Deck & Commander Strategies
The Master of Keys
Focuses on reanimation combos, particularly using Animate Dead and Abdel Adrien to generate infinite creature tokens quickly for an immediate win.
Ob Nixilis, Captive Kingpin
Utilizes life payment and mana acceleration to control the board and generate card advantage, leveraging discard and recursion spells to maintain pressure.
Grist, the Hunger Tide
A midrange deck that leverages Grist’s ability to plus one and mill cards, creating insect tokens for board presence and disruption while applying incremental pressure.
Evelyn, the Covetous
A Grixis vampire deck that uses control elements and vampiric synergies to disrupt opponents and establish board dominance through efficient creatures and removal.
Gameplay Insights
- 1
The Master of Keys player won by executing a turn one infinite token combo loop with Animate Dead and Abdel Adrien, showcasing the power of reanimation synergy in cEDH.
- 2
Grist’s unique interaction with Mystic Remora was highlighted, as Grist does not trigger the enchantment due to being a creature only off the battlefield, enabling some unusual stack interactions.
- 3
Ob Nixilis’s use of Ripples of Undeath to mill cards and selectively retrieve them demonstrated efficient resource management and synergy with life payment.
- 4
Players leveraged fast mana sources like Ancient Tomb, Mana Vault, and Lion’s Eye Diamond to accelerate their game plans and enable explosive plays.
- 5
The contrast between a fast combo deck and midrange value decks illustrated the variety of effective and scary strategies present in competitive EDH.
Notable Cards
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Animate Dead
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Lion's Eye Diamond
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Mindbreak Trap
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Demonic Tutor
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Ripples of Undeath
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Birds of Paradise
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Wild Growth
Gameplay Summary
The game started with a high-speed combo from The Master of Keys player, who quickly assembled an infinite loop using Animate Dead and Abdel Adrien to generate a massive army of one-one soldier tokens, effectively ending the game on their first turn.
This early explosive win showcased the deck's ability to execute powerful reanimation combos and overwhelm opponents instantly.
In the subsequent game, the action shifted to a more interactive midgame with Grist, the Hunger Tide applying pressure through incremental value and milling, while Ob Nixilis and Evelyn developed their board states.
Grist’s ability to plus one and create insect tokens enabled steady board presence and disruption.
Ob Nixilis utilized efficient mana acceleration and life payment mechanics, including cards like Ripples of Undeath, to maintain card advantage and threaten opponents.
Meanwhile, Evelyn leveraged Grixis control tools and vampiric synergies to keep the pace.
The game featured strategic plays around creature spells, counter interactions, and land drops, highlighting the diversity of scary decks in cEDH, with Grist’s complex interactions and Ob Nixilis’s steady resource management pushing the game forward.
The Master of Keys' quick combo win contrasted with the grinding midrange tactics of the other commanders, demonstrating different scary approaches in the format.
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