Combo Marath EDH [Primer]

Commander / EDH* Combo Competitive Infinite Combo RGW (Naya) Tokens

icefire1111

Land (30)

• 1x Arid Mesa
• 1x Bloodstained Mire
• 1x Bountiful Promenade
• 1x Branchloft Pathway  ^Flip
• 1x Cavern of Souls
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Cragcrown Pathway  ^Flip
• 1x Dryad Arbor
• 1x Flooded Strand
• 1x Forest
• 1x Gaea's Cradle
• 1x Grove of the Burnwillows
• 1x Homeward Path
• 1x Marsh Flats
• 1x Misty Rainforest
• 1x Mountain
• 1x Needleverge Pathway  ^Flip
• 1x Plains
• 1x Plateau
• 1x Sacred Foundry
• 1x Savannah
• 1x Scalding Tarn
• 1x Spectator Seating
• 1x Spire Garden
• 1x Stomping Ground
• 1x Taiga
• 1x Temple Garden
• 1x Verdant Catacombs
• 1x Windswept Heath
• 1x Wooded Foothills

Artifact (7)

• 1x Ashnod's Altar
• 1x Mana Crypt
• 1x Phyrexian Altar
• 1x Skullclamp
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Tangle Wire
• 1x Winter Orb

Creature (19)

• 1x Academy Rector
• 1x Arbor Elf
• 1x Avacyn's Pilgrim
• 1x Aven Mindcensor
• 1x Birds of Paradise
• 1x Bloom Tender
• 1x Conclave Mentor
• 1x Craterhoof Behemoth
• 1x Cryptic Trilobite
• 1x Elvish Mystic
• 1x Eternal Witness
• 1x Fyndhorn Elves
• 1x Grand Abolisher
• 1x Ivy Lane Denizen
• 1x Llanowar Elves
• 1x Mentor of the Meek
• 1x Pir, Imaginative Rascal
• 1x Priest of Titania
• 1x Shaman of Forgotten Ways

Instant (16)

• 1x Beast Within
• 1x Chord of Calling
• 1x Crop Rotation
• 1x Deflecting Swat
• 1x Deglamer
• 1x Eladamri's Call
• 1x Enlightened Tutor
• 1x Flawless Maneuver
• 1x Generous Gift
• 1x Nature's Claim
• 1x Path to Exile
• 1x Pyroblast
• 1x Summoner's Pact
• 1x Swords to Plowshares
• 1x Veil of Summer
• 1x Worldly Tutor

Planeswalker (1)

• 1x Xenagos, the Reveler

Commander (1)

Enchantment (17)

• 1x Aura Shards
• 1x Carpet of Flowers
• 1x Cathars' Crusade
• 1x Cryptolith Rite
• 1x Dawn's Reflection
• 1x Doubling Season
• 1x Earthcraft
• 1x Fertile Ground
• 1x Growing Rites of Itlimoc  ^Flip
• 1x Hardened Scales
• 1x Mana Echoes
• 1x Market Festival
• 1x Root Maze
• 1x Song of the Dryads
• 1x Sylvan Library
• 1x Unbound Flourishing
• 1x Utopia Sprawl

Sorcery (9)

• 1x Bala Ged Recovery  ^Flip
• 1x Green Sun's Zenith
• 1x Idyllic Tutor
• 1x Natural Order
• 1x Open the Armory
• 1x Regrowth
• 1x Replenish
• 1x Turntimber Symbiosis  ^Flip
• 1x Wheel of Fortune

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Maybeboard

Enchantment (10)

• 1x Anointed Procession
• 1x Bear Umbra
• 1x Divine Visitation
• 1x Fecundity
• 1x Fertile Ground
• 1x Goblin Bombardment
• 1x Impact Tremors
• 1x Mirari's Wake
• 1x Parallel Lives
• 1x Wild Growth

Sorcery (4)

• 1x Nature's Lore
• 1x Open the Armory
• 1x Steelshaper's Gift
• 1x Three Visits

Instant (1)

• 1x Red Elemental Blast

Planeswalker (1)

• 1x Nissa, Worldwaker

Creature (3)

• 1x Gaddock Teeg
• 1x Seedborn Muse
• 1x Timeless Witness

Artifact (1)

• 1x Smokestack

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Combo Marath: Synergy Central

Introduction

Deck Introduction

The idea behind Marath Combo is to win through one of many different combos within this deck. Each combo piece synergies with multiple other combo pieces, plus Marath itself, making it easy to rebuild your strategy on the fly. You are also able to switch to a stax gameplan, using Marath's ability for creature removal along with other various stax pieces in the deck.

