The 15 Best Esper Combos in Magic Ranked

Time Sieve | Illustration by Franz Vohwinkel

Esper is widely regarded as one of the best color combinations in cEDH since it has that killer combination of black and blue for tutors and Rhystic Study, not to mention access to killer interaction and combo pieces.

But there’s no reason that Esper combos need to be restricted to cEDH; there are plenty of multi-card infinites that are appropriate for Bracket 3 and 4. If you want to experiment with combos to improve your game play or increase your deck’s bracket level, this is the article for you!

What Are Esper Combos in MTG?

Marneus Calgar | Illustration by Slawomir Maniak

Esper combos have an Esper color identity (), meaning that they deploy black, white, and blue cards; while some might use colorless cards or a variation uses fewer colors, the baseline combo always has all three. Many Esper combos revolve around artifacts and flicker shenanigans. Infinite turns are a common payout.

I’m judging these combos primarily on their value in Commander decks. The best combos have a few things in common: They use cheap pieces, they use flexible pieces (either because they fit into multiple combos or because they function independently of the combo), and they use few pieces. Combos utilizing your commander get bonus points for ease of assembly; a+b combos that involve your commander are some of the most potent in the format.

#15. Untouchable Identity

Cards: Phage the Untouchable + Fractured Identity

Prerequisites: You control Phage the Untouchable and have the mana to cast Fractured Identity.

Result: The pod withers before your eyes.

Variations: None.

I dare anybody who calls combos boring not to find this one funny! It might be the most convoluted instant win in the game. A tip to make this easier: If you can cast Fractured Identity at instant speed, you can use a reanimation spell on Phage and respond to the enters trigger, killing the table before your trigger resolves.

#14. Inexorable Sundering

Cards: Kaya the Inexorable + Karn's Temporal Sundering

Prerequisites: You’ve activated Kaya’s ultimate and have the emblem (you don’t need to control Kaya itself).

Result: Infinite turns.

Variations: None.

This combo probably has the highest bar to clear on the list since you need to have activated a planeswalker’s ultimate ability. Kaya comes down with high enough loyalty that you need only proliferate twice to get to the ultimate, so it’s not wholly unreasonable; I could see this working in a dedicated planeswalker shell.

#13. Merieke Ri Berit + Intruder Alarm

Cards: Merieke Ri Berit + Intruder Alarm

Prerequisites: You control both creatures and Merieke isn’t summoning sick.

Result: Creatures other than Merieke Ri Berit are outlawed.

Variations: None to keep it truly infinite, but Opposition and a fat board of creatures allows you to control opposing board states pretty well.

Though it doesn’t end the game on the spot, this combo takes the cake for the most frustrating one on the list—actually, that might be because it doesn’t win on the spot. This combo works best in control decks to buy time until they find a different Intruder Alarm combo to win the game with.

#12. Journal of Endless Times

Cards: Time Sieve + Tamiyo's Journal + Academy Manufactor + Mondrak, Glory Dominus

Prerequisites: You control all four permanents and at least five artifacts.

Result: Infinite turns

Variations: Anything that produces a Food, Clue, or Treasure token with regularity can replace Tamiyo's Journal; any token doubler works instead of Mondrak.

While infinitely less elegant than Tivit + Time Sieve, this combo gives various artifact-token based decks a bit of spice to end the game with. While there are many cards you could use in place of Tamiyo's Journal, I appreciate turning a tutor into a combo piece; using Journal to find the cards that make Journal your wincon feels very clever. This combo is also a great example of using many combo pieces with general utility; none of these look out of place in your average Clue deck.

#11. Hashaton and the Tortured Drake

Cards: Hashaton, Scarab's Fist + Tortured Existence + Peregrine Drake

Prerequisites: You have at least one additional creature in your hand or graveyard, control Hashaton and Tortured Existence, and have Peregrine Drake in your hand or graveyard.

