“Oh, Financiers, Part 2. That’s kind of exciting I guess.” – You, lying

This is the moment you’ve been waiting for. The results of the poll that literally tens of you took two weeks ago don’t lie: Who to Follow – Financiers, Part 2 has been the most eagerly anticipated sequel since Terminator 2. I realize you’re beside yourself with adulation, but try to contain yourselves.

I might have planned better. Since I knocked out the only finance writer on both StarCityGames and GatheringMagic in one article and covered TCGplayers’s finance writer in an installment unrelated to finance, I’m almost out of people you know. That’s okay; we’re rooted firmly in my wheelhouse, and I have a bumper crop of finance minds keyed up and ready to rock and roll. Without further ado, I humbly present two respected members of the finance community whose articles are invaluable sources of information and whose insights are worth their weight and gold—and also Jon Medina.

Jon Medina

Where You Know Him From: StarCityGames, Here, Starting LegitMTG.com

Current Title: CEO of LegitMTG.com

Social Media:

Twitter

Google+

LegitMTG Archives

SCG Archives

GatheringMagic Archives

“Stone Cold Medina,” as he’s asked me not to call him, may be the game’s first finance celebrity. From his Pack to Power series on GatheringMagic, chronicling his quest to turn a booster pack of Rise of the Eldrazi into a piece of power in a matter of mere months, to his FNM Hero series on LegitMTG, Jon has covered every aspect of the game. I probably don’t need to tell anyone Jon is a cast member of The Eh Team podcast based on the fact that I received death threats when I pretended for two weeks I wasn’t going to write about them. Since I’ve gotten in the habit of telling you stuff like that anyway, Jon is a conspicuously American member of a mostly Canadian podcast called The Eh Team, and I think you would really enjoy it based on the fact that there’s a good chance you already listen to it.

Maybe he wasn’t the first finance writer ever, but he is largely responsible for introducing the concept of MTG finance as a lifestyle to the fore, and the entire community owes him for bringing legitimacy to what we do. However, I’m not going to say he made MTG finance “legit.”

Jon blurs the line between financier and trader with the Commander decks he’s constantly brewing and his FNM Hero series that shows you can spend the entire evening trading and still have time to go 3–2 at FNM. A lot of us owe Medina our livelihood, so the next time you trade with someone who has one hand on his smartphone and the other hand covering his butthole, do what I do, and mouth a silent, “Thank you, Jon.”

Corbin Hosler

Where You Know Him From: QuietSpeculation or LegitMTG

Current Title: Sports Writer for The Norman Transcript (yes, really), MTG Writer

Social Media:

Twitter

LegitMTG Archives

QS Archives (Membership Required)

Brainstorm Brewery

Responsible for a lot more finance content than any other writer on LegitMTG despite the site being started by a financier, I still primarily associate Corbin with QuietSpeculation.com, where he’s still among the best writers. I don’t pay for my QS subscription, but if I did, Corbin’s weekly contributions would be among the factors that kept me subscribing. Another benefit of a subscription is the discussion forums, and his contributions there are notable and worth the fees.

His LegitMTG articles are free, so make sure you check those out, as there is a lot of relevant info in there that holds up even after the specific sets discussed rotate, but he hasn’t been writing for LegitMTG for that long, so I imagine a lot of what’s covered may even still be Standard-relevant.

Corbin also contributed top-notch finance advice for free on the Brainstorm Brewery podcast every week on this very site. If you somehow weren’t aware, check this site for a new episode every Friday. Corbin is incredibly knowledgeable, and I find myself agreeing with him more often than I agree with other financiers. He’s willing to capably defend his more controversial calls, such as buying Master of the Pearl trident, going deep on Cackling Counterpart, and eating at Buffalo Wild Wings, so if you see him at an event in the Oklahoma area or this summer at Gen Con, walk up, say “hello,” shake his hand, and tell him to shut up.

Sigmund Ausfresser

Where You Know Him From: Quiet Speculation

Current Title: MTG Finance Writer

Social Media:

Twitter

QS Archives (Membership Required)

Red Site Wins

Possibly the only writer in the MTG finance game whose name sounds more German than mine, Sigmund represents the other half of the earlier statement regarding whose articles I felt were worth the QS subscription fee. Subscribers this week were treated to a fantastic offering about arbitrage that I felt was among the best finance articles I’ve read this year, and nonsubscribers were treated to missing out.

Fear not, however; while his QS articles require a subscription to read, his Twitter stream does not, and that’s the real value to following Sigmund. He attacks MTG finance with the attitude that MTG finance is not merely a way to monetize the game we already play, but that it’s a microcosmic analog to actual finance markets and that those same techniques apply. Finding analogs within the game for real-world finance situations pays big dividends, and following Sigmund’s advice seems like a no-brainer. If you can’t read his articles on QS, take the time to fully peruse his Twitter stream. I’ll get you started.

That does it for me this week. Tune in next week for an installment the subject of which I’ve not even decided yet. Should be a fun surprise for both of us, and you won’t want to miss it. As always, take the time to fully peruse the offerings of these three financiers. There is a lot of information that applies to everyone in the game. Whether you want to supplement your income or just get the most for your Standard cards before they rotate and help this game pay for itself a bit, these three all have solid intel that will help you step up your finance game. That’s all from me! Have a great week, and don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.