90s TCG&gaming by marcoasd

It felt like the day would never come, and yet here it is. And the passing of a 46‑year‑old man always makes you want to smash a few doors, preferably with something sharp in your hand, if only it weren’t completely pointless.

I made a video about Kai among the very first ones on the channel, in Italian, back when I was still sitting on a chair that creaked.
I told the legend passed down by a player from my area who, at his first Pro Tour at 15, supposedly found himself paired against Kai. The story goes that the kid tutored for a card that wasn’t decisive.
Kai supposedly grabbed the deck and told him something like, “This one’s better, trust me.”
The kid ended up winning. I don’t know if it’s true or not, but what is certain is that Kai won the Pro Tour that Sunday.

I never met him, but he always struck me as someone who kept his feet firmly on the ground — and if everyone says so, it must be true.
I first got to know him through that gold‑bordered deck. THAT deck. I looked at it and half the cards seemed to do absolutely nothing. Sure, about ten of them were great, okay… but after seeing the deck in action, I realized that, as we say where I’m from, I still needed to “eat a lot of bread” before I could even begin to think up a deck like that.
And that, actually, there were ways to walk into a tournament genuinely believing you could win.

But the most important thing is something else: a lot of people play MTG, and it’s pretty clear many of them will never have the makings of a champion.
Everything is relative and there are infinite levels, but if I never made it to the Pro Tour, then in some way I’m part of that group too. Usually, when you’re bad at something, you end up not liking it, and over time you don’t even want to see someone else doing it.
Unless there’s someone who shows you something you do like — who makes you feel that maybe that activity is more within reach than it seems. So you try again.

Kai himself said that everyone gets their fifteen minutes of fame, and that’s true. Fifteen minutes — you don’t have to replace God. You don't need to, even less is fine.

Personally, I’ve been lucky enough to be, for a few years — and maybe still in flashes — a similar figure when it comes to the game, or at least one aspect of it, for a whole generation of kids around the world in the late ’90s.
People who didn’t know how to play and kept getting crushed would copy my team and try again. And in the end, some of them even did pretty damn well.
I grasped that idea, and it became clear to me thanks to the man who sadly left us today.

A reassuring presence. I don’t see many others.

3 weeks ago | [YT] | 37

90s TCG&gaming by marcoasd

Have people changed their mind? Ladies and gentlemen, I don’t want to push the point. The floor is yours.

1 month ago | [YT] | 18

90s TCG&gaming by marcoasd

So, we’ve finally broken through the 1,000 mark! A special thank you to everyone, especially those who’s been here since the very beginning.
Now that I have a clearer idea of what most are looking for, I’ll start reorganizing everything to make it easier to access the content you’re most interested in — even if it’s still a bit early for major changes.

1 month ago | [YT] | 29

90s TCG&gaming by marcoasd

Hey folks! 90s TCG & Gaming is turning one soon — If my memories are correct, exactly one year ago I started recording something for this channel (what a disaster it was!). Thanks for being part of the journey!

An unmonetized channel—or a small one, at any rate—is a demo. What changes are simply the methods, motivations, and means. And that’s no small difference. It seemed obvious to me, but I realize now that it might not be.

Over time, I’ve been asked—through various forms—for reviews, narrations, commentaries, guides, and all sorts of other content. These are all things that take time and will be done, in time.

I’ve always kept my promises, and one promise I feel confident making is this: with adequate support in terms of subscriptions, I plan to create multiple channels, each focused on a specific theme.
It will make everyone happy, I guess.

This one is a miscellaneous channel and will remain that way, but once we hit 1,000 subscribers, dedicated channels will slowly start to appear—albeit with a moderate posting schedule.
Whether that happens, and when, depends on you.

3 months ago (edited) | [YT] | 29

90s TCG&gaming by marcoasd

About Stronghold videos, I have found out how to record PC games with better quality. I just recorded Military Mission 8, I'll see what I can do with the previous ones. Wish I'd known before...

4 months ago (edited) | [YT] | 14

90s TCG&gaming by marcoasd

I'll try to resume RBY OU guide in the next days: endgame/final sweep.

