Josh McClain has a case of the run-goods. Earning 2nd place finish after 2nd place finish, he finally cracked the ceiling after a short hiatus to snatch himself a spot on the tour, which he quickly lost. Emboldened by his first PT experience, he put his nose to the grindstone and began one of the biggest tears in recent history. In GP Miami, he lost the trophy to Reid Duke, but quickly avenged himself by beating Duke in the finals of GP Detroit. As if that wasn't impressive enough, two weeks ago, he cut down the net at the TCGPlayer.com Modern 50k. We met over Skype to talk about success, failure, parental disappointment, and school.

As always, send feedback to me on Twitter @mattmendoza or via email acrossthetablecast@gmail.com. Also, please leave the podcast a review on iTunes, it helps get it out there. Follow the cast @acrossthecast for updates and new episodes.

And don’t forget to leave me a comment on ManaDeprived.com or KCCompetition.com.

Thanks for listening!

My first returning guest, John Penick, recently finished 2nd at Grand Prix Oklahoma City. What’s more amazing is the amount of Magic he didn’t play before. But did it change how much he played after? We spoke after his mind-frying GRE about that finish, its effects, depression, steak knives, and flourishing.

As always, send feedback to me on Twitter @mattmendoza or via email acrossthetablecast@gmail.com. Also, please leave the podcast a review on iTunes, it helps get it out there. Follow the cast @acrossthecast for updates and new episodes. 

And don't forget to leave me a comment on ManaDeprived.com or KCCompetition.com.

Thanks for listening!

Adam Styborski works harder than you. Between his marketing gig at Geico, traveling to tournaments for Wizards, managing GatheringMagic.com, being a dad and a husband, and the laundry, he’s a busy guy. We meant to meet up to cast from DC, but I was thwarted by a faulty piece of equipment. Instead, we spoke over Skype about being an asshole, our “guys,” and what you actually do with a math degree.

As always, send feedback to me on Twitter @mattmendoza or via email acrossthetablecast@gmail.com. Also, please leave the podcast a review on iTunes, it helps get it out there. Follow the cast @acrossthecast for updates and new episodes. 

And don't forget to leave me a comment on ManaDeprived.com!

Thanks for listening!