The Most Important Card from Every Year in Magic: the Gathering (MTG)

[@SilverAlex92]

"Nicol Bolas is responsible for creating the Reserve List"... Ahh I see his evil deeds truly reach every corner of the multiverse, even reaching our own reality. Truly one of Magic's greatest villain, together with Yagwhmoth and WoTC themselves.

[@MTGGoldfish]

Really it was all of Chronicles that created the Reserved List, Nicol Bolas is just a good example :)

[@thechestrockfield]

Evil? I LOVE the reserve list! The Professor put out a video last year where he tried to "prove" the reserve list is unnecessary. His examples made no sense. It's a much longer discussion than I can fit in a comment, but he's wrong.

[@SilverAlex92]

@@thechestrockfield I dont know why you would love the reserve list unless you're a boomer magic player sitting a bunch of reserve list cards, tho I'm interested in hearing a tldr of why you personally like it (not why you think some random youtuber I dont care is wrong). I dislike it because it made legacy and vintage unplayable for anyone who wasn't playing during the early days of magic. Having pieces of cardboard cost hundreds and thousands of dollars makes no sense to me. However I understand why it is such a necessary evil, they way it was worded makes WoTC extremely vulnerable to getting a bunch of really expensive lawsuits filled at them if they ever go back on it. I actually saw a video on a lawyers take on it (one that knows about magic history and plays the game) and concluded that the promise does counts as a legally binding contract, and that its very unlikely WoTC goes back on it, because basically anyone with a reserve list card can theoretically sue them for the economic losses.

[@MrJerichoPumpkin]

@@SilverAlex92 and they would lose big time in any court. Even in countries where verbal contracts are legally binding, at the end of the day, they means nothing unless you can provide a neutral witness, and even then they don't hel up oh so well. A written statement from 20 years ago by a different management, not even resembling a contract gives zero ground to stand on. I would like to see those morons try to sue a bank becuase they convinced them to invest in a certain title "because it will grow" and subsequently lost money to it. If there is some evil in Magic it's the secondary market. Oh, and boomers don't even know what Magic is, they were ammried with two chilfren and a full time job when the game came out.

[@colin8526]

@@SilverAlex92 WoTC is an absolutely massive company though that should have no problem fending off random people who sue them with WoTC having an gigantic reserve of money and a full team of lawyers

[@Goryus]

Memory Jar wasn't responsible for combo winter, in fact it was notable for being banned basically as soon as it became legal. Wizards was scared because combo winter had been going on for months, they had just banned a bunch of cards (like Time Spiral) to try and stop it, and they didn't want Memory Jar to bring it back, so they banned it pre-emptively. Also Necropotence not being on this list is true insanity :D

[@ManaDrain315]

Academy caused combo winter for sure.

[@marcrivkin3999]

Agree 100% with Necro, Jar was banned because it won like 6 PTQ's that release weekend

[@Dermalol]

@@marcrivkin3999 Jar was banned before release. Due to the time lag that bans had at the time, it left a single weekend to play the card in tournaments.

[@marcrivkin3999]

@@Dermalol jars emergency ban announcement was the Monday after the set was release. Jar was legal for PTQs that weekend. I drove from Michigan to Pennsylvania sat after the ptq in Detroit.

[@rashakor]

I agree Necropotence is far more significant than Memory jar or Cadaverous Bloom. But, it was released in 1995 and people only start playing with it some years later making it irrelevant in 1995, and ineligible for 1996-1999.

[@poryjahn2]

seth... im pretty sure the basic lands have to beat out black lotus for 1993. i don't think there is a more important card in the game.

[@SilverWolf340]

Lol true ig

[@baileynicholson251]

I mean there reprinted every year. Updated list basic land cycle every year......

[@ryanmalinowski7529]

Well, you could replace each land with black lotuses and it would be better than lands during that time in the day

[@brianhelmick1105]

@@baileynicholson251 in 93, every pack didn't come with a basic land and they weren't basically free in every LGS.

