Teaching Arena Zoomers About Mindslaver Locks | Against the Odds

What's better than controlling an Arena zoomers turn with Mindslaver? Controlling ALL their turns with Mindslaver!
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[@letsgobrandon6992]

Keep in mind you can tap down their land while controlling their turn to make sure they have shields down on your turn.

[@aelinstue9431]

Yeah wtf, most obvious play not sure how we're getting our cards countered because we leave them with mana and see they have a counter from controlling their last turn.

[@Ghost26968]

Teaching arena boomer how to CORRECTLY mindslaver lock LOL

[@Viazi69]

like a real tournament time when mindlaver was in tooth&nail deck - combo with bringer of white dawn, good times xD, no mtg arena, attending to real tournaments :D

[@davidcrawford5324]

Yep too bad that mana burn isn't a thing anymore because they'd DEFINITELY be taking damage from that every turn in addition to combat damage since we'd never cast any of their creatures

[@LordZurkov]

@@davidcrawford5324 Mindslaver explicitly exempted controlled players from mana burn, even when that was a thing.

[@aradan3913]

that first player is a true champ. They didnt just quit, they let you have fun with your combo, just sitting there.

[@davidcrawford5324]

Some people like to watch and observe how it all works so that they can dupe the deck to wreak havoc on others with it later 😉

[@SV2K]

They were spamming heart emotes at Seth. Probably a fan.

[@DiogoVKersting]

I agree that he sit through because he thought it would make for a better video.

[@tailong9548]

I do this for 2 reasons. One of the reasons I play this game is to observe the unique interactions between different cards. I find it fascinating to see how these synergies can be leveraged, even in the face of an inevitable loss. It's a way for me to appreciate the game in its entirety, beyond just winning or losing. A part of me also appreciates the game beyond just winning. If I enjoy watching my deck go off, I'm sure others also enjoy it. It's a small gesture of good sportsmanship, a way to share the game with my opponent, even in the face of a potential loss. Another reason I keep playing is the thrill of unexpected turns. For instance, there could be a disconnection from the server for the opponent, giving me an easy win. Or, I might draw a 'game-changer' card at the last minute, which could potentially shift the balance in my favor. The stupid auto-dialer (the algorithm that orders the deck when you shuffle) does this more often than you think. Wizards says this ensures more exciting matches. It's a bit unfair, but that's how they programmed the dialer algorithm. It biases spells to the top for quicker matches, saving Wizards a lot of coin. Anyway, I'm hanging in there in case I earn a late win. I bet I earn 10% of wins this way. It's ridiculous.

[@majestyzx9081]

Plot Twist: Opponent has a punishment kink.

[@henrye3935]

If you (the viewer) choose to play this deck, remember (as Seth didn't) that you can tap your opponent's lands, Karn can get things from exile, and Buried Ruin has text.

[@notreallyhere67]

Imagine if mana burn was still a thing and you could kill an opponent by just making them lose unspent mana lol

[@t3st1221]

@@notreallyhere67 Original mindslaver has a line of text to say that your opponent does not get mana burn during the turn you control him

[@tombiby5892]

Wow, I had to go check your facts on that one. I can’t believe manaburn still existed in Mirrodin.

[@brennanruiz1803]

Seth: "Ugin is here as a backup" Also Seth: complains about Ugin every time he draws it, never plays it

[@haggleboggle]

Also Seth: complains about what Karn can fetch up after Farewell exiles all of his stuff to a place Karn can fetch from.

[@Nathanael_Forlorn]

And seth is correct! Ugin and Karn both are questionable design at best. Way to oppressive and versatile.

[@MTGGoldfish]

I feel like the deck needs Ugin as a sweeper, but if I can I'd rather win without it because I find Ugin super boring.

[@gustavowadaslopes2479]

So often Ugin made the deck feel like "This is a good deck, but it feels like it shouldn't be a Mind Slaver deck"

[@fudawg45]

@@gustavowadaslopes2479that’s because this is already a popular and powerful deck, he just shoehorned mindslaver into it.

[@soasertsus]

it never ceases to amaze me just how much you can railroad someone by playing their turn. There are such unplumbed depths of technically legal plays that a sane person would never even think of until you're actively trying to make someone commit suicide in the most efficient way possible with their own cards.

