Garna vs Selvala vs Olivia vs Mathas EDH / CMDR game play for Magic: The Gathering

Deck Strategies

• 

  Selvala, Explorer Returned

  A ramp-focused elf deck that generates massive amounts of green mana through elves and Heritage Druid combos, enabling big spells and explosive growth while drawing cards via Selvala's ability.

• 

  Mathas, Fiend Seeker

  An enchantress/control deck that uses enchantments for card draw and life gain, controlling the board with removal like Pestilence and leveraging bounty counters to punish creature deaths.

• 

  Garna, the Bloodflame

  A sacrifice and recursion deck that uses creatures dying and reanimating to generate value, supported by cards like Reassembling Skeleton and Graveborn Muse for sustained advantage.

• 

  Olivia, Mobilized for War

  An aggressive red-black deck that uses hasty creatures and discard/exile effects to disrupt opponents’ hands while applying pressure through combat damage.

Gameplay Insights

• 1

  Rob’s use of Pestilence to clear wide boards while triggering enchantress draws and bounty counters was a key turning point that reset the board state.

• 2

  Chris’s repeated bouncing of Heritage Druid with Wirewood Symbiote allowed for explosive mana generation and multiple plays per turn, enabling sustained pressure.

• 3

  Joe’s strategy of exiling opponents’ hand cards via Olivia’s combat damage and card abilities disrupted key combos and slowed down opponents significantly.

• 4

  Rob’s casting of Torment of Hailfire with a high X value forced multiple players to take heavy damage or sacrifice resources, shifting the game towards a possible closeout phase.

• 5

  The synergy between bounty counters and death triggers on creatures and enchantments added layers of incremental advantage and card draw that influenced player priorities in combat and removal.

Notable Cards

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  Heritage Druid

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  Pestilence

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  Torment of Hailfire

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  Wirewood Symbiote

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  Replenish

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  Graveborn Muse

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  Growing Rites of Itlimoc // Itlimoc, Cradle of the Sun

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  Priest of Titania

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  Dusk Legion Zealot

Summary

The game began with a typical ramp and setup phase, featuring early plays like Heritage Druid and multiple Elvish mana dorks from Selvala’s deck, Olivia deploying aggressive creatures with haste, and Garna establishing a sacrifice and recursion engine. Mathas built up enchantress synergies and control elements, using enchantments like Messa Enchantress and Twilight Prophet to draw cards and generate gold tokens. Early skirmishes involved targeted removal spells and combat damage used to disrupt opponents’ hand resources, particularly through Olivia’s ability to exile nonland cards from opponents’ hands. A pivotal moment occurred when Rob, playing Mathas, used Pestilence combined with multiple activations to wipe much of the board, significantly reducing the wide elf boards and tokens while triggering enchantress draws and bounty counters. This shifted the tempo and forced players to rebuild their resources. Chris, on Selvala, leveraged Wirewood Symbiote and Priest of Titania to repeatedly bounce and recast key elves, enabling explosive mana generation and card draw through Selvala’s ability. Meanwhile, Joe on Olivia pushed aggressive damage with recurring hasty creatures and card advantage through discard and exile effects. Harry’s Garna deck focused on sacrificing creatures to fuel a growing board presence and card advantage through Graveborn Muse and pitiless plunderer triggers. As the game progressed, Rob cast Torment of Hailfire with a high X value, dealing significant damage and forcing tough choices for the table, while also recovering with Replenish to bring back key enchantments. The game featured complex interactions between life gain, card draw, and board control, with multiple players jockeying for dominance through incremental advantages and strategic removal. The win condition likely revolved around one player leveraging their superior board state and card advantage generated from enchantments and creature recursion to close out the game.