Generic Commander Ep17- Arch Enemy!

Deck Strategies

• 

  Bartolomé del Presidio

  Sacrifices creatures and artifacts to grow power and control the board, leveraging vampire and Aristocrats synergies while using schemes to pressure opponents with token generation and forced sacrifices.

• 

  Ozox, the Clattering King

  Combines graveyard recursion and token creation to generate value and execute loops with Astral's Alter and other Aristocrats elements, aiming for infinite sacrifice and value chains.

• 

  Maarika, Brutal Gladiator

  Midrange aggressive deck that punishes opponents by forcing sacrifices of noncreature permanents whenever excess damage is dealt, disrupting mana development and key resources.

• 

  Zinnia, Valley's Voice

  Token-focused deck that creates copies of creatures and tokens to build a wide board presence and incremental value through synergy with offspring and creature spell interactions.

Gameplay Insights

• 1

  Russ’s decision to set multiple schemes at once rapidly escalated board pressure by generating a variety of powerful tokens, forcing opponents to react quickly to avoid being overwhelmed.

• 2

  Jarvis’s choice to include multiple Astral’s Alter loops in Ozox’s deck indicates a focus on infinite or near-infinite sac loops for value, directly competing with Russ’s Aristocrats theme.

• 3

  HamHocks’s Maarika deck was well-positioned to act as the ‘fun police’ by targeting Russ’s mana rocks and value permanents, leveraging excess damage triggers to disrupt the archenemy’s resource base.

• 4

  Jolly’s use of group-hug element In 's Vineyard unintentionally benefited all players with additional mana, highlighting how political and resource-sharing elements can impact the flow of an archenemy game mode.

• 5

  The ongoing scheme that forced opponents to sacrifice two creatures at the beginning of their upkeep created constant pressure on creature-based decks, making board presence management a critical priority for the allied players.

Notable Cards

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  Bartolomé del Presidio

• 

  Ozox, the Clattering King

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  Maarika, Brutal Gladiator

• 

  Zinnia, Valley's Voice

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  Oathsworn Vampire

• 

  Shineshadow Snarl

• 

  Look Skyward and Despair

Summary

The game began with Uncle Russ taking on the role of the archenemy, piloting Bartolomé del Presidio, a vampire-themed Aristocrats deck focused on sacrificing creatures and artifacts to grow his commander. Russ's unique twist was the use of schemes that triggered at the start of his turns, including one that forced opponents to sacrifice creatures to prevent ongoing detrimental effects. The allied team, consisting of Jarvis with Ozox, the Clattering King, HamHocks42 with Maarika, Brutal Gladiator, and Jolly with Zinnia, Valley's Voice, coordinated against Russ. Jarvis's deck centered on looping Ozox and Jumble Bones tokens for Aristocrats-style combos, while HamHocks's Maarika deck applied pressure by forcing opponents to sacrifice noncreature permanents when dealing excess damage. Jolly’s Zinnia deck generated tokens alongside casting creatures to create incremental advantage. Early plays included mana ramp and tactical deployment of creatures and lands, with Russ quickly escalating pressure by setting multiple schemes in motion that generated dangerous artifact and horror tokens, complicating the board state for the allied players.