Deck Strategies
Richard Garfield, Ph.D.
Ramp quickly to cast high-impact cards, leveraging low mana costs and efficient spells to dominate the board early.
Rarity
Play exclusively rare and mythic cards to overwhelm opponents with powerful, high-value spells and creatures.
X
Utilize knowledge of opponents' hands to outplay them by casting their cards more effectively and controlling the flow of the game.
Grimlock, Dinobot Leader
Build a strong creature presence with efficient ramp and resilient threats, transforming Grimlock to enhance board control.
Gameplay Insights
- 1
Using Contact Lenses early to reveal all players' hands significantly impacts strategic decisions and counters.
- 2
Players form temporary alliances to avoid countering each other's key spells, affecting the game flow and diplomacy.
- 3
Trade Secrets provides crucial card advantage, allowing players to maintain pressure and options in the midgame.
- 4
The Great Unbanning allows for the inclusion of cards normally banned, leading to unusual and unexpected interactions.
- 5
Clone Machine enables copying of impactful creatures or spells, creating additional board presence or value.
- 6
The timing of counters and spell casts is critical, with players weighing the benefits of holding mana for disruption versus advancing their board.
Notable Cards
Trade Secrets
Pendant of Prosperity
Summary
The game starts with players establishing their mana bases and minor board presence, with early plays like Soul Ring, Contact Lenses, and ramp spells setting the pace. Richard Garfield, Ph.D. focuses on ramping quickly to cast powerful cards, while Rarity aims to deploy impactful rare and mythic cards to swing the game in their favor. X employs a unique strategy of gaining access to opponents' hands, using that knowledge to outplay them with superior card choices. Grimlock, Dinobot Leader builds a resilient board with creatures and efficient ramp, preparing for midgame dominance. A pivotal moment occurs when players begin to leverage their commanders' unique abilities and powerful spells. The use of Contact Lenses creates a telepathy-like effect, revealing all players' hands and adding a layer of complexity to decision-making. Trade Secrets and other card draw spells generate card advantage, while creatures like Needletooth Thrasher and Hungry Raptor pressure the board. The game features strategic alliances and counterplay, such as agreements not to counter certain spells and careful timing of counters. The gameplay revolves around exploiting the Great Unbanning event to cast previously banned or restricted cards, leading to unexpected interactions and a dynamic, chaotic board state.