HS player rates original Ravnica MTG cards

[@covertgoblue]

Dripshop stream today | Giving away OTJ Collector Boosters | www.dripshop.live/streams/otjcgb?referral=CovertGoBlue

[@aproudswede4955]

A show where he guesses between 2 cards, 1 old and 1 new and guess which was played more in its standard rotation would be fun

[@Ulubai]

​@@aproudswede4955trick question: necropotence VS artifact lands

[@Hairaldan]

You should show Rarren combo cards (all the cards needed for a combo) and see if he can figure it out and rate the combo powerlevel. :)

[@ghostkill221]

Great Idea tbh.

[@hershycows]

This!!!

[@JoeNeutrino]

Good idea

[@JohnFromAccounting]

It's basically proportional to how much setup is needed versus how simply it wins the game.

[@DrBob66]

huge idea actually

[@jonathanharsh7434]

Watching Rarran talk about Grave Troll was like watching someone trying to solve 5+7 by treating it like a differential equation and SOMEHOW still getting 12. I love it.

[@Reign274]

Has anyone seen someone actually cast a grave troll? Like ever?

[@supernova9361]

I mean an emergency finisher is an emergency finisher

[@raymondgreen9379]

​@@Reign274 cast it yes, activate regenerate no.

[@Reign274]

@@raymondgreen9379 I’ve been playing magic for 18 years and I’ve never seen it. But maybe EDH?

[@Thermascorch]

@@Reign274I’ve casted it to sac it for like greater good or something

[@Laezar1]

"What is better, to be born Spike or to overcome your Timmy nature through great effort?" - Mesa falcon guy, probably.

[@msolec2000]

OK, now we need a card with that flavor text. I don't care what the card is, but this flavor text is needed.

[@zawarudo497]

@@msolec2000 Playing With Power 1BG Choose 1: - Search your library for a creature card with power 6 or greater - Search your library for a card that is banned in an official *magic* format

[@googlesucks1515]

Johnny Johnny yes papa?

[@zoggere4226]

​@@zawarudo497 wouldnt option 2 just be do nothing

[@zawarudo497]

@@zoggere4226 not a card banned in the format you’re playing, a card banned in *any* format

[@thisreplywillbeuselessbuth9879]

Another Rarran x Messa Falcon Guy collab LETS GOOOOO

[@jaydavidrn82]

😂

[@input-latency2684]

This has to become a thing

[@BlackJustice2637]

Ok, i need to know what video mesa falcon is from

[@lucjanl1262]

​@@BlackJustice2637 wdym what video is this from, he was always called messa falcon guy, dont you remember?

[@ivanpalomo1586]

​@@BlackJustice2637 the collar about the tournament

[@livedandletdie]

I love Mesa Falcon Guy.

[@zanebarber8688]

The best part about cards like Golgari grave troll is that a high dredge value was seen as a negative by the design team, when really it was the opposite, so the best cards had a high dredge cost on them

[@xTobsecretx]

“It’s not even magic, it plays like a completely different game” “YugiOh” lmao Rarran gets it!

[@arise3865]

there never was a competitive deck in yugioh that only relied on selfmilling :clueless:

[@penguinoverlord9994]

@@arise3865tearlament

[@tobynorris]

@@arise3865 Didn't Lightsworn see success?

[@unaffectedbycardeffects9152]

​@tobynorris the best deck ever is a self mill archetype (called Tearlaments)

[@tobynorris]

@@unaffectedbycardeffects9152 True, and I just remembered Adamancipators also exist.

[@kiraselby3790]

I think one thing Rarran might be missing is that getting to 9 or 10 mana in Magic is a lot harder than it is in hearthstone. Even if a game goes very long, there's a reasonable likelihood that you will never draw 9 lands by the end of the game. The curve for competitive decks pretty much stops around 7, unless you have ways to cheat things into play (and Blazing Archon is actually quite a good card in other formats where you can cheat it into play).

[@casteanpreswyn7528]

*was* a lot harder. It's now way easier to do in standard and games are even shorter now.

[@gardian06_85]

in Hearthstone there was entire years of the game where a card if Reno Jackson: (neutral 6->4/6) "if your deck has no duplicates restore your hero to full health" a build around and run in decks with duplicates just for the "chance to survive" would have been in the same set it would have been TOO SLOW because if your opponent was playing agro you might just be dead by turn 4 or 5. It didn't help matters that "Flappy Bird: (neutral 3->3/3): if this deals damage to the enemy hero adapt" (this could also be read as "if this hits you you will be losing 9-15 health from it alone") there were even these quests that had a turn 5 pay off, but you would just die turn 4 or 5 without chance to even see that quest reward.

