The 25 Best Izzet Combos in Magic Ranked

Niv-Mizzet, Parun | Illustration by Svetlin Velinov

While your average Commander player tends to be anti-combo, or at least against infinite combos, they’re an integral part of this Magic format and a perfectly legitimate means of ending games. The structure of Commander even encourages combos as the ideal win condition as they remove all three opponents in one fell swoop with as little effort as possible.

Izzet () is always a combo-happy color identity. While every MTG color combination has their combos, Izzet decks just seem to be well-suited to it. Perhaps it’s the mad scientist flavor that pervades the color pair thanks to the worldbuilding of Ravnica, maybe it’s the plethora of Izzet cards that say “copy target spell.” Whatever causes it, Izzet has plenty of combos worth learning about.

What Are Izzet Combos in MTG?

Cyclonic Rift | Illustration by Chris Rahn

Izzet combos bring together two or more cards that fall within the Izzet color identity to produce an effect greater than the sum of their parts. They don’t need to go infinite, though many of the stronger ones do since infinite often equals a win. Most of these combos center on instants and sorceries, as one would expect of the Izzet, and produce appropriately spellslinger-y results: infinite spell copies, infinite damage, etc. Each combo utilizes red and blue cards, and sometimes colorless cards.

I ranked these based on three criteria: The number of components, their cost, and their versatility.

The more components a combo has, the harder you must work to pull it off. Two-card combos are king, especially when your Izzet commander is a combo piece because you always have access to it.

Cost matters for a similar reason; combos requiring 10 or more mana to pull off can be just as inconsistent as a Rube Goldberg machine with 12 different pieces and astrological conditions. Combos that don’t need to be assembled in one turn ease this burden; for example, Thousand-Year Storm combos rarely require you to play the enchantment the turn you combo off.

Lastly, the versatility of combo components considers a few things. Combo cards are versatile if they function independently of the combo, like Dualcaster Mage, or enable multiple combos, like Underworld Breach. Combos with many variations are also versatile because having five versions of one effect simplifies assembly.

#25. Copystorm

Cards: Thousand-Year Storm + Reiterate

Prerequisites: You control the enchantment, have an additional instant or sorcery, and can cast that card and Reiterate.

Result: Infinite magecraft triggers.

Variations: Any Fork works instead of Reiterate; Crackling Spellslinger can replace Thousand-Year Storm.

This combo should only crop up because you were already using these cards as a win condition or elements of other combos. Neither of these cards are worth playing exclusively for this combo, but it can be handy to know about.

#24. Perpetual Thopter Machines

Cards: Gonti's Aether Heart + Decoction Module + Whirler Virtuoso

Prerequisites: You control all three permanents and have 3 energy or an additional artifact you can play.

Result: Infinite creature tokens, infinite creature/artifact ETB.

Variations: None.

This combo takes cards like Impact Tremors and All Will Be One straight to the top with a quick win, though it also benefits from haste enablers like Brudiclad, Telchor Engineer. Justifying all these energy cards is the tricky part; at the very least, your Dr. Madison Li deck loves these upgrades.

#23. Cyclonic Rift At Home

Cards: Dualcaster Mage + Baral's Expertise

Prerequisites: You can cast both cards.

Result: Bounce all artifacts and creatures your opponents control, infinite ETB/LTB, infinite storm, infinite magecraft triggers.

Variations: You can use Lutri, the Spellchaser (outside Commander) instead of Dualcaster Mage.

I came across this combo in the Arena Cube a year or two ago and I think it has legs in Commander, specifically as a reasonable Cyclonic Rift impersonation. This might be a more friendly control element than the Rift itself depending on how your table feels about the card.

#22. Ten Inspiring Aliens

Cards: The Tenth Doctor + Rousing Refrain

Prerequisites: You control The Tenth Doctor, can cast Rousing Refrain, and an opponent has seven or more cards in hand.

Result: Infinite storm, infinite spell-cast triggers.

Variations: None.

This combo benefits greatly from cast-from-exile payoffs; this becomes a win with Flaming Tyrannosaurus or Passionate Archaeologist. If one of your opponents has more than eight cards, perhaps because of forced-draw effects like Words of Wisdom, you make infinite mana. I doubt you’ll ever add The Tenth Doctor to the 99 for this combo, but it juices up that Tenth Doctor and Rose Tyler deck you brewed.

#21. Astral Reflections

Cards: Astral Dragon + Cursed Mirror

Prerequisites: You control Cursed Mirror and can cast Astral Dragon.

Result: Infinite hasty 3/3 copies of Astral Dragon.