[@joshg218]

There were decks with no basics... I played some. You played lotus and mox

[@whaleofdarkness]

For me, the card of 1995 has to be Necropotence. It dominated the format back then and is still played in some decks today. And for 2004 Arcbound Ravager has to be the card of the year 2004! It defined the whole standard format back then, created a whole deck type, and is still played in Modern decks.

[@choralotic]

Great list and video! Think I'd have picked Lurrus over Jeweled Lotus, though.

[@SilverWolf340]

For sure, it also would’ve been fun to hear him talk about the whole companion situation

[@Otacon2099]

wait so everything is commander *stares off to earth loaded gun pointed at head "always has been"

[@MTGGoldfish]

Yeah, I was really torn on that year. I think the important of Commander is the biggest recent evolution in Magic, and Jeweled Lotus is a good example of that change, but as far as competitive play Lurrus is in a league of its own.

[@SilverAlex92]

Yeah Lurrus did the impossible and got a power level ban IN VINTAGE. That's remarkable

[@thechestrockfield]

Weren't people using Jeweled Lotus in non-Commander eternal formats, too?

[@johnf9710]

95: Brainstorm, 96: Force of Will if you look with hindsight. Bolas and Bloom were certainly relevant for time

[@baileynicholson251]

Yeah I think this is a great example of what metrics you use to make this list

[@Atmapalazzo]

Yeah the metrics shifted way too much across the video

[@seilaoquemvc2]

This!!! A million time this. Fow defines the entire legacy up to this date

[@MTGGoldfish]

Yeah, it was tricky. Overall my goal was to pick cards that were important to the evolution of the game rather than just the most powerful cards each year, but I I can see arguments for things like Brainstorm and FOW for sure.

[@baileynicholson251]

@@seilaoquemvc2 I tend to agree. I'd say it changed In 2019. But all things considered a methodology or Honorable mentioned would have been helpful. I think blood mood falls into the reverse. Not especially impactful at the time but has significant longevity

[@EmperorTiberiusII]

For 2020 I would go for Lurrus. It affected a lot more formats and is representative of the companion mechanic being broken. It banned basically everywhere in paper except Vintage similar to Oko.

[@andrewmoy548]

I remember at one point it was banned in Vintage due to it being restricted would effectively do nothing

[@Kakerate2]

Lurrus shouldve been banned from being your companion, but i don't like that hes just outright banned.

[@colinjones5379]

Definitely agree, Lurrus casts a far longer shadow in my mind than Jeweled Lotus - but maybe I'm just underestimating the importance of Commander to MtG as a whole

[@spikescafe3940]

Or Negan, The Cold Blooded for opening up MTG to external IP, plus selling functionally unique cards direct to players. I would say this is even more significant than a "whoops, we pushed a card or mechanic too hard."

[@anthonydelfino6171]

It's not banned in commander (though it's nowhere near as good in the format), but as a second example of why the mechanic was a mistaken mechanic, Lutri was the first and so far only time a card has been banned in the format before the card was even released. Also even just looking at commander from 2020, since he picked a commander-only card, Fierce Guardianship and Deflecting Swap are both more impactful than the lotus.

[@WarhavenSC]

Honorable mention to Umezawa's Jitte for 2004 slot.

[@tfriggink314]

Jitte was in Betrayers of Kamigawa, released in 2005

[@jerryleganker4630]

Supply llama is a great choice, since it also has something to do with Wizards’ abysmal supply chain!

[@CodenameJD]

The pandemic has had major impacts on the supply chain for a lot of companies, not just Wizards. Thew new Digimon card game has been hit by it, for instance.

[@Crunchatize_Me_Senpai]

Well if it keeps fucking _Fortnite_ cards more scarce and away from my LGS, keep those supply issues coming. I don’t like the idea of crossovers in general, but this is the stupidest, most shamelessly pandering one they’ve done yet, and I don’t know if they could top it if they tried.

[@fredouellet3160]

@@Crunchatize_Me_Senpai don't ask for it, they certainly could! What about publicity in the form of magic cards? (like a well known food chain franchise or drink)

[@Crunchatize_Me_Senpai]

@@fredouellet3160 Ben & Jerry’s tribal? I’m down to clown.