[@wallywinker2438]

I think another aspect here is that there are a lot more ways to fit [solution to 10 mana bomb] and [tempo gaining play] into 10 mana than there are 10 mana bombs.

[@Dreadnote-pf7of]

​@@gardian06_85 (I think they were not in a same set. Birds was from Ungoro, because "adapt", while Reno was first introduced in League of Explorers. Not that this matter, but...)

[@SandsBuisle]

​@gardian06_85 not only are they not in the same set, they weren't even in the same standard. Reno rotated out the set Flappy Bird came out.

[@Brntnugget]

As soon as rarran asked who that big ass dude in the background was I knew he was looking at dark confidant. I wish reprints of confident included that guy in the art

[@neoneanderthal2658]

I think that's supposed to be a magic mirror - a la Mirror Mirror on the wall...and the thing in the mirror is the confidant itself/himself, while the mage symbolises the player being confided in. Being a confidant doesn't really work while you're alone either and the idea behind it synergises with the thing being behind someone else who is doing the acting. Like how advisors will stand behind the king whispering in their ear.

[@L0rdCanti]

@@neoneanderthal2658 The thing has hands and sleeves, though. It also seems like it's protruding out of what would be the frame if it were a mirror, so it's more likely the collar of a shirt/robe

[@froggystrap1232]

@@neoneanderthal2658No its definitely an Orzov ghost! They are always grotesque in the art look at Karlov, Orzov Council.

[@Crunchatize_Me_Senpai]

@@froggystrap1232Oh shit I think you’re dead-on. It makes so much sense. Mafia types like the Orzhov elites usually have a right-hand man that they trust enough to feed sensitive information to, and they have a lot of sensitive information. It’s a black creature, so it fits the guild’s color identity. And while I think the art looks a little too monstrous for Orzhov (seems like most of them just look like ghosts of grimy fat guys where as this looks like some weird, somewhat-human eldritch monster), that could just be an adventurous design choice. So yeah, you gotta be right. Mystery solved!

[@aisling_commoddities]

"Dredge MIGHT be an important part of the equation" 🤣🤣

[@Sheer_Falacy]

Dredge has an upside and a downside. The upside is that you mill cards and the downside is you put a card in your hand.

[@randommaster06]

I was hoping CGB would have told Raran that Doubling Season stacked. That's always a hilarious thing to see people realize. Also, the "Egg Guy" in Dark Confidant's an Orzhov guild member. The Orzhov Syndicate is Ravnica's official church and bank. Also, both institutions are known for having older people in charge, so Orzhov higher-ups are like old people squared. The high-ranking members use magic to prolong their lives, but it doesn't prolong their youth. They often end up having large flaps of skin, resulting in Egg Man.

[@kokoro-no-me]

I remember a time when all these guild names were cryptic words to me and I never realized that English Magic players used the guild/factions to substitute for color combinations. Now I’ve no clue how I remembered the names for all of them, it’s so weird

[@Red_Mag3]

Ah, but what about the Nephilim colors?

[@shadowseek27]

​@@Red_Mag3*sweating Peele meme

[@zanebarber8688]

@@Red_Mag3Oh my precious dune brood treasure deck!

[@Red_Mag3]

@@zanebarber8688 ayyy I run Yore-Tiller Bjorna/Wernog clues

[@deadneck13]

As someone who didn't play for about 15 years, learning the guild names has been a tough slog. I've got all those down now, but the three color clan names are still not sticking.

[@GaleStream]

Fight-or-flight kicked in when I heard Rarran call out Golgari Grave-Troll before it showed up on screen. That card could cost like 15 and have no text other than Dredge 6 and still be bonkers.

[@BLUEBOYISLEDGE]

yeah they basically already said that

[@dark_rit]

Yeah the only time you really cared about the body was if you dread returned it because you had nothing else to dread return like flame-kin zealot to finish the game was the favored dread return target back in the day, which was nuts. Some people used sadistic hypnotist instead though which read sack a creature: target player discards 2 cards so in theory it was better because if you couldn't FKZ to win immediately you would be almost guaranteed the win if you discarded your opponents entire hand with a horde of 2/2 zombies + 3/1 hasty ichorids.

[@soconapleura]

Mesa Falcon Guy and RawrXD are my favorite card game duo

[@MainTopmastStaysail]

It's worth mentioning that Vitu-Ghazi sees no play anywhere anymore (mostly because better lands that make 1/1s have been printed), while Sunhome still sees play because it ends games with Primeval Titan.

