Locations
This week, I'm keeping it pretty simple for my own sanity. I had a great time at the Grand Prix in Toronto this weekend, and while I tried to mine that for ideas, I interacted with literally zero Canadians I'd consider writing up that I haven't written up already. Having done this for so long, I am beginning to be restricted by virtue of having covered a lot of ground. You know what they say—"Restrictions breed creativity"—so I decided to get really creative this week.
Just kidding; I went full grab-bag. December is here, and I am getting into the spirit of giving by bringing you some follows that I've been meaning to get to (and one I've been trolling for months), and I'm not going to be bogged down by stuff like "themes." What I will be bogged down by is how valuable I think these guys are. If stores are allowed to put up Christmas decorations two weeks before Thanksgiving, I'm allowed to go all Santa's-sack this week. So, whether you've been naughty or nice, prepare your faces for some value. Let's do this.
@BoltTheBird
Where You Know Him From: Twitter
Anywhere Else? No
In previous installments of this series, I have rejected people I genuinely enjoy following on Twitter because I felt that I needed to cover people who had a large online presence. Nobody told me I had to do that, and looking back, I'm not sure why that was. I included Brian DeMars, someone who wasn't on Twitter at all, before I decided to cover someone I knew from only Twitter, and perhaps that was me not being honest with myself. This is a Twitter-heavy series, so why not cover people who are mainly Twitter-valuable?
I like following Bolt the Bird on Twitter and find his contribution to Twitter to be valuable. I think you should follow him. I realize all that is implicit each week, but since there isn't a large volume of other contributions to slog through, we can focus on a few tweets, and you can be following him even sooner.
Good question! :) RT: “@mtgmedina: How was I not following @BoltTheBird ? #misplay”
— Bolt The Reindeer (@BoltTheBird) December 3, 2013
#MTGFinance why is any Alpha uncommon under $10?
— Bolt The Reindeer (@BoltTheBird) December 2, 2013
orm.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8">
Would people be interested in hearing about my custom set?
— Bolt The Reindeer (@BoltTheBird) November 19, 2013
He tweets about the Jacksonville Jaguars a lot, which I guess isn't weird, but since he's the only person in my feed who does that, it feels that way. He also participated in my "Magic card or Rush album?" game on Twitter, which makes him aces in my book. Follow him or your Twitter feed is not complete.
@Time_Elemental
Focus: Finance. Actual finance, it turns out
Best Moment: Referencing a Star Trek episode to warn us not to play Cookie Clicker
One of the difficulties of writing about people who mostly contributes to the community on one platform—Twitter in this case—is that it's difficult to find pictures on them online. I cropped this beauty out of a picture taken at Grand Prix Las Vegas that makes me wonder where I was when it was taken. JR was a guest of the crazy Vegas party house and is an actual font of insight when it comes to the metagame, MTG finance, and, as I found out, actual finance. If Grand Prix Montreal turns into Vegas 2.0, JR's someone I'm hoping can make the trip.
If you're remotely interested in MTG finance and you're on Twitter at all, I imagine you're already following, but just in case, here's why you're wrong if you aren’t.
MODO Exodus rare City of Traitors isn't doing much better, down 30% from days ago to 40. Excited to see what next week's block will be!
— JR (@time_elemental) November 30, 2013
MODO Lotus Petal strangely shot up to 7 from 5.3 after shutdown announcement, only to quickly get crushed by Tempest drafts, as a common
— JR (@time_elemental) November 30, 2013
2 cards with both non-foil and foil spreads under 30%. Elesh Norn (15%, 21%) and Painter's Servant (27%, 23%) #mtgfinance
— JR (@time_elemental) November 30, 2013
@evocomic @Becvar yes and a negative spread would mean immediate arbitrage (before shipping, subject to market depth, etc)
— JR (@time_elemental) November 30, 2013
Can't imagine that MODO Sower of Temptation tumbling down to .88 is healthy for the ask price of 16.4 for Threads of Disloyalty #mtgofinance
— JR (@time_elemental) November 26, 2013
Was a little disappointed in Ajani after calling it in week 1 of Standard, but it has been rising steadily since.
— JR (@time_elemental) November 20, 2013
JR is participating in the Heavy Meta podcast 20-tix challenge to see who can build the best investment portfolio on Magic Online for 20 tix, and he's my heavy favorite to win the thing. He has great finance instincts, a basis in actual, real-world, non-pretend finance, and his tweets will make or save you money. I can't agree with not following him.
@TheBoozeCube
Is That What I Think It Is? Yes, it's a Magic drinking game.
Also a Person? Yes, he’s the guy who invented the Booze Cube.
