Marath, Obeka, Alesha, Zur - #cEDH Gameplay Ep 73

Deck Strategies

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  Marath, Will of the Wild

  A combo-oriented deck leveraging Marath’s ability to pump and remove creatures repeatedly, generating incremental advantage and eventually winning through infinite combos or overwhelming board control.

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  Obeka, Brute Chronologist

  An infinite turns combo deck that uses Obeka’s ability to untap lands and mana rocks repeatedly, enabling multiple activations of Timewalk-like effects to take extra turns and close out the game.

• 

  Alesha, Who Smiles at Death

  A stax and combo deck that pressures opponents early with creatures like Serra Ascendant and Archon of Emeria, while setting up graveyard recursion combos involving Animate Dead and Sire of Insanity to disrupt opponents and win.

• 

  Zur the Enchanter

  A control and toolbox deck focused on assembling key enchantments, using Necropotence for card advantage, and leveraging Zur’s ability to cheat enchantments into play, aiming for a controlling late game and combo finish.

Gameplay Insights

• 1

  Baal’s use of Trickbind to counter the Animate Dead ETB trigger was key to disrupting David’s graveyard recursion combo without losing board presence.

• 2

  Archon of Emeria effectively slowed down Leite’s Zur deck by making fetchlands enter tapped and taxing noncreature spells, demonstrating how stax elements can shape the game flow.

• 3

  Marath’s activation to ping Zur for lethal deathtouch damage showed precise timing and target selection to remove key threats efficiently.

• 4

  David’s decision to cast Wheel of Misfortune was a double-edged sword, disrupting opponents but also forcing him to discard valuable combo pieces.

• 5

  The interaction between Counterbalance and Esper Sentinel created a continuous tension where players had to carefully sequence spells and pay mana or lose tempo.

• 6

  Leite’s use of Timetwister early on shook up the mulligan decisions and hand composition of all players, adding variance and complexity to the game state.

Notable Cards

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  Nightshade Peddler

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  Grim Monolith

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  Counterbalance

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  Serra Ascendant

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  Archon of Emeria

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  Phantasmal Image

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  Animate Dead

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  Sire of Insanity

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  Trickbind

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  Mana Drain

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  Wheel of Misfortune

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  Hushwing Gryff

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  Path to Exile

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  Geier Reach Sanitarium

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  Tainted Pact

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  Gamble

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  Vampiric Tutor

Summary

The game opened with each player setting up their respective strategies, with ramp and early interaction shaping the pace. Hélder’s Marath deck began establishing board presence with creatures like Nightshade Peddler soulbound to Marath for removal efficiency. Baal, piloting Obeka, focused on assembling his infinite turns combo, leveraging cards like Grim Monolith and Counterbalance to control the flow and protect his combo pieces. David, on Alesha, applied early pressure with Serra Ascendant and Archon of Emeria, while also setting up his Animate Dead + Sire of Insanity combo. Leite, on Zur, struggled a bit with mulligans but aimed to use Zur’s toolbox and Necropotence to stabilize, though Archon of Emeria hindered his mana base and tempo significantly. Key turning points included Baal’s clever use of Trickbind to counter David’s Animate Dead trigger, preserving his disruption and combo potential. The presence of Archon of Emeria created tension, preventing some crucial plays and mana fixing, notably for Leite’s Zur deck. Hélder’s Marath aggressively chipped away at opponents with deathtouch pings and removal, carefully navigating around Counterbalance triggers. David’s Wheel of Misfortune backfired slightly, discarding his own resources but also disrupting others. Late game interactions saw Baal using Vampiric Tutor to fetch combo pieces, highlighting the tight interplay between stax elements and combo potential. The game was a complex dance of disruption, board presence, and combo setup, with each player balancing aggression and defense to reach their win conditions.