[@dark_rit]

Yeah vitu-ghazi I love, but there's better stuff out there compared to spending functionally 5 mana for a 1/1 derpy creature since vitu-ghazi can't pay for the 2GW. Sunhome is premium though because instant speed doublestrike is a thing that for a long time was not seen on cards, sunhome only got it because it was an onboard trick so you could play around it easier compared to instants out of hands.

[@tlblitz42]

@@dark_ritGranted, we do still get “pay too much mana for a 1/1” lands on occasion, and they do still see play. Castle Ardenvale was played in 2019, and we’re playing Mirrex today. Sunhome specifically continues to see play because it’s a unique combo piece, whereas Vitu-Ghazi doesn’t see play anymore because the effect has been power crept (though these cards tend to fall off outside of standard anyway)

[@janmelantu7490]

@@tlblitz42 Castle Ardenvale is still a wincon in UW control in Pioneer, but it has the advantage of tapping for white, while most other token generators only tap for colorless

[@daetur]

As a non-Magic player, it seems like Dimir Cutpurse's immediate fall off after one moment of glory probably had to do with the fact that it HAS to attack to get its effect, it's not a flying creature, and Magic was entering a more board-centric era, making it a lot harder to land the Cutpurse? While Confidant can just SIT THERE to get its effect.

[@AzureShadow42]

While that's true, let's not forget that half of the time these cards were in standard they shared it with Umezawa's Jitte, and you would often see one attached to a swinging Dark Confidant.

[@h445]

yep it had no way of getting damage through while the hypnotic had flying

[@davidm1756]

The moment the dragon appeared on screen I was waiting for Rarren to remember Leeroy Jenkins

[@SpecterVonBaren]

Grave Troll is also kind of like RATTLEGORE.

[@spencer7030]

U forgot to tell Rarren about the hilarious commander use for hunted horror where u give the 3/3's to your friend saying I'll give them to u if u don't attack me with them, then immediately dogpile on another player. 😂

[@TooMuchBSToo]

There's also using it for Ziatora/Fling strats

[@GamePlayMetal]

I think that the number one thing that Rarran is really underestimating in these reviews, is how much harder it is to play expensive cards in Mtg compared to Hearthstone. You don't have to worry about lands in HS and you steadily gain mana without having to care about that at all

[@h445]

that's what i love about HS

[@KowalewskajA_]

"What is on top of the deck? Oh its Lightning Helix - oh my god, oh my god - Craig Jones is through the finals!"

[@Pistolsatsean]

I'm excited for Rarran to see skullclamp, welding jar, chrome mox, and best of all to get trolled by Lantern

[@skiefyre123]

Oh god, lantern control... honestly he would probably get him more easily with codex shredder but still..

[@blackbot7113]

Didn't he already see skull clamp or am I missing up my content creators?

[@connorhamilton5707]

20:55 This explanation of regenerate is a little all over the place. Regenerate is relatively simple; it's a way to prevent destruction. If a creature regenerates, it gets a "shield" where the next time it would be destroyed that turn, instead you remove all damage marked on it, remove it from combat if it's attacking or blocking, and tap it. Regeneration isn't used much anymore, but when we visited New Capenna we got a spin on the effect with Shield counters.

[@urnow2986]

I think an important part of the evaluation between Doubling season and Baku the Mooneater is opportunity cost and the fact that Baku was effectively free. Imagine if you got to start the game with a doubling season leyline if your deck only had odd cost cards

[@DiabloTommaso]

Insane xD and you have ramp at 1 to jump to 1 to 3 mana easily

[@eroslampitella2629]

that would break the game

[@hi-i-am-atan]

@@eroslampitella2629 guess what baku did!

[@LauraLovesHugs]

@@eroslampitella2629 baku was so strong it got rotated out of standard a year early and it's STILL played in wild *to this day*. in other words: yes, yes it would.

[@NoOne42]

Yeah: the other comparison would be justicar trueheart. Did come with a body, but having to actually draw and play it...I don't think paladin cared?

[@kokoro-no-me]

That was the most random discussion mid-video lol but I think it a. depends on the cup (you can’t slurp certain containers 100%) and b. depends on gravity; I find myself tilting my cup but also using my mouth at some point so I can taste the liquid and have it not leak so I totally get Rarran’s point (don’t think it produces a slurping sound though)

[@Windowsprodukt]

I was slurping when Ravnica introduced me to magic, and I am slurping today. No gulper will come between me and my beverages!

