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Welcome back to another entry in our Community Corner Creator Spotlight series! This series highlights up-and-coming creators in the Magic: The Gathering fan community and shares insights into their thoughts on the game and their part in it.

Previously, we covered SteelCityMTG and LizOfLorwyn, and before that, Commander Sealed and Blue Collar Commander. Today, we are covering the dynamic father-son duo of Griffin and Greg, who make up GriffinFlyMTG!

Creator Spotlight: GriffinFlyMTG

GriffinFlyMTG is the partnership between Griffin, a Magic player who has been at it for a good while, and Greg, his father, who is relatively new to the game altogether. The blurb on their website states the following:

Griffin Fly MTG is a father-son Magic: the Gathering channel built around a dynamic you won’t find anywhere else in the space: an adult son who’s spent years mastering the game, and his dad who’s genuinely learning it for the first time.

Griffin is the expert — sharp on strategy, deckbuilding, and the mechanics of the game. Greg is the newcomer, drawn less to the rules and more to the art, the flavor, and the stories each card tells.

As multiple-time MTG Ambassadors, they bring that same energy to sets and products across the game — always filtered through the same lens of a dad and son figuring it out on the fly and enjoying their time together.

You can find Griffin and Greg on YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok.

Who/What introduced you to Magic? (What is the first set release you remember playing?)

Griffin: The first time I played Magic, I was still in a Yu-Gi-Oh! phase and was at my cousin’s house. This would have been around 12 years old for me, and he decided to show me a different game and introduced me to Magic. From there, it took a while for me to fully immerse myself in the game, but eventually I got the Ajani VengeantAjani Vengeant and Nicol Bolas, PlaneswalkerNicol Bolas, Planeswalker Duel Decks as some of the first sealed product I remember grabbing off a shelf and playing them against myself in order to learn. From there, Khans of Tarkir is the first full set I remember grabbing packs of and spending my allowance on.

Greg: I don’t fully remember when Griffin would have first started talking to us about Magic: The Gathering, but I would guess it was close to when he started learning how to play himself. As the years went by, he tried several times to bring the game into family conversations with very little success. However, after graduate school, Griffin’s love of the game broke through, and I really started paying attention and agreed to learn, both how to play the game as well as what the community means to my son. The first set that I ever truly played any sort of game format with was Marvel’s Spider-Man during MagicCon Atlanta in 2025.

What is your favorite card/commander and why?

Griffin: My favorite commander is split between Zeriam, Golden WindZeriam, Golden Wind and Kaervek the MercilessKaervek the Merciless. Zeriam is obvious, as it is the first legendary Griffin that is good. There had been a prior one, Zuberi, Golden FeatherZuberi, Golden Feather, but Zeriam filled that niche as the best of them and allowed me to build an amazing joke deck that I will continue upgrading for the rest of time.

Kaervek, however, is the deck that I first made a name for myself with at my LGS and have built up as high as I can get it, at a lovely Bracket 4 when it really should not be one. It is a keystone deck for my journey in this game, and will be with me for the nostalgia forever.

Greg: Right now my favorite card is Lorehold, the HistorianLorehold, the Historian, probably for a few reasons. First, the card just looks great. In my mind, from my childhood, this is how I imagined dragons, the coloration, the size and power, the majesty; it just all comes together for me, and I can immediately buy into the high-fantasy of that world and get lost in possibilities, which is part of what I think Griffin has been asking of me over the past 10-15 years.

Secondly, this is the first deck that Griffin built for me out of a set that we were fortunate enough to be MTG Ambassadors for, so it reminds me of our shared excitement of opening packs, playing games, and learning about the entire set together. And lastly, socially, I find this set represents a real journey for a lot of people as well as the inhabitants of the plane.

The original Strixhaven set came out during COVID, when the world felt like a different place, and I feel that inherent tension when I think about the set, which provides just one more touchstone for an emotional connection with a character and helps me remember who I was at that point in time, as well as the people in my life that I care about the most.

Why do you create content for Magic?

Griffin: After walking for my master’s, I was burnt out and wanted to go to the LGS, which had become my safe space to recover while in school. My parents noticed that I was at this point and that I was more excited to talk about Magic instead of my degree, and they listened to me.

A few days later, they acted upon that night and offered to do this project with me as a way for me to let my dad into this world and as a bonding opportunity. Since then, it has become a focal point for my dad and me, and we keep creating content as a fun way to push each other and enjoy the time together.

