Magic Deck Vortex: Combos from 2003

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Featured Combos from 2003. Last updated 7/12/04
Charisma - Prodigal Sorcerer (or Anaba Shaman)
Pingers are great whether it's a Prodigal Timmy or an Anaba Shaman. Now, given the new color pie they are mostly found in red, but this shouldn't stop you from getting the most from your pingers. Enchant your pinger with Charisma and gain of control of target creature (basically). This combo is nice.. but Charisma is tough to cast at three blue mana. It's well worthy it when you take your opponent's spirit of the night or his thorn elemental.
Tornado - Power Conduit
I see this combo as, 2G to destroy target permanent and give your Yotian Soldier a +1/+1 counter each turn. Since the counters on Tornado (from cumulative upkeep) are age counters, you can still transform them into charge or +1/+1 counters for your permanents. This keeps your cumulative upkeep at a minimum, thus keeping the card in play longer, and keeps your opponent's side of the board under check from overpowering you. Reminds me of Desert Storm.. what a great card. it was uncommon back in the day when I started playing.
Equilibrium - Gilded Drake or Mystic Snake submitted by RfGomes01
Huh-Huh! That rhymes... Anyway, Equilibrium works great as a control mechanism or as a utility card to get those really cool creatures with come-into-play abilities back to your hand so you can reuse them. Gilded Drake works well for controlling your opponent's creatures or Mystic Snake works great for more counterspells in hand. The only thing is you have to pay one and pay it when you cast a creature spell.
Tombstone Stairwell - Vengeful Dead found on and quoted (paraphrased) from www.magicthegathering.com (combo by Scottie Bellinger, detail by Aaron Forsythe)
After a long, drawn out game involving many creatures dying, you’ll want to drop out both pieces of this combo. On your opponent’s upkeep, each of you will get a handful of 2/2 Zombie tokens from Tombstone Stairwell, and at the end of the turn, all those tokens will die. Tokens go to the graveyard when they die, at which point they cease to exist. So each token will trigger Vengeful Dead on its way to the bin. And if your opponent survives it for a turn, it’ll all happen again on your turn. This combo also works well in multiplayer games; the Dead hits each opponent for each dying Zombie.
Fire Covenant - Mogg Maniac
Mogg Maniac is not good by itself. Neither is the Fire Covenant from Ice Age. Combine the two cards and now we have something that is efficient and deadly. Want to kill a few creatures and do some damage to your opponent even though the Covenant can only target creatures... make sure you have the Maniac in play to craze it's way towards your opponent's life. Whenever your Maniac is dealt damage.. it deals an equal amount of damage to your opponent. This is like a cheaper, multi-colored Hatred card but better.
Fecundity - Ashnod's Altar
Ashnod's Altar is a great combo piece as is Fecundity. Why not combine them so that you get to draw a card for each creature you sack to get more mana. This is an excellent way to optimize your card advantage and to get the cards AND mana you need to win the game. The deck featured to the left is called "CHIMERA" and uses this concept well... and it's just a theme CHIMERA deck! Wow.
Repercussions - Furnace of Rath
Here's a nice little combo for you, and its mono-red too! I cast lightning bolt on your Avatar of Hope. I also have both Repercussions and Furnace of Rath in play. Your Avatar takes 6 since the originally lightning bolt is doubled and thus deals 6 damage. Then, the repercussions is activated since your creature took damage and it is double again. You end up taking 12 damage. Not bad for a mono-red combo!
Trade Routes - Animated Lands
Trade Routes is a great card, especially when you think about the card advantage you could get. However, what some people don't realize is that the Enchantment from Masques can save your little land critters for only one mana by returning them to your hand. Say you attack with your Mishra's Factory and your opponent kills you creature with a fast effect... return the little guy to your hand and watch them waste a card.
Stampeding Wildebeests - Thran Forge - Uktabi Orangutan
I think Molder Slug and Thran Forge work a little better than this one, but it is still a cool concept. Turn a creature your opponent controls into an artifact creature and then cast your Orangutan. Destroy that creature and during your next upkeep, return the Uktabi to your hand because of the Wildebeests. Keep doing this until your opponent has no creatures left ... you know, on a side note, I never noticed the obscene actions going on in the background of that card. How wrong is that?
Oath of Druids - Krosan Reclamation - Replenish
This is one of those crazy enchantment combos utilizing the Replenish card from the Urza's Block. Make a creatureless deck with all three of these and lots of enchantments including Opalescence. Then, after activating the Oath of Druids, go through your entire library. With everything in your graveyard, Flashback your Krosan Reclamation and shuffle two cards back into your library (namely the Replenish) and next turn cast it to bring all of your crazy enchantments into play as creatures. Killer. The creative deck is by Chaz Littlejohn @ www.mtgfanatic.com and is a excellent crafted original concept. Check it out!