[@alicetheaxolotl]

So, there is no card that says "when this is countered, do X" HOWEVER, I do have a commander deck that plays Blood Funnel specifically to counter my own spells. Mishra, Artificer Prodigy lets you grab a 2nd copy of any artifact you cast from your library or graveyard. By countering my own artifacts, I can just grab the same copy I cast and put them on the battlefield without casting, so I essentially make them uncounterable by countering them AND make them cost less. Mishra also lets me break parity on cards like Nether Void, Possibility Storm, and Void Mirror, which is always a fun time

[@noanimationexpert3843]

the slurp/pour discourse is the content i didn't know i needed

[@beesus1412]

next split card should be slurp/pour

[@Goldy01]

I think can openings are shaped in a way that promotes slurping, glasses and cups not so much!

[@Samu-K]

Dark confidant is really similar to Kobold Librarian (1 mana 2/1 that deals 2 damage to your hero and draws a card) in hearthstone. It saw play the entire time it was in rotation, also played in wild for years after it's rotation. Would almost guaranteed still be played in todays standard despite being released in 2017. Cheap creatures that draw are almost always really good. They just fit into every deck.

[@jonathanshaw-lewis1678]

yeahhh but the funny thing is that he said dark confidant would be meta-defining if printed into warlock today, when this almost DEFINITELY isn't the case. for those who don't know, there is a card that came out a few years ago called peasant, which is a 1 mana neutral 2/1 which says "at the start of your turn, draw a card." unless you've playing a deck that cares about self damage, this is a better dark confidant in every way. there is also a currently standard legal card called gold panner, which is a 2 mana 1/2 and draws at end of turn instead, much better since it pretty much guarantees a draw especially in hearthstone due to no instant speed interaction. these cards would both be potentially pretty crazy in magic but they are kind of worse in hearthstone due to the fact that you can attack creatures directly, so creatures that provide repeated value on board are often less reliable in hs than magic. love rarran, but sometimes he does have very poor analysis with these kinds of things

[@fado100]

How rarran didn't Instantly think of Rattlegore compared to grave-troll is very surprising to me. That card was nuts

[@SpecterVonBaren]

Excuuuuse me! It's pronounced RATTLEGORE!!!, sir.

[@bobbysnobby]

Ironically all the text on it as a creature was basically blank. Casting it as an actual creature was pretty rare.

[@DemirAros]

Wow, this video is a crazy coincidence. I was cleaning my room yesterday and found a Lightning Helix. This was the era of MTG I played, and damn I miss it

[@DoctorWhoBlue]

It's Lightning Helix! Oh my god!

[@theoneandonlyAeth]

Pyroclasm was legal in standard during Ravnica's time, it was in 8th and 9th edition so dealing 2 damage to all creatures cost a whole 2 mana. You could play Pyroclasm, Eye of Nowhere, Remand, Stone Rain, Wildfire, Demolish & Mana Leak all in the same deck with Magnivore as a finisher in case your opponent hadn't ragequit. It was a glorious time for those of us who like to watch their opponent suffer,

[@nekrataali]

Annex and Wildfire are always a fun combination. I miss that deck ☹

[@byeguyssry]

I believe that Rarran doesn't really understand Double Strike, because Windfury works extremely differently in Hearthstone. I think a magic analogue would be something like "After your combat phase where this creature attacked for the first time this turn, there is an additional combat phase where only this creature can attack". - Windfury doesn't give First Strike effects hence you still deal and take damage at the same time. - Windfury allows you to select a different target each hit (since in Hearthstone you choose which target to attack)

[@Caio22011]

Yeah, both mechanics are similar, but work quite differently in practice

[@DiabloTommaso]

Yeah but you need comparisons and that s the closest

[@HeWhoHungers]

To be honest a lot of the intricacies of combat get lost in these because combat in Magic just works fundamentally different. For the purpose of smashing your opponent in the face twice, they work the same and are both widely used for that particular purpose.

[@peterkirk8510]

I think you’re right, but I also think that it’s an apt comparison because the power budget/cost for both is pretty similar; the effects are only similar-ish, but are both incredibly powerful keywords that play well with the same type of things

[@hi-i-am-atan]

@@peterkirk8510 'cept for one major distinction: double strike can be incredibly powerful on an x/1. windfury on an x/1 is "lol. lmao, even"

[@bencheevers6693]

This has quickly become my favorite series and team on KZbin, I'm so hyped when this comes out on either channel

[@livedandletdie]

Blazing Archon is a great card, much better than Firemane Angel... just not during Ravnica Standard.

