The Zugzwang Machine | A History of Lantern Control

This video follows the unlikely ascent of Magic’s most peculiar deck: Lantern Control. From a fleeting idea in a forum thread to winning the Pro Tour, Lantern Control challenged our understanding of Magic and forever changed how we think about its core game systems.
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📘 Chapters:
0:00 Card Kingdom
0:29 BASILISK
1:05 The Compulsion to Move
3:12 Assembling the Pieces: The MTGSalvation Thread
9:11 There Is No Game To Be Played
17:21 A Cult of the Obsessed
30:35 The Light That Never Goes Out
35:58 The Magali Villeneuve Playmat Collection
37:01 Rules Technicalities Galore
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#mtg #magicthegathering

[@ArmanyteGX]

Amazing job Sam, you made an in depth explanation on the history of a deck within the time it took to play a match against it!

[@erickwalter2828]

Match? More like game 1.

[@xboxgamer474246]

@@erickwalter2828someone doesn’t know when to concede lol

[@PopeGoliath]

Lantern control is only as slow as its opponent is stubborn.

[@_counterspell]

104.3a dude

[@ghoulofmetal]

​​@@erickwalter2828you say this like a match and game 1 are different things with lantern control

[@ryanharris286]

Probably the best commentary in pro tour history: when Gerry concedes to Luis in the finals, LSV says “although these matches are untimed… Gerry still values the time he has left on this planet.”

[@JaySay]

Some of my favorite bits of commentary came from LSV. He had a lot of fun with Ivan Floch for pro tour M2015, and hell, I thoroughly enjoyed watching that final! I loved it when him, BDM, and Hagon were cheering for the Nyx Fleece Ram to swing in for lethal!

[@vb_blokeboi7251]

@@JaySay That Floch final was when I first started playing FNM with Jeskai Tempo. Fond memories

[@AB-sw4kb]

@@vb_blokeboi7251 2013-2016 was great Magic that we all took for granted as the norm

[@tdimensional6733]

"Players inexperienced with the deck will make the crucial mistake of trying to play Magic with it" is such a funny sentiment to have for a deck and I love how right it is

[@tarmokatcosplay253]

Ah yes…I remember the first time I encountered lantern control in a matchup 😂 had no idea wtf was going on. Bless my heart

[@lancesmith8298]

People just really aren’t used to realizing that conceding is a valuable resource for competitive play, doubly so in tournaments. You aren’t playing a fighting game, you are being Smash Bros Melee wobbled in cardboard. Your brainpower is better spent on the next match, with a better sideboard and a fresh perspective. And in practice fighting Lantern Control isn’t Magic, but managing inventory in a survival horror. You have very few resources to stop the immovable object, and every turn you don’t, the situation gets worse and worse for you.

[@dylanehooverlibrarian7026]

It's almost a zen nihilist build. You confront that the game and objectives are an artifice, and deny the resources and objectives of your opponents as you do your own. It's incredibly profound and complex and ultimately a victory through denia.

[@RazzAlerio]

I once read Lantern Control described as "Systematically putting every card in our decks under intense scrutiny to ensure no fun is had by anyone”

[@lancesmith8298]

Lantern Control is a deck that turns Magic the Gathering into survival horror resource management. Either you find a way to stop the inexorable force, or you die

[@jeremypiles1787]

Hahaha the comment and reply are both great. Is prison just a subset of control?

[@lancesmith8298]

@@jeremypiles1787 Kind of. Lantern is part of a very rare breed of Control deck known as a “Prison deck”, which locks your opponent out of playing as best as they can. Traditional Control decks want to stall for time long enough to play something that either wins on its own immediately, or play something that’s hard to remove and constantly creates value.

[@Somane27]

26:48 An opponent once asked me "Do you have any counterspells?" and I said "Maybe". He conceded. I had 7 lands in hand.

[@TheOrian34]

Control is about playing the opponent, the spells you cast only here as performative acts.

[@tommihalonen6471]

I'm a casual mtgArena player playing home brew garbage decks. The number of games won turn 1 with my 1 mana counterspell is astounding. The joke is, I always include exactly one one mana counterspell every (bluish) deck. Maybe not exactly relevant but I honestly just wanted to share this somewhere 😅

[@dragoknighte48]

​@@tommihalonen6471People on Arena scoop to the slightest of inconveniences

[@dismasbzh7733]

@@tommihalonen6471i do also love spellpierce (pay 2 more mana or dont cast). Seing an opponent cast a 5 mana spell because he thinks "he only has 1 blue mana up, counter spell cost 2 so im safe" always makes me so happy.

