Deck & Commander Strategies
Zur the Enchanter
Zur aims to control the game by repeatedly tutoring and placing impactful enchantments onto the battlefield, leveraging enchantment synergies to generate advantage and lock down opponents.
Karlach, Fury of Avernus
Karlach's deck is aggressive and thematic, focusing on creature combat, life payment, and capitalizing on damage triggers, enhanced by synergy with Criminal Past for additional effects.
Xira, the Golden Sting
Xira generates incremental value through combat damage by placing egg counters on creatures, drawing cards when those creatures die, and creating insect tokens to maintain board presence.
Kaervek the Merciless
Kaervek punishes opponents by forcing life payment and dealing damage, using these effects to control the pace of the game and wear down enemy resources.
Criminal Past
Criminal Past complements aggressive strategies by providing additional combat-oriented abilities and synergies that enhance damage output and tactical plays.
Gameplay Insights
- 1
Players used life payment as a key resource, triggering effects and paying costs that shaped their tempo and board development.
- 2
The use of Explosion of Riches to force card draw combined with damage to all players created tension around risk and reward decisions.
- 3
Xira's strategy of placing egg counters and drawing cards off creature deaths provided steady card advantage, allowing for sustained pressure.
- 4
Kaervek’s player focused on controlling the game through damage and life-loss effects, punishing opponents who overextended or failed to manage their life totals.
- 5
The early game was characterized by incremental advantages rather than immediate aggression, setting up for more impactful mid-to-late game plays.
Notable Cards
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Bloodgift Demon
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Stormfist Crusader
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Explosion of Riches
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Geothermal Bog
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Zur the Enchanter
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Karlach, Fury of Avernus
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Xira, the Golden Sting
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Kaervek the Merciless
Gameplay Summary
The game began with all players setting up their boards cautiously, with a focus on lands and minor creatures.
Post, piloting Zur the Enchanter, aimed to establish a strong enchantment presence but started off with a slow, life-paying mana ramp.
Ashley, on Karlach, Fury of Avernus, combined with Criminal Past, played aggressively with creatures and life-loss triggers, reflecting a theme of damage and risk.
Cory on Kaervek the Merciless used a punishing control style, leveraging life payment and damage exchange to destabilize opponents.
Ken's Xira, the Golden Sting deck focused on creating egg counters and insect tokens through combat damage to generate card advantage.
Early turns involved incremental life loss and card draw mechanics, setting the stage for a midgame where players began deploying powerful threats like Bloodgift Demon and Mosw, Dread Knight.
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