cEDH Gameplay: Raffine vs Xolatoyac vs Rog/Kraum vs Rocco

Deck Strategies

• 

  Raffine, Scheming Seer

  Utilizes graveyard recursion and token generation to flood the board and cast large spells with convoke, aiming to overwhelm opponents with card advantage and board presence.

• 

  Xolatoyac, the Smiling Flood

  Focuses on control and ramp by placing flood counters to untap permanents, enabling stax elements like Stasis and Tangle Wire while generating treasures and incremental value.

• 

  Rograkh, Son of Rohgahh and Kraum, Ludevic's Opus

  Combines ramp and disruption with Magus of the Moon to slow opponents and aggressive creatures like Ragavan for early pressure and resource denial.

• 

  Rocco, Cabaretti Caterer

  Relies on ramp and token generation to build board presence and sustain pressure through repeated threat deployment.

Gameplay Insights

• 1

  Eli maximized convoke synergy by repeatedly tutoring and casting cards face down, enabling a large board state quickly.

• 2

  Rage’s use of flood counters on non-basic lands combined with Stasis created a powerful lock that allowed repeated untapping of key permanents while opponents remained locked down.

• 3

  The interaction between Stasis and Tangle Wire applied severe resource denial, forcing players to carefully manage their permanents and timing.

• 4

  Rage’s ability to generate treasure tokens each turn under Stasis kept his mana available for critical plays, maintaining pressure despite the lock.

• 5

  Levi’s early Magus of the Moon played a pivotal role in slowing down color fixing and ramp for opponents, although it was ultimately not enough against the stasis lock.

Notable Cards

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  Animate Dead

• 

  Peer into the Abyss

• 

  Mindbreak Trap

• 

  Gilded Drake

• 

  Magus of the Moon

• 

  Stasis

• 

  Tangle Wire

• 

  Scavenging Ooze

• 

  Priest of Titania

Summary

The game started with each player establishing their early board presence and ramping mana quickly. Eli, piloting Raffine, Scheming Seer, demonstrated a powerful token and graveyard synergy by animating Hoarding Brood Lord with Animate Dead and then using convoke to cast peer into the abyss, threatening massive card draw. Rage, on Xolatoyac, leveraged flood counters to untap permanents and disrupt opponents while generating treasures, ramping aggressively with cards like Gilded Drake and Thassa's Triton. Levi's partner pair Rograkh and Kraum focused on ramp and disruption, exemplified by casting Magus of the Moon to slow opponents and dashing Ragavan for pressure. J Rock on Rocco used ramp and token generation to maintain board presence but was less aggressive early on. A key turning point occurred when Rage resolved Stasis, locking down untaps and forcing players into a stasis lock, which was a significant tempo swing. Eli attempted to break through by amassing an orc army and using sacrifice outlets to generate mana and threats, but Rage’s Scavenging Ooze and Priest of Titania maintained board control and resource advantage. The interplay of flood counters by Xolatoyac allowed Rage to repeatedly untap permanents despite Stasis, maintaining incremental advantage through treasures and mana, which ultimately overwhelmed the other players. The game showcased high-level interactions of stax elements, token generation, and graveyard recursion, with Rage’s ability to maintain lock pieces and generate resources under the stasis effect being pivotal to the eventual victory.