Secret Commander Showdown! | Empyrial Archangel, Thrasios/Ravos, Piru, Extus | Shuffle/Scuffle #9

Deck Strategies

• 

  Tuvasa the Sunlit

  Builds around enchantments and enchantress effects to bolster Tuvasa into an unkillable Voltron threat, leveraging cards like Ethereal Armor and Mesmeric Wanderer for card draw and protection.

• 

  Ravos, Soultender

  Utilizes reanimation spells and graveyard filling to cheat out large creatures with Sneak Attack, generating value from creatures like Felden of the Third Path and Priest of Forgotten Gods.

• 

  Thrasios, Triton Hero

  Focuses on efficient mana ramp and card advantage using ramp spells and signets, enabling midrange plays and enabling combo or value engines.

• 

  Extus, Oriq Overlord // Awaken the Blood Avatar

  Aims to leverage Sneak Attack and reanimation to cheat big creatures onto the battlefield, gaining incremental advantage and pressuring opponents with powerful threats.

• 

  Piru, the Volatile

  Centers on assembling Stuffy Doll with indestructible buffs and repeatedly triggering damage combos with spells like Blasphemous Act and Chain Reaction to control the board and drain opponents' life.

Gameplay Insights

• 1

  Using Felden of the Third Path to create Priest of Forgotten Gods tokens to draw cards and generate incremental advantage was a pivotal early game synergy.

• 2

  Equipping Lightning Greaves on Champion of Wits allowed for safe card draw and board presence without risking loss to removal.

• 3

  The combination of Stuffy Doll with indestructible buffs and board wipes like Blasphemous Act created a resilient damage engine hard to deal with.

• 4

  Coalition Relic was strategically charged early to facilitate expensive plays, highlighting good resource management.

• 5

  Gamble was used effectively to dig for key cards, demonstrating the value of risk-taking in finding critical spells.

• 6

  Players were cautious about attacking into creatures with first strike and removal triggers, showing strong board awareness.

• 7

  The reanimation and token generation engine demanded constant interaction, making timing and sequencing of threats crucial.

Notable Cards

• 

  Priest of Forgotten Gods

• 

  Champion of Wits

• 

  Lightning Greaves

• 

  Ethereal Armor

• 

  Sneak Attack

• 

  Coalition Relic

• 

  Boros Reckoner

• 

  Hammer of Nazahn

• 

  Pestilence

• 

  Blasphemous Act

• 

  Chain Reaction

• 

  Faithless Looting

Summary

The game started with players setting up their mana bases and early plays, with some mulligans and cycling to find key lands and cards. Early board development included ramp, card draw, and setting up enchantment synergies. One player utilized Felden of the Third Path to create copies of Priest of Forgotten Gods, drawing cards and generating value. Another player equipped Lightning Greaves to protect key creatures like Champion of Wits and set up a robust enchantress strategy with Ethereal Armor and Mesmeric Wanderer. The interaction between reanimation and token generation was pivotal, as Sneak Attack was aimed to cheat out powerful creatures from the graveyard. Meanwhile, one deck focused on assembling Stuffy Doll with indestructible effects and damage-dealing combos like Blasphemous Act and Chain Reaction to control the board and pressure opponents. The game featured key moments such as the use of Coalition Relic to charge mana for major plays and a clever Gamble to dig for important spells. Players were wary of each other's threats, with some politicking and careful development to avoid losing tempo or board presence. The game was shaping up with multiple synergistic strategies, including Voltron with enchantments, reanimation-based big creatures, and a damage-focused Stuffy Doll build, all aiming to outvalue or outlast opponents through card advantage, board control, and efficient damage.