What Happens at a Magic Con?
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- Опубліковано 20 сер 2024
- Magic Con is a massive celebration of the game's 30th anniversary, and I got to attend the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania festival, which was full of tournaments, vendors, panel discussions, and even the Pro Tour!
What did I learn? What did I wish I did different? What tips do I have for anyone thinking about attending a Magic Convention in the future? Let's find out!
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This is one of the best MTG channels out there and surely the best lore channel.
It is the best lore channel, and don't call me Shirley.
@@MagicArcanum Definitely then
@@MagicArcanum did you get there by....Airplane?
@@GlacWolf lol
Philadelphia might be the best city to dramatically run through. The Rocky franchise is a testament to that.
I'm glad you found the con fun! I was one of the judges in the red section where the un-known event happened, it was soo stressful as we weren't even told what was the twist until Gavin announced it, I believe only the head judge knew. Philly was also a lot better organized then Vegas, it was better in every way I could think of. But the 1200-200 tix split was consistent for all our events in red I was judging (2hg was doubled but each player got the same amount assuming 50/50 split between teammates) so I'm not sure asking Gavin for a more even split would work, you might have to talk to Pastimes for that.
Interesting! I've got another person in the comments saying the event wasn't supposed to have prize tix at all, but once they handed some out they had to keep going with it. Either way, some clarity from Gavin would be great!
Man, the comment about magic community toxicity hit close to home. I recently started trying to interact with Twitter more (I know, why?) and it’s a really scary place when it comes to magic and players of. I am happy that you were able to interact with the community in a way that overshadowed that rather than the other way around. Pretty awesome.
Unironically you're one of the most constructive and interesting channels I've had the pleasure of watching! Your videos are really awesome, keep up the good work :)
I live for comments like this. Thank you!
Thank you for your kind words. We really do our best to provide the best experience we can.
Fantastic video, it's a really good idea to provide a pov experience explaining what it's like for those that have never attended. Being so used to going to these events, i feel like I forgot that some events will always be someone's first time!
It was so wonderful meeting you -- even by accident looking for an event that was hidden from us! You made my day, and I love all the sweet sweet merch you gave my friends and I. I was indeed the person who said "wow cool shirt I love that channel".
Great video! Glad you also had a positive experience. I was fortunate enough to go, on Saturday and Sunday, and had a blast. The artists section and meet/greet sessions were the biggest draws for me, and generally everyone I interacted with was super nice and talkative. The more than plentiful free play space was particularly appreciated. As long as the base ticketing and travel costs don’t price people out from attending, I would very much recommend going to a Con like this!
Thanks for the well thought out and detailed description of this event that I feel like must have been amazing!
This video was not only super informative and full of good advice, but the stories of the experience were interesting to listen to, too. Much appreciated! :)
This was so great to listen to. felt like I vicariously experienced the convention through your story.
Have watched this to get ready for MagicCon Barcelona and I am very thankful you made this video so I can get ready as best I can when I didn't think I would be able to do this until a month out from the event. Regardless, I love these helpful videos, like this one, that you have made, Ryan and Nicole.
Planning on heading to Magic Con Minneapolis, so this is just the video I needed!
I haven't been to any convention in almost 10 years. I appreciated the story of your time at Magic Con, and definitely took notes of some of your con tips for when I do eventually (hopefully) return to the convention circuit myself!
You were at con? Uuuugh damn I wish I would have seen you! I've really been enjoying your channel.
Sorry I missed ya!
Absolutly amazing at least i can live these amazing events with your stories i wish I could attend one day,maybe one in Europe! I can feel the love in your words this make me so happy! Thank you for sharing this is really cool!
......and thanks for saying kind words about Philly! I was born and raised there (and still visit family and friends quite often) and sometimes the city gets a bad rap. Philly is a great city to be in!
