I am experimenting here with something I haven't done in about six years of content - showing a full experience. Some of you may want an intro, but I really don't have anything to say about these cards anymore, and the video is already really long. I still want to post the whole thing because I am curious if my viewers have changed over the years. Are you here for my battles, win or lose? Or do I still need 80% win rates to succeed on KZfaq? Will you watch a deck for two days in a row? Will you watch a longer video? I am sure the answers will vary, person to person, but I am wondering what broader response will be.

I love these longer standard videos. Thanks for the content, as always.

Really enjoying the longer videos! Watching both wins and losses is actually a lot more enjoyable for me than a curated mostly-wins video that doesn't really showcase how a deck performs, and the losing games are always such a great learning experience. Definitely more interesting than steamrolling opponents stuck on bad draws, if nothing else!

Some really entertaining matches in here but man what an absolute grindfest

Always will appreciate the realness of the longer videos. I watch these at work to help me get through the day so the longer the better!😂

Glad to see you enjoying yourself, even though that sometimes means pushing through a frustrating grind 😄

Your videos are relaxing, I love the way you narrate everything and think out loud. I can play it in the background and keep up with the game.

@39:18 I often depend on the "hope they miss their attack step" strategy also.

I have LOVED these two videos. It's helpful to see you play the games where there is nothing you can do and you just lose cause that happens to all of us all the time.

Thanks CGB. Loved seeing yesterday and today's videos and how you can experience the same roller coaster on the ladders as us scrubs.❤

Love the little bit of motivation at the end! The content just gets better and better, keep it up 😁

I guess CGB has enough of LOTR Brawl

" Teferi who slows the *NAH* " we need that card in next UN- set 🤣

Im gonna be honest I started playing on deployment during khans and the first standard deck I took to a standard tournament when I got back was a goblin rablemaster deck that I was running people over with until I ran into an azorious control deck that I went 0-2 against even though I got them down to 2 and 1 life respectively. The games haunted me for weeks, but after the pain subsided I have been obsessed with control and I REALLY enjoy watching videos like this. These grindy match ups are what I live for now and your views be damned I will watch them ALL through. I loved the ronin match up. The L hurts but the play was *chefs kiss. Thank you for the escape from the real world and your cool.

I love this video so much. Partly for the extra content, partly for the honest emotions and the true experience of MTG:Arena in 2023.

The extra long videos ensure I never run out of your content to watch. Between Blue, Two, and Crew, I still find myself catching all the way up and running out. Even with the extra Magic Official and CoolStuffInc videos! Maybe I watch too much MTGA content.

That was an insane bunch of matches! Thanks for the content. Even after years of watching you play and more so control decks I'm still amazed at how well you run them

So glad the standard content is coming in hot again, was tired of seeing the brawl stuff

Loved these longer form 'uncut' vids. But I also love the other type too! Variety is the spice of life!

I actually love these long video. Also, watching pro players get bad card draws, mana screwed, etc makes it easier to swallow when it happens to me.

I enjoy hearing the thought process and rationale behind the plays, and the larger the sample size with the deck, the better the odds that you'll come across a wider variety of board states, meaning better insight from the pilot. Longer individual videos, or tent-pole content on certain days weekly, either way- I'm in for stretching your legs a bit with decks.

i can say without doubt, i genuinely enjoy this better. i’m here regardless if it’s just back to back losses. i just like your personality and perspective and how both work with your content in general! plus, even if u do lose, u get to learn a bit in the process- whether it’s holding that counter spell a turn longer, synergy, or how/when to blink a card. so whether you play historic brawl, alchemy, or tilting standard- i’m here for it!!!

Hey CGB, loving the full grind videos, really paints a better picture of actual gameplay and gives us way longer content than usual, and quality content on top of it. Your gameplay is insanely good and most of us are learning a lot from you, especially since you seem to put a lot of effort on explaining your decision making. We love seeing that kind of content, but the most important is that you get to do what you enjoy doing, that's how you put out the best content, making us all happier at the same time. You're cool :)

OMFG another 2 hours of CGB Esper?! LFG!!! 🎉🎉🎉

It's honestly kind of comforting seeing a player of your caliber struggling to rank up. I've been having so much trouble getting any consistent wins this season. At least I know it's not just me. 😂

Great video, definitely fun watching longer videos feels like I learn more watching them too

Love this long videos about Esper… those consecutive games where everything seams to go wrong is my daily experience with arena… welcome to my world of despair 😊😊

Glad CGB putting out these longer 2hr vids and show how rough (and slick) MTGA can be. You're! cool.

