Niv-Mizzet, Parun | Illustration by Svetlin Velinov
While synergies can separate winning strategies from other decks in Magic: The Gathering, they shouldn’t be confused with combos and, god forbid, infinite combos. For example, you could use an Experimental Synthesizer to make your Voltage Surge stronger, and in turn exile a card that you may be able to play this turn. However, this is far from infinite, and if the latter is the kind of interaction you’re looking for, worry not! I've got you covered.
Today I’ll show you some exciting combos you can try on MTG Arena!
What Are Infinite Combos?
Amalia Benavides Aguirre | Illustration by Alix Branwyn
In MTG, an infinite combo refers to a combination of cards that create infinite board states and interactions. The most famous one uses Pestermite + Splinter Twin, which gives you an infinite army of faeries since the Pestermite token can untap the original enchanted with Splinter Twin, which can then tap to make a new Pestermite token, and so on.
While there are many of these combos through Magic history, there aren’t many simple 2-card combos on MTG Arena, but I’ll cover the ones I found that happened to draw my attention and rank them based on how easy they are to perform compared to others on the list.
For those that want to get technical, most of these combos aren’t actual “infinite” in a literal sense, they’re just loops that can be repeated an arbitarily large number of times.
With that background out of the way, let's look at the spicy ones you may already know and the ones you probably haven’t thought about until now.
#16. Ob Nixilis, Captive Kingpin + All Will Be One
Technically, you need a third card to deal exactly 1 damage to your opponent, perhaps a Cauldron Familiar trigger or a Spikefield Hazard to your opponent's face. Once you manage that, you can create an infinite combo that deals infinite damage to your opponents that can’t be stopped unless they remove either Ob Nixilis, Captive Kingpin or All Will Be One from play while the combo triggers are on the stack.That said, despite the fact that it looks powerful, getting 9 mana and an enabler to pull it off can be a pain to manage, or almost impossible to pull off. You could definitely still slam it into your Brawl decks and surprise your opponents with it. Also, it’s a decent strategy for slower formats like Explorer.
While you can try to stop the deck, counterspell one of the pieces, or discard them from your opponent’s hand with the likes of Thoughtseize, this is primarily true for many of the combos listed here. As such, I won’t be mentioning that too much going forward, so you’ll have to assume that it's also a given for them.
This list wouldn’t be complete without the infamous Amalia combo.
How it works is very simple: You have to gain life to explore with Amalia Benavides Aguirre, triggering Wildgrowth Walker and creating another infinite interaction that’ll give you infinite life. Technically, you can also mill yourself out this way, but I prefer not to as it has no significant upside.
If you've been careful enough to read both effects, you’ll notice that the combo basically stops when Amalia's power reaches exactly 20, after which they proceed to nuke everything around, other combo enablers included. This usually leaves Amalia in a spot to one-shot your opponents.
#14. Putrid Goblin + First Day of Class + Skirk Prospector
This is one of my favorite combos because it's Pauper playable, as you only need common cards to perform it.
You need to cast First Day of Class or have something in play that puts counters on creatures when they enter the battlefield, like Grumgully, the Generous. I like the instant better as you can perform some sweet lines, like sacrificing Putrid Goblin with Skirk Prospector while holding priority to get extra mana available that you can use to cast First Day of Class in response. This comes in handy if you’re somewhat short on mana.
The +1/+1 counter from First Day of Class and the -1/-1 counter from undying will nullify one another meaning you can sacrifice the Putrid Goblin all over again to essentially get infinite mana in the process.
In Pauper, you often use this mana to deal infinite damage to your opponent with the likes of Flamewave Invoker. In Historic, however, you can replace it with Impact Tremors to have the same effect. If you’re feeling spicy and don’t want a fourth card for the combo, you can replace Skirk Prospector with Altar of Dementia to mill your opponent out.
What I like about this combo is that you can search for your pieces with the likes of Goblin Matron using a goblin core.
This seems great on paper, but the problem lies on the fact that your opponents can always kill your Skirk Prospector in play, or if you’re using Goblin Bombardment instead, they can use Boseiju, Who Endures to remove it. Another thing you have to take into account is that this combo is very click-intensive, so you would have to be fast to not rope yourself while executing it. Also note that an opponent can exile Putrid Goblin in response to the undying trigger with something like Tormod's Crypt to stop your combo. However, you can perform the whole combo at instant speed, so long as you control a Putrid Goblin with no -1/-1 counters and a sacrifice outlet.
#13. Deepfathom Echo + Forensic Researcher + Deeproot Pilgrimage
You’ll need to move into combat to start this combo, and have the Deepfathom Echo become a copy of Forensic Researcher.
The idea here is that two copies of Forensic Researcher untap each other while Deeproot Pilgrimage creates infinite merfolk with hexproof. While you can use other creatures to untap instead of Deepfathom Echo, I personally think this deck is too hard and slow to set up.
