I One-Shot Fools with Frodo and Play Magic the Way Tolkien Intended | Against the Odds | MTG Arena

This week for Against the Odds we are heading to Historic to retell Lord of the Rings, but with Magic cards and hopefully one-shot opponents with a leveled-up Frodo, Sauron's Bane! What are the odds of winning by playing Magic the way Tolkien intended? Let's find out!
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0:00 Start
4:02 Match 1
14:47 Match 2
17:52 Match 3
27:57 Match 4
37:35 Match 5

[@jackwilson5050]

As much love as the movies get, I can’t forgive them for cutting the Phyrexians from the books.

[@_shogun]

They also cut the part were Frodo was in Barad-Dur, Minas Tirith and Ottawa

[@AaronRotenberg]

​@@_shogun You have to go to Tolkien's unpublished letters to find the part where Frodo briefly becomes the Senators' goalie.

[@toien]

ROFL 🤣

[@aretwodeetoo1181]

😂 Skrelv is obviously a bitter undersized ent.

[@Graatand]

@@_shogun I mean, Frodo di travel west. Maybe The Undying Lands = Canada?

[@iamn00ne90]

My favorite part of LotR movies was when Skrelv took the ring, and Skrelve'd all over the place.

[@BobardeZanzibar]

"It's Skrelvin' time!"

[@MTGGoldfish]

For some reason I imagine Skrelve'd is like the Phyrexian version of Squanched.

[@secdez8504]

Oh skrelv yeah man

[@petert7724]

Skrelv diving in to save the hobbits from danger sounds like a lore accurate Tom Bombadil.

[@theyonlycomeoutwhenitsquiet]

Here I was thinking it was a Gollum stand in, helping find a “secret way, a dark way” in towards the mountain

[@dkres82]

@@theyonlycomeoutwhenitsquiettrue.

[@sylverfyst]

I love the chapter when Frodo and the fellowship visit Ottawa, they were trying to get to Montreal on the way to Mordor, but ended up in Ottawa instead.

[@DarklordZagarna]

Trying to get Canada to join the coalition against Sauron, perhaps?

[@sylverfyst]

@@DarklordZagarna that or they just really wanted maple syrup for second breakfast

[@LegoCowManZ]

They took a wrong turn at Albuquerque.

[@ConManAU]

Meanwhile Sauron on Mount Doom was just watching them saying “Nice, nice”.

[@jlllorada8447]

😂😂😂😂

[@funkydiscogod]

"There's no downside to being tempted by the Ring." That's what the ring wants you to think.

[@lberghaus]

Yeah they should have Nazgul grow on opponent’s being tempted by the ring.

[@countjondi9672]

Pippin's shaneanigans dragging frodo out of a life as a legitimate businessperson is most certainly flavorful.

[@balbadorf989]

seth not even considering that he could not pay the 2 life is the most on brand thing

[@andrewvitale7295]

Well considering he cites that life loss as the downside for being tempted by the ring I doubt he realized that it was optional at the time

[@petrsevcik5044]

@@andrewvitale7295 ...as he clicks "take action"

[@LoonerFlight]

I loved that part in the Lord of the Rings where the Nazgul almost killed Frodo with Infect before Arwen used Leeches on him.

[@SilverTheJohnny]

I know its probably just a seth mispronunciation but the "plus a bunch of places frodo visited - Barad-dur, Minas Tirith, Ottawa..." line really landed for me

[@sahjhan1]

Didn't you know Canada was at the north end of Middle-Earth?

[@ohako79]

And Frodo never visits Barad-dûr or Minas Tirith!

[@8628416]

@@ohako79 Man, that's so hilarious

[@jms4979]

If you want to hear more about the Phyrexian invasion, I highly recommend checking out the Simarillon. It's a dry read, but worth it to learn how the oil influenced the development of Middle Earth.

[@jaredwonnacott9732]

I was going to say that. I'm pretty sure that 99% of the time someone mentions something is in the Simillarion, they're just passing on something they heard from someone else, not something they actually read. I've got this theory that the Simillarion is actually just a single page that reads, "Whenever you want to explain to someone something about Middle Earth Lore that isn't explicitly covered elsewhere, recommend this book, but mention it's a 'really dry read'." followed, of course, by several hundred blank pages to look the part.

[@ICantThinkOfAFunnyHandle]

​@@jaredwonnacott9732fun fact! In the Simarillon Morgoth actually consults with Nicol Bolas when creating the orcs and infuses them with lazotep to make them more resilient. This is represented mechanically by all of the amass cards from WotS growing orc armies the same way they grow zombie armies

[@bobbyhanson346]

I'm so proud of you, Seth, having gone from not knowing the Lord of the Rings stories to this scholar of Tolkien esoterica, such as the obscure tale of how a Phyrexian mite helped the Hobbits save Middle Earth.