[@jennis8561]

​@@tommihalonen6471A friend of mine got into Arena and he was so proud of his first own deck, which was just a blue pile of counters in all shapes and sizes. He early on realised how easily people conceded and decided to make that his win condition, it wasn't competitive or good in any way but it beautifully played the easy frustration of the platform. He found it kinda sad to play though.

[@Flying1Kotte]

My favorite lantern interaction I got to make a call on was a Lantern vs UW control endgame. Where neither player could kill the other, the UW player was out of cards, and the Lantern player was recycling Academy Ruins to not deck. However, the UW player had Gideon of the Trials out with an emblem and could not lose, and the lantern player had to stop their loop eventually, meaning that the UW player got the win.

[@collinbeal]

Ooh that's a good one. Static effect vs. deterministic loop. Very spicy.

[@chrisiver8506]

I don't get get it, isn't it just a draw?

[@behemoth9543]

@@chrisiver8506 If you continue to perpetuate a loop when you have the option of stopping it and that loop doesn´t lead to anyone actually winning or losing the game, you are eventually forced to take a different action as per the rules of the game. As opposed to "true" mechanical loops with no player input where if it doesn´t end and neither player wins the game is just declared a draw. The Gideon player doesn´t need to actually do anything to be unable to lose due to Gideon, the Lantern player has to actively take game actions to prevent himself from losing and eventually is forced to take different actions to prevent the game from going on forever which means he has to not recycle Academy Ruins and lose the game.

[@byronsmothers8064]

One must imagine Sisyphus happy.

[@lancesmith8298]

The idea of UW Control, ostensibly the most cowardly deck of all, teching in something that turns the Lantern matchup into the Revengeance Nanomachines scene, is so funny

[@lucasenraraujo]

The unique thing Lantern does is turning Magic into a complete and perfect information game and that's why the chess analogy is even more apt. This deck always fascinated me as seemingly stupid rube-goldberg machine could go and flip the game on its head and its history, as highlighted in the video, is a delightful insight into the mtg community at its best.

[@lancesmith8298]

I think an even more apt metaphor for fighting against Lantern is that you are now suddenly playing a hand of poker. Whatever lies in your opening hand may be all the good cards you’ll ever get. Your opponent may get to know what’s in there, but you don’t know how good their hand is either. All you can do is try to beat their opening hand with your opening hand.

[@imperialcitizen4811]

Fire design killed this type of deckbuilding.

[@lancesmith8298]

@@imperialcitizen4811 Don’t blame the designers, blame the large corporation that incentivizes the designers to make safe, deliberately synergistic crap for commander

[@jackcooke2327]

@@imperialcitizen4811 not really, though it didn't help. Maindeckable artifact removal did. A huge, huge, part of the power of the deck was how many decks were weak to ensnaring bridge and had few ways of removing it. Essentially every deck now has maindeckable artifact removal. it's easy to get romantic about this deck but that's really what it was based on and why it's gone. Unless by fire design you mean cards like boseiju, leyline binding, and prismatic ending.

[@zym6687]

@@jackcooke2327 They need to print such answers because the fire design threats are so game warping.

[@bobdiedtwice1620]

From a flavor perspective it's a pacifist's loadout. " I don't want to kill you, I don't want to die. I just want you to walk away from the battlefield."

[@lucasriddle3431]

From a flavour perspective it is a horrifying pacifist's loadout, since you're... erasing all of your opponent's offensive capabilities just as they're about to think of them? Plus standing on the other side of a very troublesome bridge. But, yeah, that's an interesting angle to consider too.

[@jordanchico5021]

Flavor-wise, you're casting Swords to Plowshares on your opponent.

[@triangle4295]

i played this deck for few years and I have always felt like i am sittin on a big ass chair fidgeting with trinkets when my opponent is trying to do all sorts of horrible things from afar, but if I turn this lil thing a notch to the left he cannot harm me anymore. If u turn it too far, you instantly get blasted by some high tech weaponary xD Then it was just watching them slowly lose faith to finally answer their everlasting question "now u cannot, you would have to draw 7 shatterstorms in a row". Sounds pretty fucking mental i guess haha

[@SurgingChaos19]

Lantern Control was probably the last gasp of the old-school internet forums being the main source of players getting together to create, tune, and optimize decks like this. After Lantern Control, you eventually got Reddit, Twitter, and Discord taking over and replacing forums for good. Lantern Control wasn't just unique in its gameplay, but it also represented a turning point in the game's history for how information was being processed.

[@lancesmith8298]

And honestly Discord is still, to a degree, the same hermit’s mountaintop experience of highly dedicated savants finding all there is to know about One Thing, from a Magic deck to a fighting game character, but the problems with the new model of niche Internet forums are that it’s even more isolated, and even more prone to becoming lost media. It’s not that boomer sentiment of “kids these days”, but the fact that it requires an internet connection, a server complicated enough for voice chat and emoji, voice chat as potentially loseable oral history, and also a big company owns it. Every day, big tech pushes me harder and harder to throw my laptop off a bridge and go anti-paperless

[@jkid1134]

​@@lancesmith8298I think that, one day, there will be a big pulse or something, from man or from nature, and every computer on the planet will be wiped, and it will be our burning Alexandria.

