I have done a number of interview-style articles over the past few months, and it seems that the community has been very responsive. This week, I want to bring you another of these articles—I had the pleasure to interview Matt Gai, creator of myMTGcards.com. After tooling around on the beta, I was hooked, and I want to bring what I have found to all of you. myMTGcards.com focuses on collection databases to both evaluate your collection and value it for if you ever decide to sell. Although there are a number of features Matt has lined up for the near future, I want to run this article as soon as possible, so down the road, I may do a follow up on the changes. Since no one can explain better than the creator himself, I decided to pick Matt's brain, and here's what he had to say.

What exactly do you do in the world of Magic?

In one word, I'm an enthusiast. I've been a fan of the game and an avid collector for seventeen years. I wish I had a chance to play more often, but when I do get the chance to go to a prerelease or an FNM, I absolutely love it. Basically, most of my involvement with Magic consists of collecting cards and developing myMTGcards.com.

The goal is to continue to be an invaluable resource for anyone involved with Magic: The Gathering. From deck-building tools for players to online inventory management and collection evaluation for collectors to an eventual selling platform that leverages your inventory, there is a need fulfilled for everyone in the community. We also have plans to create a more social atmosphere so users can interact with each other as well as share their decks and inventories. A mobile version and an app are also in the plans, which will be extremely useful for collectors on the fly.

What event caused you to create this site?

As I said, I'm an avid collector. Like, ridiculous. Insane. One look at my inventory stats on myMTGcards.com tells me I have over 150,000 Magic cards. Granted, most of them are commons and uncommons that are virtually worthless, but I had a strong desire to find out what my entire collection was worth. So how was I going to do that? No way I was going to search for every single card on multiple websites, put the values into a spreadsheet, and then add it all up. That would have been impossibly tedious. Besides, even if I labored through it, the prices change so often that it would be inaccurate before I even finished. And there are new sets and promos that I'd be adding all the time, so the work would be ongoing. I knew that if I could find one website that had all the cards with accurate and updated market values and a way to efficiently enter and save my inventory, I'd be golden. However, it didn't exist. So, for my own purposes, I took matters into my own hands and created the site myself. It wasn't until later that I realized it was a viable tool for all MTG collectors.

I played casual tournaments here and there and collected a lot. Besides the website, nothing has changed.

How can myMTGcards be useful for a trader? How about a player or collector?

• Traders need to know if their trade is fair. Wherever they are, they can access myMTGcards.com and rely on it to determine whether they are getting a raw deal. We plan to include a specialized trading tool when we release a mobile version and/or an app to facilitate trading where it happens most: away from home.
• For players, we have a very intuitive visual deck-builder, encompassing quick-card searches, deck importing, sideboards, graphical deck stats, and test drawing. It also leverages your inventory to determine what you already have versus what you need to complete your deck and how much it will cost, and it includes deck printing/exporting and proxy-printing features.
• Collectors will obviously have the most interest in our inventory system. Being able to quickly search for and update the amount owned of virtually every single Magic card ever released and instantly determine the market value of any subset of your collection is what every collector needs. There are other tools for this out there, but they are not as efficient and have to be installed and updated on your desktop. With myMTGcards.com there is nothing to install, the price updating is done for you, and it allows you to access your inventory from anywhere in the world so long as you have an Internet connection.

Do you play Magic as well; if so, what formats?

I do, but not very often. Life kind of gets in the way of leisure. But when I do get the chance, I'll go to my local shop for FNM or a release/prerelease event. So all I play is Standard Constructed format or Draft. People keep telling me I have to play EDH, so maybe one of these days, I'll use our deck-builder tool to help construct an EDH deck and give it a shot.

What are your goals and aspirations moving forward?

The goal is for myMTGcards.com to be the premier online MTG inventory management system and selling platform for any and all MTG collectors and vendors, as well as an excellent resource for players. Yes, a selling platform. Eventually, we will offer the ability to create and manage your own storefront using any part of your inventory. We are very much looking forward to that day.

I'm hoping that within five years I'll have figured out a way to have more time to play Magic and get back to really enjoying what this game is all about: strategy, decision-making, calculated risk, and, of course, fun.

