THE LOST CAVERNS OF IXALAN PRECON BATTLE I CLAVILENO // PANTLAZA // HAKBAL // ADMIRAL BRASS

Deck Strategies

• 

  Clavileño, First of the Blessed

  Generate vampire tokens, sacrifice them to produce powerful demon creatures, and gain card advantage through token death triggers, then attack with flying demons.

• 

  Admiral Brass, Unsinkable

  Put Pirates into the graveyard and return them to the battlefield with haste during combat to apply fast, aggressive pressure and tap down opponents.

• 

  Hakbal of the Surging Soul

  Leverage Merfolk tribal synergy and explore mechanics to grow creatures with +1/+1 counters, ramp lands, and overwhelm opponents with a growing board of creatures.

• 

  Pantlaza, Sun-Favored

  Ramp quickly into big Dinosaurs and use the discover mechanic to find impactful cards, aiming to dominate through large creatures and efficient spells.

Gameplay Insights

• 1

  Players used Unclaimed Territory to name their tribal types early, enabling consistent mana fixing and tribal synergy activation.

• 2

  Hakbal's explore triggers allowed incremental growth of his Merfolk creatures and steady land ramp, enhancing board presence turn after turn.

• 3

  Clavileño's ability to turn attacking vampires into demons that generate tokens upon death provided both board presence and card advantage.

• 4

  Admiral Brass created tokens and buffed Pirates with menace, applying pressure and forcing opponents to block or take damage.

• 5

  Pantlaza leveraged discover after playing Dinosaurs to adaptively find the best cards for board development or removal.

• 6

  Mana ramp and acceleration through artifacts like Sol Ring and lands like Temple of the False God were critical for deploying commanders quickly and enabling aggressive plays.

Notable Cards

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  Clavileño, First of the Blessed

• 

  Admiral Brass, Unsinkable

• 

  Hakbal of the Surging Soul

• 

  Pantlaza, Sun-Favored

• 

  Fathom Fleet Captain

• 

  Corsair Captain

• 

  Marauding Raptor

• 

  Temple of the False God

• 

  Unclaimed Territory

Summary

The game begins with each player setting up their board according to their chosen commanders' themes and strategies. Clavileño, First of the Blessed focuses on creating and sacrificing vampire tokens to grow powerful demon creatures and gain card advantage. Admiral Brass, Unsinkable ramps into Pirates that can be put into the graveyard and returned to the battlefield during combat to generate fast and aggressive attacks with haste. Hakbal of the Surging Soul builds a Merfolk tribal deck, leveraging explore mechanics to grow creatures with +1/+1 counters and ramp out lands, aiming to overwhelm opponents with a growing army of creatures. Pantlaza, Sun-Favored leads a Dinosaur deck that ramps into big creatures and uses the discover mechanic to find impactful spells and creatures, aiming to dominate with large threats. Throughout the early turns, players develop their board states by playing ramp lands, tokens, and tribal synergies while carefully planning their attacks and defenses. A key turning point involves Clavileño entering the battlefield, increasing vampire threats and token generation, while Hakbal uses explore triggers to steadily increase board presence. Admiral Brass's Pirate tokens create pressure by gaining menace and buffing each other, while Pantlaza starts deploying large Dinosaurs and leveraging discover for card advantage. The game unfolds with each player leveraging their tribal synergies and mana acceleration to build threatening boards, setting up for major combat phases or combos that could clinch victory.