<p>Welcome to our third Community Corner Creator Spotlight! In this article series, we interview two content creators within the <em>Magic: The Gathering</em> community and get their perspectives on various topics. We've covered many creators already, from <a href="https://edhrec.com/articles/community-corner-creator-spotlight-uberguitardude-and-cats-and-commander?utm_source=edhrec" target="_blank" rel="noopener">UberGuitarDude and Cats and Commanders</a> to <a href="https://edhrec.com/articles/community-corner-creator-spotlight-guild-pack-and-kylegathersmagic" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Guild Pack and KyleGathersMagic</a>. Today, we are interviewing <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@MTGRookies" target="_blank" rel="noopener">MTG Rookies</a> and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@GarageTheGathering" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Garage The Gathering</a>!</p>
<h2>MTG Rookies</h2>
<p><a href="https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/mtgRookies_banner2.jpeg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone wp-image-185147" src="https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/mtgRookies_banner2.jpeg" alt="MTG Rookies Banner" width="652" height="367" srcset="https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/mtgRookies_banner2.jpeg 2561w, https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/mtgRookies_banner2-300x169.jpeg 300w, https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/mtgRookies_banner2-1024x576.jpeg 1024w, https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/mtgRookies_banner2-768x432.jpeg 768w, https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/mtgRookies_banner2-1536x864.jpeg 1536w, https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/mtgRookies_banner2-2048x1152.jpeg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 652px) 100vw, 652px" /></a></p>
<p>Blake and Jake, also known as MTG Rookies, host <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@MTGRookies" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a YouTube channel</a> and <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@mtgrookies" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a TikTok account</a> where they put on skits, give advice for aspiring <em>Magic</em> players, and provide news about the game as well.</p>
<h2>Who/What introduced you to <em>Magic</em>? What is the first set release you remember playing?</h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><strong>Blake:</strong> I was introduced to <em>Magic</em> from a streamer that I watch, Paymoneywubby. I had some friends who also played, so once I started playing myself, they were great resources for all of the beginner questions that I had. Unfortunately, they did not live nearby, so I had to go down to the local game store for games, but that was also a great experience due to the knowledge and friendliness of the players that I met there. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><strong>Jake:</strong> Blake was actually my introduction to <em>Magic</em>! He and his wife taught Bailee and me how to play through a game of Commander. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Pantlaza, Sun-Favored" href="#" target="_blank">Pantlaza, Sun-Favored</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> holds a special place in my heart as my learner deck, which Blake graciously let me borrow and play until I got a grasp on the rules. I’m someone who <em>loves</em> learning new things, being with friends, and competing, so I’ve always been a huge fan of strategy games. All I needed was an invitation from a friend and a sick <a href="https://edhrec.com/tags/dinosaurs">Dinosaur</a> deck to get hooked.</span></p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Pantlaza, Sun-Favored"></div></div>
<h2>What is your favorite card/commander and why?</h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><strong>Blake:</strong> My favorite commander has been the same for a while, and that is <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Arcades, the Strategist" href="#" target="_blank">Arcades, the Strategist</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. I love the fact that you are able to just take these huge walls and throw them at your friends. The built-in card draw is also a nice plus.</span></p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Arcades, the Strategist"></div></div>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><strong>Jake:</strong> I have SO much trouble picking favorites, so I’ll just give a few. My newest commander is <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Xyris, the Writhing Storm" href="#" target="_blank">Xyris, the Writhing Storm</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, which I built specifically because my wife bought me the foil <em>Secret Lair</em> print of <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Time Reversal|SLD|1499" href="#" target="_blank">Time Reversal</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> with the flying goose horse on it.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Time Reversal|SLD|1499"></div></div></span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">My hope is that it grows into a deck that has a reputation for accelerated gameplay and big swings in momentum, so that everyone sees a ton of their deck and has fun when it’s at the table. The first Commander deck I bought for myself was the <a href="https://edhrec.com/precon/miracle-worker"><em>Miracle Worker</em> precon</a> helmed by <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Aminatou, Veil Piercer" href="#" target="_blank">Aminatou, Veil Piercer</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, which I’ve heavily upgraded over the last few years. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Shark Typhoon" href="#" target="_blank">Shark Typhoon</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Starfield of Nyx" href="#" target="_blank">Starfield of Nyx</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> are two strong and absurdly fun cards that I always love to draw into.</span></p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Xyris, the Writhing Storm"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Shark Typhoon"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Aminatou, Veil Piercer"></div></div>