[@TastySnackies]

@@lancesmith8298the focus on discord has also given rise to the culture of gatekeepers enforcing who engages in these discord servers now (either through money/subscriptions or old fashioned gatekeeping), which makes it even worse, considering that if there is any sort of deck building innovations happening that they’ll be segregated from the culture at-large.

[@Luckingsworth]

​@@lancesmith8298 Nah, discord is where discussion goes to die.

[@jackl8025]

is reddit not a forum?

[@BaalThondral]

37:40 The bigger problem for the lantern player was chromatic sphere. Because the draw is tied tothe manaability, that doesnt use the stack, you cant respond to it. So the tron player can always crack a sphere to immediately draw the top card (without you being able to mill it in response). You can however respond to a star activation, because the carddraw on star is a seperate ability that uses the stack.

[@aldeayeah]

Besides that, Tron also tended to require too many Pithing Needle effects, was resilient to Inquisition, and tended to run some particularly problematic cards such as World Breaker.

[@triangle4295]

oh man, I just wrote that comment, waste of typing but nice to see someone else mentioning that :D

[@dhalden93]

I used to joke that the win condition of this deck was "making your opponent quit magic." But it is definitely the most fascinating deck in modern by a mile, and I eagerly wait the day of its rise again.

[@jonathanrichman2330]

I'm a chess master who has played for 15 years now. There is nothing more satisfying than pulling off a middlegame zugzwang. It's one of the hardest accomplishments to pull off and it never gets old. Lantern control sounds like such an amazing deck, I wish I got to see it when it was at its prime.

[@markuskoivisto]

It’s still a completely playable deck

[@markuskoivisto]

If you want to, you absolutely can build it and start winning games.

[@aldeayeah]

@@markuskoivisto current Lantern has lost some of the prison purity of the old builds, mostly because Urza's Saga is so broken lol

[@project.mirari]

As someone who was referenced in this video, thank you for making this video. This deck and this early time period of Modern was one of the last joys I had in participating in deckbrewing online, and it cemented Magic for me for all this time. I don't play much anymore but I am proud of this deck and how far it's come. Even though I didn't leave tournament results or major impact for the shape of the deck as it is now, I still associate a large part of me as a Magic player to my time in the MTGsalvation thread for Top Control. Thank you for your dedication to Magic history.

[@julianalvarez4231]

One of my favorite decks I've never played. Probably amongst the most unique gameplans to ever see real competitive success.

[@lancesmith8298]

On a somewhat similar note, Hearthstone has probably the most interesting blend of mechanics to ever grace an equivalent deck to Legacy, which is all wrapped up in Questline Warlock. >So, what is it? It is a combo deck that can play a little bit Aggro or Control depending on taste, which wants to kill the opponent by drawing all its cards. >Like Lab Man? Kinda. Hearthstone instead deals scaling damage when you run out of cards in your deck, which gets converted into damage against the opponent by finishing Demon Seed’s requirements of 30 self-damage. Out of 30 base life. So it’s a combo deck dedicated to actively running out of the two most important resources in card games to win. It must barely preserve its life long enough to turn it into a win, and is also trying to eat its library as fast as it can with card draw, discard, and self-mill.

[@DNGNDriver]

I love how you describe BBD at 20:19. It's like a character in a Lovecraft story who becomes obsessed with these strange realities after being brushed by it. Great video!

[@danielkings2443]

I love the chess reference in the title. I used to play competitive chess and magic scratches the same mental pathways that makes chess so enjoyable to me. I will soon begin playing magic competitively too. Magic may be the best game ever devised.

[@mindlightwave]

All the best magic players I knew from the 90s/00s were chess maestros in their own right.

[@paulgaither]

For many years, I used to describe Magic as Chess woth Poker. Poker has bluffing and hidden information and luck of the draw.

[@aqswd6825]

i feel as though the main difference is that calculation is more emphasized in chess

[@robrick9361]

I don't mean to be rude but what are you even saying? You're comparing an open information board game to a hidden information card game. I understand that people like to compare their "thing" to chess because chess is the classic smart person game but the comparison is just ridiculous.