Nice summation of the whole game convention experience. I myself am a tabletop RPG nerd and have gone to a ton of Gen Cons and the occasional Origins, and local convention. The conventions I've attended tend to be within a 5-9 hour drive so I try to time my arrival for the afternoon before the Con starts to take care of registration, settle into my hotel, connect with out of town friends, get my bearings, see a few of the sights, and try out at least one of the local restaurants, before finally trying to get some sleep before what usually is a 3 to 4 day event. It is about as hard as you imagine, being a bit like trying to get to sleep on Christmas Eve as a kid. Anyhow glad you had fun even if your bank balance didn't. 😉
It was awesome meeting you on Saturday. You were definitely incognito with the mask on. Thanks for the stickers and tokens! - Max (interplanar beacon cosplay - the Myrel one)
I had command zone VIP - there was not ODEs in the zone. You told someone if you wanted to play casually or competitively, and you got into a game in a couple minutes max. It was also where Commander and cEDH content creators played, and I did get to play against Dylan from Play to Win just by being able to be in that area. I would have liked to have ODEs available there, even with the extra price, and a few entries included in the price of the ticket would make a future Commander vip pass perfectly worth it
That's fascinating because the website definitely did say there were Commander ODEs, and you could ONLY do them in the CZ, not in the regular tournament hall. Did you get prize tickets for any of your games?
@@MagicArcanum I did not get any prize tickets for playing, no; to be fair, I never asked the desk at the front of that area to try to fire any ODEs either, but I also didn’t see a single pod get ODEs at any point in the three days, and the only format I played all weekend was commander
Great summary. Thanks for sharing!
Glad you enjoyed it!
ty for sharing! and dang, so much for us plebs being able to afford one of these!
I think there were opportunities to reduce the cost, if I had really wanted to. Cheaper hotels existed, but they were further away from the convention center. I didn't want to gamble on the weather in February, so I paid a premium to be closer to the action. I could have gotten cheaper food (though part of the fun is trying new places, and not just hitting up Wendy's every night for value) and I could have not bought the Unknown event or done any ODEs (even though they paid out in prize tickets, which helped the balance sheet too.)
So I think my total expenditure was around $1,500 but I probably could have gotten that down to under $1k if I was serious about my budget. It would have been a different experience, for sure, but for a three day "mini vacation," I think that's still within reach for most people.
@@MagicArcanum ty for your perspective. even for those who don't see a con attendance in their future, hearing your tips and advice was much appreciated. it certainly did sound like you had an awesome and memorable time!
I went that weekend as well and I gotta be honest if your traveling far from home it can be expensive. Luckily I live in PA right outside of Philly so I was fortunate. I also purchased a weekend pass with my friends and one even got the commander VIP pass. One thing we learned was while the staff was nice nobody really paid close attention to anything. We walked all over to any location and did whatever we liked without any issues. The command zone was paid for sure but I did not pay and walked in all weekend without any issue or person asking if I should be there. I’m not sure if there were any prizes or stuff to gain from it but everyone that was there that I met played causal commander with us and it was super fun. The paid events sure could add up but in all reality all you needed was to pay for general access and then do whatever you wanted cause it was not paid attention to.
I appreciate the lore videos and the title of this video is beautiful
Thank you. I enjoy your Lore. I enjoy your channel. I'm glad you got to go. Now you inspire me to want to go. Thank you for the Breakdown. Thank for this video. Thank to being Magic alive. I hope to see much more from you guys. Thank you!!
What a lovely Recap..Thanks for all the Info and Insight :)
Glad you enjoyed it!
Great video. Your joy really does come through the screen. I feel like I had a good time going and I never even left my house! Haha
I wish I could've met you there.
I also went to the event, but hope you enjoyed it homie.
I'm so glad you enjoyed yourself! I wanted to go to philly but having gone to events before I knew I couldnt afford it this time.
Not even finished watching yet and I have to say this was excellent. I live in Boston so I've been going to PAX for years which always has a strong Magic presence so I know a lot of this stuff already, but I remember my first convention and I would have loved to have all this spelled out to me before. Kudos.
Glad you enjoyed it! I also lived in Boston for two years but never made it out to PAX 😭
Fantastic video about conventions in general since COVID~!! Loved the perspective and I appreciated it! Maybe see you at one of the conventions in the future~!!
Going by my past experiences at pre-releases for Urza's Legacy and Destiny, later Invasion block, I can vouch for your tips and bringing a bankroll count. Glad you had fun, which was the overall purpose.
Now, let's see Maro make a channel appearance!
This is really cool hearing about. I have no experience with Magic cons but as a longtime attender of Comic Cons, I can say that not attending enough panels is a pretty common issue I hear. Check the schedules, hit the events you think sound interesting, then fit floortime around it
Taking the leap of faith for rosewater was brave. Good on you.
this video made me desire an event like magic con philly. thanks.
made this comment b4 the rosewater story, amazing. I am so going to the next con nearby.
Dang, its a shame I missed seeing you there, I love your stuff! Though you made the right decision when it came to food in house there, $8 for a Grilled Chees or Mac n Cheese, and that was it. Not to mention the cost of a small Red Bull lol!
