This article is the first in a series that I hope will highlight the people behind TheGathering (most of whom were the founding members of PlayingPioneer and PlayingMTG), because in the shifting landscape of Magic: The Gathering content creation, I think too much focus is placed on the content and not enough on the people creating it. In this case, even more so. I hope you enjoy meeting our team as much as I have enjoyed working with them!
Tyrant, the Omnipresent
While you haven’t seen Tyrant’s byline on an article on TheGathering.gg, he has played a part in every article you have read, tier list you have hated, and webpage you have navigated.
We’re actually not entirely sure how Tyrant got here. One day, he was just in our staff Discord server. Once we discovered that he didn’t know how to read and that he was somehow an active member in 459 MTG Discord servers and 15 MTG subreddits, we put him in charge of community outreach, which he thrived in despite much of the community actively abusing him over our tier list decisions.
“The abuse makes me feel something. I crave it,” Tyrant told me once, probably.
Now, he does probably 80% of the work around here and serves as our workers’ cooperative vice president. Here are some things the team has to say about Tyrant.
Darren “ServoToken” Magnotti
My personal whipping boy; I’ve probably got more respect for Fred than anyone else in the Magic community. His unrelenting dedication to a cause combines with his ever-positive attitude to make something sincerely special.
While he’s not always on the right side of an argument (do not ask this man about ban lists…), he’s always the right call when it comes to getting stuff done and done well. True Pack 1 Pick 1 material, I couldn’t ask for a better person to be on our team.
KarnageKards
Tyrant is one of the most unique members of the team. Tyrant does so much to keep this site running. Someone everyone relies on and trusts. Tyrant’s hard work is outstanding and he never asks for anything in return, a true hero behind the scenes. His deck ideas have led me to win a lot of games of Magic and have the most fun playing the game I love. I have nothing but respect for this man.
Anthony
Fred and I have agreed on a total of five things overall in the time we’ve known each other. Because of that, him and I get along incredibly well. He always has a different perspective on Magic than I do, and his is an opinion I personally always give a little extra credence than most because I know he’s coming at things from the complete opposite angle from me (except ban lists – a topic in which he is always wrong). Fred is probably the most dedicated person on the team and someone I respect immensely.
IslandGoSAMe
Hardworking, active in the community, great at writing his own articles and making sure that mine are comprehensible. Although I’ve never seen him win a game of Magic unless the deck contained Red and White cards, that doesn’t change my love.
Darthjacen
Tyrant is the secret sauce that keeps this project running. A tireless helper who is always willing to step into any process and make it better. From handling Reddit – which is its own full-time job- to making the website pretty, tracking analytics, and keeping our articles coming out on time, there’s nothing Tyrant doesn’t touch.
You can always find him cooking up something spicy on Arena and there are few members of the community more dialed into the daily metagame. Tyrant is one of the pillars of this community and this website and I couldn’t imagine what this project would look like without him.
Scuffle
Darren invited me but Tyrant will keep me here forever. Tyrant somehow consistently manages to finish the job in front of him and make sure the other jobs get done too. If Tyrant tells me he wants to see something it’s because he genuinely wants to see it, which means a lot of other people will want to see it too. I trust his judgment. He usually has a different opinion than other people here because he’s usually right when they’re usually wrong.
Demian
The man, the myth, the first player to pilot the most obnoxious decks in existence. But above all, a hardworking member of the team with a heart of gold.
