The Deck That Is Impossible to Play Correctly - We Try the Judge Tower

[@CardmarketMagic]

Find the decklist to the Tower here: bit.ly/3IROEJS

[@darebrained]

I feel like there is a distinct lack of Karona. Also formated to be added to wants (you need a minimum of 3 wants-lists; each comment will be for one list): (Recommend to use smaller stacks, I'm now waiting for 5+ minutes for the shopping wiz)

[@darebrained]

1 Advice from the Fae 1 Agony Warp 1 Air Servant 1 Ajani's Chosen 1 Akoum Refuge 1 Akroan Horse 1 Ancient Grudge 1 Angel of Jubilation 1 Angelic Skirmisher 1 Arbiter of the Ideal 1 Ardent Plea 1 Arrow Volley Trap 1 Ashenmoor Liege 1 Auriok Survivors 1 Azorius Guildmage 1 Banishing Stroke 1 Basandra, Battle Seraph 1 Baton of Morale 1 Battle Screech 1 Bazaar Trader 1 Bident of Thassa 1 Bituminous Blast 1 Blast from the Past 1 Blind Hunter 1 Bloodcurdler 1 Bonded Fetch 1 Brain Gorgers 1 Breezekeeper 1 Broodbirth Viper 1 Burst Lightning 1 Bygone Bishop 1 Call to the Grave 1 Capsize 1 Carnage Altar 1 Celestial Gatekeeper 1 Chainer's Edict 1 Champion of Lambholt 1 Chaosphere 1 Chronosavant 1 Circle of Protection: Red 1 Clash of Realities 1 Clone 1 Coastal Piracy 1 Compost 1 Concentrate 1 Condemn 1 Conjured Currency 1 Consuming Bonfire 1 Contagion Clasp 1 Corpse Augur 1 Corpsejack Menace 1 Courier's Capsule 1 Crippling Fatigue 1 Cruel Bargain 1 Cruel Revival 1 Curse of Death's Hold 1 Daghatar the Adamant 1 Dance of the Dead 1 Daxos of Meletis 1 Daybreak Ranger / Nightfall Predator 1 Dead Ringers 1 Deadwood Treefolk 1 Death Denied 1 Deep Analysis 1 Delay 1 Dense Foliage 1 Deny Reality 1 Despoiler of Souls 1 Devil's Play 1 Dimir Guildmage 1 Dirge of Dread 1 Dissipation Field 1 Diviner's Wand 1 Dominate 1 Dosan the Falling Leaf 1 Dragon Mage 1 Dragon Shadow 1 Dread Return 1 Dregscape Zombie 1 Dryad Militant 1 Eater of Days 1 Elite Inquisitor 1 Endless Whispers 1 Engulfing Flames 1 Ertai's Trickery 1 Essence Sliver 1 Eye of the Storm 1 Eyeblight's Ending 1 Faces of the Past 1 Fate Unraveler 1 Fathom Mage 1 Fiery Gambit 1 Filigree Fracture 1 Flamebreak 1 Flash of Insight 1 Fleeting Distraction 1 Forbidden Alchemy 1 Frontline Medic 1 Garruk's Horde 1 Gate Smasher 1 Gate to the Aether 1 Gaze of the Gorgon 1 Gempalm Strider 1 Ghastly Discovery 1 Ghostfire 1 Glimmerpoint Stag 1 Golgari Decoy 1 Cradle to Grave 1 Grim Harvest 1 Grim Return 1 Grip of Chaos 1 Grisly Transformation 1 Grixis Charm 1 Ground Seal 1 Guardian of the Guildpact 1 Guided Strike 1 Harm's Way 1 Harvester of Souls 1 Hatching Plans 1 Haze of Rage 1 Heartstabber Mosquito 1 Heartwood Storyteller 1 Heightened Awareness 1 Hellraiser Goblin 1 Hindering Light 1 Horizon Chimera 1 Howling Mine 1 Ice Cauldron 1 Ideas Unbound 1 Ignite Disorder 1 Illusory Ambusher 1 Increasing Vengeance 1 Inside Out 1 Intruder Alarm 1 Isao, Enlightened Bushi 1 Kami of the Crescent Moon 1 Kavu Predator 1 Kederekt Leviathan 1 Knight of the Holy Nimbus 1 Knowledge Pool 1 Kothophed, Soul Hoarder 1 Last Breath 1 Lavinia of the Tenth 1 Lightning Coils 1 Lingering Death 1 Livewire Lash 1 Lyev Skyknight 1 Magistrate's Scepter 1 Magus of the Tabernacle 1 Makeshift Mannequin

[@darebrained]

