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Inalla Combo

Commander / EDH* Combo Tribal UBR (Grixis) Wizards

Odyssey

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Land (36)

Creature (29)

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Commander (1)

Commander: foil Inalla, Archmage Ritualist

Instant (17)

Artifact (10)

Maybeboard

Creature (28)

Artifact (8)

Enchantment (1)

Sorcery (6)

Instant (5)

Overview

A tuned, moderately budget Inalla combo tribal deck. If you aren't on a budget the most obvious upgrades are in the manabase (Scalding Tarn, Misty Rainforest, Ancient Tomb, etc) and adding a few more tutors like Vampiric Tutor. A better manabase would also let you play Magus of the Moon, but with this manabase I've found that he hurts you a bit too much to justify him, despite how great he can be.

Why Play This Deck?

  • You like playing control.
  • You like managing triggers and the stack.
  • You like combos.
  • You like playing a value-oriented game and drawing a lot of cards.
  • You enjoy making meaningful and non-obvious decisions each turn cycle.
  • You prefer combo decks that sacrifice some speed for quality interaction.

Why NOT Play This Deck?

  • You like attacking or want to apply pressure.
  • You prefer games without combos.
  • You want a deck with lots of creatures.
  • You want a deck with almost no creatures (try Kess, Dissident Mage or Jeleva, Nephalia's Scourge instead).
  • You want to cast your general for purposes other than chump blocking.

Win Conditions

Bloodline Necromancer + Ashnod's Altar + Inalla, Archmage Ritualist (either in the command zone or on the battlefield) gives you infinite Bloodline Necromancers with haste, as well as infinite colorless mana. The mechanics of the combo are as follows.

  1. Start with Ashnod's Altar on the battlefield and Cast Bloodline Necromancer.
  2. When Bloodline Necromancer ETBs, you'll have two triggers. One will be Bloodline Necromancer's trigger, and you can use it to target any creature in your graveyard. But, for purposes of this combo, it doesn't actually matter. You can still combo off with an empty graveyard. The second trigger will be Inalla's copy trigger.
  3. After naming a target (if any) for Bloodline Necromancer's trigger, hold priority and respond to Inalla's trigger by sacrificing your Bloodline Necromancer to Ashnod's Altar, producing .
  4. Using of your Ashnod's Altar mana, pay for Inalla's trigger and make a copy of your Bloodline Necromancer. This works because the ability triggered when Necromancer was on the battlefield and the copy effect will use last known information to make the copy if Necromancer leaves play.
  5. A copy of Bloodline Necromancer enters the battlefield and has haste. You get another Necromancer trigger, but not another Inalla trigger since this one is a token. With your copied Necromancer's trigger, target the original Necromancer that's now in your graveyard.
  6. Your original Bloodline Necromancer enters the battlefield. You get another Necromancer trigger and another Inalla trigger and you've completed the loop back to step 1. In the process you've produced and a copy of Bloodline Necromancer with haste. Repeat as many times as you want for an arbitrary amount of 3/2s with haste and an equal amount of colorless mana.

One of the strengths of this combo is that it can't be disrupted by instant speed creature removal. Any creature removal that targets Bloodline Necromancer will be wasted since you'll just sac him in response, having already named a target with his trigger. Copies targeted by instant speed removal are similarly immune. Instant speed artifact removal, however, does disrupt the combo.

This combo can also be assembled starting with just a single Demonic Tutor in hand, although doing so is slow and will telegraph your intentions to opponents who know how it works.

  1. Cast Demonic Tutor and get Archaeomancer
  2. Cast Archaeomancer and use her ETB trigger to get back Demonic Tutor.
  3. Demonic Tutor for Sidisi's Faithful.
  4. Cast Sidisi's Faithful, exploiting itself, and use its ability to return Archaeomancer to your hand.
  5. Cast Archaeomancer again, getting back Demonic Tutor.
  6. Demonic Tutor for Bloodline Necromancer.
  7. Cast Bloodline Necromancer and use his ETB trigger to return Sidisi's Faithful to the battlefield.
  8. When Sidisi's Faithful ETBs, use Inalla's ability to make a copy of it.
  9. Have both Sidisi's Faithfuls exploit themselves to return both Archaeomancer and Bloodline Necromancer to your hand.
  10. Cast Archaeomancer again, getting back Demonic Tutor.
  11. Demonic Tutor for Ashnod's Altar and cast it.
  12. Cast Bloodline Necromancer, triggering Inalla. Now that you have Ashnod's Altar on the battlefield and Bloodline Necromancer has just entered the battlefield, you are in position to combo off.

