The Very Best Of Magic: The Gathering | 2023

[@TolarianCommunityCollege]

Cubeamajigs and Podamajigs Series 2 are available now at hitpointpress.com/hpp-thingamajigs/ The Podamajig is the ultimate solution for storing your game cards & accessories, and Cubeamajigs are reusable gaming packs that allow you to recreate the experience of opening a sealed pack of cards! They also serve as a great way to store a sideboard or cards together. They come in a myriad of amazing art and colors!

[@IgorDellaPietra]

i really liked the design of the cubeamajigs. unfortunately the international shippig is a marketing gag. only after i registered and entered my payment option did they mention the 100$ shipping cost (at minimum!) to germany. neither was anything like that mentioned in the faq. i was expecting a long shipping time but not a price like that for a 40$ product

[@obadijahparks]

I was a kickstarted. It took way.. too long because of the whole covid nonsense. But they came out pretty well.

[@gulgothica]

These are pretty neat! I will definitely put them on my “to buy” list :)

[@Timmy_tweaked]

This channel is the best of 2023!

[@Zeyga]

Correct

[@TolarianCommunityCollege]

That's genuinely very sweet.

[@thephirex]

Best comment of 2023

[@burnsboy101]

@@thephirexbest reply of 2023

[@thephirex]

@@burnsboy101 best reply to a reply of 2023

[@ozeeyyable]

13:55 love it when theres a missed cut :D makes it a lot more human and relatable. Great stuff, happy new year everyone!

[@keltonschleyer6367]

I'm impressed how fast Prof can do back-to-back takes on the fly!

[@ReddFalcon]

Many magic the gathering players ask the question: “why is the Professor so wholesome?”

[@g.mendes0482]

Definitely exceeds value over his worth

[@gigawarman12]

Unironically, no.

[@SarumanTheStupid]

Agreed, but I prefer the foil version ​@@g.mendes0482

[@alemholas]

​@@gigawarman12why o:?

[@otmshank4778]

Because you can tell he's got his full heart in it

[@dantaylor3468]

The LOTR set is the reason i got back into Magic after a 20 year hiatus. Now I’m hooked again!

[@pablojimenezcubo1811]

+1 on that. Same time as well, about 20 years hahaha

[@RequiosWoW]

My girlfriend loves lotr and asked me to get the starter decks for her. Now I’m addicted! It’s really expensive tho, so I don’t think I’ll ever play outside of the LOTR sets. So I plan on just playing a custom lotr cube

[@AnswerPhoto]

This is what got my wife into the game. I started playing in 2002 and stopped in 2010, but picked it back up over lockdowns. We've always played tabletop games together but this is a whole new world of awesome.

[@ytsejam58]

My hiatus was shorter but LOTR also got me back in. They were drafting it and i realized. I really like draft. And ive been trying to hit every friday draft. Theres a pretty regular play group at my store

[@ashdog9235]

As someone who is pretty deep into the game seeing new people get into the game and enjoy it so much is always great and building a cube is one of the best ways to enjoy the game a custom lotr cube with a few extra of the commander cube sounds amazing

[@jwaffles9269]

I don’t know what you’re going to say in the next video is the worst thing, but I strongly believe that the number 1 worst thing of the year is the December Layoffs. I’m not sure if that counts as something from “magic” or if you count it as from Hasbro, but that’s definitely the worst thing this year.

[@Chocolate83Bunny]

There's so many choices. Remember D&D leaked OGL revision fiasco at the start of the year? The pinkertons? No changes? Another year of sheoldred in standard? Haahaha

[@jiffyb333]

Trying to find Round The Table at LGSs near me helped me learn there is a passionate FaB community that I didn't know existed outside of my local LGS. I'm so grateful that your involvement meant I got my very first play mat of any game having played TCGs for over a decade. ♡

[@TolarianCommunityCollege]

Fantastic!

