I’ve never been one for making New Years resolutions. If there’s a need for a change or making certain goals I’ve typically tried to recognize it and take action regardless the time of year. That being said, the threshold from one year to the next still causes me to look back on the previous year and then look forward to the coming year. And then through that contemplation, I sometimes end up making some sort of resolution(s).

Looking back, 2016 is the year that I discovered and totally indulged in Old School Magic. I wrote about the experience in some older posts. In a nutshell, after many years of barely dabbling in Magic, this past spring I decided to buy a bunch of “old cards” which to me at the time were Revised – cards I had in 1994. I wanted to play exclusively with cards I felt nostalgic about. I also bought a bunch of Ice Age, Homelands, Alliances, etc. I didn’t know about the Old School or 93/94 format at this point. I made the @wizards_tower Instagram account simply to take pictures of the old cards I was buying. I was surprised because I discovered a bunch of people that liked old cards. From there I found out about the format and went all in. I probably spent way too much money.

The year ended with 1,036 followers on the Instagram which is good. I did daily posts up until November. Maintaining the blog and having a post ready for every day on Instagram took way too much time. Other more important things in my life were getting sacrificed. I decided to post on the Instagram only when it was convenient. Moderation is key.

I started this blog back in August and it’s been a ton of fun. One of the posts got some love from Channel Fireball. The GP Providence Old School Meet Up post was linked in one of their This Week in Magic articles. I’m assuming they were short on links that week but who knows. Another post that got shared quite a bit around the internet was Dave Firth Bard’s post Discovering the Revised Gift Box in 2016. A couple other posts that got a lot of hits were A Few Unique Decks and The Duelist, May 1994.. A Few Unique Decks was a super fun post to make. I’ve got more of those type of posts planned for the future.

In addition to all that, 2016 saw a pretty awesome group of guys form who regularly meet up for Old School games. The group is slowly growing in size. Our spot of choice at the moment is Granfanally’s Pub, as you probably are aware. I’m looking forward to more Magic with those guys in 2017.

Mg wrote a great post about 2016 over at Swedish blog. He documents the growing popularity of Old School much better than I can since I’m still new to the format. Check that post out.

Looking forward now; 2017 is upon us. What will this year bring? Well, probably less Instagram pictures. Being so indulged in the Instagram for a while has gotten me a bit burnt out from social media which is why i toned it down in the fall. I may end up just using it for documenting New England Old School meet ups. I may end up using my personal Instagram for Magic card posts so I don’t have to switch between two accounts anymore. In levels of importance, I put the blog above it so we’ll see how much use it gets. Like I said, moderation is key.

As for the blog, it’s still continuing as usual. I do want to do more guest posts this year though. I don’t always have stuff to write about each week and I think some collaboration with others in the community could strengthen the blog. Fresh ideas and thoughts will add variety to what is here. Someone has already gotten in touch with me about a guest post on a pretty cool topic! Hopefully more people will too.

I would love to plan one or two tournaments before the winter is over. I haven’t had time to give it much thought but now that the holidays are over, I think i’ll move forward with some planning. Also, Nick has been talking about doing an Ice Age draft for like two years so I want to finally do that this winter as well. It would also be nice to get a few more tournament reports here. Reports are always fun to read.

Speaking of Ice Age…

Now as we settle into the long, cold months of the winter, I think playing a lot of Old School will be great. Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years has passed which means I’ll be way less busy hopefully. But these coming months are when many people hibernate around here. The temperature typically gets colder than it already is and the sunlight remains short. Old School Magic and beers will be the perfect recipe for koselig. So I’m looking forward for that.

Anyways, a big thanks to all of you that read the blog and support Old School Magic!