[@paulgaither]

@@robrick9361 You are being a tad rude with your word choices and structure. You are also failing to take the time to do any analytical thinking about the comparisons and what the points of comparison are. You can disagree, but to say there is no comparison is closed-minded nonsense. "Magic: The Gathering" (MTG) and chess share several similarities despite their differences in gameplay and thematic content: Strategic Depth: Both games require deep strategic thinking and planning. In chess, players must anticipate and counter their opponent's moves several steps ahead. Similarly, in MTG, players must think multiple turns ahead, considering potential plays and counterplays based on the cards they have and what their opponent might play. Skill and Knowledge: Mastery of both games demands extensive knowledge and skill. Chess players need to understand various openings, middle-game strategies, and endgame techniques. MTG players need to know a wide range of cards, deck-building strategies, and the interactions between different cards and mechanics. Tactical Decision-Making: Both games involve critical tactical decisions. In chess, each move can change the game's outcome, and in MTG, each play of a card can turn the tide of the match. Resource Management: Resource management is crucial in both games. Chess players must manage their pieces effectively, making sure to use them to their full potential without losing them needlessly. In MTG, players must manage their mana (the resource used to play cards) and their cards, deciding the optimal time to play each card for maximum effect. Competitive Nature: Both games have a strong competitive scene, with tournaments and championships where top players compete. The mental challenge and the skill involved make both games appealing to competitive players. Complex Rules and Variability: Both games have complex rules that provide a wide range of possible scenarios. Chess has a fixed board and pieces, but the almost infinite possibilities of move sequences make every game unique. MTG has a constantly expanding set of cards, which leads to an immense variety of possible decks and game situations. Psychological Elements: Bluffing and psychological warfare play roles in both games. In chess, players might use threats or traps to mislead their opponent. In MTG, players can bluff about having certain cards or strategies, influencing their opponent's decisions. Endgame Complexity: The endgame in both chess and MTG can be particularly complex and critical. Chess endgames require precise calculation and knowledge of specific endgame principles. In MTG, the endgame often involves managing dwindling resources and making the most out of each remaining card.

[@RedEarthTaxidermy]

See, this is a sterling example of why your work is so awesome: you focus on *concepts*. Could be principles of deckbuilding, could be art, could be storyline, could be analyses of a single card, but no matter what, you're plumbing the depths of the *ideas* beneath the game. No matter how many goofy crossover junk sets they release, they can never take that away. Kudos, good sir.

[@gene7cole]

The social element of this deck is incredible to learn about. Lots of folks talk about Magic as a game of pure numbers - but it's also played by humans, and those humans have baggage that's just as challenging to navigate (from behaviours and etiquette to our unique perceptions of time) Incredible video, and one that reminds me why I love Magic - and multiplayer gaming in general

[@delathenleso5793]

Nah, it's real easy. Lantern Control is like the sweaty guy in the corner who's never brushed his teeth: good venues sideline and ask them to leave. Modern didn't.

[@shitpostgrotto2982]

​@@delathenleso5793 Guess who's still salty about that game they lost to lantern 6 years ago?

[@delathenleso5793]

@@shitpostgrotto2982 *shrug* I see a pile of refuse festering in my sandwich, I'm going to call out the pile of refuse festering in my sandwich and question the health of the deli that sold it to me.

[@errrzarrr]

​@@delathenleso5793 don't take it personally

[@werhsdnas]

One fun fact was that the card Shenanigans was printed by Wizards as an attempt to stop Lantern Control, and the art depicts a lantern being destroyed.

[@olipod5470]

I expected the card to be mentioned in this video. But also I see the deck took a dip before Shenanigans got printed. Seems like the delay between design and release was too long this time

[@_counterspell]

lantern was long out of meta when shenan got printed. patently false

[@werhsdnas]

@@_counterspell Yeah, but the card would have been designed earlier, when lantern control was still a part of the meta. the set released in 2019, a year after Lantern won a PT.

[@_counterspell]

@@werhsdnas not conclusive and a fringe modern deck is not the entire reason behind a single card being designed. redact

[@TheSeptet]

​@@_counterspellWizards often prints silver bullets for decks that get too big, and with the combination of the flavor, art, and mechanics (Shenanigans destroys an artifact and has dredge, so it's the perfect counter), not to mention the timing (the card was designed while lantern was getting big), I'd say it's very likely. You can even find people saying "RIP Lantern Control" on release promo forum posts and on Reddit

[@DittoTransform]

This was my favorite modern deck of all time. Super glad to know other people still care about the deck.

[@the_wake_]

It was incredible watching this deck shape up in real time. It takes so much conventional wisdom everyone took for granted, flips it off, and rides cackling into the sunset. Everything about it should be so bad, but it's so perfectly synergistic it works. Beautiful to behold. Hell to experience.

[@Jubstereye]

For many years I've been meaning to search up lantern control and figure out what exactly it is. For many years I have, just to be dumbfounded by it. I was overjoyed when I saw this video in my feed, hoping to finally understand what this nietche deck does. I am once again dumbfounded, exect now I know I love it! Thank you, Sam.

