Command & Counter cEDH - Tayam v. Etali v. Derevi v. Toxrill

Deck Strategies

• 

  Tayam, Luminous Enigma

  Focuses on flicker effects and card advantage, leveraging value from creatures entering and leaving the battlefield repeatedly.

• 

  Etali, Primal Conqueror

  Uses Etali's ability to exile cards from opponents' decks when attacking, combined with flicker effects to repeatedly cast powerful spells and generate infinite mana and value.

• 

  Derevi, Empyrial Tactician

  Employs stax and control elements to disrupt opponents' plays while using Derevi's ability to tap and untap permanents, enabling combo interactions and board control.

• 

  Toxrill, the Corrosive

  Utilizes infect and poison counters to apply pressure and win through poison damage, often accelerating with ramp and removal.

Gameplay Insights

• 1

  Etali's flicker triggers combined with Hallbreaker Horror enabled repeated bouncing and recasting of mana rocks, producing infinite mana and allowing casting of multiple tutors and key spells.

• 2

  Silence was played to prevent opponents from responding during Etali's flicker sequence, but it only affected future spells, not those already on the stack.

• 3

  Hallbreaker Horror's ability to bounce spells and permanents was critical in locking down the board and enabling the infinite mana combo.

• 4

  Players attempted to disrupt combos with bounce and stax effects, but the infinite mana engine proved resilient once established.

• 5

  Managing timing of flicker and bounce effects around opponents' interaction windows was key to successfully executing the combo.

Notable Cards

• 

  Mana Crypt

• 

  Vexing Shusher

• 

  Silence

• 

  Demonic Tutor

• 

  Vampiric Tutor

• 

  Runic Repetition

• 

  Cavern of Souls

Summary

The game began with players developing their mana bases and setting up early board states, including mana rocks like Mana Crypt and Soul Ring. Etali's flicker ability played a pivotal role mid-game, especially when combined with Hallbreaker Horror and other spells, enabling a powerful combo sequence. This combo exploited Hallbreaker Horror's ability to bounce spells and permanents, leading to infinite mana generation through repeated casting and bouncing of mana rocks. The player piloting Etali capitalized on this infinite mana combo by casting spells such as Demonic Tutor and Vampiric Tutor, setting up a win condition that quickly closed the game. Key interruptions like Silence were noted as potential counters to Etali's flicker-triggered combos but were ultimately insufficient in this match. The game ended with Etali's player successfully leveraging the flicker synergy and infinite mana to exile Etali and secure the win.