Rakdos vs Elenda vs Scarab God vs Atarka EDH / CMDR game play for Magic: The Gathering

Deck Strategies

• 

  Elenda, the Dusk Rose

  Builds a vampire tribal army, leveraging vampire synergies to generate tokens and grow Elenda with each death, ultimately aiming to overwhelm opponents through wide attacks and life gain.

• 

  The Scarab God

  Utilizes graveyard recursion and milling to gain card advantage and board presence, reanimating key creatures to control the board and drain opponents' life totals.

• 

  Rakdos, Lord of Riots

  Disruptive control with removal spells and damage-dealing creatures, aiming to control the board while leveraging Rakdos's ability to cast big creatures cheaply when opponents lose life.

• 

  Atarka, World Render

  Aggressive dragon tribal deck focusing on casting multiple dragons and triggering Atarka's double strike ability to deal massive combat damage quickly.

Gameplay Insights

• 1

  Greg's decision to use Dragon Tempest and Atarka to create a double strike dragon army rapidly shifted the game's tempo in his favor, forcing opponents to respond or take heavy damage.

• 2

  The Toxic Deluge board wipe was a pivotal moment that balanced the board, preventing Elenda's vampire tokens from overwhelming the table and resetting Greg's aggressive board.

• 3

  Mike's use of graveyard recursion with Scarab God and Grave Titan allowed him to regain board presence after mass removal, maintaining pressure despite setbacks.

• 4

  Elenda's synergy with vampire death triggers was carefully managed, with Shawn using creatures like Captivating Vampire and Castle Loyal Retainers to maximize token generation and life gain.

• 5

  Rakdos's player leveraged life payment and removal spells strategically to keep the board clear and maximize Rakdos's ability to deploy threats cheaply, but suffered from targeted removal and combat damage.

• 6

  Combat targeting decisions, such as Greg choosing to attack Mike and the Rakdos player simultaneously, highlighted the importance of threat prioritization in multiplayer EDH gameplay.

• 7

  The interaction between Dragon Tempest and Atarka's double strike ability created high-impact combat phases that heavily influenced player life totals and board states.

Notable Cards

• 

  Dragon Tempest

• 

  Captivating Vampire

• 

  Toxic Deluge

• 

  Grave Titan

• 

  Legion's Landing // Adanto, the First Fort

• 

  Rakdos Keyrune

• 

  Asylum Visitor

Summary

The game started with each player developing their board and setting up their mana bases, with early plays like Dragon Master Outcast and various mana dorks helping accelerate the game. Greg, playing Atarka, quickly established an aggressive dragon strategy by casting Dragon Tempest and multiple dragons, using Atarka's ability to double strike dragons and deal significant combat damage. Shawn's Elenda deck focused on building a vampire army with synergistic creatures like Captivating Vampire and Castle Loayl Retainers, gaining life and growing Elenda with each vampire death. Mike, on Scarab God, utilized graveyard recursion and milling effects, including casting Grave Titan and reanimating creatures, to gain incremental advantage and pressure. The Rakdos player used disruptive spells like Toxic Deluge to clear boards and took advantage of creatures like Thermal Alchemist and Rakdos key rune to control the pace while chipping away at opponents' life totals. Key turning points included a well-timed board wipe by Toxic Deluge that reset the battlefield and the use of Grey Merchant of Asphodel to drain opponents and gain life, balancing the board state and prolonging the game. The combat phase saw Atarka's double strike dragons dealing heavy commander damage, forcing defensive plays and removal responses. The game revolved around aggressive board presence, life drain, and strategic removal, culminating in a tense standoff where players had to carefully manage threats and resources to avoid lethal damage or overwhelming board states.