<h2>Why do you create content for <em>Magic</em>? What is the goal of your content?</h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><strong>Blake:</strong> Our channel mainly focuses on creating content for beginners to the game, but we also want to make sure that veterans of the game can find enjoyment in it as well. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><strong>Jake:</strong> We want to share the joy that can come from every facet of this game: the art, the deckbuilding, the strategy, the gameplay, and the gathering. We hope that this kind of content will invite new players to try <em>Magic</em> and grow to love it as well. When they do, we also want to be a resource that makes learning the game simple, approachable, and fun.</span></p>
<div id="attachment_185144" style="width: 382px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Blake_Photo.png"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-185144" class="size-full wp-image-185144" src="https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Blake_Photo.png" alt="Blake MTG Rookies" width="372" height="496" srcset="https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Blake_Photo.png 372w, https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Blake_Photo-225x300.png 225w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 372px) 100vw, 372px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-185144" class="wp-caption-text"><span style="font-size: 8pt;"><strong>Blake of MTG Rookies (photo provided)</strong></span></p></div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h2>What sets your content apart from other creators?</h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><strong>Blake:</strong> As beginners ourselves, we try to bring that energy and perspective into the content that we make. When we started thinking about making <em>Magic</em> content, we noticed there didn’t seem to be a lot of creators making content for beginners who were actually beginners themselves. We saw that and thought beginners might like to see others in the same boat making content about the game they were beginning to love. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><strong>Jake:</strong> Since we ourselves are new to the game within the past five years, we are still actively discovering new things. That “rookie experience” colors our content with a sense of discovery, wonder, and fun. And because <em>Magic</em> is always evolving, there will always be new mechanics, art, and characters to learn and connect with - even for vets.</span></p>
<div id="attachment_185146" style="width: 517px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Jake_Photo.png"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-185146" class="size-full wp-image-185146" src="https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Jake_Photo.png" alt="Jake of MTG Rookies" width="507" height="541" srcset="https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Jake_Photo.png 507w, https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Jake_Photo-281x300.png 281w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 507px) 100vw, 507px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-185146" class="wp-caption-text"><span style="font-size: 8pt;"><strong>Jake of MTG Rookies.</strong></span></p></div>
<h2>What about life outside <em>Magic</em> influences your content?</h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><strong>Blake:</strong> A lot of the ideas for the skits that we make come from real situations we have run into with our pod. We try to play it up a little, but usually it isn’t too far off from what actually happened. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><strong>Jake:</strong> I come from a family of teachers, and I’ve always been a learner, so I love the process of teaching. I find it so rewarding to help others learn new skills and explore new ideas, but also discover new things about themselves as they grow in their character. I’m also a musician, and my wife is an artist (she actually did all of our branding), so we constantly have a hunger to create.</span></p>
<h2>Are you attending any upcoming events where players could meet you?</h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><strong>Blake:</strong> We are planning on attending MagicCon: Atlanta later this year and would love to meet anyone and everyone there. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><strong>Jake:</strong> You can find us on TikTok LIVE every Wednesday at 8 p.m. CST! We rate commanders, answer questions, give stuff away, and mostly just yap about <em>Magic</em>.</span></p>
<h2>What is one thing you would change about <em>Magic</em>?</h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><strong>Blake:</strong> It is hard to say what I would want to change with the game without having a long-standing history with it. From the small amount of time I have been playing, though, I have noticed a shift in Magic sets seeming to be more focused on selling product versus focusing on the playerbase and what they want. I am not going to pretend to know the backend business of a TCG, though, so I try not to harp on it too much. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><strong>Jake:</strong> Since I entered the game, Universes Beyond has shifted from a dessert to the main course. I don’t foresee Wizards of the Coast completely axing UB, and I’m not advocating for that. However, I would love to see a higher ratio of in-universe sets to UB sets. The feedback from the community seems to support this, as well as releasing fewer sets per year - especially when it comes to standard, because who on Earth can keep up these days?</span></p>
<hr />
<h2>Garage The Gathering</h2>
<div id="attachment_185148" style="width: 1012px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Copy_of_D2R68078-scaled.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-185148" class=" wp-image-185148" src="https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Copy_of_D2R68078-scaled.jpg" alt="Dom of Garage The Gathering" width="1002" height="668" srcset="https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Copy_of_D2R68078-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Copy_of_D2R68078-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Copy_of_D2R68078-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Copy_of_D2R68078-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Copy_of_D2R68078-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Copy_of_D2R68078-2048x1365.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1002px) 100vw, 1002px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-185148" class="wp-caption-text"><span style="font-size: 8pt;"><strong>Dom of Garage The Gathering.</strong></span></p></div>