1 Master of Cruelties 1 Master Thief 1 Melek, Izzet Paragon 1 Meletis Charlatan 1 Mentor of the Meek 1 Merchant of Secrets 1 Merfolk Seastalkers 1 Permeating Mass 1 Mind Unbound 1 Mind's Desire 1 Mindsparker 1 Mirari 1 Mirror Golem 1 Mischievous Quanar 1 Mnemonic Wall 1 Mold Shambler 1 Molder Slug 1 Momentary Blink 1 Mortarpod 1 Mourner's Shield 1 Mulldrifter 1 Murmurs from Beyond 1 Mysteries of the Deep 1 Mystic Melting 1 Nature's Resurgence 1 Necrotic Ooze 1 Necrotic Sliver 1 Nether Spirit 1 Nihilith 1 Nivix Cyclops 1 Nix 1 Norin the Wary 1 Ogre Geargrabber 1 Ogre Slumlord 1 Oona's Grace 1 Opalescence 1 Ophidian Eye 1 Orbs of Warding 1 Otherworld Atlas 1 Pact of the Titan 1 Pain Seer 1 Palisade Giant 1 Pariah 1 Perilous Research 1 Perplexing Chimera 1 Phantom Centaur 1 Pillory of the Sleepless 1 Plague Boiler 1 Possessed Nomad 1 Primitive Etchings 1 Primordial Sage 1 Prophet of Kruphix 1 Pulse of the Grid 1 Puncture Blast 1 Quicken 1 Quicksilver Dagger 1 Raging Kavu 1 Raging River 1 Ray of Revelation 1 Reality Strobe 1 Reap What Is Sown 1 Reaping the Graves 1 Recoup 1 Renewed Faith 1 Resize 1 Resounding Silence 1 Riptide Director 1 Risky Move 1 Rite of the Raging Storm 1 Rites of Flourishing 1 Rout 1 Rix Maadi Guildmage 1 Rule of Law 1 Rush of Knowledge 1 Rushing River 1 Saltcrusted Steppe 1 Salvage Titan 1 Samurai of the Pale Curtain 1 Savage Silhouette 1 Scab-Clan Giant 1 Scourglass 1 Scrambleverse 1 Seat of the Synod 1 Seizan, Perverter of Truth 1 Shah of Naar Isle 1 Shunt 1 Silent Departure 1 Sinking Feeling 1 Skaab Ruinator 1 Skeletal Scrying 1 Skirsdag High Priest 1 Skullclamp 1 Skullmulcher 1 Skymark Roc 1 Slayer of the Wicked 1 Sleep 1 Sleeper Agent 1 Solar Blast 1 Soltari Monk 1 Soltari Visionary 1 Spear of Heliod 1 Spellshift 1 Spirit Bonds 1 Spiteful Blow 1 Sprout Swarm 1 Staff of Nin 1 Staggershock 1 Stoic Angel 1 Stoic Champion 1 Stolen Identity 1 Stonehorn Dignitary 1 Sudden Death 1 Sun Droplet 1 Sundering Growth 1 Sunstrike Legionnaire 1 Sunweb 1 Sygg, River Cutthroat 1 Task Mage Assembly 1 Tattermunge Witch 1 Teferi's Puzzle Box 1 Teferi's Veil 1 Telim'Tor's Edict 1 Tephraderm 1 Terror 1 Thassa's Emissary 1 Thieving Magpie 1 Think Twice 1 Thirst for Knowledge 1 Thought Reflection 1 Thought Scour 1 Thrashing Mossdog 1 Thunderblade Charge 1 Tibor and Lumia 1 Tide of War 1 Timesifter 1 Toshiro Umezawa 1 Treacherous Vampire 1 Treasury Thrull 1 Triad of Fates 1 Triskaidekaphobia 1 Tymaret, the Murder King 1 Unburial Rites 1 Undead Alchemist 1 Undead Gladiator 1 Underworld Coinsmith 1 Underworld Dreams 1 Unstable Hulk 1 Urge to Feed 1 Urza's Blueprints 1 Vampire Hexmage

[@darebrained]

1 Vanish into Memory 1 Vanishment 1 Victim of Night 1 Volt Charge 1 Vulshok Battlemaster 1 Warp World 1 Waterspout Elemental 1 Weatherseed Totem 1 Wheel and Deal 1 Whispering Madness 1 Wild Ricochet 1 Wildest Dreams 1 Windfall 1 Wirewood Savage 1 Wistful Selkie 1 Witchstalker 1 Yawgmoth's Agenda

[@henkdachief]

didnt like this too much, was hyped at the beginning but i kind of missed the point i guess. why make up weird rules when the cards should be the difficult part not the rules you make up? its not even magic at that point. jasper can make up all kind or rules beforehand and then only he knows them and wins.. at least it felt like that. a lot of the rules were too odd.

[@poiri]

To anyone in the comments pointing out rules violations, that’s cool and I encourage it but it doesn’t mean the player making the mistake should have lost per se. A player only loses in judge tower if another player in the game points it out, so while they could have lost, that doesn’t mean the should have lost or that the result of the game was invalid.

[@crossblocked9432]

Fair, but at 12:53 they ask for comments telling them what they missed. That's why everyone is commenting

[@boeufkak]

@@crossblocked9432 technically correct. which feels very much in the spirit of things.

[@poiri]

@@crossblocked9432 absolutely true, and I’ll be honest and say I missed that so thanks for pointing it out. But either way saying that they should have lost is technically incorrect and as I said having people point that stuff out is cool and it can also be a nice learning moment for other people.

