New Duskmourn Combo ONE-SHOTS in Multiple Formats

Last updated on September 19, 2024

Fear of Missing Out – Illustrationn by Cacho Rubione

Duskmourn‘s release brings a powerful and cheap new infinite combo into Magic's Standard, Modern, and Pioneer formats with Fear of Missing Out. The combo works similarly to the classic Splinter Twin combo and has the potential to kill opponents in just 2 turns!

The core of the combo is copying Fear of Missing Out with delirium active using a hasty copier like Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker in Modern, Reflection of Kiki-Jiki in Pioneer, or the new The Jolly Balloon Man going into Standard from Duskmourn.

The combo can even be deployed as early as turn 4 in Modern, if you have any turn 1 ramp, like Skirk Prospector, Strike it Rich, or Goldhound. The extra pip allows you to deploy Kiki-Jiki a turn earlier, and a theoretical turn 3 kill is possible with Infernal Plunge and a 1-drop creature.

Brewing The Combo in Standard

There are plenty of ways to go about throwing this combo together in Pioneer or Modern, but I only see one real method of getting down and dirty with Fear of Missing Out in Standard, and that's by warping Boros Aggro to our needs.

This gives us two things. First is a tried and true aggro shell that can reliably deploy damage-dealing and removal-soaking creatures early on, and second, it fits in with the natural mana curve and strategy of the combo.

The general strategy will always be to have a strong and aggressive start, dealing 5-10 damage throughout a few turns and filling our graveyard with at least a creature and one other card type. Then, we can deploy Fear of Missing Out, discard a third type, and then finally discard our fourth with the ETB effect of the clone made by The Jolly Balloon Man.

Mishra's Command is key here. It offers a discard outlet and can also pump Fear of Missing Out to get a bit of extra damage alongside Warleader's Call. The buffs won't be copied, but it will often be enough to help push through if you've managed to deal damage earlier in the game.

Just How Good Will This Combo Be?

Splinter Twin – Illustration by Goran Josic

It's hard to predict how good this combo will be in Standard. There isn't a free copying effect, so you're limited to however many times you can active The Jolly Balloon Man. However, the combo may go well in pre-existing red aggro decks that can both utilize Fear of Missing Out as a standard two-drop, as well as The Jolly Balloon Man as a way to keep up the pressure, with the combo being a non-infinite way of dumping mana into a kill.

For Pioneer and Modern, it's a different story.

Pioneer has the slower of the infinite combo with Reflection of Kiki-Jiki, requiring us to wait for the full 3 turns to transform. That's a long time to wait and display our intent, but there's no need to play Fear of Missing Out before then, so we could operate under the guise of being another red-based aggro or midrange list before surprising out an opponent.

Modern has progressed a lot since the days of Splinter Twin, and it's hard to tell if the deck will have enough juice to break into the format. It has a few things going for it, though: It'll be unknown and unexpected, it has the most ramp and speed of any format, and it has the most redundancy for getting the combo assembled and deployed on time.