You’re playing a casual game of Commander against Cedric today: Your Brion Stoutarm deck against his Phelddagrif deck. You’re trying out a few new cards (as well as a new win condition), so this is going to be an interesting experience for the both of you.
You spend most of the game dealing damage to yourself with your spells, a move that causes Cedric to question your sanity out loud. Then, on the same turn you reached 1 life, you cast a card you’ve been holding in your hand since the start of the game: Near-Death Experience. You’re confident that you can defend against anything Cedric can dish out before your next upkeep, so you’ve probably got this table all locked up.
Cedric untaps, then points out that you forgot about his Phelddagrif. He activates the purple hippo’s flying ability multiple times, giving you 12 more life and taking you out of your win condition’s range. Then he casts a Soltari Visionary, which will likely bring down your Near-Death Experience next turn if you don’t do anything about it.
You look at the board, feeling a little irritated about being at 13 life. You could Lightning Blast the Soltari Visionary after you untap next turn, but why bother doing that when there’s the possibility of going for the win on your next upkeep? If you’re seeing this correctly, you’ve got everything you need on the table…
Cedric has just declared the end of his turn. Can you win the game on your next upkeep?
Cedric has just declared the end of his turn, and you now have the chance to play spells or abilities before your next turn begins.
Cedric is at 41 life. He has these cards in play:
- Phelddagrif (has Flying until the end of Cedric’s turn)
- Prime Speaker Zegana (with six +1/+1 counters)
- Wall of Denial
- Sun Titan
- Soltari Visionary
- 4 plains (tapped)
- 1 Azorius Chancery (tapped)
- 1 Seaside Citadel (tapped)
- 1 Blossoming Sands (tapped)
- 1 Reflecting Pool (tapped)
You are at 13 life. You have these cards in play:
- Near-Death Experience
- Fireslinger
- Bogardan Firefiend
- Onulet
- Reliquary Monk
- Goblin Artillery
- Hissing Iguanar
- Magma Phoenix
- Su-Chi
- 3 plains (two tapped)
- 2 mountains (one tapped)
- 1 New Benalia (tapped)
- 1 Smoldering Crater (Tapped)
Your cards in hand:
While it won’t be a huge issue if your game continues for more turns, you’d like to win on your next upkeep if possible — just to show Cedric that your deck is working like it’s supposed to.