[@nekrataali]

It was a lot better once Dread Return was printed. Archon was like the reanimationist of reanimation cards. Having Moat on a 5/6 flyer was pretty bonkers before we had stuff like Iona and Atraxa. Combined with Tidesprout Tyrant and Angel of Despair, it was one of the main reanimation targets for a long time.

[@AzureAiluren]

Nah, it's garb. 9 mana dies to removal and doesn't even prevent burn.

[@dark_rit]

@@AzureAiluren It saw play in reanimator decks in legacy back then, it was just awful in standard because mana cheating in kamigawa ravnica standard and ravnica timespiral standard was almost nonexistent especially in white. While in red if you manacheated you would rather cast dragonstorm and end the game for 9 mana. IIRC it was even a great target because you could protect it with countermagic and most importantly couldn't be bounced by karakas, which gained significant presence when Iona, shield of emeria was printed and has only gotten more and more powerful since they put legendary on tons of creatures.

[@weshverified]

This is such a good series, and I’m so excited to finally reach Ravnica. Keep up the great work, both of you!

[@darron614]

Lol I was yelling "it's 9 mana dummy!" so much during the first one.

[@big_snake431]

but how can that be such a big deal when the land that summons 1/1's for 5 mana was super good? surely that must mean that the games go long if that was used many times in games

[@darron614]

​@@big_snake431 games can go long sometimes, but there are a couple major factors here. First, the land is in green which is the color of ramp (both mana dorks and putting extra lands straight to the battlefield). A green deck can very easily have 5 mana on turn 3. Second, the land can still just be used for mana like any other land, so it is always useful the entire game. Blazing Archon is just a dead card until you have 9 mana.

[@darron614]

@@big_snake431 one more addition would be that lands are generally very hard to destroy in magic where creature destruction is very common. So it really sucks to play a 9 mana creature and have it killed by a two mana spell.

[@big_snake431]

@@darron614 Still, wouldn't you want to have something better than a vanilla 1/1 with your 5 mana even on turn 3? But I suppose if it it only value based and tempo doesn't matter it can work.

[@winter945]

​@@big_snake431the difference is your 5 mana 1/1 for if the game does go late also is a land that can tap for mana early when you need it, unlike a 9 mana card thay is stuck in your hand doing nothing most of the game

[@Wojtek36762]

Continuing to love watching you show Rarran old cards and chat about Magic metas, this is the first one I was kind of around for. He’s definitely right that with this time skip, he’s seeing Magic art direction really start to come together into a unified aesthetic with defined shifts by plane. Now that you’re jumping around, you should hit Urza block at some point, too.

[@thenoxnox]

as always i’ve gotta say, love the chemistry between these two! definitely one of my favorite editions of this video format. I started out as a rarran viewer but i’ve been slowly getting into MTG lately (still pulling together the final key cards for my first deck!) and it’s really cool to have such a great entry point between my OG game and the one i’m newly getting into. keep up the great work CGB!

[@kb39295]

Damn, I forgot people were using 'Dies to Doom Blade' 4 years before Doom Blade was first printed...

[@Duall8]

Yeah, did a double take with that one. He probably meant Terror even though it evolved into Doom Blade later.

[@WildspeakerYT]

doom blade, terror, potato, potaeto

[@FaceD0wnDagon]

Definitely a case of "he's wrong but also not really."

[@h445]

eh the OG saying was 'dies to removal' so it still works

[@kylejohnson4662]

23:48 I love how Rarran is thinking of the grave-troll as a creature and not a way to fill the yard.

[@SpecterVonBaren]

My Grave Troll brings all the cards to the yard!

[@egoalter1276]

And as a creature it is still busted. It's having trample or flying away from being Hogaak.

[@kylejohnson4662]

@@egoalter1276 it’s very far from being Hogaak. Hogaak cost no mana to get out, could combo off and mill the opponent out on turn two, or just play a semi-fair beatdown plan. Golgari Grave-Troll is simply the best and most efficient way to fill up a graveyard ever printed.

[@SenorSpaghetti-ne9dt]

there is also a warrior card that basically does lightning helix but 1 mana more. You get armor though so it's a bit better than life. Can be considered the third Helix

[@DiabloTommaso]

It depends. In magic you can go up the starting 20 life so it s closer than you think

[@GamePlayMetal]

It's been buffed to 2 mana a while ago

[@jamestanguay7365]

​​@@DiabloTommasoactually in magic there is no max life total, thereby making helix better. You can have a million life if you can somehow get there (ie. Infinite combos ect)

[@DiabloTommaso]

@@jamestanguay7365 i know trust me xD bash has the up side to enable armor cards that s why it s close imo

[@jamestanguay7365]

​​@@DiabloTommasothere is a card in mtg that you just win the game if you have 50 life or over. It's called test of endurance

[@N3gativeR3FLUX]

This Mesa Falcon Guy should start a KZbin channel, I think he could do well. Especially if he either talked footbal or played something that was blue and control based...