[@CardmarketMagic]

Poiri is correct! When it comes to people saying the players should have lost when missing game actions. But also yes. We were very curious to see what we missed so we are thankful for the comments pointing them out :) Although the commenters saying that a specific player should have technically lost are incorrect, as it is against the spirit of the game

[@altosforteaquax5083]

​@@CardmarketMagic This game has no spirit. It's a pointless contest of who can be the most insufferable rules lawyer. No one likes them in dnd and no one had mana up so you all lost from the jump.

[@johnmichaelbushman]

"On my upkeep, we enter a perilous journey." Truly a quote of all time when playing Judge Tower.

[@outputcoupler7819]

The table's reaction to Opalescence, followed by Carl immediately losing to something else entirely, was just priceless. Like you're staring down a grizzly bear, hoping it doesn't attack, then a freight train comes out of nowhere and flattens you.

[@798byrd]

I'm confused to why Carl lost. His opponent didn't cast the spell, but only took control of the spell. Or is my understanding of "cast" wrong?

[@Geroaergaroe]

​@@798byrdYou're in the right, he should not have lost.

[@dougfile6644]

Thank you. That was confusing me too

[@ozzysmith2571]

​@@798byrd judges tower makes you lose if an opponent points out a violation of any kind as far as I know. So Jasper confirmed Opalescence resolving which would be the resolution of the stack. Carl agreed. So then Jasper pointer to the Heartwood storyteller because Carl didnt put its effect on the stack when he cast Opalescence. Therefore Carl loses.

[@spliffi869]

@@ozzysmith2571 Hmm not sure if this correct. Wasn't it Jasper's responibilty to mind the Heartwood Storyteller's trigger..? The card says "your opponent may draw a card" not "you may have an opponet draw a card". It's a similar case like the Kitsune trigger responsibility, which Jasper did even point out in an earlier game.

[@ElGrandeFatso]

Carl adapted really well through the matches, going from losing as soon as the game started to actually standing up to Jasper 1 on 1, props to him.

[@mjstcseaflapflap9479]

The evolution of Carl was impressive.

[@sdfkjgh]

@@mjstcseaflapflap9479: The Evolution of Carl would make a great Post-Rock band name.

[@matthewsaari6577]

Should have lost the second game as well. He choose not to play a card so he could discard at the end of his turn. But you're supposed to play every card that you can.

[@OtherSideLLC]

​ Fiery Gambit needs a creature to target before you can put it on the stack. @@matthewsaari6577

[@simonteesdale9752]

If you are keen to try judge's tower yourself, make one by removing the lands and commander from an EDH deck.

[@CardmarketMagic]

This is a really creative solution for people that don't want to buy a tower but wish to try! How does this comment not have the most likes!? 🧐

[@johnkay1152]

Does the commander have to go?

[@simonteesdale9752]

@@johnkay1152 You can do what you want with it, but since I have all my commanders in different sleeves to the deck, it's easier to just remove the commander. If it's in the same sleeve, then by all means, shuffle it in as well.

[@therealax6]

@@simonteesdale9752 You can also swap the sleeve for a basic land's, I guess.

[@ghostguin1398]

My first and currently only EDH deck took a while to all arrive so we played judges tower with the deck.

[@transegg7780]

YES! JUDGE TOWER! Please play more of this. You guys are the golden standard of Magic content on youtube.

[@CardmarketMagic]

That is so incredibly kind of you to say :D

[@altosforteaquax5083]

TCC is the standard.

[@SeleenShadowpaw]

@@CardmarketMagic Yes please seconded. Both statements. But yes please this is an amazing format and i _NEED_ to see more of it :D

[@neco9590]

True - it's kind of weird that what's effectively a corporate channel makes content this good, but I'll take it

[@CardmarketMagic]

@Neco cardmarket is a company, yes, but mostly we are a bunch of dorks who draft at work 😅

[@asap_woke]

If there was one channel/group I would want to watch play Judge's Tower, it's the Card Market gang! Love this.

[@ravioli9154]

This format looks like an absolute blast to play, ignoring all the ruling based headaches. Would love to see you guys play more wacky formats!

[@Vardaris]

I knew this format existed but have never seen it played anywhere. It was like a legendary rumor, the format the judges play in their spare time. This video was amazing and will definitely try with my friends. it will test our friendship to some extend I think lol. This channel develops into one of the best and with the most novel content about magic in the internet. Keep it up.

[@CardmarketMagic]

Thank you! That is very kind of you to say :)

[@fragniz]

It was definitely a lot of fun the one time I got to try it out. Ours was more interesting in a sense because we'd gotten together to play Commander, and decided to play Judge's Tower...so there were lands in the deck, meaning right at the beginning of the turn you had to tap any mana you had. Also, we did declarations, meaning we had to declare every step and phase as it passed, which taught me about the Beginning phase. Because I always knew Untap, Upkeep, Draw, but forgot that those are all nested in the Beginning phase, where anything with phasing "enters" or "leaves" right at the start.

[@tom.prince]

I have not seen it often, but I know LRR has played it at least once on their channel as well.

