PRE BAN-HAMMER! TALION v. ETALI v. OB NIXILIS v. KINNAN- cEDH Gameplay

Deck Strategies

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  Talion, the Kindly Lord

  Talion's deck focuses on value creatures and leveraging infinite mana combos, particularly with Squee, the Immortal, to repeatedly cast spells and exile opponents' libraries, winning through resource denial and recurring threats.

• 

  Etali, Primal Conqueror

  Etali aims to ramp quickly with rituals and artifact synergies like Dockside Extortionist, then cast high-impact spells to deal damage and generate card advantage, winning through aggressive damage and combo sequences involving Food Chain and mana generation.

• 

  Ob Nixilis, Captive Kingpin

  Ob Nixilis plays a midrange control role focusing on disruption through artifact and enchantment removal and incremental advantage to slow opponents and capitalize on board control for a late-game win.

• 

  Kinnan, Bonder Prodigy

  Kinnan's deck leverages mana acceleration and creature synergies to outpace opponents, using powerful creatures and ramp to establish a dominant board state and close out the game with overwhelming threats.

Gameplay Insights

• 1

  Etali's early use of rituals and fast mana with Scalding Tarn and Dark Ritual enabled a quick Food Chain combo setup.

• 2

  Talion's timely use of Survival of the Fittest and counterbalance helped protect his combo pieces and disrupt opponents' counters.

• 3

  The infinite mana loop with Squee and Talion's uncounterable creatures allowed for repeated casting and exiling of opponents' libraries, effectively ending the game.

• 4

  Artifact and enchantment disruption early on was key to preventing explosive plays, especially against Dockside Extortionist and similar ramp pieces.

• 5

  Players carefully managed their counterspells and removal to try to stop combos, but Talion's interaction with uncounterable spells was pivotal in securing the win.

Notable Cards

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  Food Chain

• 

  Squee, the Immortal

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  Talion, the Kindly Lord

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  Dockside Extortionist

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  Counterbalance

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  Survival of the Fittest

• 

  Dark Ritual

Summary

The game starts with a slow early pace as players develop their mana bases and set up key pieces, with Talion establishing board presence through creatures and Etali ramping aggressively using rituals and fast mana. Early interaction includes artifact and enchantment disruption to prevent explosive combos. As the game progresses, Etali leverages a powerful sequence involving Food Chain, Primal Grasp, and Dockside Extortionist to generate significant mana and card advantage, while counterspell interaction tries to keep the board in check. A critical turning point occurs when Talion combos with Squee, the Immortal, generating infinite mana and repeatedly casting creatures, enabling him to exile all opponents' libraries and effectively lock the game down. This infinite mana and exile loop ensures a swift and decisive victory after opponents are unable to respond to the overwhelming resource advantage.