Bilbo vs Phenax vs Go-Shintai vs Caesar | EDH Gameplay | Smooth Brain EDH

Deck Strategies

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  Phenax, God of Deception

  Tanner's Phenax deck focuses on milling opponents' decks and leveraging creatures with high toughness to expedite this process.

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  Bilbo, Birthday Celebrant

  Shelby's Bilbo deck is a life gain strategy that seeks to accelerate life gain and potentially leverage Bilbo's ability to win the game.

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  Go-Shintai of Life's Origin

  Sam's Go-Shintai deck utilizes a variety of shrines and enchantments to generate value and overwhelm opponents.

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  Caesar, Legion's Emperor

  Kaden's Caesar deck is an aristocrats strategy that aims to sacrifice small creatures for incremental value and leverage Caesar's triggered ability to close out the game.

Gameplay Insights

• 1

  Kaden's use of Blasphemous Act to clear the board was a pivotal moment that reset the game state and allowed him to trigger Blood for the Blood God for significant damage and milling.

• 2

  Tanner's use of Jace Memory Adept to mill Shelby's deck was a key play, removing Shelby's primary win condition, Approach of the Second Sun, from his deck.

• 3

  Sam's consistent ability to rebuild his board of shrines and enchantments, even after multiple board wipes, allowed him to maintain pressure on the other players throughout the game.

• 4

  The presence of Smothering Tithe in the game, first played by Sam and later by Shelby, had a significant impact on the game dynamics, providing substantial additional resources to the players who controlled it.

Notable Cards

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  Smothering Tithe

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  Approach of the Second Sun

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  Blasphemous Act

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  Go-Shintai of Life's Origin

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  Anointed Procession

Summary

The game starts with each player building their board presence, with Sam taking an early lead by casting Smothering Tithe and generating significant additional resources. Shelby, playing Bilbo, focused on life gain and managed to cast Approach of the Second Sun, which was later milled by Tanner's Jace Memory Adept. This resulted in Shelby losing his primary win condition. In a notable turn, Kaden cleared the board with a Blasphemous Act, triggering Blood for the Blood God and causing significant life loss and milling for all players. Sam, with Go-Shintai, built up a formidable board of shrines and enchantments, taking advantage of the card draw and additional effects offered by his commander. Despite multiple board wipes, Sam was able to maintain a strong board presence and continue applying pressure on the other players.