$100 Budget Commander | EDH Gameplay Ep 43

Deck & Commander Strategies

• 

  Arcades, the Strategist

  Utilizes cheap Defenders that draw cards and gain value, then transforms them into offensive threats to overwhelm opponents.

• 

  Anim Pakal, Thousandth Moon

  Focuses on creating numerous sappling tokens with spore counters, then sacrificing them to proliferate or populate, growing the board and enabling synergies.

• 

  Neera, Wild Mage

  Manipulates the top of the library with cantrips and uses Neera’s ability to cast large spells for free, aiming for powerful late-game plays.

• 

  Xavier Sal, Infested Captain

  Generates tokens and uses counters to proliferate and populate, creating a swarm of creatures to apply pressure or gain advantage.

Gameplay Insights

• 1

  Xavier Sal’s ability to proliferate and populate tokens was a central mechanic, enabling the growth of a threatening board.

• 2

  Arcades’ deck leveraged the synergy between cheap Defenders and card draw engines like Skullclamp to maintain resources while setting up a strong offense.

• 3

  Neera’s use of library manipulation spells such as Otherworldly Gaze and cantrips allowed her to engineer high-impact plays by cheating powerful spells into play.

• 4

  The player piloting Anim Pakal effectively used spore counters and token sacrifice to ramp mana and control the board state.

• 5

  Early game mana ramp and token production were critical in developing board presence that influenced attack priorities and defensive postures.

• 6

  Board wipes or removal targeting the token-heavy strategies would be pivotal in shifting the game momentum.

Notable Cards

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  Xavier Sal, Infested Captain

• 

  Skullclamp

• 

  Noble Heritage

• 

  Vine Trellis

• 

  Utopia Mycon

• 

  High Alert

• 

  Otherworldly Gaze

Gameplay Summary