I Hate Your Deck #86 Mothman v Geth v Grand Arbiter Augustin v Mothman | Commander Gameplay MTG

Deck Strategies

• 

  The Wise Mothman

  Focuses on milling opponents each turn to accumulate radiation counters which grow its creatures, using flying creatures with +1/+1 counters to either mill out opponents or deal lethal damage.

• 

  Geth, Lord of the Vault

  Builds large amounts of mana to reanimate high-cost creatures from opponents' graveyards while milling opponents to fuel graveyard interactions and control the board with disruption and removal.

• 

  Grand Arbiter Augustin IV

  Uses taxing effects to increase opponents' spell costs while reducing his own, aiming to lock down the game and control the pace, eventually winning through incremental advantage and control.

Gameplay Insights

• 1

  Mesmeric Orb triggers multiple individual untap events, synergizing well with the Mothman decks' radiation counter mechanic to rapidly increase creature size.

• 2

  Unsettled Mariner's taxing ability creates a significant hurdle for opponents by forcing them to pay additional mana to target permanents, adding a layer of protection for the controller.

• 3

  Geth's ability to reanimate creatures from opponents' graveyards while simultaneously milling them creates a powerful feedback loop that can quickly shift board control.

• 4

  Grand Arbiter's cost-increasing static ability forces opponents into difficult decisions and can slow down aggressive strategies, but requires careful setup and protection.

• 5

  Early mana ramp and artifact plays like Soul Ring and Sensei's Divining Top were crucial to enabling explosive turns and maintaining resource advantage.

Notable Cards

• 

  Sensei's Divining Top

• 

  Elvish Mystic

• 

  Solemn Simulacrum

• 

  Unsettled Mariner

• 

  Mesmeric Orb

Summary

The game featured four distinct decks centered around a Fallout-themed meta with heavy milling, token counters, and control elements. The two Mothman decks focused on synergizing around milling opponents and accumulating radiation counters to grow their creatures and apply pressure with large flyers. Both players aimed to either mill their opponents out or use their growing creatures to finish the game through combat damage. Meanwhile, Grand Arbiter Augustin IV employed a taxing control strategy, increasing opponents' spell costs while reducing his own, aiming to lock down the game and take advantage of the slower pace to eventually dominate. Geth, Lord of the Vault utilized a graveyard reanimation and milling combination, ramping into big mana plays to steal opponents' creatures from their graveyards and pile on pressure with disruption and board wipes to maintain control. Early plays saw ramp and setup artifacts like Sensei's Divining Top and Soul Ring, with Mothman players focusing on incremental milling triggers from artifacts like Mesmeric Orb. Key turning points involved establishing board presence with creatures like Unsettled Mariner to tax opponents, and Geth's ability to recur threats from graveyards, which threatened to overwhelm the table if not dealt with quickly. The game revolved around whether the milling decks could outpace Geth's reanimation or if Grand Arbiter's taxing control could slow down the aggression enough to secure a win.