With tons of new legends offering unique and interesting mechanics, the hype for Mystery Booster: Commander Edition is at an all-time high. The new Rulebreaker cards are particularly unusual, offering some incredibly interesting build-arounds. Ekthi, Contaminator Priest, for instance, has some extremely powerful infinite combos, turning MTG’s worst card type on its head.
MTG Ekthi, Contaminator Priest
By granting your equipment Living Weapon, Ekthi, Contaminator Priest solves the card type’s biggest weakness, allowing them to be self-sufficient. If that weren’t enough, Living Weapon also circumvents massive equip costs, giving a massive buff to equipment like Colossus Hammer and Hulkbuster Armor.
Of course, Ekthi’s Living Weapon will include copied equipment, making cards like The Everforger excellent inclusions. The same is true for equipment like Bloodforged Battle-Axe that copy themselves, creating a massive board. Add Puresteel Paladin into the mix, and you’ll generate tons of card advantage in the process.
Since Ekthi gives all of your other Phyrexians +1/+1, your Living Weapon tokens will survive without equipment, allowing cards like Anointed Procession to go wide easily. These tokens may not be threatening on their own, but a single Skullclamp or Mentor of the Meek changes this dynamic.
With so many Phyrexians in play, Ekthi can also incorporate typal payoffs such as Essence of Orthodoxy or Vulpine Harvester to generate significant value. Of course, cards like Coat of Arms and Chronicle of Victory can also be great choices here.
Infinite Mill, Mana, and More
Thanks to Ekthi’s Living Weapons shenanigans, the Commander even creates infinite combos with Sword of the Meek, milling out your opponent with Grinding Station.
To start, you’ll want to cast Sword, which will trigger Ekthi when it enters. Holding priority, you’ll need to sacrifice Sword to Grinding Station, Milling an opponent for three cards. This way, when the Phyrexian token enters, it’ll trigger Sword of the Meek’s return to play thanks to Ekthi’s buff, untapping Grinding Station. This sets you up to repeatedly sacrifice and resurrect Sword, activating Grinding Station infinite times.
In addition to milling out opponents with Grinding Station, Sword of the Meek can create more infinites with different sacrifice outlets. Krark-Clan Ironworks, for example, generates infinite mana, while Extruder can make your creatures infinitely large.
Between powerful combos and an incredible theme, Ekthi is quite a strong Commander choice. With 1,553 decks to its name according to EDHREC, before the card has even been released, Ekthi is bound to be a popular Commander choice. So, if you’re looking for an Equipment Commander that attacks from a cool angle, keep Ekthi in mind.
Stick with us here at mtgrocks.com: the best site for Magic: The Gathering coverage. Be sure to check out our deckbuilder for your next big brew, and our brand new MTG Rocks Podcast!