Luckiest MTG Comeback In Pro Tour History

[@NikachuMTG]

How about those unsleeved cards, huh?

[@technole]

The sound of unsleeved shuffles with vintage cards can give you brain damage.

[@SpitefulAZ]

I just want to dual lands.

[@Feyyore]

I visibly cringe at the sound of those unsleeved rough shuffles. "Wont somebody please think of the cards!"

[@magusderotter4634]

It hurts man.

[@espeon200]

I think it hurt my soul.

[@Dhips.]

Nothing says 90's Magic like 2 unsleeved decks valued over 3k each.

[@skykur]

The blue deck is likely 10k lol

[@andreas629]

Well back then they didn’t worth shit but watching it now is painful.

[@ThomasB-zw3sg]

Watching that Tundra hurt me

[@sylvaintellier4787]

@@andreas629 Not exactly worthless... Morphling was like 40$ , lol

[@bennycostello2472]

We didnt know. I gave away all my cards. I lost a binder that had original yu gi oh and pokemon cards too. I could have gotten into bitcoin in 2011. Shoulda coulda woulda

[@Insigneos]

Anyone else uncomfortable with the no sleeve decks? Oh, everyone is? Good to know.

[@7swordquanta459]

Dude, even the Prof will go ballistic upon seeing this even though he will likely have experienced it.

[@MrUWcontrol]

I exclusively play all of my legacy decks unsleeved for the tilt factor

[@calvin2876]

What's the big deal he paid for the card why spend more on sleeves

[@laicuan1]

@@calvin2876 back then sleeves were banned.

[@BMBAnauta]

Sleeves where ban on those times...

[@samantharhodes4610]

Just wanna say, you pause the video at exactly the right moments and explain what is happening in a way that is very easy for newbies to understand. Thank you so much for that! Subscribed for sure

[@NikachuMTG]

You’re welcome! It’s all part of the plan.

[@pando1520]

@@NikachuMTG just wanna second their comment :)

[@rafael16759]

@@NikachuMTG me too, some may think its unecessary but they can just watch the original video

[@alexstef6965]

man, that unsleeved dual land rifle shuffle….gets me everytime i watch this classic match😄😄

[@Flexxinchad]

I have a masterpiece deck that I can unsleeve and really make you cringe. Most of us 90s players think of them as cardboard. Unless you have a gem mint lotus pack fresh. I don't see anything but cardboard.

[@tobihoermann]

@@Flexxinchad youre cringe af

[@shanewroe18]

That pissed me off tbh, I'd do alot for a set of that card.... It's way too high for my budget

[@itchyisvegeta]

Reminds me of highschool lunches

[@MrTehkaiser]

​@@tobihoermann cringe claims are so ironic.

[@danielkuttel7867]

Unsleeved Duals and Wasteland..... "deep breath and cloth eyes" Such cruelty

[@slick_rickgaming1102]

😣it hurts just to look at 😩

[@bradjones7491]

Unsleeved, did you see the man's shuffle those cards are ruined.

[@pyrobryan]

My friends and I played back in 94-95, but we almost never played multi-colored decks. Of course, we didn't use sleeves back then, so luckily all of my duals just went straight in to binders and sat there for 20 years. A good chunk of my revised edition cards are pretty heavily played, but my dual lands are basically mint condition.

[@Hieroglyphics87]

Yeah sleeves didn't exist back then only top loaders I tried playing my entire deck with top loaders... it didn't work lol

[@pyrobryan]

@@Hieroglyphics87 That's hilarious! I actually bought some sleeves back in the late 90's some time, probalby around 96-97ish. Used them for years and they are still in good shape for 25 year old sleeves. I hadn't played MTG for about 15 years, so they haven't been in use all that time, but I can only remember one or two of those sleeves ever splitting.

[@bruttibler100]

I was on Bob's team at this time, I actually played in this event and was knocked out by Davis day one, so alot of the loudest uncontrolled screeching in the background is me and another teammate Ray. We might have been in a "slightly" altered state, so it literally felt like we were winning right alongside him, lets say. They made them de-sleeve just for top 8, which was still weird even at the time. We went to some nice Chicago restaurant after this, but f me if I remember which. As mentioned elsewhere in the comments, there was the Plow on a Treetop play that was a Davis punt, but there was a "tap out get disrupted" play that was a real whoopsie as well. I thought it was this game, but it must've been the third(?), because when it happened me and Ray started howling like crazy people and Bob said something to the effect of "you hear that?" Which there was just a mock up wall between the audience and the play area. Great vid thank you

[@NikachuMTG]

You’re welcome!

