#015 - Jonathan Alexander on grinding, content creation, and giving back to the game (Part 3)

What does it mean to be the best at Magic? What’s the real life cost of getting too involved in the game? As content creators, why do we do the things that we do? My audio interview with Jonathan Alexander, creator of the Grinding Station deck, concludes with Part 3. “Humans of Magic” has been slower to release as of late, due to my real-life commitments. Nonetheless, I intend to continue interviewing cool people. Please keep listening and let me know what you think. Check out Jonathan’s web site here: http://theweeklywars.wordpress.com/ Time stamps — Part 3: [02:48] Legacy goals [05:41] How he plans to become the greatest [08:02] On the power level of Miracles, and not playing it [11:30] Miracles answers: “People are not willing to go far enough” [13:35] What would happen if the Legacy format had an upheaval? [16:46] Effort commensurate to success [18:42] On the recognition of effort and hard work [22:58] The negative impacts of Magic [26:12] “I definitely always wanted to do what I wanted to do” [27:25] The challenges of the grinder lifestyle [31:31] The best part of competitive Magic [34:43] “Most of the time, if you did not win the tournament, you did not deserve to win…” [37:14] The impossibility of complete consistency // X, Y and Z [40:31] How Jonathan started his blog, The Weekly Wars [41:24] Coming up with topics for the blog [46:13] Writing content in an open, accessible manner // Giving back to the community [49:18] Doing things for the love of it [51:41] Content for the masses — Jonathan’s criteria for doing it [53:46] The Storm Box (which has now been updated!) [55:48] Martin Juza likes Grim Tutor! // Be careful of the card readers