For those who followed or played Modern prior to 2016, the name ‘Splinter Twin’ will still carry notes of dread. This was one of the most feared combo pieces in all of Magic for a while, causing it to be banned for almost an entire decade. While Twin returned to Modern in 2024, nowadays, power creep has largely pushed it out of the Modern metagame.
Despite no longer being hugely relevant in Modern, Splinter Twin decks are still somewhat beloved, spawning countless imitations. Now, thanks to Lorwyn Eclipsed, we have a new pastiche of this deck that harkens back to the classic combo. While it’s not as simple to pull off, and nowhere near as competitive, it’s definitely still entertaining.
Glamermite Combo In MTG Standard
The Glamermite combo was first noticed by MTG Creative Combos, who showcased it in a Standard gameplay video on YouTube. To pull it off, you need both Glamermite and Ghired, Mirror of the Wilds in play, as well as a copy of Electroduplicate in your hand.
From here, you’ll want to cast Electroduplicate, targeting Glamermite to create a token copy of it. You can then tap Ghired to create a copy of that token, and untap Ghired with the Glamermite token’s enters ability. This loop can be repeated as many times as you like, to create an infinitely-wide board of 2/2 Flying tokens, which can deliver a swift death to your opponent in a single swing.
While you need to hit three specific draws in order to pull this combo off, there is some redundancy available in Standard. Deepway Navigator can sub in for Glamermite, since Ghired will let the original untap each time a token enters, then tap to make a new one. You can also use The Jolly Balloon Man instead of Electroduplicate to get your first Glamermite token out, though this costs one extra mana.
By itself, this is a three-card combo that wins the game, at the earliest, on turn five. You can knock a turn off of that count, however, by landing some early ramp pieces. A turn two Bloom Tender, or a turn one Llanowar Elves into Badgermole Cub, can give you the resources you need to drop two three drops on turn four and complete the combo. These cards essentially make it a four to five-card combo, but they do give it more explosive potential.
Curb Your Enthusiasm?
As cool as the Glamermite combo is, it’s more of a novelty than a serious threat in MTG Standard. Requiring four colors makes it a tough sell right out of the gate, even with the new Lorwyn Eclipsed Shock lands. Resilience is also a major issue here, since you’ll need to play Glamermite and Ghired individually before the combo turn. This gives your opponent plenty of time to remove them and thwart your plans.
Perhaps the biggest problem facing this combo, however, is its lack of a strong secondary game plan. The combo pieces here are just clunky vanilla creatures on their own, so you’re not going to win with them unless you pop off.
Serious Standard play may not be on the cards for Glamermite, for now at least. It is worth noting, however, that the card has potential in Commander. Both Pestermite and Deceiver Exarch see use in the format as part of two-card infinites with either Splinter Twin or Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker. There are also some funkier lines with Deadeye Navigator and Emiel, the Blessed for added redundancy. Glamermite, with its untap-on-entry effect, fills the same role.
While it’s not a revolutionary addition, all combo decks get better with more redundancy, and Glamermite provides exactly that. I wouldn’t be surprised to see it become a sneaky Commander staple in combo brews once more players catch on.
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