[@Daytruin]

so kinda like yugioh playing against the main antagonist with his entourage behind him lol. love it

[@SirGrimLockSmithVIII]

Good to know that sleeveless play was weird for you guys back then as it is for us today lol. WOTC was on shrooms when they made that decision.

[@sigmaboi2946]

Thank you for sharing this firsthand story. Why do they need to unsleeve though? Is there a purpose behind it like avoiding a possible cheating?

[@TeeKayBee]

@@sigmaboi2946 I know this comment was a year ago but it's so the sleeves dont show a glare on the recording.

[@calimahr2725]

Ah, more dreaded 90's shuffling.

[@jeremyphillips3087]

I played magic in the nineties and I remember having sleeves. Was no sleeves a tournament rule or something?

[@notbot4525]

@@jeremyphillips3087 easier to "skill" your way to wins with faintly marked/scuffed cards. More like...why would any top pro ever disadvantage themselves by using sleeves Lol But seriously though... back in those days stuff like that was fairly rampant, especially at higher levels of play

[@calimahr2725]

I played in the 90s and most of us certainly didn't play with sleeves. All the same; we didn't goddamn Riffle shuffle our cards. Everyone knows that bends the cards and markes them.

[@talllll.ll.1712]

I love the info at the start of the video. Great way to bring the listener, especially someone who is new or lacking knowledge. And you have a good demeanor and easy tone to check back in after the serious stress going on this the video you show, thanks for taking time to break down and share these clips. I love the historical value and interesting turns in older magic

[@NikachuMTG]

My pleasure!

[@notorioezz]

Honestly, the 90's was the luckiest time to be alive. Just listen to that crowd cheering and laughing. Man.. We'll never have that back. This was a true community.

[@lunarlight3131]

what? lol just got to your lgs people still have a blast

[@notorioezz]

@@lunarlight3131 Bruh. I'm talking tournaments. LGS is all friends. Tournaments are strangers. Look at this. Pro's today play 1v1 on a computer screen, no crowd at all.

[@JoshuaMartinez12]

Underground Magic Tournaments

[@MrLoowiz]

Every generation has pros and cons. We all think previous generations were better because we cherry pick the reasons.

[@monolith94]

@@MrLoowiz Eh, people say that, but not all things are equally good. Sometimes we live in periods of decline, sometimes we live in periods of ascendance. This is definitely a period of decline.

[@spacefreak5064]

I was playing EDH recently and got attacked for 23 even with perfect blocks I would have gone down to -1 life. I cracked my Mind Stone and drew a Heliod's Intervention, cast it for X=1 with the 3 mana I had left gaining 2 life and therefore surviving the attack with 1 life left. Then swung in for the win on my turn. Best Top deck Ever!

[@SpecialKail]

I had a guy hit me w the dark depths/thespian stage combo, swings on me for 20, I have 3 mana available. I crack a clue token and draw a Path To Exile.

[@GM-by7tc]

Heliod's Intervention indeed! Such a useful card and brutal against enchantments.

[@connorhawkins315]

I had 3 life, the enchantment stax deck was about to kill me and the other guy at the table. He had spent the past four turns preparing to kill everyone at the table with a swarm of enchantment creatures, and all of his enchantments had shroud. He passed to me, and I top decked a cyclonic rift before thraximundar dealt the final blow. I still have not recovered from how awesome that felt

[@kennethdixoniii4113]

Watching them shuffle like that with no sleeves make me feel slightly ill.

[@bobafett5926]

Indeed, not only that, watching them face up riffle shuffle is preposterous.

[@daswookie79]

Dude scooped with two Skittering Skirge in his deck and Demonic Consultation in his hand. I think that Null Rod just nuked his brain.

[@mtgguiltfeeder4111]

Yea I’m sitting here trying to figure out why he scooped? Was he just assuming he’d run out of library before being able to win? I’m not very familiar with either deck list but understand the basic concepts. Couldn’t he have still won with creature damage??

[@_Vengeance_]

@@mtgguiltfeeder4111 He had another Necropotence in his hand, so running out of library wasn't even a problem for him.

[@vanthadoun1]

That was an EPIC mic drop, the audience was all snickering in the early rounds at Bob's mulligans and hand being stripped. Give him credit for slogging through it and finding Mask. The applause he got when he cast Ivory Mask. Awesome!

