Every new Magic set is exciting for two reasons. Firstly, because of all the new cards you get to try out in different formats. Secondly, because of the powerful interactions between said new cards and those that already exist. Many a bulk rare has become a chase card after a new piece suddenly enabled a deadly combo. With the advent of Bloomburrow, one such combo involving Innkeeper’s Talent and Vraska, Betrayal’s Sting has come to light. Like ending games in one brutal turn? Then you’ll certainly like this one.
The Innkeeper’s Talent/Vraska, Betrayal’s Sting Combo
Let’s go over the combo itself. As pointed out by LevDev on Twitter, you only need two cards to make it work. The new Innkeeper’s Talent Class enchantment from Bloomburrow, and Vraska, Betrayal’s Sting from Phyrexia: All Will Be One. This is a planeswalker you probably forgot existed, given how little play it’s seen since release. With this new combo, however, that could be about to change.
The combo is very simple to perform. First, you need to cast Innkeeper’s Talent and level it up to its final form. This costs seven mana in total, but you can spread it out across three payments of two, one, then four mana. Once this is done, you’ll unlock a Doubling Season-esque passive effect, which doubles all the counters you place on your permanents. This also includes planeswalkers, meaning Vraska will enter with 12 loyalty counters instead of her usual six, if you pay full price for her.
With this much starting loyalty, you can use Vraska’s ultimate ability right away, placing nine poison counters on your opponent. Only, thanks to Innkeeper’s Talent, you’ll actually place 18. Far more than the 10 poison counters you need to place to win the game on the spot. See, told you it was a simple combo.
Where Will It Fit?
It may be simple, but this combo certainly isn’t fast. It’s no Felidar Guardian/Saheeli Rai, that’s for sure. The absolute earliest you’ll be winning with this is turn six, and that’s assuming you spend your full turn four leveling the Talent up. In reality, you’ll need to pace things out and protect yourself, so turn eight onwards seems more realistic.
That doesn’t mean it’s not viable, however. Far from it. In the right deck, one that can give you the kind of time you need, it’s more than doable. Luckily for us, such a deck exists in Standard already: Golgari Midrange. This is a creature-centric strategy, so Innkeeper’s Talent will be able to help out even before it hits its final phase. It’s also notoriously grindy, which should help you survive until you can pull the combo off. Lastly, and crucially, it doesn’t ask you to compromise on colors to include the combo.
It’s not too difficult to tweak the deck to include the combo plan, either. It typically runs a copy or two of Aclazotz, Deepest Betrayal as a finisher, so you can easily sub those out for Vraskas. Innkeeper’s Talent is a little trickier. You’ll want to run the full four, but Golgari Midrange already plays a lot of two drops, so some touch cuts will need to be made. I’d probably cut any copies of Kaervek, the Punisher, as well as a Caustic Bronco and Mosswood Dreadknight apiece, to fit them in. Talent could be considered a three drop, since you can drop it and level it right away, so bear that in mind when crafting your curve.
Other Superfriends To Consider
This combo is very exciting for Standard. We’ve seen a few flashy combos in the format recently, such as the Caustic Bronco/Shadow of Mortality play that broke out at Pro Tour Thunder Junction. This is much easier to perform, however, and much more consistent. For that reason, I’d expect to see it at least tested with in new Standard, whether it’s in Golgari Midrange or a new shell.
The core idea behind the combo, that of using Innkeeper’s Talent as a pseudo-Doubling Season, has got players excited in other ways, too. In a different tweet, LevDev pointed out a few other planeswalkers that become immensely powerful when they can use their ultimates right away. Liliana of the Veil, Ajani, Sleeper Agent, and Wrenn and Realmbreaker all featured. Are these cards good enough to make the cut in a deck running the combo? Or perhaps a different deck altogether, something more akin to Superfriends?
To the latter question, I think it’s safe to say the answer is probably no. Superfriends is mainly a Commander strategy, and not a very good one at that. It would almost certainly be too clunky for Standard. On the other hand, using more planeswalkers alongside the combo in Golgari Midrange could be a decent idea.
Golgari Midrange actually already runs Liliana of the Veil, but now it has the chance to take out half of your opponent’s permanents right away. Tasty stuff. Adding planeswalkers beyond that is a bit more dicey, but Wrenn and Realmbreaker seems solid as a value engine. Basically, I wouldn’t try jamming planeswalkers to take advantage of a maxed out Innkeeper’s Talent, since you won’t have it online all the time. Just stick to the plan, gang.
Read More: 5 New Devastating Two-Card Combos Appear Thanks to MTG Bloomburrow
