Diamond Commander League | S1:E2 | Ur-Dragon, Alela, Kels, Hazezon | MTG EDH Gameplay

Deck Strategies

• 

  The Ur-Dragon

  Flood the board with changelings and tribal lords to exploit tribal synergies and overwhelm opponents with a large and diverse creature force.

• 

  Alela, Artful Provocateur

  Use auras and equipment to pump Alela and her fairy tokens, leveraging flying, deathtouch, and lifelink to control the air and chip away at opponents.

• 

  Kels, Fight Fixer

  Play value creatures to sacrifice for card draw and life loss triggers, utilizing aristocrats effects and combos to steadily drain opponents and gain card advantage.

• 

  Hazezon Tamar

  Maximize landfall triggers to produce sand warrior tokens and deal direct damage, ramping aggressively to overwhelm opponents with numerous creatures.

Gameplay Insights

• 1

  Players frequently sacrificed tokens equipped with Skullclamp to draw cards and maintain hand size, enabling sustained pressure and resource advantage.

• 2

  Grasp of Fate was used strategically to exile key creatures like Alela and Kels, temporarily stalling aggressive board states.

• 3

  Hazezon Tamar's emphasis on landfall and token generation created incremental board presence and damage that pressured opponents to respond quickly.

• 4

  The Ur-Dragon player’s use of changelings allowed flexible tribal synergies, making it difficult for opponents to selectively answer threats.

• 5

  Yuriko’s presence added a layer of threat by potentially dealing evasive damage and triggering ninjutsu options, influencing opponents’ blocking decisions.

• 6

  Players managed intricate stack interactions during spells and combat phases, highlighting the importance of timing and responses in multiplayer EDH.

Notable Cards

• 

  Skullclamp

• 

  Grasp of Fate

• 

  Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow

• 

  Sakura-Tribe Scout

• 

  Mothdust Changeling

• 

  Arid Mesa

• 

  Arcane Signet

• 

  Bastion of Remembrance

• 

  Astral Cornucopia

Summary

The game began with each player establishing their board presence through ramp and early creatures. The Ur-Dragon deck leveraged changelings and tribal synergies to flood the board with a variety of creatures, aiming to overwhelm opponents quickly. Alela's deck focused on assembling powerful auras and equipment to buff flying attackers, supported by a steady flow of fairy tokens for defense and offense. Kels’ strategy centered around value creatures that could be sacrificed to draw cards and trigger aristocrats-style life loss effects, with potential combos to close out the game. Hazezon Tamar’s approach revolved around maximizing landfall triggers to generate token armies and direct damage, using land ramp and synergy to keep pressure on the table. Early gameplay saw a lot of token creation, card draw, and land drops fueling each player's strategy. Key turning points included the use of powerful removal like Grasp of Fate to exile threats and the deployment of multi-purpose creatures like Yuriko and creatures with landfall triggers, increasing board presence. The aristocrats deck capitalized on sacrificing tokens for card advantage and incremental damage, while the Ur-Dragon player sought to build a formidable board with tribal lords and changelings. The game featured intricate stack interactions and tactical trades, with players carefully managing resources such as Skullclamp-equipped tokens to maintain card advantage. The game appeared to build towards a board state where massive creature swarms or combos could finish the match, with each player trying to disrupt the others' plans while advancing their own win conditions.