Frogs and Allies and Kraken - Oh My! w/ Jonathan Young and Spencer | Commander at Home Episode 68

Deck Strategies

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  Runo Stromkirk // Krothuss, Lord of the Deep

  Builds a Kraken tribal deck that generates large sea creature tokens and uses tribal synergy to control the board and overwhelm opponents with big creatures.

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  K'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth

  Utilizes Phyrexian mana and life payment to cast spells and creatures aggressively, focusing on disruption and incremental advantage through removal and life manipulation.

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  Sab-Sunen, Luxa Embodied

  Focuses on an allies tribal deck that maximizes +1/+1 counters on creatures to trigger powerful effects and generate card advantage, growing a wide board of synergistic creatures.

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  General Tazri

  Leverages an ally tribal strategy that benefits from the arrival of allies to put counters on creatures, enabling powerful activations and increasing board presence.

Gameplay Insights

• 1

  The allies deck capitalized on multiple ally triggers in a single turn to rapidly build a threatening board state with +1/+1 counters.

• 2

  The Kraken deck used token generation and tribal synergies to create a formidable board presence that demanded immediate answers.

• 3

  The black deck’s use of Phyrexian mana enabled casting spells at an accelerated pace, providing disruptive removal that altered the game's tempo.

• 4

  The frog deck's ability to manipulate counters for card draw provided consistent resource advantage, allowing for flexible responses to threats.

• 5

  Key interactions involved timing of triggers and attacks to maximize the impact of counters and tribal bonuses across different decks.

Notable Cards

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  Reconnaissance

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  Coiling Oracle

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  Bad Moon

Summary

The game began with players establishing their board states through early ramp and creature deployments. The four commanders brought distinct strategies: a Kraken tribal deck focused on flooding the board with large sea creatures, an aggressive black deck leveraging life payment and Phyrexian mana for explosive plays, an allies tribal deck aiming to grow a board of synergistic creatures with counters, and a frog-themed deck centered on managing counters for card draw and combat advantage. Early game featured the allies player quickly populating the board with creatures that benefitted from +1/+1 counters, while the Kraken deck generated sea creature tokens and used ramp to accelerate into significant threats. The black deck employed removal and incremental advantage through life payments, setting up a mid-game dominance. The frog deck utilized its commander’s abilities to draw cards and maintain board presence via counter manipulation. A critical turning point came when the allies synergy triggered multiple times in a single turn, creating a wide board state that pressured opponents. The Kraken player responded by deploying high-impact creatures and leveraging the sea creature tribal bonuses to protect their board and push damage. The black deck's ability to use Phyrexian mana allowed for unexpected removal and disruption, slowing down some of the allies and Kraken advances. Meanwhile, the frog deck's incremental card draw enabled sustained pressure and tactical responses. The game evolved into a battle of board control and resource management, with each player trying to leverage their deck's unique mechanics. The endgame centered around overwhelming the board with synergistic creatures and finishing with large combat damage or combo-like interactions afforded by the counters and tribal bonuses.