My Favorite Combos

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Combos. Players either love them or hate them. There was a time when I was very anti-combo. A silly trick in which you just “insta-win” felt cheap. I looked down on combo players because I felt they relied on the combo instead of actual skill. Sometimes that’s true. I saw a guy playing Commander, and he spent the entire game simply trying to find his Kiki-Jiki/Pestermite combo. His opponent was actually playing well, and was about to win, until the guy finally found both pieces and hit his combo.

Overly complicated combos felt even worse, because it made no sense to me to feel good about the one time your five-card combo actually worked, compared to the six times it failed miserably.

Historically, I’ve never been much of a Johnny.

Nowadays, I don’t mind combo decks, as long as the social contract among the players says that combos are okay. In competitive Magic, I have no problem with combos. It’s a part of the game, and adds balance to a healthy format. In casual Magic, combos are generally looked down on, and for good reason, because, while even casual players want to win, they mostly want to be able to play. They don’t want to shuffle up just so they can watch you go off with Sanguine bond and Exquisite Blood. But it’s up to each group of players to decide what they want and don’t want when they get together to play cards. It’s a game. Games are supposed to be fun. Do what you think is fun.

I wouldn’t call myself a “combo player.” I don’t play Storm or Dredge. I’m a control player at heart. I’d rather stop you from comboing off. But I do play with combo pieces on occasion, when the situation calls for it. Combos I prefer have two qualities: 1) they’re efficient; and, 2) they only require at most two or three cards.

“Combo” is different from “synergy.” Synergy is when cards work well together, like Stoneforge Mystic and Batterskull. Combo is when cards just win the game right then, or make it so you can’t lose (like Mindslaver and Academy Ruins). Seriously, though, what’s the difference between combo and synergy? You know it when you see it.

So here are some of my favorite combos:

As much colorless mana and life as you want. For a combo that’s Modern legal, replace Ashnod’s Altar with Viscera Seer for indefinite amounts of life and scry.

This is just like the Kiki-Jiki/Pestermite combo, but I like Zealous Conscripts a lot more. I run both of these cards in my Daretti and Krenko Commander decks, because each of them is really good on their own, and together they make a limitless army of Conscripts.

I have this in my Krenko deck as well. Have Krenko and Goblin Sharpshooter on the battlefield. Equip Krenko with Thornbite Staff, tap Krenko to make two goblins. Tap Sharpshooter to kill one of the goblins, which will cause both Krenko and Sharpshooter to untap. Tap Krenko again to make three goblins. Tap Sharpshooter to kill one of the goblins, which will make Krenko and Sharpshooter untap. Repeat until you have as many goblins as you need. Add Goblin Bombardment or Purphoros, God of the Forge and just kill everyone right then.

While I don’t think this technically counts as a combo, it’s as close to combo as synergy can get. These two cards make up what is called “Pickles.” Brine Elemental locks down the opponent’s ability to untap; Vesuvan Shapeshifter enters the battlefield face down, then will flip face up, copying Brine Elemental… every turn. It’s rests on the border of combo and synergy because Pickles is a soft lock, not an instant game-ender. Usually, though, it doesn’t take long for the Pickles player to win, since the opponent can’t untap and there are a pair of 5/4s crashing in every turn.

Combos are like cars: there are “automatic” combos, and “manual” combos. Automatic combos just go on their own once you start them up. Kiki-Jiki/Zealous Conscripts is an automatic combo. Manual combos are the ones where you need to move the pieces yourself. This Sakashima combo is manual. You need a lot of mana, which a good control deck can produce in the late game. With Archaeomancer on the battlefield and Time Warp in the graveyard, cast Sakashima the Impostor, copying Archaeomancer to return Time Warp to hand. Cast Time Warp, then return Sakashima to hand at the end of the turn. Do it over and over again with each extra turn. You’ll still need to find a way to win the game, but if you’re the only one taking turns, you should be able to find a win condition eventually.

This combo is the best, because squirrels! Enchant Treetop Village with Squirrel Nest, animate Treetop, tap it to make a squirrel. Intruder Alarm will cause the Treetop Village to untap (because it’s a creature till the end of turn). Tap Treetop again to make another squirrel. Repeat the process until you have a countless army of squirrels.