Deck & Commander Strategies
Skyserpent Seeker
Ramp aggressively by revealing lands with the commander's ability to put them directly onto the battlefield, grow the serpent with +1/+1 counters, and control the air with flying and deathtouch threats.
Embalmed Ascendant
Utilize the 'start your engines' mechanic to reach Max Speed, enabling life drain triggers whenever creatures die, while generating a steady stream of Zombie tokens for board presence.
Cloudspire Coordinator
Leverage mounts and vehicles by creating numerous Pilot tokens that capitalize on mounts or vehicles entering the battlefield, building a wide board and applying pressure through combat.
Lagorin, Soul of Alacria
Build a mounts and vehicles deck that grows mounts with +1/+1 counters and saddles them on the commander to maximize combat potential, aiming for wide and powerful board states.
Gameplay Insights
- 1
Billy prioritized sacrificing creatures to trigger Embalmed Ascendant's life drain and speed increase, which is key to the Max Speed mechanic.
- 2
Bernie and Miles synergized well with mounts and vehicles, using Laggorin’s and Cloudspire Coordinator’s abilities to create numerous tokens and grow their board presence.
- 3
Bryce’s early Cultivate and ramp spells enabled him to quickly deploy his commander and leverage its ability to ramp lands and grow the Skyserpent Seeker.
- 4
Players recognized the importance of flyers early, with Bryce's flying deathtouch creature dissuading attacks and forcing opponents to be cautious.
- 5
The game pace was accelerated by the 'start your engines' mechanic, pushing players to develop their boards quickly to activate powerful commander abilities.
Notable Cards
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Skyserpent Seeker
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Embalmed Ascendant
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Cloudspire Coordinator
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Cultivate
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Doomed Traveler
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Reckoner's Bargain
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Persistent Specimen
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Virus Beetle
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Crashing Drawbridge
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Brightfield Glider
Gameplay Summary
The game started with all players quickly establishing their board states by playing low-cost creatures and ramping mana.
Early turns saw players deploying small blockers such as Spirits, Zombies, and mounts, setting up for their respective strategies.
Miles and the host, Bernie, focused on mounts and vehicles, leveraging creatures that create tokens or benefit from multiple mounts entering the battlefield.
Meanwhile, Bryce's Skyserpent Seeker deck ramped aggressively with spells like Cultivate, aiming to flood lands onto the battlefield to maximize the commander's ability to reveal lands and grow bigger.
Billy’s Embalmed Ascendant started generating Zombies and aimed to reach 'Max Speed' to activate life drain effects whenever creatures died. A key turning point was when Billy landed his commander and started accelerating his 'start your engines' mechanic to reach Max Speed, which would swing the game by draining opponents' life whenever creatures died.
Bernie and Miles focused on building wide boards through mounts and vehicles, with Bernie using Laggorin's ability to put +1/+1 counters and saddle mounts to grow his forces.
Bryce’s Skyserpent Seeker posed a flying death threat with deathtouch, creating a deterrent for attacks.
The game revolved around these synergies, with each player trying to leverage their commander’s unique abilities to push tempo and control the board.
The interplay of aggressive token generation, ramp, and incremental advantage from mounts and vehicles defined the mid-game, with each player jockeying for position and waiting for an opening to push for victory.