Army Ants - Groundskeeper
Army Ants are not quite the Carrion Ants from Legends, but even so, they are quite a useful card. Not exactly optimal by itself, if combined with a land recursion card (like groundskeeper), the ants can be quite powerful and potent. Think of it this way, 1G = Destroy target land (once per turn normally). Not bad. The trick is keeping your 1/1 ants in play long enough to pull it off. Here is a deck by Anthony Alongi called HUNGRY SLEEPY BUBBLE ANTS. He used Bubble Matrix to keep the Ants free of fire and shocks.
Living Hive - Alpha Status
I have this thing for bugs.. and to think of a 10/10 or even a 20/20 insect in play kind of gives me the heebie-jeebies. With cards like the Living Hive, which bring insane amounts of insect tokens into play from dealing or being dealt damage, get a big insect via an Alpha Status shouldn't be too difficult. Hey, if that doesn't work.. just go with the Alpha Status - Myr Incubator combo. I like this one a little better.
Balthor the Defiled - Read the Runes
Balthor is a great recursion card which placed high on the list of top 30 zombies. Read the runes is an excellent card to assist him to get lots of cards into your graveyard quickly. Then, once you have a few 10 or 20 big baddies in the grave, activate Balthor's smelly carcass and bring all your grave-ridden creatures (black and red only, of course) back into play. Read the Runes also helps you sift through your library for win cards quicker.. so the two cards work VERY well together.
Browse - Soldevi Digger
Quoted from Brian David-Marshall @ www.magicthegathering.com: Browse allows you to look at the top five cards of your library and choose one and put it in your hand. The other four are removed from the game. Soldevi Digger allows you put a card from your graveyard on the bottom of your library. Together, these cards create a powerful engine that can put your opponent into a soft lock. Browse can quickly reduce your library to no cards. The Digger then allows you to put the top card of your graveyard onto the bottom of your library, eventually making your library a small stack of just the cards you want. It's important to remember that Browse says "look at the top five cards and choose one." If you have only one card in your library, then you just put that card into your hand when you activate Browse; since there is no actual "card draw" involved, you don't lose the game. There have been decks that relied on this combination and a single Lightning Bolt for the win. With this deck, you simply Dig and draw your Counterspells to protect your win condition. If necessary, you can Dig up a Disenchant or a Wrath. It's almost impossible to conceive of a player losing from that position.
Siren's Call - Propaganda
Siren's call is the blue instant version of the original Nettling Imp... except it's strictly better.. especially if you have Propaganda in play. You opponent would have to pay (2) for each creature that has to attack... and usually that's just enough to overstretch your opponent's mana base and kill off a few creatures. Yes, that's right, a mono-blue combo that's capable of creature kill. Perhaps that is why we won't ever see a card like Siren's Call again. Oh well. The deck to the left is from MTG COUNCIL.
Faith Healer - Nomad Mythmaker
Not exactly a top notch combo, but with this you can just keep gaining and gaining and gaining life. Let's think of a few expensive enchant creature cards...Clutch of Undeath, Mythic Proportions, Persuasion, Traveling Plague, Unnatural Hunger, and Yavimaya's Embrace. All of these cards cost 5 or more and thus you gain you 5+ life with the Healer. That turn, tap the Nomad and bring it back into play to do it again. You can also do this in conjunction with cards like Claws of Gix if you enchant creature selection includes a few control magic like spells.
Phyrexian Negator - Twisted Experiment
There are other enchantments than Twisted Experiment which could help out your Negator, but this one is efficient and deadly, making your Negator a 8/4 for minimal mana. Did I mention the Negator has trample? Note: I was struggling with a mono-black combo for this page without a MIRRODIN card ... and this is the best I could come up with @ 4:30 am my time. Oh well.. at least I have a deck for it. :)
Oblivion Stone - Undead Gladiator
Destroy everything. Sounds good, right? Well, not good enough. I want something back. Why not include a few Undead Barbarians in your deck so that you can keep recurring him back from your graveyard to reek havoc on your opponent's empty board. Brian David Marshall put a deck together using this as one of his concepts... and it is linked to the left.
Eladamri's Vineyards - Spike Feeder
The vineyards is an interesting card because it could help your opponent or hurt them. Most cases show the vineyards hurting your opponent. However, how can you keep it for mana-burning you? Try the spike creatures from the Rath Cycle (Tempest)... these creature allow you to generally pay (2) to move a +1/+1 counter to another creature. Just use this to eat up your extra mana where applicable and watch your only your opponent lose life from extra mana.
Varchild's War-Riders - Powerstone Minefield
The War Riders have a nifty little cumulative upkeep that give your opponent(s) Survivor 1/1 tokens on their side. What a bummer? What good is the card? Well.. if you use it in conjunction with cards like Powerstone Minefield, it renders the Survivor tokens useless.. if they do anything. Not back. Since the Minefield deals 2 damage to any creature that attacks or blocks, you Survivors die immediately and your War-Rider survives. Quite a nifty little combo!
