The Sibsig Ceremony sure does combo with a lot of things…
Tarkir: Dragonstorm takes us back to the fan-favorite plane of Tarkir, where the skies are once again ruled by the mighty dragons and the five wedge-colored clans vie for dominance. Magic’s latest set also fuels the imaginations of deck builders, offering a treasure trove of enablers for infinite or game-winning combos. The sheer trickery on display will leave your opponents bewildered, scratching their heads in disbelief.
This article spotlights 20 of the most delightfully devious combos the set has to offer. Each one is either infinite or outright game-winning, making them prime candidates for Commander shenanigans, though some even hold promise in 60-card Constructed formats. Still, whether you’re a dedicated brewer aiming to turn heads at your next tournament or a casual player looking to unleash draconic devastation at your kitchen table, let’s tap into the full power of Tarkir: Dragonstorm!
Tarkir: Dragonstorm Infinite Combos
#20 Dracogenesis (Standard)
Market Price: $36.94
We’re kicking things off with Dracogenesis, an enchantment that feels like an Omniscience tailor-made for Dragons. Eight mana is still a steep price, but it’s far more achievable than Omniscience’s 10 – especially if you’re aiming to hardcast it. In non-competitive Modern or Commander, Dracogenesis could pair beautifully with Cloudstone Curio, enabling endless loops with Dragons that boast enters-the-battlefield abilities. Yet Dracogenesis might even have some fringe potential in Standard.
The dream is to cast Hoarding Broodlord for free, then tutor up another copy and exile it. Since Dracogenesis lacks Omniscience’s “from hand” restriction, you’re free to cast Dragons from exile without paying their mana costs. Chain together four copies of Hoarding Broodlord, then let the final one fetch Song of Totentanz. If you’ve got a spare red mana or a red creature to convoke it, your entire squad of 7/7 fliers gains haste, letting you unleash an unstoppable aerial assault for the win!
#19 Sarkhan, Dragon Ascendant (Modern)
When Sarkhan, Dragon Ascendant enters the battlefield, let him bask in the glory of Goldspan Dragon. Awed by its splendor, Sarkhan will immediately craft a Treasure in its honor. And thanks to Goldspan Dragon’s ability, that Treasure sacrifices for two mana – just enough to activate Deadeye Navigator and flicker Sarkhan, resetting the process. Repeat as many times as you like, blinking Sarkhan endlessly in a mesmerizing dance of draconic devotion.
Of course, at this stage, you’re simply spinning your wheels. But add Impact Tremors, Purphoros, God of the Forge or any similar damage effect, and suddenly, this loop becomes an engine of fiery devastation – turning Sarkhan’s reverence into your opponent’s demise.
#18 Sidisi, Regent of the Mire (Pioneer)
Sidisi, Regent of the Mire isn’t quite Birthing Pod or Prime Speaker Vannifar, as you can’t dig through your library to assemble the perfect sequence. Instead, you need the entire setup in hand or already in the graveyard. Because of this limitation, Sidisi may shine brightest in a Standard self-mill deck, where it can simply transform Writhing Necromass into Craterhoof Behemoth for an unexpected, game-ending stampede.
But if it’s convoluted infinite loops you seek – at least for non-competitive fun – Pioneer offers some intriguing possibilities. To set up my suggested combo, you need Sidisi, Regent of the Mire and Corridor Monitor on the battlefield, with Glasspool Mimic in play (copying Corridor Monitor) and another Glasspool Mimic in your graveyard. From here, the loop begins: sacrifice Glasspool Mimic (which, as a copy of Corridor Monitor, has a mana value of two) to return the other Glasspool Mimic (with a mana value of three) from the graveyard to the battlefield. When it enters, it copies Corridor Monitor, untapping Sidisi.
You can repeat this sequence endlessly, but to turn it into a win, simply add Zulaport Cutthroat or a similar effect for infinite drain triggers – Tarkir: Dragonstorm, for example, offers Venerated Stormsinger, Shocking Sharpshooter and Thunder of Unity. It’s a fascinating puzzle of a combo, though given its five-card requirement, it won’t be competitive. The more realistic application for Sidisi may still be cheating Craterhoof Behemoth into play for a Standard self-mill deck.
#17 Songcrafter Mage (Commander)
Songcrafter Mage offers a beautifully orchestrated way to cheat out powerful spells for free. A little setup is required: You need to put Ignite the Future into your graveyard (perhaps via Lightning Axe) and place Enter the Infinite on top of your deck (perhaps via Brainstorm). Afterwards, you can pull off an explosive turn four.
