Edge of Eternities is a really cool set that’s having a massive impact on a variety of formats. While it’s been a little while since the main set released, we’re now right in the thick of Alchemy: Edge of Eternities spoiler season, and we’ve already seen some powerhouses that could make a splash on MTG Arena.
In fact, following the preview of one of the first spoilers earlier in the week, players quickly discovered a neat two-card combo in Historic. Both creatures cost only two mana each. Together with some support, you can set up an infinite damage kill as early as turn three! While it’s unclear exactly how well this combo will end up performing, there’s certainly some potential if you craft your deck around it.
How the Combo Works
Before we go over some intriguing cards that may help bolster the combo, we first need to discuss how the combo works. In order to execute the combo, you need to find two key cards. The first is the new spoiler, Val, Marooned Surveyor. There are a bunch of ways to make Val into a life-draining machine.
This brings us to our second piece of the puzzle: Trelasarra, Moon Dancer. Whenever you gain life, Trelassara not only grows, but also lets you Scry 1.
This creates a rather simple infinite loop with Val in play as well. By Scrying 1, Val will trigger, forcing your opponent to take 1 damage and you to gain 1 life. This incidental life gain will trigger Trelasarra once more, and unless your opponent can break things up with a removal spell, they’ll take infinite damage in the process.
Obviously, you do need a way to start the chain. Fortunately, there are a multitude of ways to do this. One of the simplest ways to set the combo up and enable a turn three kill is to play any “Soul Sister” effect. From Guide of Souls to Soul Warden, you have a wealth of turn-one options that will do the trick. Once you land your second combo creature, you’ll gain one life, and the loop will start.
Potential Support Pieces
The one thing holding this combo back is the lack of redundancy. Neither combo card is all that impressive on its own, and there aren’t really any good replacements for either option. On top of that, neither creature has any built-in protection, so any kill spells from the opponent can break things up.
All that being said, some of these same criticisms held true for Pioneer Abzan Amalia, which was strong enough to warrant a ban to Amalia Benavides Aguirre. With enough tutors and recursive elements mixed in, assembling the Amalia+Wildgrowth Walker combo proved to be trivial. Thanks to all the life gain synergies, it was tough for aggro decks to race Abzan Amalia, which only heightened its position in the metagame.
Neither combo piece is as strong as Amalia individually, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t some overlapping factors here. Alongside Soul Sisters effects, Trelassara threatens to grow large in short order, all while providing some value through Scrying helping you dig for your other combo elements.
Just like with Amalia and Wildgrowth Walker, both of these combo pieces cost two mana, meaning they can be resurrected with Extraction Specialist or Dewdrop Cure. They’re efficiency makes Chord of Calling a reliable tutor for either missing creature. If you’re worried about removal, Selfless Savior effects serve as decent protection that can be tutored for very little mana.
Trelesarra and Val are both green, which opens the door for you to utilize Green Sun’s Zenith as a tutor option. Add in a cheap green creature that gains life to search for, such as Healer of the Glade, and Green Sun’s Zenith facilitates all aspects of the combo.
You could even go down a more value-oriented route and play Collected Company. Collected Company can add a lot of pressure to the board, making it easier to win via combat damage as a backup plan in the event you don’t assemble your combo. There are plenty of ways to construct a deck that incorporates this new combo, making it very appealing.
Skepticism
Despite all the ways to make the combo consistent and powerful, the nature of the Historic format may still be too much for Trelasarra and Val to overcome. Historic is a fast and brutal environment with a lot of threats and removal options that aren’t legal in Pioneer.
Despite the nerfs, Boros Energy is still a great deck that puts a ton of pressure on you. Goblin Bombardment and Static Prison backed up by a fast clock is a lot for this new combo to handle.
Meanwhile, other Modern-legal removal spells, such as Prismatic Ending, can be a nuisance to fight through. The competition for combo decks is also tough, with archetypes centered around Yawgmoth, Thran Physician and Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord still making their presences felt.
In this sense, it’s hard not to be skeptical about how well Trelasarra and Val will perform in a competitive environment. Either way, the combo is undoubtedly interesting, and should lead to some sweet brews in the coming weeks.
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