[@aisling_commoddities]

27:51 Already knew from "What's that thing behind him? That big fucker?" that it's Dark Confidant

[@mbrannon]

These are my favorite videos on the channel now. I had slowed down watching because I was burned out on standard but since you started doing these, I never miss one of them.

[@TelvanniGuard]

CGB, you are a genius. Confidant and Cutpurse being together is glorious. I hope you explain why you picked these two to Rarran cause that's awesome. Edit: Dimir Cutpurse is such a genius pick to be beside Dark Confidant because it's almost Finkel's card Shadowmage Infiltrator with the only exception being it doesn't have Fear. Having two World Champions next to each other and having Rarran compare them is beautiful.

[@mandalore9305]

The comprehensive amount of context, and backstories you give is (are? Idk) excellent. Thank you. Both of you are hilarious. Many well wishes, I hope your cat is doing better. E: as to the slurp vs pour, I pour in 99% of contexts, but when I drink from a can, I will slurp a little at the end to get the remainder of the liquid that gets stuck in the little crevice between the opening and the rim of the can.

[@disenasol8952]

Got to say that i absolutely adore the chemistry between you two.

[@jadeakisses]

as someone who got into Magic only a few yrs ago, the videos with Rarran give me a chance to test what I know to be good and what the community as a whole is typically drawn to... Some answers, like The Glare Subdual, shock me. Super fun video, as always!

[@mattd923]

"Dredge might be an important part of the equation." That may just be the understatement of the century.

[@ghostkill221]

I'd love to see a Trio Stream of Snnuy, Rarran and CGB all trying to guess HS, LoR, and MTG cards, I don't play LoR or HS but I Love the Snnuy and Rarran Videos and I Love the MTG Rarran vids too.

[@coruscanta]

I’d love to see this too! I’m always in favor of more LoR related content, and these cross-game reviews are some of my favorite. So for any of the content creators watching these comments - here’s some interest!😂

[@csrjjsmp]

Having two newbies discussing instead of one person wondering aloud has a lot of potential to improve this format

[@ghostkill221]

@@csrjjsmp agreed, I think it would be really funny if the two newbies disagree about the wrong part of the card or something. Even keep score to see who can guess better!

[@vezokpiraka]

Absolutely top tier discussion in the middle. I do both depending on how I feel. Slurp when I wanna have fun and pour when I'm just thirsty.

[@Velsedran]

Love this format a lot, your duo is certainly the most intertaining in the whole mtg youtube community. Still, i wish you could rate all the expension between 4th E and Ravanica too. Raran seeing Urza Saga's or First Mirrodin would be awesome :)

[@DellogPlays]

CGB one of these videos you should definitely show Rarran Chains of Mephistopheles. Not even exactly for evaluation, but for figuring it out. I know experienced MTG players who can't quite figure it out just reading it.

[@angel-q]

i love that this is like a whole series. i really enjoy learning about these old sets and their whole vibe

[@maurtendo]

Moroii is a Romanian vampire. Well, half vampire. The child of a human and an incubus.

[@sallomon2357]

Yeah, CGB could've mentioned that Ravnica was inspired by Central and Eastern European countries and the city of Prague in particular, it would've explained to Rarran all these weird names xD

[@jajohnek]

@@sallomon2357 Huh. I never made the connection of it being inspired by Prague, despite going there basically every day when this set was out.

[@sallomon2357]

@@jajohnek at least that's what the wiki says, though with how Prague looked in the photos I've seen of it and my experience of living in an Central-Eastern European country (not Czechia though), I would say there might be something true to that claim

[@Mando0Melkor]

Seeing him thinking the grave troll saw play and actually the part where he is on the board matters. Cute.

[@rookermtg9321]

Not me trying to build around Blood Funnel with "Can't be countered" spells to get into Top 8 and be the first.

[@RatedManatee]

This might be your best video of this yet, such cool choices, same format, questions leading into each other. CLASS!

[@calemr]

Really glad that Mesa Falcon Guy included the "That doesn't do anything when it enters the battlefield" part when discussing "Dies to Doomblade". 'cause too many people say "Dies to removal" for Every permanent. When it shouldn't apply to stuff that has an effect other than static. Newest version of Atraxa, for example, I see people saying "Dies to removal", when it draws you an entire hand most of the time. You kill the body, but you haven't solved the fact your opponent just filled up on new options.

