Dargo/Tymna vs Varina vs Meren vs Lord Windgrace [EDH/Commander, Magic The Gathering] Gameplay 2020

Deck Strategies

• 

  Varina, Lich Queen

  A zombie tribal combo deck that uses Varina as a sacrifice outlet to draw and discard cards quickly, aiming to assemble a combo involving Gravecrawler and Fraxys for fast wins.

• 

  Meren of Clan Nel Toth

  A graveyard value deck focused on grinding out early game advantage and then assembling a Protean Hulk combo in the late game using recursion and sacrifice synergies.

• 

  Dargo, the Shipwrecker // Tymna the Weaver

  A high-power Mardu combo deck that uses Tymna to draw cards through combat damage and Dargo for generating value and enabling combos with mana acceleration and card draw engines.

• 

  Lord Windgrace

  A lands-matter deck that seeks to ramp aggressively with land fetches and exploits cards like Valakut and Field of the Dead to generate value and win in the late game.

Gameplay Insights

• 1

  Varina's discard synergy combined with Archfiend of Ifnir's -2/-2 triggered a powerful board wipe, clearing opponents' creatures and swinging momentum.

• 2

  Mardu's use of Seething Song and mana acceleration aimed to enable explosive turns, though opponents were able to respond and disrupt these attempts.

• 3

  Meren leveraged sacrifice outlets and graveyard recursion to stabilize the board and prepare for a late-game Protean Hulk combo.

• 4

  Lord Windgrace focused on ramp and value from lands, using cards like Sylvan Library and Valakut to maintain pressure and card advantage.

• 5

  The early use of artifacts like Skullclamp and mana rocks allowed for intense card drawing and resource management that shaped midgame decisions.

Notable Cards

• 

  Archfiend of Ifnir

• 

  Varina, Lich Queen

• 

  Meren of Clan Nel Toth

• 

  Dargo, the Shipwrecker

• 

  Tymna the Weaver

• 

  Lord Windgrace

• 

  Protean Hulk

• 

  Seething Song

• 

  Skullclamp

• 

  Wheel of Fortune

• 

  Fiend Artisan

• 

  Sylvan Library

• 

  Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle

• 

  Field of the Dead

Summary

The game featured four distinct decks with different strategies: a zombie tribal combo deck led by Varina, Lich Queen; an Honorless Meren graveyard value and combo deck; a high-powered Mardu combo deck with Dargo, the Shipwrecker and Tymna the Weaver; and a land-centric Lord Windgrace deck. Early turns focused on ramping and setting up key pieces, with Varina leveraging card draw and sacrifice outlets, Meren assembling graveyard synergies, and the Mardu deck aiming to build mana and draw cards rapidly. A pivotal moment came when Varina's player cast Archfiend of Ifnir, which paired with discard effects from Varina triggered a board wipe that cleared most opposing creatures, significantly shifting board control. Despite aggressive mana acceleration and combos attempted by the Mardu deck, the game progressed into a grindy midgame where Meren and Lord Windgrace focused on value generation from lands and creatures. The game highlighted the power of synergistic combos and board wipes in a multiplayer EDH setting, with the Archfiend of Ifnir serving as a game-changing card that disrupted opponents' boards and tempo.