Developers interacting with their communities certainly isn’t a novel idea, but Magic: The Gathering senior designer Gavin Verhey has come up with an almost unheard of alternative to the usual back and forth between creator and consumer on social media sites such as Twitter.
Chinese-owned video-sharing website Tik-Tok, which allows users to upload short – usually comedic in nature – clips to the site in a similar manner to the now-defunct Vine, has become the outlet of choice for Verhey to have some fun with his followers and has taken to the practice like a duck to water. Since joining the service last month, Verhey has amassed thousands of followers and uploaded several videos of himself satirizing various aspects of Magic, and fans seemingly can’t get enough.
Continue through below for just a sample of some of the in-jokes and references so far published.
By popular request… I have a TikTok now! So I thought I'd use it to make some goofy videos, and probably tell some quick design stories. Come follow me there @GavinVerhey. My first TikTok goes out to everybody who has recently gotten mana flooded… 😅#wotcstaff pic.twitter.com/ey8hH5I2oz
— Gavin Verhey (@GavinVerhey) April 27, 2020
Playing along to a sample of Gwen Stefani’s “Hollaback Girl” in the background, Verhey can be seen playing with Tasigur, the Golden Fang. The card is the subject of several memes due to Tasigur’s apparent fondness for bananas, as depicted by the fruit bowl to his left.
I show off my Tasigur deck in my newest TikTok, and you really won't believe how bananas it is:#wotcstaff pic.twitter.com/DQOggjuWaW
— Gavin Verhey (@GavinVerhey) April 28, 2020
Finally is this gem, where Verhey makes visual references to multiple popular deck archetypes in Magic‘s Modern format while using the iconic character select music from Nintendo’s Super Smash Bros. series.
https://twitter.com/GavinVerhey/status/1255509525060354050?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1255509525060354050&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fepicstream.com%2Fnews%2FJakeVyper%2FMagic-The-Gathering-Designer-Just-Started-A-TikTok-Account-and-Fans-Are-Loving-The-Videos
Those that like what they see can keep tabs on Verhery’s Tik-Tok hijinks by following him on Twitter for any future clips, as well as regular developer insights where he often talks about the design process behind individual cards. Most recently, he revealed a number of cards originally intended to be included in Magic: The Gathering‘s latest set, Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths, which were ultimately cut prior to release. See here for the full story.