EDH Gameplay - Episode 25: Gisela VS Azusa VS Unesh VS Vannifar

Deck Strategies

• 

  Prime Speaker Vannifar

  Sacrifices creatures to find and put more impactful creatures onto the battlefield, aiming to combo through creature recursion and value.

• 

  Azusa, Lost but Seeking

  Ramp aggressively by playing multiple lands per turn, accelerating mana to cast powerful spells and overwhelming the board.

• 

  Gisela, Blade of Goldnight

  Control and enhance combat with lifelink, protection, and damage doubling effects to dominate combat phases and outpace opponents.

• 

  Unesh, Criosphinx Sovereign

  Reveal and cast Sphinx creatures from the top of the library to build a flying, evasive board and control the airspace.

Gameplay Insights

• 1

  Prime Speaker Vannifar’s sacrifice ability was efficiently used to cheat powerful creatures like Clever Impersonator and Consecrated Sphinx into play, generating card advantage.

• 2

  Unesh’s ability to reveal and selectively choose Sphinx creatures from the top of the library allowed for consistent pressure and board development.

• 3

  Azusa’s ramp enabled casting multiple lands and spells in a turn, accelerating her board state rapidly and enabling powerful plays like Avenger of Zendikar with a large token army.

• 4

  Gisela’s deck leveraged protection and damage doubling effects, alongside key creatures like Mother of Runes and Lyra Dawnbringer, to secure combat dominance and maintain board presence.

• 5

  Multiple players utilized artifacts like Staff of Nin and Mind Stone to generate card advantage, which proved crucial in maintaining momentum and executing their strategies.

• 6

  Key removal spells and targeted destruction, such as Conclave Naturalist and Desert Twister, were used to disrupt opponents’ metalcraft and utility permanents, shifting tempo.

• 7

  The interplay of cascade effects, copying creatures, and token generation created complex board states with multiple threats challenging opponents simultaneously.

Notable Cards

• 

  Library of Leng

• 

  Guardian Project

• 

  Mind Stone

• 

  Staff of Nin

• 

  Avenger of Zendikar

• 

  Greater Good

• 

  Gilded Lotus

• 

  Solemn Simulacrum

• 

  Draining Whelk

• 

  Mother of Runes

• 

  Lyra Dawnbringer

• 

  Desert Twister

Summary

The game featured four distinct Commander decks, each leveraging their unique strategies to gain advantage. Early turns saw players establishing mana bases and setting up key artifacts and creatures, including Library of Leng, Path of Ancestry, and various ramp spells. Unesh, Criosphinx Sovereign focused on revealing and casting powerful Sphinx creatures, while Prime Speaker Vannifar utilized sacrifice and combo potential to cheat creatures into play. Azusa, Lost but Seeking prioritized ramping with multiple lands and artifact interactions, and Gisela, Blade of Goldnight developed an aggressive board with protective and damage-enhancing creatures. The middle game was marked by strategic plays such as Guardian Project enhancing draw, Mind Stone and Staff of Nin enabling card advantage, and significant board presence established by Avenger of Zendikar tokens and angelic creatures from Richard’s deck.