[@dude2299]

My favorite is continually activating Adanto Vanguard's indestructible for 4 life. They can make it indestructible when it's already indestructible by paying 4 life. No sane person would do that, but if you control your opponent, you can "stop hitting yourself" them to death

[@gabrote42]

22:16 Remember that you csn tutor them from exile, and that you can tap all their lands

[@jackmanning156]

We need more "Teaching Arena Zoomer" videos! These are by far some of my favorites :D

[@wadibison]

Agreed, Seth just needs arena to print more golden oldies for him @mtggoldfish maybe you have enough pull to request them to add individual cards? 🤣

[@wadibison]

I'd love to see tinker blightsteel, yawgs will ad nauseum, or even a mind sculptor addition 🤞🤞🤞🥲

[@tahiti-papa-geek]

I was the first player, streaming at the same time and the fun fact is that it took time before I realized I was playing against you. Was an honor to open one of your videos, love your work dude ❤️

[@trunkulent]

Delightful letting that play out, kudos!

[@AtrociousNightmare]

Really cool of you! Thank you!

[@xZipkan]

Seth, Karn could've gotten cards that were exiled by the Farewell, the Arena UI just doesn't make it obvious that you can switch to other zones.

[@XX-11235]

and the Vanishing versed Duplicator in the 1st game

[@joaquintristan4373]

He also could have sacced duplicator to itself in response to

[@ConManAU]

Everyone forgets about that because Exile is just second graveyard these days and you don’t remember that it also counts as “outside the game”.

[@Elliementals]

@@ConManAUit doesnt count as outside the game, karn specificly says it can pull from face up exile

[@ConManAU]

@@Elliementals Ah, you’re right, proves that even I don’t know his wording properly. I was thinking of the days when exiling cards was called removing them from the game.

[@chris7372]

Seth being fling'd is *chef's kiss* peak irony

[@mattm7798]

Right....Seth being Blood Moon'ed is also peak awesome :)

[@godtiermtg]

You never have to worry about counterspells during the lock if you tap your opponent out every turn

[@CTimmerman]

Except Force of Will and such.

[@zackestin1368]

You should never leave them with a force able to be used because you can use it to counter their own spells or cast their other blue spells to leave them with a land

[@rivithewarlock]

The first opponent might have sat through it because they recognize you and want you to have video content.

[@acdcguy18]

Could also want to waste his time out of spite as I would have.

[@coffeedudeable]

Could also be they sat because Seth played terribly lol. He never tapped down lands and dumped a karn into a counterspell that he saw and had control of. So he was probably hoping Seth would mess something else up and lose

[@malte54]

@@coffeedudeable Since seth needed to get rid of the counterspell to proceed winning, i don't see how wasting 1/4 Karns to it.

[@daniduc]

A fine reason tbh

[@coffeedudeable]

@malte54 1. He could have tapped all the opponents lands every turn so that he could never resolve the counterspell. 2. He could have cast the opponents other card in hand and then cast the counterspell targeting his own card to get rid of them both.

[@Worldwave]

10:45 you could save the duplicator. YOU COULD SAVE THE DUPLICATOR

[@skrelvthemite]

this pissed me off so much OMG like read your cards!

[@alexschlinkert5856]

Could have also grabbed it with karn from exile

[@meshuggahshirt]

This could have been card advantage

[@josed.9874]

How?

[@rhettk6263]

@@josed.9874 sacrifice the duplicator to its own ability, then pay 2 to get a copy of it at the endstep

[@jiratrello]

"opponent would you like a basic? oops! I misclicked" 🤣🤣🤣 seth is the real villian of mtg goldfish

[@funkydiscogod]

28:16 That Palantir was a spicy meatball.

[@goomshill]

With 4 mana open, esoteric duplicator sacrifices itself in response to removal targeted on it and clones itself. Not only that, it dodges sweepers like farewell since it returns at end of turn.

[@kiDchemical]

The real Mindslaver is Seth triggering nerds into commenting the correct lines of play and card pronunciations.

[@xchronox0]

Every viewer is a perfect player who never makes mistakes ever. Seth having an above 50% winrate with weird ass decks in high ranks means nothing if he doesn't get 100%, obviously.

[@trunkulent]

​@@xchronox0I completely agree that there are some jackanape nitpickers who just wanna tear Seth down, but one of the values of pointing out certain plays is it lets people know their options if they didn't see it either.

