Secret Santa | Ravos + Dargo vs. Garth vs. Varolz vs. Yarok | Commander Clash S11E20

Deck Strategies

• 

  Varolz, the Scar-Striped

  A Golgari troll tribal deck that leverages tribal synergies and value creatures to outlast opponents and grind through incremental advantages.

• 

  Ravos, Soultender + Dargo, the Shipwrecker

  A Mardu artifact-centric deck focused on recursion and combo elements, using artifact synergies and sacrifice to create big threats and maintain board presence.

• 

  Yarok, the Desecrated

  A value-oriented deck that doubles enter-the-battlefield effects to generate massive card advantage and board presence, often built around Panharmonicon and ETB triggers.

• 

  Garth One-Eye

  A blink and ETB-focused deck that uses Panharmonicon and other synergies to repeatedly trigger powerful creature effects and outvalue opponents.

Gameplay Insights

• 1

  The Yarok deck's ability to double ETB triggers created a continuous stream of value that forced other players to respond quickly or fall behind.

• 2

  Krim's Ravos-Dargo deck utilized artifact recursion and sacrifice mechanics to produce large creatures and maintain pressure despite a rocky mana start.

• 3

  Varolz tribal synergy allowed for efficient board development, generating incremental advantages through tribal interactions.

• 4

  Players made calculated decisions in blocking and attacking to preserve key creatures and avoid triggering unfavorable regenerations or combo setups.

• 5

  The secret Santa deck-building theme led to decks that played to the recipient's preferences, resulting in well-tuned strategies that kept the game competitive and engaging.

Notable Cards

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  Feasting Troll King

• 

  Panharmonicon

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  Secret Rendezvous

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  Stoneforge Mystic

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  Cartographer's Hawk

Summary

The game started with four players piloting decks built as Secret Santa gifts for each other, leading to some interesting synergies and unexpected interactions. Richard played Varolz, the Scar-Striped with a Golgari troll tribal theme that focused on value and tribal synergy. Krim piloted a Mardu artifact and combo-driven deck led by Ravos, Soultender and Dargo, the Shipwrecker, aiming for aggressive artifact interactions and combos. Phil had a Yarok, the Desecrated deck centered around doubling enter-the-battlefield effects for massive value, while Seth took on Garth One-Eye, focusing on blink and ETB triggers with a Panharmonicon engine to grind out incremental advantages. Early game saw players setting up their mana bases and key pieces, with Krim struggling a bit with mana but leveraging artifact synergies. The Yarok deck began to demonstrate its power by generating multiple triggers and value plays, while Varolz's tribal trolls started to populate the board. The Ravos-Dargo deck threatened with large creatures and a recursion theme, while Garth's blink synergy allowed for repeated value generation. Pivotal moments included attempts to disrupt the Panharmonicon engine and tactical attacks to generate tokens and force unfavorable blocks. The interplay between artifact recursion, tribal synergies, and doubled ETB triggers defined the midgame tempo, with players carefully balancing aggression and defense to protect their combos and value engines.