Brenard 🆚 Anikthea 🆚 Alela 🆚 Taigam | EDH Commander Gameplay

Deck Strategies

• 

  Brenard, Ginger Sculptor

  A sacrifice-themed deck that uses Birthing Pod and creature recursion to upgrade creatures and create powerful token copies with Brenard's ability, generating value and board presence while disrupting opponents’ permanents.

• 

  Taigam, Ojutai Master

  An instant and sorcery-focused deck that uses Taigam's ability to rebound spells on opponents' turns, aiming to control the board and generate advantage through repeated spell casting and combat.

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  Alela, Cunning Conqueror

  A spell-slinging deck that creates 1/1 fairy tokens whenever spells are cast on opponents' turns, leveraging combat damage and token generation to pressure opponents while generating incremental value.

• 

  Anikthea, Hand of Erebos

  An enchantress recursion deck that focuses on putting enchantments into the graveyard and bringing them back as 3/3 creatures with Boon of the Spirit Realm, applying large buffs to creatures and maintaining board dominance.

Gameplay Insights

• 1

  Brenard used Birthing Pod and Neoform to create and sacrifice creatures repeatedly, producing powerful tokens and drawing many cards via Elemental Bond, sustaining his board presence.

• 2

  Brenard strategically destroyed opponents’ key enchantments and artifacts, such as Smothering Tithe, to slow down their resource generation and maintain control.

• 3

  Anikthea's recursion of Boon of the Spirit Realm led to large buffs and lifelink on her creatures, enabling a strong offensive phase with double strike.

• 4

  Taigam leveraged rebound on spells like Elmin Simulacrum to generate multiple ETB triggers and continuous card advantage.

• 5

  Alela maximized value by creating fairy tokens on opponents' turns and attacking with both the commander and tokens, applying consistent pressure.

• 6

  Players made tactical decisions in blocking and sacrificing creatures to maximize value and minimize damage taken, often trading tokens advantageously.

• 7

  A cooperative understanding between players was shown when Brenard allowed Taigam to draw cards instead of countering spells to maintain a favorable game pace.

Notable Cards

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  Birthing Pod

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  Smothering Tithe

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  Boon of the Spirit Realm

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  Neoform

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  Elemental Bond

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  Dragonlord Ojutai

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  Deadly Recluse

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  Selfless Spirit

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  Yosei, the Morning Star

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  Starfield Mystic

Summary

The game began with players establishing their mana bases and early board presence, with Brenard focusing on sacrificing creatures to generate tokens and value via his ability. Taigam aimed to leverage instants and sorceries with rebound to maintain tempo, while Alela sought to generate fairy tokens and apply pressure through combat. Anikthea employed an enchantress recursion strategy, bringing enchantments back as creatures to maintain board presence. Key turning points included Brenard using Birthing Pod to upgrade creatures and create powerful tokens, notably sacrificing and copying creatures to destroy problematic permanents like Smothering Tithe, which disrupted opponents' resource generation. Meanwhile, Anikthea's recursion of Boon of the Spirit Realm and other enchantments led to a massive board-wide boost of +9/+9 with double strike and lifelink, significantly swinging combat phases. Taigam's use of rebound spells and Dragonlord Ojutai provided additional card advantage and board control. The game featured intense combat with multiple blocks and token trades, and strategic sacrifices to maintain pressure and card draw. Brenard's combination of sacrificing creatures for value and generating golem tokens via Neoform and Elemental Bond drew him many cards, allowing him to sustain his board and threaten opponents consistently.