Combat Step cEDH Discord League play

Deck Strategies

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  Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow

  Focuses on dealing damage through unblockable ninjutsu attacks, triggering damage-based effects to draw cards and disrupt opponents, often winning through incremental damage and card advantage.

• 

  Elsha of the Infinite

  Utilizes spells and ninjutsu to control the board and generate card advantage, leveraging surveil and topdeck manipulation to find key spells and maintain tempo.

• 

  Tameshi, Reality Architect

  Centers on casting spells to create powerful elemental tokens and controlling the board state, using recursion and value creatures to extend plays and generate advantage.

• 

  Rakdos, the Muscle

  Aggressively pays life and sacrifices creatures to generate treasures and accelerate spells, aiming to overwhelm opponents quickly with high-impact creatures and burn.

Gameplay Insights

• 1

  Players carefully negotiated damage and life payments to balance aggression and survival, showing the importance of resource management in cEDH.

• 2

  The use of Flare of Malice as a board wipe shifted the game dynamics, forcing players to adapt their strategies and rebuild their board states.

• 3

  Elsha's use of surveil and topdeck manipulation with cards like Obsession was pivotal for maintaining card advantage and controlling game tempo.

• 4

  Casting Force of Negation in response to key triggers protected critical value cards and prevented opponents from gaining too much advantage.

• 5

  The interaction between ninjutsu triggers and combat damage was a key tactical element, allowing players to maximize damage output while drawing cards.

Notable Cards

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  Flare of Malice

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  Smothering Tithe

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  Force of Negation

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  City of Brass

Summary

The game opens with players developing their mana bases and deploying early creatures, with Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow and Elsha of the Infinite players establishing board presence through creatures that synergize with ninjutsu and spellcasting. Early turns involve setting up key lands and casting utility creatures like Mawdust Changeling and Dothy Void Walker, which provide value through sacrifice triggers and recursion. The Rakdos, the Muscle deck focuses on aggressive life payment and treasure generation to accelerate spells, while Elsha leverages card advantage through surveil and controlling topdeck interactions. A significant turning point occurs when a Flare of Malice is cast, wiping the board and forcing players to reconsider their attack and defense strategies. Players carefully negotiate damage and life payments, balancing aggression with survival. The interaction of powerful card draw and disruption spells, including Force of Negation and Smothering Tithe, shapes the midgame, with the Elsha player using surveil to dig for answers and control the pace. Combat phases are marked by careful target selection and strategic blocking, with ninjutsu triggers adding layers of complexity to attacks. Overall, the game demonstrates a dynamic balance of tempo, resource management, and tactical combat, with players adapting to board wipes and leveraging recursion to maintain pressure.