Deck Strategies
The Lady of Otaria
A dwarf tribal deck that sacrifices lands to the graveyard to trigger dwarf synergies, enabling powerful board development and value from graveyard interactions.
Katilda and Lier
A deck focused on creating slimes and petitioners that trigger flashback from the graveyard, generating incremental advantage through repeated casting and counters.
Zirilan of the Claw
A mono-red dragon tribal deck that reduces dragon spell costs and leverages ramp artifacts and creatures to quickly cast impactful dragons and dominate the battlefield.
Skeleton Ship
A deck that uses graveyard exile and artifact destruction to control the board, while developing synergy with creatures that benefit from these interactions.
Gameplay Insights
- 1
The use of Sneak Attack allowed for explosive tempo by putting creatures directly onto the battlefield with haste, creating immediate pressure.
- 2
Plundering Barbarian was used early to destroy an opponent's ramp artifact, slowing their acceleration.
- 3
Ledger Shredder provided card draw and incremental advantage through its discard and counter mechanics, synergizing well with the graveyard-focused decks.
- 4
Casting Lady of Otaria by tapping dwarves instead of paying mana helped accelerate the dwarf tribal strategy and maximize value from lands entering the graveyard.
- 5
Zirilan of the Claw’s ability to reduce dragon spell costs combined with multiple ramp artifacts enabled a faster deployment of threats despite being mono-red.
- 6
Lazav, the Familiar Stranger's ability to copy exiled creatures added a layer of versatility and threat that opponents had to respect.
Notable Cards
Sneak Attack
Plundering Barbarian
Ledger Shredder
Druid of the Emerald Grove
Spark Mage
Goblin Arsonist
Summary
The game featured four underused commanders, each bringing unique and unconventional strategies to the table. Early on, players developed their boards with ramp and utility creatures, setting up for their specific synergies. The Lady of Otaria player focused on putting lands into the graveyard to trigger dwarf-related synergies, leveraging sacrifice and graveyard interaction for value. Katilda and Lier's deck revolved around creating slimes and petitioners that interact with the graveyard and flashback mechanics, enabling multiple value plays each turn. Zirilan of the Claw’s deck aimed to reduce dragon costs and deploy powerful dragons, utilizing artifacts like Sol Ring and Dragonlord's Servants to accelerate their game plan. Meanwhile, the Skeleton Ship deck combined artifact destruction and graveyard exile effects to disrupt opponents while developing a resilient board state.
