It's another Saturday here at TGZ as we wrap up the first week of our second year with some of our favorite combos and synergies.
Let's Get To It! THIS IS THE STACK!
UNCLE LANDDROPS' PICK
I've been having fun and wrecking face with HH for the better part of this year, which I now refer to as the "Year of the Ogre."
There are a bunch of synergies I've talked about here on the blog, but once haste is on the table, here are a quick run-down of his greatest hits:
-Glacial Chasm
-Basilisk Collar/Loxodon Warhammer
-Thousand-Year Elixir
Overall, comboing with HH is sweet. The deck itself has inspired not only heavy changes in decision-making within my playgroup, but also card-choices. Folks are packing more Tec Edge and playing at a faster tempo than ever these days, and it's all because of one silly little Glacial Chasm and a couple of Shiva-Blasts (What I call tapping him). At the same time, he's welcomed because he also speeds up games. Overall, I have a lot of fun with this deck, which is something I never thought I'd say this time last year about rocking mono-Red.
Johnny Confidant- THUMBS UP
I have him listed in my Mono Red for massive life loss and gain (with equipments). I was thinking about also putting him into my Nicol Bolas deck for a solid Nuke. I wish there were more Legendary Red creatures like this that could make playing mono red more possible.
Grandpa Growth- THUMBS UP
I like the card. I like the deck. It fits some peoples definition of fun. It fits some people definition of douchebaggery. That sounds like a good card to me. Powerful, polarizing, and it happens to be in one of my favorite sets of all time. Competitve in Commander? Perhaps not, but as previously noted, it speeds up games.
Venser's Journalist- THUMBS UP (YOU HEARTLESS @*&#$!%)
The Hidetsugu is truly a combo to reckon with, especially if you can put haste on this guy. My combo with him would probably involve Swiftfoot boots and an Icy Manipulator, just so that the Red Sun's Zenith can win the game for only a few mana. He's a tough card to deal with and even if he isn't hasted in some way or the combo isn't pulled off completely, he's a huge threat that will obliterate you in no time.
VENSER'S JOURNALIST'S PICK
My 3rd favorite artifact, the Closet really goes well with any creature with an ETB effect. Up to now, I've enjoyed using this with:
-Sunblast Angel
-Stonehorn Dignitary
-Vendilion Clique
-Wall of Omens
-Solemn Simulacrum
Johnny Confidant- THUMBS DOWN
When I first started playing EDH I tried to get this card in every deck I could. It worked great in my Merieke Esper and my first deck with Riku, but for Vela, Animar and Sigarda not so much. This was a good learning experience for me as I honed in on the right cards for the right deck.
While I enjoyed the Closet (?) at first it turned out to be slower than other similar effects so it slowly got weeded out of my decks. This card was useful to me in the past, but I rarely use it now.
Uncle Landdrops- THUMBS UP
This is a great engine style card. I did a Card Corner on this a while ago, so I won't talk it up a lot more, but it's good. Ideally, the Closet really wants most of your deck to be fortified with ETB dudes to create a solid engine.
One of the cool tricks I like with the closet is resetting creatures with +1/+1 counters. Among these, Spike Weaver is the most annoying. Worst case, it provides you with some pseudo-Vigilance.
Grandpa Growth- THUMBS DOWN
I just cast this card for the first time a few days ago. In my friend's "cube", I had put together quite a brew including GrizzlyBizzly, Yosei, Quicksilver Amulet, Solemn, Keiga, and several other random synergies. It is very close to being the jankiest deck I have ever put together in any format. I was embarrassed. The designer of the cube should be embarrassed, the designer of this card should be embarrased; more importantly: don't play this.
GRANDPA GROWTH'S PICK
It may end in Mindslaver or a Disk/Lattice/Forge Lock, but it really starts with Glissa and Executioner's Capsule. Controlling the board with capsule and their hand with Necrogen Spellbomb. Punishing Fire taught us an important lesson about mana sinks. They can be very bad and still be ridiculously good. Thankfully, this rinse and repeat combo is not bad.