[@thetuerk]

14:41 Like the absolute baller he is, Bob drops that Ivory mask on the field like it's NUTHIN

[@gearframe87]

Imma let you finish but "It's Lightning Helix" is the greatest comeback of all time

[@jeremyphillips3087]

oh my god

[@jyashin]

Nah, there a game where the guy needed Cruel Ultimatum, and Cruel Ultimatum only, to win. He literally got all his mana ready, says "I cast Cruel Ultimatum", and then reveals the top card of his library.

[@technole]

i still remember how excited the judges looked with that top deck.

[@richardaustin2470]

Although I’m inclined to agree, Maher’s opponent is a giant garbage person, so him losing is fucking great, so I’m about it

[@staylor1644]

@@jyashin Gabriel Nassif! He also had the "Ignite Memories" video with Patrick Chapin.

[@VinnieKielbasa]

That Necropotence deck sounds so amazing. I can imagine how satisfying it was to play it.

[@MrLyckegard]

It felt kind of weird to get the hards on end of each turn, and have to wait until next turn to use the newly drawn cards. Maybe balanced somehow, but not so satisfying experience.

[@SpecialKail]

Hand hate players are the worst kind of people

[@iThoughtUHad2Bitch]

@@MrLyckegard Instant speed cards with alternative casting cost like Spinning Darkness or Contagion allow for interaction on their turn. Dark ritual/Demonic Consultation are also low cost investment forms of interaction on their turn.

[@MrLyckegard]

@@iThoughtUHad2Bitch It wasn't really much interaction back then,.. not when compared to today..

[@brunobaw657]

the best deck in Mtg history to a lot of old players (like me) its a Necropotence based one, Trix, with the combo Ilusions of grandeur + donate. Awesome deck.

[@PieMan061]

I don’t mind the shuffling and no sleeves because who knew mtg would be as big as it is (it’d be like sleeving uno cards), but shuffling *face up* like come on, even if you aren’t cheating that should just be common sense

[@jeremyphillips3087]

Not exactly like sleeving uno cards, we knew cards had value. It was an expensive game even back then.

[@Kylora2112]

@@jeremyphillips3087 Were sleeves even a thing in 1999?

[@jeremyphillips3087]

@@Kylora2112yep.

[@alexandrasturmer5765]

MTG was as expensive as it is today back then, and people used sleeves. WotC demanded sleeveless play in their tournaments because they wanted viewers to see the "brand" on the back of the cards. This changed very quickly though in the following year or two.

[@PieMan061]

@@alexandrasturmer5765 Looks like I was mistaken, but as expensive as it is today? That I doubt, unless you’re just comparing the price of playing in standard for each rotation. And even if they were to play w/o sleeves because of Wotc, why shuffle like that???

[@mtgbear3358]

Loving the un sleeved look, takes me back .. then putting elastic bands around the deck & throwing it into a backpack! ... Those were the days!! ;)

[@spkoftdvl]

Totally 💘

[@premejon8300]

As much as Bob got the nuts draw, can we admit his opponent just PUNTED the entire game well before he drew the mask? 😅

[@YourPalJamieEllis]

This is such a small thing, but I *love* the triumphant card snaps by Bob when he knows he's got it with the Enlightened Tutor. Letting how you actually put down your cards do the talking is an underrated skill.

[@anarchangel7]

It's also terrifying to play against, Bob was my boss for several years and we would have in house sealed tournaments when a new set would drop. I did well one time and ended up against him and the quick card moves and his calm disrupted me more than any other opponent. I played the winning card (much like his null rod) and was still completely unsure I had even dented his game.

[@SirZapdos]

And later Brian commits another all-time blunder. Bob is at 4 life and Brian can Drain Life for 7, but he goes for 4. In response, Bob activates his Treetop Village and Swords to Plowshares it to gain 3 life and survive the Drain Life.

[@wizardsmix7961]

yeah brian played like a massive noob in this match lmfao. How did he manage to make it to finals

[@ScorpioneOrzion]

@@wizardsmix7961 his opponents were bigger fools

[@anthonyhansel9175]

Correct me if i'm wrong, but I believe that Plow was what ended up winning Bob not only the game, but the match.

[@rickyrico80]

Ah, the 90s where we still did everything unsleeved and bareback 😍

[@robertafettuccine]

And when mtg wasn't a complete mess.

[@GoodfellasX21]

Yeah most card games don't have sleeves to this day. It's only noobie millennials that do that for ebay

[@thoticcusprime9309]

@@robertafettuccine actually it was

[@Christina_Cage]

@@GoodfellasX21 all card games have rules in place for cards being sleeved. It does keep the cards in good condition but it's also part of the rule set to protect against card tampering or accusation of card tampering.

[@jjs8426]

​@@Christina_Cage I guess you don't do draft or FNM

[@MrEScience]

Top-tier, god-level Simpson's reference at the end there Nikachu!