Pros and Cons

Pros

• Can win seemingly out of nowhere
• Has many different winning conditions in case one fails
• Can provide lock-down if you need to play the long game
• Very resilient against most hate
• Extremely versatile commander that can provide many types of instant speed interaction

Cons

• Slightly slower than other combo decks
• Has trouble dealing with Serenity / Linvala
• Has trouble dealing with Storm / other fast combo decks

Why play this deck?

You may enjoy this deck if:

• You like synergy
• You like casting your commander. A lot.
• You like winning with an infinite combo

You may not enjoy this deck if:

• You don't like math
• Your favorite color is blue
• You value your commander's life

Gameplan

The general gameplan with this deck is to set up one of our many combos, winning on the same turn we play the final combo piece. Unlike most decks that prefer to hold combo pieces in hand, playing them only on their winning turn, in Marath Combo, many of the pieces can be safely played in order to push us farther ahead. The only two combo pieces recommended to keep in hand are Mana Echoes and Earthcraft. Because of the synergy between all the cards in the deck, even if one combo piece gets lost, finding another is not a problem. We can also utilize Marath's activated ability to deal damage to control the board, pinging mana dorks or other hatebear threats.

Opening Hand

You generally want to see where you are headed with any given opening hand. This could mean tutors, card draw, ramp, or just straight combo pieces. The ideal opening hand would look something like this:

• 2-3 lands
• 1 piece of interaction
• 1-2 tutors
• 1-2 combo pieces
• 1-2 pieces of ramp

Keep in mind that many combo pieces can also double as ramp.

The Combos

Now we get to the juicy bit: the plethora of combos in this deck. All combos will involve the commander, Marath, Will of the Wild and 2-3 other cards. Note: When using Marath's ability for mass effects (i.e. Dealing 40 damage to a player), it is recommended that you do not put all 40 damage on the stack at once. Keep the damage in increments of one, and let each resolve individually. This will make it much harder for anyone to interact with your combo.

2-card Combos + Marath:

Mana Echoes + Hardened Scales / Pir, Imaginative Rascal Show

Create a 1/1 with Marath, get 2 mana from Mana Echoes. Use 1 mana, and Marath's ability to put a +1/+1 counter on Marath, but put 2 on instead with Hardened Scales or Pir, Imaginative Rascal. Use the other mana to create another 1/1 token. Repeat. This can net infinite colorless mana, infinite 1/1 tokens, and infinite +1/+1 counters on Marath. Then use Marath's ability to deal lethal damage to all opponents.

Earthcraft + Market Festival / Dawn's Reflection (Enchanting a basic) Show

Tap your enchanted basic land to generate 3 mana. Spend 1 mana to use Marath's ability, creating a 1/1 token. Tap that token to untap the enchanted land. Repeat this process until Marath dies from having no counters. You will have enough mana to recast Marath, while netting some extra mana. This can be repeated indefinitely until you have enough mana, and enough counters on Marath to kill everyone at the table.

Earthcraft + Overgrowth (Requires all 3 basic lands) Show

Same as the previous combo, the only difference is that you must target the other two basic lands once per iteration to have the color requierments to recast Marath.

Mana Echoes / Ashnod's Altar + Doubling Season Show

Create a 1/1 token using Marath. Doubling Season will trigger, creating 2 tokens instead. Then use 1 mana from either Mana Echoes or Ashnod's Altar to use Marath's ability to put a +1/+1 counter on Marath. Doubling Season will trigger, causing you to put 2 +1/+1 counters on Marath instead. Repeat this until you have enough mana and counters to kill everyone at the table using Marath's ability.

