Deck Strategies
Grand Arbiter Augustin IV
A stax control deck aiming to tax opponents' spells and abilities heavily while deploying lock pieces like Cursed Totem and Drannith Magistrate to disrupt creatures and artifacts. It seeks to slow the game down, control the board, and win through incremental advantage and control.
Shorikai, Genesis Engine
A combo-oriented artifact deck that uses Shorikai's draw and untap abilities to assemble a polymorph combo, aiming to cheat in powerful creatures for the win. The deck leverages mana acceleration and artifact synergies to enable explosive turns.
Emry, Lurker of the Loch
An artifact recursion deck focused on milling cards and reusing artifacts from the graveyard to generate value. Emry supports artifact-based combos and incremental advantage through repeated artifact interactions.
Rielle, the Everwise
A control and card advantage deck that leverages Rielle's ability to draw cards whenever an opponent discards. It uses discard effects and timely combat damage to fuel card draw and maintain hand size superiority, enabling a versatile toolbox approach.
Gameplay Insights
- 1
Grand Arbiter's early deployment of stax pieces like Cursed Totem and Drannith Magistrate effectively taxed artifact and creature strategies, forcing opponents to adapt their plans.
- 2
Using Chain of Vapor to bounce Blasting Station disrupted Shorikai's combo potential and delayed their explosive turns.
- 3
Rielle's repeated card draw through discard effects combined with commander triggers provided a steady stream of cards maintaining hand advantage.
- 4
The polymorph combo was a pivotal moment, allowing Shorikai to cheat in a large threat while under heavy interaction and stax pressure.
- 5
Force of Will counters were used strategically to protect key plays, maintaining tempo against disruptive elements.
- 6
Players had to balance playing around taxing effects and lock pieces, highlighting the importance of sequencing and resource management in a stax-heavy meta.
Notable Cards
Cursed Totem
Drannith Magistrate
Blasting Station
Chain of Vapor
Force of Will
Chrome Mox
Mental Misstep
Esper Sentinel
Manifold Key
Conqueror's Flail
Mox Diamond
Mox Opal
Arcane Signet
Mystic Remora
Tetsuko Umezawa, Fugitive
Summary
The game began with players establishing their boards with key artifacts and mana acceleration, setting the stage for a tense control and combo environment. Early plays included Grand Arbiter Augustin IV deploying stax elements like Cursed Totem and Drannith Magistrate to suppress opponents' strategies, while Shorikai, Genesis Engine aimed to assemble a polymorph combo. Emry, Lurker of the Loch focused on artifact recursion and milling, setting up artifact synergies, and Rielle, the Everwise leveraged card draw from combat damage and discard effects to maintain advantage. Throughout the game, Grand Arbiter's control elements and taxing effects slowed down opponents, forcing careful resource management and timing of plays. Key moments involved the use of Chain of Vapor to disrupt Blasting Station combos, multiple instances of card advantage through Rielle and Tetsuko Umezawa, and a Polymorph resolving to bring in a powerful threat, Hollow Breaker Horror. The game featured back-and-forth interaction with Force of Will counters and careful sequencing to navigate around the stax pieces on board. The match continued with players deploying incremental advantage engines and reactive plays, with the Azorius control strategy effectively limiting explosive combos and maintaining board presence.