Anvil of Bogardan - Chains of Mephistopheles
Make your opponent discard twice as many cards with this combo. While the Anvil allows you to draw an additional card during your draw step, it makes you discard too. With the Chains, you are forced to discard an additional card. Whether you are using Necrogen Mists for the kill or going for a mill effect, this combo locks your opponent to do a little more than he wants to ... discard that is.
Rabid Wombat - Licids
The Winds of Rath are like a cool breeze to the Rabid Wombat and where Steroids helps a desperate bodybuilder, a little agility, blessing, curiosity or even a nature's kiss bring the wombat to a state of ultimate ripped-osity. Where enchantments are easily destroyed there are Licids to the rescue. With Licids, you can easily control where and when the enchant ... this helps the wombat have the instant versatility it needs to successfully beatdown an opponent.
Teferi's Puzzlebox - Underworld Dreams
How strange that Wizards of the Coast would put BOTH of these cards in Eighth Edition. I think they were begging for players to find this combo and work with it. Perhaps they will bring even more powerful cards back into the mix with Mirrodin (for this combo). Who Knows? In the meantime, with this combo, every time your opponent draws - they instead switch out the cards in their hand for new cards from their library. If Underworld Dreams is in play, they take one damage for each card in their hand. Ouch.
Spirit Mirror - Standardize submitted by Jason via email
Assuming you have Spirit Mirror already in play, this is like a plague wind for only two blue mana. Cast Standardize and turn all creatures in play into Reflections. Since they are now reflections, you can use the Spirit Mirror's ability to knock off all of your opponent's creatures (except all untargetable creatures, of course). The deck this links two is a limited example. A deck could be made to revolve around this combo, where Wallmart simply has it as an option.
Invisibility
Looking for another way to make your Raven Guild Master work? Aside from the Crafty Pathmage and Cephalid Pathmage, Invisibility is the key. The only trick here is to make sure your opponent doesn't have a wall out. Imagecrafter can help you there. The deck which is linked to here was modified to fit Invisibility in; I think the deck is a more solid now. Who isn't looking for more ways to use the Raven Guild Master.. this card is just amazing.
Bubble Matrix - Lone Wolf or Thorn Elemental
I never through there would be a combo or even a viable use for Bubble Matrix, but this combo proves me wrong. With Bubble Matrix on the playing field you can keep attacking with your wolves and elementals and deal damage to the opponent directly. In the meantime, the damage your opponents' blockers would deal is reduced to zero. Throw in some black creature removal and you have a deck worth playing.
Sleeper Agent - Shackles or Hobble
Sleeper Agent was a card from Urza's Saga that begged to be combo'd with... and there are two cards in particular that do a good job. You see, when Sleeper Agent comes into play, your opponent gains control of it. But! During each of his or her upkeeps, it does 2 damage to them. With Shackles or Hobble, you can prevent your opponent from attacking or blocking with the Agent and thus setting a time clock for them till they are down to zero life. Shackles is nice because you can return it to your hand in the case your opponent find a way to sac the agent. Hobble is nice because you can draw a card when it comes into play.
Scent of Cinder - Viashino (Sandstalker)
The Viashino are a strange race. When I first saw them in the Mirage block I thought they sucked. Then they came out with this card called "Scent of Cinder" from Urza's Destiny. With the Scent card you can deal X damage to any target where X is the number of red cards you have in your hand. In a normal red deck the goal is to burn your opponent as quick as you can so drawing a late game scent of cinder sucks. With the Viashino (Sandstalker or Sandswimmer, for instance), you can keep your hand full of red cards to deal damage with the Scent.
Sage of Lat-Nam - Hornet Cannon or Metrognome
This combo works better with Hornet Cannon than Metrognome, but the deck link to the left is using Metrognome. Now that Sage of Lat-Nam is back (and may I add I like the original art better), deck architects are finding ways to use him. With Hornet Cannon, you basically spend 3 mana to draw a card; instead of the Hornet Token dying at the end of the turn, just tap the Sage and draw a card. With Metrognome you pay 4 for a 1/1 token but you can still do the same thing.
Imps Taunt - Sengir Vampire
This combo was submitted a long time ago by someone, but I no longer have the original email. This combo can be expensive, but if you think about it, you are paying 5 to kill an opponent's creature and you get a +1/+1 counter on the Vampire. Force your opponent's 3/3 to attack with the Taunt and spend the extra 3 mana to buy it back. Then block with your Sengir Vampire, kill the 3/3, and put a +1/+1 counter on him. You can keep doing this until you have a killer vampire and your opponent has no more creatures. Obviously, there are lots of other factors involved that may mess this one up, but its a fun combo.
