As is typical during spoiler season prior to the release of a new set, many players are on the lookout for new and exciting combos that arise. Tarkir: Dragonstorm is not disappointing in this area, bringing combo pieces like Glacierwood Siege to the masses.
For fans of Pioneer, a new combo was discovered centered around Neoform that has been made possible by the printing of a powerful three-drop in Tarkir: Dragonstorm. This combo makes it trivial to attack for a huge chunk of damage all at once.
Unfortunately, for those who enjoy playing on MTG Arena, it appears as though one particular combo piece from Battle for Zendikar is not actually on the client. There may still be a reasonable replacement piece, but this issue is still quite notable. Before we discuss this problematic missing link, though, we first need to look at how the combo actually works.
Flamehold Grappler and Neoform
In order to execute the combo, you need five mana to work with and two specific cards in hand. The first, of course, is Neoform. The other is Flamehold Grappler, which is a new card from Tarkir: Dragonstorm.
Flamehold Grappler is a cool card that lets you copy your next instant or sorcery. As you might expect, the goal is to follow up Flamehold Grappler by sacrificing it to Neoform. At this point, Neoform will be copied, and you’ll have two copies of Neoform on the stack that each allow you to search for a four-drop of your choice from your deck.
When the first one resolves, you’ll want to go find Naru Meha, Master Wizard. Naru Meha lets you copy an instant or sorcery on the stack when it enters. Luckily, there’s still a copy of Neoform on the stack to copy with Naru Meha.
Once again, this copy will resolve, letting you get another four-drop from your deck. At this point, you’ll want to grab Spark Double. Spark Double can not only enter as a copy of Naru Meha and copy Neoform once more, but it isn’t legendary, so it’ll stick around.
You can then repeat this process to grab all copies of Spark Double out of your deck. Now, you could either continue the combo with Clever Impersonator (just make sure you copy a Spark Double so it’s not Legendary), or you can find your final piece. For your last Neoform, you’ll want to grab a four-drop that gives your squad haste. Chasm Guide is a great example that allows you to attack for the win that turn.
Thanks to Naru Meha’s final ability, with five copies of Naru Meha in play, each one gets a total +4/+4 bonus, as they’re all Wizards. One mass attack should be enough to cross the finish line as a result.
The Curious Case of Chasm Guide
Following the discovery of this combo, one player pointed out a rather unfortunate finding that pertains to MTG Arena. Despite Wizards’ vast efforts to bring Pioneer to the program, a handful of Pioneer-legal cards from MTG’s past are still missing. One of them, unfortunately, is Chasm Guide.
Chasm Guide is an essential piece of the puzzle, as it allows you to attack right away with your large board. Otherwise, a single Supreme Verdict from the opponent would render your combo useless.
Replacement options in the four-mana slot are at a minimum in Pioneer, but interestingly, there is one card on MTG Arena that may be able to save the day. For those interested in testing this version of Neoform combo, Cactusfolk Sureshot is a reasonable option to slot in for Chasm Guide.
At the beginning of combat on your turn, Cactusfolk Sureshot gives haste to all of your creatures with power four or greater, which includes your copies of Naru Meha. Cactusfolk Sureshot even has the added bonus of giving these creatures trample. This means that your opponent can’t chump block their way out of things, which is something they could potentially do in the face of Chasm Guide instead.
The only concern here is that unlike Chasm Guide, Cactusfolk Sureshot doesn’t give your other threats haste until the beginning of combat. So, if your opponent has a removal spell at the ready for Cactusfolk Sureshot, you won’t be able to send in the team.
The Ward 2 ability on Cactusfolk Sureshot at least makes this plan a bit tougher for the opponent. Besides, if the opponent had an instant speed removal spell at the ready, chances are they would have wanted to fire it off in response to Flamehold Grappler’s enters-the-battlefield trigger before you could Neoform it away.
Concerns
At the end of the day, while there is plenty of hype surrounding this combo, it’s quite possible it falls short of expectations. Right off the bat, playing a combo that requires two pieces and five mana to pull off isn’t exactly easy.
Red aggro decks are everywhere, and they’re prepared to punish your clunky draws. On top of that, the combo is still a bit vulnerable to removal. Even a single Rending Volley on Flamehold Grappler after it enters can leave Neoform stranded in your hand.
Drawing copies of Spark Double is also really awkward, as the card is pretty mediocre on its own. Chances are, if you’re going to have success with this combo, you’re going to need to either accelerate your gameplan with mana dorks or have plenty of removal spells to buy you time and card selection spells to find your combo pieces.
Still, it’s far too early to write this combo deck off. It’ll be neat to see how players work to make this combo as effective as possible in a competitive environment.