[@DemonBlanka]

The absolute pain on Carl's face as he draws into Opalescence

[@CardmarketMagic]

It's a troublesome card 😅 -Carl

[@euricwilliams8508]

Seems like a fun way to train understanding of rules. And I appreciate seeing that even judges miss things from time to time. Humanizes them.

[@zoharnagel]

8:21 Carl ended the turn without flashbacking Devil's play!

[@Enyeez]

Yes, but he should have played Sudden Death first, as it is an insant, with a legal target. - so he could not have played the Devil's play at that point

[@poiri]

@@Enyeez the sudden death and devils play had a legal target at the exact same time and as such he could freely choose the order. (Yes the devils play had legal targets earlier but he chose to cast it later too)

[@matthewradabaugh1635]

Most rulesets for this say that you don’t flash a card back the same turn you cast it so as to stop infinite loops of forced actions from occuring.

[@2LettersSho]

@@matthewradabaugh1635 Would have been nice for that to be mentioned in the video but after the 2nd or 3rd time seeing it, it makes sense to have a turn gap for flashback.

[@zoharnagel]

@@matthewradabaugh1635 Thanks! That makes a lot of sense.

[@TorchesUponStars]

This is a fascinating variant on the format. I’ve only seen it played on the LoadingReadyRun channels, with infinite life and mana, in addition to starting hands equal to judge level, without the X = 3 rule.

[@Surberus1066]

Thanks for posting this. I found LRR's videos as well. Love this format for learning rules!

[@haganedragonlatency775]

14:54 Norin the Wary should have return to play under Jamin's control. Would be interesting to see a compiled list of additional mistakes that they missed.

[@camyron]

I like the variant of "if you somehow take 20 damage in a turn you die" - I've previously only seen judge's tower with the rules violation lose case. This gives you another way to get the game to end, and more thinking for everyone to do through blockers to maybe keep hold of enough creatures to knock someone out.

[@brennanruiz1803]

They have the "if you can block, you must block" rule, so you can't hold back blockers

[@camyron]

@@brennanruiz1803 yes, but you can still choose how you block while assigning all blockers, so you can choose blocks that are profitable if you want to build a board or choose blocks that are unprofitable if you want to get rid of award game pieces.

[@TheBirdOfParadox]

This was so fun! Judge Tower is how I truly learned the rules and it is simply a brain melting format, which makes it all the more fun to watch! Great work guys!

[@admiralron]

One thing I wish other channels would crib from you guys are the well thought-out and designed layouts during gameplay. Gives enough information without cluttering the screen. Hats off to whoever is responsible for that on the content team :)

[@CardmarketMagic]

Thank you! :D

[@Phished123]

Judge tower is so much fun to watch. I would love to see some mental magic also if possible. Im always so interested in the things magic judges do to keep their knowledge of the game fresh and easy to remember.

[@CardmarketMagic]

We have a really fun mental magic video planned that we are filming with some great guests in a month! :D hope you like it

[@Phished123]

@@CardmarketMagic awesome!!!!

[@Skrippy33]

Judge Tower seems like a great albeit, tough, leaning tool. I can see this making someone who cared enough a better player. Learning the interactions, and weird hilarious corner cases, makes this super fun. Please play more!

[@MaxMckayful]

Cardmarket's been hitting up ALL the awesome fringe, silly, or interesting MtG variants lately and it's some of my absolute favorite content. Keep getting weird with it y'all.

[@omiq]

it's amazing how many great mtg channels have started going the last few years, and cardmarket is one of my faves

[@Hapsasa]

In the first game, shouldn't the ranger have activated it's ability to deal two damage to the angelic skirmisher?

[@retrowaffles5442]

Was about to comment the same thing, jasper should have lost game 1

[@HypnoticGG]

Yes, as soon as dense foliage was removed, he should have shot the angel instead of going to combat.

[@assault410]

@@HypnoticGG its creatures cant be the target of spells, he should have done that as soon as he had priority

[@HypnoticGG]

@assault410 that's what I said. Dense Foilage was destroyed by Sundering Growth. Once that was gone he could activate it. This was before he moved to combat.

[@masterjerelk820]

@@HypnoticGG what he means is that foilage specify spells, not ability. So at upkeep, he allready could have use it

[@iTzDritte]

26:40 Carl didn’t change targets for the Quicksilver Dagger aura when taking control of it with Perplexing Chimera

[@tom.prince]

Also, I think the Delay could have been changed to target itself.

[@Germishkid]

@@tom.prince spells cannot target themselves. Rule 114.5 is "A spell or ability on the stack is an illegal target for itself."

[@brunogarcianolles3417]

I had not seen this format before. It looks really fun and interesting. Would love to See more of this

[@brianarsuaga5008]

That third game with perplexing chimera, toshiro, and grim return on the first turn just immediately created an insane board state

[@lukebeauregard6580]

This might be the single best MTG video I have ever seen. More please!

[@WeDogsHowl]

As a new player, this video was amazing. Not only was it entertaining, but this video helped me better understand the timing of cards. Had a great laugh and the video was informative!