Triskelion - Sadistic Glee
This combo is killer in any recursion deck, especially if it has cards like Grave Pact or the Skittering creatures from Urza's Block. Basically, just enchant your Triskelion with Sadistic glee and watch him become the artifact version of Goblin Sharpshooter. Each time a creature goes to the graveyard (whether token or non-token), you get a +1/+1 counter on Triskelion. And for each +1/+1 counter on Triskelion, you can remove it to deal one point of damage to any target. Gosh, I hope WotC reprints Triskelion. The havoc he would present to T2 is amazing (or maybe I'm just dreaming.)
Dragon Mask - Nekrataal
Need a way to bounce the Nekrataal back to your hand so you can reuse his come into play ability, and that isn't blue? Try the Dragon Mask from Visions. You can give the 2/1 first strike +2/+2 until end of turn for a little beatdown, and then return it to your hand at the end of the turn. You gotta love creatures that kill other creatures when they come into play. Now Nekrataal is back in Eighth edition!
Warped Devotion - Recoil
Here's a nice combo for you Megrim Fans. With Warped Devotion, anytime a permanent is returned to a player's hand, he or she discards a card. With Recoil, you can return a permanent to a players hand and then they discard a card. Together, you return a card to a player's hand and then they discard TWO cards. Not bad. Warped Devotion is a great card for any bounce or discard deck.
Wall of Junk - Metalworker
This isn't a spectacular combo, but these two cards have some synergy. Having trouble keeping you hand full of artifacts for the Metalworker? Try Wall of Junk. With Wall of Junk you can block almost any non-flying blockable creature your opponent attacks with and then it goes back to your hand at the end of the turn. This gives the Metalworker two more mana for you to work with in casting something else, or just the Wall of Junk again! Not bad.
Temper - Magmasaur
Some of you submitted decks for the deck building contest I had earlier this year called Temper, Temper. One of those decks featured Magmasaur with Temper. Not a bad idea considering you can boost up the 'earthquake' effect he can have come your next upkeep. All you have to do is not remove a +1/+1 counter and sacrifice him to do damage equal to the number of +1/+1 counters on him to all creatures without flying and all players.
Temporal Spring - Millstone
With Temporal Spring in your hand and Millstone on the table, you should have a smile on your face. With this you know you can remove any threat on the board by moving it from the board to the top of the library and then millstone it to the graveyard. Altogether is costs 3UG. Not too bad for a blue-green deck. Other cards that work similar to this include Plow Under, Aura Extraction, Disempower, Ether Well, Fallow Earth, Memory Lapse, Metamorphose, Repel, Stunted Growth, and Time Ebb.
Crystal Golem - Nevinyrral's Disk
Nevinyrral's Disk is a devastator for all players, but there are ways around it. One way is to have the Penumbra Creatures out so that when everything is destroyed with the disk, you get a black 'penumbra' token creature post destruction. Or you could use the Crystal Golem. All you have to do is activate the Disk at the end of your opponent's turn (while the crystal golem is phased out) and then come your turn, you crystal golem phases back in. It should take your opponent a little while to regain ground, which is just enough time to beat the down with the golem (as it is a 3/3 artifact beatstick).
Sutured Ghoul - Skittering Skirge - Skittering Horror
Sutured Ghoul, from the Judgment set, is a better (much better) version of Franky's Monster from The Dark. The key is getting big creatures into your graveyard for the Ghoul to devour but the key is having creatures out that will still benefit him but benefit you as well in the early game. The skittering guys from Urza's Block fit this role. For two black mana you get a 3/2 flying Imp that goes bye-bye when another creature comes into play on your side. For three mana you get a 4/3 non-flying Horror with the Skittering Horror. These boost your defenses early in the game and still feed the Sutured Ghoul for dessert when he arrives.
Uktabi Wildcats - Sprouting Vines or Wood Elves
If Gaea's Liege was a feline, he would be found in the woods of Uktabi. The wildcats have always been a favorite of mine and along side cards like people of the woods, Treefolk seedlings and the liege himself. However, why not allow the Uktabi to stand alone with cards like the Wood Elves and Sprouting Vines. Both of these cards give you quick access to a large number of forests in play, thus giving your wildcats a boost to beatdown.
Deserted Temple - Gaea's Cradle - Mishra's Factory
I don't think Deserted Temple gets enough attention. This amazing things you can do with it and the few times you ever see it in a deck, it's like its been abandoned by all the casual magic players out there... hence the name. But seriously, when combo'd with large mana producers like Gaea's Cradle or utility lands like the Mishra's Factory, you get twice the punch out of a land. Enchant a land with Squirrel's Nest and make two per turn instead of one.
