Lost Caverns of Ixalan Game - Hakbal, Admiral Brass, Pantlaza, Clavileno - EDH / Commander Format

Deck Strategies

• 

  Hakbal of the Surging Soul

  A vampire aristocrats deck focusing on sacrificing vampires to create large demon tokens, draining opponents and controlling the board through value gained from death triggers.

• 

  Admiral Brass, Unsinkable

  A pirate tribal deck centered on ETB triggers, treasure generation, and reanimating milled pirates as 4/4 creatures with finality counters to maintain board presence and chip away at opponents.

• 

  Pantlaza, Sun-Favored

  A dinosaur tribal deck relying on ramp, cascade and discover mechanics to find impactful spells and creatures, generating value through repeated land drops and large threats that control the board.

• 

  Clavileño, First of the Blessed

  A vampire tribal deck with aristocrats elements, sacrificing own creatures to generate powerful demon tokens and leveraging combat triggers to grow board advantage.

Gameplay Insights

• 1

  Kyle’s use of corrupted conviction to sacrifice his own creature and generate a demon token was a key tempo and card advantage play.

• 2

  Chris’s sequencing of explore triggers on multiple merfolk maximized counters and card draw, enabling steady board growth.

• 3

  The narrator’s milling strategy with Admiral Brass targeted valuable pirates to reanimate as threats, synergizing with treasure production and pings from Reckless Fire Weaver.

• 4

  Matt’s use of Itali Primal Storm to discover multiple impactful spells including a damage-dealing creature shifted board control in his favor.

• 5

  Political maneuvering occurred when Kyle took control of Matt’s Itali in exchange for helping deal with Matt’s threats, illustrating cooperative dynamics despite competitive gameplay.

• 6

  Chris’s Wave Goodbye board wipe was strategically timed to return creatures without counters to hand, preserving his strengthened creatures and maintaining pressure.

Notable Cards

• 

  Dusk Legion Zealot

• 

  Corrupted Conviction

• 

  Spyglass Siren

• 

  Wave Goodbye

• 

  Benthic Biomancer

• 

  Bloodghast

• 

  Herald of Secret Streams

• 

  Admiral Brass, Unsinkable

• 

  Corsair Captain

• 

  Pantlaza, Sun-Favored

Summary

Throughout the midgame, exploration and discover mechanics fueled Chris’s and Matt’s decks, while Kyle’s vampire deck thrived off sacrifice and demon tokens. The Admiral Brass deck aimed to sustain tempo by recurring pirates and generating treasures for resource advantage. Combat phases frequently triggered commanders’ abilities, generating incremental value and setting up for larger swings. The game’s tension centered on managing the growing boards and leveraging powerful ETB effects, with players balancing aggression and resource development. The win conditions revolved around overwhelming opponents with tribal synergies, incremental value from exploring or treasure production, and aggressive combat backed by sacrifice or cascade effects.