[@Tompaguden420]

104.3a would be a beater. A player can concede the game at any time. A player who concedes leaves the game immediately. That player loses the game. :P Thanks a lot for the awesome content as always!

[@altosforteaquax5083]

They should've all done that from the start.

[@RandomCrappyName]

You guys have quickly overtaken other long-time watched channels as my favorite MTG KZbin channel. The wide variety of fun and different ways to play the game always has me intrigued! Keep up the fantastic work!

[@CardmarketMagic]

That is so kind of you to say! :D we'll try our best to keep you entertained. Thank you

[@Lotuco2000]

This is format is amazing. Much more fun seeing you guys having a blast with it

[@CommentIsUnrelated]

I don't play magic, so I had to pause to read every single card, but this was an absolute blast to watch! Would love to see more of this content!

[@PastaTurtle]

It's so funny to see Jasper pointing out everyone's mistakes

[@suNn.K.O]

Watching the LRR(MTG) crew play Judge's Tower was always a blast. Sweet to see it on other channels too!

[@nickjoeb]

The heartwood won't trigger as he's already cast the opalescence. Sweet game

[@MrWader76]

You guys are so fun to watch. It’s really easy to tell how much fun you’re all having!!

[@SadClaps]

Mine and Jasper's reactions when he drew Blast from the Past were perfectly in sync, totally did not expect that.

[@elliotharvie8657]

Brilliant video and well played by everybody! Can't wait for round 2!

[@killerkonnat]

"It's not the optimal play, but he has to do it." No, it IS the optimal play. Because not doing it causes you to instantly lose the game.

[@Brainth_1780]

I don't even play Magic, I barely know the basics of it in fact... but this is SO. MUCH. FUN. I'd more than gladly watch a series of these videos

[@AshenShugar81]

I was very lost at the beginning of the game, as there was no mention of infinite mana at the start (unless I missed it). So the first player out didnt make sense to me.

[@andrelandmann1624]

Correct me if I'm wrong But Carl should have lost on 7:55 for not casting fiery Gambit because it's a reflecive target so he don't need to announce a target while putting it in the stack so even with no creatures in play it's legal to play it therefore he missed an opportunity to cast the spell at the earliest possible moment

[@Jaketg93]

I want 5 seasons of this immediately, this was so fun to watch

[@Navitas14728]

This was my favorite video yet! Hope to see it back as a recurring series!

[@Quicksilvir]

My absolute favorite type of cards to put into the Judge's Tower are creatures with both etb abilities and activated abilities (or activated abilities and etb triggering enchantments). Always fun the first time you get someone with that. Thank you for playing Judges Tower, it's one of my favorite sub-formats!

[@TheLsensei]

I don't think Carl would have actually lost at 28:10 . Even though Jasper would at that point "control" Opalescence He wouldn't have "cast" it so Storyteller wouldn't have created a trigger for Carl to miss.

[@CardmarketMagic]

Wow! You are right! Maybe I could have won that game! 😃

[@TheLsensei]

@@CardmarketMagic You'll get him next time lol. Great video regardless. Would love to see another Judges Tower video in the future, it such an interesting format to watch.

[@francisdecary1779]

Really fun video, and a PHENOMENAL job on the editing. Judge's tower is insanely complicated, but the overlay made it really easy to follow along. Great work!

[@CardmarketMagic]

Thank you! That is very kind of you to say :D

[@quillquickcard8824]

I haven't seen this one commented about yet. But staggershock was played during the untap step. Meaning that it was resolved and in exile before the upkeep step. It should have rebounded immediately.

[@AAIIYAAA]

I laughed so hard at this game. Looks like a lot of fun to play with my friends

[@the1only1witness]

I can't believe this is the first time I've encountered this format idea! Seems like an amazing way to learn about more complicated mechanics in the game.

[@Gloryofthereef]

17:58 Carl misses the flashback of chainer’s edict, which could target thoralf, then he could flashback dread return by sacrificing his three creatures and resurrecting whatever thoralf sacrificed before ending the turn

[@CardmarketMagic]

You can only play a spell once per turn, so flashbacks fall upon the next player :)

[@Gloryofthereef]

@@CardmarketMagic thx, I didn’t catch that

[@jimduggan]

Really fun video. I was aware of judge tower, but hadn't seen it in action. More please !

[@MagnusXen]

I would love to see more episodes of judge tower. Potentially with a different tower or some guests.

[@Hexatomb]

Well, building my own now that I know the rules and general idea. Thanks for the deck list to get me started! I have a ton of cards to add that will make people cry

[@jorgemendieta8085]

Jasper lost at 4:46 because he didn't target the angel with the Daybreak Ranger

[@erikallen4923]

He would have lost, but half the game is having enough rules knowledge and awareness of the whole board state to catch your opponents mistakes and make them lose.

[@CardmarketMagic]

As Erik said, you only lose when someone catches it :)

[@stevehansen4112]

Never heard of this, but it was the most fun i've had in a while watching other people play. Please do more!

