The Best Magic: the Gathering Plays of All Time

[@Zdarkete]

The class with which Kibler bites down his frustration and offers the handshake is unmatched. One of the greatest.

[@gman8133]

Yeah that was a class act for sure. You could tell he was really, really frustrated but kept it professional

[@zachgray4767]

Bonfire was a bullshit card. It condensed so many would-be great games down to "oh your drew that card this turn, so you won". Easily the strongest miracle in Standard, and the most oppressive.

[@C42ST3N]

Also LSVs reaction was gold. The look on his face screams "are you serious"

[@aidengoosemorey3499]

​@@zachgray4767 plus, it's in a color that can't use topdeck manipulation - it's just luck

[@tarbosh917]

@@zachgray4767 Granted it's not unusual for MTG games boil down to this. I think we all forget that while there is enough skill involved with the game to allow people to be regular competitors that separates themselves from an average player, there's still a relevant slice of luck involved. This example of Bonfire winning the game maybe seemed 'worse' because of what was at stake with the top deck, but let's not pretend other examples in this video weren't just as or even less likely to happen. Or that scenarios like that don't happen all the time throughout competitive magic history. It just seems more notable when the stakes are higher which is when these events happened and were recorded, but the idea of 'topdecking exactly what you needed to win a game you were about to lose' has been and will always be present in MTG.

[@profdouglas1392]

As iconic as most of these plays are, the tendrils play should be further up as a “best” play because it is skillful manipulation of information and intent, not just lucky topdecks and a strong reaction

[@Frankje01]

very true...this is more of a "most memorable" list of plays

[@ORANG3ISH]

As a storm player, nothing feels better than your opponent unwittingly helping you kill them 😂

[@zym6687]

I agree however lets not say "just lucky topdecks" most of the topdecks don't happen if they don't play to it.

[@mad1337nes]

it's also a random scg tour instead of a PT (and a random swiss game at that, tho 16/16 might have been a "win and in"). Bit different than a Pro Tour Finals and the difference between 10's of thousands of dollars.

[@codetaku]

@@zym6687 Oh please, the Miracle bonfire was just a miracle, not a top play by any means. The lightning helix topdeck was by no means a bad play, but it was incredibly standard for burn. He played to his only out, something we see LSV succeed with in vintage cube on a literally daily basis with far more interesting win conditions, there was no complex interaction, he just knew "my only out here is to burn them out" so he burned and it paid off. The thing about that play is it would've been "correct" even if it hadn't paid off, yet no one pays attention to those instances where someone plays to their only out and loses. If him not drawing lightning helix would've made it not make this list, then the reason it made the list is objectively because of a lucky topdeck. They even discuss exactly why Wyatt's glorybringer finisher was pure luck. Which makes it perplexing why it's on the list, there was no even "playing to your outs", he actually only had one play in every situation; a seven year old would've won in the same situation, it was just purely standard mono-red reactive plays. Meanwhile, the tendrils play was the same type of transcendent trickery as LSV's settle the wreckage play that should've made this list. It was arguably "wrong", yet by tricking his opponent into believing that he wouldn't possibly be making a "wrong" play, he got him to turn it into the right play. It was an absolutely brilliant move. It's the type of move a deterministic solver could never make, that's why it's so incredible. tl;dr this list is not "the best plays of all times", these are just "some of the more iconic moments of all time"

[@karatehh6966]

battle of wits is by far in a way the craziest thing ive ever seen happen in a pro magic setting. Him sitting in front of his 240 card deck so quaint with an emrakul sitting across from him is priceless😭😭😭

[@KSYeoNg]

Question about the battle of wits win one. Battle of wits triggers on the controller’s upkeep. Emrakul gives an extra turn on ETB. Wouldn’t he have a chance to swing in with Emrakul’s annihilator 6 before battle of wits wins? It looks like he had exactly 6 permanents in play.

[@valkyrierune666]

@@KSYeoNg No. Emarakul's trigger is on cast

[@karatehh6966]

@@KSYeoNgOn cast, not etb. Its a theme with a lot of eldrazi that their “etb” effects happen before they even resolve. Flavor win since theyre Eldritch in nature.

[@as95ms98]

I would have also included LSV's Settle the Wreckage bluff in this list because it's one of the best mind games that's ever been caught on camera.