#12. Famished Paladin + Sorcerer's Wand + Heliod, Sun-Crowned
This is a cute combo that reminds me a lot of Splinter Twin in the sense that you’ll be tapping and untapping the same creature. You have to give lifelink to the Famished Paladin with Heliod, Sun-Crowned. From there, you must equip your creature with the Sorcerer's Wand and deal 2 damage to your opponent with it by tapping it. Famished Paladin will trigger and untap, so long story short, you’ll gain infinite life and deal endless damage to your opponent.
#11. Channel + Kenrith + Energy Refractor
A trickier combo to pull off is the one that involves Channel, Kenrith, the Returned King, and Energy Refractor. Usually, Channel limits the amount of mana you can make by your life total. You can gain 5 life with Kenrith, but you need a way to filter colorless mana. This is where Energy Refractor comes in handy at turning Channel mana into white mana to gain life, and from there you essentially gain infinite life. With infinite life you can make as much colorless mana as you want with Channel, and filter it into colored mana with Refractor to spend on the rest of Kenrith’s abilities.
One way to break this combo is to deal damage right before they start the combo, after they’ve already reduced their life total enough with Channel. Just enough to prevent them from paying the life they need to get going, or rather enough to just kill them in the process.
It’s worth noting that Chromatic Orrery is another way to “filter” your mana, which will bypass the colorless mana issue.
#10. Polyraptor + Marauding Raptor + Impact Tremors
If you’re into dinosaurs, you’ll love this old but gold combo.
The trick is having both Marauding Raptor and Impact Tremors on the field and playing a Polyraptor after. The Marauding Raptor ability will trigger, dealing damage to the Polyraptor, which will in turn create another token of it again and again to essentially create infinite Polyraptors and deal endless damage to your opponents with Impact Tremors.
Note that while you can kill the Polyraptor in response, you would have to do so with the Marauding Raptor ability on the stack and without a damage spell, otherwise its ability will trigger and you’ll still die.
The cleaner option is just to kill its other buddy, the Marauding Raptor, but dealing with the other big guy is still bad news.
#9. Marauding Blight-Priest + Exquisite Blood
Marauding Blight-Priest is an interesting creature that’ll drain your opponents every time you gain life (yes, again, the lifegain strategy), similar to what Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose accomplishes. Since Exquisite Blood does the opposite effect (gain life whenever your opponent loses life), you end up in yet another infinite combo where you’ll drain your opponent as long as the conditions are triggered and both permanents remain on the battlefield.
You can choose to attack your opponents to deal some damage or just randomly gain life with the likes of Lunarch Veteran to start the chain, but the bottom line is that once the pieces are assembled, you have two choices on how you can start the loop.
A clean answer is just to play cards like Roiling Vortex or Rampaging Ferocidon to prevent them from gaining life in the first place.
#8. Queza, Augur of Agonies + Benthic Biomancer + Heliod, Sun-Crowned
Heliod, Sun-Crowned is one of the main creatures responsible for enabling infinite combos. In this deck’s case, all you have to do is draw a card (or give something lifelink with Heliod) and gain life. This will trigger the god’s ability, and you’ll target the Benthic Biomancer to draw a card and repeat the cycle.
This can create infinite card draw and near-infinite lifegain; however, unlike other combo decks that can't stop on their own, you can choose to target Queza or other creatures instead of Biomancer to end the combo.
Again, the best way to stop this strategy should be using cards that stop lifegain, but counters and removal also work as they do with most creature-based combos. Also note that this combo is limited by the number of cards you’re able to draw. If your opponent’s life total exceeds the number of cards in your deck, you have to finish them off through other means (maybe the giant Benthic Biomancer you made).
#7. Yawgmoth, Thran Physician + Nest of Scarabs + Young Wolf
This is very similar to the Goblin Combo involving Putrid Goblin and First Day of Class, but instead you use Yawgmoth, Thran Physician + Nest of Scarabs. Young Wolf is another undying creature that comes back with a +1/+1 counter, which cancels out the -1/-1 counter from Yawgmoth. You’ll have to alternate between sacrificing the Insect token from Nest of Scarabs to reset the counter on Young Wolf, and sacrificing Young Wolf to put a -1/-1 counter on an Insect token.. This creates near-infinite card draw , infinite draw triggers, and near-infinite creature tokens.
If you pair it with Blood Artist, you can also access near-infinite life drain and basically ignore the life payment requirement for Yawgmoth’s ability.
This also shares many of the weaknesses of the Goblin Combo, including being vulnerable to graveyard hate. The advantage of it, though, is that green gives these decks access to Chord of Calling, which can result in an instant-speed win with the right set-up.
Hapatra, Vizier of Poisons also works instead of Nest of Scarabs.
Unlike other decks, this one is somewhat skill-intensive, as you can incorrectly choose the wrong creature to sacrifice and stop your combo without knowing it.
