Life Is A Resource Or So They Say - cEDH Gameplay! K'rrik vs Thrasios/Vial vs Malcolm/Vial vs Tivit

Deck Strategies

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  Thrasios, Triton Hero and Vial Smasher the Fierce

  Leverages Thrasios as an infinite mana outlet and uses Vial Smasher for pressure. The deck aims to win through combos involving Thrasios Oracle or Underworld Breach, utilizing efficient tutors and control elements to assemble these combos.

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  K'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth

  An aggressive monoblack combo deck that uses life as a resource to ramp and cast spells quickly. It aims to close out games with combos involving Bolas of the Citadel and loops with Merchant of Asphodel to drain opponents' life and generate overwhelming advantage.

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  Malcolm, Keen-Eyed Navigator and Vial Smasher the Fierce

  A Grixis pirate synergy deck that generates mana and card advantage through pirate tribal effects, aiming to combo off with Glint-Horn Buccaneer and Malcolm or with classic Underworld Breach and Thrasios Oracle combos.

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  Tivit, Seller of Secrets

  Utilizes Tivit's synergy with Time Sift to create infinite turns, then wins through combat damage or by assembling a Thrasios Oracle combo. The deck focuses on a control and combo approach, balancing disruption with setup.

Gameplay Insights

• 1

  Forcing out Mindbreak Trap early was a gamble intending to clear the way for key combo plays, but it backfired by removing a crucial protection for later sequences.

• 2

  The use of Bolas of the Citadel allowed K'rrik to pay life repeatedly to draw and cast spells from the top of the deck, accelerating the combo and resource generation tremendously.

• 3

  Multiple players used Vampiric Tutor and Worldly Tutor to stack their decks and find combo pieces efficiently, demonstrating the importance of tutoring in cEDH games.

• 4

  The careful management of life totals as a resource, especially by K'rrik, was critical to enabling powerful plays but also made them vulnerable to mass removal spells like Toxic Deluge.

• 5

  Players leveraged counterspells like Pact of Negation and disruption spells like Cruel Claw Heist to prevent opponents from executing their combos, keeping the game highly interactive.

Notable Cards

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  Sensei's Divining Top

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  Mindbreak Trap

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  Pact of Negation

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  Deadly Recluse

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  Grim Monolith

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  Toxic Deluge

Summary

The game started with players developing their mana bases and setting up early plays. Thrasios/Vial Smasher focused on controlling the board and assembling combo pieces, utilizing cards like Sensei's Divining Top and Vampiric Tutor to dig through their deck. K'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth, played aggressively, leveraging life as a resource to cast powerful spells quickly and aiming to assemble a lethal combo with Bolas of the Citadel and a loop with Merchant of Asphodel. Malcolm/Vial Smasher piloted a pirate synergy deck looking to combo off with Glint-Horn Buccaneer and either Thrasios Oracle or Underworld Breach combos, while Tivit aimed to set up infinite turns through Time Sift and Thassa's Oracle for a combat damage win or combo finish. A key turning point occurred when K'rrik cast Bolas of the Citadel, enabling an explosive sequence of plays that leveraged life payment to draw cards and generate a significant board presence. However, the forced early use of Mindbreak Trap by another player slightly disrupted their tempo. The game featured multiple interactions around tutors like Vampiric Tutor and Worldly Tutor, and protective responses such as Pact of Negation to counter critical spells. Eventually, K'rrik's aggressive life-based combo proved threatening, but the presence of powerful counterspells and disruption kept the board tense with each player watching for lethal sequences. The play patterns showed a balance between setting up combos and disrupting opponents, with life totals and mana resources being carefully managed throughout the match.