It’s incredibly obvious that the Big Score was not originally meant to be a part of the Outlaws of Thunder Junction Limited environment. There are some scary cards in this Bonus Sheet that can create some seriously messed up situations in Limited.
One particular combo between two cards can end the game on the spot. Sadly, it does require six mana, and two Mythic Rare cards, to pull off. That said, the lucky individual who opens this combo in their prerelease is going to be on top of the moon.
Because two Mythic Rare cards from different Bonus Sheets are required to pull this off, Sealed is definitely the best place to get lucky and pull this off. It can also happen in Draft, but we would imagine that’s a lot less likely.
If you manage to pull both of these cards in your pool, congrats! You have a death combo at your finger tips.
Control Your Opponent’s Turn… Infinitely
Mindslaver is a rather powerful reprint appearing on the Breaking News Bonus Sheet. The theme of this Sheet is all about Committing Crimes, and nothing feels more of a crime than having your turn controlled by your opponent.
Originally releasing way back in Scars of Mirrodin, getting hit by a Mindslaver is one of the worst things you can experience in a game of Magic. Allowing your opponent to sabotage your resources can be absolutely devastating, especially if you’re about to go infinite.
Do note that Mindslaver does not allow your opponent to interact with your sideboard. This rule was added due to an abundant amount of instant concessions to prevent opponents from looking at players’ sideboards.
While getting hit by a Mindslaver is absolutely terrifying, a Mindslaver lock is generally game over on the spot. Because Mindslaver goes to the grave after use, there are some ways to recur it and take control of an opponent’s turn infinitely. Daretti, Scrap Savant’s Planeswalker Emblem is an example of this. If you have the mana, you can keep getting your Mindslaver back on the end step and taking control of the next player’s turn.
Ironically, a Big Score Bonus Sheet card allows you to create a Mindslaver lock. As long as you have these two cards on board, and enough mana to pay for their abilities, your opponent will never be able to control one of their turns ever again.
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The Other Piece
The other half of this combo revolves around a new Big Score card. Esoteric Duplicator allows you to pay two mana and copy a sacrificed artifact. You get to create a token at the beginning of the next end step.
Esoteric Duplicator also happens to be a Clue! This can create some additional synergies within Investigate decks in Commander, which should be more popular thanks to Murders at Karlov Manor.
When you activate Mindslaver’s ability to take control of an opponent’s turn, it happens to sacrifice itself. That means it will trigger your Esoteric Duplicator, allowing you to pay two mana. Should you do so, you’ll get a token copy of Mindslaver on the next end step. Since you will control your opponent, you should be able to untap safely and sacrifice your token copy of Mindslaver, which will create yet another Mindslaver token. Just tap all their lands and utilize any other cards you feel the need to. They shouldn’t have an opportunity to interact with you.
Esoteric Duplicator can even help you find a copy of Mindslaver by sacrificing itself. This Clue is capable of copying itself on sacrifice, which means it can be a source of card advantage.
Unlikely, but Possible
Both of these cards are at a Mythic rarity from separate Bonus Sheets. As a result, getting both of these cards in the same pool is going to be extraordinarily unlikely. That said, should you be lucky enough, this combo is a very realistic one to pull off. Run out Esoteric Duplicator on turn three and Mindslaver on turn six. As long as you have six mana (which you should), your opponent will never control another one of their turns.
This admittedly is a lot of mana being invested in a way that doesn’t impact the board state immediately, which can be rather dangerous.
This isn’t the only nonsense that Outlaws of Thunder Junction prerelease goers may get to play with! Oko, Thief of Crowns is also making a return on the Breaking News Bonus Sheet. That card will be incredibly difficult to contend with in Limited. Oko can even Elkify your Mindslaver before you get a chance to use it!
This set looks incredibly powerful. While its sure to ruffle a few feathers in competitive formats, players should have fun pulling off a ton of nonsense with Outlaws of Thunder Junction.
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