Variations: None.

This is one of the more mana-intensive combos on the list, but you can’t deny its effectiveness. It’s practically Splinter Twin if you don’t mind paying several times more mana. These are fine value cards in their own right, so I could see slipping this into an Izzet artifacts deck.

#20. Cheater’s Delight

Cards: Tavern Scoundrel + Frenetic Efreet

Prerequisites: You must control both permanents.

Result: Infinite Treasure.

Variations: None.

Any Zndrsplt + Okaun Commander deck should run this combo to give Frenetic Efreet a role if the commanders get locked behind a Drannith Magistrate or similar effect. I doubt you should run it outside of that deck, but two-card infinities are always a little playable.

#19. Chaos Ignition

Cards: Okaun, Eye of Chaos + Frenetic Efreet + Chandra's Ignition

Prerequisites: You control both creatures and can cast Chandra's Ignition.

Result: Nuclear annihilation.

Variations: Fling works instead of Chandra's Ignition for infinite damage to one target.

This biggest drawback to this combo—in fact, to pretty much any combo involving Frenetic Efreet—is the narrow scope. You basically won’t play this without Okaun/Zndrsplt in the command zone unless you slide it into a Blim, Comedic Genius deck. Flipping coins is too narrow of an archetype to call this versatile, though it warrants a mention if only so you know what your opponents are capable of.

#18. Maniacal Wisdom

Cards: Zndrsplt, Eye of Wisdom + Frenetic Efreet + Laboratory Maniac

Prerequisites: You control all three permanents.

Result: Draw your library, win the game.

Variations: You can use Jace, Wielder of Mysteries instead of Laboratory Maniac.

While many LabMan combos can sub in Thassa's Oracle, this one struggles with that. You can, if you don’t mind resolving a literally unknowable number of coin flips and have a way to give flash like Borne Upon a Wind, but it’s easier to use the Innistrad classic.

#17. Minting Treasure

Cards: Brass's Bounty + Mechanized Production

Prerequisites: Brass's Bounty creates eight or more Treasure and you can cast both it and Mechanized Production (if you want to cast MP with the Treasure, you need to make 12).

Result: You win the game at the beginning of your next upkeep.

Variations: None.

Attaching Mechanized Production to Treasure feels like cheating given how easily you can make them, but that may be a reflection of how ludicrously broken Treasure production is. This combo epitomizes a slow, face up win condition; make sure you can survive the upcoming turn cycle before assembling it.

#16. Altar of the Locusts

Cards: The Locust God + Skullclamp + Ashnod's Altar

Prerequisites: You control all three permanents and an Insect, and you have 1 mana.

Result: Draw your deck, make oodles of colorless mana and Insect tokens.

Variations: Phyrexian Altar can replace Ashnod’s, but you lose the excess mana.

This combo’s fairly narrow since you won’t assemble it outside of The Locust God EDH decks, but those decks greatly benefit from it. Both pieces work well in the context of that commander. Skullclamp is the best card in those lists and Ashnod's Altar plays well with wheels and token generation.

#15. Rite of the Dualcasters

Cards: Dualcaster Mage + Rite of Replication

Prerequisites: You have the mana to cast both cards.

Result: Infinite copies of Dualcaster Mage, infinite magecraft triggers, infinite ETB.

Variations: You can use Cackling Counterpart or Quasiduplicate instead of Rite of Replication, though those cards offer less individually.

This combo riffs on the mono-red infinite of Dualcaster Mage and Molten Duplication. Though it lacks that combo’s lethality, that makes it friendlier for lower-powered pods. I like slipping combos like these (slow and clunky) into lower-powered decks to make sure there’s a way to break through massive board stalls.

#14. Sage of the Locusts

Cards: The Locust God + Sage of the Falls

Prerequisites: You control The Locust God and can cast Sage of the Falls.

Result: Draw your deck, create a number of 1/1 fliers equal to the number of cards in your deck.

Variations: If you can make your Insect tokens into artifacts, perhaps with Mycosynth Lattice, you can use Transplant Theorist.

The word “may” on Sage of the Falls does a lot of heavy lifting to prevent this combo from killing you. The Sage isn’t the most impressive card, but it does so much with this specific commander that I can’t imagine playing the deck without it.

#13. A Tale of Two Mages

Cards: Birgi, God of Storytelling + Dualcaster Mage + Snap

Prerequisites: You control Birgi and can cast Dualcaster Mage and Snap.

Result: Infinite ETB/leave-the-battlefield triggers, infinite storm.

Variations: Cards that reduce Dualcaster Mage’s cost like Ruby Medallion can replace Birgi.