[@MG-lx3oz]

Round the table for flesh and blood is what go me into FaB. I have had so much fun so far and I can’t wait to see what else you might do with them in the future

[@darksora763]

Is it concerning that the best things of this year were playing with old cards and universes beyond cards?

[@TolarianCommunityCollege]

A little.

[@michaellee1394]

The only products are UB so it was bound to make this list

[@utkphilobio]

Especially when most old cards have been power crept into uselessness.

[@lynxthewise7233]

Only if people can't appreciate what's already there.

[@skraddypoo]

The latest Ixalan is up there for me.

[@liamlolk]

My #1 this year was the flesh and blood decks! Being able to introduce and play fab with my friends was the best!

[@GoodMorningMagic]

Couldn't be me, with a tear in my eye seeing Doctor Who make #2. Glad you liked them Prof ❤

[@christopherlapp4553]

You got this

[@JaySay]

You did a fantastic job with the set, Gavin! I'm so glad that there's a good handful of individuals like you who are a big part of development in the game that also work with so many creators and members of the magic community. Thanks for all you do, and for showing your love of the game & the magic community as a whole! Here's to hopefully an even better 2024!🍻🤙

[@OhSarcasticOne]

Just wish I could get my hands on them 😞 is there a restock coming soon?

[@fatpad00]

Dr. Who felt like a weird choice for UB when it was announced, but the design is excellent and makes me feel like LTR and 40K weren't flukes. I'm more on-board with the less obvious choices than I was at the beginning of 2023

[@valariecarlone2059]

Enchanting tales and mystical archive are some of my favorite bonuses in standard sets

[@madscientist2621]

I loved mystical archive!

[@lordsauron8546]

Despite WotC's greed, that element of those sets was amazing, and I wish they were done more often than they are.

[@ghostguin1398]

I like the idea of mystical archive but I don't like that they upshifted all cards to minimum rare. Makes arena decks more wildcard expensive. I really liked enchanting tales.

[@lordsauron8546]

@@ghostguin1398 definitely was a problem; Urza's Rage is an uncommon at BEST, let alone rare lmao.

[@danieldragotti2608]

I like battles. All they need to be playable is a reasion for other players to attack/defend them

[@antonioarrendol2655]

Battles are great! I just started playing MTG this year with AWBO, and seeing a new card type get introduced in the very next set made me think "wow, this game is really committed to innovating and evolving," a sentiment that made me want to double down on the game, and excited for what was to come. I feel like LOTR would have been a great set to include Battles in for obvious reasons, but I'm getting the sense that people have cooled on them, and I think that's a shame.

[@orangegalen]

@@antonioarrendol2655 I agree, LotR should’ve fully committed and put Battles in the set, but I understand why they didn’t.

[@volosguidetomonsters3440]

I like (the) Beatles

[@scottricks1676]

They def need a tweek, but the battles we got where type = siege so maybe there are other types of battles that have different requirements to flip.

[@VolvoxSocks]

@@scottricks1676 Don't even need to flip. Battles that are basically Enchantments that your opponents can attack to remove and that you're defending is probably the most obvious alternative to Sieges.

[@thefantawarrior3174]

2023 was my first year of being a magic player. And that’s in no small part thanks to you. I started out playing commander at my LGS until I worked up the guts to try draft and prerelease, I’m a regular FNM drafter now. Your videos really helped make this game approachable to me, I’m even building a set cube of lost caverns of Ixalan now. Thank you for the way you represent this game, I’m sure I’ll be a magic player for life.

[@power_SERG]

Wilds of Eld is really just so good. It's what got me into magic recently. Those guaranteed enchantments in every pack is what I want from a booster.

[@benjaminloyd6056]

Art was killer as well.

