Daretti vs Kadena vs Zurgo vs Vial//Sakashima [EDH/Commander, Magic The Gathering Gameplay] 2020

Deck Strategies

• 

  Daretti, Scrap Savant

  Focuses on goblin tribal and vehicle synergies to generate board presence and value, aiming to overwhelm opponents with artifact creatures and recurring goblins.

• 

  Kadena, Slinking Sorcerer

  Utilizes morph creatures to draw a large number of cards, building card advantage to enable a lethal combat damage finish.

• 

  Zurgo Helmsmasher

  Relies on Zurgo's indestructibility to clear the board and repeatedly deal commander damage to opponents, pressuring them aggressively.

• 

  Vial Smasher the Fierce // Sakashima of a Thousand Faces

  A cloning combo that casts Vial Smasher, clones it with Sakashima, and continues cloning to deal random damage through dice rolls, aiming for a chaotic and lethal finish.

Gameplay Insights

• 1

  The cloning interaction between Sakashima and Vial Smasher was pivotal, allowing multiple copies of Vial Smasher to multiply random damage output.

• 2

  Austere Command was a game-changing board wipe that cleared out many small creatures and artifacts, disrupting Daretti's and Vial Smasher's strategies.

• 3

  Kadena's morph ability was effectively used to maintain card advantage and pressure despite heavy removal.

• 4

  Zurgo's strategy depended on clearing the board and hitting commander damage, but was vulnerable to targeted removal and board wipes.

• 5

  Players demonstrated careful timing with morph and combat phases, especially Kadena's player blocking Zurgo and trading damage to survive early aggression.

Notable Cards

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  Goblin Recruiter

• 

  Smuggler's Copter

• 

  Austere Command

• 

  Nightscape Familiar

• 

  Guardian Project

• 

  Grim Haruspex

• 

  Sparksmith

Summary

The game opened with Daretti, Scrap Savant focusing on a goblin and vehicle tribal theme, quickly establishing board presence with Smuggler's Copter and Goblin Engineer. Kadena, Slinking Sorcerer deployed early to capitalize on morphing creatures to draw cards and generate value, while Zurgo Helmsmasher aimed for aggressive commander damage leveraging his indestructibility. The Vial Smasher and Sakashima combo player set up to clone Vial Smasher multiple times for random damage output. Key early skirmishes included combat exchanges where Daretti's Goblin tribal clashed with Kadena's morph creatures, resulting in the loss of Daretti temporarily but maintaining board pressure through artifact synergies. Mid-game momentum shifted when Vial Smasher and Sakashima successfully entered the battlefield together, beginning to assemble their cloning engine. This was disrupted by Calvin's Austere Command, which wiped out low-cost creatures and artifacts, significantly hindering Daretti and the cloning combo's board states. Despite this, Kadena continued to build card advantage through morph triggers and managed to survive board wipes by careful timing and blocking. Zurgo's aggressive plan was thwarted by targeted removal, including a kill on Zurgo himself. The game was a dynamic battle of attrition with each player vying to establish their primary win condition—Daretti through goblin tribal and vehicles, Kadena through combat damage fueled by card draw, Zurgo through commander damage, and Vial Smasher/Sakashima through cloning and random damage. The interplay of removal, board wipes, and combat damage defined the flow, making for a tense and interactive match.