Deck & Commander Strategies
Ob Nixilis, Captive Kingpin
Control and attrition through incremental life loss and card advantage, combined with removal and disruption to grind out opponents while setting up a finish via planeswalker ultimates or combo finishers.
Vivi Ornitier
Spell-slinging tempo deck leveraging low-cost instants and sorceries to generate value and incremental advantage, aiming to chain spells with Orvar's ability to create efficient threats and control the board.
Noctis, Prince of Lucis
Graveyard control and value-oriented midrange deck that disrupts opponents' graveyards while generating card advantage and incremental board presence through recursion and disruption.
Orvar, the All-Form
A spell-based synergy deck focused on casting cheap spells and copying them to trigger Orvar's ability, generating tokens or incremental advantage and enabling combo or tempo-based wins.
Gameplay Insights
- 1
Players prioritized early card advantage and mana acceleration to stabilize and apply pressure quickly in the cEDH environment.
- 2
Discussion on the relative merits of Redirect Lightning versus Deflecting Swat highlighted the importance of free interaction and multi-target spells in fast-paced games.
- 3
Managing life payments and resource expenditure was critical, especially when considering cards with associated costs like Redirect Lightning or life payments on fetchlands.
- 4
Sequencing of spells to maximize triggers from commanders like Orvar was key to establishing board presence and tempo.
- 5
Players balanced disruption and combo assembly, ensuring they maintained interaction to protect their own win conditions while preventing opponents from executing theirs.
- 6
The use of legacy-style mana rocks and tutors enabled explosive starts but required careful hand selection to avoid mana-screw or clunky draws.
- 7
Incremental value from planeswalkers and card draw engines was leveraged to outpace opponents in long grindy exchanges.
Notable Cards
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Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer
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Demonic Tutor
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Force of Negation
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Vexing Shusher
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Imperial Seal
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Mox Amber
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Mox Opal
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Polluted Delta
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Redirect Lightning
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Deflecting Swat
Gameplay Summary
The game started with players carefully evaluating their opening hands and mulligans, aiming for efficient mana bases and key interaction pieces.
Early turns featured common cEDH plays such as fetching shocklands, casting mana dorks, and setting up card advantage engines.
Ragavan was deployed early to generate pressure and card filtering, while players discussed interaction suites including counterspells and redirect spells.
The board state evolved with players sequencing their plays to maximize value from permanents like Aether Flux Reservoir and card advantage tools like Demonic Tutor.
One player leveraging Ob Nixilis capitalized on incremental value and removal options, attempting to control the board while building towards a lethal combo or overwhelming advantage.
Another player piloting Orvar focused on spell-based synergies and tempo plays, looking to leverage the all-form ability for efficient threats and disruption.
The game featured tight resource management, with players balancing life payments, mana expenditures, and card draws to maintain tempo and pressure.
Key moments included resolving high-impact spells and managing board wipes or counters to protect key combos or threats.
The game was a showcase of high-level cEDH interplay, with players reading each other's intentions and adjusting their strategies accordingly, ultimately aiming to assemble a win condition based on card advantage or infinite damage loops.
