Battle of the Monarchs - EDH Gameplay Ep 69

Deck Strategies

• 

  Queen Marchesa

  Focuses on the monarchy mechanic, aiming to take and hold the monarchy status to punish opponents who attempt to claim it, while generating value from repeated monarchy changes and political control.

• 

  Queen Allenal of Ruadach

  A green-white token strategy that aims to flood the board with creature tokens and then overrun opponents with wide and large armies, emphasizing life gain and board presence.

• 

  Omo, Queen of Vesuva

  Utilizes land and creature interactions by placing everything counters to make lands all types and creatures all tribes, enabling powerful mana ramp and tribal synergies to fuel high-impact plays.

• 

  Linden, the Steadfast Queen

  A mono-white aggressive strategy that leverages life gain triggers from attacking creatures, combined with evasive creatures and potential win conditions that capitalize on sustained damage and life gain.

Gameplay Insights

• 1

  Power Balance created a significant tempo advantage by allowing free casting of spells matching opponents' mana costs, forcing other players to reconsider their spell sequences.

• 2

  The use of Wedding Ring artifacts between two players generated a card draw and life gain engine that subtly increased their resource advantage over others.

• 3

  Omo's ability to put everything counters on lands and creatures effectively turned basic lands into powerful mana sources and tribal enablers, enhancing mana ramp and synergy.

• 4

  Linden's life gain synergy rewarded aggressive attacks, creating pressure on opponents while bolstering survivability.

• 5

  Queen Marchesa's focus on taking and holding the monarchy created a political dynamic that influenced opponents' decisions on when to attack or pass the throne.

• 6

  Nissa's ability to animate lands into flying creatures added a flexible and unexpected threat that could swing combat phases.

Notable Cards

• 

  Wedding Ring

• 

  Nissa, Steward of Elements

• 

  Omo, Queen of Vesuva

• 

  Queen Allenal of Ruadach

• 

  Queen Marchesa

• 

  Linden, the Steadfast Queen

• 

  Angelic Accord

Summary

The game began with each player establishing their board presence focused around their queen-themed commanders. Early plays involved ramp, token generation, and life gain synergies, with Joe's Queen Allenal of Ruadach creating soldier tokens and Linden, the Steadfast Queen, providing life gain through aggressive creatures. Omo, Queen of Vesuva, brought a unique land and creature type manipulation strategy by placing everything counters on lands and creatures, increasing mana production and tribal synergies. Queen Marchesa focused on leveraging the monarchy mechanic to punish opponents and gain incremental advantages. A pivotal moment occurred when Power Balance was cast, allowing the player to potentially cast spells for free matching the mana cost of opponents' spells, which introduced a strong tempo swing. Wedding Ring artifacts were also introduced to create card draw and life gain synergies between the players controlling them, creating a subtle alliance and advantage in resource generation. Meanwhile, Nissa, Steward of Elements was used to animate lands into creatures, adding pressure and versatility to the board. Overall, the game unfolded as a dynamic battle for control of the board and the monarchy, with each queen leveraging their unique abilities to build incremental advantages through tokens, life gain, and mana ramp to eventually overwhelm opponents.