Now that the dust has settled from yesterday’s huge Lorwyn Eclipsed Debut stream, players are starting to dig into the new cards properly. One particularly controversial Goblin aside, things are looking extremely positive so far. All of the new main set cards are flavorful and interesting, and there’s some serious value in the Special Guests slot, too.
Nestled in amongst the Lorwyn Eclipsed debut spoilers, there are even some cards capable of powering infinite MTG combos. If you don’t mind playing the heel in your Commander pod, there are some great new lines for you to enjoy here.
Deepway Navigator
Deepway Navigator may look like your average typal support piece, but it’s actually a new enabler for the infamous Splinter Twin combo. Since it untaps each other Merfolk on entry, every time you copy Navigator with Twin you’ll untap the original, letting you rinse and repeat as many times as you like. As with all Splinter Twin lines, this combo creates infinite Hasty creatures, which should be enough to close out most games. If your opponents have something like Blind Obedience out, you can always throw in Impact Tremors to guarantee the win regardless.
While it’s exciting to see a new card that can play in such esteemed company, Navigator isn’t the best Splinter Twin target we’ve ever seen. Being in two extra colors isn’t ideal, for a start. Most Splinter Twin decks rely on red creatures like Zealous Conscripts, or creatures that only add one extra color, like Deceiver Exarch or Village Bell-Ringer.
On top of that, Navigator doesn’t have much utility outside of the combo. Unless you’re playing Jeskai Merfolk, it lacks the more general untap capabilities that its peers possess, which makes it a lot more narrow. That said, it’s wise not to underestimate cards that offer extra redundancy to proven combos.
Rhys, The Evermore
Deepway Navigator isn’t the only card from the Lorwyn Eclipsed debut capable of powering infinite combos. Rhys, the Evermore has plenty to offer in this arena as well, largely due to that first ability. Persist is a famously abusable keyword in Magic, and getting access to it on a cheap, legendary body opens all kinds of doors.
The easiest combo with Rhys is to pair it with Restoration Angel, Odric’s Outrider, and a sacrifice outlet. Target Angel with Rhys’s ability to give it Persist, then sacrifice it to your outlet. You can then stack the Persist and Outrider triggers so that the former goes off first, so Angel is back in play to receive a +1/+1 counter from Outrider and cancel out the -1/-1 counter from Persist.
Angel can then blink Rhys, which can give Angel Persist again, and you can rinse and repeat. With Altar of Dementia as your sacrifice outlet you can mill the whole table this way. Alternatively, you can generate infinite mana with Phyrexian Altar or Ashnod’s Altar, then funnel that into Walking Ballista for the win.
This combo is nice because it’s fully available in Mono-White, meaning you can run Rhys in the command zone to make it more consistent. If you do want to branch out, however, Rhys can pull off plenty of similar combos in the 99.
Celes, Rune Knight in particular loves the card, and being in red gives you access to First Day of Class as an Outrider stand-in. You can also use Goblin Bombardment as another sacrifice outlet and win condition. With all of the Haste granters in red, you can even forego a card like Outrider altogether and just use Rhys’s activated ability to get rid of your creature’s -1/-1 counter, adding more flexibility.
Disruptor Of Currents
While it’s clearly designed more as a tempo tool for go-wide Merfolk decks, there are actually a number of combos that Disruptor of Currents enables. The key to all of them is Intruder Alarm, which untaps all creatures whenever another creature enters. With this and five creatures up, you can essentially cast Disruptor for free.
If you can find a way to bounce Disruptor back to your hand, you can then repeat this to bounce everything your opponents control. You’ll also net infinite enters and leaves triggers, which can easily end the game with cards like Altar of the Brood. There are a few ways to achieve this, including pairing Tradewind Rider with three other untapped creatures, or using Monk Gyatso alongside creatures that can tap to target Disruptor.
Notably, Disruptor also works extremely well alongside one of last year’s hottest new Commanders, Fire Lord Azula. If you Flash it in during combat, you can have the token copy bounce the original back to your hand. With Intruder Alarm and five other creatures, you can then repeat this to build an infinite army of 3/3 Fliers. You can easily use something like Aggravated Assault to swing in with these immediately, or just cast Impact Tremors first and save yourself some hassle. Either way, it’s a potent new two-card combo for an already excellent deck.
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