#EverythingIsContent

Get Magic: The Gathering Arena free for PC now at: critrole.com/arena
Matt and Sam sat down for a few turns of the original strategy card game in this episode of #EverythingIsContent, feat. Magic: The Gathering Arena!
This live stream originally aired Thursday, September 27th on / criticalrole
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#CriticalRole #EverythingIsContent #MagicTheGathering

[@bluecliff03]

This needs to be its own show. "Old Man Riegel's McGatherers" Where Sam pretends he knows EVERYTHING about mtg and maybe wears a long white fake beard while making up nonexistent mtg jive-talk and slang...

[@R3adybreck]

Amazing

[@JohnnyGsince93]

im sold

[@bakedpotato6880]

Yes please

[@lovejuice-420]

please dont make me beg for this

[@tomisabum]

Deck building would be fun! I got really happy when Matt mentioned building for theme; I was a 'I know I won't win a lot but man is this mechanic/theme cool' type of kid, too. Megrim and Control Magic type stuff. Experienced players deckbuilding with Sam could be pretty fun to watch.

[@Snuggs86]

Matt explaining to Sam: "Blue Magic is all about countering and preventing and, y'know, stopping the opponent from doing things." Sam: "Matt... I- I know what Blue Magic is all about. I've played for forty five minutes before." Me: "And he's also Scanlan Shorthalt, master of the Counterspell."

[@eldrin5793]

And Blue Poop

[@malachischrodinger4675]

I was thinking the exact same; how many people can claim to have counter spelled an (demi?)god?

[@OldSchoolGM94]

@@eldrin5793 scry is a very powerful blue effect

[@jefferycrouse5654]

That ninth level counter spell.

[@blackwingdragonmasta]

@@malachischrodinger4675 most blue players.

[@katien.1219]

Sam is putting off so many “grandpa doesn’t know the computer” vibes and it’s got me shook.

[@scooby45247]

Sam was/ is too busy being an award winning actor/ writer to worry about all things used by the hand.. such things are beneath him.. ; P

[@blackvial]

@@KitKatWiffleBallBat he could use a typewriter

[@scooby45247]

@@KitKatWiffleBallBat such tedious things.. Sam dictates.. cretins type for him..

[@connorneumann4008]

Katie Marigold They’re referencing to the fact he doesn’t know what he’s doing in game, not his ability to use a computer. The vibe of it.

[@danilooliveira6580]

@@KitKatWiffleBallBat Sam definitely writes with a oversized quill

[@DarkAuraLord]

Honestly, I would subscribe (on twitch) just to see a thirty minute video of Matt trying to explain card advantage to Sam.

[@sheepalot9924]

Somehow I found it funny that these guys feel the need to introduce themselves at the beginning of the video.

[@yargolocus4853]

it's good to do that. Because of how big part video recommendations are on youtube, a lot of people see this as their first CR video. Not to mention, it's an MTG themed video, which siphons a lot more people from that community.

[@rohanemmet251]

I do wonder if there's one fan out there who just watched Between the Sheets and has no idea about Critical Role.

[@KitKatWiffleBallBat]

It's for the noobs. 😉

[@kif1983]

You never know which video will be someone's first.

[@kat-rau.]

That and Sam's "oh no I swore" comment, lmao.

[@dragontruth3701]

I like to imagine the pumats playing MTG together. The metagame gets very intense.

[@kherubim1]

This.👆

[@Dracobyte]

Commander frenzy!

[@incitingariot9925]

Matt would be insane after the 2nd round lmao

[@mrman949]

Sam: "Strategy? I'm not good at that" Me: Is this not the MF who saved a wish spell till the end of a D&D campaign to screw over a god of his choosing, cementing victory over the BBEG after counter-spelling Matt's teleport spell right after countering a double banishment...

[@shaggy0917]

Well he actually saved the wish spell to void a certain friend's certain contract with a certain diety, but still what a liar lol

[@Eadwulf_Skald]

@@shaggy0917 Sam is a strategic genius! He got so much crap for not using the brass flute during the Thordak fight but he knew Raishan would come right after so he saved it.

[@incitingariot9925]

The best comment on that fight I ever saw was "6 people went in, ready to fight a God. 1 went in willing to fight 2.

