MTG Cheater Accidentally Cheats Against Himself 

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The fact that the card that won the game says: "There's a hole in your plan" as flavor text, really is the icing on top of the irony cake

Semi related but beating someone that you didn’t know was cheating against you, is like the biggest ego boost, feels so good.

"our hero is playing infect" ...never thought I'd hear someone say that.

I'm kind of amazed that Boettcher didn't realize that flooding your opponent with lands works against his use of mana tax counterspells.

The nice thing about some cheaters is that they tend to spend so much time learning to cheat seamlessly that they inevitably neglect how to play the game properly in the first place.

The power move is to keep one fetchland hands against this guy because you know you'll get two lands off of it

Oh my God Jared botcher is in the screen cap hahaha! I've known Jared for years, when he won rookie of the Year it kind of shocked everybody in the area because we all knew he wasn't really that great of a player. And when it came out that he was a cheater we all nodded in understanding.

I really enjoy these videos about cheaters, and this one is extra spicy watching him play himself.

3:34 -- Boettcher also purposely has a sloppy playfield to provide additional opportunities to cheat. For example, he put his discard pile just to the left of his library, directly in the path of his card draw. That way, he can palm a card from his graveyard whenever he draws or picks up his library. He also exaggerates dragging the card along the matte's surface before adding it to his hand so it would seem even less obvious in the future when attempts to palm a card. If he gets caught, he'll just say, "Oops. Accidentally dragged the card with my draw."

I don't remember which pro it was, but they claimed they were on the same plane as Boettcher when he first qualified for the Pro Tour. After 15 minutes of chatting with Boettcher they came to the conclusion that "no way this guy made it to the Pro Tour on skill".

Hey, YGO player here. I really liked how you explained both players decks and their winconditions, as well as certain cards and plays throughout the VOD of the game. Since I am absolutely not familiar with MTG, this helped me by understanding why Jared played himself. Great video!

The solution to this is to force players to cut the decks after shuffling to help minimize this style of cheating. The cut after shuffling is specifically meant to prevent a person from manipulating deck order.

"Cheaters don't think about strategy, they think about cheating" 😂 This is true to a large extent though. Their brains are wired to treat the cheating as an insta-win and this leads to shortsightedness as seen in the vid. Great vid, and look back as always.

The benefits of playing infect go further than just "half the life total". The opponent has 10 "life", no life gain, and damage stacks up against creatures over multiple turns while regular damage gets cleared from creatures at each end step

Best part about the end of that round is the flavor text for the spell pierce working well in that instance Boettcher: Seems like there's a hole in your plan Ross: Nah, the one with the hole in the plan is yours

Cheating in MTG is such a vibe killer. This game is supposed to be about having fun

Lmao Jared is from my local area, I remember him ADAMANT that he didn’t do nothing and still maintains his innocence today. Someone said he wanted to return to professional magic a while back but decided against it.

The shitty sourpuss look from Jared at the end made me so happy. He screwed up, and the fact that he was a cheater made me even happier. I remember watching all these games, and then hearing about his cheating and watching him back. Seeing how "smooth" he was when he did his sleight of hand manipulation was kind of cool, because it gave me something more to look out for. I'm also concerned with the judges not telling him off for a literal almost 30 seconds of shuffling his opponent's deck. To me, that's a little too much time spent shuffling, and that could interfere with the gamestate as well. If this was another deck, Tom could have had Ponder, Preordain, Brainstorm, Portent, any number of cantrips, and he's taking too much time for that. AS AN EDIT: Yes, I did go back to the actual match, and watched the timer for the shuffle. It was a literal 25 seconds. As in it starts at I think 3:46 and goes until 4:11.

Gotta love the inward facing shuffle so he can see the bottom card with no problem whatsoever. Whenever I see the I am always on guard from there on out.

