Deck Strategies
Shelob, Child of Ungoliant
Spider tribal focused on producing and utilizing food tokens by copying opponents' creatures, generating value through sacrifice and combat damage.
Aragorn, the Uniter
Multicolor value deck aiming to cast powerful spells supported by artifact synergies like The Great Henge, pumping creatures and drawing cards to overwhelm opponents through consistent incremental advantage.
Shorikai, Genesis Engine
Vehicle and artifact synergy deck that creates thopter tokens and crews vehicles to apply aerial pressure and maintain board control.
Sheoldred, the Apocalypse
Life-drain deck that forces opponents to draw cards and lose life, combined with board wipes and disruption to control the game state and gradually drain opponents.
Gameplay Insights
- 1
Matt chose to sacrifice Universal Automaton to destroy Blood Chief Ascension early, preventing Busterkins from gaining overwhelming life drain advantage.
- 2
Melissa leveraged The Great Henge repeatedly to draw cards, gain life, and pump Aragorn and other creatures, maintaining card advantage and board presence.
- 3
Busterkins attempted to disrupt the game with Puzzle Box but was countered, showing the importance of counterspells in protecting value engines.
- 4
Matt’s Shelob killing Melissa’s Aragorn generated multiple food tokens, illustrating strong synergy and resilience despite loss of key creatures.
- 5
Melissa's use of Swords to Plowshares to remove Shelob demonstrated effective targeted removal, enabling her to stabilize and maintain board control.
- 6
Combat phases were carefully navigated, with Melissa forcing Matt into chump blocking to avoid lethal damage, applying pressure that limited his options.
Notable Cards
The Great Henge
Gandalf, White Rider
Toxic Deluge
Swords to Plowshares
Noble Hierarch
Mobilizer Mech
Cosmic Hunger
Summary
The game began with each player developing their board according to their deck's unique strategies. Matt, piloting Shelob, focused on spider tribal synergy and generating food tokens by copying opponents' creatures, while also applying consistent pressure with his spiders. Melissa, with Aragorn the Uniter, aimed to cast multicolored spells to gain value and pump her creatures, leveraging powerful artifacts like The Great Henge and synergistic creatures such as Gandalf, White Rider. J-man's Shorikai deck revolved around vehicles and artifact synergies, producing thopters and crewing vehicles to maintain board presence and apply aerial pressure. Busterkins, playing Sheoldred, the Apocalypse, employed a life-drain strategy by making opponents draw cards and slowly depleting their life totals, while also using board wipes like Toxic Deluge to reset the board when needed. Early in the game, Matt prudently destroyed Busterkins' Blood Chief Ascension to prevent an overwhelming drain effect. Melissa developed a strong board with Aragorn, Gandalf, and Noble Hierarch, utilizing The Great Henge's card draw and life gain to maintain momentum. J-man built a formidable thopter army and crewed vehicles to keep pressure on Melissa. Busterkins attempted to disrupt the game with Puzzle Box, which Melissa countered effectively, preserving her advantage. A key turning point was when Matt's Shelob killed Melissa's Aragorn, spawning multiple food tokens and maintaining board presence despite the loss. Later, Melissa leveraged her creatures and artifacts to clear threats, including using Swords to Plowshares to remove Shelob, gaining life advantage and pushing aggressive attacks that forced Matt into chump blocking. The game featured strategic combat maneuvers and timely removal spells, with players carefully balancing board control and resource management in pursuit of their win conditions.
