It’s not all that uncommon for Professional Magic: the Gathering players to further their career and take up positions at Wizards of the Coast. From David McDarby to Melissa DeTora, the roster of WotC staff is very impressive! Today, that list grows even more stacked with the announcement of the new “Director of Play Programs”.
William “Huey” Jensen is one of the most decorated and loved Magic: the Gathering pros of all time. With multiple Grand Prix Wins and Pro Tour Top 8s, and his inclusion in the Magic Pro League, Huey was definitely at the tip top of competitive play. He has recently retired from the MPL, and today announced that He will be joining Wizards of the Coast as their new Director of Play Programs.
What is the Director of Play Programs?
This sounds amazing at it’s face, but what is the Director of Play Programs? Well, the job description was provided in the thread.
From the looks of things, the Director of Play Programs will oversee all avenues of organized play for Magic: the Gathering. It seems that they’ll be working to build a robust Play Network of events that will bring more people into the game, but also keep and bring back enfranchised competitive players as well.
This is a very exciting thing to hear from Wizards because the state of Organized Play has been effectively at a stand still. Wizards had talked about regrowing the Program from the ground up, supporting Friday Night Magic and Local Game Stores. This is furthered as well by their Partnership with Post Malone. The lack of communication from Wizards about what’s happening at the top end of competitive play has left the community wanting more.
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Congrats to Huey for this monumental career advancement, and I have faith that He’ll do a fantastic job at bringing about an era of competitive Magic that we’ve all been waiting for!