[@Rudeyrudey]

I don’t understand how you can keep getting better with every video. Please never stop making these, they are not only the best content in the MtG community, but the best hobby specific content around.

[@MrCheeze]

I don't even know the rules of the game, I'm just here for the great storytelling.

[@Nas0630]

I love the deck in concept. Hate it with a burning passion in practice.

[@Zayindjejfj]

Yeah it's cool in concept. The fact something like it existing is a testament to how free form and limitless Magic is as a card game. So many cards that let you just perform what is basically the card game equivalent of breaking the 4th wall. Actually dealing with it? Please no. One of my friends used winter orb.... After the first time it's not fun. The whole "I don't want to win i just want to control you playing the game" is a very insufferable personality trait.

[@Brightwick]

This video brought back so many fond memories of a specific hearthstone matchup - odd dragon control warrior vs. odd mage. Rarely could the warrior generate enough tempo to kill the mage before they stabilized with their top end lifestealing haymakers, so the game became one of weathering their threats until they ran out of cards and died to fatigue (without a single lifestealing minion left on board, which they could generate from any minion with a single health left). It was the first time I felt like a skilled pilot of a deck, who knew the ins and outs of the game and the most common (and most difficult) matchup.

[@dancingmathusalem5451]

My favourite matchup ever was the odd dr boom warrior mirror, knowing when to silence the taunt dinos to dany a single card in their deck One of my fondest memories is managing to win a mirror when I misclicked and deleted 30 armor with the aoe, and also getting dr boom later than my opponent, basically off of not playing shield block and silencing their dinos

[@justass3001]

With Hearthstone matchups it has to be quest rogue vs the warrior control deck that won via fatigue. I remember seeing turn one concessions since the warrior deck literally cannot win the game. Is there any magic matchup that bad?

[@Brightwick]

@@dancingmathusalem5451 I totally forgot about managing reckless flurries so you didn’t lose half your life! That was also a part of the matchup that made it so difficult.

[@henrye3935]

I LOVED this deck. I played it for years, from its first big appearance, through G/B builds and U/B builds with Whir, it's Pro-Tour win. It's the deck I miss most. It played the game on a truly different axes, and piloting it was a labor of love. You had to know every other deck, every card, you would need to know when to choose to play second, and all of that had to be done fast so the game didn't time out. It was amazing. Talking about players not knowing how it wins - the funniest interaction I ever had with an opponent was when I was playing this against someone new to Modern. He said "Nothing's happening. Shall we just call it a draw?" lol. Dude, this is how I win. People hated it, though, and new players did not understand what you were doing, so I had multiple players at my GPS time me out with 1-3 cards left in their deck on multiple occasions. They would slow play and you had to keep on them, which could get uncomfortable.

[@aldeayeah]

I have a similar history with the deck. Playing the deck itself was already mentally taxing, but having to manage the opponents was what made me eventually put it down. Now I only play it against fellow degenerate friends. (also, the mirror match was hell)

[@OGNoNameNobody]

*Lantern Control* is the ultimate distilation of the phrase: "Yes, it is fun to make sure no one has fun."

[@vitorduraes8212]

I was playing commander yesterday with some friends, and one of them, playing the new gonti, cast a lantern of insight. Me, not knowing of what that card was, as I have never even seen it before, thought it was pretty neat, as it allowed the crime deck to see the things he'd take from all of us. It was after that spell was cast that everyone started about this, to me, innocuous artifact, and how it created puzzle boxes out of games. The head judge there at the time even popped in to share some tales from when that deck was circling around in the store's tourneys. Needless to say, from yesterday, I've been very curious about this lantern control deck, and this thing came across my timeline at the absolute greatest time possible : p Excellent video as always : )

[@MrScourge42]

Zugzwang Machine is such a fantastic name for a video about lantern control.

[@aidancary9830]

I don't really have the words to communicate how this video specifically and Rhystic Studies videos in general make me feel, but the closest approximation is that after every video I'm glad to be alive. There's such an attention to the small things that make our world wonderful. This isn't a video about a deck, it's a video about community, thinking about the world differently, and that there will always be new worlds to discover no matter how small. Thank you for giving me 40 minutes of that feeling.

[@cameronbrake8215]

I remain astonished at your ability to find and present the sort of Capital-T Truth that can typically only be had in our highest pursuits. Consistently, you point at a corner pocket of this card game only to wind up showing me something urgent and enormous, something that gives warmth to the hopeful parts of head and heart. Man, I hope you know that Rhystic Studies, like all good art, is f**king soul affirming stuff. It's important for reasons that have almost nothing to do with MTG. My past few years have been very, very dark. But there have been days when listening to your stuff made it just possible enough for me to find my way back to a survivable path through the Blind Eternities. Thank you for that. If ever there was someone worthy to hold the lantern of insight, it's you. Shine on.