Mana Echoes / Ashnod's Altar + Earthcraft (Requires all 3 basic lands) Show

Use Marath's ability to create a 1/1 token. Use Earthcraft to tap that token and untap a basic land. Then use 1 mana from either Mana Echoes or Ashnod's Altar to repeat this process until Marath dies from having no counters. At this point, Earthcraft and Mana Echoes or Ashnod's Altar will have generated enough mana to recast Marath while netting mana. Repeat this process until you have enough mana and counter to kill everyone at the table using Marath's ability.

3-card combos + Marath:

Mana Echoes / Ashnod's Altar + Any 2 of: Ivy Lane Denizen, Cathars' Crusade, Hardened Scales Show

Create a 1/1 token using Marath's ability. Whatever two of Ivy Lane Denizen, Cathars' Crusade, or Hardened Scales you have will trigger, replacing the counter spent, and adding one more. Then use the mana from Mana Echoes to Ashnod's Altar repeat the process until you have enough mana and counters to kill everyone at the table with Marath's ability. Note: Hardened Scales may be replaced with Pir, Imaginative Rascal in this combo.

Ashnod's Altar + Hardened Scales / Pir, Imaginative Rascal + Parallel Lives / Anointed Procession Show

Create a 1/1 token using Marath's ability. Either Parallel Lives or Anointed Procession will create an additional token. Sac one token to Ashnod's Altar, and spend one of that mana to use Marath's ability to put a +1/+1 counter on Marath. Hardened Scales / Pir, Imaginative Rascal will add an additional counter. Spend the other mana from Ashnod's Altar to repeat this process once. Then sac the other token to Ashnod's Altar. Use one mana to create a 1/1 token using Marath's ability, and keep the other floating. Then repeat this entire process until you have enough mana to put counters on Marath using Hardened Scales / Pir, Imaginative Rascal, then remove those counters, dealing lethal damage to the table.

Earthcraft + Doubling Season + Goblin Bombardment Show

Create a 1/1 token using Marath's ability. Doubling Season will create an additional token. Tap a token to generate a mana with Earthcraft, and spend that mana to use Marath's ability to put a +1/+1 counter on Marath. Doubling Season will give an additional +1/+1 counter. Tap the other token to generate a mana and spend it to make another 1/1 token using Marath's ability. Repeat this process until you have enough tokens to sacrifice to Goblin Bombardment in order to kill everyone at the table.

Earthcraft + Ivy Lane Denizen / Cathars' Crusade + Goblin Bombardment Show

Create a 1/1 token using Marath's ability. Either Ivy Lane Denizen or Cathars' Crusade will replace the counter on Marath spent to create the token. Then, tap the token to generate mana using Earthcraft. Use this mana to create another token using Marath. Repeat this process until you have enough tokens to sacrifice to Goblin Bombardment in order to kill everyone at the table.

Earthcraft + Doubling Season + Parallel Lives / Anointed Procession Show

Create a 1/1 token using Marath's ability. Doubling Season and Parallel Lives or Anointed Procession will create two additional tokens. Tap one token to generate mana using Earthcraft, and spend that mana to use Marath's ability to put a +1/+1 counter on Marath. Doubling Season will give an additional +1/+1 counter. Leave the second token untapped, and tap the third token to generate mana using Earthcraft. Use this mana to create another token using Marath. Repeat this process until you have enough untapped tokens to generate enough mana with Earthcraft to put enough counters on Marath using Doubling Season, and use those counters to deal enough damage to kill everyone at the table using Marath's ability.

Earthcraft + Doubling Season + Ivy Lane Denizen / Cathars' Crusade Show

Create a 1/1 token using Marath's ability. Doubling Season will create an additional token. Ivy Lane Denizen / Cathars' Crusade will trigger twice, putting two +1/+1 counters on Marath (four with Doubling Season). Tap one token to produce mana using Earthcraft. Use this mana to create a 1/1 token using Marath's ability. Repeat this process until you have enough untapped tokens and enough +1/+1 counters on Marath to kill everyone at the table with Marath's ability, using the untapped tokens to generate mana through Earthcraft.

