The Epic MTG Play Found vs a Pro Tour Champion

[@DarkEinherjar]

This is also a very important lesson about how the only life point that matters is the last one.

[@javierbassr1228]

wrong!

[@aliens858]

​@@javierbassr1228 ???

[@magicmax113]

​@@javierbassr1228no?

[@relicdad88]

Dats prolly true in yugioh bout life points but magic different ball game they wudve been dead if pro didn't massively misplay n tap his lands wrong heck i do it all da time but im nowhere near a pro lvl good stuff tho

[@Victthequick]

like in a poker tournament, a chip and a chair

[@swahilimaster]

The surgical extraction swan song clue token is absolutely perfect.

[@sukaenacornelius9285]

My husband has a canvas of that card. I don’t really play, just old pre made decks for fun with family. And couple decks I made. My husband blew the image up and has it on a canvas for art. We just play for fun. I have pre construction decks from 2004. But started playing when cold snap came out and have all those decks up until 2014. Dual decks too.

[@swahilimaster]

@@sukaenacornelius9285 That's pretty neat, I don't have any sealed MTG product anymore, but I still have a bunch of sealed starter decks from the Pokémon TCG from base set to about gym heroes. I had some other stuff but had to sell it to cover medical expenses a few years ago, had 4 neo revelation packs go for 800 dollars each and a factory sealed thundestorm giftbox pull 2k, and it was lucky I sold when I did because the prices on both crashed to about half that less than 2 weeks later.

[@mikotagayuna8494]

I am a simple man. I see someone playing Nadu, I root for the other guy.

[@jedimasternoob]

Until you see the other guy is playing the one ring, so he’s no better than the nadu player.

[@MisterJ355]

Until you see the other guys wearing Nail😊 Polish

[@jedimasternoob]

@@MisterJ355 who gives a fuck about nail polish. People that are weird care about what others do to their body.

[@miaouew]

I'm a simple man. I see some dude with painted nails, I root for the other guy.

[@Cloudmaster1511]

@@miaouew yeah. real weirdo's that do that.

[@GunbladeKnight]

It goes to show you that even if you don't think you are giving away information, you may be. Something as simple as "Read the card" gave away what was in the hand.

[@TuberTugger]

The graveyard didn't have any other targets worth hitting. It's true they probably put him on a second counterspell, but it's honestly a pretty obvious call. I would have been impressed if there were like 3 different hits in the graveyard and he happened to hit the hand swansong. But there was nothing else in the bin. What are you going to get instead? Chord of calling maybe? But chord is terrible against wrath. NOW! Had he read cord and feared the dryad arbor crack back, and sniped that from hand. OMG, that'd be play of the century. But swan song is the obvious target. Any half decent player was picking swan song even if you didn't have the read.

[@GunbladeKnight]

@@TuberTugger Sure, but he also didn't have to cast surgical. Sure, it's good to do anyways to fish for any counters.

[@Magidex]

...yes he did? Swan counters the Wrath, which would have been game over.

[@Virtua..]

yea TBH I thought it was a bluff or angle shot by the team mate to fake making a mistake holding up blue v green mana, play is pretty avg tbh

[@leaflizard8485]

Not only did they believe in their friendship, but they believed in the heart of the cards. I know that’s a yugioh thing, but it works here.

[@vanesslifeygo]

lol

[@natebeal18]

It's a TCG thing at this point. I say it in Union Arena and One Piece as well.

[@leaflizard8485]

@ yugioh started it

[@flaetsbnort]

Believing in the heart of cards is much easier when The One Ring is giving it a bunch of chances to send you a good one 😂

[@alfonshasel1995]

Mtg has become crazy complex in the last 25 years. I think it was brian seldens 98 wc deck that seemed pretty crazy back then, which played creatures from the graveyard. And now the card texts are like hundreds of words on a card that costs 3. That there are enough people able to even follow whats happening here is astonishing.