Here’s how the magic unfolds: cast Songcrafter Mage, granting harmonize to Ignite the Future. Then, by tapping Songcrafter Mage to reduce its cost by three, you can cast Ignite the Future from your graveyard for just a single mana. When it resolves, it remembers that it was cast from the graveyard, even though you didn’t pay its flashback cost. This allows you to cast Enter the Infinite for free! From there, the game is basically over.
#16 Neriv, Heart of the Storm (Pioneer)
Market Price: $12.97
With Neriv, Heart of the Storm on the battlefield, play Boros Reckoner, then cast Lorehold Command. Choose to grant your creatures indestructible while dealing three damage to Boros Reckoner. Boros Reckoner triggers, targeting itself, which dishes out six damage due to Neriv’s ability. Since it’s indestructible, it survives, but now it retaliates with 12 damage. Then 24. Then 48. The numbers spiral out of control, doubling each time as you keep targeting your own Boros Reckoner, until you eventually redirect the ever-growing firestorm at your opponent for an instant win.
A similar setup is possible in Standard, though it requires more pieces: You need two Screaming Nemesis, Boros Charm and a Shock. Nevertheless, it can still escalate into an equally fiery mathematical spectacle.
#15 Teeming Dragonstorm (Commander)
Market Price: $37.66
With a little creative shapeshifting, Teeming Dragonstorm transforms into a self-sustaining engine. By turning your Soldiers into Dragons – courtesy of Maskwood Nexus – the new enchantment can create an ever-growing airborne army.
Here’s how it unfolds: cast Teeming Dragonstorm for four mana, creating multiple Dragon tokens. Thanks to Mana Echoes, each new Dragon adds a flood of red mana, far exceeding the initial investment of four mana. Use Energy Refractor or Stonework Packbeast to smooth out your colors. Then return Teeming Dragonstorm to your hand, cast it again, and repeat the cycle, amassing an unstoppable swarm of Dragons.
#14 Call the Spirit Dragons (Standard)
Market Price: $26.27
While Call the Spirit Dragons may not dominate competitive Standard anytime soon, its unique charm makes it a fun challenge to pull off. The key to success here lies in assembling five different Dragons of five different colors, which is where Leyline of the Guildpact and Leyline of Transformation shine. These enchantments will turn all of your creatures into prismatic Dragons while simultaneously fixing your mana, giving you the perfect setup to win the game with a turn-five Call the Spirit Dragons.
All you need is to get five creatures onto the battlefield. There are numerous ways to do this: Third Path Iconoclast, for example, provides extra bodies, and Song of Totentanz can even fill your board on its own. The best part? For Call the Spirit Dragons, it doesn’t matter if your Dragons are just 1/1s. As long as you control one Dragon of each color at the start of your next upkeep, victory will be yours.
#13 Elspeth, Storm Slayer (Modern)
Market Price: $47.11
Elspeth, Storm Slayer – much like Mondrak, Glory Dominus – can go infinite in various ways. One route involves activating Slimefoot, the Stowaway, creating two Saprolings, and sacrificing them to Ashnod’s Altar to trigger an endless loop of Slimefoot drains.
For a simpler, mono-white option, you can use Myr Turbine and Clock of Omens. Myr Turbine creates a 1/1 Myr artifact token, which Elspeth will turn into two. Next, activate Clock of Omens by tapping both tokens, untapping Myr Turbine. You can repeat the process to generate an infinite army of Myr!
#12 Warden of the Grove (Modern)
With all three cards on the battlefield and at least one counter on Warden of the Grove, you sacrifice Murderous Redcap to Viscera Seer. As it returns to the battlefield, it enters with a -1/-1 counter, dealing one damage to your opponent. Warden of the Grove triggers, allowing Murderous Redcap to gain a +1/+1 counter. These two counters effectively cancel each other out due to state-based actions, enabling the loop to repeat indefinitely.
While Warden of the Grove isn’t the first card to create such a combo with Murderous Redcap – options like Metallic Mimic, Melira, Sylvok Outcast and Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit have been around for years – its flexible endure ability opens up a new avenue. Warden of the Grove could be a consideration for hybrid creature-combo decks, where it could be used not only to fuel infinite persist loops but also to generate Spirit tokens as fuel for Yawgmoth, Thran Physician.
#11 Teval, the Balanced Scale (Commander)
Market Price: $14.72
Teval, the Balanced Scale, a new card from Tarkir: Dragonstorm Commander, introduces versatile combo potential that can enable infinite or game-winning scenarios. One of the most potent setups involves pairing it with Titans’ Nest.
Here’s how it works: Start by exiling a card from your graveyard, which will trigger Teval and create a 2/2 Zombie token. You can then tap this token to activate Embalmer’s Tools, which mills one card from your deck. By repeating this process, you will eventually mill your entire deck. Just be careful not to exile Dread Return or Thassa’s Oracle along the way because you need those for the finishing move to win the game.