Earthcraft + Ivy Lane Denizen / Cathars' Crusade + Parallel Lives / Anointed Procession Show

Create a 1/1 token using Marath's ability. Parallel Lives / Anointed Procession will create an additional token. Ivy Lane Denizen / Cathars' Crusade will trigger twice, putting two +1/+1 counters on Marath. Use this mana to create a 1/1 token using Marath's ability. Repeat this process until you have enough untapped tokens and enough +1/+1 counters on Marath to kill everyone at the table with Marath's ability, using the untapped tokens to generate mana through Earthcraft.

Earthcraft + Parallel Lives + Anointed Procession (Requires all 3 basic lands) Show

Create a 1/1 token using Marath's ability. Parallel Lives and Anointed Procession will create two additional tokens. Use these three tokens to generate mana with Earthcraft. Use one of this mana to repeat this process until Marath dies from having no +1/+1 counters. You will have enough mana to recast Marath with mana leftover. Repeat this process until you have enough mana and +1/+1 counters to kill everyone at the table using Marath's ability. Note: Doubling Season can replace either Parallel Lives or Anointed Procession in this combo.

Other combos with Marath:

Earthcraft + a basic land that taps for 2 + Hardened Scales / Pir, Imaginative Rascal + Goblin Bombardment Show

Any basic land enchanted with cards such as Utopia Sprawl, Wild Growth, or Fertile Ground will work for this combo. Start by creating a 1/1 token using Marath's ability. Tap that token to untap the enchanted land using Earthcraft, generating 2 mana. Spend one of this mana on Marath's ability to put a +1/+1 counter on Marath. Hardened Scales / Pir, Imaginative Rascal will give an additional +1/+1 counter. Use the other mana to create a 1/1 token using Marath's ability. Repeat this process until you have enough tokens to kill everyone at the table using Goblin Bombardment.

At this point, you should be familiar enough with the synergies these cards hold to figure out any combos that have not been listed. Feel free to comment about a combo that is not explained here.

Single Card Discussion

Ramp

Carpet of Flowers - One green mana for a card that will net us a lot of mana against blue decks.

Cryptolith Rite - Turns all our creatures into mana dorks. This includes Marath tokens.

Dawn's Reflection - Extra mana and color fixing. Combos with the untap effect of Earthcraft, and goes infinite if you have Marath. Auto include.

Market Festival - Another Dawn's Reflection. Auto include.

Earthcraft - Strictly better Cryptolith Rite, because we can tap creatures even if they have summoning sickness. Doubles as a core combo piece. Auto include.

Elvish Guidance - Can net us mana as long as we have another mana dork, but becomes explosive when other players have mana dorks. Can infinite with Earthcraft and Marath as long as two or more Elves are on the battlefield.

Fertile Ground - Turn 2 ramp that synergizes with our the untap effect of Earthcraft.

Growing Rites of Itlimoc   - Offbrand Gaea's Cradle. You should always be able to flip this using Marath tokens. The creature dig is just icing on the cake.

Overgrowth - Solid ramp that also happens to go infinite with Earthcraft and Marath (as long as you have all 3 basic lands).

Utopia Sprawl - Turn 1 ramp that synergizes with Earthcraft. Run it.

Wild Growth - Same function as Utopia Sprawl. Run it.

Bear Umbra - A bit slower, being 4 mana to cast. But the untap effect is nice. Other options are better.

Mirari's Wake - Another bit of slow ramp. Also a nonbo with commander (since we usually want Marath to die from having no counters). You can circumvent this nonbo by using Marath's last counter to deal 1 damage to itself, but there are just too many downsides to recommend this card.

Arbor Elf - Mana dork and elf synergy. Added bonus of generating mana through an untap effect, so it combos with our land enchantments. run it.

Avacyn's Pilgrim - Mana dork that gives us white mana.

Birds of Paradise - Arguably the best 1-drop mana dork. Produces any color. Run it.

Bloom Tender - Taps for 3 mana when Marath is on the board. Run it.

Elvish Mystic - Mana dork and elf synergy.

Fyndhorn Elves - More mana dorks.

