Ghired vs Elsha vs Kadena vs Kentaro EDH / CMDR game play for Magic: The Gathering

Deck Strategies

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  Kadena, Slinking Sorcerer

  Uses morph creatures and experience counters to generate card advantage and board presence, focusing on incremental growth and multiple triggers from creatures entering and leaving the battlefield.

• 

  Kentaro, the Smiling Cat

  Builds a strong samurai token army, leveraging synergy between samurai creatures and token generators to apply pressure through wide board states and combat damage.

• 

  Elsha of the Infinite

  Control and value-oriented deck using enchantments and token generation, including populating elemental tokens and casting spells to maintain card advantage and control the board.

• 

  Ghired, Conclave Exile

  Token and +1/+1 counter synergy deck that uses manifest and morph mechanics to generate board presence and card draw, supported by spells like Wild Call and bounce effects.

Gameplay Insights

• 1

  Choosing to exile Bramble Sovereign early with Swords to Plowshares prevented an early ramp and treasure generation for an opponent.

• 2

  Populating tokens multiple times significantly increased board resilience and pressure, especially with cards like Growing Ranks and Assemble the Legion.

• 3

  Copying creatures with Mimic Vat, including commanders and value creatures, provided continuous threat generation and board presence.

• 4

  Strategically using Return to Dust via Sunbird's Invocation helped clear key artifacts, disrupting opponents' plans.

• 5

  Players carefully balanced aggression and defense, often opting to trade creatures rather than overcommit, showing a preference for value and board control over fast kills.

• 6

  Utilizing Kadena’s experience counters to reduce morph creature costs and draw cards created a steady engine that maintained Kadena’s board state and hand size.

• 7

  The use of morph and manifest mechanics created uncertainty for opponents, complicating combat and removal decisions.

Notable Cards

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  Swords to Plowshares

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  Sunbird's Invocation

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  Mimic Vat

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  Return to Dust

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  Voice of Resurgence

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  Growing Ranks

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  Primordial Mist

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  Assemble the Legion

• 

  Thran Dynamo

Summary

The game featured four pre-constructed Commander 2019 decks led by Kadena, Slinking Sorcerer; Kentaro, the Smiling Cat; Elsha of the Infinite; and Ghired, Conclave Exile. Early turns involved ramping and setting up board presence, with players casting key creatures and generating treasure tokens. Kadena's player leveraged experience counters and morph creatures to maintain board control and card advantage, while Kentaro's deck focused on producing samurai tokens and building a wide board. Elsha's player used enchantment and token synergies, including populating elemental tokens and casting spells like Sunbird's Invocation to dig for answers and control the pace of the game. Ghired's deck appeared to develop a token and +1/+1 counter strategy, manifesting creatures and utilizing Wild Call for card draw and board presence. Key turning points included the use of Swords to Plowshares to exile a significant threat early on, and multiple populating triggers that increased token strength and board resilience. Elsha's player also made a tactical decision to find Sunbird's Invocation for card advantage and removal options. The interaction of Kadena’s morph creatures and experience counters created a steady stream of threats and card draw. The game featured combat exchanges focused on controlling opponent's boards rather than all-out aggression, with players blocking and trading creatures strategically. A notable moment was the replication of powerful creatures using Mimic Vat and the use of return to dust spells to clear problematic artifacts. Throughout, the players balanced developing their board, generating resources, and disrupting opponents, with the game unfolding into a battle of attrition and incremental advantage gains rather than explosive combos or quick wins.