Trolling Arena Zoomers With Stax | Against the Odds

Best-of-one Timeless is full of Scam decks and degenerate graveyard brews, making it the perfect time to stax some opponents out of the game!
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[@Xan1011]

Seth has become Crim, player of Leyline

[@TheyCallMeDio]

Why does this sound like the Oppenheimer speech lol

[@Xan1011]

@@TheyCallMeDio Look upon his stax, ye mighty, and despair.

[@mikemoyer8162]

Seth has always been Crim's big brother. He just hides it well.

[@TransformersBoss]

Well, Crim recently became Seth with a Flawless Victory in one of his videos

[@jellywillreturn]

It's his Sethcurity Blanket

[@TransformersBoss]

1:57 “hopefully our opponent is trying to Scam us.” Opponent has Lurrus as companion. Grief and Fury aint comin

[@roryhatcher1880]

"Should have played some basics!" Hahaha dying rn

[@kmb1800]

4:25 you wouldn't lose the phelia thanks to first strike

[@ToadboyMTG]

I was just about to comment this. Seth is goofy sometimes

[@GuyrillaBraun]

Put some respect on his name. That is DOCTOR Amish Goat, thank you very much.

[@goreobsessed2308]

😂

[@Darkflamecrusader]

Based on how he played, Mr. Goat doesn't deserve all that much respect.

[@GuyrillaBraun]

@@Darkflamecrusader He's Amish, so his degree is questionable at best.

[@imakuni67]

They didn't spend 6 years in Amish Goat school to be called mister

[@gaminggeckos4388]

4:28 Ya forgot how double blocking works when one of your creatures has first strike! That Phelia was never in any danger at all!!

[@randomloginnamebtw7759]

Would you ever consider revisiting old decks? The very first deck you made that I absolutely fell in love with was the brain in the jar zombies deck and a lot of that is available on arena.

[@ToadboyMTG]

Lol u could maybe get a smaller creator make that video!

[@OddMidnight]

Mono-red prison witn wintermoon maybe?

[@joshuabrown1607]

Its good, but no replacement for blood moon. Definitely goid along side of it. Timeless also has fury!​@@OddMidnight

[@jackthebroken2084]

Janking out Mythic "#69" with a Leyline of Sanctity was pure bliss.

[@mh_voltage7974]

how is leyline janking them out? that card is far from jank... the deck is jank but he didnt jank them out that game he just played leyline

[@justharry2190]

it was quite nice B)

[@bigpoppy3]

@@mh_voltage7974 how mr 69 handled it was pretty jank

[@JStack]

Says something about the level of skill to play SCAM when several people ranked high mythic didn’t even know how basic interactions worked lol

[@elogee_yt]

Those games where Winter Moon felt like a Thalia without the 2/1 First Strike were pretty eye opening

[@sams3476]

Always a good day when we get more Instructor Seth

[@TakaRai7]

Its not cat Jesus, but Aven Mindcensor is in the format

[@VBane]

Was about to post this

[@wafflehaxxx]

3 mana dies to bowmaster is not the best rate.

[@arghanothername]

Rather see that in place of winter moon

[@thechestrockfield]

The Mythic 59 player shame scooping on turn two was AMAZING!

[@as95ms98]

After seeing Crim and now this video, it almost seems optimal to always have 4 Leyline of Sanctity in a Timeless deck, even if they're off colour. At least in Bo1.

[@SoftyMage]

Loved the Bear stories!

[@as95ms98]

As much as I hate The One Ring, I think it's better to replace the Winter Moons with The One Ring for card draw. Most of the games you lost were due to a lack of card advantage after a successful early game.

[@nietrelevant3338]

Novice inspector also a good consideration, fills out the curve nicely

[@KDKalvinDrake]

My favorite Phelia combo is The Princess Takes Flight, exiling an opponent's card, then when it comes back to your turn, gives Phelia flying and +2/+2 to hopefully swing over their creatures, rinse repeat

[@josephwodarczyk977]

12:40 Bear is precious, and he needs to cuddle with the goats.

[@Guynamedharry]

Getting "Aether Vile" and "Leonen Arbitor" on Arena would be fantastic.

[@jstuckless]

lol Vial. That's funny though, some people think it's vile.

[@dracish123456789]

watching seth target the fable which he can block instead of the grief in that board state at 19:20

[@joev1083]

This seems like a really good Sam / ghost quarter deck. Maybe with baubles too, perhaps a slightly better engine than thrabs

[@v-niftytrickster4166]

Wait you could get evoked solitude back too!!

