Painter’s Servant isn’t on MTG Arena, which is a shame since Grindstone has made its way onto the client. This two-card combo is one of the most powerful and consistent Legacy archetypes in the game, milling out your opponent in an instant. There’s a chance that this ends up being too powerful for MTG Arena, so it’s no wonder Wizards has been cautious. Thankfully, this omission doesn’t mean Grindstone is useless.
A unique card from Magic’s Final Fantasy crossover can make a shabby Painter’s Servant impression when combined with Grindstone or Sphinx’s Tutelage. This combo could make a surprising Pioneer and Historic impression.
The Water Crystal Combo
We previously looked at the entire Final Fantasy III crystal cycle, and this particular inclusion baffled us. This replacement effect seemed so specific that it was doubtful that the card would see significant play. It has an obvious inclusion in mill decks, but even then, is four mana too expensive for an effect like this outside of Commander?
Well, it actually changes how Grindstone and Sphinx’s Tutelage work quite significantly. Both of these cards share an important effect: their abilities repeat if two cards that share a color are milled at the same time. Painter’s Servant forces this repetition by making all of your opponent’s cards the same color. The Water Crystal isn’t quite as strong, but it might be good enough for Pioneer in particular.
Now, Sphinx’s Tutelage and Grindstone will mill six cards per activation. If two of those cards share the same colors, the process is repeated. This isn’t a guaranteed kill, but depending on your matchup, the numbers are certainly in your favor.
According to MTG Hall of Famer Frank Karsten, versus a typical Pioneer mono-red deck, Sphinx’s Tutelage and The Water Crystal have an 82.6% chance to repeat the process 7 times, which is enough to mill your opponent’s library. If you don’t mill them in one go, two activations should be more than enough. Even against multicolor decks, just a couple of activations should be more than enough to mill the opponent.
Grindstone comes down for just one mana, which could even make this combo viable in Historic. That said, a four-mana artifact that doesn’t impact the board in any way is rather dangerous in this format, so the combo might be a tad too slow. Regardless, players who want to pull this combo off in Historic Brawl can now do so, but milling the opponent will likely require multiple activations.
Turning Towards Jank
For players who want to try milling out the opponent in Standard with The Water Crystal, there is technically a way to do this. We would not recommend actually trying this since it’s exceedingly janky, but it could make for some fun at Friday Night Magic.
The Tale of Tamiyo also has the trend of repeating a milling process when certain conditions are met. This time, however, you’re milling yourself instead of the opponent. With the right deck configuration, milling yourself with The Tale of Tamiyo and The Water Crystal is a seamless process. If you can find a payoff for this process, this could be an interesting deck to try.
Since Thassa’s Oracle and Jace, Wielder of Mysteries don’t exist in Standard, we’re instead interested in trying to mill out the opponent, instead. This is doable by using Harmless Offering and gifting your opponent The Tale of Tamiyo. Milling them out should be a breeze if you manage to set this up. Coveted Falcon also works as another gifting option if you want to keep your cards in one color.
That said, not only does this Standard combo require more cards to use than other formats, but the cards themselves don’t individually do anything. The Water Crystal, The Tale of Tamiyo, and Harmless Offering don’t accomplish much on their own, meaning that faster strategies can run you over easily.
While this combo isn’t exactly a playable one, that could change if a win condition appears that allows you to go without a gift effect. Even then, if the metagame for Standard remains as aggressive as this one, just playing a control deck that can reliably impact the board is a better option.
More Potential Than Expected
Regardless of how viable these combos actually are, The Water Crystal is already a lot better than expected. This doesn’t just mill four extra cards on certain effects, it makes repetition effects a lot easier to fulfill. Pioneer seems like the two-player format with the most potential for The Water Crystal, but even then, this is an incredibly slow combo that may not be able to keep pace with any format.
At worst, The Water Crystal and Sphinx’s Tutelage will be a quirky Commander option to mill players out of nowhere.
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