[@lefeal9707]

While Kalia and commander sets maybe was big politically, for the actual game new phyrexia and phyrexian mana with cards like birthing pod and gitaxian probe were far more impactful for the gameplay itself.

[@martinprybylski2392]

Blood moon in 1994 Seth? are you a little biased? Love you.

[@baileynicholson251]

❤️

[@bannah6400]

This world is rapidly passing away and I hope that you repent and take time to change before all out disaster occurs! Belief in messiah alone is not enough to grant you salvation - Matthew 7:21-23, John 3:3, John 3:36 (ESV is the best translation for John 3:36) if you believed in Messiah you would be following His commands as best as you could. If you are not a follower of Messiah I would highly recommend becoming one. Call on the name of Jesus and pray for Him to intervene in your life - Revelation 3:20. Contemplate how the Roman Empire fulfilled the role of the beast from the sea in Revelation 13 over the course of 1260+ years. Revelation 17 confirms that the beast is in fact Rome. From this we can conclude that A) Jesus is the Son of God and can predict the future or make it happen, B) The world leaders/nations/governments etc have been conspiring together for the last 3000+ years going back to Babylon and before, C) History as we know it is fake. You don't really need to speculate once you start a relationship with God. Can't get a response from God? Fasting can help increase your perception and prayer can help initiate events. God will ignore you if your prayer does not align with His purpose (James 4:3) or if you are approaching Him when "unclean" (Isaiah 1:15, Isaiah 59:2, Micah 3:4). Stop eating food sacrificed to idols (McDonald's, Wendy's etc) stop glorifying yourself on social media or making other images of yourself (Second Commandment), stop gossiping about other people, stop watching obscene content etc. Have a blessed day!

[@KingBobXVI]

Thing about the rarity change by "adding" mythic: they didn't really "add" mythic, they added the current conception of "rare", and rebranded old "rare" as "mythic". The probability of opening a mythic in a new pack is the same as old rares from large sets: 1/121, generally referred to as R1 because it appears once on the rare sheet. In Alara they added a new probability, 2/121, or R2 - cards of this rarity appear twice on the rare sheet, making them twice as likely to open. They didn't actually add a new more-rare rarity, they added a new less-rare rarity and shuffled the names around to make it _look_ like the "new" thing was "more rare". Fun fact: the only time fetchlands were printed at R1 ("mythic") was in Onslaught.

[@Sauvenil]

Force of Will was an uncommon in Alliances.

[@Foreign501st]

I got into Magic in 2015. My first set I ever got was Origins. I've been watching MTGGoldfish ever since and absolutely love the team. Seth, you're my favorite. I haven't played Magic myself since 2020 due to how broken some things became, but I still love the content. Keep up the amazing work Goldfish Team!

[@happyflappypancakes]

Pretty wild. This video just popped up on my recommended list. I played magic pretty casually with friends from around 2007-2010. The cards are so complicated now. I chuckled when he mentioned that the Mystic Rhino was an example of how power creep has made it seem weak compared to modern standards. I thought to myself that it seemed super broken!

[@petercollins1122]

Well, you can really tell when I played the most, and when the mass of releases really got out of hand. I have everything on the list from 1994-2015, managed to get one Nexus from 2018, and haven't had any of the cards on the list since. Too many cards coming out to keep up, not enough events to use them or get them at. Fantastic list, and great reasoning on everything!

[@randomaccessfemale]

4:23 I don't think Entomb works with Emrakul, since the graveyard is shuffled back into the library.

[@enricodedonato8529]

2004 must be ravager, it was absolutely dominant back then and still is the best 2 drop ever printed in my opinion. The only reason why it could not dominate older formats back then was because pernicious deed was still around.

[@trowawayacc]

Ohh the first time magic died.

[@mfsoab]

Love the inclusion of Garruk, he is so underrated these days. Just gotta love untapping 2 bounce lands with him amongst other shennanigans. He was the first walker I got back in the day in the xbox promo version which came for free with duels of the planeswalkers.

