Topic: Unexpected Win Conditions/Combos

I was just thinking about a few of my wins (and losses) over the years, and realized that some of the most memorable games I've played came down to a move that was either very situational or was just something that came completely out of left field (either by luck or design).  Just figured it'd be neat to share a few of the good ones and see what others have had happen to them.  So here's a few:

Running my blue/artifact Affinity deck against my buddy's blue Doppelganger deck, I managed to get so many free creatures that he simply could not deal with it all and he was screwed on the next turn.  After a few minutes trying to find an out, he cast Braingeyser and targeted me.  He had exactly enough mana to force me to draw the remainder of my library, causing me to lose the game during my draw phase.

Opponent had a Platinum Angel in play and got a bit cocky, allowing me to deliver lethal damage to him.  I then proceeded to cast Sapphire Charm to cause the Angel to phase out.

Opponent has Ink-Treader Nephilim in play.  I have two Blood Artists in play.  Total number of creatures is 11.  I cast Terminate on the Nephilim, causing him to lose 22 life and me to gain it.

In a multiplayer game, one of my opponents drops an Eon Hub.  This turned my Sapphire Charms into effective creature removal (no upkeep step = creatures don't phase back in).

Opponent uses an infinite mana loop to draw and cast/discard around 3/4 of his library trying to find his win combo.  Knowing he's running Force of Will, I hold on to my Counterspell until he has no cards in hand. They cast Time Spiral, which I counter, which pretty much sealed his fate.

First turn, my play.  Swamp + Dark Ritual + Entomb on Nicol Bolas + Shallow Grave = Opponent has no hand, nothing in play, and only 13 life.  If only I could get a few more Entombs in that deck...

Anyway, it's almost 5 am, so I'm done for the moment...let's see what we get here smile

Re: Unexpected Win Conditions/Combos

This was EDH. I had just cast a Rith, the Awakener and passed the turn to my opponent. He was playing Mono-Green with Omnath, Locus of Mana and Seedborn Muse, and "went off" that turn by placing half of his deck out on the battlefield. Me and player nr.3 were dead on the board next turn, and player 3 couldn't do much about it and passed the turn to me.

I cast Xenograft naming Scarecrow. Then played my commander, Reaper King. The Omnath player had no creatures with reach or flying (mono-green, heh), so I hit him with Rith, creating over 40 scarecrow tokens while Reaper King harvested the entire board.

Epic turn was epic.

Re: Unexpected Win Conditions/Combos

In a multiplayer game, one of my opponents drops an Eon Hub.  This turned my Sapphire Charms into effective creature removal (no upkeep step = creatures don't phase back in).

Hm, this can't be right. A creature phases back in at the untap step, before a player untaps the permanents. Since upkeep would be after untap, creatures will phase in again.

Oracle text for Sapphire Charm:


Choose one — Target player draws a card at the beginning of the next turn's upkeep; or target creature gains flying until end of turn; or target creature an opponent controls phases out. (While it's phased out, it's treated as though it doesn't exist. It phases in before its controller untaps during his or her next untap step.)

http://pwp.wizards.com/8213665292/Scorecards/Landscape.png

Re: Unexpected Win Conditions/Combos

fistyke wrote:

In a multiplayer game, one of my opponents drops an Eon Hub.  This turned my Sapphire Charms into effective creature removal (no upkeep step = creatures don't phase back in).

Hm, this can't be right. A creature phases back in at the untap step, before a player untaps the permanents. Since upkeep would be after untap, creatures will phase in again.

Oracle text for Sapphire Charm:


Choose one — Target player draws a card at the beginning of the next turn's upkeep; or target creature gains flying until end of turn; or target creature an opponent controls phases out. (While it's phased out, it's treated as though it doesn't exist. It phases in before its controller untaps during his or her next untap step.)

Wow, you're right...I was playing a guy who's been playing since Revised, and he explained that it phased in during the upkeep step.  Guess it'd been so long since he'd seen anyone use phasing that he forgot when it happened.  Since I started around the time of Scourge, I wasn't exactly clear on the step, just that it happened before the main phase, so it was never an issue.  I'll keep this in mind for the next time we play.  Thanks for pointing that out.

Re: Unexpected Win Conditions/Combos

Have one or more copies of Vigilante Justice on the battlefield, one Fiend Hunter on the field, and two in your hand.  Play the second and third Fiend Hunter, and use its flicker ability to start cycling through each of the other Fiend Hunters in turn.

Vigilante Justice (VJ) is on the field
Fiend Hunter 1 (FH1) is on the field

Fiend Hunter 2 (FH2) enters the battlefied, targeting FH1.The creature previously exiled by FH1 enters the battlefield. If human, VJ deals one damage to target opponent.

Fiend Hunter 3 (FH3) enters the battlefield (targeting FH2). FH1 returns to the battlefield (targeting FH3). VJ deals one damage. FH2 returns to the battlefield (targeting FH1). VJ deals one damage...AND THIS BABY SPINS!

Keep cycling them until the opponent bleeds out.

Even my son who loves to boast of his 50+ life white deck would be annihilated by this combo.

Having some sort of counterspell would be useful, or, better yet, start with a Grand Abolisher on the field to keep your opponent from casting during your turn.

***UPDATE*** It works, but only got it rolling twice in a night of play testing.  It looks like it will be better suited for casual play.

Last edited by HikingStick (2012-08-17 15:15:12)

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