Decked Out Presents: The Roast of Maldhound - EDH Gameplay Breakdown
Maldhound's rise to niche internet micro-celebrity stardom has been built on roasting your favorite commanders, his open disdain for green, and exposing in-game crimes and fraud. The Decked Out hosts MTGNerdGirl and VeggieWagon, along with fan favorite Zbexx, assembled decks led by Maldhound's most darkly roasted commanders. Then they invited him on the show.
Gishath, Sun's Avatar
Apex predator Zbexx is ready to stomp the competition with a dino-themed Naya deck. While expensive at eight mana, once she casts Gishath from the command zone and sends it crashing into an opponent, it brings with it an entire flock (gaggle? colony? murder?) of scaly friends. The deck runs a whopping twenty-nine dinosaurs including new releases Tranquil Frillback and Etali, Primal Conqueror, and the remaining slots are filled with heavy ramp and board wipe insurance like Heroic Intervention. Can Zbexx make it to eight mana and swing safely before the table can stop her, or will her life total not, uh, find a way?
Thrun, Breaker of Silence
NerdGirl is here to play the unstoppable force with her often indestructible, nearly hexproof commander that can't be countered. While many Thrun builds focus on a voltron strategy, NerdGirl has opted for a +1/+1 counters approach that gives extra flexibility in how she wants to win the game. Cards like Thundering Mightmare and Arwen, Weaver of Hope pave the way for classic mono-green punishers like Vorinclex, Monstrous Raider and Craterhoof Behemoth. While powerful in their own right, these cards rely more on building a synergistic engine than rumbling through with Thrun. Will NerdGirl's less Thrun-centered build give her the options to win?
Kwain, Itinerant Meddler
Some bunny is going all-in pillow fort group hug! Veggie plans to feed cards and life to everyone at the table without a care in the world as his opponents fight each other with their extra resources. Behind a wall of counterspells, Meishin, the Mind Cage, and Champions of Minas Tirith, Veggie is hoping to avoid any significant interaction from the other players. His deck has multiple "win the game" buttons like Approach of the Second Sun and Laboratory Maniac since he's not looking to be dishing out any damage himself. Can Veggie protect himself from three players while possibly giving them the tools to break his stuff?
Prosper, Tome-Bound
To combat the attack on his mental health, Maldhound has also brought one of his saltiest roast targets. Prosper provides an extra card per round and an absurd amount of treasure tokens just for playing cards from exile. The deck seems like an endless list of cards that pair perfectly with these abilities: Professional Face-Breaker, Hidetsugo, Devouring Chaos[/el], and Rain of Riches among many others. Ideally, these all pay off with a lethal Crackle with Power or Tendrils of Agony. Will Maldhound overcome his worst nightmare, or is the joke on him?
How It All Went Down
Prosper Coin - The Early Game
Mald was ready for this one. Winning the die roll, he drops Sol Ring and Lightning Greaves on the first turn of the game. The other players can only play lands and pass. His second turn is, of course, casting Prosper, Tome-Bound and equipping the Greaves, cementing his position as the threat. NerdGirl tries to setup the +1/+1 counter engine with Arwen, Weaver of Hope and Renata, Called to the Hunt, Zbexx ramps with a signet and Shadow in the Warp, and Veggie sticks his commander and Alhammarret's Archive, an ideal artifact to aid Kwain, Itinerant Meddler. The three of them exchange looks, trying to decide what to do about a turbo-charged Maldhound.
Engines Humming - The Mid Game
Veggie shores himself up against the table by dropping Propaganda and Norn's Annex in the same turn. A Great Henge and Blanchwood Armor on Arwen gives NerdGirl a looming threat, and Maldhound's Share the Spoils generates a pile of treasures and free cards. Zbexx tutors for some big dinos via Congregation at Dawn, and Veggie decides to make an ally by helping her draw into them right away. Her Ripjaw Raptor resolves, but she struggles to find profitable attacks. NerdGirl makes a push for first by slamming [elHardened Scales[/el] and Vorinclex, Monstrous Raider, but her big attacker Kodama of the West Tree is held back by Mald's Shiny Impetus...
"There's nothing you can do about it." - The End Game
...until Veggie hits the Impetus with Generous Gift, allowing NerdGirl to take out Maldhound with one 50+ damage alpha strike. With Mald out, Zbexx finds an opportunity to bring her commander into play, but Gishath, Sun's Avatar only finds Etali, Primal Storm and Yidaro, Wandering Monster off the top. Veggie decides to go for the win with Zbexx's disappointing setup and NerdGirl locked behind stax pieces. He casts Approach of the Second Sun and passes the turn with some open mana. NerdGirl goes for a necessary all-out attack on Veggie, running right into a Teferi's Protection. However, before he can blink out of existence, she fights his remaining creatures, including Kwain. Because of this, when it gets to his turn, Veggie is unable to draw enough cards to get to the Approach again, and he accepts defeat. The outrageous stack of counters on all of NerdGirl's creatures is more than enough to take out the remaining players.
By the Numbers
Prosper Coins on the Blockchain: 11
Free Dinos: 3
Commanders Cast: 3
Second Suns Approached: ...only 1
Watch the hilarious full episode so that Veggie can learn to cast Teferi's Protection on his own turn.
