POLITICS IN MY COMMANDER? | Homelands Box Brawl

Deck & Commander Strategies

Joven
Control-oriented deck focusing on artifact destruction and incremental board presence with mid-sized creatures, aiming to disrupt opponents' resources and stabilize the board.
Ihsan's Shade
A black-based aggressive deck utilizing a resilient shade that can grow and pressure opponents, combined with cheap creatures and removal to enable steady damage output.
Eron the Relentless
A red aggressive deck leveraging haste and regeneration abilities on a 5/2 creature to maintain pressure and survive combat, aiming for quick damage and resilience.
Grandmother Sengir
A control-midrange deck with the ability to weaken opposing creatures via minus one counters, combined with flying creatures to maintain board control and incremental advantage.
Reveka, Wizard Savant
A utility-focused deck with a ping ability to remove small threats and chip away at opponents’ life totals, supporting a slow grind game plan.
Rashka the Slayer
A defensive deck with reach and enhanced blocking capabilities against black creatures, aiming to control the air and protect life total.
Baron Sengir
A flying beatdown deck that grows stronger as it kills creatures, focusing on incremental growth and board dominance through combat.

Gameplay Insights

1
Using Giant Albatross as a deterrent prevented opponents from easily removing it without paying life, adding a layer of strategic resource management.
2
The presence of multiple flyers from different players led to a board state where ground combat was minimal, emphasizing air combat and evasion.
3
Several commanders had abilities that encouraged incremental growth or control effects (e.g., Baron Sengir's counters, Grandmother Sengir's minus one counters), pushing the game toward a slow attrition style.
4
Players avoided multi-color commanders to prevent overly complex or 'snoozefest' gameplay, instead opting for mono- or dual-color decks that fit the limited power level of the set.
5
Limited removal options and low-powered creatures meant that board wipes or combat tricks were rare, making patience and careful incremental advantage key to winning.

Notable Cards

Giant Albatross
Anaba Bodyguard
Sengir Bats
Baron Sengir
Joven
Ihsan's Shade
Eron the Relentless
Grandmother Sengir
Reveka, Wizard Savant
Rashka the Slayer

Gameplay Summary

The game began with players building decks from one of Magic's oldest and most limited sets, Homelands, which heavily influenced the gameplay toward simple creatures and basic flyers.

Early turns saw players establishing boards with small flyers like Mesa Falcon and Sengir Bats, creating a stalemate where creatures were mostly one-ones or two-ones, leading to minimal combat interaction.

Notably, a player cast Giant Albatross, a card that punishes opponents for killing it by forcing them to pay life or lose their creatures, adding a subtle layer of deterrence to attacks. As the game progressed, players aimed to leverage their commanders and synergistic cards to break the slow pace.

Key moments involved deploying creatures with flying and first strike, such as Anaba Bodyguard, and setting up creatures that grow stronger when opposing creatures die, like Baron Sengir and Sengir Bats.

The meta was slow and grindy, with limited removal and board wipes, leading to a game focused on attrition and incremental advantage rather than explosive combos or big plays.

The win condition revolved around gradually out-valuing opponents through combat damage and attrition, leveraging the incremental counters and flying creatures to gain air superiority and chip away at life totals.