#6. Chatterfang, Squirrel General + Pitiless Plunderer
This combo requires a creature to die to create a Treasure token from Pitiless Plunderer’s ability. With Chatterfang, Squirrel General in play, you’ll also make a squirrel token. From there, you can use the mana from the Treasure to sacrifice the squirrel with Chatterfang’s ability targeting some other creature, and if you hold priority, you can essentially give -X/-X infinitely to any creature and create infinite death and enter-the-battlefield triggers.
A cleaner solution is to throw in a Goblin Bombardment and go from there to deal infinite damage and get infinite mana from the Treasure tokens.
#5. Scurry Oak + Rosie Cotton of South Lane
Despite its fragile appearance, Rosie Cotton of South Lane can enable some sick infinite combos when in play. In fact, as long as you have either Scurry Oak or Herd Baloth in play, Rosie’s enter the battlefield ability can start the infinite loop by putting the counters on either of those creatures, which in turn will create more tokens for Rosie to put another +1/+1 on them. The result is an infinitely wide army and one massive creature. You could also give them haste with First Day of Class but you probably won’t need it.
#4. Scurry Oak + Soul Warden + Heliod, Sun-Crowned
This is one of the most popular combos on Arena, especially in Historic decks that run Collected Company. The plan is to play a creature with all three of the above in play, or play at least Scurry Oak with Soul Warden and Heliod, Sun-Crowned already on the field. You’ll gain 1 life from the Soul Warden ability, triggering Heliod, Sun-Crowned’s ability to put a counter on the Scurry Oak. You’ll create a creature token with the treefolk’s abilityand essentially start the loop again, ending up with infinite life, infinite tokens, and an infinite power/toughness creature.
While sticking a Heliod, Sun-Crowned might not be a problem since it’s indestructible, the other two creatures are somewhat fragile considering the removal available in Historic. Even if you start the combo, the opponent can finish it by removing the treefolk or the creature that you may be using to gain life.
That said, this deck runs Collected Company precisely to bypass this and catch your opponents off guard during the end step or at any time defenses are down.
Finally, it’s worth mentioning that while Scurry Oak and Heliod, Sun-Crowned are irreplaceable for this combo to work, you can swap Soul Warden for similar options like Lunarch Veteran.
#3. Woe Strider + Samwise Gamgee + Cauldron Familiar
One of the most popular combos on Arena is the one that involves Cauldron Familiar and Samwise Gamgee. For as long as they stay in play, all you need is a sac outlet like Woe Strider to send the cat to the graveyard, which will sacrifice the Food token, drain your opponent when it enters the battlefield, and create a Food token with the little halfling ability.
Rinse and repeat this interaction, and you’ll get infinite enter the battlefield triggers and endless drain.
While the play pattern is pretty much straightforward, be mindful of your clicks and don’t sacrifice your Samwise instead of the Cauldron Familiar by mistake.
#2. Mythweaver Poq + Ashaya, Soul of the Wild
MTG Arena has some weird decks, unique cards, and interactions. This is exactly the case for Mythweaver Poq. With Ashaya, Soul of the Wild in play, you can play a Mythweaver Poq, and a copy of it will enter the battlefield thanks to its own ability since now it's a land. The trick here is that the copy is NOT a token, but rather a new game piece (spawned by conjure, a digital-only mechanic that's unique to MTGA), and therefore it’ll trigger Mythweaver Poq’s ability again and again until MTG Arena crashes or you casually win the game with the likes of Impact Tremors. The only way to stop this from continuing is for your opponents to concede, or if Ashaya dies. Otherwise, chances are that the game will end up in a draw if there are no benefits from infinite enter-the-battlefield triggers, so be aware of that.
Still, if you like chaos and want to test your CPU and GPU, go for it.
#1. Niv-Mizzet, Parun + Curiosity
This is one of the easiest combos to set up by far, you just need to resolve your Niv-Mizzet, Parun, and enchant it with Curiosity to draw your library and kill your opponent. The problem is that you’re limited to the number of cards you have in your library, so you’ll usually deal between 30-40 damage, and there are many decks on Arena capable of getting well above that life total. Still, in theory, it does generate infinite card draws and unlimited card draw triggers with just two cards, so it's a very well-deserved #1 spot.
Tracking Infinite Combo Damage
While most of the time you have to rely on Google to find out how a combo works, one cool thing about Arena Tutor is its ability to track match progress.
In the Match Tab, all you have to do is go to the replay section; from there, you can access the match log.
This is useful in case you want to understand how an opposing combo works in more detail or to brag about how you did infinite damage to one of your opponents.
This is the tip of what Arena Tutor can offer, aside from other valuable utilities like collection tracking and Draft support, so I recommend checking it out. The best part is that it’s FREE!
Wrap Up
Ashaya, Soul of the Wild | Illustration by Chase Stone
While you may already know some of these combos, I hope I showed you some that caught your attention to try out soon. What do you think? Were there any others I missed that you know about? Let us know in the comments or at the Draftsim Discord!
As always, thank you so much for reading, and if you want to stay up to date with our articles, remember to follow us on social media to never miss a thing.
Take care, and we’ll meet again for another article soon!
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