I got stumped this week. I wanted to do another financiers edition now that I am bravely entering the world of MTGO finance, something I know next to nothing about. I thought it was a good opportunity to write a little more about some of the people in the finance community I think are good value on Twitter. In the wake of crashing Magic Online prices and unprecedented value in the Commander product, a lot of people are turning to Twitter for advice and don't know who to ask.

The only problem? I got scooped.

Well, kind of. Well, actually not. Chas sort of broadcast his intention to do a Twitter finance roundup in advance, so I knew it was coming. The only problem was that it would look odd on my part to do another finance roundup the same week Chas did his. Even though I've been at this almost a year, if so much as one person accused me of copying Chas, which I knew would happen, I would probably have climbed a clock tower.

With a deadline approaching and my idea scrapped, I turned to Twitter. I wanted to see if anyone could make a decent case for me including him or her. Someone might even grovel! That could be fun. Sadly, the drawbacks of having a finance-centric lifestyle is having a finance-centric Twitter feed. I did manage to provoke the usual dismayed response from Jon Johnson (@jjflipped), who is being featured in one of these someday. Maybe. I was entertained, but with all of the suggestions being finance people and others whom it was difficult to group together, I was going to have to come up with something fast.

Pressed for time, I decided to look inward. I didn't go on a spiritual journey or anything, but the concept of "looking inward" made me realize that I did a survey six months ago and the majority of respondents said they liked coverage of Gathering Magic writers, a group I have been largely ignoring. Well, I looked inward and liked what I saw, so I humbly present to you "Who to Follow – Internal Affairs Edition."

Mike Cannon

Where You Know Him From: Guess

Current Title: Writer extraordinaire

Social Media:

Twitter

Gathering Magic Archives

DailyMTG Archives

Deck Tease Appearance

Mike is a busy guy. Splitting his time between Gathering Magic and DailyMTG, Mike's work involves not only writing articles, but brewing decks to write those articles about. Concerned with helping players maintain a tight budget and still be competitive, Mike wrote an article this week that I found particularly good given my own affinity for graveyard-based strategies and how competitive the deck looks. His archives on both sites are full of solid deck ideas. For every deck idea, though, he seems to have a fedora that matches his outfit. There are Columbian cocaine barons with fewer fedoras. Mike, I think, pulls the look off, though, so I am going to give him a pass.

It could be worse. He could be Ryan Bushard.

I know I say this every time I find a podcast episode in which someone I am profiling was featured, but . . . you should listen to the podcast episode I linked in which the guy I'm profiling (Mike) was featured. Do I have a heavy bias for Deck Tease? Maybe, but I think it's an objectively good podcast.

Since you'll want to know whether it's worth following Mike on Twitter, I'll see if I can't make the case.

Help improve Mike's spambot ratio a little; what do you say?

Mike Robles

Where You Know Him From: I should have cut this.

Current Title: Microsoft Community Coordinator, Writer

Social Media:

Twitter

Gathering Magic Archives

DailyMTG Profile

Google+

DailyMTG Podcast

Mike does you a bigger favor than you all know. Until I stopped about nine months ago, I was doing an article series called Jason's Archives on QuietSpeculation. The series eventually turned into something that was fun and edifying to write, but it started out very different. My elevator pitch was that I would find Reddit content to post on QS as an entertaining, free article on a website that has a lot of content behind the paywall. At first, it was easy to find okay stuff on Reddit, but after months of trying to find a few decent gems after slogging through a million posts saying, "Look, I made a deck box out of a cut-up deck box and tape," and, "Look, it's cupcakes with the mana symbols! Again!" I quickly lost my stomach for it. I have since unsubscribed from r/magictcg entirely. That place is sillier than Camelot from Monty Python and the Quest for the Holy Grail. Mike has also slogged through that saccharine quagmire of content and come out with treasure for you, and you should thank him for it. It's less fun than it looks.

Before Mike became lost in the Redditverse, he was cohosting the DailyMTG podcast with who is now his lovely wife Tifa and with GM's pater familias Trick Jarrett. I know I say this every time there is a podcast with an archive spanning months that it would take you days to listen to completely, but . . . you can probably just pick it up now and listen to future episodes. But if you want to hear Mike, you’ll need to check out the archive. They're all good, though.

Mike's great to follow on Twitter, also, so don't think this was just a not-so-subtle hint to go read Treasure Hunt.

Give Mike a follow, and you won't regret it.

MJ Scott

Where You Know Her From: Confusing her with the fantasy author of the same name

Current Title: GM Writer, WotC Flavor Text Writer. Yes, really.

Social Media:

Twitter

http://www.moxymtg.com/

Gathering Magic Archive

Facebook

You all remember the "Ignite Your Spark" contest, right? Well, it seems we have a very popular cosplayer in our midst, as GM writer MJ Scott managed to crack the Top 10, which, as a Magic player, I didn't like. It should have been a Top 8, clearly. If it had been a Top 8, she still would have made it. She received a lot of votes, though I won't say whether I voted for MJ or Christine Sprankle. I wish both could have won, but in the end, WotC picked someone with no regard for the fan community's voting, and Christine won the fan vote and a trip to Dublin.

I find MJ's articles on GM incredibly entertaining, and I never miss an installment. Her take on cosplay as not a lifestyle, but as just another thing that a busy writer, wife, and mother can fit into a busy schedule appeals to people who are intimidated by how much work they imagine goes into cosplay. She's an asset to this site, so make sure you don't skip her articles each week.

Make sure you don't miss her Twitter feed, either—or her famous booty shorts.

That does it for me this week. Join me next week for more of the value to which you have become accustomed. This is Who to Follow, and you aren't.