[@thegamingbear3673]

I really like the theme of Lost Caverns. It’s a fun set and I got the Veloci-ramp-tor precon, imo was worth it👍

[@razornoir8488]

have been a fan of lord of the rings my entire life! growing up watching it as a family and staying with my into adulthood! when i found out about magic and the lord of the rings set it was quite a while after its release but since i've become obsessed with the game as a whole! creating decks, exploring other sets, and getting better with each game i play has really been a highlight of 2023 for me !! i'm getting close to completing my collection of getting each lord of the rings card 😄 your channel has been a key part in my learning about magic journey as well so thank you for all you do !!

[@benadams2565]

The pauper ban committee's level of openness with the players leading to the rest of wizards stepping up at least a bit to giving better information. I honestly feel that everything that Gavin touches gets so much better, and it's great to see the rest of wizards (somewhat) following suit

[@dariocampanella7992]

Gavin has given full powers on pauper because the corporation does not care about a format made of cheap commons, its great and sad at the same time

[@ericupchurch9778]

I'm glad the top 2 spots were for new sets because 3 spots dedicated to reprints and a 2 minute push for another TCG says a lot about MTG today.

[@Ghostnappa5]

Fab best of 2023: got a hero spoiled in a mtg list video, we’re infiltrating

[@PragmaticPsychiatry]

What does it say?

[@truegamerking]

​@PragmaticPsychiatry we are living in the past and looking to alternate games. Yugioh players, pokemon players, digimon players, vanguard players, weiss schwarz players, etc. very often play other games as their "side game" for when they want something different. Magic didn't have that. Magic was the game that had everything you could want gameplay wise, so you didn't need a side game. Now when the largest mtg channel is pushing for a different game what do you think? I think it means something was lost that the game used to have. Something has gone down hill a little bit, and that charm has faded. I feel like that spells it out well enough.

[@atk9989]

​@@truegamerkingyea magic has so many different formats that you don't need a different game entirely to get change up. I played Yugioh for years before I quit, and tried out vanguard, and was interested in Weiss but started magic first and has been the only one that I play for that last 4-5 years

[@zachcarney3910]

I'd actually like to endorse the professors sponsor because of his mention of jump start. Last Christmas I used the cubeamajig boxes (and a different box than the other sponsor) to make my girlfriend a jump start cube because we had been playing a lot and she was keeping the packs separated. It's a great way to reuse jump start packs! Our only rule is if you pick 2 of the same color you gotta pick again to make clean up easy. But really if you have a card list you wouldn't even need to do that. It's been great.

[@TheSpiritombsableye]

I used to do that but I just wrote up card lists for the decks. That problem was solved.

[@snap1576]

“If there were a button I could push that made it so that Magic never brought in an outside IP, that mtg kept its cards and aesthetic purely magic the gathering, I’d probably push it in a heartbeat” This hits home. As popular as these UB products seem, I can’t help but secretly hate other IPs existing in this game I treasure so much.

[@seanedgar164]

I'm lucky that I enjoy both lotr and 40k but even the doctor who set I didn't touch was really well done and has served to bring people into the game. Dialling back would be good but each individually were milestones for the game, lotr and 40k especially

[@TheMrpineapples]

Professor, your passion for the game and product that is MTG is incredible and much appreciated. Thanks for doing what you do.

[@huddlestonb16]

Great list, and the inclusion of a FAB drop in the middle was hilarious. Hopefully mtg continues to innovate to try and stay ahead of lss

[@MTGUnpacked]

Great list! It highlights how much good stuff we had for the game this year. Lost Caverns was a definite highlight for me, despite my initial skepticism when recalling the original Ixalan sets.

[@themikefrog97XD]

2023 saw my hometown open its first LGS with awesome owners and we had a great community develop, I built my first commander deck EVER (based heavily on your Yargle&Multani video!) And I won my first game of commander (amongst others( by using Jarad Golgari Lich Lord to throw 18 damage at people's faces over and over again. Thanks for all you do Prof!

