Dear Gonti, Love Sophie | The Story of a Priceless Commander Deck 

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Everytime I'm on vacation overseas, I stop at a local game store to buy a couple of singles (even if it's just a foil basic land) and doodle on one of them the date and place of my vacation with a sharpie. My decks are filled with cards that bear memories of my trips :)

When I was in university I was pretty poor but wanted to get into edh. I didn’t have sleeves, I didn’t have good cards, and I had illegal double faced cards because they were pennies compared to the full price. The people I played with were cool and each birthday I would be gifted a full art land. These lands were special though because my friend would draw a dumb/bad/cute little dragon into the background. (I was running a kartthus dragon deck). Each time I played those cards I would always say, “I play a birthday land”

To give you another story about a card with character, there's a shop in College Station, TX called "Clockwork Games" nestled in the back of a strip mall and known mostly by the magic community and advertised by word-of-mouth. On the counter next to their register is a contorted, ripped, extremely damaged Bruna, Light of Alabaster from Innistrad. It's encased in a thick resin case screwed shut in the corners, entombed and suspended in a brick of transparency. The story of it's origin is that during the Innistrad draft, someone actually pulled that Bruna from a prize pack, but it came fresh out of the pack with water damage, warping it and making it unplayable even with sleeves. The guy who drafted it was a regular and prone to fits of anger, and this was no different. He screamed, ripped the card into a hundred pieces, some rumors are he bit it at least twice, and threw them into the air and stormed out of the shop. The clerk behind the counter was irritated at having to clean up this guy's mess but wanted to see if the card could somehow be salvaged. He picked up every piece, used a tender amount of glue and tape to line it up as best as he could, then pressed it between the two slabs of resin to flatten it out as much as possible. Once he saw what he had made, he decided not to check if the card was made possibly playable again, but instead put it on display next to the shop's checkout computer. The man came back in for the week's FNM a few days later, saw the Bruna which was unmistakably his sitting there like a trophy on a shelf, and promptly left. I don't know if it was his last time in the shop, but I'd like to think he was either too embarrassed at his antics or angry at the cause to be near that thing. If you're ever in that town, see if Bruna's still there. I bet she'd like the visit.

I've always joked about preferring beat up cards because "they have character", but that Gonti deck cranks it up to 1000%

I love Gonti as the commander for another reason: the aether born in nature are destined to die young, and therefore are more aware of their mortality than we are and value experiences over much material value.

My absolute most valuable card is a proxy. It’s a Gaia’s cradle that my girlfriend commissioned which depicts the two of us in a grotto of trees. I love it. If I ever get rid of my collection it will remain forever.

What I love about the deck is that it fits so perfectly for an aetherborn. Their lives are incredibly short, and while Gonti has a means around that, there's no guarantee that his solution will last forever, or even for a human lifetime. So they play life as hard as they can, much like any aetherborn plays at life as hard as they can, regardless of the damage. After all, if you're falling apart anyway, why not dance as best as you can until you die?

There is a concept in Japanese literature called “mono no aware,” literally “pathos for things.” It describes the wistful sadness one feels at the passing of beautiful things, the cherry blossoms which last only for a few short days, the memories worn into fading ink and cardboard, a reminder of the transience of life and of time which moves ever forward. This was a beautiful video.

I first saw the deck a few years ago, and I was initially horrified at how beat up it was, more to the ideal of knowing the price of, rather than the value of the cards. This video showed me a new perspective on what it means for some piece of cardboard to be “valuable”. Thanks Mr. Studies.

Hearing that naked ripple shuffle. . . That takes me back. It takes me back to boy scout meetings, parents laughing in the other room, organizing, goldfishing, crying over them about unrelated drama and lost loves. Brings me back to looking at a chance to by Unlimited packs and choosing Ice Age because I could have more cardboard to build more things. I cared more about experiences over things instead of the value of those things. My mom who is now into collectibles as a sort of hobby/savings asked me if any of my cards were worth something, I never told her about the Bayou I traded for the Birds of Paradise. Instead I smiled softly and said "yeah I had a few, sold them for less than I should have, bought more on the playground for more than I should have". I got hustled more than I hustled others, and in that moment maybe even in this moment as I type this out to you realized my childhood was ultimately a good one. Maybe not the one I wanted but a good one, I could imagine worse childhoods. Thanks, for this. I wasn't expect to cry on All Fools Eve.

The blacked out mana rocks are low key cool af. I love that idea. It’s like a new version of minimalism.