[@someguy1ification]

He also included the difference in mana costs, that's the other big part of the equation. A 2 mana creature dying to a 2 mana removal spell is acceptable, the resource exchange is at parity. A four mana creature dying to a 2 mana removal spell is not, it leaves the opponent with mana left over to do more things. As a side note, mana based Ward costs are a big step towards addressing this-- making that "two mana removal spell" instead cost something closer to the mana value of the thing it blows up keeps that resource efficiency without making the cards impossible to interact with at all (like Hexproof does).

[@Divinevert]

Kamigawa was when I started playing MTG competively. Ravnica: City of Guilds was my absolute jam. Zur's Weirding + 2x Firemane Angel in the gy

[@behemoth9543]

I really had to remember you were talking about standard during the time. Looking at Vitu-Ghazi and considering it better than Sunhome seems mad nowadays when you can combo kill people with Primeval Titan using Sunhome and 4 mana for a 1/1 is just so bad.

[@EvergreenHornet]

I love this series. The best part are your stories CGB. I love getting the context of the different eras of Magic. I also love that you indulged Rarran with his slurping discussion. Great example of a "yes, and" approach.

[@froggystrap1232]

For people who don’t know the “weird dude” behind Dark Confidant is an Orzov ghost likely part of the immortal Karlov council, head of the Orzov Guild, that Kaya our favorite ghost buster killed after being commissioned by Teysa Karlov!

[@Dj87887]

Yay! New colab! Rarran always has great takes on the chosen cards. I love seeing the thought processes!

[@gardian06_85]

I think Onslaught Block (MTG tribe wars take 1) might be interesting especially just having him compare the */* avatars without seeing the rest of the tribe, and then throwing in some of the "weaker" slivers.

[@AbdielKavash]

I love that as a person who has played maybe 10 hours total of both MTG and HS, I am actually getting better at guessing the power of these cards myself just by watching your videos!

[@pa7764]

First thought was Summoner's Trap, despite not being remotely the same set, but it actually specifies "Countered by an opponent". I've never seen a card that likes being countered and is fine with it being by yourself.

[@eliaswolter2955]

Always great to see you guys interact. Btw I think the card pairs were really awesome! Imagine Rarran Meta Game Guessing the Loxodon Hierach because the way you say „Moroii“ is not sure till this day while a equally complicated name like Loxodon Hierach has a proper spelling. So concluding that, the elephant is the more talked about card.

[@christopherlundgren1700]

I remember there was a pretty cool deck with Firemane Angel that used the lifegain to offset the cost of Zur’s Weirding to prevent your opponent from ever drawing cards again. Also, the blob guy in the background of Dark Confidant is one of the fleshpiles from the Orzhov syndicate. You probably owe him money.

[@PaulGaither]

Doubling Season is one of those cards whose price NEVER had anything to do with competitive magic. It was $10-$12 when it came out, which was as much or more than Char, Loxodon Hierarch, Dark Confidant and so forth. While all of the others were great cards, Doubling season is the only one which has actually gone up, and has seen prices get close to $100 at times while still *never* seeing play outside of casual magic. It is the most valuable card in the set at $45 now. More than double the most expensive Shock Lands

[@templegarden3981]

I really like how you expand on the history of older sets, but honestly for a lot of these card pairs one of them was just clearly better.

[@DiabloTommaso]

For people that know. That s what makes this interesting

[@templegarden3981]

@@DiabloTommaso Still, they were too easy for someone who is experienced with card games like Rarran.

[@SanDunk13]

This is the content i could watch daily. Love ur teamups and evaluations. Keep it coming!

[@TrueValandor]

Think the thing in the background of Bob is an Orzhov Pontif.

[@DigitalDoomLoL]

So interesting to hear you talking about the general perception of Ravnica vs. Mirrodin, because in my game group it was quite the opposite. We began playing MTG around summer of 2003, so late Scourge / early 8th Edition, but really got into the game when Mirrodin came around. We LOVED Mirrodin, Darksteel and Fifth Dawn. When Kamigawa came around, we were really confused and repelled by it, but what really ended our MTG time was Ravnica. Most of us were playing some kind of mono coloured tribal deck (Elves, Dragons, Soldiers, Beasts, Sliver), so we really couldn't make anything out of Ravnica and being 15/16 at the time we shifted our focus more onto things like parties or PC gaming. So for me it is quite curious that the general reception of Ravnica was quite the opposite.

