"Everybody takes one" | Sephiroth vs Be'lakor vs Zuko vs Nico Minoru | #mtg

Deck & Commander Strategies

• 

  Fire Lord Zuko

  Casts spells and plays permanents from exile, which triggers Zuko to put +1/+1 counters on every creature. Cards like Laelia, Bonehoard Dracosaur and Dragon Hoard keep feeding exile, and a wide, huge board plus exile-based burn finishes the game.

• 

  Sephiroth, Fabled SOLDIER // Sephiroth, One-Winged Angel

  An aristocrats deck that sacrifices its own creatures and forces opponents to sacrifice theirs, draining the table through Sephiroth's emblem, Zulaport Cutthroat, Plague Crafter and edict effects. It flips Sephiroth quickly with four death triggers in a turn.

• 

  Nico Minoru, Runaway

  Gambles on casting spells from anywhere other than hand to trigger Nico's two-damage pings. Uses discard outlets, Shadow of the Goblin, Descent into Avernus, Hex Magic and Chandra to chip away at every life total.

• 

  Be'lakor, the Dark Master

  Plays big, cheap demons that gain haste, menace, lifelink and trample from Arden the Usurper, Herald of Slaanesh and Blood Crusher of Khorne. Be'lakor and the other demons deal damage on entering and gain life in combat.

Gameplay Insights

• 1

  Alex flipped Sephiroth on turn three by sacrificing Zulaport Cutthroat to Sephiroth's enter trigger and Blood Pet to the free Flare of Malice, which gave the table an emblem drain effect early.

• 2

  Jake's Descent into Avernus gave everyone treasures and damage every upkeep, speeding up the whole table and making the game a race to the lowest life total.

• 3

  Arden the Usurper both reanimated creatures as 5/5 demons (including Inti and later Herald of Slaanesh) and gave them lifelink, menace and haste, letting Ryan attack right after casting each one.

• 4

  Ryan's lifelink demon attacks took him from low life to 41 in one combat, offsetting the Descent damage and Alex's drain.

• 5

  Alex cast Living Death in response to a creature-heavy board, forcing the table to react. Al used Cosmic Intervention to blink his permanents and then pumped them with Zuko triggers.

• 6

  Chaining Plague Crafter, Blood Pet and Zulaport Cutthroat sacrifices during Living Death drained every opponent several times through the emblem and Cutthroat triggers.

• 7

  Al's attack with Zuko gave him nine mana, which he used to flash in Fated Firepower for six counters and make combat damage lethal-level. The combat let Zuko survive Vilis's block.

• 8

  Dragon Hoard's end-step trigger dealt two damage per exiled card, so Al chose which cards to leave in exile and created a lethal inevitable clock.

• 9

  Jake tried to use Electrodominance with a Fated Firepower-style boost for lethal on Ryan but was one mana short, which let the end-step damage finish the game.

Notable Cards

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  Descent into Avernus

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  Sephiroth, Fabled SOLDIER // Sephiroth, One-Winged Angel

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  Flare of Malice

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  Aspiring Champion

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  Be'lakor, the Dark Master

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  Herald of Slaanesh

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  Living Death

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  Cosmic Intervention

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  Bonehoard Dracosaur

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  Fire Lord Zuko

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  Laelia, the Blade Reforged

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  Fated Firepower

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  Hex Magic

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  Vilis, Broker of Blood

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  Electrodominance

Gameplay Summary