I have a playlist titled "Videos I Needed When I Watched Them." This video now resides there. I haven't felt this way about this game in years. This reminded me of playing old Kamigawa cards on the hot summer asphalt with the neighbor. I was only 6 at the time, so he gave me some old cards to play with. I still have those pieces of scratched up cardboard. Thank you for reminding me of this feeling.

You can tell this is such a wonderful video by the fact that the comments are filled with the experiences and stories, this essay reminds them of. It's such a relatable topic but is such a unique experience for us all.

This is so beautifully written. Ngl I teared up a little. When I was little, I used to play Yu-Gi-Oh without sleeves. When I look back on them, some of the creases on those cards were caused by friendly disputes with friends, as we were playing the game. Some of those friends I've lost touch with, some made poor choices and are in prisons I cannot visit, some passed onto the next life. The memories in those creases are priceless. 10/10

Fun fact about the "stray blue ink" on the Library of Alexandria's Deckmaster insignia: that's actually a weird marbled effect on the deckmaster logo (according to Jesper Myrfors, the guy who designed it), and because Magic card backs are uniform it can't ever be changed. Every single Magic card, well-worn or pack-fresh, has that exact mark on it.

I'm almost tempted to play my vorthos gruul deck unsleeved, Borborygmos would want it that way

This reminds me of a story. Supposedly there is a highly signed copy of Hidetsugu’s Second Rite wandering around Victoria. Apparently the card won a lot of Canadian Highlander games, and each time a player lost to HSR they would sign it. A bit of culture in practice, you might say.

This made me so nostalgic for the days of playing "kitchen table" at day camp back when we used rubber bands, played by the pool, and were amazed by bulk rares like eater of days.

I think in Japanese there's a word/concept called "sabi" that refers to the beauty and spirit that objects acquire through age and use. Seems to perfectly encapsulate your beautiful and thoughtful reflection.

This is a video that has made me seriously reconsider how I view the things around me. As someone who obsessively washes his shoes, worries about the slightest knick on his clothes I am at a cross roads. Do I continue or do I embrace the stories, embrace the wear and tear… I’m struggling, I don’t know what to do, I’m inspired to change, but I also have that nagging voice in the back of my head telling me it won’t be perfect anymore. This video has made me think, and that’s the most important thing a story can do… thankyou.

A priceless card for me is the masterpiece Ornithopter, one of my favorite creatures in the game. It was the 0-3 prize pack at my LGS, a night where i felt rather down about my draft deck and thought had drafted good, built it properly, but it just couldn't even take one game let alone a match. I felt it was fitting that the blinged out 0/2 for 0 would come to me at the worst possible result, and just try to remember the first point of this game is to have fun.

I've been a long time fan, and I think this is the best video you've ever made. I just keep coming back to it over and over. Ever since I saw it, when I buy magic cards online or in stores I always ask for the worst condition version they have, it allows me to be so much less stressed about handling them or accidentally damaging them. It's message extends outside of magic as well. I've always thrifted for clothes, not only because I wanted to, but because it was so much cheaper and I've never had enough money to buy everything new. This video is a reminder I can revisit to remind myself not to be ashamed of wearing well loved clothes. Even if they aren't my memories, I can't help but feel more connected to the world and the people who might have worn them before me.

Honestly, this is probably my favorite video of yours. There's something so visceral and real about the battered cards we play and the journeys they've been on. I appreciate the love of the VG and Damaged rectangles we cherish.

When I first started playing, while in high school, there were no sleeves to protect the cards. I bought from a local comic book shop, because game stores were not yet a thing. We riffle shuffled when we played and often our playmats were the smoothest piece of concrete we could find. Back then there was no thought of preserving the integrity of the card, no legal action. This was a new game that had only been around for about a year from a company no one had ever heard of. It was just as likely to go bankrupt in our mind as it was to thrive. I sold most of my collection after high school, saving a white/green and a black/red deck. Even when I came back to the game with Dominaria, I kept those cards separate from the rest of the new collection, a testament to when I was young and carefree.

I hadn't heard about this deck until now. And I feel honoured to be part of a game where we feel this. Thank you RS. Thank you.

Sophie, my love 💕

2:53 I'm fighting back tears. This video is Art, in the truest senses of the term, as it perfectly explains nostalgia, longing, and our species' need to share better than anything else. This is what elevates us to _Homo narrans._

My first MTG card was Ruric Thar, from the Gruul Gatecrash precon that I asked my dad for on a trip to the mall movie theater. I had heard my mom’s partner talk for hours about Magic and slivers and how cool Venser was, and my dad had played back in the early days, so when I walked past the card store in the back corner of the mall and saw the foil face card, I was already sold. I took it with me everywhere and ended up playing against classmates and relatives and literal random people and it was AWESOME. Just seeing you start unsleeving a Ruric Thar, Unbowed at the end had me tearing up thinking about how I would ripple shuffle the deck for hours at a time as a nervous habit when I couldn’t sleep, and how much wear I put into my unsleeved Primordial Hydras by doing that lol

Hearing you describe and defend the Library of Alexandria card at the beginning is one of the coolest things I've heard in a while.