[@pierreserra918]

Skullclamp and arcbound ravager seems to be more impactfull card than Sword of and ice. Same for artifact land and solemn simulacre

[@abgekappt8247]

You forgot Colossal Dreadmaw!! How could you?!

[@domri4203]

and Storm Crow!

[@MTGGoldfish]

Maybe I need to be a meme card from each year list.

[@domri4203]

@@MTGGoldfish Please

[@pr0fess0rbadass]

@@MTGGoldfish then it would just be 2017: Colossal Dreadmaw 2018: Colossal Dreadmaw 2019: Colossal Dreadmaw 2020: Colossal Dreadmaw

[@vichuang1480]

This is dope. As a relatively new player it's nice to know mtg history so i can get the jokes and references online

[@noobtuber10]

Im glad cadaverous bloom is the card for 1996, one of my absolute favorite mtg cards created the year of my birth, responsible for one of the first true combo storm like decks, I play a cadaverous bloom combo in my grismold enchantment deck with cards like recycle and null profusion to win the turn its played.

[@PieBandit]

Would have picked Command Tower over Kaalia, and I am beyond shocked Lurris did not make this list.

[@Le_coin_du_JA]

While I agree on almost all the cards choices, I think 2003 and 2004 should have been cards like "Seat of the Synod" and "Skullclamp", for their ubiquitous presence and subsequent banning across multiple formats. Other than that, nice video, thanks :)

[@ryanrichard2736]

Making me relive the Hazoret punt hurt my soul

[@Green.Country.Agroforestry]

Apparently, there are enough cards in my uncommon/commons collection to put twelve kids through college.

[@TriNerdNick]

Love this throwback. I still have many of the cards on this list, and it warms my soul. My favorites are my Chronicles Nicol Bolas & Oko...

[@stimpacks]

The joy in seth's voice when he says "Siege Rhino" is so adorable :D

[@maynardewm]

I had the opportunity once to buy a Artist proof black lotus for $1,000, but decided not to because at the time they weren't really considered worth anything. Never knew until now I had made the biggest financial mistake of my life. I instead bought another Chris Rush artist proof that he had painted a black lotus onto the back of. I paid $300 for it. Nowadays I wouldn't even know how much it would be worth.

[@SSolemn]

Really liked the video, hope to see more content like this 👍🏼✨ (Necropotence, Lurrus and Smuggler's Copter are the ones for me that deserved a mention)

[@pr0fess0rbadass]

Soon it will be 2023: Pickle Rick 2024: Kool-aid man 2025: Mark Zuckerberg's BBQ sauce 2026: Jar Jar Binks

[@bookstooge5294]

Ohhhhh Yeeeeeaaaaahhhhhh * smashes through the 4th wall *

[@mikemason7422]

We can only hope 😄

[@EngineerLume]

9:00 My favourite thing about this card is that I saw a GDC talk Mark Rosewater did about designing Magic and he highlighted this card as an example of failing to keep with theme because: -It was a 7/7 creature -It had an ability that cost 7 life -To let you draw 7 cards -And it cost *8* mana Even if it was for balance, he noted that it makes the whole card feel off because there's obviously a clear theme that wasn't being committed to

[@Peter_Pierre_Anderson]

I think Tibalt cosmic impostor was a way more important card for 2021. It was so powerful that WotC had to change the rules of cascade, many years after the keyword's release!

[@CodenameJD]

Kaalia's cool, but Command Tower is definitely way more important as a representation of Wizards beginning to release official Commander products.

[@jazzyfoo]

Seeing Black Lotus always stings my heart, I got one and a couple Moxes stolen when I was a kid

[@JoeyBBiden]

Talk about a tone deaf response!. Sorry that happened to you. I recall a store owner that would stand over us and if he saw us pull anything good would aggressively push to sell it to him. I was a kid and just wanted my cards, after his assault of "deals" I went to the bathroom only to find my cards missing with my friends saying that owners told them his policy was to watch the cards for people who left them in the store. When I asked him for them... he asked for proof via an ID. I was 10 and I started crying and never returned.

