171: Matt Tabak Comes From Inside Wizards of the Coast and Talks What It’s Like To Be Rules Manager

Matt Tabak is a senior editor inside Magic R&D. He is a former level 3 judge, competed at the Pro Tour four times, and holds the record for longest tenured Magic rules manager. He’s the lead editor for Magic Duels and the upcoming Magic sets Amonkhet and Hour of Devastation. Matt lives in Seattle, WA.

Click to Tweet: I got a ton of value from Matt Tabak when he shared his story on #MTGProTutor! Listen here: http://bit.ly/mtgprotutor-ep171

First Set

Alpha

Favorite Set

Ravnica

Favorite Card

[draft]Hidden Path
Prodigal Sorcerer[/draft]

What makes Magic: The Gathering fun for you?

Traveling and meeting the players.

Most Notable Ruling You’ve Ever Made

Judging a Pro Tour Qualifier. Matt disqualified a player for having a 59 card deck. Matt realized that player experience is very important.

Best Experience Working on Magic

Traveling to PAX 2016. Revealing Kaladesh to the world was awesome.

If You Could Change One Thing About the Rules What Would it be

Make all Instants, Sorceries

Las Vegas Magic Story

Friend got arrested fpr using a hot tub that wasn’t theirs.

What have You Learned from Magic

Matt has learned about collaboration.

Biggest Mistake Players Make

Failures to learn from mistakes. Don’t blame luck. Take ownership and learn from mistakes.

Improvement Suggestions

You get out of it what you put into it. Life is ultimately about the connections you make with other people.

Connect With Matt Tabak

Twitter:@TabakRules

Check Out Magic Story

Magic Story brings the lore of the Multiverse to life in an audio presentation never before heard in the Magic community.

Listen to Episode 1 here or on www.magicthestory.com