In this week's episode, we sat down after a post-tournament pizza party and talked all sorts of Standard, Modern and milling. Matt's setting aside the 2/1's for 1 for some Esper control action. Dustin tries a wacky Chord of Calling deck trying to pay tribute to his beloved Birthing Pod. And James is playing Quickling again. Our meta-topic this week is a fun one as we talk about milling and its appeal. We also get on the topic of Treasure Cruise because of course we do. We wrap up with required c...
Nov 18, 2014•1 hr 40 min
The gang talks Eternal Champs, changes to Mono Black Aggro in Standard, and other topics du jour in this week's Mental Discipline. Also, WHO WILL WIN the battle between the dreaded GIANT TRAP DOOR SPIDER and the funky FUNGASAUR? You decide (and let us know!). Help Dustin win his dreams by following this link and voting: http://songwriter.amplifiertv.com/channel/Dustin+Sendejas This week's required consumption link's are: www.manadeprived.com Drive to Work 162 - Enchantment World: https://itunes....
Nov 07, 2014•1 hr 23 min
James is woefully absent in this week's episode, so Dustin and Matt try to pick up the slack. They're not as good at bad puns, but they're good at stretching a timeline. This week, on the heels of Grand Prix Los Angeles, it's all Standard all the time. Dustin's required consumption is The Third Power podcast, a podcast about Cubing from Usman Jamil and Anthony Avitollo. You can find it every other week at mtgcast.com. Matt's required viewing happens Saturday and Sunday when he streams Eternal Ch...
Oct 22, 2014•1 hr 36 min
Not too long ago, my friend Jason Thurston died. In this week's Across the Table, he's here to talk about mental illness, suicide, brain surgery, and, of course, death. Send any short-form feedback you might have to me on Twitter @mattmendoza. Send any long-form feedback to 5colormedia@gmail.com. Be sure to follow 5 Color Media on Twitter, Instagram, and Tumblr @5colormedia or on Facebook. Catch our live shows every week on Twitch.tv/5colormedia or YouTube.com/5colormedia. And please leave the s...
Oct 15, 2014•1 hr 18 min
In this week’s episode, Dustin talks about his experience in the new Standard. James talks about his observations while watching the new Mdern and Legacy. And Matt talks about his experience with his newly updated Cube. It’s new, everybody! Our metatopic this week is taken over by a Q&A section wherein Matt talks about being a fly on the wall. And, finally, we discuss our required consumption. James: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMei_cxSC0c Dustin: http://www.starcitygames.com/article/2946...
Oct 13, 2014•1 hr 28 min
The gang is back with a new-ish episode we recorded about a month ago. Thank you for bearing with us. In this episode James talks Modern, Dustin talks about his experience at the WMCQ and about Craig Wescoe's hilarious hand, and Matt talks about his cube experiences. As always, you can find us on twitter @mattmendoza, @dustinseth, and @mellishkimomtg and you can follow 5 Color Media @5colormedia. You can also find 5 Color Media on any relevant social media platform and check out my photos on Ins...
Oct 06, 2014•1 hr 16 min
Welcome to another episode of Mental Discipline, at long last. Flying in the face of life events, the gang sits down to talk about Magic. James and Dustin share their M15, Modern, and Standard experiences while Matt talks a bit about the one Cube draft he did the one time. Then the boys talk about the week's metatopic, flipping the switch. They round off with a trifecta or required reading, viewing, and...listening. You can find Matt, Dustin, and James (finally!) on Twitter @mattmendoza, @dustin...
Sep 01, 2014•1 hr 35 min
Welcome to the new Across the Table. I'm switching up the format! Instead of a one-on-one conversation with a specific person, I'm moving towards a broader format where I can bring to your ears cool people and things I encounter in the gaming world. What does that mean? Well, for my first new interview, allow me to introduce Steve Port and Jay Semerad, publisher and designer of the new game Foretold, Rise of a God. We met at GenCon to talk about what it was like bringing the game to market. I'm ...
Aug 22, 2014•54 min
LIVE from the laundromat down the street at 6am, it's the first episode of the Weekly Huegle! The WH is a brief weekly update about what I'm doing as 5 Color Media. After a whirlwind week getting ready for it, I'm off for another whirlwind week at GenCon. During the con, I'm working the Collector's Cache booth (1629). Come say hi! At night, I have some cool stuff cooking. Look forward to GenCon content here, on YouTube, and on Instagram. Also, stay tuned for an announcement on Monday as well as ...
Aug 12, 2014•4 min
This one's a Monstr-ous Carabid of a podcast as James and Dustin regail us with their tournament exploits. I accomplish nothing of note whie Dustin Top 8's an IQ and James tightens up his play on his way to the TCGPlayer.com Modern State Championship trophy. As a bonus, Dustin talks about his cousin's success with a Standard BasicMountain.dec that is both uninspired and formidable. Along the way we discuss salt and sugar, premier preperation, having fun, and our first submissions for required vi...
