You can admit it: This is the moment you’ve been waiting for. Literally dozens of you took the polls in last week’s article, and your feedback is acknowledged, appreciated, and incorporated. The first major bit of information I wanted regarded the ideal number of people to profile in a given week. Receiving a majority of the votes—and more than the other two choices combined—was “three,” which confirmed my initial suspicions. There is something deeply psychologically satisfying about the number three—either that or you just don’t want to read a fourth one by the time you’re done with reading the third. Whatever the reason, I heard your overwhelming preference, and I’m going to stick up for you guys and profile three deck brewers I respect and admire this week.

I’m covering deck brewers because that was the winner of the other relevant poll, and it wasn’t really all that close. Earning nearly half the votes, this topic was the clear winner, and who am I to argue with the democratic process? This suits me just fine, as I had been eager to do another installment on brewmasters, but I was so eager to challenge myself to come up with novel themes that I attributed a lot of quality deck-builders such as Pat Chapin to other topics. Fear not, it may not seem like it, but there are quite a few people coming up with new brews all the time—and good ones at that. Ladies and gentlemen of the Who to Follow readership, I humbly present to you the following braumeisters.

Brad Nelson

Where You Know Him From: ChannelFireball, crushing it

Current Title: Magic Pro

Social Media:

Twitter

Twitch

ChannelFireball Archives

StarCityGames Archives

Rich Hagon Worked Hard on This Book

An Internet search for “Brad Nelson unhappy face” turned up zero results. And why wouldn’t it? Brad Nelson has had a pretty good decade so far. 2010’s Player of the Year and one of its Community Cup nominees, Brad Nelson doesn’t have to grind as much anymore. Does Brad Nelson being good at Magic warrant talking about him in reverent tones? I don’t think so—many people are better at Magic than most of us are. But how many people bother making new decks?

“Bard Narson,” as he’s done a poor job of dissuading me from thinking he likes to be called, is a true brewmaster. Not only does he come up with or contribute to the creation a lot of decks (Peddle to the Metal, Junk Rites, and Junk Aristocrats all being attributed at least in part to him this season), he does so when no one else is bothering. Junk Rites is a solid deck and has undergone a bit of evolution lately. However, at a time in the season so close to rotation, when so many people are content to coast to the finish line and brew when they pick up new cards, Nelson burst onto the scene with Junk Aristocrats and kept innovating.

Don’t think it’s all serious work for Brad—he’s just as easily derailed as the rest of us.

Chris Lansdell

Where You Know Him From: Horde of Notions Podcast, ManaDeprived.com

Current Title: Level 2 judge, podcaster, brewer

Social Media:

Twitter

www.HordeofNotions.com

ManaDeprived Archive

Google+

Judging by the feedback I receive surrounding MTG podcasts, a lot of you are probably very familiar with “Lansdelicious” and the Horde of Notions and Judgecast North podcasts. Chris is branching out lately and writing articles for ManaDeprived that showcase his skills as a deck brewer, and one particular installment caught my eye for obvious reasons. This article details his attempt to build a deck from two pet cards of mine—cards even I hadn’t considered jamming in the same monstrosity of a deck. I wish he’d played in an event with more rounds, but nothing’s stopping me from trying to build the same list for Friday Night Magic. I have a lot of the cards already it turns out.

No one can escape the call of Trading Post even though it’s included in a core set, where the only other good artifact is, puzzlingly, Darksteel Forge. (Stop typing angry e-mails; I like Door of Destinies and Ratchet Bomb, too.) What manner of wacky deck will Lansdell brew up with Trading Post when it’s finally legal? You’ll have to follow him to find out.

If you can’t see value in following a member of the community with judge-level knowledge, podcasting chops, and deck-building expertise, I don’t know what to tell you. I wouldn’t want to miss anything he has to say.

Larry Swasey

Where You Know Him From: The Swasey Shuffle on SCG

Current Title: SCG Writer, brewer

Social Media:

Twitter

Facebook

Twitch

Blog

StarCityGames Archives

When I asked a few of my friends to list a few of their favorite deck brewers, Larry’s name came up more than once. His blog is widely cited despite being a relatively new experiment on his part, and his tenure at StarCityGames hasn’t translated into as many Twitter followers a you might expect. In a lot of ways, Larry is among Magic’s best-kept secrets. He’s an excellent resource, and people are starting to notice. His Angel Frites deck earned him a deck-tech interview at an SCG Open in Providence at the end of last year, and his finish at the event is overshadowed by the importance of his contribution to the tech of a deck that had grown very stagnant. His addition of red and Restoration Angel contributed to the next step in the deck’s evolution and garnered him a lot of respect in the brewing community.

If his name sounds familiar, you’re either paying attention or you’ve seen it mentioned on this site—as far back as 2011. His column on StarCityGames, his Twitch stream, and his blog have all been good outlets, but if you really want to feel that you’re receiving great content at a steal, check out his Twitter stream.

Larry is not shy about letting the world know about his deck ideas, and a lot of them seem to work well for him. His tendency to stream often on Twitch means you’ll receive an excellent primer on how the decks should run, which I feel is much more valuable than just looking at two-dimensional Top 8 decks on a webpage if you want to try to improve as a player. If he’s willing to give all of this away, shouldn’t we take him up on it? Larry contributes a ton to this community, and if someone like Jackie Lee is paying attention, you’d be a fool not to as well.

So, I feel that I’ve done a good job of incorporating your feedback, and I am treading a fine line between what some people say they want and what I feel most people want. The poll data seems to contradict a lot of what I see in the comments section, which makes me become a little ballsier about ignoring what I see as a tendency for people to receive more enjoyment out of seeing people they already follow profiled. I’m still going to bring you the Brad Nelsons of the world, but if you want to see more of the Larry Swaseys of the world, too, be vocal in the comments section or write an e-mail. I’ve had a great past six months writing this column, and I think, with your help, it’s going to grow even more valuable a resource for all of you.

Thanks for taking the polls, thanks for reading, and thanks for your e-mails and tweets. This is your guide Jason Alt signing off.