*pant pant* Hey . . . it’s me, Mike Robles. I’ve just come back from another Treasure Hunt. I . . . hold on . . . *wheeze*. In my never-ending search to find Magic: The Gathering super-cool, amazing, mind-blowing treasures, I traveled farther than I’ve ever gone. I barely made it back. Read on. I’m just going to sit over here and catch my breath.

Modern Masters Reaction

Look, I know Modern Masters released on Friday. Before that, we finally saw the full spoiler. There were . . . some reactions—specifically surrounding a certain card and the fact that it was not included in the set. I’m not saying that this comic represents the general feel of how the reaction of the community was when they saw that a card was missing, but I’m not not saying that either.

Friday Nights – The Masters

One of my greatest accomplishments while working for Wizards of the Coast was bringing attention to Loading Ready Run. I knew their brand of humor—mixed with their love of the game—would be a perfect match with Wizards. This latest episode of Friday Nights showcases all of that and just how in tune with the community they really are. I loved the Super Bowl–style party scenes. There’s also a little treat for those who are really paying attention. Graham and James are wearing the jerseys of their Magic Online Community Cup teammates! Graham was on the team with LSV in 2011, and James was on the team with Conley Woods in 2012! The Modern Masters section was one of my favorite parts. I love drafting, but my fiancée loves it even more. I can feel her cringe whenever I open packs outside of a Draft. Much like Jer in this episode, all I want to do is crack open my Modern Masters packs. But I know I can’t because, like Cam, Tifa wants to draft. Lucky for both of us, like Kathleen, when we are done cracking and drafting, Tifa and I are creating a Modern Masters Cube! I AM EXCITE!

Convention Tokens

I have been to a lot of conventions over the last fifteen years of my life, and I always come home with too much swag. It piles up, and every once in a while, I do giveaways to get rid of items I’m not using. A fantastic new trend is to visit your favorite artist and have him or her create custom Magic tokens for you. That is what Tomorrow Boy did! He got a ton of tokens from some high-profile artists at VanCanf (Vancouver Comic Arts Festival). In this album, there are tokens from Strip Search contestants Erika Moen and Amy Falcone as well as a whole host of other tokens. Check out the album, and the next time you’re at a convention, take some blank cards and have some custom tokens made. You’ll impress your friends when they need a token and you ever so coyly say, “Here, have this Human token drawn by Rob Liefeld.”

Urza’s Tower Life Counter Holder . . . Thing

Friend and fellow GatheringMagic writer Natasha Lewis Harrington sent a tweet my way with this sick Urza's Tower life holder. 3D printing has been producing some of the most amazing structures lately. Recently, one was used to save a life. I am surprised it took this long to see something Magic-related made with a 3D printer! This replica of Urza's Tower has great detail, and the open portion at the top is designed with a d20 in mind. Part of me is secretly hoping that the next couple of items that are printed are an Urza's Power Plant and an Urza's Mine.

Lego Jace vs. Chandra

Lego planeswalkers engaged in battle. What more can you ask for? This is seriously badass. First off, who doesn’t like Legos? They’re a foundation from childhood! Second, who doesn’t like Magic? The creativity of the Magic community never ceases to amaze me. They’re custom-built Lego planeswalkers on a custom battlefield! This combination of the two seems like a perfect fit. The Lego video games always capture the spirit of anything they’re involved in, from Batman to Lord of the Rings. A Lego planeswalkers game would be a snap-buy.

Garruk, Primal . . . Clay

Art student Addie seems to be working hard on this helmet. I’d joke about trying to figure out what exactly is being built, but I kind of gave it away in the title. This helmet is off to an impressive start. I’m going to have to bookmark this Tumblr with all the other in-progress photos I’ve featured before so that once everything is done, I can make a huge, “Where are they now?” post. I look forward to seeing the finished product.

A Magical Knight

Taking cosplay to another level, this gentleman has a suit of armor, a shield, and a sword all made out of Magic: The Gathering cards. I don’t even have the words to describe this. Is “superamazingwickedcool” a word? Because that’s what this is.

Waiting for Father

The adorableness! Kids playing Magic will always be awesome. This photo is one of the most adorable things ever. The story behind the kid featured was waiting for his father to come home so he could play Magic with him. Looks like the poor kid didn’t make it. I do hope that eventually the kid got his matches in. Magic: The Gathering has brought many families together, and it warms my heart to see kids wanting to play matches against their parents, siblings, cousins, and so on. I can’t wait to have kids so I can teach them Magic—and then teach them silly win conditions.

Richard Garfield Facts

There is a lot of lore and history in Magic: The Gathering. Richard Garfield was known for creating limited editions of cards to commemorate events in his life. The image above shows the cards and some backstory about each one. Being able to have this kind of influence on your company must be an amazing feeling. Yes, Wizards puts out employee Holiday cards every year, but when these cards from Garfield came out, there was a print run of about a hundred fifty. This makes these some of the rarest, most sought-after cards in Magic’s history. I’ve actually seen Splendid Genesis in person. It’s behind glass at Seattle’s premiere LGS Card Kingdom.

A Softer World

Magic inspires creativity of all sorts—cosplay, art, tattoos, poetry, and more. I ran across this Tumblr and subscribed right away. Carefully-chosen words and Magic art come together in some very intense—and even some haunting ways. A Softer Magic manages to inspire feelings for cards and images you might not have experienced before. Give the blog a look, and see for yourself. I’d love to know your favorites in the comments below.

Modern Masters Tweets!

Modern Masters was a huge release this past weekend! Here are some of my picks for tweets surrounding the release.

To start things off, I had a thought:

That’s going to do it for me this week! If you picked up some Modern Masters over the weekend, let me know what you did with it in the comments below. If you find cool Magic stuff, let me know. This is Mike Robles, hoping I never have to serve on a . . .