[@grit1]

"Over-hyped preSEASON card" Surprised Rarran didn't pick up on that

[@Crynogar]

Watching both your and Rarrans videos. Love both your content and especcially your dynamic between each other. I hope to see both of you on either channel someqhat regularly :) I also played Magic in the beginning (about 1995 - 2003; yeah I'm old, I know) so I love seeing some cards from the old days, even had some of them, but as I moved on I sadly gave most off my old cards away and have only a 'token-stack' from then.

[@Giperon1602]

We need to see how often the slurping control used to get top 8, that is obviously the only way to have a conclusion

[@theSkyfisher]

One of the big things i learned about healing over my time playing, is if it's on a card with other effects and gives an ok chunk of health (3+ish), that's when it can actually be playable specially in sideboards. It just really helps last that little last bit against aggro/burn so you can stabilize and run out of resources. It's why our boy Thragtusk or Obstinate Baloth shows up in sideboards in modern pretty often.

[@vezokpiraka]

Moroi (without the second i, they added the second i cause that's the definitive plural form in Romanian, which doesn't make sense) is a type of Romanian vampire. It's a kid who died without a Baptism or a guy who died and was buried without a religious ritual. Also might mean strigoi which is basically a guy who died with a grudge or something and came back to haunt people.

[@apharys8921]

You actually get more flavor from drinks by slurping, it's a good technique for things like coffee, tea, and wine. I never slurp because the noise irritates the hell out of me.

[@arrivtuber]

I love it when covert go bird shows cards to rerran

[@satschone]

I so much like those videos with you and Rarran. Great chemistry between you! Really entertaining.

[@Noah_eotlr]

The thing behind Bob Maher is... The Dark Confidant. Also, thought it was funny that you said this was around the time people started saying "dies to doom blade", despite that card not being printed for another 5 years!

[@dark_rit]

Back in OG ravnica days they had 'dies to terror' instead of dies to doom blade. Doom blade is just more useful than terror since it kills artifacts and the no regen clause is usually not important on terror. Heck in 2005 they even had a full art promo of terror printed, that one is nice and a reimagining of the OG artwork with both done by Ron Spencer.

[@LordKeram]

OMG I watched these videos on both channels and we are finally getting to the point where I actually know and played with these cards even if they were quite old by then. Blaze Archon as the first card to be shown legit made me pause for like 3 seconds. Such a sweet bait that both Rarran and my 12 year old self fell for.

[@kennyhmmphhp9997]

23:25 "I can remove .+1/+1 from it to ignore spells (that would kill it) thats insane, theoretically broken" My man thats called a Rattlegore lol

[@BlueYYu]

Came here for the cards, stayed for the slurp vs pour debate

[@andrewgilman3264]

You guys are great to watch! Thanks for making these videos.

[@Danothyus1]

I'm pretty sure the guy behind Dark confidant is a ghost/weird withered member from the Orzhov guild.

[@makingnoises2327]

So excited to see you cover Urza block! I saw you evaluate Secret Passage on Rarran's channel, so I'd love to see you show Rarran Memory Jar!

[@xTobsecretx]

You really gotta show him the “oh my god it’s lightning helix” clip sometime!

[@tylerdonaldson591]

In the background of Dark Confidant behind Bob is likely an early depiction of Karlov. Or one of the unnamed Obzedat, but Granddaddy Karlov is the one we know.

[@Jcarr250]

Blood Funnel is played specifically in Mishra, Artificier Prodigy Also works well with spells that can't be countered

[@lolimmune]

Rarran realizing hearthstone just stole magic's homework is hilarious.

[@madnessoverload7824]

Rarran: Dark Confidant would be meta-defining in Hearthstone Peasant: Am i a joke to you?

[@ZackeroniAndCheese]

17:24 Pyroclasm and Savage Twister

[@TheGreyKing11]

Yeah, I disagree with Blazing Archon vs Firemane Angel. Angel was played in 1 deck in 1 standard. Include sideboards in your search, and Archon saw almost continuous Vintage and Legacy play in Oath and Reanimator decks until 2022. Justice for Rarran!

[@winter945]

Given the sunhome vs vitu-gazi one later, it seems this is specifically looking at standard

[@SmashPortal]

There have now been 10 standard sets on Ravnica: - 3 in the RAV block - 3 in the RTR block - 3 in the GRN "block" (I know) - Murders at Karlov Manor

[@jofus45]

I can’t get enough of these collabs

[@theelectricant98]

Same. Cgb does a great job telling a story along with the cards

[@Mrbones1102]

it's so much fun watching CGB explain the magic of old to Rarran. I get to learn about magic's history, CGB shows how good of a host he is, and Rarran gets to flex how good of a card analyzer he is