[@DiabloTommaso]

Insane to think that necro was considerd "bad" because of the life lost. Incredibile

[@shanewroe18]

I need more of this card necropotence, it's out of budget. Rather trade for it. Most won't trade it ....

[@squid8520]

I'm still laughing at the "a man armed with a beanie baby" comment.

[@Ryevee]

Holy hell the handling of these unsleeved cards shivers me timbers

[@jakehall1815]

I'm shuddering watching them just abuse these unsleeved cards. The pain.

[@toreycestaric6229]

Them: Bridge shuffles unsleeved dual lands Me: *vomits in mouth a little*

[@GlucoseGuy]

Would have been nice to have life total overlays, even though they weren't part of the original 90's stream.

[@BloodspitsMusic]

"Or a man armed with a beanie baby" MY SIDES! 😂😂😂

[@samueljett7807]

I have that same beanie baby... which I will now be taking to my magic games, you know, for luck 😂

[@MissMarieMTG]

Does it matter which Beanie Baby one would need to get in order to be a lucky pro MTG player? Asking for a friend

[@NikachuMTG]

Maybe send a DM to Bob. He would be the authority :D

[@LucianDevine]

So people call this a misplay, but there is some context that needs to be remembered. First off, deck lists weren't public back when this tournament was played, and Disrupt exists in this format, and there is a copy in Bob's main deck. So it's possible that he left the mana open for that, in case Bob had that. If he wastes the Wasteland he is vulnerable to that. He could also have been saving a mana in case he needed to activate the Disc, though I don't see a scenario where he needs Disc if the Corrupt resolves. Now yes, there are more Forces in the deck, and he likely should have played around what he likely suspects is 4 Forces in the main deck instead of what was almost guaranteed to be less Disrupts, since I doubt many decks ran 4 of it, let alone in the main.

[@ageoftherapy]

Thank you for this deeper analysis. I was about to comment that "this is not bad luck that cost him the loss, but a BLUNDER". I thought he totally blundered the Corrupt play by not popping Wasteland first. But you are right, he could well have made a calculated decision to defend against Disrupt instead of Force of Will. Kind of a coin flip decision, and a tough luck loss. Really good analysis Lucian!

[@technole]

Reminds me of some of my favorite comeback wins are always those opponents that have ants in their pants and blow their board wipe a turn too early. While you still have your the best card in-hand, which they now have no answer for.

[@rookermtg9321]

Appreciate you directing this towards new players

[@MrGrovak]

It's good to note the wasteland line would only work if they passed through combat emptying mana from the pool because you could float in response to wasteland.

[@patrickpiper4729]

I think at that time mana was only emptied at end of turn with mana burn. So I think this was no blunder.

[@zym6687]

@@patrickpiper4729 No, mana didn't leave phases. What they described definitely works. >300.4. When a phase ends (but not a step), any unused mana left in a player's mana pool is lost. That player loses 1 life for each one mana lost this way. This is called mana burn. (See rule 406.1, "Mana Abilities.") These were the relevant rule as of June 1, 1999, this game was played December 5th, 1999.

[@lestersmerling1397]

This is not a lucky comeback this is Bob playing to all his outs. Lots of players would have played the Library figuring that BDavis would wasteland. Game 5 is really the best game and would have been a great highlight.

[@BDtetra]

I watch the 1999 Pro Tour vid every year. Still probably my favorite MtG match of all time

[@squiddy70]

Casually riffle shuffling and unsleeved deck with a dual land in it.. classic Magic in the 90s

[@westhemeh9236]

So painful to watch unsleeved but also the reveling shuffle where he was able to see the position of allot of the cards in his deck would have him getting a warning in modern tourneys.

[@tynytian]

Yeah, I played against a Yugioh player who would weave shuffle his deck while looking at the bottom card before finishing by overhand-shuffling it to the top. I'd just casually reach over and cut the damn thing, knowing full well he couldn't say anything because giving your opponent the last cut is mandatory in Yugioh. One time he even tried to reshuffle AFTER I had already cut. I just let him finish before I cut it again. I never once lost to that cheater.

[@cptnbennett]

I really like how you explain each card being played for us MTG noobs who know how to play but who's last time buying a pack of MTG cards was during Odyssey.

[@AqueleGamer]

I love these contents about pro tour matches, keep 'em coming!

[@Xraxic]

I met Bob Maher Jr. once at a tournament. One of the nicest people ever.

[@MrFarnanonical]

I've watched this match about 15 times in the past 10 years or so. Really great match.

