Gavin Verhey Believes Magic is for Everyone

I want to thank everyone who’s listen to, shared, and supported Kitchen Table Magic throughout the years. I want to thank our sponsors, who have been so kind to me and the show, Brian of Paragon City Games, and Terra of Card Kingdom. I’ve always been so grateful for the unwavering support from both of these companies. They embody what all retailers in the Magic community should be. I want to thank the guests on Season 4: Aaron Forsythe, Meghan and Maria of Good Luck High Five, Reuben Bresler, Ashlen Rose, Matt Sperling, Seth Manfield, Andrew Magrini, Ian Dixon, David Williams and Gavin Verhey. I also want to thank all of my wonderful guests from all of our past seasons who generously shared their lives with us on the podcast. There have been so many wonderful stories shared in my past episodes, so if you haven’t listened to them, they’re all archived on KitchenTableMagic.org and HipstersoftheCoast.com. I want to thank all of my Patreon supports. Your generous support helped to pay for the audio equipment, editing software, web hosting, and postage for all the signed cards I sent out. I want to thank the Magic community at large for your kindness and friendship. Thank you for having me, and thank you for listening to the stories I produced. I want to thank Wizards of the Coast for helping me set up interviews with all of the WotC staff over the years. I’ll be working on a new project and traveling the world. I’ll be continuing to tell stories around the world with my camera, this time with photos and videos. You can stay in touch with me on Twitter @samotango, where I will announce my new project soon. If there’s one thing I’ve learned after interviewing four seasons worth of the Magic community, it’s that this game is nothing without its people. The Magic community is so vast and so diverse, that you could spend the rest of your life talking about it and still not know everything there is to know about Magic. I hope this show has inspired you, to try playing new formats, to meet more people, or to start your own podcast. Whatever it may be, I hope you know, that you matter, and after listening to the stories of everyone I interviewed, you see how much people can truly inspire each other. I’m your host, Sam Tang, and thank you for listening to Kitchen Table Magic. Music by the incredible YEYEY, "Wild Things" They just released an amazing new music video for their song Wild Things, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrVIfSRBhLQ

Let’s welcome Senior Magic Designer for Wizards of the Coast, Gavin Verhey to the show. Gavin has been making Magic for over 7 years and is the one to carry the creative torch into the future. Gavin has a background in creative writing, and he loves to bring new ideas to the Magic multiverse. He’s worked on so many modern era Magic sets and is bringing new mechanics to the game with Commander and multiplayer centric sets such as Conspiracy and Battlebond. Gavin’s passion for Magic is only enhanced by his open mindedness. He loves to travel and see the world. Gavin’s attitude on life and discovering new things is an inspiring message that I’m eager to share. I hope you enjoy my interview with Gavin Verhey. Music Credits (in order of appearance): The Process by LAKEY INSPIRED Our theme song is Play the Game by Antracto (Yes I bought the rights, if you're curious) Patreon music: Road Trip by Joakim Karud Card Kingdom ad music: Someways by Nicolai Heidlas Paragon City Games ad music: Clouds by Joakim Karud Preview Clip: Wild Things by YEYEY I want to thank everyone who’s listen to, shared, and supported Kitchen Table Magic throughout the years. I want to thank our sponsors, who have been so kind to me and the show, Brian of Paragon City Games, and Terra of Card Kingdom. I’ve always been so grateful for the unwavering support from both of these companies. They embody what all retailers in the Magic community should be. I want to thank the guests on Season 4: Aaron Forsythe, Meghan and Maria of Good Luck High Five, Reuben Bresler, Ashlen Rose, Matt Sperling, Seth Manfield, Andrew Magrini, Ian Dixon, David Williams and Gavin Verhey. I also want to thank all of my wonderful guests from all of our past seasons who generously shared their lives with us on the podcast. There have been so many wonderful stories shared in my past episodes, so if you haven’t listened to them, they’re all archived on KitchenTableMagic.org and HipstersoftheCoast.com. I want to thank all of my Patreon supports. Your generous support helped to pay for the audio equipment, editing software, web hosting, and postage for all the signed cards I sent out. I want to thank the Magic community at large for your kindness and friendship. Thank you for having me, and thank you for listening to the stories I produced. I want to thank Wizards of the Coast for helping me set up interviews with all of the WotC staff over the years. I’ll be working on a new project and traveling the world. I’ll be continuing to tell stories around the world with my camera, this time with photos and videos. You can stay in touch with me on Twitter @samotango, where I will announce my new project soon. If there’s one thing I’ve learned after interviewing four seasons worth of the Magic community, it’s that this game is nothing without its people. The Magic community is so vast and so diverse, that you could spend the rest of your life talking about it and still not know everything there is to know about Magic. I hope this show has inspired you, to try playing new formats, to meet more people, or to start your own podcast. Whatever it may be, I hope you know, that you matter, and after listening to the stories of everyone I interviewed, you see how much people can truly inspire each other. I’m your host, Sam Tang, and thank you for listening to Kitchen Table Magic.

A preview from the Season 4 finale with Gavin Verhey, Senior Magic Designer at Wizards of the Coast. We'll be talking about making Magic, food, travel, and discovering life.

