Arcane Series I Finals - Kinnan v Borborygmos and Fblthp v Thrasios/Vial Smasher v Dargo/Thrasios thumbnail Blurred backdrop thumbnail
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Arcane Series I Finals - Kinnan v Borborygmos and Fblthp v Thrasios/Vial Smasher v Dargo/Thrasios

Combat Step


Commanders featured in this Gameplay Reviewed & Verified

Deck & Commander Strategies

  • Borborygmos and Fblthp

    Borborygmos and Fblthp

    Leverages land discard and massive card draw to quickly cycle through the deck, uses artifacts and mana acceleration to enable combo wins, often with infinite mana loops involving Timna Sabertooth.

  • Kinnan, Bonder Prodigy

    Kinnan, Bonder Prodigy

    Generates large amounts of mana through mana dorks and artifact ramp, aiming to cast big spells and combos with minimal land drops, relying on efficient mana production rather than heavy land bases.

  • Thrasios, Triton Hero Vial Smasher the Fierce

    Thrasios, Triton Hero / Vial Smasher the Fierce

    Utilizes free spells and artifact synergies to generate value and disruption, with a focus on spell triggers and aggressive plays despite a low land count.

  • Thrasios, Triton Hero Dargo, the Shipwrecker

    Thrasios, Triton Hero / Dargo, the Shipwrecker

    Combines artifact ramp and disruption with graveyard hate like Dothy, Void Walker, aiming to control the board state and prevent opponents from leveraging graveyard combos.

Gameplay Insights

  • 1

    Early ramping with artifact mana rocks and mana dorks was crucial for all decks to enable explosive plays quickly.

  • 2

    Borborygmos and Fblthp’s ability to discard lands to draw cards created pressure to find combo pieces fast, but the deck’s slower start made it vulnerable to disruption.

  • 3

    Dothy, Void Walker was a key piece of graveyard hate, targeting decks running Underworld Breach to limit their recursion and combo potential.

  • 4

    Players engaged in political considerations around resolving high-impact spells like Finale of Devastation, balancing counterspells and threats to maintain board presence and tempo.

  • 5

    The interaction between Timna Sabertooth and Borborygmos allowed for potential infinite mana combos by bouncing and recasting creatures, forming a critical win condition for that deck.

  • 6

    Low land counts in some decks made mana efficiency and resource management essential, influencing decisions around keeping risky hands and sequencing plays.

Notable Cards

  • Borborygmos and Fblthp

    Borborygmos and Fblthp

  • Finale of Devastation

    Finale of Devastation

  • Dockside Extortionist

    Dockside Extortionist

  • Birds of Paradise

    Birds of Paradise

  • Manamorphose

    Manamorphose

Gameplay Summary

The final game of the Arcane Series I cEDH tournament featured intense early ramping from all four decks with Borborygmos and Fblthp leading an aggressive land-discard and card draw strategy.

Borborygmos and Fblthp quickly established board presence with a turn-one Gamble and followed up with explosive mana acceleration into powerful artifacts like Dockside Extortionist and Finale of Devastation.

Meanwhile, Kinnan aimed to generate vast amounts of mana using creatures like Birds of Paradise while keeping a low land count, relying on high-impact spells and efficient mana production.

The Thrasios/Vial Smasher and Thrasios/Dargo decks focused on leveraging free spells, artifact synergies, and disruption, with key plays like casting Dothy, Void Walker to shut down graveyard strategies, a relevant interaction given multiple opponents ran Underworld Breach.

The game evolved into a slow, grindy battle where players carefully navigated counterspells and political decisions surrounding powerful spells resolving, with Borborygmos and Fblthp poised to combo off via land discard and infinite mana loops involving Timna Sabertooth.

The critical turning point revolved around whether Borborygmos could resolve the Finale of Devastation and generate infinite mana to draw out the deck and win, while the other players sought to stabilize and disrupt the combo threat.

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