I Hate Your Deck #72 River Song v Themberchaud v Phylath v Ezuri || Commander Gameplay MTG EDH

Deck Strategies

• 

  River Song

  Manipulate the bottom of the library by drawing cards from there and punish opponents for searching, scrying, or surveilling by dealing damage equal to River Song's power. The deck uses milling and search effects to fuel its commander and control the board through incremental damage.

• 

  Ezuri, Renegade Leader

  A classic elf tribal deck that generates large amounts of mana and creatures, pumping elves to overwhelm opponents with massive trampling attacks. It relies on regeneration and combat tricks to maintain board presence.

• 

  Phylath, World Sculptor

  Utilizes landfall triggers to create and grow plant tokens, building a wide and tall board. The deck leverages basic lands and ramp spells, aiming to finish with big swings from Craterhoof Behemoth or similar effects.

• Themerchaud

  A mountain-heavy red deck focused on dealing damage through its commander’s enter-the-battlefield effect, which clears non-flying creatures and damages players based on the number of mountains controlled. It uses exert and flying to close out games quickly.

Gameplay Insights

• 1

  River Song’s unique ability to draw from the bottom of the library and punish opponents for searching created constant pressure and a novel form of incremental damage throughout the game.

• 2

  The Ezuri player focused on ramping with elves early to build a wide board that could be pumped and regenerated for lethal swings.

• 3

  Phylath’s landfall ability synergized well with basic land ramp spells like Nature's Lore, rapidly growing an army of plant tokens and accumulating +1/+1 counters.

• 4

  Themberchaud’s board wipe effect on entering the battlefield helped manage wide creature boards, especially against the elf-heavy decks, setting up for a powerful finishing attack.

• 5

  The interplay between land ramp, creature swarming, and damage-based commander effects highlighted the diverse paths to victory and the importance of timing key plays.

Notable Cards

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  River Song

• 

  Ezuri, Renegade Leader

• 

  Phylath, World Sculptor

• 

  Craterhoof Behemoth

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  Fyndhorn Elves

• 

  Nature's Lore

• 

  Wilderness Reclamation

• 

  Wayfarer's Bauble

Summary

The game featured a dynamic four-player Commander match with unique and interactive decks. Early turns saw players ramping mana with efficient mana dorks and land-fetch spells, setting up for their respective strategies. The River Song deck focused on manipulating the bottom of the library and punishing opponents whenever they searched or scryed, leveraging incremental damage and card advantage. The Ezuri deck aimed to build a massive elf army, using regeneration and pump spells to swing with large trample threats. Phylath, World Sculptor emphasized landfall synergies, creating a wide board of plant tokens and buffing them significantly with +1/+1 counters, aiming for a Craterhoof Behemoth finisher to overwhelm opponents. Meanwhile, Themberchaud utilized a mono-red mountain-heavy deck with a powerful dragon commander that could clear the board of non-flying creatures and finish games through exerted flying attacks.