[@topherrobeson4446]

Land... Land... Cat... Land... Also love matts reaction to new creatures being so over powered since he played in the 90s

[@twelvefootnine]

Matt describing the cinematic sequence of "Land. Land. Cat. Land." feels reminiscent of how anime shows (like DragonBall Z) build tension through repetition.

[@1Hexxer]

well 90s had some really op stuff as well

[@chrisparker6517]

@@1Hexxer like the power Nein...

[@topherrobeson4446]

@@1Hexxer spells... not as many creatures like new world order

[@OldSchoolGM94]

@@1Hexxer 90s it was because they didn't realize how broken stuff can be. Now it is intentional. The 90s refused to print a red bear but the Power 9 where a thing. Now you have stuff like Seige Rhino which would just baffle 90s players but a Llanowar Elf is considered OP by manys view of standard.

[@KensanOni]

This is a great usability demo with Sam learning as he goes. This is a great study for designers.

[@TheBluriteMVP]

It is and it isn't. People who have been gaming for a while pick up on strategies MUCH faster than those who didn't. Never played a card game before, but when I got to MTGA, by the time I fought the Tutorial Boss, Nicol Bolas, I already understood when to block and drop instants. First you learn to play your game, then you learn how people play their decks. For example: Guy drops 4 different name lands "He's doing either a Gates deck or Field of the Dead". But yeah, Sam isn't the typical player, his learning curve is way slower and can only keep up because Matt provided feedback after most turns

[@UseBefore2007]

@@TheBluriteMVP Usability isn’t about gameplay strategies, it’s about user interface and user-friendliness. Things like Sam joining a random match by mistake, not understanding how to choose targets for his attackers or not knowing whether it was his turn or Matt’s because control kept passing from one to the other without prompts.

[@cris5555]

UseBefore2007 The thing is that there are prompts for the majority of interactions in the duels, and the label pretty clearly in what phase you are or what is happening in screen; the problem really is that people that doesn't play comouter games in general doesn't know how to read the screen for the information they need, and learn a lot slower because of that

[@chemicistt]

7 minutes in and I love how respectful Matt is to not screenwatch. A true hero.

[@mitchelblakely8486]

Egads! I overlooked the possibility, lol. I grew up playing tight games with my twin in the car on long trips, or on random surfaces in any number of boring places. We had a rule that if one saw the others hand clearly, it costed some discards, or maybe even an outright forfeit, depending. It was a very serious matter of honor for us. I think Matt has similar compunctions bone-deep.

[@Robertthebob]

I didn't necessarily have rules but would tell the person specifically what card I could see. Same goes still if I play poker with friends.

[@jmarriottc]

As an avid MTG player this is both adorable and painful, give me a week with Sam and he'd be a lean mean planeswalking machine. Edit: just made a white cat deck called Riegels Pussys

[@fella11814]

...LOL dead

[@chingaemos]

Drop the decklist bro

[@questocd174]

Very painful

[@rodrigul3]

Extremely Painful 😣 Hahaha

[@baseballjustin5]

This hurt when around 26:00 Sam could have pacified either the Deathlink, or the 2/1 which would save a damge

[@matboi120]

"Concede" "I don't wanna concede" "Too bad"

[@pandymandy]

It's rare to see just Matt and Sam together like this, really enjoyed the dynamic.

[@timmara3296]

36:34 Let it be known that Matt laughs while murdering angels In all seriousness this was a really fun video. I need to get back into Magic!

[@anix712]

Fitting that he chose Liliana for his avatar.

[@ralenldupuis1814]

... Yasha?

[@MsCunningLinguistic]

The ironic thing is that Sam DOES know what blue magic does. Scanlan's greatest moments in battle were when he used Counterspell, which is the bluest goddamn move there ever was.

[@kherubim1]

Also, Counterspell was an Interrupt card in the early days.

[@colderonmusic5244]

Yes

[@colderonmusic5244]

True words have never been spoken

[@Suavek69]

"and there are interrupts... At least there used to be" Oh boi, you've been away for a while, haven't you?

