This has been one hell of a year.

I have been almost embarrassingly fortunate in the last few years. While the world has wrestled with a seemingly never-ending tide of struggles, from Covid, political turmoil, inflation, and a surprising array of other issues (remember murder hornets?), I have somehow managed to avoid most of these issues, while some of them actually ended up benefiting me. I am acutely aware of how lucky I am in this regard, beyond the normal amount of lucky I am to be able to do what I do for a living.

This year in particular I've hit milestones in almost every aspect of my life, from personal to professional to competitive, and I thought it would be a nice way to cap the year to take a look back and take a moment to take it all in.

Personal

This year I welcomed my son Cassian James Davis into the world.

I have been a stepdad for the past eight or so years, but nothing can really prepare you for the lead up and birth of your own child. From my wife Nicole first telling me she was pregnant (with a cute "future Magic player" onesie), to the late stages of pregnancy, to the actual birth process, to holding this little ten-pound lump of potatoes in your arms as he looks back at you and thinking to yourself "I made this."

Cassian is barely three months old and a huge pain in the butt, but I'm also pleasantly surprised I could love something so much. Just watching him stare at the hockey game on TV in wonderment or getting a smile out of him with "daddy legs" is something that's very hard to describe. My stepson John has said multiple times that he's never seen me so happy, and it is wild how much producing an offspring puts things into perspective.

It's been a lot of fun sharing him with y'all as he pops in occasionally on stream or in a video, and I very much look forward to watching him grow up.

Professional

It amazes me every day that I get to do what I do for a living.

There are definitely times when I am streaming and I'm being silly or making an ass of myself and I stop for a second to think that this is my job. This is how I am able to support my family and try to make a good, healthy life for my son and stepson. Don't get me wrong, it's a lot of work and can be very stressful, but the gratitude I feel for being able to do it is unending.

Put simply, 2022 was probably my best year yet as a content creator. I hit new numerical milestones (60k followers on Twitch.tv, 50k subscribers on YouTube, 20k followers on Twitter), started a second YouTube channel for Bronze to Mythic, as well as an Instagram and TikTok. I now produce ~11 YouTube videos a week, as well as live streams and my two articles a week here on CoolStuffInc.com. The pandemic was largely very positive for me, because many more people are staying home or working from home, and therefore watching more content.

Speaking of CoolStuffInc.com I'm now in my fifth year here, also maintaining my successful sponsorships with BCW Supplies, Coalesce Apparel & Design, and Untapped.gg, while also landing a new sponsorship with the wonderful Elgato, a company I've been wanting to work with for a few years now. I have great working relationships with all of these companies and each is one I am proud to represent.

I also got to delve a lot more into tournament commentary this year, primarily for the Hooglandia Open tournaments as well as Stream League, and have received good feedback on that. This is something I'm looking forward to getting more experience with in the future.

And lastly, I was fortunate enough to do a number of wonderful paid guest appearances. I got to fly out to Portland and meet The Professor for the first time (who's a great guy and a phenomenal host) so I could join Bloody (also wonderful) on his show Shuffle Up & Play. Prof is one of the literal best in the business and it was incredibly humbling to see his studio and full-time employees. For all my own personal successes, it is very inspiring to get a glimpse into the world of the very best. I was also able to be a guest at the Too Many Games convention with Brad Nelson, CovertGoBlue, and LadyLavinias and it was an awesome experience. I also got to do some videos for the official MTG Arena channel which is really cool to see, as well as run another successful Cube4Charity event that raised almost $40,000 for charity.

It's definitely interesting to shift over to mostly traveling to events to do content-related things rather than just play tournaments, but the tournament side of things went pretty well too.

Competitive

After spending my first few full-time content creation years attempting to do both full-time content as well as full time tournament grinding, I made the (very wise) choice to step back from tournament Magic and put my entire focus on the one that could actually consistently support me. This was bittersweet, as I do love playing tournament Magic, but it was the right choice. I knew then that my days of playing super high-stakes Magic at events like the SCG Tour Player's Championship or at the Pro Tour were likely over.

Then I won a random MTG Arena qualifier and this happened.

And then somehow this happened.

Which all led to me playing in my first small-field World Championship ever in Las Vegas against 31 of the best players in the world. Me, the guy who accidentally clicks through his attack step and plays a sound clip of Homer Simpson talking about clown college on his soundboard live on the internet for 500 viewers for a living.

And the crazier part was that I missed out on top four on tiebreakers! Not only was I in striking distance of being the Magic: The Gathering World Champion, but I also had my biggest payday ever for $25,000 and got to watch two of my teammates battle it out in top four.

The saying goes "as soon as you stop wanting something you get it," and it's comforting to me that if I had come in dead last at Worlds my life really wouldn't have changed much. I was basically playing with house money, and therefore had the finish that I would have killed for ten years ago when I was entrenched in Pro Magic. Back then Pro Magic was a huge part of who I was and a big part of my self-worth, which isn't completely healthy, and a lot of what made me comfortable in Worlds this year was knowing that I had my son and my family back home whether I came in first or dead last. It's a very calming feeling.

Thanks to my finish I am qualified for the first Pro Tour of next year as well as all the Regional Championships, and while I will certainly put my best foot forward, I won't be doing any damage or my family or career to do so. Playing Pro Magic at this stage in my career is a blessing and a bonus and I'm happy to take it as it comes.

On To 2023

So, what's next?

I think a large part of my goals for 2023 involve treating my business a bit more like a business. I often take on so much at once that I get completely bogged down, to my detriment. Seeing how The Professor runs his business, as well as talking with other people in the Magic space I respect, admire, and am happy to call friends like Cedric Phillips and CovertGoBlue, has led me to understand that it's okay to not do everything yourself. I need to work on properly allocating my resources and looking for help when I need it.

I'm excited to keep improving and expanding my content, take on more fun challenges like guest appearances, commentary, conventions, and more, and seeing how far I can take this crazy gig I've got.

I really am the luckiest guy in the world and I hope 2023 is the best year yet. I'll see y'all next year!