[@gregorygregory7334]

As former Magic player and active FAB player, I'm glad to see that the 3rd best thing to happen in Magic in 2023 is the upcoming prerelease of Heavy Hitters ! Thank you Professor Teklovossen 😀

[@CHoustonify]

Precons in general were really good this year, with some exceptions *ahemcommandermasters*. The most common response to the Lost Caverns decks I saw was "more of this" and if the reprints and mana bases in them are really Wizards turning over a new leaf, that is at least one bright spot.

[@OneTrueNep]

I, for one, am looking forward to the 3 hour feature long film that will be dropped on Friday. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays Prof! Your channel makes the magic the gathering experience leagues better :)

[@T.O.W.I.R.]

Film?

[@EclipseWarlord]

Friday is when the Prof is dropping his "Worst of MTG 2023" video. The three-hour film part is (hopefully) a joke.

[@Nersius]

Really hope that 2024's best of includes the new combined packs. Draft in my area feels like checking out a 20 y/o fps.

[@EclipseWarlord]

@@NersiusUnreal Tournament 2003 is better than a lot of modern FPS games in my humble opinion, so draft must be halfway decent in your area but look outdated to you.

[@Nersius]

@@EclipseWarlord Less an analogy of game quality, more of pop and skill Odds are there aren't enough people for a match. If there are enough people, you're headshotted the moment you leave cover.

[@lukaspopp94]

I was out of the hobby for the last 10 years but came back because the prof appeared in my recomended videos and that gave me the push to get back and had a blast from opening new products or finding my ancient cards and putting them in new commander decks. Keep up the good work. Love you all

[@BigNonsense]

We aren't highlighting community content, but your mana base in commander video was one of the best pieces of content I watched all year. I only got into magic in February of this year and it's been a whirlwind of information. Having that video invited me to build decks with much more confidence so I appreciate that a great deal!

[@supatim101]

I have to agree about the Dr. Who set. One of the things I did with my dad growing up was watch classic Dr. Who episodes that he recorded off of PBS. We were huge Dr. Who fans even before the renaissance. He got me the Blast From the Past deck for Christmas. He's in a lot of pain these days, so going through the cards and reminiscing about the stories and characters depicted in the cards was an absolute highlight of this Christmas. Took his mind off the pain and gave us both a lot of joy.

[@kingofthepirates5656]

Before discovering this channel earlier this month, I was never into MTG. Always thought it was too complicated... until I watched your How to Play video. Now I am fully invested. Bought the Ahoy Mateys precon and my head is full of ideas for my pirates. So excited for future sets, collabs, secret lairs, and more! Thanks for a great introduction to this game and great content that latched me onto this new hobby!

[@raonair]

Profile picture checks out with the deck choice

[@UnuUO]

@@raonair it’s pretty based tbh

[@juliencholet4155]

Lord of the rings brought me back to Magic after a 15 years break. And coming back to the game brought me to your channel. Love your approach towards the game and the players. Definitely deserves the number 1 spot!!

[@nolancarroll227]

Dear Algorithm, Please recommend THIS video to all people who are interested in Magic: The Gathering, The Prof’s videos are great and this one especially should be people’s first impression of the game. Sincerely, A big fan of this game

[@cinnamonbear3321]

Would love to see more Flesh and Blood content on your channel. Really enjoyed Round the Table!

[@keithhitchcock4596]

The best of MtG for the year for me was being able to revitalize our game club at school with cards. I taught over 60 kids how to play magic near the end of the year and over the rest of the week spontaneous games were being played. Running two clubs which I feel will bleed between each other. Bridge and Magic the Gathering, combine that with offered Dungeons and Dragons and I wish I had had these opportunities when I was their age. I'm so glad to be able to offer them this and to see it going into an upswing again!

[@alizah8042]

Best of 2023 - finally got to play MTG again after 8 years, built my own deck, and now play regularly! One of the reasons I felt comfortable enough to do that as a nontraditional MTG demographic was watching this channel. So thank you, Professor!!!!

[@lancelotto475]

The one positive for me to come out of Magic this year was that my disappointments with the story got me passionate about writing again.