[@BuckysKnifeFlip]

My first deck was a 5 color Bringer deck out of the Mirrodin block that I played huge multiplayer games with some friends in college. Used to use the Black Bringer to search either the White Bringer or Mindslaver and lock my friends out with a Mindslaver every turn. I miss those days.

[@TostonDePana]

That first 'ponent helped you demonstrate the deck well. Much appreciation.

[@mattrogers77]

“…and scry it to the bottom, like a moonfolk in a moonfolk deck.” 🤣 Shots fired at Tomer! 🤣

[@Alex-ht8ss]

God I love this series. Keep up the good work, Seth

[@OnePointSafety]

Karn can get stuff from exile seth! Edit: 25:55 Finally!

[@AlienValkyrie]

33:19 Duplicator with Mind Stone is kinda redundant, it works with any mana rock, 'cause Duplicator is also a Clue. Instead of paying 1 and cracking the Mind Stone, you can just tap it for a second mana and crack the Duplicator. If you're paying the 2 to get it back anyway it doesn't matter which you crack (unless you also need the Duplicator for something else that turn). With Forsaken Monument out, tapping the Mind Stone is more mana-efficient too.

[@zachgray4767]

I find one or two copies of Crawling Barrens to be a great addition to Monument decks. They scale so quickly in the late game and it's an alternate win condition in its own right. Also, using Ipnu Rivulet over four pain lands gives you some free, non-negligible utility.

[@zackestin1368]

Even more helpful is the scry ETB filter land and the surveil ETB desert, should never use zalfirin void over those if you ever have the chance of wanting coloured mana, or using your graveyard with case of surveil desert

[@TransformersBoss]

“Today we’re going to… you know what? Screw it. Today we’re going to get flawless victories using Karn and Liquimetal Coating!”

[@bensteinhauser784]

Seth playing Karn?! You either die a hero or live long enough to become the villain...

[@TheSLATEcleaner]

Game 1, importantly you can sacrifice Esoteric to itself and pay the two to get a token copy in response to removal. Also, since it was exiled, you can still Karn -2 to get the exiled copy.

[@raulpacheco4038]

21:27 From sassy, to complete broken. Poor Seth, lol

[@balsamicvinegar4454]

Remember that duplicator can sacrifice itself to dodge artifact removal. For example, in g1 Seth could have sacked in response to the verse.

[@bolgrosch]

10:44 you could've sacced the Duplicator in response to the Vanishing Verse. It does have its own sacrifice ability that can create a copy of itself. You had 4 mana open :p

[@theronabell1126]

THIS IS WHAT DREAMS ARE MADE OF

[@boobox2000]

That last game was just the doing the "fuck this" scoop.

[@Derek.Horton]

This combo is so filthy and I'm all for it. Well done.

[@AtrociousNightmare]

This is absolutely bonkers and it brings me back and I'm 100% piloting this. Thank you Jank Lord Seth

[@joekendall8401]

"Like a moonfolk in a moonfolk commander deck" is such a backpocket reference. I'm here for it

[@feelingthislife]

I love this deck so much. I dont even play or really follow anymore but I really enjoyed this. Well done!

[@SilverAlex92]

This brings me nostalgic memories of you mindslaver locking people in oldschool moderm on MODO for against the odds

[@johnwilliams2385]

Mindstone, the ultimate foreshadowing for mindslaver.

[@ExiledSenpai]

Shout out to the first opponent who sat through that and threw out hilarious emotes.

[@Umbry_Rose]

Seth: Mindslaver is a design mistake from the earliest years of Magic! Mindslaver: Released a decade after Alpha.

[@minervaalexia6074]

Aka 20 years ago, making it ancient

[@Umbry_Rose]

@@minervaalexia6074 But the comment was the early years of Magic, making today irrelevant. Mirrodin was not the early days of Magic. It's also not super serious either.

[@louisnemzer6801]

Opponent: When do I get a turn? Seth: That's the Neat Part, You Don't

[@shatzinorris1417]

"we don't want our opponent drawing a card" (dies)

[@Jacobthejewela]

"Failed to find" with your opponents deck is hilarious

[@commanderpower99]

Seth: "teaching arena zoomers about mindslave" 40-year-old-opponent: "oh s**t"

[@keithbarlow9701]

This is such a Seth deck. Academy Ruins would be nice to have. It would open up the ability to soft lock opponents if you have 2 Rings. "Oops I misclicked" after purposely failing to find with their Fabled Passage was pretty funny

[@Lazeponder]

GladOS said it right, "for science, you monster"

[@provostparkpass]

I love this series SO MUCH!

