Following its recent reveal, players were quick to voice their criticism of The Naked Time. While its name is controversial, it’s still one of the most hyped cards in the set from a power-level perspective. There are plenty of cool ways to abuse it in a Standard setting, including by assembling a newly discovered infinite Goblin combo.
Infinite Goblins in Standard
This new combo is centered around three specific cards:
The Naked Time
The Naked Time
(As this Saga enters and after your draw step, add a lore counter. Sacrifice after III.)
I — Search your library for a basic Mountain card, put it onto the battlefield tapped, then shuffle.
II — Whenever a creature you control enters this turn, put a +1/+1 counter on it and it gains haste until end of turn.
III — Sacrifice a land.
,
Agatha’s Soul Cauldron
Agatha’s Soul Cauldron
You may spend mana as though it were mana of any color to activate abilities of creatures you control.
Creatures you control with +1/+1 counters on them have all activated abilities of all creature cards exiled with Agatha's Soul Cauldron.
{T}: Exile target card from a graveyard. When a creature card is exiled this way, put a +1/+1 counter on target creature you control.
, and
Krenko, Mob Boss
Krenko, Mob Boss
{T}: Create X 1/1 red Goblin creature tokens, where X is the number of Goblins you control.
. To get started, you need to land Cauldron and exile Krenko from your graveyard with it.
Next, resolve The Naked Time and make sure it survives until it reaches chapter II. Once that chapter goes off, any Goblin you play as a follow-up will enter with a +1/+1 counter on it and have Haste. Now, any of your creatures that enter play will get Haste and Krenko’s ability.
Now, just use Krenko’s ability to create some Goblins, and the fun begins. Any Goblin tokens you make also enter with a counter and Haste, setting you up to use Krenko’s activated ability once more.
Each time you repeat this process, you’ll net more Goblin tokens than the previous activation. As such, you can make infinite tokens in the long run, then attack for lethal damage.
Setting this up does take some work, but Standard is plenty prepared for it. There’s lots of red looting effects, including the recently printed Goblin,
Pompous Battlemage
Pompous Battlemage
Prowess
This creature enters prepared. (While it's prepared, you may cast a copy of its spell. Doing so unprepares it.)
, that can help get Krenko into your bin. In a Goblin deck, the backup plan of curving out with
Stadium Headliner
Stadium Headliner
Mobilize 1 (Whenever this creature attacks, create a tapped and attacking 1/1 red Warrior creature token. Sacrifice it at the beginning of the next end step.)
{1}{R}, Sacrifice this creature: It deals damage equal to the number of creatures you control to target creature.
,
Searslicer Goblin
Searslicer Goblin
Raid — At the beginning of your end step, if you attacked this turn, create a 1/1 red Goblin creature token.
,
Howlsquad Heavy
Howlsquad Heavy
Start your engines!
Other Goblins you control have haste.
At the beginning of combat on your turn, create a 1/1 red Goblin creature token. That token attacks this combat if able.
Max speed — {T}: Add {R} for each Goblin you control.
, and other strong Goblins isn’t terrible.
Even in games where you don’t draw Cauldron, the combination of The Naked Time and Krenko can still be quite powerful. After all, jamming the Saga turn two and getting an extra land sets you up to play Krenko turn three and activate it right away, which adds a lot of pressure to the board.
Even still, building around this combo leaves you extremely vulnerable to hate cards, with the worst being
Authority of the Consuls
Authority of the Consuls
Creatures your opponents control enter tapped.
Whenever a creature an opponent controls enters, you gain 1 life.
. Forcing your creatures to enter tapped completely dismantles your combo potential, and the enchantment’s life gain makes any go-wide backup plan much worse.
Ultimately, this combo seems more set up for casual play than competitive play as a result. Regardless, don’t be surprised to see it around on MTG Arena at the very least, and perhaps someone will find a shell that breaks it.
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