Deck Strategies
The Gitrog Monster
Focuses on landfall and sacrifice synergies to draw cards and generate value, using land drops and sacrificing lands or creatures to maintain card advantage and board presence.
Ob Nixilis of the Black Oath
Utilizes powerful planeswalker abilities alongside board wipes and life manipulation to control the board and punish opponents, leveraging removal and damage spells to stabilize and dominate.
Savra, Queen of the Golgari
Leverages sacrifice outlets and token generation to drain life from opponents while maintaining board presence, often combining with black and green spells to control the battlefield.
Chandra, Fire of Kaladesh // Chandra, Roaring Flame
Focuses on aggressive burn spells, token creation, and equipment to deal direct damage and pressure opponents quickly, using Chandra’s abilities to maximize damage output and board control.
Gameplay Insights
- 1
The Gitrog Monster player effectively used repeated land sacrifices combined with Sylvan Safekeeper and Lightning Greaves to maximize landfall triggers and maintain a steady card draw engine.
- 2
Ob Nixilis’s use of Deathbringer Regent to wipe the board forced opponents into difficult decisions, but The Gitrog Monster’s reanimation and landfall synergy allowed quick recovery.
- 3
Chandra’s overloaded Museum Mortars was a high-impact play aimed to clear opponents’ creatures, but was countered by Beasts Within, highlighting the importance of interaction timing.
- 4
Strategic alliances formed between players to manage dominant board states, particularly when dealing with the powerful board presence generated by The Gitrog Monster and Ob Nixilis.
- 5
The synergy between sacrifice effects from Savra and landfall triggers from The Gitrog Monster created a persistent advantage that was difficult for opponents to disrupt.
Notable Cards
The Gitrog Monster
Torment of Hailfire
Deathbringer Regent
Sylvan Safekeeper
Lightning Greaves
Promise of Power
Dread Presence
Dryad Arbor
Cabal Stronghold
Summary
The game featured a four-player Commander match with The Gitrog Monster, Ob Nixilis of the Black Oath, Savra, Queen of the Golgari, and Chandra, Fire of Kaladesh as the commanders. Early turns saw players developing their mana bases and establishing board presence with key ramp and utility creatures such as Birds of Paradise and Dryad Arbor. The Gitrog Monster player aggressively leveraged landfall and sacrifice synergies, repeatedly sacrificing lands and other permanents to draw cards and generate value. Key plays included casting Sylvan Safekeeper and equipping Lightning Greaves to protect crucial creatures and enable multiple landfall triggers each turn. Midgame was marked by significant spells including Torment of Hailfire, which forced massive sacrifices and card discards, and board wipes initiated by Ob Nixilis with Deathbringer Regent that reset the battlefield. The Gitrog Monster player managed to rebuild quickly using reanimation and landfall triggers, while Chandra's player focused on burn and token generation with cards like Blasting Cannons and Torbrand. A pivotal moment arose when the Chandra player cast an overloaded Museum Mortars to deal heavy damage to opponents’ creatures, but The Gitrog Monster player responded with Beasts Within, destroying a key threat and mitigating the damage. The game showcased a dynamic interplay of sacrifice, reanimation, and combat damage with strategic alliances formed to handle dominant board states. The Gitrog Monster’s ability to continuously draw and generate value from lands and sacrifices proved central to maintaining pressure and board control throughout the match.
