Rankle vs Greven vs Nicol Bolas, Ravager vs Azusa EDH / CMDR game play for Magic: The Gathering

Deck Strategies

• 

  Rankle, Master of Pranks

  Focus on disruption through forced discards and madness spells, leveraging Waste Not for card advantage and token generation while applying commander damage pressure.

• 

  Greven, Predator Captain

  Aggressively sacrifice creatures to draw cards and fuel combat damage, using haste and graveyard recursion to maintain tempo and overwhelm opponents with large creatures.

• 

  Nicol Bolas, the Ravager // Nicol Bolas, the Arisen

  Control the board by forcing opponents to discard and using planeswalker abilities for removal and card advantage, transforming into a powerful planeswalker for late-game dominance.

• 

  Azusa, Lost but Seeking

  Ramp and land recursion to generate overwhelming mana advantage, culminating in big spells like Genesis Wave to flood the board with lands and powerful permanents.

Gameplay Insights

• 1

  Rankle's discard and madness triggered multiple opponent discards, enabling Waste Not to generate card advantage and tokens, which pressured opponents early.

• 2

  Greven's synergy with Immolating Soul-Eater's repeated activations enabled massive card draw and damage output, effectively closing out the game after powering up.

• 3

  Nicol Bolas was played twice, forcing opponents to discard and applying pressure, but was dealt with quickly due to opponent responses such as Murderous Rider.

• 4

  Azusa's ramp into Genesis Wave and Titania allowed for explosive board development, using land recursion and token generation to maintain long-term advantage.

• 5

  Players effectively used sacrifice outlets and steal effects on creatures like Callous Oppressor and Blight Sickle triggers to manipulate board state and protect key assets.

• 6

  Strategic stacking of triggers during combat, especially with Rankle and Greven, maximized discard, card draw, and sacrifice effects to maintain tempo and resource advantage.

Notable Cards

• 

  Rankle, Master of Pranks

• 

  Waste Not

• 

  Greven, Predator Captain

• 

  Callous Oppressor

• 

  Nicol Bolas, the Ravager // Nicol Bolas, the Arisen

• 

  Azusa, Lost but Seeking

• 

  Genesis Wave

• 

  Titania, Protector of Argoth

• 

  Crucible of Worlds

• 

  Solemn Simulacrum

• 

  Thopter Assembly

Summary

The game began with a strong early board presence from all players, with key ramp and utility creatures like Wayfarer's Bauble and Solemn Simulacrum being played to accelerate their strategies. Rankle, Master of Pranks made an early impactful entrance, leveraging its discard and madness abilities to disrupt opponents, notably destroying Azusa, which was a significant tempo swing. Waste Not synergized well with Rankle to generate card advantage and tokens from opponents discarding cards. Greven, Predator Captain established a threatening presence with haste and card draw through sacrificing creatures, eventually dealing lethal damage after powering up significantly with multiple activations of Immolating Soul-Eater's ability. Nicol Bolas, the Ravager was cast twice, each time forcing opponents to discard cards and applying pressure with its strong abilities. Azusa, Lost but Seeking executed a ramp and land recursion plan culminating in a powerful Genesis Wave play that brought multiple lands and utility permanents onto the battlefield, setting up for sustained advantage. This included recurring lands with Titania, which provided tokens and additional mana resources. The game featured multiple strategic steals and creature sacrifices, such as Callous Oppressor and the interaction of Greven with various graveyard recursion spells. Ultimately, Greven's overwhelming card draw and damage output led to Miguel's elimination, marking a turning point in board state control. Throughout, players navigated complex combat and discard interactions, balancing aggression and resource management in their attempts to secure victory.