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Getting Started...

1. What you just created

When you clicked Create My Pod, we spun up a fresh set of tools just for your playgroup:

  • A Google Sheet – your analytics engine

  • A Google Form – where games get logged

  • A Google Drive folder – that keeps everything together

You should see a tab titled “Pod Created Successfully” in your browser.
That page contains direct links to:

  • Your Game Log Form

  • Your Pod Sheet

  • Your Pod Folder

👉 Bookmark those three links or add the folder to your Drive (“Add shortcut to Drive”) so you can always find them.

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2. Share the Game Log Form with your pod

  1. Open the Game Log Form link.

  2. Click Send in the top-right.

  3. Choose Link.

  4. Copy the link and share it with your pod:

    • Group chat

    • Discord

    • Facebook group

    • Whatever you use to herd goblins friends

Anyone with that link can log games for your pod.

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3. First-time setup (optional but recommended)

Most pods can just start logging games, but here are some nice first steps:

A. Log a “test” game

  • Open your Game Log Form.

  • Enter a fake game with:

    • A couple of test players

    • A couple of test commanders

    • Placements

  • Submit.

This does two big things:

  • It lets you confirm everything works.

  • It seeds your first Player and Commander names for the system to clean and standardize.

B. Open your Pod Sheet

  1. Open the Pod Sheet link.

  2. Take a look at the key tabs:

    • Pod Analytics (Dynamic)

    • Commander Analytics (Dynamic)

    • Sol Ring Analytics

    • DynamicUpdater

    • FAQ & Controls (read this one first)

  3. You’ll see your test game show up after the Sheet finishes updating.

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4. How to log games going forward

Your pod only needs one habit:

After each game, someone opens the Game Log Form and submits the results.

The form handles:

  • Who played

  • Which commanders were used

  • Final placements

  • Whether anyone had a Turn 1 Sol Ring

  • Optional notes

Behind the scenes, your Sheet:

  • Cleans player and commander names

  • Adds them to your master lists

  • Updates all analytics tabs automatically

No one ever needs to edit the raw Form Responses tab or the hidden engine tabs.

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5. Where to see stats

Once you’ve got a handful of games logged, check out:

  • Pod Analytics (Dynamic)
    Filter by:

    • Date range

    • Pod size (3/4/5 players)

    • Specific player
      See:

    • Finishing place totals

    • Win % trends over time

  • Commander Analytics (Dynamic)
    Filter by:

    • Commander

    • Pod size

    • Player (if multiple people share a commander)
      See:

    • How that commander performs over time

    • Which pod sizes it excels in

  • Sol Ring Analytics
    See:

    • How often each player starts the game with a Turn 1 Sol Ring

    • How often they win when they do

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6. What your players need to know (TL;DR to share with them)

You can literally paste this into your Discord:

How to use MTG Pod Stats for our group

  • After every game, someone opens the Google Form and logs the result.

  • Use the dropdowns for player names & commanders.

  • If you play with a new player or commander, use the “Add New” fields and type it once – the system will clean it and remember it.

  • That’s it. The Sheet updates automatically and we get pretty graphs and stats.

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7. Need help?

If something looks broken:

  • Check the FAQ & Controls tab inside your Pod Sheet.

  • Make sure:

    • The correct Form is linked.

    • People are using the right pod’s form (not mixing pods).

  • If it still looks off, reach out to the maintainer (swailien@outlook.com) with:

    • Your Pod ID (from the Config sheet or Pod name)

    • A quick description of what you’re seeing

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