[@criscofields7242]

"We're Only Gonna Die for Our Arrogance" by Sublime The lyrics are "Early man walked away as modern man took control" And my brain always says "Modern Latern Control" for the last part.

[@SeanStonkus]

Bad Religion wrote that song

[@sevenhundredspiders8863]

The first video of yours i watched was the essay on One With Nothing. It blew me away! Since then I've seen every one of your videos. I love the format and the great analogies. Keep up the good work!

[@TheJacklikesvideos]

OwN is a great card, video, and counterpart to this. i can even see a place for OwN in lantern decks.

[@treyden]

this deck got me into magic. I remember seeing it at my lgs in 2015 and I was so fascinated by how deeply you had to understand the game in order to break it

[@marinusbrask8186]

What a blast. Every single one of your videos are like a spa day for the brain. They celebrate, when i feel negativity is becoming a mainstay of magic content. Your videos make me smile and thing, "god i love this game". Thank you for that.

[@Pheenixz]

This comment needs to be higher up because it expresses exactly how I feel. I don't play magic anymore but I still fucking love this game.

[@oliverolson6578]

Not only was this interesting and well put together, it really takes me back to an age of watching pro magic we no longer have. Despite the quality of life offered by Arena for playing and even viewship, there is this element of highly technical, personal offline play that is so much rarer in the post covid era. Thanks for the nostalgia trip into an awesome era of experiencing magic and its meta developments.

[@stephensanders9319]

I clicked on this video on accident right when I got the bell notification. Looks like the next 40 min of my life just got allocated.

[@kwagmeijer26]

Physical Studies playing notification control.

[@waku13]

To all magic online players, don’t start a modern league for the next weeks

[@Sinspinner]

The banning of Mox opal was the catalyst for me to give up on 60 card magic. Lantern Control was, and still is, my favorite modern deck, with twin being a close second. I have the Oklahoma Grand Prix finals saved because I got to see my two favorite decks battle it out. This video brought me back. Thank you for this.

[@ImrahilToChaos]

Not playing Magic is your favourite way to play Magic? No wonder you quit when you weren’t able to play Magic anymore.

[@Sinspinner]

@@ImrahilToChaos I didn’t quit playing Magic, I quit playing 60 card Magic. Before Mox Opal, there was Splinter Twin, Second Sunrise, Summer Bloom, and various bans that affected Storm. In legacy there was Sensei’s Diving Top and Deathrite Shaman. But when Mox Opal was banned it hit both Lantern Control and Affinity, two very different decks. At that point I started asking myself why I continued to play formats that are supposed to be eternal but my favorite decks either get nerfed or eliminated. So I switched to commander. Playing casually has made the game fun again for me. Also there’s nothing wrong with prison decks. It’s just another cog in the magic machine.

[@ImrahilToChaos]

@@Sinspinner I don’t think a deck that essentially asks both players to commit to not playing the game anymore is ‘another cog’. Prison decks usually have faster wincons than ‘mill them out over many turns’. From the perspective of a person who actually wants to engage with the game, it’s not interesting or fun, it’s just boring.

[@AnEnderNon]

@@ImrahilToChaos if you do not think it is interesting or fun to continue to play for the 1e-12 chance that you will win, then just concede and move on?

[@MistaHoward]

​​@@ImrahilToChaosagreed, all decks that consist of any strategy besides turning creatures sideways need to be banned for requiring triple digit IQ

[@Farticuno69]

This is one of my favorite videos of yours. As always, I loved how prepared and researched your progeny and evolution of the deck was presented. One of the highlights was definitely how you paralleled and contrasted the deck to lists like Eggs and KCI, which both popped to the front of my mind as a viewer throughout the video. Fantastic job

[@Sidewinder_Circa]

As someone who picked up Lantern when Mr. Salvato took Pro Tour RIX, the deck is the reason why I developed as a magic player and helped me improve in critical thinking skills in real life. I still own my foil Fifth Dawn Lanterns, one signed by Zac Elsik himself, and can't wait to put it back on the stack again. Amazing video, Sam

[@liampierce8607]

I love this channel. Every time magic starts to get boring he reminds me why I love it so much. It’s a unique gift that only Sam seems to be able to give me

[@johnlancaster2841]

I used to play lantern, it was a lot of fun. However, one of my favorite memories was playing against it with Bant Eldrazi. My opponent playing lantern was taking a bit more aggressive of an approach on the mill plan, and milled my one of main deck World Breaker into my yard.. just for me to nab it by sac’ing a land. The entire game I had been building an army by blinking Drowner of Hope with Eldrazi Displacer, knowing that all I had to do was cast World Breaker and nuke the ensnaring bridge holding me back. The look on my opponent’s face when I returned the World Breaker to my hand was priceless. He had forgotten all about it, and forgot I could return it from the graveyard.