[@evanjohnson6884]

I think Seth’s talked about that one before in another video which is why I’m guessing he didn’t mention it here, the only one I can remember seeing featured in another goldfish video is the lightning helix top deck but I could be wrong

[@fdervb]

Yeah, a lot of these were more luck than they were great plays, would have love more stuff like this

[@nicolaslengal9380]

💯 that's actually the best play of all time

[@gtb1944]

I wouldn't, other pros and LSV himself has said it already, it was the correct play for Dezani to attack into Settle regardless, he wouldn't have won if he hadn't. The "pen trick" is just showmanship.

[@enjoisk8a911]

I wish half this video wasn't just the best top decks of all time, but rather plays. I get it that for some, plays before led to the top deck but still.

[@nickryangaming]

8:15 "..the testicular fortitude to just go through with that play.." A1 commentary from Cedric 🤣🤣

[@MTGGoldfish]

Cedric and Patrick are the GOAT commentary team, that's for sure.

[@AAGEnzee]

I'm not sure if im missing the board state, mana andhands, but didn't he still have snapcaster mage in hand? If Adam was counting on a cabal ritual resolving to have enough mana, could Sam not snapcaster the extraction before the other 2 resolve to disrupt the combo? Obviously, it depends how much mana he has otherwise, and what else is in his GY, which I can't quite make out.

[@toddmoore7816]

@@AAGEnzee I'm a little confused as well as to why he didn't counter the second to last Cabal Ritual with his Force of Will, pitching Snapcaster. Wouldn't it have left him with not enough mana to cast the Tendrils or even the second Cabal Ritual?

[@MrFlackle]

​@@toddmoore7816 I'm fairly sure the force was discarded off the duress, can't quite tell what else is in his yard

[@AAGEnzee]

@@MrFlackle That's correct, he picked it with the duress.

[@bobboberson8297]

The actual greatest play is the "anatomy lesson" play by Tomohiro Kaji vs Celso Zampere. In top 4 of Pro Tour Charleston 2006 decklists were public, so he memorized his opponents' decklists. In the finals vs Zampere he casts mimeofracture, which allows him to search his opponent's deck. Since he knew Zampere's exact decklist, he counted out the cards knowing that any missing cards were the ones Zampere had in hand. Kaji won the match and thus the pro tour.

[@fiascothe63rd]

Something about the flavor text of that Battle of Wits comes to mind... Crazy good play.

[@bobboberson8297]

@@fiascothe63rd coincidentally battle of wits would be pretty good tech against this strategy. good luck memorizing a 240 card deck list lol

[@codetaku]

@@bobboberson8297 I mean, you only have to count the number of copies of Battle of Wits and instant-speed tutor/draw combos in their deck. Then you know if they have it in their hand or can fetch it at instant speed.

[@bobboberson8297]

@@codetaku i'd rather have my opponent only able to figure out 1 card in my hand rather than every card in my hand. still a good counter strategy

[@windy7820]

The icing on the cake to the Ignite Memories moment is that on Nassif’s turn, he goes; Lotus Bloom from exile off suspend Rift Bolt from exile Rite of Flame Grapeshot Ignite Memories for five. The exact same storm count of Memories he just survived. And what was Chapin’s hand? Two copies of Bogardan Hellkite (and 8-drop) and a Dragonstorm (a 9-drop), leaving him dead to the exact same spell, at the exact same Storm count Nassif survived. Man, Time Spiral-Onslaught standard, the time when Dragonstorm was a competitive, top-tier card. What a world.

[@Zdarkete]

there was no such thing as Time Spiral/Onslaught Standard, Dragonstorm was reprinted as a timeshifted card in TS.

[@TheEvolver311]

​@@Zdarketeswoosh

[@beleagueredbeluga5228]

That's pretty cool. It was my question too, if Nassif had won the game afterwards.

[@ValinShadow]

this! why wasn't this in the video also?

[@eXJonSnow]

Feels like more a "most iconic plays" list instead of a "best plays," since some of these are pure luck. Still a good vid, nonetheless

[@psymar]

You can't get lucky if the answer isn't in your deck. And you sometimes have to play creatively to even have a chance to get lucky.

[@eXJonSnow]

@@psymar Except that none of that is really highlighted or mentioned in the video. Putting meta cards into your deck doesn't make a play or player great. Your comment would be more apt if some of the video was about people who built and played their decks very unconventionally, pulling off unexpected wins against meta threats. If this was about "playing creatively to get lucky," then that should've been shown, instead of focusing on the lucky plays

[@ziyanli137]

@@psymar Ironically the number 1 is purely luck though...

[@pga128]

Cool to see all the lucky draws.... but I wanted to see more 300 IQ plays! The storm one was awesome.