So cool! I would have lost my mind going to one of these when we started in middle school. Maybe there is still one in the cards for the future! Seems awesome to have gone with your brother too!
Awesome!!! Wish I could go... But the small tiny problem... Living in a different country, makes it impossible xD.
Glad you had fun, and thanks for te advices...
Thank you for this great video
It is really interesting to know all this things even if I will probably never go to such an event
I wish I could have met you at the convention in Philly!!! I love your content with Nicole B.
It was also one of my first cons as well.
It was hard trying to see and do everything.
Damn, fresh Magic Arcanum
didnt realize you would be there nor did I realize you were a fellow CNY'er, we drove down from Syracuse
i was in Vegas last Year, there was no On Demand Events and no real space for Open play what really sucked cause i also didnt wanted to play a few hundred on non refundable Scheduled events. so i was there and had like 2 matches at the Hotel the whole weekend. But good to hear that they changed some things
Very interesting video, I was already thinking to go to Barcelona and seeing this might be very helpful in order to enjoy the experience properly, if I'm actually going.
Cheers from Italy!
Glad it was helpful!
Awesome experience video! Keep it up Ryan and team!
We will!
Woah I didn’t know you were there! Wish I could have run into you.
Awsome tips, I'm not surprised you got recognized!
After sitting at home and talking to a camera in an empty room for three years, you kinda forget what it's like to be around people who "know" you!
This is such a great video. Thanks Ryan.
My pleasure!
What a beautiful thing, Ryan! I have yet to attend a MTG convention. Someday!
You should!
I had issues with the way Pastimes ran the events. More often than not they didn't use the timers on the companion app, which caused frustration and affected match outcomes. To your point, 200 vs 1200 is quite the difference so I had a match or two that would have played out different if we knew time remaining. Gavin's event was fun and yeah, the test cards broke the game, but honestly, I gave that a pass. It was so fun I didn't care. A single test card blew me out 2/3 games in one round. Another round I had a similar experience and faced down a Vishgraz, the Doomhive. I somehow ran into Mark at Reading Terminal Market getting breakfast at the same place. Really nice guy.
Very glad to hear you enjoyed the event! From what I've heard, the Lotus badge was far from worth it this round of MagicCon; the VIP group seemed rather miffed about missing out on Shivan Dragons by staying in the lounge!
$160? Worth. $320? Questionable, bahahaha!!
Sounds like there's some stuff that should be posted on a website and/or sent in emails to attendees about how to prepare for the event and alert "the press" about press passes.
Yeah that would have been helpful, for sure.
I wish there was a convention in the UK
This was a really cool video
Thanks!
Imagine looking at Ryan's mustache and not recognizing him.
To be fair it was almost always covered by a mask.
Me and my friends stayed at the loews hotel too! Idk how we missed you, ugh 😩
Did you see the wedding party in the lobby Friday night? The bridesmaids were CRAZY LOUD 🤣
Oooohhhh snap I was at Phillycon too.also my first one. I got one of the secret lair shivan dragons
Awesome!
I'm looking for that foil brainstorm playmat there
damn, never been so early! let's go!
hat looks great tho :D
I got the secret lair box from this. Just for that playmat. Wish I could've gone to one of these.
as a part-time Pioneer grinder who got owned at a store championship in Austin, please tell us more about your Pioneer deck!!
Ok well since you're the only person who asked, it is a homebrew budget Basri counters deck:
scryfall.com/@Magic_Arcanum/decks/8adb8b37-ef02-4c7f-931b-126ed5f70020
Stonecoil Serpent and Basri's Lieutenant have protection from multicolored which helps a lot against Kroxa and Bloodtithe Harvester. Lion Sash and Iron Apprentice wear counters well. Most creatures have vigilance so they can use Basri's +1, make a safe attack, and then still defend the planeswalker. Lay Down Arms removes early threats or blockers, so your Speaker of the Heavens can sneak in and gain you life (he also gets better with Basri's counters or a Lion Sash powering him up)
So yeah it has lots of little synergies I find fun and has decent game against aggro thanks to lifegain and cheap removal, but also can get in under control with cheap creatures of its own, and the Lieutenant often making you immune to board wipes by threatening to replace everyone with a knight when they die. I'm really happy with it. It's probably not quite as good as Mono-White Soldiers or whatever, but I've never been one to play stock lists :-)
@@MagicArcanum looking at the list, i really like it! basri's lieutenant is an absolute house and this thing looks like a waking nightmare for my grixis control deck. super sick
Thank you for sharing your experience and insights. I think these are way over costed compared to the SCG events, TCG Con events and Eternal Weekend also held in Philadelphia about 2 months prior. Too expensive for me to justify in the foreseeable future.
