Deck & Commander Strategies
Cormela, Glamour Thief
A Grixis midrange deck leveraging Cormela's ability to generate extra value and mana ramp, utilizing classic Grixis disruption and board control to stabilize and win through incremental advantage.
Karlov of the Ghost Council
A hard Prison/Stax deck focusing on locking down opponents with taxing permanents like Smothering Tithe and Aether Vial, aiming to win through lifegain combos involving Exquisite Blood plus Sanguine Bond or through Walking Ballista and Heliod.
Rocco, Cabaretti Caterer
A fast ramp deck seeking to quickly fetch and deploy Arena Rector followed by Vivien on the Hunt, aiming to leverage Kiki-Jiki style combos to kill the table swiftly.
Elsha of the Infinite
A storm combo deck that aims to assemble Sensei's Divining Top and cost reducers to draw a large portion of the deck, then win via a storm finish using cards like Thought Lash and Grinding Station.
Gameplay Insights
- 1
Cyclonic Rift was used early by Cormela to reset opponents' boards, creating breathing room for midrange development.
- 2
Zack's use of Jessica's Will to exile and recast key combo pieces from the graveyard was a pivotal storm enabler, threatening to end the game quickly.
- 3
Sean's timely use of Burnt Offering sacrificing Cormela and returning Swan Song countered Zack's Thought Lash, demonstrating strong interaction to delay lethal combos.
- 4
Alex's deployment of Deafening Silence significantly hampered noncreature spell strategies, showcasing the power of stax effects in controlling storm and combo decks.
- 5
Combat interactions, particularly Elsha attacking and trading with Karlov, shifted board dynamics and removed a major threat, influencing subsequent plays.
- 6
Ryan’s early attempt to combo with Arena Rector was thwarted by counterspells, highlighting the tension between fast combo decks and disruption-heavy opponents.
Notable Cards
-
Cyclonic Rift
-
Mana Crypt
-
Smothering Tithe
-
Aether Vial
-
Arena Rector
-
Vivien on the Hunt
-
Thought Lash
-
Grinding Station
-
Deafening Silence
-
Burnt Offering
-
Swan Song
Gameplay Summary
The game opened with a high-powered mana acceleration phase, featuring multiple players deploying Mana Crypts and other fast mana sources.
Sean, piloting Cormela, Glamour Thief, established early board presence and disruption with spells like Cyclonic Rift to clear opponents' permanents.
Alex on Karlov of the Ghost Council utilized a stax-heavy Prison strategy, aiming to lock down opponents with cards like Smothering Tithe and Aether Vial, while setting up a combo finish with Exquisite Blood and Sanguine Bond or Walking Ballista and Heliod.
Ryan, playing Rocco, Cabaretti Caterer, focused on ramping quickly to fetch Arena Rector and Vivien on the Hunt for a Kiki-Jiki combo kill.
Zack, on Elsha of the Infinite, aimed to storm off by assembling Sensei's Divining Top with cost reduction to draw through his deck and win via a storm combo.
![Have you ever seen this many win attempts? [S1G10] BLUE FARM v MALCOM|VIAL v CORMELA v FIRST SLIVER thumbnail](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/f3EfKfx_NIA/sddefault.jpg)
![Commander VS S14E9: Karlov VS Nin VS Selvala VS Haakon [EDH] thumbnail](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Jf3qev5zOfo/sddefault.jpg)