[@bradcallahan3546]

Nobody smart plays mtg

[@ZELL36RUS]

Storm count didn't matter though. He lost 2 due to casting Surgical and went to 17 anyway

[@sethhager4097]

​@@bradcallahan3546Right! All of the smart people like Brad and I here, type negative comments on KZbin from our mom's basement!

[@GamerFlair]

The Justice/Long scene is painful to watch. Like literally, right at the start you can see there is at least one if not more cards that are upside down. In an unsleeved deck. The cards are very marked. This is kind of just classic old school magic, it was alot about being good at cheating. Part of the reason for the really aggressive shuffling of your opponents decks was to try and "unmark" the cards by changing the marks on them. Check the way Long looks at the back of the cards as he repeatedly counts his deck, before casting a prosperity for nowhere close to the number of cards left in his deck. His not checking to make sure he doesn't deck himself, his checking for how deep the bloom is to make sure he draws deep enough to get it. The whole act, whilst not super useful in this setting, maintains a character that helps cheating. Theres a huge amount of misdirection happening that in a non-final setting would allow a huge amount of manipulation to happen with card switching etc.

[@nathand6467]

100% it’s ridiculous to watch.

[@The1nvisibleJeevas]

Brings a new meaning to the term “magic show”

[@ryandietrich8604]

The Patrick Sullivan match is my favorite magic video of all time. But what makes it the absolute best, is the commentary provided by Cedric and Patrick Chapin. Mr. Chapin, in that moment showed how brilliant he is, not just for recognizing the situation, but so eloquently describing it to us in real time. Mr. Chapin then goes on to talk about how people should study Mr. Sullivan’s performance. I argue people should also look to possibly the greatest coverage and analysis provided by Mr. Chapin. I love this video and rewatch it any time I need something to inspire me.

[@jondorsey2043]

Agree about every single thing you said. I'm listening to the backlogs of the Unsleevables podcast and i haven't heard P Sully mention this yet.

[@RobertJW]

SAME! Patrick Sullivan's gameplay in that game was exquisite.

[@blastedman]

Patrick Sullivan vs Ross Merriam literally got me into Burn as an archetype. Long live Price of Progress!

[@SilverAlex92]

Same. I have rewatched that match several times by now. The commentator saying "If you wanna learn how to play burn watch this game" always stuck with me.

[@gman8133]

If I'm Ross Merriam, that game is living rent-free in my brain for the rest of my magic career. Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory

[@T_Peazy]

He didn't even need to pop the vortex. He could have just passed and let Patrick doe 5ovhis own vortex. It's got to haunt his nightmares.

[@Duall8]

@@gman8133 To be fair, in that situation he's choosing to either lose to Bolt or Price of Progress (assuming Fireblast which is the only way you lose immediately), so it's basically a coinflip at that point. Jitte in hand makes it pretty easy to risk the Price of Progress since Vortex is preventing the lifegain from it, so unless there was a decision before that where he could have played differently, I don't think there's any shame except for not recognizing the possibility (which it appears he didn't from the shocked expression).

[@joe.5103]

You should check out the deep dive article LSV did into Patrick vs Ross. It’s great

[@as95ms98]

The Patrick Sullivan RDW game is the textbook example of why RDW has a low skill floor but a high skill ceiling. Yeah it's easy to dump your hand and full swing every turn, but predicting and navigating around your opponent's interaction so your tiny little shitty creatures and burn comes out on top requires top tier game knowledge.

[@maileesaeya3614]

Speaking as a default-to-control player, this is an argument I've been making with people for years. People always think of aggro decks as mindless, but that just isn't true. The game plan might be simpler than Control or Combo, but the execution of that game plan is a whole other story. People who think otherwise are going to be in for a real shock if they ever bother to pick up the aggro decks that are going under their Combo and Control decks. :P

[@douglaswills4624]

But didn't he have the win no matter what his opponent did? If his opponent doesn't go for the enchantment kill, he's down to 7. And then Sullivan sacs his mountains and deals 8 with double fireblast. So it seems like while this play was cool, it didn't actually change the game's outcome. Him having this play just meant that no matter what his opponent did he was dead.

[@TheMorbidHobo]

​​@@douglaswills4624If he his opponent didn't destroy his enchantment, then whenever he tried to price of progress, his opponent would just strip mine his on nonbasic, so price of progress would only deal 2 damage instead of 6. 13-4-4-2-2=1, so not lethal.

