So, first things first.

What the hell is a 4DAAT?

It’s actually pretty simple:

4 Daughters And A Tank.

The four daughters are exactly what they sound like. They’re my girls, and for the longest time, being a girl dad was probably the easiest way to describe me.

And Tank?

Tank is my 14-year-old chiweenie, who despite technically being my dog, has become very firmly attached to one particular daughter. I’m not bitter about it. I’ve only fed him, housed him, and kept him alive for fourteen years.

So that’s 4DAAT.

Or at least, that’s where the name came from.

Then Magic Happened. Again.

I’d played Magic: The Gathering before when the first Universes Beyond wasn’t called Universes Beyond but Arabian Nights. But alas I sold all those cards after high school. The entire lot for like $20. I had dual lands, the OG Demonic Tutor, Birds of Paradise, Royal Assassin, Prodigal Sorcerer (Tim), Nightmare, Shivan Dragon and countless others. I remember Royal Assassin used to terrify me. Keldon Warlord was one of my favorite most cherished cards. Sure. $20 seemed fair. It was only cardboard and I wasn’t using it anyway.

But a few years ago a friend managed to lure me back in.

He invited me to a Wilds of Eldraine draft.

I did my homework, too. I read up on the set. I watched The Professor talk about drafting WOE. Yup first video I watched was the Prof talking about the archetypes in Wilds of Eldraine and which to target in the draft.  I familiarized myself with some of the mechanics that hadn’t existed—or at least weren’t familiar to me—the last time I’d seriously played Magic.

I drafted Faeries.

And I went 1–2.

Except…

I shouldn’t have lost that first match.

The guy I was playing was using Adventure incorrectly. I was pretty damn sure he was using Adventure incorrectly. I’d specifically read about how it worked. It was new to me. But after reading up and watching more videos I was pretty confident I got it.

But he was more confident. And as far as I new he’d been playing a lot longer.

I was practically a new player again.

He argued his case. I questioned my understanding. And eventually I conceded that he must know what he was talking about.

He did not.

I should’ve trusted myself.

But, eh. Whatever.

Because something much worse happened that night anyway.

I played a game of commander.

I got hooked on Magic again. This was a format I really enjoyed.

It Escalated Quickly.

Naturally, the next logical step after going 1–2 at a draft and fumbling my way through someone else’s commander deck was to spend more money on Magic cards. 

I picked up the Fae Dominion Commander precon.

Which, given that I’d just drafted Faeries, seemed reasonable enough. Then came the upgrades. I watched deck techs and videos on how to build for commander.

Then The Lost Caverns of Ixalan came out, and I bought Ahoy Matey. Which admittedly, I should’ve bought Explorers of the Deep or Velociraptors or Blood Rites. Pretty much any other one of the precons. But I liked pirates.

And somewhere around there, “I think I’ll get back into Magic” turned into:

What Commander should I build next?

What cards should I upgrade?

What’s Secret Lair? Oh these cards are cool, but are they worth buying?

Wait…there’s an alternate-art version of that card?

I could probably build another deck.

And eventually:

I should make content about this.

So What Is 4DAAT Now?

I’m not trying to convince you that I’ve cracked the Commander format. And I’m certainly not going undefeated at drafts.

Apparently I’m occasionally not even willing to call a judge when I know how Adventure works.

I’m just a dad who really likes Magic.

I like building Commander decks. I like finding cards that make a deck feel uniquely mine. I like upgrading precons. I like ridiculous alternate arts and Universes Beyond. I like figuring out whether a Secret Lair is actually worth the money. And I probably spend entirely too much time thinking about which piece of cardboard would make one of my decks 3% better.

That’s the stuff you’ll find here:

Deck techs. Precon upgrades. Secret Lair opinions. Cards I’m excited about. Deck-building ideas. Magic stories. And whatever else I’m obsessing over at the moment.

But Magic isn’t the entirety of 4DAAT.

You’ll also find some of my short stories, including things that originally lived on the old version of this site.

You’ll find dad jokes, because four daughters have given me an obligation to embarrass children with terrible humor.

And you’ll probably find some other stuff that doesn’t fit neatly into a category.

That’s okay.

Because 4DAAT was never named after Magic.

It was named after the most important part of my life.

Magic just somehow ended up taking over a significant portion of my basement and office.

Welcome to 4DAAT.