Philosophy Behind #6: Combo

I would like to welcome everyone to the exciting conclusion of this three-part series as we finally address the deck archetype; Combo.

Combo, another very popular strategy in MtG, attempts to win as quickly as possible by using a few cards to gain an almost sure win. Often, combo decks attempt to try to search out the deck for the combo pieces in order to achieve this goal. These decks really focus on the interaction of two or more cards.

There are three things that combo decks value; power, consistency, and speed. A combo ought to be strong enough to ensure a win and should be able to achieve the combo before the opponent gains the upperhand.

Degenerate combos usually make an infinite amount of something, whether it be creatures, mana, life, cards, or even try to perform an infinite loop (by repeating a process over and over). In casual magic, and even in competitive play, you often won't make a lot of friends by playing with a degenerate combo (it's very frustrating for players to play against), so keep that in mind. Similar to my previous articles, here are few aspects regarding Combo decks:

• Few Creatures: Attempting to enable the desired combo, Combo decks don't ordinarily win by attacking. Creatures usually are used to enable the combo or as part of the combo itself. As such, creature removal isn't usually very efficient against most combo decks.
  
• Few Non-Land Permanents: Most combo decks hold on to creatures, artifacts, and enchantments until the turn they're ready to aim for the win. A good place to attack a combo deck is in the hand with discard spells. a timely enchantment removal spell or counterspell can also be effective in defeating a combo player.
  
• Life-Total Clock: Sometimes a combo deck will take as long as possible to win (i.e., the turn before the player would otherwise die, or the turn it has a definite win) to get as many draw steps as possible. Having a lot of cards act as viable resources for a combo player. A good strategy is to put pressure on combo decks, either with creatures or threatening spells, to coerce them into attempting to win prematurely.
  
• Narrow Strategy: Combo decks tend to be greatly focused, with their objective of initiating that combo. One strategy is to try to take away just one of the combo pieces (like via Memoricide or Cranial Extraction).
  
• Poor Defense: Many combo decks trade removal and responsive spells so that they can have room for cards to enact their combo.
  
• Specific in Nature: Combo decks are more diverse than other deck types and can vary vastly. Artiact removal might be great against one variant, but completely useless against another.

White operates very well with equipment-based combos, like Stoneforge Mystic and Quest for the Holy Relic. white has been also known to use 'blink' strategies to take advantage of 'enter the battlefield' and/or 'leave the battlefield' triggers. When it comes to life-gain combos, Felidar Sovereign and Test of Endurance come to mind. Karmic Guide and Sun Titan are great examples of white reanimation spells that can be the start of some irritating combos. White also has potent synergies with using enchantments, like Sigil of the Empty Throne. The most notable White tutors include Enlightened Tutor, Steelshaper's Gift, and Idyllic Tutor.

Blue's card draw and library manipulation give it the tools for a great color for Combo decks. Want to mill your opponent away using Brain Freeze? Another storm card that has been known for some potent combos is Mind's Desire. Hive Mind also prompts some powerful interactions with the right cards. Blue loves artifact combos, such as degeneracy with Mycosynth Lattice. Blue is also known to have great sorcery and instant cards, like Time Warp, where the player wins by taking multiple turns. The most notable Blue tutors include Personal Tutor, Tinker, Fabricate, Trinket Mage, Treasure Mage, and Mystical Tutor.

Black is great in Combo decks since it has the potential to tutor any card. Dark Ritual, Tendrils of Agony, and Necropotence have been in very popular combo decks. Animate Dead is one of many popular Black cards that interact with the graveyard to perform some powerful combos. Grave Pact is good with decks that have sacrifice outlets. With cards like Underworld Dreams, a player can win via forcing their opponents to draw into defeat. With some manipulation of the graveyard, one could play Bitter Ordeal and eliminate all spells from a player's library. The most notable black tutors include Vampiric Tutor, Demonic Tutor, and Diabolic Tutor.

You'll notice for Red, I don't discuss tutors because Red is a weak color in that area. I've seen Red combo decks that use Pyretic Ritual into Seething Song to finish off with Dragonstorm. Similar decks also involve Grapeshot, Ignite Memories, and Pyromancer's Swath. Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker can combo with some creatures to form infinite attackers, such as Pestermite and Deceiver Exarch.

Green's combos almost always involve either creatures and/or lands, staying true to the philosophy of the color. Tooth and Nail and Protean Hulk operate to gain two creatures to combo out or gain insurmountable card advantage with. Hermit Druid and Survival of the Fittest are popular in Dredge/Reanimation combos. In addition, Glimpse of Nature works well with cheap elves to draw your entire deck. The most notable Green tutors include Scapeshift, Natural Order, Chord of Calling, Wordly Tutor, and Green Sun's Zenith.

With that, I'd like to mention that many combos in MtG involve more than one color, especially the more viable ones and the list does little to compare to the comprehensive list of combos. With that, I'd like ton conclude this discussion on Combo decks. Also, I'd like to credit the following articles as a reference and helping me write this article. Aggro, Combo, and Control by Jeff Cunningham and Wikipedia.

Interested in more Magic content? Check out every series on the MTG Casual Network Archive!

-Michael Hood-Julien

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