[@ronthomp97]

@@douglaswills4624the visuals were wrong, it was a chain lightning, fireblast, scalding tarn, flame rift and price of progress. Technically the grim lavalmancer could be used in place of Chain lightning but that could alert his opponent

[@MTGGoldfish]

Yeah, RDW is a deck that's pretty easy to play 90% optimally but it's incredibly hard to get that last 10% right.

[@kylegleason5827]

4:02 The effeciency of shaking two hands at once.

[@Tirantekk]

You beat me to it

[@gronizherz3603]

The Best Magic: the Gathering Handshakes of All Time

[@NeoSamurai13]

It was cool to see some of these moments, though I’ll be honest, it wasn’t what I expected based on the title. Many of these moments were memorable, but mostly just because of RNG, ie the right card being top decked, or lucking out on ignite memories. Based on the title, I would have expected videos of high skill plays, like the burn game, LSV’s Settle the Wreckage bluff, or the Selsnya/Golgari Charm play. I hope we can get a video like that! I bet there are some great ones many people don’t remember.

[@SwiftJustice]

RNG means Random Number Generator. The word you lask is _chance._

[@NeoSamurai13]

@ 1) “lask” isn’t a word B) No one cares

[@TheMailman88]

23:00 watch Mike Long count cards for mana, then pop a card right back into his hand. Classic Mike Long

[@traviscochran9253]

I know it's not pro play, but Frank Karsten's 5-0 Fact or Fiction pile Blood Oath bluff into the repeat for lethal on the Card Market channel is one of the craziest moments I've seen in Magic.

[@evanshaner991]

You right

[@thehydra730]

Can you link that?

[@MH-wz1rb]

It's the match winning play

[@SeleenShadowpaw]

yes that was an absolutely goated game :D

[@alizah8042]

That play blew my mind so hard that I added four Fact or Fictions to my blue/white artifact creatures deck ;P ;D ;P ;D

[@Frogunity]

The french commentary in the Long-Justice final is hilarious man : "You think they'll still talk to each other after this?" "I don't think so" 22:47

[@suwakomoriya5723]

I think the second commenter answered "Je crois que oui quand même" which could be translated to "I think they just might", still pretty hilarious

[@Frogunity]

​@@suwakomoriya5723j'avais entendu "j'pense pas" mais à l'a réécoute t'as peut être raison !

[@jorism244]

How is Frank Karsten's fail to find with gifts ungiven not in here?

[@sevenangerywasps6103]

Great video! Surprised that Yuuki Ichikawa's Golgari Charm play in the Quarters of PT M15 and Luis's vampire pen trick + Settle the Wreckage in the semis of PT Guilds of Ravnica aren't on here.

[@hphoenix13]

I was also waiting for both of those to show up

[@MTGGoldfish]

I thought about including the pen trick, but it didn't make the final cut. Maybe if I do a follow up some day I'll put it in there. It is a great play.

[@dpresv]

absolutely this, the Golgari Charm play was epic, i was expecting to see this here

[@erenjaegerbomb8653]

​@@MTGGoldfish would be cool to see a video of the top big brain plays, where some really deep knowledge of interactions produce unexpected/ exciting results!

[@RayearthIX]

Though some of these are "good plays", a lot of these are more "heart of the cards" moments rather than plays, as they are just the player getting lucky and top decking the exact card they needed.

[@erenjaegerbomb8653]

Mostly true. The exceptions are the games like the Char play, where, although he won with a topdeck, it was really down to his knowledge of the matchup, game state evaluation and courage to take the risk and play to that out. That I would say is a credit to the player for making the "right" choice that paid off. But a lot of these other ones aren't like that.

[@Last_Resort991]

300 IQ deck stacking moments. No luck needed.

[@squall2002]

Yuuki Ichikawa's play with Ooze and Golgari charm , blowing up everything Cunningham had.

[@michaelsparks1571]

Bonfire Game: Bonfire and Channel Fireball members is just water and electricity. It cost Kibler that match AND cost one guy his job with them (he was stealing cards, notably copies of Bonfire). Tendrils Game: He technically gave Adam TWO storm counts worth by paying life for Surgical. Storm count went up by one, and his life total went down by 2 (meaning one less copy of Tendrils needed for lethal). Ultimatum Game: It's kinda wild that by the 2024 card prices given on the decklists, Nassif's deck had just over half it's value in just 4 copies of Sunken Ruins lol. Prosperity Bloom Game: What a gross degree of showboating combined with slowrolling. Forget the unsleeved cards and shuffling, this is painful to watch as it's just basic unsportsmanlike conduct.

