11: Randy Buehler Inside Wizards of the Coast R&D

Randy Buehler has 8 Grand Prix top 8’s, including a win and 5 Pro Tour top 16’s, including a win! His professional Magic career was cut short when he took a position at Wizards of the Coast, eventually becoming director of Magic R&D and then Vice-President of Digital Games. He has since moved on from Wizards but has never missed a Pro Tour as he is the voice of the Pro Tour webcast. Randy is a class of 2007 member of the Magic Hall of Fame. First Set  Homelands   Favorite Set  Invasion - First set Randy worked on at Wizards R&D    Ravnica - First set done with processes and people that Randy put in place and hired. It was awesome seeing a set come together by people he brought on board.   Favorite Card Necropotence What makes Magic fun for you? The competitive aspect of the game keeps Randy engaged. The small puzzles, the overall strategy the challenge of facing off with an opponent is so addicting to those who seek to prove they are the best at something. Early Challenge Your circle of players is a huge factor of how good you are. Finding players that are better than you is the BEST way to improve. Best Format Vintage - It's really the only format he can play on a semi competitive level because he can't play at premier events. (His wife currently works for Wizards of the Coast so he can't play at events because he's the immediate family member of a Wizards employee.) Current Standard Deck Randy plays "all the decks" so he can be familiar with lines of play for coverage. He's excited to look into Turbo Fog and Rally the Ancestors deck. Biggest Mistake Players Make Obsessing about luck. Instead of turning the focus outward and saying you lost because of bad luck you should turn the focus inward and say "what did I do wrong?" "How could I have played better?" Connect With Randy @rbuehler