[@SpecialKail]

That thumbnail *chef's kiss*

[@DR-lz1zv]

seth is just the best! So much joy in this person

[@Atmapalazzo]

Ahh memories of mind slaver lock. I remember watching blue tron vs jund once. Tron didn't have the mana for the lock yet, but the jund player +1'd lili of the veil up to 6 while the tron player had mindslaver on the field. He untaps, sacs mindslaver and then has the jund player ult the lili targeting jund and put everything in the sacrificed pile. Glorious

[@jefff6007]

No Seth video is complete without some kind of huge punt. Put this man in the NFL

[@HomeCookinMTG]

Classic Seth, forgetting that Karn can just…grab the stuff that got farewelled back to his hand.

[@ArchmageMerkon]

I built my inf MindSlaver in green with Wrenn ulti to replay from graveyard. Used to love using this card in paper.

[@AesirOdinn]

Shot out to first oponent, he is a real one sitting in there, mindslaved

[@ValakutTheMoltenPineapple]

“I feel dirty about playing Ugin in this deck” - Man playing mindslaver locks

[@bdac5653]

Respect for that first opponent

[@aarongonzalez7030]

Watching this brings me back memories of Mindslaver + Master Transmuter + Sharoom the Hedgeron combo I made ages ago

[@NexNavarus]

Now I'll be keeping my eyes peeled for that Dust Bowl combo deck you talked about 👀

[@Veriadrim999]

Seth: I feel dirty playing Ugin. Seth: Plays mindslaver and locks opponent out of the game :) Always enjoy your vids

[@walrusgunner]

Played against you with a Big Red deck and got absolutely smoked by the combo! Had a blast playing against this deck

[@SirKrrrapsalot]

Punt! 10:42 Esoteric Duplicator is a clue. with the 4 mana you could sack it and make a token copy of it at end of turn

[@jameshayes-barber9340]

33:100 Should have animated the Monument to block instead of getting a third mindslaver. It leaves it open to a kill spell but with a Dreadhorde Buthcer it was a hint the enemy deck was based on it getting in damage

[@diverlawn3491]

During your first game, you could have done the lock far faster, if you remembered that duplicator works on itself and has an ability to sac for 2 and you had 4 mana

[@metalmarlett1418]

Mindslaver opponent. Click concede. Profit.

[@Deer_God]

“Man seth is so nice and funny and a great entertainer, no one is perfect though there has to be something wrong with him!” *plays mindslaver locks* “oh there it is…”

[@finnpeterson4335]

My favorite thing is that Seth deliberately put Ugin in his deck to cast it, and then chose to never cast it and take much riskier lines because of it. Totally not infuriating or anything.

[@WashtubScout]

I've never clicked a thumbnail faster and am not disappointed

[@meshuggahshirt]

Babe wake up, Seth is teaching Arena Zoomers again

[@dsmaug]

As an old mono u tron player I appreciate this

[@stonerainproductions]

I couldn't click this video fast enough. I was surprised not to see Mana Drain in the deck. I'm planning on building this with Crucible of Worlds and Buried Ruin plus Mana Drain. Great video!

[@jaxsonbateman]

I don't think Mana Drain is legal in historic.

[@zackestin1368]

Mana drain is in timeless, he’s in historic, he would not want to face an oko commandeer pile with this deck ever

[@ThePhantom9495]

Love how Saf feels bad about using Ugin, but not about making a lock deck.

[@StahliCell]

Wish this video was 2 hours long, one of the funniest combos i've seen! The only other video that came to mind which was even funnier was warp world and great aurora (can we run that back pretty pls?)

[@Sir_Master]

I’ve been playing this combo nonstop since Outlaws dropped. Oh, the joy when it pops off (for me, of course, not my opponent)

[@lancewren6870]

Mindslaver story of the day: Today in OTJ premiere draft I pulled a mindslaver and couldn't resist. Game 7 my opponent had a Lotus Ring in play and was outsizing my creatures pretty badly with it. I was on the ropes, but I top decked the mindslaver. I didn't realize what I could do at first, but I clicked his creature and saw the option to Sac for mana from Lotus Ring. Proceeded to sac his entire board to Lotus Ring. Had more than enough mana to play out opponent's hand and sac them too, but opponent conceded when he realized what was happening. Good times. OTJ is a wild format.

