Zacama vs Taigam (UW) vs Alesha vs Tatyova EDH / CMDR game play for Magic: The Gathering

Deck Strategies

• 

  Zacama, Primal Calamity

  Ramp aggressively using mana rocks and land untapping to cast large spells and activate powerful abilities, focusing on big creatures and board impact.

• 

  Taigam, Ojutai Master

  Control the game through counterspells and card selection, using spells and equipment like Lightning Greaves to protect the commander and maintain tempo.

• 

  Alesha, Who Smiles at Death

  Sacrifice and recur small creatures repeatedly to generate value and create combos, often tutoring for key creatures to enable infinite loops.

• 

  Tatyova, Benthic Druid

  Ramp and draw cards off landfall triggers, using creatures and spells to accelerate lands and gain card advantage for a strong mid-to-late game.

Gameplay Insights

• 1

  Pat maximized Zacama's ability to untap all lands multiple times, enabling explosive mana ramp and casting large spells ahead of curve.

• 2

  Roxy executed a powerful sacrifice loop with Karmic Guide, Reveillark, and Murderous Redcap to generate infinite sacrifice triggers and damage.

• 3

  Andrew used Taigam's control tools and card selection spells to disrupt Pat's big draw spells, limiting his combo potential.

• 4

  Armin’s decision to sacrifice Colony Heart Expedition to fetch basics allowed him to draw multiple cards and maintain Tatyova's momentum.

• 5

  Players actively responded to key triggers and board states, such as destroying Vernal Bloom to prevent Armin's ramp and bouncing creatures to disrupt recursion chains.

Notable Cards

• 

  Zacama, Primal Calamity

• 

  Mana Reflection

• 

  Wheel of Fortune

• 

  Karmic Guide

• 

  Reveillark

• 

  Imperial Recruiter

• 

  Murderous Redcap

• 

  Lightning Greaves

• 

  Animate Dead

Summary

The game started with all four players establishing their mana bases and early board presence, with Pat's Zacama deck focusing on ramp and artifact synergy, Andrew's Taigam deck setting up card selection and protection, Armin's Tatyova deck ramping and drawing cards through landfall, and Roxy's Alesha deck assembling her reanimation and sacrifice synergies. Early turns saw typical plays such as mana acceleration, card draw, and minor creature deployment. Significant developments included Pat casting a Wheel of Fortune to refresh hands and Zacama untapping lands to ramp heavily, allowing for the casting of Zacama and Mana Reflection, boosting his mana output further. Meanwhile, Armin's Tatyova was gaining multiple counters on Colony Heart Expedition, drawing cards, and accelerating lands to build a strong position. Roxy used her reanimation spells like Animate Dead to bring back powerful creatures such as Karmic Guide, setting up synergies with Alesha's sacrifice theme. A pivotal moment occurred when Pat activated Zacama to untap all lands, casting Wood Elves and Mana Reflection to ramp aggressively, followed by casting Zacama to untap lands again and cast powerful spells. Armin sacrificed his expedition to find basics and drew multiple cards, maintaining Tatyova's card advantage. Roxy executed a key combo by sacrificing and recurring creatures like Karmic Guide, Reveillark, and Imperial Recruiter to tutor for and cast Murderous Redcap, enabling a sacrifice loop for damage and value. Andrew’s Taigam deck played a controlling role with counterspells like Arcane Denial and disruption spells to limit Pat’s card draw and combo attempts. The game revolved around Pat’s mana-intensive Zacama ramp and combo plays, Roxy’s Alesha sacrifice recursion loop, Armin’s steady landfall and card draw engine with Tatyova, and Andrew’s control and card selection with Taigam. The interaction between these strategies created a dynamic board state with multiple threats and responses, culminating in Roxy leveraging her sacrifice combo to threaten the table.