[@Lateralus1001]

So this is basically what MTG looks like to people who don't play MTG

[@CoryFPS]

In game 2, turn 1. Carl didn't cast his split second instant in response to his creatures triggered ability, casted devils play instead which is a sorcery. This is the greatest format.

[@matte5705]

Is sheherezade legal in this format?

[@poketech7192]

I've been looking forward to this so much...Thanks for making my day Cardmarket!

[@killinx2987]

This is how I learned to play the game. Absolutely amazing format.

[@GenCavox]

This was an excellent game. Holy crap, it's like a crash course on the mtg rules

[@altosforteaquax5083]

Except it isn't.

[@emidex8721]

@@altosforteaquax5083 yes it is

[@altosforteaquax5083]

@@emidex8721 No it isn't.

[@emidex8721]

@@altosforteaquax5083 yes it is

[@altosforteaquax5083]

@@emidex8721 No it isn't. How long we going to do this for?

[@ryangainey94]

At the 5 minute mark or a little before: Before Jasper moves to attacks, his Daybreak Ranger must tap and activate to deal 2 damage to one of Thoralf's creatures with Flying, either the Tibor & Lumia or the angel thing. He was unable to target them initially due to everything having shroud, but once the Shroud was removed, he had to at least use the ability in response to the change of phases from first main to combat. Don't know if anyone caught that one yet.

[@1997Awesomedude]

11:20 Wouldn't firey gambit always fizzle in judges tower since the caster has the option to keep flipping the coin and so they have to keep flipping the coin until it fizzles

[@crossblocked9432]

It reads that you keep flipping until you choose to stop OR lose a coin flip. Because he lost the flip, he cannot continue flipping

[@1997Awesomedude]

@@crossblocked9432 I know, I mean that the spell would always end that way because it doesn't tell you to stop flipping after reaching the max number of wins. So even if you had enough coin flips to trigger every effect on the card, you have to keep flipping until you lose because that's the only non optional part of it

[@ravtimlady]

No, because all the options say "if you win X or more flips"

[@1997Awesomedude]

@@ravtimlady That's overruled by the text that reads "If you lose a flip Fiery Gambit has no effect" So even if you win 10 then lose 1 the card has no effect. There's a ruling about that on gatherer

[@ravtimlady]

@@1997Awesomedude Ah, that makes sense! You're correct then!

[@origaminosferatu3357]

Man, speaking as someone who has been playing for about ten years and who loves wacky cards, this looks like hilarious fun. The Chimera is also one of my fave cards.

[@justinkarnes3276]

"First rule: If you can do something (on your turn), you must do it right away." 7:58 - Carl fails to lose the game moving to the end-step when he can legally flashback Devil's Play. 11:21 - Jasper fails to lose the game moving to his end-step when he can legally flashback Recoup. 15:44 - Assuming that Jasper _did_ choose new targets, he still would have probably lost for not immediately flashing back Increasing Vengeance (but who knows). 17:57 - Carl fails to successfully complete another second turn as he fails to flash back Chainer's Edict, thus losing the game. 19:57 - Jamin loses the game for acknowledging that Thoralf "gets the gatekeeper" thus yielding his priority on two mandatory chimera choices. This is successfully pointed out by Carl a few moments later. 21:00 - Jasper fails to immediately lose the game for not flashing back Deep Analysis. 21:25 - Thoralf fails to copy Dread Return with the Mirari, thus instantly losing. This is caught after the Dread Return resolves. 25:34 - Carl fails to immediately loses the game for going to his attack phase with Meletis Charlatan in his hand. 26:40 - Carl fails to immediately lose the game for not changing targets for the Quicksilver Dagger aura when taking control of it with Perplexing Chimera. 28:18 - Of all the contentions I have, this one is the one I'm least sure of: Jasper fails to lose for incorrectly asserting that the Heartwood Storyteller trigger should go off. When Carl casts Opalescence, triggers go onto the stack in APNAP order which _does not_ put the Heartwood Storyteller's trigger on the stack meaning that Carl doesn't fail to draw a card... he was never supposed to draw. 29:20 - I'm not sure what the rule is on this, but this card (Undead Gladiator) should produce an infinite draw loop. 30:15 - Jasper moves to his main phase with the ability to cast Forbidden Alchemy from the Graveyard thus losing the game. 32:13 - Thoralf says "I also forgot the ray" after losing for failing to use Scavenge off Golgari Decoy. This suggests to me that all of my "player should lose for failing to do X thing" are valid claims. I would love to play Judge Tower with the crew!

[@danbopes6699]

So about the flashback: From what I've seen on every interaction, no player ever flashbacked a card that they played that turn. My guess is that one of the unwritten rules, is you can cast a card once, let another player flash it back.

[@NotYourAverageNothing]

Regarding 28:14: 1. Letting Perplexing Chimera resolve first doesn’t imply a missed trigger because of the aforementioned APNAP order. 2. Heartwood Storyteller cares about the _caster_ of the spell, so it would always reference Carl. 3. Because of no. 2, the burden of deciding to draw _should_ be Jasper (as he is Carl’s opponent), but Rule #6 (10:49) may overrule this.

