Negan v Lavaz Dimir Mastermind v Pantlaza v Eligath & Kydele Bracket 3 Commander Gameplay

Deck Strategies

• Negan the Cold Blooded

  Leverages sacrifice mechanics and treasure token generation to deal incremental damage via Mayhem Devil, disrupting opponents by forcing creature sacrifices and punishing them through damage triggers.

• 

  Lazav, Dimir Mastermind

  Mills opponents to exile key cards and utilizes the ability to copy exiled creatures, generating value and board presence from opponents’ graveyards.

• 

  Pantlaza, Sun-Favored

  Tribal dinosaur synergy with ramp and combat buffs, focusing on aggressive board presence and applying pressure through attacks and additional effects like Herald’s Horn.

• 

  Eligeth, Crossroads Augur & Kydele, Chosen of Kruphix

  Card draw and mana ramp combo, using spells like Joint Exploration and Mulldrifter to maintain hand size and generate mana for casting high-impact spells.

Gameplay Insights

• 1

  The synergy between Negan's sacrifice ability and Mayhem Devil’s damage triggers created repeated damage bursts that pressured opponents and influenced their resource management.

• 2

  Lazav’s milling and cloning mechanics effectively disrupted opponents’ plans by removing and copying key creatures from graveyards to maintain board presence.

• 3

  Pantlaza’s use of Herald’s Horn and tribal buffs enabled aggressive attacks that forced opponents to respond defensively, shaping the flow of combat.

• 4

  The timing of Plaguecrafter’s sacrifice trigger combined with Impact Tremors’ damage to all opponents demonstrated the power of layering board wipes with damage triggers for maximum impact.

• 5

  Players carefully managed their life totals and damage distribution during combat to avoid lethal commander damage while maximizing their own offensive potential.

Notable Cards

• 

  Mayhem Devil

• 

  Herald's Horn

• 

  Mulldrifter

• 

  Plaguecrafter

• 

  Impact Tremors

• 

  Smothering Tithe

• 

  Legion's Initiative

• 

  Ranging Raptors

Summary

The game began with players establishing their mana bases and early board presence, including ramp and value creatures. Lazav, Dimir Mastermind focused on milling opponents and leveraging graveyard interactions, notably using Neolia Drownyard to exile key cards and generating clues for value. Pantlaza capitalized on tribal synergies with dinosaurs and ramp through cards like Herald's Horn and Ranging Raptors, applying pressure with milling and combat damage. Eligeth and Kydele utilized card draw and mana generation combos, casting spells like Mulldrifter and Joint Exploration to maintain hand advantage and ramp into impactful plays. Negan, Cold Blooded emerged as a disruptive force, using his unique sacrifice ability to remove threats and applying constant incremental damage through Mayhem Devil combined with treasure tokens and sacrifice triggers. Key moments included a multi-trigger sacrifice event involving Plaguecrafter and Impact Tremors, which decimated board states and inflicted damage while forcing discards. The interaction between Negan’s sacrifice trigger and Mayhem Devil’s damage output created significant pressure on opponents. Lazav’s milling strategy and cloning ability kept opponents’ resources in check, while Pantlaza’s aggressive tempo and tribal buffs maintained offensive momentum. The gameplay highlighted intricate timing and layering of sacrifice, damage, and mill triggers, culminating in a tense combat phase where damage distribution and lethal threats were carefully calculated.