Zara vs Rionya vs Minn vs Traxos EDH / CMDR game play for Magic: The Gathering

Deck Strategies

• 

  Zara, Renegade Recruiter

  Utilizes Zara's ability to look at opponents' hands and put creatures into play tapped and attacking, generating significant card advantage and board presence through token creation and treasure generation from creatures entering the battlefield.

• 

  Rionya, Fire Dancer

  A red prowess-themed deck that casts many instant and sorcery spells to trigger Rionya's ability, generating value from spells and aggressive creatures to maintain pressure and close out the game quickly.

• 

  Minn, Wily Illusionist

  Focuses on drawing cards and creating illusion tokens by casting spells and exploiting creatures entering and leaving the battlefield, which also synergizes with +1/+1 counters on Toothy, growing the board over time.

• 

  Traxos, Scourge of Kroog

  An artifact and equipment based deck that uses heavy equipment like Darksteel Plate and Mask of Avacyn to make Traxos a resilient and powerful attacker, gaining multiple combat phases and life gain to dominate the battlefield.

Gameplay Insights

• 1

  Zara's ability to put creatures tapped and attacking from opponents' hands allowed for aggressive board states and treasure generation, significantly pressuring opponents early on.

• 2

  Traxos equipped with multiple pieces of equipment turned into a major combat threat, often gaining extra combat steps and life gain that helped stabilize and push damage through blockers.

• 3

  Minn's strategy to create illusion tokens and draw multiple cards synergized extremely well with Toothy's +1/+1 counters, enabling a growing board and card advantage throughout the game.

• 4

  The use of kicked Rite of Replication on Mirrorwing Dragon, combined with token creation from Cackling Counterpart and other cloning effects, created overwhelming board states for Zara's player.

• 5

  Key moments included mass token generation and multiple combat phases, leveraging artifact synergies like Darksteel Plate and Mask of Avacyn to keep key creatures like Traxos alive and attacking.

• 6

  Zindervial Judgment was used tactically to bounce creatures and draw multiple cards, generating additional value and disrupting opponents' tempo.

• 7

  Toothy's repeated bouncing and card draw from leaving and entering the battlefield helped Maxwell maintain card advantage and board presence in the midgame.

Notable Cards

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  Zara, Renegade Recruiter

• 

  Traxos, Scourge of Kroog

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  Minn, Wily Illusionist

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  Toothy, Imaginary Friend

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  Phantasmal Image

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  Mirror-Mad Phantasm

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  Cackling Counterpart

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  Solemn Simulacrum

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  Darksteel Plate

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  Mask of Avacyn

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  Cursed Mirror

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  Faithless Looting

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  Sculpting Steel

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  Archmage Emeritus

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  Coveted Jewel

Summary

The game began with players developing their mana bases and casting early utility creatures and artifacts, setting the stage for their strategies. Traxos, Scourge of Kroog equipped with Darksteel Plate and Mask of Avacyn, became a formidable attacker, gaining multiple strikes and life gains from combat. Zara, Renegade Recruiter was heavily utilized to generate card advantage by allowing the player to look at opponents' hands and put creatures into play tapped and attacking, which synergized well with tokens and treasure generation. Minn, Wily Illusionist focused on drawing cards and generating illusion tokens, leveraging interactions with creatures entering and leaving the battlefield to pile on counters on Toothy, a key creature that grew larger throughout the game. Rionya, Fire Dancer led a red-based prowess deck that used spells and tokens to build board presence and apply pressure.