Outlaws of Thunder Junction, to no one’s surprise, is a really powerful set. Offering a ton of cards with outlandish abilities, almost any itch can be scratched with something from this set.
Want some ideas? Take a look at some of the best Commanders that Outlaws of Thunder Junction has to offer! Everything from stealing your opponent’s creatures to creating infinite tokens is encouraged. There’s no crime too dastardly to commit.
Since Outlaws of Thunder Junction is so powerful, players have been finding built-in two card death combos that you can even pull off in Limited! Mind you, the first one of these is rather difficult to pull off, as you need a mythic rare card from each Bonus Sheet. Should you assemble Mindslaver and Esoteric Duplicator, you can win the game as soon as you take control of an opponent’s turn. You can read more about that here.
Another two-card combo has been discovered in Outlaws of Thunder Junction! This one is a bit easier to assemble since you only need a rare and a mythic rare to do it. Both of these cards are in the same color, which means assembling it in Limited could be realistic. Unlike the other combo discussed, this one is even Standard legal! Let’s take a look.
Making a Copy of your Copy
Six mana is a lot for any MTG card, and that alone could deter some players from looking at Calamity, Galloping Inferno as any more than a Commander or Limited powerhouse. Even after investing six mana, Calamity asks players to invest even more resources to make the best of this card. Fortunately, as long as your Horse Mount doesn’t die immediately, those investments are worth it.
Calamity can Saddle another nonlegendary creature you control. When Calamity attacks, you get to, basically, create two token copies of it that are tapped and attacking. The wording on Calamity is written in a way that replacement effects that tack on additional effects to your token creation get to do so twice. You’re creating a token copy of a Saddled creature, and repeating the process.
It’s rather easy to immediately swing in for big damage with Calamity as a result. Saddling even another four power creature means 12 Hasty damage coming at your opponent! Your creature tokens don’t get to stick around, but that’s not something that a Commander like Obeka, Cruel Cronologist cannot solve.
In Outlaws of Thunder Junction, Calamity, Galloping Inferno can team up with another red mythic rare to end the game on the spot. For those familiar with the set, you may have already guessed what this mysterious Dragon is. Mounting Calamity with Terror of the Peaks is an instant 20 damage!
Terror of the Peaks
Outlaws of Thunder Junction had an absolutely homerun lineup of reprints. Mindbreak Trap was one of the most needed reprints in the entire game, and the Breaking News Bonus Sheet delivered. Terror of the Peaks was yet another direly needed reprint from Core set 2021.
Terror of the Peaks’ triggered ability is what makes it so powerful. Any creature other than itself entering the battlefield under your control allows Terror to deal damage equal to its power to anything. It could be an opposing threat, or the opponent themselves.
Because of this ability, Mounting a Calamity, Galloping Inferno with Terror of the Peaks is an instant kill. Calamity will attack, creating two copies of the Terror. Your original Terror will see two Terror of the Peaks entering, dealing ten damage to any target. Your other Terrors will also see each other entering, dealing five damage to any target. This means that you have 20 points of effect-based damage! That’s not even counting the 14 damage you’re swinging in for, or the four damage you may have received when Calamity entered while Terror of the Peaks is in play.
Read More: MTG Designer Reveals Beloved Format Set Could Return
Combo Weaknesses
Putting aside the massive mana value investment needed to make this work, this combo has a few glaring weaknesses that need to be considered. Not only can both of these spells be easily countered with something mana positive like Disdainful Stroke, but players have a massive opportunity to blow this combo out. All you need to do is kill Calamity, Galloping Inferno in response to Terror of the Peaks Mounting it. This ensures that the Dragon, which could easily not be summoning sick, can no longer attack you. It also ensures that those nasty Terror of the Peaks copies will not enter play since Calamity needs to attack to make that happen.
Consider removal spells like Go for the Throat and the new Shoot the Sheriff. These should be easily be capable of getting the job done at an incredibly efficient rate.
Combo Viability?
While Terror of the Peaks and Calamity, Galloping Inferno will obviously be ending the lives of the Limited players unfortunate to meet them in cahoots, is this combo any good outside of Outlaws of Thunder Junction Limited? These cards could easily pop up in the same Commander deck. Sure, you won’t be killing someone outright because players have 40 life in that format, but the value is still incredible.
Unfortunately, as far as competitive formats go, the mana values for these cards are outrageous. While there’s always a chance, players should not expect to see this combo anywhere near Pioneer, Modern, Legacy or Vintage.
Standard is a bit of a question mark. Terror of the Peaks and Calamity, Galloping Inferno are still higher on the mana value spectrum for this format, but the format is slow enough that this combo could be viable. Throw in that there’s some interesting effects like Push/Pull as pointed out be Redditor JoeGeomancer, and you could have multiple opportunities to pull this off.
Whatever ends up happening with Outlaws of Thunder Junction’s newest two-card combo, these cards are definitely ones you should watch out for in Limited. Honestly, though, if you see either of these cards, chances are you should be in red anyway.
Read More: Outlaws of Thunder Junction Can Cost $1000+ on MTG Arena
