Clever Combo

Despite some recently printed cards of questionable power, Wizards knows not to print a few specific things these days. One of those things is instant-speed, targeted discard. Understanding why only requires you to know that as the inactive player, you receive priority during your opponent’s draw step, allowing you (if you have instant speed discard) the opportunity to lock them into an empty hand. Nothing intrigues us as brewers more than finding ways to play magic in single player mode, so if you’re playing Lydia this week, you may want to bring a book or some knitting. The key is adding instant speed timing to the existing sorcery-speed discard options. This means playing a full mainboard playset of Leyline of Anticipation, on top of everyone’s favorite (now) 3-mana planeswalker, Teferi, Time Raveler. As a backup, we’re running 2 copies of Emergence Zone as well. Most of the discard options are pretty straightforward, it’s simply a matter of picking the best mix available. Duress isn’t necessarily ideal (c

This week, Lydia and JJ took some new topics for a spin. First, we reviewed our deckbuilding process, and not just another guide on how to select lands or build a curve. Instead we created a list of universal questions that help create the shape of any style deck. After that we took a dive into a listener suggested combo using Jace, Wielder of Mysteries, Lost Legacy, and any card that allows any number of copies. For the first time we built our decks live on the air! Lydia ended up with a Persistent Petitioners deck that splashes in a couple Fraying Sanity, and a playset of Ipnu Rivulet to try to gain extra self-mill value. 30 Petitioners rounds out the deck. Fabled Passage and a test copy of Evolving Wilds will help thin out the deck, especially after a Lost Legacy. JJ opted for Shadowborn Apostle which also allows any number of copies. Being cheaper and needing 6 (rather than 4 like Petitioners) means we’ll need some easy draw, so we added Castle Locthwain. Since we hope to have 5 or 6 of them, we also deci

This week we review results from JJ’s first few attempts in Pioneer, as well as the first ever Pioneer Banned and Restricted Announcement (link below). Then we get into JJ’s deck, Sultai Summonings. One of the most interesting build-arounds to come out of the Kaladesh block was definitely Metallurgic Summonings. While 5 mana is a lot to ask in anything but a slow format, the power it provides if you can stick it is undeniable In order to maximize the card’s potential, we did two things. First, we looked for cards that work before and after a resolved Summonings. While removal is key to the function of the deck, we don’t want to get stuck with cards in hand and no targets for them. So one of the key cards types comes in the form of ramp. Spring//Mind is an excellent example. Spring provides a 3-5 skip, while also loading up an expensive draw spell for the late game. We don’t mind how much Mind costs because if we cast it after a resolved Summonings, we get a 6/6. Growth Spiral is a helpful fixer, though it’s r

Seven Dwarves is a powerful card in multiples, which is why we are nowhere near satisfied with just 7. Tune in to Season 4 Episode 4 of Clever Combo to hear how we made a deck with Twenty-Seven Dwarves. The key to an absolute horde of dwarves is making copies on the cheap. Quasiduplicate, Replicate, and Spark Double make an absolute swath of dwarves, and since each one is lorded by all the others, they can get out of hand very quickly. Pattern Matcher helps dig for more actual dwarves, as does Tamiyo, Collector of Tales. She also guarantees the ability to bring back key cards that get sent to the yard. Ferocity of the Wilds is a cheap way to make all those dwarves swing in with trample in case the field is clogged with tokens or cheap chump blockers. Lastly, we can apply significant (if highly unpredictable) pressure with Mirror March. Try it out and leave us a comment on how you like it This week’s Deck: https://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/twenty-seven-dwarves-copy/ Where to find us Decklists are hosted on Tappe

This week was a very exciting week in magic. The banning of Field of the Dead paved the way for an equally linear and oppressive Oko-based Standard, but more importantly, WotC announced a new format. Pioneer! We covered the basics of Pioneer in our last bonus episode, but JJ simply couldn’t wait to brew up some new decks for this shiny new format. In fact, he made three!  “Gone Myth-Thing” Azorius seems like a very strong color pair for control in Pioneer. The lack of the best blue counterspells from Modern means that cards like Dovin’s Veto and Absorb have a strong foothold for top counterspells. Sphinx’s Revelation is amazing, alongside Supreme Verdict. Since we’re in UW, I like the idea of going super hard on Instants with the main goal of flipping a Thing in the Ice and/or pumping up a Myth Realized. On the one hand, dropping these on turns 1 and 2 sort of gives away our game plan, but they are also terribly hard to interact with. A T1 Myth or T2 Thing will be backed up by a full grip of counterspells and