Greg: I got this question so backwards when we first started. My initial thought was that by documenting my learning journey, we would be able to reach other parents who might be worried about their children spending so much time and money on a trading card game.

But it quickly became apparent that it wasn’t parents looking to understand their kids that we were reaching; it was children who simply wanted their parents to hang out with them and understand their passions and hobbies. Such a simple mistake on my part has led to a complete recalibration of how I approach this game and this channel.

Instead of going through the motions, acting like I was trying to learn the game to earn kudos from other parents, I have now fully embraced the opportunity to spend time with my child and enjoy the fact that I have a grown son who actively wants to spend time with me playing a game that he is passionate about alongside a community that has provided him with so much.

What sets your content apart from other creators?

Griffin: The familial journey is what sets us apart. Getting to take my dad from an absolute novice to someone who understands what is going on in this world has been amazing, and the continued growth is a key factor. Our channel is a continuous learning experience meant to be a fun, relaxed, family-friendly environment.

There are weird trivia games, card explanations, and talks on various elements of Magic’s etiquette that open up interesting discussions in the comments, and we see how other people think as well.

Greg: I have not scoured the internet, but I believe we are possibly the only father-son Magic team going on socials right now? Griffin and I have played games for as long as he can remember, and our honest, loving, and competitive relationship has seemingly struck a chord with some part of the MTG community.

What about life outside Magic influences your content?

Griffin: I generally live a busy and structured life. I work as a contractor for the Western Archaeology and Conservation Center for the National Park Service (NPS), as a barista, and as a barback. With all of that, I also do bar trivia weekly, karaoke (poorly), and am in multiple Dungeons & Dragons campaigns. It is a bit hectic at times, but the structure helps me keep everything together, which can be really helpful for someone who is neurodivergent.

Greg: As some portion of our community knows, I enjoy glassblowing as one of my hobbies, and at Griffin’s prompting, have started sharing examples of my work with our followers. There are obviously quite a few differences between Magic: The Gathering and glassblowing, but there are also a few similarities that have helped me question why some hobbies get recognized as being cool or acceptable while others are labeled a waste of time by large parts of society.

Is my hobby expensive? Yes, a lot of people’s hobbies are expensive. Do I buy more hobby-related items than I absolutely need? Yes, most people do. Do I enjoy spending time thinking about and talking about my hobby with other like-minded people? Yes, obviously. Viewing my hobby as being similar to my son’s hobby really helped me drop a lot of my judgmental opinions of Magic and opened me up to fully embracing the game and the larger community.

Are you attending any upcoming events where players could meet you?

Griffin: I will be at Gen Con (starting today) for the entire weekend. I plan to be in the Magic area a decent amount, but I will also be spending a lot of time in Artist Alley and seeing what the vendors have available.

After that, I will be at MagicCon Atlanta in November with my dad. For that one, we will be wandering a decent amount, but also spending a good amount of time in Creator Central. There will be so much to see and do at both of these that the best bet for people to meet me is to keep your head on a swivel and, if you see me, come say hi. I will have time to talk for a bit at both of these events.

Greg:Yes, Griffin and I will both be attending MagicCon Atlanta in November 2026.

What is one thing you would change about Magic?

Griffin: I would like Core Sets to return and be a way for people to get a highlight reel of the cards released each year. I think they were a great way for people to focus on just one set per year if it was unreasonable for them to keep up with everything, and they could be merged with Jumpstart to help introduce new players to the game with cards that had proven their efficiency over a solid amount of playtesting by the community. Also, they were good for reprinting cards and keeping prices reasonable.

Greg: I love the idea of the Bracket System, but I would like to see game length and complexity drive the Bracket System for Magic to allow for a more natural on-ramp for beginners. In my bracket system, Bracket 1 games would be for true beginners; not every card or even card type is allowed, to keep it simple, with a goal of games lasting no more than 60 minutes or so.

Each level gets built up along expertise, competence, and permissible cards, with the length of games peaking at Bracket 3 and then back down as gameplay gets faster and more competitive in Brackets 4 and 5. I believe that having a more accessible Bracket or two, where an older person or a rank beginner can start to learn how to play the game before learning every type of card or every mechanic or investing 2-3 hours, could be a good way to bring more people into the game and still allow for more advanced play and full immersion into the world of Magic: The Gathering.