Irene the Alien tries to prove she is the one true Queen...Marchesa | Commander at Home Episode 81

The game began with all four players establishing their early mana bases and setting up their board states.

Irene the Alien piloted Queen Marchesa, focusing on Monarch mechanics and political control, while Joey played Winter, Cynical Opportunist, leveraging Golgari graveyard recursion and delirium synergies.

The other two players brought unique strategies with Shelob, Child of Ungoliant centered around spiders and tribal synergies, and Kilo, Apogee Mind with an energy-counter-based control approach.

Early turns saw the buildup of resources such as energy counters, graveyard setup, and board presence with various creatures and artifacts. A key turning point occurred as Winter cast Malevolent Rumble, revealing cards and digging for permanents to fuel graveyard recursion, while Queen Marchesa worked to maintain the Monarch status and control the flow of the game through political and combat interactions.

Shelob's spider tribal deck began to develop a board of arachnid creatures, threatening both in size and thematic synergy.

Kilo's deck contributed with energy management and control elements.

The interplay of these strategies created tense board states with multiple threats and resource interactions. The game revolved around maintaining board control while exploiting each deck's unique strengths.

Queen Marchesa aimed to control the political landscape via the Monarch mechanic, Winter sought to overwhelm opponents with recursive graveyard threats, Shelob pressed the board with spiders, and Kilo worked to manage and leverage energy counters for powerful spells.

The game featured dynamic combat and resource management, with players responding to each other's threats and trying to find openings for their win conditions.