Aug 08, 2014•1 hr 35 min
In this week's episode, we discuss our respective PTQ successes and failures, Dustin's M15 spirit tribal deck and good cards. Or rather, we discuss what qualities make good cards good. Or rather, we discuss the terms we need to define these qualities. Or rather... The required reading links for this week are: "The good, the bad, and the ugly truth" by Mark Rosewater http://archive.wizards.com/Magic/magazine/article.aspx?x=mtgcom/daily/mr185 "Results Oriented Thinking" by Owen Turtenwald http://w...
Aug 06, 2014•1 hr 27 min
In this week's episode we recap James and Matt's whirlwind six days of sanctioned Magic. We discuss M15's changes to Standard. Dustin lets the listeners in on his subtle tech for Mono Black Devotion. Toward the middle we talk about our fun M15 draft and our observations on the new format. Then we turn to introducing two new segments for the cast. If you want to holla atcha boys, you can find Matt and Dustin on Twitter @mattmendoza and @dustinseth or you can find James on Facebook (James Mellish)...
Jul 25, 2014•1 hr 16 min
Welcome to the first episode of Mental Discipline with Matt Mendoza, James Mellish, and Dustin Sendejas. Three grinders are we and we're on a journey to improve our game, and yours! Join us as we introduce ourselves, establish our Magic goals, and discuss M15 Limited and how you should proceed. Follow 5 Color Media on Twitter for more episodes and cool stuff @5colormedia Friend James on facebook at James Mellish or follow Matt and Dustin on Twitter @mattmendoza and @dustinseth respectively. Than...
Jul 18, 2014•1 hr 33 min
Robert Vroman’s been out of the game for a while, but his Vintage innovation carved out a place for him in Magic’s history. Inventor of the Uba-Stax deck, he crushed tournaments around the midwest, all the while using Magic as a tool for education. Now, he’s onto bigger things, unleashinghis MtG skills on the real estate market and turning to political action after a particularly horrifying experience. We met in his hometown of St. Louis to talk about all this and more. The missing decklist is:3...
Mar 20, 2014•1 hr 18 min
Jason Alt has gone and done it. After his job relocated without him, he looked to make money from the one thing he knows best, Magic. Jason is now a pillar of the financial community whose articles are almost (literally) everywhere and you can hear him banter weekly with his co-conspirators on his own podcast, Brainstorm Brewery. In this week's episode, we talked over Skype about swimming, spread, sausages, and much more (okay, we didn't talk about sausages). As always, you can find the cast on ...
Mar 06, 2014•1 hr 5 min
Usman Jamil's about as St. Louis as it gets, with his part Pakistani, part Indian, part nerd upbringing and all. In this week's episode, my roommate John joins us after a late night of 20 Questions, Cubing, Pauper EDH, and drinking. We chat about growing up nerdy, efficiency, cultural rebellion, metal and more. Check out all Usman's articles every other Tuesday on StarCityGames.com. Also, in a new check-in segment, I see how previous guest writer Titus Chalk is doing following the release of his...
Feb 13, 2014•1 hr 55 min
Erin Campbell is a self-described handful. Before she was hosting her Magic interview podcast, The Deck Tease on GatheringMagic.com, she was tearing up World of Warcraft and blogging all about it. Oh, and she’s a trangendered woman to boot. Not afraid to talk about it, gaming that is, we had a great conversation about growing up, porn stores, elitism, being mean, and much more. Here are the relevant links: Erin’s coming out blog: http://thestoriesofo.wordpress.com/2011/09/18/out/ Nina’s coming o...
Jan 30, 2014•1 hr 23 min
Before he was a world-traveling, freelance-filmmaking co-creator of Walking the Planes, Nathan Holt was a giant, basketball-playing theatre geek who worked odd jobs between roles. Inspired by his web series, executively produced by WotC, I decided to drag him on his show to, of course, ask him about his breakfast. Afterward, we took a turn into some common territory and talked about David Lynch, theatre with an R-E, basketball teams, and much more. As always, send feedback to me on Twitter @matt...
Dec 14, 2013•1 hr 22 min
When it comes to fun, Good Times Games' Rob Gruber is your guy. While he's not exactly a Magic guy (I met him shooting Kaijudo in Dallas), he's definitely a boon for the gaming community in general. When we talked in Texas, I couldn't help but be inspired by his life philosophies and how they helped him create an amazing community in his small town of 10,000. I'd like to share him with you now. From all the way in Prince Rupert, BC, Canada, we talked about gaming, generational Dungeons and Drago...
Dec 06, 2013•1 hr 15 min
Josh McClain has a case of the run-goods. Earning 2nd place finish after 2nd place finish, he finally cracked the ceiling after a short hiatus to snatch himself a spot on the tour, which he quickly lost. Emboldened by his first PT experience, he put his nose to the grindstone and began one of the biggest tears in recent history. In GP Miami, he lost the trophy to Reid Duke, but quickly avenged himself by beating Duke in the finals of GP Detroit. As if that wasn't impressive enough, two weeks ago...