Result: Infinite discard triggers, infinite enters triggers, infinite tapped tokens.

Variations: Any creature that untaps lands capable of producing works in place of Peregrine Drake, with Palinchron and Great Whale being the most promising choices. Those cards also produce infinite mana.

This combo provides a fine outlet for Hashaton’s discard ability. I appreciate that it utilizes cards like Peregrine Drake that are already rife with combo potential, making it easy to construct a combo shell around a handful of cards with many avenues to success.

#10. Galvanic Reservoir

Cards: Sydri, Galvanic Genius + Aetherflux Reservoir

Prerequisites: You control both permanents and have at least 51 life.

Result: Delete the rest of your pod.

Variations: None

I hesitate to call this combo amazing given how hard enabling Aetherflux Reservoir can be, but it’s certainly an effective way to close out the game without resorting to playing Sensei's Divining Top as an infinite loop.

#9. Herder of Endless Time

Cards: Wernog, Rider's Chaplain + Time Sieve + Academy Manufactor + Soulherder

Prerequisites: You control all four permanents.

Result: Infinite turns

Variations: Any card that flickers Wernog (Will the Wise) each turn can replace Soulherder, with Thassa, Deep-Dwelling and Teleportation Circle looking like the most promising options.

It takes very little effort to make the combination of Academy Manufactor and Time Sieve go infinite, which makes them a great package to build a combo deck around.

Notably, if you cut the Time Sieve, you have a casual value engine that gives you a huge advantage if infinite combos are above your power level.

#8. Graceful Oracles

Cards: Ad Nauseam + Thassa's Oracle + Angel's Grace

Prerequisites: You have Angel's Grace and Ad Nauseam in hand, with the mana to cast both and a Thassa's Oracle.

Result: You win.

Variations: Anything that prevents you from losing the game to having 0 or less life works instead of Angel's Grace; any card that lets you win from an empty library works instead of Thassa's Oracle, such as Laboratory Maniac.

Would it really be a list of combos without something that won off Thassa's Oracle? Though infinitely less efficient than Thoracle plus Demonic Consultation, this combo is much friendlier. I can see it working in pods that want to explore high-powered Commander without going fully into cEDH territory.

#7. Kraken Altar

Cards: Marneus Calgar + Nadir Kraken + Ashnod's Altar

Prerequisites: You control all three permanents and can draw a card.

Result: Draw your deck; for each card in your deck, produce 1 colorless mana, create one Tentacle token, and add a +1/+1 counter on Nadir Kraken.

Variations: You can use token doublers like Mondrak, Glory Dominus and Anointed Procession instead of Nadir Kraken; these loops rely on Marneus Calgar’s activated ability to produce tokens to feed to the Altar.

This core combo and its variants are pretty narrow given that you aren’t likely to see them outside of Marneus Calgar EDH decks, but they provide an immense power boost to that already-powerful Esper commander. I appreciate how all the cards but Ashnod's Altar are reasonable inclusions in the core deck, making it easy to alter the power level by swapping a few cards.

#6. Drogskol Apocalypse

Cards: Drogskol Reaver + Sheoldred, the Apocalypse

Prerequisites: You can draw a card while controlling both permanents.

Result: You draw your deck.

Variations: Any card that gains life when you draw a card works in place of Sheoldred, like Queza, Augur of Agonies and Shabraz, the Skyshark. You can substitute any card that makes you draw when you gain life for Drogskol Reaver, including Lich's Mastery and Marina Vendrell's Grimoire, to name a few.

This combo’s strength lies in two things: Firstly, it just ends the game, which is always nice, but if your deck capitalizes on these options, you can play with a lot of redundancy. A deck that already wants Sheoldred and Drogskol Reaver can play multiple variations to assemble the combo a little easier.

Be warned: Neither ability is a “may,” so you'll need a way to sacrifice a creature or stop the loop so you don't die to your own triggers.

