In MTG, some of the coolest cards are those that defy typical deckbuilding restrictions. Even though most cards that let you play any number of them in your deck are admittedly quite weak, they still offer unique build-around potential. The latest printing of the bunch, Sphinx’s Approach, is no exception, and one player even found success brewing a wild combo deck around the common instant.
20 Divinations for the Win
The main goal behind this deck designed by MTG content creator SmilingCat is to get four copies of Sphinx’s Approach into the graveyard as quickly as possible. While you can obviously cast four copies in a row, that’s very slow, so this deck uses cheap Mill effects like
Rapid Rescue
Rapid Rescue
Mill two cards. You may put a permanent card from among the milled cards into your hand. You gain 2 life. (To mill two cards, put the top two cards of your library into your graveyard.)
and
Does Machines
Does Machines
(Gain the next level as a sorcery to add its ability.)
When this Class enters, mill two cards, draw two cards, then discard two cards.
{1}{U}: Level 2
When this Class becomes level 2, return up to two target artifact cards from your graveyard to your hand.
{4}{U}: Level 3
At the beginning of combat on your turn, put three +1/+1 counters on target artifact you control. If it isn't a creature, it becomes a 0/0 Robot creature in addition to its other types.
to help. With a whopping 20 copies of Approach in the deck, you’re quite likely to get extra copies into the graveyard this way.
From there, the next copy of Approach will cheat
Conspiracy Unraveler
Conspiracy Unraveler
Flying
You may collect evidence 10 rather than pay the mana cost for spells you cast. (To collect evidence 10, exile cards with total mana value 10 or greater from your graveyard.)
right into play. Thanks to all of your previous Milling and high-value dig effects like
Visionary’s Dance
Visionary’s Dance
Create two 3/3 blue and red Elemental creature tokens with flying.
{2}, Discard this card: Look at the top two cards of your library. Put one of them into your hand and the other into your graveyard.
, Collecting Evidence 10 right away is surprisingly easy. This way, you can cast
Omniscience
Omniscience
You may cast spells from your hand without paying their mana costs.
for free, making all your future spells cost zero mana.
Because a third of your deck is simply
Divination
Divination
Draw two cards.
effects, it’s almost impossible not to churn through your whole deck. Eventually, you’ll find and cast
North Wind Avatar
North Wind Avatar
Flying
When this creature enters, if you cast it, you may put a card you own from outside the game into your hand.
, which starts your combo line by tutoring
Marang River Regent
Marang River Regent
Flying
When this creature enters, return up to two other target nonland permanents to their owners' hands.
from your sideboard.
Then, use Regent’s ability to bounce Avatar, recast the Dragon, and tutor another copy of Regent to your hand. This time, that creature can bounce Avatar as well as the other Regent copy. Once you recast Avatar for the final time, grab
Terror of the Peaks
Terror of the Peaks
Flying
Spells your opponents cast that target this creature cost an additional 3 life to cast.
Whenever another creature you control enters, this creature deals damage equal to that creature's power to any target.
from your sideboard and cast it. Now, every time you cast one Regent to rebuy the other, you’ll deal a wave of damage to the opponent!
Surprisingly Explosive and Powerful
As a whole, this combo deck gets a lot of mileage out of players not being prepared for the combo kill. Even the fastest decks in the format, like Prowess and red aggro, will often fail to win before you get Omniscience into play.
At the same time, because you can cast Omniscience right after tutoring for Unraveler, you don’t give the opponent a window to use hard removal to stop the combo. Even if the opponent tries to bounce or destroy Omniscience with your first spell on the stack, you can often respond by chaining a bunch of Approaches together and reassemble your combo.
That said, this deck is clearly aimed at best-of-one play, since it loses to tons of sideboard hate cards. Rest in Peace, for instance, completely prevents your combo from ever getting off the ground.
High Noon
High Noon
Each player can't cast more than one spell each turn.
{4}{R}, Sacrifice this enchantment: It deals 5 damage to any target.
then attacks from a different angle, making it impossible to chain spells together for one explosive turn. Even facing extra counterspells like
Spell Pierce
Spell Pierce
Counter target noncreature spell unless its controller pays {2}.
can be a nuisance.
Still, even though this deck isn’t well-suited for competitive tournament play, it’s still a fun deck that can win on Arena. Having a third of your deck be common rarity is also nice for those who don’t want to burn lots of rare and mythic Wildcards. So, if you’re looking for something unique your opponents won’t have on their radar, Approach Combo is worth considering.
Stick with us here at mtgrocks.com: the best site for Magic: The Gathering coverage. Be sure to check out our deckbuilder for your next big brew, and our brand new MTG Rocks Podcast!