Despite only coming out last year, Aetherdrift feels like it was a world away. Thanks to the breakneck speed of modern MTG, six sets have been released since then, and another is right around the corner. With this in mind, it’s no wonder that MTG cards end up getting overlooked if they don’t immediately shake up formats.
Magmakin Artillerist, for instance, was almost instantly forgotten following its release. Despite having some pretty interesting combo potential, it barely saw any play and was quickly relegated to Commander. Appearing in Cycling-focused decks, this card has seen some play, but it’s hardly a game-winning powerhouse.
Now, however, thanks to a recently released Lorwyn Eclipsed card, Magmakin Artillerist is back on the menu. Thanks to a new combo, this humble Aetherdrift common is capable of dishing out upwards of 88 damage in a single turn.
MTG Magmakin Artillerist
Essentially, with Magmakin Artillerist in play, anytime you discard a card, each opponent will be pinged for one damage. On its own, this is already good in Cycling decks, since Magmakin can constantly deal damage and easily justify its cost. With any kind of damage doubler, this card turns into a legitimate threat, but that’s hardly the peak of its potential.
Ideally, as MTG players recently discovered on Facebook, you can one-shot your opponents by dealing 90+ damage in one turn. Curiously, achieving this impressive feat is as simple as casting Treasure Hunt while Magmakin is in play. Provided your deck is made of nothing but lands, this classic card from Worldwake can draw your entire deck. From here, all you have to do is discard all but seven cards at the end of the turn.
Ideally, by dropping Magmakin Artillerist on turn three and Treasure Hunt on four, you can discard 88 cards. While this will then hit each opponent for 88 damage, winning you the game, this is a magical Christmas land combo. Even when mulliganing down to two, your odds of getting both pieces at once in your opening hand aren’t great.
Thankfully, with Sanar, Innovative First Year in the command zone, you don’t have to worry about finding these cards. Instead, you can simply play Sanar on four, wait for its triggered ability on turn five, and then play both cards. This gives this wild 2.5 card combo deck a surprising amount of consistency. Still, that doesn’t mean it’s good…
A One-Time Meme
At best, you’ll be lucky to get this combo off once against your opponents in Commander. Since you’re just playing lands until you pop off, it’s difficult to see this deck coming, even with Sanar in the Command Zone. After doing it once, however, your opponents will know to disrupt your deck, which is incredibly easy to do.
For starters, if your opponents remove Magmakin Artillerist, you’re completely dead in the water. With no counterspells, reanimation, or alternative game plan, you’ll just be stuck playing lands till the game ends. As if that’s not risky enough, an opponent could also force you to draw a card after resolving Treasure Hunt.
With this in mind, it’s hard to call this deck anything other than a meme. Even if you get one win with it, you’ll be the talk of the table, causing opponents to be more careful. You can’t even play around this yourself, since adding any other cards means Treasure Hunt will stop working.
As if that wasn’t bad enough, this is a two-card combo deck, so it’s only playable in bracket four and above. If anything, this does just make winning with this combo even funnier, but it equally makes it a lot harder. Ultimately, the Magmakin Artillerist and Treasure Hunt combo definitely doesn’t seem like a good one, but it is very funny.
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