[@odovaucer]

that's six mana

[@justinkarels6028]

Some corrections on the Patrick Sullivan part. 1.If Ross blows up Sulfuric Vortex in response to PoP, he will lose 6, not 4. 3. He will not have the mana to activate Grim lavamancer in this line.

[@justinkarels6028]

I also think just casting the PoP first would of been just a bad idea. Sulfuric was only representing 2 damage while PoP is doing 6. Waste myself every time in that spot.

[@Zdarkete]

Dude, how do you topdeck something with an upkeep trigger on the stack? You are making shit up.

[@michaelsparks1571]

@@odovaucer Bah, you're right. My brain skipped over the one needed for Chain Lightning at the start like a dummy.

[@psymar]

So important note on the Babe Ruth called shot: He admitted on his deathbed he didn't call it, somebody in the press came up with it and he ran with the story for years but he absolutely didn't. He said if he *had* called his shot, against that particular pitcher, he would've had to *duck* the next pitch, not swing at it.

[@Aldersandfirs]

Seth, i love these. the video essays are really excellent content.

[@stefanczolk5183]

Holy cow, I`m too old for the word "cringe". But that Long vs Justice match was exactly that.

[@Doobiemotos]

It is because he was cheating. Old school magic was full of it. They didn't use sleeves so cards were marked. He was counting his deck so he could find his marked card and see how deep he had to dig for it.

[@ettoreozzy9932]

24:24 thanks for adding this one, from time to time I go back and re watch the match, that game was amazing!

[@ajrowe5845]

Ive only ever jad one of these moments, after a standard deck, hard fought back and forth between my friend and I. The game was at its end, my friend had a huge board state and had me at low health and was clearly going to win, however he was also very low health. My turn came and before my draw step we both looked through my graveyard and realised i had already used 3 of my 4 lightning bolts so the odds of me top decking the only one left was terrible. I drew my card and without looking at it showed it to him. His reaction was priceless and i will never forget the look on his face when my last lightning bolt finished him. The saying "its not hard just top deck the lightning bolt" became a normal saying between our friend group for everything. Love MTG.

[@alastairchong4824]

19:29 OMG those '97 riffle shuffles actually made me scream 😭

[@victoranodelacruz1732]

Bro, I literally yelped in agony every time he did it

[@shikaman]

Crazy to see that some 1997 video has better quality than some 2009 footage.

[@phatpeople1234]

Wyatt Darby is my friend from highschool and I like to think I got him into magic so it warms my heart to see him highlighted in this video

[@thomaschoma8914]

Pinto trying to shoot the "missed" Kari trigger is all I remember of that match with Darby.

[@pw709]

Yeah that's so dumb. It obviously wasn't a desperation attack; Darby basically demonstrated the math before even showing the Glorybringer. Yeah it's the finals of the PT, but Darbys intent was clear and Pinto was just salty he lost to a topdeck.

[@MTGGoldfish]

Yeah, I cut that part out, it was just depressing.

[@repacharge431]

I think you have an INCREDIBLY different definition of the word "plays" than i and most of the internet do

[@ryan3171]

i didn't understand what made the justice/long play good. it looks like a standard pros/bloom kill with extra showmanship?

[@Luteloots]

The video quality of old magic coverage is a tragedy to the history of the game. Wizards should invest into some "restoration" project that remasters old event coverage with updated board state visuals to actually make the content watchable

[@SCBennett2]

They should, but seeing as they won’t even invest in having or covering events today that seems unlikely.

[@OnePointSafety]

Thank you for referring to Taiwan as Taiwan

[@BludMun]

The age of these is hilarious when you consider that after 2018 they changed the tournament structure to make magic 'more watchable'. Now nobody cares. At least we still have the memories of when competitive magic was actually watchable and entertaining.

[@abjoern]

What changed?

[@BludMun]

@@abjoern the entire tournament structure is impossible to follow because it STILL constantly changes and the big events aren't supported with real broadcasting.

[@joe.5103]

Not hate but why is this that Mike Long play on here?

[@codycantfocus]

"Recorded by someone near the table" That someone would be Shawn Kornhauser for his and Nathan Holt's webseries Walking the Planes!