I saw the title and within seconds of watching, knew it had to be about that glorious Gonti deck. Every one of your videos brings a new, interesting perspective to a game I thought I knew in and out. Keep up the great work man

That Exoskeletal Armor having _only_ the damage from the crash is its own flavor, all its wear not being from a lifetime of regular use, but the singular moment of violence that you and it emerged from. That Armor is a snapshot as vivid as the photographs of its aftermath.

My Main commander is a Najeela that was chewed by my dog who died unexpectedly. I remember how mad I was at the time but now every time I look at the card I remember her. The Most valuable Najeela in the world. Rest in peace Ziggy.

A minute in and a perfect description of just how I feel whenever I see any Magic card from the good old days of the 90s. The way I describe them is that they have this charisma about them that just makes me want to pick them up and play a game, no matter what condition they’re in

I really like this video. I have been playing magic for 10 years and in my youth played the cards sleeveless. On concrete, tables or the floor. There were times I was cringing because my instinct was to "SLEEVE IT IMMEDIATELY!" and seeing how he used to bring a plastic bag reminded me of how I used to do the same before I started making money. I still have those old cards and when I look back on the wear and tear on the cards I just smile because those were great memories of the game and how financially the value is worthless but personally its worth more than any other card I buy to make my decks competitive. Which is sad because I sleeve my cards to protect my investment and trying to win games instead of enjoying the game. I think we get lost in the monetary value of something we forget how we use these cards to play a game that bring friends from different backgrounds this video is the antithesis of what value is on a card. Now I just look at these cards as a way of making a quick buck and never seeing the cards for what they are and sleeving them to protect the quality of one day either selling them for more or for less when I acquired them or to pass them on to my kids. But things don't last forever and the memories I made with these cards no matter the wear and tear will always have a piece of me and the games we played. Therefore having the card tell a story which makes it that more valuable. Thanks for the reminder that value isn't always about money but after playing this game for 10 years I still have much to learn and find a new appreciation of cards regardless of condition. Amazing vid!!!!👍👍👍👍👍

This reminds me of my friends back in high school. I had spread the gospel of edh throughout the group, but I never saw the fruits since I flunked out (it was a special program. Continued failure meant removal and I was too mentally unwell to catch up). But I still saw the little things. They were newer to magic and didn't have playmats, so they played on the floor in the hallways. Whenever they asked you to cut their decks, they would hold the deck in one outstretched palm, and leave the other out so that when you made the cut, it would transfer hands instead of meeting the floor again. It probably didn't make much of a difference and would even piss off other friends (myself included), but now I hope I can see them do it again. I wonder if they still have any cards from back then. I'd love to see what those disgusting floors did to those cards, even if they were sleeved.

Your videos are always well made and a treat to watch, but THIS video is your first to make me tear up and nearly cry. That rush of memory for what really makes this game special to so many of us caught me totally off guard. Thank you so much.

The card I have like this is the Jace Beleren from the Jace vs. Chandra Duel Deck. Its foil and has several creases and edge damage, but it was from a time where me and my siblings would play with the preconstructed decks our dad would get and play against each other on the table or floor, no sleeves, not fully understanding the rules. I've thought about getting rid of it for years, but never could bring myself to. And now after seeing this video I'm probably gonna keep it even if i sell my collection.

My group really enjoy your lore dives and my friends occasionally put it in the background when we play commander. This video to me was, absolutely charming. A very real Magic the Gathering Velveteen Rabbit. As the skin horse said it doesn't often happen to those "who have to be carefully kept" but I'm glad to know Dear Gonti is out there.

amazing work, homie

I wasn't expecting sadness from a new video from you, but the topic made me very reminiscent of when I would play Yu-Gi-Oh! growing up and we never used sleeves. Decks held together with rubber bands, shoved in our pockets. When I go through those cards now, the memories are tangible, like you spoke on. My Magic cards however don't share the same quality. They have their own memories of course but, not ones that can be seen or touched. Anyway, fantastic video as usual. I am always happy to see a new one pop up, even if the mood changes halfway through!

