Deck & Commander Strategies
Old Stickfingers
A fast combo deck that entombs its three creatures to the graveyard, then uses Persist and Animate Dead to repeatedly recur them along with Razaketh, enabling tutor chains that assemble a kill via Chain of Smog and Witherbloom Apprentice’s Magecraft triggers.
Slogurk, the Overslime
A lands-matter deck that ramps aggressively and leverages landfall triggers to grow Slogurk with +1/+1 counters, recur lands from the graveyard, and combo off with cards like Kodama, Meloku, and strip mine effects to generate overwhelming value and board presence.
Florian, Voldaren Scion
A Rakdos farm-style deck focused on pinging opponents and disrupting hands using creatures like Mardu Shadowspear and Sire of Insanity, while digging for a game-winning combo involving Dualcaster Mage and hand disruption spells to maintain card advantage.
Vadrik, Astral Archmage
A storm-based deck that builds spell power through rituals and mutation effects to cast high-value X-spells or cheat out big spells early, with potential combos involving Underworld Breach and lines that capitalize on storm count and spell recursion.
Gameplay Insights
- 1
David’s early entomb of all three creatures and the recursive use of Persist and Animate Dead on Young Necromancer and Witherbloom Apprentice created a lethal combo chain that ended the game on turn 2.
- 2
Slogurk’s ability to remove counters to return lands from the graveyard effectively enabled repeated landfall triggers and kept his board development consistent despite disruption.
- 3
Baal’s use of Pyroblast to counter Slogurk’s key threats demonstrated the importance of targeted disruption against landfall and counter-heavy decks.
- 4
Leite’s storm deck leveraged Mental Misstep effectively to protect key tutors and disrupt opponents’ attempts to assemble combos, showcasing the power of interaction in a fast-paced meta.
- 5
The widespread use of tutors like Demonic Tutor, Imperial Seal, and Vampiric Tutor allowed players to quickly assemble combo pieces and answers, emphasizing the high-speed, high-stakes nature of the match.
- 6
Wheel effects played a pivotal role in refilling hands and accelerating game plans, although they carried risk as they could also fuel opponents' graveyards and combos.
Notable Cards
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Old Stickfingers
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Persist
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Animate Dead
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Razaketh, the Foulblooded
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Chain of Smog
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Witherbloom Apprentice
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Slogurk, the Overslime
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Strip Mine
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Florian, Voldaren Scion
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Mardu Shadowspear
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Sire of Insanity
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Dualcaster Mage
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Vadrik, Astral Archmage
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Underworld Breach
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Jeweled Lotus
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Mana Vault
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Demonic Tutor
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Wheel of Fortune
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Mental Misstep
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Pyroblast
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Homeward Path
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Carpet of Flowers
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Sylvan Library
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Crop Rotation
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Life from the Loam
Gameplay Summary
The game featured four distinct decks piloted by experienced players, each leveraging new commanders from the Innistrad: Midnight Hunt set.
Early turns set the pace with aggressive ramp and tutor plays, particularly from David's Old Stickfingers deck, which executed a devastating turn 2 win by entombing its few creatures, casting Persist and Animate Dead recursively, and ultimately chaining spells like Chain of Smog to drain opponents to zero.
This explosive victory showcased the deck's combo potential centered around graveyard recursion and value from a very narrow creature base. In the subsequent game, the board state evolved with more interaction and mid-game development.
Slogurk, the Overslime's deck focused on landfall synergies and ramp, using its ability to recur lands from the graveyard and generate incremental value with counters.
Florian's deck aimed to control and disrupt opponents with pings and hand disruption, leveraging creatures like Mardu Shadowspear and Sire of Insanity.
Vadrik's storm deck attempted to build storm count and cheat out large spells or combos via ritual effects and underworld breach lines.
Key moments included Baal's timely Pyroblast to halt Slogurk’s progression, ongoing ping damage from Mardu Shadowspear, and strategic use of wheel effects and tutors to assemble combos.
The game highlighted the tension between fast combo execution and resilient value engines, with careful sequencing and interaction shaping the pace.
![Acererak vs Breya vs Vadrik vs Alesha [ EDH/Commander, Magic The Gathering Gameplay ] 2022 thumbnail](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/jB1-qgPS6uA/sddefault.jpg)
![Adrix & Nev vs Vadrik vs Volo vs Millicent [ EDH/Commander, Magic The Gathering Gameplay ] 2022 thumbnail](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/hn0Dvfv-koM/sddefault.jpg)