[@TheRedkeyboard]

The Bonfire of The Dammed play was the 1st MTG meme I ever saw after getting into the game. When I saw a remix video of the play with "Knife Party - Bonfire" as the backing track 😂😂

[@bensteinhauser784]

Unless I'm missing something, there's a confirmed kill for the red deck one. Play and crack Scalding Tarn Tap three mountains (3 red) Sac two mountains and Fireblast face (9 life, 3 red) Activate the Grim Lavamancer to kill the Canonist (9 life, 2 red) Flame Rift (5 life, 0 red) Pass If the opponent responds, win with Price of Progress, if they don't, Chain Lightning after the Sulfuric Vortex trigger resolves. Edit: doesn't work, Chain is a sorcery, whoops.

[@hawkeye137137]

Chain Lightning is a sorcery.

[@bensteinhauser784]

@@hawkeye137137 Ahh, I totally missed that.

[@senken12]

Got me missing the days of the old Left-Right stream layout, before they changed it to Up/Down

[@joe.5103]

That Storm play by Prozac was masterful.

[@HComfy]

I love the Topdeck heard round the world video, but my favorite part is Olivier Ruel saying “Smash it, smash it” to Craig Jones before he slams the lightning helix. Sportsmanship.

[@neminem233]

The Spell Pierce bluff still gets me honestly still gets me, the raw confidence and energy

[@psymar]

also the Surgical Extraction storm bluff

[@nym053]

Ahahahaha omg, the sound of the unsleaved cards being shuffled over and over again. That's brutal 😂

[@brandonslade2134]

90s magic commentary was hilarious. "He topped decked a drain life!? OH THE HUMANIIITY!"

[@ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWX-fk7ux]

The burn and ad naus was really good. If every game of magic was like that, it would be fun.

[@triplea657aaa]

I felt that bonfire topdeck... I got knocked out of top 8 from my first ever PTQ by a topdeck bonfire and I've never gone to a PTQ since...

[@StahliCell]

Thank you so much for those videos Seth I love how relaxing they are!!

[@thekrakeninggames]

Awesome video. The pro tour videos are some of the best. thanks

[@androssandross7410]

The amazing skill and power of “topdecking the win”. Wow

[@danielmurphy123]

Love these videos reviewing the historic “Big Plays” of tournament magic!

[@domotoroOfficial]

that photo of younger LSV looks a lot like benjamin wheeler to me

[@JO11190]

That tendrils of agony play was wild omg

[@MyLifeForNerzuL]

Why couldn't force of will be used on the tendrils?

[@scotthoward1323]

FoW only counters one of the copies, leaving you getting hit for 18, and the free cast costs 1 life, so he'd have still been dead.

[@KamilPyka-o4j]

From this list, I'd only highlight that Patrick Sullivan's match. The finishing sequence doesn't tell the story, from his opening hand he was DOOMED. The way he found the slightest angle is just legendary. The commentary provided "if you want to know how to play a red deck, watch this" by the cast was spot on. From the absolutely gratest matches I've seen, I'd have to count Grand Prix Prague 2016 finals there. Togores won with TPS through a hand with a gazzilion Flusterstorms, Extractions etc. When I saw what Tholance had in hand, I told myself "alright boys, we call it a day", but somehow he managed to find a way. Peak legacy, peak matchup, peak Magic. Definitely worthy of a shoutout, but too hard to condensate it into a clip or two.

[@brodenshean1433]

I gotta comment, I clicked cos of Patrick Sullivan only knowing him from Tolarian Community College videos and, given the context of this video, was very impressed - the visible shaking during the play was a bonus

[@brodenshean1433]

(I had to comment, the riffle shuffle forced me to, but Seth mentioned that already)

[@Skyewill]

I was so confused at 25:00 when there were 2 fireblasts on screen instead of the chain lightning ✨

[@MTGGoldfish]

Oops, looks like an editing mistake. Sorry!

[@marcrivkin3999]

"Ill pass the turn to you" then Gabe gets his OWN 5 copies of Ignite, with Pat having 2 8s and a 9 in his hand. OH YEAH almost forgot, Gabe mulliganed to FOUR this game.. EPIC

[@schroecat1]

Top decks aren't plays. Random chances aren't plays. However Adam Prosak and Patrick Sullivan are legendary players, while Kenny Mayer deserves mad props for foreseeing the meta and responding to it in a very fun way.