[@sneakysquirrel1990]

Don't let him know mana burn is gone and so is damage on the stack

[@ratgirl34]

cak01vej I prefer to play with mana burn. There were a lot of cards that were better with mana burn.

[@tomisabum]

Same. I saw one of the new card designs in an ad featuring Flaxen Intruder, looked at the rule box and literally went "WAIT YOU CAN'T DO THAT". Game always goes nuts with mechanics, keeps it fresh but can be overwhelming.

[@Suavek69]

@@ratgirl34 They said it limited design space which I can easily imagine. It does not come up 99% of the time, and when it does it's better this way another 99% of the times. Death shadow deck would be too powerful with mana burn. It's already strong as it is

[@morganmarks8725]

@@sneakysquirrel1990 I remember my friends played mana burn. Then Sorin Markov came out. I would take their turn, tap all their land and just say "I end my turn"

[@stefanbouillon7320]

I could hear Matt explaining Lore literally for days...Man i would love to discuss my homebrew Campaign with him.

[@Drahcar]

Matt sounds like he would build a super fun commander deck and now I want them to play Commander for a show.

[@MildReason]

Seeing Matt on the Command Zone's Game Knight series would be a blast, that's for sure. Doubly so if Sam's there watching while Josh Lee Kwai is pulling off some insane combo.

[@danilooliveira6580]

I don't think Matt knows enough about more modern cards to play commander effectively, but I would love to see him playing against Day9 on his show.

[@MildReason]

@@danilooliveira6580 Another fantastic suggestion. Sam and Day9 playing together would be just too much chaotic energy in one room, though.

[@danilooliveira6580]

@@MildReason Day9, Sam and Matt are 3 of the most swell guys in the world. a room with any one of them is instantly filled with niceness and happiness.

[@helavor]

I would die to see the cast of critical role play commander together. Would watch in a heartbeat.

[@JustPlayTheGame76]

This comment might be a year old but I think it should very much be a thing. I would love to see what Laura Bailey does with Magic the Gathering. (Or Gatherers as Sam calls them now) lol

[@divinityquartz3428]

@@JustPlayTheGame76 or tailison. I feel like he would run tezzeret and i would love to see that go down.

[@divinityquartz3428]

@@JustPlayTheGame76 luara i feel would run dwarves/dragon treasure.

[@divinityquartz3428]

@@JustPlayTheGame76 liam i feel would do demons or giants. big smashy bois.

[@divinityquartz3428]

@@JustPlayTheGame76 travis would be struggling to figure out how elementals work.

[@FretboardToAsh]

Matt: I've got two guys smoking in the corner going; "Aren't you going to do somethin'?" "Nahhh... 's fine." Dear Matt, please tell MtG we need you to narrate our MtG games, I'm sure WotC has the budget for it.

[@bananafish58]

24:56 Love Sam's body English when he said, "What's your style."

[@emko3264]

I would love to see them play more. It is so interesting and learning with Sam and Matt is amazing. It would be cool to see them take on other people. I am just enjoying them play the game and would love to see more.

[@vanzero356]

I thought I posted this at some point cuz of the avatar xD

[@mikeshaver-miller745]

“... and there are INTERRUPTS” - *A single grey hair emerges on Matt’s head. He doesn’t know it yet, but he has officially become the old guy in his friend group. In the years to follow, he will begin to lament the loss of the good old days, become more and more insufferable until he eventually builds a banding tribal deck, and ultimately quits being a nerd forever.*

[@isaiahgerber-kai6509]

Man Matt's cards would have been worth so much now if he still had them.

[@draxthewarlocktitan5217]

Isaiah Gerber-Kai yeah I bet, makes me wonder why they were “sold by a family member” was it somebody hurting for cash or a parent wanting to get rid of the satanic magic cards. My guess is a parent, I can just see a young Matt being obsessed with the game.