If I told you that the man who invented Magic's most popular drinking game worked gainfully as an attorney, you'd probably either be incredulous or not surprised at all depending on how you feel about the legal profession. Another resident of the Vegas house, Booze Cube (Scott) brought the prototype Booze Cube to the house, which was very cool. We got to see a piece of history and draft a piece of history—and a guy in the Draft pod with me and Scott was able to vomit on a piece of history. The Cube is fun to draft, but it's not something you do and then go on to something else. You draft this, and you're in for the night, so hide your car keys.
Scott contributes to the Twitterverse and isn't just a one-note person who has been trying to ride the popularity of his Cube creation. His legal expertise was called on during the recent spate of stores not shipping orders placed on the weekend of the Pro Tour in Dublin, and he's entertaining as well as knowledgeable.
I could actually hear the heavenly choir as I approached and saw the blue packaging on the side. pic.twitter.com/rLe0LnVLrV
— The Booze Cube (@TheBoozeCube) December 3, 2013
@HobbesQ For some reason, people dislike my 5C Enchantress Prison deck. I still think Moat + Humility can be a great way to make friends.
— The Booze Cube (@TheBoozeCube) November 30, 2013
I'm thankful that I got 3x of my Candelabras at $50 and that my friend refused to trade me his Polar Kraken for my 4x Force of Wills #mtgthx
— The Booze Cube (@TheBoozeCube) November 28, 2013
Did not see any Commander product at Toys R' Us. Did, however, see booster packs for $5 apiece. #whatadeal
— The Booze Cube (@TheBoozeCube) November 27, 2013
@JasonEAlt My fearless Twitter journalism played a major part in ending the Cold War and bringing peace to the Middle East. Also, dick jokes
— The Booze Cube (@TheBoozeCube) November 27, 2013
Little-known fact: if you destroy a Travelling Philosopher with Sip of Hemlock, you're winning at life. #MTG
— The Booze Cube (@TheBoozeCube) November 19, 2013
Don't pretend you can't already tell he'll be an asset to your Twitter feed. He brews unconventional decks, and when he isn't brewing, he's championing other peoples' unconventional decks, such as Twelve Post in Legacy, and that in and of itself is pure value. Don't you wish you had thought of Nykthos and Phyrexian Obliterator in Modern before Obliterator's price skyrocketed? If you'd followed Scott weeks ago, you would have been ahead of the game as I was. I mean, I didn't buy any, but I knew he thought I should have.
@JJFlipped
Why Now? I'm feeling charitable
Didn't He Quit Magic? Repeatedly.
Is He a Good Follow if I Don't Play Kaijudo? Possibly
Winning with the worst card ever
I was starting to feel a little bit like Lucy from Charlie Brown when it came to Jon Johnson. Early on, he made the fatal mistake of caring whether he was featured in this series. He could easily have been included in any number of installments, and we both knew it. However, I kept pulling the football away because I wasn't sure how to react to someone actually caring about being featured in this column. I would think that the epitome of success would be a feature in an article on DailyMTG by Sam Black, but I guess I'd be wrong. Jon's on Sam Black's radar; that's pretty boss.
But as weeks went on, it became clearer that I was deliberately not including Jon in this series solely to screw with him and was thus denying all of you. That's a disservice to my readers, and I apologize. I've denied you some value, and when I say "some value," that is probably wrong because following Jon in Twitter is actually all of the value.
He can be a little bit hyperbolic, declaring he has broken formats or is quitting the game forever, but beneath the theatrics, I think he's a genuinely valuable follow, and that's why he made the bonus section of the grab bag. You'll be glad you followed him; I'm sure of it.
Demars and I are building EDH decks where the newest set is Ice Age. Currently just ante cards banned.
— Jon Johnson (@jjflipped) December 3, 2013
@Hackworth that's below buy prices...
— Jon Johnson (@jjflipped) November 27, 2013
@ahalavais You want to be using this: https://t.co/A6jcW25u3q allows ebay pricing on non-ebay shipments
— Jon Johnson (@jjflipped) November 21, 2013
Just broke it. Winning champs for sure.
— Jon Johnson (@jjflipped) November 21, 2013
Just had to pay $225 for a wrongful towing. We even called the police. Officer told them to release car. Guy just said no.
— Jon Johnson (@jjflipped) November 17, 2013
Okay, that last one was just rub-ins on my part—probably in poor taste.
Word of warning, if you play magic, some parts of kaijudo will be highly nonintuitive
— Jon Johnson (@jjflipped) November 15, 2013
So apparently, the phrase "punt" or "punted" describing error or mistake is literally made up. Turns out nobody uses that word except us.
— Jon Johnson (@jjflipped) November 11, 2013
There you have it: a supersized installment of some of my favorite people to follow. I could have waited until I found a category to fit these guys into, but that would have meant waiting, and you'll be glad you started following these guys today.