Oath of Lieges - Pegasus Stampede
Pegasus Stampede? Who'd ever think that Pegasi could do damage. Well, they do. Add a Coat of the Arms in the mix and your little 1/1 Pegasi become 100/100 flying bastards! This combo allows you to make more Pegasi tokens without feeling the hurt of the buyback cost of Pegasus Stampede (which is sacrificing a land). Oath of Lieges allows you to replenish your lands if you have fewer lands than your opponents (during each of your upkeeps).
Tooth and Claw - Firecat Blitz
Firecat Blitz is nice. Why not make it better? If you have Tooth and Claw in play you can sac two of your cat tokens for one 3/1 beast. Say you have 10 cat tokens, each of which will die at the end of the turn. Sac all 10 of them with Tooth and Claw and you have a permanent horde of five 3/1 Beasts on your side (for free except the cost of the Blitz). Try it out. I guarantee you'll love it. Fun, furious and fiery!
Spreading Algae - Blanket of Night
When I first ran across this combo on Eric's Page of Magic Variants, I was shocked at how cool this idea was. To be honest, when I first say the Algae card in the Urza's Saga set, I set it aside as just a color hoser, not a combo card. When teamed up with Blanket of Night, the Algae is a virtual board clearer, so long as your opponent taps one mana at a time. But anyway, this is some land destruction fun here, and now spreading algae is in 8th edition. All you have to do is get your hands on the blanket.
Gorilla Titan - Gaea's Blessing
Gorilla Titan is a powerhouse if you meet his hefty requirements. Why not add a color friendly card like Gaea's Blessing to your casual deck and then maybe add Whetstone. This is almost a surefire way to keep your graveyard empty. Gaea's Blessing shuffles your library back into your library if it goes from your library to your graveyard... and if that doesn't work, try Morningtide as a back up plan. Did I mention the Titan has trample?
Recurring Nightmare - Penumbra Creatures
Card advantage and creature advantage. When you sack a Penumbra creature to the Recurring Nightmare, you get a card from your graveyard back into play and a Penumbra Black Token from the Penumbra creature you had in play. Simple. Efficient... and deadly!
Pure Reflection - Unnatural Selection
Frustrated with the "destroy all Reflection Creatures when a player casts a creature spell..." on Pure Reflection? Well fret not, have Unnatural Selection in the deck and in play.. and change your reflection token into a, say, Goblin. Now you get to keep your X/X reflection(s) in play for only one mana.. and this is really nice when you cast Draco and have a 16/16 reflection. One mana = keep your 16/16 reflection.
Mirri's Guile - Draco - Psychic Battle
Psychic Battle is a cool card that has yet to be broken. This combo comes just short of breaking it. Your opponent casts Searing Wind (10 damage to you).. and you do the Psychic battle reveal the top cards of your libraries.. and you win. Use the Mirri's Guile to keep the Draco at the tippy top of your library after you draw a card.... Not tough, right? Unless, of course, your opponent has a millstone.
Blood Oath - Sunder
For one win, I choose lands. (After you play Sunder). Cast Sunder and return all lands to hands, and then use any mana you have left over to cast Blood Oath. Target your opponent for lands and watch him take 3 damage for each one in hand. This is usually a combo pulled off later in a game, so your opponent could have 6-10 land in play... more than enough to kill him with the Oath.
Defender en-Vec (or Sway of Illusion) - Cowardice
Cowardice and the en-Vec are an older combo straight from the Masques block. Say you want a mono-blue combo, use the Sway of Illusion. The goal here is to target as mana threats (creatures) on the board as possible and move in for the kill with your army. The Defender en-Vec or Sway work excellently with Cowardice as you can freely target a number or any number of creatures. Try Artificial Evolution, that works too.
Bottle of Suleiman - Reverse Polarity
I never thought I see a deck using the Bottle, but actually, when I did some research, I found a couple which were recently added to the database (like the one linked to the left called Bottlegeddon). The deck designer used the reverse Polarity to gain life instead of take damage from the Bottle should your luck be thin that day. Nice, simple and old school.
Retraced Image - Enchant Creature - Untargetable Creature
Here's a rule bending for you: Say you have an untargetable creature in play (like Blastoderm or Zephid) and you have an local enchantment you want to play but normally couldn't. Use the Retraced Image (assuming you already have that enchant creature card in play) and put it into play. Since you don't 'target' anything by the wording on retraced image, you can place the card on that creature. There's nothing better than a 6/6 flying Blastoderm, right?
Soul Sculptor - Soltari Visionary
I'd like to think this is a homemade combo, but I am sure there are a good 1000 magic players out there that figured this one out before I did and thought the same thing. Anyway, the combo is simple. Use the Sculptor to turn an opponent's Thorn Elemental into an enchantment. While it is an enchantment, attack with your shadow-enchantment killer if unblocked (the Soltari Visionary) and then destroy the Thorn Ele-chantment. Not so bad and extremely mana efficient for a white combo-creature killer.
