Introduction: What is a combo deck?
This is a legal-modern burn combo deck I made for casual play with friends that cost me less than $70 to assemble from scratch; only cards not purchased were Mountains. A combo deck is a style of gameplay in MTG where you create an infinite or instant-win/loss effects by exploiting combinations of card effects in the game. A great example is by combining Stuffy Doll + Guilty Conscience, but this can be tricky because you need 2 unique cards to be in play simultaneously, which is unlikely in a 60 card deck to consistently happen. As such, combo decks in general thrive off of multi-dimensionality, which means you can achieve the same combo-result through different hand sets and opponent deck types. As such, if you are looking to make an effective combo deck, it needs to have the following:
-Survive until you get the combo
-You only mulligan on mana-screw, not looking for a specific combo card
-Your sideboard has other win conditions, or the ability to cover "Achilles heel" situations
Win Conditions
(1) Boros Reckoner + Volcano Hellion + Life Advantage
(2) Boros Reckoner + Volcano Hellion + Pariah
(3) Boros Reckoner + Volcano Hellion + Mortal's Ardor
(4) Boros Reckoner + Boros Reckoner + Blasphemous Act
(5) Boros Reckoner + Boros Reckoner + Earthquake
Discussion of Playstyle
The overall combo is based off of Boros Reckoner and/or one of the more expensive varients of Spitemare, Stuffy Doll. Then you smash into it with a huge damage source which deals lethal damage to your opponent ie. Volcano Hellion, Blasphemous Act or Earthquake.
The fastest way to win off this is to either redirect the damage off of yourself to one of the Boros Reckoner cards by using Pariah or simply gain a life advantage over your opponent using the burn cards Magma Jet or Lightning Bolt.
Another silly way to win is you can cast Mortal's Ardor on the Volcano Hellion on turn 4/5 if you get Boros Signet in your starting hand which causes you to gain 2X life on activation of the Volcano Hellion due to the wording of the card; as such you can name any damage value of X, and give yourself infinite life. Mortal's Ardor is also cool, because it is a way to swing a 4/6 life advantage if you are stalling for an overall win combo by activating it on any of the Boros Reckoner while it is taking damage.
Other Cards:
-Magma Jet: Scry scry scry; combo decks including card ramp is powerful for increasining consistency. Also gets you a bit of that health advantage and early board control due to the mid-range mana curve.
-Forbidden Orchard: This is a silly activator for blasphemous act, the extra attacker is inconsequential due to the high number of creatures you will be pumping out mid game. Consider mulligan if you draw 4 of these in your opening hand haha
-Boros Signet: Mana ramp is necessary to make this deck function; minimal inclusion for increased combo consistency, but it helps pump out those higher end combo parts if you don't draw into a Boros Reckoner.
Sideboard Explanation:
4x Lightning Helix: Life swing is crucial to making this deck consistent; having problems early game with low ramp aggro decks or maybe a combo deck being uncontested with your kit? Helix can help with that.
3x Boros Charm: 4 life swing or make your creatures invulnerable a turn as you pump in that would be lethal damage to your Boros Reckoner.
4x Defense Grid: RIP Counterspells, doesn't ruin your ramp or combo what-so-ever. Important because counterspells are your achilles heel to your combo; most effective during mid game when a counterspell deck will be shoving out midrange cards and not having enough mana to also deal with your finishing him off with a combo activator.
4x of either Pithing Needle, Revoke Existence or Oblivion Ring: You need an answer for combo/control/ramp decks, so need to decide what fits your playstyle the most. Pithing needle is good, but requires extensive knowledge of your opponents deck and/or any sort of meta your friends play around.
Don't care about Modern Legal or financial funds to furth pump this deck up? Here are some card suggestions:
Take Out: 4x Boros Signet
Replace With: 4x Sol Ring or Mox Ruby
Take Out: 4x Battlefield Forge
Replace With: 4x Plateau or Rugged Prairie or Reflecting Pool