In this episode, I’m talking to the talented Magic player, poker player, and MasterChef finalist, David Williams. David first time play poker while at a Pro Tour many years ago. Through his love of strategy games and incredible skill, David went on to win a World Series of Poker bracelet and made a career from professional poker. David is fiercely competitive, and smart enough to dismantle any game he gets his hands on. And that’s how David got onto the show MasterChef, and beat out a room fill of competitors to make it to the finals. He’s been a pillar of the Magic community for a long time and I’m so happy to have him on the show. It was really cool hearing stories of David’s journey. It just goes to show that being competitive and thinking strategically bring success in many situations, from Magic, to poker, to competitive cooking shows. David is active on social, and you can connect with him on Twitter @dwpoker and also on Instagram dwpoker I hope you enjoy my interview with David Williams. Music Credits (in order of appearance): The Process by LAKEY INSPIRED Our theme song is Play the Game by Antracto (Yes I bought the rights, if you're curious) Patreon music: Road Trip by Joakim Karud Card Kingdom ad music: Someways by Nicolai Heidlas Paragon City Games ad music: Clouds by Joakim Karud Preview Clip: Love Mode by Joakim Karud

Coming up on the next episode of KTM, pro poker and MTG player David Williams joins us to share about how his competitiveness at everything he does got him to the finals MasterChef, and even named his daughter.

The moderator of moderators, the Modfather, the God Mod, the one who wields the sword, Ian Dixon joins us to talk all about stream chat moderation. Ian has been moderating online communities early on, when Twitch was Justin TV and even before that when stuff was streamed on UStream with IRC chats. Ian established himself early on and was invited to moderate for Loading Ready Run. One gig lead to another and after a decade of timing ppl out, Ian has now created an entire network of moderators sharing and learning from each other. Much thanks to Ian for joining the show to share his knowledge and experience with us. There are many streamers looking for moderators, so if you love hanging out on streams, and you care about growing communities, consider becoming a moderator. Ian is always available to share his knowledge. You can reach out to him on Twitter @DixonIJ Music Credits (in order of appearance): The Process by LAKEY INSPIRED Our theme song is Play the Game by Antracto (Yes I bought the rights, if you're curious) Patreon music: Road Trip by Joakim Karud Card Kingdom ad music: Someways by Nicolai Heidlas Paragon City Games ad music: Clouds by Joakim Karud Preview Clip: Dreams by Joakim Karud

The Modfather, Ian Dixon joins us to explain how important chat moderation is to building communities.

Let’s welcome MTG aficionado, and marketing professional, Andrew Magrini to the show. In this episode, Andrew and I are going to discuss the possible marketing direction that Wizards of the Coast is heading in. Andrew noticed an interesting press release from the Martin Agency, a big time ad agency that handles big time clients. The MTG community has been vocal at times about where Wizards is taking the game, and there has also been a lot of speculation about the future of Magic. For the past 4 seasons all of my guests have talked about Magic’s future as a digital game. Andrew and I put on our ad agency and marketing tin foil hats to break it down for you. This has been a fascinating topic for some time now. And since this interview was recorded a little bit ago, it’s interesting to see some of our predictions solidify as Wizards rolls out it’s strategy. If you’d like to ask Andrew questions or continue the convo on Twitter he’s @A_Magrini I hope you enjoy my conversation with Andrew Magrini. Music Credits (in order of appearance): The Process by LAKEY INSPIRED Our theme song is Play the Game by Antracto (Yes I bought the rights, if you're curious) Patreon music: Road Trip by Joakim Karud Card Kingdom ad music: Someways by Nicolai Heidlas Paragon City Games ad music: Clouds by Joakim Karud Preview Clip: Chill by Joakim Karud

I’m excited to have on the show longtime pro player, thoughtful critic, and commentator of happenings in the MTG community, Matt Sperling. Matt has been around the Magic scene for a long time and writes his popular column, Sick of It. He uses humor to make poignant remarks about the issues that are going on in the community. I took this opportunity to ask Matt what he thought of the future of Magic, how pro players should be using their time, and what he thinks is WotC’s responsibility to govern the community we have. If there’s one person in the Magic community I’d like to ask these tough questions to, it’s gotta be Matt Sperling. I hope you enjoy my conversation with the one and only, Matt Sperling. Links: https://twitter.com/sickofit https://www.channelfireball.com/author/matt-sperling/ Music Credits (in order of appearance): Ad music: The Process by LAKEY INSPIRED Our theme song is Play the Game by Antracto (Yes I bought the rights, if you're curious) Patreon music: Road Trip by Joakim Karud Card Kingdom ad music: Someways by Nicolai Heidlas Paragon City Games ad music: Clouds by Joakim Karud Preview Clip: Canals by Joakim Karud

Coming up on the next episode of Kitchen Table Magic: I’m talking to the thoughtful critic, Matt Sperling. Matt is a long time pro player and commentator of happenings in the MTG community. His popular column, Sick of It, talks about the tough issues, and says the things we’re thinking, but don’t feel confident to say ourselves. But Matt isn’t just a curmudgeon, his hot takes are humorous and poignant. I’ll be asking Matt what makes him tick, and what he’s really sick of, all on the next episode of Kitchen Table Magic.