[@DSTkunn]

@@draxthewarlocktitan5217 That's usually how it goes. My parents trashed two binders full of pokemon cards when I was 6 due that whole craze of pokemon being considered satanic. The irony being as a pastor's kid, I ended up both still enjoying pokemon and playing dnd. Lol

[@David_Blake91]

@@draxthewarlocktitan5217 nah, his parents were hippies, not one of the Satanic Panic-folks. Actually his mom also played D&D. Darin dePaul's character, Sprigg from Campaing 1 is the same one that he played in his campaing with Matt's mom. So I doubt that they just threw his cards out when he was a kid

[@zorkwhouse8125]

Very true - I had some of those too. My little brother had a bunch of good ones that he ended up selling while they were still really valuable. I, sadly, on impulse gave away my entire big plastic bin of Magic cards to a girl... I think there had been a lull in interest - maybe around 2000 or 2001, and I had stopped playing regularly and one of my friends that I worked with at a mall music store (yep I'm old :-) ) told me that his girlfriend had just started playing. And for some reason I decided to just donate my entire collection lol. At the time I didn't see myself playing again and I guess I just thought it would be better for someone to have them that was actually gonna use them. I had lots of cards from Forgotten Empires (I think that was the name - when I started playing) on through Ice Age and the other expansions that came out up until maybe 1999 or 2000 - and a few older good cards that I bought at the comic book store from Revised, The Dark and Arabian Nights (and possibly some Alpha or Beta, if cards like the Moxes weren't re-released in the 3rd expansion which I think was called "Revised"). I never went all in like my brother and bought the *really* good cards. He had some of the Mox gems and some of the really good early Blue cards like Mindtwist or something like that (I can't remember the names very well, but they were expensive even then) and Wheel of fortune - though I think that was Red - and Ball Lightning (red also) and a bunch of the original dual lands. I had most of the Ice Age (I'm pretty sure that was the expansion they were in) dual lands, but they weren't nearly as good as the earlier ones. He had a killer Stasis deck with the really good old Blue cards. I played black, blue and white or variations thereof - and I had a Stasis one also, but only with the Ice Age and (was it 4th edition maybe?) versions of cards for that theme - so not nearly as good, but it was still fun. Did had 4 of the Serra Angels though - which is what triggered my memories when Sam played that Serra card that sounded like an updated vers of the Serra Angel.

[@cryophile]

@@David_Blake91 Whaaaat? Where did you find this information?

[@Scrubthulhu]

I was born in '94. Matt has been playing Magic since I was born.

[@Ftwtfu]

Matt's been cool for centuries

[@VinceValentine]

Magic has existed only one year before you were born. Take that in.

[@Deo-]

Yea same. It’s kinda wild

[@dln4523]

Try being born the same year as magic

[@faytleingod4848]

Same here. A weird fealing, isn´t it?

[@kierancressy8779]

Matt should absolutely be a guest on Game Knights... the way he talks about deckbuilding around themes is so EDH.

[@matthewevans3543]

Only thing I know about Magic is that the cards are pretty and there's land

[@Nr4747]

The art is actually one of the greatest aspects of Magic, imho. Feel free to check out the youtuber Rhystic Studies, he has some great videos about the art of some of the most prolific Magic artists.

[@asdasdasdasd714]

There is A LOT of land.

[@whowasibeing]

We also know that the name in the bottom left corner is the name of the thing on the card, no exceptions.

[@captaincodypotato8386]

Same

[@goodstormsgames9744]

Sometimes thats all you need to know i taught a girlfriend to play she made a pretty deck that absolutely wrecked face. I started maining the pretty deck.

[@IceMetalPunk]

The first person who tried to get me into Magic tried teaching me the rules, and just played a regular game with me, and I didn't like it. I didn't understand it, I kept trying to attack individual creatures before being told I can't, etc. The second person handed me a Riku of Two Reflections Commander deck and said, "We're playing. I'll teach you as we go. Feel free to ask questions." And I ended up *loving* it and have ever since. I firmly believe the best way to get someone interested in Magic is to just throw them into a game with a deck full of combinations, so they can discover the parts they like the best. (I'm a black-mage Johnny, by the way.)

[@noobhero7]

"Is there a Solitaire Magic?" Careful Sam, your age is showing.

[@TheCinderfang]

Its called goldfishing ;)

[@mitchelblakely8486]

@cak01vej Yeah, except that Black Lotus is a print-out, and when was that ever fun?

