Deck Strategies
Derevi, Empyrial Tactician
Control and value through tapping and untapping creatures and lands, leveraging Derevi's ability to disrupt opponents while building incremental advantage with creatures and mana dorks.
Sisay, Weatherlight Captain
Legendary creature toolbox that uses Sisay to tutor and recast key legendaries, supported by disruption and taxing effects like Ristic Study to control the game pace.
Etali, Primal Conqueror
Aggressive ramp into big creatures and spells, using Etali's ability to cheat out threats and generate card advantage through combat damage.
Thrasios, Triton Hero // Yoshimaru, Ever Faithful
Combo and value engine deck that uses efficient mana acceleration and draw engines, with a focus on incremental advantage and setting up powerful interactions.
Gameplay Insights
- 1
The early Ristic Study by Sisay created a taxing environment that shaped players' decision-making, forcing them to carefully consider each spell cast to avoid excessive card draw penalties.
- 2
A chain reaction involving multiple legendary creatures cast triggered by Ristic Study dramatically altered the game state, showcasing the power of legendary synergy in Sisay's deck.
- 3
Players prioritized setting up mana bases and incremental advantage over rushing combos early, highlighting the importance of adapting to taxing effects in competitive EDH.
- 4
The use of Metamorph to copy Etali and the decision to keep the copy over other creatures demonstrated strategic prioritization of board presence and threats under pressure.
- 5
Holding back on casting Wargate to avoid feeding Ristic Study shows the tension between ramping and resource management in a taxing meta.
Notable Cards
Force of Will
Force of Negation
Finale of Devastation
Veil of Summer
Carpet of Flowers
Summary
The game opened with early mana acceleration and card draw spells, with the Sisay player quickly establishing a Ristic Study that put pressure on opponents by taxing their draws. Derevi and Thrasios/Yoshimaru players set up their mana bases and began assembling their board states carefully to avoid feeding the taxing Ristic Study. The Etali player utilized aggressive mana ramp and powerful creatures to threaten fast damage and disruptive plays. Key moments involved a chaotic chain of casting legendary creatures triggered by the Sisay player's Ristic Study, including a Metamorph copy and multiple forced draws, which significantly changed the board state and player resources. Despite the disruption, the players managed to develop their boards with utility creatures, mana dorks, and defensive spells. There was a notable hesitation around committing to large spells or combos early due to the taxing effects in play, leading to a slower, more tactical midgame where players tried to leverage their commanders' abilities and maintain board presence. The game remained dynamic, with players constantly adapting to the threats of opposing decks and avoiding feeding into taxing effects or risking losing key cards.