EDH Gameplay - Episode 93: Tayam VS Halana & Alena VS Sygg VS Anje

Deck Strategies

• 

  Anje Falkenrath

  Leverages a heavy madness and discard theme, using cards that benefit from discarding to generate value, create board presence with tokens, and pressure opponents while maintaining card advantage.

• 

  Sygg, River Cutthroat

  Focuses on dealing damage to opponents and losing life to trigger card draw abilities, supported by numerous mana rocks to cast impactful spells and maintain tempo.

• 

  Tayam, Luminous Enigma

  Builds around permanents with mana value three or less, utilizing counters and creatures that enter with counters to maintain a resilient board and activate powerful commander abilities.

• Halana & Alena, Partners

  Centers on placing and proliferating +1/+1 counters on creatures, supported by legendary synergies and combat enhancements to create large threats and control the battlefield.

Gameplay Insights

• 1

  Martin’s timely use of Terminal Agony to destroy Calvin’s planeswalker Ugin shifted momentum by removing a major threat and enabling a strong offensive with zombie tokens.

• 2

  Calvin’s use of Bard's Class and Evolution Sage to proliferate +1/+1 counters showcased effective synergy in building board presence and applying pressure through combat.

• 3

  Phil’s multiple missed land drops hindered his ability to capitalize on his mana rocks and card draw engines, limiting his mid-game impact.

• 4

  Martin’s consistent activation of Anje’s discard ability to cast spells for their madness cost allowed for efficient resource use and continual board development under pressure.

• 5

  Counterspell interaction with Calvin’s Decimate highlighted the importance of protecting key permanents and timing board wipes carefully within multiplayer dynamics.

Notable Cards

• 

  Terminal Agony

• 

  Evolution Sage

• 

  Psychosis Crawler

• 

  Cryptic Command

• 

  Field of the Dead

• 

  Elixir of Immortality

Summary

The game started with each player establishing their board and mana base, with Anje Falkenrath focusing on a madness and discard synergies, Sygg aiming for card draw through life loss and damage, Tayam emphasizing low mana cost permanents and counters, and Halana & Alena building up plus one plus one counters and legendary synergies. Early plays included ramp and setting up key creatures like Evolution Sage and various utility lands. Calvin (Halana & Alena) leveraged his commander and supporting creatures to proliferate counters and build threats while Martin (Anje) used discard and madness mechanics to generate tokens and apply pressure. A key turning point was Martin utilizing Terminal Agony to remove Calvin's planeswalker, Ugin, and subsequently attacking with zombie tokens to eliminate it, shifting the board state in his favor. Calvin responded with aggressive counter-proliferation and combat actions, but Martin's persistent madness activations and token generation kept him alive and threatening. Meanwhile, Phil (Sygg) struggled with land drops but maintained board presence with card draw engines and artifacts. Hardy (Tayam) stuck to his strategy of creatures with counters but was disrupted by board wipes and targeted removal. The game featured dynamic interactions revolving around counters, discard, and combat damage, with madness-fueled spells and proliferate mechanics playing pivotal roles. Martin’s continual use of madness and token swarms, paired with targeted removal of key threats, positioned him strongly in the mid-game phase.