I Hate Your Deck #95 Ishkanah v Arna Keenerüd v Lazav v Torbran || Commander Gameplay MTG EDH

Deck Strategies

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  Arna Kennerüd, Skycaptain

  A human Knight tribal deck focused on assembling numerous legendary Templar Knights and legendary artifacts, using counter doubling and token copying of attached permanents to generate overwhelming board presence.

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  Lazav, the Multifarious

  A graveyard-based deck that fills the graveyard with big creatures, then uses Lazav’s activated ability to become copies of those creatures, enabling him to attack with powerful threats.

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  Torbran, Thane of Red Fell

  An aggressive mono-red deck that leverages small ping creatures and burn spells enhanced by Torbran’s damage boost to quickly reduce opponents’ life totals.

• 

  Ishkanah, Grafwidow

  A control-oriented deck that aims to create a large swarm of green spider tokens using Delirium and then drains opponents’ life totals based on the number of spiders controlled.

Gameplay Insights

• 1

  Players prioritized early mana development and key utility creatures to establish board presence and disrupt opponents’ plans, exemplified by targeted removal of Deathrite Shaman.

• 2

  Arna Kennerüd’s deck uses artifact equipment early to ramp and prepare for explosive turns involving token doubling and counter manipulation.

• 3

  Lazav’s player utilized card draw and tutor spells to carefully set up the graveyard for future powerful copies, maximizing Lazav’s transformational ability.

• 4

  Torbran’s deck employed aggressive tactics with burn and ping effects, amplified by Torbran’s ability, aiming to end the game quickly before opponents could stabilize.

• 5

  Ishkanah’s strategy involved patiently assembling Delirium and generating spider tokens to leverage a large life drain activation, potentially turning the tide in later turns.

• 6

  Power Surge created a ticking damage effect that penalized untapped lands during upkeep, forcing careful resource management from affected players.

Notable Cards

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  Arna Kennerüd, Skycaptain

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  Lazav, the Multifarious

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  Torbran, Thane of Red Fell

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  Ishkanah, Grafwidow

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  Deathrite Shaman

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  Sword of the Animist

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  Power Surge

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  Whispering Madness

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  Vampiric Tutor

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  Grim Backwoods

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  Memorial to War

• 

  Harrow

Summary

The game features four distinct Commander decks each pursuing unique strategies. Arna Kennerüd leads a human Knight tribal deck focused on assembling multiple legendary artifact-themed Templar Knights. The synergy lies in doubling counters on creatures and creating tokens of attached non-token permanents to overwhelm opponents. Lazav, the Multifarious aims to fill the graveyard with powerful creatures to transform into them and swing with big threats. Torbran, Thane of Red Fell utilizes a mono-red aggressive strategy, enhancing damage output with ping effects and aiming for a fast victory. Ishkanah, Grafwidow seeks to assemble a large army of spider tokens through Delirium and then leverages an activated ability to drain opponents' life based on the spider count. Early turns show players establishing mana bases and playing key utility creatures like Deathrite Shaman and Templar Knights, with some early interaction focused on preventing synergy development, notably by targeting Deathrite Shaman. Arna's deck ramps up with artifact equipment like Sword of the Animist to accelerate land drops, while Lazav uses card draw and tutoring spells to sculpt the graveyard and hand for impactful moments. Torbran plays aggressively to apply early pressure and maximize damage amplification. Ishkanah builds towards the spider token swarm with strategic land plays and spell casting, aiming to create a lethal board presence. The game’s turning points revolve around board development, managing graveyard resources, and leveraging commanders' unique abilities to generate exponential value or direct damage, setting up multiple potential win conditions through combat damage or life loss drains.