Favorite Post on the blog: Grandpa's Pauper Cube
In many ways I did not have a great year. For the first time since I joined the team here I missed a post. I also totally fumbled the rollout on a bunch of new content that I promised, but never could deliver. However, in other ways I think the year went very well.
In General had a great year. My core business, if you will, is this weekly column. Which, I have kept strong and reliable. The topics have varied widely, as have my motivations and interests, but the core principle of the column is that I bring something new each week: a format you haven't played, a concept you've never heard of, a dynamic that you haven't explored. I always want In General to be about breaking new ground. Showing and growing and churning and burning each week to inspire and edify. I had some innovative articles this year with equally punny titles. Here are just a few:
Vehicular Card Slaughter
Fashion is Danger
Journey to the Center of the Deck
But the best, the absolute cream of the crop this year had to be my month long saga about Pauper Cube. The old saying goes that home is where the heart is. And I know it is true with me. Whenever I drift away to new formats or new decks I am always drawn back to one place. Designing, playing, and maintaining my Pauper Cube keeps me playing Magic. It has kept me from walking away from the game. When you don't have a reliable test partner or a regular play group, what do you do? If you're like me you just dig around in your collection staring at cards for what seems like hours (and many times actually IS hours).
Debating with myself the merits of including Negate over Essence Scatter kept me interested in Magic and it kept my mind focused on the game in times where I easily could have just gone to do something else. It is my Magic muse. It is my baby. It is the most fun and the biggest challenge that I've had with the game. It is my crowning achievement and I was overjoyed at the chance to share it on the blog.
Least Favorite Post: SNAP KEEP?! (all of them)
Unfortunately, things didn't quite turn out as I had planned for the blog this year. I had ambitious goals to expand our posting schedule, add new content, and commit to increasing both our audience and internet presence. Between having to replace my computer, moving to a new city, and starting a new career, I just wasn't able to invest the same amount of time into the blog that I had promised.
I am officially calling SNAP KEEP my worst failure of the year, but the entire expanded content schedule including: news, Ill-Gotten Games, and You Make the Pick all fell flat (and then off the map). These are ideas that I still want to implement, but the future doesn't look like it is going to get any less hectic for me. Perhaps, if we had more resources and staff we could make this a reality...
Favorite Set Review: Khans of Tarkir Utility and Mana
Khans of Tarkir really does have it all. This set was juiced to the wall and there is no way to hide it. It has new players and old fans alike singing its praises. It has constructed powerhouses in every color. It has a surprisingly rich limited format which is a blast to play. Khans brought back tons of great ideas from Magic's past and tuned them up with brand new functionality. My personal favorite twist on what is now becoming a running theme is Villainous Wealth.
Worst Set Review: Born of the Gods Threats
Basically nothing about the cards in this article was good. In fact, the only card from BotG that generated any buzz at all was Kiora, the Crashing Wave and that buzz wore off very quickly; she hasn't seen much play at all in any format.
I don't think that the writing was particularly poor, but I do think that the Creatures in this set were mediocre and forgettable. Unfortunately, that opinion really showed through in the writing. It is just tough to get excited in that kind of situation and when I am not excited about Magic, something is definitely going wrong.
That's all for this
-GG
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