[@maskedmarauder5794]

Really great match? It was awful. Having that massive of a card drawn advantage and yet sitting there turn after turn struggling to win indicates lousy deck construction. I know what the problem was without even looking at his mono-black deck: 4x of each of his main hand destruction cards which ended up jamming his hand with lots of duplicate cards that no longer had much utility once he had destroyed the other players hand.

[@MrFarnanonical]

@@maskedmarauder5794 No, his deck was awesome. The problem was how he played it. The hand disruption was a key component to getting turn 1 necro in a field full of Force of Will, he wouldn't have gotten to the finals of the pro-tour without that much discard. He was too afraid to use demonic consoltation, and he was afraid of putting skittering skurge on the table because of oath of druids. He absolutely should have won all five of those games. The match was great because of how cool Bob played, being that far behind.

[@maskedmarauder5794]

​@@MrFarnanonical Let's get one thing straight, I'm right and you're wrong. Watch the replay carefully. Mr. Oath of Druids goes first WITH 5 CARDS indicating he mulliganed TWICE. Starting the game down 2 cards is a MASSIVE disadvantage right there. By the end of his 2nd turn mono-black has: - removed every spell from his opponents hand leaving him with only a single strip mine in his hand. - has used a strip mine to reduce his opponent to 1 land. - has drawn 10 cards. - has a full hand of 7 cards A 6 card advantage against an opponent with no spells and 1 land in play. That is an absolutely CRUSHING advantage to have. Mono-blacks only weakness is that he is at mana parity of 1 land against his opponent. Merely getting a single 2/2 creature into play under these circumstances would be extremely dangerous to Mr. Oath of Druids since he's lost all of his cards and has almost no mana in play. He's basically naked. Some ominous signs that let you know mono-black doesn't know how to build a deck: - he hasn't drawn a single permanent damage dealing card within that 10 card draw. Pathetic. - he's drawn a 2nd Corrupt, a 2nd Necropotence, and a bunch of lands. What a total whiff of draws. By now I can tell he's made one of the fundamental mistakes of deck construction: putting 4x of each core card into his deck. He almost certainly has 4x Necropotence, 4x Corrupt, 4x Spinning Darkness, 4x Dark Ritual, 4x Nevinyrrals Disk, 4x Duress, 4x Unmask, etc. (At 14:12 you can see he has 3x Demonic Consultation in his hand... LOL... so bad) He's probably put a high percentage of land into his deck (probably around 40%+) to insure that he has lots of swamps in play for Corrupt. We see the result of all these duplicate cards: Since he's already totally destroyed his opponent there are no targets for his spells so they just sit in his hand doing nothing. Nevinyrral's Disk isn't very useful if you're the one who's winning by a mile. The whole point of Necropotence is to win by establishing a MASSIVE card advantage. If you have a deck with lots of land, cards like Unmask that destroy your own hand, and a bunch of duplicate crap that have no valid targets to be used against because you've already destroyed everything then you don't really have card advantage from drawing a lot of cards now do you. The ONLY card he should have 4x of is Unmask because it's so powerful and highly likely to always be useful and helps keep the opponent locked down. Everything else should be 3x and in place of the holes created you puts cards with similar effects but that cover other bases: Hypnotic Specter, Demonic/Diabolic Tutor, etc. He should remove 1 swamp from his deck and replace it with a permanent damage dealer of some kind. If he had gotten a Hypnotic Specter into play on his 3rd/4th turn the game would basically be a lock. Next we see mono-black with 5 tapped swamps in play and he's holding his 2nd Dark Ritual LOL. Mr. Oath of Druids seems to be doing just fine and in no immediate danger. Mr. Oath of Druids should already be dead. The match should be over but instead it goes on and on at a leisurely pace for several more turns giving Mr. Oath of Druids plenty of time to keep drawing cards. It's not at all surprising or "lucky" that Mr. Oath of Druids eventually gets what he needs to survive and totally shut down mono-blacks deck. If Ivory Mask is all it takes to stop your deck in its tracks then your deck has a problem. Truly pathetic and embarrassing to watch.

[@MrFarnanonical]

@@maskedmarauder5794 You keep calling him "Mr Oath of Druids", that's Bob fucking Maher. You also don't know what the fuck you're talking about. He's play demonic consultation. You DONT play consultation in a deck with x1 or 2 of every card. You also don't seem to know the format, demonic tutor wasn't legal in extended at the time. This was a necro drain deck, it didn't run "permanent damage dealers" with the exception of two skittering skurge because the deck was supposed to drain/corrupt into more cards, keeping you out of the necro lock that ended up happening at the time with necro creature decks. Lifelink didn't exist yet. You can say that you don't like the deck, but it was well built for that format. Even Randy Buhler said that he should have won that match 5/0. Davis lost to Maher because he was too afraid to use his consultations, Because he kept fucing up, period. The deck itself was very powerful.