This week Wizards of the Coast announced a brand-new format intended to help Standard players who are sick of Field of the Dead and Oko to transition to a new format where all those old banned cards are perfectly legal. The best way to understand the format better is to get in there, make some decks, and play some games. Barring that, you should read Wizard’s announcement about the format (below). If that fails, listen to us ramble on about it for a half hour or so. At least we have a few puns. Tune in to Season 3 Episode 2b for more! Make sure you tune in next week as we'll be featuring not 1, but 3 new Pioneer brews! Pioneer Resources Pioneer vs. Modern infographic: https://i.redd.it/38fmix3kl6u31.jpg Pioneer sets infographic: https://media.wizards.com/2019/images/daily/wpzaFLGZet.jpg Pioneer announcement at WotC: https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/news/announcing-pioneer-format-2019-10-21   Where to find us: Decklists are hosted on TappedOut.net: http://tappedout.net/users/CleverCombo/mtg-deck

Throne of Eldraine brought some kitschy references to a number of fairy tale tropes, perhaps none more than Happily Ever After, which flavorfully as possible, presents a challenging but powerful alternate wincon. This week Lydia will take a crack at making it work. The main combination rides on Planewide Celebration, which allows us to hit up to 4 of the main win conditions (a sorcery in the graveyard, a creature on the field, a 5c permanent on the field, and 20 or more life). However, it will take more than this to make the deck work. Sphinx of the Guildpact is our backup 5c creature, and also counts as an artifact for types. Since both of these cards are 7-drops, we have a sweet ramp package in the form of Lotus Field, Fertile Footsteps, and Kiora, Behemoth Beckoner.  Brought Back allows us to make some tricky plays involving recovering the two lands sac-ed to Lotus Field, or recovering a cracked Fabled Passage. It also preserves important permanents like Gideon Blackblade and the Sphinx. Just in case we ha

Syr Konrad, the Grim presents us with an excellent opportunity for a combo kill. He triggers on just about anything a creature can do with the graveyard: dying, milling/discarding into it, and even leaving it. The combo revolves around getting the yard full of creatures and then emptying it suddenly. Our primary goal is to drop an early Enhanced Surveillance so that as soon as Konrad hits the battlefield, we can crack it to empty the yard, hopefully for an insta-kill. Forever Young presents a good backup options, which also allows us to recover anything we mill into our yard if we end up needing it. Since we’re milling already, I like having a few cards that take advantage. Gorging Vulture will not only help us mill, but gives us a little lifegain to hold out for our combo. Narcomoeba is not only a free-roll when it gets milled, but it will end up double-triggering Konrad when it bounces through the graveyard. [[Creeping Chill]] also presents an opportunity to keep ahead of opponent attacks, as well as dome t

This week we get into our Throne of Eldraine spoiler talk. We reviewed 27 cards that felt like Johnny Combo potential (list below). Let us know what you’re brewing by hitting us up by email, on Twitter, or on Reddit.  Oko, Thief of Crowns  Chulane, Teller of Tales  Foulmire Knight / Profane Insight  Tournament Grounds  Bake into a Pie  Wishclaw Talisman  Shinechaser  Turn into a Pumpkin  Doom Foretold  Rosethorn Acolyte / Seasonal Ritual  Taste of Death  Once Upon a Time  Questing Beast  Wildwood Tracker  The Royal Scions  Joust  Outlaws' Merriment  Harmonious Archon  Charming Prince  Flaxen Intruder / Welcome Home  Murderous Rider / Swift End  Alela, Artful Provocateur  Syr Konrad, the Grim  Beanstalk Giant / Fertile Footsteps  Midnight Clock  Witch's Cottage  Once and Future We’d love to hear from you! Please send us your suggestions, feedback, deck ideas, deck feedback, or just drop us a line to say hi. Email us at clevercombopodcast@gmail.com Visit us at www.clevercombopodcast.com Twitter: twitter.com/cle