[@schwann145]

@cak01vej I Force of Will the Fireball. Enjoy playing the game starting at 1 life. ;D

[@AlexJohnson-eb6wl]

"I have the most stoned vampire opportunist right now"

[@knifeninja200000]

More of these please. CritRole tournament ftw

[@lucasm.3864]

That's probably a bad idea since anyone who loses to Taliesin will get sent to the Shadow Realm.

[@knifeninja200000]

insert 'Dark Banishing' card here

[@c0dy99]

I just love how Sam is just always more interested in making his friends laugh even if it means his sad defeat

[@mazinabdelkhalig1405]

Took 4 minutes for me to realize that their names are pumat 1 and 2

[@daddyboileo]

What else would they put down when setting up the game beforehand XD

[@FrostytheWicked]

@@daddyboileo Hmm Matt and Sam, or mercer and riegel, or Nott and DM, etc

[@xogirlwonder]

I am all about it.

[@Willyeahvats]

MORE MORE MORE! Please let Matt play more MTG:A for us

[@OldSchoolGM94]

Watch his slow decent into being a spike.

[@JonathanWinegar]

Matt & Sam are such a good combo of hangout video/streams!!! hell all the CR cast is awesome but I don't know much about MTG but this is entertaining.

[@realafan888]

Fitting that when Sam's commander dies, the stats are 6/9

[@Pulse4664]

@50:36 the reason matt laughs at sam is because when you do ad's for something, they give you key words you MUST use....sam being absolute new player, wouldnt point out normally the "interface's" cleanliness out of nowhere

[@Asrimal]

Matt talking about how he had playsets of duals makes me hurt

[@YaoBao1]

Freaking tell me about it 😭

[@cooperton4949]

*had* he *had* them. Theyre gone. Sadface

[@Smeagolthevile]

also he was running around with full playsets of duels playing Grixis control as a little kid, like wtf matt.

[@bigpenny8223]

Smeagol the Vile he said he was in his teens

[@mspirits9911]

what made me sad was when he said it and I remember at the beginning he said it was gone.

[@orderlysummit]

I'd love to see a Ravnica One Shot

[@jessekesner7730]

Travis died by a cat 😂

[@JB-xl2jc]

This explains why he hates cats lol

[@human_collector0]

I was wondering why he wasn't talking. If he opened his mouth would he not stop sneezing?

[@trezalkapeliskova2121]

Damn it, that Riegel smile is contagious. I couldn't stop smiling for the whole hour and now my face hurts.

[@Slyphorever]

I've been a long term MtG player and Crit Roll watcher. I found out about your amazing D&D campaign (and channel) back with episode 9 of Campaign 1 of Crit Roll and you are all fantastic people. Yet somehow I loved this video almost even more than the main D&D content. Watching you both and your precious reactions to my favourite hobby, made me wish this was a series that I could watch more of. Please make more of this, possible title: "Matt and Sam Gather the Planeswalkers" or "Matt and Sam: Magic for Gatherers"?

[@nyxoliveira7403]

My friend made a deck based entirely on the pacifism card. Imagine having the most optimized out for blood deck made entirely useless by your opponent and that is what my friend did. I watched as he tormented and countered one guy for like......20 minutes before the dude conceded out of frustration. Had one friend summon 150 token card goblins in 3 turns......needless to say meme decks are by far the best.

[@rareroe305]

I made something similar in honour of the recent Ontario lockdown. Pacifism, Bubble Snare, Banishing Light, etc. But I keep win a few win conditions in, because I'm not an a%$hole.

[@connorneumann4008]

Am I the only one that was yelling at sam to play the other charmed cat?

[@joshsdkytre7497]

Sam made my eyes bleed.

[@blalhoihreuf]

The ENTIRE fucking time lmao.

[@billh344]

Yep, a lot of times through lol

[@michaelekstrom2878]

yeah after that i stopped watching.. almost as bad as day9 when he playing ^^

[@sinaibarnister]

Thanks guys now I feel a bit more confident to try MTG out for the first time ever. Wish me luck! *downloads*

[@gageanderson7612]

I'm just now downloading it myself!

[@FriendB]

I'm a simple man: Matt likes Jank, I like Jank. I like Matt.

