Wondering how to get more subscribers to my YT channel?
What about me playing other people's decks? Issue there is collection and I'm not up in the streaming world where WOTC is giving me anything. What about a mask? I know I guess I need to show myself also but that's not until I invest in a new webcam.
Along those lines, I got my son a professional green screen year before last so I could have some really cool backdrops I suppose.
I guess I also need some sort of "brand". A semi naked girl in the background always dancing?
Do I need to buy you beer?
I know it's about being witty and memorable in the first place and I'm hoping that is building in my "brand". I'm not an egotist so I guess that's actually a point against me.
Thing is, I'm asking for a friend.
....nope... for me. I don't have a lot of time to watch the successful guys stream so I'm asking you.
What grabs you? What makes you want to watch, keeps you watching and lastly, what keeps you coming back?
You know, you all are my guys and gals. Some of us have been together for nine years now.
You ARE my MTG community and I call many of you friend.
I trust and value your input.

Create new and weird decks.
Don't be afraid to appear on camera.
Explain builds before playing them.
If you play other people's builds, explain what you think works, what doesn't, and what you'd change.


What you shouldn't do: play my deck, but change stuff to make it worse. That's what Nighthawk did, that's his schtick.

Honestly, my advice would be something along the lines of:

Realise we're very small fish in this ocean now, Arena is pretty much the mainstream way to play Magic, and everybody from the very best at the game, to the most popular CCG players are making Arena content, Back in the Duels days it was like probably 50-100 people making vids/streaming, now there's probably at least 10x that - Realistically it's virtually impossible to "make it" but that doesn't mean you can't get anywhere, just realise it's gonna be a slow grind which leads to...

Enjoy making content - Probably seems obvious, but it's pretty simple, if you feel like it's a chore or are just making vids for the sake of it you'll burn out quick, you need to genuinely want to make vids, not feel like you have to do it, and this is especially important at the start, as you'll probably will be getting less then 50 views and 1-2 comments if any at all, When i started up i didn't even really bother looking at views/likes, I just really enjoyed reading and replying to the 1 comment i'd get every 3rd vid haha,

Have a consistent schedule - Doesn't really matter how often you want to make vids (although the more the better obviously) but if you upload 3 vids in a day and then go AWOL for a month you're probably gonna go nowhere, it's better to have the people who watch your vids know when the next one is coming out.

Title your vids so people know what's in them - Looking at your channel stuff like "the daily grind" or "KOTH" doesn't really mean much to new people, people generally want to know what deck you're gonna play so i'd always include that in the title.

Little clips and stuff of any cool moments you have, like a sick topdeck or a massive mistake are good as well, doesn't take much effort to watch and you can post them to places like here or Reddit or whatever and people might be interested in other stuff you do

Thanks. Some good solid advice. I'm not afraid to be on the cam vert, it's just literally my daughter's rabbit chewed the cords to both webcams and one was a 1080p... almost brand new. I'll reinvest after I'm back to work.
Some interesting things to think about there Hawk.
See you on the battlefield!

Great point on how many streamers there are now. I started off just posting videos back in DOTP 2015 and it only took 100 subscribers to monetize. It's 1000 now. I know it will be a grind to get there but I see some ways, thanks to the input, to make that hopefully shorter now.
In hindsight if I really wanted to be successful at this I wouldn't have taken that 2 year or so break from the game and community but I had to. I was what you might call in an addictive situation almost as bad as any drug I've ever done and was spending time playing the game and posting about it that I should have been spending with my children.
It's all good now but I might have missed the boat on the streaming thing because of that. I am trying to constructively use my off work time to learn OBS Studio better and have added more "be right back"'s with different music. I think today I'm going to tear my good mic apart and try to rewire it. That and a new webcam should help solid up my presentation.

a little sideb00b never hurts either

The main thing is try to play perfectly or terribly. Average is pretty boring, but the limits on each end are pretty funny or educational, depending.

From there... deck reviews, taking them for spin, and either praising them or talking trash about them.

If you’re a great builder, show off your own serious builds, if not, make jank, but makes sure it’s interesting jank, and then review other people’s work.

To be honest, I don't watch streams habitually - more like on-demand, so I'm not really your target-audience. For Magic there are few things an educational video can do better than plain text.

That being said, I remember a vid by SaffronOlive about an Arena deck called Elfball that I really enjoyed watching - the positive attitude and enthusiasm of this guy was a blast.

(@DJ - my post isn't a reply to you specifically, but this sparked a train of thought so I'm including it)

I think you have to have a big personality to play terribly and hold an audience. I had to stop watching Day9 because of his play. I can see why he maintains a large audience tho, because of his gregarious and fun personality - but it reached a point with me where it was just too frustrating to watch him play. On the flip side, I enjoy Semioni even tho he's more dry, because he plays pretty well, he sees his misplays pretty quickly and points them out (which helps you learn and demonstrates he knows how to play well). I don't think you have to be amazeballs and perfect, but you'll need to be better than average if you don't have the personality to carry you. To attract audiences you'll need to be fun (someone like Day9), educational (someone like LVD), and bonus if you can do both (someone like Noxious).

You'll probably want to find a niche to sit in. Not be restricted to it exclusively, but have something that people know you for. Semiomni produces a large volume of limited videos, CGB has his series on FTP and helping new players, LVD has his weekly calendar of different video types, etc. During Duels, I got into Nighthawk and SLM because of their spicey decks (and Nighthawk has his trademark 61 card lists). Think it really helps to have something you're known for.