[@joev1083]

@@v-niftytrickster4166 yes exactly, it'd give the deck a little more flexibility with the doggo too, I think it'd also probably be worth running a few fetches for him too

[@thecrazycapn]

When do we get Against the Odds: Freerunning Assassins? The only reason that trash is in Modern is for you, Seth!

[@Harakeeri]

This looks like a fun deck. If you're having mana flood problems, cut 4 lands and throw in 4 Witch Enchanters, the 4cmc 2/2 that moonlights as a land

[@JLazyLaz]

@35:21 It does matter which one you exile first. The opponent gains more life when you exile the scourge first. You gave him 3 extra life.

[@purplecharmanderz2975]

overall winter moon while it may have slowed things down, didn't really win any games there. If you're looking for alternatives, given how you wound up losing typically - main suggestions would probably be: - archivist of Oghma: draws you cards when ever an opponent cracks a fetch. Not the most consistent, but does still provide some opposition to the fetches. Better than nothing. - one ring: best card draw option we have here. Can buy a turn as well. - ghostly prison: Won't address the card draw issue, but fits with the stax theme more, especially once you got yourself bunkered down with leyline.

[@AllTop507]

If winter moon said "nonbasics enter tapped" as well it could be good bc then they couldn't have mana from nonbasics or fetches on the turn they played them. Essentially, the card does a thing, but has no text that forces that thing. A lot of generically good cards, like guide of souls for example, do a thing and have a payoff for the thing it does that can be reached in a timely manner. Guide of Souls makes energy AND gives you a way to use energy in a timely manner. Winter moon limits your opponents' land untaps, but DOES NOT give you a way to tap or guarantee that your opponents' lands will be tapped in a timely manner, which would need to be the turn they are played in a format like timeless where everything is a fairly low mana cost.

[@hydra66]

They're being Conservative whilst they find the sweet spot for land hate. But I'm expecting your version of winter moon in the next couple of years

[@CJTongue]

@@hydra66 Thalia, Heretic Cathar would be good though

[@xorik1592]

4:25 First strike damage will still happen first…

[@kyonizuka]

yeah pretty sure he was thinking of the amped raptor, like in his head he knew his opponent had first strike as well and then just didnt piece together that he had a clean block there.

[@79awinkler]

Can we add smokestacks to arena?

[@SpringDryad]

Loved the goats and dog story lol pets are amazing ❤

[@ShinjiGetsGrounded]

"its got the best art out of any card in our hand" 😆😂🤣

[@JFroPrime]

Crim would be so proud to see you play this. He loves having all of the fun in a game

[@NtasticMan]

This budget deck sounds interesting I’d love to see a video on it

[@koltwynia8451]

He can’t because he kept losing

[@Laevus2321]

Always happy to hear more stories about Bear :) The deck was also fun to watch - though almost definitely not as fun to play against.

[@mikemoyer8162]

I think the only reason winter moon sucked so bad was the nonbo with the white orchid phantom. It still might not be good. But that definitely made it look worse.

[@clintcook8691]

Did Seth miss play forgetting the one creature had first strike in the first game? So even if oppenent would’ve chose to block the dog first the first strike damage would’ve went first anyways?

[@combatwombat8742]

I really want to see you play with the lizzard wizzard so you can make king gizzard jokes. It also seems like a very cool card and idea for a deck. Your amazing Seth :)

[@pedrosaenz5520]

I love that Seth goes from lets have fun, to oh evil I will show you evil

[@Wizardofexisting]

@14:26 that scoop made me laugh so hard.

[@ComradeVenus]

maybe this list would benefit from a one ring? or some colorless card draw like mazemind tome? it really needs a way to restock on cards

[@ICantThinkOfAFunnyHandle]

@@ComradeVenus literally every deck benefits from the one ring

[@zachgray4767]

Got some room for a couple utility lands. Could go all snow for 2 or 3 copies of Faceless Haven. Roadside Reliquary or Field of Ruin seem pretty decent as well. Yes, I know you run Winter Moon, but a couple copies of nonbasics wouldn't get in the way of that.

[@syrelian]

Isn't Trinisphere on Arena now? Slamming one of those down would stop all the Evoke Elementals dead

[@xerogaming3593]

I would say replace the Wintermoon with Novice Inspector that way you have 4 clue makers after watching all those games.

[@L_O_V_E_L_A_I_N]

I could see playing Skyclave Apparition in that slot. Would be nice to have some removal for noncreatures.

[@GarrettTrimble]

This deck felt like it could really have benefitted from either some big card draw engine or some inevitable creature/planeswalker. Got in so many positions where the board was clear but felt like opponents had a chance anyway by slowly playing out their janky creatures

[@derrickthewhite1]

White orchid Phantom wins game 1 by being a first strike 2/2. Game 2: "Now is White Orchid Phantom's time to shine!"

