Celebrating 100 Games With Our Most Popular Decks - EDH Gameplay Ep 100

Deck Strategies

• 

  Hazel of the Rootbloom

  Utilizes sacrifice and token generation synergies, leveraging food and treasure artifacts to fuel value engines and incremental advantage while controlling the board.

• 

  Kwain, Itinerant Meddler

  A group hug commander that draws cards and gains life for all players, aiming to extend the game and win through incremental advantage or alternate win conditions added to the deck.

• 

  Zimone, All-Questioning

  Focuses on landfall triggers and prime number land counts to generate tokens and grow board presence, ramping into powerful creatures to overwhelm opponents.

• 

  Rith, the Awakener

  Centered around producing and benefiting from a large number of tokens, using anthem effects and token synergies to swarm opponents and secure victory.

Gameplay Insights

• 1

  Casting Overlord of the Hauntwoods early allowed for ramping land drops by creating a colorless land token with all basic land types, enabling stronger landfall triggers and board development.

• 2

  Lurking Predators generated significant board presence by cheating creatures onto the battlefield whenever opponents cast spells, effectively turning opponents' actions into a resource.

• 3

  The group hug aspect of Quain, Itinerant Meddler helped mitigate damage and maintain card flow, balancing aggression with political play.

• 4

  Swans of Bryn Argoll's damage prevention and card draw ability forced opponents to reconsider removal spells and combat decisions, providing resilience and card advantage.

Notable Cards

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  Academy Manufactor

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  Zimone, All-Questioning

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  Overlord of the Hauntwoods

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  Lifecrafter's Bestiary

• 

  Shamanic Revelation

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  Lurking Predators

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  Swans of Bryn Argoll

Summary

The game opened with players establishing their mana bases and early board presence, including key cards like Academy Manufactor creating multiple artifact tokens and commanders such as Quain, Itinerant Meddler and Zimone, All-Questioning entering the battlefield. Zimone’s ability to generate tokens based on prime numbers of lands added a unique strategic layer early on. The game’s first major turning point came when Overlord of the Hauntwoods was cast, enabling additional land drops and ramping up the board state significantly. Players focused on building up resources and generating card advantage with cards like Lifecrafter's Bestiary and Shamanic Revelation, setting the stage for mid-game plays. Mid-game featured several important interactions, including the use of Lurking Predators to cheat creatures onto the battlefield whenever opponents cast spells, which greatly increased board presence and pressure. Combat phases began to shift the life totals, with Quain attacking and triggering its abilities to draw cards and gain incremental advantages. Swans of Bryn Argoll provided a resilient flying threat with a unique damage prevention and card draw mechanic, significantly impacting opponents' removal strategies. The game showcased a balance between group-hug style interactions and aggressive board development, with players leveraging their commanders' unique abilities and synergies to advance toward their respective win conditions.