Hello! I'm pleased to be able to announce the team of writers that will be making up the bulk of your Spike content here at the new-look Quiet Speculation. But first, what is Spike content? Hopefully, you're familiar by now with the classic gameplay psychographs: Spike, Timmy, and Johnny. For our purposes, Spike content is about gaming to win. Whether you're playing Standard or Extended, Draft or Sealed, Two-Headed Giant or EDH, or any other format you can think of, Spike players are the ones that play to win. Do you battle the PTQ circuit for Pro Tour invitations? Do you have more than a passing interest in Grand Prix? Do you consider your Friday Night Magic tournaments as an opportunity to crush souls? Ever wish it was you holding one of those giant trophies at the end of the weekend? If so, this is probably the section for you! 🙂

The truth is, those of you who would be most interested in reading the "Spike" content day after day here already identify yourselves as Spikes. You've got your RSS feeds beaming tech to you 24/7, you actually know what MODO stands for, and you don't need any reminders for when your next PTQ is or of how good Jace, the Mind Sculptor really is.

But you know what? There's going to be something here for everyone! To make a (strained) analogy, let's say you have a passing interest in soccer. You play in the park with your buddies on the weekend or after class, but it's just for fun more than anything. I guarantee you though that at least some guys in your group would get a kick out of watching the Champion's League final play out! Sure, you could trek out to your local high school and watch some decent young athletes try their best, but without a rooting interest, how much more fun would it be to see some of the best athletes in the world play their hearts out to be the champions of the world?

Do you want to see the most powerful things you can do with Magic: the Gathering? Do you want to see the most broken combos, the strongest Control decks, the quickest and most resilient Aggro decks, or drafting tips from the best-of-the-best? Pushing the limits of card interactions is what Spike play is all about. Reaping the biggest rewards for the lowest costs, all on the earliest turn possible... What could be more fun? Even if it's not your main draw for playing Magic, you can surely see the merits in reading about it every once in a while! While you may not want to bring a Spike deck to your kitchen table battles, it may inspire you to broaden your enjoyment of the game. That was my path to competitive gaming; what will be yours?

So, I do believe that's enough stalling. Here's the Opening Week Lineup that will be putting up the most competitively-bent articles I can find for you guys.

Joe Bono - Why We Fall Rated in the Top 50 in the entire universe (okay, the world), qualified for PT Paris and Worlds, former Washington State Champion... His credentials are obviously stacked, and I think you'll be seeing a lot more of Joe at upcoming top tier competitions. He's a level 2 judge as well as if that all weren't enough!

Kellen Huber - On The Hunt Hand-picked for his home-brewed deckbuilding strategies, a lost art in our time of The Internet and netdecking.

Josh Lalo - Untapping With Jace Multiple PTQ top 8s and an expert on almost every format. Counts Patrick Chapin as an influence to give you an idea of what he's capable of here.

Dylan Lerch - The Brewery Managing editor of Spike content and maintainer of The Brewery, with 1 Pro Tour money finish.

Gregory Marques - Present-Present League A former Wizards of the Coast R&D member and one-time participant in the Future Future League.

Greg Peloquin - The 23rd Card In his own words, "an ardent PTQ warrior and level 1 judge." Greg has found himself in multiple PTQ top 8s and has found success at the Grand Prix level as well.

Joining them this week (and unfortunately introducing themselves more properly in their own articles!) will be the following:

Alex Ruggeri

James Madonna

I'll be on a constant lookout for additions to the team. I'm a firm believer that some of the best Magic: the Gathering content on the internet in the last few years has come from PTQ-level players looking to make it to the next level. Does that sound like you? Well, then what are you waiting for? 🙂

And to everyone out there in the Magic world: I have every intention of making Quiet Speculation your premiere source for the most competitive of Magic: the Gathering content on the web. Don't get left behind! Please, enjoy the new Quiet Speculation.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you so much for reading!