[@vincenzosardone5806]

This video gave me so much satisfaction. 🤣 The zoomer playing Grief, only to notice later that you have leyline, made me laugh so much! 🤣As well as the one who played Not dead after all. 🤣Arena players who doesn't know the rules are so funny sometimes. 🤣 Love you Seth!! 🤣🤣

[@goreobsessed2308]

Woo can we really do stax in arena time to have old school fun. What was your winrate?

[@brennanclement8582]

Tried this with a red splash for Blood Moon instead of Winter Moon, and threw in a One Ring. 4-1 record so far, awesome deck!

[@D_A_D_]

I wonder if Karn, Scion of Urza could work in this deck as it's card advantage engine since you mentioned needing one

[@neverstoplaughingcomedy386]

I can't believe you weren't playing the strongest stax card, Roiling Vortex.

[@modsroma3173]

Seth your videos are always such a treat! ❤

[@Moop321]

My favourite deck is mono white mindcensor land destruction. Anything that stops searches, in this case aven mindcensor, field of ruin effects, white orchid phantom, its awesome. It definitely sucks because its so reliant on mindcensor, and does nothing against a lot of monocolour decks, but its beautiful when it works

[@CJTongue]

Thalia, Heretic Cathar seems much better than wintermoon, tap their fetches and then their fetched land, encouraging them to grab the basics or be delayed two turns, at which point you can blow up the other non basics and start stone raining them. Also ditching the moon lets you run regular non basic land destruction lands too (fields &co) or creature lands

[@bensawmiller3005]

Why didnt he blink the opponents grief with ephemerate or phelia around 19:20? Wouldnt that give him exyra draws?

[@surfinggarchomp2820]

phelia only blinks until end of turn, so grief could still attack, and ephemerate is only you control

[@Blee48]

#59 knew his throw dage deck was stumped with Leyline haha

[@core_crystal]

Okay but you got me excited for that Young Pyromancer deck

[@bradross7488]

What do you think about a 2-3 witch enchanters as flood insurance Seth? I know it’s a nonbo with winter moon, but you DO get to untap at least one of them.

[@Martini_1911]

Path to Exile was added to Arena, right? Maybe having some number of those in place of the Winter Moons would give the deck more resilience against big creatures and put more pressure on the oponent to search out basics

[@Weenhander]

Love the vid! Still waiting on rough drafts to come back though!!

[@Kurayamiblack]

*sees the word "stax" and checks the video length* Me: "Yup..."

[@OddMidnight]

Wintermoon and bloodmoon work good together. Bloodmoon doesn't actually turn nonbasics into basic mountains, just mountains. It forces them to untap one mountain a turn

[@yoyoguy1st]

Typically if you have a blood moon out having a winter moon as well is just overkill. The opponent likely isn’t playing the game at that point

[@OddMidnight]

​@yoyoguy1st Yeah, but until magus of the moon is put on Arena, using bloodmoon as your main prison piece is unrealistic. Wintermoon slows the game down long enough to pull out either your main threats or Karn. It punishes control for countering your spells or casting on your end step, and it makes bloodmoon a lot easier to get out. Also, timeless has a lot more players that play basics than in the past. If they have some way of getting the one or two mana pips they need, winter moon will tax their generic mana like a God Pharoah's Statue. It's not a staple for monored prison, but it seems to work better in timeless with it than without it.

[@normative]

Sort of seems like if it’s going to work as an anti-scam deck you need to mulligan to the Leyline. Which led to an immediate scoop the one time you had one out & hit scam.

[@nosyamthegreat8768]

Also remember folks 4:25 he could double block without looseing the dog becuase of first strike👍

[@MrMacdaddymcfly]

If winter moon puts them down 1 Mana every turn it's basically a stone rain you just don't deny colors as hard and don't stack very well

[@benpouy3345]

I’ve been playing white orchid phantom in Timeless and it’s rapidly become my favourite MH3 card

[@lukasloetscher1037]

11:22 you should cast ephemerate in your opponents upkeep. So he has one less mana to work with that turn.

[@ruesifus]

It was more like zoomers teaching stax a lesson.

[@cedricappleby2006]

Teaching Arena Boomer about 2024 card design

[@tontin150]

How about Dawn of a new Age instead of Winter Moon for a lil bit of card draw (and lifegain)?

[@AndresSanchez-jl8zv]

09:50 The peruvian laugh 😂😂

[@TheLunaLockhart]

this is the most games I've seen in one video lmao

[@miguelfreitas5343]

I actually find this whole concept very interesting, because nowadays 90% of my queue is Boros Energy Aggro... I legit can't remember the last time i faced any of the decks this deck is built to face

[@Gorbgorbenson]

In timeless or historic. Energy is far less prevalent in Timeless, in my experience.

