Tarkir: Dragonstorm PACK TACTICS ft. Teval, Felothar, Eshki, Zurgo [ EDH / Commander Gameplay ]

Deck Strategies

• 

  Teval, the Balanced Scale

  Defensive walls and token generation combined with abilities that allow walls and creatures with defender to attack, utilizing toughness as damage and drawing cards by sacrificing creatures, ultimately turning a defensive board into an offensive threat.

• 

  Felothar the Steadfast

  Warrior tribal and token synergy, generating numerous warrior tokens to control the board and apply steady pressure, relying on incremental value and attrition to wear down opponents.

• 

  Eshki, Temur's Roar

  Aggressive creature-based strategy focused on playing continuous threats to overwhelm opponents quickly, forcing them to respond to a relentless onslaught of creatures.

• 

  Zurgo Stormrender

  Token creation combined with sacrifice outlets and graveyard interactions, generating warrior tokens that provide card draw or deal damage when sacrificed, leveraging graveyard recursion and land synergy to maintain pressure.

Gameplay Insights

• 1

  Teval's deck capitalizes on the unusual mechanic of attacking with walls by using creatures and effects that allow defenders to attack and deal damage based on toughness, creating a unique defensive-to-offensive play pattern.

• 2

  Zurgo Stormrender's token sacrifice synergy is at its best when the player controls how tokens die, making sacrifice outlets critical to maintaining card advantage and board presence.

• 3

  Eshki's aggressive, threat-dense playstyle forces opponents into reactive positions, highlighting the importance of early and continuous pressure in multiplayer Commander games.

• 4

  Felothar's steady token generation and warrior tribal synergy provide a resilient board state that can endure board wipes and attrition battles.

• 5

  The use of Primal Surge in Zurgo's deck was more of a happy coincidence than the primary win condition, suggesting the deck is built around more consistent token and sacrifice synergies rather than top-deck combos.

• 6

  Players noted the importance of including more protection and interaction in Teval's deck to keep the commander alive, demonstrating the vulnerability of relying heavily on a single key piece.

• 7

  The discussion about Living End and sacrifice outlets in Zurgo's deck indicates a tension between building a pure reanimator strategy and maintaining the token sacrifice identity, reflecting the challenges of balancing synergy and archetype purity.

Notable Cards

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  Primal Surge

• 

  Zurgo Stormrender

• 

  Felothar the Steadfast

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  Eshki, Temur's Roar

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  Teval, the Balanced Scale

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  Living End

• 

  Glorious Protector

• 

  Karmic Guide

Summary

The game featured four unique commanders each showcasing distinct strategies reflective of their color identities and playstyles. Teval, the Balanced Scale, focused on a defensive token and wall-based build, leveraging creatures with high toughness and abilities that enable walls and defenders to attack, eventually turning these defensive units into formidable threats. Felothar the Steadfast played a value-oriented game, generating warrior tokens and pressuring opponents through incremental advantage and attrition. Eshki, Temur's Roar adopted a threat-dense, aggressive strategy by playing continuous creatures that demand answers from opponents, aiming to overwhelm through sheer board presence. Zurgo Stormrender emphasized a sacrifice and token synergy strategy, creating warrior tokens that generate card draw or deal damage when sacrificed, while also milling lands to replay and fuel the graveyard for additional value. Key turning points included Eshki's relentless threat deployment putting pressure on the table, forcing opponents into difficult defensive positions. Teval's walls and draw engine matured into a powerful late-game presence able to punch through defenses. Zurgo's combination of token generation and sacrifice outlets created a recurring value loop that challenged opponents’ removal and board wipes. While Felothar focused on steady token generation and board control, the overall game revolved around managing threats and leveraging each commander’s unique synergy to outlast and outpace opponents, with no single combo finish dominating but rather tempo and incremental advantages deciding the flow.