Ben Tudman (he/him)

Finished 11-5 at #PTEdgeOfEternities, easily my best finish at this level, super stoked, but sad to fall just short of that coveted 12 wins. Got some play to tidy up, threw a few games, but exceeded my expectations overall. Shoutout to @Busstop_mtg and Team Scry Hard!

@caro_irl @TeamRmpntGrowth Just for you I'll go find the ducks when the sun comes up

@bent_mtg @TeamRmpntGrowth wtf? not posting pictures of this should mean your entire team gets dq'd

How the limited meeting started vs. how it ended. 🐈

Pro players would make great academics: - incredible work ethics - intellectually very capable - think they are always right - and yet live in constant self-doubt - passion-driven - willing to work for under-market rates

@1Drakos1 @BlitzMTG @Droodmtg @StormQrow42 @BugsyOP Organised for later today

@bent_mtg @BlitzMTG @Droodmtg @StormQrow42 @BugsyOP Did the shoey happen? Is there a video?

Rampant Growth, Worldy Tutor, and the Bananas (casually sliding us in there) all coincidentally turned up to the same holiday park for our testing houses. I'm happy and/or sad to report we don't have a pool, we have a lake and hot tubs #PTMSH

The other side of the Bananas limited chat! Almost all together now, 3 days to go till #PTMSH

Bananas pack 1 pick order to start off our limited meeting #PTMSH

@BlitzMTG @Droodmtg @StormQrow42 @BugsyOP I'll go get the supplies to do it tomorrow if @StormQrow42 and @BugsyOP are in and no one tells them any more details

@bent_mtg @Droodmtg Time for @StormQrow42 and @BugsyOP to do a shoey

@BugsyOP @BlitzMTG @Droodmtg @StormQrow42 ... did you not bring shoes?

@BlitzMTG @bent_mtg @Droodmtg @StormQrow42 If the Australians bring one, I’ll do it.

We definitely didn’t book the conjoining house. 🤭

@TeamRmpntGrowth @mtg_bazaar Hi Neighbour

@bent_mtg @mtg_bazaar That house looks familiar 🤔

Bananas are Back in Business! Busy as Bee's here Breaking Braft Thanks @mtg_bazaar for the product!!

FINALS TIME!! 🔥🔥 WHO WILL BE THE CHAMPION?? AND $20K RICHER 💰💰🏆🏆 LIVE m.twitch.tv/bazaarcoverage/

@StormQrow42 @SimonNielsenTCG Love your work!

@SimonNielsenTCG youtu.be/cUlRxc3hFZA

Attention PT players, called draft timing has been changed. I don't have the smooth Simon Nielsen voice, but I recorded myself calling a draft to hold us over until the goat @SimonNielsenTCG blesses us with the eagerly anticipated sequel. Link to video in first reply.

All time best BEV share month in June in Australia, and the 5th one in a row! I hope they can somehow figure out how to keep this acceleration going down under.

@kailun_irl subscribe

i would highkey love to make mtg asmr videos lmao - reading lore, explaining decks/cards/combos etc but i fear the total addressable market for that would be like specifically me and like 10 of my ride or dies

Four Mox Opals: AU$1,869.60 A real Australian opal: AU$1,746.70 Same weight in both cases (about 7 grams)

As someone deeply involved in professional level play for many years, I'd say that both strategic gameplay and agency are generally far higher now than they used to be. I think maybe some other things haven't improved but gameplay has consistently been good and generally trending upwards (mostly focusing on Standard here since that's the most common competitive format). The specific mechanics you point to increase both strategic gameplay and agency. New mulligans, more modal cards, and seeing more cards are all a big part of this. Everything printing cards has massively increased gameplay difficulty. When I started playing you could be more clearly ahead just by adding up cardboard. Nowadays all sorts of metrics might matter. Things are much more complex now. Two pro-level players will often have very different approaches to a deck or matchup that are both credible. That was really quite rare before. Cards and decks being so flexible reduces metagame variation, but significantly increases gameplay depth. I believe the issue is actually that agency is too opaque now. It used to be pretty easy because you'd sideboard cards like Kor Firewalker or Blood Baron of Vizkopa and that'd fix a matchup in a very obvious way, and now you have to figure out less obvious things (e.g. that Slickshot and Elusive Otter beat Badgermole Cub when nobody played the former cards or that Tablet of Discovery is good against Boomerang Basics).

@Calm_Mirror How's the feeling? You nervous, excited, ambivalent?

Airport AMA (I've always wanted to do this, seems to be part of the "travel to the Pro Tour" thing)

re: metafy the most skilled player at your local will probably talk matchups and practice with you for free