I'd been wanting an Assault Formation deck ever since the card was spoiled. I saw this combo explained on Bulwer's Doran of the Infinite Butts EDH deck. I liked the idea of having infinite toughness and then attacking with it. I dug around at home for some of the cards, played around with the rule of 9, and this is the result. It looks pretty fun and really cheap (less than $10 minus basic lands) - not top tier competitive, but an interesting take for my casual group. I'll explain the combo below, but check out Bulwer's deck for a really funny take on it. The 3-turn win is explained at the bottom.
The Combo:
Assault Formation
+
Daru Spiritualist
+
Nomads en-Kor
(or any variation thereof).
Nomads en-Kor can use its ability to target
Daru Spiritualist
an infinite number of times, giving it infinite toughness. Then attack with it, thanks to Assault Formation. If everything goes exactly right, you can win turn 3 with the trample from
Unnatural Predation
. However, even if all your pieces don't get on to the board at once, you can use the infinite toughness combo to essentially build a giant wall until you can get your combo off. Because the ability used to target is a redirection of damage to an infinite creature, essentially those 2 can take any damage thrown at them, barring deathtouch. Add another one of either type, and the wall just gets bigger.
The Cards:
The Key card - Assault Formation. Without this card, your deck is a really nice wall.
The Toughness Targets:
Daru Spiritualist
- a 2 drop toughness target for the main combo and the only way to pull off a turn 3 win.
Task Force
- a 3 drop toughness target, with the important distinction of having the Rebel creature type. (More on that later).
The Redirects:
Nomads en-Kor - a 1-drop with a 0 cost redirection of damage ability. A key part of the 3 turn win combo.
Outrider en-Kor
- a 3-drop with the 0 cost redirection of damage. Plus it's got the Rebel creature type. Wink, wink.
Getting the Damage Through:
Blessed Breath &
Gods Willing
- Protection from your opponent's color will get your damage through, as well as protect your combo pieces (or your tutor) from removal. I chose to run some of both because that's what I have, but it's probably better to go with all 3 Gods Willing because of the scry.
Unnatural Predation
- a 1-drop instant that gives your inifinite damage creature trample. 'Nuff said.
Rogue's Passage - what's better than trample? How about unblockable! While the activation cost makes it better later in the game, having the ability riding on a land is great.
The Tutors:
Ramosian Lieutenant
- a two-drop that tutors rebels from your deck. Including both parts of the combo: the redirect (Outriders en-Kor) and the target (Task Force). The issue is that it costs 4 to activate the ability. On the other hand, you can keep tutoring up more blockers while you wait for your enchantment to drop - just be wary of board wipes.
Lost Auramancers
- a four-drop tutor that takes 3 turns to activate. Is it fragile? Absolutely. But by the time you get it out, you should have lots of other big protective creatures to stall until it vanishes. It's also very, very budget. Sterling Grove would be a much better option, but 3 of those cost as much as this entire deck.
Mana Fixing/Ramp:
Avacyn's Pilgrim - Mana fixing for a deck where most things are white. Plus, ramp, which is important if the combo pieces you draw are the 3-drop rebels, or if you're going to have to tutor for rebels or Assault Formation.
Elvish Mystic - Mana ramp. 'Cuz sometimes, you just need a little help from your friends. Llanowar Elves would also work in this slot.
Vec Townships
- This turned out to be surprisingly valuable. A lot of times, it would get me an Avacyn's Pilgrim and the tap wouldn't even matter. Obviously, there are better lands out there, like Sunpetal Grove, but for the price, this one made the cut over tap-lands like
Selesnya Guildgate
.
And there you have it! So, after wading through all that, it's time for the 3-turn win scenario (I found this often won around turn 5, but I would be fairly impervious a turn or two before).
T1: Plains, Nomads en-Kor
T2: Forest,
Daru Spiritualist
T3: Forest or Plains, Assault Formation,
Unnatural Predation
or
Gods Willing
or Blessed Breath, swing for infinite trample or protected from color damage (with one infinitely protected blocker remaining in case they have a Fog. - Just hope they don't have Deflecting Palm!)
