#cedh Gameplay: How good is Talion on One?

Deck Strategies

• 

  Talion, the Kindly Lord

  Early board presence focused on incremental damage and disruption using Talion's ability to drain life and generate card advantage, supported by efficient creatures and interaction to control opponents and close out the game quickly.

• 

  Kenrith, the Returned King

  A versatile midrange strategy using ramp, tutors, and flexible interaction to control the board and leverage Kenrith's multiple activated abilities for life gain, damage, and utility, aiming to outvalue opponents and seize the win through incremental advantage.

• 

  Armix, Filigree Thrasher

  Aggressive artifact synergy and mana acceleration to deploy commanders and threats early, using interaction like Chain of Vapor for tempo and disruption, aiming to overwhelm opponents with efficient value creatures and spells.

• 

  Stella Lee, Wild Card

  A toolbox approach with tutors and interaction to assemble key pieces and control the board, while ramping into powerful spells and creatures to maintain pressure and disrupt opponents’ strategies.

• 

  Thrasios, Triton Hero

  Card advantage and combo potential through scrying and drawing, leveraging efficient mana ramp and utility creatures to assemble win conditions and outpace opponents with incremental advantage.

Gameplay Insights

• 1

  Casting Talion on turn one allowed early incremental damage and disruption that pressured opponents before they could fully develop their boards.

• 2

  Utilizing Deathrite Shaman to trigger Talion multiple times accelerated damage and card advantage, making Talion’s presence more impactful.

• 3

  The use of bounce spells like Chain of Vapor on key creatures disrupted opponents’ tempo and protected Talion from blockers or removal.

• 4

  Careful management of trigger stacks and paying life to cast Mental Misstep prevented a lethal Demonic Consultation, buying crucial time.

• 5

  Scrying and draw manipulation with cards like Thrasios and Archist of Omaa helped maintain card advantage and find necessary interaction to close out the game.

Notable Cards

• 

  Talion, the Kindly Lord

• 

  Jeweled Lotus

• 

  Deathrite Shaman

• 

  Chain of Vapor

• 

  Wishclaw Talisman

• 

  Demonic Consultation

• 

  Mental Misstep

Summary

The game started with Joseph deploying Talion, the Kindly Lord on turn one, aiming to leverage Talion's ability early. Players developed their boards with ramp and interaction, including Jeweled Lotus from Armix and various tutors and disruption from Kenrith and Stella Lee. Talion steadily chipped away at opponents' life totals through incremental damage and forced discards. A pivotal moment occurred when Joseph cast Deathrite Shaman to further trigger Talion's damage and accelerate his board presence. The game saw several responses and counterplays, including Archist of Omaa's life gain and card draw triggered by fetch lands and interaction with Chain of Vapor. Towards midgame, Talion’s incremental damage and disruption culminated in a lethal attack sequence after a key bounce and trigger stack manipulation, effectively ending the game before opponents could stabilize or execute their plans.