What a beautiful video. I've stopped playing magic since the pandemic but I have a set of m10 lightning bolts that are pretty beaten up that I really cherish. I've won all kinds of fancy alt art bolts but I always go back to that set cause I love the story... The first time I went to my LGS I was about 12 and really just wanted to beat my big brother, I told the store owner (the legendary Gary Campbell) about his deck and showed him my pieced together burn deck. He helped me build an anti-mill deck out of bulk then swapped out my shocks for lightning bolts. Obviously I was a kid so didn't take great care of them, not even always using sleeves but I still have them! Now my own little brother uses them when he plays with his burn decks that are built to beat my control decks. They might be beat up and less shiny than my GP bolts or my MPR bolts but they're my favourite cause I wouldn't have kept playing magic at all without them.

I imagined a little story in my head about who Sophie might be when I saw that Liliana, Dreadhorde general with a bite out of it even before the show ended (watch to the end, it helps out this wonderful channel). I imagined an ex-girlfriend who, upon the breaking up with the owner, trashed certain precious items to the original owner in her anger. The cherry on top was feeding their beloved commander deck to a very enthusiastic dog and one last spiteful note. Was she justified in her anger? Who can say, love is a two-way street. I love the content from this channel, always chills me out.

The most beautiful and pure way to play magic. It teuely warms my heart. Brings back the halcyon days of my youth! Been playing since '94 and thus warmed my heart just like seeing the old font and white borders! ❤️ Thank you.

In my native language of Hebrew, there is a saying "ספר שלא נקרא לא נקרע" or in English "a book that isn't torn wasn't read." It works as a pun because the words for "read" and "torn" are pronounced the same way. It means more broadly that if an item doesn't have any wear and tear to it it may be perfect but it was never actually used and enjoyed.

This hits a nostalgia spot. I learned magic in 2010 from a college roommate. We exclusively played pauper (because we were poor college kids). I think our most valuable decks were maybe $2. We never sleeved our decks because the cards cost less than the price of a pack of sleeves back then. Our playmats were newspaper because the table in our house was usually sticky from spilt beer. We almost never found anybody else who played pauper back then outside of our group of friends. Just a few months ago I finally disassembled my pauper decks because my group of friends these days plays commander. My old homebrews don't get played anymore and these humble common cards cards are valuable enough now that they deserve sleeves--even with the damage. But I'm keeping the archetypes to build a cube so my current friends can see the Era of cards and the power level that I fell in love with. I have really fond memories of playing with unsleeved, heavily worn magic cards.

This made me so nostalgic for my days playing Yu-Gi-Oh with my runner bands and tons of scratches. This may be the best video I've seen this year. I can't stop thinking about this.

I have a new favorite short from your library now. This video is incredible and you should be very proud of the feelings you can induce in your viewers. Remembering my early TCG days, where the only thing in the world that mattered to me was a promo YuGiOh card, the Winged Dragon of Ra, which was included in an XBOX game that I received as a recovery gift when I broke my leg as a kid. I still have that card, and even though it's pretty beat now, I refuse to sleeve it. Some things just never lose their luster.

A year old video that I've watched a countless number of times, every time it becomes more near and dear to me and makes me look back at my cards, seeing the first commander deck I built and the reserve list phyrexian dreadnought that I got signed that now resides in that deck, the card means more to me than the value it's worth, the value I traded it for or even the value of it in my deck. It will forever be my favourite card that I own and my favourite magic card, it never attacks, it barely ever gets cast and it will always end up in my graveyard and exile. As gorgeous as the card is, it never gets a proper looking in a game but it will never lose value in my collection of cards that changed the way I look at the game and it's value

Riffle shuffling the Gonti deck is a form of performance art. I legitimately find it beautiful.

My most treasured and priceless card is a two way tie. The first one is the very first magic card I ever held in my hands, it is a copy of tromokratis from born of the gods, I loved the art and the card and bought it from my friend in high-school for a quarter and carried it in my wallet for a few weeks before i finally got to play the game, and I was hypnotised by it all that while And the best part is that we've been life long friends ever since. The second one is a Gaea's cradle, I received it as a birthday gift from a dear friend of mine who is like an older brother and was always there for me, this card has been the best birthday gift I have ever gotten, and no matter how rough and tough life got, I never sold it and never will. It's funny how both of them are priceless to me and are equally important, however, their monetary value is astronomical.