[@amberhernandez]

Holy _hell,_ I know that feeling! My muse barely ever clocks in anymore, but seeing such obvious writing fumbles brought her back to the office like "girl, we can do _so_ much better than this."

[@inscrutablewut]

Doctor Who was the biggest "I could not possibly care less" product of the year, and the year had several.

[@seanedgar164]

I kinda get that, I actively don't care about doctor who but I still was interested in the reprints, lands and some singles. I haven't bought any but I see the sets value. There were definitely sets I didn't buy anything from but the year had a lot of highlights overall

[@dylanv.4970]

Well that makes one of us. As a Doctor Who fan I was so excited for it. And that it was a genuinely good set of decks not just good for being a doctor who fan was awesome

[@brandonrathbone3690]

As a brand new player to magic, who is excited to attend my first pioneer night and pre-release for Thunder Junction soon, the Dr Who commander decks are what allowed me easy entry into paper magic. With a familiar theme, and a deck that is a bit slower to begin churning out it's engines, it was easy to learn paper magic.

[@joethems1]

I didn't play any new magic this year and instead played some old school and premodern. Even with that this channel is still my favorite thing about MTG! I also have dove deep into Sorcery Contested Realm which I hope the professor will try out and give his opinion on!

[@Kelthulu89]

I started playing Magic this year and my fave has been Wilds of Eldraine! I’m also in love with reprints and it makes me feel like I can get right into the game without having to hunt down cards that are older than my kid!

[@treesen5]

My friends got me into Magic this year after I played a ton of the League of Legends card game. We started drafting Kaladesh boosters and I was instantly hooked. Playing with the LOTR sets this summer was one of my fondest gaming experiences period. So glad that LOTR was my first Magic set I got to fully experience from start to finish. Now, I'm building a commander deck with almost all LOTR cards! Thanks for the great year Prof! Wishing you the best in 2024!

[@brendanashman4112]

Not entirely sure if it started in 2023, but shuffle up and play is a pretty decent part of my 2023!

[@christhompson8003]

Got back into mtg this year after being away for 20 years. Your channel has been brilliant for finding out whats changed and how to get back into the game.

[@senseipogi]

was expecting a 10 second video where only the intro played coz this channel was the best thing related to magic this year lmao

[@FordFlatSix]

I started playing MTG with Homelands in 1995 and I stopped playing Friday Night Magic with Scourge in 2003. When I heard that LOTR was coming to Magic I came back to the game.

[@davidprentice4732]

Didn’t know that Khans got put into Magic Arena and also didn’t know until watching this vid that that was my first set. Gonna get someone else’s cube now so I can draft it in paper

[@juneaino5805]

i LOVE the flesh and blood spoiler in this - hell yrah

[@Douggarding]

I "Came back" to Magic because of the Lord of the Rings set after a 10 year hiatus. I also appreciated the highlight for the Wilds of Eldraine bonus sheet shout-out, because that was another highlight of the year for me! I bought extra of those packs simply because I was excited about and wanted copies of just about every reprint they included. I was VERY happy about that product!

[@morganahart2575]

The Dr.Who commander decks were the thing that finally managed to get my wife hooked on magic after years of trying to get her interested in playing with me, they are definitely not beginner friendly decks to the point we had to sit down and go over what every random insane keyword on all 100 card in the deck meant before we could get a practice game in, but the timey whimey deck had her favorite characters as the commanders and she recognized all the references and was having such a good time with that the enjoyment of the magic mechanics had time to rub off and get a hold of her. Now we have fun playing our favorite pre-cons against each other and are tuning up her first custom built deck, (rin and seri), to be able to keep up with some of my decks I've been slowly upgrading for years

[@IsraelFernandezvstheworld]

Me and a friend started playing magic because of the lord of the rings set, he got all commanders decks and we play with them, I got the starter decks, now we are buying mor mtg card outside of lord of the rings, because the game is so awesome and thanks to the game I found this channel thank you proffesor

[@xaviesposito2485]

Thanks for all the FAB support. Found that game thanks to you. Now I have you as a hero deck. Thanks

[@thecariboucollector2778]

I was someone who never really had interest in magic the gathering but the doctor who decks got me reeled in! I now own two doctor who decks and one in universe magic deck: vampiric bloodlines. I feel both of those universes beyonds were the best parts of magic this year as it got new players like myself into the game while faithfully honoring the franchise !