I’ll watch whatever you post. I watch your videos when I get off of work to decompress. Either that or I’ll watch them on my lunch. I appreciate everything you do.

Love this! I have mainly played aggro; however, this is an unedited master class on control. You have converted me to your dojo of control players and it has been fun!

It’s cool to see the real experience, been a while since I tried to grind through Diamond and I see that things haven’t changed much 😅. With how stale the meta has gotten there are only so many decks to make, I find it much more valuable to watch how you fine tune a deck as you climb the ladder

I do like the longer videos, even if it takes me a couple of sittings to get through them. A brief outro like you had works well to close it off as well. At this point in Standard, I think the only intro needed is "I am playing my version of "____". It would be nice to get commentary on deck edits if any made during the run and why. I appreciated the comment on adding Teferi for life gain after the anvil match. Thank you for the great content!

I love the longer vids, I like to throw your games on while I’m doing chores around the house. I rarely watch the historic videos though, standard off meta decks are my favorite.

I love these long fornat videos, it may be a drag for some content creators, but you are always fun to watch, and your insight into the game is gold. Throw an intro on there, I would watch this whole thing, even if in segments. Also nice to see Arena isn't just evil to me, I also have those same days where you hit the wall non-stop. Keep up the good work sir.

Love the idea! Even watched a few games. I just happen to really dislike playing again Esper control, so watching the video activated my PTSD

2 hour video is an instant click, love watching your videos while I do cardio, so the the longer they are the more cardio I do 😅

Happy to be part of the control cool kids club

I like watching your videos, even when they're longer. Sometimes I have to pause the video for some breaks here and there, but I'd still finish watching it.

I watch these while working so the extended content is great.

I LOVE this! Thank you for sharing this epic journey with us!

Lol, the Diamond 1 victory speech got me. Love you CGB.

I think the games you play against mono Blue are really interesting. There is a lot of thinking that needs to happen on both sides. Deciding what's important to fight over, choosing when to make a move or to just pass, and all the while jockeying to have more resources for the moment when you go for the final push. It's so cool to see the stack piled up with six different spells that all started from trying to resolve a Wandering Emperor. Personally, I've moved to running fewer Spell Pierce and Make Disappear in my mono Blue list because everybody and their mother plays around those cards right now (Spell Pierce less so, but it's narrower). I think I lose more games to aggro because of it, but it feels really nice to have hard counters or other utility like March in hand while the opponent is going through pains to leave up 2. I must say that I really do wish the mono Blue list was just a bit better. It's not a bad deck, but it's highly inconsistent. It's just so completely about the four copies of Djinn. If your Djinn dies, you lose. There is no backup plan; Terror isn't usually good enough on its own. So much of your deck construction is warped around the Djinn that it's a shame, because the shell is otherwise quite powerful. I wish there was another synergistic 2 or 3-drop creature to really tie the list together. Faerie Mastermind or the Shark are almost there... but not quite. Also, the current Haughty Djinn-centric list sorely misses the early tempo from the mono Blue lists of years past, which had little dorks you could suit up with Curious Obsession to start going to town with as early as turn two. That early pressure and card advantage was a big advantage you had against control; it forced them to react to you rather than having a "Pass the Turn" contest, and it made playing around stuff like Spell Pierce a tough choice. Plus the little creatures could trade and block on the ground against aggro matchups. This list doesn't have anything like that, sadly. I think Delver of Secrets isn't nearly consistent enough, and Combat Research doesn't give any buff to attack power so your clock is too slow. Anyways, I enjoy your content and I like these longer videos for a change. My thoughts are that you should keep experimenting with mixing it up to keep yourself interested. Good luck in your climb!

Love the long videos. Love the full experience. More more more nom nom nom.

the final win to rank up being a victory lap where your opponents salt scoop is always a treat, that was how I hit mythic the first time lol

I like the longer videos. Maybe throw in a standard event to mix things up or a game of explorer once a week something like that

Love the long form vids, I'm here for the wins AND losses.

Title: "I will not give up!" 12:04: gives up

This was an interesting experience. It felt like I was watching a movie, but I also had that feeling where I was so invested that I felt like I was the one playing the game at times. Congratulations on the diamond 💎

I like longer videos like this personally. I learn more from losses than wins usually, and it shows that as a streamer your not getting the game to treat you better just because you whale etc.

