With the Pro Tour coming up this weekend, I’m still holding onto some of my secrets for this format, but I’m happy to share some of the combos and synergies I’ve encountered along the way! I’m keeping this article limited to commons and uncommons, both for accessibility and to respect the tradition set in place.
I haven’t had too many instances where my deck wants to utilize Battle-Fan, as black tends to be more on the controlling side, but a fun card to combine it with is the Aetherblade Agent. It’s alright on the front side, but it shines on the back side as Gitaxian Mindstinger. This thing demands an answer, and if you protect it from a kill spell, you will likely draw a card or eat a creature.
Overall, I really like the Strobe-Knight, and Xerex is likely the only non-rare battle I’m in the market of winning in the Azorius Knights deck. This is probably more of a PSA than combo, but flipping a battle does count as casting a spell. Flipping the battle the turn it comes into play will enable you to get a free Knight token. Thanks, Xerex!
This is the combo I’ve put together the most, by far. It’s a combo I’m sure a lot of you have seen before, and in a snowball-y format, it can really take over a game with such a heavy mana advantage. To be clear, I like Blighted Burgeoning much more than the Tracker individually, so it normally starts with that piece.
There are some obvious Omen Hawker synergies like transform, equip, and land cycling, but what if I told you that you can turn Omen Hawker into a Birds of Paradise via Urn of Godfire? An unlikely duo, but powerful together, with Urn destroying creatures or enchantments for four* mana now as well. Shoutout to JasonILTG for introducing me to this tech.
A lot of different variations of looping exist with Oracle of Tragedy in March of the Machine. Utilizing the second ability when you cast Oracle, you can put cards from your graveyard into your library, to avoid decking yourself and mill your opponent instead. There’s a lot of fun things to do with the oracle, like utilizing Unseal the Necropolis when you have zero cards during your upkeep, then killing your Oracle is always fun. See Double can also be quite silly with Halo-Charged Skaab as well, but lets not have too much fun here.
So many have written off Boros, and I intend to capitalize on that when possible. This is a potential game ending combination for the aggressive archetype, adding counters to a couple of your creatures while tapping down two of your opponents.
I always love Tetsuko decks, and this set gives lots of application for said fugitive. Swordsworn Cavalier was the first card I happened to pair with it, and I’ve been pleased with a few others as well, like Hangar Scrounger, Marauding Dreadship, Wary Thespian, or Fynn, the Fangbearer (more on him next). These combinations are especially potent in this set, as they can help you win battles more easily, just make sure that Tetsuko doesn’t die during attacks!
Aside from the odd couple of Fynn and Tetsuko (would have been an awesome teamup), killing via poison counters can be a real path to victory here. For the most part, Fynn gets ignored while you rack up four-six poison counters then you have to address him, but Serpent-Blade Assailant, you can surprise your opponent with two more poison counters to either close the game or threaten lethal the following turn!
Obviously Ral’s Reinforcements can do a lot of great things, but if I have three or more copies, Ramosian Greatsword not only becomes playable, but actively good. Turning 1/1 tokens into 4/2s with trample is a good way to get value out of the tokens in the mid game.
I’ve liked the Scrapchomper in aggressive red decks to refill your hand as well as help to convoke things. With the Beatstick generating treasure, you can chomp the treasures to draw, or even eat the Beatstick if you need to! Shoutout to Fearless Skald with the Beatstick for double the treasure, double the fun!
I hope you learned something new, and remember…
Lose and Learn, Learn and Win!
