Deck Strategies
Kaalia of the Vast
A Mardu blitz deck focusing on cheating large, impactful creatures into play with Kaalia's attack trigger to quickly overwhelm opponents and control the board.
Korvold, Fae-Cursed King
A treasure-generating storm deck that leverages sacrifice synergies and massive card draw from treasures to assemble combos and win through overwhelming advantage.
Jeska, Thrice Reborn / Ishai, Ojutai Dragonspeaker
A Jeskai storm deck that utilizes Underworld Breach and Lines combos to generate infinite spells and damage, while having the ability to win via a large Ishai one-shot.
Rashmi, Eternities Crafter
A control and value deck that uses permission spells to protect its board, accrues incremental advantage through Rashmi's triggers, and aims to close the game with a combo finish.
Gameplay Insights
- 1
Kaalia's use of Lightning Greaves to protect her and equip quickly enabled repeated attacks to cheat in large threats, swinging tempo in her favor early.
- 2
The interaction of counterspells and redirection spells like Deflecting Swat and Spell Snare created a complex stack that disrupted Jeska/Ishai's combo attempts.
- 3
Korvold's treasure generation combined with Dockside Extortionist created explosive mana advantage, but was vulnerable to targeted removal such as Swords to Plowshares.
- 4
Jeska/Ishai's player used Ephemerate to protect key creatures and responded to disruption with Force of Will, showing the tight control over the stack necessary in cEDH.
- 5
Rashmi's incremental card draw and permission spells allowed for steady value accumulation, but the aggressive threats from Kaalia and Korvold forced reactive play rather than proactive combo setups.
Notable Cards
Esper Sentinel
Stoneforge Mystic
Lightning Greaves
Dockside Extortionist
Jeweled Lotus
Mana Confluence
Deflecting Swat
Abrupt Decay
Force of Will
Underworld Breach
Hellkite Tyrant
Preordain
Chrome Mox
Spell Snare
Ephemerate
Summary
The game featured a high-powered cEDH match with five aggressive and combo-driven decks vying for control. Early turns were used to develop mana bases and establish board presence, with multiple players deploying key creatures and artifacts like Esper Sentinel and Dockside Extortionist to accelerate their engines. Kaalia of the Vast quickly made an impact by cheating large threats onto the battlefield, notably gaining control of multiple artifacts from Jeska/Ishai's player, shifting the balance of power. Meanwhile, Korvold leveraged treasure generation and card draw to build an overwhelming advantage. Jeska/Ishai's storm-oriented deck sought to combo off using Underworld Breach and Lines, but faced disruption including removal of Dockside Extortionist and counterspells. Rashmi's control build aimed to accrue value through permission and card draw, but was pressured by Kaalia's aggression and Korvold's explosive treasure-based plays. Critical interactions included a complex stack of counterspells and protection spells around Kaalia's activation and a pivotal board wipe attempt by Korvold's opponent. Ultimately, the game revolved around managing treasure and artifact resources, protecting key combo pieces, and timing removal and counterspells to prevent others from winning first.