Commander Clash: Elder Dragon Strixhaven | S10 E14

Deck Strategies

• 

  Beledros Witherbloom

  Ramp aggressively by untapping lands to cast big X spells and draw cards, focusing on a go-big style rather than token synergies.

• 

  Shadrix Silverquill

  Utilize modal spells and token generation to create political and tactical pressure, often giving tokens to opponents to leverage modal effects for advantage.

• 

  Tanazir Quandrix

  Build large creatures with plus one counters, then use Tanazir's ability to set other creatures' stats equal to its own to overwhelm opponents in combat.

• 

  Galazeth Prismari

  Play a spellslinger deck that uses artifact synergies for ramp and value, casting numerous spells to generate incremental advantage and control the board.

Gameplay Insights

• 1

  Choosing to mulligan or keep hands was influenced by a hypergeometric calculator to assess land drop probabilities, showing a math-based approach to early decisions.

• 2

  Beledros Witherbloom's player prioritized ramping lands early, including playing Field of the Dead on turn one as a bold statement to generate tokens later.

• 3

  Shadrix Silverquill's use of modal spells and giving tokens to opponents added a unique political dimension, making token generation a double-edged sword.

• 4

  Galazeth Prismari's player leveraged spellslinger synergies and artifact ramp to maintain tempo and value, while consciously avoiding overly oppressive combos for a balanced experience.

• 5

  Tanazir Quandrix focused on building large creatures with counters, setting up for potentially massive combat turns by equalizing all creatures’ power and toughness.

Notable Cards

• 

  Field of the Dead

• 

  Galazeth Prismari

Summary

The game began with the players showcasing the new Elder Dragon commanders from Strixhaven, each piloting distinct strategies. Beledros Witherbloom focused on a ramp-heavy approach leveraging the land untapping ability to cast powerful X spells, diverging from the typical pest token aristocrat builds. Shadrix Silverquill adopted a modal token strategy that included giving tokens to opponents, turning what seemed like a friendly gesture into a potential tactical advantage. Tanazir Quandrix was built as a Timmy-style deck aiming to grow massive creatures with plus one counters and then leverage Tanazir's ability to equalize the power and toughness of other creatures for big combat swings. Galazeth Prismari played a spellslinger role, similar to a scaled-back Niv-Mizzet deck, emphasizing artifact synergies and budget-friendly spellcasting to generate value and ramp.