[@StealerOfEggs]

I started playing this past couple of months because of the Transformers cards that came out last year. I understand everyone's worries about the UB sets but it is working to bring in new players. xD And thank you Professor! I've learned a lot from your channel even though I still have so much more to learn!

[@QuestionableKenz]

Growing up I played the Pokemon TCG a lot, and was vaguely interested in magic, but didn't really have the budget to be collecting two TCGs, and the LOTR set convinced me to make the jump to magic, and I love it! It was such a good intro to the game for me, with characters and places I was familiar with, and let me learn the mechanics and workings of magic at my own pace

[@draytonyork4811]

These videos are some of my favorites from you. As bad as the years get, we always have a little positive to look back on. ❤

[@lachlanrussell18]

100% true that lotr was an onboarding for new players. That set got me to start playing, and hosts of Mordor was my first ever deck. Now, I have 5, and I’m utterly obsessed with this fantasy multiverse. Unlike some other universes beyond sets, LoTR feels like a perfect fit to the magic world to me- in my head I now imagine middle earth as one of Magic’s planes when I watch the movies.

[@Adder6112]

The Talws of Middle Earth set brought my Love of Magic To New Hights as i have decks for 6 of the 9 fellowship Members done and i hope to have a deck for each member of the Fellowship done in time

[@Jonzin4BeatzNYC]

The game prof showed from the early pro tour days featured Sean Fleischman from NY! He was my brother's D&D buddy who let me tag along in the mid 90s as the game was starting to grow into something magical. Gives me the feels of nostalgia

[@Louis-uj8mw]

Love the video prof as always you're a true gem for this game and community. Also I think you forgot to edit a cut at 13:55 haha

[@rickdmer]

I had to rewind it to make sure I wasn't having a stroke

[@HoneyJack07]

Came looking to make sure I wasn’t the only one lol 😂

[@mirandaaiken1351]

LOTR was the first time I've ever played MTG and I'm hooked! From the artwork to the tempt mechanic, it was a great set to start on. The Magic community is wonderful. Just stop into a local store, make new friends and play. What a great concept!

[@stezzy3824]

I was super critical about universes beyond UNTIL my brother finally asked me to teach him to play because he was such a fan of Doctor Who. You hit the nail on the head about the purpose of these sets, bring in more players!

[@Flair3777]

Love the idea of focusing the entire video on positive attributes! Great call!

[@Franciscomeirajr]

Well, I mean, there'll be the negative video as well on Friday.

[@nsearle420]

He does a best and a worst every year

[@nerdcoregaming6468]

Round the Table is one of the most absurd value picks in TCGs ever.

[@pointless1194]

I think the honorable mention about the Pro tour/Magiccon is #1 for me. As a newish player, watching pro tour Phyrexia was what brought me into the strategic depths and competitive aspects of MTG.

[@eellis4437]

I’m new to magic and this Chanel has made me fall even more in love with the game !!!! Thank you for the great content ❤❤

[@teamalice115]

God honestly wilds of eldraine are one of my favorite sets possibly ever. It’s such my esthetic and the set was just so so good, so solid, and made many cards that used to be too expensive were affordable and easier to get and it was amazing. I love the set and I hope the animal themed set coming out this year can be close to as good as wilds of eldraine

[@brandonh9270]

For me it was the variety so each player felt seen. Typal decks have always been my favorite and Ixalan’s commander decks were fantastic. My play group has someone who plays doctor who themed spell slingers and another who beats in with ring tempted orcs. Everyone got someone this year.