[@stevezissou8900]

That was a fun watch. Good job Mr. Olive

[@Crusina]

People thought you were meeting but the "supply llama" was acrually pretty insightful.

[@michaellee4276]

I wouldn't call Black Lotus the most important card from Alpha because so few got to actually play with it, even at the time. I'd give the title to Sol Ring. In 1993-96 EVERY deck had a copy of Sol Ring, even cheap crummy decks. Since it was a restricted uncommon, it was easy to get (no one needed to horde 4 of them, so they could trade the extra to a buddy). It made every deck better in almost every situation. It made clear the power of even the most basic mana ramping.

[@Dremin2009]

Bloodbraid Elf and Brainstorm should have made the list. Seemed like inconsistent selection criteria, some years it was a powerful card that was good in its time like Seige Rhino or Baneslayer, sometimes it's a card that is good today but wasn't at the time like Rhystic Study.

[@mealythenoob3940]

This list will keep me up tonight, thanks. I should have watched when you released it....

[@AgentBurns]

As I started playing Magic when Darksteel was the current set, I was genuinely surprised to see the Swords as being the most important card that year, here. In my experience as a new player back then, it would have had to have been either Arcbound Ravager, the Artifact Lands, or ignoring them, Tooth and Nail.

[@bjrneirikstrkersen1021]

Or even Darksteel Colossus

[@utoesc6241]

Skullclamp should be worth a mention. But anyway, you give some good options already. Swords is a perfectly decent card, but it wasn't exactly important for anything in particular. Can even make a solid case for Crucible of Worlds being more important.

[@fredouellet3160]

Was surprised force of will wasn't included. Arguably the most important card of legacy.

[@stylesheetra9411]

One of the most important card of all time

[@Sauvenil]

It wasn't nearly as game-saving when it was printed though - there weren't really any combos like there are now. Now it's absolutely necessary to not lose turn 1 in Legacy or Vintage. (Once Cadaverous Bloom was printed I bet Force of Will saw more play.)

[@nickybeingnicky]

Thanks. Now I know what to look for in these 10k cards gifted to me.

[@2007Shockwave]

I am actually surprised Karn the actual strongest planeswalker didn't make this list.

[@spudkin564]

Yo love the Rhystic Studies channel plug. His videos are fantastic.

[@blaccoffee1]

4:45 and 5:08 I love the subliminal background messages of leveler and blightsteel.

[@Imawesomedude20]

This is a cool video! id also like to see this list again but only give the context of the time back on each of the years. id like to see what people back in 2006 thought were the most broken cards etc.

[@davenirline]

2006 was a really good year for Mtg. Time Spiral was released which featured Dominaria. Lots of players came back due to nostalgia. It was also the year before planeswalkers were introduced.

[@bannah6400]

This world is rapidly passing away and I hope that you repent and take time to change before all out disaster occurs! Belief in messiah alone is not enough to grant you salvation - Matthew 7:21-23, John 3:3, John 3:36 (ESV is the best translation for John 3:36) if you believed in Messiah you would be following His commands as best as you could. If you are not a follower of Messiah I would highly recommend becoming one. Call on the name of Jesus and pray for Him to intervene in your life - Revelation 3:20. Contemplate how the Roman Empire fulfilled the role of the beast from the sea in Revelation 13 over the course of 1260+ years. Revelation 17 confirms that the beast is in fact Rome. From this we can conclude that A) Jesus is the Son of God and can predict the future or make it happen, B) The world leaders/nations/governments etc have been conspiring together for the last 3000+ years going back to Babylon and before, C) History as we know it is fake. You don't really need to speculate once you start a relationship with God. Can't get a response from God? Fasting can help increase your perception and prayer can help initiate events. God will ignore you if your prayer does not align with His purpose (James 4:3) or if you are approaching Him when "unclean" (Isaiah 1:15, Isaiah 59:2, Micah 3:4). Stop eating food sacrificed to idols (McDonald's, Wendy's etc) stop glorifying yourself on social media or making other images of yourself (Second Commandment), stop gossiping about other people, stop watching obscene content etc. Have a blessed day!

