Animar vs Omnath vs Iroas vs Vona EDH / CMDR game play for Magic: The Gathering

Deck Strategies

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  Animar, Soul of Elements

  Animar's deck aims to cast multiple creatures cheaply with morph and other cost reductions, gaining +1/+1 counters to grow Animar and the board. The deck uses bounce and control elements to reset opponents' boards while developing Animar into a huge threat.

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  Omnath, Locus of Rage

  Omnath's deck focuses on landfall triggers and generating elemental tokens to control the board and apply pressure. Guardian Project and card draw effects help maintain card advantage and fuel further plays.

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  Iroas, God of Victory

  Iroas supports an aggressive combat-focused deck that protects attacking creatures and deals consistent damage. The deck uses efficient creatures and combat tricks to push damage quickly and leverage commander damage.

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  Vona, Butcher of Magan

  Vona's deck centers on life gain and spending that life to create and buff vampire tokens. Synergies with cards like Archangel of Thune and Regal Bloodlord allow for incremental growth in life, tokens, and +1/+1 counters, creating a large, resilient board presence.

Gameplay Insights

• 1

  Vona's incremental life gain and token generation created a snowball effect that eventually overwhelmed the table, showing the power of stacking life gain with token producers and +1/+1 counter synergies.

• 2

  Animar's use of bounce effects like Thousand Winds was a key defensive measure but proved only temporarily effective against Vona's growing board.

• 3

  The players' sequencing of morph creatures and mana acceleration was crucial in the early game to establish board presence and ramp into their midgame threats.

• 4

  Jeremy’s consistent use of Archangel of Thune and Regal Bloodlord to generate life and counters was pivotal in maintaining his dominant board state.

• 5

  Connor's aggressive plays with Fauna Shaman and Goblin Grenade helped apply pressure but were insufficient to halt Vona's life and board growth.

• 6

  The interactions between life gain triggers and token generation highlighted the importance of synergy in multiplayer EDH games for long-term dominance.

Notable Cards

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  Regal Bloodlord

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  Archangel of Thune

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  Thousand Winds

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  Guardian Project

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  Firemane Avenger

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  Sakura-Tribe Elder

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  Fauna Shaman

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  Burning-Tree Emissary

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  Thousand Winds

Summary

The game began with a typical ramp and setup phase, with players deploying key mana accelerants and early creatures to establish board presence. Animar steadily grew with morph creatures and +1/+1 counters, while Vona's deck focused on life gain and generating tokens, particularly leveraging Regal Bloodlord and Archangel of Thune to build a powerful vampire and angel army. Omnath stayed mostly in the background early but used Guardian Project to draw cards and maintain board development. Iroas was more aggressive with creatures like Firemane Avenger, focusing on combat damage. As the game progressed, Vona's life gain engine became a dominant force, continuously pumping her team with +1/+1 counters and creating numerous bat tokens, making her board increasingly threatening. Animar attempted to control the board with bounce effects like Thousand Winds, but Vona's synergy proved overwhelming. Key moments included multiple combat phases where Vona's team dealt significant damage and then grew even larger thanks to life gain triggers and the Archangel of Thune's abilities. The game tilted heavily under Vona's control as she reached very high life totals and a wide, buffed board state, forcing others to react defensively or lose ground rapidly.