Wood Sage - Haunted Crossroads
Wood Sage is unique as a gold 1/1 2cc Druid... but aside from reaching threshold early and using him with Brainstorm, he's not that good. Unless, of course, you have Haunted Crossroads in play. Add some utility creatures to your deck and put them on top of your library with Crossroads for only one black mana. Then fetch it with your Druid and repeat each turn for just a tap on the druid's part.
Seismic Assault - Mulch - Lodestone Bauble
Am I just a really old player or does anyone remember Land's Edge? It was the precursor to Seismic Assault except that all players could use the ability to discard a land to deal two damage to target player. Moving along, Mulch and the Lodestone Bauble are great. Say you discarded four land cards so far to the Seismic Assault. Use your bauble to put them back on top of your library and then Mulch to put right back into your hand. Four cards for 2 mana and possibly 8 damage for free!
Tireless Tribe - About Face
This is a possible turn two or three killer. Attack with the Tireless Tribe... and when no blockers are declared, discard 5 cards. Make the tribe 1/21 and then cast About face. Now your little white weenie is 21/1 and is already swinging for the kill. Priceless and yet so cheap.
Lesser Gargadon - Citadel of Pain
If you would a like a means to control your Citadel of Pain, Lesser Gargadon is a nice answer. For only 4 mana you get a 6/4 creature. Say you don't have a Chimeric Idol in play.. just use your Lesser Gargadon to thin your land count down so damage to you from the Citadel (if any) is minimal. This combo is not as efficient as the Idol-Citadel.. but it is a great supporting combo as you will see in the deck link.
Rogue Elephant - Harvest Wurm Quoted from an Inquest Magazine
If you like first turn 3/3 creatures, then you probably like the Rogue Elephant. Too bad it costs you your first land. If you hate creatures that get stuck in your hand, then you probably hate Harvest Wurm. Solution? Combine the two and the Elephant can give you the Wurm a hand by putting land into your graveyard for you to retrieve.
Blood Hound - Flame Rift
Flame Rift is one of the cards that I went, "huh?" at when I first looked at it. Now I can see something useful with it. Combines with Blood Hounds, you deal 4 damage to you and your opponent and then you get a 5/5 Blood Hound. Attack with it, assuming your opponent cannot block, and you net a total of 9 damage to your opponent. Not so bad.
Angry Mob - Blanket of Night - Karma
Angry Mob was a great card back in the day and actually with a few backup cards, it's even more fun. Take Blanket of Night, for instance. Now all of your lands and your opponents' lands are swamps too. Say your playing a one on one game and your opponent control 7 lands. During your turn, Angry Mob is now 9/9 trampler. Okay, so what if you have Karma and CoP: White on your side. All of sudden, if the Mob isn't enough you can Karma you opponent for 7 damage a turn and prevent the damage to yourself with the CoP.
Rootwater Shaman - Rootwater Matriarch
Until Jay Moldenhauer-Salazar, I never knew the Rootwater guys existed. Since they are enchant creature heavy, use them in conjunction with the Nomad Mythmaker (graveyard recursion) and/or Hanna, Ship's Navigator (more graveyard recursion). Now who have instant, graveyard and control aspects with just a simple card like flowstone armor.
Pattern of Rebirth - General's Regalia
If your deck doesn't have a lot of room for the sackable creatures from Urza's Block (i.e. Yavimaya Elder or Heart Warden), use the General's Regalia to control the Pattern of Rebirth's 'goes to the graveyard' ability. In addition, though, you can technically prevent damage to yourself by redirecting it to greater causes!
Thunderbolt - Wind Dancer
You want to attack me with your grounded 5/4 Fire Elemental? Hah hah hah! Little do you know I have a thunderbolt in hand and a Wind Dancer in play. Give your opponent's creature flying with the Faerie and deal four damage to it with Thunderbolt. If the creature has 4 toughness or less, the creature is dead. I like burn with options.
Discordant Spirit - Tarnished Citadel
Looking for a way to get more +1/+1 counters on your Discordant Spirit short of a Flame Rift? Use the pain lands like Tarnished Citadel to do the trick. Just make sure you have a way to use the lands during your opponents' turns as your Spirit only gets bigger if you were dealt damage during their turns. Then it resets at the end of your turn. Life gain never hurts in a deck like this.
Remembrance - Mortuary
With this combo, if one of your creatures dies, basically is goes back to your hand.. or at least a copy of that creature goes back into your hand. With Mortuary, when a creature goes to the graveyard from play it goes back on top of your library. With Remembrance, you get to search your library for a copy of that card and put it into your hand so long as the card was a card and not a token. Card advantage... but unfortunately an expensive combo.
