Happy Thanksgiving to all of our readers who celebrate here in the United States! We at Hipsters of the Coast are taking the day off, but we also have much to be thankful for. Most of all, we are thankful for you, or readers and listeners. And we’re also thankful for our wonderful slate of writers and contributors. So it makes sense to highlight some of our previous work for you to take, holiday downtime or not.
Coming Together
Thanksgiving is a time when families and friends come together to do two of humanity’s favorite pastimes: eat food and buy stuff. What’s important isn’t what you do, however—it’s who you’re with. Here are some articles on that topic:
Beck Holden’s Gatewatch Love Triangle is one of my favorite articles from a writer we miss dearly here at Hipsters. Fictional worlds depend on tension, on possibility, on what we hope to come. And here is a great exploration of a deep emotional dynamic within Magic’s flagship team of characters, which we continue to see unfold now.
Speaking of planeswalker emotional bonds, we are fraced with Levi Byrne’s exciting serial Magic fan fiction, War Games. You can catch up on the first episodes here: Intro, Chapter 1, Chapter 2. The headline attraction to War Games is it’s subtitle: Return to Theros! Sign me up for that. But if you have thoughts on Beck’s Love Triangle, then you can’t miss Levi’s exploration of the possibility and tension of Magic’s lore.
Real people are getting together too. Donny Caltrider’s wonderful Tales from IlluxCon report shows the magic of friends old and new meeting up for shared fellowship. The absolute highlight pits Donny against Magic artist Ryan Pancoast in a Vintage Artist Constructed pseudo-mirror. Many a Knight of Autumn was cast.
Facing Our Past
Thanksgiving is also a holiday about our past and learning to be better as we grow. If you’re looking for a quick novel to read over the long weekend, I recommend There There by Tommy Orange. It’s a novel about contemporary Cheyenne people living in Oakland. It’s about going to a powwow at Oakland Coliseum, but Thanksgiving makes some cameo appearances.
Magic has plenty of history to study and reckon with as well. Katie Bates wrote Reserved List Facts about one of the big lingering rifts in the Magic collecting world. Reprints are on our minds as Ultimate Masters gets revealed this week. Take some time this weekend to reflect on what cards could be in future reprints if the Reserved List were to change.
Kendra Smith’s 25th Anniversary Reflections puts a personal spin on her journey through the years of Magic and life. It is refreshing and hopeful.
Rob Bockman lives to reckon with the past. In Death By a Thousand Cuts he digs into the darker side of Magic’s appeal. If you’re looking for something completely different in your Magic commentary, I recommend Rob’s column.
New Paths Forward
If you’re already coming together and reflecting, you might as well make some plans too. The past is important because it leads us into the future.
Ryan Sainio’s Planeswalker Generals explores a world of Commander that could be, but is not. His column pushes the boundaries of the format often, and it’s always a refreshing read. Planeswalkers are in an awkward space for Commander, but that doesn’t mean we can’t have fun thinking about what they could do if featured more prominently.
In addition to our written content, Hipsters of the Coast hosts a growing army of awesome podcasters. We are stoked to welcome Color Commontary, and their latest episode Penultimate Masters focuses on new reprints added to Pauper. I hear things might be shaking up in the Pauper metagame, so you should stay tuned in for their guidance.
And then there’s my pick for Hipsters column of the year: Rich Stein’s Ethics in Journalism. We are heading into a future of rampant propaganda and disinformation, while those who seek to report the facts get harassed and threatened. We as a society must adapt and learn to sort out the noise. Rich offers a hopeful perspective.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Carrie O’Hara is Editor-in-Chief of Hipsters of the Coast.