Deck & Commander Strategies
Syr Vondam, the Lucent
A go-wide aggressive deck that boosts creatures with +1/+0 and grants deathtouch when Syr Vondam enters or attacks, enabling efficient combat damage and board control through combat tricks and lifelink synergy.
Zidane, Tantalus Thief
A theft and tempo deck focused on stealing opponents' creatures, untapping them, granting haste and lifelink for immediate aggressive swings, then returning them to gain treasure tokens for ramp and card advantage.
Black Waltz No. 3
A control-oriented wizard deck that uses noncreature spells to deal direct damage to creatures or players, leveraging flying and deathtouch for defensive and offensive pressure while controlling the board with burn spells.
Kishla Skimmer
A graveyard-centric deck that draws cards when cards leave the graveyard, combined with aggressive flying creatures and ramp through treasure tokens, enabling a recursive and resource-heavy midrange plan.
Gameplay Insights
- 1
Using Wasteful Harvest in response to removal allowed recovery of a land card, triggering Syr Vondam's draw ability and maintaining tempo despite losing a key creature.
- 2
Enchanting Kishla Skimmer with Shiny Impetus to give it goad and boost power created a recurring threat that generated treasure tokens, accelerating mana and card draw.
- 3
Zidane's ability to steal and immediately attack with opponents' creatures created pressure and forced opponents to respond quickly, shaping combat decisions.
- 4
Players carefully managed the timing of attacks and spells, with some turns featuring skipped phases to avoid responses and maximize impact of combat damage and triggers.
- 5
The interaction between graveyard triggers and card draw was pivotal, particularly with Kishla Skimmer's once-per-turn draw when cards leave the graveyard, encouraging graveyard manipulation strategies.
Notable Cards
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Syr Vondam, the Lucent
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Zidane, Tantalus Thief
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Black Waltz No. 3
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Kishla Skimmer
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Shiny Impetus
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Wasteful Harvest
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Relic of Progenitus
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Arcane Signet
Gameplay Summary
The game started with each player setting up their mana base and early board presence, with notable early plays including Syr Vondam the Lucent buffing creatures with deathtouch and lifelink, and Zidane, Tantalus Thief stealing and leveraging opponents' creatures for aggressive swings.
The early turns saw a mix of ramp, card draw, and board development, with players preparing for mid-game interactions.
A key moment occurred when Kisha Skimmer was enchanted with Shiny Impetus, giving it goad and making it a significant threat that generated treasure tokens each attack, ramping her resources and pressuring opponents. Mid-game, there was a tense exchange involving removal and card advantage plays: Black Waltz No.
3's commander was targeted with removal, but a clever response with Wasteful Harvest milled cards to recover value, including lands to maintain mana development.
The interplay of graveyard mechanics, notably Kisha Skimmer's ability to draw cards when cards leave the graveyard, added a layer of complexity and resource advantage.
The game featured tight strategic decisions around attacking, blocking, and timing spells, with each player leveraging their commander's unique synergy to maintain board presence and pressure.
Overall, the game unfolded as a dynamic battle of tempo, resource management, and tactical removal, setting the stage for a close contest to advance to the championship round.
