It's a New Year and a new me. Collectively, as a community and society, we use this otherwise insignificant date to reflect on our accomplishments, set new goals, and recalibrate to focus on the things that are important to us or that we want to change about ourselves. For me, a few years back this was weight loss, and I achieved my goal of losing nearly 100 pounds. After accomplishing this, it feels like there's nothing but my own mind holding me back from any life goals.
This year, I moved into a larger home—big enough for my growing children. With this change came a new school, new friends, and all that. I'm so happy about the change, and it was a clear step in the right direction for myself and my family.
Magic, however, has become less of a focus in my life. I love the game and community, and while I used to love the competition, I don't need it anymore. I have been competitive my whole life, but this year is the first time I realized I don't need to be the best or play with the best. I just want to enjoy my time spinning around the sun.
It feels just as good to me to do well at an Arena Open as it does at the Pro Tour these days. I've thought a lot about it, and my goal this year is to make sure I enjoy playing Magic when I'm playing the game.
I canceled my trip to the first Spotlight Series in Atlanta. I was excited about going, and I started to play a little Dimir Midrange in Standard on Arena. While it was fun for a few matches, it fell off quickly for me. The endless grind of playing the same deck against the same few decks repeatedly for hours wore off. There's a reason I love Limited so much. Limited allows me an outlet to express creativity with each draft. If I don't want to play something because I'm bored of it, then I don't have to take those cards. I can still be successful even if it's not always the highest EV decision. Every draft or sealed deck is a new experience, and I enjoy that moderate change. It keeps the game fresh.
Standard, however, especially right now, feels more like you have to play one of these specific decks or you're not going to have much success.
This year, I did something I didn't think I would do again: I returned to streaming. I first got into streaming via a contract with the Magic Pro League, and once the contract expired, the money in streaming wasn't that good. Between having a young family and other Magic obligations, I didn't have the time despite enjoying it immensely.
In 2025, I'm going to stop putting pressure on myself to qualify for anything, and I'm going to focus more on my stream and everything MTG Arena.
At this time last year, if you asked me what I preferred between Arena and MTGO, I'd have snapped off, "MTGO, and it's not even close." At this point, I've done a complete reversal. Arena is quicker, cleaner, and a better experience both to stream and watch on streams. MTGO was my go-to when I only cared about improving and learning. Arena is a terrible proxy for testing paper Magic outside of potentially Mythic Constructed Ladder, but it's an excellent tool for enjoying yourself and playing fast games with up-to-date software.
I've been waiting for some kind of announcement from Organized Play about the Hall of Fame or team events, but it seems WotC isn't focused on building on organized play much and is dragging it along in its current form. While I love what the OP system used to be, even in that former state it would still be nearly impossible to participate as a family man. It's shocking every time I think about how often I was away from home for a GP or PT. While I hope to some day be in a PT-testing house, the pursuit of that is going to be through online avenues. If it happens, that's great, and if not, I won't lose sleep over it.
My resolution from a Magic standpoint this year is to focus on the content. I will need to figure out how to consistently stream in the summer when my kids are out of school, but I want to stream through the year and reassess next year. I'm hoping it's something I can do while also focusing on family, and I plan to take the necessary steps to ensure that goal.
Limited will be the focus of my stream and most of my content. I will dabble in Constructed when the urge strikes me. I want to stop pigeonholing myself into a category. People know me as a Limited guy, but I want to be a Magic guy. I enjoy solving the puzzle of what deck is best in Constructed, but I don't care to play many games after that puzzle is solved.
As for non-Magic resolutions, I want to continue to work on my health. I gained five or six pounds back over the past year, and I plan to lose it in the next month or so. It's not a lot of weight, but it still takes focus and discipline to keep off. I want to work on my health, both physical and mental, and overall I just want to do and be better than I am right now, even if just a little bit.
I used to look down on silly sayings like "just try and be better than you were yesterday," but it's a good mentality to get into, and focus is the main component in being successful at anything. Many people will make resolutions this year, and by January 3 have stopped thinking about them entirely. At this point in my life, I don't have time to wait to improve myself anymore, I just plan to do it.
Happy New Year, and I hope however good or bad 2024 was for you, 2025 is better.
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