Deck & Commander Strategies
Ral, Monsoon Mage // Ral, Leyline Prodigy
A turbo storm deck built on fast red mana (Lion's Eye Diamond, Seething Song, Rite of Flame, Jeska's Will) and cheap spells that Ral rewards. It chains cantrips and tutors, then wins through Brain Freeze, Wheel of Fortune and Past in Flames/Underworld Breach loops.
Ral, Monsoon Mage // Ral, Leyline Prodigy (second Ral deck)
A second Ral deck built around coin flips, Ral's flip trigger and cheap spells, backed by free interaction such as Pact of Negation. The deck is built on burn and pressure with many MDFCs and low land counts, but it was disrupted by the storm player's combo.
Heliod, the Radiant Dawn // Heliod, the Warped Eclipse (Wheeliod)
A white-based deck using wheel effects and early disruption such as Esper Sentinel. It tries to stay ahead on cards and tax opposing plays while setting up its own wheel and Heliod lines.
Malcolm, Keen-Eyed Navigator / Vial Smasher the Fierce
A blue-red partner deck built on free interaction, with cards like Force of Will, Fierce Guardianship, Deflecting Swat and Pyroblast, plus spell-based triggers and card selection. It aims to stop combo turns and pressure with the partner commanders.
Gameplay Insights
- 1
Gut Shot on Esper Sentinel removed the early tax effect and let Ral keep chaining free spells.
- 2
Past in Flames cast as the sixth and seventh spell of the turn was the table's main choke point, since its flashback and copy triggers were the opponents' best chance to stop the chain. Fierce Guardianship and Flare of Duplication were both used there.
- 3
Force of Will pitching Swan Song, combined with Deflecting Swat redirecting targets, nearly stopped the storm turn, but Ral's flip trigger and recasting still carried the sequence.
- 4
Flipping Ral into Leyline Prodigy and using the minus ability to exile the top eight cards gave the storm player extra resources mid-turn.
- 5
Bonus Round doubled Jeska's Will for 36 red mana and a massive pile of exiled cards, which fueled the rest of the turn.
- 6
A mix-up on resolving Jeska's Will exile cards led to a game warning and reshuffling of the wrongly exiled cards back into the library.
- 7
Underworld Breach with Reiterate (buyback) and Seething Song created an infinite red mana loop.
- 8
Pyroblast on the Fish player's blue permanents and Kari Zev's Expertise to steal Malcolm removed the table's remaining blue interaction and attackers.
- 9
Brain Freeze with a huge storm count milled the whole table in one cast, and Wheel of Fortune then refilled Ral's own hand to finish.
Notable Cards
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Wheel of Fortune
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Lion's Eye Diamond
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Jeska's Will
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Seething Song
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Past in Flames
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Bonus Round
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Underworld Breach
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Reiterate
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Brain Freeze
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Fierce Guardianship
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Force of Will
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Deflecting Swat
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Flare of Duplication
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Gut Shot
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Pyroblast
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Intuition
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Archivist of Oghma
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Esper Sentinel
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Pact of Negation
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Mox Opal
Gameplay Summary
The game opened with cheap interaction and fast mana.
Esper Sentinel and Mystic Remora hit the table early, and Pact of Negation sat in hand.
The Ral player used Gut Shot to remove Esper Sentinel and then began chaining spells.
Wheel of Fortune, powered by Lion's Eye Diamond, refilled everyone's hand while Ral's coin-flip triggers added to the pile.
A burst of Jeska's Will, Rite of Flame and Seething Song pushed red mana past 12. The table's first real stand came when Past in Flames, the sixth and seventh spells of the turn, triggered Fierce Guardianship and Remora/Esper-style copy effects.
Flare of Duplication targeted the Fierce Guardianship, and Force of Will (pitching Swan Song) and Deflecting Swat were used to redirect and fight back.
Ral still resolved Past in Flames and flipped into Leyline Prodigy at 10 loyalty.
He used the minus ability to exile the top eight cards, which gave him more spells and ramp.
Bonus Round then doubled two Jeska's Wills for 36 red mana.
A mix-up resolving the Jeska's Will exile cards earned a game warning, and the cards were reshuffled. After two Gambles and Archivist of Oghma triggers, Ral found Underworld Breach and Pyroblast.
Pyroblast hit the Malcolm/Vial player's blue permanents, and that player's Fish trigger was dealt with.
Ral then cast Seething Song, copied it, and used Breach to recast Reiterate with buyback in a loop that netted mana each pass, creating infinite red mana.
He used it to steal Malcolm with a threaten effect and swing for two.
Back in main phase two he cracked Lion's Eye Diamond, doubled Seething Song again, and cast Intuition twice off a Bonus Round-style copy effect for Lotus Petal, Mox Amber, Mox Opal, Strike It Rich and Lava Dart.
Brain Freeze with a massive storm count milled the entire table, with Ral targeting himself only a few times.
He then cast Wheel of Fortune to refill his own hand and win by decking the other three players.