Dualcaster Mage + Ghostly Flicker + Inalla, Archmage Ritualist (either in the command zone or on the battlefield) gives you infinite Dualcaster Mages with haste. It is a Splinter Twin style combo, similar to the one above. However, unlike the above combo, it does not require the use of your graveyard.

  1. Cast Ghostly Flicker, targeting any two legal permanents you control. For purposes of this combo, what you target with the first Ghostly Flicker won't actually matter.
  2. Holding priority, respond to your Ghostly Flicker by casting Dualcaster Mage.
  3. Dualcaster Mage ETBs and you get both his trigger and Inalla's. Put Dualcaster Mage's trigger on top of the stack and Target Ghostly Flicker with it. You won't actually need to do anything with this specific Inalla Trigger, but it's good to call it out since you can still use it if you get stopped mid-combo.
  4. With Inalla's trigger still on the stack, your Dualcaster Mage trigger will resolve. Copy Ghostly Flicker and use the copy to target Dualcaster Mage and a land that ETBs untapped.
  5. The land you targeted will enter untapped along with Dualcaster Mage. You get a Dualcaster Mage trigger and an Inalla trigger. Target Ghostly Flicker with your Dualcaster Mage trigger as before.
  6. Use the land that just reentered the battlefield to pay to copy Dualcaster Mage with Inalla.
  7. A token copy of Dualcaster Mage enters the battlefield with haste. Since it's a token, you only get one trigger: the Dualcaster Mage trigger. Target Ghostly Flicker with it.
  8. Another copy of Ghostly Flicker is placed on the stack. Target your original Dualcaster Mage and the same land as before.
  9. Your original Dualcaster Mage ETBs along with an untapped land, allowing you to continue paying the required by Inalla's trigger to repeat the process for an arbitrarily large number of hasty 2/2s.

This combo requires access to and at least one land that ETBs untapped. Note that, with Inalla on the battlefield, this combo can be used to win at instant speed and outside the combat step, allowing you to circumvent Moat and similar effects. Her activated ability can turn your arbitarily large army of Dualcaster Mages into an arbitrary amount of life loss for each of your opponents.

Like the Bloodline Necromancer combo, this one can also be assembled starting with just a single Demonic Tutor in hand.

  1. Cast Demonic Tutor and get Archaeomancer
  2. Cast Archaeomancer and use her ETB trigger to get back Demonic Tutor.
  3. Cast Demonic Tutor again and get Ghostly Flicker.
  4. Cast Ghostly Flicker, targeting Archaeomancer and something else. When Archaeomancer ETBs, use Inalla to make a copy of Archaeomancer. Use one Archaeomancer trigger to get back Demonic Tutor and another to get back Ghostly Flicker.
  5. Cast Demonic Tutor and get Dualcaster Mage. You now have Dualcaster Mage and Ghostly flicker in hand.

Note that a similar combo exists using Naban, Dean of Iteration + Naru Meha, Master Wizard + Ghostly Flicker. However, that one only produces infinite mana of whatever colors your lands can produce.

As long as Wanderwine Prophets has the ability to attack freely, you can take as many consecutive turns as you like, limited only by the remaining cards in your library. Inalla enables this by making a hasty copy of Wanderwine Prophets when it ETBs that can champion the original.