[@basilmemories]

he's a good vorthos bront

[@kereminde]

Y'know, he builds decks similar to how I start off making a deck concept: find something I want to do and pull cards. Then, of course, there's trawling through the catalog of thousands of cards searching for any way to improve it while not dumping the theme . . . and the inevitable "meh, I'll throw it in a deck box and deal with it later" phase.

[@TOOOTHPASTEMAN]

Sam figuring out magic is the best part about this

[@iceviking8280]

Been playing for many years. My brother and I collected them since we were 13 years old. Now we are 30 and 31. The vast amount of cards and decks is enormous. It is an expensive game. We were all about legacy decks. Currently we play EDH with our group. It’s a great format for the game.

[@twelvefootnine]

Is it just me or has Sam saying the phrase "I'm pretty much an expert now." become the audible equivalent of comfort food?

[@Karasuraven0395]

I've always been interested in playing magic but was scared to try because I'm a very slow learner, and didn't want to annoy anyone but seeing this I want to try to learn again and play.

[@cameronlewis5307]

Jill 419 there's some single player games on steam that will help you learn the rules, then you could transition to in person or games like this.

[@Errrrrrrick]

Even the MtG Arena has some pretty good tutorials for single playing, and has a lot of options to ease into the game with time. And the matchmaking is pretty decent, you mostly play with people on your level. Give it a shot!

[@ClaireEliseLumiere]

I completely relate to you! I feel like this gaming community can seem quite intimidating, but this made it a lot more approachable and make me feel less like an idiot :)

[@Errrrrrrick]

@@ClaireEliseLumiere Absolutely give Arena a shot then. It's a Great place to start, and there are many people in the community that will be very glad to see newcomers!

[@TheBioBizket]

Same!

[@guyfromdubai]

2:15 I have an all goblin deck! It's centered around winning within 4-5 turns, you sacrifice goblins to catapaults, sacrifice them to burn spells, and/or can build a goblin horde really quickly if you have yet to finish off your opponent by burning them to smithereens.

[@carmelcity9527]

I don’t even play Magic but I listen to this every few months because it’s so entertaining and calming. My favorite part is when Sam plays the cat card!

[@abelsampaio389]

Sam: "super tactical. It's me" Also Sam: "is it my turn or is it your turn?"

[@fayazyusuf]

Came here to say this

[@pagenein]

4:04 i really went from "idk what youre talking about im sooo bad at recognising voices lol" to "hey that's travis" in half a second

[@pagenein]

4:47 tary in c3

[@pagenein]

12:06 "oOHW d- gREat."

[@pagenein]

18:17 **school flashbacks**

[@pagenein]

1:03:03 y are they like this

[@Cat_Sidhe]

"That was a tactical boo-boo"

[@FriendlyNeighborhoodDM]

Am glad to see Sam enjoying and learning how to play. I too am a bit of a novice and only have taken up the game in the last year with a standard deck that I play socially with friends over my lunch break...that being said, match #2 did hurt my soul a little at all those faux pas mistakes, but they were having fun, which is the best way to play :).

[@KitKatWiffleBallBat]

Man, Atogs, Slivers, Urza, Ravnica, these are some of my favorite things. I used to go hard and buy cards, even won a small store tournament at the age of 10. I often got money from my parents, and eventually traded cards in for store credit to buy even more cards. Most of all though...the greatest thing about Magic, for me, is the artwork. I used to seek cards out just for the artwork alone. I didn't care what it did, what mechanics were applied, it was always about the lore quotes and that sexy, colorful artwork.

[@kherubim1]

So true, M:TG appeals in different ways to different people. I like the game itself, of course, and the fantasy setting and characters.

[@SparklySquares169]

Anyone else going to acknowledge the fact that Matt Mercer was wearing a Hamilton shirt!?

[@joshshin6819]

Okay? Im just glad they were dressed

[@David_Blake91]

I mean they are huge fans of the musical so....

[@Cheesefist]

Sam: *randomly clicks on cards* Matt: is that paci- AHH FUCK

[@jennyduong2466]

This was great to watch and I’ll definitely be checking out The Arena. The back and forth with Lands made me laugh till my sides were hurting

[@fuzzyhousecat5035]

proliferate means if there is already a counter on a permanent then you get to add 1 more counter to that permanent. IT works on +1/+1 counters, -1/-1 counters, and other counters on permanents like charge counters or loyalty counters.

