Deck & Commander Strategies
Kefka, Court Mage // Kefka, Ruler of Ruin
A Grixis midrange/value deck built on good interaction, draw engines like Gleaming Splendor and Lothar, and free spells. It wins through compact combos such as Demonic Consultation or Tainted Pact into Thassa's Oracle. In both games it won without casting the commander.
Eruth, Tormented Prophet
A draw-matters deck that combines Eruth's replacement effect with draw doublers and Time Twister, Breakthrough and Vial of Galadriel. It gets huge exile counts and free-casts cards from exile, often with Underworld Breach and treasure or ritual mana. It also tries to win through Thassa's Oracle lines, but it is vulnerable to free interaction and to wheel effects that exile its resources.
Tymna the Weaver
Partner pair with Kraum, Ludevic's Opus, using Mana Vault and card draw to power out threats and fuel a Grixis-style value game. It applies pressure with commander damage and also holds free counterspells.
Kraum, Ludevic's Opus
Partner pair with Tymna, using Mana Vault and card draw to power out threats and fuel a Grixis-style value game. It applies pressure with commander damage and also holds free counterspells.
Rograkh, Son of Rohgahh
A partner pair with Thrasios, Triton Hero that goes wide with squirrel tokens from Chatterstorm and uses copy effects like Mockingbird and Phantasmal Image for Orcish Bowmaster pressure. It also taps lots of mana and holds free counterspells.
Thrasios, Triton Hero
A partner pair with Rograkh, Son of Rohgahh that goes wide with squirrel tokens from Chatterstorm and uses copy effects like Mockingbird and Phantasmal Image for Orcish Bowmaster pressure. It also taps lots of mana and holds free counterspells.
Gameplay Insights
- 1
Dylan's Eruth line in game 1 fed the table dozens of cards through Mystic Remora, Esper Sentinel and his own free-draw effects. Chaining Taxing Pro, Time Twister, Frantic Search, Seething Song and Breakthrough with the Vial of Galadriel replacement stacking showed the deck's explosive ceiling, but it also gave opponents the free counterspells needed to stop it.
- 2
Dylan reflected that casting Underworld Breach before the biggest draw spells may have cost him: he might have found more interaction first, and the Breach just got sacrificed.
- 3
The table's free interaction (Pact of Negation, Force of Negation, Fierce Guardianship, Mental Misstep, Mindbreak Trap) decided game 1. Cam and Nate had to decide who to stop, since the table feared a win from anyone holding a huge hand.
- 4
Anna's Wishclaw Talisman into Thassa's Oracle and Demonic Consultation worked because Nate had already used his interaction on Dylan. Her Swan Song and other interaction let Consultation resolve.
- 5
In game 2, Orcish Bowmaster triggers turned into a negotiation and ward-payment minigame. Deflecting Swat redirected triggers, and the Bowmaster pings ate into Nate's life total.
- 6
Cam's Mockingbird choice, copying Hexine Squallcher over a more dangerous Samut, was a deliberate attempt to protect his non-instant, non-sorcery cards from being targeted.
- 7
Wheel of Fortune plus the Eruth interaction caused Dylan to discard or exile a stack of premium cards, including win conditions, that he couldn't use. This largely removed him from the game.
- 8
Forbidden Orchard and Gemstone Caverns handed Anna tokens that she used as Diabolic Intent fodder. The table fed her the resources to find her win.
- 9
Grand Abolisher protected Anna's final turn from instant-speed interaction. She cast Thassa's Oracle with Tainted Pact to win game 2.
Notable Cards
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Thassa's Oracle
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Demonic Consultation
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Tainted Pact
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Wishclaw Talisman
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Mystical Tutor
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Eruth, Tormented Prophet
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Breakthrough
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Underworld Breach
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Pact of Negation
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Force of Negation
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Fierce Guardianship
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Mental Misstep
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Mindbreak Trap
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Swan Song
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Mockingbird
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Phantasmal Image
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Chatterstorm
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Wheel of Fortune
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Gleaming Splendor
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Diabolic Intent
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Grand Abolisher
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Mana Vault
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Mystic Remora
Gameplay Summary
The first game opened with Anna's Mystical Tutor on turn one while the table raced to deploy mana and Rhystic Study effects.
Dylan's turn-two Eruth, Tormented Prophet triggered the table's Mystic Remoras and an Esper Sentinel, so he decided to jam everything he could.
He chained Taxing Pro, Time Twister, Frantic Search, Seething Song, Breakthrough and a Vial of Galadriel.
With Eruth turning each draw into extra exile, Breakthrough became an exile of 16.
He then went for Underworld Breach and Lotus Petal, but the others had enough free interaction to stop him.
Mental Misstep, Mindbreak Trap, Pact of Negation, Force of Negation and Fierce Guardianship all appeared.
His Breach was sacrificed at end of turn with nothing won, and the table had drawn a large number of cards from his plays.
Anna then used Wishclaw Talisman to tutor for Thassa's Oracle and cast Demonic Consultation.
Cam and Dylan couldn't stop it, Nate was out of interaction, and she won through the Oracle trigger. The second game was a slower grind.
Dylan and Cam both used Hexine-style pingers and Orcish Bowmasters.
Cam copied a creature with Mockingbird and Phantasmal Image, then set up Chatterstorm squirrels.
The table traded Bowmaster triggers, Deflecting Swat, Fierce Guardianship and ward payments.
Nate lost a lot of life to Bowmaster pings and his own Mana Vault and Starting Town triggers.
Dylan took a heavy hit on his turn when Wheel of Fortune and a Dangerous Wager line forced him to discard most of his hand.
Eruth exiled many of his key cards, including Thassa's Oracle, Time Twister and Breakthrough, and they all went away at end step.
This effectively knocked him out of contention. Anna steadily built her position with Gleaming Splendor draws, Rhystic-style tax triggers and free counterspells.
Forbidden Orchard and Gemstone Caverns gave her extra bodies to sacrifice to Diabolic Intent, which found her pieces.
Nate's commander kept attacking her, putting her at 16 commander damage at one point, but she stayed alive by trading blows and holding up interaction.
Cam tried to stop her in the final turns but couldn't.
Anna cast Grand Abolisher to protect her turn, cast Thassa's Oracle, and used Tainted Pact to empty her library.
The Oracle trigger resolved and she won again without ever casting Kefka.