#10 Steward of the Harvest (Commander)
Market Price: $15.28
Market Price: $20.09
With this new card from Tarkir: Dragonstorm Commander, Bloodghast can become a fetchland! After Steward of the Harvest exiles Verdant Catacombs, Bloodghast gains its activated ability, allowing you to sacrifice Bloodghast to search for a Forest or Swamp and put it onto the battlefield. Subsequently, thanks to its landfall trigger, Bloodghast returns to the battlefield.
Assuming one of your opponents is already at 10 or less life, you can then sacrifice Bloodghast again to fetch another land, creating a loop that rapidly fills your battlefield with lands. With Zulaport Cutthroat in play and a deck with over 40 lands, this loop can easily drain your opponents’ life totals and translate into a swift victory.
#9 Adaptive Training Post (Commander)
We’re even getting infinite combos in the ready-to-play Commander decks now! In the Jeskai Striker precon, Adaptive Training Post serves as a perfect setup for triggering endless magecraft abilities.
The combo starts when Adaptive Training Post accumulates three charge counters. At this point, cast any instant or sorcery spell with a mana value of four or less – its exact nature doesn’t matter. Respond to this spell by activating Adaptive Training Post. Then, with the spell still on the stack, target it with Expansion. This triggers Adaptive Training Post, creating a copy of Expansion, which targets the original Expansion. As the copy resolves, it creates another copy of Expansion, and so on, creating an infinite loop of copies.
By itself, this combo doesn’t achieve much: No charge counters are gained, and we’re simply duplicating Expansion infinitely. However, when you add Storm-Kiln Artist or Archmage Emeritus into the mix – both of which are included in that Jeskai Striker precon – then you get infinite magecraft triggers, providing infinite mana and cards. Now that’s a way to leave your opponents in awe and secure a game-winning position!
#8 United Battlefront (Pioneer)
United Battlefront evokes memories of Collected Company, but this time, it focuses on enchantments, artifacts, planeswalkers and battles. In 60-card Collected Company decks, I would typically aim for at least 22 creatures, the minimum number needed to hit 1.68 creatures in expectation. With United Battlefront, which looks one card deeper, you can achieve similar consistency with just 19 noncreature, nonland permanents in your deck. The more you include, the better, and going heavy on three-drops is a sensible approach. This number could serve as a useful guideline for brewing a deck around United Battlefront.
But how do you best exploit United Battlefront? Are there any two-card combos to aim for? Fortunately, yes – there’s one potent combo in Pioneer. Nine Lives and Solemnity together create a game-locking situation, and both are compatible with United Battlefront’s restrictions. With a bit of luck, you can hit both cards in your top seven. Once they are in play, damage will always be prevented, and no incarnation counters will be placed on Nine Lives, stopping your opponent’s offensive efforts entirely.
#7 Kheru Goldkeeper (Commander)
Market Price: $13.62
Kheru Goldkeeper opens up a wealth of powerful combo potential, particularly in older formats, where its interaction with Tortured Existence can lead to an infinite loop. Here’s how it works: Activate Tortured Existence to return any creature from your graveyard to your hand. This will create a Treasure token via Kheru Goldkeeper. You can sacrifice that Treasure for black mana, then use Tortured Existence again, discarding the creature you just brought back and returning the one you discarded earlier. This cycle can be repeated infinitely, and you can leverage Disciple of the Vault to win the game.
But the combos don’t stop there. In Modern, for example, you can combine Kheru Goldkeeper with Altar of Dementia and Forsaken Miner to mill your opponent’s entire library. All in all, this new Dragon introduces an abundance of combos across a variety of formats.
#6 Glacierwood Siege (Modern)
In recent months, Temur Breach decks have dominated Modern. Despite sideboards packed with hate cards and a growing number of decks designed to answer it, Temur Breach continues to boast a win rate of around 55 percent in recent high-level tournaments. Given this, many Modern players expect Wizards of the Coast to take action in the upcoming March 31 banned and restricted announcement, and justifiably so.
In the unlikely event that Grinding Station is banned instead of Underworld Breach or Mox Opal – a scenario that seems improbable but not impossible – Glacierwood Siege from Tarkir: Dragonstorm could offer a potent alternative. Set to the Temur side, you could use Strike It Rich to generate a Treasure token, mill four cards, then replay it from your graveyard via Underworld Breach. Each loop is mana-neutral and adds more cards to your graveyard. You can continue this process until you’ve milled your entire library, eventually using Thassa’s Oracle or Grapeshot to win the game. While I think it’s very unlikely the B&R announcement will play out this way, it’s still worth noting the potential combo that Glacierwood Siege enables.
