Varina vs Beledross vs Edgar Markov vs Nicol Bolas [EDH/Commander, Magic The Gathering Gameplay]

Deck Strategies

• 

  Beledros Witherbloom

  A green-black midrange deck focused on ramp and value creatures, aiming to close out the game with an Aetherflux Reservoir combo.

• 

  Varina, Lich Queen

  A zombie tribal deck leveraging zombie synergies and graveyard recursion to assemble a gravecrawler combo for victory.

• 

  Nicol Bolas, the Ravager // Nicol Bolas, the Arisen

  A reanimator deck that discards large creatures to reanimate them quickly, overwhelming opponents with powerful threats.

• 

  Edgar Markov

  A vampire tribal deck focused on generating a wide board of vampire tokens and leveraging tribal buffs to apply continuous pressure.

Gameplay Insights

• 1

  The gifting of Belladros Witherbloom to the green-black player significantly boosted their board control and synergy potential.

• 2

  Edgar Markov's ability to produce vampire tokens early created pressure that forced other players to respond, influencing their resource allocation.

• 3

  The reanimator player’s discard of key cards like Opposition Agent and Agent of Treachery was a risky but necessary step to build their graveyard for reanimation.

• 4

  The green-black player’s ramp with lands like Woodland Chasm and spells like Explosive Vegetation enabled early development of a threatening board.

• 5

  The use of Silver Library to draw extra cards was a strategic move to maintain card advantage and find combo pieces or answers quickly.

Notable Cards

• 

  Aetherflux Reservoir

• 

  Agent of Treachery

• 

  Binding Mummy

• 

  Legion's Landing // Adanto, the First Fort

• 

  Vampire Nighthawk

• 

  Changeling Outcast

• 

  Faithless Looting

• 

  Dark Ritual

• 

  Talisman of Dominance

Summary

The game unfolded with four distinct strategies vying for control: a green-black midrange deck with a combo finish, a zombie tribal deck aiming for a gravecrawler combo, a reanimator deck focusing on discarding and reanimating large creatures, and a vampire tribal deck focused on wide board presence. Early turns saw players developing mana bases and deploying their key creatures like Binding Mummy, Scarab God, and vampire tokens. The vampire player aggressively pushed damage with tokens and creatures like Vampire Nighthawk and Changeling Outcast, while the green-black player aimed to ramp and set up for Aetherflux Reservoir combo. The reanimator built up graveyard resources through discard spells and rituals, preparing for a big reanimation swing. Meanwhile, the zombie tribal player worked on assembling their zombie synergies and potential combos. A pivotal moment occurred when the green-black player was gifted Belladros Witherbloom, which synergized powerfully with their Scarab God and Agent of Treachery plays, enabling board control and card advantage. Despite attempts to stall and disrupt, the game progressed with escalating board states and interaction, setting up multiple potential win conditions involving combos and tribal synergies.