Creature (32)
Land (20)
Sideboard
Instant (14)
Sorcery (1)
Maybeboard
Creature (2)
Sorcery (1)
Enchantment (1)
I’ve not come across any decks here built around Mortal Combat and my guess is that’s because…it’s not that great a card. Still, I appreciate when the game’s designers try to think up creative mechanics or win conditions. Here’s my ode to this mediocre card. Enjoy!
On our journey to become champion, we’ll visit a handful of realms, grim and frightening.
•Godless Shrine and Marsh Flats ensure we always have access to and mana. There are less expensive ways to accommodate both, but the problem we run into is double colored pip spells like Lost Auramancers and the deck’s namesake card. It is imperative we be able to play these spells when necessary, and expensive fetches and duals are unfortunately the most foolproof way to guarantee that.
•City of Brass is here because we’ll need access to mana to survive long enough to capitalize on our wincon, and rather than try to finagle a tri-color mana base it’s simpler to just take the 1 point ping—which we can recoup later. Don’t be afraid to tap this for white or black either.
•Swamps and Plains provide the rest of the 2D backdrop as we punch and kick our way to the credits.
I vividly remember my first go at the MKII Arcade cabinet. It was in a local bowling alley, and I recall plunking a few quarters in just testing out the various characters and how they handled. I’d check the instructional cheat sheet, bang out a few combos or special moves, then die to choose a new player (of course we all know Mileena is the best <3, with room for your personal favorites coming after that acknowledgment).
That’s not dissimilar to how we’ll be approaching this either; the idea is to cycle or evoke a plethora of creatures to load up our graveyard.
We’ll detail the cards comprising those main categories below, but these deserve special attention:
•Stitcher's Supplier makes the cut because he’s an extremely efficient way to flip stuff into the graveyard. There is very little risk of sending something there that we really would rather have in hand immediately; anything important can be recalled to hand later with other spells/abilities, and if 3 copies of the same card are milled then…learn to shuffle? I don’t know what else to tell you.
•Vampire Hexmage is one of the rarities we want in hand or in play, and not in the dustbin. If she finds her way there, wait to ‘rechurn’ her to hand later once we’re ready to close out the game.
•Moon-Blessed Cleric is a backup plan of sorts to secure our wincon if we haven’t yet drawn it and Lost Auramancers was extracted or otherwise a non-option. Think of it like the lone emergency quarter you’d wedge between the arcade cabinet and the marquee placard in case that fat lard behind you at the pinball machine accidentally hip checks you into an untimely defeat—plunk it quickly before that Continue…? countdown reaches 0!
The Cyclers Show
•Lurching Rotbeast and Horror of the Broken Lands can technically be played in case of emergency, but 99% of the time you’ll be looking to cycle them. One is cheap and a non issue as far as costs are concerned.
The Evokers Show
A 100% glass combo deck, at some point we need to acquire and play Mortal Combat in order to win. To that end we’ve got some help from a few different sources.
•Moon-Blessed Cleric is one possibility, setting us up for the following draw. Slow and easily dealt with, it would be nice if we had a faster or more subtle option.
•The good news is, we do! Lost Auramancers can be manipulated to fire off faster than intended. Instead of waiting for those vanishing counters to…vanish, input Low Punch and use Vampire Hexmage’s ability: Lost Auramancers will trigger, letting us immediately plop down our wincon.
While winning is possible if you cast Mortal Combat on your turn, it is all but inevitable the Enchantment will simply be removed. Instead, activate Vampire Hexmage’s ability during the end step of the opponent’s turn, targeting Lost Auramancers and thus fielding our wincon immediately. This will create the smallest possible amount of time to react to it prior to our next upkeep step—at which point we get that coveted Flawless Victory and advance to the next round.
•Begin dumping creatures into your graveyard with help from Stitcher's Supplier and the cycling mechanic.
•Evoke certain cards to prevent damage or remove threats. Recover lost life with Gnaw to the Bone if necessary.
•Find and play Mortal Combat using the one-two punch of Lost Auramancers + Vampire Hexmage and if twenty or more creature cards are in the graveyard then feel free to perform your special Fatality on your staggered opponent!
Finish Him! Show
•While we’re safe from certain cards that like to run cemetery interference (like Grafdigger's Cage), full on graveyard wipes are without a doubt the biggest threat to the deck. R.I.P., Tormod's Crypt and others will potentially end the game on the spot, and without the countermagic blue offers it will be difficult to prevent this. Dash Hopes is one of the few on color spells we have to even try to mount a defense.
•Mana Tithe is another countermeasure, and with any luck we can thwart most graveyard exiling cards as they come into play. Sadly, Bojuka Bog is our Achilles’ heel and pretty much spells certain defeat if it appears.
•Cling to Dust is a bit card draw, a bit life gain depending on the circumstance.
•Added 4 copies of Overwhelming Remorse from the new Brothers set to act as top tier removal.
•Nature's Spiral is another way to recover something lost to the graveyard, but requires City of Brass to even be able to play.
If it wasn’t obvious this is a very rough sideboard I threw together just to be able to push this out the door. Suggestions are welcome.
”But if a fatality does occur, then you must give life for life…”
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Casual
81% Competitive
| Top Ranked |
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| Date added | 1 year |
| Last updated | 4 months |
| Key combos | |
| Legality | This deck is Modern legal. |
| Rarity (main - side) | 14 - 0 Rares 18 - 3 Uncommons 16 - 12 Commons |
| Cards | 60 |
| Avg. CMC | 3.48 |
| Folders | Modern, Inspiration |
| Votes | |
| Ignored suggestions | |
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