[@Fadeways]

biggest offender here is dress down, you have to be an l3 judge to know what that card does on any given board

[@flaetsbnort]

​@@FadewaysThat play combined with Evoke made me lose my mind

[@clydegrey5061]

Charlie deserved every bit of that win. Mechanically awesome, but that swan song call was pure hunger😂

[@WhizzerdSupreme]

Bant Nadu vs Jeskai Control is possibly the most disgusting phrase in MtG history 🤔

[@NikachuMTG]

Sometimes a heel turns hero in the times of need.

[@TheoryTechDotDek]

Have you played legacy recently

[@joshnelson6377]

Camari and Frederick are strong players and super chill. Never met Charles but if he's cool with them he's probably like them. Cool to see some midwest love

[@aciarduce]

The token at the end, the spine being removed from a swan... chef's kiss.

[@johnwarner4178]

Haven’t played in a decade+ This makes me wanna load up Shandalar

[@NikachuMTG]

Do it! You can also play actual Magic for free on MTG Arena.

[@didgeridoofromtheunderworl4820]

@@NikachuMTG Arena is rigged, don't bother.

[@Burgee_6289]

Forge is the best place to play some casual MTG and have access to all cards

[@johnwarner4178]

@ do you need others though? I would prefer an Ai opponent single player game so I can play while doing other stuff, get up and wander away if the kids need me

[@williamcloninger2589]

@@NikachuMTG I play mtga everyday but honestly it sucks. Don’t make arena acct until Elon takes over.

[@Alex-ms8mb]

Ive been to a magic event in real life and i can confirm, most paper magic players paint their nails or wear dresses

[@Silenceaverted]

The one ring shenanigans would’ve never happened if they made the burden counters go on the player like poison counter

[@trintavon]

If my grandmother had wheels she'd be a bike.

[@Whitewingdevil]

Oh god, when he drew three lands I felt it in my heart

[@jotv7224]

imagine at that level they dont even have the right token for swan song

[@vanesslifeygo]

cuz they know what to focus on

[@plzpassthehyrup4480]

Insane game! Fantastic vid Nikachu🤘

[@ShadowxXxSquirrel]

Nice to see my LGS to be covered on KZbin

[@blenderfox]

The image on the token with the swan song getting its head and spine extracted was so appropriate.

[@Professional_Hater797]

hey nikachu always enjoyed the vids ive been casualy playing magic off and on for 11 years and ur break down vids and commentary vids help me to become more aware to new and quirky combos

[@TheHicksHouse]

Seeing the way these pros(?) move their hands, interact with cards so fast, and play with their cards like poker chips really bugs me for some reason😂

[@acemind1]

Wow. Who would have thought the guy with the one ring would win!?

[@Zelots_Code]

not me since the one ring is easy to get around

[@ForeverLaxx]

@@Zelots_Code So easy that it got banned.

[@christmas6666]

absolute soul read.

[@peterkirk8510]

I feel like it feels kinda crazy given the information when the surgical was drawn that I knew exactly what was going to happen. I used to play mill in modern and had a serious knack for reading exactly what was in my opponents hand for surgical

[@NikachuMTG]

You've been trained for this!

[@Mitch-b3y]

That was crazy.

[@supportcarriesu7604]

Nice, almost at 100k subs man. Been here since 25k

[@NikachuMTG]

Im crawling to the finish line.

[@unixtreme]

Wait only 100k? our man is the goat he deserves way more. I don’t even play mtg for years but still watch him.

[@frederickborgemenke2214]

Sweet game. And one of those players was strikingly handsome😋

[@NikachuMTG]

I agree!

[@jshtng78]

MTG will never die as long as powercreep in the playerbase can keep up with powercreep in the cardbase, no matter how badly Wizards tries to destroy the game.

[@felipediazflores1151]

What's so amazing about that extraction play? They used the card to do exactly what the card was made to do...... The surprise flash Subtlety play making it lose it's abilities to stay in play and block was waaaaaaay cooler.

[@TheoryTechDotDek]

What's amazing is the risk, going to literally 1 life, and figuring out that his opponent had specifically swan song in hand, and keeping track of that information in a complex game.

