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Community Contests and Themed Deck Builds in The Aftermath
Magic players love a good challenge that blends flavor with competitive edges, and the recent wave of community contests around three-color commanders is a perfect playground for Nashi, Moon's Legacy. This rare legendary Rat Shaman from March of the Machine: The Aftermath channels a moonlit, mischief-filled energy that invites inventive, multi-layered builds 🧙♂️🔥. With a mana cost of {B}{G}{U}, Nashi sits squarely at the crossroads of disruption, aggression, and clever recursion, making it a beloved centerpiece for themed decks crafted in clubhouse chatter and online forum showdowns alike 🎯💎.
On the surface, Nashi looks like a straightforward marauder: menace to menacing boards, and ward {1} to keep the inevitable punch from being laughed off by removal. But that is only half the story. The real magic happens "on attack" — when Nashi exiles up to one target legendary or Rat card from your graveyard and copies it. You may cast the copy, paying its costs as normal. If that copied card is a permanent spell, the copy becomes a token. It’s a fearless invitation to graveyard shenanigans and copycat storytelling, a dream for fans who adore stacked synergies and dramatic comebacks 🎭⚡.
The three-color identity of Nashi—Black, Green, and Blue—opens a world of possibilities. You can weave disruption and ramp, graveyard resilience, and the thrill of copying powerful permanents into a cohesive game plan. It’s a concept that rewards careful sequencing: attack triggers create a rotating engine of copied permanents from your own graveyard, while ward buys critical time to assemble the engine. In practice, these themes prize players who think several moves ahead, balancing tempo with late-game inevitability. And yes, the flavor text—“The story circle continues.”—feels like a wink to the community-driven storytelling that surrounds every seasonal contest and deck-building swap 🧩🎨.
Three archetypes to build around
- Graveyard-driven Rat recursion: Lean into the Rat tribal motif with a beatdown plan that backs up recurring threats from the graveyard. Nashi’s attack trigger lets you exile a target legendary or Rat card and copy it, potentially reproducing a game-changing threat over and over. This arc rewards careful graveyard management and resilient card draw to keep the pipeline rolling 🐀💥.
- Legendary copycat engine: The essence here is to sequence the exile-and-copy so you can cast a legendary spell from your graveyard again and again or faster than your opponents expect. Copying a legendary that spell-shapes the battlefield can feel almost like casting a second, optimized plan from the deck’s own memory. It’s a poetic reminder that memory can be as potent as mana in the right hands 🔮⚔️.
- Moonlit control with tempo elements: Blue leans into counterplay and card draw to keep your engine alive while you pressure the opponent’s board. The combination of menace, ward, and copying from the graveyard creates a tempo-rich stack where each attack can bend the board state in your favor, while the rest of the team quietly fuels the engine in the background 🌙🧪.
When you design around Nashi, you’re not just building a pile of tech; you’re crafting a narrative. Each copied card from the graveyard is a tiny echo of a previous game state, a reminder that your deck is more than a list of cards—it’s a story you tell with every draw, every attack, and every exiled choice. The mix of rarities in MAT (March of the Machine: The Aftermath) adds a tactile layer to the competition—foil versions and well-preserved nonfoils alike become showpieces on stream, at local stores, and in club play with friends 🎨✨.
The story circle continues.
For community contests, practical prompts tend to spark the best results. Here are a few that consistently generate engaging lists and vivid play narratives:
- Moon's Legacy Theme Challenge: Build around Nashi’s flavor and mechanics, focusing on graveyard interactions and copy effects. Craft a short deck story that explains how your copies alter the battlefield with moonlit precision 🌓.
- Three-Color Harmony: Center a deck around the B/U/G identity with a balance of disruption, card advantage, and graveyard resilience. Submit a decklist and a 150-word rationale linking the colors to the card’s abilities 🌈.
- From Grave to Glory: Design a casual-to-semi-competitive build that can perform well in a local game night or online tournament, highlighting a signature sequence where Nashi attacks and a copied spell reshapes the outcome. Include a short sideboard or post-board plan for variety ⚔️.
Community players frequently lean on a few practical tips when constructing themed decks around Nashi. First, lean into graveyard pacing: you don’t want to flood the board with too many targets too quickly; selective exile keeps your opponent guessing and preserves your own options. Second, ensure there’s a pathway to actually casting the copied spells; the ability to pay their costs remains a crucial constraint, and it’s a good reason to incorporate mana-efficient plays and card draw. Third, maintain a soft focus on tempo—Nashi’s menace demands you present ongoing pressure while you assemble your engine. Finally, don’t shy away from dialogue with your playgroup about the story you’re telling with your deck; narratives are half the fun of a themed build 🧙♂️🎲.
As you explore these ideas, you’ll find your community’s feedback is golden. People love to see fresh spins on a three-color commander and to hear the backstory you’ve imagined for your copies and graveyard tricks. And if you’re streaming or posting your list, you’ll notice that the combination of lore, clever copy strategies, and a well-timed attack sequence resonates with viewers who crave both polish and playfulness. The end result isn’t just a win—it’s a shared, memorable moment around a table or the screen, where the Moon’s Legacy threads weave into a dozen different micro-stories in a single night 🧙♂️🔥💎.
Speaking of sharing and community, a good play surface matters as much as a good list. A quality mouse pad can keep pace with rapid decisions, precise clicks, and long nights of testing. If you’re looking to upgrade your setup while you craft your next Nashi-driven saga, consider this stylish option: Custom Gaming Mouse Pad 9x7in Neoprene - Stitched Edges. It’s the kind of practical, sturdy accessory that signals you’re in it for the long haul, whether you’re brewing a stealthy late-night deck or prepping for a friendly tournament. It’s a small touch that says you care about the flow of your game just as much as the flow of your story 🧙♂️🎨.