Do you have a family, wife, and kids? If so, how do you adjust to being tied up with Magic?

Yes. I'm married, have two young sons and two dogs, too. I have to say I don't allow myself to be tied up with Magic. I definitely spend a lot of time working on the website, but my family is always the first priority. Beyond that, if I have any extra time to do some collecting or playing, that's just gravy.

Do you have any words of advice for those looking to put more into Magic who have families?

The first thing I would advise is to make sure they (especially your spouse) understand your passion for it. Try to get them involved. Show them the cards, teach them the game, and play it with them. Second, set aside some time well in advance to play with friends or at a tournament, and put it on the calendar. Make sure that Magic time doesn't interfere with family plans. Finally, don't spend more on cards than you can comfortably afford. As long as your family comes first, Magic, like anything in which you might have an interest, can easily be significant in your life.

Do you think what you do is a positive for the community? What do you have to say to all the naysayers who feel financial Magic hurts the community?

Without a doubt. I believe the tools we provide on myMTGcards.com help elevate the interest within already enthusiastic fans of the game and the sport, if you will, of collecting. There are naysayers who feel that financial Magic hurts the community? Really? Huh. Someone explain this to me.

I'm always blown away by the creativity that goes into designing the cards, both from a development standpoint and also the incredible artwork that adorns them. I love to open my binders every so often just to admire their artistry. I love that the game itself is incredibly complex, requiring careful consideration during gameplay and endless possibilities with deck-building. As a result, the community is comprised of very creative, thoughtful, and intelligent people that share a common bond in MTG. It's a very good group.

If you had to pass on your wealth of knowledge in three sentences, what would they be?

Do what you love, and you'll love what you do; it's cliché but with good reason—it's the only way to be truly happy in life, and it's the key to success. Truly believe in yourself, and you'll find that others will believe in you, too. Follow through with what you set out to accomplish—never say, “I can't,” and never quit.

Anything you would like to say to the community in regards to your business, plugs, shout outs, or just general comments?

Come check out what we have to offer at myMTGcards.com. Sign up as a beta tester, and use all our features free for 30 days. Pay only if you choose to continue using it—just a $15-per-year subscription for the inventory feature and/or $5 per year for the deck-building tools. All your work during the beta period will be saved if you decide to continue as a paid user. Beta testing has been active for over a year now, and we have accumulated tons of user feedback. We are currently hard at work on a new version of the website that will incorporate most of the excellent comments and suggestions we have received. Whether you try us now or in the future, you will always have 30 days to try before you buy. We provide e-mail support, we are responsive to all inquiries, and we guarantee your satisfaction.

Be sure to also visit us on Facebook.

What upcoming advances can we expect to see out of your website, and when can we hope to see these new additions?

As for the near future, we're expecting to go live with the new website on or before June 1. In addition to an updated look and feel, and major improvements on content and usability, there will be several important additional new features. Users will have the option to share their inventory and/or decks publicly or privately within the website or on social media. There will be the ability to maintain multiple inventories instead of just one. Each card will get its own individual page with all relevant content; plus, users will be able to make notes on each individual copy of that card they own—notes like grading, language, is the card signed or PT stamped, is it sleeved, miscut, misprinted, etc. There will be advanced searching, including the ability to search and sort on card numbers, artists, and P/T, plus multiple sets, card types, and colors—and custom things like “show me all the rares and uncommons of which I own less than 4”.

After the release on June 1, our attention will shift to creating the mobile version and mobile app complete with the aforementioned trading tool. From there, we will focus on the internal selling platform, which will give users the ability to sell from their inventory in an open marketplace focused on MTG singles.

I want to thank Matt Gai again, creator of myMTGcards.com for his time and insight. If anyone is interested in keeping track of your collection in a neat and orderly fashion while gaining the added benefits of value analysis and future trade tools, I strongly suggest giving the beta a try. As always, I want to thank you, the readers, for continuing to support this article series. Join me next week for another look into the realm of Magic finance.

Ryan Bushard

@CryppleCommand