I know I’m a few days late, but my treasure and one of the few bits of MTG I still own is an old Modern Affinity deck from before Mox got banned. Years ago I sold my entire collection. I had been playing since around OG Mirrodin back when I was in middle school. I sold my collection to help me and my wife get money for the down payment on our first house. (My collection did not pay for the entire down payment, but it certainly helped.) My wife for my birthday, years later, and knowing nothing about MTG at all other than how much I loved my Modern Affinity deck (I would always take it to tournaments and tell her all about them) bought me a full deck with some help from my friends. To replace the one I had given up because we needed the money. She knew how much that stupid deck meant to me, and how many fond memories I had with it. Even though I hardly play anymore since we have kids now and most of my friends have moved on from MTG, I still keep the (now unplayable) deck in its deck box on my desk to remind me both of how much fun I had with the game in all my many years of playing, and how much my wife truly loves me for who I am.

You're the only magic creator that can make me get emotional. You're the best, Sam.

This video is what i love about tcg, the shared experiences, the veteran cards that have seen so much play that the art is fading, the things that money can't buy. Lovely video as always

The "Love, Sophie ❤️" card is so touching. I hope whoever got that from Sophie appreciated it. I have a feeling that they did considering how well-loved it is

This project is such a love letter to the game. It makes me want to hold onto those few decks that are really special: my collection of 60 card kitchen table decks (still in rubber bands) my first 2 commander decks and even my new "all backgrounds deck," things I made not to be good but for the love of the game.

Your videos have an amazing charm to them, and always a joy to watch and listen to. From the opening segment of the 4/10 Library of Alexandria to DJ's handling of the Gonti deck, even the momentos that people shared with you in that Twitter thread, I was overcome with nostalgia to the point of holding back tears. I have only dabbled in Magic for a short period of my life, but I can only relate what you said about Magic in this video about much of everything else. I have become a hardcore metaslave for many of the games I play, always searching for ways to gain the upper hand, do optimal damage, raise the strongest and correct units... that I had mostly forgotten how a game was meant to be played. I had been longing for the time I could simply play a game for what it is, to refuse looking up optimal strategies. To live the moment and play without outside influence. All of your video essays have been a joy to watch, and seeing you appear on my feed always makes the day better. Thanks Rhystic Studies.

Always so so ecstatic when I get to see one of your uploads :) Congrats on 200k , so extremely deserved for the quality of these videos

I love the idea of your sleeveless deck being classic gruulstuff. It's as sentimental as it is flavorful.

I've been watching your videos at random for the past two weeks, and this is by far your best one so far. It hits the mark just right with the way you express yourself. And damn I'm feeling nostalgic for a game I haven't played in years now.

This video blends its theme with an emotional honesty that brings the viewer along for an 18-minute, worthwhile journey. I can tell you put heart into this, as well as a lot of conscious thought. The title is perfect, and just like the deck this video ia many stories and one story at the same time. Thank you.

Bought a G/W starter deck in Tarkir block (back when those existed) and one of the booster packs in it had a foil Dragonlord Dromoka. My luck peaked just as I started playing, and that card will never leave me.

The way you described that Library of Alexandria was so damn poetic. Kudos.

I think this shows how so many people can have different ways of enjoying and respecting the game. While I personally wont go and unsleave my decks, I will always intend on playing them. In part that's the spirit of the Gonti Deck. I would be happy to sling spells across the table from that deck.

I've already seen this video around 5 times, maybe even more. It really always makes my day. I think it's your masterpiece.

I stopped playing a long time ago and I sold close to everything, but I still have the first rare I ever got in a booster pack, a minds desire. for a long time it was my favourite card. There's also a stasis framed on my wall. a cruel ultimatum and death cloud that I use as bookmarkers, both, at seperate times got me a ticket to the nationals. i was never a great player, but those cards I hold dear. great content

Reminds me of exotic/ vintage cars. So many collectors arw worried about losing value that cars never get driven. They just sit in collections, essentially private museums.

My mono green titan deck. Was the first deck i ever owned, was the ajani duel deck from shards. Over the years it has lost red and white slowly, and gone through countless iterations, from the original zoo, to a combo deck, to a prison, to its landfall-eldrazi form now. Its not terribly expensive, but the evolution is priceless. Since i dont play anymore it will never fulfill my final vision for it, but hey, thats fine. Has gone through over a dozen sets of sleeves and shows wear even through them due to the sheer ammount of play it saw. Nostalgia beats price tags any day

The two cards I love the most among all in my collection are my revised Sol Ring and Sword to plowshares. I traded it from my friend of 8 years who sadly passed away from a heart attack. I keep those cards in my favorite commander deck and they are the two I will never ever trade away.

I absolutely love the way the blacked out mana rocks look! its so simple, but interesting. I wonder what the original owner of the cards thought as they did that.

YESSSSSSSSS!!! That deck is a work of art! I love my kitchen table decks that are unsleeved. Whenever I ask a friend to play some casual magic with me and I break out that box of four unsleeved decks, then begin to riffle shuffle with abandon, I always delight in the responses I get, especially when I convince them to join in on the earnest fun.

