Deck & Commander Strategies
Pako, Arcane Retriever & Haldan, Avid Arcanist
Establish early board presence with fast mana and card draw, then use Divergent Transformations to transform the commanders into Pheasant Circle and The Leveler, exiling the entire library to win instantly at instant speed.
Nekusar, the Mindrazer
Leverage wheel effects and Helm of the Ghastlord to force opponents to draw cards and take damage, slowly draining their life totals while maintaining board control with disruptive creatures.
Tymna the Weaver & Kraum, Ludevic's Opus
Aggressively attack opponents to generate card advantage using combat damage triggers, while using fast mana and value creatures to maintain pressure and execute quick wins.
Ishai, Ojutai Dragonspeaker & Tevesh Szat, Doom of Fools
Control the board with disruption and sweepers like Corn, ramp aggressively with mana rocks, and use enchantments such as Paladin Class to tax opponents, aiming to stall and win through incremental advantage or combo.
Gameplay Insights
- 1
Using Lightning Bolt in response to destroy Professional Facebreaker prevented opponents from gaining card advantage and maintained board control.
- 2
The early casting of Corn by the Ishai and Tevesh player was a pivotal moment that destroyed many artifacts, severely setting back Pako and Haldan’s mana acceleration and combo setup.
- 3
Choosing to pay for Mystic Remora allowed sustained card draw despite the risk of using up mana early, maintaining hand size and options.
- 4
Discarding less useful cards like Sweltering Suns to the graveyard after casting Force of Will optimized hand resources and prepared for future plays.
- 5
Transforming commanders into Pheasant Circle and The Leveler was the planned win condition, but was heavily reliant on maintaining board presence and mana post-disruption.
- 6
The Nekusar player’s use of wheel effects in combination with Helm of the Ghastlord consistently pressured players’ life totals and hand sizes, forcing difficult decisions.
- 7
Despite multiple setbacks, Pako and Haldan demonstrated resilience by utilizing recursion spells like Restore to recover key lands and artifacts, aiming to progress towards their combo finish.
Notable Cards
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Helm of the Ghastlord
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Divergent Transformations
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Mystic Remora
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Mana Crypt
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Mana Vault
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Ranger-Captain of Eos
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Wheel of Fortune
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Force of Will
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Mental Misstep
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Restore
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Cephalid Coliseum
Gameplay Summary
The game began with a strong emphasis on early ramp and card draw, with Pako and Haldan leveraging fast mana artifacts like Mox Diamond and Mystic Remora to establish tempo.
However, early disruption from opponents, notably a timely casting of the sorcery Corn by the Ishai and Tevesh player, wiped out key artifacts and stalled Pako and Haldan’s game plan.
Meanwhile, Nekusar applied pressure through a wheel strategy enhanced by Helm of the Ghastlord, forcing opponents to draw cards and take damage, maintaining a strong board presence with creatures like Malevolent Hermit and Phyrexian Phantasmal Image.
The Bluefarm Tymna and Kraum deck capitalized on aggressive combat and value creatures like Ranger-Captain of Eos to generate card advantage and chip away at opponents' life totals.
Despite several setbacks, Pako and Haldan managed to rebuild board presence and set up a potential win by transforming their commanders via Divergent Transformations, aiming to exile their entire library and win through that combo.
![Pako's Modern Life vs Mad Farm vs Demon Chain vs Galastax [cEDH/Commander, MTG Gameplay] 2021 thumbnail](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/5OA3v3_ztuM/sddefault.jpg)
![Commander VS S3E9: Nekusar vs Karona vs Xenagos vs Kiki-Jiki [MTG: Multiplayer] thumbnail](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/meqwIXTAv34/sddefault.jpg)