Nov 21, 2013•1 hr 6 min
My first returning guest, John Penick, recently finished 2nd at Grand Prix Oklahoma City. What’s more amazing is the amount of Magic he didn’t play before. But did it change how much he played after? We spoke after his mind-frying GRE about that finish, its effects, depression, steak knives, and flourishing. As always, send feedback to me on Twitter @mattmendoza or via email acrossthetablecast@gmail.com . Also, please leave the podcast a review on iTunes, it helps get it out there. Follow the ca...
Nov 15, 2013•31 min
Adam Styborski works harder than you. Between his marketing gig at Geico, traveling to tournaments for Wizards, managing GatheringMagic.com, being a dad and a husband, and the laundry, he’s a busy guy. We meant to meet up to cast from DC, but I was thwarted by a faulty piece of equipment. Instead, we spoke over Skype about being an asshole, our “guys,” and what you actually do with a math degree. As always, send feedback to me on Twitter @mattmendoza or via email acrossthetablecast@gmail.com . A...
Nov 08, 2013•1 hr 18 min
You've probably never heard of him, but writer Titus Chalk is about to publish one of the most important pieces of Magic writing in the history of the game. A journalist by trade, Titus's book, "So Do You Wear a Cape?" will chronicle twenty years of Magic history and culture from an accessible, anthropological, and often personal perspective. I discovered him and the project through a great feature piece he wrote that ties Magic's history with that of his own called "20 Years of Magic: the Gathe...
Oct 24, 2013•1 hr 4 min
Armed with a silky voice, sharp business sense, and rough past, Marcel White has made a name for himself in the community as a financial podcaster, above-average player, and media wiz. Marcel and company's podcast, Brainstorm Brewery, is frequently cited as the best in business for financial advice. Hailing from Oakland, California (by way of SanFran), we talked about growing up white, being a nerd, weed, and, because Marcel turned the tables, myself. As always, you can find me on ManaDeprived.c...
Oct 18, 2013•1 hr 25 min
For my 25th episode, I look back at some of my first ten, warts and all. In order of appearance: grinders Chi Hoi Yim, Gerald “Jim Bob” Sixkiller, John Penick, Cody Jennings, and Adam Boyd. As always, send feedback to me on Twitter @mattmendoza or via email acrossthetablecast@gmail.com . Also, please leave the podcast a review on iTunes, it helps get it out there. Follow the cast @acrossthecast for updates and new episodes. And don't forget to leave me a comment on ManaDeprived.com! Thanks for l...
Oct 04, 2013•1 hr 29 min
Matthew “Ogre” Stevens has made quite the reputation for himself buying, selling, and trading Magic cards in North America. After a wicked bender at GenCon which saw $80,000 in sales, we talked at the shop in which I now work, Ogre’s Games in St Louis. Bonus: his daughter Daisy accompanies us for the interview! As always, send feedback to me on Twitter @mattmendoza or via email acrossthetablecast@gmail.com . Also, please leave the podcast a review on iTunes, it helps get it out there. Follow the...
Sep 26, 2013•57 min
Michael Arrowsmith was a bouncer, Naval officer, and semi-professional football player in a former life. Now, he’s one of, if not the only, Level 1 Judge making a living judging and traveling exclusively. I first knew him as the guy I never wanted to meet in a fight. So, I sat down with him at GenCon where we talked about intimidation, being a foodie, and growing out of a non-traditional childhood. As always, send feedback to me on Twitter @mattmendoza or via email acrossthetablecast@gmail.com ....
Sep 19, 2013•52 min
On a shoestring budget and hard work, Legion Events, Supplies, and Games owner Steve Port started his empire. But he’s not only one of the nicest guys around, he’s one of the hardest working. Live from GenCon, we talked about failed marriages, community involvement, starting a new family twenty years later, and much more. As always, send feedback to me on Twitter @mattmendoza or via email acrossthetablecast@gmail.com . Also, please leave the podcast a review on iTunes, it helps get it out there....
Sep 13, 2013•1 hr 27 min
“Some things do make me angry. When people, you got this whole life, it seems like it lasts forever, and you just tow the line. You don’t ever step out of the line, you don’t ever ask the questions, you don’t ever challenge authority; you just do what you’re supposed to do...What kind of legacy is that? You just lived and then you died.” Writer and Magic player John F Rizzo was loved, and hated, for his articles back in the “old day.” With self-deprecating wit and self-indulgent stylings, he mad...
Sep 05, 2013•1 hr 42 min
“I don’t dance, but I love the music.” Artist John Matson has worked on Magic and other collectable card games for the better part of two decades and has become an expert in appreciation of all things both organic and mechanical. What do I mean exactly? Listen and find out as we delve deep into art, God, inspiring, and much more. As always, send feedback to me on Twitter @mattmendoza or via email acrossthetablecast@gmail.com . Also, please leave the podcast a review on iTunes, it helps get it ou...
Aug 29, 2013•1 hr 39 min