[@robertcastiglione5995]

Lantern Control was the very first comp deck I ever watched at GP Ixalan. To this day, I’ve found myself going back and watching those games. Thank you for making this sam. It feel like it was made JUST for me in a way

[@PsychoticSashimiS]

Beautiful video! I was enthralled for the entirety of it and am beyond happy to see you dedicate a whole video to this deck!!!

[@jeremypiles1787]

I have some banger channels on rotation, and I look forward to your updates foremost. Thank you, Sam and team.

[@logicallgaming]

Thanks Sam, for always showing me new interesting decks and the history behind them. Please keep making these! I truly enjoy them and can't wait for the next one.

[@kcjj6]

hey sam - just a quick correction: it's chromatic sphere, rather than star, that gets the draw which lantern cannot interact with. signed by a tron player who got lanterned out nonetheless

[@BeatButton]

Is it not both?

[@christopherbaldwin2094]

​@@BeatButtonone draws as a triggered effect. The other is a mana ability

[@BeatButton]

@@christopherbaldwin2094 ah, right! somehow I was stuck on the Pithing Needle thing, since they both get sacrificed to a mana ability

[@ethanwilson3942]

Actual masterpiece of writing and editing, your videos literally get better with every upload

[@terrabite87]

This has always been one of my favorite decks. So glad to see it getting some love. It's an amazing video as always, Sam. Keep up the good work

[@shrimpboatgames8002]

I lost to Lantern Control one of the first times i ever played Modern at my LGS, and i was always fascinated by it. I have a Commander deck that plays several of the combo pieces and it's one of my favorite decks. Thank you for the video!

[@kristoffercedric4565]

I haven’t even played a proper game of Magic in years, but this video reminded me of all the mind bending nuances of the game and why I will always love it.

[@poetryanon2]

I've been trying desperately to get this to work in commander with mixed results. But GOD do I adore the way this deck plays. So different from so many different ways.

[@maskedswan85]

Incredible work on this one Sam, this was such a blast from the past and I’m glad you could give it the spotlight!

[@jayblue5464]

As a lantern player, I love this video. Good video Sam.

[@shadowgripper]

This video is incredibly well-done. You hit the nail on the head with the core philosophy of how the Lantern deck works. This video brought back a lot of great memories for me. Thank you

[@docauch5938]

People complain about control decks and them making the game “not fun”, but it’s this kind of creativity that makes Magic such a complex and interesting game. Glad you appreciate and highlight it.

[@ClarkNewman608]

Complex? Sure. Interesting? Maybe the first few times you go up against it. But once you understand the general premise, as the video says, the end goal is for both players to spend a great deal of time not playing the game.

[@berserkerciaran]

Control in general is cool (definitely more fun than aggro killing you turn 3), but this kind of deck is just miserable to go against

[@tinfoilslacks3750]

It's cool that, conceptually, this deck *can* exist. That it actually *does* is a travesty.

[@FutureOverYou]

I always love RS's videos. An unerring and insightful look into a specific point or subject in Magic thats informative and entertaining. Excellent video.

[@Skrippy33]

Sam, you continue to put out some of the highest quality video essays on this wonder game. Forever impressed.

[@skewire]

Surprised at how nostalgic this made me. I never played the deck and I only played modern once in a while back then-but I loved how it elevated my understanding of the game and changed what I loved about it. Thanks for the video!

[@lesternomo6578]

As much as I hate watching lantern control, it's really amazing how much it shows you what matters in magic, really makes you introspect on what winning is actually derived from in a game

[@Razomka]

Another excellent video. Keep the working going Sam, it's so good to watch and listen to.

[@sstanfo1]

You make absolutely incredible docs. You quite possibly have the greatest MTG channel on the internet.

[@georgelacatus1495]

Beautiful analysis Sam, and an excellent retrospective. Super excited for the Magali Villeneuve Kickstarter too ❤

[@pieterbassie85]

thanks for making another great video, im excited to start this one, but already know its gonna be awesome. Your work is greatly appreciated brother. Much love

[@rolandovalencia9949]

Great job Sam, love always discovering ways in which the game is took over new perspectives!

[@pedroscoponi4905]

I never got into Magic beyond the shallowest of levels, and I really really enjoyed this video. It does a great job of showing how the deck works and why it's so interesting, even if you don't know much about MTG beyond the very basics. Well done!

