravaganza, the lessons for Cube designers and drafters, and reflects on why Magic and Cube are pretty cool if you think about it. 00:00 An ode to Magic, Cube, and CubeCon 33:12 Wisconsin vs England!37:02 Companion Cube Main Event Day 1 42:50 - Changeling Cube + breaking (down) new formats58:45 - Artifact Cube + not hosing...

Special guests are out and regular programming has resumed as your beloved hosts are back to break down an Ixalan set that actually has some cool cards this time! But first, a catchup on the discourse of the past few weeks, from play boosters (remember those?) to the Marvelisation of Magic past and present and even a vibe ranking of European cities that you might remember from a failed GP visit years ago (maybe not Berlin...) 21:20 LCI Previews Patreon / Twitter / Discord

As Dom and Ari swap their absentee roles for a bit, Gavin "alfaphrog" Thompson steps in to chat about the world of competitive Magic Online cube. How different are the try hard queues from your normal Vintage cube leagues, and what can be learned about drafting and building cubes from the experience of aiming to win over drafting the coolest Storm deck? Patreon / Twitter / Discord

With Ari off scaling the beanstalks of the Mediterranean, noted JOTS (Jarvis of the show) Jarvis Yu steps in for a rapid reaction to Monday's announcements and non-announcements. The nature of Booster Draft may or may not be able to change forever while Modern is chugging along as our previous guests do everything in their power to show why this visit to Eldraine may cause lasting damage too. Patreon / Twitter / Discord

Simon Nielsen has always been a fan favourite but he's no underdog now - he's the 2023 Player of the Year in a season that also saw historic runs from several of his comrades on Team Handshake. He loves giving interviews and he was kind enough to give us one this week, taking Dom through his background as a rising star first in Denmark and then the European and global GP circuit to his domination of online OP and the Pro Tour after its return to paper.  Competitive Magic with the Karnies (+...

Slow play is just one of many topics that consumed The Website this week so we went over Ari's article explaining how he avoided unintentional draws and all the awkwardness around them for years. What can designers, TOs, players, and judges do to address a problem that has plagued paper Magic since the beginning and is now a bigger problem than ever? We then turn to other timely and sobering threads: why coaching is/isn't a scam, and why all of competitive Magic is/isn't a scam, before...

Dom couldn't repay the faith that Jarvis didn't put in him last week but he's back from the death pits of Vegas with war stories, hot takes on Wilds of Eldraine Standard and Draft, and an epic game of Where's Vuono? Tracking Sheet of Predictions Show Notes Patreon / Twitter / Discord

Dom big times his podcast obligations to go play in Worlds, which means its time for Jarvis and Ari to place their bets from the sidelines once again. With the huge prize of declaring a prediction winner at the next local Cube night on the line, Jarvis and Ari make their stances known about the formats and players we will see at Worlds this weekend. What set will dominate Standard, will someone get three draws yet again, and will Jarvis switch to believing in Dom or still declare Alex Hayne...

Instead of thinking about Worlds, we are - like everyone - thinking about thos Beans. Up the Beanstalk is all the rage in every format, including some unlikely and ambitious homes - we take a tour of those before tackling the Vintage Cube tier list discourse and all the other chatter from the Twitter sewers this week.  Show Notes Patreon / Twitter / Discord

This week Dom delays testing for his upcoming Tournament with a discussion of common playtesting pitfalls and the unique challenges of preparing for high-level Standard. Then, a seemingly pedestrian nonsense roundup is derailed by a thrilling discovery of a fresh matsugan decklist dump that we get to unpick live.  Show Notes Patreon / Twitter / Discord

After Dom got lost up the beanstalk last week we are back to break down the full Wilds of Eldraine spoiler as well as the wildest discourse and nonsense of the week - does 56 card Amulet winning back to back Challenges finally Silence the (non)believers? Show Notes Patreon / Twitter / Discord

This week Team Handshake's mad scientist, generous ent, and takemaster extraordinaire Tristan Wylde-LaRue joins the show to talk through his creative process and his rapid rise from lapsed local grinder to a major force in professional Magic.  Show Notes Patreon / Twitter / Discord

(Un)ban season is upon us and some iconic blue cards are back on the menu. We break down the action and inaction across various formats, educate the young 'uns about just how good Preordain is, and give an homage to and history lesson for Mind's Desire, freed in Legacy after almost 20 years. Plus a look at the set announcements from the GenCon panel - just where does your immersion break? 00:00 Standard + Pioneer: no changes 10:20 Legacy: Mind's Desire unban 19:10 Modern: Preordain unban, no...

Dom doesn't quite have a trophy to match Ari's but he returns from his business (+ pleasure!) trip to Barcelona with a Pro Tour Top 8 to his name after a truly bizarre weekend. He's (so) back to see how well Ari and Jarvis did predicting these results, deliver some sizzling takes on Modern and LOTR Draft, tell the barely believable stories of his miraculous Top 8 run, and explain the twists and turns of life as an 'Amulet pervert' (TM friend of the pod Tommy Ashton). 00:00 PT predictions...

With Dom in Barcelona at the PT, Jarvis Yu joins the podcast to make predictions about that event. Will Orcish Bowmasters or The One Ring come out ahead? Will green succeed or fail in draft? Will Dom dominate the other Canadians in head-to-head results? Find out this weekend, but first listen in to see how right (or wrong) Jarvis can be about it!  0:00 - Constructed Predictions 25:00 - Limited Predictions 35:00 - Player Predictions 53:30 - Modern Results 1:03:00 - Nonsense (Flumpher Twin)...

The all-nonsense episode may have finally arrived - or this may just be a long overdue episode on the Cadillac of competitive Magic, if you ask the right people. After catching up on the nostalgic Team Trios event at SCG Cinci and online Modern developments ahead of the Pro Tour, Dom takes you on a tour of the format where you don't always die on Turn 1 - but you might wish you had.  00:00 Results + Nonsense45:47 Vintage! Show Notes Patreon / Twitter / Discord

With a big batch of Modern results in it's time to check in on the stars of the hour and have a honest conversation about the weak links holding them back from even greater success. Show Notes Patreon / Twitter / Discord

We haven't done an episode on Legacy yet and the format is finally appealing enough to make us dive in again! With bans throwing the format wide open and a constant influx of new cards that you never knew existed, there's a lot to cover.1:32:35 Results + NonsenseShow Notes Patreon / Twitter / Discord

Everyone has been tempted by The Ring this week after the most impressive debut for a card in recent memory. We cover The One Ring as a reminder of why card evaluation is humbling and challenging, cover a batch of Modern results full of Ringbearers, and ponder where Modern goes from here.  Show Notes  Patreon / Twitter / Discord

With no obvious topic for the week, we thought we'd cover whatever you all wanted us to talk about with our occasional dive into the mailbag covering everything from progress and endurance as a player to Endurance as a Neoform win condition - followed by a delightful combo platter courtesy of Matt Nass and matsugan. 1:36:30 Matt Nass + matsugan  Amulet Lotus Belcher matsugan's latest adventures  Patreon / Twitter / Discord