I think this is the best video Rhystic has ever made. I've always believed that things are more beautiful if they wear their story. There's nothing quite as ugly as an antique in age alone. So clinically precise and clean... there's no soul, or if it there is one it's more likely a haunting. The beauty found in the wear of something loved is unique and priceless. To quote one of my favorite books... “The point isn’t to win?” I asked. “The point,” Bredon said grandly, “is to play a beautiful game.” He lifted his hands and shrugged, his face breaking into a beatific smile. “Why would I want to win anything other than a beautiful game?” -Patrick Rothfuss, The Wise Man's Fear.

this has been my favorite deck since I heard about it a few years ago. DJ is a saint amongst men and reminds me of my childhood more than any card in my collection. thank you for covering him.

Love it! I have a deck called "Trash Heap". It's made with 100% draft chaff and cards others threw out. I also altered each card with sharpie so they are actually trash now. It's also played unsleeved. It's one of my favorite decks.

Just the first few minutes of this are fantastic by themselves, the way you communicate these hard to describe feelings when you see an old, valuable, but well played card... Very well said stuff.

Thankyou for this video. It has made me reconsider the meaning of value. The first booster pack I opened was from an Ajani planeswalker deck, from Aether Revolt. One of the cards I pulled was a Masterpiece Sphere of Resistance. I didn't have any sleeves at the time, nor did I know the value of that card, so I used my 1 sleeve on Ajani from the deck, as that's what had value to me. Later I played at that LGS, I was informed that the sphere was 'extremely rare', and told to sleeve it. By this time it had some dents already. I used to think of this as a regret, that my sphere wasn't in perfect condition, and never would be. But now that I've grown up, start to make choices where life will take me, and sell my collection, I will look back at this card, one of the few I will keep, and it will bring a tear to my eye. Not of regret that it's price will be forever tainted, but at the immeasureable value it has to me. Once again, thankyou.

All cards deserve a loving home

I'm a newbie to MTG. But I can easily relate when I think on my old Yu-Gi-Oh! cards. Scraped up and rubber banded decks full of memories and wonder. I hope to one day look back on another deck of treasures.

I have a bunch of cards from when I used to play magic in boy scouts. 60 cards wrapped in a rubber band, shoved in a pocket during camping trips, me and my friends getting games in on any flat enough surface. I lost most of my r/b deck to the guy in my tent throwing up in the middle of the night. One of the most loved ones was Kamahl, Pit Fighter, because he was so strong, with Haste, no less!

'It doesn't belong in a museum, it is a museum.' This line made me recoil. It's like a line from a poem. Love the vid, as always you surpass yourself :)

This is beautiful. Some of your best work, I will remember it as a great RU-vid masterwork

The one card I deem priceless in my collection is a durdle turtle from some kind of starter deck in khans of tarkir. Not just because of the meme but because of the fact it was in the first deck I ever played. My father had been playing from the beginning (he still has his 2 sealed boxes of The Dark) but he had taken a break from the game until khans. It was right when I was starting to reach the age where I understood the game. He got me the deck and durdle turtle was the only rare in it. I remember thinking it was the coolest, most flavorful card in the world. I still have that durdle turtle and I wouldn't part with it for anything.

This really made me appreciate my old beat up connies. It's got more holes than a block of swiss cheese, but they're the comfiest shoes I've got. And I think they look pretty dope.

God this was a real emotional one. I'm sure like everyone else I'm brought back to cards of my past. For me it's my sea creature deck with 4 beat-up stormtide leviathans or my angel deck with a super frayed Archangel of Thune. Good memories of simpler times where games were played before school or between passing periods. I really appreciate the content you make. This one really hit home.

Vintage definitely to me at least, definitely feels like the most primordial format in a way. It also represents, to my extent, the people who *truly* value the game over the money. A smart person doesn't play Black Lotus, not only because Vintage is vastly less played than the other formats it contests with, but because doing so inevitably decreases the value of that card, minor damage is accumulated no matter what, no sleeve can ever permanently protect a Lotus. For a Lotus to retain value, it needs to be locked away. But they play anyway, at least in part, for the love of the format. It's part of why I love Vintage, even if I only ever experience it through a janky Java program. I've never been a complete fan of locking said cards away, because I never like looking at things in terms of how it can make me a profit. But still, my most valuable cards sit sleeved in plastic toploaders, for sentimental reasons. Including, as I decided to do while watching this video, one of if not the first YuGiOh cards I ever owned. A bruised copy of Chiron the Mage that makes even the Gonti deck look like it is in perfect condition. More ovular in shape than rectangular now, the card has been with me since childhood, including the time I dropped it in a trough urinal at school (don't ask how). Yet I like it in there, because it keeps its memory with me. Its value is in its sentiment, so putting it in an esteemed position means I can always enjoy looking at it. And in that sense, perhaps it is more dignified than one of those hard plastic shells.

