Over the past few sets, Wizards of the Coast has gotten surprisingly comfortable including combo wins in Limited. From Marvel Super Heroes’ Fantastic Four loop, to Reality Fracture’s infinite mana line, to a straight-up Splinter Twin combo in Secrets of Strixhaven, most new sets have had one. MTG Star Trek is no exception, it seems, as the new uncommon The Secret to Making Money enables an instant win with one of the set’s spiciest enchantments.
The Secret to Making Money MTG
– The Secret to Making Money (Translated name TBC)
– Mana Value: 3UU
– Card Type: Sorcery
– Rarity: Uncommon
– Card Text: Choose one –
– 3rd Rule of Acquisition – Gain control of target nonland permanent target opponent controls. That opponent draws three cards.
– 98th Rule of Acquisition – Target opponent gains control of target nonland permanent you control. If that player does, you draw three cards.
The most exciting part of The Secret to Making Money is definitely its second ability, which is essentially a
Donate
Donate
Target player gains control of target permanent you control.
effect with card draw attached. Though these aren’t typically very strong in Limited settings, Star Trek also includes Kobayashi Maru Scenario, which pairs with it incredibly well. Once you’ve used Scenario’s first three abilities yourself, you can give it to your opponent with The Secret to Making Money, and they’ll be forced to pick the ‘lose the game’ mode on their upkeep.
Provided you play Scenario on curve, this can win you the game as early as turn six in Limited, which is a pretty big deal. It’s also doable entirely in Mono-Blue, so you don’t need to awkwardly stretch your mana base to run it.
That said, there are some clear downsides here. Neither half of the combo is fantastic by itself in Limited, with the other mode on The Secret to Making Money being actively bad unless you’re ending the game with it. Kobayashi Maru Scenario is also incredibly risky to play without an outlet like this in hand, and a mythic to boot, which makes the chances of everything lining up here fairly low.
While it’s most notable for its Limited combo potential, The Secret to Making Money also seems like a pretty solid Commander card. Blue Donate decks like
Zedruu the Greathearted
Zedruu the Greathearted
At the beginning of your upkeep, you gain X life and draw X cards, where X is the number of permanents you own that your opponents control.
{U}{R}{W}: Target opponent gains control of target permanent you control.
and
Inniaz, the Gale Force
Inniaz, the Gale Force
Flying
{2}{W/U}: Attacking creatures with flying get +1/+1 until end of turn. ({W/U} can be paid with either {W} or {U}.)
Whenever three or more creatures you control with flying attack, each player gains control of a nonland permanent of your choice controlled by the player to their right.
will definitely appreciate another version of this effect, especially with draw attached. The theft ability is much better there, too, since you can mitigate the downsides of giving away cards with a deal, or with cards like
Narset, Parter of Veils
Narset, Parter of Veils
Each opponent can't draw more than one card each turn.
−2: Look at the top four cards of your library. You may reveal a noncreature, nonland card from among them and put it into your hand. Put the rest on the bottom of your library in a random order.
.
Overall, for a humble uncommon, The Secret to Making Money has a surprising amount going on. In Commander, it feels like a solid role-player, and in Limited, it’ll lead to some very memorable moments when you pull off its combo kill.
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!