Early Access MKM Precons Gameplay - Decked Out EDH Breakdown
As always, Decked Out gets first crack at the newest precons with one of their designers. MTGNerdGirl, AirballMTG, and VeggieWagon are joined this time by Wizards Senior Game Designer Daniel Holt to investigate the Murders at Karlov Manor commander decks.
Deadly Disguise
Daniel is ready to face down the competition with new mechanics Disguise and Cloak, adding Ward 2 to those face-down creatures. Kaust can tap to flip any face-down creatures up for free, cheating powerful creatures into play like Krosan Cloudscraper, and it even draws cards for hitting players with those creatures. The tricky combat value is backed up by manifest support via Trail of Mystery and Mastery of the Unseen. New cards like Duskana, the Rage Mother and Boltbender add more to the combat arsenal. Will Daniel turn it up, or will he just flip the table?
Blame Game
All fingers point to Veggie stirring up a fight. Nelly Borca uses the new Suspect mechanic to give creatures menace and prevent them from blocking, making it very easy for Veggie's opponents to hit each other. She even rewards those opponents with card draw, along with Veggie, of course. Gisela, Blade of Goldnight and Fiendish Duo help drop opponents' life totals even faster, especially after Disrupt Decorum goads the table. If anyone does dare to attack him, powerful reversals like Comeuppance and Selfless Squire lay in wait. Can Veggie turn the other players against themselves, or is it too obvious who the real killer is?
Revenant Recon
NerdGirl has put together the pieces that lead to a reanimator victory! The more that she surveils, the larger the creature that Mirko brings back from the graveyard each turn. This starts with engine pieces like Whispering Snitch and ends with heavy-hitting targets like Mssacre Wurm. Eventually, any creatures in graveyards may end up under NerdGirl's control thanks to Necromancy or Rise of the Dark Realms. Death is inevitable with mid-game drops like Syr Konrad, the Grim and Twilight Prophet. Does NerdGirl know the secret to victory, or is her advantage only theoretical?
Deep Clue Sea
Airball is clued in to the strategy for his deck: make clues and draw cards. Those clues can simply trigger Morska or On the Trail for buffs or ramp, but they can also become a real problem for the table with Esix, Fractal Bloom and Tanglegrove Kelp. Since this deck has no problem refilling its hand, Airball also has access to all-encompassing sweepers like Farewell and Organic Extinction. A solid suite of mana rocks provides the necessary mana for these big spells and to sacrifice clues. Does Airball have this pod solved, or is he in over his head?
How It All Went Down
Fake News and Double Clues - The Early Game
All players take the first few #commander turns, playing lands and ramping. Veggie starts to pressure the table with Nelly Borca, Impulsive Accuser and Frontier Warmonger, Daniel sets up with Beast Whisperer and Kaust, Eyes of the Glade. Airball doubles his clue output with Adrix and Nev, Twincasters on board, but it's his Chulane, Teller of Tales[el] that catches the tables eyes. NerdGirl stalls out on two lands and tries to use a [el]Disinformation Campaign to dig herself out of the hole.
Just a 9/9 - The Mid Game
Veggie's goading and suspecting whittles down life totals, and he narrowly avoids Daniel's surprise morph Krosan Colossus by chump blocking with a token. An Ohran Frostfang feeds Daniel answers to NerdGirl's Disinformation Campaign and Airball's Chulane. Airball's clues begin piling up, but he struggles to prevent incoming damage without losing vital creatures. Veggie tries to Deflecting Palm 10 damage back to Daniel, but it's fizzled by Daniel's Unexplained Absence. NerdGirl finally gets her mana in order to reset most of the board with a big Black Sun's Zenith.
A Dilemma - The Late Game
Airball manages to blink his creatures in response to one board wipe, only to have them swept immediately by a second one. Mirko, Obsessive Theorist begins to rebuild NerdGirl's board with the help of Dogged Detective. With Airball's clue count reaching 12, he casts Lonis, Cryptozoologist and Graf Mole to set up a huge play on his next turn, but it doesn't live to his untap. Veggie takes an opportunity to land Fiendish Duo, doubling the possible damage from his follow-up: The Prisoner's Dilemma. Airball and NerdGirl try to preserve their life totals by voting for silence, but Daniel snitches, knocking both of them out from 24 direct damage. Veggie holds off Daniel's attacks for multiple rounds with tricks like Gideon's Sacrifice, but ultimately runs out of options and can't stop Daniel's buffed Akroma, Angel of Fury.
By the Numbers
- Suspects blamed: 6
- Types of face-down creatures: 3
- Cards between NerdGirl's 2nd and 3rd land: 14
- Prisoner's Dilemma damage: 48
Watch the full episode here to enjoy Veggie's favorite ongoing sound gag (it's Nelly related...).