#5. Lurrus and Its Kitten

Cards: Lurrus of the Dream-Den + Displacer Kitten + Lotus Petal

Prerequisites: You control all three permanents and haven’t cast a spell with Lurrus’s ability.

Result: Infinite mana, infinite storm, infinite leaves/enters the battlefield triggers.

Variations: Lion's Eye Diamond works in place of Lotus Petal.

The biggest knock against this combo is that it doesn’t work with Lurrus of the Dream-Den as a companion since Displacer Kitten is irreplaceable. But it packs quite the punch in a deck capable of assembling the pieces, especially with the LED variant packing the potential for other combos like Bomberman.

#4. Thopter Combo

Cards: Thopter Foundry + Sword of the Meek

Prerequisites: You control both permanents or you control Thopter Foundry and a nontoken artifact to sacrifice while Sword of the Meek is in your graveyard.

Result: You gain 1 life and create a Thopter for each mana you can produce, many enters/leaves the battlefield triggers, many sacrifice triggers.

Variations: There are many ways to elevate this core combo into an infinite, game-ending one. Playing Ashnod's Altar, Krark-Clan Ironworks, or Urza, Lord High Artificer generates infinite mana in addition to making infinite Thopters. Time Sieve generates infinite turns if you have at least 5 mana.

This combo has seen more than a little Constructed play and still crops up in artifact-focused Cubes now and again. While the base combo can be rather slow in modern Magic, we have more than a few ways to make an infinite loop that hangs with the best of them while providing a fleet of flying attackers or blockers to buy us time to find the combo line.

#3. Aminatou, the Guardian

Cards: Aminatou, the Fateshifter + Felidar Guardian

Prerequisites: You control both permanents and can activate Aminatou (or you have Felidar Guardian in hand, and you can cast it while controlling Aminatou).

Results: Infinite leaves/enters the battlefield triggers.

Variations: You can use Spark Double instead of Felidar Guardian. If you add Oath of Teferi to either combo, you get infinite mana in addition to the battlefield triggers.

This combo thrives in decks with Aminatou, the Fateshifter in the command zone since it’s so easy to assemble and works perfectly within the deck’s flicker-centric game plan. It requires an additional outlet to win; Altar of the Brood and Corpse Knight are two of my favorites.

#2. Phyrexian Hegemon

Cards: Sharuum the Hegemon + Phyrexian Metamorph

Prerequisites: You can cast Sharuum and have Metamorph in the graveyard, or you control Sharuum and can cast Metamorph.

Result: Infinite death triggers, infinite enters/leaves the battlefield/leaves the graveyard triggers.

Variations: Any artifact that copies Sharuum while triggering the legend rule works; Sculpting Steel and Machine God's Effigy are excellent here.

Sharuum plus Sculpting Steel is one of the most classic EDH combos of all time. You can easily turn it into a win with Disciple of the Vault or any of the many cards like Marionette Apprentice or Pactdoll Terror that ping your opponents whenever an artifact enters or dies.

#1. Tivit, Seller of Time

Cards: Tivit, Seller of Secrets + Time Sieve

Prerequisites: You have at least five artifacts other than the two combo cards and Tivit isn’t summoning sick.

Result: Near-infinite turns

Variations: None

Arguably one of the most famous Esper combos in EDH, this one crops up in almost every Tivit, Seller of Secrets EDH deck and is largely responsible for Tivit’s prominence in cEDH. Since you always have access to Tivit in the command zone, it’s a one-card, game ending combo that requires very little setup.

Wrap Up

Aminatou, the Fateshifter | Illustration by Seb McKinnon

Esper combos are perfect for players who enjoy tinkering with artifacts and taking more extra turns than the Bracket system can track. Whether you want to flicker permanents or sacrifice them, there should be something for your next EDH brew.

What’s your favorite Esper combo? Did I miss something niche? Let me know in the comments below or on the Draftsim Discord!

Stay safe, and thanks for reading!