Mask of Intolerance - Reef Shaman - Sea Snidd
To sideboard or not to sideboard, I choose not to sideboard. Some cards are just so interesting that they demand a deck instead of sitting on the sidelines watching you play. Or whatever. With Mask of Intolerance, if you can make sure your opponent has 4 or more different basic lands in play you can deal three damage to him/her a turn with the mask. Reef Shaman, Sea Snidd and Dream Thrush as work well to do this.
Kavu Chameleon - Earnest Fellowship
Earnest Fellowship is an interesting card... especially when joined forces with Kavu Chameleon. Kavu Chameleon's little built in ability to change color for one green mana has some versatility with the Fellowship... especially when you are playing a mono-color deck. Make your Kavu Chameleon the color of your opponent's creatures and then watch him fight through to your opponent's life by attacking (since it has protection from the color you chose, which was the color of all the possibly blockers from your opponent's side).
Dwarven Thaumaturgist - Dega Disciple
Here's a little one-two puncher. Say you are having trouble getting rid of your opponent 2/4 Giant Spider or whatever, if you have these little weenies on your side you can spend a colored mana with the Disciple to give target creature -2/-0 (now the spider is 0/4) and then use the Dwarven Thaumaturgist to switch the spiders power and toughness. Wallah! Now the spider's dead (4/0). Assuming this is a viable scenario for you, call your deck the Exterminator. Huh-huh... (dud)
Fungus Elemental - Acidic Soil
To be honest, for a moment, I never noticed Acidic Soil. I have tons of them, but I never saw the potential this card has. Combo it with cards like Fungus Elemental or Heartwood Giant to bring your land count down to almost nothing, and cast Acidic Soil. Watch your opponent take 6+ damage and you only take a few. All for three mana (sort of).
Smokestack - Mobilization - Orim's Chant
Smokestack is a great card. Urza's Saga had a plethora of great artifact cards and this is one of them. Mobilization fuels your Smokestack with little Soldier tokens to sack to the Smokestack. Add Orim's Chant to the mix and suddenly you opponent is forced the sacrifice key cards to their deck which are in play. This makes for
Squirrel Wrangler - Forgotten Harvest
Being a big fan of +1/+1 counters, I saw Forgotten Harvest as a great card with exception to the whole idea of REMOVING a land card in your graveyard from the game. Forgotten Ancient throws this card WAY out of the water. But, if you still want to use your Forgotten Harvest (if you haven't forgotten already where you put it or who you gave it to) then use your Squirrel Wrangle to provide the fuel your Harvest needs to bloom. The question is, which squirrel do you give the counter?
Crop Rotation - Urza's Lands
Having trouble getting the Tower in play for your artifact-green deck? Wait.. how often do you see an artifact-green deck? Not often.. but anyway, you can always splash in the green, right? Sack one of your Mines (since you'll have two in this scenario) and crab a Tower from your deck and put it calmly into play. Okay, now, lets say it is a Green-Red Deck instead of the Green-Artifact. Now, Fireball your opponent for lots of damage. There's a combo for you. Just pray your opponent doesn't have Deflection or something!
Voodoo Doll - Martyrs of Korlis - Artifact Ward
Voodoo Doll.. an oldy for a fun one. Cards similar to it include Torture Chamber. Anyway, have you ever wanted to use this old card in a deck but you were not quite sure how exactly to arrange it? Well, throw in a Martyrs of Korlis or two so that you can redirect the voodoo damage to him instead of you... and then throw an artifact ward onto him and watch the voodoo doll go to work. To actually use it's ability is expensive, but now there are cards like Mirari's Wake and Upwelling that help you fuel the voodoo.
Diamond Kaleidoscope - Urborg Justice
This is an odd combo, but I guess I wanted to use the Diamond Kaleidoscope in a combo somewhere sometime. Now is the time. Create a few Prism tokens with your artifact and then sack them to play Sliver Overlord or something. Now, cast Urborg Justice and watch you opponent sac several creatures equal to the number of prism token's you sacrificed. Personally, I think this combo is far more effective if you use Nantuko Husk or Living Death.
Suppress - Mindslicer - Phyrexian Ghoul
Mind Twist may not be extremely legal anymore, but here's your replacement with a twist. You have Phyrexian Ghoul in play, Mind Slicer and lands of course. Cast suppress and watch the (say 5) cards in your hand temporally disappear. Then sack your Mindslicer to the Ghoul and watch your opponent(s) discard their hand(s). Then at the end of your next turn you get all your cards back.
Obliterate - Penumbra Wurm
The Penumbra creatures were an excellent concept for WotC to make. I like being able to cast Wrath of God and still have a 6/6 tramper in play. It's black, but who cares. This combo is basically the same thing and can't be countered. The best part is that EVERYTHING goes. And your 6/6 trampler comes into play. Likeable.. efficient, but costly. I think a G/R deck is better for this type of concept anyway...
