Deck & Commander Strategies
Teysa, Orzhov Scion
A token and sacrifice-oriented deck that generates value by creating and sacrificing tokens, controlling the board with disruption like Blind Obedience, and exiling opponents' threats.
Szarel, Genesis Shepherd
A land-focused ramp and graveyard recursion deck that uses creatures like Tireless Tracker for card advantage and transforms its Brood Ship into a powerful landfall engine.
Togal, A Fine Hound
A mono-green tribal deck centered on producing wolf tokens and casting humans that enter with extra +1/+1 counters, aiming to build a wide and buffed board state.
Starscream, Power Hungry // Starscream, Seeker Leader
An aggressive flying damage deck leveraging the monarch mechanic to punish opponents with life loss on card draw, transforming Starscream for additional damage and card pressure.
Gameplay Insights
- 1
The battle for the monarchy was a central dynamic, with Starscream leveraging it to drain opponents' life whenever drawing cards, forcing players to reconsider attacks and defense.
- 2
Togal’s synergy between wolf tokens and humans entering with +1/+1 counters created a growing threat that scaled well with incremental buffs and combat triggers.
- 3
Teysa’s use of Blind Obedience effectively slowed aggressive decks by taxing creatures and artifacts, while enabling life drain through extort and token sacrifice.
- 4
Szarel’s landfall and graveyard recursion strategy, aided by cards like Brood Ship and Skyshroud Claim, allowed repeated ramp and resilience even as opponents pressured the board.
- 5
Players carefully timed attacks and blocker assignments to manage monarch control, often swinging to reclaim it as a valuable resource for card advantage and life manipulation.
- 6
The interplay between token generation, +1/+1 counters, and monarch mechanics provided multiple overlapping win conditions and threats, requiring adaptive responses each turn.
Notable Cards
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Starscream, Power Hungry // Starscream, Seeker Leader
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Teysa, Orzhov Scion
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Szarel, Genesis Shepherd
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Blind Obedience
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Tireless Tracker
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Augur of Autumn
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Skyshroud Claim
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Horizon Explorer
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Howling Moon
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Memorial to Folly
Gameplay Summary
The game began with players establishing their boards through incremental ramp and early threats.
Togal, A Fine Hound focused on generating wolf tokens and leveraging humans with additional +1/+1 counters, gradually building a board presence.
Starscream, Power Hungry employed aggressive flying damage and monarch mechanics to pressure opponents and drain life, flipping to a stronger form to punish card draws.
Teysa, Orzhov Scion utilized token creation and sacrifice synergies alongside disruption like Blind Obedience to control the pace.
Szarel, Genesis Shepherd (playing the World Shaper precon) emphasized land-based ramp and graveyard recursion, using cards like Tireless Tracker to investigate and generate clues for card advantage. A key turning point came when Starscream managed to seize the monarchy, enabling repeated life loss triggers on opponents whenever drawing cards.
Togal’s ability to pump wolves and humans with +1/+1 counters synergized with his token generation, allowing steady pressure on multiple fronts.
Meanwhile, Teysa’s control elements slowed opponents and enabled value from token sacrifice.
Szarel’s ability to play multiple lands per turn and utilize graveyard recursion through his evolving Brood Ship and other creatures made him a resilient threat.
The gameplay revolved around maintaining board presence, controlling the monarchy, and generating incremental advantages through tokens and counters.
The game was marked by tactical attacks to steal and reclaim the monarchy, careful sequencing to maximize creature buffs, and strategic utilization of graveyard and land synergies for sustained advantage.