[@justinkarnes3276]

​@@NotYourAverageNothing Walking it backwards: Initial Relevant State (IRS): * Heartwood Storyteller is in play under Carl's control. As a reminder, the Oracle text for this card currently reads "Whenever a player casts a non-creature spell, each of that player's opponents may draw a card." * Perplexing Chimera is in play under Jasper's control. Game Action (GA): Carl goes to _cast_ Opalessence going through all the steps of 601.2. The spell is proposed, there are no modes or targets, and no divisions of resources, the spell is legal to cast, the cost is calculated and then Carl pays the cost through the special rules of Judge Tower, and then 601.2i gets hit. Opalessence becomes cast. Any abilities that trigger when a spell is cast or put onto the stack trigger at this time (Opalessence is already on the stack as part of the proposal step in 601.2a). The active player's triggers go on the stack (This is Carl, so the Heartwood Storyteller trigger goes on the stack) and then the NAP's triggers go on the stack (this is Jasper and the Perplexing Chimera's trigger). Resolving the stack according to Judge Tower rules: Jasper _must_ elect to swap the Chimera and Opalessence. He does so and the Chimera goes to Carl. Jasper now controls Opalessence (on the stack). Now we go to resolve the Heartwood Storyteller trigger. Carl is _still the controller of the trigger_ due to 603.3a. According to 603.5, the choice for whether or not Jasper should draw a card is not made _until the Heartwood Storyteller's trigger resolves._ We never get to this point because Jasper incorrectly asserts that Carl has lost. At the point that Jasper makes his incorrect assertion, Carl could very well have said "Resolve Heartwood Storyteller trigger?" which puts the onus of drawing a card (by the rules of Judge tower, Jasper _must_ draw) on Jasper. What the Ruling should have been: This is a deceptive call by Jasper because it goes against IPG 2.1 - Game Play Error - Missed Trigger's philosophy of "Players may not cause triggered abilities controlled by an opponent to be missed by taking game actions or otherwise prematurely advancing the game." I would assert that Jasper contending that Carl loses for "missing the trigger" is prematurely advancing the game because it is an explicit assertion that Carl missed his Storyteller Trigger and should be caught by an action or Judge Tower State Based Check which would only take place _if_ the game had advanced. As it is, Carl actually didn't do anything wrong. He didn't state that he was resolving Opalessence, attempt to cast another spell, or even attempt to pass priority. If anything _Jasper_ failed to give control of the Chimera over to Carl to complete the resolution of the Chimera's trigger and Carl could argue that they were still resolving the Chimera and it wasn't actually time for the Storyteller's trigger to offer Jasper the option (forced) to draw. After thinking about this and working through it logically, I am now confident that Jasper stole this game from Carl and no longer have any trepidation about Jasper deserving the loss on this.

[@NotYourAverageNothing]

@@justinkarnes3276 Jasper is the one who must decide to draw, but the one responsible for remembering the trigger is Carl, right? Why should Jasper lose? I would've preferred the game just keep going.

[@justinkarnes3276]

​@@NotYourAverageNothing going to the tape, the conversation between them goes like this: Jasper: "I would like to respond with this trigger" (Already we have a problem because Jasper isn't technically responding with the trigger, it's already on the stack and he is making an election as part of resolution. Further, he isn't stating his choice of swapping control). Carl: "Yes" Jasper: "So does this resolve?" Carl "It does." Jasper: "But then you lose because of the Heartwood Storyteller" Carl: The reason Jasper should lose is two-fold: First, he didn't actually state that he was swapping control so you could argue that he made an ambiguous election (or worse, failed to obey the may = must clause) because he did not pass the Chimera to Carl when Carl said that "It does" resolve. Secondly, he asserts that Carl _loses the game_ even though Carl has done _nothing wrong_. For a game about knowing the rules down to the point of being able to be pedantic about them, asserting that someone has lost constitutes an offense which is just as bad (if not worse) than committing a game error in the first place. I'm making my stance from the JAR (Judging at Regular REL) document on Cheating which says: "Knowingly breaking or letting an opponent break game or tournament rules, *or lying*, in order to gain an advantage." Jasper (perhaps unintentionally) lied about Carl losing to the Storyteller trigger and if I were an impartial judge (which I am for this situation), I would have ruled it either a major infraction or disqualification pending the outcome of whether or not Jasper thought he was actually correct. If he's just wrong about the rules, it's a major infraction. If he knew he was incorrect but made the call anyway, it's a DQ.

[@bangwin1032]

I got so anxious watching this... I can't even believe it.. Great video! 😅

[@schmidt3110]

At 9:58 Jamin should have activated Basandra not only for his Treefolk but for all his creatures, there is nothing stoping him from doing that.

[@CardmarketMagic]

There is one rule stopping him from doing that :) you can only activate/play each card once per turn cycle. You'd have too many cards with infinite loops if not

[@schmidt3110]

@@CardmarketMagic wow thanks for the reply. I did not know about that rule. Maybe i missen it but a complete list of All the small detailed rules would be awesome, afterall this is all about the smallest of Details. Hammer Video, mehr von dem Format bitte =)

[@TheWaffletron9000]

AHH I'M SO EXCITED! I love this game so so much and I was so stoked to see the notification for this video pop up. Stoked to see this! You guys are killing it!

