A Life Sentence For Crimes Committed! I Unholy Hand 20 I Magic The Gathering Commander Gameplay

Deck Strategies

• 

  Syrix, Carrier of the Flame

  Aggressively deploy phoenix creatures that can repeatedly deal damage when creatures leave the graveyard, maintaining aerial board presence with haste and recurring threats.

• 

  Gisa, the Hellraiser

  Commit crimes to generate zombie and skeleton tokens, buff them with menace, and control the board with a steady stream of creatures and disruptive effects.

• 

  Emiel the Blessed

  Use flicker effects to repeatedly trigger enter-the-battlefield abilities and place counters on itself, enhancing board value and resilience.

• 

  Kambal, Profiteering Mayor

  Exploit token production from opponents and his own sources to drain opponents' life and gain life, while using extort and life payment abilities to maintain advantage.

Gameplay Insights

• 1

  The use of Necropotence allowed significant card filtering and hand manipulation through paying life and discarding to exile cards for later retrieval, accelerating key draws.

• 2

  Syrix’s Phoenixes leveraged recurring graveyard triggers to apply consistent damage pressure, forcing opponents to respond quickly or lose life.

• 3

  Gisa’s crime mechanic generated zombie tokens that buffed each other and applied menace, effectively applying board control and threatening multiple opponents simultaneously.

• 4

  Emiel’s flicker ability provided repeated value from creatures and permanents, enabling incremental growth and synergy through counters on the commander.

• 5

  Kambal’s strategy revolved around extort and life payment synergies to drain opponents while generating treasure tokens to ramp mana and maintain resource advantage.

• 6

  Several players were cautious about paying upkeep costs (e.g., Thorexian Arena), indicating resource tension and tactical life management.

• 7

  The interaction of multiple enchantments such as Bitterblossom and token generators created a complex battlefield state, with multiple recurring triggers and life drain effects in play.

Notable Cards

• 

  Syrix, Carrier of the Flame

• 

  Gisa, the Hellraiser

• 

  Emiel the Blessed

• 

  Kambal, Profiteering Mayor

• 

  Bitterblossom

• 

  Necropotence

• 

  Treasure Dredger

• 

  Esper Sentinel

• 

  Oversold Cemetery

• 

  Idol of Oblivion

• 

  Dark Ritual

• 

  Cabal Stronghold

Summary

The game began with all four players developing their mana bases and early board presence. Syrix, Carrier of the Flame, focused on aggressive phoenix creatures that deal damage when creatures leave the graveyard, creating fast aerial pressure. Gisa, the Hellraiser, centered around a crime-themed deck, generating skeletons and zombies through committing crimes and boosting them with menace, aiming to control the board with a steady stream of tokens. Emiel the Blessed played a flicker-themed deck featuring a 4/4 unicorn that could repeatedly bounce other permanents to gain incremental advantages and counters. Kambal, Profiteering Mayor ran a life drain and life gain strategy, leveraging token creation to drain opponents' life while growing his own.