MTG Salvation

Like many of you, I love me some hard-core combo-kill action in all common 100 card singleton. I think we've established in this forum how good the Krosan Restorer/Freed from the Real combo is, and Kiora's Follower supports it well by standing in as half the combo.



Edit: I put Seedling Charm on the list instead of Evolution Charm by mistake, but the former might actually be good here as it protects the combo in two different ways.

Since PDH is my favorite format right now, this kind of deck was also my first thought when Kiora's Follower was spoiled. I like your use of Temporal Fissure as another Capsize, and I'll be replacing the Negate I run in my version with Confound. I like the idea of Lotus Petal but I'm not sold on it yet.

Can you explain what Hidden Strings does in this deck? It seems like there's a potential combo there but I'm just not seeing it.

I consider Merchant Scroll to be a common because the Gatherer says it was, but I guess that can be debated.

Finally, what's your opinion on Mizzium Skin, Ranger's Guile, etc. as essentially one mana counterspells to protect the combos? You can even transmute Dizzy Spell the turn before to get them.

Edit: Forgot to suggest Train of Thought as a way to draw the rest of your deck once you have infinite mana.

I designed this deck to be like my Peregrine Drake list and just combo out ASAP. For example, I've passed on many of the format staples like Flood and Utopia Vow because creatures aren't that much of a threat to the combo. Lotus Petal has been pretty good in Peregrine Drake so far, so I figured I'd give it a shot here as well.

Hidden Strings is probably part of some infinite combo involving way too many auras with enchant land. Honestly, though, I'm just running it as an experimental ritual effect. It could very well turn out to suck.

Not only does Gatherer call Merchant Scroll common, but my (hard copy of the) first edition Magic Encyclopedia of Cards* lists it as common, too.

As for the 1 CMC protection spells, I'm not sure. I ran several of them for a while in Peregrine Drake, but ultimately cut them for being too narrow. Turn Aside is the best because it can protect an aura or a land, too.

And, yup, Train of Thought is a lot better than Divination. Easy swap.

*Back in the dark days before the Internet was wildly popular, WotC published full color encyclopedias much like the collectors' guides they give out now. Volume one has Alpha through Homelands.

Is this deck really viable without black? I play Ana Battlemage and black adds a lot of useful transmute cards and the best card is obviously Mystical Teachings so I wonder if it's still good without black. No Crypt Rats or Stinkweed Imp either, I don't know how you deal against many creatures in duel.

These decks work fine without black. I played a zameck guildmage deck for a while and trust me, blue has the most tutors you just need to build around them. Include wizards for vedalken aethermage, play merchant scroll, you pick up fierce empath and put in a 6+ cmc creature package. You have options for tutors. And when you're in green, the way you deal with creatures is by playing bigger, scarier creatures.

Quote from MrFloppy

These decks work fine without black. I played a zameck guildmage deck for a while and trust me, blue has the most tutors you just need to build around them. Include wizards for vedalken aethermage, play merchant scroll, you pick up fierce empath and put in a 6+ cmc creature package. You have options for tutors. And when you're in green, the way you deal with creatures is by playing bigger, scarier creatures.

While I prefer playing little deathtouch dudes instead of big dudes (and green has a lot of both), Vedalken Aethermage is a really great card, I don't know why I didn't notice this card before. Even just for Trinket Mage and Archaeomancer, it's more than worth it. And if you go the deathtouch route with the green dudes, Viridian Longbow pairs up nicely with Trinket Mage. The more I think about it, the better it looks.

There is still one problem with infinite mana combo in pauper: they are all based off Freed from the Real. Please, Wizards, print another aura like that one. There is Sinking Feeling and if there is any color that could deal with the counterback, it's simic, but it isn't as reliable for obvious reasons.

Oh, and isn't arbor elf more useful than llanowar elves since it can help combo as well? Also, no halimar depths?

Quote from MrFloppy

Oh, and isn't arbor elf more useful than llanowar elves since it can help combo as well? Also, no halimar depths?

I got Halimar Depths in my temporary list right now. I don't think Arbor Elf is needed since the general is strictly better but I wouldn't play Llanowar Elves either.

The only drawback of being 2 color is having only one Karoo land in Simic Growth Chamber. The better you can get out of it with Kiora + Freed is infinite green mana. But what does infinite green exactly do in this deck? Not that much. Infinite blue is way better. Any of the enchant land fix that, but it would be nice to have some more mana sink. No Consume Spirit in those colors.

Quote from dnLL

Is this deck really viable without black? I play Ana Battlemage and black adds a lot of useful transmute cards and the best card is obviously Mystical Teachings so I wonder if it's still good without black. No Crypt Rats or Stinkweed Imp either, I don't know how you deal against many creatures in duel.

Alright, for starters I agree that black has a lot of tutor effects that are very helpful to the dedicated combo deck. However, playing black means not having Kiora's Follower as your general. Follower is one of many creatures that can get involved with Freed from the Real and make infinite mana but it's relatively cheap at 2 CMC. Having it as your general means that every opening hand you draw is actually 8 cards and contains Rampant Growth. Then later in the game (or earlier depending on your draw) you get to have a combo available out of the command zone. As for answering opposing creatures without Crypt Rats or Stinkweed Imp, the plan is to just win the game before they become a problem. Finally, these colors actually don't lack X spell win conditions, they're just hidden. Capsize and Temporal Fissure both reward you with more effect the more mana you can put into them. Bouncing everything you don't control every turn is the same thing as winning.

The mana elves are an experiment. This deck was designed to run like a UG version of my Peregrine Drake deck, and while I haven't even goldfished Kiora's Follower yet, I know the Drake would love to have mana acceleration to play out on turn 1. Arbor Elf is probably good enough, but it makes me a little nervous that he only untaps Forests. That same unease is the reason that Halimar Depths is absent. I want to have a Forest on turn 1 for an elf but also run enough islands to make High Tide busted instead of just Fertile Ground-until-end-of-turn.

In addition to what people brought up here there are a few other things I probably want to change. Update pending.

Quote from Hunding Gjornersen

In addition to what people brought up here there are a few other things I probably want to change. Update pending.

Working about my own list. Lot of green deathtouch guys for me, Viridian Longbow and Trinket Mage, Vedalken AEthermage and such. But that's built with my meta in mind, if I just try to win before my opponents, I will lose, Lorescale Coatl will swing for the 18 commander damage on turn 4 or 5 (we play the 30 HP / 18 Commander dmg rule).

Green has a lot of deathtouch so I think this strategy is really consistent too and helps me a lot to get more time to find the combo pieces or just winning without any combo actually.