[@billepperson2662]

19:04 You may think he's joking, but it's true. To become a level 3 judge back in the 90's you needed a 2 out of 3 on the sociopathy scale (usually fires & bedwetting) & also had to demonstrate that you could go 10+ minutes without blinking

[@r4v4g3r]

Oh hell yeah, Seth’s videos of magic history and moments are my favoriteeee

[@canman87]

A buddy of mine actually had a really slick play during a match of Legacy a number of years ago that I always like retelling in these kinds of conversations. I don't remember the decks, but the play was this: Friend: Passes his turn after doing whatever, with only a Tropical Island untapped. Opponent: Attempts to Wasteland Trop EOT. F: Taps Trop to cast Brainstorm. O: Casts Force of Will and is currently tapped out. F: Successfully Daze's FOW, picking up the Trop to pay the alternate cost. Brainstorm resolves. It's not totally mind-blowing or anything, but still a cool play. He managed to save his Trop and still resolve his Brainstorm; literally everything went his way during that interaction, lol. I don't remember the outcome of the game/match, but it was likely that he won as he was a solid player that had been on the Pro Tour a few times.

[@timw9745]

Sullivans play is one of my fav SCG’s moments. Alongside the 2 turn 1 wins of Bryant Cook with storm against the mismatched brainstorms, so good.

[@ExtremeMedium]

Legend had it that Justice is still shuffling Long's unsleeved deck to this day

[@wesleykorisky8600]

I have a memory of a standard pro tour finals from around 2013, where omni-door-thrag-fire won a match because they stole game one by blowing out their opponents attack with Fog and have a lethal crack back. One of the best set ups I've ever seen.

[@tutudsquishbo8381]

#1 Commandeer the sol ring into the strip mine

[@prod.fffeedback7679]

should have been an honorable mention at least

[@DiscardatRandom]

Wasn’t it a mana crypt?

[@pinobluevogel6458]

Love this, great video and fun throwback games to watch!

[@Leper0]

Amazing play or incredible luck?

[@1st_edition]

commenting before even watching but i have the feeling this is exactly the content thats missing on mtg youtube. I remember watching a game at pro tour eldrich moon and i think like 4 or 5 emrakuls were cast back and forth with so many other things going on, would love someone to dig that one up and mention it

[@SnakeyBoiii871]

This is the first time I learned Storm counts opponents cards

[@thatkaiguy]

I would reorganize the order so that the luck plays are lower on the list. I think Burn should get the top spot followed by ANT. The Cruel Ultimatum call was also incredible.

[@nik700]

Nassif's little "yes!" after flipping the Rite at the 4th copy og Ignite Memories always gets me

[@SnackCakes]

This was great, please make more of these

[@BrassarnGaming]

Incredible plays, luck & commentary 🎉

[@justinrishel1742]

Gotta love that Gabe is on the list twice but I can't believe his Cruel Ultimatum top deck or "Oh my god, it's lightning helix!" weren't number one. I somehow hadn't even heard of the big one with him versus Chapin and I've been playing Magic over twenty years. It was pretty damn epic watching it though. 👍

[@brandonsheumaker2673]

I may be in the minority here, but I don't consider "Great Plays" to be the same thing as "Great top-decks". The first is a display of skill of some kind. The second is pure luck. Not the same.

[@SomeGuy712x]

One epic moment I recall having myself was during a Wilds of Eldraine draft last year. I had been reduced to 1 life, but got enough creatures out to stabilize and be able to block any attack the opponent made. However, he then put a Wicked Role token put on a weak creature of his, and all of my creatures would kill it if they blocked, resulting in the Wicked Role killing me. And, of course I would die to his creature itself if I don't block. But, I had a clever way to survive in my hand. I cast Moment of Valor on his creature, choosing to make it indestructible, letting me block it without it dying. And, that allowed me to survive my next turn, which was all I needed to win, as I had just enough power with my creatures to deplete his life points with my next attack.

[@whitelion8732]

PT Chicago 99, Maher v Davis, game 1. Add that to the list. Cheers

[@fretzalot266]

Why are we calling top decking "best plays"?

[@Noah_eotlr]

That's magic, baby

[@fretzalot266]

@@Noah_eotlr it's just luck, sure I agree they're iconic or cool - but that doesn't make them good

[@sagebauer1077]

Yeah, some of these like the Sullivan one are great plays, but half of these are just lucky topdecks

[@Hekethe]

Best doesn't necessitate skill or whatever.

[@fretzalot266]

@@Hekethe Sure, but it does imply a certain quality which is not made manifest by luck

[@briandixon9140]

Some of those took me back. That called Ultimatum was the talk of my FLGS afterwards. We had 2 players that where there to see it live.

[@Gingerbreadley]

Great video Seth. Could have sworn Selysnia charm would have made the cute tho.

