Now that all of Duskmourn has been spoiled, we can get into the most interesting part of the new set cycle: brewing up far-fetched combo decks. As cards come out they tend to be evaluated in a vacuum, but now that we have the whole picture we can start considering them more deeply in different formats. The Mindskinner looked like a pretty interesting MTG card when first revealed, but now that it’s had time to stew its true potential is coming to light. This legendary Nightmare isn’t just a pretty statline: it also enables a number of wild combos.
The Mindskinner MTG Combos
- Mana Value: UUU
- Rarity: Rare
- Stats: 10/1
- Card Text: The Mindskinner can’t be blocked.
If a source you control would deal damage to an opponent, prevent that damage and each opponent mills that many cards.
When it comes to combos in Magic, cards that push parameters to the limit tend to be good enablers. In that sense, it was almost inevitable that The Mindskinner would create at least a few spicy MTG combos. 10 power for three mana is an absurd rate, especially with Mindskinner being unblockable. This could easily have just had Flying, but because of the bizarre text later on WotC deemed it unnecessary.
Without its second ability, Mindskinner could kill a player in two turns, guaranteed. Unfortunately, said second ability does exist, so its damage is converted into mill. This pushes the clock up to 5 turns instead, which is much less dangerous, especially given Mindskinner’s low toughness. But what if there was a way to undo that push? Well, that would be a pretty tasty combo indeed.
The Mindskinner’s ability prevents all of your damage, but there are effects in Magic that turn off damage prevention. With one of those in play, you can deal then full 10 damage with each swing. Typically such effects are aggressively-costed, since damage prevention is incredibly niche in general play and doesn’t come up much. This means you can circumvent the biggest drawback of Mindskinner relatively easily.
Even if you don’t pursue a plan like this, milling 10 cards in a single swing can often be enough to end a combo in itself. There are some very potent mill cards coming into Standard with Duskmourn, and this card plays perfectly with all of them. Basically, The Mindskinner is more than just a one-combo pony, which may result in it seeing real play.
Mindskinning In Standard
Naturally, Standard is the MTG format where The Mindskinner combo has the best chance of success. Older formats are more ruthless, and less likely to let a 10/1 stick around on board for the requisite turn.
The most straightforward(way to break Mindskinner in Standard is to use Sunspine Lynx, the only card in Standard that can turn off damage prevention. If you curve Mindskinner on three into Lynx on four, you can swing for 10 immediately. You’ll still get to mill the 10 cards, too, though that’s a lot less relevant in the context of a combo. This is a fine curve, but an even better one is to play Mindskinner on four, holding Shore Up to protect it, the drop Lynx and Violent Urge on five.
This is a more resilient line, and, with Delirium active, will end the game on the spot as you deal 22 damage with a single swing. The main issue with this combo is the colors required. Mindskinner needs three blue, and the Lynx/Urge pairing needs three red, which means you’ll need perfectly fixed mana. Izzet doesn’t have the best dual lands right now, so that will likely prove difficult.
If you want to try an even more mana-intensive combo, Mindskinner also pairs up nicely with Doomsday Excruciator. This wild new rare brings both players’ decks down to six cards. A single swing with Mindskinner can then reduce your opponent’s deck to nothing, and they’ll lose on their next draw step. This version of the combo requires three blue then six black later, but Gloomlake Verge makes this more doable in Dimir than in Izzet.
Peeling In Pioneer
Not too confident in your chances of pulling off the Mindskinner combo in MTG Standard? Fear not, for there’s another, probably more powerful, version available in Pioneer. Red Commander staple Insult//Injury is legal in the format, and it combines both the crucial pieces of the Standard combo it one neat card. These being the anti-damage prevention effect of Sunspine Lynx, and the doubling effect of Violent Urge. With Insult, you get both for just three mana.
This allows for an immediate 20 damage, provided you have a Mindskinner out and ready to attack. Just like in Standard, this is easier said than done. Thankfully, you can take advantage of Pioneer’s deeper well of combat tricks, such as Dive Down, to make this more likely, however. While you do still need a ton of blue mana to play Mindskinner here, you only need a single red for Insult, so this should be a lot easier to pull off. Especially given the superior fixing Pioneer offers.
How likely is The Mindskinner to make it as a viable combo piece in either format? Not particularly, I have to say. A one toughness creature with no protection is comically easy to remove, and both Standard and Pioneer are fast enough at the moment that a turn five or later kill just isn’t super exciting.
On the other hand, The Mindskinner does excel in the cool department. Taking down an opponent with a single swing from this piece of borderline jank won’t just win you the game. It’ll also inflict untold psychic damage, and make you an LGS legend. Don’t count on this Nightmare to win you many FNMs, but don’t count it out when you see it across the table, either.
Read More: Wild MTG Dungeon Combo Deck Crushes Competition in Fresh Environment
