Hey welcome to my 3rd Commander deck on this site!
I'm getting a rush just thinking about what I've got planned for this deck, nothing is cut and dry. In here, we've got several combo's that take time and effort to pull off, but at the same time are easily disrupted.
Why the hell would you make a combo deck that's easily disrupted that's just idiotic?!?!
Well you're right... Though it's not really meant to be competitive sure if you want to make a Grand Arbiter Augustin IV I could come up with a list that'd be competitive, but I've been thinking a lot more in the direction of what's balanced than what's broken and I love combo decks so have to find something. Sure there are combos in here that are broken and repetitive and have been done to death, but they're not in here as win conditions my goal here was this. I REFUSE TO WIN OFF A 3 CARD COMBO THAT DOESN'T HAVE COUNTERPLAY.
Okay what do I mean by that? Well to explain it in more detail here are some combos that I run in my Primespeaker Zegana deck.
Deadeye Navigator + Palinchron
In a primespeaker deck
this combo results in an immediate win because you draw every card in your library with enough mana to cast everything and if you can't win from there you're doing something wrong. I simply won't run the Deadeye Navigator in this deck.
Archaeomancer
+
Time Warp
this has been done to death yes the possibility of doing it is in here, but the TimeWarp and the Mnemonic Wall is in here for two different combos respectively both of which require 4 or 5 cards on the field. For that reason as to not tempt myself I have not put any bounce in this deck.
There are a lot more, but most of them revolve around 1 of the 4 cards above so go figure. Arguably everything has counter play generally in the form of counterspells, but the combos i try to run in this deck can be disrupted by any number of events which was the idea from the start.
So what combos do I play that I do not consider "too easy"?
Well here are a few. There is probably room for abuse in this deck as well as any other, but I tried to limit the chances of a less than 3 card combo that'll automatically result in a win.
Some of my favorites include.
Sensei's Infinite Cantrip!
Future Sight + Helm of Awakening + Sensei's Divining Top
+ Kozilek, Butcher of Truth
+
Time Warp
just to show you how to draw your library with style! How does it work? Well you need Sensei's Divining Top Future Sight and Helm of Awakening in play once you've done that you can tap Sensei to draw a card and then play Sensei's Divining Top from the top of your library with Future Sight and because of Helm of Awakening it costs 0 to do so rinse repeat. Once you have both Kozilek, Butcher of Truth and Time Warp in hand you play TimeWarp discarding Kozilek, Butcher of Truth shuffling your graveyard and take your extra turn rinse repeat till you have enough mana to pull of one of the actual combos that win you the game :).
Next up we have
Oblivions Barren World
Barren Glory + Oblivion Ring + Worldpurge
This combo is a little bit more confusing, but let me explain. You play Barren Glory once you've done that you play Oblivion Ring Targeting your own Barren Glory exiling it. This is resolved. You then play Worldpurge effectively returning Barren Glory to the battlefield because Oblivion Ring left play. Barren Glory is now the only card on the board. Then you chose to keep no cards in hand and during your next upkeep you win before you draw since your board is empty and your hand is as well.
And lastly a favorit of mine.
Gloriously Clever Wall of Lotus Replication
Gilded Lotus
+
Glorious Anthem
+
Mnemonic Wall
+ Clever Impersonator
+
Rite of Replication
A 5 card infinite mana combo :) I mean who can whine about this one when it's so easy to disrupt? I don't really feel this requires any explanation so I'll just give a brief one with Gilded Lotus Glorious Anthem and Mnemonic Wall in play cast Clever Impersonator copying nothing it wont die because of Glorious Anthem then you cast Rite of Replication Kicked targeting Clever Impersonator 4 of them copy Gilded Lotus the last one copies Mnemonic Wall returning Rite of Replication rinse repeat.
So that's more or less the kind of combos I go for in this deck. I realize there are some combos in the deck that can win the game immediately like, Guile and Dovescape all I can say to that is that at least there's no Torpor Orb in here. However, the reason for those cards being in here isn't to win they just both work really well with what you want to do in this deck, as our goal is to stall until we can combo out and win.
So what are some stall mechanic's that the deck runs
Who Needs Regenerate?
Angelic Renewal
+
Sun Titan
It's just a loop that never ends, so it turns Sun Titan into an infinite blocker and attacker so it's very useful. It works like this Sun Titan blocks their 35/35 Maro and dies, you then sacrifice Angelic Renewal to bring him back Sun Titan the brings back Angelic Renewal rinse repeat.
Enchanted Safety
Enchanted Evening + Sphere of Safety
It's not really that complicated everything you own is now an enchantment so if anybody wants to attack you they have to pay somewhere between 8-12 mana per attacking creature.
There are some other interesting interactions, but mostly the rest are single cards that just slow your opponent down or stops them from attacking you. The deck draws hate so make sure you don't have too many unnecessary restrictions on the board before you're ready to go off, I suggest you try to keep the immediately bad interactions to a minimum.
Like don't have Rhystic Study Grand Arbiter Augustin IV and Linvala, Keeper of Silence in play at the same time otherwise the chances that people are going to heavily target you are quite high.
A few combos that didn't make it.
Here are some combos I thought up, but never implemented.
Did You Want To Cast Spells? Like Ever?
Arcane Laboratory
+
Venser, the Sojourner
Arcanis the Omnipotent
+
Forbid
So it's a little hard to understand, but let me explain Arcane Laboratory means that each player can only cast one spell a turn. Forbid has the ability to buyback and with Arcanis the Omnipotent you can replace the cards you discard for Forbid buyback. So that would put your opponent as well as yourself at a disadvantage, but what if you could escape the disadvantage of Arcane Laboratory all together? Therefore Venser, the Sojourner is here to bounce Arcane Laboratory on my turn so I can cast whatever I want without any problems and my opponent can only cast instants or spells with flash. The best part would probably be that when it comes back in it checks for any spells cast before it so your opponent can't even try and kill it that turn.
I realize it doesn't actually stop your opponent from casting spells, but it limits them immensely and against some decks if you get this combo rolling even without Venser, the Sojourner it's just game. So why not play it? It's basically a case of it being such a hard lockdown and even with just Forbid and Arcane Laboratory in play it's an abusive combo that's hard to get out of so it doesn't really sit well with me to put it in here every single card draws too much hate Arcanis the Omnipotent is only in here because he can protect himself so well and is a good draw engine without being in my opinion too strong.
Sorry, But Lands Are OP!
Faerie Impostor
+
Mistbind Clique
+
Stonecloaker
Pretty simple, play Faerie Impostor on my turn. Beginning of opponents turn after untap flash in Mistbind Clique championing Faerie Impostor end of opponents turn flash in Stonecloaker bouncing Mistbind Clique when it leaves play Faerie Impostor comes back in play bouncing Stonecloaker back to my hand. Rinse repeat.
So why not play it? Well it's not really a winning combo it's just a board lockdown, it's an incredibly annoying board lockdown. You can't really respond to it either whenever someone taps down I could pull it out and there would be nothing you could really do to stop it.
Well there you have some of the harder to set up combos that the deck runs :) I hope you like it so far because I'm just getting started. Feel free to give me input on the deck and any card/combo suggestions are more than welcome.