[@pielily]

really sick idea for a video, loving ones like this, biggest cheating scandals, etc. please keep em coming

[@FilmscoreMetaler]

The title: The best Magic: the Gathering Plays of All Time The video, basically: Times when a lucky topdeck changed the outcome of a game

[@ICantThinkOfAFunnyHandle]

I wouldn't call the ad nauseum bluff a "lucky topdeck"

[@richardanderson9092]

Hello darkness, my old friend.

[@3girlrhumba]

sick video, thank you!

[@ChrisWJ123321]

Heart of the cards baby! ❤🎉

[@jondorsey2043]

Can i just call out Seth's excellent commentary on this ridiculous list? I watched some of these live and they are burned into my brain forever.

[@edhdeckbuilding]

is a lucky top deck actually good play though?

[@zoeysheldon5634]

The Friedman vs Prosak match has to be my favorite. Talk about style points.

[@Rycore]

Crazy that in the justice/long clip you see both obviously marked cards and cards just blatantly upside down in long’s deck.

[@frasert8779]

Man I wish you would have included the follow up where Nassif plays his own ignite memories and Chopin’s hand is like all nine-drops 😂

[@h0ly208]

Best game of my life was in the now defunct format of Tiny Leaders. Like commander, but every spell had to be 3 mana or less. I was playing The Geist of Saint Traft against my best friend with Olivia, Mobilized for War. I was on a mill/lock out strategy with cards like Winter Orb and Stasis and he was on a madness strategy. I had him under a stasis lock for just enough turns and had to sac the stasis on my final turn. I played a winter orb and passed to him with his final card. I was on 3 life. He had an Insolate Neonate (1 mana 1/1 that had "sac this creature, discard a card: draw a card") and no untapped lands. He untapped his one land for his turn and drew his final card. It was a Fiery Temper. 1RR deal three damage to any target. Madness: R. So. He sacrifices his Neonate, and discards his Fiery Temper to put the ability to draw a card onto the stack with no cards left in his library. Then, with his one land he untapped, he casts Fiery Temper and puts it on top of the stack. Killing me before he draws with no cards left in his deck. Truly one of the best games of magic I've ever played.

[@mikotagayuna8494]

Having two notorious cheaters being featured in a video about great MtG plays ruined it for me. The less we talk about Justice and Long, the better.

[@Toast_d3u]

that was a good video thanks

[@LaserfaceJones]

Im not going to say that competitive Magic highlights were just straight better back in the day, but they definitely are for me.

[@Saffron-mb8mp]

It makes sense that so many of these are Legacy. High power decks need high powered pilots, and the best lines are often as complex as a Checkmate in 10.

[@joshuaadams5295]

Feel like most those should be the luckiest plays in mtg history. Need to make a video the best heads up or outplays in history

[@OMGclueless]

Missing my favorite play of all time: It's the quarterfinals of PT Magic 2015, and Yuuki Ichikawa is being attacked by a 5/5 trampling token from his green/white opponent who also has a Voice of Resurgence token on board and who he suspects has Selesnya Charm in hand (which can give a creature +2/+2, make a 2/2 token, or exile a creature with power 5 or greater). He has one card in hand (a Golgari Charm) and a 4/4 Scavenging Ooze with two creatures in graveyard representing 2 more +1/+1 counters, but if he pumps his creature it will get exiled, and he's at 7 life so if he doesn't block, or chump blocks and loses his Ooze, he almost certainly will lose. He blocks and pumps his Scavenging Ooze once, and passes priority to his opponent. If his opponent just passes back, the creatures will trade, and the Voice token probably wins (and the Selesnya Charm can make a token too). If his opponent pumps his token with the +2/+2 mode, it will trample over for 1 damage and win in combat and stay around and that also almost certainly wins. But he gets greedy and wants to do more trample damage and targets Yuuki's 5/5 Scavenging Ooze with Selesnya Charm. Yuuki casts Golgari Charm, choosing the mode, "All creatures get -1/-1 until end of turn." The Scavenging Ooze goes back to being a 4/4, and Selesnya Charm fizzles. Then Yuuki pumps it again by eating the other creature in the graveyard, and it wins against the now-4/4 token in combat. His opponent only has the Voice token left, so it shrinks to 1/1 and dies from the lingering -1/-1 from the Golgari Charm as well. Yuuki is left with a 6/6 Scavenging Ooze as the only creature on board and goes on to win the game. What a line!

[@TheLunaLockhart]

as a burn player, that was absolutely sick. as a control player, I am conflicted.