[@BirdNatureView]

Disagree, the play was intertwined with the dress down play, they knew about Shifting Woodland. It’s several plays on the board, but one thought process. It’s the complete sequence alltogether that makes this such a sweet play.

[@theerickstone]

Idk I’ve main decked 4 surgical extraction in every deck I’ve built since it was printed. Turn 1 thought seize + surgical extraction is my all time favorite play.

[@maxrichard2244]

That token of them is awesome!!! 😊🥰

[@tekatektwitch609]

It's great to see you uploading again! 🎉

[@NikachuMTG]

Yeah, me too!

[@jackalpwn42]

Teamwork does indeed make the dream work!

[@Blacksunstoneful]

That's real magic, not slamming the board with a million tokens, or gold fishing combos, just good honest one for ones.

[@vladspellbinder]

That clue token though. Chef kiss. Thanks for the video.

[@Kaytoyaj]

Can you put more of these videos out? These are interesting and inspiring. Hope to see more soon. 😎

[@NikachuMTG]

yes

[@Lukemyfather1]

The only life point that matters, is the last one

[@sadcyclops8909]

imagine losing a game where you led 22:1

[@iuriigrudinin4066]

Amazing play

[@Leisi77]

I never thought I would hear Nikachu say „the power of their Frienship“ like an Animenarrator 😅. Very good Video!

[@Wolfennar]

As a fellow control player, heck yeah that's how it's done.

[@danielmarques4723]

Great video as as always! These are the best games to watch!

[@drakewinwest9888]

Best recaps on KZbin. Great vid

[@LaBlueSkuld]

Jeskai Control: the deck everyone hates until it does what it does best, pull victories out of nowhere. Oh wait, that's why people hate Jeskai Control. Hm.

[@NikachuMTG]

And sometimes it's the hero we need.

[@phyrexia4ever]

They literally said: We will use the power of friendship

[@AncientHydraGaming]

That's a FANTASTIC token!

[@orionalexander2918]

Surgical Extraction is my all time favorite magic card. Got a playset of Goldspan Dragon? All exiled! You countered my Wrath of God? Away with those counterspells into exile! The card is straight up diabolical. 😈

[@Yourthenews]

Watched the whole video waiting for the "And where is where someone cheats" moment... but I enjoyed this out come much more :)

[@frankcastle9691]

You know its a pro magic player when they have their finger nails painted.

[@hitthegoat]

Isn’t the other guy the pro? I also pretty much never seen pro players with painted nails

[@seankim382]

bro hasn't watched the video lulz

[@haus_dad977]

Thank you for further solidifying this game into the mtg content halls Nikachu. Probably my favorite play all year.

[@NikachuMTG]

My pleasure!

[@GiggleVibes]

This reminds me when I started playing my Cat Oven deck and beat my boyfriend from about 1 life and drained at least 30+ life from him and won. Cauldron Familiar and Witch's Oven is a very fun combo, especially with the forage/food cards from bloomburrow. I just wanted to make a witchy deck, and ended up being able to beat most explorer decks.

[@LordQuintix]

I don't think I have ever been more honored to witness that as well. Now THAT was true Magic: the Gathering! 🎉😁

[@lasagnahog7695]

The dramatic pause on the swan song in grave was great.

[@philcollins8199]

I got a feeling nikachu is going to make a video about "Kala-desh"

[@artemi7]

It is WILD to me that they don't have correct tokens for the top tables at the Pro Tour. That said, that Clue token art is SPICY hot. Extracting the Swan is a great focus! Do they sell those on their website or something? I'd love to pick up a copy!

[@NikachuMTG]

This wasn’t the pro tour :P It was the NRGSeries tournament circuit. You can grab their tokens for free at their events.

[@ericomoraes2724]

Awesome history, thanks for bringing us that!