I caught a guy at the game store here doing this very thing real early in a tournament and informed the guy running it, a friend of mine. I dropped out and for the rest of the day watched every one of his games. I kept track of every time he touched an opponent's deck. At the end he was 33 for 33 or 100% land shuffle cheating. I was allowed to present the 1rst prize. I brought him and the young lady who he "beat" for first place. I presented her the prize and explained that the "winner" had disqualified himself by cheating and explained what he had been doing all day. He immediately denied it. Problem was, when I reported it during the very first game of the day ... they tournament runners put a secondary judge spying on him for the rest of the day. They had the same observations I did. They told him in front of a huge room full of people and banned him from the premises permanently. I went to go out to my ride a bit later and he was outside waiting for me. The guy I rode there with was with me .... he is a cop .... a swat cop. Never seen such a sore loser and cheater drive away so fast.

Someone got caught cheating at my FNM. Dude was like 0-2 and ended up getting banned. Never really seems worth it to me. I love just playing magic too much to risk not being able to play it.

I can only imagine how bad he felt after that spell pierce was cast using the land he put on top of Ross's deck.

Man, I don't even play MTG but I've been binge-watching your videos for the past hours lol you do such a fantastic job explaining what's going on that I don't feel like I'm missing anything

He wasn’t trying to cheat he wanted his opponent to win 🥇 he’s actually a good guy! 😂😂😂

I usually end my shuffle of an opponent's deck with a cut on the table.

Oh played against Jared at gp Richmond back in 2014 or so. Something definitely felt off, I just couldn’t out my finger on it. After the games I told the guys I was with I thought he was cheating. Months later, he’s definitely cheating.

Did anyone notice when Jared shuffled his deck for the last time, he fanned the top cards looking for something to help himself out of the situation?

I actually beat Jared at an lgs a couple years ago, right after his ban was lifted. It was a modern tournament, beat him with my Puresteel Paladin storm deck. Felt good.

I feel bad about Thomas, he looks so desperate and grieving during the match

As a yugi player I gotta say. Guy on the left looks as if he's not just trying to win,but dab on them haters even more while doing it

Imagine someone land shuffle cheats, and their opponent on their next turn goes "Oh thank god, now I can combo."

Gotta love that you really expose them MTG cheaters and explain what they do as well

Jared reminds me of a friend i used to have, who ruined our friendship over an internet "group of friends". Just to have ALL of them, unfriend him and alienate him just 2 months later because of his actions and behaviours towards others 😂😂

"Wait, my cheating unit malfunctioned. You gotta give me a do-over!"-Jared

You can see how nervous Jared becomes every time he cheats. His leg starts tapping/shaking. Sign of fear of being caught.

This was epic. I play infect and know how much we need mana to protect. Keep up the great content , my friend and catch ya on the flippity!

I feel like a lot of these cheaters could be eradicated if the rules required you to cut the deck once at the end of any shuffle sequence. Why has this rule not been implemented? At least require decks to be shuffled face down, not sideways.

Tom Ross is always our hero. I think I watched this tournament live years ago, that look on Jared's face is very familiar.

I don’t play Magic but I found this really interesting and easy to follow. Will the cheater face any repercussions for cheating, even though he didn’t win? I’d hope he’d receive at least a temporary ban, this is pretty cut and dry

I love that you can see him stacking himself some kind of topdeck that he will never get to draw.

Always loved watching The Boss playing back when I followed pro MtG. Favorite player by far. Super skilled but also incredibly humble and nice.

There should be a rule preventing this type of cheating from happening in the first place. This type of shuffle shouldn't be possible.

When I started playing MTG back in 'born of the gods' set and I started playing at a local spot on Friday nights. I never realized how many people would cheat against me until years later. It was pretty bad. I even had one guy mess up a combo deck, he fudged his combo halfway through and he threw a fit until I let him rewind his whole turn and try again, in which he messed up again, flipped the table, and walked out. It wasn't one of the examples of cheating, but I did stop playing there soon after

Technically he didn't lose to his opponent, he won against himself.

My favorite part is when Jared scoop and looked up. And said to himself ( that was a wrong move. I should have put basic island instead of fetch 😆😆😆)

*Being able to cheat himself and lose the match is tremendous work, he's a genius*

My neighbor admitted to me he always used to cheat when we were kids. He would hide cards underneath pillows or stupid things near our game and pick them up when I was looking at my cards. I knew statistically he shouldn't be getting 1/60 cards game after game after game. I accused him of cheating one time and he threw a fit. Surprisingly, he thinks he's good at MTG and pokemon, yet nobody wants to play with him. Go figure.