Could watch CGB play control all day tbh

lmao that Deluge draw after the opponent shuffled it was EXCEPTIONAL

I rather enjoy a lengthy video like this now and then. Especially with a deck YOU like, it feels like a good journey.

love these last two mega videos!

Those were some good games

Have you ever thought about keeping a list of players you've played against and what decks they're playing, like in an spreadsheet or something?

Loving these long videos though. Whether standard or brawl. Awesome

Analytics are queen but I enjoy the narrative structure of prolonged videos.

I've enjoyed the last two days of the grindy rank up.

57:55 - it would be better to play Make disappear, given the spell pierce, just for avoid a lot of untapped lands, imho. Since our main goal is to play Farewell successfully. :)

Two hours of control mirrors let's gooooo

That game against mono blue djinn was very satisfying

CGB did beat Thanatos (which in greek means death and it's spelled : θάνατος) 😅

Good job. Great show.

I prefer the longer videos, whether it's historic brawl or standard! In my opinion your videos are better when you like what you are playing

Stealing the forge and Raiju was for the clutch win was *chefs kiss*

oof that game vs blue white was a SLOG had me on the edge of my seat so many times

CGB taking over 4 hours to go up one level on the ladder .... relatable.

I gave up trying to play home brews and switched to your UW control with white PWs, Tocasia's Welcome, Mirrex, card draw, removal and some farmhands... Currently 8-0. I am finding March of Otherworldy Light very good in the current meta.

MORE CONTROL?! it must be my birthday, im gonna go hit every land drop now!

Loving these longer videos

Gotta love 2h videos!

Grixis has been serving me well

Holy control mirrors Batman.

Wonder why you find so much more creature decks after adding siphon

2 hour video back to back holy cow ❤

There is no weakness in the dojo

I think this approach might help show people a realistic win rate and the grind of ladder. It's not intuitive that even something like a 60% win rate is pretty good for a deck. I know people have complained before about losing a lot with decks you advertise as good - not realizing that expecting to win something like 80% of matches is unrealistic unless you are very good, very lucky, and are running a very good deck.

It is amazing that how many ppl play control nowadays. Maybe time to add more counter spells?

I just mostly enjoy just watching whatever you put out ! I’ve got back into standard and I’m running a bant mill deck with Tamiyo ! 😁

i like an intro just to hear you say we are cool :)

*STANDARD!*

Was thinking what if you took out a delude or scrutiny and put in an faithful mending. That game where you had 3 cut downs could have used one and the life gain would be good against mono red

That was awesome.

No love for the beat-up nostalgia sleeves

@covertgoblue Just my 2 cents...I prefer the longer videos showing wins, losses, and changes/tweaks as you go along. Videos from MTG content creators that say "80% win rates!" or somesuch...well, are picking and choosing to get that number - some of us logical folks see it as disingenuous. Thanks for this one!

CGB knows my shower takes longer than 45 minutes and i need longer videos to stand in the shower for!!

I would love for CGB to try out limited for a few vids.

I'm in that group of people who doesn't play MTG (because it isn't fun) so, I don't care about win rates at all, I know the cards already because eveyone is using the same ones (and I can pause and read..), and though I like variety I'm not going to dump a channel for playing the same archetype twice in a row. It doesn't make the videos bad. I imagine a decent number of people feel similarly.

WE ARE STRONG 😂

I’m down to watch pretty much anything, really hoping you’re still doing LOTR videos tho?

Longer videos are good. I would like if you would show off some historical brawl decks if possible.

I think in the first game the opponent could have Cut down the 2/2 samurai, so flashing in emp during combat would’ve been safer. Still crushed them though

Down to watch but control mirrors are a bit....rough

Wow b2b 2 hour CGB standard vids?? Christmas in August!

LOL gotta keep riding with esper control. I would definitely stick to dimir or azorius spellslinger. Have never had consistent success with 3 colour decks in 1v1 formats. Fine in casual commander where you have more time to get your mana base online. Glad you like the deck though. Esper is pretty sweet.

I just watched a 2 hour mirror match.

Lomm quiero mmmucho semñor cgb

Adore these style videos. You been in the game too long to play schoolteacher. Be the professor and take us to lecture.

rough to watch these lol

Why don't you reply the "hello"?