[@DOAHITMAN]

No joke been playing a custom mono black deck on arena and for every 2 losses i have i have like 8 wins 😅

[@danielmarques4723]

It's easy to read that now that you know. Imagine being in the finals with 3 life and no board and still keep your cool. Maybe the "read the card" thing when he cast The One Ring gave it away, though.

[@philipberggren1823]

Heart of the cards!

[@justaperson4866]

Where is the “Poker hand view cam”?? TCGs should implement them with custom tables.

[@KenishiroMashiba]

Wow, absolutely sick play from the rookies ❤❤❤

[@berryhill6577]

These are my friends!! FYI it’s pronounced come-ari not cam-ari

[@NikachuMTG]

Your friends are legends now.

[@AlexMtz153]

That was such an insane game for me, but for them it was Tuesday.

[@cripson114]

Super cool play from both sides

[@GoulashKroket]

Did he tap dryad arbor in the same turn it came in play at 5:16?

[@thetanstar2275]

That was for chord of calling's convoke, not tapped for mana

[@swagsmccool4137]

the amount of Andrew glaze in this video is insane

[@andrewelenbogen5574]

I think it could use more honestly ;)

[@benmetzloff9124]

This proves that anything is possible

[@MunetsuguTakeno]

That was really well played.

[@matthewsawczyn6592]

15:00 rookie question, is the copy not affected by summoning sickness?

[@NikachuMTG]

If you're talking about the copy of Endurance, the copy is affected by summoning sickness because it just entered the battlefield. If you're talking about the Shifting Woodland, it isn't affected by summoning sickness when it copies Sylvan Safekeeper because the land itself has been in play for at least a turn.

[@BIGFRANKOL75]

4:39 So he made a copy of the Endurance but didn't take the opportunity put his graveyard under his deck for some reason? Also, if it was that he wanted to bring in creatures from the grave, he didn't do that.

[@NikachuMTG]

The graveyard was removed. In the next shot the hero's graveyard is gone.

[@willcrowder8727]

Could he have countered the surgical with swansong?

[@NikachuMTG]

Technically yes. But then Wrath the Skies resolves anyway.

[@TenBillionAnts]

And that gives him a 2/2 flier, letting it resolve is definitely optimal here.

[@marcogoncalves3207]

@@TenBillionAnts It's a tradeoff. Letting it resolve lets them see your hand and deck, since there's only 2 Swan Songs in the deck. Countering it hides the information but gives them a 2/2.

[@barongeoffrey75]

@@TenBillionAnts but would't have thé bord sied with the wrath?

[@iuriigrudinin4066]

Pleas more video like this

[@joaoalves-rn3yj]

Missed this videos !!

[@WarzoneCasual423]

bro is in utter disbelief its 22 to 1 and he is losing the game

[@rogerthehomunculus4988]

Why Andrew didn't counter Surgical Extraction with Swan Song? He had one blue mana open. And he should have known that Charles attacking his counter spell meant a follow-through spell that was an important play. Plus, it's basically 3 heads vs 3 heads, so why didn't his teammates tell him to counter? I just don't get it.

[@NikachuMTG]

Countering it gives the opponent a 2/2 bird to block with. Not countering it leaves the opponent with 1 less creature.

[@Anonymous______________]

The fact WOTC let Nadu slip through the cracks without any serious playtesting is pretty alarming. Oh well, now we have the Ocelot to deal with lol. It's like a revolving door of hell.

[@WarzoneCasual423]

the useless flooded strained just chilling

[@toxntoxn5125]

If only he had left that 1 green mana up

[@xeridea]

This is why I hate playing vs control, they have answers to seemingly everything.

[@chapmanandchapmanproductio974]

I’ve read the description about 5 times and I don’t get it ……..

[@chapmanandchapmanproductio974]

1:18 oh shit !!! Coreboneeee!!!! That dude rocks big time !!!!!!!!!!

[@kyleinvivo3170]

the in hand shuffling is siezure inducing

[@BusinessSkrub]

Drives me insane. Literally changes nothing if your opponent hasn't seen your current cards in hand lmao, it's beyond autistic as fuck. And I'm autistic as fuck

[@blackstarmarcel]

Shouldn't the bestowed Nantuko return to the field as a 1/1 after the Endurace got wiped? having 2 1/1 by the next turn essentially winnign the game, didn't he just punt?

