Deck & Commander Strategies
Yawgmoth, Thran Physician
Control the board by sacrificing creatures and proliferating counters to poison opponents, while assembling combos like Interflux Reservoir to draw cards and lock down the game.
Tayam, Luminous Enigma
Manipulate +1/+1 and -1/-1 counters with a self-mill and landfall subtheme to go wide and tall, using proliferate and combos to finish opponents through poison or overwhelming board presence.
Fynn, the Fangbearer
Apply poison counters through deathtouch creatures and poison synergy, using vehicles and aggressive attacks to quickly accumulate 10 poison counters and win.
Radiant, Archangel
Deploy a flying hatebear tribal deck to disrupt opponents’ strategies and control the air, growing Radiant for commander damage to close out the game.
Gameplay Insights
- 1
Proliferate was a crucial mechanic repeatedly used to increase poison counters and +1/+1 counters, accelerating win conditions and board development.
- 2
Tayam’s ability to remove vigilance counters to sacrifice creatures and generate mirror tokens created resilience and value through repeated ETB effects.
- 3
Yawgmoth’s strategy of sacrificing mirrored tokens to place -1/-1 counters on opponents’ creatures disrupted combat and board presence effectively.
- 4
Finn’s deathtouch creatures paired with poison counters pressured opponents aggressively, forcing defensive plays early on.
- 5
Radiant’s flying hatebears slowed down opponents and maintained air dominance, enabling Radiant to grow into a significant commander damage threat.
- 6
Multiple players utilized card draw and recursion synergies (e.g., Mask of Memory, Torment of Hellfire) to maintain hand advantage and keep pressure on opponents.
Notable Cards
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Genesis Chamber
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Smuggler's Copter
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Yahenni, Undying Partisan
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Twilight Prophet
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Evolution Sage
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Nicol Bolas, the Ravager // Nicol Bolas, the Arisen
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Mask of Memory
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Bygone Bishop
Gameplay Summary
The game began with players developing their boards with early drops and setting up their synergies.
Finn, the Fangbearer applied early pressure with deathtouch creatures and poison counters, steadily pushing opponents toward a poison win condition.
Yawgmoth, Thran Physician focused on generating value through sacrificing creatures and proliferating poison counters while assembling combo pieces like Interflux Reservoir and City’s Blessing to dominate later turns.
Radiant, Archangel played a controlling hatebear and flying tribal strategy, slowing opponents and growing into a commander damage threat.
Tayam, Luminous Enigma utilized counters manipulation with +1/+1 and -1/-1 counters, along with landfall and self-mill subthemes, to control the board and proliferate counters on opponents, aiming for a combo finish involving Evolution Sage and Nicol Bolas, the Ravager. Key turning points included a series of proliferate effects and sacrifice triggers around Yawgmoth’s board, which kept poison counters ticking up and disrupted opponents’ creatures.
Tayam’s repeated use of vigilance counters and sacrifice to reset creatures provided resilience and incremental advantage, while Radiant’s hatebears and flyers maintained pressure and defense.
The interplay of poison counters, proliferate, and token generation created dynamic board states with fluctuating control.
The game’s tension revolved around managing these incremental advantages until a lethal combo or commander damage finish could be secured.