4 months ago | [YT] | 16

90s TCG&gaming by marcoasd

In all honesty I didn’t understand why some unsubscribed right after the most recent series of videos. Maybe it was just some ordinary flow and I'm blowing this out of proprotion but I'll talk about this.
Personally I can't remember unsubscribing from a channel through the years so I'm not the most qualified guy in this case, but I never thought having some videos you don't need in your recommended section could be that much of a life-changing setback. Make no mistake, I don’t think so highly of myself as to be above criticism. At the same time I'm not going to agree with everything.
The mechanism just doesn't make sense. Oh well, it's going to boost that Click-Through Rate. One of the things that have the final say over life and demise these days.

Concerning the issue, there are so many videos on YT like the ones I'm talking about. They pop up all the time because they have hundreds of thousands of views and thousands of likes. Views and likes gathered in an era where people were looking for things instead of some viral snake oil storyteller who stuns them with a bunch of useless blah blah blah..
Again, don't get it confused. That's fine. Thinking that the world should end there is the actual problem. Just like before 1492 when people thought the world ended at Cabo da Roca. Turns out it doesn't...

I understand this thing has changed, but at the end of the day this is still a service: you can't remember something, you search for it, you find it. It's not only about being viral.
If anything, I would leave a like if I'm interested in the subject - not even the video itself.
It keeps the flame burning and better things will come. But that's just me.
Maybe some of these people will need to watch these videos in the future - which shows how narrow minded their actions were. Yeah, narrow minded describes the whole situation very well. And I don't care if some more will decide to leave after this. I’m no smooth-talking politician, as a serious person you're supposed to stand up for yourself at times.
Granted, I have no control over what people do. Still my word is: stay with me until 1000 or leave now... both things are free. After 1000, things are different. Channel survived, you'll find me here whenever you please. Remember this is how the game works, for me and for others.

4 months ago (edited) | [YT] | 15

90s TCG&gaming by marcoasd

Today marks a milestone: halfway to a thousand. Special thanks to those who have both joined and decided to stay!

5 months ago | [YT] | 21

90s TCG&gaming by marcoasd

I just learned that a Standstill deck won Premodern European Championships 2025 inTampere, Finland. Just one day after my deck tech. Slightly different decklist though (Chain of Vapor, Faerie Conclave, no SB Exalted Angel).

Decklist




4 Counterspell
3 Mana Leak
1 Stifle
3 Fact or Fiction
3 Impulse
2 Chain of Vapor
4 Swords to Plowshares
2 Decree of Justice
2 Wrath of God
1 Humility
3 Parallax Tide
1 Disenchant
2 Seal of Cleansing
3 Standstill
4 Adarkar Wastes
1 Coastal Tower
2 Faerie Conclave
2 Dust Bowl
4 Flooded Strand
5 Island
4 Mishra's Factory
4 Plains



Sideboard



3 Annul
3 Blue Elemental Blast
3 Meddling Mage
1 Circle of Protection: Red
2 Phyrexian Furnace
2 Teferi's Response
1 Wrath of God

5 months ago | [YT] | 20

90s TCG&gaming by marcoasd

Hello RBY enthusiasts,
Today I celebrate the anniversary of my Invitational V victory. I really wanted to publish the full video of the trip today, but I'm embarrassingly behind on that project. So yes—the video will happen. Eventually.
Last year, I loaded up a cup. My slush machine is up and running right now. I'll use a mere glass this year, I guess.

In the meantime, Lusch has claimed Invitational VI—just a few hours ago, after a flawless run featuring some colourful teams. Of course, I can do nothing but offer my congratulations. My only regret? My reign didn’t last a full year… just one day short!
Let me extend my props to the host, Emma; to Kaz, the finalist; and to the other players, starting with Genesis7 and Serpi—and to all of us who got our rear ends kicked at some point!

Jokes aside...
After 6 editions, the future of RBY OU Invitational is uncertain. If this Tournament is coming to an end, there's no better champion than Lusch. As history repeats itself, as Lusch was the last dominator of Pokemon Perfect's Master Tournaments. Actually MTs are back again! We are all going to meet again. Somewhere, some way, somehow.

5 months ago (edited) | [YT] | 19