IS SANS-BLACK STILL TOP TIER? FT Bailey! | Akiri - Najeela - Shalai and Hallar - Inalla

Deck Strategies

• 

  Inalla, Archmage Ritualist

  Utilizes enter-the-battlefield effects by blinking tokens and key creatures, combos with spellseeker and ephemerate to chain spells like final fortune and Brain Freeze, aiming to storm out opponents with massive milling or damage.

• 

  Shalai and Hallar

  Leverages synergistic creatures with Doomsday and other ETB effects to control the board and generate advantage, aiming to stabilize and win through incremental value and combat damage.

• 

  Akiri, Line-Slinger

  Aggressively applies pressure through equipment and combat damage, ramping quickly with fast mana and using efficient creatures to disrupt opponents.

• 

  Thrasios, Triton Hero

  Focuses on ramp and card advantage, playing a reactive role that controls the game state and supports combos or value engines.

• 

  Najeela, the Blade-Blossom

  Generates warrior tokens to overwhelm opponents with combat damage, using token synergies and aggressive attacks as the primary win condition.

Gameplay Insights

• 1

  Bailey's execution of the Inalla combo relied heavily on correctly sequencing spellseeker tutors and ephemerate to maximize enter-the-battlefield triggers and reuse key spells like final fortune.

• 2

  The use of Underworld Breach with Lion's Eye Diamond enabled a powerful storm loop to cast Brain Freeze multiple times, milling opponents and refilling the deck.

• 3

  Players demonstrated respect for early mana acceleration and token generation, highlighting the importance of ramp in fast cEDH games.

• 4

  The interaction of Doomsday with Shalai and Hallar provided an additional layer of strategic depth, influencing players' decisions around timing and resource management.

Notable Cards

• 

  Final Fortune

• 

  Spellseeker

• 

  Ephemerate

• 

  Brain Freeze

• 

  Underworld Breach

• 

  Lion's Eye Diamond

• 

  Mana Vault

• 

  Mana Crypt

• 

  Mother of Runes

• 

  Doomsday

Summary

The game began with players establishing their mana bases and early board presence, with typical ramp plays like Mana Vault, Mana Crypt, and various dual lands. Najeela focused on generating warrior tokens and applying pressure through combat, while Shalai and Hallar leveraged impactful creatures and the powerful Doomsday effect. Bailey's Inalla deck demonstrated its signature combo potential through spellseeker, ephemerate, and final fortune interactions to generate multiple enter-the-battlefield triggers and reload spells. The pivotal moment came when Bailey executed a complex chain involving spellseeker tutoring for key spells, ephemerate to protect and reuse those spells, and final fortune to maximize his storm count. This led to casting a Brain Freeze storm combo enabled by Underworld Breach and Lion's Eye Diamond recursion, allowing him to mill opponents extensively and refill his library.