Hello Washington, DC!
Star City Games had a massive turn out this weekend at their recurring TCG convention but the main event wasn’t Magic: the Gathering or any card game for that matter. It never really is. This event was about the people.
Down at the event floor, our very own Mike Long was mixing and shuffling with anyone who caught his eye. Handing out some of our custom Magic Secrets tokens to fans of the game and striking up conversation about Magic, friendship, business, branding, philosophy and everything in between.
All in an effort to recognize and acknowledge people. Curious people. Builders, thinkers, gamers… Players who wanted more than another round of Commander before heading home. And somehow he kept finding them.
In his search, it was particularly interesting to watch and get a boots on the ground view of the current state of friendship. A topic we’ve touched on multiple times on the show and one of the main reasons why Magic Secrets exists in the first place.
A surprising amount of attendees did not seem very interested in socializing at one of the biggest social events in the world for a hobby that they themselves would probably affirm to love or, at least, have a high degree of interest in… enough interest to say, go to a convention dedicated to that singular activity.
Which reminds me of our ongoing deep dive into quality shortcuts from MTG Secrets and how they contrast with intuition and “longcuts.” I’m willing to bet that every single person who avoided connecting with us implicitly or explicitly felt absolutely certain that that was the correct decision. That NOT talking to 3x World Champion Mike fucking Long on a bright and sunny Friday afternoon would bring more good into their lives than the opposite. I’m also willing to bet that every single person who shied away from us was objectively making a terrible decision strategically.
Imagine Tom Brady showing up at a football camp and the players there having no interest in picking his brain. Kinda weird, no?
There were some real gems in the bunch, however, and you can bet your ass that Mike found them. Again, fascinating to watch. I would have, and did, lose quite a bit of steam way before the day was done and I’m supposed to be the young buck of the group, hah!
My personal favorite interaction was with AJ and James where we got to talk about philosophy and the human condition.
Mike dismantling the basis of nihilism with AJ in about 30 seconds will secretly go down as the #1 Magic trick of the whole tournament.
James also went on to make a great point about how and why in-groups are deep at the core of our mental models for navigating the world around us. Smart guys.
We also ran into Jacob from Worldfire Games down in Surfside Beach, South Carolina. Brass tacks of the TCG business world ensued, most of which was a bit above my paygrade, but I did understand enough to gauge Jacob’s seriousness about the industry and the environment he’s creating for his customers. Showing an integrated understanding for the true value of having and keeping actual “butts in the seat” by boasting an average of 60 – 70 players in his store at any given day! Somehow I see a bright future ahead for these guys.
We also met with Evan and Matty who hosts his own show on YouTube at @yokulhaups. Fun dude. Stop by his channel if you’re interested in card games content like MTG, cEDH, Hearthstone Wild, and even rogue-like deck builders.
And, of course, many, many more connections were made.
The vision for Magic Secrets from the start has been to become a platform for real people and players to thrive in a world that they love to be a part of. A place where your brand is both nurtured and protected from bad actors big and small. But it all starts with you.
Thank you to each and every one of you for sharing your passion with us and we’ll catch you again next time on Magic Secrets.
