Deck & Commander Strategies
Malcolm, Keen-Eyed Navigator & Vial Smasher the Fierce
Leverages fast mana and efficient card draw like Heristic Study and Mystic Remora to fuel a combo or high-impact creature finish, often using tutors like Demonic Tutor and Finale to cheat powerful threats into play for a quick win.
Flubs, the Fool
Utilizes slower, value-oriented plays with artifact synergies and incremental advantage from cards like Exploration Brood Ship, aiming to stabilize the board and generate consistent card advantage before deploying threats.
Krark, the Thumbless & Thrasios, Triton Hero
Combines artifact ramp and synergy with efficient creatures and counters to maintain tempo, focusing on incremental advantage through card draw and mana efficiency to assemble combos or dominate the board.
Dargo, the Shipwrecker & Tymna the Weaver
Aggressively ramps mana through artifact sac for treasure tokens, leveraging Tymna’s card draw from combat damage and powerful disruption to pressure opponents and set up a lethal board state quickly.
Gameplay Insights
- 1
The use of Heristic Study early on forces players to respond promptly or lose card advantage, adding pressure and dictating pace.
- 2
Discarding a critical land due to not shuffling back a fetchland with Noxious Revival cost Malcolm/Vial a major combo turn, illustrating the importance of precise sequencing in cEDH.
- 3
Dargo’s ability to sac artifacts for treasures on the stack generates massive mana bursts, enabling explosive turns that can shift board control dramatically.
- 4
Players carefully manage triggers from multiple draw engines (e.g., Mystic Remora, Consider) to maximize card advantage while minimizing resource loss.
- 5
The anticipation of counterspells and interaction shapes each player’s decision making, especially when tutors and high-impact spells like Finale are cast.
Notable Cards
-
Mox Diamond
-
Mystic Remora
-
Demonic Tutor
-
Finale of Devastation
-
Ancient Tomb
-
Noxious Revival
Gameplay Summary
The game begins with a typical fast mana setup from all players, including early plays of Soul Ring, Mox Diamond, and mana talismans, quickly accelerating the board state.
Krark and Thrasios establish an early board presence with mana rocks and creatures, while Malcolm and Vial Smasher focus on ramping and card draw using classic cEDH staples like Heristic Study and Mystic Remora.
Flubs’ deck shows a slower, more controlling start, utilizing cards like Exploration Brood Ship and careful land drops.
Dargo and Tymna set up with aggressive mana acceleration, including Ancient Tomb and Ruthless Technic, preparing for explosive turns.
The game’s tempo escalates rapidly with multiple card draw engines and tutors being deployed, setting the stage for a big midgame push. A pivotal moment occurs when the Malcolm/Vial player attempts a powerful sequence involving casting Finale, aiming to cheat in a game-winning creature, but a mana misstep—discarding key lands and missing a shuffle trigger—derails the plan, allowing opponents to stabilize momentarily.
Concurrently, Dargo’s ability to sack artifacts for treasure tokens ramps up the mana pool significantly, threatening to overwhelm the table.
The interaction between multiple card draw spells, such as Consider, Mystic Remora, and Noxious Revival on lands, creates complex stack interactions that test the players' sequencing skills.
The game is marked by strategic resource management, counterspell anticipation, and the looming threat of high-impact spells, particularly from Malcolm/Vial and Dargo/Tymna decks.
The outcome hinges on whether Malcolm/Vial can recover from the early blunder and capitalize on their explosive potential before Dargo and others can assert control.
