If you have never seen the Legacy combo deck known as Life.dec, then you are most likely unfamiliar with the interaction that occurs when you combine Daru Spiritualist or Task Force with Nomads en-Kor or Shaman en-Kor. The abilities of the en-Kors do not actually require any damage to activate. Because of this, if you have either Daru Spiritualist or Task Force in play, you can target them as many times as you want with the en-Kors at any time you want. This lets you give either of them as much toughness as you see fit. What's your favorite number? Twenty-six? A billion? It doesn't matter, you can do it. This effectively gives you an indestructible wall of two blockers, as whatever damage the en-Kor takes when it blocks gets moved to the creature with a quadrillion toughness.
Now, you can probably see where all of this is going. About Face and its cousin Inside Out let you switch a creatures' power and toughness. Attack with either Daru Spiritualist or Task Force, target them a million times with Nomads en-Kor or Shaman en-Kor, and then cast About Face. It is around this time that your opponent will die. This is not the only way to "win" in the deck either. Through the same infinite target combo, you can use Condemn on your own creature to gain infinite life. Since there are only a handful of decks that can beat an opponent whose life total that is larger than the number of letters in this article, this play will usually result in your opponent scooping.
These interactions can only be done as early as turn three, so what about that turn-two kill? Please welcome Tireless Tribe to the stage! Play Tribe turn one, un-tap for turn two, and attack. Even if there is a blocker present, your opponent likely will not see what is coming and let the tribe through. Cast About Face on the Tribe and then pump him up with his own ability in response. Five cards plus the Tribe's one power results in 21 damage to your opponent. Think about it. You open with Tireless Tribe. Your opponent sets a land and taps it to play Noble Hierarch. If you have About Face or Inside Out in your hand, you likely just won the game.
Lightning Bolt allows you to try and get rid of blockers, but can also be used to hit your opponent should the need arise. Because this is a creature-based combo, removal is always a threat. That's where Benevolent Bodyguard comes into play. At his best the Bodyguard stops removal from killing your combo, and at his worst, he gives your attacker piece protection from the color of your opponent's blockers, letting you walk right through them. Emerge Unscathed more or less plays the same role. This is probably a good time to point out that if you combo out to the point that About Face gets cast, your opponent can't Swords to Plowshares because doing so would result in you gaining as much life as you put into your attacker.
