HOW TO PLAY THE SYMPHONY
BEFORE THE GAME : say to yourself 10 times: When an attacking creature dies opponents lose 1 life and I gain 1 life... Don't miss the triggers. It will cost you a game... trust me, I know!
Early Game
You want to try and ramp in the early stages of the game. 4 CMC Commanders love 2 CMC mana rocks. The usual culprits are included here: Sol Ring Arcane Signet Fellwar Stone Charcoal Diamond Talisman of Indulgence,
Expedition Map is there to search up Sanctum of Eternity, while Cursed Mirror can be used to copy Kardur, both are utility pieces that have additional purposes later on as well as early ramp.
Your opening hand will ideally have 1 piece of ramp in it, so that your commander can come down on turn 3. Now, just because he can come down, doesn't mean that he should. You want to give opponents some time to build up creatures and ensure you have some ways to trigger his ETB effects on repeat.
Mid Game
Drop Kardur, Doomscourge. LET THE MAYHEM BEGIN!.
Your main goal here is to get out a permanent 'flicker' tool that you don't have to keep sinking mana into. Conjurer's Closet is the best, but Splinter Twin, Jaxis, the Troublemaker, Helm of the Host work just fine too (I have these cards in the Goad Engine section). You might need to use some reanimation cards along with a SAC outlet before your engine is running. SAC outlets like Immersturm Predator or High Market can be used with cards like Feign Death, Supernatural Stamina or recursion from the graveyard by Animate Dead or Reanimate. These cards can also be used when Kardur is required to attack, maybe because you have a sword on him, and he can come back from the graveyard if he inadvertently gets himself killed. These cards also save some of the other engine pieces if needed.
The deck is loaded with ways to keep Kardur re-entering the board. Card redundancy is king! In a multiplayer game you will become the target once you let your defences down. Consider yourself warned. Your mid-game goal is to keep the engine running. You also want to make sure that it's fairly even between your opponents in both life totals and board state. You want your opponents taxing themselves to just survive against each other.
Keep an eye on your opponents Clock and the board state of your opponents. Kardur, Doomscourge has an inbuilt clock already when creatures die... Don't forget it! But also, don't forget to use your own creatures to attack and speed that clock up OR to keep it more even between your opponents. A lot of times its a free hit as opponents are tapped out. Give them a free kick in the nuts... or Vajayjay. After all, we are all about equal opportunities here.
Monarch Sub theme: If people can't attack you. You can just stay the monarch. You can also just keep ticking up Liliana Vess Creatures like Thorn of the Black Rose and Emberwilde Captain can be blinked to return you to being the monarch if needed. Court of Ambition, thone of the high city:.
Blink & Copy Sub theme: : If you are able to get more than one blinking/copy effect going you can target other creatures to abuse their ETB effects too. Considering blinking one of the following: Sepulchral Primordial, Phyrexian Delver, Varchild, Betrayer of Kjeldor, Big Game Hunter. Other blink targets are Ravenous Chupacabra, Priest of the Blood Rite and Solemn Simulacrum
Politics:My playgroup also plays some Kingdoms magic, giving some tokens to allies is a surprise that nobody sees coming. Hunter Horror:, Clackbridge Troll, Varchild, Betrayer of Kjeldor or Xantcha, Sleeper Agent <-- does she really help? Otherwise, you don't really care, cause the tokens will just be used to beat your opponents anyway.
Defence: Pfffft. Maybe 1 lonely card Kazuul, Tyrant of the Cliffs ... Scratch that! he was there, and I cut him too. We don't do defence, which is why it's important to keep your Kardur engine running.
END GAME. Once you are down to you and 1 opponent, there is little point in flickering Kardur. Your opponent won't 'be able' to attack anyone else, and can now just attack you. Although, you can occasionally force an attack from creatures that they were hoping to keep back. Transfer your Equipment or flicker targets to a different game-winning creature. If you've played it right, the other guy should be pretty spent and you can just come in for the coup de grace.
You will probably also be left with some big bodies after Hunted Horror and Clackbridge Troll tokens are done wreaking havoc on your opponents.
Hope you enjoyed reading my decklist. Feel free to share a like if you got some ideas from my list or ramblings.
INDIVIDUAL CARDS AND INTERACTIONS - SPOILERS
Individual Cards Explained - Graveyard removal Show
Individual Cards Explained - Tutors Show
sometimes you will have to search a land, it hurts, but you need to keep hitting your drops. My first engine pieces are
Conjurer's Closet or
Helm of the Host. Helm can be stronger, but takes another turn to get it going as you sink your mana into casting and then attaching. If Kardur is already out or you're worried about the board state and getting attacked go for the closet.
OK, so I was running out of flicker engine tools. You are not going to tutor for this one. I can be clunky. Play
Kardur, Doomscourge first, then attach the sword. This gives you best chance of swinging into someone who is already tapped out.
Note better to let a creature that can fly carry the sword.
Immersturm Predator is your guy!
She is there for some fun shenanigans. Don't forget the card draw!
Flip
