MTG Salvation

I made a lot of changes to my cube the last few months to facilitate a lot of synergies/combo's with (mostly) cards that are good without these synergies/combo's. Here's my review of them (and the seperate cards). Please keep in mind that these recommendations are based on the fact that you like combo's at all:

Combo's I am currently running:

Mini-Worldgorger combo:
Leonin Relic-Warder + Animate Dead/Necromancy/Dance of the Dead
Relic-Warden is solid enough on its own (instead of Kor Sanctifiers or Ronom Unicorn and friends) and Animate Dead/Necromancy are usually played in cube anyway. Dance of the Dead is good if you also support reanimator a bit. The combo needs a third piece but they are plenty: Blood Artist and friends/Syr Konrad, the Grim/Hissing Iguanar/any sac-outlet. Other cards that work that might be cubable but I don't play: Daxos, Blessed by the Sun/Soul Sisters/Eutropia the Twice-Favored/Goldnight Commander/Orc Sureshot.

Should you try this?
Yes, I think this combo is solid. All cards used are valuable in their own right.

Persist Combo:
Putrid Goblin/Safehold Elite/Kitchen Finks/Murderous Redcap/Lesser Masticore + Vizier of Remedies/Renata, Called to the Hunt/Rhythm of the Wild/Grumgully, the Generous/Good-Fortune Unicorn (+ any sac-outlet)
As you can see lots of redundancy. Putrid Goblin can easily replace Carrier Thrall (which I see in quite some C/Ubes) most of the time and Safehold Elite is easy to add if you use the hybrid system. Lesser Masticore and Vizier of Remedies are harder to justify, but Masticore has been solid in reanimator/golgari graveyard value deck without the combo so far and Vizier has another combo (see below).

Should you try this?
Yes, but maybe without Vizier and Masticore. Apart from them all these cards are easily playable on their own. Masticore has some other uses outside of the combo. The combo itself is usually game ending.

Devoted Druid Combo:
Vizier of Remedies + Devoted Druid
Infinite mana. Druid is a solid card on it's own. Vizier combos with 6 other cards in my cube. It's niche but insane in the right deck.

Should you try this?
If you are already playing Vizier because of the above combo, you should definitly also add Devoted Druid. Other way around not so much. Also you need some cards in your cube that can work with infinite green mana.

Oketra's Monument "Combo":
Oketra's Monument + Whitemane Lion/Kor Skyfisher/Stonecloaker
There are some other cards that work with Monument but these three seem the best.

Should you try this?
Maybe? I am not sure yet whether Oketra's Monument is good enough on it's own but it might be. The cards on the other side of the combo you are usually cubing anyway.

Flicker combo:
Ghostly Flicker/Displace/Ephemerate + Archaeomancer/Mnemonic Wall/Eternal Witness + any ETB creature
Perhaps the most well known combo in C/Ube. If the ETB creature is Peregrine Drake you have infinite mana with Ghostly Flicker/Displace. Otherwise you just have a value engine.

Should you try this?
This one is a classic. Depends on how fast you're cube is. You probably already tried it.

Skeleton Lock:
Reassembling Skeleton + Thoughtpicker Witch
Can create a soft lock. Skeleton is a staple in C/Ube. Witch is solid in sacrifice decks.

Should you try this?
Yes, if you support the sacrifice deck and Witch can be solid on its own. Otherwise, no.

Combo's I considered but didn't try or already cut:

Retrace combo 1:
Groundskeeper + Worm Harvest/Flame Jab/Raven's Crime
I only considered this seriously with Harvest, but Groundskeeper seems way too niche.

Retrace combo 2:
Burning Vengeance + Worm Harvest/Flame Jab/Raven's Crime
Probably better then the one above because Burning Vengeance can be good with not just retrace but also Flashback and Jump-start. but still need too much niche cards in your cube to work (Think Twice/Radical Idea)

Discard Combo:
Faith of the Devoted + Call the Bloodline/Tortured Existence/Flame Jab/Raven's Crime/Noose Constrictor/Psychatog/Waterfront Bouncer
Faith of the Devoted is really bad outside of the combo and you need at least 3 activations to make it decent.

Innistrad limited Spider Spawning combo:
Runic repetition + Memory's Journey
Funnily enough this doesn't need Spider Spawning per se. It just creates a situation in which you can play three cards ove rand over again if you empty your library. Both cards are way too niche and you have to empty your library as well so you could just win with Laboratory Maniac/Psychic Spiral anyway.


I'd love to hear some feedback. Have you tried any of these? How were/are they? Do you know any other?