Would love see what's inside the storytelling cube! Was thinking of starting something similar.
It wouldn’t be hard to recognize you from a crowd. That mustache is legendary. And did I hear this right, Gavin Verhey wrote for Roseanne? What?
Unfortunately the mustache was usually hidden behind a mask, but people seemed to know me from the top of my head anyway! Mark Rosewater was a writer for the TV show Roseanne before joining Wizards of the Coast. He mentions it from time to time on his podcasts and blogs, so it has become a sort of inside joke for his followers.
Many of the playtest cards in the Mystery Boosters were unplayable or problematic, as well. They appear to be seeded for play in EDH or Cube but you would think if they were unique to a limited format, they would be tailored to be useful/good in that format.
Also true, but I was so busy getting my teeth kicked in by the phoenix I didn't even consider that lol
Funny thing is that I was visiting my girlfriend in Philadelphia over the convention weekend. I don’t know if it is better or worse that I didn’t know about the event.
Not related to MTG, but part of me was really worried that you were no longer with your wife because of the move to New York. I'm glad that wasn't the case. Thanks for all the content you put out.
Ah, I actually cover it in my tokens announcement video, but in short - we moved to Texas for her career, and then when her contract was up, we decided together we'd rather be back in NY closer to the friends and family we had left behind. So we're still together and very happy. Our 10th anniversary is coming up, in fact!
As a dedicated con-goer who decided to skip this one, it sounds like a more promising start to this sort of thing than I expected and I'm very curious to see how stuff shifts over time (if this indeed continues to be a thing). At all other cons I go to, I tend to skip Magic despite it being my favorite game as it can take up a lot of time and takes away from everything else you can do. A con just for Magic seems to solve that issue! However, worth noting that the best cons I can think of have grown big enough to allow you the option of jumping around or settling somewhere without having to pay out the wazoo each time. If MagicCon grows enough that regular content creators can bring free panels to the schedule (not to mention more actual free play areas) that would be ideal--we're Magic players and we're already spending our money on cards, so throw us a bone!
Also, while the events are up and down, Philly is still my favorite city for events. A convention center actually in city center is so nice and it's right across the street from Reading Terminal Market, too! You never need to wonder where to go for meals because you could eat at a different place for each meal in Reading Terminal and have a fantastic meal each time. One of my favorite spots on Earth. Hope you were able to grab something there at least once!
People pay unperceivable amounts to enter some sort of VIP zone where they get an extra hour at the ballpit
As a community, MTG players are super respectful and helpful, in person. I’ve been playing since the late 90’s, but quit for about 7 or 8 years.
Arenas is fun, and a good way to help new players learn the game, but I’ve, as have most of my friends, noticed that the community can be a lot more toxic online. I really don’t think that’s a picture of the community as a whole, however.
I largely agree with you, but it seems like every LGS still has “that one guy…” 😬
What song would you want playing in the background as you sprint to meet Mark Rosewater in your hypothetical romcom?
"Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" by The Police
We stan Ryan Gomez!
Dude I would love to play commander with you sometime, Story Teller vs Getcher Snacks (Birgi vs Gyome maybe? XD)
It's a shame this will probably never come to Australia/Overseas 😔 😔
First rule of Magiccon is that we don’t talk about Magiccon.
I totally feel like I saw/talked to you and did not recognize you one bit, but now that I'm seeing the shirt I'm realizing it. fyi the Unknown event wasn't supposed to pay out prize tix at all, hence why it didn't mention it on the website. The playtest cards were supposed to be prize enough. It was just a mix up with the judges. For the Command Zone you only had to pay additionally if you wanted to win prize tix for your pod. But general match making was free (after the add on pass).
Interesting! There is a judge elsewhere in the comments saying all red zone events had the same prize structure, so it seems there was just confusion about this event all around. I am also hearing conflicting information about the Command Zone stuff. Oh well!
@@MagicArcanum ya be either way it's great feedback to have. And will be more clear in the future.
I'm from Minneapolis and right now I'm trying to decide if it'd be worth it to try to go to the one here in May.
My biggest issue is that I'm not sure I'd have anybody to go with and I'm not sure I'd make the most if it by myself.
