Name ITT card combos that could not possibly be more obvious, be it in the names of the cards, clearly designed to go off on each other in the same block, or otherwise. To get the ball rolling:
hermitic study and horseshoe crab. Same set. Makes a “Hermit Crab”. Yes I know hermetic and hermit do not mean the same thing, but the pun helps point the players in the right direction.
War Barge and Merfolk Assassin from The Dark. The first 2 card combo I ever independently put together way back in the day.
How funny. I've had that complete set for two decades, Looked at, played with, and played against those cards about a million times and not once did I ever see that combo. I favored a Royal Assassin deck then and I would have absolutely gone mono-U or UB much earlier if I spotted they combo.
How funny. I've had that complete set for two decades, Looked at, played with, and played against those cards about a million times and not once did I ever see that combo. I favored a Royal Assassin deck then and I would have absolutely gone mono-U or UB much earlier if I spotted they combo.
By today's standards, was not the best combo. But back in the day it forced my friends to put anti-artifact cards in their decks for our kitchen table games.
How funny. I've had that complete set for two decades, Looked at, played with, and played against those cards about a million times and not once did I ever see that combo. I favored a Royal Assassin deck then and I would have absolutely gone mono-U or UB much earlier if I spotted they combo.
By today's standards, was not the best combo. But back in the day it forced my friends to put anti-artifact cards in their decks for our kitchen table games.
I would imagine you would run Counterspell and Mana Drain to protect your artifact. I don't recall anyone running Ring of Immortals to fill in the gaps but I suppose it would have been doable at the time.
I just remembered how absolutely certain the guy who discovered Cadaverous Bloom/Prosperity was that this combo was printed intentionally, even after R&D insisted it wasn't.
Mana Drain sucked back in the day thanks to the now removed mana burn rule (unused mana emptying your mana pool at the end of a phase causes you to lose a life for each mana unspent this way).
Citadel of Pain and Manabarbs made sure each turn players took damage equal to the number of lands they controlled.
Mana Drain sucked back in the day thanks to the now removed mana burn rule (unused mana emptying your mana pool at the end of a phase causes you to lose a life for each mana unspent this way).
Well... yeah. I thought everyone knew that? A buddy of mine spent months trying to have some sort of mana sink for it (and Su-Chi) back then. IIRC, most people usually played CoP of some kind, Candlebra of Tawnos, pumpable creatures or something similar. oR...they would have a castable card in hand.
Mana Drain sucked back in the day thanks to the now removed mana burn rule (unused mana emptying your mana pool at the end of a phase causes you to lose a life for each mana unspent this way).
Well... yeah. I thought everyone knew that? A buddy of mine spent months trying to have some sort of mana sink for it (and Su-Chi) back then. IIRC, most people usually played CoP of some kind, Candlebra of Tawnos, pumpable creatures or something similar. oR...they would have a castable card in hand.
On topic: Goblin Charbelcher and just plain not running lands. I netdecked a ten-proxy Vintage deck (because power nine) that ran Tropical Island and Bayou to be fetched out with Land Grant as the only lands. That deck was later refined to not even have them.
Mana Drain sucked back in the day thanks to the now removed mana burn rule (unused mana emptying your mana pool at the end of a phase causes you to lose a life for each mana unspent this way).
Well... yeah. I thought everyone knew that? A buddy of mine spent months trying to have some sort of mana sink for it (and Su-Chi) back then. IIRC, most people usually played CoP of some kind, Candlebra of Tawnos, pumpable creatures or something similar. oR...they would have a castable card in hand.
Stroke of Genius wasn't an option in 1995. But nonetheless, I don't recall ever playing Braingeiser in any deck other than mono-blue. Maybe I did? I just don't remember. Stroke of Genius wouldn't be a bad choice if you're playing anything other than mono-blue.
On topic: Goblin Charbelcher and just plain not running lands. I netdecked a ten-proxy Vintage deck (because power nine) that ran Tropical Island and Bayou to be fetched out with Land Grant as the only lands. That deck was later refined to not even have them.
I experimented with a deck that was the exact opposite, Treasure Hunt, Seismic Assault and 50+ lands. The version I made was super cheese so I didn't play it for very long. Someone actually did a primer on the combo though I never built that version.
Both being rakdos colored, Tym being a returned and graveyard effect. I felt it was blatantly obvious Tym and Cerberus were meant to interact how they did
Exhume and Entomb
Mana Short and Mana Vapors
Honorable mention: Wrath of God and Faith's Reward
How funny. I've had that complete set for two decades, Looked at, played with, and played against those cards about a million times and not once did I ever see that combo. I favored a Royal Assassin deck then and I would have absolutely gone mono-U or UB much earlier if I spotted they combo.
I used to play an Island Sanctuary, Howling Mine tempered with Icy Manipulator deck back in the day.
Surprised no one mentioned Channel and Fireball yet.
As an aside, the Mana Short / Mana Vapors combo is just a throwback to a Mana Short and Stasis combo.
By today's standards, was not the best combo. But back in the day it forced my friends to put anti-artifact cards in their decks for our kitchen table games.
I would imagine you would run Counterspell and Mana Drain to protect your artifact. I don't recall anyone running Ring of Immortals to fill in the gaps but I suppose it would have been doable at the time.
Citadel of Pain and Manabarbs made sure each turn players took damage equal to the number of lands they controlled.
Well... yeah. I thought everyone knew that? A buddy of mine spent months trying to have some sort of mana sink for it (and Su-Chi) back then. IIRC, most people usually played CoP of some kind, Candlebra of Tawnos, pumpable creatures or something similar. oR...they would have a castable card in hand.
I always used Mishra's Factory, Stroke of Genius and/or Isochron Scepter, the Stroke being preferable to Braingeiser because of only having to tap one Island.
On topic: Goblin Charbelcher and just plain not running lands. I netdecked a ten-proxy Vintage deck (because power nine) that ran Tropical Island and Bayou to be fetched out with Land Grant as the only lands. That deck was later refined to not even have them.
Stroke of Genius wasn't an option in 1995. But nonetheless, I don't recall ever playing Braingeiser in any deck other than mono-blue. Maybe I did? I just don't remember. Stroke of Genius wouldn't be a bad choice if you're playing anything other than mono-blue.
I experimented with a deck that was the exact opposite, Treasure Hunt, Seismic Assault and 50+ lands. The version I made was super cheese so I didn't play it for very long. Someone actually did a primer on the combo though I never built that version.
https://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/casual-multiplayer-formats/169020-combo-repository
Both being rakdos colored, Tym being a returned and graveyard effect. I felt it was blatantly obvious Tym and Cerberus were meant to interact how they did
CerberusJund (Modern)GRB
Sidisi, Brood Tyrant Morphentress (Commander) GUB
I also play YGO (DragunFusion) and Hearthstone (Dragon Control Warrior)
+ Reaper King / Progenitus
+ Blazing Shoal
+ Berserk / Twincast
One of the first combos I figured out on my own. This was back when Mystical Tutor was legal in Legacy. I bring this up in the obvious list because welp look at how long Blazing Shoal lasted in a format where target creature does not take up farming and is removed from the game entirely.