Deck & Commander Strategies
Thranduil, the Elvenking
Ramp through elves and efficient creatures to gain incremental advantages with card draw and utility, aiming to outvalue opponents and stabilize with powerful midgame threats.
Smaug the Impenetrable
Use cascade and treasure generation to ramp into powerful dragons and spells, leveraging equipment like Cranial Plating to turn creatures into lethal threats quickly.
The Queen of Dale
Exploit the recruit mechanic to generate tokens and draw cards, utilizing reanimation and equipment to maintain board control and create overwhelming board presence.
The Great Goblin
Flood the board with goblin tokens and synergistic creatures, using sacrifice outlets and damage-dealing abilities to wear down opponents while maintaining tempo.
Gameplay Insights
- 1
Max's use of resurrection to bring back Aison, Angel Wing was a pivotal move, securing board control and making it difficult for opponents to remove her effectively.
- 2
Sammy's cascade into multiple value spells and treasure generation created explosive mana advantages, allowing rapid deployment of threats and equipment.
- 3
Arj capitalized on goblin token synergy with Siege-Gang Commander and Kiki-Jiki to pressure opponents consistently and generate additional tokens through combat damage triggers.
- 4
Kuzno's combination of ramp, card draw, and removal via Deathrite Shaman and targeted effects allowed steady development but eventually succumbed to Max's overwhelming board presence.
- 5
The Queen of Dale's recruit triggers proved highly effective in filling the board and drawing cards, demonstrating the strength of token generation combined with card advantage mechanics.
Notable Cards
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Deathrite Shaman
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Cranial Plating
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Descent into Avernus
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Siege-Gang Commander
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Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
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Eladamri, Lord of Leaves
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Generous Plunderer
Gameplay Summary
The game started with each player developing their board and ramping into their key pieces.
Kuzno, playing Thranduil, the Elvenking, focused on ramp and card advantage through creatures like Deathrite Shaman, Eladamri, and Elvish Warmarmaster, setting up a strong midgame with multiple card draw engines and utility creatures.
Max, piloting The Queen of Dale, leveraged the recruit mechanic heavily, generating tokens and drawing cards by casting equipment and creatures, eventually reanimating powerful creatures like Aison, Angel Wing to control the board.
Sammy, on Smaug the Impenetrable, utilized cascade spells and treasure generation from Reign of Riches and Descent into Avernus, enabling explosive mana and card advantage while equipping Cranial Plating to aggressive creatures.
Arj, with The Great Goblin, deployed a swarm of goblin tokens and synergistic creatures like Siege-Gang Commander and Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker, applying pressure with goblin damage and token synergies.
![Smaug! In cEDH? Which One? [cEDH GAUNTLET] SMAUG v KINNAN v TYMNA\DARGO v ROG\THRASIOS thumbnail](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/F4CbX8zwRME/sddefault.jpg)