New Tarkir Commander Decks - Gameplay Ep 96

Deck Strategies

• 

  Elsha, Threefold Master

  A prowess-based deck that casts numerous spells to generate 1/1 monk tokens and apply continuous pressure through token swarms and combat damage.

• 

  Eshki, Temur's Roar

  A dragon tribal deck that grows dragons with counters, draws cards on casting large creatures, and deals damage to opponents based on dragon size.

• 

  Teval, the Balanced Scale

  A Sultai graveyard-focused deck that mills cards, creates zombie druid tokens, and returns lands to the battlefield to maintain card advantage and board presence.

• 

  Betor, Ancestor's Voice

  A life gain and drain deck that leverages creatures with powerful butts and triggers to gain life, drain opponents, and control the board.

Gameplay Insights

• 1

  Veggie's early crack of Bountiful Landscape to avoid Naturalize effects demonstrated careful play around perceived threats.

• 2

  Mold Hound's use of graveyard milling combined with Taval's ability to create zombie tokens provided steady board development and resilience.

• 3

  Elsha's prowess triggers from casting multiple spells allowed for rapid token generation and incremental pressure on opponents.

• 4

  Veggie's deployment of Dragon's Horde and Dragon Lord Servant efficiently reduced dragon spell costs while generating card advantage.

• 5

  Welcoming Vampire synergized well with Betor's deck of small creatures with large butts, enabling consistent card draw.

• 6

  Players carefully represented and played around common removal spells like Naturalize, Fatal Push, and Thoughtseize, influencing their land and spell choices.

Notable Cards

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  Welcoming Vampire

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  Gravecrawler

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  Goblin Electromancer

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  Kishla Skimmer

• 

  Cultivate

Summary

The game began with players establishing their boards cautiously, focusing on mana ramp and early card draw. Mold Hound on Taval, the Balanced Scale emphasized graveyard synergies by milling cards and creating zombie tokens while ramping mana. Ela, Threefold Master, piloted by another player, aimed to go wide with prowess triggers by casting multiple spells and generating 1/1 monk tokens, slowly building a threatening board presence. Eshki, Temur's Roar, driven by Veggie Wagon, capitalized on playing and buffing large dragons, drawing cards, and dealing damage through Eshki's scaling abilities. Betor, Ancestor's Voice focused on life gain, draining opponents, and manipulating creatures with strong synergy around butts and lifegain effects. Early turns saw key plays such as Stitcher Supplier's milling, Dragon's Horde generating card advantage for Veggie's dragon-centric deck, and Goblin Electromancer reducing spell costs to accelerate tempo. Ela's prowess and token generation started to pressure opponents, while Taval's graveyard recursion and zombie tokens increased board presence with resilience. The interplay of milling and graveyard recursion, alongside Veggie's large creatures and card draw, set up a dynamic midgame. The game’s momentum shifted as players balanced aggression with defense, with Mold Hound's graveyard strategy enabling recurring threats and Veggie's dragons threatening wide board impact. Betor's life gain and drain aimed to stabilize and chip away at opponents’ health, creating a multifaceted battle for dominance.