Reality Fracture Spoils Reverse Displacer Kitten Combo Dog

Thanks to Reality Fracture’s ‘what if?’ theme, many of the new cards we’re seeing are based on previous popular designs. For EDH enthusiasts, perhaps no card is more exciting than Flickering Hound, which is, likely, soon to be a format super staple. Generating tons of value is trivial with this Dog in play, and its combo potential is through the roof, too.

MTG Flickering Hound

In a similar vein to Displacer Kitten Displacer Kitten Avoidance — Whenever you cast a noncreature spell, exile up to one target nonland permanent you control, then return that card to the battlefield under its owner's control. , Flickering Hound gives you the opportunity to repeatedly blink out your other creatures for value. The key difference is that this new Dog’s ability triggers upon a creature being cast rather than a noncreature spell.

This makes Flickering Hound a massive upgrade for any creature-centric, Blink-themed Commander deck, such as Roon of the Hidden Realm Roon of the Hidden Realm Vigilance, trample
{2}, {T}: Exile another target creature. Return that card to the battlefield under its owner's control at the beginning of the next end step. or Brago, King Eternal Brago, King Eternal Flying
Whenever Brago deals combat damage to a player, exile any number of target nonland permanents you control, then return those cards to the battlefield under their owner's control. . After all, these decks tend to incorporate tons of creatures with powerful enters effects, like Mulldrifter Mulldrifter Flying
When this creature enters, draw two cards.
Evoke {2}{U} (You may cast this spell for its evoke cost. If you do, it's sacrificed when it enters.) or Karmic Guide Karmic Guide Flying, protection from black
Echo {3}{W}{W} (At the beginning of your upkeep, if this came under your control since the beginning of your last upkeep, sacrifice it unless you pay its echo cost.)
When this creature enters, return target creature card from your graveyard to the battlefield. , that pair perfectly with this new Dog. Notably, you can also cast Flash creatures to blink out your Commanders to protect them against removal.

Digging deeper, there are some creatures whose enters abilities allow you to cast other creature spells from various zones for free, enabling a potential chain reaction with Flickering Hound. By casting a copy of a creature in your graveyard with Shiko, Paragon of the Way Shiko, Paragon of the Way Flying, vigilance
When Shiko enters, exile target nonland card with mana value 3 or less from your graveyard. Copy it, then you may cast the copy without paying its mana cost. (A copy of a permanent spell becomes a token.) , for example, you can blink out Shiko again and repeat the process. Similarly, if you hit a creature off Trumpeting Carnosaur Trumpeting Carnosaur Trample
When this creature enters, discover 5.
{2}{R}, Discard this card: It deals 3 damage to target creature or planeswalker. via its Discover ability, you can blink out the Dinosaur and spin the wheel again.

Taking things a step further, Flickering Hound opens the door for some gnarly deckbuilding opportunities in a Pantlaza, Sun-Favored Pantlaza, Sun-Favored Whenever Pantlaza or another Dinosaur you control enters, you may discover X, where X is that creature's toughness. Do this only once each turn. (Exile cards from the top of your library until you exile a nonland card with that mana value or less. Cast it without paying its mana cost or put it into your hand. Put the rest on the bottom in a random order.) shell. Each time you cast a Dino, Flickering Hound can blink out Pantlaza, thereby getting around its “once per turn” clause. Then, when the Dino enters, you get to Discover. So if you fill your deck with high-toughness Dinos and no noncreature spells, you have a good chance of flooding the board with threats in one go.

Infinite Mana and Enters Combos

While Flickering Hound is great as just a value engine, it also opens the door for some threatening combos. Utilizing this Dog in conjunction with Shrieking Drake Shrieking Drake Flying
When this creature enters, return a creature you control to its owner's hand. and Peregrine Drake Peregrine Drake Flying
When this creature enters, untap up to five lands. , for example, lets you generate infinite mana and enters triggers.

Simply start by casting Shrieking Drake, and using Flickering Hound’s trigger to blink Peregrine Drake and untap five of your lands. Then, when Shrieking Drake enters, it can return itself back to your hand. So long as one of the lands you untapped produces blue mana, you can recast Shrieking Drake over and over, floating a ton of mana in the process.

Notably, this combo line has strong redundancy. Whitemane Lion Whitemane Lion Flash
When this creature enters, return a creature you control to its owner's hand. accomplishes the same task as Shrieking Drake, while Palinchron Palinchron Flying
When this creature enters, untap up to seven lands.
{2}{U}{U}: Return this creature to its owner's hand. fills the same role as Peregrine Drake. From there, you just need an infinite mana payoff like Walking Ballista Walking Ballista This creature enters with X +1/+1 counters on it.
{4}: Put a +1/+1 counter on this creature.
Remove a +1/+1 counter from this creature: It deals 1 damage to any target. to seal the deal.

Alternatively, if it’s just the infinite enters triggers you’re after, you can also accomplish this using Aang, Swift Savior Aang, Swift Savior Flash
Flying
When Aang enters, airbend up to one other target creature or spell. (Exile it. While it's exiled, its owner may cast it for {2} rather than its mana cost.)
Waterbend {8}: Transform Aang. and Doc Aurlock, Grizzled Genius Doc Aurlock, Grizzled Genius Spells you cast from your graveyard or from exile cost {2} less to cast.
Plotting cards from your hand costs {2} less. . With these cards in play alongside Flickering Hound, you just need to cast any creature. This will let you blink Aang, Airbending the creature on the stack. You can then recast it for free thanks to Doc Aurlock, establishing a loop. By repeating this process, you’ll get to maximize any enters effects, such as Soul Warden to gain infinite life.

Thanks to Flickering Hound’s massive Commander appeal, there’s a good chance its price tag will be substantial even though it’s just a regular rare. This is especially true if it ends up seeing Constructed play, which isn’t impossible given that Aang and Doc Aurlock are Standard legal. This Dog is the real deal, and we’re excited to see how players utilize it after this set’s release.

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