Of all of my decks, Glissa is my favorite and the one that has lasted the longest. I hardly change the list at all because is just so tight and so challenging to play. The mental struggle of getting max value and keeping track of all the little interactions every turn keeps me in top mental shape. If you aren't into hyper-competitive tier one combat like I am, complicated decks like this are a cool way to step up your technical game without amping up the power level.
Johnny Confidant- THUMBS UP
My Fiance has a glissa deck that turned into a Jarad deck, but during the Glissa days she ran this little combo. Its especially funny when your watching a semi-new magic player realize that the kill spell is reusable the entire time her general was out.
My favorite part of this combo is that if you can cast Glissa, you can repeat this little combo (assuming one of your three lands is a two,three, or five color land). Between Glissa herself and this capsule you've got an uphill battle if your facing her,.
Venser's Journalist- THUMBS UP
Glissa is one bad Zombie Elf (the only one that matters, if you ask me) and the number of tricks you can pull with her is out the roof. I think she makes little eggs like Horizon Spellbomb and the aforementioned Executioner's Capsule that much more insane. From personal experience, she's hard to deal with once the baubles start popping off, but she's not OP to the point of unfairness; Arrest will do her in, as will any type of graveyard purge (which slows her down more than anything, but is better than your opponent getting back his/her artifacts). This is one combo that gets the VJ stamp of Classy...
Tell them, Bruce...
Uncle Landdrops- THUMBS UP
I've talked about my Dollar General version of this deck a lot, and I love it too. It's a strong archetype focused heavily on what wins EDH games- card advantage.
GG and I have both called this an "Engine" style deck, but that's because basically everything is a combo in here. Whether it's a silly version of Glissa with all the cheap Eggs I can cram, or GG's Disk Fest, there's a lot that can be done, and it makes for a real tough matchup most of the time.
JOHNNY CONFIDANT'S PICK
I'm sure at one point you have encountered this guy with some infinite Persist creature or Triskellion. Needless to say this guy is just nuts 90% of the time.
I rarely see this guy included in a deck for use for anything other than Persist abuse or the infinite combo because the temptation is too powerful to resist. Look at him. Intimidate, human protection and a field of Undying creatures?
I am not personally fond of infinite combos due to the feeling that they cheat a win and this guy was my first experience.
Uncle Landdrops- THUMBS UP
In my mind, Black Mike is merely an unfortunate victim of people and their inability to play him without Triskelion.
When you get past that, there's a lot to like about this card. For starters, I'm a huge fan of the art. The fact that he's got a before and after makes it feel like a Time Spiral card, except we get the raw beauty of the Zombie Apocalypse. I like his design too. The contrasting flavor of his two iterations is appealing to me.
As far as playability is concerned, I'd rather save my energy on more pressing cards like Avacyn, which is just too dumb with the Legend rule not being the Legend rule anymore. Black Mike's broken-ness and busted-ness is only going to happen when we aren't vigilant with graveyard hate or removal. To pull his combos off takes multiple turns usually. I'm just not ready to let his infinite combo define him. He creates a lot of other great interactions, and he can go on the damage plan. It's just a cool card.
Grandpa Growth - THUMBS UP
Strangely enough, this is the only real combo card on the stack. I like how no matter how many times you read this card, it always seems like there is a new line of text you forgot about. It just does so much stuff. It is powerful, versatile, cost effective, and can play as a game-ender threat, an anthem, or a combo piece. It wasn't a big surprise to see this card skyrocket to popularity in the format. I am pretty confident in saying that this is the premier Mono Black general in circles where Braids isn't accepted. It has even made brief appearances in my Glissa deck along side Tooth and Nail and Defense of the Heart.
Venser's Journalist- THUMBS DOWN
I personally find this card appalling out of the sheer fact that I prefer Mikaeus, the Lunarch. Infinite tap, creature buff combos. The Unhallowed is the zombie excuse for a combo card. Plus, undying is unnecessary if you're playing your cards right.
-UL and TGZ Gang.
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