Deck & Commander Strategies
Kraum, Ludevic's Opus and Tymna the Weaver
Generate massive mana and card advantage using mana rocks, Smothering Tithe, and Ragavan to fuel a fast combo finish with Ad Nauseam and other draw spells.
Vivi Ornitier
Leverage card selection and draw spells like Ponder and Preordain to set up a Curiosity-based combo, aiming to chain draw and overwhelm opponents.
Ukkima, Stalking Shadow and Cazur, Ruthless Stalker
Utilize Food Chain and other combo enablers to generate infinite mana and value, combining with creatures and spells to close out the game quickly.
Yoshimaru, Ever Faithful and Thrasios, Triton Hero
Apply early board pressure and incremental advantage through combat and utility creatures, playing a reactive role to disrupt opponents’ combos.
Gameplay Insights
- 1
The timing of the Wheel of Fortune by Vivi was a high-risk play that could have accelerated the game drastically but was ultimately countered by Mindbreak Trap, showing the importance of interaction against combo decks.
- 2
Nate’s Blue Farm deck leveraged the synergy between Smothering Tithe and Ragavan to produce significant treasure tokens and card advantage, enabling explosive turns and making it the dominant deck in the match.
- 3
Philip’s use of Silence followed by Mindbreak Trap effectively shut down a critical combo attempt, highlighting the power of well-timed countermagic and disruption in a high-speed multiplayer game.
- 4
Vivi’s ability to recast the commander with Wishclaw Talisman after disruption maintained resilience and board presence, demonstrating how modular combo decks can recover from costly interaction.
- 5
Players carefully managed their life totals and mana resources, balancing aggression with survival in a game where combo execution and disruption were both paramount.
Notable Cards
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Smothering Tithe
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Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer
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Grim Monolith
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Wheel of Fortune
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Arcane Signet
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Mindbreak Trap
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Silence
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Ad Nauseam
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Wishclaw Talisman
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Chrome Mox
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Esper Sentinel
Gameplay Summary
The game began with each player developing their board early and setting up key mana sources and creatures.
Nate on Tymna the Weaver and Kraum, running a Blue Farm deck, quickly established a strong mana base with cards like Grim Monolith and Smothering Tithe, generating significant treasures and card draw.
This early advantage enabled explosive turns, especially when cracking fetchlands and using Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer to ramp and draw cards.
Cam on Vivi Ornitier utilized card selection spells like Ponder and Preordain to smooth out the hand and build towards a Curiosity combo, while Philip piloted the ultra-turbo Food Chain deck featuring Ukkima and Cazur, focusing on combo enablers and mana acceleration.
Dylan's Yoshimaru and Thrasios deck contributed aggression and utility but was more reactive early on. A critical turning point came when Vivi attempted a Wheel of Fortune to refill hand and push through gas, triggering Vivv's damage triggers and drawing multiple cards.
However, this was met with strong disruption from Philip, who cast Silence followed by a Mindbreak Trap to exile all of Vivi's key spells, effectively stalling the combo.
In response, Vivi used Wishclaw Talisman to recast the commander, maintaining some board presence but losing tempo.
Meanwhile, Nate's Blue Farm deck capitalized on the board state with multiple treasures and card advantage, having resolved Ad Nauseam and prepared to close out the game.
The game revolved around managing explosive mana production, protecting combo pieces, and timely interaction to disrupt opponents’ strategies, especially against the Food Chain and Blue Farm decks' combo potential.
