CEDH players build surprise BRACKET ONE decks?! ft AMP'd Gaming

Decklists

Deck & Commander Strategies

Lazav, Dimir Mastermind
A Demir-themed deck with a focus on mill, discard, cloning, and stealing creatures, all using cards with 'brain', 'mind', 'thought', or 'think' in their names to disrupt opponents and control the game.
Themberchaud
A monocolored red dragon deck that plays big, aggressive creatures and uses straightforward combat and equipment to pressure opponents.
Omnath, Locus of Rage
A ramp deck that exclusively searches for and plays basic lands to quickly accelerate mana, aiming to overwhelm opponents with explosive land drops and elemental token generation.
Ultima, Origin of Oblivion
A colorless deck without Eldrazi or basic lands that leverages colorless synergies and resilient threats to control the board and grind out advantage.

Gameplay Insights

1
Using Brain Maggot early to exile a key card from Evan’s hand disrupted his ramp strategy and put pressure on his land search plan.
2
Equipping Sword of the Animist to Yavimaya Dryad enabled efficient ramp and board presence, showing synergy between equipment and creatures in the bracket one constraints.
3
Granting protection from artifacts to Yavimaya Dryad was a strategic response to equipment threats, demonstrating reactive play to opponents’ strategies.
4
Political targeting of Evan, identified as the biggest ramp threat, reflected the importance of managing early mana acceleration in a bracket one meta.
5
Players’ adherence to strict thematic deckbuilding (all cards featuring certain keywords or land searches) shaped the pacing and interactions, resulting in unique tactical decisions.

Notable Cards

Brain Maggot
Sword of the Animist
Yavimaya Dryad
Tower of the Magistrate

Gameplay Summary

The game began with players deploying their bracket one decks built around unique themes restricting their card choices.

Lazav, Dimir Mastermind, piloted by Scott, focused on a mind-themed deck filled with mill, discard, clone effects, and cards containing brain, mind, thought, or think in their names.

Alex's Themberchaud was a monocolored red dragon deck emphasizing big creatures and straightforward aggression.

Evan piloted Omnath, Locus of Rage with a ramp-centric deck that revolved around searching for basic lands exclusively, accelerating mana quickly but risking card draw depletion.

Dom played Ultima, Origin of Oblivion with a colorless deck excluding Eldrazi and basic lands, aiming to leverage colorless synergies for control and resilient threats. Early turns featured strategic plays such as Brain Maggot disrupting Evan’s hand, and the equipping of Sword of the Animist to ramp creatures.

Evan's focus on land ramp was apparent as he continually searched and played basic lands, while Lazav applied pressure through discard and theft effects.

Protection spells and artifact interactions came into play, such as granting Yavimaya Dryad protection from artifacts to disrupt equipment strategies.

The distinct deck archetypes led to shifting political dynamics, with players targeting those who seemed the strongest ramp or combo threats.

The game’s tension built around balancing disruption, ramp, and board presence among very different but synergistic bracket one decks.

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