[@jriddgaming]

the biggest win (for me) was the drastic improvement in commander sealed product as a whole.. I was starting to dabble in commander and MTG mid to late last year but discouraged from it by not having a play group and not having a remotely decent deck after investing some decent money upgrading a precon. this all changed when commander precons became a good product which led me to making multiple decks getting my friends from other TCGs into it and now I play almost every week and it all started with WOTC saying "yes we can give you decent mana base and synergistic cards in a product that is designed to get you started"

[@MTG_Scribe]

One of my favorite things about Prof is the extremely subtle things he does sometimes. Like using that specific picture of Pleasant Kenobi at Cube Con. It's trolling done right.

[@Atulack]

For me Khans is the #1 of this year! I never had so much fun in online mtg before. This set is perfection, I love its flavour, I love its rhythm, I love the interactions, the mechanics and the feeling of power, so unique for each of the clans. This set is great! I have already knew so many cards from it but I never imagined they fit together to create such amazing gameplay. LotR draft was fun too! But since I started playing Arena I had almost 100k gold saved and I spent almost all of it on Khan runs. No regrets!

[@ProitoOk]

This year I participated in my first and only prerelease (from All Will Be One), and got the second place. Possibly the best thing to ever happen to me related to Magic

[@akam4133]

Best of 2023 was starting with Magic and discovering this nice channel... ❤ Thank you for your nice content. 🙏🏻

[@wadelee05903]

My number one pick of the year is definitely Wilds of Eldraine. I'm still relatively new into MTG and I love the folktale approach eldrain has to magic cards. Not to mention the enchanting tales slot was responsible for me owning my first copy of rhystic study without having to pay crazy high prices! I look forward to more reprints like these to make MTG more affordable and accessible to all players.

[@camoyuki]

The Doctor Who commander decks really brought me into Magic. It was really cool seeing all those characters and events from Doctor Who represented in a card game that work surprisingly well within the game's mechanics while still matching the theme of Doctor Who. It's hard to really say, but I think the decks worked well for me as a newer player, although before Magic I have played YuGiOh, Pokemon TCG, and Hearthstone, so learning how another trading card game works was probably a lot easier for me than for someone who had never played any trading card games before.

[@cambot1922]

Personally I really liked the LCI limited environment. It was so much fun to play at my LGS that I’ve been planning to buy a box and play at home with some of my friends. I also had a wonderful time with all the doctor who decks and the LOTR set got my roommate who doesn’t usually like tcgs excited about magic. Thanks for the great video prof

[@Kazz1187]

I love that you are on a flesh and blood game piece!

[@Flyboy245]

I 100% agree with the backwards button. But I do think that both LOTR and doctor who were extremely well and passionately designed; each card is incredibly thematic and true to the source material

[@twistofdeath]

Shout out to Hasbro (not WotC sorry) for firing tons of people before christmas. I know he brought it up but we cant forget what they did.

[@TolarianCommunityCollege]

WotC didn't fire anyone before Christmas, is was WotC staff who GOT fired.

[@wilddragonchase]

returned to magic after 20 years this year. i enjoyed both LCI and WOE limited environments a lot. both very different but dynamically fun to play. if this is a sign of things to come in future set releases i'm very optimistic for the year ahead, and also looking forward to play boosters making commons more playable

[@brenthampton869]

This was an excellent video. Thank you, Professor!

[@themadstudent]

The Wilds of Eldraine bonus sheet was the real MVP. It reminded me of Conspiracy: Take the Crown, but without the immediately worthless after the draft ends conspiracy cards to serve as feel-bad pulls.

[@MightiestBeard]

The best thing in Magic for me this year is that I actually got back into it after a maybe 20 year break! 99% of it has been through Arena, but I've been happy to just be touching the IP again. And when I was home on xmas break, I was able to get together with friends who still play and we drafted Lost Caverns :) So for me, simply playing this game again has been wonderful in 2023.

