Elminster / Baba Lysaga / Astarion / Thrakkus | BALDUR'S GATE BATTLE WPC #16 | Magic: The Gathering

Deck Strategies

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  Baba Lysaga, Night Witch

  Sacrifice multiple types of permanents to draw cards, gain life, and drain opponents. Uses Seedborn Muse for repeated activations and Glacial Chasm for defense, aiming for a grindy attrition win.

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  Astarion, the Decadent

  Utilizes lifelink and death touch to drain opponents' life totals while gaining life. Combos with Sanguine Bond and Exquisite Blood for infinite life loss and gain, supplemented by damage doubling effects.

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  Thrakkus the Butcher

  Builds a Gruul dragon tribal deck that leverages attack triggers to double dragons' power, create dragon tokens, and generate mana. Uses synergy cards to deal massive damage and overwhelm opponents quickly.

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  Elminster

  Scry tribal control deck that reduces instant and sorcery costs through scrying, generating card advantage and board presence with flying fairy dragon tokens. Aims to win via a combo of Omniscience and Approach of the Second Sun or through attrition and control.

Gameplay Insights

• 1

  Baba Lysaga's use of Seedborn Muse enabled multiple activations per turn, generating significant card advantage and life drain to stabilize against aggressive threats.

• 2

  Astarion combined combat damage with life loss doubling effects such as Scytheclaw and Blood Tribute to rapidly diminish opponents' life totals while replenishing its own.

• 3

  Thrakkus's strategy to double dragons' power on attacks, combined with token generation from Udvara Hellkite, created overwhelming board states that pressured all opponents simultaneously.

• 4

  Elminster's synergy with scrying not only reduced spell costs but also provided flexible options between casting expensive spells or creating multiple flying tokens to control the board.

• 5

  The presence of Omniscience in Elminster's deck allowed for potential game-ending combos by casting Approach of the Second Sun multiple times, illustrating a powerful alternate win condition beyond traditional control.

• 6

  The interaction between board wipes like Crux of Fate and dragon tribal strategies forced players to carefully time their plays to preserve key threats.

• 7

  Defensive plays such as Glacial Chasm by Baba Lysaga provided critical breathing room to develop long-term value through sacrifice and card draw.

Notable Cards

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  Seedborn Muse

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  Glacial Chasm

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  Sanguine Bond

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  Exquisite Blood

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  Scytheclaw

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  Blood Tribute

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  Warstorm Surge

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  Shared Animosity

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  Omniscience

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  Approach of the Second Sun

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  Dig Through Time

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  Crux of Fate

Summary

The game featured four distinct decks battling with unique strategies centered around their commanders. Baba Lysaga focused on sacrificing multiple permanents to generate card advantage, life gain, and drain through repeated activations enabled by Seedborn Muse and defensive stalemates set by Glacial Chasm. Astarion, the Decadent leveraged lifelink and death touch to drain opponents' life totals, aiming to combo with cards like Sanguine Bond and Exquisite Blood for infinite life loss and gain. Thrakkus the Butcher led a Gruul dragon tribal deck, using powerful dragons and synergy cards such as Warstorm Surge, Shared Animosity, and Kloth, Unrivaled Ancient to generate overwhelming damage and mana acceleration, swelling his board with tokens from Udvara Hellkite. Elminster piloted a control-oriented Azorius deck with a focus on scry tribal mechanics to reduce spell costs, generate card advantage, and flood the board with flying fairy dragon tokens. He aimed to win either by overwhelming opponents with tokens or through a combo involving Omniscience and Approach of the Second Sun for a double-cast instant win. The gameplay saw Baba Lysaga attempting to maintain board control through sacrifice and life drain, while Astarion sought to apply steady pressure with life loss combos. Thrakkus ramped aggressively to put dragons on the battlefield and deliver high-impact attacks, whereas Elminster balanced control elements with combo potential, creating tension and shifting momentum throughout the match.