Deck & Commander Strategies
Zacama, Primal Calamity
Ramp hard with lands and mana sources to cast Zacama early and repeatedly, using its abilities to clear creatures, destroy artifacts or enchantments, and gain life while maintaining a large, trampling threat to overwhelm opponents.
Tinybones, Trinket Thief
Utilize opponents' discards to draw cards and apply pressure by threatening massive life loss if opponents run out of cards in hand, while leveraging old, overlooked enchantments and discard synergies to disrupt and out-value opponents.
Kamiz, Obscura Oculus
Apply evasion and combat tricks by making attacking creatures unblockable and granting double strike, while conniving to draw and discard cards for incremental advantage and to fuel further threats.
Zndrsplt, Eye of Wisdom and Okaun, Eye of Chaos
Flip coins at the start of turns and combats to grow Okaun’s power and draw cards with Zndrsplt; capitalize on coin-flip wins to build a massive, evasive threat or gain resources, relying on luck and tempo swings.
Gameplay Insights
- 1
Zacama’s ability to untap all lands upon entering the battlefield enabled explosive mana plays and effective removal to control the pace of the game.
- 2
The coin-flip mechanic of Okaun and Zndrsplt introduced high variance, resulting in either massive card draw and power boosts or missed opportunities, significantly impacting their momentum.
- 3
Kamiz’s connive triggers allowed for steady card advantage and board pressure by making creatures unblockable and granting double strike, forcing opponents to respond or lose incremental life.
- 4
Tinybones capitalized on opponents discarding cards to draw and threaten life loss, creating a political and resource-denial dynamic that pressured players to manage their hands carefully.
Notable Cards
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Ancient Tomb
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Esper Sentinel
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Mana Crypt
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Exotic Orchard
Gameplay Summary
The game began with players establishing their mana bases and early board presence, with Zacama ramping aggressively through lands and ramp spells, setting up for a big stompy presence.
The coin-flip partnership of Okaun and Zndrsplt worked to build momentum by flipping coins for buffs and card draws, though the randomness introduced some volatility in their game plan.
Kamiz, Obscura Oculus’s player focused on evasion and incremental value through conniving and granting double strike, applying pressure by making creatures unblockable and drawing cards, generating card advantage and combat tricks.
Tinybones, Trinket Thief aimed to leverage discard synergies, drawing cards off opponents' discards and threatening to deal massive damage if opponents ended up with empty hands, applying political and disruptive pressure in the table dynamics.
A key turning point was Zacama’s ability to untap lands and use its versatile removal and damage triggers to control board threats while ramping further, keeping the game in a high-power state.
Meanwhile, the coin-flip deck’s burst potential was tempered by unlucky flips, allowing other players to stabilize.
Kamiz’s incremental value and evasive attacks steadily chipped away at opponents, while Tinybones’s discard engine created tension over hand size and card resources.
Ultimately, the game evolved into a battle of attrition with Zacama’s raw power and Kamiz’s evasive strikes dominating the late game, as players sought to outpace each other’s resources and board states.
![Commander VS S16E9: Rakdos VS Padeem VS Zacama VS Golos [EDH] thumbnail](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/dZvTs47Y-pk/sddefault.jpg)
![Commander VS S15E3: Sidisi VS Grothama VS Zndrsplt & Okaun VS Ruhan [EDH] thumbnail](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/8cVo3-xP-rE/sddefault.jpg)