  1. Wanderwine Prophets ETBs and you get a "Champion a Merfolk" trigger and an Inalla trigger.
  2. Put Inalla's trigger on top of the stack and pay to make a copy of Wanderwine Prophets.
  3. When the copy ETBs another "Champion a Merfolk" trigger occurs. Champion the original Wanderwine Prophets with the copy.
  4. Since the copy has haste, swing with it and when it deals damage sacrifice it to take an extra turn.
  5. When the copy dies the original returns and Inalla triggers again. Pay to make another copy.
  6. On your end step the copy will go away and the original Wanderwine Prophets will return again. Pay yet again to make another copy. Since this copy entered the battlefield on your end step, it won't go away until the end step of your next turn.
  7. On your extra turns, continue attacking with copied Wanderwine Prophets and paying to make new copies when the original returns to the battlefield.

Doing this loop requires on the first turn without cost reducers and only on subsequent turns. for casting Wanderwine Prophets, to make an initial copy, to make a copy when you sacrifice the copy to take an extra turn, and to make another copy on your end step.

This combo won't always be enough to kill the whole table, as some players will have blockers. But there are ample bounce effects (Cyclonic Rift, Sidisi's Faithful, Crosis's Charm, etc) and various forms of removal to set up a successful attack against one player. Assuming the player you can successfully attack is at a healthy life total, you will draw multiple cards and develop your board state further to enable you to draw into either a way to attack the remaining players (perhaps flying granted by a Final Iteration) or one of the previous combos to kill them regardless of their blockers.

If needed, you can also champion Sage of Fables or Stonybrook Banneret with Wanderwine Prophets or its copy, as both are merfolk. Doing so will only allow you to take one extra turn, however. But it can be relevant if an opponent casts a removal spell on Wanderwine Prophets in response to Inalla's trigger.

Getting Ascend is not difficult in this deck, which makes Timestream Navigator and any way to repeatedly bounce her into an infinite turn combo. You need access to plus whatever the cost to bounce Navigator is, so it's not a cheap combo. The cheapest source of repeatable bounce is Crystal Shard, but Venser, Shaper Savant and Riptide Laboratory also work. Combining Ghostly Flicker with Archaeomancer also does the trick.

When Timestream Navigator enters the battlefield, you pay to make a copy with Inalla. Because this copy has haste, you sacrifice it to take an extra turn. You then bounce Navigator back to your hand (or flicker it on your end step or on your next turn) so that you can make another copy with Inalla on your next turn and sacrifice it in the same way.

This combo is similar to the Wanderwine Prophets combo above, but instead of essentially winning the game on the spot, it serves to lock your opponents out of casting any spells except instants in their upkeep.

  1. Begin with Ashnod's Altar on the battlefield and cast Mistbind Clique in your opponent's upkeep.
  2. Mistbind Clique ETBs and you have a "Champion a Faerie" trigger as well as an Inalla trigger.
  3. Put Inalla's trigger on top of the stack and pay to make a copy.
  4. When the copy ETBs you have another "Champion a Faerie" trigger. Champion the original Mistbind Clique with the copy.
  5. Tap all lands of the opponent whose upkeep it is.
  6. On their end step, Inalla's delayed "exile it at the beginning of the next end step" trigger will occur. Respond to this trigger by sacrificing the copy to Ashnod's Altar, producing . The original Mistbind Clique will ETB again. Pay of your mana to create another copy.
  7. On the next opponent's upkeep, repeat the process by sacrificing the copy for , and use of that to make another copy when the original Mistbind Clique ETBs again.
  8. Repeat for each opponent.

Without cost reducers this combo requires only + on the first opponent's upkeep. Further token copies produced on end steps and successive upkeeps are free since the mana comes from sacrificing tokens to Ashnod's Altar. Generally speaking, once started the combo can only be broken up by instant speed removal on Mistbind Clique. As long the board state is relatively stable, this gives you time to draw into one of your other combos while your opponents try to find instant speed removal with their draw step.

Note that you can champion Glen Elendra Archmage with Mistbind Clique or the copy of Clique since Glen Elendra is also a faerie. Doing so won't enable you to lock all your opponents out of their main phases, but it can be relevant if you only want to lock one opponent out and someone casts a removal spell on Mistbind Clique in response to the Inalla trigger.