[@JJCanDes]

Andrew Elbow is a crazy name :D

[@andesmountain9178]

Chord of calling was x=2. He coulda done x= 1 and then have the green to pop the mite. That may have been implied as he tapped 5, but when asked, nerves took over and he missed the proper explanation of the shortcut. Or he miscounted. Or he thought mite was a 2 drop. Either way the mite coulda gone off with swan protection

[@total_dk6517]

They tapped 2 (non-creature) lands and 2 creatures. That's 4 total. Chord is XGGG, so X was 1. Not 2. They didn't have mana floating after the Chord and didn't overpay. They just should've tapped the W/U land instead of one of the G lands to have a G available for the Mite activation.

[@andesmountain9178]

@ he tapped two lands and three creatures.

[@jonaswilliams9755]

@@andesmountain9178 no it was 2 lands and 2 creatures. The Endurance attacked and was blocked by the Bird token.

[@total_dk6517]

@andesmountain9178 Please list the names of the tapped creatures and provide a timestamp, because I checked twice and only saw 2 tapped creatures, Dryad Arbor and the Copy topen. The Endurance was already tapped.

[@WarzoneCasual423]

great vid♥

[@OneOfThePetes]

That was epic, to be fair! gg!

[@davifks]

so much awesomeness in a game!

[@remy333]

Great game. 🎉

[@HihiouZabimaru182]

Friendship? Nah. That was desperation pure and simple. Desperate men can do many great things out of sheer necessity. Beautiful play.

[@Bret133]

And all it took was drawing a million cards off one busted ass artifact!

[@kippiauto]

”Double edged decision to play The One Ring” :D playing The One Ring is literally the most one edged play you can make in the whole game :D

[@jacobhholt]

Andrew got mana screwed on top of that.

[@OchsSlayer]

1 life and a dream. GGs.

[@cripson114]

He's got a chip and a chair lon

[@TuberTugger]

It's impressive, for sure. But my guess is he was planning to run it out just to see the opponent's hand. And swan song was basically the only good thing worth hitting. I guess it's a "soul read" 1000 ID play. But there really wasn't another line. The difference between 3 life and 1 is pretty much nothing. You fire the surgical to see the grip. If you get song, it's the nut. If you don't, you're still probably shields down to wrath.

[@matteopriotto5131]

Yeah, that's what I was thinking too. It's definitely an impressive and accurate play, but I wouldn't call it a read. He might have thought "IF he has swanson in hand, I'm screwed... Oh would you look at that convenient surgical extraction in my hand and that swansong in the yard". Safe, precise, optimal, but not necessarily a read. If the second swansong had been in the deck, the outcome of this play would have been basically the same.

[@dustyfox6511]

So the game was just determined by external factors. That sort of sucks for everyone involved.

[@NikachuMTG]

It’s a team match. Each team is allowed to help their teammates.

[@beleagueredbeluga5228]

Someone told Andrew to ''read the card''? How is that allowed at a tournament like this?

[@NikachuMTG]

It's a team tournament. You can help your teammates.

[@Dasein23]

What a game!!

[@kiowa4440]

I think you're giving him a little too much credit. You have it you might as well use it and make sure the coast is clear.

[@cOmmi01]

there is actually a cost to surgical extraction = Paying 2 life, which, in this game, almost meant that Charlie lost to the shifting woodlands. Its a bit reductive to say that you "might as well"

[@kiowa4440]

@cOmmi01 the opponent was holding up one blue man's for awhile the announcers even mentioned it. It was a deductive play. Smart play all credit to Charlie for that but what I meant about credit was that it wasn't "epic" and the poster used that term to lure me in to watch. I expected more with the word epic.

[@BrandonHex]

That was awesome.

[@gregorym7588]

Do they have a mouse in their pocket