Noyan Dar vs Chulane vs Varina vs Muldrotha EDH / CMDR game play for Magic: The Gathering

Deck Strategies

• 

  Chulane, Teller of Tales

  A creature-based value deck focusing on casting creatures to draw cards, generate additional mana, and reuse key creatures with bounce effects to maintain card advantage and tempo.

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  Varina, Lich Queen

  A zombie tribal deck that uses sacrifice outlets and card draw from zombie creatures to generate value and maintain pressure, with a win condition centered around overwhelming opponents with zombie tokens.

• 

  Muldrotha, the Gravetide

  A graveyard recursion deck that plays permanents from the graveyard each turn, enabling value and board presence through repeated use of lands, creatures, and other permanents.

• 

  Noyan Dar, Roil Shaper

  An artifact ramp deck that uses Noyan Dar’s ability to place +1/+1 counters on artifacts and grant protection, growing a formidable threat like Darksteel Citadel while using tutors and card draw to find key pieces.

Gameplay Insights

• 1

  Matt’s use of Noyan Dar’s ability to put counters on Darksteel Citadel and grant it protection was crucial to preserving his key threat through board wipes.

• 2

  Aiden’s Food Chain combo attempt was effectively disrupted by a timely Heliod’s Intervention, showcasing the importance of interaction against combo strategies.

• 3

  The repeated use of Eternal Witness through Chulane’s bounce ability allowed Aiden to recycle valuable cards and maintain pressure.

• 4

  Sam’s Muldrotha leveraged graveyard recursion to replay creatures and generate additional tokens, providing resilience after board clears.

• 5

  Timing and sequencing of removal and protective effects heavily influenced the flow, emphasizing the value of protecting key permanents while disrupting opponents’ combos.

Notable Cards

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  Darksteel Citadel

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  Food Chain

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  Eternal Witness

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  Devoted Druid

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  Wrath of God

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  Heliod's Intervention

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  Mother of Runes

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  Intruder Alarm

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  Oracle of Mul Daya

Summary

The game begins with players establishing their mana bases and deploying early ramp and utility creatures to set up their strategies. Aiden on Chulane focuses on deploying creatures like Devoted Druid and Eternal Witness to generate value and draw cards, while Matt on Noyan Dar uses artifact ramp and tutors like Enlightened Tutor to find key spells such as Heuristic Study. Sam on Muldrotha and Erik on Varina develop their boards with sacrifice synergies and zombie tokens, respectively. Early skirmishes include targeted removal and value plays, with Matt leveraging Noyan Dar’s ability to grow a Darksteel Citadel into a powerful threat through multiple +1/+1 counters and protection granted by creatures like Mother of Runes. A turning point occurs when Eric (Varina) casts Wrath of God, wiping much of the board, but Matt uses Noyan Dar’s ability to protect his Citadel from the white damage, maintaining a significant presence. Aiden attempts to combo with Food Chain but is disrupted by a well-timed Heliod’s Intervention from Matt. The game features several recursive plays, including repeated Eternal Witness triggers and Chulane’s bounce effect to reuse creatures. Matt’s Noyan Dar deck capitalizes on artifact-based ramp and incremental growth, while others leverage graveyard recursion and creature token generation. The game’s flow emphasizes interaction, tempo swings, and resource management leading toward a board state where Matt’s Citadel becomes an overwhelming threat poised to close out the game.