Another great Nikachu video, such a breath of fresh air seeing a shuffle cheat get got

Cheater is pretty bad at magic, too. 7:58 The commentary even calls it, he should have definitely cast bolt there. The odds of force + blue card are low, the odds of running into daze is even lower. The odds are likely he has pump card, disruption, and maybe second pump just based off the most common decklists + statistical pulls. Sure the guy can run hot, but I would take the bolt into a force any day here because 1. you're not going to beat a force here in this race 2. infect is a deck that requires a bit of gas and turning your bolt into mind rot isn't the worst in a scenario where you win in 2-3 turns, and 3. Inkmoth is a high priority target. If the bolt goes through, you basically get to walk the delver to victory. There is the small chance you draw your wasteland or stifle vs another threat or your own disruption, but you're actually just banking on your opponent's next draws being unusable disruption or another dude. Delver is all about tempo and controlling the pace of the game, which the guy on the right did none of ON TOP of cheating in the simplest of ways - mana go burr.

What happens to Jared afterwards? Did he get banned, or retire from pro magic in shame?

Jokes on you! If you are running Kozilek as a Commander you want a 7 land hand ;P Great video as always! Keep it up dude :D Hope you get through these trying times happy and healthy

I like how the players shuffle the cards in their hands when thinking ... even when Tom had just two cards, he just shuffled them over and over while thinking.

Great play-by-play explanation! It’s very easy to follow even for a casual player that hasn’t touched MTG in a long time like me. Thanks!

As a Magic player also named Jared, I'm glad Tom owned this dude and won this match. I'm embarrassed I share a first name with an infamous Magic cheater.

That pissed-off look on Jared's face at the end is very satisfying

Fun fact: My very first deck was the black/blue infect starter deck from Scars of Mirrodin back in 2012. I've loved infect, proliferate and plague counter since then. I don't really ever get an opportunity to play Magic anymore, but fun memories at least.

Man, I used to play Magic with a cheater that looked just like Boettcher. One game we played he had four Baneslayer Angels on the table and a fifth literally fell out of his sleeve like a comic.

"Or your starting hand will be 7 lands" *Looks down at Borborygmos Enraged deck* Yeah, I can work with it

I remember playing 4th ed in high school. and this one guy would barely touch his cards to "tap" them, it was super obvious that he wanted the cards in a position where he could say they were "tapped" if someone called him on it, but also "untapped" if he needed to cast a spell and didn't have the mana for it. It didn't help that we also had to keep our eyes out for a klepto hanging around the school cafeteria that would just yoink the top half of your deck the moment you weren't looking, so just playing this game was already about as challenging as could be.

Opposite scenario but it reminds me of the kid in high school who would stack Exodia on top of his deck when we played yugioh. To get around this we introduced the shuffle your opponents deck rule, but you could cut yours after. He stopped cheating after that.

This was so satisfying to watch. Thanks for these videos Nikachu :)

Thomas always looks so stressed when he plays, even when he's about to smash in for the game. Always found that a little funny.

Love your videos in the morning. Waking up to see how cheating can comeback to bite you in the XXX. Thanks Nikachu. Makes my day hahahaha

i once saw a cheater put a card on top, so i looked him in the eyes and cut the top card as the only one to the bottom, he lost and was mad at me. my very fav. mtg moment.

I hate cheaters. Literally no point in playing a game if you cheat, even if you win. You will always know it was illegitimate, looking over your shoulder. You may say that doesn't bother you but it always does.

Wow I cannot believe Thomas cheated by having Jared guarantee him a land.

I love this type of video where you analyze some games of tournament with cheaters or bad luck

I have not played MTG in over 20 years and I still love watching your videos.... I am tempted to start playing again :P I find it all pretty overwhelming now though >< Thanks for the amazing content!

i honestly love nikachu's videos, love when i see the new ones.

You actually do a great job breaking down the play-by-play. I'm still a noob but thanks for making me a bit of a better player!

Great series, Nikachu! Love it! Keep them coming!

Hugely appreciative of the intro to the decks and how he cheats. Really appreciate that, boss.