This video made me recall my first ever Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, the one I pulled out of my dad's Shonen Jump magazine when I was 11. He never knew it as he let me take it, but that shiny purple card was the best thing he could've given me. I treasured that little bit of cardboard and learned how to play Yu-Gi-Oh by scouring old beginners' guides from our LGS in Fayetteville (we moved around a lot, but spent the most time there) until the pages began to tear. When I said I wanted to play, the store owner, Mr. Lou, actually offered to help me build a deck around Blue-Eyes. I watched every single step he took with wide eyes, soaking in every bit of knowledge I could get. Nobody touched my Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon but me, though; that was the limit. Over the course of several months, I wore that deck out. I'm talking frayed edges, creases in the back, accidental soda marks along the front from when I spilled a drink on the mat (more than once), and even rubber band marks. Yes, I was the rubber band kid. My Blue-Eyes suffered from all of these, and by the time we moved, it was barely keeping together. When we arrived at a new game store, I brought my rubber banded Blue-Eyes deck into the table area, and the other three people around me collectively cringed. My entire deck was borderline unusable, with marked cards and others barely intact, but I couldn't afford sleeves on my own. Thankfully, one of the guys there was kind and offered me a packet of sleeves he'd bought and dumped some of his cards out to give me a box. I made a big show of putting my Blue-Eyes in the sleeve myself, since it was my pride and joy. As I worked, the guy asked me about myself, and why I decided to play a game usually overrun by boys, and I didn't have an answer to that. I just liked the game, and the shiny cards, and the feeling of bringing out a badass monster I picked for myself so long ago. We didn't stick around that area for long, but I still talk with a few of the people there regularly. My dad's retired from the military now, and I've moved into my own place, but that rinky-dink old deck has been with me for over half my life now. It's got stories in its scars, and knowing every single one of them makes that little box of cardboard priceless, even if all of those cards wouldn't get a 2 if graded. Thank you for reminding me of what real value is.

I'm so glad I glanced through RU-vid before I went to bed to see this. This video feels like it captures what I always feel when I watch your videos; a love letter to this game in ways I'd never have thought about in a similar ways, something that always feels like a diamond that just appears when it's ready, and when it does, it feels like something truly special and worth spending my time experiencing

The magicest and most gathered deck of all time. You see, usually when i look at the prices of some cards i cannot avoid to cringe a little. Maybe it is because I am a pragmatic guy, but all of this "cult" and economy based on the scarcity of some cards bothers me. For me, Magic the gathering is a GAME. That's why is special, because of the moments I have experienced on the table. The cards are meant to be played, not to sit ,as you said, in their little plastic coffins. For all of this I thank you very much for this video, because it reminded me that there are people out there that not only think like, but they take this filosphy to the maximum level. Thank you Rhystic Studies and good job, as usual.

When I was a kid I had a sliver deck that someone gave to me. Still have it to this day. Unsleeved and seen many, many rifle shuffles. It was what I started playing again when I got back into magic recently and it gives me the same feeling of nostalgia that so many others are talking about in the comments. I love things that are older and imperfect - the Growlers t-shirt I got in college that is full of holes, the grimey 5.10 biking shoes that I've worn for years, my snowboard with chipped edges and all sorts of patches in the base. I love the stories that a thing starts to carry and the memories that become a part of that thing. I feel the same way about music - how listening to a specific song can take me back in time to a certain memory.

This video brought me to tears. It's true, cards have value, but their worth is something else. The idea that we look at a well-worn card with scorn at the lost value and not with admiration over its storied history of love and use is something I'll always think about now. A person in my EDH locals, known for his pricier decks, is famous for bridge shuffling, and the first time I saw it all that time ago, I responded with a cringe. His simple reply echoes through my head in response to this video. "It's all just cardboard to me." It's a reply I hadn't been able to get out of my head ever since, and this video gave me the context I needed, I feel. It IS all just cardboard. Every last card in your deck cost more or less the same to make, even if their values differ. But what are they worth to you? The more I played, the more I found I agreed. I didn't spend that 200-ish bucks to build a Tovolar Werewolves EDH deck because it was worth 200-ish dollars. I bought it to play a game I love with my friends. The little nicks and scratches they get when they fumble in and out of sleeves to flip are just evidence that I'm getting my money's worth. And that bent, creased, folded, barely held together Dark Magician in the front page of my long-dormany Yugioh binder? That card is worth more to me than every last other card I own. You can't put a price on the memories of sitting across the table from dad, learning how to add and subtract with wizards and dragons. Thanks, Sam. Your voice has always been something special in this community, but this one is important. To me, and to the community.