[@maskedmarauder5794]

​@@MrFarnanonical Listen boy, it's understandable that you're angry at being so thoroughly put in your place by me. Did I say x1 or 2 of every card? No I didn't, I clearly stated x3 except for Unmask which is valid to have x4 of. Demonic Consultation would still be useful for pulling a x3 card and even if the Consultation doesn't reach it 6 cards have still been grinded off to get closer to whatever is being looked for. (Most likely a Necropotence or game ending Corrupt/Drain Life) The fact that he's holding friggin 3 of them in his hand is a sign of just AWFUL deck construction. He almost certainly has 4x Demonic Consultation in his deck when he should only have x2 instead. Putting 4x each of multiple mana intensive cards like Corrupt and Drain Life is incredibly stupid and WILL result in your hand getting jammed. It's called mana cost progression. You don't put 10x 6 mana cost cards in your deck. You vary the mana costs at 2,3,4,5,6 mana as best as your deck will permit so you're as likely as possible to have something useful to cast as you lay out your lands. The results are on full display in this match where turn after turn goes by and mono-black can't put his opponent away despite totally destroying his hand and having a massive card advantage. Pitiful. P.S. No one knows who "Bob fucking Maher" is you raging dork.

[@catnapMitsu]

I actually really liked this video. You gave just the right amount of commentary and let the rest speak for itself. Thanks for the video !

[@NikachuMTG]

You're welcome!

[@MachineKing14]

Oh boy you wanna hear a lucky comeback story? I was at my LGS two months ago playing in a modern event. I had decided to switch it up and put together a simple G/B Stompy deck which I knew was probably a bit too underpowered for the format but it was a local tournament and I'm used to losing games playing oddball rogue or tier 4 decks. It starts pretty okay to my surprise. I manage to go over the top against Golgari Elves in match 1 but get steamrolled by Affinity in match 2. 1-1 going into the last round and I find out I'm against Amulet Titan so I don't love my odds. Game one I run away with thanks to a pair of Rotting Regisaurs and game two I get slapped around by prime time. Game three I find a really solid seven with Thoughtsieze, Nature's Claim, Scavenging Ooze, Questing Beast, and some lands. With the classic turn 1 Thoughtseize I see that my opponent's mulligan left him with 5 lands and a Dryad of the Ilysian Grove. "Holy crap" I think to myself. Bin the Dryad, play out ooze next turn and now all I gotta do is find a fourth land for the beast or one of my big three drop threats. Instead, I find a second Nature's Claim. Okay, no sweat, I just activate ooze to eat the dryad and leave up Nature's Claim. He finds an Azusa, starts laying out the lands and I know I need to get aggressive now. I draw the third and final Nature's Claim. I destroy an Urza's Saga that he draws but only find another Thoughtsieze on top of my deck which isn't doing anything now. He draws, transmutes a Tolaria West for Summoner's Pact and I know it's over. I stick it out, maybe the deathtouch on Questing Beast can stem some of the bleeding but my back is firmly against a wall. I find nothing of use, Nature's Claim an Urza's Saga he tutors and then he transmutes another Tolaria West which led me to concede. Started so well, then slowly slipped away. C'est La Vie.

[@jontubine3910]

I haven’t played mtg in at least ten years but your channel is so entertaining it doesn’t seem to matter. Love the delicious door stop for your crummy old danish reference.

[@Eiyaa90]

These games are the reason why some of the cards are hard to find in even lightly played.. ouch

[@matthewclaridge3793]

Shout out from Sydney Australia!!! Great video mate... Thanks heaps!

[@NikachuMTG]

You’re welcome!

[@ianm1462]

Games like this are why Bob is The Great One. Finding and following the 1% path to victory

[@packfiend3732]

Ah 99 was such a simpler time. I wish drain life and corrupt were still playable.

[@davenirline]

Pauper says hi!

[@bluescythe5530]

It's so painful to see the bridge shuffles. I bet some of those cards are worth a fortune now.

[@COMPNOR]

Card sleeves are the greatest thing man has invented since sliced bread.

[@bennycostello2472]

Top decking the only card that can save you is such a great moment. It feels like yu gi oh episode where he always pulled the w out his ass lol

[@Keatsounet]

Awesome coverage ! I moved from Magic to Yu-Gi-Oh! but I still play casually and really enjoy your videos !!