My second biggest issue is that I work nights so, unless I take a day off work, Friday and most of Saturday wouldn't work out and most likely I'd end up just going on Sunday.
That's rough. I think having a second set of hands really helps. That way someone can watch your bag while you hit the bathroom, or you can split standing in line duties and collect all the signatures and swag you're after. Going alone is probably still fun, but it would have been a very different experience without Nicole and my brother there.
I wish they do even mini events like this in the Philippines. We have tons of magic communities here. T^T I can't afford a plane ride to the US but I can join if the event is here T^T
There was actually a player from the Philippines in my ODE draft! He said he had traveled 33 hours to reach the convention, including a 15 hour layover in Korea, which he said "saved him $500 but he would never never do again!" He was a really funny guy and I wish I had gotten his name.
@@MagicArcanum Dang! That's a long trip. And a hefty saving. $500 is like a month's worth of salary for entry level office workers here. I can only imagine how much he must've spent the entire trip and back.
Still, its must've been an awesome experience he saved up for.
We have a saying for these kinds of one-in-a-lifetime experiences here in the Philippines -
"Sana all"
:D
It’s cool we have another Rochester, NY native. Do you ever go to Millenium?
I do! I cycle between there, Just Games, and Boldo's Armory.
If you’re giving away dragon shield sleeves out in upstate New York, I’d love a chance.
Papa Ryan Gomez thank you for the information
I watched this video for 8 min until I realised it’s not about a magic con like illusionist/magician but one about the card game
As you’re in Rochester now, are you going to Commander Sealed in September?
I am considering it. My wife's cousin is getting married in September and I know we're committed to attending that. I have to see if the dates overlap, otherwise I'll probably be at the Commander Sealed event.
What's the best way to buy the books? I want to start at the beginning.
You can actually find most of the story free online, right here: bit.ly/MTG_StoryPage
Older books pop up on Amazon and other book stores from time to time. Some have even been turned into ebooks for Kindle and such, but Wizards hasn't done a great job identifying what counts as canon anymore.
I thought what happened at magic Con stayed at magic Con
Ur still looking for a wandering emperor? I pulled a regular a foil and a showcase
Can never have too many...
I'll prep the typical condescending Twitter response used for cash grabs (interject sarcasm):
Is this cost prohibitive for you? Maybe this event isn't for you.
Thank you for the financial breakdown. I've always wanted to know the costs involved with one of these things, and now I know I will never want to attend one of these cons.
Can you play at the event as a beginner new to the game but I know the basic rules
Yes! There is plenty to do as a beginner, including all the "free play" you could want. You can probably even do fine in the Command Zone with just a basic understanding (as people are more interested in having fun games than being really competitive) The only area you might want to avoid are the "on-demand" events, as those have an entry fee and people are fighting for prizes, so opponents might be less forgiving of mistakes.
@@MagicArcanum Thank you for the information
better start saving
Looks fun, are you going to any other cons this year? i.e. Vegas
I am not planning on it. This one was close enough to drive, which helped with travel expenses. The others would all require a flight and that probably means they are too expensive unless I get a lot more Patrons, real fast! 😅
You are from, Rochester? Nice. What part?
Presently I live in Penfield but I've also lived in Webster and Henrietta at various times in the past.
@@MagicArcanum I used to be on the inner city west side before moving to Greece and then finally moving out of state
MagicCon Amsterdam anyone?
Hey Ryan,
Did you notice a lot of people playing brawl? How was brawl supported there? Thanks
Ya know, I moved past tables pretty quick and didn't get a good sense of what was being played where. There were SO MANY free play tables, so it's very possible Brawl games were happening, but I don't think they were an option for ODE. They've also removed the scheduled events calendar from the internet so I can't go back and see if there were scheduled brawl events anymore, unfortunately!
@@MagicArcanum Thanks for the reply Ryan! I guess you can kinda tell from this comment and a previous one that I love the Brawl format. Anyone else into Brawl? I'm just curious. Keep up the great work too! Sometimes I drive an hour to and from work and I absolutely love "Storytime" on my ride home!
You were here?!
I was!
Is your pioneer deck Bogles?
Good guess, but no! 😇
Want your kids to be financially conscious, introduce them to MtG
How's the game you're making going?
I was focused on moving back to New York and getting settled in my new house for the last year or so, so development has kinda slowed down. But it is still something I spend a lot of time thinking about and I just need to make time to do more testing and experimenting.