Cardboard Command Ep. 3 | MTG Commander

Decklists

Deck & Commander Strategies

Xenagos, God of Revels
Ramp quickly with enchantments and mana dorks to enable Xenagos’s ability to pump creatures with +1/+1 counters and create a large board presence for aggressive combat damage.
Keiga, the Tide Star
Utilize cloning spells like Rite of Replication to multiply Keiga and other powerful creatures, stealing opponents’ creatures and overwhelming the board with copies.
Syr Konrad, the Grim
Combine mill effects with combat damage triggers that deal damage to all players, exerting pressure by controlling the board while chipping away life totals.
Reaper King
Build a shapeshifter tribal deck leveraging Reaper King’s ability to interact with a variety of creature types, creating synergy and board presence through tribal tribal interactions.

Gameplay Insights

1
Xenagos’s transformation of Growing Rites of Itlimoc into Itlimoc, Cradle of the Sun enabled explosive ramp, allowing multiple high-impact plays in subsequent turns.
2
Keiga cloning herself multiple times with Rite of Replication, despite the legendary rule forcing some copies to be sacrificed, triggered multiple death triggers that dealt damage and disrupted opponents' boards.
3
Syr Konrad’s combat damage triggers combined with tokens from Xenagos and Keiga created a hazardous board state where each attack had significant consequences for all players.
4
Players were cautious about attacking open or vulnerable opponents, choosing instead to build board presence and wait for the right moment to strike, highlighting the importance of threat assessment in multiplayer Commander.
5
Doubling Season on the field synergized strongly with Xenagos’s counters and token generation, prompting other players to balance the board carefully to avoid letting him snowball out of control.

Notable Cards

Growing Rites of Itlimoc // Itlimoc, Cradle of the Sun
Rite of Replication
Cauldron of Souls
Vanquisher's Banner
Doubling Season
Altar of the Brood

Gameplay Summary

The game featured a four-player free-for-all Commander match with Xenagos, God of Revels, Keiga, the Tide Star, Syr Konrad, the Grim, and Reaper King as the commanders.

Early on, the players developed their mana bases quickly, enabling multiple colors by turn three or four, and began deploying their key pieces.

Xenagos focused on building a board with +1/+1 counters and tokens, notably using Growing Rites of Itlimoc to transform into Itlimoc, Cradle of the Sun, which ramped his mana production significantly.

Meanwhile, Keiga capitalized on cloning and stealing creatures, creating multiple copies of powerful creatures like Keiga herself using Rite of Replication, generating a threatening board state.

Syr Konrad employed a mill strategy combined with aggressive combat damage triggers to whittle down opponents, while Reaper King developed a shapeshifter tribal board leveraging its unique synergy.

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