Joraga Treespeaker - Good value. Third stage is usually irrelevant, but the second stage is valuable.

Llanowar Elves - More mana dorks.

Priest of Titania - Ooh! Another broken mana dork! Especially is someone else at the table has elves. Run it.

Shaman of Forgotten Ways - A mana dork early game, a lightning rod mid game, a winning condition late game. No reason not to run it.

Ashnod's Altar - This will generate a massive amount of mana with Marath tokens, and also serves as a main combo piece. Auto include.

Phyrexian Altar - This is valuable as a ramp piece, but does not combo as well as Ashnod's Altar.

Mana Crypt - Zero mana for two mana. Need I say more?

Sol Ring - Be honest: what EDH deck doesn't run Sol Ring?

Xenagos, the Reveler - Acts as a ritual if we have enough creatures, and continues to give us mana each turn. Run it.

Nissa, Worldwaker - Has potential to act as a ritual if we have enough enchantments on a forest, but it is more mana and much less consistent than Xenagos, the Reveler.

Seedborn Muse - Better in slower match-ups. Allows us to untap mana to use Marath's ability on opponents' turns. However, it does not help with any combos.

Tutors

Green Sun's Zenith - One of the strongest creature tutors. Can get combo pieces such as Ivy Lane Denizen or Pir, Imaginative Rascal, winning conditions such as Craterhoof Behemoth or Shaman of Forgotten Ways, and even ramp for us by getting Dryad Arbor or Priest of Titania. Definitely worth running.

Natural Order - Another excellent tutor. Most of the time, we will be sacrificing a Marath token. It generally will grab Craterhoof Behemoth, so run it if you run Hoof.

Chord of Calling - This will also grab Hoof most of the time. Run it if you run Hoof, but don't run without Hoof.

Idyllic Tutor - This will search for most combo pieces. Run it.

Enlightened Tutor - Also gets most combo pieces. Run it.

Steelshaper's Gift - The only function this card serves is to search for Skullclamp. It is worth it if you run Skullclamp, but don't run it without the Clamp.

Open the Armory - A worse Steelshaper's Gift. This one doesn't quite make the cut, but it becomes slightly more valuble when running Bear Umbra.

Crop Rotation - This tutors for Gaea's Cradle most of the time, or Homeward Path in some circumstances. Can also be used to get a basic to combo off. Lots of versatility. Run it.

Summoner's Pact - This is used to grab something that wins on the same turn. Generally either combo pieces such as Ivy Lane Denizen or Pir, Imaginative Rascal, or a winning condition such as Craterhoof Behemoth.

Worldly Tutor - Gets whatever we don't have in opening hand. Already have Hoof, but no ramp? Grab Priest of Titania. Lots of ramp but nothing to do with it? Grab Hoof, or a combo piece.

Combo Pieces

Marath, Will of the Wild - Zero combos in this deck function without Marath. As such, protecting our commander is extremely important. Sometimes this means intentionally using up all of Marath's +1/+1 counters, sending her back to the command zone in order to avoid cards such as Song of the Dryads. Also keep in mind that many combos will require Marath to have at least two +1/+1 counters when beginning the combo.

Earthcraft - In addition to going infinite with several different card combos, this card is also excellent ramp outside of the combo.

Mana Echoes - Probably the easiest card to go infinite with. Still strong outside the combo, but this card is better kept in hand until the turn you plan to win.

Ashnod's Altar - Can act as an alternate Mana Echoes in most combos. Also provides good colorless ramp, as well as a sacrifice outlet for protecting Marath from cards like Song of the Dryads and Imprisoned in the Moon.

Doubling Season - While this card has a bit of a hefty mana cost, it makes just barely the cut because of how powerfully it synergizes with Marath.

Hardened Scales - Hey look, a 1-mana combo piece that also makes Marath incredibly powerful in the early game! When Hardened Scales is on the battlefield, you can use Marath's ability for one to put two +1/+1 counters on itself.

Pir, Imaginative Rascal - A creature version of Hardened Scales. Can be fetched by our creature tutors.

