RIW is proud to bring the great competitive and friendly atmosphere of the store to Twitch with our new stream lineup. Not only will we continue to be streaming our $1k series and other special events, but you can also now see RIW players at least four days a week from anywhere that can access Twitch!
Monday we have Modern with Connor, Tuesday is Pauper with Russo, Wednesday the Pauper run continues with our weekly in-store play event featuring commentary from Ben Topping, and Steve plays whatever strikes him as interesting on Saturday.
We’ve got more details on the streamers and formats below, so dig into your favorite format or expand into a new one with one of our great content creators. Have a format of Magic you’d love to see covered but we don’t have listed? Let us know! We’re continuously looking for ways to improve the stream and build our community so don’t hesitate to reach out.
SATURDAY “?” STREAM WITH STEVE BOGGEMES, MAY 11 – 10:30PM EST
I have always been one to think outside the box. I find having an open mind and casting off assumptions helps to reframe the situation in ways you wouldn’t typically notice. This mental exercise helps to see the big picture, which is key for complex problem solving. I’ve been applying my outside the box perspective to playing Magic for almost 30 years and it has helped keep my passion for discovery in the game.
I love playing Maic, and I am always cooking up new ideas and innovations to play competitively while having fun.
MONDAY MODERN WITH CONNOR MULLALY, MAY 13 – 6PM EST
On the last Modern Monday, I played Gerrick Alford’s NRG Indy top 8 UW Control deck through a Modern prelim. We went 3-1, posting wins against two different flavors of Domain (Zoo and Murktide), as well as beating Amulet Titan in a match that was almost decided by decking.
Next week, I want to keep iterating on UW Control, as it’s the deck in Modern I’ve had the most success with this year. Because of the number of taplands in the mana base, I’m interested in trying a version without Preordain and seeing if there’s any sideboard changes I like. We’ll see you next Monday at 6:00 eastern!
Connor began playing Magic during Theros block, and has spent the decade since pursuing competitive Magic wherever he can. He spent his college years trying his hand on the SCG Tour and competing on Magic Online. Today, he is a mainstay on the NRG Series, where he has accumulated 8 Top 8 finishes, one trophy, and the 2022 Player of the Year title. Although he’s come close many times, his biggest unmet goal in Magic remains to compete on the Pro Tour.
TUESDAY NIGHT PAUPER WITH MICHAEL RUSSO, MAY 14 – 7PM EST
This week I unfortunately did not have the opportunity to stream on Tuesday. I did get a chance to play Wednesday night at RIW with Tireless Tribe. I went 2-2 beating Kuldotha Red & Bogles then lost to Kuldtoha Red & RW Synthesizer. It was fun but I think with the Glitters ban I will be looking to a deck like Ponza for paper play in the coming weeks.
As for the next stream (5/21) I will be looking to make up for missing last week and playing Tribe and Kiln Fiend. Unless people would want to watch me play Ponza instead of Tribe. I will post a poll to see if the people want to see Ponza or Tribe on my socials on Friday. See ya Tuesday night at 7pm EST!
Michael Russo (a.k.a MichaelArmando) began playing Magic in 2011 during Innistrad block and has been playing events at RIW since 2018. He plays a variety of formats and decks; with his favorite format being Pauper and preferred style of play aggro strategies. He’s known at RIW as a fun and knowledgeable opponent and all around good guy.
WEDNESDAY IN-STORE PAUPER TOURNAMENT, MAY 15 – 6PM EST
Twitch got a double dose of B-Tops this week!
At the Pioneer RCQ, I teamed with Dave Mroczyk to watch some high-edge staples of the metagame, enjoy a high-stakes win-and-in between two brothers with similar decks, and have extensive discourse on the Super Mario movie. A full 25% of the turnout was on UR Phoenix, but everyone was packing enough hate for it that only one managed to make the top cut.
The finals between Gruul Pump Spells and Mono-Black, two rogue decks, was amazing to cast, and I was biting my nails as the math added up on the final swing. The winning brother Slickshotted his way to his RC invitation!
Pauper is shaking up in response to the recent ban of All That Glitters. It seems to be a return to norm: Tonight we saw a plethora of tried-and-true strategies. The finale was a surprise, though, as Gary mowed through his opponents with a Cycle Storm deck he had previously asked me to discourage him from playing (Sorry, Gary, you’re too good at Magic for me to stop you). He got paired against a finalist of our last 1K on Turbo-Fog, and while the ensuing match wasn’t exactly thrilling, it was cool to see another two rogue strategies at the top tables. Here’s hoping we can see a diverse meta at our 1K next weekend!
Benjamin Topping has been playing competitive Magic since 2010 and has been a local judge for over a decade. He typically prefers Limited formats, but his tournament experience has covered the entire breadth of Constructed formats. As a “theater kid,” he relishes the chance to ‘make the mic a stage’ and give our audience both insight and hopefully a few laughs too!