That was a great way to show how cheating doesn't help

Quick question. After you receive your deck back after the opponent shuffles, can you cut it once you get the deck back? Or is that not allowed? Always enjoy the content, helps me understand magic better!

Have to say, his shuffle is slick. I know a kid who got really into card magic and could definitely pull a fast one of you weren't careful

Love these. Keep em coming! I miss watching the paper magic coverage from scg

I suspect that if Tom had not drawn the land on the last turn that he may not have activated inkmoth and tried to win with just the pump spells, and counterspell backup. It was still lethal that way. Still a fine example, but I trust Tom Ross to have found the line that lets him go for lethal with the counterspell up.

I owned some MTG cards when I was younger. Played casually with my sister. Never picked it up later in life. But I do love this type content. Keep it up!

Thomas Ross is a Legendary Human Wizard

I made an infect deck after seeing Tom play it for years and I love it! Not always gonna get the matchup you’d like but turn two wins are fairly consistent if the opponent doesn’t have the right interaction

nice video. i dont play mtg, i play yugioh, and yet i could understand everything that happened! keep up the content man!

Almost makes you wonder if Ross knew about the cheating style and encouraged it because of the strategy of the opposing deck. XD 👍

Really enjoying these play throughs with commentary

No one in the history of MTG cheated a Mox Opal into play, but the opponent always felt cheated out of a win.

You’re good at explaining the game. I don’t know jack about magic and I understood fully well how this clown did himself in

I heard Tom’s deck was Infect and I immediately agreed, he *IS* indeed my hero lol 😂 Such a cool deck theme! I don’t have such a deck but I also have no one to play with nor no place to play at so.... Collecting still would just be a tease; if you understand my meaning but still.... SO cool a deck theme. And Tom with his taste in clothing and natural good looks, looks so cool!!

Seems like when Jarad picks up Tom's deck to shuffle, Tom shakes his head.

Bro i found this channel at midnight last night and proceeded to stay up till 2:30 just watching videos. I like this guy

Thomas: Lightly shuffled his hand occasionally when nothing is happening. Jared: Compulsively wastes a stupid amount of time obnoxiously flicking his cards 24/7

I wonder if there are any instances in Magic tournaments of someone cheating against themselves and still winning. I once did that in Monopoly: Deal. Back in the day, my go-to cheat was stacking the deck so I would give myself 2 Deal Breakers and 3 Just Say No cards. There was one instance of me doing that, but somehow, my opponent (in this case, my dad) got all those cards. I managed to win despite that. Deal Breakers are powerful, but notoriously easy to avoid.

Ugh, I hate cheaters so much. They really ruin the fun of games. Thanks for the video Nikachu. In a sort of related-to-the-video story one of my favorite Standard decks I played was what I called Glistening Assault Swell turn two kill. Turn one land that taps for Green -> Glistener Elf pass and hope opponent plays nothing but a land turn one. Turn two land that taps for Red -> Assault Strobe and Groundswell on the Elf, attack for poison lethal. I had the combo actually work for me a few games and it always felt great.

One way to fix this cheating issue is make it a rule where if you opponent shuffles your deck you can present your deck again for your opponent cut your deck as the last thing he does

My favorite part was when Tom beat the cheater

thats why in some if not most of card games the deck has to be cut at the end of a shuffle by the the opposing player of the shuffler

My girlfriend who doesn't play Magic followed your commentary and explanations and enjoyed the video. Great job man!

Really like your graphics, especially with the cards too!

Lol trying to Cheat Tom "The Boss" Ross is like trying to run over a giant defensive linemen. You can do it but you're only hurting yourself.

I remember when I watched Star City Games' Patrick Chaplin cheated in a tournament on Twitch TV by playing a land being his land total from 4 lands to 5 lands. He then tap all 5 of his lands for 5 mana and then picked up a land and put it down and tap it for mana to have 6 mana to cast Elspeth for the win. The official Wizards announcers became totally like quit for 10 seconds then busted out with GREAT PLAY BY PATRICK CHAPLIN... I was like WTF!!! You're not disqualifying him?! That video is still on RU-vid BTW.

The other guy is just like "Man, I am getting really lucky with these mana draws