Jeska//Thrasios vs Blim vs Marchesa vs Varina [EDH/Commander, Magic The Gathering ] Gameplay 2020

Deck Strategies

• 

  Jeska, Thrice Reborn // Thrasios, Triton Hero

  A land-centric deck aiming to ramp aggressively and use Scapeshift combined with Valakut to deal massive damage through landfall triggers, often finishing the game with a large burn from lands entering the battlefield.

• 

  Varina, Lich Queen

  A zombie tribal deck focused on drawing cards through combat damage triggers and assembling a Grave Crawler combo to generate value and maintain board control with recurring threats.

• 

  Queen Marchesa

  A tapout control deck leveraging Queen Marchesa’s ability for card advantage and aggressive board control, including powerful board wipes like Ugin’s -4 and Toxic Deluge, aiming to win through attrition and powerful late-game creatures.

• 

  Blim, Comedic Genius

  A disruptive deck that gifts opponents unwanted permanents using Blim’s unique ability, while controlling the board and setting up interactions with cards like Waste Not to grind out value and tempo.

Gameplay Insights

• 1

  Jeska’s player used ramp spells like Nature's Lore and Hour of Promise effectively to set up a turn with multiple land drops and Scapeshift to maximize Valakut triggers for a potential mass damage win.

• 2

  Varina’s player leveraged combat damage triggers to draw cards and gain life, enabling the assembling of a Grave Crawler recursion combo and protecting their board presence through timely plays of creatures and artifacts.

• 3

  Queen Marchesa’s pilot used Ugin’s -4 to clear the board at a critical moment, resetting the board state and stalling aggressive strategies, while maintaining card advantage as the monarch.

• 4

  Blim’s player actively disrupted opponents by gifting problematic permanents and using Waste Not to generate incremental resource advantage, but faced challenges due to board wipes and control effects.

• 5

  Fierce Guardianship was used as a key counterspell to protect important plays like Varina’s Grave Crawler combo and prevent devastating board wipes such as Toxic Deluge from resolving.

Notable Cards

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  Scapeshift

• 

  Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle

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  Field of the Dead

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  Talisman of Dominance

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  Demonic Tutor

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  Fierce Guardianship

• 

  Ugin, the Spirit Dragon

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  Aura of Silence

• 

  Toxic Deluge

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  Waste Not

• 

  Queen Marchesa

• 

  Blim, Comedic Genius

Summary

The game started with each player establishing their mana bases and early board presence. The Jeska, Thrice Reborn and Thrasios, Triton Hero deck focused on ramping into lands and key spells like Scapeshift, aiming to leverage Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle for a massive damage combo. Varina, Lich Queen piloted a zombie tribal deck that sought to draw cards and assemble interactions with Grave Crawler and other synergy pieces to create value and maintain board presence. Queen Marchesa played a control-oriented game plan, utilizing board wipes like Ugin’s -4 ability and advantage engines to stabilize and accrue resources. Blim, Comedic Genius focused on forcing opponents to take unwanted permanents and disrupting their plays while setting up his own combos.