It's Persephone & Damien Haas! | Varina | Arabella | Valgavoth | Mendicant | MTG COMMANDER GAMEPLAY

Deck Strategies

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  Varina, Lich Queen

  A zombie tribal deck that leverages discard and card draw to generate value and create zombie tokens, sustaining board presence through incremental advantage.

• 

  Arabella, Abandoned Doll

  A token-focused deck that generates multiple rabbit tokens with tribal synergies, aiming to overwhelm opponents with wide board states and incremental damage.

• 

  Valgavoth, Harrower of Souls

  A life-loss and life-gain deck that grows stronger with counters and draws cards through opponents losing life, working alongside incremental life drain effects like Blood Chief Ascension.

• 

  Mendicant Core, Guidelight

  An artifact-heavy deck that ramps quickly with mana rocks and uses artifact spell copying and recursion to generate explosive value and control the board.

Gameplay Insights

• 1

  Varina’s discard triggers combined with token creation allowed for steady board development and card advantage.

• 2

  Blood Chief Ascension synergized well with Valgavoth’s life loss triggers, enabling incremental life drain and growth over the course of the game.

• 3

  Arabella’s ability to create multiple rabbit tokens scaled with the number of creatures controlled, putting pressure on opponents early.

• 4

  Mendicant Core’s artifact ramp and recursion through cards like Academy Ruins and Eldrazi Displacer provided continuous value and board control.

• 5

  Combat phases were critical for triggering life loss and discard synergies, influencing board state and player life totals significantly.

• 6

  Enabling multiple small value engines simultaneously (token generation, life drain, artifact recursion) created complex board interactions and shifting advantages.

Notable Cards

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  Varina, Lich Queen

• 

  Arabella, Abandoned Doll

• 

  Valgavoth, Harrower of Souls

• 

  Mendicant Core, Guidelight

• 

  Academy Ruins

• 

  Eldrazi Displacer

• 

  Oketra's Monument

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  Bone Miser

• 

  Thought Vessel

Summary

The game began with players developing their boards and setting up their respective strategies. Varina, Lich Queen focused on a zombie tribal theme, leveraging discard and card draw to generate value and create zombie tokens. Arabella, Abandoned Doll produced multiple rabbit tokens and aimed to build a wide board presence with tribal synergies. Valgavoth, Harrower of Souls aimed to drain life from opponents while growing stronger with counters and drawing cards through life loss triggers. Mendicant Core, Guidelight took an artifact-heavy approach, ramping quickly with mana rocks and aiming to maximize artifact spell copying for explosive plays. Early turns involved ramping and establishing board presence, with key plays including casting Varina and Arabella, and Valgavoth amassing counters through damage and life loss. Varina’s discard triggers generated zombies and card advantage, while Arabella created multiple tokens to pressure opponents. Blood Chief Ascension was a pivotal card for Valgavoth’s controller, enabling incremental life drain and board control. The game saw impactful combat phases where players traded damage and triggered various death and discard synergies. Mendicant Core utilized artifact ramp and recursion, highlighted by cards like Academy Ruins and Eldrazi Displacer, to generate value and maintain board control. The gameplay was defined by aggressive token production, incremental life loss and life gain, and artifact value engines. Varina’s zombie tribal and discard synergy combined with Valgavoth’s life loss triggers created a constant threat of board flooding and life drain. Arabella’s token generation kept pressure on the table, while Mendicant Core focused on artifact spells and recursion to keep pace. The game’s key turning points revolved around the accumulation of counters on Valgavoth and Blood Chief Ascension, the creation of numerous tokens by Arabella and Varina, and the artifact ramp enabling Mendicant Core’s powerful plays. Ultimately, the game showcased a dynamic interplay of tribal synergy, life manipulation, and artifact combo potential.