Partly for selfish reasons (because I've been really into these types of video the last few sets), but also for practical advice, limited format content seems like a good place to find a niche as an unknown. It's not as saturated as constructed. Easy to get lost in the sea of constructed content (millions of spike, theme, and meme decks) - but limited is a smaller pond with fewer fish to compete with. When I do YouTube searches for sealed or draft videos, it's easier to see small channels on the first page of results.

Lastly, I think unless your channel is huge and you simply can't keep up with the volume of comments, its important to engage with your audience. Replying to people's comments helps keep them engaged and become invested in you.

My 2 cents anyways.

Thanks!
I don't even know if I have enough views to warrant comments. LoL
Still on lay off and still don't have a new webcam although I am going to attempt repairing it again. Usb cords are a bitch.
Nighthawk and I will be getting our tournament matches in around 2 hrs from now if anyone wants to turn in.
While I am a die-hard Wuster and am always trying to turn people onto them (The Big Wu) (they play the songs before and in between games on my channel) I am now obsessed with a new song from a band I hadn't even heard of until this weekend. Props to Chris Thile and Live from Here for once again dipping me in new fantastic music.

It’s a tough one to be sure. I only watch 2 Arena content providers. It’s not that there’s not others I know about and have watched in the past. CGB is pretty professional these days. One thing I do like about your channel is the music. CGB makes more of that in his twitch streams rather than his you tube content. You have had great advice from the others. I’d also think about trying to think about decks you’d like to play and against who. Nearly all content providers play randoms or invites. Maybe there’s scope to play arranged non tournament stuff via direct challenge. A lot of Arena content can be against either intro pack newbie’s non ladder or Tier 1 netdeck same old stuff. Both are boring to watch. Create your own take on themes or decks and run deck techs and series showing variety, the best content providers can edit to show the good stuff. To save time record a few little and often and just select the best. Good luck growing your followers. SD

If you want an example of something similar to SD’s concept, check out Forest Bear Studios on YouTube. They don’t play arena, but you might be able to do something similar now that match play is possible. I don’t think anyone is doing that kind of thing yet.

I don't usually look at youtube for magic content, but I often have streams on in the background. I think CalebDMTG is probably the one I'd look to if I was an aspiring magic streamer. Not just because he's very successful at it, but also the way he does things. He changes the format he plays nightly, but sticks to that format for the entire session (not all that relevant to an arena only player, but the reasoning behind it - that people come to watch a thing, and changing what you're doing can drive them away - is worth bearing in mind). He brews some very janky decks at times but then plays them super competitively. When he's been playing standard recently he's alternated between playing a t1 deck (mono blue) while explaining his card selection, sideboard and plays exhaustively or brewing lists he thinks are good against the meta and testing them against the bo3 event or ranked ladder. He also has his own style of humor and music that are always present.

Of course he's a very good magic player, so that helps a lot. But I don't think that just being a good player is enough, people like Reid Duke/Huey/BBD/Ben Stark/Seth Manfield/etc are streaming now so unless you can claim to be a world champion there's no real room to compete on that front. I think it's tough to break into the hundreds of viewers as a magic streamer now without already being on peoples radar. I'd suggest trying to be a part of any tournaments that may come up - I think there's a sunday tournament that's streamed? - and be in a position to at least title your stream something like "mythic, pushing for top8! Lets go to the Invitational!" just as attention grabbers.

I don't watch streamers or streams, except for a few Super Mario Maker players, and then it's only on youtube tbh.
However I do have a youtube channel that's at 104 subs after some ups and downs personally and in the mobile game I make vids of, a game called FFBE or Final Fantasy Brave Exvius.
So what I can say is that consistency, knowledge, personal passion in the topic, being succinct and humor keep me engaged in a tuber and also keep me going as a tuber. For instance I created a weekly new news update previewing each weeks maintenance early on to keep myself engaged, consistent and build a pattern. Goofy catchphrases also catch my attention and can lead to merchandise down the road as well.
I also agree that you should definitely add more detail/magic based flashy words, game winning card, a play to watch for, etc., showcasing something to look forward in the vid to your titles.
I will also offer help by subbing, as I like what I saw.

tl;dr - more detailed titles.

Some more great stuff guys. Thanks!

I don't watch streamers and streams except for LVD. I prefer to watch limited format (drafts) and he provides it and plays very well. There are rather few streamers who do limited. And a lot of streamers have rather average result.
So
1. limited format
2. good results
3. And another thing that is important to me is the absence of music ( I do like music, but some streamers use music that completely repels me and I even can't watch them).

Also cadence and tone goes hand in hand with humor and the like. I am in the habit of using my radio voice and feel if I was more conversational and fun I'd get more subs.

Do not forget to utilize Tags on youtube. Those are you lifeblood for being searched on the Tube. Add a lot and use MTG words/names that are in the meta; Nexus of fate, etc.

Devil,

I've been thinking about this for a few days on and off. You need to advertise brother.

Get on the discords (Arena and NGAs, plus and other relevant ones) and advertise within the limits of the rules therein. Start streaming when you can and get into a schedule. And have fun with it. Limit your salt unless you are really Mobius in disguise and start working on a following.

Big fish, little fish...you gotta start and be consistent. It takes time and effort. Enlist some help from some of the community; I have yet to see any streamer/youtuber make it without help. Hell, it took CGB over 2 years and help from several people to get where he is now...it most likely will take you that long as well.

So, TL;DR...advertise, get a schedule (and stick to it), get help, be patient.

OMK

good idea! If I still played Magic, I would totally help

i just got asked to resign from the staff of my main website where I hang out, and I'm probably losing my job in two weeks so i'll have all this free time.

things not looking so good for Barney but given what's happened so far this year, i consider myself lucky

I'm so sorry to hear that. This year has not started spectacularly for me either.
You have my compassion and understanding.
This too shall change.

Thanks Kryder. Great ideas!