Famished Paladin Combo (Standard MTG Deck)

This combo deck has a Vampire tribal shell around it -- but mostly by coincidence rather than any preconceived design. The tribe allows us to tutor for a combo piece and also has a lot of access to card draw and life gain, which are ideal for finding the combo and keeping us alive to assemble it. The tribe also offers a few peripheral utilities that make it worth exploring as a shell to build around the combo. If the combo fails, for instance, it is still possible to win the game via the remainder of the cards in the deck.

Note: I have a second version of this deck that is less interactive but more streamlined towards finding and assembling the combo. Unlike this version, the second version is far less capable of winning games without the combo, but it is built so that the combo can be found more easily (and it's stronger in terms of card advantage in general). For those interested, here is a link to that deck list.

Let's look at the combo first.

The Combo

Famished Paladin + Sorcerer's Wand + lifelink source (Rush of Vitality or Prepare): Pretty simple combo. Equip the Paladin with the Wand, give it lifelink, then activate the Wand's ability to deal damage to the opponent. Since the Paladin has lifelink, the resolution of this ability will cause you to gain life and thus trigger the Paladin's untap ability, creating an infinite, if interruptible, loop. If this isn't disrupted, it kills the opponent.

Now let's have a look at each of the cards individually.

Creatures

Dusk Legion Zealot: Vampire body that replaces itself in your hand. Mostly just a blocker, but it has some synergy with Forerunner of the Legion if you play it late. This card is primarily included as a way to cycle through the deck to find combo pieces while having a body on the field to block with.
Famished Paladin: Main piece of the combo, but as a 3/3 for 2 mana, it's also a fairly good beater even if we fail to assemble the combo. There are several ways to gain life in the deck, so untapping this won't be too difficult.
Gifted Aetherborn: This is a good blocker and trades with almost everything on the ground. Lifelink is a bonus, and is a nice bit of mainboard insurance against mono-red decks.
Forerunner of the Legion: Primarily for finding Famished Paladin for the combo, but this can also tutor up our utility Vampires for situations that call for them.
Bishop of Binding: This 1-of allows you to exile something scary in an emergency. Its small body makes it easy to remove, though, so it's not to be relied upon for every situation. However, the tempo change it offers and its triggered ability can be helpful, even when going for the combo-less win.
Twilight Prophet: Essentially a card draw engine to help dig for combo pieces. This is an ideal tutor target for Forerunner of the Legion if you are eligible for the city's blessing. Also good for winning via attrition in matches during which you aren't able to find or assemble your combo.
Vona, Butcher of Magan: Powerhouse that can be very strong with Prepare, if you can untap with him. Kind of a maindeck catch-all and finisher to provide insurance against dangerous permanents. He's also a fairly viable win condition if you are unable to assemble your combo.

Other Spells

Sorcerer's Wand: Main combo piece. Cheap to cast, expensive to equip. Not so great unless used for the combo, although it can give you some reach in the event that the board is too gummed up to attack through and your combo fails.
Fatal Push: Removal, important for staying alive to combo off. Playset of Evolving Wilds helps out the revolt clause.
Rush of Vitality: Card that grants lifelink and protects its target from most forms of removal. Enables and protects your combo -- in one card!
Prepare / Fight: Primarily a combo enabler, but also a combat trick. The green Fight is castable via the single Forest in the deck, which is fetchable via the playset of Evolving Wilds. So it also functions as hedge removal in the maindeck.

Utility Lands

Evolving Wilds: Thins the deck, helps find that singleton Forest so that you can cast Fight. Helps Fatal Push's revolt clause.
Field of Ruin: Kill annoying nonbasics, can help fetch that Forest.
Scavenger Grounds: Mainboard graveyard hate, primarily for God-Pharaoh's Gift decks.

Sideboard

Duress: Defense against combo and control, also reasonable against some midrange decks. Also good for protecting your combo from the likes of Abrade, Dispossess, and Lost Legacy.
Forsake the Worldly: Efficient removal for troublesome permanents like God-Pharaoh's Gift or Gearhulks. Cycle it to dig for your combo.
Sentinel Totem: Graveyard hate for God-Pharaoh's Gift decks and others.
Cast Down: Extra removal for aggro and certain midrange matchups.
Settle the Wreckage: Primarily for use against aggro and midrange matchups, but it's also reasonable against graveyard decks.
Vraska's Contempt: Catch-all removal for a variety of matchups and decks that rely on planeswalkers.

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Revision 4 See all

(4 years ago)

Top Ranked	Achieved #25 position overall 5 years ago
Date added	6 years
Last updated	4 years
Legality	This deck is not Standard legal.
Rarity (main - side)	4 - 0 Mythic Rares 11 - 3 Rares 25 - 6 Uncommons 12 - 6 Commons
Cards	60
Avg. CMC	2.56
Tokens	City's Blessing
Folders	Standard, decks, Other, Decks
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