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Our $50.00 Home Brew Commander Decks | Shuffle Up & Play #18 | Magic: The Gathering Gameplay

Tolarian Community College

Commanders featured in this video Reviewed & Verified

Decklists

Deck Strategies

  • Ardenn, Intrepid Archaeologist

    Ardenn, Intrepid Archaeologist

    Equips artifacts to creatures to maintain board control and push through combat damage using aggressive equipment synergies.

  • Sephara, Sky's Blade

    Sephara, Sky's Blade

    Builds a strong flyer army to meet the casting condition of Sephara for a low cost and uses lifelink to sustain life total while dealing aerial damage.

  • Gorex, the Tombshell

    Gorex, the Tombshell

    Utilizes a turtle-themed tribal approach with value generation and incremental advantage to outlast opponents.

  • Hidetsugu, Devouring Chaos

    Hidetsugu, Devouring Chaos

    Aggressively throws damage at opponents with creatures and direct damage abilities aiming for quick and chaotic finishes.

  • Ludevic, Necro-Alchemist

    Ludevic, Necro-Alchemist

    Leverages graveyard interactions, milling, and adventure creatures to generate card advantage and disrupt opponents' plans.

Gameplay Insights

  • 1

    Sephara's player capitalized on having four flyers on the battlefield to cast her commander for a reduced mana cost, significantly increasing pressure on opponents.

  • 2

    Ardenn's ability to attach multiple pieces of equipment at the beginning of combat enabled surprise combat tricks and boosted damage output.

  • 3

    Ludevic’s deck used adventure creatures and milling to fuel graveyard synergies, allowing recursive value beyond initial card draw.

  • 4

    Hidetsugu focused on a straightforward damage race, emphasizing speed and aggression over complex interactions.

  • 5

    Players balanced early board development with value generation and removal, careful to maintain tempo while preventing any single deck from running away with the game.

Notable Cards

  • Boots of Speed

    Boots of Speed

  • Gorgon's Head

    Gorgon's Head

  • Gray Merchant of Asphodel

    Gray Merchant of Asphodel

  • Tormod's Crypt

    Tormod's Crypt

  • Ranger's Hawk

    Ranger's Hawk

Summary

The game featured five players piloting budget-friendly $50 Commander decks, each showcasing unique strategies within their color identities. Early turns involved setting up mana bases and deploying key creatures that supported each deck's main game plan. The Ardenn and Ludovic deck focused on equipping creatures to push through damage, using artifact synergies and combat tricks. Sephara, Sky's Blade's player rapidly developed a flyer-heavy board state, leveraging her ability to cast for one white mana if four or more flyers were present, enabling aggressive air attacks combined with lifelink for sustainability. Gorex, the Tombshell utilized a turtle-themed strategy to generate incremental value, aiming to accumulate board presence and outlast opponents. Hidetsugu, Devouring Chaos brought a straightforward, aggressive approach, aiming to deal damage quickly with creatures and direct damage spells. Ludevic, Necro-Alchemist's deck made use of graveyard interactions and milling, with adventure creatures and dredge synergies to fuel card advantage and disruption. A key turning point arose when Sephara's player unexpectedly met the four-flyer requirement, allowing a powerful commander cast that pressured the table. Additionally, the use of equipment in Ardenn's deck to grant haste and deathtouch created threatening attackers that demanded answers. The game progressed as players balanced offense and defense, with various board states shifting after combat damage and removal spells. Ultimately, the interplay of aggressive flyers, equipment buffs, and graveyard recursion defined the pace and tension of the match.

Description

It’s Home Brew Commander With A Twist: No player may spend more than $50.00 on their deck! How powerful of a Commander deck can $50.00 worth of Magic The Gathering cards build? Find out on today’s Shuffle Up And Play!

▶Are you looking to Shuffle Up & Play games of Magic: The Gathering over webcam? The “Looking For Game” section of our Patron Discord is 100% free and open to everyone: discord.gg/tolariancommunitycollege

►Check out my guests’ channels!

Sheldon Menery @SheldonMenery https://discordDOTgg/commander

Lynn Frank @CheckYourBulk

Bobbie-Christine twitch.tv/bobbiechristine

Jeri / Liz @ManaSquad youtube.com/c/OneMoreMana

►Deck Lists

archidekt.com/decks/3217587#Budget_Ardenn_and_Ludovic

archidekt.com/decks/3785004#Gorex,_the_Tombshell

archidekt.com/decks/3785016#Sephara's_Golden_Sky

archidekt.com/decks/3187943#Hidetsugu_Surprise

►Credits Lead Editor: Kevyn Wallace Assistant Lead Director: Nick Snyder Music / SFX: Def Cat @defcatofficial Intro VFX: Kyle Sullivan, Kevyn Wallace

►Special Thanks Josh-TheProxyGuy Andre Garcia Jebari Dean

►This episode is brought to you thanks to our wonderful Patreon community. Join to support the show, or just Shuffle Up & Play with other awesome people on our Patron Discord by going to www.Patreon.com/TolarianCommunityCollege

►This show is made in part due to Card Kingdom. You can help us out by visiting our affiliate link at www.CardKingdom.com/TCC

#MagicTheGathering #MTG #commander

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