<p>Dom of Garage the Gathering is a creator who, alongside his buddy Joel, plays <em>Magic</em> from the comfort and familiarity of the garage. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@GarageTheGathering" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Their YouTube channel</a> has nearly 7,800 subscribers invested in the sacred tradition of garage <em>Magic</em>.</p>
<h2>Who or what introduced you to <em>Magic</em>? What is the first set release you remember playing?</h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Joel (of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@joelaremagic" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Joel are Magic</a>) actually introduced me back in college! He did that thing </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">where he handed me a box of bulk to make a deck from and then </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">immediately blew me up with a Red Deck Wins monstrosity. Big statement to </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">the game that I still wanted to play after that, haha. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">I came in at the end of the Alara block, so <em>Zendikar</em> is the set I call my true first. So </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">many fond memories of <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Kor Firewalker" href="#" target="_blank">Kor Firewalker</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and Caw-blade.</span></p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Kor Firewalker"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Squadron Hawk"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Sword of Feast and Famine"></div></div>
<h2>What is your favorite card/commander and why?</h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">My absolute <em>favorite</em> card is <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Authority of the Consuls" href="#" target="_blank">Authority of the Consuls</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. I have no idea why that </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">card has so many words on it for one mana, but they all speak to my heart. I </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">like control, I like a long game where I outvalue everyone, and Authority </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">enables that in maybe the best way.</span></p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Authority of the Consuls"></div></div>
<h2>Why do you create content for <em>Magic</em>? What is the goal of your content?</h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">I am very fortunate to have made a slew of friends who were already into </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">content creation- so when they started gathering in my garage (get it?) to play, I </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">threatened to start filming them… and they were ok with it. The rest is history!</span></p>
<h2>What sets your content apart from other creators?</h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Garage is a special place; it represents the part of the Commander pod </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">that doesn’t get enough recognition: the location. The Garage has become </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">its own character in a way, and it sort of informed all the decisions we’ve </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">made along the way. Everything we do is about being a REAL pod and being </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">relatable. It’s almost like the filming is secondary to the camaraderie, which is </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">totally intentional.</span></p>
<p><a href="https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Copy_of_D2R67560-scaled.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone wp-image-185149" src="https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Copy_of_D2R67560-scaled.jpg" alt="Dom of Garage The Gathering 2" width="784" height="1176" srcset="https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Copy_of_D2R67560-scaled.jpg 1707w, https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Copy_of_D2R67560-200x300.jpg 200w, https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Copy_of_D2R67560-683x1024.jpg 683w, https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Copy_of_D2R67560-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Copy_of_D2R67560-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Copy_of_D2R67560-1365x2048.jpg 1365w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 784px) 100vw, 784px" /></a></p>
<h2>What about life outside <em>Magic</em> influences your content?</h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">My biggest influences that seep into GtG content would be my family. It’s </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">really my Garage, you know? That’s my holiday storage, that’s where our </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">keepsakes are put away, where my kids and I play on the weekend. I am so </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">proud of what we’ve built while always making sure to put my wife and kids f</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">irst. Also pretty heavily influenced by food. I love food.</span></p>
<h2>Are you attending any upcoming events where players could meet you?</h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Yeah! Catch me at MagicCon: Atlanta! And stay current on anything else by checking socials.</span></p>
<h2>What is one thing you would change about <em>Magic</em>?</h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">I would axe Bracket 1 as it’s explained now. Exhibition doesn’t need its own </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">bracket; it’s making everything else worse. I’d also reduce Universes Beyond releases to <em>Secret Lairs</em> only</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></p>
<p>Read More:</p>
<p>https://edhrec.com/articles/magic-players-honor-tsc-global-awareness-day</p>
<p>https://edhrec.com/articles/an-interview-with-the-metal-band-planeswalker</p>
<p>https://edhrec.com/articles/community-corner-creator-spotlight-guild-pack-and-kylegathersmagic</p>


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creator spotlight

Community Corner Creator Spotlight: MTG Rookies and Garage The Gathering