[@se7enhitman]

I really appreciate Seth's genuine attempt at retconning the entire LOTR lore because he just couldnt accept ghost people as a wincon for the fellowship. 😂

[@Darkflamecrusader]

The card draw on Bilbo's ring comes from The Hobbit where Bilbo was referred to as a thief. The card is making a creature invisible so they can steal something.

[@derrickthewhite1]

About half the plot of the Hobbit is fueled by Bilbo being able to turn invisible. He gets some serious mileage out of that thing. Drawing a card definitely feels right.

[@ender_lord1202]

The hexproof AND unblockable is exactly like invisible stalker too.

[@TheIllegalGuy]

Seth slightly messed up the lore bit about birthday escape, it's just Bilbo escaping his own birthday (Bilbo birthday celebrant) but im glad you got the phyrexian arc correct lots of people forget about it like the scouring.

[@benjiboy1337]

I love the straight face while talking about the chapter on the Phyrexians invading.

[@zackestin1368]

“We have a ton of Frodo’s friends ….. boromir to be tempted by the ring”….. who’s gonna tell him.

[@zackestin1368]

Also who is going to tell him that call of the ring gives you the choice to pay 2 life, and isn’t forced.

[@Afrothoz]

Gotta love the books. Smeagol being tortured by Sauron's forces and becoming Gollum, but then finding his place in the Phyrexian army as Skrelv is the best part.

[@petrie911]

Witness protection causing legendary creatures to legend rule each other is an interaction I never noticed before.

[@dementievatz]

Yeah, that was kind of brutal!

[@Juggernautohyeah]

I love Seth's generous interpretation of an opponent spamming the Nice emote.

[@vividsyntax5301]

This is why I love MTGGoldfish. The absolute joy at the end of that last game was palpable. Plus, "And we didn't even need the ghost people" made me laugh out loud. XD

[@ashdog9235]

Skrelv is the beetle from the gollum game

[@EthanBeattie-wh4zx]

The guy playing Arcane Bombardment, Mindsplice Apparatus, AND Magic Mirror is living life the way I aspire to.

[@DimT670]

People misunderstand the whole thing when they say the ring mechanic has no downside. Yes it has no downside to you. But think of the ringbearer. Everyone now wants to kill them. Which is pretty accurate

[@SANT14GO]

Honestly, the mechanic should have been renamed to the ring tempting a creature, not the player. For the player, The One Ring does have the downside built in itself at least.

[@ImLaminarBro]

Also, you have all these cards and spend all this mana that could be used for other effects. People dont consider opportunity cost

[@DimT670]

​@@SANT14GObut thats what it already is. You are not the ringbearer, the creature is, and creatures who don't want the ring have effects when they "reject" it

[@androkguz]

That just means it has as much of a downside as every equipment or aura out there

[@rustknuckleirongut8107]

How is that a downside? I want to kill all my opponents creatures and the only thing stopping me is the cards I draw and the opponents willingness to block. A creature being a ring bearer or not has no effect on me trying to kill it. If I kill something it means I drew the cards to kill it and if I dont it means I did not draw the cards to kill it.

[@jameswood5285]

3 minutes in and I am in need of the Phyrexians Vs. Sauron chapter... love this Seth!!

[@giovanniyoussef1048]

I love how lotr fans are getting into magic cause of this set and Seth is getting into lotr because of it

[@mikemoyer8162]

This might be the best intro to a deck we've ever gotten. You kill it, Seth.

[@thechestrockfield]

I love how he was like, "hilariously, it worked" when the opponent could have been dead from damage just as fast.

[@MrDustinjenks]

Fun note. Frodo leveling up is instant speed. This is all.

[@sharlockshacolmes9381]

Can't believe Peter Jackson cut Skrelv out of the movies

[@rasen7721]

"A bunch of places that Frodo visited: Barad-dur, Minas Tirith, Ottawa-"

[@BaltanTwo]

6:40 Sealab references in 2023 warms my heart. Bizarro!

[@gianmariacapuzzo2383]

We need a fatal push art with Gollum jumping on Frodo on the cliff of Mount Doom! That would be perfect flavour

[@Hylianlink51047]

The invasion of MIddle Earth by Phyrexians was great

[@feliperodrigues5437]

The memes mixing MTG lore with LOTR lore were hilarious.

[@Grumpollion]

The one where Frodo stays in the Shire and smokes his pipe because he knows things are going to go badly. LOL

[@blueplayer6197]

They wanted to put the phyrexians in the movie right after fake ending number 70 but early screening showed people already left the theatre halfway through the fake endings, ended up having to cut the endings to only way more than needed rather than the original plan. But man Seth, good job knowing the lore so well now, very impressive!