[@Sauvenil]

@@davenirline First Ravnica, Coldsnap, and Time Spiral were all in standard and it was insane. Then Ravnica rotated out and Lorwyn started and it was still insane. IMHO Coldsnap completely defined Standard for almost two years. Scrying Sheets may have been the most iconic card of that Standard.

[@OlAgony]

Goldfish crew forgetting about Necropotence is becoming a norm now 🤣

[@thejimshep2503]

One of my favorite videos you have made. Thanks.

[@davidkwong3369]

I used to do a lot of damage with cadaverous bloom, lich, and drain life. Toss my whole hand for a big drain to cadaverous bloom and draw about 20 cards then discard 19 cards for 38 black mana tap a mountain for a 38 point fireball which I anticipated drawing almost 60 cards could deck me and wasn’t sure if that would create a draw or if I would lose before damage was resolved.

[@carsondooley8054]

I agree with most of your picks and I like the list overall, but I do have a few bones to pick (especially 2020): 1995: Nicol Bolas over Necropotence (Necro was one of the most iconic cards of all time, still sees commander play today, would see legacy play if it weren't banned, and while I get Nicol Bolas was just a platform to get to talk about the RL, that doesn't make it the most important card of 1995. Also if you're going to include Yam's punt on the Hazoret play, you definitely should have included the all time greatest gameplay commentary of Randy yelling "DON'T SAY 4!".) 2003: Solemn over Chalice of the Void (Chalice has had a major influence on the game overall, much larger than Solemn. Solemn obviously has had a larger impact on commander specifically, but that doesn't overshadow Chalice as one of the greatest hate cards of all time.) 2007: Garruk over Jace Beleren (Jace became the cornerstone of magic's planeswalker design, if you want to pick a walker for '07 instead of thoughtseize (I think you're probably right to) pick the one that became the face of magic for the next 10 years.) 2020: Jeweled Lotus over Lurrus or Negan (Lurrus is so impactful on competitive magic since 2020 it's hard to overstate. Lurrus most likely killed any chance of Companion ever returning, is the only card ever banned in vintage for power level reasons, dominated legacy and modern until its eventual banning, and is one of the most glaring design mistakes of all time. Outside of competitive magic, Negan and the idea of other pop culture IPs showing up in magic, secret lair exclusive cards, and Wizards selling cards directly to players, cutting out the LGS which had been the foundation of the game for nearly 30 years, has had a massive impact on the relationship that players have with the company that makes the game.)

[@estebanvasquezr1]

This list is the most relevant from each year to modern magic.

[@NoneNullAnd0]

Why is Solemn Simulacrum here? Was there really nothing more impactful in 2003?

[@Xhadp]

Should have done honorable mentions for the following Emrakul, the Aeons Torn, a really important card that is the pinnacle of being unstoppable and still sees play while the sculptor has been powercrept to not be nearly as popular. Although putting a Jason Chan card on here is something I love to see. Lightning Bolt over Lotus, this one is a bit crazy but considering that bolt is a common card that has been reprinted at least a dozen times and still fetches over 2 dollars a copy shows how crazy the card is Lurrus-being able to completely re-sculpt decks it is in should be enough to be on a list like this

[@dbzfannumber1sayian]

Please talk about Force of Will? We definitely could use more hype for the game. Would be greatly appreciated 🙏

[@jamesbrincefield9879]

If it was a game worth talking about you wouldn’t have to beg people to do so.

[@jasonhamler4507]

Cool video, though I would have said Necro for 1995 (so much so that it was the first card I thought of for specific year before starting to watch.)

[@JonathanDoliver]

Nicolle Bolas must be proud of her transition

[@michaelwilson367]

Now I’m curious to see a video of the most broken sets as a whole.

[@ielelelele]

awesome to see emerakul the promised end here, legit the reason i quit playing standard 5 years ago and wont ever go back. bought a playset of smugglers copters for an insane price and a playset of her for another insane price just to play in some standard tournys coming up only for both cards to be banned. ill probably never go back to competitive paper magic after that. bans hurt the game in a lot of ways.