[@NikachuMTG]

Glad you like them!

[@leonard9624]

Traitor!

[@ThisismineIguess]

My friend and I used to play with his dad's cards and he cared little for the fact of us and our unsleeved shuffling of his Sol Rings, Time Vaults, full Mox sets, Lotuses... Every time we played I bet a nerd somewhere had a stroke and no one ever knew why.

[@WeirdMedicine]

Nikachu = my favorite M:TG channel ever

[@noahr4951]

I played Bob's deck.

[@thrillhouse4151]

14:40, woooo I love it, you can feel it in the crowd, that’s like in Super Smash Bros 64 when you fly super far off the stage and somehow make it back.

[@labbnisse]

No sleeves, yikes... RIP cards 😢

[@TheMattmatic]

I don't think they were allowed to use sleeves on coverage, since the sleeves would have glare and it would be harder to see the cards! Times have changed...

[@masticoregaming5592]

Dayuuuum look at them shuffling like nothing unsleeve wow savage

[@melvinfz0301]

Great video Nikatchu. You really know how to make this kind of stuff interesting and funny

[@douglasfoley2060]

Seeing these old videos makes me wish I started playing much sooner back in the 90’s....... 🤦‍♂️😢

[@okwaho5316]

You know stopped playing the game ages ago, but I still think it's a fun cool game. But I honestly just watch these videos because I think you make them interesting. Great commentary!

[@arturbarbalumbre1391]

How great is the line "return to owner's deck only when game is over"?

[@MrAskmannen]

Just leave with the card without ending the game first :^)

[@ElGHTZEROTWO]

Watching him shuffle his deck full of duel lands and forces like that hurt my soul

[@miskatonicuniversityavclub202]

I'm cringing so hard watching him bridge shuffle those cards holy shit.

[@felixmichael2904]

Seeing those unsleeved cards i always think about the time i started playing Magic. We played inside a bar on a table sticky from Beer leftovers....nice memory playing those unsleeved duals on that table.

[@RogerECoffey]

In Pro Tour New Orleans 2001 Kai Budde was piloting Illusions/Donate in the quarterfinals against Darwin Kastle and just had his hand stripped away by Crosis, the Purger. Kai Budde had to draw EXACTLY a fifth land followed by Illusions of Grandeur followed by Donate in order to win and that's exactly what happened. I don't know that anything will ever top that as the luckiest moment I've ever seen.

[@melchorperezortuno7985]

For sure Brayan hasn't seen Termirnator, because Bob really said "i'll be back"

[@stefantincescu7169]

I shed a tear at how they bend those sleeved duals

[@wolfrunner700]

I was 13 when I first started learning to play MtG. Way back in 1993. I watched some seniors in my high school play the game and I got intrigued. I learned to play from a guy at the Shawnee Mall. He gave me a lot of common cards for free because he encouraged me to learn. My stepdad at the time gave me a job so I was able to quickly add to my collection. The first game I won against the guy that taught me I won by default. I had him on the ropes and then he used a channel, fork, howl from beyond combo and pretty much killed us both, I ended up teaching my friends to play and won quite a few games. People at my high school asked me for advise because my decks were hard to beat. I made my decks to pretty much everything in them comboed with everything else so I had counters to counters to counters.

[@SS4519]

So I was recently in a Commander pod in a local. I had a 3 land hand to start, then didn't see a single land drop for 5 turns afterward. Managed to keep everyone's creatures in line long enough to eventually top deck a Demonic Tutor into an Eldrazi Monument to protect long enough for Elesh Norn to drop the next turn, and I started lethaling everyone and won the game from outta nowhere. One of my greatest moments in MTG. Nothing like this, but still amazing to look back on.

[@crispycaveman9164]

love your videos :) you have such an upbeat personality

[@NikachuMTG]

Glad you like them!

[@CarnageATM]

I'm sure you've watched this multiple times, but your deadpan face when the announcer makes a joke at the beginning made me laugh out loud

[@Lornext]

Brian Davis blundered HARD.

[@ingolf82]

those unsleeved cards hurt my wallet :(

[@tonyeckstrand8655]

Oath for Morphling, oh how times have changed.

[@j.walker6845]

I love the zoom in on the blurry footage

[@benjaminrichard7741]

14:40 you can tell here that everyone loves a good comeback :)

[@joshuawarren551]

Was very excited to see the match, then nearly had a heart attack when I saw the unsleeved cards, then had another one when I saw how he was shuffling!! 😂😂

[@odoacredacalcutta5085]

was it really necessary to put oath in the deck only to find morphling, which is a 5 drop ?

