In the world of MTG, there are tons of ways to assemble a fast kill. Whether you’re using an infinite combo to your advantage or chaining together pump spells, if your opponent isn’t prepared, they risk losing in a flash. Unfortunately, though, many combos can be too much of a glass cannon to be successful.
For this reason, when an explosive combo with redundancy comes around, players get excited. While this deck is capable of winning the game as early as turn four, it can also grind extremely well. After coming second in Pro Tour Lorwyn Eclipsed, a new Temur Harmonizer build has completely changed how MTG players will play Landfall moving forward.
Setting Up the Combo
At its core, this Temur shell has a lot in common with Standard Landfall decks we’ve seen pop up in recent months. The primary win condition, Mightform Harmonizer, remains the same. When paired with Fabled Passage or Escape Tunnel, you’ll have the ability to double the power of any of your creatures twice.
What makes this strategy so unique, however, is that there isn’t a high density of creatures present to buff. In fact, in the main deck, the only other creatures are three copies of Icetill Explorer and a one-of Wistfulness. Instead of trying to jam Mightform Harmonizer and looking to pump another creature, the goal here is to Warp Mightform Harmonizer and target it with Full Bore during the same turn.
With Mightform Harmonizer, Full Bore, and Fabled Passage rolled up, it’s trivial to set up a turn four kill. After Warping Mightform Harmonizer, you just need to play Fabled Passage and crack it with the Landfall trigger on the stack. Once you grab a Mountain and put another Landfall trigger on the stack, hold priority and cast Full Bore to make Mightform Harmonizer a 7/6. The two Landfall triggers will grow the Insect Druid to 28-power, and you’re set to Trample over any chump blockers in your path.
Consistency and Resiliency
The nice thing about this combo kill is that your opponent constantly has to respect it. If they ever tap out turn four or later, they run the risk of dying out of nowhere, even if you had no creatures on board to start your turn. At the same time, though, you aren’t forced to jam Mightform Harmonizer during the early turns if your opponent leaves up mana for interaction.
With this in mind, when you aren’t under duress from the get-go, you’re free to spend some time sculpting your hand. Both Stock Up and Consult the Star Charts play pivotal roles here, helping you dig for your combo pieces. Once you have everything assorted, cards like Spider-Sense can protect your combo further. This way, you can set up a window to jam your combo once you’re confident you can win a fight. These incredible sources of card selection also provide maximum redundancy, giving you a better chance to rebuild when facing tons of cheap interaction.
Versatility
Having agency over how games play out gives the deck a strong chance of winning a variety of matchups. Against the green creature decks like Five-Color Rhythm that don’t feature much instant-speed interaction, having access to a fast combo kill is a huge boon. Things get even easier when you get to sideboard in Pyroclasm, too.
Yet, thanks to this deck’s flexible game plan, your matchup against slower decks like Jeskai Control doesn’t suffer. In fact, the pilot that came in second at the Pro Tour, Toni Portolan, won the semifinals versus Jeskai Control without dropping a game. While they ultimately lost in a close battle to Dimir Excruciator, there’s no doubt that Temur Harmonizer is the real deal.
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