Singles Only Episode 1 - Jet Fuel Can't Melt Steel Beams w/ Benj & Martin!

Deck Strategies

• 

  Feldon, Ronom Excavator

  Leverage Feldon's ability to exile and recast creatures from the graveyard by dealing damage, supplementing mono-red’s aggressive burn and creature strategy to overcome card draw limitations and close out games quickly.

• 

  The Beamtown Bullies

  A Jund midrange deck that accelerates mana, deploys big threats, and uses graveyard recursion and a combo involving The Leveler to donate creatures and win via synergistic interactions.

Gameplay Insights

• 1

  Feldon player prioritized holding mana open for Ghost Fire Slice to counter key reanimation spells, preventing the opponent’s combo from resolving.

• 2

  The Beamtown Bullies player used Buried Alive to set up the graveyard with important combo pieces, but had to manage the risk of burn spells removing those threats.

• 3

  Feldon's early aggressive deployment of creatures with prowess and burn spells like Chain Lightning and Skullcrack aimed to minimize the opponent’s life gain and slow down their ramp and combo.

• 4

  Life gain from Shouldered Dread was a pivotal factor, forcing Feldon to adjust his playstyle and prioritize burn and disruption to avoid giving the opponent too much time to assemble their combo.

• 5

  Both players carefully balanced aggression and interaction, with Feldon leveraging his mono-red strengths while mitigating its weaknesses through graveyard recursion.

Notable Cards

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  Feldon, Ronom Excavator

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  Monastery Swiftspear

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  Buried Alive

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  Skyfire Phoenix

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  Skullcrack

Summary

The game featured a Duel Commander match between Feldon, Ronom Excavator, a mono-red deck focused on graveyard recursion and explosive burn spells, and The Beamtown Bullies, a Jund midrange deck with big creatures, mana dorks, and a sneaky combo involving The Leveler. The Beamtown Bullies aimed to set up a reanimation combo by donating The Leveler to opponents, while Feldon sought to leverage his ability to exile cards from the top of his library equal to damage dealt, mitigating mono-red’s usual card draw problems. The Beamtown Bullies started by ramping into threats and setting up a graveyard strategy with Buried Alive, putting The Leveler and Skyfire Phoenix into the graveyard. Feldon responded aggressively with early creatures like Soulscar Mage and Monastery Swiftspear to apply pressure and disrupt the opponent’s mana acceleration. A crucial moment came when The Beamtown Bullies cast Shouldered Dread to gain life and stabilize, prompting Feldon to hold back from maximizing prowess triggers to prevent life gain, which would have prolonged the opponent’s survival. Throughout the game, Feldon applied burn and disruption, using Ghost Fire Slice to counter The Beamtown Bullies’ key reanimation plays. Both players carefully managed resources and triggers, with Feldon aiming to burn out the opponent before the combo could assemble. The interaction around life gain, burn spells, and graveyard recursion defined the tempo, with Feldon’s early pressure and interaction crucial to preventing The Beamtown Bullies’ combo from resolving.