Step into the ring with JJ’s 1-2 combo deck, Punch Thud Love. Built around the vague sense that JJ wishes [[Fling]] was still in standard, we have to make do with [[Gravitic Punch]], which is excellent because of Jump-Start, and [[Thud]] which thrives on the single mana cost. The key to a good fling-style deck is excellent X creatures. [[Hyrdroid Krasis]] has a high floor and a ridiculously high ceiling, and the Flample is very meaningful. [[Voracious Hydra]] is a 2-mana chump, a removal spell, or an enormous X/X creature all in one card. Wrap this all up with some support from [[Domri, Anarch of Bolas]] and [[Kiora, Behemoth Beckoner]] which serve as a combination of ramp, anthem, and draw. We’d love to hear from you! Please send us your suggestions, feedback, deck ideas, deck feedback, or just drop us a line to say hi. Email us at clevercombopodcast@gmail.com Visit us at www.clevercombopodcast.com Twitter: twitter.com/clever_combo Try out our decks and let us know what you think - suggest a sideboard, a twe

If you ever find yourself sick of the same old decks in the same old meta, we have the deck for you: hate on all of them equally with Color Screw! The deck is built around M20’s two cycles of color hate. Game 1 is pretty tough to steal, but once you get to your sideboard, the deck becomes downright oppressive. Shifting Ceratops is an all-star next to the three cheapest removal spells you can find, Fry, Noxious Grasp, and Devout Decree.  Since the deck has to lean on the patented Ravnica 5-color manabase, why not also include backup threats Golos, Tireless Pilgrim, and Chamber Sentry. Last but not least, fix your mana, and abuse your protections with Scuttlemutt. We’d love to hear from you! Please send us your suggestions, feedback, deck ideas, deck feedback, or just drop us a line to say hi. Email us at clevercombopodcast@gmail.com Visit us at www.clevercombopodcast.com Twitter: twitter.com/clever_combo Try out our decks and let us know what you think - suggest a sideboard, a tweak, or just tell us something

Agony is building a deck that performs consistently while also including as many different mana costs as possible. Why? Well tune in to Clever Combo Season 3 Episode 3 to find out. Embodiment of Agonies is a clear build-around. You need as many mana costs as you can… but how do you balance that against consistency? Well, you start with the “Rule of 9” and then warp it to the “Rule of 18.”  That means that as good as Assassin’s Trophy is, we cut that to a two-of and sub in a few Cast Down and Thought Erasure. Ashiok, Dream Render makes sure the yard is filled right up, and Bond of Revival makes sure we don’t mill away all our Emodiments. Cavalier of Night provides a backup threat and another way to fetch out a dead Embodiment. If you like swinging with a 10/10 Deathtouch Flier, this is a deck you should check out! We’d love to hear from you! Please send us your suggestions, feedback, deck ideas, deck feedback, or just drop us a line to say hi. Email us at clevercombopodcast@gmail.com Visit us at www.clevercomb

Bolas’s Citadel is a clear build-around card, but what’s the right shell? Tune in to Clever Combo Season 3 Episode 2 to see how Lydia thinks Phyrexian Mana had it right all along. The key to Bolas’s Citadel is to get the cards off the top of your library as fast and effectively as possible. Junk like Ritual of Rejuvenation and even Heartwarming Redemption offset the life cost, effectively cycling from the top of your library for free or nearly free. But why go digging through your deck? Jace, Wielder of Mysteries provides a perfect wincon for a deck that effectively mills itself in the weirdest way possible. Good old reliable Nexus of Fate also helps delay until you can bag out an empty-library wincon. Kaya’s Wrath and some sideboard removal/hate wrap the deck up nicely. We’d love to hear from you! Please send us your suggestions, feedback, deck ideas, deck feedback, or just drop us a line to say hi. Email us at clevercombopodcast@gmail.com Visit us at www.clevercombopodcast.com Twitter: twitter.com/clever_co

If you’ve ever thought “Forests are great, but I want them to be vulnerable to removal….” then Wood Chipper may be the deck for you! JJ’s deck this week is built around Wakeroot Elemental, Nissa, Who Shakes the World, and Awakening of Vitu-Ghazi. Each one has a unique way to make lands into threats. With Nissa’s static ability, losing a couple lands to combat isn’t such a big deal. Also helpful in keeping up your mana count is a traditional package of Llanowar Elves, Leafkin Druid, Nissa’s Triumph, and Grow from the Ashes. The latter two are good before or after dropping Nissa, and Llanowar Elves has survived since Alpha for a reason. Jadelight Ranger and Blanchwood Armor take advantage of land/Forest synergies for increased value. Backup threats include Voracious Hydra, Carnage Tyrant, and Gargos, Vicious Watcher. We’d love to hear from you! Please send us your suggestions, feedback, deck ideas, deck feedback, or just drop us a line to say hi. Email us at clevercombopodcast@gmail.com Visit us at www.cleverco