[@Quiggles-bf2oh]

Crim may claim to be the dark lord but Seth running this deck is far more evil than Crim could ever hope to be. Love this series ❤️

[@powertokanon]

never forget to "QQ" all their mana to ensure no shenanigans ;)

[@James-mf2sp]

22:12 you're able to tutor from exile with Karn here for all the pieces that were hit with farewell!

[@James-mf2sp]

Just saw the end of the clip where you recognized it lol. Way to pull out the W anyway!

[@gabrielpelletier747]

Opponent 1 was clearly just a fan drooling :P

[@nickjoseph77]

It's okay Seth. I also forgot the hidden mode of Karn to grab your combo pieces back from exile. Everyone only normally uses him for sideboard toolbox or combo pieces in the sideboard. Lol

[@UTUB2kholle]

Awesome set of games, it's always a pleasure to see how much fun you find it to lock opponents completely out of Magic xD I think you shouldn't have forfeited at 28:26 though because you had a real shot. Yes you'd go very low on life but unless opponent cast Creeping Chills immediately you had Inventor's Fair already on the battlefield to slowly gain you life again (plus you could draw radiant fountains, etc). Unfortunately you were a bit tilted by the Palantir hit I suppose ;)

[@jeedlez920]

Wilderness reclamation makes this combo so much more consistent because you take away the turn your opponents have to get rid of mind slaver

[@davidwipperfurth8465]

Outlaws of Thunder Junction printed lots of interesting instants and instant synergy cards in green and red. I wonder if it's possible to make a convincing draw-go gruul deck.

[@SomeFreakingCactus]

The emotes in the first game really added to it.

[@StevenLong]

In that wrap up, after talking about Zoomers, hearing him say that Mindslaver was a design mistake from the earliest days of Magic really made me feel old having started playing 16 years before Mindslaver came out... :D

[@rekenner]

Playing Magic since 1987 is impressive

[@seanedgar164]

As a commander player, one of very few times farewell has looked justified

[@stephenhousman6975]

Seth: we can't bury ruin because it is in exile. Also Seth: Still can not remember Karn can get cards from exile.

[@owendananmartin9492]

Misery's back on the menu

[@lordfireguy1999]

I got this card on my first sealed run in Arena, and it earned 2 of my 7 wins.

[@matthewbarsody]

I look forward to the future Commander Clash where Seth uses Rings of Brighthearth and Esoteric to Mindslaver the entire table.

[@harutakami1313]

Seth forgetting Karn can recover artifacts from Exile in game 2.

[@rogergalvao8706]

Finally a content that is not standard!

[@vermora356]

If you've got the lock, you could try playing your opponents turn well and giving them a lot of value. Eventually win by making them overload on value and deck themselves

[@ColossalSkyTurtle]

Emry, Lurker of the Loch also works for a mindslaver lock on arena.

[@Rathinen]

So Mirroden is now from "the earliest days of Magic"? Way to make me feel like a boomer.

[@neil5652]

Why is our opponent staying? Well first of all it would be a privilege to be paired against you. 2nd its during the rare time when you are puling off a crazy combo I'd just sit back and watch the fireworks too!

[@that1guy811]

22:17 I hope you figure this out later in the video, but it's actually pretty good that they exiled the artifacts, you can get them back with Karn Update: .....yup! figured it out lmao

[@DiogoVKersting]

I don't know if I agree with "dirty" Ugin. Yes, it's a strong card, but it's 8 mana. On the formats where it can be played, seems like a fair card to me.

[@zasshulad2619]

47:54 Getting Monument is better here because you can cast it and mind slaver lock the following turn via transmutation font. Your opponent resolving Sheoldred and killing Karn doesn't matter because 1. you can use the rankle you know about to kill the sheoldred and 2. you can use monument to offset sheoldred damage. Your opponent can't kill you that turn as they are 3 mana short of activating hive, casting sheoldred, and rankle which would kill on drawstep if they had you draw and lose life, but then even if they could do all that or something similar you could transmutation font a food then mindslaver lock them by grabbing MS with Karn.

[@seangoldman6833]

Lilian'a ultimate says "target player". It would have been sweet if that Lili in the last game had gotten up to 6 counters before the Mindslayer.

[@TheMikestaaaaa]

Remember the duplicator is a clue, so it can dodge removal if you have 4 mana up