Flash, Flying, and PIRATES! | Commander | Malcolm vs Errant/Giada vs Nelly Borca vs Taeko | #3

Deck Strategies

• 

  Malcolm, Keen-Eyed Navigator

  Focus on playing pirates to generate treasure tokens and use them to produce incremental damage and steal cards from opponents, aiming to outvalue opponents through resource denial and continuous pressure.

• 

  Errant and Giada

  Utilize flash and flying creatures to maintain board control and apply pressure by casting creatures at instant speed, leveraging evasive threats and buff effects to win through air superiority and tempo.

• 

  Nelly Borca, Impulsive Accuser

  Encourage opponents to damage each other by giving attacking creatures menace, then draw cards from the chaos generated, aiming to clean up the board and overwhelm opponents with card advantage.

• 

  Taeko, the Patient Avalanche

  Employ ninjas and small incremental damage to whittle down opponents, using unblockable creatures and card draw synergies to steadily gain advantage without overly aggressive plays.

• 

  Breeches, Brazen Plunderer

  Play a pirate tribal deck that focuses on creating treasures and aggressive board presence to generate value and pressure opponents, often combined with Malcolm for synergy.

Gameplay Insights

• 1

  The use of Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer enabled the pirate deck to generate treasure tokens and temporarily access opponents' cards, providing both mana acceleration and disruption.

• 2

  Flash creatures allowed Errant and Giada's player to maintain unpredictable board presence and protect key threats by bouncing them back to hand at end of turn.

• 3

  Nelly Borca's menace mechanic forced opponents to make difficult blocking decisions and encouraged them to damage each other, fueling card draw and board advantage.

• 4

  Phasing out of key creatures like Kaido Shizuki temporarily removed threats from the battlefield, allowing players to avoid unfavorable blocks or removal.

• 5

  The synergy between flying creatures and buffs like Thunderclap Wyvern created significant aerial pressure, augmented by lifelink effects to offset damage taken.

Notable Cards

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  Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer

• 

  Thunderclap Wyvern

• 

  Myriad Landscape

• 

  Sunhome, Fortress of the Legion

Summary

The game started with each player establishing their mana base and developing early board presence. Malcolm, Keen-Eyed Navigator's player focused on deploying pirates and generating treasure tokens to leverage small incremental damage and card advantage. Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer played a key role in this strategy, enabling treasure creation and card theft from opponents. Errant and Giada's player utilized a flash and flying theme, taking advantage of creatures that could be cast at instant speed or had evasion to apply pressure and maintain board control. Nelly Borca's deck aimed at provoking opponents into damaging each other to draw cards and capitalize on the chaos to clean up the board. Meanwhile, Taeko, the Patient Avalanche's player utilized ninjas and incremental damage but kept a more moderate approach to avoid overwhelming the table too quickly. A turning point came when the flash and flying deck leveraged multiple evasive creatures and buffs like Thunderclap Wyvern to push through damage, gaining life and board advantage. Nelly Borca's menace mechanic further complicated blocks and encouraged opponents to target each other, which cycled more card draw. The pirate deck's ability to create treasures and steal cards from opponents added a disruptive element, while the ninja deck added pressure with unblockable threats. The coordinated use of flash creatures and aggressive combat damage created a dynamic board state with phased-out threats and recurring attackers. The game’s tempo was defined by clever use of flash to protect creatures and surprise opponents, with win conditions revolving around incremental combat damage, card advantage, and exploiting opponents’ mutual damage to gain resources and close out the game.