I Hate Your Deck #82 Anikthea v Valduk v Ezuri v Lord of The Nazgul || Commander Gameplay MTG EDH

Deck Strategies

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  Anikthea, Hand of Erebos

  Leverages enchantment synergies by exiling non-Aura enchantments from the graveyard and creating black zombie tokens, aiming to maintain board presence and value through enchantment recursion and menace.

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  Valduk, Keeper of the Flame

  Focuses on mono-red equipment-based Voltron and go-wide strategies, creating 1/1 red Elemental tokens with trample and haste equal to the number of auras and equipment attached to Valduk, enabling aggressive and explosive turns.

• 

  Ezuri, Stalker of Spheres

  Utilizes proliferate mechanics to grow creatures and draw cards, incorporating infect and toxic effects to apply incremental poison counters while ramping and controlling the board.

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  Lord of the Nazgûl

  Generates a swarm of flying 3/3 black Wraith tokens with menace whenever instant or sorcery spells are cast, leveraging ringbearer mechanics for protection and large-scale aggression.

Gameplay Insights

• 1

  Countering Simic Ascendancy early prevented a potential quick combo win, highlighting the importance of interaction against fast combo strategies.

• 2

  Manny's use of Lord of the Nazgûl to generate menace-empowered wraith tokens created a persistent threat that pressured opponents to manage the board carefully.

• 3

  Larry's decision to focus on equipment and token generation with Valduk allowed for flexible aggression, combining Voltron and go-wide tactics.

• 4

  Sean's early adoption of proliferate and draw engines sustained his board development and card advantage, reinforcing his infect strategy.

• 5

  Lynch's Anikthea deck aimed to convert destroyed or milled enchantments into zombie tokens, providing resilience and continuous value through enchantment recursion.

Notable Cards

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  Simic Ascendancy

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  Hedron Archive

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  Simic Growth Chamber

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  Myriad Landscape

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  Noxious Revival

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  Exotic Orchard

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  Watery Grave

Summary

The game began with the players establishing their mana bases and early board presence, with Sean playing Ezuri, Stalker of Spheres aiming to proliferate counters and draw cards, Lynch developing Anikthea, Hand of Erebos to utilize enchantment synergies, Larry setting up Valduk, Keeper of the Flame with equipment-based token generation, and Manny playing Lord of the Nazgûl to produce menace-empowered rat tokens. Early interactions focused on ramp and setting up key enchantments like Simic Ascendancy, which was immediately countered to prevent a quick win. The gameplay featured strategic use of cards like Mindstone, Hedron Archive, and various utility lands to accelerate development. Manny's Lord of the Nazgûl generated wraith tokens with menace, synergizing with ringbearer mechanics and protection effects, while Larry leveraged Valduk's ability to create elemental tokens based on attached equipment, pushing aggressive board states. Lynch built enchantment value through Anikthea's exile and token creation ability, aiming for resilience via zombie tokens. Sean's Ezuri proliferated counters and drew cards to maintain advantage, with a focus on infect and toxic strategies to pressure opponents. Key moments included disruption of Simic Ascendancy's win condition with a counterspell and interactions around milling and draw engines to fuel deck synergies. The game remained dynamic with players balancing development, disruption, and board presence to push toward their respective win conditions.