Commander VS S6E9: Shirei vs Phelddagrif vs Dralnu vs Hixus [MTG]

Deck Strategies

• 

  Phelddagrif

  A group hug deck focused on ramping mana, drawing cards, and providing benefits to all players to create a political advantage and slowly build a winning position.

• 

  Shirei, Shizo's Caretaker

  A recursion and sacrifice tribal deck utilizing 40 Shadowborn Apostles to generate value by repeatedly sacrificing and reanimating creatures, steadily gaining incremental advantages.

• 

  Dralnu, Lich Lord

  A control and storm deck that uses instants and sorceries to control the board and generate storm triggers, combined with Paradox Engine and Axebane Guardian to ramp mana and finish the game with a combo kill.

• 

  Hixus, Prison Warden

  A prison-control deck that locks down opponents’ creatures and prevents damage through exile effects and flash creatures, aiming to control the board and disrupt opponents’ strategies.

Gameplay Insights

• 1

  Hixus's ability to exile creatures that deal combat damage to him effectively shuts down aggressive strategies and forces opponents to play cautiously with creatures entering combat.

• 2

  Shirei’s use of 40 Shadowborn Apostles allows for a persistent and resilient board state through repeated recursion, creating a slow but steady pressure that opponents must address.

• 3

  Dralnu’s combination of Paradox Engine with instant and sorcery spells creates a powerful value engine that can quickly generate huge mana and card advantage, setting up a potential combo finish.

• 4

  Phelddagrif’s group hug approach encourages political interaction, using cards like Seedborn Muse and mana ramp to help all players, which can influence the table’s dynamics and potentially stall aggressive plays.

• 5

  The presence of cards like Crow and Jailer and Arrest in Hixus’s deck highlights a focus on tempo and control, using cheap disruption to keep opponents off balance while establishing a lockdown.

• 6

  Despite aggressive locking and combo potential, the game remains close with players jockeying for position and leveraging both political and tactical plays to gain incremental advantages.

Notable Cards

• 

  Quarantine Field

• 

  Paradox Engine

• 

  Axebane Guardian

• 

  Shadowborn Apostle

• 

  Arrest

• 

  Seedborn Muse

• 

  Magus of the Vineyard

• 

  Decree of Justice

Summary

The game featured a four-player Commander match with fan-requested decks, each bringing unique strategies to the table. Phelddagrif led a group hug style deck focused on ramp, card draw, and political interaction, aiming to support all players while gradually gaining advantage. Shirei, Shizo's Caretaker's deck centered on a massive army of 40 Shadowborn Apostles, leveraging recursion and sacrifice to generate incremental value and board presence. Dralnu, Lich Lord piloted a control-storm hybrid deck, utilizing instants, sorceries, and Paradox Engine to generate value and set up a combo kill with Axebane Guardian ramping into a large life gain or storm finish. Hixus, Prison Warden played a prison-style control deck aimed at locking down opponents’ creatures and removing threats efficiently with cards like Arrest and Quarantine Field, while leveraging Hixus's ability to exile creatures entering combat against him.