[@fuzzyhousecat5035]

Also you guys should play commander and make a video of it.

[@CliffSedge-nu5fv]

I like proliferate with poison counters. 👹

[@thegatheringofcube5873]

I love Critical Role and watching you guys play Dungeons and Dragons , and i have been playing Magic the Gathering for 25 years , but this was just too funny , but i did see the sparks in your eyes and questions that make a casual player for Magic, Im 52 years old and i always say to my friends and family , I WILL PLAY MAGIC AND WATCH CRITICAL ROLE TILL I DIE

[@TehMafiaTV]

Is this how sport fans feel? Seeing Sam not play a double strike card, or putting a end of turn card on a tapped creature... Screaming inside

[@Cjmrsh]

this is great but man does it hurt haha, id love to see them do this again in either paper, or see if there are any other cast members who are familiar with magic and have them all play in either a bracket, 2 headed giant or another repeat of this episode, get Sam to play a few more games to understand a little more or an advanced player to watch some epic fights with the cast!

[@billybell666]

FINALLY! I've been waiting and hoping to get to see Matt play magic!

[@Sorfex1]

Travis voicing Gideon makes me so incredibly happy for the simplest of reasons!

[@lilfishy8280]

12:50 Matt: you gave someone a free win Sam: plays with the bot

[@Deadknight67]

I'm with Matt on that one, I like to play to build themed decks. But I stopped because even in non ranked games 97% of the players play the most competitive decks they can find online.

[@carlagner2786]

Watching Matt and Sam discover/rediscover MTG is amazing. I hope they keep playing!

[@user-db4is8in3k]

Me quietly to self: I bet Matt plays Blue/Black/Red Matt later on: I had a Blue/Black/Red deck Me: *quietly awards myself 10 points*

[@Nr4747]

I second the request for more Magic on this channel, let Sam Riegel learn how to play all of the magical cards !

[@gregsteele806]

Haven't played MTG in years. Had NO idea dual lands were worth so much now. Got to dig out my old cards and get that stuff on Ebay. :)

[@daddyboileo]

36:36 and it was at this moment that Matthew Mercer came face to face with the Murder card. True beauty

[@RockOnVideo]

Great choice having Sam in here it is good to show people how easy it is to get into the game.

[@Xaladen]

Mtg edh (or commander) is some of the most fun you can have with a group of people. I play with 3 others once a week and it's just as fun as D&D in my opinion. For those who don't know, you have a hundred card deck with a commander who is very powerful that sits in a seperate spot outside your other cards. You can play him multiple times since if he's taken out he goes back to the command zone. You build your deck around this powerful commander but can only have one of each card in your deck so it's a lot more wide open than standard MTG. The cool thing about commander is politics. Not only is it OK but it's expected to make deals with other players, especially if someone at the table is in a position of a lot of power. The communication is what makes it similar to D&D. Magic is easy to learn but gets very complicated depending on your deck type and combos. MTG arena is amazing because it brought MTG (though not EDH sadly) to a colorful, digital medium.

[@levishackelton4437]

I spent years traveling for work. Once in a while, I’d buy a booster pack box. I would super organize them into binders and build decks to play with my crew mates at lunch sometimes. Then, after I stopped traveling for work and was back home, I had a friend who was moving to Europe. He was the one who introduced me to the game and it was going to be the last time we saw each other for a very long time. He was also the last of my friends who still played. So as a parting gift I gave him all my cards. We still play now but all online.

[@MightBeCale]

Sam's nail polish game is on point.

[@ReinoudvanReekumナウト]

Look how fair Matt is when looking at Sam's screen to help him out. He actually places his hand in his line of sight so he won't peek at Sam's cards.

