Deck & Commander Strategies
Saskia the Unyielding
A four-color (no blue) group-pressure deck full of powerful women from Magic lore, angels and humans. It ramps and draws heavily, then uses Saskia, Gisela and big attackers to turn combat damage into a lethal alpha strike. Ultimatums provide late-game board resets.
Alela, Artful Provocateur
A 'mono black' Dimir/Orzhov-flavored aristocrats build. Every spell costs black or is colorless, and fixing lands tap for black. It uses Alela's Fairy tokens, Skullclamp, Rankle, the monarch and sacrifice engines for card advantage, with Kaya's Wrath and Merciless Eviction as sweepers.
Kumena, Tyrant of Orazca
Merfolk tribal with untap effects. Kumena's ability draws cards off tapped Merfolk, then Merfolk are pumped for combat or commander damage. Multiple untappers and Quest for Renewal generate extra value every turn.
Gyrus, Waker of Corpses
A creature-heavy reanimator and sneak-attack deck with some self-mill. It cheats big threats like Grave Titan into play, using Hall of the Bandit Lord, Ilharg and Eternal Witness for value, and puts early pressure on opponents.
Gameplay Insights
- 1
Kelly's early monarch pressure and Skullclamp-on-Fairy card flow gave her a strong card-advantage lead, but the crown repeatedly changed hands through combat.
- 2
Wolf of Devil's Breach discarding Gargos to hit Kumena for 6 showed Gyrus's discard-and-recur synergy with Eternal Witness.
- 3
Ilharg, the Raze-Boar fetching Bane of Progress produced a surprise mass artifact/enchantment wipe, and Kelly drew a card in response to it.
- 4
Fitz had Saskia choose the player he considered the leader. Gisela, Blade of Goldnight then doubled the damage, turning one attack into a game-altering swing that eliminated two opponents.
- 5
Kaya's Wrath was Kelly's key reset, but it also left Fitz free to rebuild faster thanks to his heavy draw engines.
- 6
Fitz used Neyith of the Dire Hunt to double a creature's power at the start of combat, which forced Kelly into bad blocks.
- 7
Fitz's Eerie Ultimatum into Ruinous Ultimatum cleared Kelly's board and left him with the only meaningful board. Kelly noted she should have cast Merciless Eviction earlier.
Notable Cards
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Saskia the Unyielding
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Gisela, Blade of Goldnight
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Akroma's Will
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Ruinous Ultimatum
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Eerie Ultimatum
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Kaya's Wrath
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Skullclamp
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Rankle, Master of Pranks
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Wolf of Devil's Breach
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Ilharg, the Raze-Boar
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Bane of Progress
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Grave Titan
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Sylvan Library
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Selvala's Stampede
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Neyith of the Dire Hunt
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Quest for Renewal
Gameplay Summary
The game opened with everyone developing mana and card advantage.
Fitz ramped with Arkham Signet-style rocks, Cultivate and Three Visits, and set up Sylvan Library and Phyrexian Arena.
Kelly built a black engine with Alela, Rankle, Skullclamp and the monarch crown.
The Kumena player began tapping Merfolk for cards and loading counters onto Merfolk with Quest for Renewal and Benthic Biomancer.
Kyle's Gyrus deck came out aggressively with Wolf of Devil's Breach, which discarded Gargos to hit Kumena for 6.
Eternal Witness then returned Gargos to hand. The monarchy swapped several times as creatures traded.
Kyle's Ilharg, the Raze-Boar fetched Bane of Progress, which wiped out a large number of artifacts and enchantments.
Kyle followed with Grave Titan, which produced a stream of Zombie tokens.
Fitz was building the whole time with Painful Truths, Night's Whisper, Timna and Saskia the Unyielding, who he pointed at the player he judged to be leading.
He then cast Gisela, Blade of Goldnight and Akroma's Will, and swung with Gisela, Saskia and Timna.
The doubled damage, plus Saskia's trigger, was far more than anyone could absorb, and the table dropped to a 1v1 between Fitz and Kelly. Kelly fought back with Black Blade Reforged on Alela and a Kaya's Wrath that wiped the board and put her back in the monarch seat.
Fitz rebuilt immediately with Gisela, the Broken Blade, Selvala's Stampede (flipping into Selvala, Heart of the Wild) and Neyith of the Dire Hunt, then drew six with Soul's Majesty.
Kelly rebuilt with Bitter Blossom, Zulaport Cutthroat and others, but Fitz cast Eerie Ultimatum and then Ruinous Ultimatum, which cleared her side and left him with a dominant board.
He needed only to swing to take the win.
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