EDH players hate this one simple trick that ensures Aetherflux Reservoir or Grapeshot blow the table away. Snap works with a handful of other cards you might find in storm decks, namely High Tide and other mana doublers.

#12. For My Next Copy…

Cards: Reverberate + Twincast

Prerequisites: You can cast both spells.

Result: Infinite magecraft triggers.

Variations: Any Fork effect can replace either of these cards; it must be templated “copy target spell” rather than “copy the next spell you cast.

Though efficient, this combo’s held back by the small number of cards that it enables. It only works with magecraft, so you can’t rely on your Thermo-Alchemist and whatnot. If you already play Storm-Kiln Artist, Archmage Emeritus, and the like, you should consider running this; heck, your spellslinger deck might have it already!

#11. An Artist’s Storm

Cards: Storm-Kiln Artist + Thousand-Year Storm + Narset's Reversal

Prerequisites: You control both permanents, can cast Reversal, and can cast another instant or sorcery.

Result: Infinite Treasure, infinite copies of instants and sorceries on the stack, infinite magecraft triggers, and infinitely large Storm-Kiln Artist.

Variations: Turnabout and Brass's Bounty can replace Storm-Kiln Artist as mana sources; Unsubstantiate can replace Narset's Reversal, though you don’t get infinite copies.

This combo just takes some random pieces commonly found in spellslinger decks and combines them for a quick win. Thousand-Year Storm is the greatest outlier since you don’t play it in every spellslinger list, though it provides a convincing win condition by turning random burn spells into a lethal finisher.

#10. Enthusiastic Forgework

Cards: Mystic Forge + Sensei's Divining Top + Enthusiastic Mechanaut

Prerequisites: You need to control all three permanents.

Result: Draw your deck, storm count, cast triggers, and ETB triggers equal to the number of cards in your library.

Variations: Any Future Sight effect can replace Mystic Forge, with The Reality Chip being a notable replacement for artifact synergies. You can replace Enthusiastic Mechanaut with any cost reducer that makes the Top cost 0.

This simple combo boasts incredible versatility since you have so much redundancy for two-thirds of the combo. While Sensei's Divining Top lacks a replacement, you can tutor it easily with Whir of Invention, Urza's Saga, and plenty of other artifact tutors. Aetherflux Reservoir is among the best win conditions for this combo since it works with all your artifact synergies.

#9. Curiosity Stole the Game

Cards: Glint-Horn Buccaneer + Curiosity

Prerequisites: Curiosity must enchant Glint-Horn Buccaneer, you have more than seven cards in your hand, and it’s the clean-up step.

Result: Draw your deck, near-infinite damage, win if your library has more cards than the highest opposing life total.

Variations: You can use Ophidian Eye or Tandem Lookout instead of Curiosity.

This combo manipulates the rules of Magic to pull off an unexpected win while making you look quite smart (at least, I do when I pull it off). I appreciate that this combo gives Glint-Horn Buccaneer a win condition that isn’t contingent on the command zone.

#8. Replicating Terrors

Cards: Terror of the Peaks + Rite of Replication

Prerequisites: You control Terror of the Peaks and have the mana to cast a kicked Rite of Replication.

Result: Immense damage.

Variations: You can combine Quasiduplicate and token doublers for a similar effect, though that adds many cards to the combo.

This combo may not be infinite, but it generates enough damage that infinity’s far from necessary. You get a completely average 125 damage to spread at your leisure. By the time you assemble this combo, that should be plenty to destroy all your opponents and their best creatures and their pet planeswalker and their desire to see you shuffle up and play again. Well, this combo’s not that oppressive given the high cost of the cards involved, but it spices things up.

#7. Channel the Underworld

Cards: Underworld Breach + Frantic Search + Dragon's Rage Channeler

Prerequisites: You control Breach and Channeler and can cast Frantic Search. You can start with Frantic Search and Dragon's Rage Channeler in your graveyard, but you need an appropriate number of cards in the graveyard to escape them.

Result: Draw your deck, high storm count, cast triggers, discard triggers.

Variations: You can replace Dragon's Rage Channeler with Drowned Secrets or Mesmeric Orb for additional mill or Thousand-Year Storm and Bonus Round to copy Frantic Search.

Like many Underworld Breach combos, this one wants to culminate with Thassa's Oracle or Laboratory Maniac. A benefit to this over the LED/Brain Freeze combo is the noticeable lack of Reserved List cards, plus Frantic Search has a deeper pool of combos to draw on than Brain Freeze.

