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Zedruu vs Arjun vs Grand Arbiter vs Heliod EDH / CMDR for Magic: The Gathering

MTG Muddstah

Commanders featured in this video Reviewed & Verified

Decklist

Deck Strategies

  • Zedruu the Greathearted

    Zedruu the Greathearted

    Utilizes enchantment-based control and political strategies by donating permanents to opponents while drawing cards, controlling the board with enchantments like Ghostly Prison and Stranglehold, and recurring key enchantments with creatures like Academy Rector.

  • Arjun, the Shifting Flame

    Arjun, the Shifting Flame

    Focuses on massive card draw through Arjun's ability combined with incremental board presence from Chasm Skulker, while aiming to generate large mana pools for explosive spells and maintaining hand size with card draw spells and wheel effects.

  • Grand Arbiter Augustin IV

    Grand Arbiter Augustin IV

    Imposes taxing effects on opponents to slow down their plays, uses land tax to gain card advantage, and leverages control elements to maintain board presence and disrupt opponents' strategies.

  • Heliod, God of the Sun

    Heliod, God of the Sun

    Builds a wide board of creatures and tokens, enhances them with equipment and auras like Angelic Destiny to overwhelm opponents quickly, and capitalizes on Heliod's indestructibility and life-linking abilities.

Gameplay Insights

  • 1

    Vanessa leveraged land tax repeatedly to maintain a strong card advantage, which was pivotal in outpacing other players' resources.

  • 2

    Louie effectively used equipment like Swiftfoot Boots and Angelic Destiny to protect key creatures from control effects and to push through significant damage.

  • 3

    The Zedruu player used enchantments like Ghostly Prison and Stranglehold to discourage attacks and prevent opponents from taking extra turns, which slowed down more aggressive strategies.

  • 4

    Vince's attempt at explosive mana generation with Mana Geyser was countered by timely Swan Song, demonstrating the importance of interaction in high-powered games.

  • 5

    Strategic use of Imprison in the Moon to neutralize threatening creatures like Chasm Skulker significantly shifted the balance of power.

  • 6

    The combination of Academy Rector and enchantment recursion provided the Zedruu player with key tools to maintain board control and pressure opponents.

Notable Cards

  • Ghostly Prison

    Ghostly Prison

  • Stranglehold

    Stranglehold

  • Mystic Remora

    Mystic Remora

  • Chasm Skulker

    Chasm Skulker

  • Land Tax

    Land Tax

  • Angelic Destiny

    Angelic Destiny

  • Academy Rector

    Academy Rector

  • Swan Song

    Swan Song

  • Mana Geyser

    Mana Geyser

  • Supreme Verdict

    Supreme Verdict

Summary

The game opened with players establishing their mana bases and early board presence, with Vanessa's Grand Arbiter Augustin IV deck focusing on land tax to generate card advantage, while Louie developed a Heliod, God of the Sun deck with aggressive equipment and tokens. Meanwhile, Vince's Arjun, the Shifting Flame deck began accumulating card draw and incremental board development through Chasm Skulker and Mystical Remora, and the Zedruu player set up enchantment-based control and political tools. Early interactions revolved around card advantage engines and taxing effects, with Vanessa's Grand Arbiter imposing costs on opponents and Zedruu leveraging enchantments like Ghostly Prison and Stranglehold to slow aggressive plays and prevent extra turns by blue decks. A key turning point came when Louie equipped Heliod's Knight with powerful equipment like Swiftfoot Boots and Sword of the Animist, enabling significant early damage and board control. Vanessa used land tax repeatedly to maintain card advantage and employed Imprison in the Moon to neutralize Vince's Chasm Skulker. Vince tried to generate a large mana pool with cards like Mana Geyser but was thwarted by Vanessa's timely Swan Song and Grand Arbiter's taxing presence. The Zedruu player capitalized on enchantment recursion with Academy Rector and used Ghostly Prison and Stranglehold to protect their life total and disrupt opponents' strategies. The game featured multiple board wipes and strategic plays to maintain tempo and control, with players carefully managing resources to leverage their commanders' strengths. The win condition for each player centered on either overwhelming board presence (Heliod), controlling the game through taxing and disruption (Grand Arbiter), or leveraging enchantment synergies and political plays (Zedruu and Arjun).

Description

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No new video next week (March 20th, 2017)! We’ll be still getting out internet sorted out.

Another wonderful gameplay from my buddies at L’Abyss. Check out this blue heavy EDH game featuring some old favorites! Can Zedruu give enough away to win? Does Grand Arbiter tax the team? How huge of an army can Heliod raise? What exactly does Arjun with all those wheels do? Tune in to find out.

Zedruu Decklist: tappedout.net/mtg-decks/zedruu-the-hatehearted

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“Clash Defiant” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

Zedruu vs Arjun vs Grand Arbiter vs Heliod EDH / CMDR for Magic: The Gathering