[@Timodj13]

Oh my god. Zugzwang is one of my favorite concepts when dealing with existential crises

[@BigGroupHug]

No one else has been so excellently documenting this history like Sam

[@Uzotrups]

Thank you so much for this piece, Sam!!❤❤

[@deathnotehell1]

Lantern Control reminds me of another Magic the Gathering quote in regards to the Jace planeswaker in that which roughly amounts to if your opponent can see your next draw and lets you draw it regardless, your screwed.

[@warpdrivefueledbyinsomnia8165]

Lantern Control is one of my favorite decks in Magic. Thank you for tackling it.

[@drakeno4273]

I recently found these videos after knowing of this channel mainly from your appearances on shows like Shuffle up and Play, Keep up the great content, there is something so comfortable about throwing one of these videos on and just mindlessly grinding some game while i learn about magic's history

[@TheJacklikesvideos]

that feeling when your favorite M:tG channel uploads an essay on your favorite M:tG deck is as satisfying as your opponent invoking rule 104.3a

[@tengupnw5362]

Thank you for bringing notice to Magic being so much more than just a game. Changed my life

[@tianruixiao9239]

Great video, what drew me in was how unique this deck is in concept and how much you need to understand whether an opponent's card is relevant. To me its beautiful in how it accrues incremental advantages until a win is deterministic, that part is a lot like chess.

[@eeveeBcute]

to this day the most fun ive ever had playing competitive magic was with lantern control. Awesome video really took me back

[@phlsphr42]

Excellent video, good to see zerodown get his due credit after all these years :) So many people worked together to make the deck what it was/is, which is something I kind of miss in contemporary MtG.

[@IsonDaya]

Always enjoyed watching your videos of lantern!

[@phlsphr42]

@@IsonDaya thanks! Been busy lately, but hopefully can make more time soon 🙂

[@tortaahogada9685]

My favorite KZbin channel dropping a video about my favorite deck 👌

[@end-er_1023]

Amazing video and research. I’m looking forward to seeing more like this.

[@kegslaiwges2624]

I’ve been waiting for this video for a long time. Thank you Sam

[@demolisherman1763]

Great video Sam! I’ve always heard murmurs of the deck but it’s really satisfying to see its history laid out like this.

[@atomiccocoanut2596]

thanks for always being a positive light in this community and telling those feel-good stories that this game can bring to the world

[@lutz4820]

Awesome Video! Thank you very much Sam!

[@soopthedog7236]

Got so excited for a banger video and it delivered. You are so ontop of your game

[@ASMRChess]

The chess metaphor is beautiful. I wish you would make these kinda videos for chess as well. However I’m already very happy with the amazing work you do on Magic.

[@Tylerbremner]

New rhystic studies yeeeeeeah Love your videos Sam. Thanks for what you do always something I look forward to 🙏

[@spurjoe]

A lantern mirror match would be crazy

[@M0torsagmannen]

i was thinking the same thing

[@electronboy4050]

im sure this is where the soft win condition card may come in. The video mentions at one time the soft win card isn't needed and in that case i would be super interested to here the pilots opin on how a mirror match would define a winner.

[@electronboy4050]

I accidently watched the credits(bc who stays for credits, lol) and they show a mirror matchup between two skilled players you can watch in another video.

[@arran2264]

I find myself saying this almost every time you post a video, this is one of your best pieces of work.

[@TheRojoplatano]

You did it again Sam, another beautiful essay. Love when you post.

[@Yesnomu]

What a beautiful breakdown of the deck! I don't want to play against it but I'm glad the deck exists still.

[@pyrhaa]

Enjoyed this video a ton. A deck that really marked my mind

[@sashkakepuladze6191]

To every Rhystic Studies upload I show up in a suit and give a standing ovation by myself at the end. Every time.

[@matthewmartin9983]

Sam, my guy, I just don’t know where I’d be without you. Your videos are what I point people to when someone asks me what my favorite show is. You hands down are my favorite content creator.

[@soasertsus]

Lantern Control is just one of those decks that makes me wish I played magic back when it was around. The concept is just so amazing, I absolutely love how it's not even obvious at first glance how it wins but yet the sheer amount of damage that can be done just by strategically manipulating the opponents draws is enough that the game is basically unwinnable for them.

[@yairgomez9090]

The feeling I get getting to the end of Sam's videos I can't really put in words... I'm just so damn happy to love and know this awesome game :')

[@AAA-zv5hk]

never played a magic game nor watched magic content in my life. watched the entire video because the storytelling and editing was so good. great job dude, going to learn the game now!

[@ihateladymacbeth8170]

my favorite modern deck! ive always wanted rhystic studies to make a video abt it. i guess dreams rly do come true...

[@jimmykeffer7401]

Beautiful Sam. Thank you for reminding me how beautiful this game is.

[@magicman5146]

I always love watching your videos, they always leave me inspired to brew something funky. Gonna try and do something with powerbalance, wish me luck.