[@Alex-pk1iy]

I recently got into MTG because I was looking for a LOTR based card game and came across the TOME set. I downloaded MTGA and now have my first MTG deck via the starter kit. I have a long way to go before becoming an established player, but I really like the community and gameplay of MTG. I’m looking forward to to attending a LGS for a draft/ prerelease event soon

[@calbion9164]

Lord of the rings got me back into magic (after 15 years out) and the Dr Who commander sets hooked me even more! Loving it so much even built an Ent deck around Fangorn

[@nb_nic]

I know I'm late but Doctor Who was definitely my #1 magic thing last year, it got me into the game! I started learning it around the LOTR launch so I could know what I was doing when WHO dropped and have had a blast playing commander! I also know it's gotten some magic players into Doctor Who, so as a crossover it has definitely worked out for both parties as intended

[@coman0330]

Never played MTG before but my buddy got me into it this year... im 4 decks strong now with LOTR Sauron, Veloci-Ramptor, Draconic Dissent, Kasla The Broken Halo... yeah im hooked lol

[@timstoltzfus5252]

Oh gosh, that pic of Kenobi and I at the beginning of the first draft of day one 😆 The player across the table who took the pic had never heard that you never just take one pic, you take several and hope one is good. But Kenobi liked it! He was great to hang out and draft with during the weekend. CubeCon was fantastic. And more relevant, so was this video. I enjoy focusing on the positive!

[@toonvanzijl2351]

I also enjoyed that they did a long story arc over many sets. Starting even before DMU with the cameos of the praetors, but after that the Brothers War, All will be One, March of the Machines. I liked that a lot. I got back into magic during ikoria, so I had never experienced the longer blocks. I think I would have enjoyed them

[@jroden06]

So happy to have finally subbed to this amazing channel. Wish I had a Prof back when I started playing, so now I'm determined to be that kind of positive influence at my LGS.

[@tiger_van1]

The addition of the new Battle card type for me was one of the best things to happen this year Definitely a new and interesting addition to the game I think it has also helped extend out games by getting opponents to attack the seige instead of the player allowing an extra turn or 2 to even out the board if you're in a bad spot I would love to see more attention given to this card type and am looking forward to what comes next 😊

[@pigfish99]

I had grown out of the community, but came back in due to pure luck by selling some cards I had, at the day of the phyrexia pre-release. that and weekly commander nights at the LGS has cemented my like for MtG again.

[@idreppy]

This is personal to me, but the best thing to happen in magic in 2023 is that I started playing again. I haven’t played magic since highschool and LOTR brought me back in. I originally wasn’t going to play anything aside from LOTR and commander, and now I play pioneer every week at my lgs. 2023 was truly a fantastic year for magic.

[@elijahpatterson3583]

To accompany your divergence, I got the Round The Table box after trying one of the previous Blitz decks and I ABSOLUTELY ADORE playing Teklovossen. And I'm not going to lie I was a little sad when I discovered the Bright Lights versions weren't also modeled after you.

[@Millevious]

Just recently started playing magic...I am hooked! Love this channel! Thank you! ❤

[@JD-td8kl]

Prof, I took a break from Magic for 3 years, but I still watched your videos regularly. Thanks for the great content ❤

[@j-dubz2349]

The best thing was your build your own budget deck videos. I hope you keep doing them and showcase them on shuffle up and play.

[@IdlestHands]

Man my favourite part of the Magic The Gathering round up was the massive Flesh and Blood advert in the middle

[@erikasimmons4667]

Even though the commander masters was way too pricey, I do like really like a lot of the new cards in them, and I’ve enjoyed playing the Enchantments and Colorless decks a lot

[@tam-ka-blam9736]

Love that Flesh and Blood squeezed its way into a best of Magic the Gathering list.