[@jaredzuckerman52]

Smugglers Copter and the vehicle deck alongside Saheeli Rai and Felidar guardian also were game breaking cards

[@chriswilliams-px3ul]

Me: I never understood why people though Oko was that good Mellisa: we did underestimate how strong the plus 1 is Me: wait, the second ability is a PLUS one....I see...I did not read the card properly when it came out

[@TGPDrunknHick]

that and it's a permanent change and not until the end of turn which people may not have computed at the time either.

[@jakubb4784]

You have missed Rishadan Port from 1999. Cursed Scroll, Mox Diamond, Wasteland, Masticore from 97-98. Still powerful and playable.

[@RyanEglitis]

Gaea's Cradle over Tolarian Academy is silly - Academy is the biggest poster child for why this era was the combo era, and part of why the next YEARS of magic development were so downpowered. Just because Cradle sees more play today isn't really a reson to promote it here. Also, Force of Will over Vampiric Tutor. Vampiric and the like are just poor stand-ins for Demonic Tutor anyway. Force is iconic, and holds an entire format together. Command Tower is also a better stand in for Kalia, as it shows true commander-centric design, and goes in every commander deck to this day. Siege Rhino should have been Treasure Cruise. Nobody outside standard ever cared about Siege Rhino.

[@solidsnake1209]

@Ryan Completely agree with most of this comment. Tolarian Academy was so warping it forced R&D to return to Earth when designing future cards. Also Force is definitely the most iconic/important card of 1996 considering it sees heavy play in all formats it is legal in and is the metric that free counterspells are compared to. Even newer players usually know what FoW does.

[@dumatrising2421]

A note on Tarmogoyf, goyf's price drop from the all time high has less to do with the reprints (it would see a dip but then start to climb back up) and more to do with how much its meta share has dropped, it was once one of the most played cards in one of the most played decks in magic now it only sees play as a fringe card in what is now a fringe deck.

[@MTGGoldfish]

It's really a combination of the two, imo. Gofy isn't as heavily played as it use to be *and* it has been reprinted aggressively.

[@Valc09]

I think I would have gone with Skullclamp for Mirrodin-block, it's nuts.

[@bsnoguera]

Definitely. Skullclamp saw play from affinity to goblins, it was insane seeing that card play. Solemn is a good card, but there's no comparison here... maybe they chose this one bc skullclamp was banned fast?

[@warpig1210]

Awesome video! It would be cool to see a history or list of magic cards that are a book, tome, slate or scroll/ tapestry etc..

[@brentatbluenovaproductions2136]

"What happened to Oko?" We made a planeswalker with a +1 that made a 3/3 and didn't put Lightning Bolt and Counter Spell in standard.

[@user-nx9hj4xd9y]

What an amazing thumbnail and even better video!

[@FaceD0wnDagon]

I feel like the years of Mirrodin block might be better represented by one of the many cards that were banned there. I understand this isn't a list of "strongest cards in each year" but like...when I think Mirrodin, that was basically the height of nutty design all the way til we hit the era of no longer having themed blocks (and arguably, maybe even then too.) Honestly if you ever want to do a sequel, "the card that best represents the set or block it was from" would be a cool video concept.

[@miaouew]

RIP the best card game ever. I like how you can pinpoint around what times each bad decision was made just by looking at the most important cards from each year.

[@Nrdyco]

I got my Rhystic Study for 10 cents... 10 cents.. I got a playset and was like "THIS CARD IS SO GOOD"

[@MTGFaded]

i died to turbo fog in 2019 standard because of nexus of fate and wilderness rec… my opponent killed me with 150 different swings with a single llanowar elf

[@GrubLord9000]

I never liked planeswalkers, but when Jace came out I made a superfriends deck in standard with Jace's, Elspeths, Gideon's ect. House of a deck. My favorite standard deck at the time was Emrakul polymorph, though.

[@Tyrant372]

I'd argue that Chandra torch of defiance is more iconic than hazorat. A 4 ability planeswalker than still sees consistent play in pioneer after a long stint in modern and a dominating performance in standard.

