New Splinter Twin Infinite Combo Exploits Common Hobbit Bear

Last updated on July 30, 2026

Splinter Twin | Illustration by Goran Josic

The Hobbit has a cycle of delightful bears, the littlest of which has added yet another combo line to one of Magic’s most powerful enchantments: Splinter Twin.

Little Bear is one of a dozen creatures that makes Twin’s token copy ability spew infinite hasty creatures, but it’s only the second green creature to do so.

Hyrax Tower Scout is remarkable only for going infinite with Splinter Twin (or Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker); the cost and body are otherwise dull. Flash makes Little Bear vastly superior and even mimics the play patterns of Twin’s classic companions Pestermite and Deceiver Exarch.

How Does the Combo Work?

Splinter Twin | Illustration by Goran Josic

For newer players unfamiliar with the combo, you need to control Little Bear without summoning sickness and enchant it with Splinter Twin, which gives it the ability to tap and create a token copy of Little Bear.

When the token enters, you get its untap trigger. If you target the original Little Bear, you can untap it and reactivate the ability. If you use Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker instead of Splinter Twin, you need to untap Kiki instead of Little Bear.

Because you don’t pay mana for Twin or Kiki-Jiki, you can do this as much as your heart desires. Since the tokens have haste, you have an immediately winning board state.

A huge perk of Little Bear having flash is that you can cast it on your opponent’s end step, then enchant it with Splinter Twin the next turn. This gives your opponent the narrowest possible window to interact; sorcery-speed removal doesn’t matter and you can capitalize on your opponent tapping out. Part of what makes this combo so scary is the ability to assemble it in a moment. Since you’re green, you could win as early as turn 3 with a mana dork on turn 1.

What Formats Is Bear Twin Good In?

The only two reasonable answers, in my mind, are the casual formats of Commander and Cube. Little Bear isn’t revolutionary tech; flavors of these combos have been around for a very long time and it’s not more mana efficient than options in other colors. For competitive formats like Modern and Legacy, Pestermite and Deciever Exarch are generally superior as running those means you have blue in your deck. Though maybe it has legs in Modern since you can win so fast, so you might be able to stick it in a B-tier stompy deck? Realistically, this is for Commander and Cube.

As a fast 2-card combo, Bear Twin is regulated to Bracket 4 and above in Commander. Enticing commanders include Kibo, Uktabi Prince, Redshift, Rocketeer Chief, and Atla Palani, Nest Tender. These commanders stand out for their strong activated abilities that require tapping them, so Little Bear’s untap ability has utility beyond the combo.

Looking towards Cube, the first thought that comes to mind is a Cube built without blue to foster a unique play experience. I’ve played wedge-themed Cubes in the past and this combo seems perfectly appropriate for a Jund () Cube with a high power ceiling, or maybe a Gruul () Cube. It could also work in a combo-oriented Cube builts to pack as many combos as possible within its sleeves.