This video reminded me of how much of our memories we attach to our stuff, and consequently how much it hurts when it's lost. 2 years ago I had my TF2 inventory hacked and most of my stuff stolen, save for untradeables and some selects skins which I assume a bot was just programmed to ignore. It hurt so much seeing so many items I had held onto for nearly a decade, that reminded me of so many of my favorite moments playing the game, gone. About a week later, opening cases just for heck of it, not even sure if I would return to the game after, I unboxed a Smoking Towering Pile of Presents, a fairly ugly effect attached to an incredibly rare hat. It's not even that valuable compared to other unusuals, but it reinvigorated my interest in the game, and I've been wearing it ever since. Maybe I wouldn't have all those old memories anymore, but at least now I have the chance to make new ones.

Sam, earnestly this might be my all-time favorite MTG video. Definitely has me thinking of how/why to build a deck that's priceless & playable as though it's worthless. ❤

Surprised that no one seems to have mentioned that Stephen Edlis was paraphrasing the impeccable Oscar Wilde's "Lady Windermere's Fan": “Cecil Graham: What is a cynic? Lord Darlington: A man who knows the price of everything, and the value of nothing. Cecil Graham: And a sentimentalist, my dear Darlington, is a man who sees an absurd value in everything and doesn’t know the market price of any single thing.” Beautiful video, I love the care and creativity DJ shows in his deckbuilding.

everything about this gonti deck makes me smile in the most heartfelt way. real magic.

Coming back to rewatch this after it inspired one of my cherished decks, a deck made with the goal of being all traded cards where the player I traded with signs the card and new friends or community members sign the basics. It’s nowhere near my best deck but it’s one I’ll bring to every large event to get signatures and tell the stories contained within the deck.

Stuff like this is why I love magic. So much expression of value and worth, but that all falls by the wayside when compared to sentiment. The memories all of these cards have to each of us tell a story in different ways. All those cards in DJ's deck all hold memories from an era we are straying farther and farther away from. One of my own personal memorable cards is a mere foil day of judgement from M12. The card isn't particularly used in any format nowadays except for maybe a M12 draft setting, but it still is memorable for me because I remember cracking open that box with my brother and my friend John who introduced me to MTG back in 2012. As we sat in the dim light of my mini-van opening packs, I pulled the day of judgement and I remember immediately thinking "this is a keeper". I use it every now and then if I need a wrath affect in a deck that runs a singular of, and it holds a place in my heart.

I currently have a Bomber Corps from Gatecrash, 2013. It is worth, at most, 25 cents, USD. It was my first pet card, and was in all of my first decks, from when I first started playing in middle school, and had a prescence in most of my decks until some time in highschool. It hasn't seen use for a few years now, about, but while making a new commander deck recently, I pulled it out of the big plastic box that all of my cards were haphazardly thrown into for storage when I was younger, a storage method I thankfully grew out of. I had a similar thought as this video describes about the Library of Alexandria. Even the wear was similar, though this card is significantly younger. I sat for a little while reminiscing about my memories with this card and those decks, and the memories that surrounded those games. Then I put Bomber Corps in a sleeve that matched the rest of the cards for the deck. It's certainly not the best option, I subbed it out for a card I know would use the slot better, but I felt like Bomber Corps deserved to join the ranks of one of my decks again. Maybe even relive my first real "tournament" victory, a barely monitored afterschool club thing where Bomber Corps dealt the final touch of damage to my opponent with its keyword. Or maybe this deck is trash and I am going to absolutely steamrolled, we'll see.

I love the oration of this channel. Every video brings with it a subtle sadness, no matter the subject matter. Nostalgia, timelessness, or simply the subtle march of time; by the end of every video I find myself looking back at the happiness this game has brought me and the resolve I have for the future to come. Keep up the amazing work!

Such a beautiful video, the intro is so well spoken, rewatching late at night has brought me to tears. Thank you for your work rhystic

When I was a kid, my cousins had a pile of trading cards on the floor of their shared room. Magic, Yugioh, Star Wars, and Pokemon cards were all mixed together in worn out boxes or lying on the carpet. There was something magical about those cards to me as a child. Something that would have been lost had they been well-kept, organized, and separated by game. I never even played with them, but I still think about the time I spent looking through them all.