[@paladonis]

Ahhh Magic: The Gathering. I recently sold most of my hard copy cards, except for some of my favorites. Was such a big thing when growing up in San Diego. Going to the Wizards of the Coast store in Mission Valley and playing. My first deck for a type 1, was built like type 2. I sat down to play and got told what was up. Came back the next week and did rather well with a type 1 deck. I think I was like 250th or something in area rankings. Nothing ever great to get to a tourney, but damn that was good times. Wanted to lessen the things I had when I moved to Arizona. This was around the time 6th ed was wrapping up and 7th ed was coming out. Man the game has changed a bit since then....

[@SenterSen]

The way Matt gave and said the idea about the Meteor Golem getting destroyed by a little cat is the most nerdy and comfy thing I've heard in a while

[@basiliskoE]

I wonder why this is not in the playlist 🤔, if it wasn't for Sam mentioning it in the Villianous vid, I wouldn't have known about its existence

[@DwayneLSmith1980]

Watching all of you is like playing all my favorite games with my friends. Thank you for this fun video. I wish you all would do more experiences with MTGA. I truly enjoyed this.

[@fernatticus5134]

8:30 the most adorable thing

[@danmurray1996]

Matt is killing it in that Hamilton shirt. I love when the cast reps musicals.

[@roariianderson3204]

Matt did date himself by saying interrupts, but I wish we could have watched more of his amazement at assorted new cards, chiefly mythics. I'm imagining his eyes going wide once he understood how Proliferate works, and his brain frying at some of the power creep cabilities. Would have been endearing and funny to me at least.

[@BunbunFell]

Considering that this is Sam's first time playing, he's actually pretty good with expanding the small amount of knowledge he has.

[@allstatejake]

i love sam and i get that he's new but reading would've solved a lot of his problems

[@mitchelblakely8486]

Nothing against Sam, I know he's clever...but the game is much more approachable now. Real combo decks in the old days took sheer sadism and weeks of study to pull off, not to mention too much damn money. Now your best combos are sold in $10 decks, and even mythics rares are treated like commons. Oh well. I'm not really complaining.

[@kereminde]

@@mitchelblakely8486 Back, back in the annals of history for combos there was "Channel" and "Fireball" . . . with a "Lightning Bolt" chaser. Not too expensive back then, but rare to actually be able to pull off. It also would get you targeted first in any multiplayer games with that group for a couple games later. But the real "fun" was in . . . Stasis decks.

[@TheOnlyValken]

I legit had a really fun time watching this! I would love the occasional MtG:A matches on Critical Role!

[@Jach93]

I really genuinely wanna see Matt and Sam play more magic.

[@ethanertl5021]

I’m so excited my two favorite fandoms crashing together!

[@lauravturner]

“I find it funny envisioning how these things would actually work out.” Me too. My favourite it the Meteorite artifact; It does 2 damage as it “enters the battlefield.”

[@quillzink6863]

we need more content like this, please. I wanna watch these two grow as players

[@missnikkirainbow]

This was so fun to watch. White is my favourite colour in magic, I'm so happy Sam won in the second game (despite the fact he made like 3 miss plays!) I'd love to see more Magic!

[@MrErikAvA]

i felt his pain at his cards "vanishing weirdly".. i had the same type of family..

[@FrankEckart-e8i]

5 years later....I love you guys and seeing Critical Role folks playing magic....Heaven for me! Especially playing it as it should be...inclusive and fun.

[@wrappinggecko2517]

As a very frequent magic player, it makes me really happy to see someone new having a good time playing magic.

[@alexlambert9067]

i wanna see a crit role cast mtg tabletop game/tourney, could do a draft or two headed giant or commander or just some standard, i think thatd be a dope stream

[@phelpsgalloway4740]

Sam and Matt are amazing voice actors (you guys were great in spirit of justice)

[@WeretigerX]

A dragon never yields!

[@dylanpiazza6358]

hearing about matts first major black-blue-red deck just makes him a man after my own heart lol thats my favorite color triangle and inevitably what most of my favorite decks are comprised of

[@CliffSedge-nu5fv]

Nicol Bolas is pleased.

[@pokeworks1]

Please make this into a series !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@natlb1993]

I loved pretty much everything about this. Being a magic player myself it was a little hard watching Sam make those mistakes, bet hey, he's a rookie. But this 100% needs to be a weekly thing. Also now knowing that Travis voices Gideon just makes him that much more my favorite