When I built my peasant cube, I included Presence of Gond and Midnight Guard for the infinite token combo, but I eventually cut them. Assembling a two card combo is rather hard because 1) both need to be in the draft, 2) both need to be drafted by the same person, and 3) both need to be drawn during the same game. I decided that neither card was good enough to run on its own, so they both got axed.

I also started with Devoted Druid and Quillspike in the cube, but I eventually cut Quillspike because it just didn't pull its own weight. I still run Devoted Druid as I can reset it with my +1/+1 counter theme, but hadn't thought of running another combo with it.

I do run Murderous Redcap, Kitchen Finks, Rhythm of the Wild, and Good-Fortune Unicorn (formerly Juniper Order Ranger. People often attempt to assemble the combo, but I think it's only happened once. I don't mind, though, as each card is certainly good enough on its own without the other combo pieces.

I like Oketra's Monument (as well as Bontu's and Rhonas's), and I also run Kor Skyfisher and Stonecloaker, but I can't remember using them together.

My favorite peasant-legal combo is Izzet Guildmage, Lava Spike, and Desperate Ritual, and while I've built a 60-card deck with four copies of each, I just figured the odds were astronomical to actually assemble it in cube draft, so I didn't bother. It seems to me that the best combos offer lots of interchangeable, redundant pieces because the singleton nature of many cubes is at odds with assembling a combo.

EDIT - Oh, and my whole cube is ETB-centric, so the Ghostly Flicker + Archaeomancer/Mnemonic Wall/Eternal Witness thing has happened several times.

In addition to some of the ones named above, I'm currently running:

Spitemare & Fire Covenant Instant-Speed Win:

• Both Spitemare and Fire Covenant are playable in their own right, so this is a relatively low opportunity cost addition to my cube. All it asks is that you be in BR or Mardu and have more life than your opponent when you go for it, which isn't hard given the amount of reach/aggression in those colors.
• But is it fun? I think so. The combo is high risk, high-reward. Yes, you can do it at instant speed, but you pay the life as part of the cost to cast, so removal or a counter can completely blow you out.

Pestilence & Lashknife Barrier Board Control:

• Lashknife Barrier is a 3 cmc enchantment that cantrips and reduces damage done to creatures you control by 1. That effect on its own is a bit slow and expensive, but it makes combat surprisingly difficulty for your opponent. Judging from the lists on here, it doesn't see much play in peasant cube anymore, and it's probably only still in my cube due to the interaction with Pestilence. With both of them out, your creatures are immune to Pestilence. It becomes a one-sided board lock, provided you have enough life to clear out your opponent's threats.
• But is it fun? I don't think so, and Lashknife Barrier is probably going to get cut from my cube soon. While it isn't an embarrassing card to cast on its own, the effect it has isn't fun. And, while the combo is neat the first time you see it, its actually miserable to sit across from.

Crystal Shard & Literally any ETB Creature:

• This one really doesn't need explaining, right? Crystal Shard enables some insane things in Ux decks. Sure, it is best when cheating Evoke creatures like Shriekmaw and Mulldrifter, but is totally serviceable with most other cubeable ETB creatures. This synergy (it's not really a combo), just asks that you play Shard and other good cards. No opportunity cost to including it in your cube. Shard also let's you protect your creatures from opposing removal, and can in rare situations annoy your opponent into playing off-curve.
• But is it fun? I think so. The only time this really feels unfun is when paired with Shriekmaw against a non-black deck. In most other situations, it doesn't feel so unfair to outweigh the cool interactions it allows for.

Something that has yet to occur in my peasant cube is Tandem Lookout+Syr Konrad the Grim and Sphinx's Tutelage. Any draw triggers a mill, which might trigger Konrad, which triggers another draw... If you can get the pieces, it seems nuts, and those cards are already good on their own, too.

Another cool combo is Lotleth Troll + Ovalchase Daredevil + Chalk Outline. Any thoughts on this one?

Looks like a fine combo if your cube wants the pieces outside of the combo, which I think you want for your 3 card combos anyway. I have no trouble imagining such a cube exists though.

Reading back this thread gives me a mighty urge to test Leonin Relic-Warder in my travel cube. Maybe Monument+Skyfisher. I like having some combo element in a high powered cube.

Don't forget a solid combo with Rosie Cotton of South Lane with Scurry Oak or Herd Baloth.

But also Scurry Oak / Herd Baloth and Ivy Lane Denizen.

Not a combo doing this, but Curse of Predation with Scurry Oak or specially Herd Baloth attacking each turn will be powerful, too.