Deck Strategies
The Balrog, Durin's Bane
Generate and sacrifice treasure tokens to reduce the high casting cost of The Balrog, enabling aggressive plays backed by treasure synergies and incremental life loss to opponents.
Farmer Cotton
Produce a large number of halfling and food tokens to swarm the board, buffing them with anthem effects and finishing with a large combat swing using Craterhoof Behemoth.
Sauron, Lord of the Rings
Mill Orc creatures into the graveyard and use graveyard recursion spells like Rise of the Dark Realms to flood the battlefield with creatures, leveraging commander triggers to control the board.
Gandalf, Westward Voyager
Cast high-value spells to trigger Gandalf’s ability, copying those spells when opponents reveal matching card types, while ramping and drawing cards to maintain tempo and find powerful finishers.
Gameplay Insights
- 1
Using treasure token generation and sacrifice to drastically reduce the cost of The Balrog allowed for explosive early aggression.
- 2
Gandalf’s ability to copy spells based on opponents’ revealed cards created strong value turns and pressured opponents to reveal their top deck contents.
- 3
Farmer Cotton’s token generation combined with anthem effects and Craterhoof Behemoth threatened a sudden and overwhelming board presence.
- 4
Sauron’s graveyard recursion strategy hinged on assembling a critical mass of creatures in the graveyard, with the potential of a game-winning mass reanimation.
- 5
The interplay between ramping, token creation, and value triggers set up multiple avenues for victory, making board state management and timing crucial.
Notable Cards
Midnight Clock
Zendikar Resurgent
Craterhoof Behemoth
Rise of the Dark Realms
Talisman of Indulgence
Revel in Riches
Gilded Pinions
Summary
The game started with players ramping and setting up their mana bases, with early plays focused on establishing treasure token synergies and land development. Blake, piloting Gandalf, Westward Voyager, quickly leveraged ramp spells and powerful enchantments like Zendikar Resurgent to accelerate his board state and trigger Gandalf's copying ability. Meanwhile, Shea on The Balrog, Durin's Bane, worked on generating and sacrificing treasure tokens to fuel his commander’s costly casting and take advantage of damage triggers. Gina, playing Farmer Cotton, created a swarm of halfling and food tokens, aiming to buff her army and utilize anthem effects like Elis Norn and Craterhoof Behemoth for a big finish. Ben, commanding Sauron, Lord of the Rings, focused on graveyard recursion and Orc tribal synergies, aiming to reanimate creatures en masse with cards like Rise of the Dark Realms once the right setup was achieved.
