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While not as mainstream as video game streaming, most collectible card games (or CCGs) have an enthusiastic following of fans. At the top of the stack is Magic: The Gathering (or MTG), with over 2 million followers on Twitch tuning in to watch live streamed matches, podcasts, and a range of other content. If you’re looking to join this thriving online community, here’s a quick overview on how to stream MTG live.
There’s plenty of general benefits to streaming that encourage people to create live content, from exploring your creative streak to connecting with people across the world who share your passions. Maybe you want to earn a little extra revenue on the side to sponsor the purchase of your next deck, or you might want to expand awareness of MTG and get more people playing.
Streaming is also a cost-effective marketing opportunity for CCG stores and board game café. A live stream expands brand awareness, invites new players and customers to visit you in person, including people who aren’t in your postcode.
The first thing you’ll need to know is what format you’re playing. Will you be live streaming a weekly casual EDH (or Commander) session with friends, or are you hosting Standard MTG competitions at your store? Are you going to be broadcasting Magic: The Gathering Arena, from SpellTable, or an in-person game?
Whatever you decide, you don’t have to be married to one format forever. (However, it’s worth noting that each format draws its own audience, and you might risk losing your brand new audience if you change too early on.)
Next, you’ll want to decide where you want to stream. YouTube Live will automatically save your live streams once you’re done, and can be linked to your pre-recorded channel so that you can build up an audience with long-form and short-form content.
Meanwhile, Twitch, which is dedicated to live streaming, has several categories for different MTG formats that make your content easy to find for fans of the game. You can also consider streaming on Kick, Facebook, or other platforms.
Want to stream to multiple platforms? No problem! Streaming software makes it possible multistream, while being instrumental to putting together your scenes, transitions, and adding all your sources together into a layout. (We’ll explore this more later.)
There are plenty of options available, for example, OBS Studio, which is open source and has several community-created plugins.
How you capture your gameplay depends on how you’re playing. For example, if you’re playing Magic: The Gathering Arena, you’ll need to set up screen capture.
On the other hand, if you’re playing in person, you should set up your cameras above the table to capture a bird’s eye view. You can use a flexible tripod or an overhead camera clamp, and rig up proper lighting so you can see all the cards clearly. If you’re using card sleeves, remember to use anti-glare sleeves so that your cards don’t reflect too heavily on the cameras.
However, no matter what format you’re playing, it’s worth adding facecams. An MTG webcam setup captures your reactions live, adding emotional context to the stream.
You should also invest in good microphones. There’s nothing that drives an audience away faster than audio distortion, so it’s worth spending a little extra on a mic with pop filters.
Set up your stream layout for the battlefield by adding all your sources (like your screen capture or webcams) and overlays. Adding overlays can help boost the production value, display your contact details, and deliver important messages. Try not to cover anything important that impacts your viewer’s enjoyment of the game.
You should also create a Starting Soon scene with a countdown timer to build excitement to the match while giving people time to tune in. Then, set up smooth transitions to swap between your scenes.
You don’t have to custom-build your own MTGA overlay if you don’t want to. Here at overlays.uno, we have a wide variety of overlays that are perfect for your next live stream. Use as many overlays as you want for free, just by signing up! And, if we don’t have the graphics you need, or want some help figuring out how to stream MTG, reach out to us on our official Discord!
