Master Commander, ft Commodore Guff, Anikthea, Rukarumel, and Zhulodok [EDH/Commander Gameplay 2023]

Deck Strategies

• 

  Commodore Guff

  Build a Superfriends board with multiple planeswalkers, accumulate loyalty counters, and use Commodore's damage ability to burn all opponents.

• 

  Anikthea, Hand of Erebos

  Fill the graveyard with enchantments, reanimate them as creatures with Anikthea's ability, and generate value through enchantment synergies.

• 

  Rukarumel, Biologist

  Play a sliver tribal deck that buffs all slivers, creating a wide board of synergistic creatures to overwhelm opponents.

• 

  Zhulodok, Void Gorger

  Cascade into large colorless spells by giving cascade to high-cost spells, cheating powerful Eldrazi and artifacts into play to gain overwhelming board advantage.

Gameplay Insights

• 1

  Using Commodore Guff's ability to add loyalty counters to other planeswalkers created a snowball effect enabling powerful board-wide burn damage.

• 2

  Anikthea's ability to animate enchantments from the graveyard provided resilience and a recurring threat engine.

• 3

  Rukarumel's sliver tribal deck leveraged tribal buffs to quickly create a wide and threatening board presence.

• 4

  Zhulodok's cascade mechanic allowed casting multiple high-impact spells in a turn, swinging tempo heavily in his favor.

• 5

  Early mana acceleration with Mana Crypt and other fast mana artifacts set up explosive early plays across multiple decks.

Notable Cards

• 

  Mana Crypt

• 

  Arcane Signet

• 

  Enduring Ideal

• 

  Platinum Angel

• 

  Command Tower

• 

  Ancient Tomb

Summary

The gameplay featured a four-player Commander game with unique new commanders from the Commander Masters set. Commodore Guff led a Superfriends-style planeswalker deck focused on accumulating loyalty counters on planeswalkers and then using Commodore's -3 ability to deal damage to all opponents based on the number of planeswalkers controlled. Anikthea, Hand of Erebos, centered around enchantment synergy by filling the graveyard with enchantments and reanimating them as creatures to generate board value. Rukarumel piloted a sliver tribal deck, leveraging the collective buff and tribal synergies of slivers to overwhelm opponents with wide boards. Zhulodok, Void Gorger, ran a cascade-centric deck aimed at cheating big colorless spells onto the battlefield and cascading into powerful threats like Ulamog or Platinum Angel. Early turns saw mana acceleration from artifacts like Mana Crypt and Arcane Signet, setting up each player's strategy. Key moments included Commodore Guff steadily building planeswalkers to enable a powerful board wipe damage effect and Zhulodok generating massive value from cascade triggers. The game revolved around accruing board presence through enchantments, slivers, or cascaded Eldrazi, with a notable shift when Commodore Guff began burning opponents with planeswalker damage and Rukarumel attempting to swarm with slivers. The game’s win conditions varied: burn damage from planeswalkers, overwhelming tribal combat damage, or cascading Eldrazi threats that ended games quickly.