How is Hobbit looking like when it comes to creature sizing? Another wild set. And same goes for removal. Remains to be seen how that will impact the draft but it looks to me like it is going to be very aggressive and first turns will decide a lot. Here's why: 1/7

Limited is often driven by card power and that is what most of the content is looking at. What is the best color pair? Which color has the most atrocious bombs? But what about us, the limited community? Are we biased? Do we draft some color pairs more than we should? 1/12

If you needed a proof I am queuing politely - Brian Kibler delivered one. I am also somehow camera aware it seems.

Brian Kibler@bmkibler.bsky.social · 3w ago

MagicCon Saturday line to get into the hall

Day 3 and still deluding myself I can get a festival in a box. Today sporting pink Sierko tee. Say hi if you see me!

Going live with the latest Magic Numbers - which cards need a "special" home in MSH draft? Well, I'm gonna tell you. Join me at twitch.tv/Sierkovitz

I think silently we are watching a large revolution of limited set design. Here are some of my thought on it linked to some linked data insights looking at the play - draw advantage and power creep at lower rarities and their impact on draft. 1/21

New Magic Numbers are on YT! You want to solve the draft format? That's your job and it won't happen in week 1. But I can provide a good basis for it. Color stats, key cards, hidden gem, traps - by now you should know the drill. youtu.be/dRywU4dt41Q

Live with the latest Magic Numbers and this time we are looking at the early 17Lands draft data for the Marvel Super Heroes. And it is at least interesting. Join me at twitch.tv/sierkovitz

Latest Skeleton Crew is on YT - so you have a last day to catch up with our vision of the format and look at the draft deck skeletons of Tresio and Rosemary Tea in our eccentric, deck-centric set review (link⏬). And there is a lot to ponder. The design of MSH is wild. 1/6

Magic Numbers are live! We have @zergog.bsky.social and Jess Williams talking about their awesome paper on opening hands and mulligans. Join us at ttv // sierkovitz

Today’s mailday is pure vanity. But hey - I deserve some luxury once in a while.

This is NOT a map of Westeros. This is the result of the clustering 68000 SOS decks to find some trends. I tested a new way of doing it that distinguishes between sub-color pair variants for more insights. Check the results in my latest Magic Numbers (link ⏬)

Been a while but I have been all but idle - working on a new way to look at formats that will hopefully be useful in the future. Join me ttv / Sierkovitz

So - we have seen all the signpost uncommons for Marvel - time to do an "in vacuum" assessment. Mind reader - I cover limited so no need to get angry that card I said was good is rubbish in Legacy, OK? Let's dive into them. 1/10

Ok - annual fancy cake making for my daughter’s bday done. And this year it looks better than last - warming a palette knife works miracles. Still need to do last minute meringue decoration but off to fridge for the night we go.

I know here is a lot of hate/animosity towards UB in Magic community - perhaps this is the reason I got those two lovely 7-1s in EOE draft yesterday? Second one I was WB but decided P2P1 Riddler is a good reason to pivot. It was. EOE is a goat format. Play it while you can. 1/2

If someone asked you to teach them Magic and you want to pretend that you are excited about it (but really want to detract them from it) I have a great vid for you. If they still want to play after watching it, they are a natural Magic gamer. If they are not - you're safe. 1/2

New Magic Numbers are on YT. This episode, we find best homes for each card in the set and try to figure out some game plans based on the color pair-specific win rates. How do we know Quandrix and Prismari have similar plans but different execution? 1/2

Going live with new Magic Numbers - we will be talking about right homes for all the cards in Secrets of Strixhaven draft and trying to uncover best plans for the 5 main archetypes. twitch.tv/sierkovitz

You go! Awesome initiative. Let’s hope they will be allowed to do so as they should be allowed to.

United Wizards of the Coast - CWA@uwotc-official.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Hello World, we’d like to introduce ourselves. We the workers of the Magic: The Gathering Arena team have come together to unionize as United Wizards of the Coast - CWA! 🧵 unitedwizardsofthecoast.com/news/announcing-united-wizards-coast-cwa

Going live with the Magic Numbers and it is the crowd favourite - Early draft data for the new set, Secrets of Strixhaven. What shows promise, what are the hidden gems, how to navigate the format, you know the drill. Join me at twitch.tv/sierkovitz

So my adventure with SOS draft started with 5 wins in 5 drafts. Nothing seemed to work. And part of it was bad play - I have a right to a bad day. Part was also bad luck. Losing a game where you cast not 1 but 2 one-sided board wipes is not normal. And yet... 1/13

Early data for the SOS draft is in! Do exercise caution. Firstly - samples are small. Secondly - people are still figuring out what they are doing. Don't build your idea of a format on few games by ignorami! But there is definitely some use in it, so also don't ignore it. 1/9

New Magic Numbers are live and we'll talk Secrets of Strixhaven with a very skeleton Skeleton Crew. @zakagan.bsky.social and Tresio are with me to discuss what are our expectations of the upcoming format. Join us at twitch.tv/sierkovitz

This is what I will be chasing in Secrets of Strixhaven Draft. What is your white rabbit?

Isn't it time we started talking how the price of tokens got out of hand?

New Magic Numbers are out. Tried to do something different and ventured into the mind of a Magic player. What stops us from playing perfectly and how to limit the damage our own minds inflict on out win rate. youtu.be/Ai_VkWFfM-Y?...

Magic Numbers #181: Winning against your worst opponent

YouTube video by Sierkovitz

youtu.be

Last spotlight I realised many more people know my work than my looks (for their own benefit, I guess). So for the Amsterdam trip I made myself those:

Going live with the new Magic Numbers. And in a shocking twist - no numbers today. Zero graphs. I will be talking about the cognitive side of playing Magic. Join me at twitch.tv/sierkovitz

A lesson on how naming matters. Put the name "Ancestral Recall" on a card - viral. But WotC is trying to make a draw 3 creature for years. Turns out "if you have <2 cards in your hand, draw an extra one" is the way. And yes, I will continue using forgotten meme templates.