#6. Ghosts of Spells Past

Cards: Dualcaster Mage + Ghostly Flicker

Prerequisites: You can cast Dualcaster Mage and Ghostly Flicker.

Result: Infinite magecraft triggers, infinite mana from lands and artifacts you control, infinite ETB/LTB triggers.

Variations: You can use Displace instead of Ghostly Flicker, though it narrows your options.

This combo’s greatest strength lies in its versatility. It wins in so many different ways; feeding infinite mana into Crackle with Power, triggering Impact Tremors over and over, burning your opponent out with Ral, Storm Conduit… whatever flavor of Izzet you’re running, this combo fits into it.

#5. It’s Basically Splinter Twin

Cards: Splinter Twin + Deceiver Exarch

Prerequisites: Deceiver Exarch cannot have summoning sickness and you need the mana to cast Splinter Twin.

Result: Infinite hasty tokens, infinite creature ETBs.

Variations: Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker can replace Twin. Any creature that untaps a creature when it enters can replace Exarch; Pestermite’s the classic choice, but Zealous Conscripts, Hyrax Tower Scout, and Corridor Monitor also work. You can also use Intruder Alarm and any creature.

Perhaps the most famous Izzet combo and among the most iconic in all of Magic, Splinter Twin made a name for itself in Modern and Cube. You don’t see it as often in Commander, but it plays well with any deck that has creatures like Terror of the Peaks and Overlord of the Floodpits that are worth copying.

#4. Wild-West-o’-Wisps

Cards: Stella Lee, Wild Card + Cerulean Wisps

Prerequisites: You must have cast two additional spells before Cerulean Wisps and Stella Lee must not have summoning sickness.

Result: Draw you deck, near-infinite magecraft triggers

Variations: Any card that untaps Stella Lee can replace Cerulean Wisps; Twisted Fealty gets bonus points for killing your opponents with the role token.

I love seeing new combo commanders, so Stella Lee, Wild Card has been a personal favorite. I can’t resist such a simple, a+b combo out of the command zone, especially when it comes attached to a card advantage powerhouse like this.

#3. Underworld Diamonds

Cards: Underworld Breach + Lion's Eye Diamond + Brain Freeze

Prerequisites: You control Breach, Lion's Eye Diamond, have Brain Freeze in your hand or graveyard, and have three or more cards in your hand or graveyard.

Result: Infinite self-mill, almost infinite mill, storm count, and colored mana.

Variations: Lotus Petal works instead of the Diamond, but you need at least six other cards in your graveyard.

One of the most infamous cEDH combos, this loop often employs Thassa's Oracle for a neat finish. If you want a less detested win condition, I recommend cards like Ral, Storm Conduit and Guttersnipe.

#2. Partners in Piracy

Cards: Malcolm, Keen-Eyed Navigator + Glint-Horn Buccaneer

Prerequisites: You control both creatures, Glint-Horn Buccaneer is attacking, and you have and at least one card in hand.

Result: Near-infinite damage, colored mana, and Treasure, draw your deck, win if your deck has more cards than the highest opposing life total.

Variations: None.

Like many of the stronger combos in cEDH, this one largely benefits from having half the combo in the command zone. Since you always have access to Malcolm, you just need to draw the Buccaneer—or one of the many cards that tutor for it, like Gamble and Recruiter of the Guard. This combo also benefits from Malcolm just being a good, cheap commander that generates mana.

#1. Curiosity Killed the Izzet

Cards: Niv-Mizzet, Parun + Curiosity

Prerequisites: Curiosity must enchant Niv-Mizzet, Parun.

Result: Draw your deck, near-infinite damage.

Variations: Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind can replace Parun. Anything that lets you draw a card when you deal damage can replace Curiosity. Common replacements include:

• Tandem Lookout,
• Ophidian Eye,
• Niv-Mizzet, Visionary,
• Body of Knowledge (though you just draw your deck with this one, no extra damage).

This combo elevates Izzet’s strongest commander into a competitive masterpiece. There’s nothing fair about this before we factor in these easy to assemble and enable combos. If you want to keep the combo without looking too threatening at mid-power pods, I recommend using the more expensive combo cards.

Wrap Up

Twincast | Illustration by Christopher Moeller

The mad Izzet scientists cook up all kinds of wild combos to end the game in a flash—hopefully without taking you with them. Whether you go in for infinite mana, tons of token copies, or endless magecraft triggers, there’s a little something for every Izzet player here.

What’s your favorite Izzet combo? What criteria do you consider to be the most important when adding combos to your decks? Let me know in the comments below or on the Draftsim Discord!

Stay safe and keeping comboing!