[@mattwalker6691]

Thought I’d see snap caster! Awesome and fun list

[@GH-un9uz]

I would've put a card like lurrus in the 2020 slot, since companion as a whole was arguably the biggest design f*** up in magic history, and resulted in an errata that literally changed the text of the card and made the reminder text on the original prints incorrect, something that they have never had to do before (arguably the wall defender change but there was never reminder text for it) and hopefully will never have to do again. Lurrus and companion as a whole is emblematic of how much more frequently magic get torn apart by massive blunders like oko, lurrus, uro, ragavan, murktide, etc.

[@jish55]

I would actually argue for 2002 that Demonic Tutor was a much more important card, because while the Fetch Lands are important, Demonic Tutor is more important because that was the year a chunk of big named cards got removed from the reserved list (including Tutor).

[@astonrichardson5288]

Seeing that dude attack with Hazoret instead of killing him with the Incendiary Flow definitely got me saying “wtf” 😂 Good video though Saffron!

[@PleasantKenobi]

Jewelled Lotus over Lurrus is fucking insane Seth. For shame.

[@cdxx.]

Crazy to think some of these cards are older than me lol was born in 2001

[@andrewhulle3069]

Really well done. I enjoyed every second of this video. I really appreciate the work that went into making this. Thank you.

[@4the_record272]

I wish these didnt have background music

[@mtgwizardofoz5094]

Still trying to get that Lotus for the 30th anniversary. Feel free to check out the project on the channel. Nice video, great wrap up of where we’ve come from

[@mrhaftbar]

'96: Necropotence Named the worst rare in Ice Age. It took everyone (including me) a while to realize the potential. Then it left a lasting impression on MTG forever and maybe one of the strongest enchantments ever.

[@noahhager1187]

I love the video but, I personally think that ugin isn't the strongest colorless planes walker. The fact that both karn liberated, and karn, the great creator can end games just by being on the battlefield is something to talk about. Note: I do think ugin is iconic and also a really strong planes walker, but both karns are probably the more competitively viable card and the ones I would be more scared of

[@codygottman2642]

Started playing in 2010! The perfect year to start playing. I traded so many fetch lands away….. for total junk. I would get mad when I cracked lands.

[@THECreativeName]

Oh bans. I strongly remember the 9 banned cards from the Mirrodin artifact block standard. Good times. Miserable times. Fun fact: artifact blocks tend to lead to lots of bans it seems. I wonder how the next one will have in store for us. Arcbound Ravager would have had my vote over sword because of how it dominated standard and how resilient the deck was to hate.

[@chimmy1207]

I think there's an argument that Eye of Ugin should be there for 2016 and Hogaak for 2019.

[@alexanderfisher7261]

2000 had daze and fact or fiction Mirridon is prevalent on the modern banlist (2003) Skullclamp was a very important card in mtg history (2004) Companions were a huge change to mtg (2020)

[@matthewjessey12]

I think the reserve list today should be altered in some way. I wouldn’t advocate for power nine reprints but a lot of those random cards that weren’t that good but are played in those older formats should be reprinted. I think people would enjoy playing vintage or other old formats if they were more accessible

[@spook_services2534]

great videio, im just surprised to see hazoret on here instead of chandra torch of defience

[@timdornaus]

love me a video looking back on magics past

[@trowawayacc]

Imagine if this was the 30th year aniversary eddition countdown. It would have been glorius.

[@gustavocoppola3448]

Its Just great, we have a big star like posty playing magic. That reinforce why magic its a so special game, anyone could be a player, and thats awesome.

[@dsweet5273]

WhyYYY are you TAAAAAlking like thIIIS?

[@TritiumMedia]

Karn, Liberated should've been on there

[@sjilani5727]

Force of will!!!!!! Got me into pro magic in the 99s

[@Flickstro]

Great list! It was great watching and seeing some of the most busted cards, especially in recent memory haha

[@jairomy]

MDT: we meant to have the 2nd ability cost -1 instead of +1 on Oko. There fixed it for them.

[@mtgcardzandreview2756]

Hello MTGGoldfish, those old school magic cards are the cards I played.