Ever play one of those decks that loses 90% of the time, but those 10% wins are so utterly ridiculous, so totally devoid of anything sensible, that it’s totally worth it? Yeah, us too. Runaway Bolas puts our favorite tri-color Walker on the express train to nutty victory. Nicky’s ability to use other walker’s’ ults means he can use a Jace to clone himself. An Oath of Teferi is enough to make it go infinite, which may be hard to assemble, but is a pretty much guaranteed GG. Any Johnny knows you need to find and protect your combo. Dig through your library with Shimmer of Possibilities and Board the Weathlight. Put up some defense with Gleaming Barrier and Sailor of Means, plus ramp up to the critical 5 mana. Then when things are in place, a Karn’s Temporal Sundering will finish off your opponent.   We’d love to hear from you! Please send us your suggestions, feedback, deck ideas, deck feedback, or just drop us a line to say hi. Email us at clevercombopodcast@gmail.com Visit us at www.clevercombopodcast.com Twi

It’s time for the ultimate tie-breaker, Sudden Death! This week JJ put together an alternative take on Aristocrats, with explosive possibilities. The key revolves around triggers from Cruel Celebrant, Poison-Tip Archer, and Rising Populace. If sac’ing for value is your preference, you’d how about Demon of Catastrophes, or God-Eternal Bontu. You can throw a Doomed Dissenter or a Hunted Witness their way and turn the downside into an extra body. Last but not least, all these triggers combo ever so nicely with a visit from Massacre Girl, who likes to clear the board and swing you 5-10 life on the reg. Stack the triggers right and you might just end up with a couple of tokens left over.   We’d love to hear from you! Please send us your suggestions, feedback, deck ideas, deck feedback, or just drop us a line to say hi. Email us at clevercombopodcast@gmail.com Visit us at www.clevercombopodcast.com Twitter: twitter.com/clever_combo   Try out our decks and let us know what you think - suggest a sideboard, a tweak, o

Ever wonder what the exact opposite of aggro looks like? Big butts and zero-power creatures? This week Lydia brings us “Tough Spells,”  an XLN-WAR standard deck that somehow brings massive 19-damage swings despite most creatures having 0 or 1 power. Pick your flavor: Huatli, the Sun’s Heart and High Alert both let your creatures assign damage using their toughness, and then Tetsuko Umezawa makes them unblockable. The combination makes this deck incredible resilient against aggro, and also explosive in its wins. The deck includes fun rarely played pseudo-defenders. Despite the combo-y nature, there are ways to work around its fragility. Surge Mare doesn’t need an enabler, but also combos nicely with just Tetsuko. Aegis of the Heavens and Dive Down make a surprisingly amazing appearance, and Feather, the Redeemed makes them even better. We’d love to hear from you! Please send us your suggestions, feedback, deck ideas, deck feedback, or just drop us a line to say hi. Email us at clevercombopodcast@gmail.com Visi

Do you like R-Chupacabra? And getting caught in Notion Rain? OK, OK, Notion Rain isn't in this deck, but the Chup is, and so is Quasiduplicate, which means 12 opportunities minimum to 2-for-1 your opponent the easy way. In this episode of Clever Combo, JJ brings us to Value Town with a consistent, ETB-driven Dimir deck Xerox Machine is a XLN-WAR standard deck. On early turns, it focuses on stealing value from the opponent. Thought Erasure clears the hand of key early plays, and Kitesail Freebooter keeps up pressure on the hand. Early removal like Price of Fame also helps keep the opponent from developing a board presence. In main mode, the deck will 2-for-1 the opponent with Ravenous Chupacabra and Dream Eater, while snatching even more value with Thief of Sanity. Throw in Nightveil Predator for some threat diversity, in the form of an incredibly hard to remove creature. The deck’s real threat starts when it begins to copy creatures. It’s basically a better blink, because you get to replay the ETB, but you ge