I Hate Your Deck #49 Ur Dragon v Zada Hedron Grinder v Riku v Toralf || Commander Gameplay MTG

Deck Strategies

• 

  Zada, Hedron Grinder

  Utilizes cheap instants and sorceries targeting Zada to copy spells across a wide token army, generating massive card draw, pumping creatures, and enabling quick, aggressive attacks.

• 

  The Ur-Dragon

  Focuses on ramping into a board filled with dragons, leveraging cost reduction from multiple dragon commanders and drawing cards upon attack to continuously refuel and deploy threats.

• 

  Riku of Two Reflections

  Aims to double instants and sorceries for value, casting big spells with copy effects to control the game and generate overwhelming board states or damage output.

• 

  Toralf, God of Fury

  Mono-red aggression that punishes opponents for casting creatures, using burn and equipment to maintain board dominance and chip away at opponents' life totals.

Gameplay Insights

• 1

  The Braided Fire with cumulative upkeep was used cleverly to produce increasing amounts of red mana, enabling explosive turns when combined with Manifold Key and Seething Song.

• 2

  Casting Reiterate with buyback to copy opponent's Brainstorm spells allowed for efficient card filtering and hand sculpting while maintaining mana advantage.

• 3

  Playing Impulsive Pilferer early allowed generating treasure tokens and additional attackers through its Encore ability, creating pressure on multiple opponents.

• 4

  Darksteel Plate equipped to a key creature provided crucial indestructibility, helping maintain board presence against removal-heavy decks.

• 5

  The Zada player’s strategy of using small pump spells and combat tricks combined with Goblin Instigator’s token generation created a powerful engine for card draw and haste that could overwhelm opponents if left unchecked.

Notable Cards

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  Manifold Key

• 

  Darksteel Plate

• 

  Seething Song

• 

  Reiterate

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  Impulsive Pilferer

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  Craterhoof Behemoth

• 

  Goblin Instigator

Summary

The game featured four distinct Commander decks battling for control and victory. Early turns showed players developing their mana bases and setting up key pieces. One player using Zada, Hedron Grinder began establishing a token and pump strategy, leveraging cheap instants and sorceries to multiply effects and generate card draw and haste. The Ur-Dragon player focused on ramp and assembling a board presence of dragons, taking advantage of cost reduction and card draw triggers tied to their dragon tribal synergies. Meanwhile, Riku of Two Reflections aimed to cast powerful instants and sorceries with copy effects, generating explosive value and controlling the pace of the game. Toralf, God of Fury's player concentrated on a mono-red aggressive build that punished opponents for playing creatures and aimed to deal direct damage and maintain board presence with equipment like Darksteel Plate.