The Chungus Among Us - Decked Out EDH Gameplay Breakdown

Everyone deserves to have a cool commander; even your own commander should have a commander! Companions provide additional card advantage, consistent strategies, and unique deckbuilding challenges, and who better to show off those cards than Magic: the Gathering game designers Megan Smith and Chris Mooney! They join Decked Out hosts MTGNerdGirl and VeggieWagon for a companion-filled free-for-all in the latest episode of the show.

Ramos + Jegantha

Chris is shuffling up Veggie's colorful Ramos deck, featuring all five Nephilim from Guildpact. The deck aims to use the extra mana from Ramos and Jegantha, the Wellspring to dump some big creatures and spells all in one turn, building a huge unexpected advantage. The creature-heavy build also supports many micro-synergies, like using Falco Spara, Pactweaver to remove counters from Ramos to cast more spells. Will Chris overwhelm the board with multicolor creatures, or will Veggie's budget mana base hold them back?

Nethroi + Umori

With her own creatures-only brew, Megan has found every possible way to turn Umori's deckbuilding drawback into a non-factor. Cards like Grist, the Hungertide and Realmcloaked Giant allow her to play noncreature spells, and Glory and Stonecloaker give instant-speed options. The plan is to load up the graveyard with creatures and bring them all back with Nethroi, including as many 0-power creatures as possible. Can Megan's creative approach succeed in spite of the restrictive requirements?

Gorion + Keruga

NerdGirl is going on an adventure...as a way to bypass Keruga's downside! Since Keruga doesn't see the adventure spells hidden on the creatures, it allows for spells cheaper than 3 mana to exist in the deck. NerdGirl is looking to get as many copies of these spells as possible using Twinning Staff and copies of Gorion via Spark Double or Irenicus's Vile Duplication. Combined with Fae Offering or Primeval Bounty, each spell will produce a ton of resources. Will the value per spell make up for a slower setup?

Tor Wauki + Obosh

The odds are in Veggie's favor! His spellslinging, damage-bringing Rakdos deck takes Tor Wauki's ability and similar abilities like Guttersnipe and amplifies them with Obosh, Gratuitous Violence, and Angrath's Marauders. Every cantrip spell can deal with even the biggest threats on the board, or Veggie can just send that damage straight to opponents' faces! The biggest problem: with many of the best mana rocks and ramps spells at even mana values, will his deck have enough resources to fuel this engine?

How It Went Down

Hugs and Shrugs - The Early Game

NerdGirl, Veggie, and Megan all start slowly with land drops and not much else. Chris lends a helping hand with a turn-three Kynaios and Tiro of Meletis, which rolls right into more card advantage for Megan (Braids, Arisen Nightmare) and Veggie (Sin Prodder). NerdGirl tops them all with her the combo of her commander, Gorion, Wise Mentor, and Twinning Staff, meaning she gets three copies of every adventure!

The Mid-Game

Chris casts their commander, Ramos, Dragon Engine, which quickly brings friends Dune-Brood Nephilim, Omnath, Locus of Creation, and Falco Spara, Pactweaver. Megan digs for an answer and finds Realm-Cloaked Giant, casting it for the adventure Cast Off to destroy all non-Giants. "The hero that we need" suddenly looks forlorn as Chris responds with Boros Charm to save their creatures. Veggie lands a hefty Mana Geyser to drop Obosh and Kazarov, Sengir Pureblood, gunning down Chris's Falco and Omnath with the remaining mana. Megan sees her opportunity to cast Nethroi, Apex of Death and returns five creatures to the battlefield. She then sacrifices her newly reanimated World Shaper to also bring back a bunch of lands.

Ink-Tread Lightly - The Late Game

Veggie was very proud to have included all the Nephilim in Chris's deck, so Chris chooses to summon another one, Ink-Treader Nephilim, just for the heck of it. Megan realizes the high potential of the card and decides to take advantage of it immediately. She puts Shalai, Voice of Plenty on to her board, then targets the Ink-Treader with Murderous Rider's adventure, threatening to destroy every creature but hers. Even worse, Chris controls the copies of the spell, so they'll lose two life for each creature! In a totally unexpected move, Veggie casts Unlicensed Disintegration on Shalai before the Ink-Treader ability resolves, meaning that all of Megan's creatures will now also be targeted, killing Chris in the process. Once Chris is out, Veggie realizes his mistake. He and NerdGirl are out of resources, and Megan simply recasts Nethroi to rebuild her board. They struggle to fight her rapidly growing board, but two Gods, God-Eternal Oketra and God-Eternal Rhonas, seal the deal for Megan.

By The Numbers

Nephilim cast: 2 out of 5

Adventures copied: 10

Sins Prodded: 4

Casual Gaea's Cradles: 1

Make sure to watch the full episode so that Veggie can afford to include removal in his decks.