[@Jay-zt1pq]

It's weird how people forget about Skrelv, they were the first one to volunteer to join the fellowship...

[@kylegrg1]

why wouldnt they put the Phyrexians in the movies

[@somepl3b]

Whats interesting to see is how much time "winning the game" actually saves you, your opp the first game was at 3 life at the end after the ring triggers, so on average this saves you about a turn of attacking

[@joegaylord87]

"A bunch of places Frodo visited, Barad-Dur, Minas-Tirith, Ottawa." Never change, Seth, never change

[@somepl3b]

The downside of the ring is the spotlight or target it puts on the ring bearer, which is what happens in the story. Frodo doesn't put the ring on and die or lose life or cause him to kill his friends, the ring tempting mechanic is fine.

[@jamesdavis5081]

Loved this gameplay! All of the LOTR jokes were so good! Brightened my day!

[@ChaosForce08]

21:30 Should definitely bring in the Fragment Realities against artifact lands. It's a 1-mana Stone Rain (and can hit the artifacts/Enchantment payoffs). Also, no Spell Pierce against the no creature deck?

[@MTGGoldfish]

Ohh, I don't play with Alchemy cards much. For some reason I didn't realize it could hit lands! Good call.

[@jacobdelaney9465]

Bilbos ring really looked solid here. Did a lot of work every time it came down.

[@MTGGoldfish]

Yeah, that card really impressed me. You have to be playing a bunch of Halflings or else the equip cost is too high, but with Halflings is great!

[@jacobdelaney9465]

@@MTGGoldfish Frodo, Samwise, and pippin are all pretty playable just on the face of it. Not sure what else that shell would want if you’re going away from the all-in Frodo plan (also known as canon LotR). Definitely potential there!

[@thepolkaslongneckedchicken]

Pippin was impresive the ward messed up removal real good

[@MTGGoldfish]

Yeah, Pippin was really good.

[@JediMB]

Well, he fought with the goblins He battled a troll He riddled with Gollum A magic ring he stole

[@zayll4945]

Any time Seth is talking about LotR it sounds like the ravings of a madman

[@erfunk]

They'll probably cover Skrelv and the Phyrexians if they ever make a Silmarillion movie.

[@TheGrifcannon22]

I just realized Bilbo's Ring gives invisibility like Invisible Stalker.

[@viziroth]

@15:00 alt ending where they just die to the swarm in moria

[@mrbill21]

Thanks as always Brother!!!

[@trickster20644]

I require fanart of Skrelv monching on a hobbit, with the one ring just kinda dangling from one of his horns.

[@edorr]

6:39 bizarro, I Love you, bizarro, I Love you, bizarro

[@moviejuhlin]

Pretty sure Skrelv was in the Hobbits movie trilogy, I mean everything was in the Hobbits trilogy !!

[@thechestrockfield]

Does anyone else have that thing where every time they hear someone say "Boromir" think, "Boromir? More like chloromir."

[@brushwagg7735]

That first match was so satisfying

[@HaleG9]

Great idea ❤!

[@jangrokortenhaus3036]

Seth knows some lore, I'm impressed!! :D

[@MTGGoldfish]

I rewatched the movies recently so now I'm a LotR expert ;)

[@BIGDTHEVILLAIN76]

The funniest deck tech video in a while. Frodo traveling to Ottawa 😂😂😂😂

[@coleamburn1048]

This deck made me so happy.

[@Atmapalazzo]

3:18 that time Frodo went to Ottawa, Canada.

[@guilhermedasilva1795]

The phyrexians don't have limits! haha great deck

[@AlluMan96]

You know, if you squint your eyes for a bit, Skrelv and the mites in general do kinda look like they could be what I imagined the Nameless Things to be like in the books (Which I am surprised were not represented in any cards). Just make them like 10ft tall and you got it. Don't ask me why the Nameless Things are helping Frodo on his quest, you'll have to wait until season 4 of Rings of Power for that one.

[@ShinjiSixteen]

9:20 "...and also Skrelv" 😂

[@wonkybiscuit2760]

15:10 The fellowship is in Rivendale. The Council of Elrond has convened in a diner. *DONT STO-*

[@Metroid23456]

Ah yes, I love the part of the book where Frodo visits Ottawa

[@santyricon]

2:51 I can confirm, I still remember when Kozilek laid waste all over Lothlorien

[@Duquette33]

Ah yes the fellowship of the ring! AND skrelv 😂

[@thetambo]

That Muxus flip was insane lmao I defend that scoop all day hahaha

[@Real_Lion_of_Judah]

You sound like you're doing a commercial for a Rob Schneider movie, or at least how South Park portrayed that. "Rob Schneider is... a carrot!"

