For better or for worse, Universes Beyond cards have become immersed in the competitive MTG environment. Many archetypes feature multiple cards from different crossovers, and they all work bizarrely well together. In fact, just yesterday, a combo brew centered around a Marvel Hero wielding a Final Fantasy equipment unexpectedly 5-0d a Pioneer League. If you’ve been looking for something wild to play at FNM, look no further.
Winning with One-Shot Kills
The main engine behind this archetype that makes everything click is Pioneer classic Bring to Light. A common use case in Pioneer over the years has been to tutor for Valki, God of Lies, but ultimately choose to cast the more powerful Tibalt, Cosmic Impostor half. This also works for The Invincible Iron Man, who can win the game on the spot.
The goal is to use Iron Man’s trigger to cheat Genji Glove into play and attach it to the Hero. As a 5/5 with Double Strike that nets an additional combat step upon attacking, Iron Man threatens a 20-damage swing out of nowhere! As scary as this combo kill is, though, it does require a bit of setup.
On top of using cards like Stock Up to find combo pieces, this decklist has a really interesting Ponza subtheme. Between Avengers Disassembled and Cleansing Wildfire, you can delay your opponents endlessly by removing lands and creatures in specific matchups. With seven Indestructible lands featuring Cascading Cataracts and Darksteel Citadel, these Ponza cards can also ramp you into an early Bring to Light.
In the event Tony Stark/Iron Man does get killed or you’re forced to discard it early, there’s no need to fear. You can always tutor for Shiko, Paragon of the Way to make an Iron Man copy and set up a kill that way. Interactive pieces like Thoughtseize and Duress can also help to set up a combo kill in removal-heavy matchups.
Fast and Flexible
The biggest edge that this deck has compared to more traditional Bring to Light shells is its closing speed. Spell-based disruption can only fend off combo decks like Scapeshift and Lotus Field for so long, so having access to a one-shot kill condition is a game changer.
At the same time, though, this deck is versatile enough to win long games when necessary. Against decks like Golgari and Mono-Black Midrange that can struggle to pressure your life total, leaning on Tibalt’s +2 ability is a great option. Grinding only gets easier post-board, too, thanks to tools like Professor Dellian Fel and Invoke Despair.
Still, as cool as this deck is, it does have some weaknesses that hold it back. Running so few win conditions can actually be a problem versus Azorius Control, for example. After all, this deck can both exile Iron Man at instant speed with The Wandering Emperor and use Get Lost to keep Planeswalkers in check.
Things only get worse when you face down popular hate cards like High Noon, which completely shuts off Bring to Light. With these problems in mind, it might be tough for this archetype to experience a big breakout in Pioneer. Nonetheless, it’s always exciting when unique brews put up results, and it’ll be cool to see if the deck does gain more traction.
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