The Greatest Bluff in MTG History

This is a story that I heard about a long time ago, and seems to be almost an urban legend in the magic community at this point. A while back I decided to make it into a video, as despite being pretty interesting and almost 2 decades old, it seems nobody has done it yet. Mostly just a cool story I felt like sharing, this took me quite a long time to make, so I hope you like it :)

I know I pronounced LSV's name wrong. I wasn't aware of the difference between louis and luis until after I had already finished most of the video unfortunately :/
There is one other small error in the editing but if you find it you get a gold star or smth I'm calling it an easter egg at this point.

Also sorry for the low mic quality, I only have a webcam microphone.

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Footage used:
Random images and video of LSV and mtg tournaments were used throughout.
All card images were sourced from scryfall.
One of the rules was on scryfall, but the one about not changing your deck is in some pdf I went digging for, I don’t have the link anymore sadly.
The decklist images were made using the MTGGoldfish visual view.
The clip of a bunch of cards floating around is the intro to the tap tap concede podcast by loading ready run
The 2 movie clips are from The Matrix and Rounders respectively (idk i just wanted some vaguely poker related footage and that’s what I found on a google search, haven’t seen the movie.)
The MTGO gameplay is downloaded from an Andrea Mengucci video. (it’s just standing in as random gifts storm gameplay, refer to the note on screen during it.)
Fast explaining guy is just fast explaining guy meme idk his name or the original source.

Music:
Veritas - Impulsive
Lemmino - Cipher
Jake Chudnow - Moon Men (instrumental)
Home - We're Finally Landing
Blazo - Natural Green

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Credits:

Writing, editing - Ski Freak
Thumbnail - Xefas
& thanks to everyone who gave feedback on the video before release!

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Metadata:
#MTG #magicthegathering

[Ski_Freak]

This is a story that I heard about a long time ago, and seems to be almost an urban legend in the magic community at this point. A while back I decided to make it into a video, as despite being pretty interesting and almost 2 decades old, it seems nobody has done it yet. Mostly just a cool story I felt like sharing, this took me quite a long time to make, so I hope you like it!

[LSVargas]

I enjoyed this lookback - really well done, and I can verify the details are as accurate as I remember them =)

[xternalpunk]

This is why I always make a combo player play it out. Being matched against lotus field so many times in pioneer has taught me that about 25% of the time they don't know how to pull it off and I'll be able to win.

[kithkindeck]

After seeing Luis pass tendrils in vintage cube and say ''we don't need a wincon'', then winning all of his matches with the siege gang commander he got at pick 45 IN A STORM DECK, I'd be willing to believe he trolled everyone there and purposefully did not pack tendrils.

[cybe]

I remember playing in a modern tourney with a mono-black devotion deck against jeskai Nahiri control when she was all the rage. Beat a guy G1, and then did some sideboarding and then shuffled up for G2. He was far ahead and I had nothing really going on since he had such a good grip on the game. I couldn't stop Nahiri and my opponent popped her ult. He hesitates to give me time to concede, but I simply shrugged. I find that people conceding to the attack trigger is not nearly as gratifying as watching the trigger actually resolve and seeing things go to the graveyard. Not that it mattered, cause I was burned a few times by lightning helixes and was at 14. But he earned it, so I gave it to him. He looks through his deck... then looks even more.... then looks again. Then he checks his sideboard and facepalms. Emrakul, the wincon, was sideboarded out. Whether an accident or a lapse of judgement, he actually didn't have it and was forced to grab a snapcaster to Serum Visions and then return it to hand after swinging a mighty 2 damage. He only had three snapcasters, so after his recurring damage was killed off, I was able to grapple control over the game again with one good gray merchant resolving, put me out of range and gave me the win.

Sometimes it pays to let your opponent have their moment. You just might get one in return.

[raynenimbus]

My favorite one I saw was at an old legacy GP the pair playing next to me, one of the players was playing a dragonstorm combo deck and had gotten all the way up to 6-(1 or 2 cant remember at this point it was so long ago) without having a single dragon in his mainboard because his opponents would always scoop to a dragonstorm with a storm count of 4-5. It was giga brain because of the fact that he didnt need to run 8 copies of effectively dead draws in his deck and could run draw and ritual spells instead, making the deck vastly more streamlined. Apparently the only match he had lost was when his opponent made him play it out and he conceded on the spot lol

[phillyortho]

Mike Long was the originator of this. He was playing Prosperous Bloom vs Mark Justice in a final and actually sided out Drain Life, his only wincon game 2 as he saw how fast Justice conceded to the combo in Game 1 and he didn't have to show the drain. Next level mind games.

[johnlancaster]

While not for the reason in this video, I always make players play out the entire combo, but just the first time. Once my opponent has represented that they know precisely how it works and that they do have the pieces to do so, I’m fine conceding to it. The only time I would consider not having the opponent play it out is if I am playing a very slow deck (example: I used to play lantern control in modern pre-Mox Opal ban) that regularly goes to time and needs every second available.

[brandonboyd]

It’s so crazy how mind games are such a good strategy in these games

[MLPAshkore]

LSV is absolutely galaxy brain. A year or two ago, i was watching some of his MODO VOD's, and he was playing a Bolas's Citadel deck, and at one point he says "im dead on board.".

Two turns later, "oh, i think i got 'em". Never give up!

[MineArcade]

I used to play YuGiOh, and I have a deck that makes a very infamous and long combo in order to get basically infinite resources for summoning (The deck is called Six Samurai). The thing is that I didn't have those "final" cards and I used to play out just the combo and most of the people would just resign mid combo. This video reminded me of those good days haha

[harleymanning]

1 video deep and this channel is already going to be a mythic rare channel.

[lostboycmd]

Fantastic video! Nice and concise, includes all of the information necessary to understand the win, and well edited :)

[samlawrence]

I loved the video format. That was a really cool story I hadn’t heard before. can’t wait for more of your videos!

[evanbowenfilm]

Wow great video, super high quality with a dope story. I love learning about old competitive magic

[patrickwolf]

Years ago, I made the top 8 in a big local tournament. I was playing burn and my opponent was playing Klark-clan Ironworks. Ironworks was a very new deck at the time and it was the first time I was playing against it. I took game 1 and my opponent took game 2. During game three, it appeared he got his combo just as I had him down to 1 life. He looks at me and says, "I got it. Wanna wait 15 for me to ping you down to zero?" I thought to myself, 'Why drag it out? If he's got, he's got it. May as well just concede." So, I shook his hand and conceded.

As I was packing up, another player walked up to our table and asked my opponent to show the combo. After a bit of back-and-forth between the two, my opponent agreed. Turned out, his combo fizzled and he didn't actually 'have it'. But, since I conceded and packed up already, it was too late to go back. This is a classic example of why you should always wait to see if your opponent has the combo--especially if you're not certain with how the deck works. Not everyone in this game is honest and it's up to us honest players to keep the dishonest ones in check

[galenlemei]

I was at this event, at Eudemonia in Berkeley, CA. Eudo’s mid-aughts vintage scene was incredible—25 person tournaments stocked with ringers. Miss those days!

[Artaimus]

Always view the combo in full the first time. Opponent doesn't get to win unless they can show their work.

[thomaswalsh]

I remember hearing this story at a GP probably 12 years ago, and a Channel Fireball video shortly after that. “Top 8 Eternal Moments” if I remember correctly. So many great stories in that 20-minute video.

[jackpabich]

I love the pump fake of Castle Ardenvale/Settle the Wreckage.