Cathars' Crusade - You honestly don't even need another combo piece to win the game with Cathars' Crusade. Just use Marath's ability to make a bunch of 1/1 tokens, and Cathars' Crusade will turn ten 1/1 tokens into a 2/2 through a 10/10. But it does go infinite with several cards.

Ivy Lane Denizen - Functions as a Cathars' Crusade inside the combo, but doesn't have the same standalone power. Can be fetched by our creature tutors.

Interaction/Protection

Keeping our board safe is important. These cards allow us to do that.

Cavern of Souls - This will usually name Beast to prevent both Marath and Hoof from being countered.

Homeward Path - There isn't much we can do about Marath getting stolen, so this gets us an out.

Aura Shards - with Marath on the board, this card allows us to essentially boardwipe anything we don't control.

Song of the Dryads - Usually used as a "delete target commander," but can also be used on key combo pieces, or an inhibiting permenant that hurts our deck.

Beast Within - Instant speed destroy anything. Very powerful card.

Nature's Claim, Krosan Grip and Deglamer - Instant speed enchantment or artifact hate.

Path to Exile and Swords to Plowshares - One-mana, instant speed exile. Can't get much better than that.

Pyroblast and Red Elemental Blast - Since we can't run blue, these are the next best counterspells we can get.

Card Draw

With the limited number of tutors in Naya, a bit of card draw is important to get to those juicy combo pieces.

Wheel of Fortune - Draws 7 cards for 3 mana... need I say more?

Fecundity - I DARE someone to boardwipe this deck with Fecundity in play. Marath can generate so many tokens to get value out of Fecundity. Just keep in mind it can help our opponents as well.

Sylvan Library - Digs a little deeper, gets us extra cards if needed.

Mentor of the Meek - Allows us to draw cards every time we make a token with Marath.

Skullclamp - Marath reaps so much value from Skullclamp, essentially allowing you to pay 2 mana to draw 2 cards repeatedly. Run it.

Steelshaper's Gift - I put this card in the card draw section because its only purpose in this deck is to find Skullclamp. Don't run it if you don't run Skullclamp.

Stax

While it is possible to combo off turn 4-5, it is not as consistent as other decks. Because of this, it is important to be able to stall out the game until we get our combo finisher.

Root Maze - I mentioned earlier that this deck has a poor matchup against storm decks. Root Maze is our one line of defense against those decks. It also slows down the game in general, and can help to stall until we get a combo. However, be mindful that it can potentially hurt us if played at the wrong time.

Tangle Wire - This card is extremely powerful in Marath, as is barely affects us, while heavily stalling our opponents. On your upkeep, stack the triggers so that the fade trigger resolves first, removing a counter, then you must tap 3 things: usually Tangle Wire itself, and two tokens.

Winter Orb - Another card that barely affects us, while stalling others. Since much of our mana comes from creatures and artifacts, Winter Orb can be played at almost any stage in the game without setting us back much.

Aven Mindcensor - Oh boy. Aven Mindcensor stops other cEDH decks in their tracks. Keeping other players from tutoring slows them down significantly, allowing us to build our combo in peace. Run it.

Smokestack - While this card does combo well with Marath, it is a bit too slow for stopping other combo decks. Smokestack is more of a meta call.

Matchups

Fast Combo

By far our worst matchup, but not beyond salvage. You will want to put out just enough stax pieces to slow those decks down so that you can get your combo finisher off first.

Midrange

We have a good matchup against midrange decks. We can generally combo off before a midrange deck comes online. Make sure you have a little interaction/protection before playing your combo.

Stax

This deck is actually quite resilient against most stax pieces, and having another stax deck at the table can help keep the other players in check. Focus on getting a combo off as quickly as possible.

Control

A trickier matchup. If there is a control player at the table, you need to make sure you have interaction such as Pyroblast or Red Elemental Blast, or play a Grand Abolisher before comboing off.

Date added	5 years
Last updated	2 years
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	12 - 0 Mythic Rares 51 - 0 Rares 19 - 0 Uncommons 15 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	2.39
Tokens	Beast 3/3 G, Elemental X/X G, Elephant 3/3 G, Satyr 2/2 GR
Folders	My Inspirations, Things I like