Deck & Commander Strategies
Winota, Joiner of Forces
An explosive Boros stax-combo deck that plays early non-human creatures and uses Winota's ability to cheat powerful creatures into play, overwhelming opponents with aggressive synergy and combo triggers.
Rielle, the Everwise
A blue-red discard and looting deck that leverages Rielle's ability to generate card advantage, aiming to assemble an Underworld Breach combo to mill opponents or win through infinite spells.
Najeela, the Blade-Blossom
A five-color deck focused on an infinite combat phase combo by generating and attacking with a large number of Warrior tokens, quickly ending the game through combat damage.
Kenrith, the Returned King
A five-color Zo-Zu the Punisher style stax deck that taxes opponents’ spells with punisher effects like Mana Barbs, gains life and board control through Kenrith’s abilities, and disrupts opponents while winning through attrition.
Gameplay Insights
- 1
Winota’s ability to cheat creatures into play, combined with the Kiki-Jiki combo copying a stolen Gilded Drake, created a lethal threat that forced opponents into reactive play.
- 2
Kenrith’s Chandra, Awakened Inferno board wipe cleared the board except Winota, weakening the Boros threat but not stopping the ultimate outcome.
- 3
Rielle’s player successfully assembled Underworld Breach and executed a Brain Freeze combo, showcasing the deck’s potential to win through infinite spells and self-mill.
- 4
The presence of Magus of the Moon and Blood Moon effects disrupted mana bases but were insufficient to prevent Winota’s overwhelming board state.
- 5
Players had to weigh attacking powerful planeswalkers like Jace versus Chandra, balancing potential value generation against immediate board threats.
Notable Cards
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Winota, Joiner of Forces
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Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
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Gilded Drake
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Underworld Breach
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Brain Freeze
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Chandra, Awakened Inferno
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Jace, Vryn's Prodigy // Jace, Telepath Unbound
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Magus of the Moon
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Phantasmal Image
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Demonic Tutor
Gameplay Summary
The game began with each player developing their mana bases and deploying early threats to establish board presence.
Winota's player quickly set up an aggressive stax and combo-oriented Boros deck, benefiting from Winota's ability to cheat non-human creatures into play and overwhelm opponents with various synergistic creatures.
Rielle's deck focused on card advantage through discard and looting effects, aiming to assemble an Underworld Breach combo for a lethal mill or combo finish.
Najeela's player presented a five-color infinite combat combo strategy, while Kenrith's deck operated as a five-color Zo-Zu the Punisher stax build, aiming to tax opponents and punish their spellcasting while gaining life and control value through Kenrith's abilities. A pivotal moment came when Winota's player cast Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker and used it to copy a stolen Gilded Drake, threatening to end the game with a fast combo.
This forced the table to respond quickly.
Kenrith's player responded with a Chandra, Awakened Inferno board wipe that cleared most threats except Winota herself, weakening the Boros player's board but not eliminating the threat.
Meanwhile, Rielle managed to assemble Underworld Breach and cast Brain Freeze, leading to a decisive mill combo.
Despite this, the overwhelming pressure from Winota's aggressive board and combo synergy proved too much for the table.
Ultimately, Winota secured the victory due to her explosive board presence and combo potential, with the other players unable to effectively disrupt her game plan.