[@abbygaleforcewind]

Why do you not immediately have to flash back devils play after you played it?

[@MrSyltphademus]

You do, but part of the game is pointing out the mistakes. If no one says anything, then you just keep going.

[@theDJOcho]

In another comment they said you only activate each card once, so if you cast it, you don't flash it back that turn

[@CardmarketMagic]

One rule we forgot to mention is that you can only cast each card once. If you do, by mistake, you also lose the game 👍

[@MartinJohns]

This was most likely the most entertaining MTG video I have ever watched. And I have watched a loooooooot of MTG videos.

[@AnonYmous-et4mz]

My roommate has been telling me about the format for ages. Now that I've seen it in action, I'm totally down to play. Great content as usual :)

[@HadesElderSage]

This was insane and I sent it to my playgroup to watch cause this was insanely fun to watch and try to catch you lot making mistakes.

[@zealcrux]

I’ve only ever heard of this and never actually seen it played. This is awesome!

[@abbygaleforcewind]

The only winning move is to not play

[@CardmarketMagic]

You've understood judge tower

[@altosforteaquax5083]

They should have made the same decision

[@benjaamericano2441]

Please do more judge tower. Most I have laughed at my phone in a long time, and love to see wacky rules technicalities. I have watched a good few videos from this channel here and there, but this is the one to make me subscribe.

[@CardmarketMagic]

We're planning on doing it again! Maybe with a special guest even :) glad you enjoyed it and thank you for the sub

[@daredewley9231]

Cardmarket is the most fun magic channel hands down

[@AwkwardDreamer]

100%!

[@altosforteaquax5083]

TCC.

[@AwkwardDreamer]

@@altosforteaquax5083 That's not a bad one but it's not nearly as fun. Plus questionable where his channel is going these days. These guys (and gals) don't miss though :D

[@altosforteaquax5083]

@@AwkwardDreamer don't miss?

[@tetra654]

I'd totally watch another of these.

[@sagecho4510]

Yessssssssssssssssssssss I remember Thoralf making a short and I was like I'd love to watch this

[@Kruecke44]

This was more fun to watch than I'd like to admit. :D

[@LethalPigeon7]

I think the point about the fact that people shouldn't lose if no-one catches them is excellent, but it still doesnt make it less painful to stare at everyone missing things, couldn't even get to the 10 minute mark on multiple attempts. Still very happy this vid exists though, if only to give the format more attention.

[@MrLucky5001]

you gotta play this again. it was so much fun to watch.

[@mikeberg6407]

this was so stupid in the best ways, carl getting instant ko'd at the start was savage 😂

[@Imagifiction]

Please do this again, this format is amazing

[@MaavBR]

On Game 1, Jasper should also have used Daybreak Ranger's ability targeting Angelic Skirmirsher, as Dense Foliage doesn't apply to abilities

[@CardmarketMagic]

You are correct! Lucky for him, you only lose in judge tower when one of your opponents catches it:)

[@zanebarber8688]

This video is amazing, I love the content, and would really enjoy a sequel!

[@Robert-sq7bp]

23:09 wasn't the elf detained? > When a player leaves a multiplayer game, any continuous effects with durations that last until that player's next turn or until a specific point in that turn will last until that turn would have begun. They neither expire immediately nor last indefinitely.

[@pijaczyna666]

6:15 Carl lost - he should cast quicken sorcery with miracle triger on the stack :)

[@CardmarketMagic]

Luckily, you only lose if people catch your mistake :)

[@fonzy675]

I'm so excited, I've wanted to see this game played forever

[@smartkaboose3806]

I've never seen this before. Judge Tower looks like so much fun! I'd love to see another one of these

[@jaydenzanner9173]

For an alternate game suggestion: The Zombie Hoard. It's a team game, where players work together to fight against a deck of zombie tokens that functions autonomously. It's so much fun.

[@ICantThinkOfAFunnyHandle]

Good 'ol Army

[@icedragon9097]

This is what everyone's first few commander games look like

[@greywolf7577]

I like that "the dead players can eat snacks" is part of the rules.

[@ThisIsACommanderChannel]

I love Judge Tower. I've been working on my own deck for a while, still a few wild cards to add in.

[@monkey5402]

Very kool to see another unique format. I would love to see you guys try Type 4/Limited Infinity/DC10. The format has been around for almost 20 years, and I love introducing new players to the format.

[@jacobharner7998]

You guys straight up make the best mtg content on KZbin and it's not even close! Thanks for this awesome video keep up the great work I definitely love your channel

[@CardmarketMagic]

Thank you that's so kind of you to say :)

[@NoctisVigil]

Please do more of this, it was a wonderful watch. 11/10 video.

[@mayanightstar]

More of these please! This concept is so funny

[@somo3082]

You should absolutely do more of this! This was so fun

[@jongibson4766]

I cackled when you drew Opalesence, my neighbor's surely think I'm mad