Three Ways To Play Combo In Wilds of Eldraine Standard -Including Infinite Mana
Wilds of Eldraine dropped a few days ago, bringing several combo decks to Standard. Janky combos in Standard MTG aren't unheard of, but we don't usually have several. And while some are worse than others, all three can snag you some wins. If you're a Johnny Combo player, the WOE meta has plenty of builds for you to go off with, including infinite mana!
We'll break down what the Wilds of Eldraine standard combo decks are, how they win, touch on the cards that support them, give a few alternative builds where possible, and give you a complete decklist for each. So, without further ado, let's jump in.
Wilds of Eldraine Stardard Combo Decks
Some decks want to put a bunch of creatures into play and quickly attack their way to victory. Others are built to control the board and the game's tempo, ultimately winning through a value-based strategy. Combo decks are a whole other beast and look to assemble some combination of cards that will win the game on the spot or snowball into an insurmountable value engine. Here are three different combo decks in Standard.
Agatha's Soul Cauldron Infinite Mana
Gameplay Video - Here
♾️ Infinite Silly Goose Combo
Main 60 cards (20 distinct)
Creature (16) | |||
---|---|---|---|
$2.39 | |||
$3.000.02 | |||
$0.73 | |||
$2.50 | |||
$0.500.02 | |||
Instant, Sorcery, Enchantment, Artifact (21) | |||
$0.27€0.260.03 | |||
$0.50€0.500.03 | |||
$41.84 | |||
$0.30€0.23 | |||
$0.25€0.260.03 | |||
$1.67 | |||
Land (23) | |||
$5.92 | |||
2
Mountain
|
$0.35€0.170.03 | ||
2
Forest
|
$0.55€0.360.04 | ||
$36.95 | |||
$3.050.12 | |||
$5.22€4.481.68 | |||
$3.12 | |||
$2.30 | |||
$2.39€4.041.58 |
The three cards pictured above combine to generate infinite mana of any color. Here's how it works. With Sleep-Cursed Faerie in your graveyard, you can activate the Soul Cauldron to exile the faerie. When you do, you put a +1/+1 counter on Kami of Whispered Hopes, which will get an extra counter, thanks to its ability. Now, the Kami has three power, and the activated ability to untap itself for two mana. For the record, this works with either card in the graveyard/on the field.
Perhaps you see where this is going. You can tap the Kami, add three mana of any color to your mana pool, and then spend two of that mana untapping it. So, you can tap/untap as many times as you want, and you'll net one mana each time. Ta-da! You've got infinite mana... How are you going to use it to win the game? Well, you've got a few options.
If you run blue (which is probably a good idea), you can use The Goose Mother as your wincon. Pump enough mana into it to one-shot-kill your opponent and call it a day. The deck plays four copies of Bitter Reunion, which gives your goose haste (as well as the Kami) so you can smash face as quickly as possible.
The deck also plays Fauna Shaman, which is great for several reasons. First, it lets you discard creatures into your graveyard, putting you a step closer to going off. Next, that's a powerful activated ability that can be spread around thanks to the Soul Cauldron. Lastly, it can tutor for The Goose Mother or Voldaren Thrillseeker to fling a massive goose at someone and win without attacking.
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Light Up the Night is another option and is pretty straightforward - Pump enough mana into it to make it a lethal amount of damage. But it's the more fragile of the two, in my opinion. As far as support goes, you really only need things to loot cards away (Bitter Reunion, Cathartic Pyre, Collector's Vault) and Gaea's Gift for some protection.
Infinite Power Land Creatures
Jund Turtle Combo
Main 60 cards (21 distinct)
Other (3) | |||
---|---|---|---|
$0.49€0.220.03 | |||
Creature (12) | |||
$6.24 | |||
$1.43 | |||
$0.26 | |||
$0.32 | |||
Instant, Sorcery, Enchantment, Artifact (17) | |||
$0.88 | |||
$1.32€0.730.04 | |||
2
Cut Down
|
|||
$0.50€0.500.03 | |||
$1.67 | |||
$23.23 | |||
$12.50 | |||
Land (28) | |||
$0.74 | |||
2
Swamp
|
$0.180.03 | ||
2
Forest
|
$0.150.03 | ||
1
Mountain
|
$0.200.03 | ||
$11.35 | |||
$1.28€1.700.04 | |||
$2.72€2.260.07 | |||
$2.40€2.330.64 | |||
$5.50€3.850.54 |
Blossoming Tortoise does a lot, but the key part for the combo is that it reduces the cost of activated abilities of your lands by one mana. So, it only costs a single mana to turn Mishra's Foundry into a creature. Once you've done this (or flipped your Invasion of Zendikar // Awakened Skyclave and created a "land creature" that way), you enchant it with Draconic Destiny.
Now, you've got a land creature in play with the activated ability, "Pay one mana: This creature gets +1/+0 until end of turn.” It’s a Dragon in addition to its other types." Luckily, Blossoming Tortoise makes it cost one less. This means you can activate it as many times as necessary to put the power/toughness higher than the opponent's life total.
The deck also runs Callous Sell-Sword for the Fling like ability that can deal lethal without even having to attack. There are also several copies of Beseech the Mirror, as it can tutor for (and cast for free via Bargain) all of the deck's major combo pieces. Aside from this core, you'll see lots of removal, ramp, and a few protection spells. Oh, and Play with Fire makes an appearance over additional Cut Down because it can damage Invasion of Zendikar // Awakened Skyclave.
Much More Than Three Blind Mice
Gameplay Video - Here
Three Blind Mice Combo
Main 60 cards (23 distinct)
Instant, Sorcery, Enchantment, Artifact (26) | |||
---|---|---|---|
$0.40€0.31 | |||
$1.00 | |||
$3.01 | |||
$2.99 | |||
$0.20€0.280.01 | |||
$0.82€0.170.03 | |||
$0.20€0.150.03 | |||
2
Sunfall
|
|||
$0.45 | |||
Planeswalker (8) | |||
$6.111.24 | |||
{G/U/P} | |||
Land (26) | |||
$0.36€0.48 | |||
$4.07 | |||
$7.07€4.280.06 | |||
$3.86€4.602.30 | |||
$3.56€2.900.22 | |||
$3.73€4.070.20 | |||
$10.00 | |||
1
Mirrex
|
$3.570.53 |
You may be familiar with this one if you read my Five Powerful Arena Standard Decks For The Current WOE Meta article. If not, here is how it works. First, you must put Three Blind Mice into your graveyard. You can do this by going through all the chapters and sacing itself or milling one into the yard with Jace, the Perfected Mind.
Once that's done, you can target it with the -x ability of Tamiyo, Compleated Sage, creating a token copy. Now, here is where you start to snowball into combo'n off. Once your copy reaches the second chapter, it can copy itself since it is a token. This makes you a ton of 1/1 tokens, but each additional copy of Three Blind Mice can target another for chapters two and three, meaning you'll never stop making them once you reach a certain point.
Your board will be massive once this happens, and when the sagas start hitting the final chapters, you'll pump them up with +1/+1 anthems. The rest of the deck ensures you stay alive to complete the combo. So, you have Make Disappear, Soul Partition, Fateful Absence, Elspeth's Smite, Depopulate, Sunfall, and The Wandering Emperor.
Conclusion
Spam the board with infinite tokens, fling a 20/20 land at someone's face, or make endless mana and cast an ungodly Goose hydra - If you have a taste for combo, Wilds of Eldraine has options for you. I hope you enjoyed today's article and found something new and exciting to play. Also, comment below with suggestions for my Turtle Combo list... It's very much a work in progress.