[@austinmccloud6021]

The one hobbit to rule them all

[@RyuPlaneswalker]

I too love that time that Skrelv punched Golum in the face.

[@elijahwalker323]

Yeah elesh norn was worried about saurons power spreading to the multivers and so sent skrelv to help frodo accomplish his mission.

[@evankraabel5415]

The downside of the tempt mechanic is that whichever creature holds the ring is a massive target for removal, which is super flavorful

[@sleepteam]

So it’s like equipping a creature with a sword. Amazing design.

[@joanthebigboat]

Pippin calling up Frodo for "one last job"

[@christianbarrett3040]

Bilbo's ring is great for commander. Especially on a commander that can one shot like Omnath locus of mana

[@danielspahn2593]

The Pherexians must be in the Director's cut of the books. Think I passed on buying that one from a garage sale back in 95. Dang😅

[@josephpowell8424]

3:07 into the video and I feel a need to re-read LOTR. Totally spaced on the phyrexian invasion chapter 🤣

[@ohako79]

Oh Seth. Frodo making your opponent lose is him giving in to the dark power and wielding the Ring. I do love how Frodo can be equipped with Bilbo’s Ring and not be a ring-bearer.

[@musicmanley]

You need to use Harmless Offering to give your opponent a Mt Doom Land... then you're playing like Tolkien.

[@MidgarMerc]

Skrelv is the Poochie the Dog of the MTG LOTRverse

[@grahamgrover1]

Adding Sting, The Glinting Dagger would untap your Frodo at the beginning of each combat, give him a +1/+1, and for LOLZ, haste.

[@oscarmarshall7992]

I just started reading the lotr books after watching the movies, really exited to read about phyrexians!

[@rfs8194]

lmao the opponent in game 1 was at 3 life when you hit the alternate win condition

[@dawsondemars1092]

I hear Art Decko is a cool game. From a really rad human. Also new to me games, AFFO and Incan Gold.

[@wpmer]

I must have fallen asleep during that chapter of the Phyrexians helping when I listened to the audio reading of LOTR by SaffronOlive brought to you by today's sponsor Audible. 😢

[@Akumatron]

Tolkein didn't believe that the world was ready for Skrelv to be a main cannon character, in fact Skrelv was cut from the books for a more likeable character. This new character was named Frodo.

[@wwenze]

Return of the Ring: Skrelv takes the ring and poisons everyone

[@NeoSamurai13]

I love how Seth insists multiple times in the video that “the ring tempts you” mechanic has a downside with Call of the Ring costing you life to draw card, as it clearly shows that in his world it isn’t a may ability since it involves drawing extra cards.

[@davidcrawford5324]

LOL I'd have scooped on the Krenko matches too lmao

[@samuelbush2765]

There is a persistent myth that Isildur cut The Ring from Sauron's hand but we all know it was gnawed off by Skrelv, the multiverse's greatest Chewer of Fingers.

[@andreaskristiansen6070]

in the last game, if the opponent had put Seth to one, Seth would have died when attacking, because of Bilbo's ring, so that should have been moved over to Boromir before attacking :-) That would have been an epic failure. But this was an epic win.

[@rsm014]

Been building this and halfling tribal since the set came out. These are the real deal. There’s more spice out there fellas. Happy hunting

[@rsm014]

Hint: ring tempts should be twice a turn after turn 2

[@ThePhoenixSlayer]

The Ring tempting you is actually pretty cool I think. The constant 3 dmg isn't insignificant, and the skulk and looting is good. The 3rd ability also works against indestructible which is nice, and a lot of the lower rank people don't understand that. so i've had many people blocking with an indestructible and then realizing it doesn't work like that after the trigger goes on the stack.

[@quirkyc]

My favourite LotR chapter was when Frodo went to Ottawa and ate a beaver tail

[@12triproberts]

I'm cool with the tempting not being especially powerful. There's already powerful cards that are finding their way into eternal formats, and The Ring Tempts You is so much cleaner in limited than dungeons or initiative or whatever. Skulk, loot, Basilisk ability, drain 3 when a player's hit is a pretty intuitive progression.

[@Ardillas90jj]

Skrelv as Gollum works perfectly!

[@thomaswilburne9756]

Man why did I have to watch this in the middle of watching the Sopranos?

[@Tinil0]

My take away is surprisingly that Frodo apparently visited Ottawa

[@jarvvoitlus9458]

Did the opponent punt the very last game? If they hit Seth to 1 by swinging all in, Seth wouldn't be able to attack because the Bilbo's Ring trigger would kill him, right?

[@Bob-np2uc]

I think he could have blocked and fatal pushed to go to 2, then taken 1 from bilbos ring to win at 1 life?