#5 Encroaching Dragonstorm (Limited)
Market Price: $12.08
In Limited, while you may not be able to achieve an infinite combo with Encroaching Dragonstorm, there’s a highly potent strategy that can easily win you the game, especially in Sealed Deck or Draft. After ramping ahead with Encroaching Dragonstorm on turn four, you cast Dragonback Assault to sweep the board on turn five, then immediately play a land and create a 4/4 Dragon token.
The real magic happens when the Dragon token enters the battlefield, which bounces Encroaching Dragonstorm back to your hand. On turn six, you recast Encroaching Dragonstorm and grab two lands, creating two more Dragon tokens and returning Encroaching Dragonstorm to your hand. You then play a land for the turn, recast it, and get even more Dragons and lands. At this point, you will control five 4/4 Dragon tokens and 12 lands, and you can do it all again on the next turn, stacking your board further. If you manage to pull off this combo at your prerelease, it can lead to truly absurd blowouts.
If your Limited experience with Encroaching Dragonstorm leaves you wanting more, you can also explore the card in Commander. For example, combining it with Nesting Dragon and Phyrexian Altar allows you to put all the basic lands from your deck onto the battlefield, setting you up for a lethal Crackle with Power on the next turn. The possibilities are endless with this awesome new enchantment!
#4 Perennation (Standard)
Market Price: $12.40
The combination of a hexproof counter and an indestructible counter offers an unparalleled amount of protection, especially when placed on a game-winning permanent. In Standard, one of the most potent reanimation targets for Perennation is Herald of Eternal Dawn, which effectively locks up the game against a variety of decks. Go for the Throat can’t target it, Day of Judgment can’t destroy it and opponents lose the ability to win the game. While there are answers like Sunfall, many decks will simply fold to this combo.
In Commander, you can achieve a similar lock, but the real evil begins when you pair Perennation with Nevinyrral’s Disk. By making it indestructible, you ensure that Nevinyrral’s Disk stays on the battlefield indefinitely. With the oppressive ability to wipe the board every single turn, your opponents will be unable to make any meaningful progress. Fun, in this case, is definitely not allowed!
#3 The Sibsig Ceremony (Modern)
The Sibsig Ceremony is my favorite combo enabler of the new set, with exceptional potential across multiple formats. To illustrate its versatility, let me show off its combo potential in Modern, Standard and Pioneer.
In Modern, The Sibsig Ceremony allows you to cast Myr Retriever for free. Upon entering the battlefield, The Sibsig Ceremony triggers, allowing you to destroy it and create a 2/2 Zombie Druid token. When Myr Retriever dies, it triggers to return another Myr Retriever from your graveyard to your hand. This creates an endless loop of death and rebirth, generating infinite Zombie Druid tokens as the payoff.
#2 The Sibsig Ceremony (Standard)
In Standard, imagine that you have The Sibsig Ceremony and Loran, Disciple of History on the battlefield, along with a two-mana legendary artifact creature in your hand and another in your graveyard. The options for two-mana legendary artifact creatures in Standard are Marvin, Murderous Mimic and Syr Ginger, the Meal Ender. While their individual abilities are not crucial to the combo, their mana cost and card types are key. For concreteness, imagine you have Marvin in hand and Syr Ginger in your graveyard.
Here’s how the loop unfolds: Cast Marvin from your hand, which costs zero mana thanks to The Sibsig Ceremony. When Marvin enters, Loran returns Syr Ginger from your graveyard to your hand, and then The Sibsig Ceremony destroys Marvin to turn it into a 2/2 Zombie token. Next, cast Syr Ginger, return Marvin, and loop to create infinite tokens!
#1 The Sibsig Ceremony (Pioneer)
Finally, The Sibsig Ceremony can also bring its infinite combo potential to Pioneer, particularly when combined with Acererak the Archlich and Relic of Legends. With The Sibsig Ceremony on the battlefield, cast Acererak the Archlich for a single black mana, then stack Acererak’s bounce-and-venture ability on top of The Sibsig Ceremony’s destroy ability. In response, activate Relic of Legends, tapping Acererak to add a black mana. When the stack unravels, you first bounce Acererak and venture into Lost Mine of Phandelver. Then, when The Sibsig Ceremony’s effect resolves, Acererak is safe from destruction in your hand. Afterwards, replay Acererak and loop for infinite life drain.
Before Tarkir: Dragonstorm, Acererak Combo already was a competitively viable strategy in Pioneer, using Gwenna, Eyes of Gaea. With The Sibsig Ceremony adding redundancy, the deck could become even more consistent. Moreover, with two copies of Honest Rutstein alongside Rona, Herald of Invasion and Relic of Legends, The Sibsig Ceremony can create infinite 2/2 Zombie Druids, adding another infinite combo to the same deck!