“You shouldn’t let one match loss beat you twice.”

Well, Gaby Spartz, you can beat us any time you want. Besides, are you really losing when you’re sitting across the table from Gaby while getting your butt beaten during Magic: The Gathering? Exactly. This adorable Ecuadorian has made Magic cool again. The Twitch star is continuing to blow up, parlaying her video presence into quite the accomplished journalism career.

Gaby Spartz Early Beginnings 

Magic: The Gathering never knew what hit them when Gaby started playing. Always influenced by video games, Gaby was born on September 1, 1987. Her tight-knit family bonded over cards, board games, and Nintendo in their Quinto, Ecuador home.

As a child, she had a penchant for cards. However, Magic: The Gathering hadn’t caught the momentum that it’s seen in the past couple of decades just yet. Instead, Gaby found herself scooping up Pokemon cards. 

While Gaby dabbled in a bunch of games, none really spoke to her. As years passed, Magic: The Gathering started to gain underground momentum in the United States of America. By the time the trading card game hit comic shops in Ecuador, Gaby was a bit on the older side. Luckily for her, she had already ventured to the Americas.

Gaby enrolled herself in college in the United States. She attended the University of Notre Dame. Afterward, she uprooted and settled down in Chicago, Illinois. That was when she finally got into the comic scene. Entering comic book shops, Gaby was introduced to Magic: The Gathering. She immediately became engulfed by this mystical game when she discovered in 2011.

Gaby Spartz Plays Magic: The Gathering

After watching others play, she started to get the hang of the intricate gameplay. Completely entranced by the game’s intricacies, a young Gaby received her first investment toward Magic: The Gathering history. 

In 2012, a friend of Gaby’s noticed that the future star was struck by this game. As a gift, they purchased the future card marvel a Magic: The Gathering Deck-Builder’s Tool Kit. This birthday present inspired Gaby to make her first Magic: The Gathering purchase herself. Shortly after her 24th birthday, the future star purchased the Magic 2012 (M12) pack. 

Gaby Spartz and Professional Gaming

At first, Magic: The Gathering was just a hobby for Gaby. She was making her earnings by putting her brain to work. Gaby found quite a bit of success working as a freelance writer for various media outlets. Her experience pushed Gaby to startup dose.com. Yup, brains and beauty. 

Speaking of brains, she knows a lot of random stuff. That’s why she put that useless knowledge to good use. She found the verified Instagram account, @omgfacts. This site has 415,000 followers. They enjoy a nice pay out for sponsoring some ads through this platform.

Putting those brains to even better use, Gaby knew that the key to growing her reach was to get in front of the camera. She started to stream her Magic: The Gathering thoughts and gaming sessions. This proved to be a life-changing experience for Gaby. 

Many people were excited to see such a beautiful face talking so candidly about a rather underground game. So, they were eager to give the beaut a bunch of tips. This encouragement only fueled her love for the game and its community. In 2013, she was inspired to start participating in paper Magic: The Gathering tournaments. 

Off the bat, Gaby saw success. She realized she was onto something and decided to make a career change. Shifting her priorities, she focused less on journalism and more on competitive gaming.

Gaby Spartz Wins Standard Super League

According to Gaby, her greatest accomplishment in the Magic: The Gathering Arena was when she stood victorious in the Standard Super League. Gaby recalls entering the event with one goal in mind–don’t come in last place. She was the least experienced on the bunch and didn’t think to cinch the W was in her sights. 

Knowing this, Gaby incorporated a unique gameplan. She attempted to overcompensate by opting for an unconventional deck. Well, it worked like a charm. By picking a high-variance deck such as Goblins with Obelisk of Urd, she went unscathed throughout the whole tournament. That dominant performance earned her a bye into the playoffs.

Gaby Spartz Magic Tips

Gaby has seen a lot of success in Magic: The Gathering. She admits that others propped her up for the success she enjoys today. That’s why the star is adamant about giving back to the community by fostering the stars of tomorrow. Hot and noble!

The star says she’s blown away by how you never stop learning while playing the game. That’s the thirst that keeps her coming back for more. She’s the thirst that makes us pay attention to Magic: The Gathering in the first place.

Spartz tells beginners to take their time to learn their deck. You need to find cohesion when you pick up cards to create an over-arching gameplan. That’s why she tended to stick with linear decks when her career began. She urges repetition with the same game to learn the ins and outs of your deck. This created memories that allowed her to pick up a unique skill set.

Also, Gaby suggests you learn the differences between defensive and offensive cards. The pro admits that was her biggest obstacle when started on this leg of her career.

Deck drafting was also difficult for Gaby. She noticed she was drafting decks that weren’t very cohesive. That put the star on a humiliating losing streak. It got to the point where she was no longer having fun. This realization caused her to take a brief hiatus from the game during the Limited era.

Once she came back into the scene, Gaby had a new take on the game. She started to try playing Constructed. Spartz found that doing this helped her see what the deck is trying to do. It also gives insights as to what the deck is attempting in relation to what’s going on in your opponent’s deck. This mode gives you an invaluable look at the psychology about the particular game going on in that very moment. 

Understanding your sideboard is critical for this. A player needs to be able to figure out how to thwart their opponent’s plan to take control of the game or see that there’s nothing they can do against their opponent’s card and act accordingly.

Gaby Spartz on Gender Bias in Gaming

While we appreciate Gaby for her looks, her gameplay has a lot to do with our love for her as well. However, not all men share this sentiment. The Magic: The Gathering star noted she beat a male opponent in a sealed event. Afterward, the male competitor sat in shock. He turned to the winner and noted that he was couldn’t wrap his head around the fact that he lost the game to a girl.

That expression upset Gaby. She thought the answer was simple. She prepared hard for the event. Her drive and dedication allowed to play better and ultimately exercise her skills with finer precision. After the event, Gaby decided to become a proponent for equality in the Magic: The Gathering Arena. She wants more females to be recognized for their talents in this universe.

Gaby Spartz Videos

Most of Gaby’s videos are tutorial. She is big on nurturing the next crop of Magic: The Gathering talent. Therefore, many of her videos are centered around strategies and psychologies that are intricate to the game. A lot of these videos also showcase her bubbly personality. Gaby has a very outgoing persona. It’s precisely why she’s been recruited for Magic: The Gathering commentary teams with Danny West.

In addition, you can catch Gaby on other channels. Her voice and face has graced screens that present both Grand Prix and Pro Tours. She also partnered with these groups to present some of this content on her YouTube channel as well.

On top of YouTube, Gaby makes the majority of her money through her Twitch channel. She streams around 21 hours per week, pulling upwards of 2,000 visitors during her schedule.

You can also the Twitch star on various Wizards of the Coast content. Not only does Gaby present herself as an on-screen personality for them, but she also puts her journalistic skills to good use for the brand as well.