Death Pits of Rath - Aether Flash
Where Simoon and Death Pits of Rath wipes the board clean of all creatures on your opponents' side, this combo takes care of the future creatures your opponents' cast after Simoon. This combo is a nice way to lock up the board in your favor. With the flash shocking every creature in play, the death pits puts them in their grave quicker than your opponent can say "Counterspell" ... oh wait, they cant.. its no more. Beside, they can't counter the affect unless they have Stifle. Hmmm.
Erhnam Djinn - Scarwood Hag
Ok, so Erhnam is already broken is certain decks, but add a little old ugly (really ugly) hag into the mix .. we'll call it his grandmother, and now you have a little more control over the Ernham's drawback without having to sack all the lands in play or do any of the other things you need to do to use the Djinn to his potency. The Scarwood Hag allows you to take away the 'forestwalk' ability from the creatures you are concerned about.
Festival - Siren's Call
Want a cheap Plague wind? Try this two mana combo. Invite your opponent's creatures to come to the party your holding as a Tribute to the Siren... and then let her loose. Now, all your opponent's creatures can't attack and they are all killed. Not bad for a U-B combo. Other cards you could use instead of Festival are Orim's Chant and Blinding Angel. I think Festival is a little cheaper and easier to find for under 10 dollars.
Needlestorm - Arnjlot's Ascent
Why not play nice once in a while, and instead of killing your opponent right off the bat, why not give all of his creatures flying instead. And in all this generosity, if you should accidentally cast Needle Storm after this... why would your opponent blame you? They have no reason, right? This little combo is not extremely mana efficient, but it is a nice way to get rid of all your opponent's creatures. If Needle Storm isn't enough to kill your opponent's fatties, cast a Hurricane instead. Just make sure your ahead in the life totals.
Ana Sanctuary - Shadowmage Infiltrator
So you have Ana Sanctuary and Shadowmage Infiltrator in play. During your upkeep, you control both a black and blue permanent... so your Infiltrator gains +5/+5. Now you have a 6/8 creature with fear. This combo was also found on www.mtgcity.com.
Delaying Shield - Ertai, the Corrupted - Hanna, Ship's Navigator
I found this combo on www.mtgcity.com in an article by an author whom I can no longer recall. Anyway, this combo, if pulled off, will get you from taking any damage. If you have Hanna and Ertai already in play, cast the Delaying Shield and watch your opponent deal whatever (say 10) damage to you. All of the damage goes onto the Shield and then you sack it before your upkeep to counter a spell with Ertai. For only three mana, bring it back into your hand with Hanna and repeat. Nice combo. It is, unfortunately, very difficult to pull off.
Meteor Storm - Ceta Sanctuary
Talk about synergy... these cards definitely have it. Not only does this one card give you the bonus from the Sanctuary, but use the two cards you drew total that turn to fuel your Storm for four damage to a target. Lets see, 4x5=20. So technically, you could kill your opponent in only 5 turns after you get out this combo. The cards in the combo are cheap too. This isn't a 5 star way to go about it, but it sure is a new one. Anything other than MBD and U/G madness is good with me.
Volrath the Fallen - Draco - Cloak of Mists
Volrath never got better after his Fallen state from Nemesis. Make him unblockable with something like Cloak of Mists and he is dangerous enough. But then, discard a big creature card (like Draco with 16 total to cast) and watch your Volrath become a 22 powered creature that is unblockable. I think a Swords to Plowshares would really suck at that point.. but this combo is definitely a powerhouse.
Cold Storage - Sneak Attack
Want to use Sneak Attack to your advantage? Bring out your creature for one mana.. and then put in into your freezer card. (Cold Storage). Wait until it is just about to get freezer burn and sacrifice your Cold Storage for free to being it back into play to thaw out for a turn and be ready for a kill the next turn. Throw in something like Fires of Yavimaya and you are set. Bear in mind, you can do this to a number of creatures for a total of 4 mana each.
Ersatz Gnomes - Dark Banishing
The Ersatz Gnomes are, by far, my favorite artifact creature -- gnome. I always knew there was a purpose or a reason to include him in a deck and I found one. Using Dark Banishing on a black creature doesn't work to well so why not make it nonblack by activating the Gnome's ability to make it colorless.
Cadaverous Bloom - Oath of Lim-Dul
Description quoted from INQUEST: Need to find some cards NOW? Don't feel like gambling with Lim-Dul's Vault? Well Lim-Dul, that old geezer, has another card-finding method up his sleeve: feed the Bloom a card from your hand, and it belches up two black mana; pump those into the Oath to draw a card. Not a card you wanted? You can keep doing this until you find one. ... It's a two card Diabolic Tutor at the cost of removing your cards from the game.