[@NikachuMTG]

There were some other targets (like Spike Feeder) but they weren’t much of a win condition. Oath acted like a 2 mana Morphlinn, which was the best creature at the time.

[@NabaniSaa]

I was playing at a Modern FNM around just before Dominaria iirc. I was piloting Lantern Control as my first Modern deck (when it was still good) and was 1 and 1 in my set against Jeskai Control. My opponent had the play, cracks fetch, gets land, and at end of his turn I Surgical Extraction his Fetch (Flooded Strand), go to my turn 1, land for turn and play Pithing Needle, declaring his Scalding Tarn thus basically locking my opponent out of mana for 2 more of his turns before he scoops. Was a pretty great feel.

[@dylanpiazza6358]

i love randy man lol such a savage. btw just found your channel, great stuff.

[@NikachuMTG]

Thanks!

[@ryanmcnulty8323]

“…or a guy armed with a Beanie Baby?” I was cracking up.

[@charlie15627]

Wow, this brings back memories. I used to play MTG during the mid to late 90’s. My favorite deck was a green and red with fireballs, meteor showers, lightning, shambling striders, orcish striders, giant growth and many many more.

[@painterdubs]

This format of video is brilliant and amazing.

[@jesseross639]

As a complete novice that has some interest in magic I find some things incredibly confusing. Can any player just pick up any discard deck and shuffle through it? Some times he discards into one pile and draws right back out of it. The big miss play with the Sorcery card was his opponent supposed to know he had that in his hand? How could he of known? Hard to follow and I love when you add bits of commentary to explain in detail a bit more.

[@NikachuMTG]

He doesn't know that his opponent had Force of Will, but in Magic we make plays that will win vs our opponents largest range of possible responses. One possible response was Force of Will and Brian had an answer to it by destroying Bob's land. SO even if Bob did not have Force of WIll in hand, Brian should destroy a land anyway just in case.

[@Kristjan0209]

Since he didn't awnser your question I guess I will try. Though your questions are quite confusing and it would help if you could put some time stamps I will do my best. If by discard deck you mean the graveyard which is the face up pile next to the deck than yes in most card games people can look through them. With the question of them discarding into one pile and drawing from it I have no clue what you are talking about can you please time stamp so I could have a look

[@jesseross639]

@@NikachuMTG Thank you that was very well explained.

[@jesseross639]

@@Kristjan0209 I did not know it was considered a graveyard. Ok that makes more sense, thank you.

[@Guild0fGamers]

The unsleeved old boarder cards just remind me of high school. Such nostalgia.

[@J4D3R053]

man that unsleeved riffle shuffle hurts knowing there's OG duals in there

[@MellowTarnished]

The look on your face when he dropped the match… that turn right before completely ruined his chances to get rid of the mask

[@carlorozyclemente1999]

the way he drops those ivory masks looked like dropping mic savage af

[@54m0h7]

I started MTG back in 1999 with Mercadian Masques. So much fun. My best deck played Territorial Dispute and Tectonic Break, and then finished them off with a Two-Headed Dragon.

[@matthewollar9842]

I don’t understand the turn at 8:00 mins. He cast Drain Life (Sorcery) then activated Necro for 4 then untapped his lands??? Or are you forwarding through the live feed?

[@NikachuMTG]

Bob took his turn quickly while the cameras were just staring at Brian's hand.

[@Nessevan]

I only played MTG 20 years ago for a few years and never very serious to be honest. But I still enjoy these videos a lot without even understanding most of the fine aspects of the strategy and current rules. Great to be able to enjoy it from the sidelines in this way.

[@NikachuMTG]

If you still have your cards from back in the day, they can be worth some serious money!

[@XENONPLASMA]

If there was a card made for the shuffling of unprotected cards, it would be a legendary gold card with a zero mana cost called 'foolish aftermath' the text would be as follows 'when this card is drawn, show it to your opponent, if both you and your opponent have unsleeved, unprotected cards, both of you lose the game and the match.'

[@Ekto31]

Looking at all that old school cards without sleeves.. the tropical island bendend while shuffling the decks... my heart hurts so much

[@mobili2]

What was Brian's deck, a prison deck? Seems really interesting

[@NikachuMTG]

It’s mono black control.

[@galactichand551]

I really enjoy the derpy music you add. Any chance we could get your playlist?

[@justin9744]

Once he mentioned the beanie baby, I knew it was in the bag.

[@VentrickMTG]

I saw the look of horror on your face when Bob was bridging his deck with the cards face up.