A more subtle interaction between Glen Elendra Archmage and Mistbind Clique involves using Mistbind Clique to "reset" Glen Elendra after using her to Negate a spell. Since Mistbind Clique's champion trigger removes the creature from the game rather than sacrifices it, you can make a copy of Mistbind Clique when it ETBs and use that copy to champion Glen Elendra (exiling her). You can then sacrifice the copy of Mistbind Clique to the original Clique's champion trigger, returning Glen Elendra with no -1/-1 counters, ready to Negate more spells. And since you did champion two different faeries, you'll also tap down two opponents in the process. However, without a way to bounce or flicker Mistbind Clique, this line of play doesn't produce a land lockout.

One of the weaknesses of this deck is that it attacks and block very poorly. It is, after all, a combo deck with a bunch of wizards that have strange effects stapled onto them. The cost of these effects is generally a lack of power and toughness for their mana cost. However, it is possible to win by going wide in this deck, though it's not likely with only 28 creatures. Docent of Perfection   can make a large amount of tokens and give your existing wizards a much needed upgrade in combat.

It's also possible to steal one or more bomb creatures with Thalakos Deceiver and win using your opponents' own creatures. And occasionally you'll be able to stick a Galecaster Colossus with multiple other wizards and bounce your opponents' boards and win by attacking with small creatures repeatedly.

Other times a board stall will develop and you'll be able to cast Inalla, Archmage Ritualist and win using her tap ability over multiple turns. This generally only happens in long, grindy games.

All of these non-combo win conditions are weak and should not be your primary plan. Nonetheless, non-combo win conditions do exist if one or more of the above combo strategies are foiled.

Single Card Discussion

Docent of Perfection Show

Mistbind Clique Show

Crystal Shard Show

Sage of Fables Show

Aether Adept Show

Portal Mage Show

Beguiler of Wills Show

Havengul Lich Show

Puppeteer Clique Show

Panharmonicon Show

Sundial of the Infinite Show

Siren Stormtamer Show

Silumgar Sorcerer Show

Notable Synergies

While this is a deck whose main win conditions are combos, none of these combos are super fast and some require a good bit of mana. For this reason, the deck attempts to play a solid control game early, with numerous value spells and synergies to sustain it while it works towards one of the available combo win conditions. Some of those synergies and value plays are described below.

  1. Sage of Fables + Glen Elendra Archmage produces infinite -cost Negates
  2. Sage's Dousing has some interesting interactions in this deck. It can be tutored for at instant speed with Vedalken AEthermage, for example. Stonybrook Banneret decreases its cost by . Urza's Incubator, however, does not.
  3. Trophy Mage is very versatile in this deck. She can fetch a combo piece (Ashnod's Altar), mana acceleration (Urza's Incubator), or a board wipe (Oblivion Stone). Fetching Crystal Shard with her allows you to replay her and then fetch any or all other 3 CMC artifacts in the deck.
  4. Riptide Laboratory + Sidisi's Faithful creates a hard lock on a single creature for mana on each of your turns. You use Inalla's copy to exploit itself and bounce the creature, while Riptide Laboratory returns the actual Sidisi's Faithful for another cast.
  5. Urza's Incubator + Venser, Shaper Savant allows you to bounce a permanent or spell for every you have. First you cast Venser for and use his ETB trigger to target himself. Then you use Inalla's trigger to make a copy of him for . When the copy ETBs, the legendary rule applies and you'll sacrifice the copy. However, the copy's trigger still goes on the stack and you can target any spell or permanent with it.
  6. Archaeomancer on the battlefield + Ghostly Flicker plus any instant or sorcery allows you to keep replaying that card for plus the cost of that instant or sorcery.

There are plenty more, but some of them can only be appreciated by playtesting the deck.

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Date added 6 years
Last updated 3 years
Legality

This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)

6 - 0 Mythic Rares

46 - 0 Rares

19 - 0 Uncommons

21 - 0 Commons
Cards 100
Avg. CMC 2.94
Tokens City's Blessing, Copy Clone, Emblem Jace, Vryn's Prodigy, Frog Lizard 3/3 G, Human Wizard 1/1 U, Morph 2/2 C
Folders Opgeslagen van een ander, Grixis (UBR), EDH Creations, commander, Inalla ideas :D, Inalla, Competitive, Daxos EDH, Grixis EDH - Inalla/Kess, Ideas
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