[@Chuubii]

Best of one is so miserable

[@nietrelevant3338]

Feels like ghost quarter would be a good addition. And maybe replace winter moon, with novice inspector.

[@bmcclure3atgatech]

The real reason to watch these videos is the Bear v goats story:)

[@zacharywilliams3597]

That turn 2 Ulamog game was wild 😭

[@Miracle-lg7fr]

why is white orchid phantom in a deck with winter moon? phantom gets them the basics they need then to get out of a winter moon soft lock lol

[@airtempest8945]

41:10 I think you probably could've won this if you flashed in Solitude in response to or before Phelia's trigger, since then the same result happens on that turn (Solitude is blinked and stays and Ravagan dies), but it saves the Ephemerate for later and given that the match was won by exactly 1 creature, it probably could've worked.

[@bencheevers6693]

Great video as always, can you explain in a video your thoughts on the shuffler and matchmaking, you said it pretty matter of factly, I don't know either way and I'd love to hear from somebody really knowledgeable in this about that. One thing that makes is a lot more likely to be true though is that brawl matchmaking score thing which I assume is around in the other modes as well but that's just card quality, that also kind of counts against these theories though because it was so badly 'balanced', if that was so badly tuned then there's no way they're picking out people with sanctity and grief and not making them face each other.

[@yoyoguy1st]

Seth is just a player I highly doubt he knows much more any in depth about the shuffler than any of us do through a google search. Also don’t listen to the shuffler copers. It’s bad for the soul

[@cerilious]

This video is cathartic.

[@starmanda88]

Oh Bear definitely wants to eat those goats 😂😂😂

[@doppelganger5328]

perhaps holding back one leyline for pitching purposes is a proper play. but also doubling up is good

[@connormacleod908]

I’ve just been running slickshot with Harbinger of the Tides and Winter moon to Jank ‘em out

[@noahhager1187]

35:15 I suspect this was a white orchid phantom they probably had a bunch of spells they couldn't play

[@Kryptnyt]

In theory White Orchid Phantom and Winter Moon don't make a lot of sense together. In practice people don't play basic lands

[@SaltyRad]

that 2nd player poor guy lmao. i know that felt bad

[@anthonymentalewicz5143]

We all thought crim was crazy maindecking 4 leyline and aggressively mulliganing 3 months ago.

[@robomelon314]

19:35 why not blink the grief before combat to try and see one more card?

[@Chwis]

wrath of the skies is prety good no?

[@ThCuriousPath]

I come here exclusively for Seth, love his personality

[@willwithanxbox]

Winter moon needs to read " Neither player can untap non-basic lands unless they pay 2 colorless for each" or similiar. It is no winters orb

[@kamikazebanzai1005]

That might as well just say "non-basic lands cant be untapped"

[@joeysmith5767]

I think the one ring would be a much better include than winter moon. Solves the card advantage problem

[@williambowen8054]

This Bear story is goated.

[@gnikrul]

Excuse me, where is the video of Bear chasing goats?!

[@joeaquilino19]

That new elk might be ok in this deck 👀 👌

[@lkeasbey1]

I think the winter moon doesn't fit with the grindy stax plan, it's way more a tempo card.

[@nosyamthegreat8768]

Okay but i so wanna see that young pyro deck. Maybe in best of three? AT LEAST an article so can copy it

[@jrjamesson]

not blinking the grief when you were attacking with phalea and solitude (and you had only lands in hand) seems like such a huge mistake. You gave them the chance to block solitude and you lost both your chance for future life gain and future exiling. Would have actually been able to handle the 3 phoenix afterward, I think.

[@Omnicrom]

Seth turning into Farfa after having One Bad Day...

[@Gorbgorbenson]

15:20 is exactly why I think it's funny that everyone hates scam. Like, yeah, it sucks to play against, but you're in a format that's faster than any else, so if you remove Grief, generally the problem is solved and they lose is my experience.

[@Wearywastrel]

So... Misery's back on the menu? Are we mining sodium regularly now?

[@jancukasu]

Playing with stax feels filthy, but if it's one of the cure for scam, then I'm 100% on board.

[@kylegonewild]

Idk Winter Moon should have been like Quicksilver Fountain kinda but as a punishment for the tapping of nonbasics. Actually do something with the idea if you're referencing moons and orbs. Something like: "Whenever a nonbasic land is tapped for mana put an Eclipse counter on that land." "Lands with Eclipse counters are Wastes and do not untap during their controller's untap step. During each player's untap step that player may choose one land with an Eclipse counter on it. That land's controller untaps it."